Developmental Psychology

CHAPTER 2
Fertilization/Conception – Process by which the sperm and the ovum-the male and female
gametes, or sex cells-combine to create a single cell called zygote
Sperm - is produced in the testicle (testes)
Dizygotic Twins
- Also called fraternal twins, are the result of two separate eggs being fertilized by two
different sperm to form two unique individuals.
- Genetically are like siblings who inhabit in the same womb at the same time.
- Can be the same or different sex.
Monozygotic Twins
- Also known as identical twins, is the result of cleaving of one fertilized egg.
- Environmental differences magnify identical twins as they get older.
Genetics - is the study of genes and heredity.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) – double helix structure that resemble a long spiraling ladder
whose steps are made of pairs of chemical units called bases:
(A) Adenine - (T) Thymine
(G) Guanine - (C) Cytosine
Dominant Gene - Trait that is always shown or expressed in the person
Recessive Gene - Trait that is not shown or expressed in the person.
Allele - Two or more alternative forms of a gene that occupy the same position on paired
chromosomes and affect the same trait
Phenotype -The set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. (E.g., height, eye
color, hair color, etc.)
Genotype - The complete set of genetic material an organism has. Phenotype is the product of
Genotype.
Epigenesis - The environmental influence on gene expression. Genes are turned off or on as they
are needed by the developing body or when triggered by the environment

1st month
- Growth is more rapid than any other time during life.
- Blood flows thru its veins and arteries.
- Has miniscule heart.
 - Has the beginning of brain, kidneys, liver, and digestive tracts
- Umbilical cord is working.
- Sex still can’t be determined.

2nd month
- Embryo becomes a fetus
- Head is half of total body length.
- Facial parts are developed, with tongue and teeth buds.
- Arms have hands, fingers and thumb.
- Legs have knees, ankles, feet and toes.
- Sex organs are developing.

3rd month
- It has fingernails, toenails, eyelids (still closed), vocal cords, lips, and a nose.
- Sex is detectable.
- The organ systems are functioning, but not at full capacity.
- Its ribs and vertebrae have turned into cartilage.
- The fetus can now move its legs, feet, thumbs, and head; its mouth can open and close
and swallow

4th month
- Placenta is now fully developed.
- Mother may feel the fetus kicking, movement known as quickening.
- The reflex activities that appeared in the third month are now brisker because of
- increased muscular development.

5th month
- has definite sleep-wake patterns.
- The sweat and sebaceous glands are functioning.
- The respiratory system is not yet adequate to sustain life outside the womb.
- Coarse hair has begun to grow for eyebrows and eyelashes, fine hair is on the head, and
a woolly hair called lanugo covers the body.

6th month
- the eyes open, close, and look in all directions.
- It can hear.
- it can make a fist with a strong grip.

7th month
- has fully developed reflex patterns.
 - It cries, breathes, and swallows, and it may suck its thumb.
- Head hair may continue to grow

8th month
- its living quarters are becoming cramped, and so
- its movements are curtailed.
- a layer of fat is developing over the fetus’s entire body, which will enable it to adjust to
varying temperatures outside the womb.

9th month
- the organ systems are operating more efficiently,
- the heart rate increases, and more wastes are expelled through the umbilical cord.
- The reddish color of the skin is fading.
- About a week before birth, the fetus stops growing.

CHAPTER 3
During the First Three Years
Physical Development
Cephalocaudal principle - growth occurs from the top down.
Proximodistal principle - (inner to outer), growth and motor development proceeds from the
center of the body outward.

Major Parts of the Brain

Cerebellum - (the part of the brain that maintains balance and motor coordination) grows fastest
during the 1st year of life.
Cerebrum - largest part of the brain, is divided into right and left halves, or hemispheres
Left hemisphere - mainly concerned with language and logical thinking
Right hemisphere - with visual and spatial functions such as map reading and drawing.
Corpus Callosum - tough band of tissue that is responsible for joining or keeping the two
hemispheres together, which allows them to share information and coordinate commands.

4 Parts of the Cerebrum

Occipital Lobe - Smallest of the four lobes. Primary concern is visual processing.
Parietal Lobe - Integrates sensory information from the body. Helps us move our bodies
smoothly through space and manipulate objects in our world.
Temporal Lobe - Helps us interpret smells and sounds. Involved in memory
Frontal Lobe - Involved in higher-order processes such as goal setting, inhibition, reasoning,
planning, and problem solving
Cerebral cortex - (the outer surface of the cerebrum) that govern vision, hearing, and other
sensory information grow rapidly in the first few months after birth and are mature by age 6
months,

Early Sensory Capacity

Touch and Pain - First sense to develop, and the most mature sense of the baby for the first few
months.
Smell and Taste - Taste preferences developed in infancy may last into the early childhood.
Hearing - Auditory discrimination develops rapidly after birth.
Sight - Least developed sense at birth.

Motor Development
Head Control - At birth, most infants can turn their heads side by side while lying on their
backs. When lying chest down, many can lift their heads enough to turn them.
Hand Control - Babies are born with grasping reflex.
Locomotion - After 3 months, average infant begins to roll over, first from front to back, then
VV.
Motor Development and Perception
Depth perception – the ability to perceive objects and surfaces in three dimensions, depends on
several kinds of cues that affect the image of an object on the retina of the eye.
Haptic perception – involves the ability to acquire information by handling objects rather than
just looking at them. This includes putting objects in the mouth—a common means of
exploration in infancy.

Studying Cognitive Development

Behaviorist Approach
- Studies basic mechanics of learning.
 - Behaviorists are concerned with how behavior changes in response to experience.
Psychometric Approach
- Measure quantitative differences in abilities that make up intelligence by using tests that
indicate or predict these abilities.
Piagetian Approach
- Looks at changes, or stages, in quality of cognitive functioning.
- Concerned with how the mind structures its activities and adapts to the environment.
Information-Processing Approach
- Focuses on perception, learning, memory, and problem solving.
- Aims to discover how children process information from the time they encounter it until
they use it.
Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
- Seeks to identify what brain structures are involved in specific aspects of cognition.
Social Contextual Approach
- Examines the effects of environment aspects of the learning process, particularly the role
of parents or other caregivers.

Behaviorist Approach
Classical Conditioning
- Type of conditioning wherein a previously unrelated neutral stimulus, when paired with
another stimulus, would produce a certain behavior
- Little Albert Experiment
Operant Conditioning
- Type of conditioning which uses reinforcement or punishment to modify certain
behavior
- Skinner Box
Piagetian Approach
Sensorimotor stage – first of Piaget’s four stages of Cognitive Development
Information-Processing Approach
Habituation - a type of learning in which repeated or continuous exposure to a stimulus reduces
attention to that stimulus.
Dishabituation - If a new stimulus is presented, and the baby’s attention is generally captured
again, and the baby will reorient toward the interesting stimulus and once again sucking slows.
Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
Implicit Memory - refers to remembering that occurs without effort or even conscious
awareness.
Explicit Memory - Is the conscious or intentional recollection.
Working memory - is short-term storage of information the brain is actively processing, or
working on.
Social Contextual Approach – Language Development
Language – is a communication system based on words and grammar.
Early Vocalization - Crying is a newborn’s first means of communication. Different pitches,
patterns, and intensities signal hunger, sleepiness, or anger.
Imitation - is key to early language development.
Gestures – Before babies can speak, they point.
First Sentences – the next important linguistic breakthrough comes when a toddler puts two
words together to express one idea.

Psychosocial Development
Emotions - are subjective reactions to experience that are associated with physiological and
behavioral changes.
Crying – Newborns plainly show when they are unhappy.
Smiling and Laughing – The earliest faint smiles occur spontaneously soon after birth,
apparently as a result of sub cortical nervous system activity. These involuntary smiles
frequently appear during periods of REM sleep.
Altruistic Helping and Empathy – Altruistic behavior comes naturally to infants. In one study,
infants at 12 months of age.
Temperament - early-appearing, biologically based tendency to respond to the environment in
predictable ways. Temperament affects how children approach and react to the outside world, as
well as how they regulate their mental, emotional, and behavioral functioning.

Gender - Identifying as male or female affects how people look, how they move their bodies,
and how they work, dress, and play.
DEVELOPING ATTACHMENTS
Developing Trust – Human babies are dependent on others for food, protection, and nurturance
for a far longer period than the young of most mammals
Attachment - is a reciprocal, enduring emotional tie between an infant and a caregiver, each of
whom contributes to the quality of the relationship.
Ethological theory - infants and parents are biologically predisposed to become attached to each
other, and attachment promotes a baby’s survival.
Strange Situation – Classic, laboratory-based technique designed to assess attachment patterns
between an infant and an adult.
Secure Attachment - are flexible and resilient in the face of stress.
Avoidant Attachment – are outwardly unaffected by a caregiver leaving or returning.
Ambivalent (Resistant) Attachment – are generally anxious even before the caregiver leaves,

Developmental Issues in Toddlerhood

Self-concept – our image of ourselves—our total picture of our abilities and traits.
Development of Autonomy - shift from external control to self-control.
Moral Development
Socialization - is the process by which children develop habits, skills, values, and motives that
make them responsible, productive members of society.
Socialization rests on internalization of these standards.

CHAPTER 4
EARLY CHILDHOOD (3 TO 6 YEARS OLD)
Physical Development
Bodily Growth and Change - Children grow rapidly between ages 3 and 6, but less quickly than
before.
Sleep Patterns and Problems - activation of the brain’s motor control system,
Sleep Problem
 Night Terrors - appears to awaken abruptly from a deep sleep early in the night in a
state of agitation.
 Walking and Talking While Asleep - are more common when children are sleep
deprived, have a fever or are on medications, or when conditions are noisy.
  Nightmares – related to difficult child temperament, high overall childhood anxiety,
and bedtime parenting practices that promote dependency.
 Enuresis - repeated, involuntary urination at night by children old enough to be
expected to have bladder control.
Brain Development
- Myelin (a fatty substance that coats the axons of nerve fibers and accelerates neural
conduction) continues to form.
 Corpus Callosum - is a thick band of nerve fibers that connects both hemispheres of
the brain and allows them to communicate more rapidly
Motor Skills - under 6 are rarely ready to take part in any organized sport.
 Handedness - preference for using one hand over the other.
Health and Safety

Obesity – Excessive weight gain hinges.
Three Factors to Prevent Obesity
1. Regularly eating an evening meal as a family.
2. Getting adequate sleep
3. Watching less than 2 hours of television a day
 Under nutrition
- appear to be of normal weight but are shorter
- appropriate height for their age but are thinner
 Food Allergies
- Milk, Fish, Eggs, Soy, Peanuts, Wheat, tree nuts, Shellfish
 Oral Health - is an important component of overall health --thumbsucking and tooth
decay.
Cognitive Development
Cognitive Advances During Early Childhood
1. Symbolic Function - absence of sensory or motor cues, use symbols, or mental
representations, such as words, numbers, or images
2. Understanding of Objects in Space - able to understand the symbols that describe physical
spaces
3. Understanding Causality
4. Understanding of Identities and Categorization
5. Understanding of Numbers - cardinality principle, understand that the number of items in a
set is the same
Centration: the tendency to focus on one aspect of a situation and neglect others.
Egocentrism – young children center so much on their own point of view that they cannot take
in another’s.
Conservation - two things that are equal remain so if their appearance is altered
Theory of mind - is the awareness of the broad range of human mental states
Information-processing theorists - memory can be described as a filing system that has three
steps, or processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
 Encoding - Is like putting information in a folder to be filed in memory;
 Storage - Is like putting the folder away in the filing cabinet. It is where the information
is kept.
 Retrieval - When the information is needed, you access storage, and search for the file
and take it out.
Three types of Storage
 Sensory Memory - is a temporary storehouse for incoming sensory information
 Working Memory - A short-term storehouse for information a person is actively
working on, trying to understand, remember, or think about.
 Long-term Memory - A storehouse of virtually unlimited capacity that holds
information for long periods of time.
Types of Retrieval
 Recognition - is the ability to identify something encountered before.
 Recall - is the ability to reproduce knowledge from memory.
Forming and Retaining Childhood Memory
 Generic Memory - produces a script, or general outline of a familiar, repeated event
 Episodic Memory - awareness of having experienced a particular event at a specific time
and place.
 Autobiographical Memory - memories of distinctive experiences that form a person’s
life history.
Intelligence - ability to learn from situations, adapt to new experiences, and manipulate abstract
concepts.
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of
Intelligence - two most commonly used individual tests for preschoolers
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales
- used for ages 2 and up and take 45 to 60 minutes. The child is asked to define words,
string beads, build with blocks, identify the missing parts of a picture, trace mazes, and
show an understanding of numbers.
Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence
 - an individual test, taking 30 to 60 minutes. It has separate levels for ages 2½ to 4 and 4
to 7 and yields verbal, performance, and combined scores.
Vygotsky’s Theory
- children learn by internalizing the results of interactions with adults.
Psychosocial Development
self-concept - is our total picture of our abilities and traits. a system of descriptive and evaluative
representations
- Real Self – The self one “actually” is
- Ideal Self – The self one “wants” to be
Self-esteem - is the self-evaluative part of the self-concept, the judgment children make about
their overall worth.
Gender roles - are the behaviors, interests, attitudes, skills, and personality traits that a culture
considers appropriate for males or females.
Biological Approach - The existence of similar gender roles in many cultures suggests that
some gender differences may be biologically based. Differences we see between boys and girls
are influenced by brain anatomy.
Evolutionary Approach - controversial perspective, children’s gender roles underlie the
evolved mating and child-rearing strategies of adult males and females. Darwin’s (1871) theory
of sexual selection, the selection of sexual partners is a response to the differing reproductive
pressures early men and women confronted in the struggle for survival.
Psychoanalytic Approach - Freud, identification will occur when one represses or gives up the
wish to possess the parent of the other sex and identifies with the parent of the same sex.
Identification - is the process of adoption of characteristics, beliefs, attitudes, values, and
behaviors of the parent of the same sex.
Cognitive Approach - In Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory, gender knowledge (“I
am a boy”) precedes gendered behavior (“so I like to do boy things”).
Gender Constancy
 Gender Identity - awareness of one’s own gender
 Gender Stability - awareness that gender does not change.
 Gender Consistency - the realization that a girl remains a girl even if she has a short
haircut and plays with trucks, and a boy remains a boy even if he has long hair and
earrings

Gender-Schema Theory - it views children as actively extracting knowledge about gender from
their environment before engaging in gender-typed behavior, - more emphasis on the influence
of culture.
Social Learning Approach - According to Walter Mischel (1966), a traditional social learning
theorist, children acquire gender roles by imitating models and being rewarded for gender-
appropriate behavior.

Play - It enables children to engage with the world around them, to use their imagination, to
discover flexible ways to use objects and solve problems, and to prepare for adult roles.
Cognitive Complexity
Functional Play (Locomotor Play) - The simplest level, which begins during infancy,
consisting of repeated practice in large muscular movements, such as rolling a ball.
Constructive Play (Object Play) - the use of objects or materials to make something, such as a
house of blocks or a crayon drawing.
Dramatic Play (Pretend, Fantasy, or Imaginative Play) - involves imaginary objects, actions,
or roles. More advanced cognitive development affords more sophisticated play, but play also
helps strengthen the development of dense connections in the brain and promotes later capacity
for abstract thought.
Games with Rules - organized games with known procedures and penalties.
Gender Segregation - Girls tend to select other girls as playmates, and boys prefer other boys
Parenting - can be a complex challenge.
Discipline – refers to methods of molding character and of teaching self-control and acceptable
behavior.
Reinforcement
- External reinforcements may be tangible (treats, more playtime) or intangible (a smile,
a word of praise, or a special privilege).
- Internal reinforcement: a sense of pleasure or accomplishment.
Punishment
Parenting Styles
 Authoritarian Parenting - control and unquestioning obedience
 Permissive Parenting - self-expression and self-regulation
 Authoritative Parenting - child’s individuality but also stresses limits
 Neglectful or Uninvolved - focus on their needs rather than on those of the child
Special Behavioral Concerns
Prosocial Behavior - Helping other people without expectation of anything in return or reward,
this is altruism, the heart of prosocial behavior.
Aggression - Instrumental aggression is the aggression used as an instrument to gain access to a
wanted goal, this is the most common aggression in early childhood.
Fearfulness - Passing fears are common in early childhood. It may come from hearing about
other people’s experiences or from “catching” their fear responses.

CHAPTER 5
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD (6 TO 11 YEARS OLD)
Physical Development
Height & Weight – grows 2 to 3 inches each year 6 and 11
Tooth Development and Dental Care
Nutrition – 9 to 13 years old/ 1,400 to 2,600 calories per day
Sleep – 3 to 5 years old/ 12.5 hrs. to 6 to 13 years old/ 10 hrs. a day
Brain Development
MRI – Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Gray matter – packed neuron in cerebral cortex
White matter – made of glial cells
Motor Development and Physical Activity
Obesity and Body Image
Asthma – chronic, respiratory disease
Diabetes – high level of glucose in the blood
Hypertension or High Blood Pressure
Accidental Injuries
Cognitive Development
Piagetian Approach: Concrete Operational Child
- 7 yrs. Old
- Use mental operations (reasoning, solve concrete problems) better understanding
Causality – ability to make judgements about cause and effect
Categorization
 Seriation – arranging objects in a series
  Transitive Inferences – ability to infer social relationships between individuals
 Class Inclusion – ability to see the relationship between a whole and its parts
Inductive Reasoning – making observation to object then draw conclusion as a whole
Deductive Reasoning – General statement – conclusion must be true
Conservation
 Identity – remain the same despite changing its appearance
 Reversibility – cognitive recognition, initial conditions can be restored
 Decenter – progressive movement of child away
Number and Mathematics
 Computational Estimation – estimating the sum
 Numerosity Estimation – estimating the numbers
 Measurement Estimation – estimating the length
Information-Processing Approach: Planning, Attention and Memory
 Selective Attention – ability to deliberately directs one’s attention and shut out
distraction
 Working Memory – short-term storage of information
Psychometric Approach: Assessment of Intelligence
 Psychometrics – is a branch of psychology involved in the quantitative measurement of
psychological variables and psychometric techniques have been used extensively in the
development of ways to measure intelligence
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC - IV)
- Test for 6 to 16 yrs. old, measures verbal and performance abilities
Multiple Intelligence
Gardner – neuropsychologist and educational researcher
8 Independent Kinds of Intelligence
1. Linguistic – ability to use and understand words and nuances
2. Logical-Mathematical – ability manipulate numbers
3. Spatial – gifted in art, ability to find one’s way
4. Musical – perceive and create patterns of pitch and rhythm
5. Bodily Kinesthetic – precision of movement
6. Interpersonal – social relations, understand and communicate to others
7. Intrapersonal – self-understanding, understand the self
8. Naturalist – ability to distinguish species and characteristics
Psychosocial Development
Developing Self
Self-Concept Development: Representational System
Representational System – Breadth, balance
Industry vs. Inferiority – Erikson (1982)
Emotional Growth
Popularity
Sociometric Popularity
 Positive Nomination – children’s like to be playmates
 Negative Nomination – children’s does not like to be playmates
Friendship – children learn to cooperate and communicate

CHAPTER 7
EMERGING AND YOUNG ADULTHOOD
Physical Development
Health and Fitness
Eating Disorder
 Anorexia Nervosa –abnormally low body weight, an intense fear of gaining weight and a
distorted perception of weight.
 Bulimia Nervosa –regular, often secretive bouts of overeating followed by self-induced
vomiting or purging, strict dieting, or extreme exercise, associated with persistent and
excessive concern with body weight
Alcohol Use - heavy drinking over the years may lead to cirrhosis of the liver, other
gastrointestinal disorders (including ulcers), pancreatic disease, certain cancers, heart failure,
stroke, damage to the nervous system, psychoses, and other medical problems
Social integration - is active engagement in a broad range of social relationships, activities, and
roles.
Social support - refers to material, informational, and psychological resources derived from the
social network on which a person can rely for help in coping with stress.
Disorders in Young Adulthood
Alcoholism - is a long-term physical condition characterized by compulsive drinking that a
person is unable to control
Treatment: detoxification, hospitalization, medication, individual and group psychotherapy, and
referral to a support organization
Drug Abuse
Depressive mood - is an extended period of sadness. Depressive syndrome is an extended period
of sadness along with a variety of other symptoms such as crying and feelings of worthlessness
or hopelessness.
STI is becoming the preferred term.
HIV
any transmission of body fluids,
male circumcision (which reduces risk of transmission), pre-exposure prophylaxis (a vaccine
reducing risk of transmission), and the provision of condoms and needle and syringe
exchange programs
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - is a disorder that produces physical discomfort and emotional
tension for up to 2 weeks before a menstrual period.
Smoking and alcohol consumption may put women at increased risk for the development of
PMS. Caffeine, which women are sometimes counseled to avoid, does not appear to be
associated with PMS.
The symptoms of PMS can sometimes be alleviated through aerobic exercise, eating frequent
small meals, a diet high in complex carbohydrates and low in salt, and regular sleep routines.
Calcium, magnesium, and vitamin E supplements may help.
Infertility
Cognitive Development
emotional intelligence (EI). It refers to four related skills: the abilities to perceive, use,
understand, and manage, or regulate, emotions—our own and those of others—so as to
achieve goals.
Adjusting to College - Many freshmen feel overwhelmed by the demands of college.
Cognitive Growth in College – College can be a time of intellectual discovery and personal
growth.
Psychosocial Development
two expressions of intimacy in young adulthood: friendship and love
According to Robert J. Sternberg’s triangular theory of love (1995, 1998b, 2006), the way love
develops is a story.
Patterns of Love
1. Nonlove – intimacy, passion, and commitment are absent; describes most interpersonal
relationships
2. Liking – intimacy is present, closeness, understanding
3. Infatuation – passion is present, love at first sight, strong physical attraction
4. Empty love – commitment is present, long-term relationship
5. Romantic love – intimacy and passion are present, drawn to each other
6. Companionate love – intimacy and commitment are present, committed friendship
7. Fatuous love – passion and commitment are present, whirlwind courtship
8. Consummate love – all three are present, easier to achieve it