PSYA02 Reading Notes

Chapter 11: The Developing Mind

Develop: Changes in behaviour that correlate with growth or maturation
-​ Nature and Nurture: How genes and their environment interact
●​ Underlying DNA get turned on or off by the surrounding chemical tags we
encounter in life (chemical tags = the epigenome)
●​ Children have less epigenetic interactions between genes, therefore they have
more in common with each other then people of older ages
●​ Early psychologist might think of this as development has stopped in childhood or
adolescence when in reality it was a transition point where internal influences
were overshadowed by external ones
-​ Continuity or Discontinuity: Does development proceed gradually and smoothly overtime
or changes abruptly from one stage to the next
●​ Some development is gradual like infant temperament to later personality, while
some are more abruptly like toddlers learning to walk
-​ Universal or Ecological: Universal is age related behaviours found across all humans and
ecological is the impact of culture and environment on development
●​ Both of them improve our understanding
●​ Universal Development show that kids who aren’t restricted to no movement
walk at an earlier age rather than all kids starting to walk at the same age

Prenatal: before birth

-​ First 2 gestational weeks, the developing organism is called a zygote
-​ Once implanted into the uterine lining it, it now an embryo for 3-8 weeks
-​ After that it is considered a fetus
Zygote
-​ It differentiates into three germ layers: ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm
-​ Ectoderm develops into nerve tissue and skin
-​ Mesoderm develops to muscle and bone
-​ Endoderm is the source of the body's soft tissue (organs in the digestive tract
Embryo:
-​ By week four the central nervous system has developed into the forebrain, midbrain,
hindbrain and central nervous system
-​ In week 7 the cells that form the cerebral cortex start a journey from the lining of the
neural tube
 -​ The heart stomach liver and other organs are formed
-​ In week 6 the Y chromosome appears and differentiates the generic gonads (the organs
that produce sex cells)
Fetal:
-​ The rest of pregnancy is to grow and mature the systems that were previously in place
-​ In month 3 different generic internal reproductive organs differentiate (example, fallopian
tubes and seminal vesicles)
-​ New neurons are born in large numbers and begin the process of forming connections
with one another
-​ They can hear sound very well
-​ Most pregnancy last 40 weeks and the baby comes between 37 to 42 weeks
-​ Babies born before 28 week are known as micro preemies
Risks for DEVELOPMENT
-​ Genetic Risks
●​ Most common ones seen in children are ones that become more likely in older
parents
●​ Down syndrome or trisomy 21, happens when the child receives a 3 full or partial
copy of the 21rst chromosome

-​ Environmental Risks
●​ The placenta protects the fetus
●​ Teratogen: any agent that can produce harmful effects to the growing baby
●​ Exposure to commonly used antidepressant medication has been linked to higher
rates of premature and autism
●​ Use of acetaminophen (tylenol) can be linked with ADHD
●​ Regallary consumption of tobacco are at risk for premature birth and being
underweight, and physical and psychological problems later on in the child's lives
●​ Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Newborn Abilities
-​ Newborn stage is birth to 28 days
-​ Rooting: They can immediately turn their head to the source of a touch, open their mouth
to feed
-​ Suck: if an object is placed in the moth, babies begin to such/ which leads to feeding
-​ Grasp: any objects placed in the hand the babies will hold onto or grasp onto them
-​ If parents hold newborns upright with feet touching a surface, they will show a stepping
reflex
-​ They spend 16-18 hours per day sleeping, a big portion of this time is spent in REM sleep
which is important for the newborn's brain
 -​ During wakefulness, babies alternate between periods of alert looking and period of
moving their arms and legs
-​ They spend 2 - 3 hours per day crying or being close to tears
-​ First infants babies generally cry for a reason such as ginger or pain and most parents are
stimulated by the crying to find ways to make their infant more comfortable
Newborn Physical Development
-​ Sex: Physiological characteristics (XY genotype)
-​ Gender: aspects of maleness/femaleness continuum
-​ Androgen insensitivity syndrome: an individual with male genetic sex that cannot
respond to circulating mae hormones leading to them appearing female
-​ 5 alpha reductase syndrome: results in ambiguous genitalia at birth with later
masculinization at puberty
-​ Since babies can’t talk in order to measure their sensory capabilities they look at facial
expression and head movements in correlation with stimuli
-​ Senses
●​ They show sensitivity to smells and respond differently to pleasant smells vs
unpleasant ones
●​ They are capable of recognizing their mother by smell
●​ They are sensitive to taste and respond differently to them
●​ They have a bias towards sweetness
●​ They can hear well from the gestational month seven, but hearing improves after
birth, the range of hearing sounds is the frequencies in a human speech
●​ Their vision can be tested by measuring the amount of time they spend watching a
pattern rather than a uniform screen
●​ Infants don’t view differences very well
●​ They prefer to look at faces, infants who refuse to make eye contact usually
develop social and language impairments later

Physical Changes in Infancy to Childhood

-​ Rapid growth in this stage (babies triple their weight within the first year of life)
-​ Later in pregnancy and the first 18 months of life, the brian grows rapidly in grey matter
and neuronal cell bodies
-​ After this growth, cells and connections that are not useful are deleted: pruning
-​ The nervous system develops to a use it or lose it principle, which why kids needs
experiencing for wiring the brain (children who are raised in more stimulating
environments have better outcomes)
-​ Myelination countries to develop through childhood and adolescence, but a spurt occurs
between ages of 6 to 13 in part of the brian that is associated with language and spatial
relations, learning a second language as a child affects the myelination
-​ The end of second language development happens in the end of the white matter growth
 -​ Motor Development
●​ Our motor development is largely driven by genetic influences
●​ We know this due to identical twins developing around the same time then
fraternal or regular siblings developing a different times
●​ Numerous sociocultural facts can also influences a child motor development
●​ c
●​ Then around the one year mark the muscles of legs are developed to support
walking and standing
●​ Throughout childhood their motor abilities continue to improve their movements
and coordination
●​ Second direction of motor development begins at the midline, an imaginary line
dividing the human body into halves and proceeds outward
●​ They can bat at toys suspended above their cribs before able to grasp objects
●​ They learn to grapes objects before they learn to release them
●​ Well into elementary school, children continue to master control over the fine
muscle movement of the hands and fingers required for writing
-​ Gender Development
●​ Gender identity develop in both biological and environmental factors
●​ Children begin to prefer sex-tyed toys between ages of 12 and 18 months but they
cannot associated them with male or female humans, young vervet monkeys make
similar choices but are not socialized shows how society influence us
●​ Girl with CAH (girls who are experience an unusually high level of prenatal
exposure to male hormones
●​ By the age of 3 children use gender labels consistently for themselves

Cognition change during infancy and childhood

-​ Child's ability to move and explore the environment are changes in the way children
process information and solve problems
-​ Jean Piaget interested in the errors were representative of growth in the child's ability to
reason, he believed that cognitive development occur in distance stages but he didn’t
consider social and cultural factors in cognition and learning
●​ 2 types of adjustments can be made to a schema
●​ A child will assimilate new info into their existing schema
●​ When something doesn't fit into their schemas we experience disequilibrium and
have to develop more complex schemas
●​ The schema must be adapted to fit the new information this is called
accommodation
●​ Equilibration to describe the active self-regulatory process by which a child
progresses through that stages of development
●​ He also had different stages:
-​ Sensorimotor stage
●​ Begins at birth and lasts until second birthday
●​ Infants focus on the here and now
●​ Explore their environment through their senses
●​ Infants engage in repetitive behaviors which he called circular
reactions
●​ Primary circular reactions: 1- 4 months of ages actions that involve
the own body (placing a finger in their mouth by accident and
sucking on it then doing it again)
●​ Secondary circular reactions: 4 - 8 months of ages that involve
objects other than one's own body (repeatedly kicking at on a
mobile)
●​ Tertiary secondary reactions: 1 year of ages involves trial and error
experimentation (might drop the same object from a high chair
over and over again)
●​ They achieve object permanence, under the age of 8 months
infants cannot form clear memories or mental representation for
objects once they are removed from sight
●​ Object permanence: the ability to form mental representation of
objects that are no longer present
●​ Their language abilities are developing rapidly and by the age of
18 months they have a vocabulary of 10 to 50 words by age 2 they
can combine words into short but meaningful sentences
-​ Preoperational stage
●​ Around age 2 to 6
●​ The notion that children are still incapable of engaging internal
mental operations or manipulation
●​ To show this he used a conservation tasks: the ability to understand
that changing the form of appearance of an object does not change
its quantity
●​ They also have difficulty understanding pov’s of others, this is
called egocentrism
●​ Thinking is also limited by beliefs that appear real
-​ Concrete operational stage
●​ Ages 6 to 12
●​ Problems are easily solved and thinking becomes more logical
●​ Inability to handle abstract concepts
●​ He used the name because children reasoned best when allowed to
engage in hand-on learning, this influenced the education system
 -​ The formal operations stage
●​ This is the final stage starts at age 12
●​ This is the skill to be able to handle abstract concepts such as
“what ifs” types of questions
●​ This helps with problem solving
●​ Critiques to his theory
-​ Some psychologist say his theory needs updating and revising
-​ He looked at human development from a species perspective, which led
him to neglect the individual differences
-​ He held the same development stages across cultures and all individuals
-​ Individual cognitive development can vary
-​ He did not specify mechanisms responsible for moving from one stage to
the next (like frontal lobe development)
-​ He may have overestimated the abilities of adolescent as the brian doesn’t
fully mature till early 20s
-​ He isolated people from their family, community and culture
-​ Theodore Simon and Alfred Binet developed some of the first intelligence tests
-​ Alternative views to cognitive development:
●​ Lev Vygotsky:
-​ He stressed the role of culture and cultural differences in development of
children
-​ Individual gain knowledge of the world by interacting socially and
collaborating with members of the community (parents, teachers etc)
-​ Children first use language to initiate social contact and opportunities to
learn
-​ Later on they learn self - directed talk and then older children forms inner
speech
-​ Zone of proximal development: Best way for a child to learn is when
faced with a task they can accomplish with the help of someone who
knows how to do it
-​ Practice of scaffolding: which involved the parent or teacher being
responsive to the needs of the child
●​ Information processing
-​ In tasks that require judgement, adults are 3 times faster than kids
-​ By the time the stat school their tasks were at the same level as adults
-​ But the ability to sustain attention over time remains limited until the age
of 11
-​ These changes in improvement of memory these changes are probably due
to maturation of brain structures
 -​ You can produce some of the first autobiographical memories between the
ages 3 and 5 years old
●​ Naïve Theories
-​ Contemporary developmental psychologist believe that piaget was wrong
-​ Children understand objects and how they work well even if they have
never interacted with them much
●​ Theory of Mind
-​ An elaboration of piaget's egocentrism in children is the theory of mind
-​ This is understand that others have thoughts that are different from ones
owns
-​ They studied this through tracking typical abnormal development
-​ Lassic procedure for demonstration TOM is the false belief task
(Sally-Anne)
-​ We can identify behaviours in young children that seem to act as building
blocks leading to the achievement of TOM (joint attention, following
another person's gaze, or pointing to direct another person's attention to
something in the environment) this happens within the first year of life
-​ The ability to distinguish between living and nonliving objects is another
important step
-​ Unintentional behaviours vs intentional ones (3 years olds will imitate the
intentional one but not the unintentional ones)
-​ TOM is critical for social development,and failure tod development has
been linked to autism

Social and Emotional Behaviours During Infancy and Childhood:

-​ Temperament
●​ A child temperaments reflects their prevailing patterns of moods, activity and emotion
responsiveness, and they can predict adult personality
●​ Msry Rothbart used 3 categories to divide temperament
-​ Surgency/ extraversion: which reflects the degree to which a child is generally
happy, active vocal and social
-​ Negative affect: includes proneness to anger, fear, sadness and frustration and the
degree to which a child is shy and not easily soothed
-​ Effortful control: the ability to pay attention and inhibit behaviour
●​ Temperament and parenting have a reflection on people personality
●​ Culture also has a heavy influence, because their behaviour could be interrupted in
different places depending on where they are
-​ Attachment: emotional bond linking an infant to a parent or caregiver
●​ Maintaining closeness to infant is important since the child depends on caregiver
physically
 ●​ Harry harlow studied attachment between children and their mothers through
rhesus monkeys
-​ Harlow concluded that the mothers ability to provide contact comfort was
critical in forming a strong attachment on the part of her infant
●​ Freud theories suggested that the pleasure obtained through deeding formed the
basis of infants bond with their mother but harlow didn't agree
●​ A key factor in the timing of attachment appears to be mobility, when a child is
not mobile they rely on their parents which give them more time to bond with
them, once they cry when being passed to an unfamiliar face this shows their
attachment to their caregivers
●​ Mary Aintsworth studied attachment through separation and reunion between
child and caregiver
-​ Through the experiment they classified the child as either secure or
insecure
-​ Secure attachment: caregiver bonding in which children explore
confidently and return to the parent or caregiver for reassurance
-​ Insecure attachment: caregiver bonding that can take several forms but is
generally characterized as less desirable for the child's outcomes
●​ Anxious avoidant: let themselves be comforted by strangers and
didn’t react when mom came in or left
●​ Anxious resistant: never seemed comfortable even with mom there
and cried a lot when she left and then when was very clingy and
rejecting when she returned
●​ Disorganized: seemed confused and not well attached

●​ Cultural influences on parenting behaviours influence attachment

●​ Secoure parents are teaching their kids that the world is a predictable place and
their parents will always be there for them
●​ Insecure parents are teaching their children that the world is no predictable and
parents may or may not be there for them when in need
-​ Parenting styles
●​ Parental support: empathy and recognition of child's perspective
●​ Behavioural regulation: involves supervision of the child's behaviour
accompanied by consistent discipline and clear expectations
●​ Authoritative Parenting: ideal style for parents, they are consistent and firm but
also warm and reasonable
●​ Authoritarian parental style: this provides the children for limits they will
inevitably face in the community, they have a greater tendency to use harsh
punishments (including physical), this can response to rebelliousness
 ●​ Indulgent parenting: warm and loving but do not want to tell their parents no, they
are monitored less and how higher levels of antisocial
●​ Uninvolved (neglectful) parenting: children often smoke and drink twice as much
as other parently styles and sons are high risks of antisocial behaviors (doesn’t
really happen unless something is wrong with the family)
●​ A parent doesn’t need to stay in the same box, a component parent can be thrown
off by life thing
●​ Cultural differences in parenting styles (canadian parents seemed more accepting
of behaviour and vs italy and france)

High parental support Low parental support

High behavioural Authoritative Authoritarian

regulation

Low behaviour Indulgent Uninvolved

regulation

Adolsencens
-​ A period of development beginning at puberty and ending at young adulthood
-​ 2 factors that have extended puberty then in the past:
●​ Puberty now starts at a younger age
●​ The extended period of education and training needed to join societies, at the age
of puberty they aren’t ready to be working adults
Physical Changes
-​ The beginning of puberty is naked by hormones released, which results in the maturity of
reproductive organs and the development of secondary sex characteristics (physical
changes occurring at puberty associated with sexual maturity)
-​ Evolutionary purpose of puberty is to prepare individuals for reproduction
-​ Sexual maturation parallels further gender identity development
-​ Brain:
●​ Early psychologist said the brian was mature at puberty, however the language,
spatial, senses parts of the brain are fully matured but the brian is still growing
●​ Beginning of puberty is accompanied by gray matter growth which peaks at 11
and 12 years old , then it usually thins over the rest of the teen years
●​ Youth with early-onset of this schizophrenia have four times more loss of grey
matter in the frontal lobes
●​ Myelination of the frontal lobes is greater 23 to 30 years and into young adult
●​ Difference in brians affect their interpretation of emotions of others
 ●​ Adults identify expressed emotions accurately but teen frequently misunderstand
the emotions being displayed
-​ Cognition
●​ Working memory and reaction time reach adult levels during adolescence
●​ Teens are hard at work acquiring data and can apply their knowledge using
strategies
-​ Moral Reasoning
●​ Lawrence Kohlberg a student of Piaget extended his theory of development
-​ To assess their moral reasoning he would provide them with ethical
dilemma
-​ Based on their responses to his dilemmas he identified 3 major stages in
moral reasoning
-​ Preconventional morality: children and young adults are here, they make
moral choices based on their expectations of reward and punishment
-​ Conventional morality: most adolescents stay in this stage throughout high
school, rules are seen as governing moral behaviour and are therefore, to
be followed. They want to do the right thing so that others will approve of
their behaviour
-​ Postconventional morality: few ppl get to this stage, they realise rules can
be flawed
- Identity formation
●​ Erik Erikson
●​ Development the life span model of psychosocial development which outlines
stages of social development beginning in infancy
●​ Identity: a consistent, unified sense of self
●​ Social development proceeds in stages, each stage with a challenge
●​ Teens begin the process of identity formation by asking questions
●​ Prematurely adopting an identity is to assume the identity of a group
●​ Or the adoption of a ready made identities made by parents or mentors
●​ A healthy balance between family and peer influences produce the best outcomes,
teens who continue to interact regularly with their parentsVersus teens who don't
Avoid pitfalls of substance abuse

Young Adult
-​ Physical status
●​ Pinnacle stage of their physical development
●​ You are as strong, as tall and fit as you’re ever be
●​ Your brian is mature and your senses and reaction time
-​ Cognition in young adulthood
●​ At this stage they can follow a logical course of steps to solve a problem
 ●​ Postformal thoughts: recognize that the right answer is often it depends and that
questions are complex and ambiguous
●​
-​ Relationships in young adulthood
●​ Ericksons suggests that teens entering adulthood are faced with the challenge of
intimacy versus isolation
●​ Those who fail to find the level of intimacy they seek might experience feelings
of loneliness
●​ Having established a solid identity in adolescence is the key to making good
relationships in early adulthood

Midlife
-​ 40 could be the starting point for midlife, but psychologist view gray hair or menopause
(physical changes ) as a start for midlife
-​ Midlife crisis is not true, they are sandwiched between caring for children and their aging
parents
-​ Physical
●​ For women: menopause the point where menstruation stops, usually is complete
in their early 50s but loss of fertility is a gradual process, menstrual cycles may
become irregular in 40s
●​ For men: sperm quantity may be reduced but men in their 80s reminan half as
fertile as men who are 25, little to no decrease in testosterone over the course of
the midlife years
-​ Social
●​ Improvement in marriage quality, and they feel more relaxed once kids start to
leave
●​ Empty nest syndrome can change depending on culture and family life (divorce,
single, married)
●​ They stay employed longer
●​ By midlife you will have a good idea of weather these goals you stt for as a teen
will be met

Late Adulthood stagnation*

-​ Starting point might be age of retirement 65, but 72 could be the start
-​ Physical changes
●​ In good healthy physical status is gradual and mild but physical change is
inevitable
 ●​ Brain maturity around age of 25 and then few changes to the brian occur until 45,
then the weight of the brian decrease, leading to about 5 percent decrease by the
age of 80 but is not accompanied by behaviour or cognitive changes
●​ Instead by speed of learning, problem solving and sensory abilities
-​ Cognition
●​ Intelligence remains relatively good
●​ Rates of dementia have been dropping over the last three decades
●​ Crystalized intelligence or the use of accumulated knowledge, changes less than
fluid intelligence or a person's basic information processing skills
-​ Social and Emotional
●​ Erikson said that older people either experience integrity or despair
●​ Older ppl who are happy with their lives experience integrity (they met goals and
had fun)
●​ Older people who reach late adulthood feeling that life passed them by are likely
to experience a sense of despair
●​ Depression is higher in young adults probably because their goals are refocused
toward seeking positive emotional experience
●​ Need for social connection stays the same
●​ Grandmother effect: a healthy women could live 40-50 years beyond her age at
menopause
●​ Marriage is important rto continued good health, it buffers from stress