1 FIRST LECTURE 1 25 13 Human Development consists of age related changes in thinking in our emotions our personality and physical changes Are related change Philosophical roots o What is the basic nature of children What are they like what do they come w and what influences a child s behavior o St Augustine immoral w selfish nature that needs to be changed 4th century proposed the idea of original sin children are born We need to change them to improve their nature 17th century children are born like a blank slate w the capacity to o John Locke be molded o Rousseau outcomes They can be trained to be positive by nature doctors thieves etc Experiences form what the child w be like Hope to be positive experiences but not necessarily will be 18th century innate purity all humans are born to have good Born w the capacity or goodness given the right experiences to turn out fine if we have the right experiences supportive environment Like a flower w right environment it will turn out fine All we need is a basic supportive environment 19th century had three key individuals who are key to developmental psychology key to understanding human development is to understand child o Darwin development Argued that one way to collect info was to get baby biographies diaries that Darwin kept on his own children and made detail notes about their behavior 1st systematic study of children 1st to say that development takes place through stages o Qualitative and distinct way o G Stanley Hall 1890 thought baby diaries could be bias because person doing biographies on own kids biographers aren t documenting on a schedule and was too sporadic only using one child Collected large findings of info from hundreds of kids via surveys to create developmental norms Looked at kids thinking What age can a child solve certain problems What are do kids begin to walk What are do kids have first words o Arnold Gesell Father of adolescence collected large volumes of info on kids too interviews and surveys 1925 added movie cameras one way mirrors to observe kids Proposed kids growth and maturation is determined by genotypes and genetic inheritance Systematic because of genotypes and genes Developmental Psychology A Lifetime Perspective Studying a child at 14 years old until early adulthood and into adulthood o Following the child across a long period of time Two things to keep in mind w lifetime perspective 2 o Context in which development is taking place at several different levels A person s family job neighborhood historical era in which they live Person s ethnic group or culture of nation and how this influences behavior o Culture Stresses o Plasticity we are is to be plastid and adaptable but w limits we can thrive in many different environments basic nature of who We are resilient by nature and can adapt to many environments o Interdisciplinary o Multi contentual many fields something to be learned by sociology biology etc that can focus on development characteristics genotype but the person exists in different environments at the same time begin w the person who is made up of his her What is their gender and how might their immediate family effect them their community region Domains o Physical o Cognitive o Socia Big Questions Piaget and how he viewed infancy very important l how do child s social skills develop over time o Nature vs Nurture both influence how we develop Genes and genotypes or experiences How do they both influence us at certain times o Continuity vs Discontinuity Slow process or different periods from one to next Discontinuity proceeds in stages and each stage functions better no smooth transition Does it take place in stages or qualitative SECOND LECTURE 1 28 13 o Stability vs Change Recovery Do our early experiences set the stage for how we will behave in the future or is their change so that we recover from early stages If we have drama does it follow us in the future Freud dramatic experiences set the stage for how we develop o Universal vs Particular Universals and norms for all individuals Catalog universals across groups of people Encyclopedia o Infants walk by one year Non industrialized regions develop differently from other parts of world Larger task to define particulars but must take into prospective the different cultures o Context Person and Development Different contexts can influence how a person behaves Person has different strengths and weaknesses and can be affected via the following contexts Family School Neighborhood 3 Culture developmentally normal a set of values practices culture can define what is o Example kid who has allergies may be affected in different ways may not manage allergies well if family doesn t manage the allergies well Research Methods Goals Scientific Method a value system that dictates that we should collect info in as unbiased objective and untainted a way as possible and allow merit of data collected to decide the usefulness of expectations o Describe as accurately as possible the behavior of interest Example determine the best system the behavior we have at hand Piaget discovered a coding scheme given the description of behaviors explain the behaviors using that theory make a prediction to confirm or disconfirm o Explain o Predict information Confirmed then test and apply it to others given explanations and systems that were supported we now want o Influence to test it Two classes of research o Correlational Descriptive Research variables behavior values are related to one another want to understand how two or more Does A change because of B Example Does parent s permissive relate to a child s delinquency Naturalistic Observations observe behavior as it naturally occurs in a situation See how behavior happens in natural setting Disadvantage time consuming and costly Example How boys and girls differ in aggressive behavior in a preschool playground Involves o Time sampling observing child for five minutes o Coding Scheme defines what it is that you would call aggressive behavior hitting kicking name calling Case studies intense studies on a single individual Example when kids are raised in observation Genie was she damaged because of her circumstances Laboratory Observations children come to controlled setting of a laboratory then they are observed when exposed to several different conditions not an experiment Set u conditions that are exposed to subjects and see results through observations Lack ecological validity subject may not perform normally