Development Thought and Language Chapter 11 Human Development Fundamental Issues in Developmental Psychology Developmental Psychology Basic question What shapes the way we change over time Focus on psychological changes across the entire life span Every area of psychology can be looked at from this perspective biological development social development cognitive perceptual development personality development Fundamental Issues Is Development Continuous Development means change change can be abrupt or gradual Two views of human development stage theories there are distinct phases to intellectual and personality development continuity development is continuous These views have been applied to social personal and intellectual development Fundamental Issues in Developmental Psychology Critical period Are there periods when an individual is particularly sensitive to certain environmental experiences Are the first hours after birth critical for parent child bonding Is first year critical for developing trust Easier to learn a language before age 10 Are there individual differences in stages and critical periods Developmental Research Methods Cross sectional performance of people of different age groups is compared Longitudinal performance of one group of people is assessed repeatedly over time Sequential combines cross sectional and longitudinal approaches in a single study Physical and Psychological Development Related Physical development begins at conception Physical maturity sets limits on psychological ability visual system not fully functional at birth language system not functional until much later Prenatal environment can have lifetime influence on health and intellectual ability Prenatal Development Conception when a sperm penetrates the ovum Zygote a fertilized egg Germinal period first two weeks after conception Embryonic period weeks three through eight after conception Fetal period two months after conception until birth Prenatal Influences on Development Teratogen any agent that causes a birth defect e g drugs radiation viruses Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS cluster of defects occurring in infants born to mothers that drink heavily during pregnancy leading cause of mental retardation can be totally prevented by abstaining from alcohol during pregnancy Infant Abilities and Perceptions What does an infant feel and perceive William James said booming buzzing confusion Was he right Is infant vision just a blur Is infant sound just buzzing and booming He was probably wrong but infants have limited ability to communicate so it is hard to tell what they experience Infant Abilities Infants are born with immature visual system can detect movement and large objects Other senses function well on day 1 will orient to sounds prefer sweet to sour tastes Born with a number of reflex behaviors turn away from unpleasant odors Infant Reflexes Rooting turning the head and opening the mouth in the direction of a touch on the cheek Sucking sucking rhythmically in response to oral stimulation Babinski fanning and curling toes when foot is stroked Moro throwing the arms out arching the back and bringing the arms together as if to hold onto something in response to loud noise or sudden change in position of the head Grasping curling the fingers around an object Methods for Studying Infants Infant reflexes provide insight into their mental life gaze duration related to Visual perception and memory Knowledge and expectation head turning related to auditory attention sucking reaching kicking can be used to measure interest Infant Perception Not just a blur or a buzz In first week will recognize their mother s smell will show preference for novel stimuli gaze at face like pattern rather than similar non face like pattern Infants explore their environment in whatever way their physical development permits Exploration At 2 3 months will grasp object and put in mouth to explore At 3 4 months will manipulate object examine it visually selectively attend to novel objects or events Gaze following and social referencing Seek to control environment Infant s Knowledge of Core Physical Principles A basic question is how knowledge of the properties of physical objects arises Selective looking versus object permanence objects can t pass through other objects dropped objects fall Research on infant selective attention Habituation measures measure gaze duration create physically impossible events infants notice at 3 4 months Theories of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget Jean Piaget 1896 1980 Swiss psychologist who became leading theorist in 1930 s Piaget believed that children are active thinkers constantly trying to construct more advanced understandings of the world These understandings are in the form of structures he called schemas Theories of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget Schemas are frameworks that develop to help organize knowledge Assimilation process of taking new information or a new experience and fitting it into an Accommodation process by which existing schemas are changed or new schemas are already existing schema created in order to fit new information Theories of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget Development of Schemas Schemas are frameworks that develop to help organize knowledge Assimilation process of taking new information or a new experience and fitting it Accommodation process by which existing schemas are changed or new schemas into an already existing schema are created in order to fit new information Theories of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget Primary method was to ask children to solve problems and to question them about the reasoning behind their solutions Discovered that children think in radically different ways than adults Proposed that development occurs as a series of stages differing in how the world is understood Theories of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget Stages of Development Sensorimotor stage birth 2yrs Information is gained through the senses and motor actions In this stage child perceives and manipulates but does not reason Symbols become internalized through language development Object permanence is acquired The understanding that objects exist independent of one s actions or perceptions of them Before 6 months infants act as if objects removed from sight cease to Can be surprised by disappearance reappearance of a face peek a exist boo Theories of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget Stages of Development Pre operational stage 2yrs 6 or 7 yrs Emergence of symbolic