Developmental Psychology

• Development in stages, so discontinuous, determined by biological drives - shaped by experience in the environment and interaction between id, ego and superego.
• Best known as a form of therapy - psychotherapy.
• Behaviour is based in the unconscious - unconscious conflicts between the id, ego and superego cause abnormal behaviour. 

• Eight stages of psychosocial development; based on Freud but more emphasis on social and cultural aspects.
• Continuing development across lifespan rather than based on childhood experience.
• Each stage sees new challenges to be confrtoned and mastered.
• Successful completion of each stage required for normal development.
• One of the main elements of this theory is the development of identity; ego identity is the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction.
• Ego identity is constantly changing due to new experiences and information we acquire in our daily interactions with others.
• A sense of competence motivates behaviours and actions, each stage in Erikson's theory is concerned with being competent in an area of life - if handled well, the person will feel a sense of mastery.

• The child has an active role in development.
• Constructs schema to understand world through adaptation and trial and error testing of hypotheses.
• Four main stages of development (sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, formal operational).
• Discontinuous; a qualitatively different way of thinking at each stage.

• Ecological systems - social context can change development.
• Microsystem - immediate family/peers
• Mesosystem - Connections between immediate environment factors
• Exosystem - External but related environment.
• Chronosystem - Changes over time

Prenatal development

• Zygote (germinal stage): 
• Has all genetic infor from mother and father (the genotype). Rapid cell division; each half containing the same genetic material.
• Blastocyst - a bulging sphere travels down the fallopian tube, which becomes embedded in the uterine wall and becomes dependent on the mother.
• At the end of wk 2, the embryonic stage begins.

• Cell division: Each cell always contains full and identical complement of genetic material 
• Cell migration: New cells move to different locations of the embryo.
• Cell differentiation: Stem cells begin to specialise.
• Apoptosis: Selective death of some cells.

• Cell division: Each cell always contains full and identical complement of genetic material 
• Cell migration: New cells move to different locations of the embryo.
• Cell differentiation: Stem cells begin to specialise.
• Apoptosis: Selective death of some cells.

• This takes places from the 3rd week until the end of the 8th week.
• Most important physiological structures have become distinct and now recognizeable as a tiny baby.
• 2 million percent increase in size during this stage.
• Support system includes the amniotic sac (contains watery fluid which acts as a buffer to jolting and temp change and minimizes effects of gravity); placenta (semi-permeable membrane; nutrients waste in and out; limited defences against toxins/infections); and the umbilical cord (Blood vessels between embryo and placenta. No blood exchange. Filters nutrients).
• Inner mass differentiates into three layers; endoderm (inner organs like lungs and liver); mesoderm (muscles and skeleton) and ectoderm (nervous system, neural tube, skin).
• Especially rapid development and differentiation; particularly vulnerable to environmental factors.
• 4th week sees the head develop and buds that form the arms and legs appear.
• CEPHALOCAUDAL (development from the head down)
• PROXIMAL-DISTAL (development from the inner core out)
• Most spontaneous abortions occur at this stage

• The development of muscles and the central nervous system occur.
• By the end of the 3rd month, all body parts are present.
• By the end of 4 months, mothers can feel movement.
• At 5 months, reflexes such as swallowing and sucking develop.
• Eyes open at 6 months.
• 22-26 weeks of viability; physical systems sufficiently advanced, survival of premature birth.
• Respiratory system continues to develop into the 9th month.
• Neurons continually increase largely between 10-20 weeks

Brain development

• Neurogenesis - Rapid production of neurons from week 3 to week 16.1/2 of brain weight at week 8 is brain.
• Neuronal migration - At week 4, neurons travel to different parts of the brain and nervous system to form structures in the brain.
• Synaptogenesis - Huge increase in the number of potential connections amongst neurons
• Myelination - Coating of neurons and neural membrane and greatly increases weight of brain and signal transmissions.
• Synapse pruning - Continues after birth in response to learning and experience.

Pre-natal abilities

• Touch; earliest by 8-9 weeks, moves if touched in the mouth.
• Taste and smell: Responses shown in the ultrasound images when different substances are introduced.
• Hearing - Begins with startle reflex then starts to orient, pref for certain sounds (i.e. the mothers voice)

• Teratogens; environmental agents that may cause developmental deviations - Alcohol, drugs, maternal stress, air pollutants, radiation etc.
• Severity of effects depends upon timings - first two weeks no environmental impact; next 6 weeks most sensitive period during rapid development - structural abnormalities
• As development only slows minor defects.

• A functioning brain and nervous system - capable of organised sensation, perception, attention memory and learning
• Voluntary responses as well as reflex movements.
• Some coordination for reacting to the world in an organised way. 
• Provides a vital springboad for further development

• Object constancy; early ability to recognize an object stays the same size despite its distance from the observer. 
• Colour vision, limited and blurry but develops quickly. 
• Depth perception; binocular depth perception not until 3 months
• Fearful of the 'visual cliff' by about 5-6 months.
• Colour vision - green, yellow and red if objects are large enough.
• Visual acuity; blurry but adaquate - limited stimulation means the lens muscles need practice.

• Patterns rather than plain
• Horizontal rather than vertical stripes
• Moving rather than stationary stimuli
• Curved lines to straight
• High contrast to low contrast
• Face-like stimuli to non-face stimuli

• At birth; infants can turn the heads from side to side whilst laying on their backs
•  2-3 months they can lift their heads while lying on their stomachs
• 4mths infants can keep heads erect while being helf or supported in a sitting position
• At 6-8months, infants become capable of self-locomotion.
• Gross motor skills - emerge directly from reflexes; physical movements involving large body movements and large muscle groups such as walking and jumping.Involves the movement of the entire body.
• Fine motor skills - Progress rapidly and older children become more dexterious because these movements use small muscle groups.

Meshing

• Caregiver ensures interactions 'fit together'; behaviour contingent upon child's behaviour, infants first experience of relatedness.

Pseudodialogue

• Conversation-like behaviour controlled by adults; followed by proto-dialogue, no lang but clear turn-taking.

• Crying, babbling, cooing, nodding and waving.
• Pointing - joint attention behaviour, first intentional communication by infants.

Cooing and babbling

• 4months: Experiment with volume and position of tongue, vocal play
• 6 months: Canonical babble, syllables of a consonant and vowel, daaa, baaa
• 8 months: Duplicated babble, da-da,ba-ba
• 10 months: Variegated babble. da-ba, da-de
• 12 months: Spurt in vocabulaary of understood words 
• Word production may start from 10mths to 2 years

• Universal - all cultures have language.
• Common features such as nouns and verbs
• Similar sequence of acquistion in all societies.
• 'Poverty of input'; ability to produce previously unheard sentence.
• 'Language Aquisition Device': Mechanism to learn any language.
• Exposure produces basic rules of grammar
• Innate ability to hear and use language

• Broca's area: Speech production
• Wernicke's area: Language comprehension
• Critical period hypothesis: Plasticity allows early comprehension for damage

• 0-1 months: Reflex/spontaneous actions; sucking and looking.
• 1-4 months: Primary circular reactions - repeated reflex actions, focus on self.
• 4-10 months: Secondary circular reactions - more focus on objects, making things happen.
• 10-12 months: Co-ordinated secondary circular reactions - Combining schemas to assimilate information.
• 12-18 months: Tertiary circular reactions - more mobility sees trial and error learning begin.
• 18-24 months: Internal representations - ability to hold mental representations, deffered imitations, concept of object permenance

• Direct influence - teaching and discipline.
• Indirect - model for attitudes and behaviour.
• Maccoby and Martin '83 - two parental elements:
• Parental responsiveness: Extent to which parents are supportive and attuned to individual needs of child.
• Parental demandingness - Expectations of integration into family requiring confrontation and discipline; psychological control, intrusion into psychological and emotional development.

Authoritarian style

• Demanding; high standards and expectations; low nurturance. 
• Children obedient, not happy.

Permissive/indulgent style

• Little control but nurturing
• Children lack self-control, not happy

Authoratative style

• Guidance and compromise
• Children successful, articulate and happy

Uninvolved

• Non-responsive, demanding. Children perform poorly in all areas.

Consistent set of behavioural tendencies

• Stability - consistent relative levels of behaviour.
• Continuity - consistent underlying traits over time.

Dimensions - broad catagories

• Emotional responses - general mood
• Attentional orientation - how easily distracted
• Motor activity - intensity and frequency

• Easy - Adaptable, positive, normal sleeping/eating.
• Difficult - Irritable irregular patterns
• Slow to warm up - Low activity, withdrawn from stimulation, slowly adapt, mild reactions
• Buss and Plomin '84: Suggest evidence for genetic influence based on twin studies.
• Kagan '03 and Schwartz '03: Evidence that biology dictates levels of inhibition in children

• Egocentrism - Distorted perceptions of how others judge them. Intense consideration of self/school/parents
• Invincibility - Perception of own uniqueness; belief that they won't become addicted/harmed.
• Imaginary audience - Belief that others are as intensely interested in them as they are themselves.

• Diffusion (confusion): Not yet started to consider serious issues; least mature. Continues throughout much of higher education.
• Foreclosure: Formed commitments without serious considerations. Close relationship with parents and reflect their social expectations and parental beliefs.
• Moratorium ('crisis') stage: Consdering alternatives to form a commitment; distant parental relationships, likely to change academic plans.
• Achievement of identity - resolved crisis and consolidated identity; accept/reject parental goals, maintain but not bound to adopted morals and attitudes.
• Meilman '79 - only 50% of 24yr olds achieve identity.

Cattell '63

• Crystallised intelligence - Accumulated knowledge. Vocabulary and analogy tests. Increases with age. 
• Fluid intelligence - Quick reasoning ability; solving of novel logic problems. Decreases with age.
• No real cognitive growth in old age and degeneration influenced by lifestyle

Cognitive change

• Memory recognition, recall deadlines. 
• Poor memory for meaningless information but little effect if meaningful.
• Cross-sectional studies of intelligence show declining ability (but different eras)
• BUT Shimamura '95 - little effect on intellectually active people.
• Longitudinal studies - stable or increasing intelligence (based on the most healthy)

• Similar to the evolutionary theory - natural order.
• ******* and Henry '61 - mutually beneficial to individual and society. E.g. old person leaves job, leaves one open for a younger citizen. 
• Havighurst et al '68 - Those choosing to disengage report happier and less lonely than young adults.
• BUT there is little evidence of disengagement - Durkin '95, voluntary charity work/ Conley '84, stable adult personality - sociable when young, then likely to remain so

• Langer and Rodin '76 - longer life and well-being when activity encouraged.
• Yaguchi '87 - physically active in old age, better morale and life satisfaction. 
• Enforced retirement requires provision of alternative activities/roles
• Well-being also depends on social financial security, close relationships and coping strategies

1) Pre-retirement: Saving and dreaming

2) Honeymoon - Enjoyment of free time

3) Disenchantment - Depression and boredom 

4) Reorientation - Re-evaluation of priorities

5) Stability phase with routine and purpose

6) Terminal phase, inability to work or be independent.