Slide 1

Developmental
Psychology

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Developmental Psychology Slide 2

Developmental Psychology
• Focuses on development across life span –
a field of psychology that focuses on
development across the life span.
• Development
– More-or-less predictable changes in behavior
associated with increasing age
• Nature or nurture?
– Nature: behavior unfolds like a plant over time
– Nurture: behavior is molded by experiences

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Developmental Psychology Slide 3

Nature view

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Developmental Psychology Slide 4

What do they see?

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Developmental Psychology Slide 5

Basic Processes of Development

• Maturation
– Biological process of systematic physical
growth
– Experience plays a role in specific contexts
– McGraw’s study of toilet training twins
• Children change dramatically from birth to
adulthood

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Developmental Psychology Slide 6

Importance of maturational readiness in

McGraw’s study of toilet training twin boys
Hugh
Hilton
100
Success in percent

80

60

40

20

0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Age in days

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Developmental Psychology Slide 7

Early Experiences and Critical Periods

• Imprinting (Lorenz)
– Inborn tendency or instinct
– Sensitive period – critical period
• Early social deprivation
– Harlow’s monkeys, social isolation, and
continuing detrimental effects
– Controversy over effects on children
• Some abnormal effects may be irreversible

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Developmental Psychology Slide 8

Variations in Development

• Normal for children to be variable in their

development
– Discontinuities in development are the rule
– Parents make important decisions about raising
children that impacts on development
• Raising deaf child
• Impact of technology and medicine

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Developmental Psychology Slide 9

Stage Theories of Development

• Stages – series of abrupt changes from one
period to another –
– All children must pass through in same order
– Many advocate unfolds over time
– More qualitative than quantitative (such as
child mastering physical properties of object)
• Decentered thought allows
conservation problem solutions

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Developmental Psychology Slide 10

Piaget’s Developmental Theory

• Identified 4 stages of cognitive development

– Sensorimotor stage – infant experiences world
in sensory information and motor activities
– Preoperational stage – children sometimes
think illogically by adult standards
– Concrete operational stage – increased abilities
– Formal operational stage – use of full adult
logic

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Developmental Psychology Slide 11

Piaget’s cognitive development theory

Birth to 2 Sensorimotor Uses senses and motor skills, items
yrs known by use; Object permanence
2 - 7 yrs Pre-operational Symbolic thinking, language used;
egocentric thinking, imagination/
experience grow, child de-centers
7 - 11 yrs Concrete Logic applied, objective/rational
operational interpretations; conservation,
numbers, ideas, classifications
11 yrs on Formal Thinks abstractly, hypothetical
operational ideas; ethics, politics, social/moral
issues explored

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Developmental Psychology Slide 12

Kohlberg’s Theory

• Moral development
– Three level, six stage theory
– Premoral level – child has no sense of morality
as adults understand it
– Child’s moral view based on what others think
until highest level of development creates
independent thinking

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Developmental Psychology Slide 13

Kohlberg’s Theory

• Moral development
– Gilligan critical of Kohlberg’s research
results – had her own theory
• Morality as Individual Survival
• Morality as Self-Sacrifice
• Morality as Equality

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Developmental Psychology Slide 14

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

Level I: Stage 1 “might Punishment/obedience
Preconventional makes right” orientation: self-interest
moral reasoning
Stage 2 “look out for Instrumental/relativist
number one” orientation: quid pro quo
Level II: Stage 3 “good girl, Proper behavior for the
Conventional nice boy” social approval
moral reasoning
Stage 4 “law and Proper behavior of the
order” dutiful citizen, obey laws
Level III: Stage 5 “social Mutual benefit to all,
Postconventional contract” obey society’s rules
moral reasoning Stage 6 “universal Defend right/wrong, not
ethical just majority, all life is
principles” sacred (reflective)

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Developmental Psychology Slide 15

Development Across the Life Span

• Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

– Focuses on the individual’s developing
relationships with others in social world
– Eight stages - development continues over
life span
– Crisis at each stage of development

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Developmental Psychology Slide 16

Trust vs. Mistrust

Autonomy vs. Shame/doubt
Initiative vs. Guilt
Industry vs. Inferiority
Identity vs. Role confusion Erikson’s
psychosocial
Intimacy vs. Isolation theory
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Integrity vs. Despair

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Developmental Psychology Slide 17

Development Across the Life Span

• Average ages at which changes in
development take place portray
pattern of age-related changes
– Neonatal Period
– Infancy
– Early childhood
– Middle childhood
– Adolescence
– adulthood

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Developmental Psychology Slide 18

Development in Infancy and

Childhood
• Neonatal period
– First two weeks of life
– Marks transition from womb to independence
– Reflexively grasps anything placed in hand
– Rooting reflex

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Developmental Psychology Slide 19

Development in Infancy and

Childhood
• Infancy
– Age: 2 weeks until 2 years
– Time of rapid physical, perceptual, cognitive,
linguistic, social, and emotional growth
– During sensorimotor stage – infants stare at
interesting visual stimuli
– Preference for human faces

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Developmental Psychology Slide 20

Development in Infancy and

Childhood
• Infancy
– Physical development
– Cognitive development
• Object permanence
• Telegraphic speech
– Rovee-Collier’s studies of memory

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Developmental Psychology Slide 21

Rovee-Collier’s
studies tested
the memory of
young infants

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Developmental Psychology Slide 22

Development in Infancy and

Childhood

• Infancy – emotional and social development

– Visual cliff and depth perception
– Attachment
• Strong attachments formed between infants
and caregivers
• Separation anxiety
• Fear of strangers

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Developmental Psychology Slide 23

Gibson and Walk’s visual cliff

tested infant depth perception

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Developmental Psychology Slide 24

Early Childhood

• Growth less explosive and rapid than

during infancy
– Lasts 2 to 7 years of age
– Cognitive development
• Children in preoperational stage show
egocentric thought
• Animism
• Transductive reasoning

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Developmental Psychology Slide 25

Early Childhood

• Emotional and social development

– Most notable changes in peer relationships
and types of play
• Solitary play
• Parallel play
• Cooperative play

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Developmental Psychology Slide 26

Early Childhood
Cooperative play

Parallel play

Solitary play

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Developmental Psychology Slide 27

Middle Childhood

• Lasts from 7 to 11 years of age

– Characterized by slow physical growth
– Important cognitive changes occur
– Conservation and reversibility
– Child decenters – allows conservation
problems to be solved; learns some
matter changes shape but not volume

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Developmental Psychology Slide 28

Middle Childhood
• Emotional and social development
– Child enters with close ties to parents
– Peer relationships become increasingly
important
• Friendships more important, last longer
• Cliques or groups formed, mostly same
sex
• Terms boyfriend and girlfriend have little
meaning at this stage

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Developmental Psychology Slide 29

Adolescent Development

• Adolescence
– Physical changes of puberty
– Adolescent growth spurt
– Heightened sexual and romantic interest
– Peers become more important than parents
– Cognitively – capable of abstract reasoning
• Ponders abstract issues like justice or equality
– No clear cut end to adolescence in society

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Developmental Psychology Slide 30

Adolescent Development

• Physical development
– Puberty becomes production of sex hormones
– Primary sex characteristics appear
• Females – menarche: menstruation, ovulation
– Secondary sex characteristics appear
• Females – breasts, pubic hair, wider hips
• Males – testes and penis growth, facial and
pubic hair, broadened shoulders

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Developmental Psychology Slide 31

Adolescence

• Cognitive development
– Formal operations stage entered
• Ability to use abstract concepts
• Shift to stage varies among individuals;
some never reach this stage, others reach it
in early adulthood
– Piaget’s classic experiment with weights

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Developmental Psychology Slide 32

Piaget’s Balance Test - task: make the weight

times the distance equal on both sides of center

4-yr-old 7-yr-old
5 kg

5 kg 5 kg
A B

10-yr-old 14-yr-old

5 kg 10 kg
C 2 kg D 8 kg

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Developmental Psychology Slide 33

Adolescence
• Adolescent egocentrism
– Imaginary audience – everyone is watching
– Personal fable – belief that s/he is unique
– Hypocrisy – okay for one to do it but not
another
– Pseudostupidity – use of oversimplified logic
• Social development
– Time of drifting or breaking away from family

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Developmental Psychology Slide 34

Adolescence
• Emotional development
– G. Stanley Hall – time of storm and stress
– Most adolescents are happy, well-adjusted
– Areas of problems
• Parent-child conflicts
• Mood changes - self-conscious, awkward,
lonely, ignored
• Risky behavior - aggression, unprotected
sex, suicide, use of substances or alcohol

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Developmental Psychology Slide 35

Adulthood

• Young adulthood through older adulthood

– Developmental changes continue throughout
adulthood: not a single phase of life
– Taking on adult responsibilities in work and
social relationships
– Challenges: love, work, play continue changing

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Developmental Psychology Slide 36

Adulthood
• Physical development
– Growth and strength in early adulthood, then
slow process of decline afterwards
• Speed and endurance
• Vision and ability to see in weak lighting
• Hearing and detection of tones
• Taste – intact until later in life; men tend to
lose hearing and taste earlier than women
– Decline affected by health and lifestyles

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Developmental Psychology Slide 37

Adulthood
• Cognitive development
– Continues throughout adulthood; some abilities
improve while others decline
• Fluid intelligence peaks in 20s, declines
therafter
• Crystallized intelligence improves until 30s;
then declines slowly afterwards
• Overall, individual rates vary depending on
lifestyle and health

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Developmental Psychology Slide 38

Adulthood
• Emotional and social development
– Many aspects of personality are fairly stable
over time, and changes are predictable
• On average, adults become
– less anxious and emotional, socially
outgoing, and creative
• People become more dependable, agreeable,
and accepting of life’s hardships
• Gender differences lessen over time

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Developmental Psychology Slide 39

Adulthood
• Emotional and social development
– Much disagreement about when and how
changes occur during aging – differences
between stages of infant/child development
and adult development
• Not all adults go through every stage
• Order of stages can vary for individuals
• Timing of stages not controlled by
biological maturation

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Developmental Psychology Slide 40

Stages of Adult Life

• Early adulthood
– Erikson
• Intimacy versus isolation (17 to 45 years)
– Levinson - Early adulthood has three stages
• Entry into early adulthood (17-28)
• Age 30 transition (28-33)
• Culmination of early adulthood (to age 40)
– Challenges of career, marriage, and parenthood

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Developmental Psychology Slide 41

Middle Adulthood

• Erikson –
– Generativity versus stagnation (40-65 years)
• Taking stock of what one has, who s/he is
• Some are happy, some are disappointed
• Generativity – reaching out, not self-centered

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Developmental Psychology Slide 42

Middle Adulthood
• Levinson – four brief stages
– Midlife transition (early 40s)
– Entry to middle adulthood stage (45 to 50)
– Age 50 transition
– Culmination of middle adulthood
• Climactic –
– Female sexual ability to reproduce declines
– Not all adult development timed by social
clock rather than biological clock

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Developmental Psychology Slide 43

Later Adulthood
• Erikson (age 65 and onward)
– Integrity versus despair
• Looks back over life as a whole: satisfying
existence or merely staying alive
• Levinson devotes little to later years
• Life expectancy dramatically increased as
have conceptions of old age
– many have healthy years after retirement
– Second careers and activism launched

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Developmental Psychology Slide 44

Evaluating Stage Theories

• Gender differences – more focus on men
• Cultural differences and historical change
– Few cultural comparison studies done
• Inconsistent evidence
• Questions about idea of stage theories
– Mid-course correction, not mid-life crises
– Predicted changes do not occur at ages indicated

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Developmental Psychology Slide 45

Causes of Aging
• Biological – human body deteriorates
• Psychological
– Happy or unhappy aging
– Social activity and slowed intellectual decline or
disengagement and isolation
– Maintain healthy or unhealthy lifestyle
– Optimism linked to happier, healthier, longer life

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Developmental Psychology Slide 46

Death and Dying: The Final Stage

• Kübler-Ross – five stages
– Denial
– Anger
– Bargaining
– Depression
– Acceptance

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Developmental Psychology Slide 47

Application of Psychology: Parenting

• Parents play a key role in children’s lives
– Parenting and infant attachment
– Parenting and discipline style
– Effect in childrearing: Two-way street
– Common discipline mistakes
• Lax parenting, verbosity, overreactivity, and
reinforcement of inappropriate behavior
– Sociocultural factors in parenting
– Myth of the perfect parent
– Day care, divorce, and parenting
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 Slide 48

Baumrind: Three Parenting Styles

Style Authoritarian Permissive Authoritative

Warmth low high high
Discipline strict rare moderate
Expected Maturity high low moderate
Communication: high low high
parent-child
Communication: low high high
child-parent

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Developmental Psychology Slide 49

The End

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