Learning Objectives1. What is developmental psychology?2. What agents can harm the fetus in utero?3. What are the reflexes a baby is born with?4. What is the difference between secure and insecure

attachment?5. How does language develop in children?6. What is the difference between the nativist

approach and learning approach to language?

Developmental Psychology

The study of the physical, cognitive, and social change of humans throughout their life cycle.

• Children, Adults, and the Elderly• Topics revolve around maturation and the

aging process, what it affects and how it affects

Prenatal development

Conception 30 Hours

6 weeks 4 months

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Agents that cross the placenta

1. German measles

2. X-rays, other radiation, and toxic chemicals, such as lead or mercury

3. Sexually transmitted diseases

4. Cigarette smoking

5. Alcohol• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): low birth weight,

smaller brain, facial deformities, lack of coordination, mental retardation

6. Drugs other than alcohol

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Newborn ReflexesReflex Description

Rooting When cheek is touched, head will turn toward the touch and mouth will search for something to suck

Sucking Infant will suck on anything suckable, finger, nipple, pacifier

Moro or “startle” Infant throws arms and spread fingers in response to noise or physical disturbance

Babinski Touch bottom of foot (outer sole), infant will splay toes outward and then curl them in

Grasp Touch on palm of hand, infant will grasp

Stepping Hold infant so feet just touch ground, will demonstrate walking motion

AttachmentA deep emotional bond that an infant develops with its primary caretaker

• Gives children a secure place to explore the world

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Securely Attachedbaby is secure when the parent is present, distressed by separation, and delighted by reunion.

Insecurely Attachedbaby clings to the parent, cries at separation, and reacts with anger or apathy to reunion.

AvoidantAnxious or ambivalent

Mary Ainsworth – Strange Situation

Attachment

Margaret and Harry HarlowDemonstrated importance of touching in forming attachments in Rhesus monkeys

2 artificial monkey moms:

1. wire, provided milk2. terry-cloth, no milk

Contact comfortIn primates, the innate pleasure derived from close physical contactThe basis of the infant’s first attachment

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What causes insecure attachment?

1. Abandonment and deprivation in the first two years of life

2. Parenting that is abusive, neglectful, or erratic

3. Child’s genetically influenced temperament

4. Stressful circumstances in the family

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Cognitive Development: Language

1. Acquisition of speech begins in the first few months.

• Crying and cooing = first parts of speech • Infants are responsive to pitch, intensity, and sound.

– Parentese – high pitch baby talk

2. By 4-6 months of age children can recognize their names and repetitive words.

3. By 6-12 months they become familiar with sentence structure of their own language

• Babbling starts – e.g. “baba”, “googoo”• Common gestures• Around 12 months – first word

4. Between 18-24 months, combine 2-3 words into telegraphic speech

• At 18 months speaks 3-50 words• By age 6: 8,000 – 14,000 words

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Word1. Ball2. Mama3. Dada4. Dog5. Cheese6. Blueberries7. Bubbles8. Hi9. Bye10. Mine11. Book12. Down13. There14. Up there15. Over

there16. Down

there17. What’s that18. That19. Bottle20. More21. All Done22. Uh Oh23. Owe24. Hot25. Yes26. No

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Signs

1. Eat

2. More

3. Milk

4. Please

5. Cheese

6. All Done

7. Hot

8. Monkey

9. Gorilla

10. Elephant w/ sound

11. Bear

12. Airplane

13. Hi

14. Bye

15. Yes

16. No

17. Thank you 

Cari’s Words and Signs at 18 months

Telegraphic Speech

• form of communication consisting of simple two-word, noun-verb sentences

• Starts between 18 and 24 months

• “Have it”, “I want”

• “Cari down”

• “Cari ball”, “Cari book”, “Mommy shirt”

The Learning Theory ApproachLanguage acquisition follows the basic laws for operant conditioning

• Shaping: reinforcement of successive approximations of words that are uttered

• Language is learned

The Nativist Approach (Noam Chomsky)There is a genetically determined, innate mechanism that directs the development of language

• Language is an innate skill• Language acquisition device (LAD)

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Cognitive Development: The Origins of Language

Language acquisition device (LAD)

An innate module that allows young children to develop language if they are exposed to an adequate sampling of conversation

• Permits understanding of language • Provides strategies and techniques for learning the

specific characteristic of a language to which a child is exposed

Universal grammar –core features common to all languages

• Nouns and verbs, subjects and objects, negatives

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Evidence supporting the Nativist Approach

1. Children in different cultures go through similar stages of linguistic development.

2. Children combine words in ways adults never would.

3. Children learn to speak or sign correctly without adult correction.

4. Children not exposed to adult language may invent a language of their own.

5. Children as young as 7 months can derive simple linguistic rules from a string of sounds.

6. Broca’s area is selectively activated by languages that meet Universal Grammar requirements

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Last Class in Review• Developmental Psychology:

– The study of physical, social and cognitive changes throughout the lifespan

• Newborn reflexes• Attachment Theory

– Mary Ainsworth strange situation• Insecure vs. secure attachment

– Harlow Monkey Experiment• Contact comfort

– Language Development• Learning Theory Approach (shaping/rewards)

• Nativist Approach (innate LAD/universal grammar)

Learning Objectives1. What are the 4 stages of cognitive development

according to Piaget?2. What is object permanence, egocentrism, and

conservation?3. What is the distinction power assertion and

induction in the development of moral behavior?4. What are the major physiological changes that girls

and boys undergo during adolescence?5. What are the 8 stages or crises of development

over the lifespan that were proposed by Erikson?

Cognitive Development:Thinking

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)Proposed that children make mental adaptations to new observations

• Assimilation: absorbing new information into existing cognitive structures

• Accommodation: modifying existing cognitive structures in response to new information

The thought processes and problems solving strategies of children are not random, they reflect the level of maturation at each stage of development

4 stages of development: new reasoning skills depend on the development of previous ones

1. Sensorimotor2. Preoperational3. Concrete Operations4. Formal Operations

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Piaget’s Stages of Development:Sensorimotor

• Birth–2 years

• Children learn through concrete actions

• Children learn to coordinate sensory information with bodily movements

- If I do X, Y will happen

Object permanence.The understanding that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it

• allows them to hold images in their mind• allows them to use mental imagery and symbols

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1

Object Permanence

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Child has not learned object permanence

Child has learned object permanence

The understanding that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it

Piaget’s Stages of Development:Preoperational

•Ages 2–7

• Use of symbols and language accelerates• Pretend play

•Focused on limitations of children’s thinking• Lack cognitive abilities needed for abstract

thinking and mental operations• Egocentric

– Seeing the world only from your own point of view; not being able to see other’s points of view

• Cannot grasp concept of conservation

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2

Egocentrism: Three Mountain Task

Seeing the world only from your own point of view; not being able to see other’s points of view

Conservation

Substance“Do the two pieces have the same amount of clay?”

Number“Do the two rows have the same number of pennies?”

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The understanding that the physical properties of objects, can remain the same even when their form or appearance changes.

Piaget’s Stages of Development:Concrete operations

Ages 7–12

•Thinking is still concrete• Tied to actual experiences

•Cognitive skills expand rapidly• Conservation

• Reversibility

• Causation

• Mental operations

– Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division

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Piaget’s Stages of Development:Formal operations

•Ages 12–adulthood

•Capable of abstract reasoning• Compare and classify ideas• Reason about situations not personally experienced• Think about the future• Search systematically for solutions

– Deductive and inductive reasoning

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4

Your turn

At what age will children recognize that the two clay balls on the right have the same amount of clay as the two balls on the left?1. Ages 0-22. Ages 2-73. Ages 7-124. Ages 12 and over

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Cognitive development:Current Views

1. Cognitive abilities develop in continuous, overlapping waves.

• In comparison to the distinct stages Piaget proposed

2. Preschoolers (3-4 yrs) are not as egocentric as Piaget thought.

• Theory of Mind:a system of beliefs about how their own and other people’s minds work and how people are affected by their beliefs and emotions

3. Children understand more than Piaget thought.• At 4 months some idea of object permanence and will notice

when objects seem to be defying the laws of physics

4. Cognitive development is spurred by growing speed and efficiency of information processing.

5. Cognitive development depends on the child’s education and culture.

• Lev Vygotsky – culture profoundly shapes a child’s cognitive development

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How do children learn moral reasoning?

Moral reasoning:

Learning right from wrong

Learning generosity vs. selfishness

Learning to obey rules of social conduct (norms, roles)

Teaching moral behavior:Parental Influences

1. Power assertionParent uses punishment and authority to correct misbehavior.

Authoritarian parenting: demanding, less responsive to children’s real needs. Controlling, but not warm or loving. Issue command, criticisms, and only occasional praise.

Result: Children learn to obey only when parent is present

2. InductionParent appeals to child’s own resources, abilities, sense of responsibility, and feelings for others in correcting misbehavior.

Authoritative parenting: unconditional love and acceptance, supportive, provide boundaries, but allow freedom too. Loving, but not over-indulgent, involved by not overly controlling.

Result: Children learn to internalize right vs. wrong

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Gender identity and typing

Gender identityThe fundamental sense of being male or female, independent of whether the person conforms to social and cultural rules of gender

Gender typingProcess by which children learn the abilities, interests, personality traits, and behaviors associated with being masculine or feminine in their culture

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Influences on gender development

•By 9 months, babies can discriminate male from female faces

•By 2-3, toddlers can label themselves as a boy or girl

•By 4-5, children develop stable gender identity• Around 3-5 yrs, children show preference for playing with same-sex

peers and toys

Biological factorsPrenatal hormones (androgens), genes brain organization.

Cognitive factorsGender schemas: the mental network of knowledge, beliefs, metaphors, and expectations about what it means to be male or female.

– develops around age 5

Learning factorsGender appropriate play may be reinforced by parents, teachers, and peers and children may simply be conforming to the expectation and beliefs of parents and teachers.

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Physiology of adolescence

AdolescencePeriod of life from puberty until adulthood

PubertyThe age at which a person becomes capable of sexual reproduction

• Before puberty – girls and boys = androgens and estrogens• After Puberty – girls > estrogen; boys > androgens

• Onset of puberty depends on genetic and environmental factors.

E.g., body fat triggers the hormonal changes

Early vs. late onset• Early maturing boys have more positive views of their bodies and are

more likely to smoke, binge drink, and break the law.

• Early maturing girls are usually socially popular but also regarded by peer group as precocious and sexually active. They are more likely to fight with parents, drop out of school, and have a negative body image.

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Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

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• Each stage is characterized by a crisis, or challenge, which needs to be resolved before moving on

• Favorable outcomes at a given stage are “virtues”

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

1. Trust vs. mistrust (oral-sensory)• Infancy (birth-age 1)• Important event = feeding• DRIVE & HOPE

2. Autonomy vs. shame & doubt (muscular-anal)• Toddler (ages 1-3)• Important event = toilet training• SELF-CONTROL, COURAGE, WILL

3. Initiative vs. guilt (locomotor)• Preschool (ages 3-5)• Important event = Independence• PURPOSE

4. Industry vs. inferiority (latency)• Elementary school (ages 6-12)• Important event = school• COMPETENCE

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Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

5. Identity vs. role confusion (adolescence)• Adolescence (ages 13-19)• Important event = peer relationships• DEVOTION & FIDELITY

6. Intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood)• Young adulthood (ages 20-40)• Important event = love relationships• LOVE

7. Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood)• Middle adulthood (ages 40-65)• Important event = Parenting• CARING

8. Integrity vs. despair (Maturity)• Late adulthood (ages 65 and older)• Important event = reflection and acceptance of one’s life• WISDOM

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Your turn

At what age, according to Erikson, are people likely to wrestle with whether they are able to deal with the tasks facing them in life and begin to feel a sense of competence or inferiority to others?1. Age 42. Age 73. Age 154. Age 25

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