Introduction to Psychology

1
Introduction to Psychology

• Child Development
• Chapter 3

2
Development

• Study of growth and change
• Physical
• Cognitive
• Social-emotional

3
Central Issues in Development

• Is development continuous or discontinuous?
• Are developmental processes universal, or
  particular to certain cultures?
• Nature vs. Nurture What is the role of genetics
  and environment in development?

4
Developmental Level

• An individuals current state of physical,
  emotional, and intellectual development
• Developmental level may be different from
  chronological age

5
Nature vs. Nurture

• What is nature?
• Genes, biology, heredity
• How does nature impact development?

6
Nature vs. Nurture

• Nurture
• Environment, external conditions
• What are some nurture factors that impact
  development?

7
Perspectives on Nature/Nurture

• Genes alone view
• Nature alone shapes our development

8
Perspectives on Nature/Nurture

• Nurture factors
• Which nurture factors impact our development
  most?
• Example Group socialization theory

9
Interactionist Perspective

• Both nature and nurture play a role
• Nurture factors may determine whether or not
  certain genes are turned on
• Heredity and environment interact dynamically at
  all points in development

10
Attachment Theory

• Bowlby/Ainsworth
• Attachments with primary caregivers impact our
  attachment styles and relationships as we
  develop

11
Attachment Theory

• The securely attached infant
• Caregivers are responsive
• Use the caregiver as a secure base as they
  explore and become more independent

12
The Strange Situation

• Ainsworth study
• Infants are left in a room with an unfamiliar
  adult
• How do they respond to the mother upon her return?

13
Attachment Categories
Caregiver is secure base to explore environment
from
Securely attached
Shows insecurity by avoiding the caregiver
Insecure avoidant
Clings to caregiver, then resists by fighting
against the closeness
Insecure resistant
Shows insecurity by being disorganized,
disoriented
Insecure disorganized
14
Attachment Implications and Critique

• Attachment in infancy/early childhood is a
  protective factor
• 1st year of life a sensitive period for
  attachment
• Too deterministic?
• Not relevant to some cultures?

15
Harlow Monkey Study

• Baby monkeys separated from mother at birth
• Surrogate mother monkeys
• Wire monkey with food
• Soft, terrycloth monkey

16
Harlow Study

• Monkeys clung to the terrycloth monkey
• Even though wire monkey had food
• Clung to cloth monkey when afraid
• Contact comfort
• Abnormal development when socialized

17
Parenting Styles Activity

• Think about the different parenting styles.
  Which parenting styles do you have experience
  with?
• Is there an ideal parenting style?
• How might parenting styles affect developing
  children?

18
Parenting Styles

• Goodness of fit does the parenting style match
  the childs needs and temperament?

19
Baumrind Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian rigid rules, demands obedience
  children have few rights, many responsibilities
• Outcomes children are obedient, controlled,
  emotionally stiff, apprehensive, lacking in
  curiosity
• Potential drug use and violence in adulthood

20
Baumrind Parenting Styles

• Authoritative firm and consistent, loving and
  affectionate. Responsive, willing to explain
  their reactions.
• Outcomes children are competent, independent,
  assertive, inquiring

21
Baumrind Parenting Styles

• Overly Permissive children are given little
  guidance, lots of freedom no accountability
  children have rights of adults, but few
  responsibilities
• Outcomes children are dependent, immature, and
  have behavior issues

22
Recent Research

• More nuanced explanations
• Does the child believe the punishment fits the
  crime
• Goodness of fit
• Is the approach developmentally appropriate

23
Critique of Baumrind

• Not culturally relevant
• African-American families emphasis on loyalty
  and independence
• Hispanic families strict discipline, cooperation
  and respect emphasized
• Asian families interdependence
• Arab conformity and interdependence

24
Daycare and Attachment

• High Quality Daycare
• Doesnt affect attachment with parents
• May improve social and cognitive skills

• Low Quality Daycare
• Detrimental to attachment
• Correlated with behavioral problems

25
Temperament

• Ones typical mood
• Temperaments
• Easy (40)
• Difficult (10)
• Slow-to-warm up (15)
• Evidence for the impact of genetics may also be
  modified by learning and the environment

26
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

• Studied his three children
• Child-as-scientist
• Learning through discovery independent learning
• Stage theory of cognitive development

27
Schemas

• Mental framework
• How do we think about different concepts? How do
  we classify/organize our knowledge?
• mammals
• doctor
• To organize knowledge

28
Assimilation and Accommodation

• Assimilation incorporate new information into
  existing knowledge schemes
• Accommodation adjust schemes to fit new
  information and experiences

29
Assimilation

• Using an existing mental framework in new
  situations
• A childs schema for dog furry, four legged
  animal sees a cat and calls it dog

30
Accomodation

• Changing the schema to accommodate new
  information
• The child comes to realize that four legged
  creatures can be cats or dogs
• The schema was altered to accommodate this new
  knowledge

31
Four Stages of Cognitive Development

• Sensorimotor age 0-2
• Preoperational age 2-7
• Concrete Operational age 7-11
• Formal Operational age 11-adulthood
• Stages are universal

32
Sensorimotor Stage

• Age 0-2
• Child uses the senses to explore surroundings
• Largely non-verbal
• Toward the end, object permanence

33
Sensorimotor Stage

• Object Permanence Understanding that objects
  and events continue to exist even when they
  cannot directly be seen, heard, or touched

34
Preoperational Stage

• Age 2-7
• Language
• Symbolic thinking- symbols can represent ideas
• Make-believe play
• Egocentrism unable to perspective-take

35
Preoperational Stage

• Egocentrism the child sees himself as the center
  of the universe
• Cannot take the perspectives of others
• Example three mountains task

36
The Three Mountains Task
Fig. 6.6
37
Concrete Operational Stage

• Age 7-11
• Logical abilities
• Reversibility of thought
• Ability to classify (i.e. mammals, reptiles)
• Ability to conserve

38
Piagets Conservation Task
Fig. 6.8
39
Formal Operational Stage

• Age 11
• Abstract thought
• Hypothetical examples
• Full adult intellectual abilities
• Research most adults do not progress to this
  stage

40
Peer Relations

• Downplayed social interaction except for peer
  relations
• Conflicts between peers enhance cognitive
  development
• Perspective taking

41
Piaget and Education

• Facilitate rather than direct learning
• Turn classroom into setting of exploration and
  discovery

42
Evaluating Piagets Theory

• Contributions
• Children- active thinkers
• Comprehensive theory of cognitive development

• Critique
• Underestimates or overestimates abilities
• Development not uniformly stage-like
• Downplays social interaction and culture

43
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

• Sociocultural theory
• Importance of social interaction
• Culture as a context for development

44
Social Interaction

• Children develop through social interaction
• Interpersonal?Intrapersonal
• We learn through interaction, and then we
  internalize this information

45
Socio-cultural Contexts

• Role of various contexts
• Culture as a context for development
• Through social interaction, children become
  members of a culture

46
The Zone of Proximal Development

• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
• Difference between Actual vs. Potential Level of
  Development
• Tasks children cannot master alone, but can
  master with the help of a more skilled person
• What I can do now vs What I can do with help

47
Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development
Fig. 6.11
48
Scaffolding

• Changing level of support over course of a
  teaching session to fit childs current
  performance level
• As the child learns, he/she requires less help

49
Private Speech Vygotsky

• Private speech Self talk promotes development
  as children work through their ideas
• Contrast with Piaget egocentric speech

50
Evaluating Vygotskys Theory

• Contributions
• Shift from individual to collaborative learning
• Importance of culture and social interaction
• Teachers facilitate and guide, not direct and
  mold

• Critique
• May overemphasize languages role in thinking
• Not individualistic enough?
• Theory not fully developed