Developmental Psychology

Chapter Three

Development involves theprocesses and stages of growthfrom conception across the life

span. It encompasses changes inphysical, cognitive, and social

behaviors.

I. Prenatal/Infant Development

A. Heredity-Environmental Issues1) Continuity versus stages of development.2) Stability versus change.3) Nature versus nurture.

– Nature: the result of inheritance (heredity)

– Nurture: the result of what we have learned

– Most people today see it as interaction between nature and nurture

40 days 45 days 2 months 4 months

B. Prenatal Development1. Zygote (day 1 to day 8)

– The fertilized egg– Enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division– Develops into an embryo

2. Embryo – The developing human organism from 2 weeks

through 2nd month– Milestones: heartbeat begins (day 25), facial

features form, critical neurological development occurs

3. Fetus– The developing human organism from 9 weeks

after conception to birth– Organ systems begin to function

B. Prenatal Development4. Teratogens

– agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

– Includes alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, lead, prescription drugs, or viruses

5. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)– physical and cognitive abnormalities in

children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking.

– symptoms include facial misproportions

C. Infant Development 1. Infants can see, hear, smell, and respond to

the environment.

2. Infants are also able to do quite a bit physically

3. Goes from an environment in which he/she is totally protected from the world to one which he/she is assaulted by lights, sounds, etc.

3. Born with certain inborn movements called reflexes– Grasping reflex- an infant’s clinging response to a touch

on the palm of the hand (can be lifted in the air)– Rooting reflex- an infant’s response to a touch near the

mouth (turns toward the source of touch)

C. Infant Development 3. Major motor milestones:

– 2 months: Lifts head up– 2 ½ months: Rolls over– 3 months: Sits propped up– 4 months: Smile– 5-6 months: Grasp objects– 6 months: Sits without support– 6 ½ months: Stands holding on– 8-10 months: Crawling – 9 months: Walks holding on– 11 months: Stands alone– 12 months: Walks alone– 17 months: Walks up steps

D. Maturation1. The internally programmed growth of a child.

2. It is as important as learning or experience.– Very important during the first year

3. Children normally develop according to a general schedule unless underfed, restricted in movements, or deprived of human contact

4. Children can only do such skills when their bodies are physically ready (maturational readiness) – No amount of pushing or coaching by a parent

will make a child maturate before they are ready.

E. Perceptual Development1. Infants are born with perception skills

2. Robert Fantz showed that infants different faces and discovered that they prefer looking at human faces and patterned materials the most.– Infants also benefit greatly from being touched by their

parents

3. Another experiment used a visual cliff– Platform– part has a checkerboard pattern and the

other part consists of a sheet of glass with a checkerboard pattern a few feet below it

– Older infants (6 months and older) refused to cross over the cliff

– Young infants seemed unafraid but had changes in heart rates

II. Cognitive Development

A. What is Cognitive Development?

1. Process where a child’s understanding of the world changes based on their age and experience

2. Children think differently from adults in many ways– They form their own hypotheses about how

the world works

B. Works of Jean Piaget

1. Swiss psychologist

2. Spent years studying the intelligence, or the ability of the child– Will develop as the child grows

3. Also spent time observing, questioning, and playing games with babies and young children

4. As children’s intelligence grows, the amount of information they know increases; the way they think also changes

C. How Toddlers Learn

1. Able to understand the world by the construction of schemas (mental representations of the world)

2. Assimilation– The process of fitting a new object into one’s schemas

3. Accommodation– The process where we change our schema to fit the

characteristics of the new object

4. When events do not fit into existing schemas, new and grander schemas have to be created

D. The Principle of Conservation

1. Happens between ages 5 to 7

2. Means that they understand that the amount of something does not change when its appearance changes

3. Conservation is closely related to egocentrism – Means that they cannot understand

someone else’s viewpoint

Preconserving child will say that one stick is longer.

Conserving child will say that they are the same length

Preconserving child will say that the long piece has more clay.

Conserving child will say that they have the same amount of clay.

E. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive DevelopmentStageStage Approximate AgeApproximate Age General CharacteristicsGeneral Characteristics

Sensorimotor Sensorimotor Birth – 2 yearsBirth – 2 years Behavior consists of simple motor Behavior consists of simple motor responses to sensory stimuli; lacks responses to sensory stimuli; lacks concept of object permanence.concept of object permanence.

PreoperationalPreoperational 2 – 7 years2 – 7 years Lacks operations (reversible mental Lacks operations (reversible mental processes); exhibits egocentric processes); exhibits egocentric thinking; lacks concept of thinking; lacks concept of conservation; uses symbols (such as conservation; uses symbols (such as words or mental images) to solve words or mental images) to solve simple problems or to talk about simple problems or to talk about things that are not present.things that are not present.

Concrete Concrete operationsoperations

7 – 11 years7 – 11 years Begins to understand concept of Begins to understand concept of conservation; still has trouble with conservation; still has trouble with abstract ideas; classification abilities abstract ideas; classification abilities improve; masters concept of improve; masters concept of conservationconservation

Formal Formal operationsoperations

11 years – onward11 years – onward Understands abstract ideas and Understands abstract ideas and hypothetical situations; capable of hypothetical situations; capable of logical and deductive reasoning.logical and deductive reasoning.