PSYC

Developing Through the Life Span

PSYCHOLOGY David G. Myers C. Nathan DeWall Twelfth Edition

Chapter 5

Chapter Overview

 Developmental Issues, Prenatal Development, and the Newborn

 Infancy and Childhood  Adolescence  Adulthood

Developmental Psychology’s Major Issues

 Nature and nurture  How does our genetic inheritance (our nature) interact

with our experiences (our nurture) to influence our development?

 Continuity and stages  Which parts of development are gradual and

continuous, and which parts change abruptly?

 Stability and change  Which of our traits persist through life? How do we

change as we age?

Continuity and Stages

 Researchers who emphasize experience and learning typically see development as a slow, continuous shaping process.

 Researchers who emphasize biological maturation tend to see development as a sequence of genetically predisposed series of steps or stages.

 Stage theories  Jean Piaget (cognitive development)  Lawrence Kohlberg (moral development  Erik Erikson (psychosocial development)

Comparing the Stage Theories

Stability and Change

 We experience both stability and change throughout the life span. Some characteristics such as temperament are very stable.

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The Process of Fertilization

▪ Ovulation occurs ▪ Ovum expelled from ovary and suctioned into fallopian tube ▪ Millions of sperm travel up fallopian tube to ovum

▪ Fertilization ▪ One and only one sperm penetrates the ovum ▪ The membrane of the ovum becomes non-permeable ▪ Nuclei (genetic material) of the male and female cells

combine

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A Map of Human Chromosomes

This magnified grid, called a karyotype, shows the 46 chromosomes in their matched pairs. The final pair, with its X and Y, shows that this person is a male. Also, notice the huge size of the X chromosomes.

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Prenatal Development Zygote – 2 weeks after conception – rapid cell division

2 weeks – 2 months

Placenta (food and O2) Organs form, beats

2 months – birth

Organs mature Fetus looks human Hands and feet form

37+ weeks

Stomach and lungs area ready to support life Prematurely born babies

EMBRYO FETUS BIRTH

Prenatal Development (part 1)

 Zygote: The life cycle begins at conception, when one sperm cell unites with an egg to form a zygote (fertilized egg). The zygote enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division.

 Embryo: The zygote’s inner cells become the embryo; the outer cells become the placenta. The embryo is the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through 2 months.

 Fetus: In the next 6 weeks, body organs begin to form and function. By 9 weeks, the fetus is recognizably human.

Prenatal Development (part 2)

Prenatal Development (part 3)

 Prenatal development is not risk free.  Teratogen: An agent, such as a

chemical or virus, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

 Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS): Physical and mental abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of- proportion head and abnormal facial features.

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es Threats to the Developing Baby: Threats from Outside

▪ Teratogens: Substances that may cross placenta to harm developing embryo or fetus

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Teratogens: Nicotine and Alcohol ▪ Alcohol

▪ Excessive consumption contributes to chance of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).

Nicotine – Constricts blood vessels – Increases risk of smaller-

than-normal and less- healthy newborn

Normal Brain FAS Brain

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Drugs ▪ Thalidomide (Immunoprin, Talidex) ▪ In the 50s and 60s, it was

used to help with Morning Sickness

▪ Thousands of babies born with mild to severe abnormalities with 40% survival rate

▪ Banned in the US and Europe and led to tighter FDA regulations

▪ Rubella ▪ Blindness, heart and brain

defects ▪ Syphilis

▪ Miscarriage, blindness, deafness, heart and brain deffects

▪ AIDS ▪ Can be transmitted to babies

▪ Zika - Head and brain deffects

Diseases

The Competent Newborn (part 1)

 Newborn  Arrives with automatic reflex responses that support

survival—sucking, tonguing, swallowing, and breathing

 Cries to elicit help and comfort  Searches for sights and sounds linked to other

humans, especially mother  Smells and sees well and uses sensory equipment to

learn  Possesses a biologically rooted temperament

The Competent Newborn (part 2)

 Research equipment  Eye-tracking machines and pacifiers wired to

electronic gear

 Habituation  Fetuses have adapted to a vibrating, honking device

on the mother’s abdomen

 Preferences  Newborns prefer face-like images and the smell of the

mother’s body

Newborns’ Preference for Faces

Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development

 Brain cells are sculpted by heredity and experience.  Birth: Neuronal growth spurt and synaptic pruning  3–6 months: Rapid frontal lobe growth and continued

growth into adolescence and beyond  Early childhood: Critical period for some skills (i.e.,

language and vision)  Throughout life: Learning changes brain tissue

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Infancy and Childhood: Physical Development ▪ Brain cells are

sculpted by heredity and experience. ▪ Birth: Neuronal growth

spurt and synaptic pruning

▪ 3-6 months: Rapid frontal lobe growth and continued growth into adolescence and beyond

▪ Early childhood: Critical period for some skills (i.e., language and vision)

▪ Throughout life: Learning changes brain tissue

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Infancy and Childhood: Motor Development ▪ Motor skills

▪ Develop as nervous system and muscles mature ▪ Are guided by genes and influenced by environment ▪ Involve the same sequence throughout the world

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Motor Development: Walking

▪ In U.S.: 25% walk by 11 mos 50% walk by 12 mos 90% by 15 mos. ▪ Novice walkers

▪ Fell 32 times in average hour (ouch!) ▪ Took 1500 steps per hour ▪ Why walk then?

▪ What brain structure supports walking?

Physical Development

 Brain maturation and infant memory  Infants are capable of

learning and remembering.

 Infantile amnesia may reflect conscious memory.Infant at Work

Babies only 3 months old can learn that kicking moves a mobile, and they can retain that learning for a month (Rovee-Collier, 1989, 1997).

Infancy and Childhood: Cognitive Development

 Piaget  Children are active thinkers.  The mind develops through a series of universal,

irreversible stages from simple reflexes to adult abstract reasoning.

 Children’s maturing brains build schemas that are used and adjusted through assimilation and accommodation.

Piaget’s Theory and Current Thinking (part 1)

 Sensorimotor stage (birth to nearly 2 years) • Tools for thinking and reasoning

change with development • Adaptation

• Assimilation

• Accommodation

• Object permanence • Awareness that things continue to

exist even when not perceived

Young Children Think Like Little Scientists

 Researchers believe Piaget and his followers underestimated the competence of young children.

 Baby physics  Infants look longer at and explore impossible scenes.  Impossible events violate infants’ expectations

(Baillargeon, 2016).  Baby math  Karen Wynn (1992, 2000, 2008) showed 5-month-olds one

or two objects. Then she hid the objects behind a screen, and visibly removed or added one. When she lifted the screen, the infants sometimes did a double take, staring longer when shown the wrong number of objects.

Object Permanence

Piaget’s Theory and Current Thinking (part 2)

 Preoperational stage (about 2 to 7 years)  Children learn to use language but cannot yet perform

the mental operations of concrete logic  Conservation  Egocentrism/curse of knowledge

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Preoperational Stage: Ideas About Substances

▪ Conservation: the amount of a given substance is the same despite changes in its shape or form

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Piaget’s Theory and Current Thinking (part 3)

 Theory of mind  Involves the ability to read

the mental state of others  Between ages 3½ and

4½, children worldwide use theory of mind to realize others may hold false beliefs.

 By age 4 to 5, children anticipate false beliefs of friends.

Piaget’s Theory and Current Thinking (part 4)  Concrete operational (7 to 11 years)  Children gain the mental operations that enable them to

think logically about concrete events.  They begin to understand changes in form before changes

in quantity.  They begin to understand simple math and conservation.

 Formal operational (12 through adulthood)  Children are no longer limited to concrete reasoning based

on actual experience.  They are able to think abstractly.

Piaget’s Stages

Typical Age Range Stage and Description Key Milestones

Birth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping)

• Object permanence • Stranger anxiety

About 2 to 6 or 7 years Preoperational Representing things with words and images; using intuitive rather than logical reasoning

• Pretend play • Egocentrism

About 7 to 11 years Concrete operational Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations

• Conservation • Mathematical

transformations

About 12 through adulthood

Formal operational Reasoning abstractly

• Abstract logic • Potential for mature

moral reasoning

An Alternative Viewpoint: Vygotsky and the Social Child

 Children’s minds grow through interaction with the physical environment.

 By age 7, children are able to think and solve problems with words.

 Parents and others provide a temporary scaffold to facilitate the child’s higher level of thinking.

 The language of the child’s culture is used in internalized, inner speech.

Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory

 Piaget identified significant cognitive milestones and stimulated global interest in cognitive development.

 Research findings suggest that the sequence of cognitive milestones unfold basically as Piaget proposed.

 Development is more continuous than Piaget theorized.

 Children may be more competent than Piaget’s theory revealed.

Social Development (part 1)

 Infant attachment  Emotional tie with another person—shown in young

children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver, and showing distress on separation

 At about 8 months, soon after object permanence develops, children display stranger anxiety when separated from their caregivers.

 Infants form attachments not just because parents gratify biological needs, but also because they are comfortable, familiar, and responsive.

Social Development (part 2)

• One key to attachment is familiarity.  Critical period: Optimal

period early in the life when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development

 Imprinting: Process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life (Lozenz, 1937)

Social Development (part 3)

 Studying attachment  Strange situation experiments show that some

children are securely attached and others are insecurely attached.

 Infants’ differing attachment styles reflect both their individual temperament and the responsiveness of their parents and child-care providers.

 Early attachment influences later adult relationships and comfort with affection and intimacy.

Social Development (part 4)

 Attachment differences as measured by strange situation (Ainsworth, 1979)  Secure attachment  Insecure attachment

Social Development (part 5)  Temperament and

attachment  Difficult: Irritable, intense,

and unpredictable  Easy: Cheerful, relaxed,

and feeding and sleeping on predictable schedules

 Parenting programs  Some programs can

increase parental sensitivity and infant attachment security.

Full-Time Dad Financial analyst Walter Cranford, shown here with his baby twins, is one of a growing number of stay-at-home dads. Cranford says the experience has made him appreciate how difficult the work can be: “Sometimes at work you can just unplug, but with this you’ve got to be going all the time.”

Dual Parenting Positives

• Active dads are caregiving more. Today’s co-parenting fathers are more engaged, with a doubling in the weekly hours spent with their children, compared with fathers in 1965 (Livingston & Parker, 2011).

• Couples that share housework and child care are happier in their relationships and less divorce prone (Wilcox & Marquardt, 2011).

• Dual parenting supports children. After controlling for other factors, children average better life outcomes “if raised by both parents” (Taylor, 2014).

• Parents’ genders do not affect children’s well-being. The American Academy of Pediatrics (2013) reports that what matters is competent, secure, nurturing parents, regardless of their gender and sexual orientation. The American Sociological Association (2013) concurs: Decades of research confirm that parental stability and resources matter. “Whether a child is raised by same-sex or opposite-sex parents has no bearing on a child’s well-being.”

Attachment Styles and Later Relationships

 Erik Erikson believed that securely attached children approach life with a sense of basic trust.

 Many researchers now believe that our early attachments form the foundation for our adult relationships and our comfort with affection and intimacy (Birnbaum et al., 2006; Fraley et al., 2013).

 People who report secure relationships with their parents tend to enjoy secure friendships.

 Students leaving home to attend college tend to adjust well if they are closely attached to their parents.

 Children with sensitive, responsive mothers tend to flourish socially and academically.

Social Development (part 6)

• Deprivation of attachment  Most children growing up in adversity or experiencing

abuse are resilient.  Children who are severely neglected by their parents,

or otherwise prevented from forming attachments at an early age, may be at risk for attachment problems.

• Without a sharp break from an abusive past, children do not readily recover.

The Deprivation of Attachment

 In this 1980s Romanian orphanage, the 250 children between ages 1 and 5 outnumbered caregivers 15 to 1. When such children were tested after Romania’s dictator was assassinated, they had lower intelligence scores and double the 20 percent rate of anxiety symptoms found in children assigned to higher-quality foster care settings (Nelson et al., 2009).

Self-Concept

 Self-concept—an understanding and evaluation of who we are—emerges gradually.  6 months: Self-awareness begins with self

recognition in mirror (Darwin)  15–18 months: Schema of how the face should look

is apparent  School age: More detailed descriptions of gender,

group membership, psychological traits, and peer comparisons

 8–10 years: Self-image becomes stable

Parenting Styles

 Parenting styles reflect varying degrees of control (Baumrind).  Authoritarian parents are coercive. They impose rules

and expect obedience.  Permissive parents are unrestraining. They make few

demands, set few limits, and use little punishment.  Negligent parents are uninvolved; they are neither

demanding nor responsive. These careless and inattentive parents do not seek a close relationship with their children.

 Authoritative parents are confrontive. They are demanding and responsive. They exert control by setting rules but, especially with older children, encourage open discussion and allow exceptions.

Adolescence: Physical Development

 Adolescence is the transition from puberty to social independence.  Early-maturing boys: More popular, self-assured,

and independent; at greater risk for alcohol use, delinquency, and premature sexual activity.

 Early-maturing girls: Mismatch between physical and emotional maturity may encourage relationships with older teens; teasing or sexual harassment may occur.

 Teens: Frontal lobe development and synaptic pruning may lead to irrational and risky behaviors.

The Teenage Brain

 Until puberty, brain cells increase their connections.

 During adolescence, selective pruning removes unused neurons and connections (Blakemore, 2008).

 Frontal lobes develop.  Myelin growth enables better

communication with other brain regions (Whitaker et al., 2019).  Improved judgment, impulse control, and

long-term planning  Impulse control lags reward-seeking

Adolescence: Cognitive Development (part 1)

 Developing reasoning power: Piaget  Develop new abstract thinking tools (formal

operations)  Reason logically and develop moral judgment

 Developing moral reasoning: Kohlberg  Use moral reasoning that develops in a universal

sequence to guide moral actions

Adolescence: Cognitive Development (part 2)

 Moral intuition  Haidt: Much of morality is rooted in moral intuitions

that are made quickly and automatically.  Greene: Moral cognition is often automatic but can be

overridden.

 Moral action  Moral action feeds moral attitudes.  Mischel: The ability to delay gratification is linked to

more positive outcomes in adulthood.

Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Thinking

Level (approximate age) Focus Example

Preconventional morality (before age 9) Self-interest; obey rules to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards.

“If you save your dying wife, you’ll be a hero.”

Conventional morality (early adolescence) Uphold laws and rules to gain social approval or maintain social order.

“If you steal the drug for her, everyone will think you’re a criminal.”

Postconventional morality (adolescence and beyond)

Actions reflect belief in basic rights and self-defined ethical principles.

“People have a right to live.”

Adolescence: Social Development

 Adolescence struggle: Identity versus role confusion; continues into adulthood.

 Social identity: The “we” aspect of self-concept that comes from group memberships.

 Healthy identity formation is followed by a capacity to build close relationships.

 Self-esteem typically declines during the early to mid-teen years, and, for girls, depression scores often increase. Self-image rebounds during the late teens and twenties, and gender self-esteem differences become small (Zuckerman et al., 2016).

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Stage (approximate age) Issue Description of Task

Infancy (to 1 year) Trust vs. mistrust If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust.

Toddlerhood (1 to 3 years) Autonomy vs. shame and doubt Toddlers learn to exercise their will and do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities.

Preschool (3 to 6 years) Initiative vs. guilt Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about their efforts to be independent.

Elementary school (6 years to puberty)

Competence vs. inferiority Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inferior.

Adolescence (teen years into 20s)

Identity vs. role confusion Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are.

Young adulthood (20s to early 40s)

Intimacy vs. isolation Young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate love, or they feel socially isolated.

Middle adulthood (40s to 60s)

Generativity vs. stagnation Middle-aged people discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose.

Late adulthood (late 60s and up)

Integrity vs. despair Reflecting on their lives, older adults may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure.

Adolescence: Parent and Peer Relationships (part 1)

 People seek to fit in and are influenced by their peer groups, especially in childhood and the teen years. Influence of parents and peers is complementary.

 Parents  Parent–child arguments increase but most adolescents

report liking their parents. Argument content is often gender related.

 Peers  Peers influence behavior, social networking is often

extensive, and exclusion can be painful or worse.

Adolescence: Parent and Peer Relationships (part 2)

Parents  More important when

it comes to education, discipline, charitableness, responsibility, orderliness, and ways of interacting with authority figures

Peers  More important for

learning cooperation, finding the road to popularity, and inventing styles of interaction among people of the same age

What Happens Next?

 Emerging adulthood  Includes the time from 18 to the

mid-twenties; a not-yet-settled phase of life

 Characterized by not yet assuming adult responsibilities and independence, and feelings of being “in between”

 May involve living with and still being emotionally dependent on parents

Adulthood

 What do you think? Which age range would you put in each blank? Early adulthood: ________ Middle adulthood: ________ Late adulthood: ________

 Within each of these stages, people vary widely in their physical, psychological, and social development.

Adulthood: Physical Development (part 1)

 Early adulthood  Muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, and

cardiac output peak in the mid-twenties.

 Middle adulthood  Physical vigor is more closely linked to health and exercise

than age.  Physical decline is gradual  Gradual decline in fertility

 Female: Menopause

 Male: Gradual decline in sperm count, testosterone level, erection and ejaculation speed

Adulthood: Physical Development (part 2)

 Late adulthood  Life expectancy worldwide is now 71 years.  Telomere tips shorten, leading to aging.  Visual sharpness, distance perception, and

stamina diminish; pupils shrink and become less transparent.

 Immune system weakens; susceptibility to life-threatening disease increases.

 Neural processing lag occurs; brain regions related to memory begin to atrophy; speech slows.

 Exercise slows aging and stimulates brain cell development and neural connections.

Adulthood: Aging and Memory

 Early adulthood: Peak time for learning and memory.

 Middle adulthood: Greater decline in ability to recall rather than recognize memory.

 Late adulthood: Better retention of meaningful than meaningless information; longer word production time.

 End of life: Terminal decline; typically occurs during last four years of life.

Neurocognitive Disorders and Alzheimer’s Disease (part 1)

 Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs)  Acquired disorders marked by cognitive deficits  Often related to Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or

disease, or substance abuse  Results in erosion of mental abilities that is not typical

of normal aging

Neurocognitive Disorders and Alzheimer’s Disease (part 2)

 Alzheimer’s disease  Marked by neural plaques  Often has an onset after age 80  Leads to a progressive decline in memory and other

cognitive abilities

Neurocognitive Disorders and Alzheimer’s Disease (part 3)

• Disease progression • Memory, then reasoning, deteriorates. • Emotional flatness, disorientation and disinhibition,

incontinence, and mental vacancy occur later.

• Neural involvement • Loss of brain cells and deterioration of acetylcholine-

producing neurons • Accumulation of protein fragments in the form of plaque • Degeneration of critical brain cells and activity in

Alzheimer’s-related brain areas

Predicting Alzheimer’s Disease

 During a memory test, MRI scans of the brains of people at risk for Alzheimer’s disease (left) revealed more intense activity compared with normal brains (right).

As brain scans and genetic tests make it possible to identify those likely to suffer Alzheimer’s, would you want to be tested?

 At which age?

Adulthood: Ages and Stages

• Transitions • Midlife transition occurs in early forties • Social clock varies from era to era and from culture to

culture • Change events have lasting impact

• Commitments • Intimacy (forming close relationships) • Generativity (being productive and supporting future

generations)

Adulthood: Social Development

 Adulthood’s commitments: Love  Pair-bonding  Romantic attraction and chance encounters  Proximity

Adulthood Commitments

 Marriage  Satisfaction is related to shared interests and values,

mutual emotional and material support, and self- disclosure.

 Marriage is predictive of happiness, sexual satisfaction, income, and mental health.

 Divorce  Divorce rates reflect women’s increased ability to

support themselves and higher expectations for their mates.

 Trial marriages are linked to higher divorce rates.

Adulthood: Social Development

 Adulthood’s commitments: Work  Work provides a sense of

competence, accomplishment, and self-definition.

 Happiness is about having work that fits your interests and provides you with a sense of competence and accomplishment. It is giving generously of your time and resources (Mogilner & Norton, 2016; Whillans et al., 2016).

Well-Being Across the Life Span

 Positive feelings grow after midlife, and negative feelings decline.

 Older adults report less anger, stress, and worry and have fewer social relationship problems.

 Brain-wave reactions to negative images diminish with age.

 At all ages, people are happiest when they are not alone.

Biopsychosocial Influences on Successful Aging

Death and Dying

 Grief  Grief is severe when the loved one’s death comes suddenly and

before the expected time.

 Grief reactions vary by culture and by individuals within cultures.

 Unconfirmed beliefs  Immediately expressed grief is not necessarily purged faster.

 Adjustment times with or without grief counseling are approximately the same.

 Terminally ill and grief-stricken people do not go through identical stages.