The Beginnings of Life Nature and Nurture; Physical, Social, and Cognitive Development Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14 th ed.
The Beginnings of Life
Nature and Nurture; Physical, Social, and Cognitive Development
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
The Beginnings of Life
Capacio, Krista Kae T. & Larrazabal, Ma. Amale Y.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Human beings enter the world with an inborn store of knowledge and understanding of
reality.
Could be accessed through careful reasoning and introspection.
Knowledge is acquired through experiences and
interactions with the world.
JOHN LOCKE
Nature and Nurture
17th Century
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
For short,
HEREDITY
ENVIRONMENT
Nature Nurture
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
JOHN LOCKE
The mind of a newborn infant is a tabula rasa (blank state).
Knowledge is provided entirely by experience; there is no built-in knowledge.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
CHARLES DARWIN
19th Century
CHARLES DARWINTheory of Evolution
19th Century
CHARLES DARWINTheory of Evolution
HEREDITY
19th Century
BEHAVIORISM20th
Century
John B. Watson
B.F. Skinner
Human nature is completely malleable.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in, and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might select—doctor,
lawyer, artist, merchant chief, and yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” (1930)
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Today, most psychologists agree not only
that both nature and nurture play important
roles but also that they interact
continuously to guide development.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
PHYSICAL Development
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Newborn
3x larger brain
but with few connections3 years100 Billion Neurons
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
• Left brain hemisphere develops more fully which may explain why children
acquire language quickly.
• Handedness—the preference for using one hand
Brain Development
2-6 years
Middle childhood
Brain Developmentinfluenced by
Genetic
factors Stimulation or deprivation a child receives
from the environment
in early years.
fetal behavior
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Genesprogram us.
maturationA process that expresses genetically
determined characteristics.
A determined sequence of growth or change that is relatively independent
of external events.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
3 months of pregnancy
If the mother contracts rubella, damage
depends on which organ system was developing
during the time of infection
Fetal behavior
Motor Development
kicking, turning, etc.
Follows an orderly sequence depending on stage growth.
Organ development
After birth
Illustrates the interaction between genetically
programmed maturation and environmental influences.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
William James
A newborn sees the world a
buzzing, blooming confusion.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
NewbornCapacities
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Visionlimited focusnearsighted
HearingAble to
distinguish different sounds.
Proof: head-turning response
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Taste and Smell
• Babies prefer sweet-tasting liquids over others.• Babies prefer breast milk over others.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Learning and Memory
• 3-month-old babies already have good memories.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Motor Skills
Gross motor skills
Fine motor skills
Involve the use of large bodily movements.
Involve the use of small bodily movements.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Cognitive Developmentin Childhood
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Psychological thinking about children’s
cognitive development is dominated by
two perspectives.
Biological Maturation
Environmen-tal-learning perspective
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
SchemasTheories about how the physical and social worlds operates
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Piaget’s 4 Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor stage
Preoperational
stage
Stage of Concrete
Operations Stage of Formal
Operations
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Sensorimotor Stage• First 2 years• Relationship between actions and consequences
• Concept of themselves as separate form the external world
object permanence
Awareness that an object continues to exist when it is not present.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Preoperational Stage• 1 ½ - 2 years• Use symbols• Does not comprehend rules and regulations or operations
• Dominated by visual impressions
egocentrismBelief that everyone sees things the way you do.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Operational Stages
• Ages between 7 & 12• Conservation concept• Logical manipulation• Form mental representations of a series of actions
Although children are using abstract terms, they are doing so in relation to concrete objects—objects to which they have direct
sensory access.
Concrete Operational Stage
Formal Operational StageThe person is able to reason in purely
symbolic terms.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Alternatives to Piaget’s Theory
Information-Processing Approaches
Knowledge-Acquisition Approaches
Sociocultural Approaches
Information-processing skills—specific skills at gathering and analyzing information from the environment.
Knowledge—understanding of how facts in a particular domain are organized.
Culture can influence children’s development in several ways.
Piaget’s theory may be invalid because such factors may have affected child’s response.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Theory of Mind• Much of our behavior toward other people is based on our understanding of what they are thinking.
metacognition
Thinking about thinking.which is generally
HOW DOES A CHILD’S THEORY OF MIND DEVELOP?
3 steps
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
At 2, children have an understanding of simple desires, emotions, and perceptual experiences but do not understand that people mentally represent both objects and their own desires and beliefs.
1At 3, children begin to talk about beliefs and thoughts as well as desires, and seem to understand that beliefs can be false and true. Yet, they continue to explain their own actions and others by appealing to desires rather than beliefs.
2
At 4, children begin to understand that people’s thoughts and beliefs affect their behaviors and that people can have beliefs that simply do not reflect reality.
3Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Overall level of cognitive development determines ones
MORAL JUDGEMENTChildren’s understanding of moral rules and social
conventions
He proposed that children’s understanding of rules develops in a series of 4 stages:
Children have no collective purpose.
Children act more by the consequence rather than by the intentions behind an action.
21
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Children give weigh to subjective consideration. 3Youngsters show interest in generating rules to deal even with situations they never encountered. Ideological mode of moral reasoning.
4
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Personality and SocialDevelopment
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
TEMPERAMENTMood-related personality characteristics.
Research emphasizes that continuity or discontinuity of temperament is a function of the interaction between the child’s genotype
(inherited characteristic) and the environment.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
EARLY SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Child smiles Parent encouraged
Parent-child bond:
Stranger Anxiety8
months
Separation Anxiety14 -18
months
Secure3years
This is because of • Memory
capacity• Autonomy
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
ATTACHMENTAn infant’s tendency to seek closeness to particular people and to feel more secure in their presence.
A caregiver’s sensitive responsiveness to baby’s needs produces secure attachment.
A caregiver’s response is not the major cause of attachment behaviors.
Attachment patterns may reflect this interaction between baby’s temperament and parent’s responsiveness.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
The mother’s behavior appears to be the most important factor in establishing secure attachment.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
LATER DEVELOPMENT
Securely attached babies mostly turned out to be enthusiastic, positive, and non-problematic. They are better equipped to cope with new experience.
Insecurely attached babies grew frustrated, angry, and negative; they easily give up given difficulties.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
EFFECTS OF DAY CARE
Children are not significantly affected by nonmaternal care.
Good quality day care can reduce the effects of growing up in a highly stressed home life.
Low quality day care however, may lead to negative effects on a child.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
GENDER IDENTITYA firm sense of oneself as either male or female
SEX TYPINGAcquisition of behavioral characteristics that a culture considers apporpirate to ones sex.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
But are gender identity and sex typing simply
the product of cultural prescriptions and
expectations, or a are they partly a product
of “natural” development???
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Psychoanalytic Theory
Sigmund Freud
“Beginning of the Phallic Stage of Psychosexual Development”
3years
• Children are aware of their reproductive organ.
• They develop sexual feelings to the opposite
sex.
• Oedipal Effect—they feel jealous of their
same sex parent
• Later on diminishes as child wants to become
that of the same sex parent—sex typing. Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Social Learning TheorySex typing is because of the way a sex is treated in a culture.
• Children themselves may construct and enforce their own exaggerated version of society’s gender rules.
• Development patterns to the child’s view of gender rules.
Contradictions
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Cognitive-Developmental TheoryProposes that gender identity plays a critical role in sex typing.
• Children are able to identify their own
sex in a photo.
• Able to identify sex of a stereotypically
dressed man or woman in a photo but
cannot predict another child’s toy
preference.
2years
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
• Children are able to separate photos
of boys and girls but do not know if
they will either become a mother of a
father.
3years
The understanding that a person’s sex remains
the same despite changes in age and
appearance.
Gender Constancy
Children have strong and clear preference for
activities deemed appropriate for their sex long
before they attain gender constancy.
Contradiction
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Gender-Schema TheoryA set of beliefs about gender.
• Children become sex-typed because sex is a major
focus around which their culture chooses to
organize its view of reality.
• It implies that if the culture becomes less sex
typed, children will be less sex typed in their
behavior and self-concept.
Source: Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
SOURCES
Main source:
Atkinson & Hilgard’s
Introduction to Psychology 14th ed.
Google ™
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