This document provides an overview of developmental psychology and learning concepts covered in the first bimester of a course. It discusses various aspects of human development including physical, personal, social, and cognitive development. Some key points covered include Piaget's stages of cognitive development, Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective on development, theories of language and intelligence development, and factors like culture, diversity, gender, and bilingualism that influence learning and development. The document provides a concise yet comprehensive introduction to fundamental developmental psychology concepts taught in the first half of the term.

1. SCHOOL:
NOMBRES:
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AND LEARNING
FIRST BIMESTER
FECHA: ABRIL – AGOSTO 2009
1
Lic. Eliana Pinza
Languages

2. FIRST BIMESTER

3. DEVELOPMENT:
Certain changes that occur in human
beings between conception and
death. (A temporary change caused by
a brief illness, is not considered a part of
development)

4. Human development can be divided
into a number of different aspects
 Physical development (changes in the body)
 Personal development (changes in an
individual’s personality)
 Social development (changes in the way an
individual relates to others)
 Cognitive development (changes in
thinking)

5. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT
1. People develop at different rates (some
students may be larger, better
coordinated, or more mature in their
thinking and social relationships. Others
will be much slower to mature in these
areas).
2. Development is relatively orderly
(people develop abilities in a logical
order, in infancy children sit before walk)

6. 3. Development takes place gradually (a
student who can not manipulate a
pencil may well develop this ability, but
the change is likely to take time)

7. THE BRAIN AND COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Different areas of the brain are involved in
particular functions
 Cerebellum:
› Coordinates and orchestrates balance and
smooth, skilled movements
› Plays a role in higher cognitive functions
such as learning

8.  Hippocampus: critical in recalling new
information and recent experiences
 Amygdala: directs emotions
 Thalamus: involved in the ability to learn
new information particularly if it is verbal

9.  Reticular formation: blocks some
messages and sends others on to higher
brain centers for processing
 Corpus callosum: moves information
from one side of the brain to the other

10. The cerebral cortex is the largest area of the
brain which allows the greatest human
accomplishments (complex problem solving
and language)
› It is the last part to develop
› Contains the greatest number of neurons (tiny
structures that store and transmit information)
› Develops more slowly than other parts of the brain

11.  The part that controls physical motor movement
 The areas that control complex senses such us
vision and hearing
 The frontal lobe that controls higher-order
thinking processes
 The temporal lobes that play major roles in
emotions and language

12. Different areas of the cortex seem to have
different functions to accomplish more complex
functions such as speaking or reading
› Lateralization aspect of brain functioning that has
implication for cognitive development (specialization
of the two hemispheres of the brain).
Each half of the brain controls the opposite side
of the body (damage to the right side of the
brain will affect movement of the left side of the
body and vice versa)

13. › The left hemisphere (major factor in
language processing)
› The right hemisphere (handles much of
the spatial-visual information and
emotions)
Source: Encarta

14. PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
 Certain ways of thinking that are quite simple
for an adult are not so simple for a child
 Our thinking processes change radically,
though slowly, from birth to maturity because
we constantly strive to make sense of the
world

15. FOUR FACTORS (interact to influence changes
in thinking)
› Biological maturation (maturation helps us to
make sense of the world)
› Activity (act on the environment and learn from it –
explore, test, observe, and organize information)
› Social experiences (learning from others)
› Equilibration (act of searching for a balance and if
there is not balance it results in disequilibrium
which motivates to keep searching for a solution
through assimilation and accommodation)

16. PROCESS OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Two processes used by the individual to
adapt:
› ASSIMILATION using the
environment so that it can
be placed in preexisting
cognitive structures
› ACCOMODATION changing cognitive
structures in order to
accept something from the
environment

17. FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
 SENSORIMOTOR
 PREOPERATIONAL
 CONCRETE OPERATIONAL
 FORMAL OPERATIONAL

18.  THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE:
› 0 – 2 years
› The child thinking involves seeing, hearing,
moving, touching, tasting
› During this stage infants develop objects
permanence, the understanding that objects
exist in the environment whether they perceive
them or not (begin to recognize that objects do
not cease to exist when they are hidden)
› Begins to make use of imitation, memory, and
thought

19.  THE PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
› 2-7 years
› Semiotic function (The ability to use symbols to
represent action or objects mentally)
› Reversible thinking (Thinking backwards, from
the end to the beginning)
› Conservation (Some characteristics of an
object remain the same despite changes in
appearance)

20. › Decentering (To focus on more than one
aspect at a time)
› Egocentric (To assume that others experience
the world the way you do
› Collective monologue (Form of speech in
which children in a group talk but do not
really interact or communicate)

21.  THE CONCRETE-OPERATIONAL STAGE
› 7-11 years
› Identity (a person or object remains the same
over time)
› Compensation (changes in one direction can
be offset by changes in another)
› Classification (grouping objects into
categories)
› Reversibility (ability to think through a series of
steps and return to the starting point)
› Seriation (arranging objects in sequential order
according to one aspect such as weight or
volume)

22.  FORMAL OPERATIONS
› 11-adult
› Able to solve abstract problems in logical
fashion
› Becomes more scientific in thinking
› Develops concerns about social issues,
identity

23. VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
 Social interaction plays a fundamental role in
the development of cognition
 Every function in a child’s cultural
development appears twice:
1. Between people (social process that takes
place in shared activities between the child
and another person in which they interact to
solve a problem)
2. Inside the child (the social process is
internalized by the child and becomes part of
the child’s cognitive development)

24. Cultural tools
(material tools)
The Internet computers
Psychological tools
Mathematical systems,
sign language
 Psychological tools can help students advance
their own development
 Cultural tools allow people to communicate,
think, solve problems and creating knowledge
Play very important role in cognitive development

25.  At any given point in development, there are
certain problems that a child is on the verge
of being able to solve.
Some problems are beyond the child’s
capabilities even if the every step is
explained clearly .
The zone of proximal development ( what learner
could understand with guidance) is the area
where instruction can succeed, because real
learning is possible

26. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE
 All children in every culture master the system
of their native language.
 At the least, sounds, meanings, words, and
sequences of words, volume, voice tone,
inflection, and turn taking rules must all be
coordinated before a child can
communicate effectively in conversations.

27.  Children develop language as they build on
other cognitive abilities by actively trying to
make sense of what they hear, looking for
partners, and making up rules

28. PERSONAL, SOCIAL , AND EMOTIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
 The preschool years
 The elementary school years
 Adolescence

29. › The preschool children
 Are very active
 Are able to run, jump, climb, and hop.
These movements develop naturally if
children have normal physical abilities and
the opportunity to play (their muscles grow
stronger, their balance improves, and their
center of gravity mover lower).

30. › During the elementary-school years
 They become taller, leaner, and stronger
 They are able to master sports
› Adolescence
 Puberty marks the beginning of sexual maturity
 Series of changes involves almost every part of
the body
 The physical changes have significant effects on
the individual’s identity. (Bulimia and Anorexia
nervosa which are more common in females)

31. STAGES OF INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT
› Erikson offered a basic framework for
understanding the needs of young people in
relation to the society in which they grow,
learn, and later make their contributions.
› His psychosocial theory emphasizes the
emergence of the self, the search for identity,
the individual’s relationship with others, and
the role of culture throughout life.

32. Stages of psychosocial development
› Basic trust versus basic mistrust (birth to 12-18 months)
 The infant must for a first loving, trusting
relationship with the caregiver or develop a
sense of mistrust.
› Autonomy versus shame/doubt (18 months to 3 years)
 The child’s energies are directed toward the
development of physical skills, including
walking. The child learns control but may
develop shame if not handle well

33. › Initiative versus guilt (3 to 6 years)
 The child continues to take more initiative
but may be too forceful, which can lead
to guilt feelings.
› Industry versus inferiority (6 to 12 years)
 The child must deal with demands to
learn new skills or risk a sense of
inferiority, failure, and incompetence
› Identity versus role confusion (adolescence)
 The teenager must achieve identity in
occupation. Gender roles, politics, and
religion

34. › Intimacy versus isolation (young adulthood)
 The young adult must develop intimate
relationships or suffer feelings of isolation.
› Generativity versus stagnation (Middle adulthood)
 Each adult must find some way to satisfy
and support the next generation.
› Ego integrity versus despair (Late adulthood)
 The culmination is a sense of acceptance
of oneself and a sense of fulfillment

35. According to Freud’s Theory different driving
forces develop during three stages which
play an important role in how we interact
with the world.
 Id (it wants whatever feels good at the time
with no consideration for the reality of the
situation) When a child is hungry, the id
wants food, and therefore the child cries. We
are born with our Id.
THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY

36.  Ego (within the next three years as the child
interacts more and more with the world, the
second part of the personality begins to
develop) It understands that other people
have needs and desires and that
sometimes being impulsive or selfish can
hurt us .
 Superego (by the age of five) It is the moral
part of us and develops due to the moral
and ethical restrains placed on us by our
caregivers.

37. Emotional and Moral Development
 It is important to interpret what others are
thinking and feeling
› Emotional Competence: Understanding
intentions and taking the perspective of thers
are elements in the development of
emotional competence
› Social and emotional competences are
critical for both academic and personal
development.

38.  Children need a theory of mind to make
sense of other people’s behavior.
Theory of mind: an understanding that
other people are people too, with their
own minds, thoughts, feelings, beliefs,
desires, and perceptions
 By 2 or 3 years old, children are beginning
to develop a theory of mind.

39. Along with a more advanced theory of
mind and an understanding of intention
(understand that other people have
intention of their own) children also are
developing a sense of right or wrong.
MORAL REASONING = thinking about
right and wrong and their active
construction of moral judgments

40.  Kohlberg proposed a sequence of stages of
moral reasoning or judgments about right or
wrong
3
l
e
v
e
l
s
Postconventional
Conventional
Preconventional
Judgment is based solely
on a person’s own needs
and perceptions
Expectations of society
and law are taken into
account
Judgments are based on
abstract, more personal
principles of justice that are
not necessarily defined by
society’s law

41. INTELLIGENCE
The ability or abilities to acquire and use
knowledge for solving problems and
adapting to the world
All children are exceptional because every
child is a distinctive collection of talents,
abilities, and limitations. But some are
called exceptional students since their
physical, intellectual, or behavioral skills
and abilities differ substantially from the
norm
LEARNER DIFFERENCES AND LEARNING
NEEDS

42. MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
According to Gardner’s theory of multiple
intelligences there are at least eight
intelligences
› Linguistic (verbal)
› Verbal,
› Musical,
› Spatial,

43. › Logical-mathematical,
› bodily-kinesthetic, (movement)
› Interpersonal (understanding others)
› Intrapersonal (understanding self)
› Naturalist (observing and understanding
natural and human-made patterns and
systems)

44. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
The ability to process and use emotional
information accurately and efficiently
It involves four abilities
Perceiving Integrating Understanding Managing
emotions

45. › You must manage your emotions,
particularly negative emotions such as
anger or depression
› Managing emotions includes the ability to
focus energy, persist, control impulses,
and delay immediate gratification

46. LEARNING STYLES
The way a person approaches learning and
studying
The styles are determined by your preferences
for particular learning environments.
Example: where, when, with whom, or with
what lighting, food, or music you like to study

47. CULTURE AND DIVERSITY
 MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
Field of study designed to
increase educational equality
for all students

48. Economic and Social class differences
Relative standing in the society based on
income, power, background, and prestige
The characteristics of different social classes:
Income, occupation, education, home
ownership, health coverage, neighborhoods,
afford children’s college
Upper Class
Middle Class
Working Class
Lower Class

49. Ethnic and Racial differences
› Ethnicity: “groups that are characterized in terms
of a common nationality, culture, or language”
› Race: “ a category composed of men and
women who share biologically transmitted traits
that are defined as socially significant, such as
skin color or skin texture”. It is a label people
apply to themselves and to others based on
appearances.

50. Differences in the classroom
Gender refers to traits and behaviors that a
particular culture judges to be appropriate
for men and for women.
Sex refers to biological differences.

51. SEXUAL IDENTITY
Gender
Identity
Gender-role
Behaviors
Sexual
Orientation

52.  Sexual Identity: It is a complicated
construction of beliefs, attitudes, and
behaviors
› Gender Identity: is a person's self-identification
as male or female
› Gender-Role behaviors: are those behaviors
and characteristics that the culture associates
with each gender
› Sexual Orientation: involves the person's
choice of a sexual partner

53.  Gender-Role Identity: is the image each
individual has of himself or herself as
masculine or feminine in characteristics
› Age 2
 Children are aware of gender differences
(mommies are girls and daddies are boys)
› Age 4
 Children spend three times as much play
time with same-sex playmates as with
opposite-sex playmates

54. Through their interactions with family, peers,
teachers, and the environment in general,
children begin to form gender schemas
(organized networks of knowledge about
what it means to be male or female)
Gender schemas help children make
sense of the world and guide the behavior

55. LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES IN THE CLASSROOM
Dialect: a variety of a language spoken by
a particular group
“A regional variation of language
characterized by distinct grammar,
vocabulary, and pronunciation”
(Eugene Garcia 2002)
Dialects differ in their rules, but it is important to
remember that these differences are not errors

56. Bilingualism: Speaking two languages fluently
• There is more to being bilingual than just
speaking two languages.
• It is important to move between two cultures
while still maintaining a sense of your own
identity.
• Being bilingual and bicultural means
mastering the knowledge necessary to
communicate in two cultures

58. THANK
YOU