Physical Growth and

Development
Lecture 9
Developmental Psychology
The many ways we:
O grow
Ochange
ORemain stable throughout the lifespan

OIt is the field of study that examines patterns of

growth, change, and stability in behaviour that
occur throughout the entire human lifespan
(Feldman, 2000, p. 5).
 When does human life begins
From a biological stance, life begins when one sperm cell fertilizes an
ovum (egg)
 PRENATAL STAGES
Divided into three stages:

O 1) Germinal stage
O 2) Embryonic stage
O 3) Fetal stage 
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
 PRENATAL STAGES
• Germinal stage:
– the period from conception to implantation. Also
known as the “period of the ovum”.
• Embryonic stage:
– the prenatal period of development from implantation
until about the eighth week of development.
– XY or XX:
• the genetic code that begins to assert itself about
the seventh week of development.
• Androgens: male sex hormones produced by the
testes.
– Amniotic sac:
• The embryo is suspended within this protective
sac.
– Umbilical cord:
• connects the embryo to the placenta.
 Fetal Stage
O It lasts from week eight to birth – next 7 months
(months 3 to 9), which occurs about 40 weeks after
conception – the developing child is now called
the fetus.

O Internal organs have developed, but not enough for

the fetus to sustain life outside of the uterus. The
brain has also developed.

O A crucial part of the developing child is the brain

and the connections that are being made in
preparation for later interaction with the world.
 Factors that impact
development
O Fetal development can be affected by
environmental factors (teratogens) or biological
factors (genetic disorders or errors in cell division).
O Teratogen – environmental factors that can exert a
negative impact on prenatal development
O During replication of cells or even within the egg or
sperm cells there may be errors or breakage in the
genetic material

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 Biological Factors
O Genetic disruptions: before the fertilization process a cell
or family of cells is copied with some error or break in
the genetic material. This can result in something minor-
a birthmark or major- mental retardation, down
syndrome.

O Babies born prematurely can have serious cognitive and

physical impairments.

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 Environmental Factors that
influence prenatal development
O Maternal Age
O Maternal Health and Nourishment
O Infectious Agents
O Smoking
O Alcohol
 Reflexes
• Reflexes:
– Simple unlearned, stereotypical responses elicited by specific
stimuli.
– Essential to survival
– Do not involve higher brain functions.
– Examples include:
• Rooting:
– Infant turning head toward stimuli that prod or stroke the
cheek, chin, or corner of the mouth.
• Withdrawal:
– Infants withdrawing from painful stimuli.
• Moro:
– startle reflex.
• Babinski:
– Infants fan their toes when the soles of their feet are
stimulated.
 THE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
O Motor Behaviour – bodily motion that occurs as a result of
self-initiated force that moves the bones and muscles

O Motor development is the progressive change in movement

throughout the life cycle.

O Motor development becomes more sophisticated as the

child gets older and they become more steady and flexible
in their movements

12
Which better describes motor development, nature or nurture?
 Sensory and perceptual
development
O infants participate in and adapt to their social
environment
O The sensory and perceptual capacities of the
newborn are essential in aiding infants to
connect emotionally to their caregivers, gather
information about their environment and cope
with stress
 Controversial Issues
Is Development Continuous (gradual and constant) or
Discontinuous (in distinct stages)?

O Psychologists disagree more strongly on whether

aspects of development occur in stages.
O Piaget and Freud both believed it is discontinuous.

O What say you?

 Cognitive Development
O How children learn to process information.
O Observe, take from their environment and
organize this information in their brain
O Facilitated by language, mental imagery,
thinking, problem solving and memory
development.
O Through experience the child learns about his
environment
 Piaget’s theory
O assimilation -incorporation of new information into
existing knowledge structures known as schemas

O accommodation involves the modification in existing

knowledge structures because of exposure to new
information or experiences

O Equilibration is the force which moves development

along. Piaget believed that cognitive development did
not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and
bounds. It occurs as a result of assimilation and
accomodation.
 Stages of Piaget’s theory
O 1) Sensorimotor stage: birth-2 yrs. Figuring out
ways to make things happen.
O 2) The preoperational stage- Growth of symbol
activity 2-7 yrs.
O 3) Concrete operational stage- 7-11yrs- the child
to use logics to answer causal relationships
O 4) Formal operational thought 12 yrs onward- the
child is able to conceptualize many interacting
variables
Kholberg’s theory
 Kohlberg’s theory
1) Preconventional level – shaped by the standards of adults
Stage 1: obedient or be punished mentality. morality is
viewed in light of consequences. The individual is good to
avoid punishment.
Stage 2: naïve hedonistic orientation.
morality is viewed in terms of what satisfied our needs or
that of others. Different individuals have different viewpoints.
2) Conventional level – internalising moral standards
Stage 3: morality is based on whether or not we adhere to
social rules or norms (conforms to avoid disapproval)
Stage 4: social order- maintaining orientation.
morality is based on the social rules/laws applied
universally
3) Post conventional level
Stage 5: morality is based on human rights. Laws may work
against human interest
Stage 6: morality is judged in terms of what you choose to be
your ethical principle. Moral guidelines chosen which may not
fit the law.
 Kohlberg’s Theory
 Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
◦ Kohlberg proposed that one must pay attention more to
one’s own conscience than to law and authority figures in
determining what is right and wrong.
◦ Presented subjects with moral dilemmas.
◦ Interested in how the subject arrived at decision rather than
the decision alone.
◦ Proposed that moral reasoning follows a specific sequence.
 Preconventional
 Conventional
 Postconventional
 Kohlberg’s Theory
 The Preconventional Level
◦ Applies to most children through the age of 9.
 Stage 1 -Obedience and punishment
 Stage 2 -Good behavior allows people to satisfy needs of
self and others.
 The Conventional Level
◦ Moral reasoning is judged by conformity to conventional
standards of right and wrong.
 Stage 3: moral behavior meets the expectations of others.
 Stage 4: moral judgments based on rules that maintain
social order.
 The Postconventional Level
◦ Moral reasoning is more complex and focuses on dilemmas
in which individual needs are pitted against the need to
maintain social order and on personal conscience.
 At what age do infants begin to experience and
demonstrate discrete emotions?
O Research in this area focuses on facial expression –
outward signs of distinct emotions.
 
O 2 month old infants demonstrate social smiling in response
to human faces.
 
O 2 month old infants show pain expressions more than
anger expressions. A few months later they show anger
more frequently than pain.

O 3- 4 month old infants show laughter.

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O 3-months they become upset when their mothers are
upset.

O As they grow older, infants acquire increasing capacities to

“read” the emotional expressions of others.

O 8- 10 months, they actively seek information about other

people’s feelings and begin to demonstrate growing
understanding of their own mental states and those of
others.

O Age 1, when a child falls he/she will look to their caregiver

and depending on their caregiver’s reaction they will either
cry or laugh.
  25
 Temperament
 Defined as the stable individual differences in the quality
and intensity of emotional reactions; one’s emotional style
 The key dimensions of temperament involves positive
emotionality, distress-anger, fears and activity level
 Researchers have divided infants into 3 basic groups:
 1) easy infants (40%): cheerful, adapt quickly to many
activities in daily life
 2) difficult child (10%) are irregular in daily life hesitant to
accept new experiences and show more negative emotions
 3) slow to warm up (15%) relatively slow/inactive have lack
of interest and show little negative reactions
 Attachment
O This is the strong affectionate bond between infants and
their caregivers

O Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that

connects one person to another across time and space (
Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969).

O This theory describes and explains patterns of

relationships among people

O It provides the framework for understanding emotional

reactions in infants and adults.
 Attachment
O Psychologist John Bowlby was the first attachment theorist, describing
attachment as a "lasting psychological connectedness between human
beings" (Bowlby, 1969, p. 194).

O Bowlby believed that the earliest bonds formed by children with their
caregivers have a tremendous impact that continues throughout life.

O According to a theory developed by John Bowlby, attachment

involves a balance b/w infant’s tendencies to seek to be near to their
caregivers and their willingness to explore new environments.

O Bowlby contended that the quality of attachment is revealed by the

infant’s reaction to separation b/w themselves and their caregivers, as
well as, their reaction to the return of their caregiver(s). 29
 Ainsworth's "Strange
Situation"
Ainsworth's "Strange Situation"
O In her 1970's research, psychologist Mary Ainsworth
expanded greatly upon Bowlby's original work.

O Her groundbreaking “Strange Situation” study revealed

the profound effects of attachment on behavior.
O In the study, researchers observed children between the
ages of 12 and 18 months as they responded to a
situation in which they were briefly left alone and then
reunited with their mothers (Ainsworth, 1978). 30
 Secure

OExplores environment in
mother’s presence
OCries when mom leaves
OShows pleasure when she
returns
OMothering = synchronous
 Avoidant

O Don’t explore in mom’s presence

O Don’t cry when mom leaves
O Don’t respond to mom’s return
O Mothering = unavailable, rejecting, neglectful
 Ambivalent/resistant
O Don’t explore; clingy
O Distressed when mom leaves
O Hard to soothe upon mom’s return
O Mothering = inconsistent
 Disorganized

O Variable behavior
O Contradictory behavior
O Lack emotion
 Key Point
O Responsiveness to the child, not amount of
time spent with the child, is important!!
Are these patterns stable?
O Patterns at one year are generally present at
6 years
O Best predictors of adult attachment type
were retrospective perceptions of parental
relationships
O Secure - warm relationships
O Avoidant - cold and rejecting mothers
O Anxious/ambivalent - unfair fathers
 Parenting style
O Rejecting/Neglecting: Low Love and Low Limits.
O Authoritarian: Low Love and High Limits.
O Permissive: High Love and Low Limits.
O Authoritative: High Love and High Limits.

O Parents who are oriented toward a "relational

discipline" are said to use love as their primary style of
parenting. Parents who use "action discipline" are said
to use limits as their primary style of parenting.
Parenting Styles
 Erickson Psychosocial stages of development
Stage (age) Psychosocial crisis Significant relations Psychosocial Psychosocial virtues Maladaptations &
modalities malignancies

I (0-1) -- trust vs mistrust mother to get, to give in hope, faith sensory distortion
infant return -- withdrawal

II (2-3) -- autonomy vs shame parents to hold on, to let go will, determination impulsivity --
toddler and doubt compulsion

III (3-6) -- initiative vs guilt family to go after, to play purpose, courage ruthlessness --
preschooler inhibition

IV (7-12 or so) -- industry vs neighborhood and to complete, to make competence narrow virtuosity
school-age child inferiority school things together -- inertia

V (12-18 or so) -- ego-identity vs role- peer groups, role to be oneself, to fidelity, loyalty fanaticism --
adolescence confusion models share oneself repudiation

VI (the 20’s) -- intimacy vs isolation partners, friends to lose and find love promiscuity --
young adult oneself in a exclusivity
another

VII (late 20’s to generativity vs self- household, to make be, to take care overextension --
50’s) -- middle adult absorption workmates care of rejectivity

VIII (50’s and integrity vs despair mankind or “my to be, through having wisdom presumption --
beyond) -- old adult kind” been, to face not despair
being
 Physical Development
Adolescent
• Neither children nor adults; a period of transition.
• Physical Development
– Growth spurts last for 2-3 years. Grow 8-12 inches.
– Puberty:
• a period during which the body becomes sexually
mature.
– Secondary sex characteristics:
» body hair, deepening of the voice in males, rounding of the
breasts and hips in females.
– Menarche (menstruation) in women usually occurs
between 11 and 14 years.
– Ovulation may begin as much as two years after
menarche.
 Cognitive development
• Piaget’s stage of Formal Operations (about 11 or 12).
– Abstract thought
– Adolescent Egocentrism
• Press for acceptance of their logic without recognizing
exceptions; egocentric thought
• Imaginary Audience:
– The belief that other people are as concerned with our
thoughts and behavior as we are.
• Personal Fable:
– The belief that our feelings and ideas are special.
– We are unique and invulnerable.
– Showing off and taking risks typical beliefs.
 Cognitive development
• Kohlberg’s Postconventional Level of Moral
Reasoning
– Highest level is based on person’s own moral
standards.
• Stage 5: legalistic orientation; law is good for
society.
• Stage 6: moral reasoning demands adherence
to supposed universal universal ethics.
– Conscience is the highest moral authority.
 Social and emotional
O Ego Identity Versus Role Diffusion: Who Am
I?
O The fifth stage of Erikson’s theory.
O Ego Identity:
O a firm sense of who one is and what one stands
for.
O If this isn’t accomplished then role diffusion is
experienced.
Factors that affect adolescent
development
O 1) Divorce
O 2) Parent-absent-male marginalization
O 3) Blended families
O 4) Dysfunctional families
O 5) Adolescent personality
O 6) Overcoming the odd
 Physical development
adulthood
O Young adulthood characteristics:
O Height of sensory sharpness, strength, reaction time, and
cardiovascular fitness.
O Sexually, most people are easily aroused and able to perform.
O Middle adulthood characteristics:
O Diminished strength, coordination, and stamina but it is minor.
O Can still maintain excellent cardiorespiratory condition.
O Menopause: final phase of the climacteric.
O Decline in female sex hormone secretion.
O Ovulation comes to an end.
O Loss of bone density.
O Hot flashes, loss of sleep, some anxiety and depression.
 Physical development
adulthood
O Late adulthood characteristics:
O Increased numbers of people in this age range.
O Increased brittleness in the bones.
O See and hear less acutely.
O Reaction time diminishes.
O Immune system functions less efficiently
 Cognitive Development
O Characteristics include: creativity, memory functioning and intelligence
all of which are at their height in adulthood.
O Memory function does decline with age.
O People tend to retain their verbal skills and general knowledge into
advanced age.
O Crystallized versus Fluid Intelligence.
O Crystallized intelligence
O represents a lifetime of attainment including vocabulary and
accumulated facts.
O Fluid intelligence
O represents mental flexibility.
O This is the ability to process information rapidly; learning and
solving new problems.
 Cognitive Development
O Alzheimer’s Disease.
O a progressive form of mental deterioration that
affects about !% of people at 65 and 25% of
people at 85.
O It is a disease, not a normal part of aging.
O Seems to be a result of reduced levels of
acetylcholine (ACh) and the build up of sticky
plaque on the brain.
BIOLOGY OF HUMAN
AGING
Aging death and bereavement
O There are two major
theories:
O Stochastic theories- assume
that aging occurs because of
chance events
O Programmed theories-
assume that aging is a
planned process with
specific causes
    
 Stochastic theories
O “the wear and tear theories of aging”
O years of damage done to us by internal and external sources
O damage not being repaired we “wear out” over time
O This eventually damage our DNA and interfere with cell
maintenance and repair
O This damage cumulates over years and produce the declines
associated with age
O Another approach in this theory focuses on the effects of
DNA damage.
O damage produce cell division
O As the number of cells damaged by DNA deterioration
increases, aging process begins and our internal systems
gradually decline
Programmed Aging Theory or Biological Clock.

O Proposes life is pre-programmed

O Functional changes in cell cause aging of
cells and organisms.
O Life expectancy is pre-programmed within each species.
O Cells will divide on a certain number of times before
deteriorating (teleomeres become shorter and shorter, to
the point where it prevents it from being able to divide )
 Stages of Grief
O Denial- refuse to believe that the end is near
O Anger- why me, why is this happening
O Bargaining- in this stage the individual some
changes in their lifestyle in return for a
postponement of death
O Depression- the individual realize that their
efforts cannot alter their problems
O Acceptance- the final stage the person is no
longer angry or depressed, they have just come
to accept their death
 Coming to terms with the
death
O Shock- a feeling of numbness and unreality
O Protest and yearning- bereaved individuals
resent loss of their loved one and fantasize
about the person’s return
O Despair- when the bereaved individual feel that
life is not worth living
O Detachment and recovery- individuals separate
themselves psychologically from the loved
person who has died and go on with their lives