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Human Development

Introduction and Theories

Unit I

Overview & History

Nature/Nurture

Research Methods

Overview of Major Theories

Biological Beginnings –Prenatal Development

Fun Facts:

Children born in the winter months have been found to test poorly, don’t get as far in school, are less healthy, earn less and have a shorter lifespan (University of Notre Dame—Kasey Buckles and others).

Princeton University—winter babies start school earlier, drop out sooner, and have less education

Why? Vitamin D deficit—winter babies get less Vitamin D, are less socially mature, have higher birth defects, and have higher concentrations of pesticides in surface water in spring and summer.

It has also been found that there is a large cognitive and emotional difference in children born before/after the cutoff to start school. For example, six to eight months may mean quite a bit of difference in a five year old child’s capabilities.

Youngest child to deliver—age 5 –Lina Medina

https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypLyzTj1QUI

Lifespan Development—study of change and continuity throughout the lifespan.

Emerged between 1880-1890

G Stanley Hall—1st Developmental Psychologist-Forerunner

Hall is credited with establishing the 1st Psych lab, primarily studying children

Hall is also one of the founding Fathers of the APA

Qualitative/Quantitative Changes

3 Aspects of Development: Physical, Cognitive and Social/Emotional

Normative/Non-Normative Life Changes

Normative: typical events that happen at typical times versus non-normative, which are atypical events at atypical times. (Getting pregnant at age 10)

Cohort—age graded influences—a group of people who share similar experiences (Example: Generation X, Y or Millenials)

Critical Period—a specific time when an event or absence of the event has the most impact

Changes Over Time

Ontogeny: changes in the individual over the course of his or her lifetime

Phylogeny: development of the species (i.e., evolution)

Maturation: a biological unfolding of the individual according to a genetic plan.

Learning: relatively permanent changes in thoughts, feelings, or behaviors as a result of experience, that usually occur over brief periods

Growth: Physical changes that occur from birth to maturity

Aging: Positive and negative changes in the mature organism

Historical Perspective

For centuries, children have been thought of as young adults.

In the middle ages, children were viewed as evil.

Children were nurtured until age 7, “the age of reason”

They had harsh discipline, were seen as property (servants), were married without consultation, went to work, drank and had sex

In 1833, the first general laws against child labor, “The Factory Acts” were passed in England. Children younger than 9 were not allowed to work, older children were not permitted to work at night and the work day of the youth under 18 was limited to 12 hours.

Child labor laws remained in Europe until the 20th century.

Children’s Rights: human identity, food, education, health care and nurture.

Framing the Nature/Nurture Issue

Nature: heredity(nativism)

Maturational processes guided by genes

Biologically based predispositions

Biological unfolding of genes

Genetic determinism

Nurture: environment (empiricism)

Learning: experiences cause changes is thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

Environmental determinism

Interactionist view: nature & nurture interact

Nature vs Nurture?

Personality-40-60% innate

Metabolism- as high as 80% innate

Intelligence—as high as 70% innate

Conducting Developmental Research

Self-reports: interview, questionnaires, tests

Behavioral Observations

Naturalistic

Advantage: natural setting

Disadvantage: conditions not controlled

Structured (Lab)

Disadvantage: cannot generalize to natural settings

Advantage: conditions controlled

Edit Master text styles

Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

Protecting the Rights of Participants

Risk to benefit balance of the research

Researcher responsibilities

Informed consent

Debriefing

Protection from harm

Confidentiality

Piaget Attachment Theory Freud Erikson Kohlberg

Overview of major theories.

These theories will be explored topographically throughout the course of the semester. This is a brief overview and further detail will be presented within each unit.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

According to psychologist Jean Piaget, children progress through a series of four key stages of cognitive development marked by shifts in how they understand the world. Piaget believed that children are like "little scientists" and that they actively try to explore and make sense of the world around them.

Through his observations of his own children, Piaget developed a stage theory of intellectual development that included four distinct stages: the sensorimotor stage, from birth to age 2; the preoperational stage, from age 2 to about age 7; the concrete operational stage, from age 7 to 11; and the formal operational stage, which begins in adolescence and spans into adulthood.

A Quick Summary of Cognitive Development

The Sensorimotor Stage: During this stage, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects.

The Preoperational Stage: At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other people.

The Concrete Operational Stage: Kids at this point of development begin to think more logically, but their thinking can also be very rigid. They tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts.

The Formal Operational Stage: The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas.

It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual development at a quantitative process; that is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older.

Piagetian Concepts

Schemas - Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.

For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters a very large dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include this new information.

Assimilation - The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schemas is known as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is an example of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.

Accommodation - Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process.

Theories of Attachment

Harry Harlow - Attachment is formed as a source of comfort, rather than feeding.

Harlow devised a series of studies in which infant rhesus monkeys were raised in cages without their natural mothers, but with two surrogate objects instead.

One surrogate "mother" was a wire form that the monkey could approach to receive food.

The other “mother” offered no food, but was wrapped in terry cloth so the infant could cling to a softer and more cuddly surface.

What happened when a large, threatening mechanical spider was introduced into the cage?

The infant monkeys ran to the terry cloth surrogates, demonstrating that contact comfort was more important than just meeting basic hunger needs for the establishment of a relationship from which the infant might derive security.

John Bowlby

Bowlby suggested that attachment has a biological basis based on infant’s needs for safety and security

He indicated that mother-child attachment has an evolutionary basis, promoting the child's survival by increasing mother-child proximity, particularly when the child is stressed or fearful.

The mother thus serves as a secure base for the young child's exploration of the world.

Bowlby suggested that attachment is shaped during the first 3 years of life.

Mary Ainsworth

Ainsworth created a method known as the “Strange Situation” to examine that bond between a parent and child.

The Strange Situation is a sequence of staged episodes that illustrates the strength of an attachment between a child and his or her mother (typically).

The method is to examine the child playing for approximately twenty minutes while the parent and the person who is unknown to the child enters and exit the room.

For some children this type of situation can be very stressful.

Here’s the Strange Situation…

First the guardian and the child are presented in the room.

The guardian and the child are by themselves in the room. The child is discovering the area without any engagement from the guardian.

Then the person who is unknown enters the room. This person communicates with the guardian. Then the person tires to engage with the child. The guardian leaves the room.

This is the first separation episode. The person focuses on the child.

The guardian reunites with the child. The guardian comforts the child. Then guardian exit the room also the person leaves the room.

The child is alone. This is the second stage of separation episode.

The person comes back into the room. The person who is unknown to the child tries to comfort them.

The guardian reunites with the child. The guardian is now able to touch and comfort the child. The person who is unknown leaves the room quickly and quietly.

Behaviors observed

In the experiment, the examiner observed two types of child’s behaviors:

The observer examines the child’s reaction to their new environment such as the room and their engagement with the new play materials.

The observation that was in the experiment was noticed in the child’s behavior towards their mother entering and exiting the room.

From this study, Mary Ainsworth created three types of attachment relationships with the child’s mother.

1. Secure Attachment

2. Avoidant Attachment

3. Ambivalent Attachment

And…the Results

Secure

Children use the mother as a “home base” (as Bowlby had described)

Approximately 2/3’s of infants

Infants possessing this style of attachment will:

Engage in active exploration, returning to mother occasionally.

Be upset by separation.

Have a positive response to the mother upon return.

Be quite wary of strangers during infancy.

Avoidant

This occurs in approximately 10-20% of 1 year old children

Infants will not interested in mother but will focus on toys.

Infant do not seek proximity to the mother.

They do not become distressed when she leaves.

They avoid her when she returns, as if angry or indifferent towards her

Strange Situation

Ambivalent Attachment Pattern

Infants with this attachment patter display a combination of positive and negative reactions to their mothers.

Infants are in such close proximity to their mothers that they hardly explore the environment.

Infant is preoccupied with mother's availability.

Infants are anxious even before mother leaves and they appear distressed upon separation.

When mother returns, infant will show ambivalent reactions (seeking to be near her, but also hitting/ kicking her”

Disorganized-Disoriented Attachment Pattern

Although Ainsworth only identified three categories, a fourth was discovered in a more recent expansion of her work.

Disorganized-disoriented attachment pattern is a style of attachment in which children show inconsistent behaviors (contradicting behaviors)

Ex: approach mother, but not look at her

Ex: appear happy when mother returns, but then start weeping

Confusing, contradicting behaviors suggest these children are the least securely attached.

Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory

Instincts and unconscious motivation

Id, Ego, and Superego formed from psychic energy (Libido)

Id: Instinctual nature of humans

Ego: rational and objective

Superego: internalized moral standards

A dynamic personality system

Regular conflicts between the three parts

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

What is Psychosexual Development?

Proposed by the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the theory of psychosexual development describes how personality develops during childhood. While the theory is well-known in psychology, it is also one of the most controversial theories. Freud believed that personality develops through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-seeking energies of the id become focused on certain erogenous areas. This psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind behavior.

Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five. Early experiences play a large role in personality development and continue to influence behavior later in life.

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

The Oral Stage

Age Range: Birth to 1 Year

Erogenous Zone: Mouth

During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking. Because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the child), the infant also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.

The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the child must become less dependent upon caretakers. If fixation occurs at this stage, Freud believed the individual would have issues with dependency or aggression. Oral fixation can result in problems with drinking, eating, smoking or nail biting.

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

The Anal Stage

Age Range: 1 to 3 years

Erogenous Zone: Bowel and Bladder Control

During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training--the child has to learn to control his or her bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence.

According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents approach toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive.

Freud believed that positive experiences during this stage served as the basis for people to become competent, productive and creative adults.

However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that children need during this stage. Some parents' instead punish, ridicule or shame a child for accidents. According to Freud, inappropriate parental responses can result in negative outcomes. If parents take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive personality could develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful or destructive personality. If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that an anal-retentive personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid and obsessive.

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

The Phallic Stage

Age Range: 3 to 6 Years

Erogenous Zone: Genitals

During the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals. At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between males and females.

Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections. The Oedipus complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father. However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for these feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety.

The term Electra complex has been used to described a similar set of feelings experienced by young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy.

Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a means of vicariously possessing the other parent. For girls, however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully resolved and that all women remain somewhat fixated on this stage. Psychologists such as Karen Horney disputed this theory, calling it both inaccurate and demeaning to women. Instead, Horney proposed that men experience feelings of inferiority because they cannot give birth to children.

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

The Latent Period

Age Range: 6 to Puberty

Erogenous Zone: Sexual Feelings Are Inactive

During the latent period, the libido interests are suppressed. The development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships, hobbies and other interests.

The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy is still present, but it is directed into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions. This stage is important in the development of social and communication skills and self-confidence.

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

The Genital Stage

Age Range: Puberty to Death

Erogenous Zone: Maturing Sexual Interests

During the final stage of psychosexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of others grows during this stage. If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced, warm and caring. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance between the various life areas.

Evaluating Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Theory

The theory is focused almost entirely on male development with little mention of female psychosexual development.

His theories are difficult to test scientifically. Concepts such as the libido are impossible to measure, and therefore cannot be tested. The research that has been conducted tends to discredit Freud's theory.

Future predictions are too vague. How can we know that a current behavior was caused specifically by a childhood experience? The length of time between the cause and the effect is too long to assume that there is a relationship between the two variables.

Freud's theory is based upon case studies and not empirical research. Also, Freud based his theory on the recollections of his adult patients, not on actual observation and study of children.

If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully, the result is a healthy personality. If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixation can occur. A fixation is a persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. Until this conflict is resolved, the individual will remain "stuck" in this stage. For example, a person who is fixated at the oral stage may be over-dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.

Erik Erikson

Erickson was born in Frankfurt, Germany on June 15, 1902.

Erickson’s father abandoned his mother before he was born.

Erickson’s mother then married Dr. Theodor Homberger, who was Erickson’s doctor.

When Erickson graduated high school, he wandered the streets of London, hoping to become an artist.

When he was 25, one of his friends suggested he apply for a teaching position at an American school that was run by Dorothy Burlingham.

It was here that Erickson began learning about psychology…

And so the story goes…

While he worked at this school, Erickson was psychoanalyzed by Anna Freud.

During this time, he also met his wife and together, they had three children.

Because of the Nazi’s coming into power, Erickson and his family were forced to leave Vienna and they went to Copenhagen.

After that move, they left for Boston and Erickson was offered a job at Harvard Medical School.

Erickson began practicing child psychoanalysis.

Erickson then moved onto teaching at Yale.

After his time at Yale he began teaching at University of California Berkeley.

Erickson died in 1994.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Infant (birth – 2 years)

TRUST vs MISTRUST

At this stage, an infant develops their sense of trust. With proper care and attention, the child will be able to trust. However, if this does not happen, it leads to mistrust in the child’s life.

Important events: Feeding

Early Childhood (2 – 3 years)

AUTONOMY vs SHAME/DOUBT

Child needs to develop a certain level of independence through exploration.

Important Events: Toilet training

Basic Conflict: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Erikson, The Great

Preschool (3 – 6 years)

INITITATIVE VS GUILT

A sense of control and power is important in a child’s life at this stage. They feel a sense of purpose if they succeed in this.

Important Events: Exploration

Basic Conflict: Initiative vs. Guilt

School Age (6 – 12 years)

INDUSTRY VS INFERIORITY

Children are forced to cope with school and other social demands.

Important Events: School

Basic Conflict: Industry vs. Inferiority

ERIKSON

Adolescence (12 – 21 years)

IDENTIFY VS ROLE CONFUSION

Teens develop a sense of self. If they accomplish this, they can stay true to themselves and what they believe.

Important Events: Social Relationships

Basic Conflict: Identity vs. Role Confusion

Young Adulthood (Early 20’s-Early 40’s)

INTIMACY VS ISOLATION

Intimate, loving relationships need to form in this stage. If this fails to happen, people feel alone and isolated.

Important Events: Relationships

Basic Conflict: Intimacy vs. Isolation

AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST

Middle Adulthood (Early 40’s-Early 60’s)

GENERATIVITY VS STAGNATION

Adults need to create things that they can nurture that will outlast them; generally, children. If they do not accomplish this, they will feel as though they did nothing good for the world.

Important Events: Work and Parenthood

Basic Conflict: Generativity vs. Stagnation

Maturity (Early 60’s--….)

EGO INTEGRITY VS DESPAIR

Adults look back onto their life and need to be able to feel fulfilled. If they do not feel this, they will feel bitter and defeated.

Important Events: Reflection on Life

Basic Conflict: Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Lawrence Kohlberg and Stages of Moral Development

Moral Development: When we acquire values, beliefs, and thinking abilities that guide responsible behavior

Three Levels

Preconventional: Moral thinking guided by consequences of actions (punishment, reward, exchange of favors)

Conventional: Reasoning based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules and values

Postconventional: Follows self-accepted moral principles