2. Section 1: Intro to Development
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How does life develop before birth?
2. What are some newborn abilities?
2
3. Developmental Psychology Debates
Nature vs. Nurture
What impacts our development
more- genetics or experience?
Continuity and stages
Do we develop in stages (step-by-
step) or is it a continuous processes
that is more seamless?
Stability and change
Does our early personality stay the
same or continue throughout life?
3
4. Prenatal Development
Stage 1: Zygote
First 2 Weeks
First week- 100 cells
Specialization of cells begin
Placenta begins to form
Stage 2: Embryo
2-8 weeks
Heart starts to beat
Most vulnerable to teratogens
Stage 3: Fetus
8-40 weeks
Feet, hands have formed
Facial features are forming
4
5. Teratogens (harmful agents)
Smoking (Nicotine)
Low Birth Weight
Miscarriage, Premature
Low Oxygen Levels
Increase chance of SIDS
Alcohol
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Leading cause of mental retardation
Increased hyperactivity
Delayed motor development
Increased depression and criminal
behavior in adults
Other Teratogens
Viruses
X-rays
Heroin and Cocaine
5
Addiction Withdrawal
FAS Features
6. Newborn Reflexes
Rooting Reflex
Looking for food when touched on the
cheek
Swallowing Reflex
Automatic swallowing
Stepping Reflex
Step when held in standing position
Grasping Reflex
Grab when middle of palm is touched
Moro Reflex
Arch back when frightened
Babinski Reflex
Spreads toes
6
Moro Reflex
Rooting Reflex
7. Section 1: Intro to Development
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How does life develop before birth?
2. What are some newborn abilities?
7
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
8. Section 2: Early Brain Development
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How do researchers explore infants‟ mental abilities?
2. During infancy and childhood, how do the brain and
motor skills develop?
8
9. Habituation & Infant Testing
How do we test newborns and infants’ thinking?
Habituation: A decrease in responding with
repeated stimulation (Boredom)
Babies prefer human voices to other sounds
Babies gaze at human faces longer than other
shapes
Babies prefer to look at faces and images at a
distance of 8-12 inches away
Babies prefer their mother‟s scent
Babies will suck more vigorously when they hear
their mother‟s voice compared to another female
voice. (they probably know the mother‟s voice from
prenatal experience)
9
10. Infant Memory Development
Infantile Amnesia
Before age 3, the
hippocampus and frontal
lobes are underdeveloped.
By age 4/5, long-term
memories start to form
The unconscious mind has
memories for long periods
of time
Skin responses show that
we react to photographs of
former classmates, even
though we do not recall
them10
Babies only 3 months old can
learn that kicking moves a
mobile, and they can retain that
learning for a month
11. Section 2: Early Brain Development
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How do researchers explore infants‟ mental abilities?
2. During infancy and childhood, how do the brain and
motor skills develop?
11
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
12. Section 2: Test Your Knowledge
1. During what stage of prenatal development is the organism most
vulnerable to teratogens?
A: Embryonic
2. What is the leading cause of mental retardation in the US?
A: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
3. Which reflex helps a newborn find food sources when their
cheek is touched?
A: Rooting Reflex
4. Why is habituation a good test of infant cognitive abilities?
A: It allows us to judge their boredom levels
5. What is is called when we can‟t remember before age three?
A: Infantile amnesia
12
13. Section 3: Piaget’s Cognitive Development
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. From the perspective of Piaget and of today‟s
researcher‟s how does a child‟s mind develop?
13
14. Schema, Assimilation & Accommodation
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Assimilation
Interpreting ones new experiences in terms of one‟s existing schemas
(Fits it into an existing category)
Accommodation
Revising one‟s current understanding to incorporate new information
(Creates a new category)
14
15. Cognitive Development (Jean Piaget)
Sensorimotor
Age: Birth – 2
Object Permanence
Stranger Anxiety
Preoperational
Age: 2 – 7
Egocentrism
Theory of Mind
Animism
Concrete Operations
Age 7 – 12
Masters law of conservation
Math/Computation Abilities Start
Formal Operations
Age 12 and up
Hypothetical Reasoning and Advanced Thinking
“Third Eye Problem” or “Blind World Problem”
15
17. Section 3: Piaget’s Cognitive Development
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. From the perspective of Piaget and of today‟s
researcher‟s how does a child‟s mind develop?
17
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
18. Section 3: Test Your Knowledge
1. While out shopping with my daughter, Rhyan, we meet one of
my psychology students in Target. Rhyan asks the psychology
student, “Does my Daddy give you treasure box in your class?”
Which is Rhyan attempting to do- Assimilation or
Accommodation?
A: Assimilation
2. Little Johnny knows he has an older brother Billy, but when
asked if Billy has a brother, Johnny says no. What stage of
cognitive development is Johnny in?
A: Preoperational
1. “Max puts his chocolate into the cupboard. He goes out to play.
While he is outside he can't see that his mother comes and
transfers the chocolate from the cupboard into the table drawer.
She then leaves to visit a friend. When Max comes home to get
his chocolate, where will he look for it?” What psychological
term does this test describe?
A: Theory of Mind
18
19. Section 4: Attachment
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How do parent-infant attachment bonds form?
2. How have psychologists studied attachment differences,
and what have they learned about the effects of
temperament and parenting?
19
20. Early Social Development
Stranger Anxiety
Greet strangers by crying and/or reaching for primary
caregivers
Occurs at about 8 months – 14 months (or longer)
20
21. Attachment: Harlow‟s Monkey Study
Body Contact
Monkeys and Humans prefer
warm, soft contact
Emotional communication occurs
through touch
Tickles (arouse); Snuggles (sooth)
Critical Period
Optimal period shortly after birth
when an organism starts to develop
attachment
Imprinting (Konrad Lorenz)
Animals form attachments during
a critical period early in life
Example: Lambs raised near cows
will follow cows around
21
Video: Harlow
22. Attachment: Ainsworth’s Study
Secure Attachment (Ainsworth)
When mom or dad come back, the
children will smile and runs to greet
them
Insecurely attached babies are
probably a result of slow parent
responsiveness
Secure attachment leads to:
Higher Self-Esteem
Better Social Skills
Leadership Qualities
More Positive Emotions
Richer Friendships
22
Video: Strange Situation Test
23. Temperament Studies
Individual characteristic of
emotional intensity and excitability
Noticeable from the first few
weeks of life and can last
throughout a lifetime
Types of Temperaments
Easy: Cheerful and Predictable
Difficult: Fussy and do not stick to a routine
Slow to Warm Up: Cannot be comforted
23
24. Section 4: Attachment
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How do parent-infant attachment bonds form?
2. How have psychologists studied attachment differences,
and what have they learned about the effects of
temperament and parenting?
24
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
25. Review: Mini-FRQ
For the psychological terms listed below, explain how the
first term affects or changes the second.
• Accommodation… Schema
• Teratogens…Prenatal Development
• Responsive Caregiver…Children
25
26. Section 5: Self-Concept and Parenting Styles
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How do children‟s self-concepts develop, and how are
children‟s traits related to parenting styles?
26
27. Self-Concept
How can children develop a positive
sense of self?
When are children self-aware?
About 18 months will touch a red spot on their
nose when looking in the mirror (Self Awareness)
School Aged Children
Have a well-developed self concept
Children with positive self-concept are more:
Confident independent, optimistic,
assertive and sociable
27
28. Types of Parenting
How would you parent your kids?
Practice Description
Authoritarian
Parents impose rules and
expect obedience.
Permissive
Parents submit to children‟s
demands.
Authoritative
Parents are demanding but
sensitive to their children.
28
VIDEO: The Children are watching
29. Types of Parenting
Authoritative parenting
correlates with social
competence — other factors
like common genes may lead
to an easy-going
temperament and may
invoke an authoritative
parenting style.
Strict
Permissive
Aggressive
Immature
Cold WarmLenient
Inconsistent
Overindulgent
Neglecting
Careless
Detached
Detached
Possessive
Controlling
Supportive
Affectionate
Flexible
Authoritative
High Self-Esteem
Social Competence
Authoritarian
Low Self-Esteem
Poor Social Skills
29
30. Section 5: Self-Concept and Parenting Styles
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How do children‟s self-concepts develop, and how are
children‟s traits related to parenting styles?
30
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
31. Section 5: Test Your Knowledge
Assessment of Knowledge & Summary
1. Identify and describe each type of parent you witnessed
in the video, The Children are Watching.
31
32. Section 6: Gender Development
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What are some Ways in which males and females tend
to be alike and to differ?
2. How do nature and nurture together from our gender?
3. To what extent is our development shaped by early
stimulation, by parents and peers?
32
33. Gender Development
MALES
40% more muscle
4x alcohol, suicide
More autism and ADHD
More physically aggressive
Perceived as more socially dominant
10 to 1 arrest ratio
Play in large groups
Suffer from male answer syndrome
FEMALES
5 Inch Shorter
Live 5 years longer
More prone to depression and
anxiety
More likely to “tend and befriend
others” while playing in small
groups
10x eating disorder
Express emotion more freely
Spend more time making
connections with others
33
34. The Nature of Gender
The 23rd Pair
XX- Female
XY- Male
The Prenatal Brain
More Testosterone for boys
Females exposed to more testosterone in the
womb have more masculine features & are
frequently treated more like boys
Brain Development
Females have larger area for language
Males have larger area for spatial reasoning
34
35. The Nurture of Gender
Gender Roles
A set of expected behaviors for males and females
Similar to stereotypes
Example: Men drive the car
Vary from culture to culture
Vary from generation to generation (today‟s gender is
androgynous)
35
36. The Nurture of Gender
Raising Children
Gender Identity
Our sense of being male or female
Social Learning Theory
Children learn gender roles based
on how others are rewarded or
punished
Ex. Dad rewards boys for sticking up
for themselves in a fight
Gender Schema Theory
Children learn gender roles based
on culture and then adjust behavior
accordingly (uses cognition)
36
37. Early Experiences
Prenatal Environment
Identical twins who share the same placenta are more alike than those
who do not, suggesting prenatal influences on psychological traits.
Experiences and Brain Development
Enriched vs. Impoverished Environments
Massage and Touch for Premature babies expands neural
pathways
37
38. Parents vs. Peers
Parents have an influence…
Religion
Political attitudes
Personal manners
Peers have an influence…
Music
Food
Language
Drugs and Smoking
38
39. Section 6: Gender Development
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What are some Ways in which males and females tend
to be alike and to differ?
2. How do nature and nurture together from our gender?
3. To what extent is our development shaped by early
stimulation, by parents and peers?
39
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
40. Section 6: Test Your Knowledge
What do you believe has more of an influence on
your personal development in the following?
1. Parents or Peers
2. Nature or Nurture
40
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?
41. Section 7: Adolescence and Cognitive Changes
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How did Piaget, Kohlberg, and later researchers
describe adolescent cognitive and more development?
41
42. Adolescence: Cognitive Changes
The brain undergoes…
1. Pruning of unused neurons and connections to
make the brain more efficient
2. Myelin increases around axons in the frontal
lobe to help developing reasoning power
Teens start to think about…
1. What other people think about them
2. Their own unique feelings (but not so unique)
3. How parents can be flawed and imperfect
4. How delayed gratification can influence life
42
43. Adolescence: Moral Development
„Heinz Moral Dilemma‟
A woman is near death from cancer. One drug might save
her, a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had
recently discovered. The druggist was charging $2000,
ten times what the drug cost him to make. The sick
woman’s husband, Heinz went to everyone he knew to
borrow the money, but could only gather $1000. Heinz
went to the druggist and ask him to sell the drug to him
cheaply or on a payment plan, but the druggist refused.
Heinz came back that night, broke into the store and stole
the drug. Should he have done this? Why or Why Not?
43
44. Adolescence: Moral Development (Kohlberg)
Preconventional Morality:
Before age 9, children show morality to avoid
punishment or gain reward.
Conventional Morality: By early
adolescence, social rules and laws are upheld
for their own sake.
Postconventional Morality: Affirms people‟s
agreed-upon rights or follows personally
perceived ethical principles.
Carol Gilligan criticizes Kohlberg‟s Theory,
saying it is biased towards women because
according to Kohlberg most women never
make it past the conventional stage of moral
development.
Piaget said that moral development occurred
along the lines of cognitive development
44
45. Social intuitionists view of morality
You see a runaway train with 10 people on it headed
for certain death, but if you pull a switch to save the
ten people, you know it will kill someone else. DO
you do it?
If you had to kill a stranger to save 10 people, would
you do it?
Did you have a gut-reaction to this before your
cognitions kicked in?
Social intuitionists believe we are wired for moral
feelings before moral cognitions
45
46. Section 7: Adolescence and Cognitive Changes
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. How did Piaget, Kohlberg, and later researchers
describe adolescent cognitive and more development?
46
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
47. Section 7: Test Your Knowledge
According to Lawrence Kohlberg, children at the first
level of moral reasoning make judgments about right
and wrong on the basis of:
A. cultural norms
B. social conventions
C. religious beliefs
D. the likelihood of punishment
E. the approval of siblings and same-sex parents
47
48. Section 8: Social Development in Adolescence
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What are the social tasks and challenges of
adolescence?
48
49. Adolescence: Social Changes
Self-esteem is at its lowest at age 12
Peer Pressure is at its highest at age 15
Teens typically “try out” different selves (this is healthy)
Only about 20% of teens actually wish they were
someone else
Teens report being happiest when with friends and
unhappiest when alone
Erik Erikson believes that Identity needs to be established
before intimacy takes place
49
51. Section 8: Social Development in Adolescence
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What are the social tasks and challenges of
adolescence?
51
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
52. Section 8: Test Your Knowledge
What ONE word would you use to describe the
social challenges of adolescence?
52
53. Section 9: Issues of Adulthood-Part I
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What physical changes occur during middle and late
adulthood?
2. How does memory and intelligence change with age?
53
54. Adulthood: Physical Changes
Muscular strength, reaction time,
sensory abilities and cardiac output
begin to decline after the mid-
twenties. Around age 50, women
go through menopause (caused by
a decrease in estrogen), and men
experience decreased levels of
testosterone and fertility.
54
55. Adulthood: Physical Changes
After age 70, hearing, distance perception, and the
sense of smell diminish, as do muscle strength,
reaction time, and stamina. After 80, neural
processes slow down, especially for complex tasks.
55
56. Adulthood: Cognitive Changes
Senile Dementia
Mental Erosion
Not all people develop dementia
Alzheimer’s Disease
A form of severe dementia
Presents with flat affect
Neurons breakdown and plaque forms
Affects neurons producing Acetylcholine
Prospective Memory declines: remembering to do tasks in the
future.
56
57. Longitudinal vs. Cross-Sectional Studies
Used to study how people change over time
Longitudinal Study
Studying the same people (cohort) for a long period of time
Pro: Same people, so variables don‟t change
Con: Expense, time-consuming, people die/get lost
Cross-Sectional Study
Study different ages at the same time
Pro: Cheaper and quicker than longitudinal
Con: different people means different variables
57
Which do you think is more valid and
reliable?
58. Aging and Intelligence (Cattell)
Crystallized Intelligence
Accumulated Knowledge
Example: Vocabulary and Factual
Knowledge
Fluid Intelligence
Ability to reason speedily and
abstractly (figure things out fast)
Helps when approached with new
problems
Decreases slowly to age 75, then rapidly
Example: Scientists best work is
usually when they are
younger, authors when they are older
58
Vocabulary and
General
Knowledge
increase with
age, while
abstract
reasoning
decreases
with age
60. Section 9: Issues of Adulthood-Part I
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What physical changes occur during middle and late
adulthood?
2. How does memory and intelligence change with age?
60
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
61. Section 9: Test Your Knowledge
1.Based on your learning today, what do you fear most
about getting older?
2. Which of the following studies demonstrates a cross-sectional
research design?
A. testing 1st graders, and then testing them again in 3rd grade
B. testing first graders at the end of the school year
C. testing first, third and fifth graders at the beginning of the school
year
D. observing first graders as they test in two different subject areas
E. observing first graders as they interact with other third graders or
first graders.
61
62. Section 10: Issues of Adulthood-Part II
Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What themes and influences mark our social journey
from early adulthood to death?
62
63. Adulthood: Social Development
Middle Adulthood (40‟s and beyond)
It was once thought that this is
when a midlife crisis occurs, but
research disproves the midlife crisis
Divorce, Suicide and Anxiety do not
peak in midlife
Social Clock Theory
The “right time to do things” (like
leave home)
This theory goes against age-
linked stages such as the midlife
crisis, because the social clock
varies by culture.
63
64. Transition to Marriage
Research suggests that men and women are both
marrying later in life compared to 40 years ago.
64
65. Adulthood: Social Development
Love (Intimacy)
1. Meeting Someone
1. Chance encounters help set up love
2. 95% of identical twins do not have feelings for the other twin‟s spouse
2. Successful Marriages
1. One to five negative to positive interactions
2. Five times more touching
3. Equality & Self-disclosure
4. Fights are fair and calm
3. Divorce
1. 1 in 2 marriages end in divorce
2. Less likely to get divorced if (1) well educated and (2) married after
20
3. Higher divorce rates for those who live together before marriage
65
66. Adulthood: Social Development
Empty Nest Syndrome
1. When the last child leaves home, some women feel
depressed
2. Research suggests it only happens to a few women
Work (Generativity)
1. Most North Americans define themselves by their
careers
2. On average, the typical adult will change their career
five times in life
3. Most satisfied workers report it is not the pay, but the
quality of the work that makes them happy.
66
67. Death & Dying (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)
Stages of Grief & Dying
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
There is no “normal” reaction or series of grief stages
after the death of a loved one. Grief is more sudden if
death occurs unexpectedly.
67
68. Three Debates in Developmental Psychology
Nature vs. Nurture
Does behavior result from genetics or the environment?
Stability vs. Change
Are behaviors/ stable of a lifetime or do they change as
we mature
Example: Does personality complete develop in childhood?
Continuity vs. Stages
Do people develop in a continuous way with no clearly
defined categories or do they develop in specific stages?
68
69. Section 10: Issues of Adulthood-Part II
Reflect on Learning Goals:
Students should be able to answer the following:
1. What themes and influences mark our social journey
from early adulthood to death?
69
Good
Understanding
Little
Understanding
Fair
Understanding
