Introduction to Developmental Psychology

1. Developmental
Psychology
Dr. Irene Karayianni

2. Developmental Psychology
Biological patterns – dynamic environment
Genetic background Behavior
Heredity limits potential
environmentcapabilities
worlddevelopment
Encouraged to reach full potential

3. Nature - Nurture

4. Nature - Nurture
Maturation: unfolding of
biologically predetermined
patterns of behavior
Behavioral
genetics
Traits determined to some extent by genes
Predisposition to respond in certain ways
seek out environments

5. However, there is agreement that…
• Genetic factors and heredity…
– Provide the potential
– Place limitations
• Environment plays critical role in enabling people to reach the potential
capabilities that their genetic background makes possible
interactionist position

6. Determining the Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture
Same genes
(or similar)
Different genes
Same environment
(or similar)
Different environment

7. Determining the Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture
Same genes
(or similar)
Different genes
Same environment
(or similar)
Different environment
• experimentally control
genetic makeup of
laboratory animals
• Human identical twins,
each adopted by
different family
• nontwin siblings raised
in different environment
• Two adopted children in
same family

8. Developmental research techniques
cross sectional
• Compares people of different ages at the same point in time.
Differences among groups of people.
– But: we cannot be sure that the differences in scores are due to age
differences alone
2015

9. Developmental research techniques
longitudinal
• Traces the behavior of one or more participants as the participants age.
Change in behavior over time.
– But: takes too long; drop out rate; test-wise participants
1996 2015 2090

10. Developmental research techniques
sequential
• Combo. Examining a number of different age groups at several points in
time
Year
Ageattimeofobservation
1996 1998 2002 2008 2012
8 m
24 m
6 yo

11. To sum up…
YEAR OF TEST
Year of birth 1970 1980 1990 2000
1920 50 years 60 years 70 years 80 years
1930 38 years 50 years 60 years 70 years
1938 30 years 38 years 50 years 60 years
Cross-sectional = compare all age-groups at 1 year of test (vertical columns of table)
Longitudinal = follow one cohort across all years of test (horizontal rows of table)
Sequential = combo
Cross-
sectional
Longitudinal

12. Newborn
first weeks of life

13. Newborn has strange appearance at first
squeezed bones of the skull together
skin secretes vernix
may have lanugo, a soft fuzz
eyelids may be puffy

14. Reflexes
rooting sucking gag startle Babinski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JVINnp7NZ0

15. Development of the senses
limited capacity to focus
follow objects moving
depth perception
Methods: heart rate, computer nipple, eye movement
habituation
prefer patterns with contours and edges
aware of size constancy
discriminate facial expressions

16. Development of the senses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2YdkQ1G5QI

17. Development of the senses
• Vision
– first month - distinguish some colors from others
– after 4 months -focus on near or far objects
– 4 or 5 months - recognize two- and three-dimensional objects
– 7 months - neural systems related to the processing of information about
facial expressions are highly sophisticated and cause babies to respond
differently to specific facial expressions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzXGEbZht0

18. Development of the senses
• Sounds
– 2 days: can distinguish between their native tongue and foreign languages
– 3 days: recognize mothers’ voice
– 4 days: discriminate between closely related sounds
– 6 months: discriminate any difference in sound that is relevant to the
production of language.
• Tastes and smells
– built-in sweet tooth

19. Infancy through Childhood

20. Physical development
1st
year

21. Development of social behavior
attachment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihh1xBXwt_0
imprinting

22. Development of social behavior
attachment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O60TYAIgC4
Harlow experiments

23. Development of social behavior
attachment
human attachment grows through the responsiveness of infants’
caregivers to the signals the babies provide

24. Development of social behavior
attachment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s608077NtNI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD771ASTMes
Ainsworth strange situation
• Securely attached : mother as a home base;
explore independently but return to her. When
she leaves, they show distress, and they go to her
when she returns.
• Avoidant: do not cry when she leaves, and avoid
her when she returns. Doesn’t resist, doesn’t
initiate.
• Ambivalent: anxiety before separation and upset
when she leaves, but they show ambivalent
reactions to her return; mom can’t comfort in
reunion
• disorganized-disoriented; inconsistent and
contradictory behavior.
Unresolved trauma

25. Development of social behavior
The securely attached
Cooperative, capable, playful, less disruptive, less aggressive, mature, high self esteem, trusting, seek out social support
able to share feelings, successful relationships, empathetic, open and equal relationships, actual bond (not fantasy)

26. Development of social behavior
The avoidant
Don’t invest emotionally, little distress when a relationship ends, avoid intimacy - excuses
Difficulty with intimacy and close relationships
Parents: withdrawn, unavailable, neglecting, depressed, with detached internal model (minimize the importance or effects of early
experiences; may idealize own parents but poor recall of childhood; deny negative emotions; emphasis on own personal
strengths)

27. Development of social behavior
The ambivalent
Parents: inconsistent responses, sometimes reject / react baby’s bids for contact, neglect-make up for it
Preoccupied internal attachment (reversed parenting, still caught up in family, struggling with anger / desire to please)
Suspicious of strangers, don’t trust easily, refuse comfort, self critical, insecure, seek approval, clingy, over-dependent, worry
about feeling reciprocation, anger

28. Development of social behavior
The disorganized - disoriented

29. Development of social behavior
the father’s role
• Early developmental research focused
on the mother-child relationship
• More recent research highlighted the
father’s role in parenting
• Fathers’ play differs from mothers’
play: more physical, rough activities
• Despite play differences, nature of
attachment can be similar.
• Children can form multiple
attachments simultaneously

30. Development of social behavior
social relationships with peers
Elaborate games
Teams, Rules
Socially competent
Enjoyment but also…
Sharing materials and experiences
Cognitive and social development
Emotional development, self control
Interpret the meaning of others’ behavior
Physical self control
Interact with each other
Role plays
Parallel play
Pay more attention to toys

31. The Consequences of Child Care Outside the Home
Longitudinal study
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Benefits from social interaction and intellectual stimulation
provided by
high quality child-care centers
More considerate, social, more positive interactions, compliant, regulate behavior
Low quality  insecurity

32. Parenting Styles and Social Development
Authoritarian
• Unquestioning obedience
• Expect their orders to be obeyed without explanation
• Status oriented
• Strict standards, rigid, punitive
• No warmth
• Unsociable, unfriendly, and relatively withdrawn
• Associate obedience and success with love
• Good at following rules
• Shy / fearful / aggressive
• May lack self discipline – no personal standards

33. Parenting Styles and Social Development
Permissive
• Relaxed
• Inconsistent
• Warm
• Require little of child, low expectations
• More responsive than demanding
• Avoid confrontation
• Use bribery
• Immature, moody, dependent
• Low self control / self discipline
• Poor social skills, can’s share
• Less academically motivated

34. Parenting Styles and Social Development
Authoritative
• parents try to reason and explain things
• set clear goals, set limits
• encourage independence
• Child centric, democratic
• Discuss options
• Warm
• Capable
• Emotional control
• high social skills
• likable, self-reliant, independent, and cooperative

35. Parenting Styles and Social Development
Uninvolved
• show little interest, indifferent
• Emotionally detached
• Just food, clothing, and shelter
• Extreme case – neglect
• No responsiveness
• Few demands
• Too overwhelmed by own problems
• feel unloved and emotionally detached
• Physical, cognitive, social, emotional development
are impeded
• Perform poorly
• Inappropriate behavior / no limits, misbehave

36. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
• Life is a series of lessons
• Interaction and understanding of self and others – ego identity
• 8 stages
• Conflict resolution  move on

37. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
1st stage: Trust vs. Mistrust
Stage Issues Potential positive
outcomes from crisis
Potential negative
outcomes from crisis
Trust v Mistrust
0- 1½ y
feeding and being comforted, teething,
sleeping
Hope and Drive
Open to experiences
Sensory Distortion /
Withdrawal
Feeding
Can I trust the people around me?
Consistently respond to needs

38. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
2nd stage: Autonomy vs. Shame & doubt
Stage Issues Potential positive
outcomes from crisis
Potential negative
outcomes from crisis
Autonomy v
Shame
1½ - 3 y
bodily functions, toilet training, muscular
control, walking
Willpower and Self-
Control, self confident,
autonomous
Impulsivity /
Compulsion
Toilet training
Can I do things myself or do I need the help of others?
Encourage exploration and freedom

39. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
3rd stage: Initiative vs. Guilt
Exploration, play
Initiate activities
Stage Issues Potential positive
outcomes from crisis
Potential negative
outcomes from crisis
Initiative v Guilt
3-6 y
exploration and discovery, adventure and play Purpose and Direction Ruthlessness /
Inhibition, feel like
nuisance
Am I good or bad?
Encourage initiatives

40. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
4th stage: Industry vs. Inferiority
School
Stage Issues Potential positive
outcomes from crisis
Potential negative
outcomes from crisis
Industry v
Inferiority
6-12 y
achievement and accomplishment Competence and
Method, pride in
accomplishments
Narrow Virtuosity /
Inertia, doubt ability to
be successful
"How can I be good?
Encouraged, commended

41. Cognitive developmentInfancy and childhood: Cognitive development

42. Cognitive development
Piaget’s theory

43. Cognitive development
Piaget’s theory
• Sensorimotor (0-2)
– Sensations, motor movements, no mental symbols

44. Cognitive development
Piaget’s theory
• Peoperational (2-7)
• Learn to use language
• Symbolic thought, still illogical
• Egocentric thought
• principle of conservation
Egocentrism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OinqFgsIbh0
Conservation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLj0IZFLKvg

45. Cognitive development
Piaget’s theory
• Concrete operational (7-12)
– Reasons like adults, but not for abstract concepts
– reversibility - awareness that actions / logical
propositions can be reversed. 5+2=7  7-2=5
– Conservation: quantity doesn’t change because of shape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA04ew6Oi9M
What is love?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goq740lF1vg

46. Cognitive development
Piaget’s theory
• Formal operational (12+)
– Full adult cognition
– Abstract, formal, logical thinking

47. Is Piaget right?

48. Cognitive development
Information processing approaches
• the way in which we take in, use, and store information
• quantitative changes occur
• Mental programs
• Speed of processing
• Less distraction
• Memory improvement
• Organization of knowledge
• Metacognition – planning, monitoring, revising cognitive strategies

49. Cognitive development
Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive Development: Considering Culture.
• Cognitive development as a consequence of social interactions
• Cognitive abilities increase when children encounter information
that falls within their zone of proximal development = level at
which a child can almost comprehend or perform a task on his or
her own - Scaffolding

50. Adolescence
Adolescence
Biological
Social
Emotional
Cognitive
profound changes

51. Physical development
Primary & secondary sex characteristics
Production of sex hormones
• By testes  production of sperm cells, spermarche
• By ovaries  ovulation, menstruation
• Enlarged Adam’s apple, deeper voice,
body hair, height
• Breast enlargement, wider hips, pubic,
Involved in reproduction Not involved in reproduction
Brain continues to develop
Increase in height, weight
Sexual attraction
Teenage brain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWUkW4s3XxY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zVS8HIPUng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzT_SBl31-s

52. Moral development
Kohlberg’s theory
A woman is near death from a special kind of cancer. The one
drug that the doctors think might save her is a medicine that
a medical researcher has recently discovered. The drug is
expensive to make, and the researcher is charging ten times
the cost, or $5,000, for a small dose. The sick woman’s
husband, Henry, approaches everyone he knows in hope of
borrowing money, but he can get together only about $2,500.
He tells the researcher that his wife is dying and asks him to
lower the price of the drug or let him pay later. The
researcher says, “No, I discovered the drug, and I’m going to
make money from it.” Henry is desperate and considers
stealing the drug for his wife.
What would you tell Henry to do?

53. Moral development
Kohlberg’s theory
• Preconventional: Concrete, unvarying
rules; rewards and punishments
– It is always wrong to steal
– I’ll be punished if I steal
– Good people don’t steal
• Conventional: what others will think of
me; pleasing others
• Postconventional: advanced morality
based my ethical principles, even if they
differ from societal rules.

54. Moral development
Gilligan’s theory
• Different socialization experiences 
• Girls pass through stages differently.
• Female moral reasoning is centered on
the needs of people, and social
relationships rather than concepts and
principles.
• Caring.
• Compassionate concern for the welfare
of others represents the highest level of
morality

55. Social development
“Who am I?” “How do I fi t into the world?” “What is life all about?”
seek to find their place in the broader social world

56. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
5th stage: Identity vs. Role confusion
Social relationships
Stage Issues Potential positive
outcomes from crisis
Potential negative
outcomes from crisis
Identity v Role
Confusion
resolving identity and direction, becoming a
grown-up
Fidelity and Devotion Fanaticism /
Repudiation
Search for identity
Who am I?
declining reliance on adults

57. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
6th – 8th stage

58. STORMY ADOLESCENCE: MYTH OR REALITY?
• Adolescent egocentrism  self absorption
 makes relationships more difficult
– Highly critical of authority figures
– Don’t accept criticism
– imaginary audience – self conscious
– personal fable
– Hypocrisy
– Pseudostupidity