Developmental Psychology

Unit 2
Infancy
Physical, Cognitive & Social/Personality Development
 Physical Growth
Physical Growth
◈ Weight of the infant
◈ Height of the infant
◈ Body proportion
◈ Ethnic and gender differences in height and weight
 Physical Growth
4 Principles of growth
◈ Cephalocaudal principle the principle that growth follows a pattern that begins
with the head and upper body parts and then proceeds down to the rest of the
body
◈ Proximodistal principle the principle that development proceeds from the center
of the body outward
◈ Principle of hierarchical integration the principle that simple skills typically
develop separately and independently but are later integrated into more complex
skills
◈ Principle of the independence of systems the principle that different body systems
grow at different rates
 The Nervous System and Brain
◈ Neurons
Dendrites
Axon
Terminal branches
Terminal buttons
Synapses
Neurotransmitters
 The Nervous System and Brain
◈ Synaptic Pruning- the elimination of neurons as the result of non-use or lack of
stimulation.
◈ After birth, neurons continue to increase in size
◈ Myelination
◈ Neurons also reposition themselves, becoming arranged by function- moving to
the cerebral cortex and other sub-cortical areas
◈ Brain protected by skull but still highly sensitive- Shaken baby syndrome-
problems from shaking
 The Nervous System and Brain
Environmental influences on brain development
◈ Brain development mostly predetermined
◈ Plasticity the degree to which a developing structure or behavior is modifiable due
to experience
◈ Plasticity greatest during the first several years
◈ Children in enriched environments show greater developments in brain structure
and weight
◈ Sensitive period a specific, but limited, time, usually early in an organism's life,
during which the organism is particularly susceptible to environmental influences
relating to some particular facet of development
◈ Cuddling, talking, singing and playing children
 Motor Development
Reflexes
 Motor Development
◈ Gross motor skills- movement of big muscle groups
◈ Fine motor skills- precision in movement
Rudimentary
ability until 4 weeks
After 4 weeks –grasping
Pincer grasp
 Motor Development
◈ Esther Thelen - dynamic systems theory - a theory of how motor skills develop and
are coordinated.
◈ Dynamic systems theory is noteworthy for its emphasis on a child's own
motivation in advancing important aspects of motor development
◈ Developing norms- Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) a
measure designed to determine infants' neurological and behavioral responses to
their environment
four general aspects of infants‘ behavior:
◈ Interactions with others (such as alertness and cuddliness),
◈ Motor behavior,
◈ Physiological control (such as the ability to be soothed after being upset), and
◈ Responses to stress
Caution with norms
 Development of Senses
◈ Visual Perception
A newborn's distance vision ranges from 20/200 to 20/600
By 6 months of age, the average infant's vision is already 20/20-in other words, identical
to that of adult’s
binocular vision, the ability to combine the images coming to each eye to see depth
and motion, is achieved at around 14 weeks. infants do not integrate the information
from each eye
Depth perception- development inconclusive
Preferences-
◈ include patterns than to look at simpler stimuli
◈ prefer curved over straight lines,
◈ three-dimensional figures to two-dimensional ones, and
◈ human faces to nonfaces
Distinguishing characteristics- gene-environment influences
 Development of Senses
◈ Auditory Perception
Infants hear from the time of birth-and even before
infants actually are more sensitive to certain very high and very low frequencies than
adults, less to middle frequencies
Can differentiate different sounds
At the age of 4 and half months, understand their names
Show preferences towards mother’s voice over other strangers’
Do not diffferentiate between father’s voice and other male voices
 Development of Senses
◈ Smell and Taste
12-18 day babies can differentiate between their mothers and others
Can also distinguish between father and other males on the basis of their odor
Infants have sweet tooth
 Development of Senses
◈ Sensitivity to Pain and Touch
Infants do experience pain, we don’t know how much, but it produces distress in them
Responses to needle prick, takes several seconds to show reaction
Research with rats suggests that exposure to pain in infancy may lead to a permanent
rewiring of the nervous system resulting in greater sensitivity to pain during adulthood.
By 32 weeks after conception, the entire body is sensitive to touch
one of the ways children gain information about the world is through touching
touch plays an important role in an organism's future development, for it triggers a
complex chemical reaction that assists infants in their efforts to survive
benefits of massage-weight gain
Cognitive Development in Infancy
 Piaget’s Approach
◈ Schemes, organized patterns of functioning that adapt and change with mental
development
◈ At first, schemes are related to physical, or sensorimotor, activity, such as picking
up or reaching for toys
◈ As children develop, their schemes move to a mental level, reflecting thought.
Schemes are similar to computer software: They direct and determine how data
from the world, such as new events or objects, are considered and dealt with
◈ Assimilation the process in which people understand an experience in terms of
their current stage of cognitive development and way of thinking
 Piaget’s Approach
◈ Initially restricted to reflexes
◈ Through the process of assimilation and accommodation, the schemes become
sophisticated, as they explore their environment
 Appraising Piaget’s theory
◈ Observation of cognitive abilities generally accurate
◈ Children do in fact learn from the objects in their environment

◈ Questions on stage conception

◈ Children lacking limbs still show normal cognitive growth
◈ Sample- children from developed, western countries- leading to disparity at which
stage do they develop certain concepts

◈ Defence on object permanence

Roots of Language
 Fundamentals of Language
◈ Language the systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols, which provides the
basis for communication
◈ Language has several formal characteristics
Phonology refers to the basic sounds of language, called phonemes, that can be
combined to produce words and sentences
Morpheme is the smallest language unit that has meaning
Semantics are the rules that govern the meaning of words and sentences
◈ The difference between comprehension and production of language
Language Development
 Fundamentals of Language
◈ First words- holophrases- one-word utterances that stand for a whole phrase
◈ First sentences- two-word sentences- telegraphic speech
◈ Underextension the overly restrictive use of words; common among children just
mastering spoken language
◈ Overextension the overly broad use of words, overgeneralizing their meaning
◈ Referential style - a style of language use in which language is used primarily to
label objects
◈ Expressive style - a style of language use in which language is used primarily to
express feelings and needs about oneself and others
 Approaches to Language Development
◈ Learning Theory- reinforcement and punishment
◈ Nativist approach – innate capability
Noam Chomsky- Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
◈ Interactionist approach- language development is produced through a
combination of genetically determined predispositions and environmental
circumstances that help teach language
Social and Personality Development
 Forming Relationships
Forming Social Bonds
◈ Attachment is the positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a
particular, special individual
◈ Konrad Lorenz and newborn goslings- imprinting- attachment was based on
biologically determined factors
◈ Harry Harlow’s Monkeys- wire food giving monkey v/s cloth warmth giving
monkey
food alone is not the basis for attachment
◈ John Bowlby- attachment is based primarily on infants' needs for safety and
security-their genetically determined motivation to avoid predators
 Forming Social Bonds
◈ Mary Ainsworth- Ainsworth Strange Situations- sequence of staged episodes that
illustrate the strength of attachment between a child and (typically) his or her
mother
The mother and baby enter an unfamiliar room
the mother sits down, leaving the baby free to explore
an adult stranger enters the room and converses first with the mother and then with the
baby
the mother exits the room, leaving the baby alone with the stranger
the mother returns, greeting and comforting the baby, and the stranger leaves
the mother departs again, leaving the baby alone
the stranger returns
the mother returns and the stranger leaves
◈ Attachment Patterns
Secure, avoidant and ambivalent
Disorganized disoriented
 Personality Development
◈ Personality- the sum total of the enduring characteristics that differentiate one
individual from another.
◈ Erik Erikson-
Trust v/s Mistrust
Autonomy v/s shame-and-doubt
◈ Temperament patterns of arousal and emotionality that are consistent and
enduring characteristics o f an individual
Refers to how children behave, as opposed to what they do or why they do it
 Personality Development
◈ Categorizing temperament
Easy babies
Difficult babies
Slow-to-warm babies
◈ No temperament good or bad
◈ Goodness-of-fit the notion that development is dependent on the degree of match
between children's temperament and the nature and demands of the environment
in which they are being raised
◈ Although, certain temperaments are, in general, more adaptive than others
◈ Cultural Differences in temperaments and how they’re perceived
◈ Biological Basis for Temperament
The end! =)