Psychology 185

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Psychology 185

• Applied Developmental Psychology

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Topic 1.

• Introduction

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Applied Developmental Psychology

• The field of applied developmental psychology
  (ADP) is defined as that aspect of psychology
  which bears upon enhancing developmental
  processes and preventing developmental handicaps.
  As a science-based field of psychology, ADP
  involves the systematic synthesis of research and
  applications to describe, explain, and promote
  optimal developmental outcomes in individuals and
  families as they develop along the life cycle.

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Developmental Psychology

• Basic developmental psychology
• Normative physical development
• Motor skills and physical skeletal structures
• Normative cognitive development
• Perception, memory, thinking
• Normative social development
• Emotion, attachment, morality, gender role

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Developmental Psychology

• Applied developmental psychology
• Educational psychology/school psychology
• Parenting/Family psychology
• Psychological assessment
• Developmental psychopathology/clinical child
  psychology
• Pediatric psychology
• Developmental forensic psychology (child
  psychology and law)
• Community psychology

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Human Development and Other Disciplines
Applied Developmental Psychology
Sociology
Anthropology
Biology
Medicine
Public Health

• Education

Social Services
Industry Commerce
Politics
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Sociology

• Societal trends
• Crime rate
• Mass media
• Communication (internet)

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Anthropology

• Cultural practices, beliefs, and rituals

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Biology

• Organic systems
• Animal models
• Genetics
• Downs Syndrome
• Autism
• Behavioral Genetics

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Behavioral Genetics

• An area of biology concerned with how variation
  in behavior and development results from the
  combination of genetic and environmental factors.
• All behavioral traits are heritable to some
  extent.
• They are inherited through many genes
  (multifactoral) and also affected by the
  environment.

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Behavioral Genetics

• Twin-study design compares the correlations for
  identical (monozygotic) twins with those for
  fraternal (dizygotic) twins.
• Identical twins (monozygotic) share 100 of the
  same genetic material.
• Fraternal twins (dizygotic) share 50 of the same
  genetic material.
• These studies help tease out differences in
  genetics and environment in behavior.

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Behavioral Genetics

• Adoption studies
• look at adopted children in comparison to their
  biological parents and siblings and their
  adoptive ones.
• Genetic influences are inferred when children
  resemble their biological relatives more than
  their adoptive ones.
• Adoptive twin studies combine adoption studies
  and twin studies by comparing identical twins who
  grew up together with those separated at birth
  and reared apart.

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Genes and Environment
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Genes and Environment
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Genes and Environment
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Medicine

• Treatment of physical illness via surgical,
  medicinal, and other invasive or noninvasive
  means
• Treatment (e.g., cancer)
• Medicine (e.g., thalidomide)

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Thalidomide Children
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Thalidomide Children
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Public Health

• Health policies
• Sex education
• Obesity and physical education
• Infant mortality
• Drug abuse
• Alcohol
• Smoking
• Prenatal and postnatal screening

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Infant Mortality
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Illegal Drugs

• Mothers who use cocaine, heroin, or methadone
  during pregnancy may have babies who are born
  drug-addicted.
• Babies who are prenatally exposed to cocaine may
  have genital, urinary tract, kidney, and heart
  deformities, as well as brain seizures.
• Fathers may contribute to these negative effects
  as cocaine may attach itself to sperm and cause
  birth defects.

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Tobacco

• Effects include low birth weight and increased
  chances of prematurity, miscarriage, and infant
  death.
• Nicotine causes the placenta to grow abnormally
  the transfer of nutrients is reduced, and the
  fetus gains weight poorly.
• Raises concentrations of carbon monoxide in
  bloodstreams of both mother and fetus
• Stopping smoking can help the baby, even in the
  third trimester.
• Passive smoking is related to low-birth-weight,
  infant death, and possible long-term impairments
  in attention and learning.

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Alcohol

• Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
• Defects occur when women consume a lot of alcohol
  during pregnancy mental retardation, slow
  physical growth, and facial abnormalities.
• Fetal alcohol effects (FAE)
• Condition of children who display some, but not
  all, of the defects of FAS. Usually the mother
  drank less.
• FAS babies fail to catch up later in physical
  size.
• Mental impairment is permanent.
• Alcohol requires large quantities of oxygen to
  metabolize, which is drawn away from the
  developing embryo or fetus.

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Radiation

• Radiation exposure can cause miscarriage, slow
  physical growth, an underdeveloped brain, and
  malformations of the skeleton and eyes.
• Low-level radiation can increase the risk of
  childhood cancer.

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Environmental Pollution

• Mercury
• Mental retardation, abnormal speech, difficulty
  in chewing and swallowing, and uncoordinated
  movements
• Lead
• Prematurity, low birth weight, brain damage, and
  a wide variety of physical defects
• Polychlorinated-biphenyls (PCBs)
• Lower than average birth weight, smaller heads
  (possible brain damage) and less interest in
  surroundings
• Memory and learning difficulties later in
  development

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Infectious Disease

• Rubella (three-day or German measles)
• Many abnormalities during the embryonic period
• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
• 20 to 30 of women pass the virus to the
  developing organism.
• Herpes viruses
• Developing organism is especially sensitive.
• Toxoplasmosis
• Parasitic disease caused by eating undercooked or
  raw meat or by contact with the feces of infected
  cats
• During the first trimester, it leads to eye and
  brain damage.

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Nutrition

• Malnourished babies who die reveal fewer brain
  cells, a lower brain weight, and abnormal brain
  organization.
• Prenatal malnutrition can damage the immune
  system and the structure of the pancreas, liver,
  and blood vessels.
• Successful intervention after birth must not only
  provide nutrients, but must also deal with
  mother-baby interactions.

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Prenatal and Postnatal Health Care

• Regular prenatal checkups help ensure the health
  of the mother and fetus

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Prenatal Screening

• Amniocentesis (21 weeks)
• Chorionic villus sampling (9-11 weeks)
• Ultrasound (anytime)
• Maternal blood analysis (anytime)
• Genetic counseling (before conception)

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Education

• Public education
• Reading, writing, arithematics, science, sports,
  and morality
• Special education
• Gifted
• Disabled

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Social services

• Child welfare
• Child protection

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Industry and Commerce

• Child oriented manufacturing
• Entertainment
• Advertisement

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Politics

• Policy making
• Law making
• Electioneering

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Human Development and Other Disciplines
Applied Developmental Psychology
Sociology
Anthropology
Biology
Medicine
Public Health

• Education

Social Services
Industry Commerce
Politics
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Why do we need applied developmental psychology?

• Family
• Education
• Healthcare
• Social welfare
• Law
• Industry
• Politics

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Bronfenbrenners Ecological Model

• Microsystem
• Innermost level of the environment and includes
  bi-directional influences in the person's
  immediate environment
• Mesosystem
• Connections among microsystems that foster
  development
• Exosystem
• Contexts not directly linked to children that
  affect their microsystem and mesosystem
  experiences
• Macrosystem
• Outermost layer that includes a culture's laws,
  values, and customs

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Examples of Applied Developmental Psychology
Topics

• Is daycare helpful or harmful to child
  development?
• What is the impact of media violence on children?
• Should we use children as witnesses in the court?
• At which age can children be allowed to vote?
• Is it possible to educate children in the womb?
• How to best parent children?
• Can autism be cured?

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Significance of Applied Developmental Research

• Affecting directly
• Practice
• PKU (Phenylketonuria)
• Circumcision
• Policy
• Competence examination
• Police line-up
• Child witness interview clinics
• Attitude
• Adoption by gay parents

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Group Task

• Identify five issues you think that applied
  developmental psychologists should study?
• Search the web and Psychinfo to investigate
  whether any studies have been done on the issues
• Choose a presenter to present the five issues and
  provide rationales for each issue (i.e., why do
  we need to study a particular issue)