Unit IX - Developmental Psychology Flashcards
What is developmental psychology?
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social CHANGE throughout the LIFE SPAN
What three issues have engaged developmental psychologists?
Nature vs nurture
Continuity and stages
Stability and change
How do genes form our nature?
Genes PREDISPOSE both our shared HUMANITY
and our individual DIFFERENCES.
How does our environment shape our nurture?
But our EXPERIENCES also FORM us, in the
womb and in the world.
Even differences rooted in our nature may be STRENGTHENED by our nurture.
We are not formed by either nature or nurture,
but by their interrelationships—their __________.
Interaction
How do stage theorists view development?
EMPHASIZE biological maturation- SEQUENCE of genetically predisposed stages/ steps
EVERYONE passes through stages in SAME ORDER
What evidence supports the theory of stable development over time?
One research team that studied 1000 people from ages 3 to 38 was struck by the CONSISTENCY
of temperament and emotionality across time.
Out-of-control 3-year-olds were the most likely to become teen smokers, adult criminals, or
out-of-control gamblers.
What additional research on nature v. nurture exists?
In another study, 6-year-old Canadian boys with
CONDUCT problems were four times MORE likely than other boys to be convicted of a VIOLENT
crime by age 24.
Can temperament predict divorce?
In one longitudinal study of 306 college alums, 1 in 4
with yearbook expressions MEH later divorced, as did only 1 in 20 with
smiles like the one on the right.
are people’s personalities mostly stable over time?
People PREDICT that they will NOT change much
in the FUTURE.
As people grow OLDER, personality gradually STABILIZES
But we do change, too, right?
Social attitudes- less stable than temperament especially during late adolescent years
Older children- NEW ways to COPE
Delinquent children do NOT always become troublign adults
Are both stability and change important?
Life requires BOTH stability and change.
Stability provides our IDENTITY, enabling us
to DEPEND on others and on ourselves.
Our potential for change gives us our HOPE for a
brighter future, allowing us to adapt and GROW with experience.
What is the course of prenatal development?
Life begins at CONCEPTION and continues through SEVERAL stages in the WOMB.
How does conception occur?
Ovary-> Egg
Sperm-> Digestive enzymes -> Egg
How is the egg fertilized?
One sperm PENETRATES the coating and enters through the egg’s surface BLOCKING out the other sperm.
Within hours, the egg nucleus and the sperm nucleus FUSE:
the two become one.
What happens in the germinal stage of prenatal development?
the first 10-day to 2-weeks of development is when the fertilized egg undergoes rapid CELL DIVISION.
Cells begin to SPECIALIZE into different tissues
Zygote
fertilized egg
How does the zygote become an embryo?
Completion of Germinal- zygote ATTACH to UTERINE WALL
Healthy mother-> healthy baby
Over next 6 WEEKS -> organ formation/ Heart beats
Embryo
Zygote’s inner cell
Placenta
Outer cells- LIFE-LINK transfer nutrients & oxygen from mother to embryo
How does an embryo become a fetus?
By 9 WEEKS after conception, an embryo looks unmistakably HUMAN.
It is now a FETUS (Latin for “offspring” or “young one”).
Sixth month-> organs develop enough to allow for successful premature birth
What happens in the fetal stage?
Start of ninth week-> beginning of fetal period
FACE, HANDS, and FEET formed
How big is a fetus?
16th week-> only 3 ounces-> fit into palm
What is the prenatal development sequence?
Zygote
Embryo
Fetus
What does research show about the development of language in the womb?
Repeatedly hearing a word causes newborns’ brain waves to display recognition
Bilingual mother-> Newborns display interest in BOTH
Melodic up & down of newborn cries-> sounds like native tongue
What are teratogens?
“monster makers”
agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during
PRENATAL development and cause HARM
Examples of teratogens
Alcohol consumption Tobacco use Drug use Viruses Medication
How does alcohol impact the fetus?
A pregnant woman NEVER smokes or drinks ALONE. When alcohol enters her bloodstream, and that of her fetus, it REDUCES activity in both their CENTRAL nervous systems.
What are the implications for the fetus when the mother drinks during pregnancy?
Alcohol use during pregnancy may PRIME the woman’s offspring to LIKE alcohol and put them at RISK for heavy drinking and alcohol use DISORDER during their teen years.
How does maternal drinking affect the fetus?
Persistent HEAVY drinking puts the fetus at risk for a dangerously LOW birth WEIGHT, birth DEFECTS,
future behavior PROBLEMS, and lower intelligence.
What is fetal alcohol syndrome?
Occurs 1 in about 700 children
MOST serious of all fetal alcohol spectrum DISORDERS, marked by lifelong physical and mental ABNORMALITIES.
What adaptive reflexes is the newborn equipped with?
Automatically search for nipples and suck
Startle reflex
Grasping reflex
Startle reflex in newborn is when…
Arms & legs spring out, followed by fist clenching/ loud crying
What is habituation?
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
How is it used to study infants?
As infants gain FAMILIARITY with repeated exposure
to a stimulus, their interest WANES and they look away sooner. The novel stimulus gets attention when first presented. With repetition, the response weakens.
Rooting reflex
Corner of mouth is touched- baby will turn head and open mouth- help find breast
Sucking reflex
Roof of mouth touched- begins to suck
Grasping reflex
Stroking of hand or feet causes grasping
Babinski reflex
Sole of foot stroked- big toes moves upward while other toes fan out
What is maturation?
biological GROWTH
processes that enable ORDERLY
changes in behavior, relatively
UNINFLUENCED by experience
How does the brain develop during infancy?
In humans, the brain is IMMATURE at birth. As the child matures, the neural networks grow INCREASINGLY complex.
What does the research show about brain development in infancy and childhood?
Rapide development-> brain size increases rapidly
Most rapid growth between ages 3-6-> frontal lobe-> vast amount of energy needed -> ability to control ATTENTIOn & BEHAVIOR
association areas in babies
last cortical areas to develop and mental abilities surged
How do we form and prune neural connections?
Fiber PATHWAYS supporting agility, language, and
self-control PROLIFERATE into puberty.
Under the influence of ADRENAL hormones, tens of billions of synapses form and organize, while a USE-IT-OR-LOSE-IT pruning process shuts down unused links.
Maturation to development psychologists is …
A BIOLOGICAL sequences
What is the sequence of motor development?
Sit
crawl
walk
run
Is age of walking guided by nature or nurture?
Genes guide motor DEVELOPMENT.
In the United States, 25% of all babies walk by 11 months of age, 50% within a week after their first birthday, and 90% by age 15 months.
Does nurture also play a role in learning to walk?
Nurture may amend what nature intends.
In some regions of Africa, the Caribbean,
and India, caregivers often massage and exercise babies, which can accelerate the process of
learning to walk.
What does research show about our ability to retain early memories?
Recall little before age 4-> rapid neuron growths disrupts circuits with old memories
Maturation-> infantile amnesia wanes-> better at remembering experiences
HC and front lobes continues to mature
Do infants have nonverbal memory?
Carolyn Rovee-Collier observed nonverbal infant memory in son
Calmed by crib mobile- tied ribbon from mobile to foot -> kicking foot to move mobile
So, can babies learn?
Babies CAN learn
Repeated crib experiences with other infants-> same results
How does Rovee-Collier’s research demonstrate infant learning?
Babies hitched to different mobile-> remembers original mobile/ recognize difference
Tethered to familiar mobile a month later- association causes kicking
What additional evidence demonstrates learning in infants?
One study tested English-speaking British adults who had no conscious memory of the Hindi or Zulu they
had spoken as children.
Yet, up to age 40, they could relearn subtle sound contrasts in these languages that other English speakers could not learn.
Once conscious, how does the mind grow?
Jean Piaget-> studied development of children’s cognition
What was Piaget’s belief about cognitive development?
Piaget’s studies led him to believe that a child’s mind DEVELOPS through a SERIES of stages,
in an upward march from the newborn’s SIMPLE reflexes to the adult’s ABSTRACT reasoning
power.
How do we make sense of our experiences?
Piaget’s core idea was that our intellectual PROGRESSION
reflects an UNCEASING struggle to make SENSE of our experiences.
What are schemas?
Concepts or mental molds into which we pour our experiences
What is a schema for a doggy?
4 legs, furry coat, long tail, wet tongue, cold nose, fun, friendly
How does a child add new items to existing schemas?
When first seeing a “cat”, a child may think of it in RELATION to their schema of “doggy”…four legs, furry, long tail, cold nose… and ASSIMILATE (or add) this new example into their existing schema
What if a new example doesn’t fit our existing schema?
If the new example does not quite fit the schema, we receive CORRECTION and need to MODIFY our understanding.
This is called ACCOMMODATION
How does accommodation increase cognition?
By ACCOMMODATING (or changing) the existing SCHEMA and adding new CHARACTERISTICS to distinguish “doggy” from “cat”, we begin to INCREASE cognitive UNDERSTANDING of our world.
Schemas develop throughout the lifespan.
CONTINUOUS process as we experience new information
How has our schema of “love” and “marriage” changed over time?
Late 1900s-> between men and women
Early 2000s-> same sex allowed
What are Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development?
Piaget-? constructing understanding while interacting with it Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operational formal operational
What is the sensorimotor stage?
stage (from BIRTH to nearly 2 YEARS of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their SENSORY
impressions (what they see, hear, etc.)and
MOTOR activities (how they move)
What is object permanence?
Awareness that objects continue to exist even when not perceived
lacking in YOUNG INFANTS
How did Piaget test object permanence?
Young babies- live in present
Before 6 months-> disappeared toy-> does not exist
By 8 months-> exhibit memory of disappeared things/ search for toy
Criticism of Piaget
Piaget-> underestimated competence and intelligence of infants
young children-> little scientists learning from ideas, pattern, inferences
Renn Baillargeon & impossible scenarios
Devised impossible scenes-> ball stopping in mid-air
Babies stare longer at these events that VIOLATE EXPECTATIONS
Do infants have math sense?
Karen Wynn-> showed 5 months objects hidden behind screen and visibly added or removed one
What were the results?
When she lifted the screen, the infants sometimes did a DOUBLE take,
staring LONGER when shown a WRONG number of objects.
What is the preoperational stage?
in Piaget’s
theory, the stage (from about 2 TO 6 OR 7 YEARS of age) during which
a child LEARNS to use LANGUAGE but does NOT yet comprehend the
mental operations of concrete LOGIC.
What is conservation?
the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part
of concrete operational reasoning) that PROPERTIES such as mass, volume, and number remain the
SAME despite CHANGES in the forms
of objects
How did Piaget test for conservation?
When one wide glass of milk is poured into a tall, skinny glass, preoperational child thinks there is “more” milk
What is pretend play?
the ACTING out of stories which involve multiple PERSPECTIVES, the playful MANIPULATION of ideas and emotions, and the use of SYMBOLS
What research has been conducted on symbolic function in cognitive development?
Judy Deloache-> showed children a model of a room hid stuffed dog behind couch
2.5 yrs-> remember stuffed do/ does not use model to locate actual dog in real room
3 yrs-> able to find real stuffed animal-> able to think of model as symbol
What is egocentrism?
in Piaget’s theory,
the preoperational child’s DIFFICULTY
taking ANOTHER’S point of view
What are examples of egocentrism?
Asked to show mom a picture-> 2 yr old holds pic up to own eyes
3 yr old Gray- invisible by covering eyes assuming grandparents won’t be able to see him
4 yr old Norah- show aunt toys through telephone call
What is theory of mind?
people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
How does theory of mind reveal itself?
With time-> ability to take another’s POV developes
Come to understand feelings-> teasing, empathy, persuasion-> how other feels matter
How is theory of mind tested?
Sally doll and ball
Children viewed a doll named Sally leaving her ball in a red cupboard.
Another doll, Anne, then
moved the ball to a blue cupboard.
When Sally returns, where will she look for the ball?
When asked the question above, 85% of the children in the study answered the question correctly. This showed that although they subjects knew the ball had been moved, they demonstrated theory of mind in knowing that Sally would NOT have known.
What is the concrete operational stage?
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 TO 11 YEARS OF AGE) during which children gain the mental OPERATIONS that enable them to think LOGICALLY
about events.
Children in the concrete operational stage would understand child humor such as pizza joke
Cutting a pizza into either 6 or 8 slices does not impact quantity
What is the formal operational stage?
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about AGE 12) during which people begin to think LOGICALLY about ABSTRACT concepts
What characterizes the formal operational stage?
Reasoning expands to concrete to abstract thinking
Can ponder about hypothetical propositions: IF THIS, THE THAT-> systematic reasoning
Who was Lev Vygotsky?
Russian developmental psychologist-> studied how child’ mind feeds on language of social interaction
How did Piaget’s view of cognitive development differ from that of Vygotsky?
Piaget- emphasized how child’s mind grows through interaction with PHYSICAL environment
Vygotsky-> emphasized how child’s mind grow through interaction with SOCIAL environment
What is scaffolding?
a framework that offers children TEMPORARY support as they develop
HIGHER levels of thinking
Scaffolding example
Giving children new words- mentoring
What was Vygotsky’s view of child cognitive development?
Effective mentoring occurs when children are
developmentally ready to learn a new skill.
Child’s zone of poximal development
Zone between what a child can do with help
Children learn best when social environment presents with something between
too easy
too difficult
What is autism spectrum
disorder(ASD)?
a disorder that appears in CHILDHOOD and is marked by significant DEFICIENCIES in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly FIXATED
interests and REPETITIVE behaviors.
What is the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)?
1 in 68 American children- reported rates varies by states and nations
What characterizes autism spectrum disorder?
Poor communications among brain regions that allows us to take another’s POV
Less contact with others
People with ASD are said to have an IMPAIRED…
theory of mind
When Sally returns, where would she look for the ball? for autism children
Only 20% of children with autism answered the question correctly
Most answered that Sally would look in the blue cupboard, evidencing that they did not recognizing that Sally did not know moving of ball.
How does the experience of ASD differ along the spectrum?
About half-> good outcome
Some function at high level-> normal IQ with exceptional talent in specific area, lacking social & communication skills
Severe end-? struggle to use language
What biological factors (nature) do or do NOT contribute to ASD?
Prenatal environment matters-> drug use, stress, diseases
Vaccine does not contribute to ASD
genetics & abnormal brain development contribute to ASD
Is a diagnosis of ASD given more often for boys or girls?
ASD afflicts about three boys for every girl.
Boys-> systemizers
Girls-> empathizers
What research did Baron-Cohen conduct on ASD?
Knowing that television shows with vehicles have been popular among kids with ASD, they created animations with toy vehicle characters in a pretend
boy’s bedroom, grafting emotion-conveying faces onto toy trams, trains, and tractors.
What happens in the television show?
After the boy leaves for school, the characters come to life and have experiences that lead them to display various emotions.
What happened next?
After viewing the television programming, the child subjects were asked to match the correct face with the story
What were the results of this research?
The children were surprisingly able to generalize what they had learned to a new, real-life context. By the
intervention’s end, their previously deficient ability to recognize emotions on real faces now equaled that of children without ASD
How do parent-infant bonds form?
babies are social creatures, developing an intense ATTACHMENT to their caregivers.
Infants come to prefer FAMILIAR faces and voices, then coo and gurgle when given a parent’s ATTENTION.
What is attachment?
an emotional TIE
with another person; shown in young children by their seeking CLOSENESS to their caregiver and
showing DISTRESS on separation
Parent-infant attachment bond is a …
powerful survival impulse that keeps
infants close to their caregivers.
What is stranger anxiety?
the fear of
strangers that infants commonly
display, beginning by about
8 months of age
When does separation anxiety peak?
peaks at around 13 months,
then gradually declines.
Harlow and Money experiment
1950s, University of Wisconsin psychologists Harry Harlow and Margaret Harlow-> used money in learning studies
SEPARATED the infant monkeys from their mothers shortly after birth and raised them in individual cages, each including a cheesecloth baby BLANKET.
SURPRISE -> when their soft blankets were taken to be washed, the monkeys became DISTRESSED.
How does attachment to a caregiver occur?
psychologists reasoned that infants became ATTACHED to those who satisfied their need for NOURISHMENT
The idea that attachment derives from an association with nourishment was contradicted by ….
Harlows monkey experiment
Harlows’ research design
Two artificial mothers- one bare wire cylinder with wooden head and attached feeding bottle, second a cylinder with no bottle but covered with foam rubber wrapped with terry cloth
What were the assumptions in the Harlow study?
Most monkeys prefer comfy cloth “mother” -> cling to it when anxious
What were the conclusions of the Harlow study?
Babies exploring environment -> uses cloth mother as SECURE BASE -> invisible attachment
Adding other qualities made clot mothers more appealing
What is the critical period for development of attachment?
optimal period when certain events must take place to facilitate proper development.
Another key to attachment is
familiarity
Critical period in birds
Goslings, ducklings, or chicks -> shortly after hatching following first object they see
How did Konrad Lorenz explore imprinting in geese?
Although baby birds imprint BEST to their own species, they also will imprint to a variety of MOVING objects—an animal of another species, a box on wheels, a bouncing ball.
Imprinting
process by which certain animals form strong
attachments during early life.
Do humans imprint?
Do not imprint
Become ATTACHED during SENSITIVE PERIOD
EXPOSURE -> fondness
Prefer familiarities
Mary Ainsworth & strange situation experiment
a procedure for studying child-caregiver ATTACHMENT; a child is placed in an UNFAMILIAR environment while their caregiver LEAVES and then RETURNS, and the child’s REACTIONS
are observed
Secure attachment
demonstrated by infants who COMFORTABLY explore environments in the PRESENCE of their caregiver,
show only TEMPORARY distress when the caregiver leaves, and find
COMFORT in the caregiver’s return
insecure attachment
demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, ANXIOUS
attachment or an AVOIDANT
attachment that RESISTS closeness
What are two types of insecure attachment?
anxious
avoidant
What are the two types of attachment?
secure
insecure
anxious attachment
People constantly crave ACCEPTANCE but remain VIGILANT to signs of possible REJECTION.
avoidant attachment
People experience DISCOMFORT getting CLOSE to others and use avoidant strategies to maintain DISTANCE from others.
How does an insecure attachment affect romantic relationships?
In romantic relationships, an anxious attachment style
creates constant CONCERN over REJECTION, leading people to CLING to their partners.
An avoidant attachment style DECREASES commitment and INCREASES conflict
What is temperament?
a person’s INNATE and INBORN
characteristic emotional REACTIVITY
and INTENSITY
Can an infant’s temperament influence attachment?
Twin & developmental
studies -> heredity affects temperament, & temperament affects attachment style.
After birth -> some babies are more difficult than others
How does temperament impact parenting?
Parenting correlates with children’s behavior
Difficult children elicit/ react more to negative parenting
How do we vary parenting while controlling for temperament?
Dutch researcher-> mothers receiving personal training in sensitive responding -> securely attached infants
What bias has historically existed toward fathering?
Infants who lack a caring mother are said to suffer
“maternal deprivation”; those lacking a father’s care merely experience “father absence.”
This reflects a wider attitude in which “fathering a child” has meant impregnating, and “mothering” has meant nurturing.
Fathering in nature
Emperor penguin dads may lose half their body weight over the two months they spend keeping a precious egg
warm during the harsh Antarctic winter.
After mom returns from the sea, both parents take turns caring for and
feeding the chick
Stay-at-home dads
experience has made him APPRECIATE how DIFFICULT the
work can be
What does the research show about the power of dads?
a father’s LOVE and ACCEPTANCE have been comparable with a mother’s love in
predicting their offspring’s HEALTH and
well-being.
What impact does involved fathering have on children’s success in school?
those whose
fathers were MOST involved in parenting (through outings, reading to them, and taking an interest in their education) tended to achieve MORE in school
What are the co-parenting positives?
Active dad are caregiving more
Couples sharing housework/ child care-> happier
Co-parenting supports children
Parent’s genders do not impact children’s well-being
How does a secure attachment lead to a sense of basic trust?
Erick & Joan Erikson-> SECURELY ATTACHED -> basic sense of trust-> world is predictable & reliable-> early parenting-> TRUST
How does childhood abuse or neglect affect children’s attachment?
These socially DEPRIVED children had lower intelligence scores, reduced brain development, abnormal stress responses, and quadruple the rate of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) found in children assigned to quality foster care settings.
How does extreme early trauma impact the brain?
Respond to angry faces with HEIGHTENED activity in threat-detecting areas
Heightened reactivity to ANGRY speech
COWARDS when confronted with strong/ BULLIES when weak
What are the long-term impacts of abuse?
Epigenetic marks-> INCREASED RISK for health problems, psychological disorders, substance abuse, and criminality
Can adversity produce well-adjusted adults?
Most children growing up under adversity (such
as the surviving children of the Holocaust and victims
of childhood sexual abuse) are RESILIENT; they withstand the trauma and become well-adjusted adults.
What is a self-concept?
understanding and assessment of who they are.
Infancy’s major social achievement is ….
Attachment
Childhood’s major social achievment is ….
Positive sense of self
How does self-concept develop?
In 1877, biologist
Charles Darwin offered one idea: SELF-AWARENESS begins when we recognize ourselves
in a MIRROR.
What research has been conducted on self-concept?
6 months-> children has not yet realize mirror is reflection
15 - 18 months -> beginning to recognize reflection
Why does self-concept matter?
Children’s VIEWS of themselves affect their ACTIONS. Children who form a POSITIVE self-concept are more confident, independent, optimistic, assertive, and sociable.
How can parents and stepparents encourage a positive self-concept?
Parenting styles can be described as a combination of two traits: how RESPONSIVE and how DEMANDING parents are
What are four types of parenting styles?
Authoritarian
Authoritative
Permissive
Negligent
Authoritarian
Impose rules
Demand obedience
Authoritative
Set rules
Allow open discussion and exceptions
Permissive
few limits/demands
Little punishment
Negligent
Careless
Inattentive
Do not seek close relationship
What outcomes are associated with authoritarian parenting styles?
Children with LESS social skill and self-esteem, and a
brain that OVERREACTS when they make mistakes.
What outcomes are associated with permissive parenting styles?
Children who are more AGGRESSIVE and IMMATURE
What outcomes are associated with negligent parenting styles?
Children with POOR academic and social outcomes
What outcomes are associated with authoritative parenting styles?
Children with the HIGHEST self-esteem, self-reliance, self-regulation, and social competence.
Beware the correlational fallacy…
CORRELATION doesn’t EQUAL CAUSATION
Sex
the BIOLOGICALLY influenced characteristics by which
people define male and female
Gender
the SOCIALLY influenced characteristics by which people define boy, girl, man, and woman
What indicates sex?
different genitals, different levels and types of hormones dictate sex.
What indicates gender?
time spent doing housework, the sports played, the toys chosen indicate gender.
How are women and men alike?
each of us receives 23 chromosomes from our MOTHER and 23 chromosomes from our FATHER -> 45 are UNISEX
SIMILAR biology-> both need to survive, reproduce, avoid predators
Are we more similar
Males and females, on average, have COMPARABLE creativity and intelligence and feel the SAME emotions
and longings.
How is she different from he?
enter PUBERTY earlier/ lives LONGER/ Express EMOTIONS more freely/ HELP more/ Detect fainter ODORS/ Higher risk DEPRESSION or eating DISORDERS
How is he different from she?
More likely to commit SUICIDE/ develop an ALCOHOL use disorder/ AUTISM spectrum disorder, color deficient VISION/ ADHD/ ANTISOCIAL personality disorder
Do males and females have a similar sense of self-esteem?
Normal distribution -> similar on average
May be different on individual basis
What does the data show regarding men and aggression?
Men admit MORE aggression-> extreme physical violence/ commit more violent CRIME/ lead in HUNTING, FIGHTING, WAR
relational aggression
an act of AGGRESSION (physical or verbal)
intended to harm a person’s RELATIONSHIP or SOCIAL standing
aggression
any PHYSICAL or
VERBAL behavior intended to HARM someone physically or emotionally
women and relational aggression
more likely to commit acts of relational aggression
Gender differences in perceived social power.
Confidence and ways to act seemed as “proper”
Around the world, from Nigeria to
New Zealand, people have perceived gender differences in power.
How do girls tend to connect socially?
Females tend to be more INTERDEPENDENT.
In childhood, girls usually play in SMALL groups, often with one friend
How do boys tend to connect socially?
As children, males
typically form LARGE play groups that brim with activity and COMPETITION, with little INTIMATE
discussion.
How do some women’s relationships vary from some men’s?
STRONGER bonds & feelings-> Bind families
Talk MORE & OPENLY
Turn to others for SUPPORT
What are some factors that contribute to gender bias in the workplace?
perception compensation everyday behavior Interaction styles family-care responsibilities
How do differences in perception impact workplace bias?
Women in power-> criticism/ disdain
“She’s so aggressive”
Men in power-> enthusiasm/support
“He’s so take-charged”
How do differences in salary impact workplace gender bias?
Women in TRADITIONALLY male occupations have received LESS than their male colleagues.
How do family-care responsibilities impact workplace gender bias?
Mothers-> twice as much child care
Less driven by money/status/ compromise more/ reduced work hours
interaction styles
Men-> offer OPINION
women-> express SUPPORT
How might everyday behavior reflect gender bias in the workplace?
Men-> ASSERTIVE, interrupt, TOUCH, stare
women-> SMILE, APOLOGIZE
What is a role?
a set of EXPECTATIONS (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to BEHAVE
Gender roles
a set of EXPECTED behaviors, attitudes, and traits for MALES or for FEMALES
Gender identity
our SENSE of being male, female, some
combination of the two, or neither (gender neutral)
How has gender role changed -> politics, work
ALL countries granted suffrage to women
More women graduate college/ half workforce is women
What is social learning theory?
the theory that we LEARN social gender behavior by OBSERVING and IMITATING and by
being REWARDED or PUNISHED
What is gender typing?
the ACQUISITION of
a TRADITIONAL masculine or feminine role
Do parents matter in the development of gender roles?
Transmit CULTURALviews on gender
TRADITIONAL parents-> more likely to have GENDER-TYPED parents
EQUAL housework -> fathers-> daughters aspired to work OUTSIDe
androgyny
Blend off male and female roles
Androgyny benefits
More ADAPTABLE
more flexible
More resilient/ self-accepting
Less depression
What are some examples of androgynous behaviors?
All color clothing worn by both gender
Children-> dolls, block tower, football, picture
Family-> dad cook, stepmother change oil, daughter trash. son dishes
How do children decipher gender roles without even being taught?
Once children understand own gender-> LOOK for CLUES
Gender EXPRESSION-> hints about language, interest, possessions
Once children have detected own gender, what happens next?
LIKE own sex better
Girls watch My Little Pony/ long hair
Boys watch Transformers/ no dresses
How does this impact behavior?
ADJUST behavior to gender/ rigid stereotypes around 5 or 6
What is transgender?
an umbrella term describing people whose GENDER
identity or expression DIFFERS from that associated with their BIRTH-DESIGNATED sex
Can younger children be considered transgender?
Even as 5- to 12-year-olds, transgender children typically view themselves in terms of their expressed gender rather than their birth-designated sex
sexual orientation
direction of one’s sexual attraction
To whom are trans-gendered people attracted?
May be heteroosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual
Rosenzweig, Krech et al rat experiment
Rats-> alone without playthings OR enriched playthings/rats
What did the research show?
Rats in impoverished env’t-> impoverished brain growth
Rats in enriched env’t-> heavier & thicker brain cortex
What does the data indicate?
After 60 days in the enriched environment, the rats’ brain weights increased 7 to 10% and the number of synapses mushroomed by about 20%.
Enrichment INCREASES brainpower
How does practice increase neural development?
Musicians practicing before age 12-> larger & more complex neural circuits
What are the applications of this research finding?
MOTIVATED improvements in labs, farm, zoos, orphanage
Can touch and stimulation increase cognitive development?
BENEFITS-> faster neural development/ weight gain/ sleep better/ less stress/ better cognitive development
How does experience change the brain?
PLASTICITY-> brain changes to new experiences-> NEW NEURONS
How much blame or credit do parents deserve?
SHARED environmental influences from the womb
onward typically account for LESS than 10% of children’s differences.
credit and blame
Developmental
psychologist Sandra Scarr believes “parents should be given less credit for kids who turn out great and blamed less for kids who don’t.”
Cultural differences in parenting expectations
Asians vs Europeans
Asian mother pushes children- not in way that strains relationship
How do childhood peers (nurture) impact our behaviors?
Preschoolers who dislike certainfood will eat it if group express like
Children adopt accent spoken by peers, not parents
Smoking teens have friends who smoke
peer power
As we develop, we play, date, and partner with peers. No wonder children and youths are so sensitive and responsive to peer influences.
How can parents influence the peer relationships?
The power to select a child’s NEIGHBORHOOD and SCHOOLS gives some parents the ability to influence the culture that shapes the child’s peer group.
What is adolescence?
the TRANSITION
period from CHILDHOOD to
ADULTHOOD, extending from PUBERTY
to INDEPENDENCE
What did G. Stanley Hall state on adolescence?
believed that this tension between biological
maturity and social dependence creates a
period of “storm and stress.”
Adolescence and social acceptance
Peak for social acceptance/ SOCIAL disconnection
Dissolving friendships
Adolescence and Western cultures
NO RELIVING teenage years-> constant change, parental alienation, imperative social approval
What is puberty?
the period of sexual MATURATION, during which a person becomes capable of REPRODUCING
——– of physical changes in puberty is far more predictable than their ——
sequences
Timing
male puberty changes
spermarche- first ejaculation
feamle puberty changes
menarche- first menstrual period/
common puberty changes
breast buds
pubic hair
How does early maturation impact boys?
MIXED effects
Stronger, athletic, independent, popular
Higher risk for alcohol, delinquency, sexual activity
How does early maturation impact girls?
CHALLENGE
association with older girls, teasing, sexual harassment, increased rumination with anxiety/depression
How does the brain change during puberty?
WORK in PROGRESS
increase brain connections
Adolescence-> selective pruning
How do the frontal lobes develop?
frontal lobes continue to develop/ continued growth of myelin-> BETTER communications in brain
IMPROVED judgement,, impulse control, planning
developing impulse control
Sensation seeking peaks in mid teen with impulse control developing more slowly
How do adolescents think?
Self-focused reasoning-> may think experiences are unique
Thinking about what others think of them
How does reasoning change in later adolescence?
When adolescents achieve the intellectual summit that Jean Piaget called the formal operational stage, they apply their new abstract reasoning tools to the world around them.
Ideal vs reality/ human nature, good vs evil
demonstrating reasoning ability
last stage of formal operations
What research has been conducted on moral development?
Lawence Kohlberg
Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg posed moral dilemmas (for example, the Heinz dilemma which questioned whether a person should steal medicine to save a loved one’s life) and asked children, adolescents, and adults whether the action was right or wrong.
Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
preconventional morality
conventional morality
postconventional morality
preconventional morality
before age 9
self-interest/ obey rules for rewards
preconventional morality statement
“If you save your dying wife you’ll be a hero.”
conventional morality (early adolescence)
Uphold laws and rules to gain social approval or to maintain social order
conventional morality statement
“If you steal the drug for her, everyone will think you’re a criminal.”
Post conventional morality (adolescence and beyond)
Actions reflect belief in basic rights and self-defined ethical principles
Post conventional statement
“People have a right to live”
Are there criticisms of Kohlberg?
POSTCONVENTIONAL stage is CULTURALLY limited, appearing mostly among people from large societies that prize INDIVIDUALISM.
Carol Gilligan on Kohlberg’s theory
Largely concluded from wealthy middle-class males/ did not reflect FEMALE moral development
What is moral intuition?
“quick gut feelings, or affectively laden intuitions”
intuitionist view
mind makes moral judgments in similar way to aesthetic judgments-QUICK and AUTOMATICALLY
Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development
Infancy (to 1 yr) Toddlerhood (1-3 yr) Preschool (3-6) Elementary school (6-puberty) Adolescence (teen-20s) Young adulthood (20s-early 40s) Middle adulthood (40s-60s) Late adulthood(late 60s and up)
Psychosocial task
Crisis that appears in each stage of life and needs resolution
Infancy Issue
Trust vs mistrust
Needs dependably met, infants develop basic trust
Toodlerhood Issue
Autonomy vs shame & doubt
Learn to exercise will/ do things for themselves or doubt abilities
Preschool issue
initiative vs guilt
Initiate task, carry out plans or feel guilty about efforts to be independent
Elementary school issue
competence vs inferiority
Learn pleasure of applying themselves to tasks or feel inferior
Adolescence Issue
Identity vs role confusion
Refining identity or become confused
Young adulthood issue
intimacy vs isolation
forming close relationships and intimate love or feel socially isolated
Middle adulthood issue
Generativity vs stagnation
Contributing to world or lack of progress
Late adulthood issue
integrity vs despair
Satisfaction or failure
What is identity?
our sense of SELF; according to Erik Erikson, the
adolescent’s task is to SOLIDIFY a sense of self by TESTING and INTEGRATING various ROLES
How do adolescents explore identity?
To refine their sense of identity, adolescents in individualist cultures usually try out DIFFERENT
“selves” in different situations.
They may act out one self at home, another with friends, and still another at school or online.
What is self?
By VARYING
the way they look, adolescents try
out DIFFERENT “selves.”
What is social identity?
the “WE” aspect
of our self-concept; the part of our
answer to “Who am I?” that comes
from our GROUP memberships
What influences the development of healthy adult relationships?
High-quality relationships with family & friends tend to also enjoy similar romantic relationships
GREAT PLEASURE
How do peers influence adolescents?
Adolescence is typically a time of DIMINISHING parental influence
and GROWING peer influence.
How close are teens to their parents?
As adolescents in Western cultures seek to form their own identities, they begin to PULL away from their parents
What does the research show regarding parent-teen conflict?
By adolescence, parent-child arguments occur more often, usually over mundane things Greater conflicts with older children/ greater with mother than father
Do peers matter?
Teens are HERD animal
Talk, dress, act more like peers
PEER APPROVAL matters
Do parents matter?
Parental approval matters
Influential in religion, college, career, politics
What is emerging adulthood?
a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults
What does it mean to be an emerging adult?
“In between” responsibilities and independence
Unable to move from parents’ home/ Emotional dependence
Historically, when did adulthood begin?
In the 1890s, the average interval between a woman’s first menstrual period and marriage, which typically marked a transition to adulthood, was about 7 years.
Today, when does adulthood begin?
By 2006 in industrialized countries, the gap between
the first menstrual period and marriage had
widened to about 14 years.
How is biological sex determined?
Twenty third pair of chromosomes
Mother always contribute X chromosome
Which chromosomes come from the father?
An X chromosome-> female
An Y chromosome -> male
How does testosterone influence prenatal development?
7 weeks after conception -> master switch on Y chromosome triggers testes development and produce testosterone
What changes occur in the fetal stage?
4th & 5th months-> sex hormones bathe fetal brain -> different patterns
How do sex hormones influence adolescent sexual development?
Puberty-> rapid sexual development in 2 years
Subtle beginnings of puberty -> appear earlier
Height during puberty
Similar height throughout childhood-> girls temporarily taller until age 14 where boys grow faster
Primary sex charactertistics
Reproductive organs and external genitalia making sexual reproduction possible develop dramatically
Secondary sex characterstics
Girls->larger breasts/ hip
Boys->facial hair/ deep voice
Both–> pubic/underarm hair
What is spermarche?
puberty’s landmark is the first EJACULATION, which often occurs first during
sleep (as a “wet dream”).
AGE 14
What is menarche?
first menstrual period around age 12.5
both GENES and ENV’T matter
What is intersex?
a condition present at birth due to unusual combinations of male and female chromosomes,
hormones, and anatomy;
possessing biological sexual characteristics
of both sexes
Intersex example
Genetic male born with normal male hormones and testes but no penis
Caster Semenya
Improvement in her performance caused sex testing in 2009
Neither male or female-> allowed to compete as woman
Are adolescents at greater risk for sexually transmitted infections(STIs)?
“Compared with older adults,” reports the Centers for Disease Control “sexually active adolescents aged 15–19 years and young adults aged 20–24 years are at higher risk.”
Can condom use prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs)?
LIMITED protection against skin-to-skin transmitted infections
80% effective in preventing transmission of HIV
What is acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)?
a life-threatening, sexually transmitted infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
depletes immune system
How can AIDS be prevented?
Knowing one’s status and sharing with sexual partner
What environmental factors contribute to variations in teen sexuality?
Impulsivity
Communication about birth control
alcohol use
mass media
communication about birth control
Many teenagers are uncomfortable discussing
contraception with parents, partners, and peers.
Talking more OPENLY with parents & partners-> increased chance of contraceptives
impulsivity
Among sexually active 12- to 17-year-old American girls, 72 percent
said they regretted having had sex.
Passion > intentions -> pregnancy
alcohol use
Those who use alcohol prior to sex are less likely to use condoms.
Occur without consent
mass media
Perceived peer norms influence teens’ sexual behavior.
More sexual content-> more sexual activity/ earlier intercourse
the hypersexualization of female characters
The female characters were much more likely than the male characters to
be “hypersexualized”—partially nude or revealingly clothed, with large breasts
and tiny waists.
What environmental factors contribute to sexual restraint in teens?
High intelligence
religious engagemnet
father presence
service learning participation
What is sexual orientation?
our enduring sexual attraction, usually
toward members of our own sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual
orientation);
variations include attraction toward both sexes
(bisexual orientation)
Are there environmental factors that influence sexual orientation?
If there are environmental factors that influence sexual orientation after we’re born, we do not yet know what they are.
How many people are exclusively homosexual?
According to more than a dozen
national surveys in Europe and the United States, about 3 or 4 percent of men and 2 percent
of women are homosexual.
Same-sex sexual behaviors has been obersved in
Animals
What role might the hypothalamus play in sexual orientation?
Simon LeVay->discovery of a similar hypothalamic difference between the male sheep that do and don’t display same-sex attraction.
Are there genetic influences on sexual orientation?
Evidence indicates that “about a third of variation in sexual orientation is attributable to
genetic influences”.
Tendency to run in families
Is the prenatal environment an influence on sexual orientation?
German researcher Gunter Dorner pioneered research on the influence of prenatal hormones by manipulating a fetal rat’s exposure to male hormones, thereby “inverting” its sexual orientation
What is the older brother effect?
More older brother a man has the more likely he will be homosexual
aging
As we age, many PHYSICAL attributes and abilities we possessed when younger change SIGNIFICANTLY.
What physical changes occur in middle adulthood?
Physical abilities ALL begin an imperceptible DECLINE in mid-twenties
Physical vigor has more to do with health 7 exercise habits
What reproductive changes occur in middle adulthood?
Gradual DECLINE in fertility
Decreased chance of pregnancy, Decline in sperm count, testosterone lvl, erection
Menopause
Menopause
Menstrual cycles end
Ability to reproduce declines with a few years to 50
How do attitudes toward sex change in middle and late adulthood?
Satisfaction wit sex life
75 or older-> little to no sexual desire
Survey-> 75% of eeople in eighties reported being sexually active
Jeanne Calment
oldest human with authenticated age at 122
100-> riding a bike
114-> oldest film actor
What does the research show regarding longevity?
From 1950 to 2015, life expectancy at birth increased worldwide from 46.5 years to 71 years—and to 80 and beyond in twenty-nine countries China-> 76 US-> 79 UK-> 81 Canada-> 82 Australia -> 82 10% world pop-> 60+ 2100-> 30% will become 60+
How do telomeres impact aging?
As telomeres shorten, aging cells may die without being replaced with perfect genetic replicas.
Impact of environmenton telomeres
Smoking, obesity, stress-> shorter telomeres
Breast-fed-> longer telomeres
Abuse/ bullying-> shorter telomeres
What is the death-deferral phenomenon?
Death rate increases when people reach an important milestones
death-deferral phenomenon example
Across one 15-year period, 2000 to 3000 more Americans died on the two days after Christmas than on Christmas and the two days before.
Males are more prone to dying.
126 male embryos -> only 105 survives
Male infant’s death rates exceed females
Women live longer by 4.7 years
Age 100-> 5:1 women to men ratio
How do sensory abilities change in late adulthood?
Awareness of declining physical abilities
DIMINISHED vision, muscle strength, reaction time, stamina, smell, hearing,touch
How do slowed reactions impact driving?
Slowing reactions contribute to increased accident risks among those 75 and older, and their greater fragility increases their risk of death when accidents happen.
the aging brain
older people take a bit more time
to react, to solve perceptual puzzles, even to remember names.
What does the research show about the effects of aging on the brain?
Brain regions important to memory begin to ATROPHY
Blood-brain barrier breaks down in HC
Gradual net loss of brain cells begin-> brain-weight reduction
What things do we remember well as we age?
Important events during teens/twenties
Reminiscence bump
Pivotal events
What research has been conducted on recall in later years?
“Hi, I’m Larry”
People watched video clips as 14 STRANGERS said their names, using a common format: “Hi, I’m Larry”.
Then those strangers REAPPEARED and
gave ADDITIONAL details.
For example, they said, “I’m from Philadelphia,” providing more VISUAL and VOICE cues for remembering the person’s name
What were the results?
After a second
and third replay of the introductions, everyone remembered more names, but younger adults consistently surpassed older adults.
recall v. recognition in older adults
In another experiment, when asked to recognize 24 words they had earlier tried to memorize,
older adults showed minimal memory
decline. When asked to recall that information
without clues, however, the decline was greater.
What research methods are useful for studying aging?
Cross-sectional study
Longitudinal study
cross-sectional study
research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time
longitudinal study
research that follows and retests the same people over time
What do studies show regarding intelligence and cognition as the end-of-life nears?
TERMINAL DECLINE
last 3 to 4 years-> negative feelings and cognitive decline increases
What are neurocognitive disorders (NCDs)?
ACQUIRED (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive
deficits
NCD’s are related to
Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse
What can negativel impact the brain?
Strokes, tumor, alcohol, smoking
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
a neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques, often with onset after age 80, and entailing a
progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities
Alzheimer’s disease progression in 5 to 20 years
Emotionally flat, disoriented, dis-inhibited, incontinent, mentally vacant
predicting Alzheimer’s disease
MRI scans of people at risk for Alzheimer’s revealed more INTENSE activity when compared to normal brain
What themes and influences mark the social journey from early adulthood to death?
New job, relationships, expectations, demands
MARRIAGE-> intimacy/ stress
NEW CHILD-> increase life satisfaction
LOVED ONE’S DEATH-> irreplaceable loss
What is the midlife transition?
TRANSITION to middle adulthood-> Life would be mostly BEHIND them
Midlife crisis myth
Unhappiness, job dissatisfaction, marital dissatisfaction, divorce, anxiety, and suicide do NOT surge during the early forties.
Distress do not peaks anywhere in midlife age range
What is the social clock?
definition of “the RIGHT TIME” to performs life events
How has the social clock changed?
People feel freer being out of sync
Not as RIGID
What aspects of our life dominate our adulthood?
Intimacy vs isolation
Generativity vs stagnation
love
CENTRAL to happy adulthood
Intimacy, attachment, commitment
How do couples meet?
Increasing role of Internet especially between gay couples
Does living together before marriage decrease the odds of divorce?
NOPE
Those living together before marriage had HIGHER rates of divorce and martial dysfunction
Is the empty nest syndrome a myth?
YES-> May be challenging but most people enjoy an empty next-> HAPPY
“Post launch honeymoon”
work
sense of IDENTITY and COMPETENCE, and opportunities for ACCOMPLISHMENT. Perhaps this is why challenging and interesting
occupations enhance people’s HAPPINESS
Humans are social creatures.
Both younger and older adults report greater happiness when spending time with others.
Biological influences on successful aging
NO genetic predisposition to early cognitive or physical DECLINE
Appropriate NUTRITION
Psychological influences on successful aging
OpPTIMISTIC outloo
physically and mentally ACTIVE lifestyle
Social-cultural influences on successful aging
SUPPORT from friends and family
MEANINGFUL activities
cultural RESPECT for aging
SAFE living conditions
How do emotions stabilize as we age?
As the years go by, feelings MELLOW.
As we age, life therefore becomes LESS of
an emotional roller coaster.
What does research show about how we grieve?
Expressing strongest grief do not purge grief more quickly
Grieving in isolation or with others adjust with minimal differences
No predictable stages for terminally ill/ bereaved people
Sense of integrity
feeling that one’s life has been MEANINGFUL and WORTHWHILE
