CH. 5: Development Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
The study of continuity and change across the life-span
Infancy
Childhood
Adolescence
Adulthood
Older age
Life-Span Development Issues & Methods
Methods:
- Cross sectional designs-different age cohorts at one point in time - Between persons change
- Longitudinal designs-same age cohort at different points in time - Within persons change
Cohort Effects - Change due to environmental factors, e.g., different education exposure, or nutritional changes creating health differences
Cross-sectional vs Longitudinal
CROSS-SECTIONAL:
- Quick
- Given point in time
- Different samples different ages
- Hard to identify cause-effect
- Cheaper
- Birth Cohort confound with age
LONGITUDINAL:
- Long time periods
- Tracking participants
- Same sample different ages
- Cause and effect possible
- Expensive
- Birth Cohort is held constant
SHOULD:
- Combine Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Strategies
Issues in Development
Nature - Nurture
Continuity vs Discontinuity
Stability vs Change
Prenatal Environment
The womb is an environment that affects an unborn baby in many ways.
Foods and substances a mother takes in affects development. (Epigenetic influences? Can look genetic?)
Teratogens: Agents, such as drugs and viruses, that pass from mother and impairs the process of development
Fetal alcohol syndrome: Developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy
Fetal Prenatal Research
Sound - Audio Study
Cognitive - Heart Rate - Arousal - Learning
Magnetoencephalography- (fMEG)
Brain Development relates to developing capacities
Birth - 86,000,000,000 (Billions of neurons)
Year three: 80% of adult volume
Year five: 90% of adult volume
Synapses: at birth 50 trillion by 1 year
At its peak, the cerebral cortex creates an astonishing two million new synapses every second. With these new connections come a baby’s many mental milestones, such as color vision, a pincer grasp, or a strong attachment to his parents.
By two years of age, a toddler’s cerebral cortex contains well over a hundred trillion synapses.
Sensitive Periods
Vision - first 5-10 years
Social development - birth - 4 years
Language - perhaps up to puberty
Plasticity
Synaptic connections
Pruning - use it or lose it
EX. Romanian orphans
Cognitive Development
Emergence of the ability to think and understand
Jean Piaget (1896–1980) Genetic Epistemology
described four stages of cognitive development in which infants and children learn
Four stages of cognitive development in which infants and children learn
- How the physical world works
- How their own minds work
- How other people’s minds work - precursor to Theory of Mind
- Children are not miniature adults
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor (Birth–2 years)
- Infant experiences world through movement and senses, develops schemas, begins to act intentionally, and shows evidence of beginning understanding of object permanence.
Preoperational (2–6 years)
- Child acquires motor skills but does not understand conservation of physical properties. Child begins this stage by thinking egocentrically but ends with a basic understanding of other minds.
Concrete operational (6–11 years)
- Child can think logically about physical objects and events and understands conservation of physical properties.
Formal operational (11 years and up)
- Child can think logically about abstract propositions and hypotheticals.
Preoperational children vs. Concrete operational children - milk glass
When preoperational children are shown two equal-size glasses filled with equal amounts of liquid, they correctly say neither glass “has more.” But when the contents of one glass are poured into a taller, thinner glass, they incorrectly say the taller glass has more.
Concrete operational children don’t make this mistake because they recognize that operations such as pouring change the appearance of the liquid but not its actual volume.
Discovering Other Minds
Egocentric view - others see the world as I do
Desires and emotions
- Children have difficulty understanding different emotional reactions in others, until about 6 years of age.
Theory of mind: Understanding that the mind produces representations of the world and that these representations guide behavior
- Children with autism and deaf children whose parents do not use ASL have difficulty with theory of mind.
- Language is important for the development of this theory.
How the child cognitively develops
Schemas: Theories about or models of the way the world works
Assimilation: Process by which infants apply their schemas in novel situations
Disequilibration: Realization that old schemas are not working
Accommodation: Process by which infants revise their schemas in light of new information
Assimilation –> Equilibration –> New Situation –> Disequilibration –> Accomodation
Schemas
Theories about or models of the way the world works
Assimilation
Process by which infants apply their schemas in novel situations
Disequilibration
Realization that old schemas are not working
Accommodation
Process by which infants revise their schemas in light of new information
Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) - theory of three stages in moral development
Lawrence Kohlberg (1927–1987) developed a theory of three stages in moral development (based on responses to moral dilemmas):
- Preconventional stage (childhood): Morality of an action is primarily determined by its consequences for the actor
- Conventional stage (adolescence): Morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules
- Postconventional stage (adults): Morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core values
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
- This theory is a stage theory. In other words, everyone goes through the stages sequentially without skipping any stage.
- However, movement through these stages are not natural, that is people do not automatically move from one stage to the next as they mature. In stage development, movement occurs when a person notices inadequacies in his or her present way of coping with a given moral dilemma.
- According to stage theory, people cannot understand moral reasoning more than one stage ahead of their own. For example, a person in Stage 1 can understand Stage 2 reasoning but nothing beyond that.
The Heinz Dilemma
A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to produce. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $1,000 which is half of what it cost.
He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: “No, I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money from it.”
So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man’s store to steal the drug for his wife.
WAS HEINZ MORALLY CORRECT?
Level 1: Preconventional Morality 0-9 years
Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment
Especially common in young children, but adults are capable of expressing this type of reasoning. At this stage, children see rules as fixed and absolute.
- Obeys rules in order to avoid punishment
- Determines a sense of right and wrong by what is punished and what is not punished
- Obeys superior authority and allows that authority to make the rules, especially if that authority has the power to inflict pain
- Is responsive to rules that will affect his/her physical well-being
Stage 2 - Naively egotistical
At this stage of moral development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs. Reciprocity is possible, but only if it serves one’s own interests.
- Is motivated by vengeance or “an eye for an eye” philosophy
- Is self-absorbed while assuming that he/she is generous
- Believes in equal sharing in that everyone gets the same, regardless of need
- Believes that the end justifies the means
- Will do a favor only to get a favor
- Expects to be rewarded for every non-selfish deed he/she does
Level 2: Conventional Morality 10-15 years
Stage 3 - “good boy-good girl” orientation
This stage of moral development is focused on living up to social expectations and roles. There is an emphasis on conformity, being “nice,” and consideration of how choices influence relationships.
- Finds peer approval very important
- Feels that intentions are as important as deeds and expects others to accept intentions or promises in place of deeds
- Begins to put himself/herself in another’s shoes and think from another perspective
Stage 4 - Law and Social Order
At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider society as a whole when making judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one’s duty, and respecting authority.
- ls a duty doer who believes in rigid rules that should not be changed
- Respects authority and obeys it without question
- Supports the rights of the majority without concern for those in the minority
- ls part of about 80% of the population that does not progress past stage 4
Level 3: Postconventional Morality - 16+
Stage 5 - Legalistic Social Contract
At this stage, people begin to account for the differing values, opinions, and beliefs of other people. Rules of law are important for maintaining a society, but members of the society should agree upon these standards.
- Is motivated by the belief in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people
- Believes in consensus (everyone agrees), rather than in majority rule
- Respects the rights of the minority especially the rights of the individual
- Believes that change in the law is possible but only through the system
Stage 6 - Universal ethical Principles
Kolhberg’s final level of moral reasoning is based upon universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning. At this stage, people follow these internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules.
- Believes that there are high moral principles than those represented by social rules and customs
- Is willing to accept the consequences for disobedience of the social rule he/she has rejected
- Believes that the dignity of humanity is sacred and that all humans have value
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s
Theory of Moral Development
- Does moral reasoning necessarily lead to moral behavior? Kohlberg’s theory is concerned with moral thinking, but there is a big difference between knowing what we ought to do versus our actual actions.
- Is justice the only aspect of moral reasoning we should consider? Critics have pointed out that Kohlberg’s theory of moral development overemphasizes the concept as justice when making moral choices. Other factors such as compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings may play an important part in moral reasoning.
- Does Kohlberg’s theory overemphasize Western philosophy? Individualistic cultures emphasize personal rights while collectivist cultures stress the importance of society and community. Eastern cultures may have different moral outlooks that Kohlerg’s theory does not account for.
Attachment: The parent child bond
Konrad Lorenz - Imprinting
John Bowlby - Attachment and Loss
Harry Harlow - Attachment
Social Development - Attachment
Harry Harlow (1905–1981) - attachment experiments
Harry Harlow (1905–1981) conducted attachment experiments with baby rhesus monkeys.
Feeding not by itself the source of attachment. Contact!
He discovered that, when monkeys were deprived of social contact in the first 6 months, they:
- Developed behavioral abnormalities
- Were incapable of communicating with or learning from others
- Were incapable of normal sexual behavior
Harlow’s monkeys preferred the comfort and warmth of a soft cloth mother to the wire mother, even when the wire mother was associated with food.
left off on slide 35
The five features of emerging adulthood-18-25
Identity explorations
Instability
Self-focus
Feeling in-between
The age of possibilities
Intelligence Changes with Age
Fluid Intelligence - Information processing
Crystallized Intelligence - Experience and Knowledge increases with age
Stereotype Threat - Ageism
Working memory (store and use info) less efficient
Improves with Age
Vocabulary
Expertise
Cognitive Efficiency
Interpersonal problem solving
Lower levels of stress, worry and anger (emotional stability)
Stronger integration of emotions and intelligence (decision making)
Crystallized Intelligence
Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
Slide 46: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NM2ZK9dgAqRYfoylb_tgaHDTFEpJYgL4RGtginnVA8I/edit#slide=id.g3e0994399a_0_406
