AP Psychology. Philosophers John Locke - “tabula rasa” Jean-Jacques Rousseau – nature should guide growth Early Psychologists Arnold Gesell.

AP Psychology

Philosophers John Locke - “tabula rasa” Jean-Jacques Rousseau – nature should guide growth

Early Psychologists Arnold Gesell – maturation – abilities unfold with age –

growth occurs on its own on a predetermined timeline, without the aid of the environment

John B. Watson – environment was key to development Jean Piaget – nature & nurture are inseparable

• Germinal stage – zygote (new cell created by fertilization) duplicates into many cells – lasts 2 weeks

• Embryonic stage – embryo is formed – basic body plan is formed

• Fetal stage – begins after 2 months• By end of 7th month, organ systems are functional

• Role of the placenta – baby’s “lifeline” • Examples of teratogens – any agent that may

harm the development of the fetus• Drugs such as cocaine• Alcohol and fetal alcohol syndrome• Smoking

Involuntary, unlearned motor behaviors Examples of observed reflexes:

Grasping Rooting Sucking Babinski Swallowing Stepping Moro

Most disappear after first 3-4 months.

• Neural networks grow increasingly complex and more efficient.

• Early maturation of the cerebellum – allows for infants to display associative abilities

• Neurological development of the temporal lobe – babies 6-12 mos can remember and imitate an action or recognize a picture

• Neurological development in the frontal cortex – occurs later in childhood – higher cognitive functions (reasoning)

• Cognitive development proceeds through series of distinct periods or stages• Entering each stage requires a qualitative change from

previous stage.

• Schemas are the building blocks of intellectual development (generalizations formed as people experience the world).• Constructed as child adapts to the environment.

• Schema development guided by two complimentary processes:• Assimilation – info about a new object fits into existing schemas

• Accommodation – info about the new object forces a change or modification of existing schema – the modification of existing schema into a new one

• Birth-2 years• Explores world through senses• Sees an object and reaches for it• Object permanence – by one year of age, a child

realizes that objects still exist although the object is no longer seen

• Separation anxiety – cries when parent is no longer present

2-7 years Egocentrism – inability to see the world through

another’s perspective – how things look to them is how they look to everyone else

Conservation – understand that despite an apparent change in size/shape/length, the substance remains constant – this occurs at the end of the preoperational stage

Animism – the belief that inanimate objects share human characteristics, such as feelings

Artificialism – the belief that events of nature are man-made

Transductive logic – assumes that characteristics of a specific idea can be applied to a similar idea (birds fly, airplanes fly, then birds must be airplanes)

Starts to represent the world through language (symbols)

• 7-adolescence• Seriation – the process of putting objects into a

series (smallest to largest) or putting objects that share similar characteristics into the same category

• Reversibilitiy – understanding that concepts can be reversed and remain the same (think math)

• Inductive logic – draws conclusions from a number of specific facts

• Understands conservation

• Adolescence (12 and up)• Abstract thinking – Can manipulate objects and contrast

ideas without actually seeing them• Can form hypotheses• Deductive logic – Can derive specific facts from a

generalization• Metacognition – Can trace their own thought process• Personal Fable – an individual’s belief that he or she is

invincible and will not be harmed in any instance – believes that ideas and opinions are unique

• Imaginary Audience – the belief that everyone is looking at you – you are on a stage for everyone to watch

• Was correct in pointing out that there are shifts with age in children’s thinking & not just passive recipients of input from the environment.

• Stage changes are less consistent and global than Piaget suggested.

• Knowledge and mental strategies develop at different ages in different areas.

• Cognitive development as rising and falling “waves.”

• A continuous alternative to Piaget’s stage theory• Our abilities to memorize, interpret, and perceive

gradually develop as we age rather than developing at distinct stages.• Focus on gradual increases in children’s mental

capabilities.• Information-processing skills improve with age• Memory improves with age• Attention span increases as children learn to filter out

irrelevant information

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT

• Lev Vygotsky focused on the social world of people – human mind is a product of cultural history

• Child’s mind grows through interaction with other minds – social routines (family dinners, etc)

• Children learn from scripts – mental representations of sequences in which activities occur (ie: mail)

• Zone of Proximal Development – the number of tasks a child can complete with/without the aid of someone older

• Cognitive abilities also influenced by language• Poor nutrition, low SES, and neglect can hinder a

child’s development• Vygotsky v. Piaget

The story of Genie:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjZolHCrC8E

• Individual style of expressing needs and emotions.• biologically and genetically based

• Temperament Patterns• Easy babies• Difficult babies• Slow-to-warm-up babies

• Influenced by both nature and nurture

• Attachment – a strong bond between the primary caregiver(s) and the baby

• Bowlby: Developing a strong attachment is important – observed effects of orphaned children as a result of WWII

• Harry Harlow – sought to prove that attachment was more about just food and was about the physical comfort the caretaker provided as well.• Contact comfort

Harlow’s Surrogate Mother Experiments Monkeys preferred

contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother

Infant monkeys isolated at birth were impaired socially, emotionally, & physically

• Mary Ainsworth – studied attachment using the “Strange Situation” – natural coming and going of parents is simulated

• Most infants form a secure attachment – use mother as a home base

• Insecure Attachment• Avoidant – avoids or ignores mother• Ambivalent – upset when mother leaves and

angry when she comes back• Disorganized – inconsistent, disturbed

• Nature of attachment can have long-term and far-reaching effects.

ATTACHMENT

• Konrad Lorenz• How is attachment formed?• Critical period – a time frame during which a stimulus

must be experienced in order for a certain stage of development to be achieved

• Imprinting – the eliciting of behavior due to exposure of a certain stimulus, which takes place during the critical period

• Lorenz’s experiment with geese

• Saw personality development as following a series of 8 psychosocial crises, each building on earlier ones. • How, and how well, one resolves each crisis adds to

emotional development• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpE18fKhAeY • Memorize Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development!• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2HRFhMFMlg

ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

First Year Trust vs. Mistrust

Second YearAutonomy vs.

Shame and Doubt

Third – Fifth Year Initiative vs. Guilt

Sixth year – Puberty Industry vs. Inferiority

Adolescence Identify vs. Role Confusion

Early Adulthood Intimacy vs. Isolation

Middle Age Generativity vs. Stagnation

Old age Ego Integrity vs. Despair

• Socialization shaped by cultural values.• Distinct European-American parenting styles:

• Authoritarian – strict, punitive, unsympathetic• Permissive – complete freedom, little discipline• Authoritative – reason with their children, give greater

responsibility with age

• Related to young children’s social and emotional development.• Children of authoritarian parents tend to be unfriendly,

distrustful, and withdrawn – tend to give orders, threats – more likely to express guilt or blame

• Children of permissive parents tend to be immature, dependent, and unhappy

• Children of authoritative parents tend to be friendly, cooperative, and responsible

• Based on correlational evidence – can’t show causation

• How children perceive the discipline received may be what is influential.

• Correlations between parenting style and children’s behavior not terribly large.

• No universally “best” style of parenting.

• General patterns of work, appearance, and behavior associated with being a man or woman.

• Influences on development of gender roles:• Biological factors• Social factors• Cognitive factors

• Children are influenced by gender schemas – generalizations they develop about boys and girls

• Preconventional Level: Stages 1 & 2• Moral judgments tend to be selfish.

• Conventional Level: Stages 3 & 4• Morality consists of following rules and conventions.

• Postconventional Level: Stages 5 & 6• Moral judgments based on personal standards or

universal principles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7pQJ0ptjk0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5czp9S4u26M

CRITICISMS OF KOHLBERG

• Carol Gilligan – Kohlberg developed the model based on the responses of boys

• Boys and girls do not come to moral conclusions in the same way

• Boys – have a more absolute view of what is moral

• Girls – pay more attention to situational factors – want to know more about the situation and relationships of people before making a decisionhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIzpBuWzkBU

• Early Adulthood: Ages 20-39• Middle Adulthood: Ages 40-65• Late Adulthood: Ages 65+

• Early Adulthood: Important cognitive abilities improve.• Thought becomes more complex and adaptive.• Thinking becomes dialectical.

• Middle Adulthood: Physical changes slowly emerge.• Loss of sensory sharpness is common.

• Late Adulthood: Declines in physical functioning.• Intellectual abilities decline noticeably.

• Older people have the ability to think deeply and wisely about life.• associated with high levels of wisdom.

• Loss of intellectual abilities is slow.• Memory problems largely confined to episodic, not

semantic memory.

• Early adulthood associated with Erikson’s intimacy vs. isolation stage• Nature of relationships influenced by nature of earlier

relationships with parents.

• Major changes associated with becoming parents.

• Around age 40, people go through a midlife transition.

• A time of satisfaction and happiness often follows midlife transition.

• More likely to strive for generativity goals.• Erikson’s crisis of generativity

• Impact of becoming a grandparent.

• Even when 65-75, most think of self as middle-aged, not old.

• On average, life satisfaction, well-being, and self-esteem remains the same.

• Occupational Changes• Develop Coping Strategies• Fewer, but more fulfilling social interactions.

• With old age, increased awareness that death is approaching.• May experience a terminal drop.

• Erikson’s Crisis of Integrity vs. Despair• Impending death does not necessarily result in

despair or depression.