Development Through the Lifespan

Developmental Psychology:Studies physical, cognitive and social changes through

the life span.

Issue Details

Nature/NurtureHow do genetic inheritance (our nature) and experience

(the nurture we receive) influence our behavior?

Continuity/StagesIs development a gradual, continuous process or a

sequence of separate stages?

Stability/ChangeDo our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as

we age.

Prenatal Development and the Newborn

From zygote to birth, physical development progresses in an orderly

sequence.

Infancy & Childhood Physical Development

• You are born with the most brain cells you would ever have!

• Neural networks multiply as we grow & gain abilities

• Association areas for thinking, memory, and language are last areas to develop

• Maturation - gradual unfolding of genetically-programmed physical changes

Infant ReflexesRooting reflex

Babinski reflex

Moro reflex

Grasping reflex

Habituation

Infants & Habituation• Infants

look longer at novel stimulus

• Look less at familiar stimuli

Motor Development

• Experience has little effect on motor development; it is mostly due to our genes & maturation

Maturation & Infant Memory• Infantile amnesia– Conscious memory at age

3 ½ (Bauer, 2002)• As we develop language, the

way in which we organize memories change.

• A 5-year-old has a sense of self and an increased long-term memory, thus organization of memory is different from 3-4 years.

Infants do show evidence of some memory.(Rovee-Collier)

Temperament• Temperament = infant’s individual style &

frequency of expressing needs/emotions• Difficult babies• Emotional, difficulty in adapting to new

situations, easily fussy/reactive to stimuli (noise, temperature, jostling, etc.)

• Easy babies• Less reactive, able to adapt to situational

changes• Slow-to-warm up babies• Take time to warm up to new

environments/people

Attachment & Familiarity• Familiarity forms during critical period &

leads to attachment• Imprinting forms attachment during critical

period in early life• Konrad Lorenz (1937)• Goslings were imprinted to him

because he was the first being they knew

• Attachment is instinctual in animals

Infants & Social Development

• Attachment – bond between infant & caregiver

• Stranger anxiety @ 8 months (Bowlby)• Showing anxiety towards someone new

means they have an attachment to someone familiar (care-giver)

Attachment & Body Contact• Harry Harlow (1971)• Attachment forms through comfort,

contact – NOT merely providing nourishment

Deprivation of AttachmentWhat happens when circumstances prevent a

child from forming attachments?In such circumstances children become:1. Withdrawn2. Frightened3. Unable to develop

speech

Harlow’s studies showed that monkeys experience great anxiety if their terry-cloth

mother is removed.

Mary Ainsworth & Strange SituationEpisode Event Attachment Behavior

1 Caregiver/child enter room None

2 Caregiver/child alone Caregiver as secure base, child explores environment

3 Stranger enters, talks to parent, approaches child

Reaction to stranger

4 1st Separation Episode – child & stranger alone

Separation distress

5 1st Reunion Episode – parent comforts & leaves

Reunion reaction

6 2nd Separation Episode – Child alone

Distress

7 2nd S.E. – Stranger enters Stranger comfort

8 2nd Reunion - Caregiver returns Reunion reaction

Ainsworth’s Types of Attachment

• Secure (60%) – Play & explore happily on their own– Distressed when caregiver leaves– Readily greets caregiver upon return

• Insecure (30%) – Less likely to explore– Avoid or ignore caregiver (avoidant)– Very upset when caregiver leaves, but

alternate between greeting/rejecting upon their return (ambivalent)

• Disorganized

Temperament & Attachment• Sensitive parents

have securely attached infants

• Heredity (Rothbart, 2007)• Nurturing, sensitive

parent (Van den Boom, 1990, 1995)

• Even children of abusive parents develop attachment

ReferencesKaplan, H. Development (PPT file). Retrieved from AP Psychology Commune web Site: http://www.appsychology.com

Myers, D.G. (2011). Myers’ psychology for AP. Holland, MI: Worth Publishers.