Download Life Span Development – Main Ideas Notes

Life Span Development
Modules 4-6
Physical Changes
Smoking and Birth Weight
Neural Development
Motor Development
Language:
Acquisition
& Critical Periods
Noam Chomsky
 nature
argument children have a
predisposition to learn
language
a
person’s brain is hardwired to learn vocabulary
and the rules of grammar
B.F. Skinner
 nurture
argument believed language was the
result of learning through:
1.
2.
3.
association: linking certain
sounds with certain people
or objects
imitation
rewards
“I speak, therefore I think.”
Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

proposed by Benjamin
Whorf

one’s language determines
what we can be aware of or
think about (language
governs thinking)

example: shades of white
(snow)
Critical Period & Language

critical period – limited
time when an event can
occur; may be difficult,
less successful, or
impossible to develop it
later

language critical period:
around age 10

example: Genie case
(video clip)
Cognitive Development
Piaget’s Cognitive Stages
pages 63-68
Cognition
 all
mental activities
associated with
thinking, knowing, &
remembering
 children
think
differently than adults
Jean Piaget
 developmental
psychologist
 proposed
first theory of the
development of thinking &
reasoning (four stages)
 the
way children think &
solve problems depends on
their stage of development
Schemas
 Concepts
or mental frameworks that help people
organize & interpret information & experiences
 Examples: dog, school, dating
How do you create schemas?
1.
Assimilation
2.
Accommodation
Assimilation
 interpret
a new experience
within the context of
existing schemas
 Example:
inviting someone
out for a date
Accommodation
 adapt
(change) one’s current schemas to
incorporate new information
Assimilation/Accommodation
Assimilation/Accommodation
Assimilation/Accommodation
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
Stage
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete
Operations
Formal
Operations
Age
Range
Description
Key
Developmental
Events
1) Sensorimotor Stage
 birth
– 2 years
 child
gathers information about world
through senses & motor functions (grasping,
touching)
 key
developmental event: object permanence
Object Permanence
 awareness
that things
continue to exist even when
they cannot be sensed
between 8 – 10
months & is evidence of a
working memory
 Develops
2) Preoperational Stage
 age
2 to 6 – 7
 can
understand language but does not think
logically, egocentric in thought, doesn’t fully
understand cause-and-effect connections
 key
developmental events: lack conservation,
develop language, pretend play
Egocentrism
 inability
to take another’s point of view &
understand their perspective
Conservation Task 1
Conservation
 understanding
that properties (mass, volume,
numbers) remain the same even if you change
an object’s form
Conservation
Conservation
Conservation
Types of Conservation Tasks
3) Concrete Operational Stage
7 – 11
 learn to think logically, can perform simple math
operations & trial-and-error problem-solving
strategies, difficulty with hypothetical scenarios
 key developmental events: conservation
 age
4) Formal Operational Stage
 age
12 – adulthood
 can
think logically and in the abstract, can solve
hypothetical problems (what if…. problems), can
handle moral & ethical dilemmas
 key
developmental events: abstract logic, mature
moral reasoning
Examples of Formal Operational Thought

Whenever Emily goes to school, Meredith
also goes to school. Emily went to school.
What can you say about Meredith?

“What would happen if there was no sun?”
Social Development in Infancy &
Childhood: Attachment
pages 68 - 71
Attachment

emotional tie with another
person; demonstrated by
seeking closeness to
caregiver

3 Elements of Attachment:
1.
2.
3.
body contact
familiarity
responsiveness
Body Contact - Harry Harlow Study

researched attachment in infant
monkeys

monkeys had to choose between:


cloth mother with no food
wire mother that provided food
Which do you think they choose?
Harry Harlow
 Result:
monkeys
spent most of their
time by the cloth
mother
Familiarity
 Sense
of contentment with
what/who you already know
 Infants
are familiar w/
parents and caregivers
anxiety – develops
by around 8 months
 Stranger
Social Development in
Adolescence
page 88 - 89
Erik Erikson

constructed an 8-stage theory
of psychosocial development

each stage of life presents a
unique set of social demands
and conflicts

the way each demand/conflict
is handled leads to a more or
less desirable outcome
Psychosocial Peg Word Mnemonic
Moral Development:
Lawrence Kohlberg
pages 85 -88
Lawrence Kohlberg
 three-stage
theory on
how moral reasoning
develops
reasoning – sense
of right and wrong
 moral
to self: read 1st
paragraph on page 86
 note
1. Preconventional Moral Reasoning
 characterized
by the
desire to avoid
punishment or gain
reward
 typically
children
under the age of 9
2. Conventional Moral Reasoning
 primary
concern is to fit
in and play the role of a
good citizen
 strong
desire to follow
the rules and laws
 typical
of most adults
3. Postconventional Moral Reasoning

characterized by universal ethical
principles that represent the rights or
obligations of all people

follow laws unless they violate
ethical principles

most adults do not reach this level

not well supported – sample group:
white, male, western cultures