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Developmental  Psychology  

Infancy  and  Childhood  

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Infancy  and  Childhood Infancy and childhood span from birth to the teenage years. During these years, the individual grows physically, cognitively, and socially.

Stage Span

Infancy Newborn  to  toddler

Childhood Toddler  to  teenager

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Physical  Development Infants’ psychological development depends on their biological development. To understand the emergence of motor skills and memory, we must understand the developing brain.

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How  do  brain  and  motor  skills  develop?  

Good  News  •  While  in  the  womb,  you  produce  almost  ¼  million  brain  cells  per  minute.  

Bad  News  •  That  is  basically  all  you  are  ever  going  to  develop.  

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Developing  Brain The developing brain overproduces neurons. Peaking around 28 billion at 7 months, these neurons are pruned to 23 billion at birth. The greatest neuronal spurt is in the frontal lobe enabling the individual to think rationally.

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Maturation The development of the brain unfolds based on genetic instructions, causing various bodily and mental functions to occur in sequence— standing before walking, babbling before talking—this is called maturation.

Maturation sets the basic course of development, while experience adjusts it.

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MaturaKon  •  Biological  growth  processes  that  enable  orderly  changes  in  behavior,  relaKvely  uninfluenced  by  experience.  

•  To  a  certain  extent  we  all  maturate  similarly,  but  the  Kme  can  vary  depending  on  the  person.  

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Motor  Development  

•  Sequence  is  the  same-­‐  but  once  again  Kming  varies.  

•  First  learn  to  roll  over,  sit  up  unsupported,  crawl,  walk  etc…  

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Motor  Development First, infants begin to roll over. Next, they sit unsupported, crawl, and finally walk. Experience has little effect on this sequence.

Renee  Altier  for  W

orth  Publishers

Jim  Craigm

yle/  Corbis

Phototake  Inc./  Alam

y  Images

Profimedia.C

Z  s.r.o./  Alam

y

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Walking  

•  Walking-­‐  in  US  25%  learn  by  11  months,  50%  within  a  week  of  1st  birthday,  90%  by  15  months.  

•  Varies  by  culture-­‐  if  the  culture  emphasizes  walking  then  babies  can  walk  at  younger  ages  (NURTURE).  

•  But  idenKcal  twins  tend  to  learn  to  walk  on  the  same  day  (NATURE).  

 

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Toilet  Training  •  NO  MATTER  WHAT,  THE  BABY  NEEDS  THE  PHYSICAL  MATURATION  TO  HOLD  HIS  OR  HER  BLADDER  OR  BOWEL  MOVEMENTS  BEFORE  TOILET  TRAINING.  

•  NO  TRAINING  WILL  WORK  IF  THE  CHILD  IS  NOT  PHYSICALLY  READY.  

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Maturation  and  Infant  Memory The earliest age of conscious memory is around 3½ years (Bauer, 2002). A 5-year-old has a sense of self and an increased long-term memory, thus organization of memory is different from 3-4 years.

Amy  Pedersen

Courtesy  of  C

arolyn  Rovee-­‐‑Collier

Stage Theorists •  These psychologists

believe that we travel from stage to stage throughout our lifetimes.

Cognitive Development •  It was thought that

kids were just stupid versions of adults.

•  Then came along Jean Piaget

•  Kids learn differently than adults

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Piaget’s  important  concepts  

•  Children  are  acKve  thinkers,  always  trying  to  make  sense  of  the  world.  

•  To  make  sense  of  the  world,  they  develop  schemas.  

•  Schema-­‐  a  concept  or  framework  that  organizes  and  interprets  informaKon.  

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Piaget’s  important  concepts  

•  Assimila+on-­‐  interpreKng  one’s  new  experiences  into  one’s  exisKng  schemas.  

• Accommodation- adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

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Cogni/on  

All  mental  ac+vi+es  associated  with  thinking,  knowing  and  

remembering.  

Schemas

•  Children view the world through schemas (as do adults for the most part).

•  Schemas are ways we interpret the world around us.

•  It is basically what you picture in your head when you think of anything.

Right  now  in  your  head,  picture  a  model.  

These  3  probably  fit  into  your  concept  (schema)  of  a  model.  

But  does  this  one?  

Assimilation •  Incorporating new

experiences into existing schemas.

If  I  teach  my  3  year  that  an  animal  with  4  legs  and  a  tail  is  a  dog….    

What  would  he  call  this?    

Or  this?  

What  schema  would  you  assimilate  this  into?  

Assimilation in High School •  When you first meet

somebody, you will assimilate them into a schema that you already have.

 

If  you  see  two  guys  dressed  like  this,  what  schema  would  you  assimilate  them  into?  • Would  you  always  be  right?  

Accommodation •  Changing an

existing schema to adopt to new information.

If  I  tell  someone  from  the  mid-­‐west  to  picture  their  schema  of  the  Bronx  they  may  talk  about  the  ghego  areas.  

But  if  I  showed  them  other  areas  of  the  Bronx,  they  would  be  forced  to  accommodate  (change)  their  schema  to  incorporate  their  new  informaKon.    

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Piaget’s  Stages  of  Cogni+ve  Development  

• Sensorimotor  • Preopera+onal  • Concrete  Opera+onal  • Formal  Opera+onal  

Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor Stage

•  Experience the world through our senses.

•  Do NOT have object permanence.

•  0-2

Click  Mom  to  see  a  baby  with  no  object  permanence.      

Preoperational Stage

•  2-7 •  Have object

permanence •  Begin to use language to

represent objects and ideas

•  Egocentric: cannot look at the world through anyone’s eyes but their own.

•  Do NOT understand concepts of conservation.

Click  the  boy  to  see  kids  with  egocentrism.  

Conservation •  Conservation refers

to the idea that a quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance and is part of logical thinking.

Click  the  boy  to  see  kids  trying  to  grasp  conservaKon.    

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Preopera/onal  Stage  

•  Children  in  the  preoperaKonal  stage  are  egocentric  (the  inability  to  take  on  another’s  point  of  view).  

 

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Egocentrism When asked to show her picture to mommy, 2-year-old Gabriella holds the picture facing her own eyes, believing that her mother can see it through her eyes.

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Theory  of  Mind Preschoolers, although still egocentric, develop the ability to understand another’s mental state when they begin forming a theory of mind. The problem on the right probes such ability in children.

Concrete Operational Stage •  Can demonstrate

concept of conservation.

•  Learn to think logically

Click  the  penguin  to  see  kids  try  to  grasp  concrete  logic.  

Formal Operational Stage •  What  would  the  world  look  like  with  no  light?  

•  Picture  god  •  What  way  do  you  best  learn?  

•  Abstract reasoning •  Manipulate objects

in our minds without seeing them

•  Hypothesis testing •  Trial and Error •  Metacognition •  Not every adult gets

to this stage

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Piaget’s  Theory  and  Current  Thinking

Criticisms of Piaget •  Some say he

underestimates the abilities of children.

•  Information-Processing Model says children to not learn in stages but rather a gradual continuous growth.

•  Studies show that our attention span grows gradually over time.

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Infancy  and  Childhood  

Social  Development  

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Social  Development Stranger anxiety is the fear of strangers that develops at around 8 months. This is the age at which infants form schemas for familiar faces and cannot assimilate a new face.

©  Christina  K

ennedy/  PhotoEdit

Social Development •  Up until about a year,

infants do not mind strange people (maybe because everyone is strange to them).

•  At about a year, infants develop stranger anxiety.

Attachment

•  The most important social construct an infant must develop is attachment (a bond with a caregiver).

•  Lorenz discovered that some animals form attachment through imprinting.

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A7achment  •  An  emo+onal  +e  with  another  person;  shown  in  young  children  by  their  seeking  closeness  to  the  caregiver  and  showing  distress  in  separa+on.  

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Factors  of  A7achment  

• Body  Contact  • Familiarity  • Responsive  Paren+ng  

Types of Attachment •  Mary  Ainsworth’s  Strange  Situa+on.  

•  Three  types  of  agachment:  

1. Secure  2. Avoidant  3. Anxious/ambivalent  

Click picture to see clip of Ainsworth’s experiment.

Attachment •  Harry Harlow and his

monkeys. •  Harry showed that

monkeys needed touch to form attachment.

Click the monkey to see a video of Harlow’s experiment.

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Harry  Harlow  and  his    

Discovered that monkeys preferred the soft body contact of a cloth mother, over the nourishment of a hard/wirily mother.

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Familiarity  

•  Agachments  based  on  familiarity  are  formed  during  our  cri+cal  periods.  

Critical Periods: the optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produce proper development.

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Origins  of  AOachment Like bodily contact, familiarity is another factor that causes attachment. In some animals (goslings), imprinting is the cause of attachment.

Alastair  M

iller

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Imprin/ng  

•  The  process  by  which  certain  animals  form  agachments  during  a  criKcal  period  very  early  in  life.   Do human’s imprint?

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Responsive  ParenKng  

Do  parents  play  a  part  in  your  agachment?  

• Mary Ainsworth Stranger Paradigm

• Van den Boom’s Research

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AOachment  Differences Placed in a strange situation, 60% of children express secure attachment, i.e., they explore their environment happily in the presence of their mothers. When their mother leave, they show distress.

The other 30% show insecure attachment. These children cling to their mothers or caregivers and are less likely to explore the environment.

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Dad’s  Mager  Too  

•  Dad’s  are  not  just  mobile  sperm  banks!!!!  

• Paternal separation puts children at increased risk for various psychological and social pathologies.

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Secure  AOachment Relaxed and attentive caregiving becomes the backbone of secure attachment.

Berry  Hew

leO

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Insecure  AOachment Harlow’s studies showed that monkeys experience great anxiety if their terry-cloth mother is removed.

Harlow

 Primate  Laboratory,  U

niversity  of  Wisconsin

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Secure  A7achment  Predicts  Social  Competence  

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Separation  Anxiety Separation anxiety peaks at 13 months of age, regardless of whether the children are home or sent to day care.

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AOachment  Differences:  Why? Why do these attachment differences exist?

Factor Explanation

Mother Both  rat  pups  and  human  infants  develop  secure  aOachments  if  the  mother  is  relaxed  and  aOentive.  

Father In  many  cultures  where  fathers  share  the  responsibility  of  raising  children,  similar  secure  aOachments  develop.

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Depriva/on  of  A7achment  

•  Oken  withdrawn,  frightened  and  in  extreme  cases  speechless.  

• Harlow’s monkeys would either cower in fright or act extremely aggressive. Many could not mate and if they could, the mothers were unresponsive parents.

• Is there a connection between crime and lack of childhood attachment?

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Deprivation  of  AOachment What happens when circumstances prevent a child from forming attachments?

In such circumstances children become:

1.  Withdrawn 2.  Frightened 3.  Unable to develop speech

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Prolonged  Deprivation If parental or caregiving support is deprived for an extended period of time, children are at risk for physical, psychological, and social problems, including alterations in brain serotonin levels.

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Daycare  

•  High  Quality  daycare  has  shown  no  detrimental  effects  on  children  over  the  age  of  two.  

• The studies go both ways for children under the age of two- no clear answer yet.

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Day  Care  and  AOachment Quality day care that consists of responsive adults interacting with children does not harm children’s thinking and language skills.

However, some studies suggest that extensive time in day care can increase aggressiveness and defiance in children.

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Self  -­‐  Concept  

•  A  sense  of  one’s  iden+ty  and  self-­‐worth.  

When does self-awareness start?

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Self-­‐‑Concept Emerges gradually around 6 months. Around 15-18 months, children can recognize themselves in the mirror. By 8-10 years, their self-image is stable.

Laura  Dwight

Social Development •  Up until about a year,

infants do not mind strange people (maybe because everyone is strange to them).

•  At about a year, infants develop stranger anxiety.

•  Why do you think it starts at about a year?

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Child-­‐‑Rearing  Practices

Practice Description

Authoritarian Parents  impose  rules  and  expect  obedience.

Permissive Parents  submit  to  children’s  demands.

Authoritative Parents  are  demanding  but  responsive  to  their  children.

Parenting Styles

•  Authoritarian Parents

•  Permissive Parents

•  Authoritative Parents

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Authoritative  Parenting Authoritative parenting correlates with social competence — other factors like common genes may lead to an easy-going temperament and may invoke an authoritative parenting style.

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Authorita+ve  Parents  

•  Parents  are  both  demanding  and  responsive.  

•  Exert  control  by  seMng  rules,  but  explain  reasoning  behind  the  rules.  

•  Encourage  open  discussion.  

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Permissive  Parents  

•  Parents  submit  to  their  children’s  desires,  make  few  demands  and  use  liNle  punishment.