DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY:

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING

CHILDHOOD
 Developmental
Psychology
 Developmental psychology
is the psychology of
growth, change and
consistency though the
lifespan.
 Developmental psychology
looks at how thinking,
feeling, and behavior
change throughout a
person’s life.

 It looks at three debates:

 Nature vs. Nurture
 Continuity vs.
Discontinuity
 Stability vs. Change
 Nature vs. Nurture
Issue
 Developmental psychology
seeks to answer two big
questions about heredity
and environment:
1. How much weight does each
wield?
2. How do they interact?

 Nature refers to the

effects of heredity and
nurture to the influence of
environment.
 How to Study the Nature-Nurture
Interaction
There are two effective
ways to study nature-
nurture.
 Twin studies: Identical twins
have the same genotype, and
fraternal twins have an
average of 50% of their genes
in common.

 Adoption studies: Similarities

with the biological family
support nature, while
similarities with the adoptive
family support nurture.
 Gradual vs. Abrupt
Change
 Maturation = development that reflects the
unfolding of an organism’s genetic
blueprint
 But HOW?

 Think about how children become adults. Is

there a predictable pattern they follow
regarding thought and language and social
development?
 Do children go through gradual changes or
are they abrupt changes?
 Continuity View

 The continuity view says

that change is gradual.
 Children become more
skillful in thinking, talking
or acting much the same
way as they get taller.

 We know that skilled

behaviors often happen in
this way as with the trial
and error method of
learning to walk or eat with
a spoon. (Observable
skills…what about mental
processes?)
 Discontinuity View

 The discontinuity view

sees development as
more abrupt-a succession
of changes that produce
different behaviors in
different age-specific life
periods called stages.

 Think about how this

perspective can be
applied to language
learning
 Discontinuity View
 We often hear people taking about children
going through “stages” in life (i.e. “terrible
twos.”)
 These are called developmental stages-periods
of life initiated by distinct transitions in
physical or psychological functioning.
 believe that people go through the same
stages, in the same order, but not necessarily
at the same rate.
 Developmental milestones

 However, if a person misses a stage, it can have

lasting consequences.
 Developmental
Psychology
Developmental psychology
domains:
Physical development
Cognitive development
Psychosocial development
Physical Development
Physical Development Mil
estones

 When do children typically achieve

each of the following?
 Rolling over
 Sitting without support
 Standing without support
 Walking
 Running
 Skipping
Developmental Periods to
Know
 Prenatal Period: The developmental period
before birth.
 Neonatal Period: Birth-1 month.

 Infancy: 1 month-18/24 months.

 Prenatal period pp. 310-316

 Three Developmental
Periods

Prenatal Period: 9 month

developmental period before birth.
 During this time, the genetic plan
determines how all of the organs that will
be formed later begin to form.
 Here we get differentiation (cells forming
specific organs). Before we differentiation,
cells are “stem cells” and are capable of
forming into any organ in the body.
 One concern during this time are
teratogens, or substances from the
environment that can damage the
developing baby.
 Prenatal Stages of
Development
• Zygote
• The fertilized egg
• Enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division
• Develops into an embryo

• Embryo
• The developing human organism from 2
weeks through 2nd month
• Fetus
• The developing human organism from 9
weeks after conception to birth
 Capabilities of
Newborns
 People used to think that
newborns began life as a
“blank slate”-an empty brain
and no abilities.
 Tabula rasa

 Studies have shown that

newborns have innate
abilities to find nourishment,
interact with others and avoid
harmful situations.
 Three Developmental
Periods
Neonatal Period: Birth to one month
old.
 During this stage babies are capable of
responding to stimulation from all of their
senses.

Infancy Period: 1 mo. to 24 mo.

 This is a period of rapid development, but is still
heavily reliant on reflexive behavior.
 Part of the reason we remember very little
between birth and age 3 ½ is that our brain
circuits are not fully developed
 Physical Development
Trends

 Cephalocaudal trend: head to foot

direction of motor development
 Proximodistal trend: center-outward
trend of motor development
 Maturation

 Maturation is the orderly sequence of

biological growth by which an organism
develops over time, both physically and
mentally.
 Studies have shown that, when raised
under adequate environment, maturation
follows a predictable pattern.
 Maturation sets the basic course of
development, experience adjusts it.
 Nature and nurture at work.
 Cognitive Development:
Piaget’s Theory

 Jean Piaget developed a

theory about
development called the
Cognitive Theory of
Development.

 Piaget’s theory was a

discontinuous stage model
of development which said
children will undergo a
revolutionary change in
thought at each stage.
 Cognitive Development
Piaget’s Theory

 Piaget’s theory was based on three

key ideas:
 Schemas
 Assimilation and accommodation
 Stages of cognitive development

 Schemas are mental structures that

guide thinking.
 According to Piaget, they are also the
building blocks of development.
 Schemas form and change as we develop
and organize our knowledge to deal with
new experiences and predict future events.
 Cognitive Development:
Piaget’s Theory
 Assimilation: process that modifies
new information to fit with existing
schemas or with what is already
known.
 Babies suck on anything put in front of them as if
it was a bottle.

 Accommodation: process of
restructuring or modifying schemas to
incorporate new information.
 When a child learns that a butterfly is not a
“bird.”

 Assimilation makes new information fit our

existing view of the world. Accommodation
changes our views to fit new information.
 Piaget’s Stages:
Sensorimotor Stage

 Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to age 2):

children mostly give reflexive
responses with very little thinking
involved.
 Stranger Anxiety, or fear of strangers, is
very common during this period (8
months).

 A major step in thinking happens by year

two, the ability to make mental images
of objects, called mental representation.
 This is the foundation of being able to problem
solve
 Piaget’s Stages:
Sensorimotor Stage

 Another key feature of this stage is

object permanence, or the knowledge
that objects exist independently of one’s
own actions or awareness.

Object Permanence
 Piaget’s Stages:
Preoperational Stage

 Preoperational Stage (2 to 6/7 yeas of

age): A stage marked by well-developed
mental representation and the use of
language.
 Despite these increased abilities, however,
children still cannot solve problems requiring
logical thought, but they can recognize when
something is not right.
 Piaget’s Stages:
Preoperational Stage
 Piaget developed other key features of the
preoperational stage, including:
 Egocentrism: a self centered focus that causes children to see the world
only in their own terms.
 Talking to child on phone

 Animistic thinking: believing inanimate objects have life and mental

processes.
 “Bad table”

 Centration: an inability to understand an event because the child focuses

their attention too narrowly.
 Moving objects closer together—now more or fewer items?

 Irreversibility: an inability to think through a series of events or steps and

then reverse course.

 Artificialism: believing all objects are made by people.

 Piaget’s Stages: Concrete
Operational Stage

 Concrete Operational
Stage (7 to 11 years):
child develops the
abilities of
irreversibility,
conservation and
mental operations.
 Conservation: the
principle that quantity
remains the same
despite changes in
shape.

 Mental operations: the

ability to solve
problems by
manipulating images in
one’s own mind.
 Piaget’s Stages: Formal
Operational
 In Piaget’s final stage, formal operational
stage, he says people begin to think about
issues like being more accepted by peers, and
abstract issues like love, fairness and our
reason for existence.

 Consists of 4 unique structural properties:

 Hypothetical reasoning
 Analogical/Abstract reasoning
 Deductive reasoning
 Reflective abilities
 Theory of Mind

 Theory of mind is the

ability to infer
(understand) other’s
mental states, and
know they may be
different than our own.
 Piaget thought this did
not happen until
around age 8, but
studies suggest this
actually happens as
young as age 4 or 5.

 Theory of Mind Video

Testing Your Theory of
Mind
 Draw a capital letter E on your forehead.

 Did you draw it to look like an E from your

point of view, or an E from the point of view
of someone looking at you?
 Most people will be egocentric and draw it
from their own perspective, rather than that
of someone looking at them, if they were
made to feel
Piaget’s Theory
Graphically
 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development

Typical Age Description Developmental

Range of Stage Phenomena
Birth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor •Object permanence
Experiencing the world through •Stranger anxiety
senses and actions (looking,
touching, mouthing)
About 2 to 6 years Preoperational •Pretend play
Representing things •Egocentrism
with words and images •Language development
but lacking logical reasoning
About 7 to 11 years Concrete operational •Conservation
Thinking logically about concrete •Mathematical
events; grasping concrete analogies transformations
and performing arithmetical operations
About 12 through Formal operational •Abstract logic
adulthood Abstract reasoning •Potential for
moral reasoning
 Reflecting on Piaget

 Piaget remains one of the

most significant psychologists
in the history of the science.
While he may have been a
little off on the ages for his
stages, his emphasis was
more on the sequence (order)
of specific milestones.
 Studies from around the world
have confirmed that human
cognition unfolds basically in
the sequence that Piaget
described. Jean Piaget
1896-1980
 Lev Vygotsky
 Piaget’s emphasis on how
the child’s mind grows
through interaction with
the physicl environment is
complemented by
Vygotsky’s emphasis on
how the child’s mind grows
through interaction with
the social environment.
 Language is an important
ingredient in social
mentoring that provides the
building blocks for thinking.
Lev Vygotsky
1896-1934
 Zone of Proximal
Development
 Vygotsky stated that a child
follows an adult's example
and gradually develops the
ability to do certain tasks
without help or assistance.
 Zone of proximal
development presents it as
“the distance between the
actual developmental level
as determined by
independent problem
solving and the level of
potential development as
determined through problem
solving under adult
guidance, or in collaboration
with more capable peers”
 Erikson’s Theory of
Psychosocial Development

 Erik Erikson saw human

development as a sequence of
psychosocial stages, defined
by common problems that
emerge throughout life.

 Erikson identified 8 stages,

with each bringing a new
challenge. To move onto the
next stage of life, the problem
of the previous stage must
successfully be coped with.
 Erikson’s Stages of
Psychosocial Development

Approximate
age Stage Description of Task

Infancy Trust vs. mistrust If needs are dependably met, infants

(1st year) develop a sense of basic trust.

Toddler Autonomy vs. shame Toddlers learn to exercise will and

(2nd year) and doubt do things for themselves, or they
doubt their abilities.

Preschooler Initiative vs. guilt Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks

(3-5 years) and carry out plans, or they feel
guilty about efforts to be independent.

Elementary Competence vs. Children learn the pleasure of applying

(6 years- inferiority themselves to tasks, or they feel
puberty) inferior.
 Erikson’s Stages of
Psychosocial Development
Approximate
age Stage Description of Task

Adolescence Identity vs. role Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by

(teens into confusion testing roles and then integrating them to
20’s) form a single identity, or they become
confused about who they are.

Young Adult Intimacy vs. Young adults struggle to form close relation-
(20’s to early isolation ships and to gain the capacity for intimate
40’s) love, or they feel socially isolated.

Middle Adult Generativity vs. The middle-aged discover a sense of contri-

(40’s to 60’s) stagnation buting to the world, usually through family
and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose.

Late Adult Integrity vs. When reflecting on his or her life, the older
(late 60’s and despair adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or
up) failure.
 Erikson and Freud

 Like Freud and many others, Erik Erikson

maintained that personality develops in a
predetermined order. Instead of focusing on
sexual development, however, he was interested
in how children socialize and how this affects
their sense of self.

 He saw personality as developing throughout the

lifetime and looked at identity crises at the focal
point for each stage of human development.
Erikson and Freud
 Erikson Summarized
 His model was a lifespan model of development,
taking in 5 stages up to the age of 18 years and
three in adulthood.
 There is still plenty of room for continued growth
and development throughout one’s life.
 According to the theory, successful completion
of each stage results in a healthy personality
and successful interactions with others.
 Failure to complete a stage can result in a
reduced ability to complete further stages and
resulting in an unhealthy personality and sense
of self.
 Stages can be resolved successfully at a later time.
 Criticisms of Erikson
 Critics of Erikson said his “research”
was based on clinical observations and
lacked rigorous scientific method.

 Also, critics said it did not do enough to

adequately capture the problems faced
by girls and women.
 Can you think of “problems” females face that
do not have a place in Erikson’s stages?
 Erikson’s Theory of Young
Adulthood

 The big challenge Erikson singles out

for young adults is establishing close
relationships with other adults.

 The individual must resolve the

conflict between wanting to establish
closeness to another and fearing the
vulnerability and risks such closeness
can bring.

 Making intimate commitments

requires compromising personal
preferences, accepting
responsibilities and yielding some
 Erikson’s Deep
Thought
 Anything that isolates us from sources of
social support-from a reliable network of
friends and family-puts us at risk for a
host of physical ills, mental problems,
and even social pathologies.

 We are social creatures and we need

each others help to and support to be
effective and healthy.
 Erikson on
Relationships
 We are social creatures and we need each
others help to and support to be effective
and healthy.

 Erikson said you must know who you are

before you can begin to love someone else
and share your life with that person.
 Parenting

 Most styles of parenting fall into one of four

distinct styles that psychologists have
found all around the world.
 Authoritative
 Authoritarian
 Permissive
 Uninvolved
 Parenting Styles (page 383)

Style Emotional Authority Autonomy

Involvement
Authoritative Parent is warm, attentive Parent makes reasonable Parent permits child to
and sensitive to child’s demands for the child’s make decisions in accord
needs and interests maturity level; explains/ with developmental
enforces rules readiness

Authoritarian Parent is cold and Parent is highly demanding; Parent makes most
rejecting; frequently may use coercion by yelling decisions for the child;
degrades the child commanding, criticizing and rarely listens to child’s
reliance on punishment viewpoint
Permissive Parent is warm but may Parent makes few or no Parent permits child to
spoil the child demands-often out of make decisions before
misplaced concern for the child is ready
child’s self esteem
Uninvolved Parent is emotionally Parent makes few of no Parent is indifferent to
detached, withdrawn and demands-often lacking in child’s decisions and
inattentive interest or expectations for point of view.
the child
 Results of Parenting

 Does the type of parent you are matter?

 Research suggests that children or parents
who were authoritative tend to be confident,
self-reliant, enthusiastic and overall happier.
 Children with authoritarian parents tend to be
anxious and insecure while those with
permissive parents tend to be immature,
impulsive, dependant and demanding.
 Gender Differences
 It is clear that gender differences exist in
children. The sexes tend to segregate
themselves, which is a pattern that holds
true across cultures.

 Girls tend to organize themselves in

small, cooperative groups. Boys often
form larger groups that have a
hierarchical structure.
 Explanations for
Differences
 Evolutionary psychologists believe these
gender differences have an innate basis,
which may be related, in part to gender
differences in testosterone levels.

 Social-cognitive psychologists believe

children also learn gender roles and
gender related behaviors such as
aggressiveness, competitiveness or
cooperation.
 Differences Between Then
and Now
 While most psychologists support Erikson’s
thoughts on adult development, they
realize that young adults today face
different situations than they have in the
past.

 Today, many young adults live together

before they are married. While this may be
better in the long run, individuals may
struggle with identity issues at the same
time they are trying to deal with intimacy
issues.
 Psychology Beyond
Adulthood
 Until the last few years, there
was little psychological research
done on young adults, and
almost none on people past their
mid 20s.
 Within the next 10 years, a big
part of our population will be
made up of baby boomers who
are living longer and
encountering more issues
physically and psychologically
than any group before them.
Aging Boomers
 Challenges Facing
Adults
 The transition from adolescence to young
adulthood is marked by decisions about
advanced education, career and intimate
relationships.

 Freud thought adult development is

driven by two basic needs: love and work.
Abraham Maslow described these needs
as love and belongingness.
 Other psychologists: social acceptance,
achievement and power as the basic needs of
adult development.
 Challenges of Midlife
 Erikson singled out generitivity, as the
big challenge facing middle aged
adults.

 Generitivity is the process of making a

commitment beyond oneself to family,
work, society or future generations.

 This is a crucial challenge of adults in

their 30s, 40s and 50s.

 The good news is that most people do

not actually undergo a true midlife
crisis or upheaval.
 Erikson’s Last Stage

 The last stage of Erikson’s model

deals with elderly people.
 The big challenge in this stage is
ego-integrity vs. despair. Erikson
describes this as the challenge to
have a life we can look back on and
have no regrets about and to enjoy
a sense of wholeness.
 In the End
 Death is inevitable. It is something we will
all go through. But, do we go through it
the same way?

 According to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, we

do, in five stages. While we each
experience the stages differently, we will
all go through the following:
 Denial
 Anger
 Bargaining
 Depression
 The Stages

 Denial- Refusing to believe the individual is

sick.
 Anger- Displays anger that individual is sick.

 Bargaining- Making a deal, in return for a cure,

they will fulfill a promise.
 Depression- General depression affecting
sleeping and eating patterns.
 Acceptance-The realization that death is
inevitable.
 Stages of Loss

 Giraffe in Quicksand video