This document provides an overview of human development from prenatal stages through adolescence. It discusses physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development at each life stage. Some key points include: - Prenatal development occurs in three stages: germinal, embryonic, and fetal. During these stages the zygote develops into a fetus through cell division and organ formation. - Infancy is a time of rapid physical growth and development of motor skills. Important milestones include attachment formation and developing a self-concept. - Puberty begins adolescence and is marked by physical sexual maturation. Cognitive abilities become more advanced and identity formation is a key task. Peer relationships gain importance. - Each developmental period involves

1. Psychology of Gender
Farooq e Azam
Lecturer
Department of Sociology UMT

2. Introduction
 Children’s experiences in their earliest years affect how
their brains work, the way they respond to stress, and
their ability to form trusting relationships.
 During these years the brain undergoes its most dramatic
growth, setting the stage for social and emotional
development.
 Language blossoms, basic motor abilities form, thinking
becomes more complex, and children begin to understand
their own feelings and those of others.

3. Introduction
 A child’s brain doubles in size in the first year, and by age
three it reaches 80 percent of its adult volume.
 The back-and-forth interactions of babies and adults shape
a baby’s brain architecture, supporting the development of
communication and social skills.
 What happens in the first years of life is directly related to
children’s long-term cognitive, emotional, and social
outcomes through adulthood.

6. Stages of Development

7. Prenatal Development
 From beginning as a one-cell structure to
birth, prenatal development occurred in an orderly
and delicate sequence.
 There are three stages of prenatal development:
germinal, embryonic, and fetal. Let’s take a look at
what happens to the developing baby in each of
these stages.

8. Germinal Stage (Week 1-2)
 A mother and father’s DNA is passed on to the child at the moment
of conception.
 Conception occurs when sperm fertilizes an egg and forms a
zygote.
 A zygote begins as a one-cell structure that is created when a
sperm and egg merge.
 The genetic makeup and sex of the baby are set at this point.

9. Germinal Stage (Week 1-2)
 During the first week after conception, the zygote divides and
multiplies, going from a one-cell structure to two cells, then four
cells, then eight cells, and so on. This process of cell division is
called mitosis.
 Mitosis is a fragile process, and fewer than one-half of all zygotes
survive beyond the first two weeks (Hall, 2004).
 After 5 days of mitosis there are 100 cells, and after 9 months
there are billions of cells. As the cells divide, they become more
specialized, forming different organs and body parts.
 In the germinal stage, the mass of cells has yet to attach itself to
the lining of the mother’s uterus. Once it does, the next stage
begins.

10. Embryonic Stage (Week 3-8)
 After the zygote divides for about 7–10 days and has 150
cells, it travels down the fallopian tubes and implants itself
in the lining of the uterus.
 Upon implantation, this multi-cellular organism is called
an embryo. Now blood vessels grow, forming the placenta.
 The placenta is a structure connected to the uterus that
provides nourishment and oxygen from the mother to the
developing embryo via the umbilical cord.

11. Embryonic Stage (Week 3-8)
 Basic structures of the embryo start to develop into areas
that will become the head, chest, and abdomen.
 During the embryonic stage, the heart begins to beat and
organs form and begin to function.
 The neural tube forms along the back of the embryo,
developing into the spinal cord and brain.

12. Fetal Stage (Weeks 9–40)
 When the organism is about nine weeks old, the embryo is
called a fetus.
 At this stage, the fetus is about the size of a kidney bean and
begins to take on the recognizable form of a human being as
the “tail” begins to disappear.
 From 9–12 weeks, the sex organs begin to differentiate. At
about 16 weeks, the fetus is approximately 4.5 inches long.
 Fingers and toes are fully developed, and fingerprints are
visible. By the time the fetus reaches the sixth month of
development (24 weeks), it weighs up to 1.4 pounds.

13. Fetal Stage (Weeks 9–40)
 Hearing has developed, so the fetus can respond to sounds.
 The internal organs, such as the lungs, heart, stomach, and
intestines, have formed enough that a fetus born prematurely
at this point has a chance to survive outside of the mother’s
womb.
 Throughout the fetal stage the brain continues to grow and
develop, nearly doubling in size from weeks 16 to 28.
 Around 36 weeks, the fetus is almost ready for birth. It
weighs about 6 pounds and is about 18.5 inches long, and by
week 37 all of the fetus’s organ systems are developed
enough that it could survive outside the mother’s uterus
without many of the risks associated with premature birth.

15. Prenatal Influences
 During each prenatal stage, genetic and environmental
factors can affect development.
 The developing fetus is completely dependent on the mother
for life.
 It is important that the mother takes good care of herself and
receives prenatal care, which is medical care during
pregnancy that monitors the health of both the mother and
the fetus.
 Anything the mother is exposed to in the environment affects
the fetus; if the mother is exposed to something harmful, the
child can show life-long effects.

16. Week-2
Postnatal Development

17. Postnatal Development
 It would seem obvious to say that development does not stop
at birth. In fact many systems (cardiovascular, respiratory,
gastrointestinal, homeostasis) undergo significant changes at
birth, and many others (neural) have not yet completed their
development.
 Postnatal development can be broadly divided into the age
categories of: Neonatal (birth to 1 month), Infancy (1 month
to 2 years), Childhood (2 years to puberty), Puberty (12 years
to mid-teens) and Young Adult a new category (late teens to
early twenties).

18. Infancy through Childhood
 The average newborn weighs approximately 7.5 pounds.
Although small, a newborn is not completely helpless because
his reflexes and sensory capacities help him interact with the
environment from the moment of birth.
 All healthy babies are born with newborn reflexes: inborn
automatic responses to particular forms of stimulation.
Reflexes help the newborn survive until it is capable of more
complex behaviors—these reflexes are crucial to survival.
 They are present in babies whose brains are developing
normally and usually disappear around 4–5 months old.

19. Infancy through Childhood
 The rooting reflex is the newborn’s response to anything that
touches her cheek: When you stroke a baby’s cheek, she
naturally turns her head in that direction and begins to suck.
The sucking reflex is the automatic & unlearned.
 For instance, if you put your finger into a newborn’s hand,
you will witness the grasping reflex, in which a baby
automatically grasps anything that touches his palms.
 The Moro reflex is the newborn’s response when she feels like
she is falling. The baby spreads her arms, pulls them back in,
and then (usually) cries.

20. Physical Development
 In infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood, the body’s
physical development is rapid. On average, newborns weigh
between 5 and 10 pounds, and a newborn’s weight typically
doubles in six months and triples in one year.
 By 2 years old the weight will have quadrupled, so we can
expect that a 2 year old should weigh between 20 and 40
pounds.
 The average length of a newborn is 19.5 inches, increasing to
29.5 inches by 12 months and 34.4 inches by 2 years old.

21. Physical Development
 During infancy and childhood, growth does not occur at a
steady rate.
 Growth slows between 4 and 6 years old: During this time
children gain 5–7 pounds and grow about 2–3 inches per year.
 Once girls reach 8–9 years old, their growth rate outpaces that
of boys due to a pubertal growth spurt.
 This growth spurt continues until around 12 years old,
coinciding with the start of the menstrual cycle.
 By 10 years old, the average girl weighs 88 pounds, and the
average boy weighs 85 pounds.

22. Age Physical Personal/Social Language Cognitive
2
Kicks a ball; walks up
and down stairs
Plays alongside other
children; copies adults
Points to objects when
named; puts 2–4 words
together in a sentence
Sorts shapes and colors;
follows 2-step instructions
3
Climbs and runs; pedals
tricycle
Takes turns; expresses
many emotions;
dresses self
Names familiar things; uses
pronouns
Plays make believe; works
toys with parts (levers,
handles)
4
Catches balls; uses
scissors
Prefers social play to
solo play; knows likes
and interests
Knows songs and rhymes by
memory
Names colors and numbers;
begins writing letters
5
Hops and swings; uses
fork and spoon
Distinguishes real from
pretend; likes to please
friends
Speaks clearly; uses full
sentences
Counts to 10 or higher;
prints some letters and
copies basic shapes

23. Attachment
 Psychosocial development occurs as children form
relationships, interact with others, and understand and
manage their feelings.
 In social and emotional development, forming healthy
attachments is very important and is the major social
milestone of infancy.
 Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with
others.

24. Self Concept
 Just as attachment is the main psychosocial milestone of
infancy, the primary psychosocial milestone of childhood is
the development of a positive sense of self.
 How does self-awareness develop? Infants don’t have a self-
concept, which is an understanding of who they are.
 If you place a baby in front of a mirror, she will reach out to
touch her image, thinking it is another baby.
 However, by about 18 months a toddler will recognize that
the person in the mirror is herself.

25. Week-3
Adolescence

26. Adolescence
 Adolescence is a socially constructed concept.
 In pre-industrial society, children were considered adults
when they reached physical maturity.
 Adolescence is the period of development that begins at
puberty and ends at emerging adulthood.
 In the United States, adolescence is seen as a time to develop
independence from parents while remaining connected to
them.
 The typical age range of adolescence is from 12 to 18 years,
and this stage of development also has some predictable
physical, cognitive, and psychosocial milestones.

27. Physical Development
 Adolescence begins with puberty, the sequence of physical
changes in puberty is predictable, the onset and pace of puberty
vary widely.
 Several physical changes occur during puberty, such
as adrenarche and gonadarche, the maturing of the adrenal
glands and sex glands, respectively.
 Primary sexual characteristics are organs specifically needed for
reproduction, like the uterus and ovaries in females and testes
in males.
 Secondary sexual characteristics are physical signs of sexual
maturation that do not directly involve sex organs, such as
development of breasts and hips in girls, and development of
facial hair and a deepened voice in boys.

28. Physical Development
 Girls experience menarche, the beginning of menstrual periods,
usually around 12–13 years old, and boys
experience spermarche, the first ejaculation, around 13–14
years old.
 During puberty, both sexes experience a rapid increase in height
(i.e., growth spurt).
 For girls this begins between 8 and 13 years old, with adult
height reached between 10 and 16 years old.
 Boys begin their growth slightly later, usually between 10 and 16
years old, and reach their adult height between 13 and 17 years
old.
 Both nature (i.e., genes) and nurture (e.g., nutrition,
medications, and medical conditions) can influence height.

29. Physical Development
 Because rates of physical development vary so widely among
teenagers, puberty can be a source of pride or embarrassment.
 Early maturing boys tend to be stronger, taller, and more athletic
than their later maturing peers. They are usually more popular,
confident, and independent, but they are also at a greater risk for
substance abuse and early sexual activity.
 Early maturing girls may be teased or overtly admired, which can
cause them to feel self-conscious about their developing bodies.
These girls are at a higher risk for depression, substance abuse,
and eating disorders.
 Late blooming boys and girls (i.e., they develop more slowly than
their peers) may feel self-conscious about their lack of physical
development. Negative feelings are particularly a problem for late
maturing boys, who are at a higher risk for depression and
conflict with parents and more likely to be bullied.

30. Physical Development
 The adolescent brain also remains under development. Up
until puberty, brain cells continue to bloom in the frontal
region.
 Adolescents engage in increased risk-taking behaviours
and emotional outbursts possibly because the frontal
lobes of their brains are still developing.
 Recall that this area is responsible for judgment, impulse
control, and planning, and it is still maturing into early
adulthood.

31. Cognitive Development
 More complex thinking abilities emerge during adolescence.
Some researchers suggest this is due to increases in processing
speed and efficiency rather than as the result of an increase in
mental capacity, in other words, due to improvements in
existing skills rather than development of new ones.
 During adolescence, teenagers move beyond concrete thinking
and become capable of abstract thought. Recall that Piaget
refers to this stage as formal operational thought. Teen thinking
is also characterized by the ability to consider multiple points of
view, imagine hypothetical situations, debate ideas and opinions
(e.g., politics, religion, and justice), and form new ideas.
 In addition, it’s not uncommon for adolescents to question
authority or challenge established societal norms.

32. Cognitive Development
 Cognitive empathy begins to increase in adolescence and is an
important component of social problem solving and conflict
avoidance.
 According to one longitudinal study, levels of cognitive empathy
begin rising in girls around 13 years old, and around 15 years
old in boys. Teens who reported having supportive fathers with
whom they could discuss their worries were found to be better
able to take the perspective of others.
 Teenage thinking is characterized by the ability to reason
logically and solve hypothetical problems such as how to design,
plan, and build a structure.

33. Psychosocial Development
 Adolescents continue to refine their sense of self as they
relate to others.
 Erikson referred to the task of the adolescent as one of
identity versus role confusion. Thus, in Erikson’s view, an
adolescent’s main questions are “Who am I?” and “Who do
I want to be?”
 Some adolescents adopt the values and roles that their
parents expect for them. Other teens develop identities
that are in opposition to their parents but align with a peer
group.
 This is common as peer relationships become a central
focus in adolescents’ lives.

34. Psychosocial Development
 As adolescents work to form their identities, they pull
away from their parents, and the peer group becomes
very important.
 Despite spending less time with their parents, most teens
report positive feelings toward them.
 Warm and healthy parent-child relationships have been
associated with positive child outcomes, such as better
grades and fewer school behavior problems, in the United
States as well as in other countries.
 Most conflicts occurred over day-to-day issues such as
homework, money, curfews, clothing, chores, and friends.
These types of arguments tend to decrease as teens
develop.

35. Emerging Adulthood
 This is a relatively newly defined period of lifespan
development spanning from 18 years old to the mid-20s,
characterized as an in-between time where identity exploration
is focused on work and love.
 When does a person become an adult? There are many ways to
answer this question. In Pakistan, you are legally considered an
adult at 18 years old.
 But other definitions of adulthood vary widely; in sociology, for
example, a person may be considered an adult when she
becomes self-supporting, chooses a career, gets married, or
starts a family.
 Adulthood varies from culture to culture and throughout the
history, developing and developed countries etc.

36. Adulthood
 Adulthood begins around 20 years old and has three distinct
stages: early, middle, and late. Each stage brings its own set of
rewards and challenges.
 By the time we reach early adulthood (20 to early 40s), our
physical maturation is complete, although our height and
weight may increase slightly. In young adulthood, our physical
abilities are at their peak, including muscle strength, reaction
time, sensory abilities, and cardiac functioning.
 Middle adulthood extends from the 40s to the 60s. Physical
decline is gradual. The skin loses some elasticity, and wrinkles
are among the first signs of aging. Women experience a gradual
decline in fertility as they approach the onset of menopause.

37. Adulthood
 Late adulthood is considered to extend from the 60s on.
This is the last stage of physical change.
 The skin continues to lose elasticity, reaction time slows
further, and muscle strength diminishes.
 Smell, taste, hearing, and vision, so sharp in our twenties,
decline significantly.
 The brain may also no longer function at optimal levels,
leading to problems like memory loss, dementia, and
Alzheimer’s disease in later years.

38. Cognitive Development
 Because we spend so many years in adulthood (more than
any other stage), cognitive changes are numerous.
 In fact, research suggests that adult cognitive development
is a complex, ever changing process that may be even more
active than cognitive development in infancy and early
childhood (Fischer, Yan, & Stewart, 2003).
 Unlike our physical abilities, which peak in our mid-20s and
then begin a slow decline, our cognitive abilities remain
steady throughout early and middle adulthood.
 Our crystalized intelligence (information, skills, and
strategies we have gathered through a lifetime of
experience) tends to hold steady as we age—it may even
improve.

39. Cognitive Development
 However, in late adulthood we begin to experience a
decline in another area of our cognitive abilities—fluid
intelligence (information processing abilities, reasoning,
and memory). These processes become slower.
 How can we delay the onset of cognitive decline? Mental
and physical activity seems to play a part.
 Research has found adults who engage in mentally and
physically stimulating activities experience less cognitive
decline and have a reduced incidence of mild cognitive
impairment and dementia

40. Psychosocial Development
 There are many theories about the social and emotional
aspects of aging. Some aspects of healthy aging include
activities, social connectedness, and the role of a person’s
culture.
 According to many theorists, we need to have and continue to
find meaning throughout our lives. For those in early and
middle adulthood, meaning is found through work and family
life. Adults tend to define themselves by what they do their
careers.
 Earnings peak during this time, yet job satisfaction is more
closely tied to work that involves contact with other people, is
interesting, provides opportunities for advancement, and
allows some independence than it is to salary.

41. Psychosocial Development
 Positive relationships with significant others in our adult years
have been found to contribute to a state of well-being.
 Most adults in the United States identify themselves through
their relationships with family particularly with spouses,
children, and parents.
 While raising children can be stressful, especially when they are
young, research suggests that parents reap the rewards down the
road, as adult children tend to have a positive effect on parental
well-being.
 Having a stable marriage has also been found to contribute to
well-being throughout adulthood.
 Another aspect of positive aging is believed to be social
connectedness and social support.

42. Week-4
Theories of Personality
Development

43. Looking Glass-Self
 The term looking glass self was created by American
sociologist Charles Horton Cooley in 1902, and introduced
into his work Human Nature and the Social Order.
 It is described as our reflection of how we think we appear
to others.
 To further explain would be how oneself imagines how
others view him/her.
 An example would be one's mother would view their child
as flawless, while another person would think differently.

44. Looking Glass-Self

45. Looking Glass-Self
 Cooley takes into account three steps when using "the
looking glass self".
 Step one is how one imagines one looks to other
people.
 Step two is how one imagines the judgment of others
based on how one thinks they view them.
 Step three is how one thinks of how the person views
them based on their previous judgments.

46. Looking Glass-Self
 According to Lisa McIntyre’s, the concept of the looking-
glass self expresses the tendency for one to understand
oneself through the perception which others may hold of
them.
 Essentially, how one views oneself and acts heavily
depends on what the individual believes other people think
of the individual.
 This process is theorized to develop one's sense of identity.
 Therefore identity, or self, is the result of learning to see
ourselves through what we perceive to be the perceptions
of others.

47. Looking Glass-Self
 The looking-glass self comprises three main components
that are unique to humans (Shaffer 2005).
 We imagine how we must appear to others in a social
situation.
 We imagine and react to what we feel their judgment of
that appearance must be.
 We develop our sense of self and respond through this
perceived judgment of others.

48. Looking Glass-Self
 The result is that individuals will change their
behaviour based on what they feel other people think
about them, even if not necessarily true.
 In this way, social interaction acts as a "mirror" or a
"looking-glass," since one's sense of self and self esteem
is built off of others.
 In hypothesizing the framework, "the mind is mental"
because "the human mind is social".

49. Looking Glass-Self
 From the time they are born, humans define themselves
within the context of their social interactions.
 The child learns that the symbol of his/her crying will elicit
a response from his/her caregivers, not only when they are
in need of necessities such as food or a diaper change, but
also when the child is in need of attention.
 Cooley best explains this interaction noting that "a growing
solidarity between mother and child parallels the child's
increasing competence in using significant symbols.

50. Looking Glass-Self
 Today multiple forms of social media offer all different
"mirrors" in which individuals present themselves,
perceive judgements of others based on likes, follows,
etc., and further develop their sense of self.
 Indeed, as cyberpsychologist Mary Aiken, PhD. explains,
social media has created a concept named the "cyber self,"
a version one wishes to portray online and to the public to
others and based on the judgements of others.
 Unlike the real self, different forms of media allow
judgements to be clearly posted, so in many cases,
judgements may not even need to be imagined. Aiken
explains this concept best, noting that "selfies ask a
question of their audience: Like me like this?"

51. Looking Glass-Self
 Far different from face-to-face interactions, social media
is intended to be accessible and public at all times.
 This means social media users are constantly exposed to
criticism and judgement from others.
 Additionally, given the nature of social media, being a
platform to share certain aspects of an individual's life at
any time and in any means possible, the cyber self can be
very easily changed and perfected to fit the supposed
acceptance of others.

52. Mead’s Generalized Other
 George Herbert Mead (February 27, 1863 – April 26,
1931) was an American philosopher, sociologist and
psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of
Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished
pragmatists.
 He is regarded as one of the founders of symbolic
interactionism and of what has come to be referred to as
the Chicago sociological tradition.

57. Week-5
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual
Theory

58. Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
 He proposed that the behaviour and development of a
person are influenced by the interaction between the
conscious and unconscious aspects of that person’s mind.
 There are three components of the psychic apparatus
function on different levels of consciousness, and they
interact with each other to generate behaviour.
 Id, Ego and Superego

59. Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
 The Id is present at birth and represents everything that we
inherit from our parents. It comprises our needs that require
constant fulfillment and operates on the pleasure principle, as
well as the need for immediate gratification, without regard for
consequences or realities.
 The Ego develops as a result of our attempts to satisfy our needs
through interactions with our physical and social environment. In
other words, it arises from the Id. The Ego attempts to fulfill the
Id’s desire by serving as a negotiator that strives for a compromise
between what the Id wants and what the outside world can grant
it. The Ego is also a decision-maker that operates on the reality
principle, evaluating conditions of the real world which may or
may not satisfy the Id’s demands and seeking acceptable methods
of fulfilling the Id’s wishes.

60. Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
 The Superego arises from the Ego and develops as an internal
representation of the moral values of the environment. The
Superego judges what we should morally do or not do, and
guides us about the should and should nots of our lives. It
rewards us with pride and positive feelings upon doing good, and
punishes us with feelings of guilt, shame or fear for not abiding
by values that we have set for ourselves. According to him,
children develop as a consequence of the ways through which
the Ego negotiates a compromise among:
 the Id and the Id’s insistence on immediate gratification of
wishes,
 the environment which imposes limits on the conditions under
which wishes can be fulfilled and
 the Superego, which puts pressure on the individual to abide by
a set of moral values.

62. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive
development
 Suggests that children move through four different stages
of mental development. His theory focuses not only on
understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also
on understanding the nature of intelligence. Piaget's
stages are:
 Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
 Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
 Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
 Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up

63. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive
development
 Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning
process, acting much like little scientists as they perform
experiments, make observations, and learn about the world.
 As kids interact with the world around them, they continually
add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt
previously held ideas to accommodate new information.
 Piaget was born in Switzerland in the late 1800s and was a
precocious student, publishing his first scientific paper when he
was just 11 years old. His early exposure to the intellectual
development of children came when he worked as an assistant
to Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon as they worked to
standardize their famous IQ test.

64. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive
development
 Up until this point in history, children were largely treated
simply as smaller versions of adults. Piaget was one of the first
to identify that the way that children think is different from
the way adults think.
 Instead, he proposed, intelligence is something that grows and
develops through a series of stages. Older children do not just
think more quickly than younger children, he suggested.
 Instead, there are both qualitative and quantitative differences
between the thinking of young children versus older children.
Based on his observations, he concluded that children were not
less intelligent than adults, they simply think differently.
 Cognitive development involves changes in cognitive process
and abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive development
involves processes based upon actions and later progresses to
changes in mental operations.

65. The Sensorimotor Stage (Ages: Birth to 2 Years)
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
 The infant knows the world through their movements and
sensations
 Children learn about the world through basic actions such
as sucking, grasping, looking, and listening
 Infants learn that things continue to exist even though
they cannot be seen (object permanence)
 They are separate beings from the people and objects
around them
 They realize that their actions can cause things to
happen in the world around them

66. The Preoperational Stage Ages: 2 to 7 Years
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
 Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use
words and pictures to represent objects.
 Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and struggle
to see things from the perspective of others.
 While they are getting better with language and thinking,
they still tend to think about things in very concrete
terms.
 The foundations of language development may have been
laid during the previous stage, but it is the emergence of
language that is one of the major hallmarks of the
preoperational stage of development.

67. The Concrete Operational Stage Ages: 7 to 11 Years
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes
 During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about
concrete events
 They begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the
amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall,
skinny glass, for example
 Their thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still
very concrete
 Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific
information to a general principle
 While children are still very concrete and literal in their
thinking at this point in development, they become much more
adept at using logic. The egocentrism of the previous stage
begins to disappear as kids become better at thinking about
how other people might view a situation.

68. The Formal Operational Stage Ages: 12 and Up
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
 At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think
abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems
 Abstract thought emerges
 Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical,
social, and political issues that require theoretical and abstract
reasoning
 Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general
principle to specific information
 The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic,
the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of
abstract ideas. At this point, people become capable of seeing
multiple potential solutions to problems and think more
scientifically about the world around them.

69. Important Concepts
 Schemas
 A schema describes both the mental and physical actions
involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are
categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and
understand the world.
 In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of
knowledge and the process of obtaining that knowledge.
As experiences happen, this new information is used to
modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas.

70. Important Concepts
 Assimilation
 The process of taking in new information into our already
existing schemas is known as assimilation. The process is
somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences
and information slightly to fit in with our pre-existing beliefs.
In the example above, seeing a dog and labelling it "dog" is a
case of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.
 Accommodation
 Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our
existing schemas in light of new information, a process known
as accommodation. Accommodation involves modifying existing
schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new
experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this
process.

71. Important Concepts
 Equilibration
 Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance
between assimilation and accommodation, which is
achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration.
As children progress through the stages of cognitive
development, it is important to maintain a balance
between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and
changing behaviour to account for new knowledge
(accommodation). Equilibration helps explain how children
can move from one stage of thought to the next.

72. Assignment 2
Write 500 words on theory of cognitive development you
think most accurately reflects the cognition development

73. Week-8
Theory of Evolution

74. Theory of Evolution
 The theory of evolution by natural selection, first formulated
in Darwin's book "On the Origin of Species" in 1859, is the
process by which organisms change over time as a result of
changes in heritable physical or behavioral traits. Changes
that allow an organism to better adapt to its environment
will help it survive and have more offspring.
 Evolution by natural selection is one of the best
substantiated theories in the history of science, supported
by evidence from a wide variety of scientific disciplines,
including paleontology, geology, genetics and developmental
biology.

75. Theory of Evolution
 The theory has two main points, "All life on Earth is
connected and related to each other," and this diversity of
life is a product of "modifications of populations by natural
selection, where some traits were favored in and
environment over others".
 The theory is sometimes described as "survival of the
fittest," but that can be misleading. Here, "fitness" refers not
to an organism's strength or athletic ability, but rather the
ability to survive and reproduce.

77. Theory of Evolution

78. Natural Selection
 To understand the origin of whales, it's necessary to have a
basic understanding of how natural selection works.
 Natural selection can change a species in small ways, causing
a population to change color or size over the course of
several generations. This is called "microevolution." But
natural selection is also capable of much more.
 Given enough time and enough accumulated changes, natural
selection can create entirely new species, known as
"macroevolution." It can turn dinosaurs into birds, amphibious
mammals into whales and the ancestors of apes into humans.

79. Week-9
Social Interaction Theory

80. Social Interaction Theory
 In sociology, social interaction is a dynamic, changing
sequence of social actions between individuals or groups
which review the four types of social interactions:
accidental, repeated, regular, and regulated.
 A social interaction is an exchange between two or more
individuals and is a building block of society.
 Social interaction can be studied between groups of two
(dyads), three (triads) or larger social groups.

81. Social Interaction Theory
 By interacting with one another, people design rules,
institutions and systems within which they seek to live.
 Symbols are used to communicate the expectations of a given
society to those new to it.
 In sociology, social interaction is a dynamic sequence of social
actions between individuals (or groups) who modify their
actions and reactions due to actions by their interaction
partner(s).
 Social interactions can be differentiated into accidental,
repeated, regular and regulated.

82. Social Interaction Theory
 Symbols are used to communicate the expectations of a given
society to those new to it, either children or outsiders.
 Through this broad schema of social development, one sees
how social interaction lies at its core.
 The empirical study of social interaction is one of the
subjects of micro sociology, which concerns the nature of
everyday human social interactions and agency on a small
scale.
 Methods include symbolic interactionism and
ethnomethodology, as well as later academic sub-divisions
and studies like psychosocial studies, conversational analysis
and human-computer interaction.

83. Social Interaction Theory
 With symbolic interactionism, reality is seen as socially
developed through interaction with others.
 It argues that both individuals and society cannot be
separated far from each other for two reasons.
 One being that they are both created through social
interaction, and the second reason is they cannot be
understood in terms without the other.
 Ethnomethodology, an offshoot of symbolic interactionism,
which questions how people’s interactions can create the
illusion of a shared social order despite not understanding
each other fully and having differing perspectives.

84. Social Interaction Theory
 Dramaturgy is a sociological concept developed by Erving
Goffman that uses the metaphor of theater to explain human
behavior.
 Dramaturgy is a sociological perspective that is a component
of symbolic interactionism and is used in sociological analysis
of everyday life.
 Developed by American sociologist Erving Goffman in his
seminal 1959 text The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,
 According to this perspective, individuals perform actions in
everyday life as if they were performers on a stage.

85. Social Interaction Theory
 Identity is performed through roles. Here, the term “role”
works in two ways, referencing both the name for a
theatrical character and the ways in which individuals fill
roles in reality by acting as a mother, friend, husband, etc.
 Dramaturgy argues that the presentation of oneself through
role is a way of engaging with society. Explain how people
use dramaturgy to influence other’s opinion and perspective
of them, specifically through impression management and
the “two-way street” concept.
 All identities and behaviors are dependent upon the
audience to whom one performs.

86. Social Interaction Theory
 Everyone seeks to control others’ impressions of themselves.
This is called impression management.
 Dramaturgy emphasizes the dual evaluative work that is
undertaken by both the performer and the audience, thus
demonstrating the inseparable link between performer and
audience, individual and society.
 Front stage behaviors are those that are visible to the
audience, while back stage behaviors are those to which the
audience does not have access.

87. Social Interaction Theory
 Impression Management: In sociology and social psychology,
impression management is a goal-directed conscious or
unconscious process in which people attempt to influence
the perceptions of other people about a person, object or
event; they do so by regulating and controlling information
in social interaction.

88. Social Interaction Theory
 Roles and Status: Roles are patterns of behavior expected of a
person who occupies particular social status or position in society.
Currently, while reading this text, you are playing the role of a
student. However, you also play other roles in your life, such as
“daughter,” “neighbor,” or “employee.”
 These various roles are each associated with a different status.
Sociologists use the term status to describe the access to
resources and benefits a person experiences according to the rank
or prestige of his or her role in society. Some statuses are
ascribed—those you do not select, such as son, elderly person, or
female. Others, called achieved statuses, are obtained by personal
effort or choice, such as a high school dropout, self-made
millionaire, or nurse. As a daughter or son, you occupy a different
status than as a neighbor or employee.

89. Week-12
Social Constructionism

90. Social Constructionism
 Social constructionism is a theory of knowledge in sociology
and communication theory that examines the development of
jointly-constructed understandings of the world that form
the basis for shared assumptions about reality.
 The theory centers on the notion that meanings are
developed in coordination with others rather than separately
within each individual.
 Social constructionism questions what is defined by humans
and society to be reality.

91. Social Constructionism
 Therefore, social constructs can be different based on the
society and the events surrounding the time period in which
they exist.
 An example of a social construct is money or the concept of
currency, as people in society have agreed to give it
importance/value and concept of self/self-identity.
 Charles Cooley stated based on his looking-glass self theory: "I
am not who you think I am; I am not who I think I am; I am who
I think you think I am."
 This demonstrates how people in society construct ideas or
concepts that may not exist without the existence of people or
language to validate those concepts.

92. Social Constructionism
 There are weak and strong social constructs.
 Weak social constructs rely on brute facts (which are
fundamental facts that are difficult to explain or
understand, such as quarks) or institutional facts (which are
formed from social conventions).
 Strong social constructs rely on the human perspective and
knowledge that does not just exist, but is rather constructed
by society.

93. Social Constructionism
 In terms of background, social constructionism is rooted in
"symbolic interactionism" and "phenomenology."
 With Berger and Luckmann's The Social Construction of Reality
published in 1966, that people "make their social and cultural
worlds at the same time these worlds make them."
 It is a viewpoint that uproots social processes "simultaneously
playful and serious, by which reality is both, revealed and
concealed, created and destroyed by our activities."

94. Social Constructionism
 In social constructionist terms, "taken-for-granted realities"
are cultivated from "interactions between and among social
agents;" furthermore, reality is not some objective truth
"waiting to be uncovered through positivist scientific
inquiry."
 Rather, there can be "multiple realities that compete for
truth and legitimacy."

95. Social Constructionism
 Social constructionism understands the "fundamental role
of language and communication" and this understanding
has "contributed to the linguistic turn" and more recently
the "turn to discourse theory."
 The majority of social constructionists abide by the belief
that "language does not mirror reality; rather, it
constitutes [creates] it."

96. Assignment 2
Describe the human evolution with multiple
theoretical assumptions.
500-600 words in your own handwriting

97. Week-13
Motherhood: Psychological factors
associated with pregnancy, labor and birth

98. Motherhood
 The ‘ordinary miracle’ of pregnancy and birth is a time of
enormous physiological, social and psychological change for
women.
 How a woman and her significant others adapt to the changes
in this period can influence the woman’s adjustment and her
chance of developing mental health difficulties.
 This matters for the woman, but it also matters for her baby
and for the beginnings of their relationship.

99. Motherhood
 The transition to motherhood begins antenatal and is
influenced by an array of factors, such as the life
circumstances of the parents, the social environment, and the
circumstances of conception.
 It is also influenced by the level of support provided by the
woman’s partner and family, as well as the physical health of
the mother and her unborn baby.
 The mother’s experiences within her family of origin, her past
or current mental health issues and any current or unresolved
conflict, loss or trauma can also affect, and sometimes
disrupt, this transition

100. Motherhood
 During the nine months of pregnancy, the mother begins to
imagine the baby she is carrying.
 Brazelton and Cramer (1990) described pregnancy as the
dawning of attachment, a period of rehearsal and anticipation.
 The mother must also adjust to the changes to her identity,
body, relationships and career, as well as prepare for birth,
and begin to reconcile the sacrifices associated with becoming
a mother.

101. Motherhood
 Previous pregnancy loss can alter the psychological
adjustment to pregnancy.
 Pregnancy loss can take many forms, such as miscarriage and
stillbirth, termination, infants born with a disability,
prolonged infertility as well as adoption or the removal of a
baby.
 Women may present with heightened anxiety, anger, guilt or
shame.

102. The first trimester – adjusting to the idea of
pregnancy
 The first trimester of pregnancy is the period between
conception up until 12-weeks’ gestation.
 It is a period of marked hormonal and physiological changes,
but in the absence of obvious external signs of pregnancy.
 In this period, women are most likely to experience fatigue
and nausea which can cloud or intensify emotional responses.
 For a woman with constant nausea and vomiting, it can be
difficult to feel excited about the pregnancy, and may even
intensify ambivalence and questions about continuing the
pregnancy.

103. The second trimester – the fetus is
experienced as separate to the mother
 During this phase, the mother feels the baby move for the
first time, and the mother may feel more physically
comfortable and continues to imagine her baby.
 Stern (1995) noted that generally between the fourth and
seventh months of gestation, imaginings about the baby
intensify, are elaborated, and peak around the seventh
month.
 He noted that between the seventh and ninth month, the
specificity of these imaginings reduces, and this slight
disorganization creates room for the mother to connect with
the ‘real’ baby, as distinct from the baby of her imagination

104. Third trimester – preparing for the arrival
 In the final months of pregnancy, women typically begin to
prepare for the arrival of the baby and shift their attention
to the birth, which can evoke intense anxiety.
 Women are encouraged to consider the practical aspects of
delivery and pain-relief options.
 During this stage, anxieties about something going wrong
with the birth and/or their baby may re-emerge.

105. Labor and birth
 It is impossible to capture the range of experiences and
reactions that women and their partners can have to the birth
of their baby.
 Parental attributions and experiences during labor and birth
contribute to the relationship with the baby, and can shape
the meaning of what the baby represents for its particular
family.
 A difficult or traumatic birth can leave a mother emotionally
and physically exhausted. This can sometimes result in a
cascade of difficulties with feeding, settling and other mother-
infant relationship difficulties.

106. Attachment issues in transition to
motherhood
 As parents begin to contemplate their relationship with the
baby, both during pregnancy and later with their newborn,
their own attachment (or relationship) history, usually within
their family of origin, comes to the fore.
 During this period, relationship issues can be powerfully
reactivated, potentially reworked and transmitted
intergenerational from the mother to her infant.
 The capacity of the mother to respond sensitively to her baby
is at the heart of secure infant attachment. It is well
understood that maternal mental health issues can
compromise the mother-infant relationship.

107. Reactivation and reworking of
attachment
 The mother’s attachment status shapes the way she organizes
her thoughts, feelings and memories of herself and others in
relationship with her.
 These are Bowlby’s internal working models. Pregnancy and
birth can be a period of intense reorganization of identity,
leading to reflections on the way the woman herself was
parented.
 Old attachments can be reactivated as parents consider the
relationships they wish to repeat or transform (Stern, 1991).

108. Allocation of Final Project Topics

109. Week-14
Perception of Self

110. The Concept of Self
 The term self-concept is a general term used to refer to how
someone thinks about, evaluates or perceives themselves.
 To be aware of oneself is to have a concept of oneself.
Baumeister (1999) provides the following self-concept
definition:
 "The individual's belief about himself or herself, including
the person's attributes and who and what the self is".
 The self-concept is an important term for both social and
humanistic psychology.

111. Assignment -3
Stereotypes reflecting different psyche of
individuals
300 words in your own handwriting