Chapter 4: Developing Through the Lifespan Introduction developmental psychologists study physical, cognitive, and social changes throughout

the lifespan; discern commonalities developmental psychology focuses on 3 issues: o Nature/nurture: how do genetic inheritance and experience influence development? o Continuity/stages: is development a gradual, continuous process, or a sequence of separate stages o Stability/change: do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as we age? Prenatal Development and the Newborn Conception Ovary releases an egg, and 200 million sperm come toward it; woman born with all immature eggs ever needed, whereas men produce sperm starting at puberty, and slowing production as age increases Sperm that make it to the egg release digestive enzymes that eat away at egg s protective coating, allowing sperm to penetrate, which then causes the egg to block out all others In 12 hours, egg and sperm nucleus fuse Prenatal development Less than half of allzygot es (fertilized eggs) survive past 2 weeks Within the first week (when zygote is 100 cells large), cells began todif f er ent i at e (specialize in structure & function) After 10 days zygote attaches to mother s uterine wall - outer part attaches to wall, which forms the placenta; inner cells becomeem bryo (2 weeks through month 2) Next 6 weeks organs begin to form and function; heart begins to beat By 9 weeks is called afe t us; 6th month organs (stomach) formed and functional to allow premature fetus a chance of survival, responsive to sound, prefer mother s voice to another woman or father s Placenta transfers nutrients and oxygen, screens harmful substances, though it can admit teratogens: harmful agents (viruses, drugs) which cause mother-to-baby transfer of AIDS, heroin addiction, nicotine; alcohol depresses activity in both nervous systems Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS): small, misproportioned head and lifelong brain abnormalities mental retardation; caused by common maternal drinking (40% of alcoholic mothers have FAS babies) Stress leads to offspring w/ delayed motor development, increased emotionality, learning deficits, and alterations in neurotransmitter systems associated w/ human psychological disorders (depression) The competent newborn Rooting reflex: baby s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn towards touch, open mouth, and search for nipple Babies born preferring sights & sounds that facilitate social responsiveness turn heads to human voices, prefers drawings of human faces Baby brains stamped w/ smell of mothers body, familiar w/ voice Infancy and Childhood Physical development Brain Development Brain development finishes in the womb, but nervous system development occurs after birth; from ages 3-6 it occurs rapidly in the frontal lobe (rational planning) Association areas (thinking, memory, language) last brain areas to develop Fiber pathways supporting language and agility proliferate into puberty, after which a pruning process shuts down extra connections while strengthening others Human experiencemat urati on biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience Motor Development Babies roll over before they sit unsupported, crawl before walk reflect a maturing nervous system Most babies walk by age 15 months, though this may be influenced a bit by environmental influences (back-to-crib associated w/ later crawling) Genes play a major role; biological maturation (development of cerebellum) creates readiness to learn walking, bowel & bladder control Maturation and Infant Memory infantile amnesia before age 3: average age of earliest conscious memory is 3.5 years Memories of preschool years are few because we organize memories differently after age 3 or 4 As brain cortext matures, toddlers gain a sense of self and long-term storage increases; infants pre-verbal memories do not easily

translate into later language Memories do exist during/beyond early years association can remain for month(s) (baby associates leg movement with propelling a mobile), and our nervous systems retain earlier memories (physiological responses mirroring remembering faces in early years) Cognitive development Jean Piaget children reason differently than adults, and that child s mind develops through stages from Believed driving force behind intellectual progression is struggle to make sense of experiences children are active thinkers, constantly trying to construct more advanced understandings of the world Maturing brain buildss chem as (concept/framework that organizes and interprets info) Use of schemas:ass i mi l ate experiences (interpret them in terms of current understanding) and accommodate schemas to fit particulars of new experiences Piaget s Theory and Current Thinking Cognition: all mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, communicating Piaget: children experience spurts of change followed by greater stability, which form four stages Typical age range Description of stage Developmental phenomena Birth 2 years Sensorimotor: experiencing the world through senses & actions (looking, touching, mouthing, grasping) Object permanence, stranger anxiety 2 6/7 years Preoperational: representing things with words & images; use intuitive rather than logical reasoning Pretend play, egocentrism, language development ~711 years Concrete operational: thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies & performing arithmetical operations Conservation, mathematical transformations ~12-adulthood Formal operational: abstract reasoning Abstract logic, potential for mature moral reasoning Sensorimotor Stage Sensorimotor stage: babies take in world through sensory & motor interactions w/ objects looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, grasping Have no object permanence awareness that objects still exist when not seen; 8 mo babies remember things not seen (gradual change) Infants look longer at unexpected scenes, and can differentiate between numbers Preoperational Stage Preoperational stage: too young to perform mental operations; lacks conservation(quanti t y remains the same despite changes in shape) Deloach: symbolic thinking appears at age 3, develops fast after 2 Egocentrism Piaget: 4-year-olds aree goc e nt r ic: have difficulty perceiving things from another s POV (cognitive limitation, not inconsiderate) Theory of Mind Theory of mind: people s ideas about their own and others mental states about their feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and behaviors these might predict 4-5 year olds seek to understand motivations behind emotions because of lessening of egocentrism Enables inferring of others feelings, understand thoughts can cause feelings, ages 5-8: spontaneous self-produced thoughts can also create feelings Autistic children have harder time understanding other peoples minds differ from their own state of mind and difficulty reflecting on own mental states (so do deaf children w/ hearing parents) Age 7: children capable of thinking in words and using words to work out solutions through inner speech; talking to themselves helps them control behavior & emotions and master new skills Concrete operational state concrete operational state: (6/7-11 yrs) gain mental operations that enable logical thinking about concrete events Grasp conservation, comprehend math transformations Formal Operational State ~12 yrs reasoning expands from concrete to abstract (imagined realities, symbols) can solve hypothetical propositions and deducing consequences (if then) Formal operational thinking stage which people think logically about abstract concepts. Reflecting on Piaget s Theory today s researchers see development as more continuous than did Piaget; revealed conceptual abilities Piaget missed and see formal logic as smaller part of cognition Piaget contended children

construct understandings from interactions w/ world, which implies children are not passive receptacles waiting to be filled with teacher s knowledge: better to build on prior knowledge & engage in demonstrations Social development Babies develop stranger anxiety (the fear of strangers infants display beginning at about 8 months and peaks at 13 months); when they cannot assimilate new faces into schemas for familiar faces they become distressed Origins of Attachment attachment an emotional tie w/ another person, shown in young children by seeking closeness to caregiver and showing distress on separation (survival impulse) Body Contact Harlow & Harlow: bred monkeys w/o mothers that became attached to blankets they had been given contradicted idea that attachment derives from association w/ nourishment Created two artificial mothers: one made of terry cloth, one with wooden head, both with food (for nourishment) monkey still preferred terry cloth mother, cling to it when anxious, use her as a secure base from which to venture into environment; rocking, warmth, & feeding made terry cloth mother more appealing Human attachment: o Parent-infant-emotional communication occurs via touch soothing or arousing o Parent provides child w/ safe haven when distressed and secure base from which to explore o During maturation, secure base/safe haven shifts from parents to peers/partners Familiarity Attachments built on familiarity form during critical period (an optimal period shortly after birth when organism s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development) Imprinting process by which certain animals for attachments during the critical period Humans: mere exposure fosters fondness; familiarity is a safety signal Attachment Differences Placed in a strange situation, 60% of infants display secure attachment (absence of mother = distress; presence = comfortable play & exploration) Insecure attachment: very attached to mother (absence of mother are upset or indifferent) Source: mother s behavior baby rats picked up mother s tendencies of being relaxed, attentive, etc. Ainsworth sensitive responsive mothers had infants who displayed secure attachment; insensitive, unresponsive mothers had insecurely attached infants Van den Boom randomly assigned temperamentally difficult 6-9 month olds mothers either to sensitive responding training or control condition in the end, 68% of the infants were securely attached; intervention programs can increase parental sensitivity, and to a lesser extent, infant attachment security Fathers are important in parenting too: those whose fathers were most involved in parenting tended to achieve more in school Erikson & Erikson: securely attached children approach life with a sense of basic trust (the world is predictable and trustworthy, attributed to appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers) Deprivation of Attachment\ Abused babies or babies with no caregiver are withdrawn, frightened, speechless; bore lasting emotional scars if institutionalized for over 8 months Harlow s monkeys: as adults, they were frightened or aggressive to other monkeys, incapable of mating, and neglectful & abusive towards first-borns Most abusive parents and condemned murderers report having been neglected/battered as children Most abused children become normal adults; delinquency as a result of early childhood abuse waned by late adolescence, but 30% of those who had no sharp break from abusive past abuse their children Young children experiencing physical abuse or wartime atrocities often have nightmares, depression, & substance abuse, binge eating, or aggression during adolescence Child sexual abuse creates risks for health problems, psychological disorders, substance abuse, criminality Extreme childhood trauma has effects on brain baby rats deprived of caregiver have fewer new brain neurons later in life, placid hamsters repeatedly threatened/attacked when young

grow up cowards or bullies w/ weaker hamsters o Changes in serotonin (calms aggressive impulses); sluggish serotonin = abused children who become aggressive adults o Stress can set off hormonal changes that permanently wire a child s brain to cope with a malevolent world Abuse victims problems do result directly from abuse; given the same genes & same environment, abused twin lives with aftereffects of abuse Disruption of Attachment When attachment is disrupted, infants become upset, withdrawn, despairing If placed in more positive environment, most infants recover from separation distress o Children less than 2 years removed from foster mothers, had difficulties w/ daily activities of living, but little lasting effect o Orphans adopted into loving home progressed rapidly (esp. in cognitive development) If adopted after age 2 attachment problems; foster care or removals from mother can be disruptive Adult attachment distress: agitated preoccupation w/ lost partner, deep sadness, and beginnings of emotional detachment & return to normal living Does Day Care Affect Attachment? Scarr: maternal employment had no major impact on children s development Day-care quality matters; family poverty consigns children to lower-quality daycare Children w/ most time in day care had slightly advanced thinking & language skills, increased rate of aggressiveness and defiance Efe of Zaire multiple strong attachment as a result of being constantly held & fed by other women Self-Concept Childhood s major social achievement: a positive sense of self Self-concept: a sense of one s identity and personal worth, usually developed at about age 12 Self-recognition emerges in month 6 and is completed at about 15-18 months (has schema of how face should look) About age 5 children describe themselves by gender, group memberships, psychological traits, comparisons w/ other children; stabilize @ age 8-10 Kids w/ positive self-concept are more confident, independent, optimistic, assertive, sociable Child-Rearing Practices Three parenting styles: o Authoritarian parents: impose rules, expect obedience o Permissive parents: submit to kid s desires, make few demands, use little punishment o Authoritative parents: demanding & responsive control through enforcing of rules, explain reasons, encourage open discussion & allowing exceptions Kids have highest self-esteem, self-relaince, social competence w/ authoritative parents; authoritarian parents kids have less social skill & self-esteem; permissive parents kids are more aggressive & immature Causations of this link: children s traits influence parenting Maybe competent parents & competent children share genes that predispose social competence Adolescence Adolescence: life between childhood and adulthood from puberty to independence G. Stanley Hall: Storm and stress view of adolescence Physical development Adolescence begins withpubert y: period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing; follows a surge of hormones intensify moods & trigger two-year period of rapid physical development (11 in girls, 13 in boys) Primary sex characteristics: reproductive organs and external genitalia develop dramatically Secondary sex characteristics: non-reproductive traits (breasts, hips, facial hair) 1-2 years before puberty children begin to become attracted to one another Girls: puberty starts w/ breast development (age 10),me nar c he: first period (age 12) Boys: first ejaculation spermarche (age 14) Timing of physical changes affect teens psychologically: early developing boys are stronger & more athletic = more popular, self-assured, independent, more at risk for alcohol use and premature sex; early developing for girls can be stressful may associate with older teens, be teased or sexually harassed Frontal lobe development:myel i n growth (fatty tissue around axons that speeds

neurotransmission), which lags emotional limbic system Pubertal hormonal surge and limbic system development = teens occasional impulsiveness, risky behaviors, emotional storms After frontal lobe development (~age 25): improved judgment, impulse control, and long-term planning Cognitive development Adolescents developing ability to reason provides social awareness and moral judgment criticism and idealistic thinking Developing Reasoning Power Early teen years: Reasoning is often self-focused, may think private experiences are unique Gradually reach formal operations adolescent ponders moral philosophy, religious conceptions and existence Developing Morality Moral Thinking Three basic levels of moral thinking o Preconventional morality: (~age 9) morality of selfinterest: obey to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards o Conventional morality: (~age 12) morality that cares for others, upholds laws & social rules because they are laws and rules o Postconventional morality: affirms people s agreed-upon rights or follows what one personally perceives as basic ethical principles As thinking matures, behavior also matures Critics contend theory mostly papears in Westernized middle class (prizes individualism) and is biased against moral reasoning of those in communal societies (China, India) and against Western women Moral Feeling Haidt s social intuitionist account of morality: moral feelings precede moral reasoning moral judgment involves quick gut feelings that trigger moral reasoning Runaway trolley situation: pushing the fat man triggered brain s emotional areas engaged emotions that altered moral judgments Moral Action Moral action depends upon social influences Those who learn to delay gratification become more socially responsible, academically successful, and productive When teens volunteer/community service, their sense of competence and desire to serve increases and school absenteeism and drop-out rates decrease Moral action feeds moral attitudes Social development Erikson each stage of life has psychosocial task (crisis that needs resolution) Stage (approximate age) Issue Description of task Infancy ( 1 year) Trust vs. mistrust If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust. Toddlerhood (1-2yrs) Autonomy vs. shame & doubt Toddlers learn to exercise will & do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities Preschooler (3-5yrs) Initiative vs. guilt Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks & carry out plans, or they feel guilty about efforts to be independent. Elementary school (6yrs-puberty) Competence vs. inferiority Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inferior Adolescence (teen-20s) Identity vs. role confusion Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and integrating them to form a single identity, or become confused about who they are Young adulthood (20s- 40s) Intimacy vs. isolation Young adults struggle to form close relationships and gain capacity for intimate love, or they may feel socially isolated Middle adulthood 40s- 60s) Generativity vs. stagnation Discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family & work, or they may feel a lack of purpose Late adulthood (late 60s & up) Integrity vs. despair When reflecting on life, older adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure Forming an Identity Adolescents try out different selves in different situations; role confusion resolved through formingi denti t y one s sense of self, formed by testing and integrating various roles Some adolescents form identities early take on parents values & expectations (traditional cultures inform teens about who they are rather then letting them decide); others adopt negative identity defined in opposition to parents/society but in conformity to peer group Most teens content with lives Key task of adolescence: achieve a purpose desire to accomplish something meaningful that makes a difference to the world beyond oneself Older adolescent identity incorporates more positive self-concept, self

esteem rises with adolescent age Identity becomes more personalized with age: less reliant on social group and more reliant on thoughts & feelings Adolescent identity stage followed by capacity fori nt im acy (the ability to form close, loving relationships, esp. in early adulthood); once one has a clear sense of who one is, one can have close relationships Parents and Peer Influence As adolescents form identities, they separate themselves from parents Positive relations w/ parents support positive peer relations and tend to be healthy, happy, and do well in school teen girls w/ affectionate relationships w/ mothers have intimate friendgirl friendships Misbehaving teens more likely to have tense parental relationships When rejected adolescents withdraw, they are vulnerable to loneliness, low self-esteem, and depression Parents shape religion, college & career thinking, political views Emerging adulthood Earlier times: after sexual maturity, adult responsibilities bestowed on young person worked, married, had children With compulsory education, adult independence began occurring later Earlier sexual maturity caused by increased body fat (supports pregnancy & nursing) and weakened parent-child bonds (absent fathers) Later independence & earlier sexual maturity have widened adolescence 18-mid 20s = emerging adulthood? Adulthood Physical development Cognitive development Social development Reflections on Two Major Developmental Issues Continuity and stages Stability and change