Developmental Psychology
Development = systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occur between conception
and death. Includes physical, cognitive and psychosocial.
Influences on development: biological, psychological and sociocultural (personal and interpersonal:
relationships, personality, social skills) factors
Prenatal Development
From conception to birth.
1. Germinal stage: fertilization to 2 weeks
2. Embryonic stage: 2-8 weeks. Zygote becomes attached to uterus. Vulnerable to hazards such
as diseases and substances ingested by mother.
3. Foetal stage: 8 weeks-birth (40 weeks). Time of major growth. Miscarriages are most likely to
occur in the first 3 months.
Prenatal risk factors: any disease, drug or other environmental agent that can harm a developing
foetus
Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
A characteristic pattern of abnormalities associated with alcohol intake during pregnancy:
Growth deficiency
Central Nervous System deficits (intellectual disability)
Characteristic facial features: small eye openings, short nose, flattened midface, thin upper
lip
SA has one of the highest prevalences of FASDs in the world
Infants born to heavy drinkers are at greatest risk. No amount of alcohol use during pregnancy is
safe.
Prevention: avoid alcohol if pregnant / becoming pregnant. Educate communities. Prenatal
screenings. Improve maternal nutrition. Work to alleviate poverty in rural areas.
Infancy age 2
Physical development
Very rapid physical growth + motor development (development of a child's bones, muscles and
ability to move around and manipulate his or her environment).
Motor development is not just a matter of genes. Environment influences development, encouraging
experimentation.
Sense of touch is most developed after birth.
, By age two: often 1.5 times taller and 3 times heavier than at birth. Can grow 1cm in 24 hours.
- Gross motor skills: large movements that enable mobility in an environment. Sitting,
standing, walking, running, jumping etc.
- Fine motor skills: smaller movements. Reaching, grasping, writing etc.
Developmental norm: average age a child reaches a motor development milestone. Can sit without
support at about 6 months, can walk alone at about 1 year.
Infants in Sub-Saharan Africa often reach developmental milestones sooner than infants in 1st world
countries.
The timing of developmental milestones can vary by several months. Practise and experience helps
to develop motor skills.
Follow 2 basic trends: Cephalocaudal and Proximodistal
1. Cephalocaudal trend: “From head to tail”. Head grows quicker and legs slower.
2. Proximodistal trend: “from near to far”. From centre of body outwards. In prenatal period,
head and trunk grow before arms, legs, feet and hands.
Control over head and neck comes before trunk and legs (Cephalocaudal). Can also control central
part of head and trunk before arms, legs, hands and feet (Proximodistal).
Sleep is important for physical development. Allows infant to “take a break” from new sensations,
objects etc that their brains cannot handle yet. Haven’t learned to tune things out.
Different parts of body grow at different rates.
Cognitive development
Piaget’s sensorimotor stage:
Learns to coordinate their sensations + perceptions with their movements and actions.
Achieve object permanence. Things / objects continue to exist even when we cannot see them. This
is the beginning of language and adult-like styles of talk: we use words to stand for or represent
something else. Need to be able to separate the idea of something to the actual something. Piaget
believed object permanence ovvurs at about 18 months.
Build up ideas about things in environment and what can be done with them.
At about 8 months: realise they can make things happen through their actions. Start to act
intentionally.
Much of what infant’s know about the world is from direct experience. Give baby the opportunity to
explore the world using their senses and motor abilities.
Findings of violation-of-expectation research suggests that infants may develop at least some
understanding of object permanence much earlier than Piaget claimed. Infants can hold an image of
something in their mind even when they cannot see it.
Infant is habituated to seeing a possible event as it usually does (learns not to respond to something
that happens over and over). Event is then changed in some way that violates normal behaviour or
physics (an impossible event). If infant looks for longer at impossible event, this can be viewed as the
infant seeing that event as abnormal.
Development = systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occur between conception
and death. Includes physical, cognitive and psychosocial.
Influences on development: biological, psychological and sociocultural (personal and interpersonal:
relationships, personality, social skills) factors
Prenatal Development
From conception to birth.
1. Germinal stage: fertilization to 2 weeks
2. Embryonic stage: 2-8 weeks. Zygote becomes attached to uterus. Vulnerable to hazards such
as diseases and substances ingested by mother.
3. Foetal stage: 8 weeks-birth (40 weeks). Time of major growth. Miscarriages are most likely to
occur in the first 3 months.
Prenatal risk factors: any disease, drug or other environmental agent that can harm a developing
foetus
Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
A characteristic pattern of abnormalities associated with alcohol intake during pregnancy:
Growth deficiency
Central Nervous System deficits (intellectual disability)
Characteristic facial features: small eye openings, short nose, flattened midface, thin upper
lip
SA has one of the highest prevalences of FASDs in the world
Infants born to heavy drinkers are at greatest risk. No amount of alcohol use during pregnancy is
safe.
Prevention: avoid alcohol if pregnant / becoming pregnant. Educate communities. Prenatal
screenings. Improve maternal nutrition. Work to alleviate poverty in rural areas.
Infancy age 2
Physical development
Very rapid physical growth + motor development (development of a child's bones, muscles and
ability to move around and manipulate his or her environment).
Motor development is not just a matter of genes. Environment influences development, encouraging
experimentation.
Sense of touch is most developed after birth.
, By age two: often 1.5 times taller and 3 times heavier than at birth. Can grow 1cm in 24 hours.
- Gross motor skills: large movements that enable mobility in an environment. Sitting,
standing, walking, running, jumping etc.
- Fine motor skills: smaller movements. Reaching, grasping, writing etc.
Developmental norm: average age a child reaches a motor development milestone. Can sit without
support at about 6 months, can walk alone at about 1 year.
Infants in Sub-Saharan Africa often reach developmental milestones sooner than infants in 1st world
countries.
The timing of developmental milestones can vary by several months. Practise and experience helps
to develop motor skills.
Follow 2 basic trends: Cephalocaudal and Proximodistal
1. Cephalocaudal trend: “From head to tail”. Head grows quicker and legs slower.
2. Proximodistal trend: “from near to far”. From centre of body outwards. In prenatal period,
head and trunk grow before arms, legs, feet and hands.
Control over head and neck comes before trunk and legs (Cephalocaudal). Can also control central
part of head and trunk before arms, legs, hands and feet (Proximodistal).
Sleep is important for physical development. Allows infant to “take a break” from new sensations,
objects etc that their brains cannot handle yet. Haven’t learned to tune things out.
Different parts of body grow at different rates.
Cognitive development
Piaget’s sensorimotor stage:
Learns to coordinate their sensations + perceptions with their movements and actions.
Achieve object permanence. Things / objects continue to exist even when we cannot see them. This
is the beginning of language and adult-like styles of talk: we use words to stand for or represent
something else. Need to be able to separate the idea of something to the actual something. Piaget
believed object permanence ovvurs at about 18 months.
Build up ideas about things in environment and what can be done with them.
At about 8 months: realise they can make things happen through their actions. Start to act
intentionally.
Much of what infant’s know about the world is from direct experience. Give baby the opportunity to
explore the world using their senses and motor abilities.
Findings of violation-of-expectation research suggests that infants may develop at least some
understanding of object permanence much earlier than Piaget claimed. Infants can hold an image of
something in their mind even when they cannot see it.
Infant is habituated to seeing a possible event as it usually does (learns not to respond to something
that happens over and over). Event is then changed in some way that violates normal behaviour or
physics (an impossible event). If infant looks for longer at impossible event, this can be viewed as the
infant seeing that event as abnormal.
