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Essential Concepts

Theories of Development

• Lifespan development explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial.
• There are several theories of development that focus on the following issues: whether development is continuous or discontinuous, whether development follows one course or many, and the relative influence of nature versus nurture on development.
• There are many theories regarding how babies and children grow and develop into happy, healthy adults.
  • Sigmund Freud suggested that we pass through a series of psychosexual stages in which our energy is focused on certain erogenous zones on the body.
  • Eric Erikson modified Freud’s ideas and suggested a theory of psychosocial development. Erikson said that our social interactions and successful completion of social tasks shape our sense of self.
  • Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that explains how children think and reason as they move through various stages.
  • Lawrence Kohlberg focused on moral development. He said that we pass through three levels of moral thinking that build on our cognitive development.

Child Development

• At conception, the egg and sperm unite to form a zygote. This cell begins to divide rapidly, marking this start of the germinal stage (0-2 weeks).
• Then the zygote implants in the uterus lining, initiating the embryonic stage (2-8 weeks). In this stage, the embryo begins to develop body and organ structures, and the neural tube forms, which will later become the brain and spinal cord.
• The fetal stage (9 weeks-birth) is marked by the rapid growth of body, brain, and organs.
• Prenatal care is crucial throughout pregnancy for the health of the parent and baby.
• Newborns typically weigh 7.5 pounds. Doctors check newborn reflexes like sucking, rooting, and Moro.
• Skills evolve from infancy to late adulthood across physical, cognitive, and psychosocial domains. Motor development has sequential milestones indicating potential delays.
• Sensorimotor stage (birth-2 years) in Piaget’s theory:
  • Exploration through senses and motor behaviors.
  • Development of object permanence and stranger anxiety.
  • Infants might understand objects without direct experiences.
• Preschool (preoperational stage) in Piaget’s theory:
  • Symbolic play, language use, and egocentrism are evident.
  • Development of a theory of mind, understanding that others have different thoughts and beliefs, enables them to engage in teasing, persuasion, and empathy.
• Concrete operational stage (7-11 years) in Piaget’s theory:
  • Logical thinking about real events, memory strategies, and math operations.
  • Understanding of concepts such as conservation and reversibility.
• There are alternative perspectives, such as the postformal stage, suggesting that cognitive development continues into adulthood and is influenced by neural brain development and interactions with the environment.

Attachment and Parenting

• Attachment is a crucial aspect of psychosocial development, with infants forming bonds with caregivers based on feelings of comfort and security.
• Ainsworth’s research identified different attachment styles including secure, avoidant, resistant, and disorganized, which can be influenced by caregiver responsiveness and cultural factors.
• Self-concept is the understanding of who we are, which develops through milestones such as self-recognition, establishing autonomy and confidence in abilities, and forming a sense of identity based on group memberships and personal traits, ultimately influencing our confidence, independence, and willingness to try new activities.
• Parenting styles, such as authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved, play a crucial role in shaping a child’s socioemotional growth.
• Authoritative parenting is associated with positive outcomes like high self-esteem and social skills, while permissive and uninvolved parenting styles can lead to negative consequences such as lack of self-discipline and emotional withdrawal.

Adolescent Development and Moral Reasoning

• Adolescence is a period of development that begins at puberty and ends in the mid- to late 20s, characterized by physical changes, cognitive development, and psychosocial milestones, with the frontal lobes of the brain still maturing and undergoing neural growth and pruning processes.
• Adolescence is a period of cognitive development characterized by increased abstract thinking, multiple perspective-taking, and the development of cognitive empathy, while psychosocially, adolescents focus on forming their identities through exploration and commitments, with different identity statuses reflecting the level of exploration and commitment achieved.
• Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development suggests that individuals progress through stages of moral reasoning, from pre-conventional to conventional and, in some cases, post-conventional morality, with the highest stage valuing human life over greed.
• Carol Gilligan criticized Kohlberg’s theory, arguing that women reason differently, focusing more on interpersonal relationships and the importance of staying connected.
• Recent research suggests that infants have more complex moral reasoning than previously believed, showing preferences for good behavior, aversion to bad behavior, and judgments based on similarities and differences, challenging earlier notions of moral development in young children and highlighting the need for further exploration and understanding in the field.

Adult Development

• Emerging adulthood is a distinct developmental stage from 18 to the mid-20s, characterized by extended exploration and delay in traditional adult milestones such as career, marriage, and starting a family, influenced by cultural shifts and changing expectations.
• Adulthood is divided into three stages: early, middle, and late, each presenting unique challenges and rewards.
  • In terms of physical development, early adulthood is characterized by peak physical abilities, while middle adulthood brings gradual physical decline, and late adulthood marks the last stage of physical change with a further decline in various abilities.
  • Cognitive development in adulthood involves both losses and gains, with declines in certain cognitive tasks but the potential for compensatory expertise and knowledge, and engaging in mentally and physically stimulating activities can help delay cognitive decline.
  • Psychosocial development in adulthood involves finding meaning through work and family in early and middle adulthood, while later stages involve reviewing life events and establishing a sense of integrity versus despair, with positive relationships and social connectedness playing important roles in overall well-being.
• Death marks the endpoint of our lifespan. There are many ways that we might react when facing death. Kübler-Ross developed a five-stage model of grief as a way to explain this process.

 

Glossary

accommodation

adjustment of a schema by changing a scheme to accommodate new information different from what was already known

adolescence

period of development that begins at puberty and ends at early adulthood

adrenarche

maturing of the adrenal glands

assimilation

adjustment of a schema by adding information similar to what is already known

attachment

long-standing connection or bond with others

authoritarian parenting style

parents place a high value on conformity and obedience, are often rigid, and express little warmth to the child

avoidant attachment

characterized by child’s unresponsiveness to parent, does not use the parent as a secure base, and does not care if parent leaves

cognitive development

domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity

conception

when a sperm fertilizes an egg and forms a zygote

concrete operational stage

third stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from about 7 to 11 years old, children can think logically about real (concrete) events

conservation

idea that even if you change the appearance of something, it is still equal in size, volume, or number as long as nothing is added or removed

continuous development

view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills

critical (sensitive) period

time during fetal growth when specific parts or organs develop

crystallized intelligence

intelligence that draws upon experience and knowledge. Measures include vocabulary tests, solving number problems, and understanding texts

developmental milestone

approximate ages at which children reach specific normative events

discontinuous development

view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages

disorganized attachment

characterized by the child’s odd behavior when faced with the parent; type of attachment seen most often with kids that are abused

egocentrism

preoperational child’s difficulty in taking the perspective of others

embryo

multi-cellular organism in its early stages of development

emerging adulthood

newly defined period of lifespan development from 18 years old to the mid-20s; young people are taking longer to complete college, get a job, get married, and start a family

fine motor skills

use of muscles in fingers, toes, and eyes to coordinate small actions

five stages of grief

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance

fluid intelligence

information processing abilities, such as logical reasoning, remembering lists, spatial ability, and reaction time

foreclosure

when an individual commits to an identity without exploring options

formal operational stage

final stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from age 11 and up, children are able to deal with abstract ideas and hypothetical situations

gonadarche

maturing of the sex glands

grasping reflex

Newborn’s automatic grasping of objects that touch their palms

gross motor skills

use of large muscle groups to control arms and legs for large body movements

hospice

service that provides a death with dignity; pain management in a humane and comfortable environment; usually outside of a hospital setting

identity achievement

when individuals have explored different options and then made identity commitments

identity diffusion

when adolescents neither explore nor commit to any identities

menarche

beginning of menstrual period; around 12–13 years old

mitosis

process of cell division

moratorium

a state in which adolescents are actively exploring options but have not yet made commitments

Moro reflex

Newborn’s response to a falling sensation, characterized by spreading arms, pulling them back, and often crying

motor skills

ability to move our body and manipulate objects

nature

genes and biology

newborn reflexes

inborn automatic response to a particular form of stimulation that all healthy babies are born with

normative approach

study of development using norms, or average ages, when most children reach specific developmental milestones

nurture

environment and culture

object permanence

idea that even if something is out of sight, it still exists

permissive parenting style

parents make few demands and rarely use punishment

physical development

domain of lifespan development that examines growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness

placenta

structure connected to the uterus that provides nourishment and oxygen to the developing baby

prenatal care

medical care during pregnancy that monitors the health of both the mother and the fetus

preoperational stage

second stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from ages 2 to 7, children learn to use symbols and language but do not understand mental operations and often think illogically

primary sexual characteristics

organs specifically needed for reproduction

psychosexual development

process proposed by Freud in which pleasure-seeking urges focus on different erogenous zones of the body as humans move through five stages of life

psychosocial development

domain of lifespan development that examines emotions, personality, and social relationships; process proposed by Erikson in which social tasks are mastered as humans move through eight stages of life from infancy to adulthood

resistant attachment

characterized by the child’s tendency to show clingy behavior and rejection of the parent when she attempts to interact with the child

reversibility

understanding that objects can be changed and then returned back to their original form or condition

rooting reflex

newborn’s response to touch on the cheek, turning the head and initiating sucking

schema (plural = schemata)

concept (mental model) that is used to help us categorize and interpret information

secondary sexual characteristics

physical signs of sexual maturation that do not directly involve sex organs

secure attachment

characterized by the child using the parent as a secure base from which to explore

secure base

parental presence that gives the infant/toddler a sense of safety as he explores his surroundings

sensorimotor stage

first stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from birth through age 2, a child learns about the world through senses and motor behavior

spermarche

first male ejaculation

stages of moral reasoning

process proposed by Kohlberg; humans move through three stages of moral development

sucking reflex

automatic, unlearned sucking motions infants perform with their mouths

temperament

innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts with the environment

teratogen

biological, chemical, or physical environmental agent that causes damage to the developing embryo or fetus

theory-of-mind

the understanding that people have thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that are different from our own

uninvolved parenting style

parents are indifferent, uninvolved, and sometimes referred to as neglectful; they don’t respond to the child’s needs and make relatively few demands

zygote

structure created when a sperm and egg merge at conception; begins as a single cell and rapidly divides to form the embryo and placenta