Lifespan psychology - pagie and development

• Theory of Cognitive Development


  Explains the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using predictions
• Jean Piaget


  • Swiss biologist and psychologist
  • Became intrigued as to why children gave the wrong answers on an IQ tests
  • Thinking skills develop through interactions with our environment
• Constructivism


  People actively constructing their own knowledge, based off previous knowledge as a foundation and build on it with new things learned
• Schemas


  • The maturing brain builds concepts
  • An idea about what something is and how to deal with it
  • Mental molds into which we pour our experience
• Assimilation


  Using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation
• Accommodation


  Happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation
• Equilibrium


  • Occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through assimilation
  • An unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation)
• Sensori-motor stage (birth to 2 years)


  1. Babies make sense of the world through their sensory and motor interactions

  2. Object permanence develops at about 8 months

  3. Invisible displacement is the ability to track the movement of a hidden object after seeing that object placed in, under, or behind an object and moved into or behind a second object
• Pre-operational stage (2 - 7 years old)


  1. Children begin to engage in symbolic play (pretending) and learn to manipulate symbols

  2. Egocentrism is where a child has no understanding of the world other than her/his own point of view

  3. Animism - children will believe that inanimate objects are alive

  4. Symbolic thinking - development of symbols to represent objects or events

  5. Centration - children can only focus on one aspect of a task at a time

  6. Seriation - children will have difficulty arranging objects according to one dimension
• Concrete operational (7 - 11 years old)

  1. Children able to think logically and carry out mental operations provided they are working with concrete materials

  2. Classify object according to similarities (shape, colour, function etc) and order objects by common properties (tallest to shortest)

  3. Conservation - is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes
• Formal operational (12 years old +)

  1. Children become capable of abstract thinking

  2. Adolescents can talk about concepts such as honesty and morality

  3. Pendulum task - the method involved a length of string and a set of weights. Participants had to consider three factors (variables) the length of the string, the heaviness of the weight and the strength of push
• Developmental Psychology


  The field of human development concerned with changes in people that begin at conception and continue throughout the lifespan
• Human development involves relatively permanent change – it does not include temporary or reversible changes (For example – hair colour changes)
• Developmental psychologists


  Study 'normal' or typical development in contrast to 'abnormal' or atypical development
• Main areas of human development

  • Physical
  • Cognitive
  • Social and emotional
• The areas of human development are interconnected and may overlap and interact
• Cognitive development


  Processes including remembering, problem solving and decision making
• Physical development


  Developing control over the body, including gross and fine motor skills
• Social and emotional development

  Creating and sustaining meaningful relationships and ability to express, recognise, and manage emotions, as well as respond appropriately to others' emotions
• Cognitive development in action

  • When a child imitates an adult
  • Makes a 'ruff' sound when seeing a dog
  • Smiles at a familiar voice
• Sequence of physical development

  • Sitting
  • Crawling
  • Standing
  • Walking
• Gross motor skills


  • Crawling
  • Sitting
• Fine motor skills


  • Picking up small objects
  • Holding a crayon
• Motor skill development from infancy to adolescence

  • Up to 2 years: Sitting, crawling, standing, walking
  • 2 – 6: Running, skipping, throwing, catching, swimming, balancing
  • 7 – 10: Combining movements and skills and higher level performance in ball games, dance
  • 11 – 12: Development of specialised skills for particular sports, such as for gymnastics, athletics
• Social interaction


  Fundamental to human behaviour and development
• Judgement


  Based on the way others present themselves
• Information used in social interaction

  • The way they talk
  • Use hand gestures
  • React to funny situations
• Emotional development

  Changes with age in the recognition and expression of emotions (strong feelings)
• First emotions recognised in babies

  • Joy
  • Anger
  • Sadness
• As children develop a sense of self, more complex emotions show (e.g. shyness, surprise, elation, embarrassment, shame)
• Lifespan stages


  • Infancy (Birth to 2 years)
  • Childhood (2 to 10 years)
  • Adolescence (10 to 20 years)
  • Early adulthood (20 to 40 years)
  • Middle adulthood (40 to 65 years)
  • Older adulthood (65 years +)
• The ages for lifespan stages are only approximate and should not be seen as definite starting and end points
• Sam's physical development impacted

  His social and emotional development
• Longitudinal study


  One group of people measured over a long period of time
• Cross-sectional study


  Similar groups of different ages