5.1.12Module 2: developmental psychologyDevelopmental psychologyAnalyzes and explains the developmental basis of behaviorAreas of behavior nature and nurture, social change and human development, genderdevelopment, attachment development, cognitive and moral development, & languageAny change in thought, action, feelingShort term change: closely related to learningLong term change: interest in this issue is a distinctive feature of developmental psychologyComes about through interaction of nature (maturationphysical and neural/ biology) and nurture (environmental influences)Major developmental research designs for studying the characteristics of developmental changeCross sectional design- compare participants of different ages at one point in timeAdvantage: fastDisadvantage: different cohorts and therefore may have had different experiences because of growing up in different historical periods. Need to match other background differences but may not succeed./ sociodemographic differencesLongitudinal-compare same participants over relatively long periods of timeAdvantage: everyone is in the same cohort (born at a different time); all background characteristics are held constant; age is the main variableDisadvantage: slow, often participants drop out and they cannot be replacedCauses of development: nature and nurtureNature: most fundamentally geneticsFilm considers other biological influences as part of natureNurture: environmental influences-parenting,cultureMost fundamental issues in developmental psychologyFilm “Nature and Nurture”NatureGenes temperament: mammalian and primate heritage(human universals), genes: identical twins reared apart(individual differences and similarities from birth, brain chemical MAO: risky behavior,NurtureMaternal responsiveness, rehabilitation of socially deprived monkeys, kitten and visual experienceCharacteristics of long-term developmentContinuity thru life courseShyness and attachmentContinuity thru evolutionary historyAttachment how similar are they to other primatesDiscontinuity thru life course (not in this film)Cognitive stages early stages of cognitive development may look different thanlater stagesProcesses of changeLearning perspective: better baby instituteDevelopmental perspective: learning cannot happen unless you’re ready/ maturational readinessPrimary source of love and nurturing is parentingSchool is the primary source of learningWith information about nature scientist can help parents prevent their child from having geneticdiseasesGene mapping: identifying problem genes/ technological helpWhat is parenthood? Nature or nurture?Old support systems have disappeared (ex; mothers work now) so father needs to make a bigger commitment to raise a child(nurture)Nature and nurture (what we decide to have and we are the only species that decide this/ determine how well our children survive and whether as a species we survive) is co-determinedThe brain grows a lot between ages 1-5 (learning is permanent storage)There are some traits that biologically predispositionsThe innate ability to nurse is what separates mammals (doesn’t have to be taught)Both nature and nurture makes us what we areStudying identical twins (same nature different nurture) shows that a person is the way they are because of genetic make-up same brain waves, pulse rate, but different fingerprintsAlcoholics, schizophrenics, shyness, and temperament are shown that they can be genetically determined by identical twin tests/ mood and other things can be given a push by natureMAO- gene for risky behavior/ the lower the level the more you like to take risk and the lower MAO the more you are involved in less active activities/ The predispositions only point us in the right direction/ by knowing about nature we can learn more about our nurtureNurture during childhood determines who we become as an adult/ it’s criticalWe’re very impressionable during 9mnths(before we’re fully development)The early experience sculpt networksWordless dialogue between mother and infant is at the root of the way we are attached to people/ early attachment is importantBabies disengage from depressed mothersMistakes of the past can be altered but not erased (ex: a deprived infant can be saved with later nurturing that they missed early in life)Potentially must be triggered by outside stimuliWe are biologically programmed but we need outside stimuliLearning is a survival skill so children ages 0-5 learn the easiest because the brain grows at a huge rate and things are learned in a permanent storage/ children have the highest potential forlearning than any other age(not only the mind but the body)The brain grows 20yrs of life but there is a critical period/ absorbent brain of childhood/ richly fibers grow richly depending on outside stimulationTemperament: the issue of developmental continuity (Kagan)Those who were inhibited(shy) during young age were inhibited during an older age/ longitudinalSpontaneous (uninhibited) they were the same during a young and an older ageProves that there is developmental continuity at the extremes/ Variable environments (not born with it) you’ll be very malleableEmphasis on natureTwin studies--> monozygotic twins reared apart (same genetic make-up)High correlation of MZTs (monozygotic twins reared apart) for WAIS intelligenceEnvironmental effect: positive correlation of IQ with material possessions and cultural resources of adoptive homes/ only difference between the twinsEmphasis on nurture: the Flynn effectFlynn effect: historical increase in intelligence test behavior that has happened over centuriesRaven’s standard progressive matrices (visual test)Developmental analysis of the Flynn effect: higher intelligence in age groups (cohorts) that were tested in 1992 than 1942/ reveals a difference in environments technology, formal education, urbanization and other factors explain these environmental differencesConclusionCauses of developmentNature and nurtureStudies of twinsnatureFlynn effectnurtureSocial change and human Developmental continuity and discontinuityTemperament & lack of continuity at other points