Developmental Psychology The focus of developmental psychology is on age-related changes in behaviors throughout the life span Key development

nt issues include: o Nature versus nurture? To what extent are behaviors the result of experience or the result of biological processes such as maturation? o Stability versus change? To what extent are behaviors constant over the life span? Key Developmental Issues continued o Continuity versus stages? Continuity view suggests that change is uniform and gradual Stage theory suggests that change can be rapid with qualitatively different stages evident across the life span Prenatal development occurs in 3 stages: Ovulation to implantation: the ovum travels down the fallopian tube, is fertilized by a sperm, and is then implanted within the wall of the uterus Embryonic period: implantation to 8 weeks Fetal stage: 8 weeks to birth Prenatal Hazards Teratogens are environmental substances that can cause birth defects in the developing fetus o Maternal alcohol use leads to fetal alcohol syndrome (facial defects, low IQ,neurobehavioral defects) o Nicotine exposure leads to premature birth, low birth weight, and more fetal deaths o These drugs cross the placental barrier and impair fetal brain development Poor maternal nutrition can impair fetal development Drug use by father can damage sperm o Alcohol, opiates, cocaine, lead, and various gases are known to damage sperm Motor Milestones Early motor actions of the infant are limited to reflexes Myelination and further brain development allow for crawling and then walking Perceptual Abilities at Birth Infant vision is poor at birth (equivalent to 20/200 to 20/600) Functionality of other sensory systems: o Hearing is functional prior to birth o Smell is functional at birth o Touch and pain are functional at birth Infant perception can be inferred by changes in heart rate upon stimulus exposure or by changes in sucking rate Social-Emotional Development Attachment is defined as an active, intense, emotional relationship between 2 people that endures over time Attachment as contact comfort o Harlow found that infant monkeys preferred contact with terry cloth surface over access to food

Types of Attachment Ainsworth found 3 distinct categories of attachment evident in children in a strange situation: o Secure attachment: infant stays close to mother, shows moderate distress when separated, and is happy when mother returns o Avoidant: Infant does not seek contact with mother and does not cry when she leaves o Anxious/Ambivalent: infant is upset when mother leaves and angry when she returns Development of Attachment Behaviours Phase 1 (0-8 weeks): Indiscriminate social responsiveness. Phase 2 (2-7 months): Discriminate social responsiveness. The infant preferentially orientates to and signals at one or more discriminated person. Phase 3 (8mths - 2/3years): Focused attachment. The infant maintains proximity preferentially to a discriminated person by locomotion and signals. The infant becomes wary of strangers. Phase 4 (2/3 years+): The development of partnership and mutuality. A goalcorrected partnership forms. The child not only uses the mother as a resource but also begins to accommodate mothers needs. Phase 5 (School-age): Maintenance of proximity lessens and the relationship is now based on more abstract considerations such as affection, trust and approval. 3 Functions of Attachment According to Bowlby, attachment serves the following functions: 1) to ensure the infants survival. 2) to promote an internal working model" of relationships. This is a mother/ infant cognitive conception of each other which they use to form expectations and predictions. 3) the attachment figure provides a secure base from which the infant can explore and learn. Parenting Styles Baumrind studied parenting style: o Authoritarian: Parent places a high value on obedience as well as respect for authority o Permissive: Parent imposes minimal controls on their children o *Authoritative: Parent enforce standards, but encourages verbal giveand-take with the child Parenting style affects childrens behavior o Authoritarian parents produce children with low independence, low selfesteem, and an external locus of control Parent Style Childs Behavior or vice versa? Piaget and Cognition Cognitive reasoning is primitive at birth and changes from infancy to adulthood Schemas are the basic units of intellect o Organization of ideas Cognitive adaptation reflects the actions of two complementary processes: o Assimilation allows an existing schema to adapt to the environment o 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 Cognitive Development Stages Sensorimotor period: Birth through age 2 o Infant schemes are simple reflexes and interactions with people and objects Preoperational period: Age 2 to 7 o Child begins to use mental representations, but problem solving is limited Concrete operations: Age 7 to 11 o Child performs mental operations (conservation) Formal operations: Age 12 through adulthood Child can use formal problem solving and higher level abstract thinking Sensorimotor: Object Permanence The principle that objects continue to exist even when out of view The understanding of the physical properties of objects Achieving object permanence is the major task of the sensory motor stage Preoperational: Egocentrism & Precausal Reasoning Egocentrism o refers to the incapacity of the child to see or adopt others' perspective Precausal reasoning o the absence of true mental operations precludes cause and effect reasoning Key Cognitive Milestone:Conservation Conservation is the ability to recognize that a given quantity, weight or volume remains the same despite changes in shape, length, or position Temperament refers to the basic disposition of a person Thomas and Chess categorized infants into 3 temperament types: o Easy children are mostly happy, relaxed and agreeable (40 %) o Difficult children are moody, easily frustrated, over-reactive (10 %) o Slow-to-warm-up children are somewhat shy and withdrawn, take time to adjust (15 %)