DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

CHAPTER 1: THE STUDY OF HUMAN saying their first word or how large their
DEVELOPMENT vocabulary)
2) Explain
Human Development - Explain the changes they have observed
- Scientific study of the systematic process in relation to normative processes and
of change and stability in people individual differences
- Developmentalists look at ways in which - Often easier to describe development than
people change from conception through to explain how it occurs
maturity as well as characteristics that - How children acquire language and why
remain fairly stable some children learn to speak later than
- An understanding of adult development usual
can help people understand and deal with 3) Predict
life transitions - Predict future behavior, such as the
likelihood that a child will have serious
Life-span Development speech problems
- “Tomb to womb,” compromising the 4) Intervene
entire human life span from conception to - Understanding of how language develops
death may be sued to intervene in development
- Concept of human development as a (giving a child speech therapy)
lifelong process, which can be studied Development is messy. Its complex and
scientifically multifaceted and shaped by interacting arcs of
- Growth and development are more influence. Thus, development is best understood
obvious during these times given the with input from a variety of theoretical and
rapid pace of change research orientations and is most appropriately
- Development includes more than infancy studied using multiple disciplines.
and childhood
- Develop can be either: DOMAINS OF
o Positive – e.g., toilet training and
enrolling in a college course after DEVELOPMENT (aspects of the self)
retirement  Physical Development
o Negative – e.g., wetting the bed - Growth of body, brain, including
after a traumatic event or isolating patterns of change in sensory
yourself after retirement capacities, motor skills, and health
Events such as the timing of parenthood,  Cognitive Development
maternal employment, and marital satisfaction - Pattern of change in mental abilities,
are now also studied as part of developmental such as learning, attention, memory,
psychology. language, thinking, reasoning, and
creativity.
GOALS OF  Psychosocial Development
- Pattern of change in emotions,
DEVELOPMENTAL personality, and social relationships
PSYCHOLOGY Domains are interrelated: each aspect of
1) Describe development affects the others.
- Development is necessary to focus both Puberty (dramatic physical changes and
on typical patterns of change (normative hormonal changes affect the developing sense of
development) and individual variations self) Older adults (physical changes in the brain
in patterns of change (idiographic may lead to intellectual and personality
development) deterioration)
- developmentalists observe large groups of
children and establish norms, or averages, Cognitive advances and declines are related to
for behavior at various ages (children physical and psychosocial development
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Memory development reflects gains or losses in Intelligence is strongly influenced by heredity,

physical connections in the brain. parental stimulation, education, peer influence,
and other variables also affect it.
Cognitive advances and declines are related to
physical and psychosocial development. Maturation
Motivation and self-confidence are important - Unfolding of a natural sequence of
contributors to school success, whereas negative physical and behavioral changes
emotions such as anxiety can impair - Individual differences in innate
performance. characteristics and life experience play a
greater role
- Maturation continues to influence certain
biological processes, such as brain
PERIOD OF LIFESPAN development
Social Construction We need to look at the inherited characteristics
- A concept or practice that may appear that give each person a start in life. We also need
natural and obvious to those who accept to consider the many environmental factors that
it, but that in reality is an invention of a affect development.
particular culture or society We need to consider how heredity and
Major developments in eight periods of human environment interact. We need to understand
development. which developments are primarily maturational
and which are not.
INFLUENCES OF
Context of Development
DEVELOPMENT
Nuclear Family
Individual Differences
- Normative family unit in the US and other
- Differences in characteristics, influences, Western societies
or developmental outcomes - Two-generational kinship, economic, and
- Each person has a unique developmental household unit consisting of one or two
trajectory, an individual path to follow parents and their biological children,
- One challenge in developmental adopted children, or stepchildren
psychology: to identify the universal
influences on development, and then Extended Family
apply those understanding individual - Traditional family form; where they have
differences in developmental trajectories daily contact with kin
- Multigenerational kinship network of
Heredity, Environment, and parents, children, and other relatives,
Maturation sometimes living together in an extended-
family household
Heredity
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
- Influences on development primarily
originated - Based on the family income and the
- Inborn traits or characteristics inherited educational and occupational levels of
from the biological parents adults in the household
- Developmental process and
Environment developmental outcomes
- Where influences come largely Culture
- The world outside the self, beginning in
the womb, and the learning that comes - A societies or group’s total way of life,
from the experiences including customs, traditions, beliefs,
- Totality of nonhereditary, or experiential values, language, and physical products—
influences on development
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

all learned behavior, passed on from within a normal range. (Ex: people don’t
parents to children experience puberty at age 35/ menopause at 12)
- Culture is constantly changing, often
through contact with other cultures Normative history-graded influences –
significant events (WWII or Great Depression)
Ethnic Group that shape the behavior and attitudes of a
historical generation – a group of people who
- A group united by ancestry, race, religion, experience the event at a formative time in their
language, or national origins, which lives
contribute to a sense of shared identity.
Cohort – a group of people born at about the
Ethnic and cultural patterns affect development same time. A historical generation may contain
by their influence. more than one cohort, but cohorts are part of a
historical generation only if they experience
major, shaping historical events at a formative
point in their lives
Race Nonnormative influences are unusual events that
- Historically and popularly viewed as an have a major impact on individual lives because
identifiable biological category, is more they disturb the expected sequence of the life
accurately defined as a social construct. cycle
- As a social category remains a factor in - Ex: atypical time of life (death of a parent
research because it makes difference when a child is young) or atypical event
- Term race, historically and popularly (surviving a plane crash)
viewed as an identifiable biological - Some of these influences are largely
category, is more accurately defined as beyond a person’s control and may
social construct present rare opportunities/severe
Categories of culture, race, and ethnicity are fluid challenges that the person perceives as
“continuously shaped and redefined by social and turning points
political forces” - People sometimes help create their own
nonnormative life events—and participate
Geographical dispersion and intermarriage actively in their own development
together with adaption to varying local conditions
have produced a great heterogeneity of physical Timing of Influences: Critical or
and cultural characteristics within populations
Sensitive Periods
Ethnic gloss – (black or Hispanic) an over
generalization that obscures or blurs such Konrad Lorenz – Austrian zoologist, showed
variations that newly hatched ducklings will instinctively
follow the first moving object they see, whether it
Historical Context – how certain experiences, is a member of their species or not.
tied to time and place, affect the course of
people’s lives. Today, the historical context is an Imprinting – automatic and irreversible; the
important part of the study of development result of predisposition toward learning: the
readiness of an organism’s nervous system to
Normative and Nonnormative acquire a certain information during a brief
critical period in early life
Influences
Critical period – specific time when a given
Normative influences: biological/environmental event/its absence, has a specific impact of
events that affect many or most people in a development.
society in similar ways and events that touch only
certain individuals - If necessary, events do not occur during a
critical period of maturation, normal
Normative age-graded influences – highly development will not occur; and the
similar for people in a particular age group. The resulting abnormal patterns may be
timing of biological events is fairly predictable irreversible
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

- Length of this period is not fixed 5) Development involves changing

- Is controversial, because many aspects of resource allocations
development, even in physical domain, - Resources may be used for growth, for
have been found to show: maintenance/recovery/for dealing with
o Plasticity – modified performance loss when maintenance and recovery are
not possible
Sensitive periods – time in development when a 6) Development shows plasticity
person is particularly open to certain kinds of - Many abilities such as memory, strength,
behavior experiences and endurance can be improved
- Plasticity are individual differences in significantly with training and practice,
plasticity responses to environmental even in late life
events as well - Children has plasticity limits that depend
- Difficult temperaments and highly in part on the various influence of
reactive children: more profoundly development
affected by childhood experiences, - Task of developmental research: to
whether positive or negative, than other discover to what extent particular kinds of
children development can be modified at various
- Characteristics generally assumed to be ages
negative—such as difficult or reactive 7) Development is influenced by the
temperament—can be adaptive (positive) historical and cultural context
when the environment is supportive of - Each person develops within multiple
development contexts—circumstances/conditions
define in part by maturation and in part by
The Life-Span Developmental time and place
Approach
Widely accepted conceptual framework for the CHAPTER 2: THEORY AND RESEARCH
study of life-span development: Theory – coherent set of logically related
1) Development is lifelong concepts that seek to organize, explain, and
- Lifelong process of change predict data
- Each period of life span is affected by
what happened before and will affect Hypotheses – possible explanations for
what is to come phenomena, used to predict the outcome of
- Each period has unique characteristics research
and value. No period is more/less - Theories can be disproved but never
important than any other proved, and they can change to
2) Development is multidimensional incorporate new things
- Occurs along multiple interacting
dimensions—biological, psychological Developmental science cannot be completely
and social—each of which may develop a objective. Theories and research about human
varying rate behavior are products of human individuals,
3) Development is multidirectional whose inquiries and interpretations are inevitably
- Children grow mostly in one direction. influenced by their own values and experience.
Then the balance gradually shifts. The way theorists explain development depends
Adolescents typically gain in physical in part on their assumptions about two basic
abilities, but their facility in learning a issues:
new language typically declines
4) Relative influences of biology and 1) Whether people are active or reactive in
culture shift over the life span their own development
- Influenced by both biological and culture, 2) Whether development is continuous or
but the balance between these influences’ occurs in stages
changes 3) Whether development is more influenced
by heredity or by environment
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

ISSUE 1: IS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVE OR they choose to participate in, and with

REACTIVE? whom. Do they choose friends who prefer
to party or study?
John Locke held that a young child is a tabula - Organicists describe development after
rasa – a “blank slate” upon which the society birth as a progressive sequence of stages,
writes. How the child developed, in either moving toward full maturation
positive or negative ways, depended entirely on
experiences. ISSUE 2: IS DEVELOPMENT
CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS?
Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that children
are born “noble savages” who develop according Mechanist theorists see development as
to their own positive natural tendencies if not continuous: as occurring in small incremental
corrupted by society. stages. Development is always governed by the
same processes and involves gradual refinement
Reactive development – conceptualizes the and extension of early skills into later abilities,
developing child as a hungry sponge that soaks allowing one to make predictions about future
up experiences and is shaped by this input over characteristics on the basis of part performance.
time
Quantitative change – changes in
Active development – argue that people create number/amount, such as in height, weight, size of
experiences for themselves and are motivated to vocabulary, or frequency of communication (ex:
learn about the world around them. Things aren’t measuring fundamentally the same thing over
just happening to them; they are involved in time, even if there might be more or less of it)
making their world what it is
Organismic theorists see development as
Mechanistic Model discontinuous; as marked by the emergence of
- People are like machines that react to new phenomena that could not be easily
environmental input predicted on the basis of past functioning.
- Machines do not operate of their own Development at different points in life span is, in
will; they react automatically to physical this view, fundamentally different in nature.
forces or inputs Organismic theorists are proponents of stage
- Human behavior is much the same; it theories in which development is seen as
results from the operation of biological occurring in a series of distinct stages. What is
parts in response to external or internal going on is fundamentally different from
stimuli previous stages.
- Mechanistic researchers want to identify
the factors that make people behave as - Stages build upon each ither. Stages
they do cannot be skipped, and development only
- Environmental influences are looked as proceeds in a positive direction
factors in explaining behavior - It is believed that these processes are
universal and account for the
Organismic Model development of all humans everywhere,
- Sees people as active, growing organisms although the particular timing may vary a
that set their own development in motion. bit
Their initiate events; they do not just THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
react. This the driving force for change is
internal. Environmental influences do not Theories can generally be characterized as either
cause development, though they can mechanistic or organismic, and as describing
speed or slow it change as either continuous or discontinuous,
- Human behavior as an organic whole, it even if those beliefs are not directly stated. But
cannot be predicted by breaking it down all developmental theories have implicit
into simple responses to environmental assumptions that underlie their approach. These
stimulation assumptions influence the questions researchers
- Theorist study why some students drink ask, the methods they use, and the way they
too much, look at what kinds of situations interpret data.
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

- It is important to recognize the theoretical and “should nots” into the child’s value
perspective on which it is based system. It is highly demanding; it its
standards are not met; a child may feel
Five major perspectives underlie much influential guilty and anxious. The ego mediates
theory and research on human development: between the impulses of the id and the
1) Psychoanalytic – focuses on unconscious demands of the superego
emotions and drives He proposed that personality forms through
2) Learning – studies observable behaviors unconscious childhood conflicts between the
3) Cognitive – analyzes thought processes inborn urges of the id and the requirements of
4) Contextual – emphasizes the impact of civilized life.
the historical, social, and cultural context
5) Evolutionary/sociobiological – considers Psychosexual development – an unvarying
evolutionary and biological underpinnings sequence of stages of childhood personality
of behaviors development in which gratification shifts from
the mouth to the anus and then to the genitals
PSYCHOANALYTIC
Freud considered the first three stages to be
Sigmund Freud – the originator of the crucial for personality development. According
psychoanalytic perspective and believed in to him, if children receive too little or too much
reactive development, as well as qualitative gratification in any of these stages, they are at
changes over time risk of fixation – an arrest in development that
- He proposed that humans were born with can show up in adult personality
a series of innate, biological based drives - Babies whose needs are not met during
such as hunger, sex, and aggression the oral stage, when feeding is the main
- He thought people were motivated to source of pleasure, may grow up to
satisfy their urges and that much of become nail-biters or smokers
development involved learning how to do - When a toddler had too-strict toilet
so in socially acceptable ways training may be fixated at the anal stage,
- He also believed that early experiences and be obsessively clean, rigidly tied to
shaped later functioning, and he drew schedules and routines/defiantly messy
attention to childhood as an important - Phallic stage of early childhood. Boys
precursor to adult behavior. He also develop sexual attachment to their
promoted the idea that there was a vast, mothers, and girls to their fathers, and
hidden reserve to our psyche, and what they have aggressive urges toward the
we consciously know about and same-sex parent, whom they regard as a
experience is only the small tip of the rival (Oedipus complex and Electra
iceberg of who we are complex)
Psychosexual development – believed that people - Latency stage of middle childhood, a
are born with biological drives that must be period of relative emotional calm and
redirected to make it possible to live in society intellectual and social exploration. They
redirect their sexual energies into other
Three hypothetical parts of the personality: pursuits, such as schoolwork,
1) Id (pleasure principle) – the drive to relationships, and hobbies
seek immediate satisfaction of their needs - Genital stage, final stage that lasts
and desires throughout adulthood. The sexual urges
2) Ego (reality principle) – represents repressed during latency now resurface to
reason, develops gradually during the first flow in socially approved channels, which
years or so of life; its aim is to find Freud defined as heterosexual relations
realistic ways to gratify the id that are with persons outside the family of origin
acceptable to the superego, which Freud’s theory made historic contributions
develops about age 5 or 6 and inspired a whole generation of followers,
3) Superego – includes conscience and some of whom took psychoanalytic theory in
incorporates socially approved “should” new directions. Many of Freud’s ideas now
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

are widely considered obsolete or are - People need to trust the world and the
impossible to investigate scientifically. people in it. However, they also need
Psychoanalysts today reject his narrow some mistrust to protect themselves from
emphasis on sexual and aggressive drives to danger
the exclusion of other motives. - Successful resolution of each crisis put
the person in a particularly good position
- He made us aware of the importance of to address the next crisis, a process that
unconscious thoughts, feelings, and occurs iteratively across the life span
motivations; the role of childhood
experiences in forming personality; the His theory is important because of its emphasis
ambivalence of emotional responses, the on social and cultural influences and on
role of mental representations of the self development beyond adolescence.
and others in the establishment of
intimate relationships; and the path of LEARNING
normal development from an immature, Learning perspective – view of human
dependent state to a mature, development that holds those changes in behavior
interdependent state results from experience or from adaption of the
- He based his theories about normal environment
development not on a population of
average children, but on a clientele of - Learning theorists seek to discover
Victorian upper-middle-class adults, objective laws that govern changes in
mostly women, in therapy observable behavior and see development
- His concentration on the influences of as continuous
sexual urges and early experience did not - They have helped to make the study of
take into account other, and later, human development more scientific. This
influences personality—including the term is defined precisely, and their focus
influences of society and culture, which on observable behaviors means that the
many heirs to the Freudian tradition, such theories can be tested in the laboratory
as Erik Erikson, stress Two important learning theories:
Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Development 1) Behaviorism – a mechanistic theory that
He extended Freudian theory by emphasizing the describes observed behavior as a
influence of society on the developing predictable response to experience
personality. Erikson also was a pioneer in taking - Behaviorists consider development as
a life-span perspective. (Both theorists believed reactive and continuous
in qualitative change) - They hold that human beings at all ages
learn about the world the same way other
Psychosocial development – eight-stage theory. organisms do: by reacting to conditions or
The socially and culturally influenced process of aspects of their environment that they find
development of the ego/ the self pleasing, painful/threatening
- Each stage involves what he originally - Behavioral research focuses on
called a crisis in personality – a major associative learning that has two kinds:
psychological challenge that is classical conditioning and operant
particularly important at that time and conditioning
will remain an issue to some degree Classical Conditioning – Ivan Pavlov: dogs
throughout the rest of life. These issues learned to salivate at the sound of a bell that rang
must be satisfactorily resolved for healthy at feeding time
ego development
- Each stage requires balancing a positive - A response to a stimulus is evoked after
and a negative tendency. The positive repeated association with a stimulus that
quality should dominate, but some degree normally elicits the response
of the negative quality is needed as well - John Watson: “Little Albert experiment”
for optimal development – the study, although unethical,
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

demonstrated that fear could be imitating models—that is, by watching

conditioned other people
- Classical conditioning occurs throughout - Observational learning/modeling –
life. Fear responses to objects like a car or people tend to choose models who are
a dog may be the result of an accident or a prestigious, who control resources, or
bad experience who are rewarded for what they do—
those whose behavior is perceived as
Operant Conditioning – the individual learns valued in their culture (active process)
from the consequences of “operating” on the - Imitation of models is a key element in
environment; involves involuntary behavior and how children learn a language, deal with
involves the consequences rather than the aggression, develop a moral sense, and
predictors of behavior learn gender-appropriate behavior.
- B.F Skinner: argued that an organism Observational learning can occur even if a
(animal/human) will tend to repeat a person does not imitate the observed
response that has been reinforced by behavior
desirable consequences and will suppress - Updated social cognitive theory: the
a response that has been punished change of name reflects a greater
- Reinforcement – process by which a emphasis on cognitive processes as
behavior is strengthened, increasing the central to development. Cognitive
likelihood that the behavior will be processes are at work as people observe
repeated models, learn chunks of behavior, and
- Punishment – a behavior is weakened, mentally put the chunks together into
decreasing the likelihood of repetition complex new behavior patterns
- Reinforcement is most effective when it Through feedback on their behavior, children
immediately follows a behavior. If a gradually form standards for judging their actions
response is no longer reinforced, it will and become more selective in choosing models
eventually be extinguished, and returns to who demonstrate those standards. They also
its original (baseline) level begin to develop a sense of self-efficacy – the
- Behavior modification therapy – a form confidence that they have what it takes to
of operant conditioning used to eliminate succeed
undesirable behavior, such as temper
tantrums, or to instill desirable behavior, COGNITIVE
such as putting away toys after play
o This is particularly effective Cognitive perspective – focuses on thought
processes and the behavior that reflects those
among children with special
processes. This perspective encompasses both
needs, such as those with mental
organismic and mechanistically influenced
or emotional disabilities
theories
However, Skinnerian psychology is limited in
- Information-processing approach and
application because it does not adequately
neo-Piagetian theories, which combine
address individual differences, cultural and social
elements of information-processing
influences, or biologically influenced behavioral
theory and Piagetian theory
patterns.
Jean Piaget’s Cognitive-Stage Theory
2) Social Learning (social cognitive)
Theory Cognitive theory – was a forerunner of today’s
- Albert Bandura suggests that the impetus “cognitive revolution” with its emphasis on
for development is bidirectional. He mental processes. Piaget viewed development
called this concept reciprocal organismicallly, as the product of children’s
determinism – the person acts on the efforts to understand and act on their world
world as the world acts on the person
- Classical social learning theory maintains - He also believed that development was
that people learn to appropriate social discontinuous, so his theory describes
behavior chiefly by observing and development as occurring in stages
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

- His clinical method combined observation - He showed that children’s minds are not
with flexible questioning. By asking miniature adult minds. Knowing how
children questions, he realized that children think make it easier for parents
children of the same age made similar and teachers to understand and teach them
types of error in logic - His theory has provided rough
- He also suggested that cognitive benchmarks for what to expect of children
development begins with an inborn ability at various ages and has helped educators
to adapt to the environment curricula appropriate to varying levels of
development
Cognitive growth occurs through three - Cross-cultural research indicates that
interrelated processes: organization, adaption, performance on formal reasoning tasks is
and equilibration as much a function of culture as it is of
1) Organization – the tendency to create development; people from industrialized
categories, such as birds, by observing the societies who have participate in a formal
characteristics that individual members of education system shows better
a category, such as sparrows and performance on those tasks
cardinals, have in common - His focus on formal logical as the climax
of cognitive development is too narrow. It
Schemes – ways of organizing information about does not account for the emergence of
the world that govern the way the child thinks such mature abilities as practical problem
and behaves in a particular situation solving, wisdom, and the capacity to deal
2) Adaption – how children handle new with ambiguous situations
information in light to what they already Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
know. It occurs through two
complimentary processes: Sociocultural theory – how contextual factors
affect children’s development; stresses children’s
Assimilation – taking in information and active engagement with their environment
incorporating it into existing cognitive structures
- He saw cognitive growth as a
Accommodation – adjusting one’s cognitive collaborative process. People learn
structures to fit the new information through social interaction. They acquire
3) Equilibration – the tendency to seek a cognitive skills as part of their induction
stable balance among cognitive elements; into a way of life. Shared activities help
achieved through a balance between children internalize their society’s modes
assimilation and accommodation of thinking and behaving
- Children want what they understand of - He also placed special emphasis on
the world to match what they observe language, not merely as an expression of
around them knowledge and thought but as an essential
- Disequilibrium can be thought of as tool for learning and thinking about the
uncomfortable motivation state, and it world
pushes children into accommodation According to hum, adults or more advanced peers
Assimilation and accommodation work together must help direct and organize a child’s learning
to produce equilibrium. Throughout life, the before the child can master and internalize it.
quest for equilibrium is the driving force behind Zone of proximal development (ZPD) – the gap
cognitive growth. between what they are already able to do by
- Piaget described cognitive development themselves and what they can accomplish with
as occurring in four universal, assistance
qualitatively different stages. From - Sensitive and effective instruction, should
infancy through adolescence, mental be aimed at the ZPD and increase in
operations evolve from learning based on complexity as the child’s abilities
simple sensory and motor activity to improve
logical abstract thought
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

- Responsibility for directing learning development as continuous and

gradually shifts to the child, such as when incremental. They note age-related
an adult teaches a child to float: the adults increases in the speed, complexity, and
first support the child in water and then efficiency of mental processing and in the
let’s go gradually as the child’s body amount and variety of material that can be
relaxes into a horizontal position stored in memory
Scaffolding – the temporary support that parents, The information processing approach has
teachers, or others give a child in doing a task practical applications. By assessing certain
until the child can do it alone aspects of infant information processing,
researchers are able to estimate an infant’s later
Vygotsky’s theory has an important implication intelligence.
for education and for cognitive testing. Tests that
focus on a child’s potential for learning provide a - It enables parents and teachers to help
valuable alternative to standard intelligence tests children learn by making them more
that assess what the child has already learned aware of their mental processes and of
strategies to enhance them.
- His ideas have successfully been - Psychologists often use information
implemented in preschool children’s processing models to test, diagnose, and
curricula and show great promise for treat learning problems
promoting the development of self-
regulation, which affects later academic CONTEXTUAL
achievement
Contextual perspective – development can be
Information-processing approach understood only in its social context.
Contextualists see the individual, not as separate
- Approach to the study of cognitive entity interacting with the environment, but as an
development by observing and analyzing inseparable part of it
the mental processes involved in
perceiving and handling information - View of human development that sees
- Seeks to explain cognitive development individuals as inseparable from the social
by analyzing the processes involved in context
making sense of incoming information
and performing tasks effectively: such as Bioecological theory – identifies five levels of
processes as attention, memory, planning environmental influence, ranging from very
strategies, decision making and goal intimate to very broad
setting - Bronfenbrenner’s approach to
- This is not a single theory but a understanding processes and contexts of
framework that supports a wide range of human development that identifies five
theories and research levels of environmental influence
- Some information-processing theorists 1) Microsystem – the everyday environment
compare the brain to a computer: there are of home, school, work/neighborhood,
certain inputs (such as sensory including face to face relationships with
impressions) and certain outputs (such as spouse children, parents, friends,
behaviors). Theorists are interested in classmates, teachers,
what happens in the middle employers/colleagues
- Information processing researchers use o How does a new baby affect the
observational data to infer what goes on parent’s lives? How do male
between a stimulus and a response professor’s attitudes affect a
- Researchers have developed young woman’s performance in
computational models or flowcharts that college?
analyze the specific steps people go 2) Mesosystem – interlocking of various
through in gathering, storing, retrieving, microsystems. It may include linkages
and using information between home and school (such as parent-
- Theorists see people as active thinkers teacher conferences) or between the
about their world. They view family and the peer group (such as
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

relationships that develop among families generations at higher levels than

of children in a neighborhood play group) individuals who are less adaptively fit
3) Exosystem – consists of interaction - Adaptive characteristics, ultimately coded
between a microsystem and an outside in their genes, are selected to be passed
system or institution. Though the effects on, and the less adapted ones die out.
are indirect, they can still have a profound Over vast spans of time, these small,
impact on a child incremental changes add up and result in
4) Macrosystem – consists of overarching the evolution of new species
cultural patterns, such as dominant
beliefs, ideologies and economic and Evolved mechanisms – are behaviors that
political systems developed to solve problems in adapting to an
5) Chromosystem – the dimension of time: earlier environment
change or constancy in the person and the - Ex: sudden aversion to certain foods
environment. Time marches on, as it does, during pregnancy may originally have
changes occur. These can include changes evolved to protect the vulnerable fetus
in family composition, place of residence, from toxic substances. Such evolved
or parents’ employment, as well as larger mechanisms may survive even though
events such as ideology, political system, they no longer serve a useful purpose or
and economic cycles they may evolve further in response to
According to Bronfenbrenner, a person is not changing environmental conditions
merely an outcome of development but is also a - Although most evolved mechanisms are
shaper of it. People affect their development tailored to a specific problem, others,
through their biological and psychological such as human intelligence, are viewed as
characteristics, talents and skills, disabilities, and having evolved to help other people face a
temperament. wide range of problems

Bioecological approach helps us to see the Ethology – the study of the adaptive behaviors of
variety of influences on development. The animal species in natural contexts. The
contextual perspective also reminds us that assumption is that such behaviors evolved
findings about the development of people in one through natural selection.
culture or in one group within a culture (such as - Ethologists generally compare animals of
white, middle-class Americans) may not apply different species and seek to identify
equally to people in other societies or cultural which behaviors are universal and which
groups. are specific to a particular species or
EVOLUTIONARY/SOCIOBIOLOGICAL modifiable by experience
- Proximity-seeking – “staying close to
Evolutionary/sociobiological perspective – mommy”
focuses on evolutionary and biological bases of o This was first studied by Konrad
behavior. Influenced by Darwin’s theory of Lorenz in newborn ducklings, who
evolution, it draws in findings of anthropology, imprint on and follow the first
ecology, genetics, ethology, and evolutionary moving object they see until they
psychology to explain the adaptive, or survival, are old enough to survive on their
value of behavior for an individual or species own. Other animals also engage in
similar behavior, and over time it
According to Darwin, species have developed
became clear to researchers that
through the related processes of survival of the
this innate tendency was an
fittest and natural selection. Individuals with
important adaptive behavior
heritable traits fitted (better adapted) to their
environments survive and reproduce more than Why discuss animal research in human
those that are less fitted (less well adapted) development text?
- Through differential reproduction - Humans have also been subject to the
success, individuals with more adaptive forces of evolution and thus are likely to
characteristics pass on their traits to future also have innate adaptive behaviors. One
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

of the most important theories in Instead of looking for broad stages,

developmental psychology was strongly developmental scientists seek to discover what
influenced by the ethological approach specific kinds of behavior show continuity and
- John Bowlby drew upon this knowledge what processes are involved in each. Rather than
of proximity-seeking behavior in animals abrupt changes, a close examination of Piaget’s
of different species as he formed his ideas stages of cognitive development – reveals
about attachments in humans. He viewed gradual, sometimes almost imperceptible,
infants’ attachment to a caregiver as a advances that add up to a qualitative shift
mechanism that evolved to protect them
from predators - Most infants do not learn to walk
overnight, but rather by a series of
Evolutionary psychology – application of tentative movements that gradually
Darwinian principles of natural selection and become more self-assured
survival of the fittest to individual behavior - Even when observable behavior seems to
change suddenly, the biological or
- Ethologists focus on cross-species neurological processes that underlie that
comparisons, whereas evolutionary behavioral change may be continuous
psychology focuses on humans and apply - Influences are bidirectional: people
Darwinian principles to human behavior change their world even as it changes
- They believe that just as we have a heart them
specialized as a pump, lungs specialized
for air exchange, and thumbs specialized Theories of human development grow out of, and
for grasping, we also have aspects of are tested by research. Research questions and
human psychology specialized for solving methods often reflect a researcher’s particular
adaptive problems theoretical orientation.
- People unconsciously strive to perpetuate
their genetic legacy. They do so by In trying to understand how a child develops a
seeking to maximize their chances of sense of right and wrong:
having offspring who will survive to - A behaviorist would examine the way the
reproduce and pass down their parents respond to the child’s behavior:
characteristics what kinds of behavior they punish or
It is important to note that an evolutionary praise
perspective does not reduce human behavior to - A social learning theorist would focus on
the effects of genes seeking to reproduce imitation of moral examples, possibly in
themselves despite arguing that ultimately the stories or in movies
transmission of genes is what drives many - An information-processing researcher
evolved behaviors. might do a task analysis to identify the
steps a child goes through in determining
- Evolutionary psychologists place great the range of moral options available and
weight on the environment to which then in deciding which options to pursue
humans must adapt and the flexibility of - An evolutionary psychologist might be
the human mind interested in universal aspects of moral
development that serves adaptive
A Shifting Balance purposes and in how they affect social
One of the strengths of the scientific method is behavior
that as new data emerges, and as our RESEARCH METHODS
understanding evolves, theories shift and change.
Quantitative research – deals with objectively
- Freud, Erikson, and Piaget, favored measurable, numerical data that can answer
organismic/stage, approaches. The questions such as “how much?” or “how many”
mechanistic view gained support during and that is amenable to statistical analysis
the 1960s with the popularity of learning
theories. Today much attention is focused - Ex: fear and anxiety children feel before
on the biological and evolutionary bases surgery by asking them to answer
of behavior questions, using a numerical scale, about
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

how fearful or anxious they are. These The selection of quantitative or qualitative
data could then be compared to data for methods may depend on the purpose of the study,
children not facing surgery to determine how much is already known about the topic, and
whether a statistically significant the researcher’s theoretical orientation.
differences exists between the two groups
- Quantitative research often is done in
Scientific method – systems of established controlled laboratory settings; qualitative
principles and processes of scientific inquiry, research typically is conducted in
which includes identifying a problem to be everyday settings, such as the home or
studied, formulating a hypothesis to be tested by school
research, collecting data, analyzing the data, - Quantitative investigators seek to remain
forming tentative conclusions, and disseminating detached from study participants so as not
findings to influence the results; qualitative
investigators may get to know participants
Usual steps of scientific method: to better understand why they think, feel
1) Identification of a problem to be studied, and act as they do, and it is assumed they
often on the basis of a theory or of are interpreting the results through the
previous research lens of their own experiences and
2) Formulation of hypotheses to be tested by characteristics
research SAMPLING
3) Collection of data
4) Statistical analysis of the data to Sample – group of participants chosen to
determine whether they support the represent entire population under study
hypothesis
5) Formation of tentative conclusions - Sample should adequately represent the
6) Dissemination of findings so other population under study—that is, tis hold
observers can check, learn from, analyze, show relevant characteristics in the same
repeat and build on the results proportions as in the entire population.
Otherwise, the results cannot properly be
Qualitative research – focuses on the how and generalized, or applied to the population
why of behavior. It more commonly involves as the whole
nonnumerical (verbal or pictorial) descriptions of
participants’ subjective understanding, feelings, Random selection – selection of a sample in
or beliefs about their experiences such a way that each person in a population has
an equal and independent chance of being chosen
- Qualitative researchers might study the
same subjects’ areas as quantitative - Results of random selection is a random
researchers, but their perspective informs sample. A random sample, especially a
both how they collect data and how they larger one, is likely to represent the
interpret it population well. Unfortunately, a random
o If qualitative researchers were to sample of a large population is often
difficult to obtain. Instead, many studies
study children’s emotional state
use samples selected for convenience or
prior to surgery, they might do so
accessibility
with unstructured interviews or by
- The findings of such studies may not
asking children to draw their
apply to the population as a whole
perceptions of the upcoming
events In qualitative research, samples tend to be
- Goal: to understand the “story” of the focused rather than random. Participants may be
event chosen for their availability to communicate the
- It is more flexible and informal, and these nature of a certain experience, such as how it
researchers might be more interested in feels to go through puberty or menopause. A
gathering and exploring large amounts of carefully selected qualitative sample may have a
data to see what hypotheses emerge than fair degree of generalizability.
in running statistical analyses on
numerical data FORMS OF DATA COLLECTION
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Common ways of gathering data includes self- - Heavy reliance on self-reports may be
reports (verbal or visual reports by study unwise because people may not have
participants), observation of participants in thought about what they feel and think or
laboratory or natural settings, and behavioral or honestly may not know. They may forget
performance measures. when and how events took place or may
consciously or unconsciously distort their
- Researchers may use one or more of these replies to fit what is considered socially
data collection techniques in any research desirable
design. Qualitative research tends to rely
on self-reports, often in the form of in- How questions is asked, and by whom, can affect
depth, open-ended interviews or visual the answer. When questioned about potentially
techniques (such as asking participants to risky or socially disapproved behavior, such as
draw their impressions of an experience), sexual habits and drug use, respondents, may be
and on observation in natural settings. more candid in responding to a computerized
Quantitative research typically uses survey than to a paper-and pencil survey
standardized, structured methods
involving numerical measurements of Naturalistic and Laboratory Observation
behavior or performance Naturalistic observation – researchers look at
Self-reports: Diaries, Visual Techniques, people in real-life settings. The researchers do
Interviews and Questionnaires not try to alter behavior or the environment; they
simply record what they see
- Simplest form of self-report is a diary or
log Laboratory observation – researchers observe
- in studying young children, parental self- and record behavior in a controlled environment,
reports—diaries, journals, interviews, or such as a laboratory
questionnaires—are commonly used, By observing all participants under the same
often together with other methods, such as conditions, investigators can more clearly
videotaping or recording identify any differences in behavior not
Visual representation techniques—asking attributable to the environment.
participants to draw or paint to provide maps or Both kinds of observation can provide valuable
graphs that illuminate their experience—can descriptions of behavior, but they have
avoid reliance on verbal skills. limitations:
Telephone interview – researchers ask questions  They do not explain why people behave
about attitudes, opinions or behavior as they do, though the observers may
Structured interview – each participant is asked suggest interpretations
the same set of questions  An observer’s presence can later
behavior. When people know they are
Open-ended interview – more flexible; the being watched, they may act differently
interviewer can vary the topics and order of  There is a risk of observer’s bias: the
questions and ask follow-up questions based on researcher’s tendency to interpret data to
the responses. To reach more people and to fit expectations or to emphasize some
protect their privacy, researchers sometimes aspects and minimize others
distribute a printed or online questionnaire,
which participants fill out and return Behavioral and Performance Measures

By questioning a large number of people, For qualitative research, investigators typically

investigators can get a broad picture—at least of use more objects measures of behavior or
what the respondents say they believe or do or performance instead of, or in addition to, self-
did. reports or observation. Tests and other behavioral
and neuropsychological measures may be sued to
- People willing to participate in interviews assess abilities, skills, knowledge, competencies,
or fill out questionnaires may not or psychological responses, such as heart rate and
accurately represent the population as a brain activity.
whole
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

- Although these measures are less - Qualitative data may be analyzed

subjective than self-reports or personal quantitatively
observation, such factors as fatigue and - Quantitative data may be illuminated by
self-confidence can affect results qualitative research
Such tests (intelligence tests, compare BASIC RESEARCH DESIGNS
performance with that of other test-takers) can be
meaningful and useful only if they are both valid Case studies
(the tests measure the abilities they claim to - Study of an individual
measure) and reliable (the results are reasonably - Case studies also may use behavioral or
consistent from one time to another). To avoid physiological measures and biographical,
bias, tests must be standardized, that is, given and autobiographical, or documentary
scored by the same methods and criteria for all materials
test-takers. - These are particularly useful when
- When measuring a characteristic such as studying something relatively rare, when
intelligence, it is important to define it simply is not possible to find a large
exactly what is to be measured in a way enough group of people with the
that other researchers will understand so characteristic in question to conduct a
that they can repeat the experiment and traditional laboratory study
comment on the results - This offers useful, in-depth information.
They can explore sources of behavior and
Operational definition – a definition stated can test treatments, and they suggest
solely in terms of the operations used to measure directions for further research
a phenomenon - It has short comings. In using case
studies, we learn much about the
- Some people may disagree with this development of a single person, but not
definition, but no one can reasonably how the information applies to people in
claim that it is not clear general. Furthermore, case studies cannot
Cognitive neuroscience – linking our explain behavior with certainty or make
understanding of cognitive functioning with what strong causal statements because there is
happens in the brain no way to test their conclusions

EVALUATING QUANTITATIVE AND Ethnographic studies

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH - Seek to describe the pattern of
- Quantitative research based on the relationships, customs, beliefs,
scientific method, qualitative research has technology, arts and traditions that make
both strengths and limitations up a society’s way of life
- Qualitative research can examine a - A case study of culture; ethnographic
question in great depth and detail, and the research can be qualitative, quantitative or
research framework can readily be revised both
in the light of new data. Findings of - Participation observation – uses a
qualitative research can be a rich source combination of methods, including
of insights into attitudes and behaviors informal, unstructured interviewing
- Qualitative research tends to be less o This is a form of naturalistic
rigorous and more subject to bias than observation in which researchers
quantitative research. Because samples live or participate in the societies
are often small and usually not random, or smaller groups they observer,
results are less generalizable and as anthropologists often do for
replicable than the results of quantitative long periods of time
research. The large volume of data makes - Ethnographers’ involvement in the events
analysis and interpretation time- or societies they are observing, their
consuming, and the quality of the findings findings are especially open to observer
and conclusions depend greatly on the bias. On the positive side, ethnographic
skills of the researcher
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

research can help overcome cultural causes aggression; we can conclude only that the
biases in theory and research two variables are related.
- Ethnography demonstrates the error of
assuming that principles developed from - It is possible that the causation goes the
research in Western cultures are other way: aggressive behavior may lead
universally applicable children to watch more violent programs.
Or a third variable – perhaps an inborn
Correlational studies predisposition toward aggressiveness or a
violent living environment – may cause a
- Seeks to determine whether a correlation, child both to watch violent programs and
or statistical relationship, exists between to act aggressively
variables, phenomena that change or vary - We cannot be sure that schooling protects
among people or can be varied for against dementia; it may be that other
purpose of research variables, such as socioeconomic status,
- Correlations are expressed in terms of might explain both lower levels of
direction (positive or negative) and schooling and higher levels of dementia
magnitude (degree) - Only way to show with certainty that one
- Two variables that are correlated variable cause another is through
positively increase or decrease together. experimentation—a method that, when
Studies show a positive/direct, correlation studying human beings, is not always
between televised violence and possible for practical or ethical reasons
aggression
o Children who watch more violent Experiments – rigorously controlled, replicable
television tend to fight more than procedure in which the researcher manipulates
children who watch less violent variables to assess the effect of one on the other
television tend to fight more than
- Scientific experiments must be conducted
children who watch less violent
and reported in such a way that another
television. Two variables have a
experimenter can replicate them, that is,
negative/inverse, correlation if, as
repeat them in exactly the same way with
one increases, the other decreases
different participants to verify the results
o Less education, the more dementia
and conclusions
- Perfect correlations are rare. The closer a
correlation comes to +1.0 or -1.0, the Groups and variables
stronger the relationship, either positive
or negative. A correlation of zero means Experimental group – group receiving the
that the variable in relation to another treatment under study
o On the basis of the positive - Phenomenon the researcher wants to
correlation between watching tv study; the effect of the treatment will be
violence and aggression, we can measured one or more times to find out
predict that children who watch what changes, if any, it caused
violent shows are more likely to
gent into fights than children who Control group – group of people, similar to
do not watch such shows. The those in the experimental group, who do not
greater the magnitude of the receive the treatment under study
correlation between the two - To ensure objectivity, some experiments,
variables, the greater the ability to particularly in medical research, use
predict from the other double-blind procedure, in which neither
Although strong correlation suggests possible participants nor experimenters know who
cause and effect relationships, these are merely is receiving the treatment and who is
hypotheses and need to be examined and tested instead receiving an inert placebo
critically. We cannot be sure from a positive Independent variable – condition over which
correlation between televised violence and the experimenter has direct control
aggressiveness that watching televised violence
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Dependent variable – the condition that may or —one group were exposed, and another
may not change as a result of changes in the group were not
independent variable - A natural experiment is actually a
correlational study because controlled
- In an experiment, a researcher manipulation of variables and random
manipulates the independent variable to assignment to treatment groups are not
see how changes in it will affect the possible
dependent variable. The hypothesis for a
study state how a researcher thinks the Controlled experiments have two important
independent variable affects the advantages over other research designs: they can
dependent variable establish cause-and-effect relationships, and they
permit replication. However, such experiments
Random assignment – assignment of can be too artificial and too narrowly focused. In
participants in an experiment to groups in such a recent decades, many researchers have
way that each person has an equal chance of concentrated less on laboratory experimentation
being placed in any group or have supplemented it with a wider array of
Laboratory, field and natural experiments methods

Laboratory experiment DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS

- Best for determining cause and effect; it Primary goals of developmental research is to
generally consists of asking participants study change over time, and developmental
to visit a laboratory where they are psychologists have developed a variety of
subjects to conditions manipulated by the methods to do so.
experimenter (ex: attentional training for Cross-sectional study – designed to assess age-
babies for better performance) related differences, in which people of different
- The tight control of laboratory study ages are assessed on one occasion
allows researchers to be more certain that
their independent variable caused change - Children of different ages are assessed at
in their dependent variable; however, one point in time. The children are
because of the artificiality of the matched on other important
laboratory experience, the results may be characteristics and their ages are varied
less generalizable to real life. People may - The research concluded that girls’
not act as they typically would preference for the color pink was learned
over time, and they theorized that it was
Field experiment related to the acquisition of knowledge
- Controlled study conducted in an about gender
everyday setting, such as a home or - Problem with this type of study is that we
school. Variables can still be manipulated, cannot know whether the 5 yr. olds
so causal claims can still be investigated preference for certain colors when they
- Because the experiments occur in the real were under the age of 2 years was the
world, there is more confidence that the same as that of the current babies in the
behaviors that are seen are generalizable study. We cannot be certain that this is a
to natural behaviors. However, developmental change rather than merely
researchers have less control over events a difference in formative experiences for
that may occur—the real world is often the two age groups
messy, and things we do not always go as Longitudinal study – designed to assess to age
planned changes in a sample over time
Natural experiment - Only way to know whether change occurs
- Also called a quasi-experiment, may with age is to conduct a longitudinal study
provide a way of studying certain events. of particular person or group
A natural experiment compares people - Researchers study the same person or
who have been accidentally “assigned” to group of people over time, sometimes
separate groups by circumstances of life years apart
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

- Oakland Growth Study was a picture of development than would be possible

groundbreaking longitudinal study of the with either designs alone.
physical, intellectual, and social
development; the societal disruption of - Major drawbacks of sequential studies
the Great Depression seemed to relate to time, effort, and complexity. It
negatively affect family processes and requires a large number of participants
child development and collection and analysis of huge
- Care must be taken in the interpretation of amounts of data over a period of years.
longitudinal research Interpreting these findings and
conclusions can demand a high degree of
Both designs have strengths and weaknesses. sophistication.
- Cross-sectional design is fast and also ETHICS OF RESEARCH
makes it a more economical choice. It
does not need to consider attrition Institutional review boards at colleges,
(people dropping out of the study) or universities, and other institutions review
repeated testing (can produce practice proposed research from ethical standpoint.
effects) Guidelines of the APA cover such issues as
- Cross-sectional design uses group informed consent (consent freely given with full
averages, so individual differences and knowledge of what the research entails),
trajectories may be obscured avoidance of deception, protection of participants
- The results can be affected by differing from harm and loss of dignity, guarantee of
experiences of people born at different privacy and confidentiality, the right to decline or
times, as previously explained withdraw from an experiment any time, and the
responsibility of investigators to correct any
Longitudinal research shows a different and undesirable effects, such as anxiety or shame.
complementary set of strengths and weaknesses.
Researchers can track individual patterns of In resolving ethical dilemmas, researchers should
continuity and change. This makes longitudinal be guided by three principles.
studies more time-consuming and expensive than 1) Beneficence – obligation to maximize
cross-sectional studies. potential benefits to participants and to
- Repeated testing of participants can result minimize potential harm
in practice effects 2) Respect – for participants’ autonomy and
- Attrition can be problematic in protection of those who are unable to
longitudinal research as well because it exercise their own judgement
tends to be non-random, which can 3) Justice – the inclusion of diverse groups
introduce a positive bias to the study. together with sensitivity to any special
Those who stay with the study tends to impact the research may have on them
have more chaotic lives and worse overall Society for Research in Child Development has
outcomes developed standards for age-appropriate
- Practical issues, such as turnover in treatment of children in research, covering such
research personnel, loss of funding, or the principles as avoidance of physical or
development of new measures or psychological harm, obtaining the child’s assent
methodologies, can introduce potential as well as a parent’s or guardian’s informed
problems with data collection consent, and responsibility to follow up on any
Sequential study – design that combines cross- information that could jeopardize the child’s
sectional and longitudinal techniques well-being.

Sequential designs track people of different ages

(like cross-sectional designs) over time (like
longitudinal designs). The combination of cross-
sectional and longitudinal designs allows
researchers to separate age-related changes from
cohort effects, and provides a more complete