NOTES #3
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
❖ NATURE – NURTURE QUESTION
❖ Asks how much Nature (genetic factors) and how much Nurture (environmental factors) contributes
to a person’s biological, emotional, cognitive, personal and social development.
❖ DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS
❖ Study a person’s biological, emotional, cognitive, personal and social development across the life
span, from infancy through late adulthood.
❖ LONGITUDINAL vs. CROSS- SECTIONAL METHOD
LONGITUDINAL CROSS-SECTIONAL
ADVANTAGE ❖ It allows researchers to study the ❖ Researchers can
developmental patterns or changes of immediately compare any
the same subjects across time. developmental differences,
such as in temperaments,
across many different age
groups.
DISADVANTAGE ❖ Researchers must wait many years for ❖ It cannot tell us if the same
their subjects to grow older and must individuals remain the same
deal with the problem of subjects or change across time.
dropping out of the study (due to
relocation, illness, or death)
❖ Prodigy and Savants
❖ A prodigy is a child who shows a highly unusual talent, ability, or genius at a very early age and does
not have mental retardation.
❖ A small percentage of autistic children, who have some degree of mental retardation, may also show
unusual artistic or mathematical abilities; they are called savants.
❖ DNA, GENES and CHROMOSOMES
❖ Chromosomes are structures that look like thread, which live in the nucleus (center) of cells.
Chromosomes contain DNA and protein, and they come in different sizes. Proteins called histones
allow them to pack up small enough to fit in a nucleus. Without histones, our chromosomes would
be as long (tall) as we are! Chromosomes give your cells the actual instructions to make you into a
unique person.
➢ Humans should have 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 total). Chromosomes divide into 22
numbered pairs (autosomes) and one pair of sex chromosomes (X and Y). You receive one
chromosome from each parent to make a pair.
❖ Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the material that exists in every cell in your body that holds your
genetic code. It makes up your body’s instruction manual.
❖ Genes are the building blocks for your body. Some genes give the instructions to make proteins. A
protein’s job is to tell your body what types of physical characteristics you should have, like your hair
and eye color.
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❖ NATURE = NURTURE
❖ Today, researchers no longer focus on which is important , nature or nurture , but rather how nature
and nurture interact to influence and regulate behaviors. (Pinker, 2003)
❖ PRENATAL PERIOD: THREE STAGES
❖ The prenatal period extends from conception to birth and lasts about 266 days.
➢ 1. GERMINAL STAGE
▪ Refers to the two–week period following conception.
▪ Conception, or fertilization, occurs if one of the millions of sperm penetrates the ovum’s
outer membrane. After the ovum has been penetrated by a single sperm, its outer
membrane changes and becomes impenetrable to the millions of remaining sperm. Once
the ovum has been fertilized, it is called a zygote.
▪ Ovulation refers to the release of an ovum of egg cell from a woman’s ovaries.
• If two separate ova are released and fertilized, fraternal twins
• Single ovum splits into two parts after fertilization, identical twins.
▪ Menstruation – if no sperm are present, there can be no fertilization, and the ovum together
with the lining of the uterus, is sloughed off.
➢ 2. EMBRYONIC STAGE
▪ 2-8 weeks that follow conception; during this stage, cells divide and begin to differentiate
into bone, muscle, and body organs.
▪ The embryo is very fragile, since all of its basic organs are being formed. This is when most
carriages occur and when most major birth defects occur.
➢ 3. FETAL STAGE
▪ Begins two months after conception and lasts until birth.
▪ 38 – 42 weeks after conception (or roughly nine months), birth occurs and the fetus
becomes a newborn.
▪ The fetus develops vital organs, such as lungs, and physical characteristics that are
distinctively human.
❖ During stage 2, embryonic stage, and stage 3, fetal stage, the developing organism is specially
vulnerable to toxic agents and chemicals.
❖ PLACENTA & TERATOGENS
❖ Placenta – is an organ that connects the blood supply of the mother to that of the fetus. The placenta
acts like a filter, allowing oxygen and nutrients to pass through while keeping out some toxic or
harmful substances.
➢ However, certain viruses, such as HIV and many drugs, including nicotine, caffeine, marijuana,
cocaine, and heroin, pass from the placenta into the fetus’s blood vessels and thus can affect
fetal development.
❖ A teratogen is any agent that can harm a developing fetus (causing deformities or brain damage). It
might be a disease (such as genital herpes), a drug (such as alcohol), or another environmental
agent (such as chemicals).
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❖ DRUG USE and EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS
➢ ALCOHOL
▪ Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) - results from a mother drinking heavily during pregnancy,
especially in the first 12 weeks. FAS results in physical changes, such as short stature,
flattened nose and short eye openings; neurological changes, such as fewer brain
connections within the brain structure; and psychological and behavioral problems, such as
hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, deficits in information processing and memory, alcohol and
drug use, and poor socialization.
▪ Fetal Alcohol Exposure – results from a mother drinking moderately (7-14 drinks per week)
during pregnancy, less severe than fetal alcohol syndrome but more prevalent, which results
to children having growth deficiencies and deficits in a number of cognitive tasks (learning
and memory), academic skills, and fine motor speed and coordination.
▪ THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL OF ALCOHOL USE DURING PREGNANCY, and therefore it is
recommended that women who are pregnant or are planning a pregnancy should not drink
alcohol.
❖ THE BIG PICTURE: CHILD DEVELOPMENT
❖ SENSORY DEVELOPMENT
❖ Genetic program is guiding the development of a number of motor and sensory functions that are
important for the newborn’s survival.
❖ DEPTH PERCEPTION
▪ Visual cliff – is a glass tabletop with a checkerboard pattern over part of its surface; the
remaining surface consists of clear glass with a checker board pattern several feet below,
creating the illusion of a clifflike drop to the floor.
❖ MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
❖ Motor development refers to the stages of motor skills that all infants pass through as they acquire
the muscular control necessary for making coordinated movements.
❖ The development of early motor skills, such as sitting, crawling, and walking, follows two (2) general
rules:
➢ The Proximodistal principle - states that parts closer to the center of the infant’s body (proximo
in Latin means “near”) develop before parts farther away (distal in Latin means “far”).
➢ The Cephalocaudal principle - parts of the body close to the head (cephalo in Greek means
“head”) develop before parts closer to the feet (caudal in Greek means “tail”).
❖ The cephalocaudal and proximodistal principles, which regulate the sequence for developing early
motor skills, are part of a process known as maturation.
❖ Maturation – the developmental changes that are genetically or biologically programmed rather
than acquired through learning or life experiences.
❖ All infants in all parts of the world go through the same developmental stages at about the same
times. However, the development of early motor development is heavily influenced by maturation
(genetic program) but the timing can be partly slowed or speeded up by experience/learning
(nurture).
❖ EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
❖ Emotional development refers to the influence and interaction of genetic factors, brain changes,
cognitive factors, coping abilities, and cultural factors in the development of emotional behaviors,
expressions, thoughts and feelings.
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❖ DEFINITION AND KINDS OF TEMPERAMENT
❖ Temperament refers to individual differences in attention, arousal, and reactivity to new or novel
situations. These differences appear early, are relatively stable and long-lasting, and are influenced in
large part by genetic factor.
❖ KINDS OF TEMPERAMENT
CATEGORY TEMPERAMENT
EASY BABIES Happy and cheerful, had regular sleeping and eating habits, and adapted
quickly to new situations.
SLOW-TO-WARM-UP More withdrawn, moody, and tended to take longer to adapt to new
BABIES situations
DIFFICULT BABIES Were fussy, fearful to new situations, and more intense in their reactions.
During the course of the seven-year study, difficult babies developed more
serious emotional problems than the easy to slow-to-warm-up babies
No-single-category Had a variety of traits and could not be classified into one of the other three
babies categories.
❖ TEMPERAMENT: GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE
❖ Infants develop distinct temperaments very early, usually in the first 2-3 months of life, and these
temperaments occur largely because of genetic rather than learning experiences. ([Link], 2000)
❖ Infants with highly reactive or fearful temperaments at 4 months of age are ten times more likely to
develop depression and anxiety disorder during adulthood than less reactive or less fearful infants.
The adults who are highly reactive as infants have overdeveloped brain areas responsible for
emotional responses, leading to mood disorders. ([Link], 2008, 2009)
❖ About 30% of infants who began with a fearful or fearless temperament remained that way
emotionally into adulthood, but 70% showed moderate changes in temperament, which are
influenced by environmental factors, such as family influence, poverty level, and educational
opportunities. (Kagan, 2003)
❖ WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BRAIN?
❖ Researchers found that adults classified as fearful at age 2 had more activity in response to novel
faces than did adults initially classified as fearless. Researchers suggested that an infant who is born
with an overactive amygdala is at risk for having a fearful temperament and later developing into a
fearful or shy person.
❖ ATTACHMENT
❖ Attachment is a close, fundamental emotional bond that develops between the infant and his or her
parents or caregiver.
❖ How Does Attachment Occur?
❖ According to ATTACHMENT THEORY, babies form an attachment to their parents through a gradual
process that begins shortly after birth and continues through early childhood. As the infant develops
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a closer attachment to her parents, she also shows more distress when her parents leave; this is
called separation anxiety.
❖ Instead, what most affected the infant’s attachment was a mother’s sensitivity, caring, and
responsiveness to the infant’s needs. Attachments formed in infancy may also affect one’s later
relationships.
❖ Are There Different Kinds of Attachment?
➢ Secure attachment is characteristics of infants who use their parent or caregiver as a safe home
base from which they can wander off and explore their environments.
➢ Insecure attachment is characteristic of infants who avoid or show ambivalence or resistance
toward their parent or caregiver.
❖ A secure attachment is associated with being more trusting, enjoying relationships more, and
dealing better with stress; an insecure attachment is associated with being dependent and having
poor social relationships and poor coping skills.
❖ How can Parents Help Fearful Children?
❖ Researchers advise parents with fearful children to be very caring, and supportive and to
consistently help their inhibited children deal with minor stressors. With such support, inhibited
children learned to control their initial urges to withdraw from strange people or situations.
❖ If parents avoid becoming too anxious, overprotective, or angry at their children’s extreme
fearfulness and timidity, there will be a better chance that the inhibited child will become less
anxious in adolescence.
❖ JEAN PIAGET’S THEORY
❖ Cognitive development refers to how a person perceives, thinks, and gains an understanding of his
or her world through the interaction and influence of genetic and learned factors.
❖ Jean Piaget who was both a biologist and psychologist.
➢ Assimilation is the process by which a child uses old methods or experiences to deal with new
situations.
➢ Accommodation is the process by which a child changes old methods to deal with or adjust to
new situations.
❖ PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
❖ Piaget’s cognitive stages refer to four different stages – sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete
operations, and formal operations – each of which is more advanced than the preceding stage
because it involves new reasoning and thinking ability. Although Piaget believed that all people go
through the same four cognitive stages, he acknowledged that they may go through the stages at
different rates.
➢ Stage 1: Sensorimotor stage (from birth to about age 2) is the first of Piaget’s cognitive stages.
During this stage, infants interact with and learn about their environments by relating their
sensory experiences (such as hearing and seeing) to their motor actions (mouthing and
grasping).
▪ Object permanence (beginning at around 9 months) refers to the understanding that objects
or events continue to exist even if they can no longer be heard, touched, or seen.
➢ Stage 2 : Preoperational stage (from about 2 to 7 years old) is the second of Piaget’s cognitive
stages. During this stage, children learn to use symbols, such as words or mental images, to solve
simple problems and to think or talk about things that are not present.
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▪ Conservation refers to the fact that even though the shape of some object or substance is
changed, the total amount remains the same.
▪ Egocentric (ee-goh-SEN-trick) thinking refers to seeing and thinking of the world only from
your own viewpoint and having difficulty appreciating someone else’s viewpoint.
➢ Stage 3: The concrete operations stage (from about 7 to 11 years) is the third of Piaget’s
cognitive stages. During this stage, children can perform a number of logical mental operations
on concrete objects (ones that are physically present).
▪ During the concrete operations stage, children learn to classify or sort objects according to
more than one category, and they learn to solve a variety of conservation problems.
▪ The reason Piaget called this the concrete operations stage is that children can easily classify
or figure out relationships between objects provided the objects are actually physically
present or “concrete”.
➢ Stage 4: The formal operations stage (from about 12 years old through adulthood) is Piaget’s
fourth cognitive stage. During this stage, adolescents and adults develop the ability to think
about and solve abstract problems in a logical manner.
▪ Along with advances in cognitive abilities, the formal operations stage welcomes the return
of egocentric thinking, which refers to the tendency of adolescents to believe that others
are always watching and evaluating them, and the belief that everyone thinks and cares
about the same things they do.
▪ Imaginary audience refers to the belief adolescents have that everyone is watching all of
their actions.
▪ Personal fable refers to an adolescent’s belief that he or she is invulnerable, unique, and
special.
❖ IMPACT AND CRITICISMS ON PIAGET’S THEORY ON COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
❖ First, Piaget’s four stages are not as rigid or orderly as he proposed.
❖ Second, although Piaget described how children can and cannot think at different ages and stages,
his theory is criticized for not explaining how or why this change occurs.
❖ Third, children failed some of the Piagetian tasks not because children lacked the thinking abilities
but because they did not understand the instructions.
❖ However, because of criticisms and new finding on the influence of genetic and neural factors,
Piaget’s theory is now viewed as having historical importance but is no longer the major force in
guiding research in cognitive development.
❖ Researchers concluded that children rated high in seeking stimulation (nature) were more curious
and open to learning from their environments (nurture), which in turn enhanced the development of
their cognitive abilities and resulted in higher scores on IQ tests.
❖ Brain development after birth and continuing through adolescence, different areas of the brain
develop at different times.
❖ SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
❖ Social Development refers to how a person develops a sense of self or a self—identity, develops
relationships with others, and develops the kinds of social skills important in personal interactions.
❖ Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
❖ The psychosexual stages are five different developmental periods – oral, anal, phallic, latency, and
genital stages – during which the individual seeks pleasure from different areas of the body that are
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associated with sexual feelings, Freud emphasized that a child’s first five years were most important
to social and personality development.
❖ In Freud’s theory, there is often conflict between the child and parent. The conflict arises because
the child wants immediate satisfaction or gratification of its needs, while the parents often place
restrictions on when, where, and how the child’s needs should be satisfied.
❖ According to Freud, Alex’s future personality and social development will depend, to a large extent,
on what he experiences during the first three psychosexual stages, which occur during his first five
years.
Oral Stage (first 18 1 Phallic Stage (3 to Latency Stage Genital Stage
Anal Stage ( 1 to
2
months of life) 3 years) 6 years) (age 6 to puberty) (puberty through
adulthood)
The oral stage is a The anal stage is a The phallic (FAL- The latency stage, The genital stage
time when the time when the ick) stage lasts is a time when the is a time when the
infant’s pleasure infant’s pleasure from about age 3 child represses individual has
seeking is seeking is to 6 and is a time sexual thoughts renewed sexual
centered on the centered on the when the infant’s and engages in desires that he or
mouth. anus and its pleasure seeking nonsexual she seeks to fulfill
activities such as
functions of is centered on the through
developing social
elimination. genitals. relationships with
and intellectual
skills. members of the
opposite sex. To
develop loving
relationships and
a healthy and
mature
personality.
If a child were Retention may The child will
locked into or take the form of compete with the
fixated at this being very neat, parent of the
stage because his stingy, or same sex (his/her
oral wishes were behaviorally rigid. father or mother)
gratified too much Elimination may for the affections
or too little, he take the form of
and pleasures of
would continue to being generous or
the parent of the
seek oral messy.
gratification as an opposite sex
adult. (his/her father or
mother)
-Oedipus complex
-trying to prove
his toughness.
-Electra complex
❖ Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
❖ The psychosocial stages are eight developmental periods during which an individual’s primary goal
is to satisfy desires associated with social needs. The eight periods are associated, respectively, with
issues of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, and ego integrity.
❖ According to Erikson, a child will encounter a particular psychosocial problem at each stage.
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❖ If we successfully deal with the potential problem of each psychosocial stage, we develop positive
personality traits and are better able to solve the problem at the next stage. However, if we do not
successfully handle the psychosocial problems, we may become anxious, worried or troubled and
develop social or personality problems.
Stage 1 Trust v. Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5
Mistrust Autonomy v. Initiative v. Industry v. Identity v. Role
Shame and Guilt Inferiority Confusion
(Birth through
Doubt
first year) (3 to 5 years) (5 to 12 years) Develop the
(1 to 3 years) more
If the child’s If the child’s If the child can
purposeful,
parents are If the child’s parents direct his/her
responsible,
responsive and parents encourage energy into
planned
sensitive to encourage the initiative, the working at and
behaviors of
his/her needs, child to child will completing
adults. If the
the child will explore, he/she develop the tasks, he/she
child is
develop what will develop a ability to plan will develop a
successful in
Erikson calls sense of and initiative feeling of
making this
basic trust, independence, new things. industry.
change, he/she
which makes it or autonomy.
However, if If he/she has will develop a
easier for him
If the child’s they difficulty sense of
to trust people
parents discourage applying confidence and
later in life.
disapprove of initiative, himself/herself a positive
Otherwise, if or punish the he/she may and completing identity.
parents are child’s feel homework,
If he/she is
neglectful to explorations, uncomfortable he/she may
unsuccessful,
his/her needs, he/she may or guilty and develop a
he/she will
the child may develop a may develop a feeling of
experience role
view his/her feeling that feeling of being inferiority and
confusion,
world as independence unable to plan incompetence.
which will
uncaring, learn is bad and feel his/her future.
result in having
to become shame and
low self-
mistrustful, doubt.
esteem and
and have
becoming
difficulty
socially
dealing with
withdrawn.
the second
stage.
❖ EVALUATION OF ERIKSON’S AND FREUD’S THEORIES
❖ Social development continues throughout one’s life. In fact, longitudinal studies show that
personality change and development continue well into middle adulthood.
❖ Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
❖ The social cognitive theory emphasizes the importance of learning through observation, imitation,
and self-reward in the development of social skills, interactions, and behaviors. According to this
theory, it is not necessary that you perform any observable behaviors or receive any external
rewards to learn new social skills because many of your behaviors are self-motivated or intrinsic.
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❖ Social cognitive theory emphasizes learning through modeling; Freud’s theory focuses on parent-
child interactions that occur in satisfying innate biological needs; and Erikson’s theory points to the
importance of dealing with social needs.
❖ Vulnerability and Resiliency
❖ Vulnerability refers to psychological or environmental difficulties that make children more at risk for
developing later personality, behavioral, or social problems.
❖ Resiliency refers to various personality, family, or environmental factors that compensate for
increased life stresses so that expected problems do not develop.
❖ Studies on resilient children show three findings. First, early traumatic events do not necessarily
lead to later social-emotional problems, as Freud predicted. Second, a loving, supportive caregiver or
teacher can substitute for a disinterested parent. Third, children observe and imitate normal social
behaviors modeled by caregivers.
❖ Gender Differences
❖ Gender identity refers to the individual’s subjective experience and feelings of being a female or
male.
❖ Gender roles are the traditional or stereotypical behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits that
parents, peers, and society expects us to have because we are male or female.
❖ Gender schemas are sets of information and rules organized around how either a male or a female
should think and behave.
❖ Differences in Gender Traits
❖ According to social role theory, the expectations of parents, peers, and others reward or discourage
different gender roles and behaviors for boys and girls. Social role theory focuses on boys and girls
learning different gender roles and behavior because of outside pressures from family, peers and
society.
❖ According to cognitive developmental theory, children acquire gender schemas or cognitive rules
that indicate which gender roles and behaviors are right or wrong for boys and girls. Cognitive
developmental theory focuses on boys and girls developing different gender roles because of inside
pressures, which come from their own personal rules.
❖ Male and Female Differences
❖ Studies on aggression show that parents, peers, and society reward boys for acting out, being
competitive, and settling their conflicts with fighting. In comparison, “nice girls” don’t fight and tend
to settle conflicts through talking.
❖ Male and Female have different brains. In women’s brains the amygdala and additional areas were
more activated than in men’s brains. Researchers concluded that, compared to men, women’s brains
are more effectively wired for processing, coding, and remembering emotional experiences.
❖ Another gender difference in brain functions is that women process language by using both sides of
their brains, while men use only the left side. This difference may explain why women are generally
better at processing words and performing language tasks.
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