Developmental psychology from conception to birth and after an overview

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
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Issues in Developmental Psychology
Developmental Psychology
– The study of how humans grow, develop, and change
throughout the lifespan
Nature and Nurture
• Heredity imposes some limits on what a person can become.
• Home, education, nutrition, etc. can evoke positive and
negative influences.
– Resilience: the ability to bounce back
– Vulnerabilities
• Difficult temperament, genetic disorders
– Protective factors
• High intelligence, good coordination, easy-going personality

Studying Development
• Cross-sectional method compares groups of
different ages at the same time
– Useful for assessing age differences
– Not useful for examining age changes
• The problem is that each age group (cohort) has
different life experiences
• Longitudinal method compares same group at
multiple time points
© 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Developmental Methodology Results
© 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

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Developmental Methodology Results

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Prenatal Development
Development from conception to birth
 Conception
– Marks beginning of prenatal period
– Usually takes place in the fallopian tubes
– Fertilization of an egg by a sperm
 Zygote
– Cell that results from union of sperm and an ovum
– During first two weeks after conception, rapid cell division
occurs
– A zygote is about the size of the period at the end of a
sentence.

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Stages of Prenatal Development
Germinal stage
– Zygote (fertilized ovum)
– 1 to 2 weeks (conception to implantation)
Embryonic stage
– 3-8 weeks
– Developing human organism
– Major systems, organs, and structures of the
body develop

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Stages of Prenatal Development
 Fetal stage
– From week 9 to birth
– Rapid growth occurs
 Organs, structures, and body systems
– Fetus can respond to outside stimuli
 Especially sounds
 DeCasper & Spence research
– Infants showed preference for story that had been read during final 6
weeks of pregnancy.
 Critical Period
– Period so important to development that a harmful environmental
influence at this time:
 Can prevent a bodily structure from developing normally
– Body structure will not form properly, nor will it develop later
 Can impair later intellectual or social development

Prenatal Development Although it is less
than an inch long, the beginnings of arms,
legs, and fingers can already be distinguished
in the 7-week-old embryo (left).
The amniotic sac and the placenta can be
clearly seen in this photograph. The fetus
at 4 months (top right) measures 6 to 10
inches long, and the mother may be able
to feel the fetus’s movements. Notice the
well-formed umbilical cord. Near full term
(bottom), the 8-month-old fetus gains
body fat to help the newborn survive outside
the mother’s uterus.

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Negative Influences on
 Teratogens
– Harmful agents in the prenatal environment that
can negatively impact prenatal development or
even cause birth defects
Impact depends on both intensity and the time
at which it is present during prenatal
development
Most devastating consequences occur during
the embryonic period.

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 Teratogens
– Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
 Condition caused by maternal alcohol intake during pregnancy
 Baby is born:
– Mentally retarded
– With a small head
– With facial and/or organ deformities
 Commonly includes wide-set eyes and a short nose
– With behavioral abnormalities
 Hyperactivity and short attention span
 Alcohol crosses the placental barrier
– Alcohol levels in the fetus almost match those levels in the
mother’s blood
– Fetal Alcohol Effects
 Children prenatally exposed to alcohol with some characteristics of
FAS but in less severe form

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 Teratogens
– Smoking
Decreases the amount of oxygen in placental barrier
Increases the amount of carbon monoxide in placental
barrier
Exposes embryo or fetus to nicotine and thousands of
chemicals
Increases probability of prematurity or low birth weight
– Caffeine
Researchers disagree on effect of high caffeine intake
Recommend restricting caffeine to less than 300
milligrams (3 cups of coffee) daily

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Infancy
Perceptual and Motor
Development
Maturation
– Changes that occur
according to one’s
genetically determined
biological timetable
of development

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Sensory and Perceptual Development
Temperament
 A person’s behavioral style or characteristic way of
responding to the environment
– Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1970) studied 2- to 3-
month-old infants into adolescence and into
adulthood.
 Children show distinct individuality in
temperament in the first weeks of life
independently of their parents’ handling or
personality style

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Sensory and Perceptual Development
Difference in Temperament
 Three general types of temperament:
1. Easy Children
 40% of the study group
 Pleasant moods
 Adaptable
 Approached new situations and people positively
 Established regular sleeping, eating, and elimination patterns
2. Difficult Children
 Generally unpleasant moods
 Reacted negatively to new situations and people
 Intense in their emotional reactions, irregular in bodily functions
3. Slow-to-Warm-Up Children
 Tended to withdraw
 Slow to adapt; somewhat negative in mood
– 35% of children studied were too inconsistent to categorize

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Attachment
The early, close relationship formed between infant and
caregiver
 Attachment in infant monkeys
– Harry Harlow rhesus monkey experiment
– Contact Comfort
Comfort supplied by bodily contact develops attachment
Who provides nourishment is not as important as contact
comfort
‘Comforting’ figure allowed monkeys to explore new items

“Harlow’s Monkeys”
• Babies spent 17-18 hours a day with cloth mother
but less than an hour with wire mother.
• Regardless of food source they sought out cloth
mother.

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Attachment
– Separation Anxiety
Fear and distress shown by a toddler when the parent
leaves
– Occurs from 8 to 24 months
– Reaches a peak between 12 and 18 months
– Stranger Anxiety
Common in infants at about 6 months
Increases in intensity until about 12 months
Declines in intensity in the second year
Greater in an unfamiliar setting, when a parent is not close
at hand, and when a stranger abruptly approaches or
touches the child

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Attachment
Four patterns of attachment
identified by Mary Ainsworth and others

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Attachment
 The Father-Child Relationship
– Can be as responsive as mothers
– Attachments can be just as strong
– Many enduring positive influences on children
 Children who regularly interact with fathers:
– Have higher IQs
– Do better in social relationships
– Cope with frustration better
– Persist longer in solving problems
– Less impulsive and less likely to do something violent
 Father-son relationships associated with higher quality parenting
behavior by sons with own children
– Engage in more exciting and arousing physical play
 Mothers more likely to cushion against overstimulation and injury
– More supportive of a child’s confidence and identity development
 Fathers remain further away, allowing more individual exploration
and contact with novel situations
– Ideally children need both mother’s and father’s influences

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Fathers tend to engage in
more physical play with
their children than
mothers.
However, many fathers
today share basic child-
care responsibilities such
as feeding and diaper
changing with mothers.
Attachment

Parenting Styles
• Baumrind studied parenting style:
– Authoritarian: Parent places a high value on obedience as
well as respect for authority
– Permissive: Parent imposes minimal controls on their
children
– *Authoritative: Parent enforce standards, but encourages
verbal give-and-take with the child
• Parenting style affects children’s behavior
– Authoritarian parents produce children with low
independence, low self-esteem, and an external locus of
control

Jean Piaget Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896–1980) viewed the child as a little scientist,
actively exploring his or her world. Much of Piaget’s theory was based on his careful
observation of individual children, especially his own children.

Piaget and Cognition
• Cognitive reasoning is primitive at birth and changes
from infancy to adulthood
• Schemas are the basic units of intellect
– Organization of ideas
• Cognitive adaptation reflects the actions of two
complementary processes:
– Assimilation allows an existing schema to adapt to the
environment
– Accommodation allows the schema to change in order to
handle a new environmental situation

What is a scheme?
A scheme is a mental process responsible for activities as simple as
naming and labeling, and as complex as creating experiments. Schemes
guide behavior.
For example, a baby sees his first horse:

Assimilation: fitting new information into
existing schemes

Accommodation
Cows
Horses
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Accommodation
?
Cows
Horses
GETncm/justsaycust-recrate-itemcommunittg/stores/dtg/stores/d-favorite-listruejust-say-no

Categories become increasingly complex as children learn
Mammals
Fish
?

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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Important Concepts:
 Changes in schemes underlie four stages of cognitive development
 Each stage reflects a qualitatively different way of reasoning and
understanding the world
 Stages occur in fixed sequence
 Accomplishments of one stage provide the foundation for the next
stage
 Children throughout the world seem to progress through the stages
in the same order, but they show individual differences in the rate
they pass through them
 Each child’s rate is influenced by the level of maturation and
experience
 Transition from one stage to another is gradual, not abrupt
 Children often show aspects of two stages while going through
transitions

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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
 Schemes
– A cognitive structure or concept used to identify
and interpret information
 Assimilation
– The process by which new objects, events, or
experiences, or information is incorporated into
existing schemes
A child who calls any male stranger “Daddy”
 Accommodation
– The process by which existing schemes are
modified and new schemes are created
– Incorporates new objects, events, experiences, or
information

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Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
 Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)
– Infants gain an understanding of the world through their
senses and their motor activities
Actions and body movements
Infant’s behavior gradually moves from mostly reflexive
to complex and intelligent
Infant learns to respond to and manipulate objects and
use them in goal-directed activity
– Object Permanence
Realization that objects continue to exist, even when
they can no longer be perceived

Fuzzy Tastes Different! During the
sensorimotor
stage, infants and toddlers rely on
their basic sensory and motor skills to
explore
and make sense of the world around
them. Piaget believed that infants and
toddlers were acquiring very practical
understandings about the world as they
touch, feel, taste, push, pull, twist, turn,
and manipulate the objects they encounter.

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 Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
– Symbolic Function
 The understanding that one thing can stand for another
– An object, a word, a drawing
– The use of words to present object
 Orange - both a color and a fruit
 Pretend Play
– Imagining a block is a car
– Imagining a doll is a real baby
– Egocentricism
 Child’s belief that everyone sees what he/she sees, thinks as
he/she thinks, and feels as he/she feels
– Results in illogical thinking
 “A cookie is only good if it is unbroken.”

Preoperational Thinking: Manipulating Mental Symbols With a
hodgepodge of toys, some fake fruit, a couple of scarves, and a firefighter’s
helmet, these two are having great fun. The preschool child’s increasing capacity
for symbolic thought is delightfully reflected in symbolic play and deferred
imitation. In symbolic play, one object stands for another: a scarf can become a
magic cape, a coat, a mask, or a tablecloth. Deferred imitation is the capacity to
repeat an action observed earlier, such as the action of a checker in a store.

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 Concrete Stage
(7-11 or 12 years)
– Reversibility
 Realization that any change in the
shape, position, or order of matter can
be reversed mentally
– Conservation
 Concept that a given quantity of matter
remains the same despite being
rearranged or changed in appearance,
as long as nothing is added or taken
away

Piaget’s Conservation Task Five-year-old Laura compares the liquid in the two
short beakers, then watches as Sandy pours the liquid into a tall, narrow
beaker. When asked which has more, Laura insists that there is more liquid in
the tall beaker. As Piaget’s classic task demonstrates, the average 5-year-old
doesn’t grasp this principle of conservation. Even though Laura repeated this
demonstration several times for the photographer, she persisted in her belief
that the tall beaker had more liquid. We tried the demonstration again when
Laura was almost 7. Now in the concrete operational stage, Laura immediately
understood that both beakers held the same amount of liquid—just as Piaget’s
theory predicts.

Conservation
45 CONSERVATION OF LIQUID
CONSERVATION OF SUBSTANCE
CONSERVATION OF NUMBER
The child sees two glasses of water and says that both contain the same
amount. The water from one is then poured into a tall, thin glass. The
child is asked, "Which glass has more water?"
The child sees two identical rows of pennies and says there is the same
number in each. Then, in one row, they are spread apart. "Do the two
rows have the same number of pennies?"
The child sees two identical balls of clay and says that both have the
same amount. One ball is rolled out, making it longer. "Do the two
pieces have the same amount of clay?"

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 Formal Operations
(11 or 12 years and beyond)
– Preadolescents and adolescents can apply logical
thought to abstract, verbal, and hypothetical situations
and to problems in the past, present, or future
– Hypothetic-Deductive Thinking
Ability to base logical reasoning on a hypothetical
premise
Comprehend abstract subjects like philosophy and
politics and become interested in the world of
ideas
Begin to formulate their own theories and think of
what might be
– Conceive of “perfect” solutions to the world’s
and their own problems

From Concrete Operations to Formal Operations Logical thinking is evident during the
concrete operational stage but develops more fully during the formal operational stage.
At about the age of 12, the young person becomes capable of applying logical thinking to
hypothetical situations and abstract concepts, such as the principles of molecular bonds
in this chemistry class. But as is true of each of Piaget’s stages, new cognitive abilities
emerge gradually. Having a tangible model to manipulate helps these students grasp
abstract chemistry concepts.

Piaget's Cognitive Stages of
Development - YouTube

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson
Erikson (1902–1994) is shown
here with his wife, Joan, in
1988. Erikson’s landmark
theory of psychosocial
development stressed the
importance of social and
cultural influences on
personality throughout the
stages of life.

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The Lifespan Perspective
Developmental changes happen throughout the lifespan and
that interdisciplinary research is required to fully understand
human development
Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
 Individuals progress through eight psychosocial stages
 Each one is defined by a conflict involving the individual’s
relationship with the social environment
 Each must be satisfactorily for health development to occur
 The stages are named for a series of “alternative basic
attitudes”
 Adult personality foundations are laid in the four childhood
stages

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Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
 Trust vs. Mistrust (Birth-1 year)
– Depends on the degree and regularity of care, love, and
affection they receive from the mother or primary
caregiver
– Basic trust is the cornerstone of a healthy personality
 Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1-3 years)
– Children demonstrate independence by saying “No!”
– Physical and mental abilities develop
 Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6)
– Initiate activities, plan tasks, develop motor skills
 Industry vs. Inferiority (6-11)
– Children begin to enjoy and take pride in accomplishments
– Sense of inferiority develops if child rebuffed by parents
and teachers

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Erikson’s Theory
 Identity vs. Role Confusion (11-22)
– Identity crisis should lead teens to an idea of how
they fit into the adult world
– A healthy identity leads to next stage
 Intimacy vs. Isolation (22-40)
– Leads to finding a life partner or acceptance of single
life
 Generativity vs. Stagnation (40-65)
– Desire to guide the next generation via parenting,
teaching, or mentoring
 Ego Integrity vs. Despair (65+)
– Acceptance of one’s life in preparation for facing
death

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Adolescence
 Stage that begins at puberty and encompasses the period from
the end of childhood to the beginning of adulthood
 Puberty
– A period of several years with rapid growth, physical changes
culminating in sexual maturity
– The physical changes of puberty
 10-13 years old for girls
– Ranges from 7 to 14 years of age
 12 years old for boys
– Ranges from 9 to 16 years of age
– Begins with hormone surge followed by growth spurt
 Girls growth spurt between ages 10-13 years of age
 Boys growth spurt between ages 12-15 years of age
 Girls reach full height between ages 16-17
 Boys reach full height between ages 18-20

Sex & Gender:
Important/Confusing Terms
• Sex: biological maleness or
femaleness including
chromosomal sex
• Gender: psychological &
sociocultural meanings added
to biological sex

Dimensions of Sex & Gender
Gender Dimensions Male Female
1. Gender identity* Perceives self Perceives self
as male as female
2. Gender role ** Masculine Feminine
* Gender identity is self-defined
**Gender role is socially-defined

Sex & Gender Differences
• Physical anatomy:
height, weight, body
build, reproductive
organs
• Functional & structural
brain differences:
– hypothalamus
– corpus callosum
– cerebral hemispheres

Gender Role Development
• Gender Role:
societal
expectations for
normal &
“appropriate”
male & female
behavior

Two Theories of Gender Role
Development
• Social learning theory of gender
role development:
suggests gender roles develop
as children:
– receive rewards &/or
punishments for gender role
behaviors & attitudes
– observe & imitate the
behaviors & attitudes of others

Two Theories of Gender Role
Development
• Cognitive Developmental
Theory: combines social
learning & cognitive
processing; children form
gender schemas (mental
blueprints) of “correct”
behaviors for boys vs. girls

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Adolescence
Cognitive Development
• Metamemory
 Ability to think about and control own memory process
 Improve dramatically during adolescence
• Information-processing skills increase to early adulthood
Moral Development
• Kohlberg
 Studied moral development by presenting a series of moral
dilemmas
 More interested in the reasons for participants’ responses than
in whether behavior was judged right or wrong
 Classified moral behavior into three levels
• Each level has two stages
• People progress one stage at a time

Kohlberg Levels of Moral Reasoning
 Preconventional
– Moral reasoning is based on the physical
consequences of an act:
 Reasoning and actions governed by
standards of others and not internalized
standards
– Stage 1
 “Right” is whatever avoids punishment
– Stage 2
 Right is whatever is rewarded, benefits
the individual, or results in a favor being
returned

 Conventional
– Individual has internalized standards of others
– Right and wrong are based on the internalized standards of
others
 Right is whatever helps or is approved of by others
 Right is whatever is consistent with the laws of society
– Stage 3
 Called the “good boy-nice girl” orientation
 Good behavior is that which:
– Pleases others
– Helps others
– Is approved of by others
– Stage 4
 Orientation towards authority
 Right is:
– Doing one’s duty
– Respecting authority
– Maintaining the social order

 Postconventional
– Individuals weigh moral alternatives
 Realize the law may conflict with basic human rights
– “Right” is whatever furthers basic human rights
– Requires ability to think at Piaget’s stage of formal operations
– Stage 5
 Believes the laws are formulated to protect both society and the
individual
 Laws should be changed if they fail to do so
– Stage 6
 Ethical decisions based on universal principles
– Respect for human life, justice, equality, and dignity
 Believe following conscience may require violation of laws

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Parental Relationships
 Adolescents with permissive parents were more likely to
– use alcohol and drugs
– to have conduct problems
– Less likely to be engaged in school
 Adolescents with authoritarian parents are more likely to have
– Psychological distress
– Less self-reliance and self-confidence
 Adolescents with authoritative parents are associated with
– Psychosocial competence for all racial and ethnic groups
 Relationship between parenting style and developmental
outcomes is complex

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Early and Middle Adulthood
Intellectual Abilities
 Young Adults
– Outperform middle and older adults on speed or rote memory
tests
 Middle- and Older Adults
– Outperform young adults in general information, vocabulary,
reasoning ability, and social judgment
– Likely due to greater experiences and education
 Gaining knowledge and skills through adult years
Verbal meaning
Spatial orientation
Inductive reasoning
Number and word fluency
– Modest gains from young adulthood to mid-40s
– Decline did not occur until after age 60
– Modest declines until 80s
– Half showed no decline at age 81
– Perceptual speed only element to decline from mid 20s to 80s

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Lifestyle Patterns in Adulthood
 Myths of Middle Age
– Mid-life crisis refuted
– Stress overload
 Balancing demands of work, home,
family, and retirement
 Successful management leads to sense of
competence
– Empty nest syndrome
 Parents appreciate reexamination of life
and identity

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Later Adulthood
Alzheimer’s Disease
– Most common dementia (Accounts for about 60%)
 Progressive deterioration of intellect and personality
 Widespread degeneration of brain cells
 Autopsy reveals that neurons of cerebral cortex are clogged with twisted,
stringy masses (neurofibrillary tangles) and surrounded by plaques.
– At first, victims show:
 Gradual impairment in memory and reasoning
 Loss of efficiency in carrying out everyday tasks
– As disorder progresses, patients:
 Become confused and irritable
 Wander away from home
 Become increasingly unable to take care of themselves
 Develop unintelligible speech
 Lose the ability to control bladder and bowel functioning
 May not respond to spoken words
 No longer recognize even spouse or children

Later Adulthood
Alzheimer’s Disease
Risk Factors
Age
Family history of Alzheimer’s Disease
–Delaying or Lessening Onset
High IQ coupled with life long intellectual
activity
Anti-inflammatory drugs and antioxidant
vitamin E

The six pillars of a brain-healthy lifestyle are:
1.Regular exercise
2.Healthy diet
3.Mental stimulation
4.Quality sleep
5.Stress management
6.An active social life

Developmental psychology from conception to birth and after an overview

Developmental psychology from conception to birth and after an overview

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