INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Lecture 2:

Developmental Psychology

Lecturer: Nurul Husna

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lecture, you should be able to:

 Compare and contrast the different developmental

perspectives
Cognitive Development
Language Development

 2-3 months.
 Cooing
 “ee”, “oo:

 6 months.
 Babbling
 “ba-ba-ba”
 Conform to their native language
 Can distinguish sounds in other languages but soon will lose
this ability
Language Development

 12 months.
 First words
 “mama”, “papa”, “bye-bye”
 Holophrastic speech – single word to represent a complete
idea
 “Out” = “I want to go outside”

 18 months.
 Two-word speech – telegraphic speech
 “Want juice” = “ I want some orange juice”
Language Development

 Children pick up languages like sponges

 ~50 words vocabulary... And will increase to about 8000
words by the time they are 6 years old
 3 year olds typically use complete sentences

 But, children make mistakes while learning languages

 Overextension – when a word is applied too broadly
(doggie= cat|horse|cow)
 Underextension – when a word is applied too narrowly
(doggie= own dog. Neighbor's dog isn't doggie)
 Overregularisation – rules of syntax
 “I go-ed to the shop to buy a toy!”
LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION
Language

 Language is a system of communication, consisting of

the use of words in a structured and conventional way.

 Language is uniquely human

Language Learning

 Chomsky suggested that people are born with a

language acquisition device or “language instinct”, a
built mechanism for acquiring language.

 Infants learn the basics of language from regularities in

what they hear.
E.g. Mama | Papa
*Language Development
Age Typical Language Abilities
3 months Random vocalisation
e.g. muh, buh, na
6 months More distinct babbling
e.g. dada, papa, baba, mama
1 year Babbling that resembles mother tongue, and first words
e.g., papa, mama
1 ½ year Vocabulary about 50 words, few or no phrases
e.g., daddy, eat,
2 years Speaks in two-word phrases
e.g., Bye-bye, drink juice, all gone
2 ½ years Longer phrases and short sentences with some errors and unusual
constructions
e.g., I want mama, I eated ice-cream
3 years Vocabulary near 1000 words, longer sentences with fewer errors
e.g., No, I don’t want to go to bed!
4 years Close to adult speech competence
 Video on Genie
Genie

 Genie was locked up in her house basement,

socially isolated from the world, until she was
rescued at age 13 years.

 She had no stimulation of any kind, and

therefore, did not acquire language during
childhood.

 Despite intensive therapy, she only acquired

the basic English language.

 She only spoke in short sentences, with

grammatical errors.

 Therefore, researchers concluded that there

was a critical period of language acquisition
Children exposed to no language

 Children who are deaf invent their own sign language if

they are not taught formal sign language

 If they are exposed to sign language much later, such as

age 12, they will struggle to develop signing skills, and
never catch up with those who started earlier.

 Researchers believe that the critical period of language

acquisition is sometime between age 5 and puberty.
Piaget’s Cognitive Theory

 According to Piaget, cognitive

development occurs through the
interaction of innate capacities with
environment events, and progresses
through a series of hierarchical and
qualitatively different stages.
 There are 3 basic concepts:
 Schema (mental framework)
 Adaptation processes
(enable the transition from one stage to another)
 Stages of development
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
Sensorimotor Stage
 Birth to about 2 years

 Period of rapid cognitive growth

 Intelligence consist of basic motor and sensory explorations

of the world

 Infants build knowledge about the world through trial and

error learning

 Extreme egocentrism – no understanding of the world other

than their own current point of view

 Object permanence
 knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden
 Object Permanence
 failing object permanence

*VIDEO
Object Permanence

 Method: Hid a toy under a blanket while child was

watching.

 Result: Infants searched for the hidden toy when they are
about 8-months old. But in this video, the 7 month old
child does not have object permanence concept

 Piaget assumed that the child could only search for a

hidden toy, if he/she had a mental representation of it.
Preoperational Stage

 2 to 7 years old

 Child’s development consists of building experiences

about the world through adaptation and working
towards the concrete stage when it can use logical
thought. (cannot think logically)

 At the end of this stage, children can mentally represent

events and objects and engage in symbolic play (use
symbol to represent object)
e.g banana as cellphone
Preoperational Stage – Key features

 Centration: tendency to focus on only one aspect of the

situation at one time. During this stage, children have
difficulties thinking about more than one aspect of any
situation at the same time.

 Egocentrism

 Play – more parallel play in the beginning.

 Towards the end of the stage, more pretend play

(egocentrism declines and children begin to enjoy
participation of another child in their games)
Three Mountain Task (Piaget &
Inhelder, 1956)

 Shown a model of three

mountains and is allowed to
see the mountains from all
sides

 A doll is places in different

positions around the mountains

 Child has to choose a picture

that shows how the mountains
will look to the doll.
Three Mountain Task (Piaget &
Inhelder, 1956)

 Findings:
 4-year-olds picked the picture
that represented their own view
(preoperational stage)
 6-year-olds picked picture that is
different from their
own view, but rarely picked the
correct picture from
the doll’s view
 7 and 8-year-olds consistently
chose the
correct picture.
 Video on three mountain task
False belief task
Concrete Operational Stage

 7 to 11 years old

 Concrete operational children will show that Jenny will

look where she left the ball, because Jenny does not
know that Sue moved the ball

 Beginning of logical and operational thought

 Gain abilities of conservation (number, area, volume,

orientation) and reversibility.
(total value of physical quantity) e.g → next page
Conservation

 Understanding that something stays the same in quantity

even though its appearance changes
Formal Operational Stage

 11 to adulthood

 Ability to think about abstract concepts

 Mathematical calculations, abstract reasoning, imagine
outcome of particular actions
 Inferential reasoning

 Understands that if
A = B, B = C, therefore A = C.
Lev Vygotsky’s (1978) Social
Developmental Theory

 Criticism to Piaget’s theory: too

focused on biological maturation
 children must discover concepts
(i.e., conservation) on their own.

 Vygotsky viewed development as

a continuous process rather than
stages

 Considers the effect of social

setting and culture
 Vygotsky’s Theory:
“Child-as-apprentice”

 Development of cognition also relies on social interaction

 Culture and community

 Learning occurs in a social context with a More

Knowledgeable Other (MKO) – teacher|adult

 Adults are an important source of cognitive development

as they transmit their culture’s tools of intellectual
adaptation that children internalised.
 *difference between what a
learner can do/cannot do

For example, the child could not solve the jigsaw puzzle by itself and would have taken a long time
to do so, but the child was able to solve it following interaction with the father, and has developed
competence at this skill that will be applied to future jigsaws
Erikson’s Developmental Stages

 Erik Erikson divided the human

life span into 8 periods that
he called ages or stages
 Infant
 Toddler
 Preschool child
 Preadolescent
 Adolescent
 Young adult
 Middle adult
 Older adult
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial
Development
Infancy and Childhood
 “Is my social world predictable and supportive?”; “Can I do
things on my own, or must I rely on others?”; “Am I good or
bad?”;

 Attachment begins in infancy

 long-term feeling of closeness toward another person

 Bowlby (1973) proposed that infants who develop one or

more good attachments have a sense of security and safety

 Mary Ainsworth’s (1979) Strange Situation test

 Secure
 Anxious
 Avoidant
 Disorganised
 Strange Situation
*VIDEO
 A mother and her infant (12-18 months) come into a room
with many toys

 Stanger enters the room

 Mother leaves and return

 Both stranger and mother leaves

 Stranger returns

 Mother returns
Attachment Type Observations
Securely Attached The infant uses the mother as a base of
exploration, cooing at her, showing her toys,
and making eye contact with her. The infant
shows some distress when the mother leaves
but cries only briefly if at all. When she returns,
the infant goes to her with apparent delight,
cuddles for a while, and then returns to the
toys.
Attachment Type Observations
Anxious (or resistant) Responses toward the mother fluctuate
between happy and angry. The infant clings to
the mother and cries profusely when she
leaves, as if worried that she might not return.
When she does return, the infant clings to her
again but does not use her as a base to
explore the toys. A child with an anxious
attachment typically shows many fears,
including a strong fear of strangers.
(e.g. clingy)
Attachment Type Observations
Avoidant While the mother is present, the infant does not
stay near her and does not interact much with
her. The infant may or may not cry when she
leaves and does not go to her when she
returns.
(E.g. minimize closeness in romantic relationship)
Attachment Type Observations
Disorganised The infant seems not even to notice the
mother or looks away while approaching her
or covers his or her face or lies on the floor. The
infant alternates between approach and
avoidance and shows more fear than
affection.
E.g. unpredictable & doesn’t make sense behavior
(trauma related disorder)
Parenting Style

 Authoritarian
 Low responsiveness but high
demandingness
 Parents are not warm and don’t
build good relationship with children

 Authoritative
 High responsiveness and high
demandingness
 Have rules that they expect children
to obey, but they are also warm
Parenting Style

 Permissive-indulgent
 High responsiveness but low
demandingness
 Few rules
 Children behave however they
want

 Permissive-indifferent (neglecting)
 Low responsiveness and low
demandingness
 Children behave however they
please
 Parents don’t interact with them
Adolescence

 “Am I successful or worthless?”; “Who am I?” – adolescence’ crisis.

 Social and emotional development depends largely on

friendships.

 Adolescence begins when body reaches puberty – onset

of sexual maturation .

 Time of “storm and stress” and risk-taking behaviours

 Most adolescents report increased moodiness and
occasional conflict with their parents.
 Drunk driving, unprotected sex, etc.
Adulthood

 Starts from one’s first full-time job until retirement

 Early adulthood (Age 20 to about 40-45 years)

 “Shall I share my life with another person or live alone?”
 channel maximum energy to pursuing goals
 Big decisions: career, marriage, having children
Adulthood

 Middle adulthood (40-65 years)

 “What will I achieve and contribute to society and my
family?”; “Will I be successful?”
 physical strength and health begin to decline but not
enough to interfere with personal and professional life.
 Have achieved some success at work, or accept their status
 Midlife transition
 time when they reassess their personal goals, set new
ones and prepare for the rest of life
 Usually in response to divorce, illness, death in family,
career change, etc.
Old Age

 Begins about age 65

 “Have I lived a full life or have I failed?”

 Retirement
 Decreases stress but also may bring a sense of loss to those whose life revolved
around work (Kim & Moen, 2011).

 Those satisfied with life experience “ego integrity” and those who are
not satisfied feel “despair”

 Individual differences in how we deteriorate

 Intellect, coordination and self care deterioration vs. alert and active
 Memory

 Facing death.
Summary
 Cognitive development depends on
 Nature – biological maturation of our cortex
 Nurture – socially acquired knowledge

 Piaget’s Cognitive Development proposed that children are

born with very basic mental structure, on which subsequent
learning and knowledge is based.
 4 stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational,
concrete operational, and formal operational.

 Vygotsky’s Social Developmental Theory proposed that the

community plays a central role in the process of “making
meaning”.

 Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development identified

eight stages in which individuals should pass through from
infancy to late adulthood.
Link for game

 https://wordwall.net/resource/13768778/factors-which-
impact-on-growth-and-development

 https://wordwall.net/resource/25960529/growth-and-
development-pies

 https://wordwall.net/resource/2304755/science/year-5-
human-growth-key-vocabulary