Developmental Psychology
Jan Patrick Gutierrez, RPm, RPsy
Dev Psy TOS
A. Perspective on Nature and Nurture – 5%
B. Ethics on Research Methods in Developmental Psychology – 5%
C. Developmental Theories – 25%
D. Developmental Principles – 5%
E. Developmental Issues and Tasks on Developmental Stages – 30%
a. Developmental Challenges – 15%
b. Developmental Tasks – 15%
F. Developmental Challenges and Milestones on Developmental Stages – 30%
The Lifespan Perspective (Baltes, 1987)
Development is lifelong
o No one age period is more important than another
Development is multidirectional
o Includes gains and losses
Development is multidimensional
o Physical – body growth, immune function, motor skills
o Cognitive – attention, memory, language, intelligence
o Psychosocial – self-perception, relationships
Development is multidisciplinary
o Involves fields such as biology, sociology, and medicine
Development is characterized by plasticity
o Plasticity – many of our characteristics are malleable and can be changed
Development is multi-contextual
o Affected by circumstances such as time and socioeconomic status
Contexts of Development (Baltes, 1987)
Normative age-graded influences
o Changes experienced by people in a certain age cohort (e.g.learning to talk, puberty,
retirement, etc.)
Normative history-graded influences
o Changes experienced by people alive at a certain time (e.g. war, epidemics, economic
regression, etc.)
Non-normative life influences
o Individual experiences (e.g. illness, winning the lottery, etc.)
Socioeconomic Status
o Identifier based on shared levels of education, income, and occupation
o People of SES are often similar in ways (e.g. parenting styles, where they live,
stressors, etc.)
o Higher SES associated with more control and less stress
o Lower SES associated with poorer health and lower life expectancy due to poor diet
and limited access to health resources, dangerous jobs, lack of medical care, etc.
Culture
Totality of shared language, knowledge, material objects, and behavior
o Ideas about right and wrong
o social interaction behaviors
o food, music, and activity preferences
o beliefs about achievement and success
collectivistic (Asian, African, etc.) vs. individualistic (western)
Culture is learned from the people around us
Helps members function in their society
Ethnocentrism – belief that one’s own culture is superior to others
Xenotrencism – belief that other cultures are superior to one’s own (colonialism)
Cultural relativity - appreciation for cultural differences; understanding that cultural
practices are best understood from the standpoint of that particular culture
Lifespan vs. life-expectancy
Lifespan – the length of time a species can exist under the most optimal conditions
o Species-specific
Life expectancy – predicted number of years a person born in a particular time period can
reasonably expect to live
Affected by behavior, experiences, individual (cont.)
Conceptions of Age
Chronological age – the number of years since your birth
Biological age – how quickly your body is aging
Psychological age – psychologically adaptive capacity compared to others of our
chronological age
Social age – based on the social norms of our culture and the expectations our culture has
for people of our age group
Periods of Development – memorize upper limit (until what age)
Prenatal – conception to birth
Infancy and toddlerhood – birth to 2 years
Early childhood – 2-6 years of age
Middle childhood – 6 years of age to puberty
Adolescence – onset of puberty to age 18
Emerging adulthood – 18 to 25 (fairly new stage/concept of dev’t)
Early adulthood – 25 to 40 or 45 years of age
Middle adulthood – 40 of 45 – 60 years of age
Late adulthood – 60 years of age until death
Issues in Development: Nature and Nurture
Question about causes of development: why are we the way we are?
Nature perspective: heredity and how it plays the most important role in causing a trait
and/or behavior
Nurture perspective: the environment most significant in shaping the way we are
Many things are caused by interaction of nature and nurture
Question about the course of development: is it a gradual process or abrupt change?
Continuous – development is a slow and gradual process; quantitative
o No specified stages
discontinuous – developmental change often occurs in distinct stages; qualitative
o stage theories
o stages are qualitatively different from each other
o stages occur in a set, universal consequence
o e.g. Freud
Issues in Development: Active vs. Passive
How much of a role do we play in our development?
Active: we construct our experiences
Passive: we are affected by the environment or our genes with little control
Issues in Development: Stability vs. Change
How much do we change as we develop?
In what ways do we change?
Stability perspective: we change very little from childhood to adulthood
Change perspective: initial tendencies modified by experiences
Historical theories of development
Pre-formationism
tiny, fully formed human is implanted in the sperm or egg at conception and then grows in
size until birth
Assumes infants are born with all capabilities intact
Environment plays no role in development
Tabula rasa (blank slate) by John Locke
Child’s mind entirely shaped by environment
Early experiences important
“old dogs can’t learn new tricks”
Focuses on childhood development; it is more difficult to learn or acquire new skills at a
later age because your “slate” is already full
Environment is entirely responsible; nurture-focused theory
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Theory
Development occurs on biological timetable
Children should be allowed to develop naturally
Maturational Theory by Arnold Gesell
Development activated by genes
Development occurred in fixed experiences
Belief: no need for education; you will learn things naturally
Nature-focused theory
Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
Must learn to transform biological instincts into socially acceptable behaviors
Early experiences are important
Males have stronger superegos
Phallic stage of males: Oedipus complex -> castration anxiety -> identification to father
figure
Phallic stage of females: penis envy -> Electra complex -> identification to mother figure
Latency period: attention is diverted to school activities
Contemporary theories of development
Erikson’s psychosocial theory
Each period of life has a unique challenge (psychosocial crisis) that must be managed
Resolution of early crises may affect later crises
Trust vs. mistrust stage is parallel to Freud’s oral stage
Learning theory (behaviorism)
Psychology should focus on observable behavior
Environment is important for affecting development
Use of reinforcement
Positive reinforcement: add a pleasurable stimulus to repeat the behavior
Negative reinforcement:
Positive punishment: add unwanted to weaken behavior
Negative punishment: remove pleasurable to weaken behavior
