Developmental

Psychology
Psychology:
A Concise Introduction
2nd Edition

Richard Griggs
Chapter 7
Prepared by
J. W. Taylor V

Developmental Psychology
The

scientific study of biological, cognitive,

social, and personality development
throughout the life span
A major issue in developmental psychology is
the nature-versus-nurture question
Do
Do our
our traits
traits and
and behaviors
behaviors
result
result from
from heredity
heredity (nature)
(nature) or
or
the
the environment
environment (nurture)?
(nurture)?

Seven Stages of Development

Prenatal

Conception to Birth

Infancy

Birth to 2 years

Childhood

2 to 12 years

Adolescence

12 to 18 years

Young Adulthood

18 to 40 years

Middle Adulthood

40 to 65 years

Late Adulthood

65 years and over

The Journey
Prenatal

Development and Infancy

How

We Think Throughout Our

Lives

Moral

Development and Social

Development

Prenatal Development
and Infancy
Prenatal
Development
How We Develop
During Infancy

Prenatal Development
Human

conception begins when a sperm

penetrates the membrane of an ovum

When the two combine, a complete set of

genetic instructions is formed, half from the
father and half from the mother

The

fertilized egg that is formed from the

union of the sperm and egg is called a
zygote

The Gene
The

basic unit of genetic instructions

Genes are short segments of chromosomes,

molecules of DNA that hold the genetic
instructions for every cell in our body

Every

cell of a normal human has 23 pairs

of chromosomes, one of each pair coming
from
the mother and one from the father

Sex Determination
It

is the 23rd pair of chromosomes

that determines a persons sex

In a female, there are two

X-shaped chromosomes (XX)
In a male, there is one X-shaped chromosome
and one smaller Y-shaped chromosome (XY)
It is the Y chromosome that leads to the
development of a male, so the sex of the zygote
is determined by which sperm X or Y, fertilizes
the egg

Twins
Sometimes

the growing cluster of

duplicated cells breaks apart early in
development resulting in two clusters with
identical genes
These clusters become identical
(monozygotic) twins because they come
from the same zygote

Twins
Fraternal

(dizygotic) twins originate from the

fertilization of two eggs at about the
same time

Chance determines which of the 23 pairs of

chromosomes goes to a reproductive cell, so there
are about 8 million chromosome possibilities for each
reproductive cell in each parent
Consequently, fraternal twins, as well as any two
children of the same parents, may vary greatly in
appearance

Stages of Prenatal Development

Germinal

Begins with the formation of the zygote and

ends after about 2 weeks, when the outer
portion of the zygotes developing cluster of
cells has attached itself to the uterine wall

Embryonic

From 2 weeks to about 2 months, the major

structures and organs of the body begin to
develop, and the embryo starts to resemble a
human being

Fetal

From about 2 months to birth, the developing

organism is called a fetus, and through very
rapid growth, the body structures and organs
complete their growth

Influences
Prenatal

development is mainly a function of

the zygotes genetic code (nature), but the
environment (nurture) also plays a role
Teratogens are environmental agents
(such as drugs or viruses), diseases (such
as German measles), and physical
conditions (such as malnutrition) that impair
prenatal development and lead to birth
defects or even death

How We Develop During Infancy

Motor
Motor
Development
Development
SensorySensoryPerceptual
Perceptual
Development
Development

Motor Development

A reflex is an unlearned response to a

specific stimulus

The Babinski reflex occurs when an infant

fans her toes upward when her feet are
touched
The grasping reflex occurs when an infant
grasps any object that touches their palms
The sucking reflex leads an infant to suck
anything that touches its lips
The rooting reflex leads an infant to turn
its mouth toward anything that touches its
cheeks and search for something to suck

Sensory-Perceptual Development
Preferential-looking

technique is used to

study vision

Two visual stimuli are displayed side by side,

and the researcher records how long the infant
looks at each stimulus
If the infant looks at one stimulus longer, it is
inferred he can tell the difference between the
two stimuli and has a preference

Sensory-Perceptual Development
Habituation

is a decrease in the physiological

responding to a stimulus once it becomes
familiar

Infants, for example, tend to look longer at novel

stimuli
If infants look longer at a new stimulus than an old
one, then it is inferred he must be able to perceive
the difference between the two stimuli
Infants also intensity their sucking of a pacifier in
their mouths when confronted with a novel stimulus

Sensory-Perceptual Development

Vision is the least-developed sense at

birth

Newborns visual acuity is estimated to be

about 20/400 to 20/800
Visual acuity reaches 20/20 within the first
year of life
Color vision develops by 2 to 3 months
Infants preference for visual complexity
may be due to the fact that such stimulation
is necessary for proper development of the
visual pathways and cortex during infancy

Sensory-Perceptual Development
Hearing

in the newborn is more fully

developed than vision

Can distinguish their mothers voice from those

of others
This ability appears to develop in the womb
before birth
By 6 months, an infants hearing is comparable
to that of an adult

Sensory-Perceptual Development
The

senses of smell, taste, and touch are

also fairly well-developed at birth

Infants can differentiate the smell of their

mother from those of other people

Very

young infants may have an innate

conceptual understanding of object
movement (e.g., that objects cannot go
through solid surfaces)

Sensory-Perceptual Development

The brain contains about 100 billion neurons

at birth, but the infants brain is immature, and
connections between neurons (neural
networks) need to be formed

Without visual experiences, the visual pathways

do not develop, and vision will be permanently lost
During infancy, the networks of neurons that are
used become stronger and those that are not used
disappear

How We Think
Throughout Our Lives
How We Learn Language
Piagets Theory of
Cognitive Development
Vygotskys Sociocultural
Approach to Development
How Intelligence Changes in Adulthood

How We Learn Language

No

other animal seems to be able to

acquire and develop language ability as
humans do
Children in different cultures learn to speak
very different languages, but they all seem
to go through the same sequence of stages

Language Stages
Infants

communicate through crying, with

different cries for hunger and for pain, and
through movement and facial expressions

Prefer baby talk (or motherese) the different

format of speech that adults use when talking
with babies that involves the use of shorter
sentences with a higher, more melodious pitch
than normal speech

Language Stages
At

about 6 or 7 months, babbling, the rhythmic

repetition of various syllables, including both
consonants and vowels, begins
At about 1 year of age, the infant begins to speak a few
words, which usually refer to their caregivers and
objects in their daily environment

Infants use holophrases, words that express complete ideas

Language Stages

Vocabulary grows slowly until about 18 months,

and then infants learn about 100 words or more
per month

Overextension: The application of a newly learned

word to objects that are not included in the meaning
of the word (e.g., calling any female person mama)

Underextension: The failure to apply the new word

more generally to objects that are included within
the meaning of the new word (e.g., not extending
the category of dog to include dogs that are not the
family pet)

Language Stages

Between 18 and 24 months, children experience a

vocabulary-acquisition spurt and words are combined into
sentences

Telegraphic speech is the use of 2-word sentences with mainly

nouns and verbs (e.g., Dada eat for Dad is having dinner)
These 2-word statements begin to be expanded and between the
ages of 2 and 5 years, the child implicitly acquires grammar of the
native language

Language Stages
Language

development is a genetically
programmed ability

However, this ability is not developed without

exposure to human speech

Thus,

both nature and nurture are vital to

language development

Piagets Theory of
Cognitive Development

Piaget did not conduct formal experiments, but rather

loosely structured interviews in which he posed
problems for children to solve, observed their actions
carefully, and questioned them about their solutions

Was particularly interested in childrens error, which would

provide insights into childrens thought processes
Assumed that a child is an active
seeker of knowledge and gains an understanding of the
world by operating on it

Schemas
Organized units of knowledge about objects, events,
and actions
Cognitive adaptation
involves two processes

Assimilation is the
interpretation of new
experiences in terms of
present schemes
Accommodation is the
modification of present
schemes to fit with new
experiences

Schemas

For example, a child may call all fourlegged creatures doggie

The child learns he needs to accommodate

(i.e., change) his schemes, as only one type of
four-legged creature is dog
It is through accommodation that the number
and complexity of a childs schemes increase
and learning
occurs

Piagets Stages of
Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor

Birth to 2 years

Preoperational

2 to 6 years

Concrete operational 6 to 12 years

Formal operational

12+ years

Piagets Stages of
Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor Stage
Infant learns about the world through their
sensory and motor interactions (including
reflexes)
Lack object permanence, the knowledge than
an object exists independent of perceptual
contact
Symbolic representation of objects and events
starts to develop during the latter part of the
sensorimotor stage (e.g., use of telegraphic
speech)

Preoperational Stage
The childs thinking becomes more symbolic and
language-based, but remains egocentric and lacks the
mental operations that allow logical thinking
Egocentrism is the inability to distinguish ones own
perceptions, thoughts, and feelings from those of others

Cannot perceive the world from another persons perspective

The child, however, can pretend, imagine, and engage in

make-believe play

Preoperational Stage

Conservation is the knowledge that the quantitative

properties of an object (such as mass, volume, and
number) remain the same despite changes in
appearance

Some grasp of conservation

marks the end of the
preoperational stage and
the beginning of the
concrete-operational stage
The liquid/beakers problem
is a common test of
conservation ability

Preoperational Stage
A

major reason why a preoperational child does not

understand conservation is that the child lacks an
understanding of reversibility, the knowledge that
reversing a transformation brings about the
conditions that existed before the transformation
Childs thinking also reflects centration, the
tendency to focus on only one aspect of a problem
at a time

Tests of Conservation

Concrete Operational Stage

Children gain a fuller understanding of conservation

and other mental operations that allow them to think
logically, but only about concrete events

Conservation for liquids, numbers, and matter

acquired early, but conservation of length acquired
later in the stage
Develops transitivity (e.g., if A > B, and B > C, then A
> C)
Develops seriation, the ability to order stimuli along a
quantitative dimension (e.g., a set of pencils by their
length)

The reasoning of concrete operational children is

tied to immediate reality (i.e., what is in front of them
and tangible) and not with the hypothetical world of
possibility

Formal Operational Stage

The

child gains the capacity for

hypothetical-deductive thought

Can engage in hypothetical

thought and in systematic
deduction and testing of
hypotheses

Formal Operational Stage

In one scientific thinking task, the child is shown several flasks

of what appear to be the same clear liquid and is told one
combination of two of these liquids would produce a clear liquid

The task is to determine which combination

would produce the blue liquid
The concrete operational child just starts
mixing different clear liquids together
haphazardly
The formal operational child develops a
systematic plan for deducing what the
correct combination must be by determining
all of the possible combinations and then
systematically testing each one

Formal Operational Stage

The

formal operational child can evaluate the

logic of verbal statements without referring to
concrete situations

For example, the formal

operational child would
judge the statement If mice
are bigger than horses, and
horses are bigger than cats,
then mice are bigger than
cats to be true, even
though in real life mice are
not bigger than cats

Evaluation of Piagets Theory

Recent

research has shown that rudiments of

many of Piagets key concepts (e.g., object
permanence) may begin to appear at earlier
stages than Piaget proposed

For example, research that involved tracking

infants eye movements has found that infants as
young as 3 months continue to stare at the place
where the object disappeared from sight, indicating
some degree of object permanence

Evaluation of Piagets Theory

1. Not all people reach formal operational
thought
2. The theory may be biased in favor of
Western culture
3. There is no real theory of what occurs after
the onset of adolescence
4. Despite refinements, recent research has
indeed shown that cognitive development
seems to proceed in the general sequence
of stages that Piaget proposed

Vygotskys Sociocultural
Approach to Development

Stressed that cognitive abilities develop through interactions with

others and represent the shared knowledge of ones culture
The zone of proximal development is the difference between what
a child can actually do and what the child could do with the help of
others (i.e., potential development less actual development)
In scaffolding, the parent or teacher adjusts the level of help in
relation to the childs level of performance, while directing the childs
learning progress toward the upper level of her zone of proximal
development

How Intelligence
Changes in Adulthood

Two methods for studying intelligence changes

In a cross-sectional study, people of different ages are

studied and compared with one another
In a longitudinal study, the same people are studied
over a long period of time

The cross-sectional method consistently finds that

intelligence declines with age
However, using the longitudinal method, later studies
found that intelligence did not decline with age, but
remained rather stable and even increased until
very late in life when it showed a decline

How Intelligence
Changes in Adulthood
Problem with cross-sectional research

Cohort effect people of a given age are affected by factors

unique to their generation (e.g., differences in educational
opportunities), leading to differences in performance between
generations

Problems with longitudinal research

Time consuming
Expensive
Repeated testing necessary
Participants die/drop out of the research
Those who participate over the entire course of the research
may have been the most intelligent and healthiest participants
whose intelligence would be the most likely not to decline

Types of Intelligence
Crystallized intelligence refers to accumulated
knowledge, verbal skills, and numerical skills
that increase
with age
Fluid intelligence involves
abilities such as abstract
thinking, logical problem
solving, and spatial reasoning
that decrease with age

Types of Intelligence

The Seattle Longitudinal Study is a major attempt to learn if

intelligence declines with age

Started in 1956 with more than 5000 participants being tested every 7
months through 1998
Groups of new participants were added periodically, making the
research part cross-sectional and part longitudinal
Found that most intellectual abilities decline somewhat by age 60, but
the decline is not great until a person reaches age 80 or more
Those who suffer the least decline are those who stayed healthy, of
higher socioeconomic status, and are in intellectually stimulating
environments

Moral Development and

Social Development
Kohlbergs Theory of
Moral Reasoning
Attachment and
Parenting Styles
Eriksons Psychosocial Stage
Theory of Development

Kohlbergs Theory
of Moral Reasoning
Built on an earlier theory of moral reasoning proposed by Piaget,
using a series of stories that involved moral
dilemmas to assess a
persons level of moral
reasoning
Discerned three levels of
moral reasoning based
on responses to the
stories and the reasoning
behind the responses given

Kohlbergs Levels
of Moral Reasoning
1. At the preconventional level of moral reasoning,
the emphasis is on avoiding punishment and looking
out for your own welfare and needs

Moral reasoning is self-oriented

2. At the conventional level of moral reasoning, moral

reasoning is based on social rules and laws

Social approval and being a dutiful citizen are important

3. At the highest level, the postconventional level of

moral reasoning, moral reasoning is based on selfchosen ethical principles

Human rights taking precedent over laws; the avoidance of

self-condemnation for violating such principles

Kohlbergs Levels
of Moral Reasoning
Level 1 Preconventional Morality
Stage 1 Punishment Compliance with rules to
orientation avoid punishment
Stage 2 Reward
orientation

Compliance with rules to

obtain rewards and satisfy
own needs

Kohlbergs Levels
of Moral Reasoning
Level 2 Conventional Morality
Stage 3 Good-girl/
good-boy
orientation

Engages in behavior to get

approval of others

Stage 4 Law and

order
orientation

Behavior is guided by duty

to uphold laws and rules
for their own sake

Kohlbergs Levels
of Moral Reasoning
Level 3 Postconventional Morality
Stage 5 Social
contract
orientation

Obeys rules because they

are necessary for social
order but understands
rules are relative

Stage 6 Universal
ethical
principles
orientation

Concerned about selfcondemnation for violating

universal ethical principles
based on human rights

Kohlbergs Theory
of Moral Reasoning
Kohlberg

proposed that we all start at the

preconventional level as children and as we
develop, especially cognitively, we move up
the ladder of moral reasoning

The sequence is uniform; however, not

everyone reaches the postconventional level

Kohlbergs Theory
of Moral Reasoning
Shortcomings

of Kohlbergs theory

Studied moral reasoning and not moral

behavior

May not have adequately represented

the morality of women

The higher stages may be biased toward

Western cultures

Attachment and Parenting Styles

Attachment

is the lifelong emotional bond

that exists between the infants and their
mothers or other caregivers, formed during
the first six months of life

Attachment and
Harlows Monkeys
Harry

Harlow separated infant monkeys

from their mothers at birth and put them in
cages containing two inanimate surrogate
mothers, one made of wire and one made of
terry cloth

Attachment and
Harlows Monkeys

Half of the monkeys received their nourishment from

a milk dispenser in the wire and half from a dispenser
in the terry cloth mother

All of the monkeys preferred the cloth monkey

regardless of which monkey provided their nourishment
The monkeys being fed by the wire mother would only
go to the wire mother to eat and then return to the cloth
mother
Thus, contact comfort, not reinforcement from
nourishment, was the crucial element for attachment
formation

Attachment and
Harlows Monkeys

Attachment and
Harlows Monkeys
When

confronted with a strange situation (e.g., an

unfamiliar room with toys) without the surrogate
mother, the infant monkey would be fearful

When the surrogate mother was brought into the strange

situation, the infant monkey would initially cling to the terry
cloth mother to reduce its fear, but then begin to explore
the new environment and eventually play with toys

Types of Attachment

Discerned via the strange situation devised by

Ainsworth, in which an infants behavior is observed
in an unfamiliar room with toys, while the infants
mother or caregiver and a stranger move in and out
of the room in a structured series of simulations
InsecureInsecureavoidant
avoidant

Secure
Secure
InsecureInsecureambivalent
ambivalent

InsecureInsecuredisorganized
disorganized

Types of Attachment

Secure attachment is indicated when an infant explores

the situation freely in the presence of the mother, but
displays distress when the mother leaves, and responds
enthusiastically when the mother returns

Caregivers who are sensitive and responsive to an infants needs

are more likely to develop a secure attachment with the infant

Insecure-avoidant attachment
is indicated by exploration, but
minimal interest in the mother,
the infant showing little
distress when the mother
leaves, and avoiding her
when she returns

Types of Attachment

Insecure-ambivalent attachment is indicated by the

infant seeking closeness to the mother and not exploring
the situation, high level of distress when the mother
leaves, and ambivalent behavior when she returns by
alternately clinging to and pushing away from her
Insecure-disorganized (disoriented) attachment is
marked by the infants confusion when the mother leaves
and when she returns

The infant acts disoriented, seems overwhelmed by the

situation, and does not demonstrate a consistent way of
coping with it

Types of Attachment

Infant temperament, a set of innate tendencies or

dispositions that lead us to behave certain ways, is also a
factor in determining type of attachment

Specifically, how an infants

temperament matches the childrearing expectations and personality
of its caregiver is important in
forming the attachment relationship

Secure attachments have been

linked to higher levels of cognitive
functioning and social competence
in adulthood
Daycare does not appear to be
detrimental to the formation of secure attachments

Parenting Styles
Authoritarian Parents are demanding, expect unquestioned
obedience, are not responsive to their childrens
desires, and communicate poorly with their children
Authoritative Parents are demanding but set rational limits for
their children and communicate well with their
children
Permissive

Parents make few demands and are overly

responsive to their childs desires, letting their
children do pretty much as they please

Uninvolved

Parents minimize both the time they spend with the

children and their emotional involvement with them,
doing little more than providing for basic needs

Parenting Styles
An

authoritative parenting style seems

to have the most positive effect on
cognitive and social development

Children are the most independent, happy,

self-reliant, and academically successful of
the four parenting styles

Eriksons Psychosocial
Stage Theory of Development

Emphasized the impact of society and

culture upon development

Lead to an increase in research on lifespan development

Criticized for the lack of solid
experimental data to support it

Eight stages of development, each

with a major issue or crisis that has to
be resolved

Each stage is named after the two sides

of the issue relevant in that stage

Eriksons Psychosocial Stages

Trust vs. Mistrust

(birth to 1 year)

Infants learn that they can or

cannot trust others to take
care of their basic needs

Autonomy vs. Shame

and Doubt
(1 to 2 years)

Children learn to be selfsufficient in many activities

such as toilet training,
walking, and exploring; if
restrained too much they
learn to doubt their abilities
and feel shame

Eriksons Psychosocial Stages

Initiative vs. Guilt

(3 to 5 years)

Children learn to assume

more responsibility by taking
the initiative but will feel
guilty if they overstep limits
set by parents

Industry vs. Inferiority

(5 years to puberty)

Children learn to be
competent by mastering new
intellectual, social, and
physical skills or feel inferior
if they fail to develop these
skills

Eriksons Psychosocial Stages

Identity vs. Role

Confusion
(adolescence)

Adolescents develop a sense

of identity by experimenting
with different roles; no role
experimentation may result in
role confusion

Intimacy vs. Isolation

(young adulthood)

Young adults form intimate

relationships with others or
become isolated because of
failure to do so

Eriksons Psychosocial Stages

Generativity vs.
Stagnation
(middle adulthood)

Middle-aged adults feel they

are helping the next generation
though their work and child
rearing, or they stagnate
because they feel that they are
not helping

Integrity vs. Despair

(late adulthood)

Older adults assess their lives

and develop sense of integrity
if they find lives have been
meaningful; develop sense of
despair if not meaningful

Eriksons Psychosocial
Theory of Development

Probably the greatest impact of Eriksons theory is that it

expanded the study of developmental psychology past
adolescence into the stages of adulthood (young,
middle, and late)
The sequence in the theory (intimacy issues followed by
identity issues) turns out to be the most applicable to
men and career-oriented women

Many women may solve these issues in reverse order or

simultaneously
For example, a woman may marry and have children and then
confront the identity issues when the children become adults