2. Development
The pattern of
continuity and change
that occurs throughout
the lifespan
Three areas
Physical processes
Cognitive processes
Socioemotional
processes
Physical
CognitiveSocioemotional
3. Development
Nature – Biological Inheritance
Nurture – Environmental Experiences
Optimal experiences – Individuals take
active roles in their own development
Early Experience versus Later Experience
4. Early vs Later Experiences
Early
Some psychologists believe
that unless infants experience
warm, nurturing care in the
first year of life, they will not
develop to their full potential
early experience doctrine rests
on the belief that each life is
an unbroken trail on which a
psychological quality can be
traced back to its origin
later experience: liken
development in later years
to the ebb and flow of a
river.
Later experience advocates
argue that children are
responsive to change and
that sensitive caregiving is
just as important later as it
is earlier
5. Cognitive
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
Children actively construct their cognitive
world using…
Schemas – concepts or frameworks that
organize information
Assimilation – incorporate new info into existing
schemas
Accomodation – adjust existing schemas to
incorporate new information
6. Piaget
Swiss psychologist
Jean Piaget (1926,
1977) spent over 50
years exploring how
a child’s thought
processes develop.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage Age (Years) Major Characteristics
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete operational
Formal operational
Birth to 2
2 to 7
7 to 12
12 on
• Infant understands world through sensory and motor
experiences
• Achieves object permanence
• Exhibits emergence of symbolic thought
• Child uses symbolic thinking in the form of words and
images to represent objects and experiences
• Symbolic thinking enables child to engage in pretend
play
• Thinking displays egocentrism, irreversibility, and
centration
• Child can think logically about concrete events
• Grasps concepts of conservation and serial ordering
• Adolescent can think more logically, abstractly, and
flexibly
• Can form hypotheses and systematically test them
7. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory
Some cognitive abilities emerge earlier than
Piaget thought
Piaget placed too much emphasis on discrete
stages and ignored individual differences
Culture and environment also influence
development
8. Vygotsky’s Theory
the culture in which we are raised significantly
affects our cognitive development
• Cognitive development occurs as a consequence of
social interactions in which children work with others
to jointly solve problems.
• Children’s cognitive abilities increase when they
encounter information that falls within their zone of
proximal development (ZPD).
• ZPD is the level at which a child can almost, but not
fully, comprehend or perform a task on his or her own.
When children receive information that falls within the
ZPD, they can increase understanding or master a new
task.
9. Vygotsky’s Theory
Although the
performances of the two
children initially working
at a task without aid are
similar, the second child
benefits more from aid
and thus has a larger zone
of proximal development.
Child A Child B
ZPD ZPD
Performance
10. Socioemotional
Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
Theory emphasizes lifelong development
Eight psychosocial stages of development
Each stage represents a developmental task
Crisis that must be resolved
Personal competence or weakness
12. Evaluating Erikson
Primary focus on case-study research
Omitted important developmental tasks
Development is a lifelong challenge
13. Infant Attachment
The close emotional bond between an infant
and its caregiver
Typically develops during first year of life
May provide important foundation for
subsequent development
Attachment intensifies at 6-7 months
14. Infant Attachment
Harry Harlow – Infant rhesus monkeys
What matters? Nourishment or contact
Choose between two surrogate “mothers”
Cold wire mother versus warm cloth mother
Infants preferred cloth mother across situations
Contact comfort is critical to attachment
Harlow's Monkeys
Harlow 2
15. Infant Attachment
Mary Ainsworth – Strange Situation
Procedure: Caregivers leave infant alone with
stranger, then return
SecureAttachment: Use caregiver as a base
for exploration; happy when caregiver returns
Insecure Attachment: Does not care if
caregiver gone
AttachmentTheory
16. Temperament
An individual’s behavioral style or
characteristic way of responding
Three clusters of temperament
Easy
Difficult: can cry often, irregular routines
slow-to-warm-up: low activity level
Another perspective on temperament
Effortful control, self-regulation, and negative
affectivity