01 The Nature of Human Development

1
Processes in Human Development

Biological, Cognitive, and Socioemotional Processes
Biological processes
- produce changes in an individuals body
genes inherited from parents
development of the brain
height and weight gains
hormonal changes of puberty
Cognitive processes
- refer to changes in an individuals thought, intelligence, and language
Socioemotional processes
- involve changes in an individuals relationships with other people, changes in
emotions, and changes in personality
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Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Periods in Human Development

Periods of Development
Prenatal period
- time from conception to birth
Infancy
- developmental period from birth to about 18 to 24 months
- time of extreme dependence on adults
- many psychological activities are just beginning:
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speaking
coordinating sensations and physical actions
thinking with symbols
imitating and learning from others
Early Childhood
- extends from the end of infancy to about 5 to 6 years of age
- sometimes called the preschool years
Middle and late childhood

- extends from about 6 to 11 years of age
- sometimes called the elementary school years
Adolescence
- transition from childhood to early adulthood
- entered at approximately 10 to 12 years of age and ending at 18 to 22
years of age
- begins with rapid physical changes
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Adolescence (continued)
- dramatic gains in height & weight
- changes in body contour
- development of sexual characteristics
- development of pubic and facial hair
- deepening of the voice

- pursuit of independence and identity
- more and more time spent outside of the family
- thought becomes more abstract, idealistic, and logical
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Interaction of the Periods and Processes in

Understanding Child Development
Periods of development are

produced by the interplay of
biological, cognitive, and
socioemotional processes.
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Issues in Development
Many questions about childrens development remain unanswered.

Debate continues about the relative importance of factors that influence
the developmental processes and about how the periods of
development are related.
The most important issues in the study of childrens development
include:
- nature and nurture
- continuity and discontinuity
- early and later experiences
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Nature and Nurture Issue
- involves the debate about whether development is primarily

influenced by nature or nurture (Rutter, 2009)
Nature
proponents claim
biological
Nature refers to
inheritance is most
an organisms
important influence
biological
on development;
inheritance;
nurture
nurture refers to
proponents claim
environmental
environmental
experiences.
experiences are
most important.
- Almost no one today argues that development can be explained by
nature alone or by nurture alone.
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Continuity and Discontinuity Issue

- focuses on extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative
change (continuity), or distinct stages (discontinuity)
developmentalists who emphasize

nurture describe development as
gradual, continuous process
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developmentalists who emphasize

nature describe development
as series of distinct stages
Early-Later Experience Issue

- issue of the degree to which early experiences (especially
infancy) or later experiences are key determinants of
childs development
- has long history and
continues to be debated
among developmentalists
(Egelund, 2009;
Laible & Thompson, 2009)
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Evaluating the Developmental Issues

- It is unwise to take an extreme position on the issues of
nature and nurture, continuity and discontinuity, and early
and later experiences.
- Development is not all nature or all nurture, not all

continuity or all discontinuity, and not all early or later
experiences (Gottlieb, 2009).
- Nature and nurture, continuity and discontinuity, and early
and later experiences all play a part in development
through the human life span.
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The Science of Human Development

The Importance of Research
Scientific research is objective, systematic, and testable.
based on the scientific method
- approach that can be used to discover accurate information
- includes the following steps:
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conceptualize the problem

collect data
draw conclusions
revise research conclusions and theory.
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The Science of Human Development (cont.)

The Importance of Research (continued)
Theory
- interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps explain and to
make predictions
Hypotheses
- specific, testable assumptions or predictions
- often written as if-then statements
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Research Methods for Collecting Data
Observation
- Trained observers systematically gather, record, and communicate
observations.
Laboratory
(see drawbacks)
- controlled setting with many of the complex factors of the real world
removed
Naturalistic observation
- observing behavior in real-world settings
Survey and interview

- often the best and quickest way to get information about people
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Research Methods for Collecting Data (continued)
Laboratory research drawbacks:

1. Its almost impossible to conduct research without the participants
knowing they are being studied.
2. Laboratory setting is unnatural and can cause the participants to behave
unnaturally.
3. People who are willing to come to a university laboratory may not fairly
represent groups from diverse cultural backgrounds.
4. People who are unfamiliar with university settings and with the idea of
helping science may be intimidated by the laboratory setting.
5. Some aspects of life-span development are difficult, if not impossible, to
examine in the laboratory.
6. Laboratory studies of certain types of stress may even be unethical.
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Research Methods for Collecting Data (continued)
Standardized tests
uniform procedures for administration and scoring
- many allow a persons performance to be compared with the

performance of other individuals
Psychophysiological measures (e.g., MRI, EEG)

assess the functioning of the central nervous system, autonomic
nervous system, and endocrine system
Case study
in-depth look at a single individual
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Research Designs
- Descriptive research
aims at observing and recording behavior and can reveal
important information, but cannot show cause-and-effect
- Correlational research
describes strength of the relationship between two or more events
or characteristics
- Correlation coefficient
number based on statistical analysis used to describe the degree
of association between two variables
ranges from +1.00 to -1.00
the higher the correlation coefficient (+ or -), the stronger the
association between the two variables
Correlation does not equal causation.
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Experimental Research
- Experiment
carefully regulated procedure in which one or more of
the factors believed to influence the behavior being
studied are manipulated while all other factors are held
constant
Independent variable (IV)
a manipulated, influential, experimental factor
potential cause
can be manipulated independently of other factors to
determine its effects
Dependent variable (DV)
a factor that can change in an experiment in response to
changes in the IV
Researchers measure the DV for any resulting effect.
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(continued)
- Experiment (continued)
Experimental group
a group whose experience is manipulated
Experiments can involve one or more experimental groups.
Control group
a comparison group
Experiments can involve one or more control groups.
serves as a baseline against which the effects of the
manipulated condition can be compared
Random assignment
The researchers assign participants to experimental and
control groups by chance.
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The Nature of Experimental Research
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(continued)
- Time Span of Research

Cross-Sectional Approach
- A research strategy in which individuals of different
ages are compared at one time.
Longitudinal Approach
- A research strategy in which the same individuals
are studied over a period of time, usually several
years or more.
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Research in Child Development

- Research Journals
publish scholarly and academic information
core information in virtually every academic discipline
leading journals in child development:
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Developmental Psychology
Child Development
Developmental Psychopathology
Pediatrics
Pediatric Nursing
Infant Behavior and Development
Journal of Research on Adolescence
Human Development
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- Research Journals (continued)
Journals that include articles on various aspects of human
development:
Journal of Educational Psychology

Sex Roles
Journal of Cross-Cultural Research
Journal of Marriage and the Family
Exceptional Children
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
usually written for other professionals

contain technical language
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(continued)

use terms specific to the discipline that are difficult for the
nonprofessional to understand
organized in specific way:
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Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
References
24
(continued)

Abstract
brief summary
appears at the beginning of the article
Introduction
introduces problem that is being studied

includes concise review of research relevant to the topic
includes theoretical ties
includes one or more hypotheses to be tested
Method
description of subjects evaluated in the study
includes the measures used
includes the procedures that were followed
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Results
reports the analysis of the data collected
Discussion
describes the authors conclusions, inferences, and interpretation of
what was found
includes statements about whether the hypotheses were supported
includes limitations of the study
includes suggestions for future research
References
bibliographic information for each source cited in the article
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Challenges in Child Development Research

- Conducting Ethical Research
APA Ethical Guidelines address four important issues:
Informed Consent
Confidentiality
Debriefing
Deception
- Minimizing Bias
Gender Bias
Cultural and Ethnic Bias
Ethnic gloss
using an ethnic label such as African American or Latino in a
superficial way that portrays an ethnic group as being more
homogenous than it really is
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Theories of Child Development
- A wide range of theories makes understanding childrens
development a challenging undertaking (Newman & Newman,
2009).
- No single theory has been able to account for all aspects

of child development.
- Each theory contributes an important piece to the child
development puzzle.
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Theories of Human Development (continued)
Psychoanalytic Theories
- describe development as primarily unconscious
- are heavily colored by emotion
- emphasize that behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the

workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior
- Early experiences with parents extensively shape development.
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Freuds Psychosexual Theory

- Personality has three structures:
Id
consists of instincts, which are the reservoir of psychic energy
is totally unconscious
Ego
deals with the demands of reality
is called the executive branch of personality
uses reasoning to make decisions
Superego
the moral branch of personality
considers whether something is right or wrong
referred to as our conscience
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The Science of Child Development (cont.)

Freuds Psychosexual Theory (continued)

- Freud became convinced that patients problems were the result of
early experiences in life.
-- He believed that adult personality is determined by the way we
resolve conflicts between sources of pleasure at each stage & the
demands of reality.
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Sigmund Freuds
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES
Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development
Stages
Age
Characteristic
Oral
Birth to 1 1/2 years
Infant's pleasure centers on the mouth.
Anal
1 1/2 years to 3 years
Child's pleasure focuses on the anus.
Phallic
3 to 6 years
Child's pleasure focuses on the genitals.
Latency
6 years to puberty
Child represses sexual interest and

develops social and intellectual skills.
Puberty onward
A time of sexual reawakening; source of

sexual pleasure becomre someone outside
the family.
Genital
Santrock, J.W. (2011). Child development (13th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
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Freuds Psychosexual Theory (continued)

- been significantly revised
- Many contemporary psychoanalytic theorists believe that Freud
overemphasized sexual instincts.
- today- more emphasis placed on cultural experiences as determinants

of an individuals development
- conscious thought believed to play greater role than Freud envisioned
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Erik Eriksons Psychosocial Theory

- Erikson recognized Freuds contributions but believed that Freud
misjudged some important dimensions of human development:
- we develop in psychosocial rather than psychosexual stages
- primary motivation for human behavior is social and reflects a desire to

affiliate with other people
- Erikson emphasized change through the life span with eight stages of
human development, each posing a unique developmental crisis to
be resolved.
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Erik Eriksons
PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES of DEVELOPMENT
The Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development in Erikson's Theory
Psychosocial Stage
Age
Challenge
Basic trust vs. mistrust
Birth to 1 year
To develop a sense that the world is a safe, a "good place"
Initiative vs. guilt
3 to 6 years
To realize that one is an independent person who can make

decisions
To develop the ability to try new things and to handle failure
Industry vs. inferiority
6 years to adolescence
To learn basic skills and to work with others
Identity vs. identity confusion
Adolescence
To develop a lasting, integrated sense of self
Intimacy vs. isolation
Young adulthood
To commit to another in a loving relationship
Generativity vs. stagnation
Middle Adulthood
Integrity vs. despair
Late life
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt 1 to 3 years
To contribute to younger people, through child rearing, child

care, or other productive work
To view one's life as satisfactory and worth living
Source: Kail, R.V., & Cavanaugh, J.C. (2007). Human development: A life-span view (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
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Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Theories

- Contributions of psychoanalytic theories:
1. early experiences play important part in development
2. family relationships are central aspect of development
3. personality can be better understood if examined
developmentally
4. mind is not all conscious; unconscious aspects of the mind need
to be considered
5. In Erikson's theory, changes take place in adulthood as well as in
childhood.
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Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Theories (continued)
- Criticisms of psychoanalytic theories:

1. The main concepts of psychoanalytic theories have
been difficult to test scientifically.
2. Much of the data used to support psychoanalytic
theories come from individuals reconstruction of the
past, often the distant past, and are of unknown
accuracy.
3. The sexual underpinnings of development are given
too much importance (especially in Freuds theory).
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Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Theories

(continued)
- Criticisms (continued):
4. The unconscious mind is given too much credit for influencing
development.
5. Psychoanalytic theories present an image of humans that is too
negative (especially in Freuds theory).
6. Psychoanalytic theories are culture- and gender-biased, treating
Western culture and males as the measure for evaluating
everyone (especially in Freuds theory).
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Cognitive Theories
- important cognitive theories:
Piagets cognitive developmental theory
Vygotskys sociocultural cognitive theory
information-processing theory
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Piagets Cognitive Developmental Theory

- Children actively construct their understanding of the world.
- We go through four stages of cognitive development.
- Organization and adaptation- underlie the four stages of development
in Piagets theory
- We separate important ideas from less important ideas.
- We connect one idea to another.
- We adapt, adjusting to new environmental demands.
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The Science of Human Development
Jean Piagets COGNITIVE STAGES OF

DEVELOPMENT
Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage
Approximate age
Characteristics
Sensorimotor
Birth to 2 years
Infant's knowledge of the world us based on senses and

motor skills. By the end of the period, uses mental
representation.
Preoperational thought
2 to 6 years
Child learns how to use symbols such as words and

numbers to represent aspects of the world but relates to
the world only through his or her perspective.
7 years to early adolescence
Child understands and applies logical operations to

experiences provided they are focused on the here and
now.
Adolescence and beyond
Adolescent or adult thinks abstractly, deals with

hypothetical situations, and speculates about what may
be possible.
Concrete operational thought
Formal operational thought
Source: Kail, R.V., & Cavanaugh, J.C. (2007). Human development: A life-span view (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
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Piagets Cognitive Developmental Theory (continued)

- Each stage:
- is age-related
- consists of a distinct way of thinking
- consists of a different way of understanding the world
- The childs cognition is qualitatively different in one stage

compared with another.
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Vygotskys Sociocultural Cognitive Theory

- Children actively construct their knowledge.
- gave social interaction and culture far more important roles in cognitive
development than Piaget did
- emphasized how culture and social interaction guide cognitive
development
- portrayed childs development as inseparable from social and cultural
activities (Bedrova and Leong, 2009)
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(continued)
- Development of memory, attention, and reasoning involves learning to

use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical
systems, and memory strategies.
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(continued)
- Knowledge:
- is situated and collaborative (Bodrova and Leong, 2009)
- is not generated from within the individual

- is constructed through interaction with other people and
objects in the culture, such as books
- can best be advanced through interaction with others
in cooperative activities
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The Information- Processing Theory

- emphasizes that individuals manipulate, monitor, and strategize
information
- development is not stage-like
- Individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing
information, which allows them to acquire increasingly complex
knowledge and skills (Munakata, 2006; Reed, 2009).
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Evaluating the Cognitive Theories

1. They present a positive view of development, emphasizing thinking.
2. They (especially Piagets and Vygotskys) emphasize the individuals
active construction of understanding.
3. Piagets and Vygotskys theories underscore the importance of
examining developmental changes in childrens thinking.
4. The information-processing theory offers detailed descriptions of
cognitive processes.
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Criticisms of the Cognitive Theories:

1. Piagets stages are not as uniform as he theorized.
2. Piaget underestimated the cognitive skills of infants.
3. Piaget overestimated the cognitive skills of adolescents.
4. The cognitive theories do not give adequate attention to individual
variations in cognitive development.
5. Information-processing theory does not provide an adequate
description of developmental changes in cognition.
6. Psychoanalytic theorists argue that the cognitive theories do not give
enough credit to unconscious thought.
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Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories

- Pavlovs Classical Conditioning: learn through association
- Skinners Operant Conditioning: learn through consequences of

behavior
- Social Cognitive Theory:
behavior, environment, and cognition are key factors in

development
Albert Bandura:
leading architect of Social Cognitive theory
emphasizes that cognitive processes have important links with
environment and behavior
early research focused on observational learning (also called
imitation or modeling)
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Social Cognitive Theory (continued)
- Bandura proposes that people cognitively represent the

behavior of others and then sometimes adopt this
behavior themselves.
- Banduras (2009a, b) most recent model of learning and
development includes three elements:
behavior
the person/cognition
the environment
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Behavior, Person/Cognitive, and Environmental Factors Operate Interactively
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Evaluating the Behavioral and Social Cognitive

Theories
- Contributions:
1. emphasis on importance of scientific research
2. focus on environmental determinants of behavior
3. emphasis on identification and explanation of
observational learning (by Bandura)
4. inclusion of person/cognitive factors (in social cognitive
theory)
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Evaluating the Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories

(continued)
- Criticisms:
1. too little emphasis on cognition (in Pavlovs and
Skinners theories)
2. too much emphasis on environmental determinants
3. inadequate attention to developmental changes

4. inadequate consideration of human spontaneity and
creativity
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Ethological Theory
- holds that behavior:
- is strongly influenced by biology
- is tied to evolution
- is characterized by critical or sensitive periods
The European zoologists Konrad Lorenz helped bring

ethology to prominence.
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Theories of Human Development
(continued)
Ethological Theory (continued)

- Lorenz identified imprinting the rapid,
innate learning within a limited critical
period of time that involves attachment to
the first moving object seen
- John Bowlbys work in attachment

theory applies ethological theory to
human development.
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- Contributions:
1. increased focus on the biological and evolutionary
basis of development
2. use of careful observations in naturalistic settings
3. emphasis on sensitive periods of development
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- Criticisms:
1.
2.
3.
4.
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concepts of critical and sensitive periods too rigid

too strong an emphasis on biological foundations
inadequate attention to cognition
better at generating research with animals than with
humans
57

Ecological Theory
- emphasizes environmental factors
- created by Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917 2005)
- reflects the influence of several environmental systems:
microsystem
mesosystem
exosystem
macrosystem
chronosystem
Bronfenbrenners environmental system theory (now called

bioecological theory due to his recent addition of biological
influences) focuses on five environmental systems.
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The Five Environmental Systems of Ecological Theory
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Theories of Child Development (continued)
Ecological Theory (continued)

- Contributions:
1. systematic examination of macro and micro
dimensions of environmental systems
2. attention to connections between environmental
settings (mesosystem)
3. consideration of sociohistorical influences on
development (chronosystem)
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Theories of Child Development (continued)
Ecological Theory (continued)

- Criticisms:
1. too little attention to biological foundations of
development, even with added discussion of
biological influences
2. inadequate attention to cognitive processes
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An Eclectic Theoretical Orientation

- orientation that does not follow any one
theoretical approach, but rather selects and uses
what is considered best in each theory
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A Comparison of the Main Theoretical Perspectives
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1

Processes in Human Development

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Periods in Human Development

Periods in Human Development

Middle and late childhood

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Periods in Human Development

- deepening of the voice

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Interaction of the Periods and Processes in

Periods of development are

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Many questions about childrens development remain unanswered.

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Nature and Nurture Issue

- involves the debate about whether development is primarily

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Continuity and Discontinuity Issue

developmentalists who emphasize

developmentalists who emphasize

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Early-Later Experience Issue

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Developmental Issues

- Development is not all nature or all nurture, not all

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development

- includes the following steps:

conceptualize the problem

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Survey and interview

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Laboratory research drawbacks:

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

- many allow a persons performance to be compared with the

Psychophysiological measures (e.g., MRI, EEG)

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

- Time Span of Research

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Research in Child Development

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Research in Child Development

Journal of Educational Psychology

usually written for other professionals

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Science of Human Development (cont.)

Research in Child Development