Developmental Psychology

The study of how people change from birth to old age is called developmental
psychology. It studies all other topics that psychologists
study(intelligence,language,emotions etc). It studies how and why changes
occur as people grow older.
Enduring Issues
1- Individual characteristics vs shared human traits : There are many
common patterns to human development, but each person’s development is also
unique and different from others(type of family, personality, death of relatives,
work life etc).
2- Stability vs change : Development is characterized by both major life
transitions and continues with the past. Are characteristics biologically inherited
or the result of early experiences, can they be changed?
3- Heredity vs environment : Combination of biological forces and
environmental experiences. Is IQ inherited or determined early environment?
Constantly interact to shape how people grow.
Methods In Developmental Psychology
Uses same research methods, other areas of psychology use(naturalistic obs.,
corr.,exp.). They use these methods in 3 special types of studies.
1- Cross – Sectional Study : Study people of different ages at the same point in
time. Advantages are inexpensive, quick and low attrition(dropout).
Disadvantages are :
- Different age groups are not necessarily much alike.
- Differences may be due to cohort differences rather than age.
- A cohort is a group of people born during the same period of history. And they
were born and grew up at different historical parts.
2-Longitudinal Study : Study the same group of people 2 or more times over
time, as they grow older. Ex: Development of logical thoughts: test a group of 6
years old, wait 3 years and test same children at age 9 then wait another 3 years
to test again at 12. Advantages are :
- Detailed information about subjects.
- Developmental changes can be studied in detail and eliminates the cohort
differences.
Disadvantages are :
- Expensive and time consuming and potential for high attrition.
- Differences over time may be due to assessment tools and not age.
3- Biographical or Retrospective Study : Participant’s past is reconstructed
through interviews and other research about their life. Advantages are great
detail about life of individual and In-depth study of one person. Disadvantages
are recall of individual may not be accurate and can be expensive and time
consuming.
Periods of Development
Prenatal Period : The time from conception to birth.
Infancy : The developmental period that extends from birth to 24 months of
age.
Early Childhood : Extends from the end of infancy to about 5 or 6 years.
Middle and Late Childhood : Extends from about 6 to 11 years.
Adolescence : The transition from childhood to adulthood.
Early Adulthood : Begins in the late teens or early 20 and ends in the 30.
Middle adulthood : Begins at about 35 to 45 years of age and ends at about 55
to 65.
Late adulthood : Begins in the sixties or seventies and lasts until death.
Prenatal Development
Period of time from conception to birth. Conception is a single sperm cell (male)
penetrates the outer coating of the egg (female) and fuses to form one fertilized
cell.
Zygote, a fertilized egg. Embryo is from about two weeks after conception to
three months after conception(0-3 m). Fetus is three months after conception to
birth(3-9 m).
Placenta : Connects fetus to mother ,brings oxygen and nutrients, takes away
wastes.
Critical Period : Time when influences have major effect (rubella during the
first 3 months causes death or deafness but last trimester unlikely to major
damage).
Terotogens : Substances that can damage an embryo or fetus (alcohol,
smoking).
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome : Occurs in children of women who consume large
amounts of alcohol during pregnancy. Symptoms include facial deformities,
heart defects, stunted growth, and cognitive impairments. Even small amount of
alcohol can cause neurological problems. Thalidomide Babies : Thalidomide
appeared on the market in West Germany on October 1 1957 and was hailed as a
safe and effective sleeping pill. Soon it became the drug of choice to help
pregnant women combat the symptoms associated with morning sickness.
Neonates/Newborn Babies
They can sleep up to 20 hours. Infants are born with reflexes that aid in survival,
including rooting reflex which helps them locate food. Reflexes are rooting,
sucking, swallowing, grasping, stepping. Grasping and stepping are disappear
after 2-3 months, reemerge later as voluntary grasping(5 m) and real
walking(1y).
Temperament : Temperament refers to characteristic patterns of emotional
reactions and emotional self-regulation. Thomas and Chess identified three basic
types of babies. Kagan has added a fourth type.
Easy : Good-natured, easy to care for, adaptable.
Difficult : Moody and intense, react to new situations and people negatively and
strongly.
Slow-to-warm-up : Inactive and slow to respond to new things, and when they
do react, it is mild.
Shy child : Timid and inhibited, fearful of anything new or strange.
Perceptual Abilities
Vision : Clear for 20-25 cm. Good vision by 6 months. Almost fully develops 3-
4 y. Prefer contrast and simple pattern.
Depth perception : The ablity to see the world in 3 D is developed between 6-
12 m(actually when they crawl).
Visual cliff research : Table seperated into 3 parts, center solid runway, 2nd
part 1 inc below the surface, 3 rd part 40 inches, coverered checkerboard pattern,
crawl shallow side but not deep side. Infants(6-14 m) tested refused to crawl
across the visuall cliff, but they were willing to cross the shallow side of the
table. Younger than 6 m, their heart rate decrease, shows orientation.
Other senses: Fetus can hear sounds in the uterus. Infants particularly tune in to
human voices. Younger infants are better in distinguishing speech sounds. After
1y, they can’t distinguish. Taste and smell are fully functional(sweet , lemon).
Their perceptions become more meaningfull, because of the physical maturation
and experience.
Infancy and Childhood
Physical Development : Children grow about 25 cm and gain about 7 kg in first
year. Growth occurs in spurts, as much as 2,5 cm overnight. Weight has doubled
by 4 m, tripled by 12m. Growth slows during second year. Brain reaches ¾ of
adult size at age 2, head growth complete at age 10 but body continues to growth
for many years.
Motor Development : Developmental Norms > Ages by which an average
child achieves various developmental milestones. Motor development proceeds
from center of the body (proximal) to the farthest from the center(distal).
Maturation : Biological process of systematic physical growth (progression
from crawling to walking). Both maturation of central nervous system, and
experience played role in maturation.