5 - Developmental Psychology

Question 1

What is developmental psychology?

Answer 1

• The scientific study of changes that occur in people over the course of their life.
• Changesinthought,behaviour,reasoningand functioning (physical and psychological) occur.
• Changes are influenced by biological, individual and environmental influences.
• Theorieshelpusdescribe,identifyandexplainthis development and what effects it.

Question 2

Why is developmental psychology relevant?

Answer 2

Children as patients
• Where is the child developmentally?; the answer will inform how they communicate with you, understand you and relate to you AND how you communicate with them, understand them and relate to them.
• Which developmental leap are they about to embark on – how does this interact with treatment / illness?
• How does their social context support or hinder their health and developmental progress?
• How can we recruit and engage parent(s) in facilitating treatment

Question 3

influences of heredity

and environment in human development

Answer 3

• a genetic blueprint and a unique range of possibilities. - There is a body programmed to develop in certain ways, but by no means on automatic.
• The baby is an interactive project not a self powered one.
• Many systems are ready to go but many more are incomplete and will only develop in response to other human input.
• Each baby can be customised to the circumstances and surroundings they find themselves in.
• e.g. a baby born in Nepal will have very different cultural needs than a child born in London.
• Nature sets out their course via gender, genetics, temperament and maturational stages
• Nurture shapes this predetermined course via the environment; parenting, stimulation and nutrition
• How a baby progresses (or not) depends on the interchange between the changing environment and the maturing organism

Question 4

Hearing

Answer 4

Babies can hear in the womb Receptive hearing begins at 16/40 Functional hearing begins at 24/40
as a result, newborn babies are already familiar with their mothers’ voices when delivered. Prefer their mothers’ voices to the voices of other women when recorded voices were played back (DeCasper and Fifer, 1980)

Question 5

Smell

Answer 5

Babies seem primed to learn very quickly about the smells associated with their mothers.
– Newborns can recognize the smell of their own amniotic fluid. (Varendi et al 1996)
– Newborns recognise the smell of maternal breast odours (Varendi and Porter 2002)
– Newborns showed preferrance to smell of their mother’s expressed breast milk compared to others’ EBM (Mizuno et al 2004)

This may be because of bonding or the necessity of food.

Question 6

Taste

Answer 6

• A newborn senses all of these tastes except one: salt they cannot taste this until about 4 months old (Beauchamp et al 1986)
• Newborns love sugar solutions-the sweeter, the better – Sweetease
• Newborns also seem to like the taste of glutamate, which is found in breast milk (Beauchamp and Pearson 1991).

Question 7

Sight

Answer 7

• Babies 12-36 hrs old shown video playbacks of women’s faces. Preference for watching their mothers’ faces (rather than the faces of strangers). (Bushnell et al 1989).
• Newborn infants have shown a preference for looking at faces and face-like stimuli (Batki et al 2000; Turati et al 2002).
• Show a preference for faces with open eyes and look longer at happy face stimuli (Farroni et al 2007).

Question 8

Reciprocal socialisation

Answer 8

Reciprocal socialisation is bidirectional; children socialise parents just as parents socialise children

Scaffolding

• Babies are utterly dependent upon their caregivers
• So it is a matter of survival that they get noticed
• They look ‘cute’ for a reason!

Question 9

Still face experiment

Answer 9

• parent usually responsive
• when unresponsive for a moment the baby is very stressed.
• done in about 1 yr old babies but also few day old babies.

Question 10

Parents provision of a supportive environment for development

Answer 10

• So Parents through scaffolding, reciprocal socialisation, provision of a stimulating and enriching environment (both physiologically and psychologically) give babies the resources to thrive and develop.
• An “internal working model” Bowlby (1969) is established through this social process; The baby doesn’t do this on his own but coordinates his systems with those of the people around him

Question 11

Attachment therory

Answer 11

• innate biological instinct of babies to be close to their caregivers
• happens really early on, e.g. when the baby is still in utero and the mother talks to the baby.
• Attachment is a theory defined by Bowlby which describes a biological instinct that seeks proximity to an attachment figure (carer) when threat is perceived or discomfort is experienced.
• The sense of safety the child experiences provides a secure base from which they can explore their environment thus promoting development through learning whilst being protected in the environment.
• Process of establishing the attachment bond begins even before birth (supported by reciprocal socialisation).
• The Internal working models formed inform our expectations and behaviour in wider relationships throughout our lives.
• This process is mediated by “Mind – mindedness”

Question 12

Mind-mindedness

Answer 12

• when a parent considers the baby as an individual (and not a passive creature)
• babies’ behaviours are intentional, e.g. they cry to communicate something.

This process is mediated by “Mind – mindedness” (Meins, 2012). Parents with mind-mindedness treat their children as individuals with minds; they respond as if their children’s acts are meaningful—motivated by feelings, thoughts, or intentions (an attempt to communicate); this ultimately helps the child to understand others’ emotions and actions.

Question 13

Development of Attachment over 1st Year

Answer 13

• Birth to 3M; baby prefers people to inanimate objects, indiscriminate proximity seeking eg clinging to carer
• 3-8M; smiles discriminately to main caregivers
• 8 – 12M; selectively approaches main caregivers, uses social referencing / familiar adults as “secure base” to explore new situations; shows fear of strangers and SEPARATION ANXIETY
• From 12M; the attachment behaviour can be measured reliably.

Strange Situation Test (Ainsworth et al 1978) was designed to present children with an unusual, but not overwhelmingly frightening, experience. It tests how babies or young children respond to the temporary absence of their mothers.

Researchers are interested in two things:

1. How much the child explores the room on his own, and
2. How the child responds to the return of his mother

Question 14

Attachment Styles: Secure versus Insecure

Answer 14

Securely-attached children (65%):
Free exploration and happiness upon mother’s return.
The securely-attached child explores the room freely when Mum is present. He may be distressed when his mother leaves, and he explores less when she is absent. But he is happy when she returns. If he cries, he approaches his mother and holds her tightly. He is comforted by being held, and, once comforted, he is soon ready to resume his independent exploration of the world. His mother is responsive to his needs. As a result, he knows he can depend on her when he is under stress (Ainsworth et al 1978).
=> these children show that they can rely on their caregivers in stressful times.

Insecurely attached children (35%):
- Avoidant-insecure children: Little exploration and little emotional response to mother
The avoidant-insecure child doesn’t explore much, and he doesn’t show much emotion when his mother leaves. He shows no preference for his mother over a complete stranger and, when his mother returns, he tends to avoid or ignore her

Resistant-insecure (or “ambivalent”) children:
Little exploration, great separation anxiety and ambivalent response to mother upon her return.
Like the avoidant child, the resistant-insecure child doesn’t explore much on her own. But unlike the avoidant child, the resistant child is wary of strangers and is very distressed when her mother leaves. When the mother returns, the resistant child is ambivalent. Although she wants to re-establish close proximity to her mother, she is also resentful—even angry—at her mother for leaving her in the first place. As a result, the resistant child may reject her mother’s advances (Ainsworth et al 1978).

Disorganized-insecure children:
Little exploration and confused response to mother.
The disorganized child may exhibit a mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours. But the main theme is one of confusion and anxiety. Disorganized-insecure children are at risk for a variety of behavioural and developmental problems.

Question 15

What are the 3 types of insecurely attached children?

Answer 15

• avoidant insecure: Little exploration and little emotional response to mother
• resistanct-insecure (or ‘ambivalent’ “ Little exploration, great separation anxiety and ambivalent
• disorganised-insecure children: little exploration and confused response to mother

Question 16

Implications of secure and insecure attachment

Answer 16

• secure attachment is good for learning and exploration
• children feel protected, cared for and enjoy spending time with caregivers

Secure attachments formed in early infancy are a protective factor leading to resilience throughout the life span

Insecure attachments place the individual at risk but are not causative for later problems.

Question 17

Positive effects of secure attachment

Answer 17

• Promotes
– Independence
– Emotional availability
– Better moods
– Better emotional coping

• Associated with
– fewer behavioural problems
– higher IQ and academic performance
• Contributes to a child’s moral development
• Reduces child distress

• Promotes
– Independence
– Emotional availability
– Better moods
– Better emotional coping
• Associated with
– fewer behavioural problems
– higher IQ and academic performance
• Contributes to a child’s moral development
• Reduces child distress
• In adolescence and adulthood associated with
– Social competence
– Loyal friendships
– More secure parenting of offspring
– Greater leadership qualities
– Greater resistance to stress
– Less mental health problems such as anxiety and depression
– Less psychopathology e.g schizophrenia

Question 18

Play

Answer 18

• Has important positive effects on the brain and on a child’s ability to learn
• Animal studies show that rats in “enriched” environments have bigger and smarter brains and more BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor) which is essential for growth and maintenance of brain cells (Greenough and Black 1992; Huber et al 2007)

Question 19

Benefits of play

Answer 19

• Practice adult roles
• Promotes language development
• Promotes creative problem solving
• Engage & interact with world
• Create & explore own world
• Experience mastery & control
• Practice decision-making,
• Overcome fears
• Develop new competencies • Learn how to work in group • Develop own interests
• extend positive emotions
• maintain healthy activity level

Question 20

Types of play throughout childhood

Answer 20

• 0-2 Years Unoccupied / Solitary: He plays alone. There is limited interaction with other children.
• 2 to 2 1⁄2 Years Spectator / onlooker : Observe other children playing around him but will not play with them.
• 2 1⁄2 to 3 Years Parallel Play: alongside others but will not play together with them.
• 3-4 Years Associate: Starts to interact with others in their play and there may be fleeting co-operation between in play. Develops friendships and the preferences for playing with some but not all other children. Play is normally in mixed sex groups.
• 4 – 6Years Co-operative: Plays together with shared aims of play with others. Play may be quite difficult and he’s supportive of other children in his play. As he reaches primary school age, play is normally in single sex groups
• 6+ Years Competitive: Play often involves rules and has a clear “winner” => more competitive

Question 21

Piaget’s Theory of Cognition

Answer 21

• Piaget’s Stage Model : proposed that children’s thinking changes qualitatively with age
– The result of an interaction of the brain’s biological maturation and personal experiences
– Schemas: organised patterns of thoughts and action
• Development occurs as we acquire new schemas and as our existing schemas become more complex
• Process of assimilation (incorporating new experience into existing schema) and accommodation (the difference made by the process of assimilation) which leads to adaptation (whereby new experiences cause existing schema to change)

Question 22

Piaget;s Stages of cognitive development

Answer 22

• Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years)
• preoerational stage (2-7 years)
• concrete operational stage (7-11 years)
• formal operaational stage (12 and up)

Question 23

Object permanence

Answer 23

• children learn this in their first year

- objects still exist even when they are out of sight

Question 24

Piaget: Sensorimotor stage

Answer 24

• birth to age 2
• infants understand their world primarily through sensory experiences and physical (motor) interactions with objects
  – Object Permanence: the understanding that an object continues to exist even when it cannot be seen
  – Gradually increasing use of words to represent objects, needs, and actions
  – Learning is based on trial and error (although errors do not become assimilated!)

Question 25

Piaget: Preoperational stage

Answer 25

• age 2-7
• rapid language development
• concept of past and future is understood
  No understanding of Principle of Conservation: basic properties of objects stay the same even though their outward appearance may change
  – Irreversibility: cannot mentally reverse actions
  – Animism: attributing lifelike qualities to physical objects and natural
  events
  – Egocentrism: difficulty in viewing the world from someone else’s perspective

Question 26

Piaget: Concrete operational stage characteristics

Answer 26

• 7-12
• children can perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible (“concrete”) objects and situations
  – Understand the concept of reversibility
  – Display less egocentrism
  – Easily solve conservation problems
  – Trouble with hypothetical and abstract reasoning

Question 27

Adolescence

Answer 27

• changes in cognition,
  emotion and relationships
• Transition to Formal Operational stage; Where Abstract thought emerges. Adolescent begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning.
• Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological human development that generally occurs from puberty (biologically defined period of rapid maturation in which a person becomes capable of sexual reproduction) to legal adulthood (a social construction).
• Adolescence involves cognitive development and physical growth, as distinct from puberty, which can extend into the early twenties.
• Chronological age only provides a rough marker of adolescence.
• Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information.

Question 28

The adaptive adolescent Brain

Answer 28

• 12 – 25yrs extensive brain remodelling (myelinisation, synaptic pruning – reason for so much sleeping!)
• Cognitive changes may help journey from the secure world parent(s) provided to fitting into world created by peers (move away from secure base)
• Thrill seeking
• Openness to new experiences
• Risk taking
• Social rewards are very strong
• Prefer own age company
• Emotionality becomes less positive through early adolescence
– But level off and become more stable by late adolescence
• Storms and stress more likely during adolescence than rest of the lifespan but not characteristic of all adolescents.

Question 29

Limits / Criticisms of Piaget

Answer 29

• Outcomes have been replicated in populations around the world
• Some researchers query whether children respond as they do to please the adult asking the question
• Some argue the (repeated) question is so weird (as the answer is so obvious) the child thinks the adult wants or expects you to change the original answer– when more naturalistic ways of asking the questions were developed children performed much better (Goswami and Pauen, 2005).

Question 30

Development of children’s concept of death

Answer 30

• Under 5s: do not understand that death is final, universal, will take euphemisms concretely, may think they have caused death.
• 5 to 10 years: gradually develop idea of death as irreversible, all functions ended, universal/unavoidable, more empathic to another’s loss; may be preoccupied with justice
• 10yrs through adolescence: understand more of long-term consequences, able to think hypothetically, draw parallels, review inconsistencies
• Dependent on cognitive development and experience (pets, extended family members)

Question 31

Achieving adulthood

Answer 31

• When does development end?
• When are you an adult???
• Driving a car,
• first intimate relationship,
• getting married,
• financial independence
• many 18-29 year olds
• deciding on a career,
• owning your own home,
• having children,
• retirement???