Introduction to Developmental Psychology Developmentalists suggest that certain basic needs

must be met and certain tasks mastered for typical

development to occur.
Human Development
 Refers to the physical, cognitive and psychosocial
LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENTALIST
development of a person throughout his/her lifespan.
Life-span developmentalists who focus on adult
development and aging increasingly describe life-span
 Research findings often have applications to education
development in terms of four “ages”
and social policy.
 First Age – Childhood to adolescence
 Second Age – Prime adulthood, 20s through 50s
Life Span Development  Third Age – 60s to 79 years old
 It is a concept of human development as a life-long  Fourth Age – 80 years old up to death
process which can be studied scientifically.
A key aspect in the study of life-span development is
 From “womb to tomb” comprising the entire life span how development in one period is connected to
from conception to death. development in another period.
 Events such as the timing of parenthood, maternal
employment and marital satisfaction are now also INFLUENCES IN DEVELOPMENT
studied as part of developmental psychology.
NATURE VS NURTURE
Goals of Studying Human Development Heredity - can be conceptualized as the genetic roll of
 To describe, explain, predict and intervene the dice. It consists of the inborn traits and
 Describe the typical pattern of development characteristics provided by a child’s biological parents.
 Explain why a child has a delayed language acquisition
 Predict the likelihood that the child will develop Environment – influences stem from outside the body,
speech problems starting at conception with the prenatal environment in
 Intervene by giving speech therapy the womb and continuing throughout life.

Domains of Development Epigenetics – the tendency of our genes to “change”

 Physical Development – growth of the body and brain, as we develop or due to the influence of the
sensory capacities, motor skills, and health. environment.

 Cognitive Development – learning, attention, memory, STABILITY VS CHANGE

language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. Stability-change issue – involves the degree to which
early traits and characteristics persist through life or
 Psychosocial Development – emotions, personality change.
and social relationships.
Is the most active kid who sings and dances in all family
These domains are intricately interconnected reunions will become an actor/actress someday?

Many developmentalists argue that stability in

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT development is the result of heredity and possibly early
BASIC CONCEPTS experiences in life

CONTINUITY VS DISCONTINUITY
PERIODS OF THE LIFE SPAN Continuity-discontinuity issue – focuses on the degree
Division of the life span into periods is a social construction. to which development involves either gradual,
 A concept of or practice that is an invention of a cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages
particular culture or society (discontinuity).
 Social clock
Continuity – gradual, continues
Discontinuity – distinct stages
 Jean Jacques Rosseau is a Genevan philosopher who
EVALUATING DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES believes that children are born ‘noble savages’
 Although most developmentalists do not take extreme meaning we are born with innate goodness
positions on these important issues, there’s spirited
debate regarding how strongly development is He believes that all humans are born with innate
influenced by each of these factors. kindness not until civilization makes him bad.

 Nature and nurture, stability and change, continuity  Mechanistic Model – identify and explain factors
and discontinuity characterize development that made people behave people behave as they
throughout the human life span. do. Answers the question ‘why ‘

MATURATION Ex. Drinking (Physical, Cognitive, Psychosocial)

 The unfolding of a natural sequence of physical
changes and behavior patterns.  Organismic Model – include approaches such as
 As children grow into adolescents and then into adults, humanistic psychology, which emphasizes the
individual differences in innate characteristics and life importance of personal growth and self-
experiences play a greater role. actualization.
 Throughout life, however, maturation continues to
influence certain biological processes such as brain Ex. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
development.
 All people undergo rates and timing of development Organismic theorists see development as series
vary. of stages that cannot be skipped.

CHAPTER 2
IS DEVELOPMENT CONTINUOUS OR
THEORY AND RESEARCH DISCONTINUOUS?
 Continuos Development is Quantitative Change
THEORY - A set of logical ideas or concepts that can be use
- the observed development is the same thing over time
to explain, predict and describe behaviors under certain
conditions
 Discontinuous Development is Qualitative Change
- the observed development changes over time
HYPOTHESIS - Assumptions on a research

IS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVE OR REACTIVE? THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

 Active Development – argue that humans create
experiences for themselves and motivated to learn PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE
about the world around them.  Originator: Sigmund Freud
 Proposed that humans were born with a series of
 Reactive Development – we, as humans, act as sponge innate , biologically based drives and people were
absorbing all the life experiences and molds this over motivated to satisfy their urges
time.  Early experiences shaped later functioning
 Childhood as an important predecessor in adult
Ex. Driving behavior
 unconscious
John Locke is an English philosopher and the proponent of
TABULA RASA Psychosexual Development (Sigmund Freud)

: A blank slate or canvass Structures of the Mind

He believed that a person’s mind is a blank slate (tabula ID

rasa) and how a child developed is entirely depended on  the “pleasure principle”
society or environment  seek immediate gratification
 hunger, thirst, elimination and sex
EGO Latent Fixation – immature, inability to form fulfilling
 the “reality principle” relationships as an adult
 prevents you from acting immediately to those urges
 find realistic ways to gratify the id that are acceptable 5. Genital Stage (12 years old - onwards)
to the superego  focuses on gratification through the sex organs
 gratification in the form of sex
SUPEREGO  if not satisfied, can lead to sexual fixation in
 the “moral principle” adulthood
 controls our sense of right and wrong
 the “conscience” and “moral judge” of one’s conduct Sexual Fixation – sexually pervert, sexual fantasies

Freud’s Stages of Development 2. Psychosocial Development (Erik Erikson)

1. Oral Stage (0 – 1 year old)
 focuses on gratification through the mouth
 starts from infancy in the form of thumb sucking or
breastfeeding
 if not satisfied, can lead to oral fixation in adulthood

Oral Passive Personality – eating, drinking, smoking, nail

biting
Oral Aggressive Personality – vulgar, gossiping, oral sex

2. Anal Stage (1 - 3 years old)

 focuses on gratification through the anus
 gratification in the form of defecating
 if not satisfied, can lead to anal fixation in adulthood

Anal Retentive Personality – perfectionist, stingy and

organized
Anal Expulsive Personality – stubborn, careless, messy,
anal sex

3. Phallic Stage (3 - 6 years old)

 focuses on gratification through the genitalia
 gratification in the form of Electra and Oedipus
Complex
Oedipus Complex – a boy sexually desires his mother and
wants to kill his father.
Electra Complex – a girl sexually desires her father and
wants to kill her mother.

If not satisfied, can lead to aggressive and overly sexual

behavior as an adult.

Male – masturbation, unlawful sexual activity (rape)

Female – promiscuous

4. Latency Stage (6 - 12 years old)

 no sexual gratification
 kids focus their energy through friends, school, and
social relationships
 If not satisfied, can lead to social fixation in adulthood
LEARNING PERSPECTIVE Schema – general understanding to a certain thing.

 A view of human development that holds that changes Assimilation – putting new information fit in with your
in behavior is the result from the adaptation in the existing understanding of the world.
environment.
 In this perspective, everything a person became is the Accommodation – changing older ideas and concepts
result of human and environment interaction. into new and completely different concepts and ideas
because of experiencing new information.
BEHAVIORISM
1. Classical Conditioning (Proposed by Ivan Pavlov) 2. Sociocultural Theory (Lev Vygotsky)
A behavioral procedure in which an unconditioned stimulus  According to him, people learn through social
is paired with a neutral stimulus to get conditioned interaction.
response.  Learning is largely influenced by the people around
us and we hang out with.
2. Operant Conditioning (Proposed by BF Skinner)
 Involves punishment and reward Ex. In order for you to become good at playing
 A behavioral procedure in which if they did an basketball you must practice day and night together
accepted behavior they will be rewarded and if they with the best players in basketball. Or tumira kayo sa
exhibited unaccepted behavior they will be punished. iisang bahay

Example:
Giving them a piece of candy when they clean their room CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE
Not letting them play video games if they misbehave  Development can only be understood in its social
Behavior Modification context.
 See individuals not as a separate entity interacting
3. Social Learning Theory / Social Cognitive Theory with the environment but as an inseparable part of
(Proposed by Albert Bandura) it.
States that people learn behaviors through observation,
imitation and modeling. Malalaman mo lang at maiintindihan mo kung bakit
ganun sya, ang pagkatao nya pag alam mo na kung san
sya nakatira at kung anong klaseng pamilya meron sya.
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
 Focuses on the thought processes and the behavior
that reflects those process EVOLUTIONARY/SOCIOBIOLOGICAL
 In this perspective, it encompasses reasoning, thinking, PERSPECTIVE
creativity, information-processing and attention.
 Proposed by EO Wilson
1. Cognitive Stage Theory (Jean Piaget)
 Focuses on evolutionary and biological bases of
 Theory of Cognitive Development
behavior
 Proposed that children’s cognitive development
 Influenced by Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
advances in a series of 4 stages

RESEARCH METHODS
Quantitative Research – deals with objectively
measurable, numerical data that is amenable to
statistical analysis.

Qualitative Research – involves non-numerical

descriptions of participant’s subjective understanding,
feeling or beliefs about their experiences.
SAMPLING CHAPTER 3: FORMING A LIFE
Quantitative Research – the sample should be
FERTILIZATION or conception; the union of sperm cell
representative of the population otherwise cannot be
and egg cell (ovum)
properly generalized; random sampling
if the union is successful, zygote is formed
Qualitative Research – participants may be chosen for their
DIZYGOTIC TWINS
ability to communicate the nature of experience; focused
 also called fraternal twins;
 result of two separate eggs being fertilized by two
Data Collection Method different sperms;
 can be the same or different sex;
1. Naturalistic Observation  hereditary
Advantages: Allows the observers to directly observe the
subject in a natural setting. Ex. Cassy and Mavy Legaspi
Disadvantages: Allows the observers to directly observe
the subject in a natural setting. MONOZYGOTIC TWINS
 also called identical twins;
2. Case Study  result of one egg being fertilized by one sperm
Advantages: Allow researchers to observe and record then splitting into two;
information about rare, impractical, or unethical conditions  can be the same or different sex;
and behaviours.  hereditary
Disadvantages: Expensive and time-consuming
Ex. Joj and Jai Agpangan
3. Survey
Advantages: Less expensive and allow researchers to
collect a large amount of data in a relatively short period. TWIN TO TWIN TRANSFUSION SYNDROME (TTTS)
Disadvantages: Inaccuracy - The answer choices provided  a condition in which the blood flows unequally
in a survey may not be an accurate reflection of how the between twins that share a placenta
participants actually feel.  if they survive, the other twin is significantly larger
than the other at birth.
BASIC RESEARCH DESIGNS  monozygotic twins only

 Case Study
 Ethnographic Study Influence in Multiple Births
 Correlational Study  The trend toward delayed childbearing
 Experiments  Increase use of fertility drugs
 Cross-Sectional  Increase use of reproductive techniques like IVF
 Longitudinal
Effects of Multiple Births
ETHICS OF A RESEARCH  Pregnancy complications
 Informed Consent  Premature delivery
 Deception  Low birth weight of infants
 Protection from any potential harm  Disability or even death of an infant
 Privacy and confidentiality
 Right to decline or withdraw
 Debriefing MECHANISMS OF HEREDITY

Heredity – the genetic transmission of heritable

characteristics from parents to offspring
Genetic Code – the set of rules used by living cells to
translate information encoded within genetic material
into proteins
DNA – contains the genetic code; a double helix structure
GENETIC & CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES

Achondroplasia – disproportionate dwarfism, short-

limbed dwarfism

Types of Hemophilia
Hemophilia A – internal bleeding (bruises)
Hemophilia B – bleeding from minor cuts (wisdom
tooth removal)
Hemophilia C – bleeding from major cuts or surgeries
(giving birth)

CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES
typically occur because of errors in cell division
resulting in extra or missing chromosome on 23rd pair;
Bases – the letters of the genetic code
DS; women starts with 35 years old
Chromosomes – coils of DNA

Genetic Mutations – result from the alterations in genetic

material; result when a mistake in copying the
chromosome is made.

WHAT DETERMINES SEX?

Sex Chromosomes – the 23rd pair that governs the baby’s
sex
If the 23rd pair is “XX”, then you are a female
If the 23rd pair is “XY”, then you are a male

PATTERNS OF GENETIC TRANSMISSION

Phenotype – a person’s observable traits or STUDYING HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT

characteristics
Behavioral Genetics – studies how environment affects
Ex. Eye color, height, skin complexion, body built
the genetic makeup of a human.
Ex. If a child came from a musically inclined family but
Genotype – the genetic makeup of an organism; grew up in a home where instruments are nowhere to
contains the DNA be seen, this can’t manifest his musical intelligence. On
the other hand, if a child did not come from a music
Multifactorial Transmission – environmental experiences lover family but grew up surrounded by different
modifies the expression of a genotype; illustrates the musical instruments it can develop his musical
interaction of nature & nurture and how they affect intelligence.
outcomes.
Ex. Inherited athletic genes Heretability – the quality of a characteristic
Intelligence being transmissible from parent to offspring.
Ex. Intelligence
Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) – a genetic disease
characterized by lethargy, diminished muscle tone
(hypotonia), and feeding difficulties with poor weight gain
and growth.
HOW HEREDITY & ENVIRONMENT WORK TOGETHER Proximodistal – “center” development; development
begins from the center part of the body and goes
Reaction Range Principle – we are born with fixed, innate outward (to the arms and legs).
and inherited characteristics but we can expand it
according to our environment.
Ex. IQ Range

Canalization Principle – our traits as a human tend to

progress or develop.
Ex. Eyes? Motor Skills

CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCED BY HEREDITY &

ENVIRONMENT
 Obesity
 Intelligence
 Temperament & Personality
 Schizophrenia

PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES: MATERNAL

FACTORS
CHARACTERISTICS INFLUENCED BY HEREDITY &
ENVIRONMENT  Teratogen
 Nutrition & Maternal Weight
Gestation Period – period between conception and birth  Malnutrition
1 month, 2 months, 3 months, first trimester second third  Physical Activity & Work
 Drug Intake
Gestational Age – age of an unborn baby expressed  Alcohol (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome)
through ‘weeks’  Nicotine
 Caffeine
 Marijuana
PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT  Cocaine
 Metamphetamine Hydrochloride
Cephalocaudal – “head to tail” development; development
begins from the head down to the lower part of the body.