-Human development
Developmental psychology: study of physical, cognitive, and socioemotional changes through
lifespan (birth to death psychology)
-Womb to tomb
Socioemotional: where emotions/relationships connect
-Cognitive development
-Cognition = mental activities; thinking, intelligence, language
-Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
-Heavily influenced by evolution
-Developed IQ tests for children (French schools wanted stragglers to stay with their
peers)
-Focus on similarity of wrong answers among different age groups (found as kids grow,
their thinking grows/becomes more logical)
-1 Corinthians 13:11
-Stages of cognitive development
Schema: mental molds/filing systems; organize/categorize information (contain influence, view
of ourselves, others, and the world around us)
Responses to New Information
Assimilating: incorporate new material into pre-existing schema
Accommodating: adjust schema(s) to fit new material (ex. child learning about a new animal)
Somatosensory cortex: processes information about body sensations (in front of parietal lobes)
Motor cortex: processes information about voluntary movements (rear of frontal lobes)
Association cortex: regions of cerebral cortex that integrate motor/sensory information (highest
intellectual function, ex. thinking/problem solving)
Corpus callosum: bundle of axons connecting brain’s hemispheres (information relay)
Left hemisphere: speech, grammar, song lyrics
Right hemisphere: nonverbal information; spatial perception, visual recognition, emotion, humor
Endocrine system: glands that regulate activities of certain organs by releasing chemicals into
bloodstream
Glands: organs/tissues that create chemicals/control bodily functions
-Nervous/endocrine systems are connected
Hormones: chemical messengers produced by endocrine glands
-Pituitary, thyroid/parathyroid, adrenals, pancreas, ovaries/testes
Pituitary gland: growth/management of other glands; below hypothalamus
Adrenal glands: mood, energy, coping with stress (top of kidney)
Pancreas: digestive/endocrine; metabolism, body weight, obesity (on top of stomach)
Forms of Brain Repair
1. Collateral sprouting
a. Axons of healthy neurons adjacent to damaged cells grow new branches
2. Substitution of function
3. Neurogenesis
a. Process by which new neurons are generated
-Brain grafts
Stem cells: primitive cells that have capacity to develop into most types of human cells
Genotype: genetic heritage
Phenotype: observable characteristics
Development: pattern of continuity/change in human characteristics that occurs through the
course of life
Cross-sectional designs: number of people assessed at one point in time (across different ages)
Cohort effects: difference between people stemming not from ages but from historical/social
time period where they were born/developed
Longitudinal study: assesses same participants multiple times over lengthy period
Nature: biological inheritance; genes
Nurture: environmental/social experiences
Domains of Development
1. Physical processes
a. Changes in an individual’s biological nature
2. Cognitive processes
a. Changes in thought, intelligence, language
3. Socioemotional processes
a. Person’s relationships with others, changes in emotions/personality
Stages of Development
1. Sensorimotor stage
a. Birth-2 years old
b. Build understanding of world by coordinating sensory experiences with motor
actions
c. Object permanence : understanding that objects continue to exist even when they
can’t be directly seen, heard, touched
2. Preoperational stage
a. 2-7 years old
b. More symbolic than sensorimotor thought (words, images, drawings)
c. Operations : mental operations that are “reversible” (preoperational children can’t
grasp this yet)
d. Conservation : belief in permanence of certain attributes of objects despite
superficial changes
e. Intuitive thinking
3. Concrete operational stage
a. 7-11 years old
b. Using operations/replacing intuitive reasoning with logical reasoning in concrete
situations
4. Formal operational stage
a. Formal operational thought is more abstract and logical than concrete operational
thought
b. Executive function : complex cognitive processes (thinking, planning, problem
solving)
Temperament: individual’s behavioral style/characteristic ways of responding
Effortful control/Self-regulation: controlling arousal
Inhibition: being shy/showing distress in an unfamiliar situation
Negative affectivity: tending to be frustrated/sad
Infant attachment: emotional attachment between caregiver and infant
-Strange situation test
Secure attachment: how infants use caregiver
Psychosocial Stages
1. Trust vs Mistrust (birth-1.5 years old)
2. Autonomy vs Shame/Guilt (1.5-3 years old)
3. Initiative vs Guilt (3-5 years old)
4. Industry vs Inferiority (6 years old- puberty)
Authoritarian parenting: strict/punitive
Authoritative parenting: encourages child to be independent/still places limits and controls on
behavior; collaborative
Neglectful parenting: lack of parental involvement in child’s life
Permissive parenting: places few limits on child’s behavior
-Identity status
-Exploration and commitment
Identity diffusion: adolescent hasn’t explored/committed to an identity
Identity moratorium: actively exploring/trying new roles, but haven’t committed to identity
Identity foreclosure: adolescent has committed to a particular identity without exploring options
Identity achievement: after exploring options/committing to an identity, adolescent emerges with
sense of values/principles
Features of Emerging Adulthood
-Identity exploration (especially in love and work)
-Instability
-Self-focus
-Feeling “in-between”
-Age of possibilities
What Makes a Good Marriage
-Nurturing fondness/admiration
-Turning towards each other as friends
-Giving up some power
-Solving conflicts together
-Gender development
-Moral development
Levels of Moral Development
1. Preconventional
a. Based on consequences of behavior/punishments and rewards from external world
2. Conventional
a. Person abides by standards learned from parent’s/society’s laws
3. Postconventional
a. Person recognizes at moral courses, explores options/develops increasingly
personal moral code
Justice perspective: emphasizes individual rights as key to sound moral reasoning
Prosocial behavior: intended to benefit other people
Terror management theory: when reminded of their death, people endorse cultural beliefs more
strongly, reject individuals who violate those beliefs, and seek to maintain or enhance their self-
esteem (TMT)
Stages of Dying
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
Grief Patterns
1. Resilience
a. Quickly return to previous level of functioning
2. Recovering
a. Profound sadness/grief that dissipate more slowly
3. Chronic dysfunction
a. Long-term disruption of functioning in important life domains
4. Delayed grief/trauma
Teratogen: any agent that causes a problem in prenatal development
Stranger anxiety: preference for familiar (6 months-1 year old)
-In preoperational stage (2-6 years old), can speak but not think logically, lack
conservation, egocentric
-2-6 year olds can’t see things from another’s perspective
-Concrete operationals (7-11 years old) can grasp basic math, but aren’t prepared for
abstract/symbolic thinking (hands on time of learning)
Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development: 8 stages/tasks to be accomplished/crisis to be
resolved for that age (identified as X vs Y)
-Stages are building blocks (strengths/weaknesses for later stages)
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development
1. Trust vs Mistrust
a. Ages 0-1 years
b. Child must learn trust (needs must be dependably met) or they’ll carry mistrust
into future relationships
c. Parents must respond to crying at this stage
2. Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt
a. Age 2
b. Child starts exercising own will (or feels shame about becoming own person)
c. Individuation
d. Can lead to a dependent person later in life if autonomy remains undeveloped
e. Shape the will, don’t break it
3. Initiative vs Guilt
a. Ages 3-5 years (preschool)
b. Learn to initiate tasks, conversations, etc. (if parent “takes over”, child will feel
guilty/stop initiating)
c. Failure can lead to difficulty in making decisions later
4. Industry vs Inferiority
a. Ages 6-12 years (elementary school)
b. Must feel they’re competent in something or they’ll feel inferior to others
c. Don’t compare your child with siblings/other children
5. Identity vs Identity Confusion
a. Identity: sense of self, purpose in life
Adolescence: ages 12-18 years (researchers finding adolescent mindset expanding in both
directions)
Emerging adulthood: ages 18-25 years (new concept due to trend of delayed marriage, delayed
career choice/self-focus)
Negative identity: opposition to common expectations; conformity to peer group
