Development Flashcards
Developmental Psychology Definitions
A field that examines biological, physical, psychological and behavioural changes that occur throughout life.
The scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life.
Normative Events
Age-related events that most people will go through at some point e.g. first day of school.
Non-normative Events
Atypical or unexpected events e.g. 911 or losing a family member.
Scenario: Sam is a disruptive child in school who isn’t making progress however seems smart to teachers.
The reasons for disruptiveness could potentially be hearing difficulties, developmental/metal disabilities e.g. autism or ADHD, peer interactions and bullying.
Nativism
Biological predisposed/innate capacities e.g. language: infants are born with an innate ability to acquire any language.
Empiricism
Blank slate is an idea that all ideas and knowledge are gained through the senses and experiences.
What Can Infants Do
At 14 weeks infants develop binocular vision, at 6 months depth perception arrives (sometimes earlier at 2 months), taste after 2 hours, at 2 days old they can recognise their mothers smell, at birth they can turn their head in the direction of noise at birth and recognise their mothers voice.
What Infants Want
There was a study on the types of sounds that children enjoyed by measuring their physical responses and created an ideal song that is used to make them less upset.
Infant Skills
Infants are born with reflexes that aid survival e.g. rooting reflex that help them locate food and sucking reflex to get the food. These reflexes can be used to learn what the infants can do.
Hearing & Memory Learning
An experiment was done where mothers would read stories to the fetus (3.5 hours). The experimenter read the same story when the newborns were 55 hours old and saw that there was an increase in the sucking reflex when stories from the womb were heard.
Visual Acuity
Visual acuity was tested with stripes measuring 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 and 1/64 inches apart with a grey square placed next to them. The finest lines the child could differentiate from the grey square would show their visual acuity. This showed that children under a month old could see 1/8 inch strips whereas at 6 months they could see 1/64 inch strips.
Infant Motor Development
At 2-4 months they prone and use arms to sit, at 5-7 months they sit without support, 5-10 months they can stand with support, 6-10 months they can pull themselves to standing position, at 10-14 months they can stand alone easily and at 11-14 months they can easily walk alone.
Monozygotic Twins
These are known as identical who share 100% of their DNA and have the same genome.
Dizygotic Twins
These are known as fraternal twins who have the same gene similarity as normal siblings.
Genotype
The genetic make-up (blueprint) of an individual.
Phenotype
The expression of genes in an individuals physical appearance and/or behavioural tendencies.
Twins
These are a good experimental group for nature vs nurture studies. This is done with identical and fraternal twins, some who shared a common childhood environment and some who didn’t.
Hereditability
In terms of intelligence 70% of variation due to genes other majorly hereditary traits are height, weight and smoking.
Teratogens
These are external agents (environmental influences) that can cause abnormal development before birth e.g. fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). This occurs due to exposure to alcohol in utero. This results in facial and brain abnormalities as well as psychological impairments such as low intellectual capacity, poor attention and perception, inhibition and social difficulties.
Perceptual Attunement
An example of this is language attunement where infants are sensitive to linguistic contrasts in all languages. Between 6 and 12 months infants ‘attune’ to their natural linguistic environment (only process sounds that are present in the linguistic environment). This perceptual attunement may not occur with children with reading difficulties e.g. dyslexia.
Habituation Paradigm
An example of this is when a native sound is played until and infant listening gets bored (a 50% decrement in average looking times) after which a non-native (new) sound is played and see if they notice (increased looking time). Infants between 9 and 12 months at risk of dyslexia are just as interested in sounds that aren’t important in their linguistic environment as sounds that are showing a lack of habituation.
Gene Effects
Genes aren’t the be all and end all of everything we do. This is because context is crucial and despite being born with a certain hardware (phone) you can still learn things and develop (download apps).
Zone of Proximal Development
A discovery by Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). This showed that children might exhibit the same behaviour but with appropriate support (teaching or scaffolding) one of these children might progress while the other isn’t ready to do so yet.
Sensitive/Critical Period for Language
This is seen in the story of Genie. She was a child who was locked away from the world for 13 years and didn’t learn how to speak. She was then raised by a scientist and continued to develop her skill in movement and language. Even after years of work however her speech abilities were very diminished and she wasn’t able to use grammar properly. This shows some evidence for the need for exposure to language to learn it and this has to occur before a certain age.
Socioeconomic Status (SES) & Language Development
In terms of SES and language there has been some studies done which shows the higher levels of SES leading to a larger vocabulary. The reasons for this may be more communication with others, access to more learning resources (books) etc.
Learning a Second Language
Evidence shows that learning second languages is easier for those who go to the country and learn by speaking as opposed to studying the language in books. From ages 0-10 it shows a relatively flat line showing that learning a second language is much easier however att 12-14 years there is a large decrease in this ability. This doesn’t mean it can’t happen but it is much more difficult to do so.
Harlow’s Monkeys
This was done by Harlow in 1959 where monkeys were taken from their mothers and given to other ‘parents’ which were dolls which the monkeys could hug and had fake teets for food. These monkeys however were seen to be worse parents and not very caring showing that there is something learned and gained from mothers.
Attachment
Bowlby in 1951 said that there is a point after which mothering is useless if it is delayed for too long. The development of attachment has 3 phases which are indiscriminate attachment behaviour (newborns cry to evoke caregiving from adults), discriminate attachment behaviour (around 3 months infants direct their attachment toward familiar caregivers as opposed to everyone) and specific attachment behaviour (around 7-8 months infants develop meaningful attachment to specific caregivers who become a secure base from which the infant can explore the world). This last phase is where a fear of strangers develops from.
Measuring Attachment
This is done by putting the infants in ‘strange situations’. In this experiment children were brought into a room of toys where their mother was sat. A stranger would then enter and the child would continue to play. The mother would then leave the room having just the stranger and baby which causes the baby to cry. The stranger tries to comfort the baby however no progress is made. After this the mother enters the room again and the baby stops crying. After this first part the baby would then be left alone in the room and would begin to cry. A stranger would then enter and try to comfort her however the baby would continue to cry. After this the mother reenters and the baby will stop crying almost immediately.
Attachment Types
This can be a secure attachment (65-52% who are distressed when mum leaves and quickly soothed upon return), insecure attachment (35-48%) which comes in 2 subtypes of anxious-resistant (21-17% who are fearful with mum and demand her attention, distressed when she leaves and not soothed when she return as they may be angry) and anxious-avoidant (14-11% who are unphased when mum leaves and don’t go to her when she returns) and finally disorganised (20% which is mixed behaviour which relates to multiple types).
Attachment-Style Outcomes
With secure attachment there is increased empathy, increased prosocial behaviour, better cognitive skills, school readiness. With insecure attachment there are fewer social skill, increased anxiety, increased risk of psychopathology. Both attachment types are related to the future parenting styles of children.
Mobile Phones vs ADHD
There is some research that suggests a relation of high-frequency usage of social media shows a 10% chance of showing ADHD traits however those with lower-frequency social media use only shows a 5% chance of showing ADHD traits. Another study showed that children with >2h of screen time per day at 3 and 5 years old are 5.9x more likely to have clinically significant inattention issues and 7.7x more risk of ADHD symptoms. This however isn’t causal and may be questionable as it may be that children with inattention disorders may self-medicate with screen time or parent might have a harder time with them so may offer them a screen as a way out.
How Thinking Changes as we Age
Having more foresight and ability to predict the results of your actions. Communication improves allowing for better understanding. Multiple perspectives can be considered. Increased emotional maturity. More experiences allow you to make informed decision on actions to take based on those experiences.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
He studied changes in children’s knowledge and reasoning skills. He helped score the first standardised intelligence test and realised that children of similar age produced the same errors. The theorised reasons for this were either less intelligence at a certain age (quantitative difference) or different ways of thinking at certain ages (qualitative difference).
Stage Theories Concepts
Each stage reflects a qualitative change (difference in thinking) and not a quantitative change (increasing intelligence). All individuals progress through stages in order, though this may occur at different rates and the order of stages is universal and invariant. Achieving a new stage involves transforming and building on previous stage and sometimes regression can occur but this is rare.
Piaget’s Stage Model
Children’s thinking changes qualitatively with age. This is made up of schemas which are organised patterns of thoughts and action. We acquire new schemas and our existing schemas become more complex. These schemas can be assimilated (things are added to the schema) or accommodated (a new schema is made for an experience).
Schemas
Organised patterns of thoughts and actions. We acquire new schemas and our existing schemas become more complex. This would be a concept but can also be patterns of behaviour e.g. brushing your teeth at a particular time or a cat has 4 legs, fur and a tail.
Assimilation
The process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas e.g. if someone’s only seen black cats and a ginger one shows up then that cat makes up a new part of the schema.
Accommodation
The process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change. A child experiences disequilibrium when something doesn’t match the current schema e.g. learning that there are also dogs which are different to cats and therefore not all 4 legged animals are cats and a new schema for dogs is made.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
- Sensorimotor stage.
- Preoperational stage.
- Concrete operation.
- Formal operation.
Object Permanence
The knowledge that objects still exist despite not being in view.
Sensorimotor Stage
In this stage babies experience the world only through the immediate senses (looking, hearing, touching etc.). NO greater level of cognitive awareness of the world beyond the immediate senses e.g. object permanence isn’t present up to 6 months of age objects that are out of sight are also out of mind. Between 6-12 months of age infants come to realise that if an object is hidden from view it still exists somewhere and will actively search for the object.
Preoperational Stage
This stage develops between 2-7 years and is when language develops aiding in schema refinement. Pre-operational children begin to understand symbolism and concepts e.g. icons, objects, logos, that represent reality, concepts that represent non-physical things (time) which is known as ‘representational thought’. This allows for new behaviours to emerge such as symbolic and imaginary play and asking the ‘why’ questions. The use of symbolism and conceptual understanding is direct and rigid so results in limitations in reasoning in predictable ways.
Preoperational Stage: Fail Conservation Tasks
The principle that basic properties of objects such as their volume, mass or quantity, stay the same (are ‘conserved’) even when their outward appearance changes e.g. the same amount of liquid in the same size jars and one of these jars is poured into a taller jar and the children think the taller jar has more liquid despite seeing they both have the same amount. This shows centration where they focus on only one aspect of the situation e.g. the height the liquid reaches.
Preoperational Stage: Egocentrism
A difficulty in viewing the world from another persons perspective.
Concrete Operation
This stage develops between 7-12 years are characterised by the appropriate use of logic and justification. They can perceive conservation and can transform, reverse, reason so long as the objects are present and can begin to explain ‘why’ question and attempt to justify the conclusion. There is some abstract reasoning however it is grounded in reality.
Concrete Operation: Abstract Reasoning
An example of this is when a child is asked ‘if you could have a third eye where would you put it on your body’. Most of them will draw it on the face with the unsophisticated justification of having better vision or they will challenge the notion and say no-one has 3 eyes.
Formal Operation
This stage develops from ages 12 and onward and is where reasoning expands from concrete to abstract thinking. For the third eye question some would say on their hand to see around corners.
Formal Operation: The Pendulum Problem
When presented with multiple weights and multiple lengths of string the children are asked to scientifically determine what defines the rate of swing which requires methodological experimentation. This means that at this stage hypotheses can be developed and theories tested.
Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory
These ideas are massive and very influential however evidence suggests there are other theories to be developed. The evidence is inaccurate as it generally underestimates what kids can do, continuous as there are no distinct stages (alternate theories) and culture specific as not all cultures value formal logic.
Earlier Object Permanence
This was seen when a tall and short carrot were moved behind a screen with a hole in the middle where the short carrot shouldn’t be seen however the tall one should poke out of the hole in the middle. Infants at 3.5 months were surprised when the carrot didn’t show up in the hole in the middle suggesting they knew the carrot should be there despite not seeing it.
Earlier Conservation
The idea of conservation is also seen much earlier than suggested by Piaget. Because Piaget’s tasks were odd social interaction it potentially confused the children as they were asked the same question twice and so expected that a change was the right answer. This is seen when the question was only asked after the water was poured where 6-year-olds were able to answer correctly and when the concept of a naughty teddy that knocks around a row of coins was introduced even 4-year-olds were able to comprehend the same amount was still there.
Earlier Egocentrism
The egocentrism isn’t present for as long as Piaget suggested as the Three Mountains Task was thought to test multiple things such as memory, spatial perception skills and language. If this task was simplified to a game of hide and seek with police and a boy then the children at 3-years-old were able to distinguish the different perspectives of each of the participants in the hide and seek and hide the boy doll so the police wouldn’t find them.
Overlapping Waves Theory
The idea that children are always entertaining multiple strategies to solve problems and particular strategies are favoured by the children as they reach different ages. Increased consistency and better strategies lead to more success and are therefore developed for future use. This idea is still a continuous one without any discrete and discernable steps/stages.
Information Processing
Faster information processing speed and increased working memory storage lead to better problem solving. Visual scanning becomes more efficient/systematic with age e.g. comparing houses.
Cultural Influences
The culture that people grow up in also changes the results in the tests. For 5-7-year-old Swiss children conservation is present however for Aboriginal children in central Australia this happens between 10-13-years-old. It was also seen that Aboriginal children performed better on visuospatial tests than literacy-based intelligence tests.
How we Assess Change
An example research question may be ‘How do intellectual abilities e.g. IQ change across development?’ The designs of this research is dependent on the timeframe with quick studies being cross-sectional whereas long studies are longitudinal.
Cross-Sectional Research Design
When you measure different people. In this particular case you would measure different people of different ages in terms of intelligence at that age level. In this type of study each cohort (age group) will have different environmental influences which may skew results.
Longitudinal Research Design
When you measure the same people multiple times meaning you would take their IQ measurements over the different periods of their life. This type of study may have limitations due to lifespan of participants and some drop outs. The study will also take a significant portion of the experimenters life.
Ecological Systems Theory
The idea of relationships between an individual and their environment are bi-directional e.g. your environment influences you and your actions influence the environment. This has a microsystem (immediate surroundings e.g. family, friends, teachers), a mesosystem (relationship between microsystems e.g. the connection between home and workplace), an exosystem (social settings that affect the individual without their control e.g. workplace rules) and a macrosystem (the outer layer of ecology e.g. laws and cultural values).
Best Research Design
The best way to make an experiment is using a sequential design which measures different people in different cohorts and follow them as they age.
Sensory Decline
As we age some of our senses will decline some examples are vision, hearing, taste, smell and motor control. These declines are associated with poorer health outcomes and cognitive decline.
Cognitive Abilities
The 2 major ones are crystallised intelligence and fluid/nonverbal intelligence. Crystallised intelligence is the fundamental general knowledge that has been acquired through learning e.g. verbal knowledge and numerical knowledge (vocabulary and maths). Fluid intelligence is involved with novel problem solving abilities and adapting to new situations e.g. matrix reasoning.
Crystallised Intelligence Development
Over time and over your life these abilities increase with a small amount of decline near the end of life however it still remains relatively high compared to earlier life.
Fluid Intelligence Development
Over time and over your life these abilities decrease quite significantly with this process of decline occurring very early at 25. This is a constant decline until the end of life.
Mind in Eyes Task
This is the judgement of emotional expression based purely on the eyes. This task is learned and long last where it increases dramatically until age 10 and then stay relatively similar with a slight decline later in life.
Memory
The explicit memory declines e.g. story recall or memory for word lists however implicit memory is stable e.g. memory for pictures. Collaborative memory can be maintained which depends on the strategies within couples e.g. they will help each other to remember better when together than if they were alone.
Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
He was a psychoanalytic psychologist and developed a theory of Psychosocial Development which is based on life span development and personality.
The 8 Stages of Human Development
- Infancy (first year) - basic trust vs mistrust.
- Toddlerhood (1-2) - autonomy vs shame and doubt.
- Early Childhood (3-5) - initiative vs guilt.
- Middle Childhood (6-12) - industry vs inferiority.
- Adolescence (12-19) - identity vs role confusion.
- Early Adulthood (20-39) - intimacy vs isolation.
- Middle Adulthood (40-64) - generativity vs stagnation.
- Late Adulthood (65+) - integrity vs despair.
Stage 1: Infancy
Between 0-1.5-years-old which is understanding consistency in the world. The primary caregiver has a major role in the stability of care. Success in stability leads to trust whereas failure for stability leads to mistrust, suspicion, anxiety (low self-esteem). Trust is heritable (nature) whereas mistrust is learned (nurture). Hope is developed with an openness to experience with a caution that danger may be present.
Stage 2: Toddlerhood
Between 2-3-years-old which is seeking autonomy/independence for separation from parents and control bodily functions. When this is successful there is feelings of independence however failure or doubt leads to inadequacy. Will is developed the belief that children can act with intention, within reason and limits.
Stage 3: Early Childhood
Between 3-5-years-old which leads to children asserting power and control where they direct play and social interactions. Parental support for exploration is key. Success leads to a feeling of purpose whereas failure leads to guilt, self-doubt and lack of initiative (fear of trying new things). Purpose is developed an understanding they have a role to play in the world and that people will listen to them.
Stage 4: Middle Childhood
Between 6-12-years-old which leads children to understand industry vs inferiority with coping with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a development of a sense of pride in achievements and abilities whereas failure leads to feelings of inadequacy and inferiority. This develops confidence a sense of capability and agency that they can make it in the world.
Stage 5: Adolescence
Between 12-19-years-old which leads to the development of a sense of self and personal identity where you learn your beliefs, values and desires through relationships and may begin to play different roles. Success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself whereas failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self. This leads to the development of fidelity to live by society’s standards and expectations.
Stage 6: Early Adulthood
Between 20-39-years-old which leads to the issue of intimacy vs isolation where the formation of intimate relationships occurs which builds onto the sense of identity from stage 5. Success leads to strong relationships whereas failure leads to loneliness and isolation. This develops love the capacity to form relationships that are enduring, meaningful and secure.
Stage 7: Middle Adulthood
Between 40-64-years-old which is the issue of generativity vs stagnation which is where a legacy is created where a contribution will be made that will outlast the person themselves (impact on others). An important event is work and parenthood. Success leads to feelings of contribution to the world as active in their homes and communities whereas failure leads to feelings of unproductiveness and involvement in the world. Care is developed here a pride in accomplishments and developing a sense of unity with your life. Success also helps increased cognitive function and decreased mental health issues even further along in life.
Stage 8: Late Adulthood
After the age of 65-years-old where the issue of integrity vs despair where a reflection on your life occurs on whether they’re happy/content with life and what regrets they have. Success leads to looking back with few regrets and a general feeling of satisfaction whereas failure leads to feelings of life being wasted, regrets, bitterness and despair. This leads to wisdom where you are proud of your accomplishments and are satisfied with what life they have lived. Success also is associated with better mental health.
Criticisms of the 8 Stages of Human Development
The psychoanalytic approach is case studies with uncontrolled settings and suffering is over emphasised. There aren’t discrete stages in personality development and don’t necessarily follow this sequence. Erikson considered the theory as a ‘tool’ as opposed to a factual analysis.
What if the Study was Longitudinal
A study was done in Scotland where personality was measured at age 14 and 77. The basis from this study showed that there wasn’t any statistically significant stability in personality. This means it does change over time with very little stability.
