16-09/23-09/30-09/14-09 Email: .Aiswarya.radhakrishnan2@mail.dcu.
ie
DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY
Development: Pattern of change that begins at conception and continues throughout the
growth during the lifespan. It is made of growth and also decline
Psychology: scientific study of the mind and behaviour
Development psychology: scientific study about how and why people change and not
change, from the conception to death
The goal : is to promote growth and help reach milestones.
It helps to create an appropriate curriculum and also promote policies that would positively
affect . It is all about promoting effective teaching strategies and also individualised that
would help them grow
Three spheres of development
- Biological: brain and body changes and their social influences that guide them
- Cognitive: mental processes ,perception and language
- Psychological/emotional: emotion,personality,interpersonal relationships
and the period of life…. (which have to be seen as approximative)
● Prenatal- goes from conception to birth
● Infancy- from the birth to 18 months
● Toddlerhood- from 18 months to 3 years old
● Preschool period: 3-5 years old
● Middlehood childhood: from 5 to 12 (till the complete reach of puberty)
● Adolescence:from 12 to 20 years old
● Young adulthood: from 20 to 40 years old
● Middle age: from 40 to 65 years old
● Old age:65 years or an older age
Principles of development psychology
● Development is a continuing process throughout the lifespan:
- it is persists from conception to death
- Change and stability are the two main feature of development throughout the
life course
● No single period governs all development: people maintain the capacity for
growth and change throughout the life course
Assumptions of child development- Berger, 2011
Development is
1. Development is multidirectional, it is not static but dynamic like for example the
physical one
2. Development is multicontextual: is based on context (social,economical and
historical). Context is fundamental because it is going to impact the child
development
Development is not always universal
Bronfenbrenner- Ecological Systems Approach (or bioecological model or theory of
development)
➔ The environment impact the development
Bronfenbrenner describes its theory through five factors or system:
Microsystem:closest level of environment (family,friends,ecc..) where the person
interact with them daily
Mesosystem: different microsystems which collaborate to develop the child
different interactions
Exosystems: social settings which affect the child indirectly
Macrosystem: outer layer that includes cultural values,laws and custom
Chronosystem: changes over time,including life events and historical changes
Context influences development but does not determine it
3. Development is multicultural: the patterns of behaviour that pass from one
generation to the next
- Values, assumptions, and customs of culture greatly influence development
● Difference between ethnicity (share certain attributes) and race (categorise people
biologically)
4. Development is multidisciplinary: study of development requires insight and
information from many disciplines:
- Biology
- Sociology
- Anthropology
- History
- Economics
- Psychology
5. Development has plasticity: human traits could be molded but people can maintain
a certain durability of identity
- Childhood is the foundation for later growth but then people have the capacity
to change
Development can change and adapt over time because children’s brain are plastic,
meaning they can learn new skills and behaviours with the right support
Theory: an explanation for why something exists, occurs or changes
•The goal is to describe, explain and predict behaviour through the generation of testable
research hypotheses or questions
Major debates
Nature vs Nurture
- Nature. Development is biologically determined
- Nurture: Development is due to environmental factors
Generally agreed that both theories are correct and play a role
Prenatal and neonatal development
Development begins at conception (but important influences likely to occur before this)
Fertilisation: ovum and sperm have 23 chromosomes that would create millions of cells.
Every nucleus contains 46 chromosome paired in 23,which one of them is from each parent
The chromosomes are filled with tightly coiled strands of DNA.
Genes are segments of DNA that contain instructions to make proteins
➔ These are the basic units of hereditary
➔ They are important because they affect every aspect of human behaviour, including
social and cognitive behaviour
Genes plays a leading role in the development
Two goals
- Genetic continuity across species- human genome is 99.5% the same for
any people- transport the genetic material
- Genetic diversity within species- what makes people unique
Studying genes
- Monozygotic twins: share the same DNA (100% shared or almost originate from
one zygote)
Somatic variation means that not entirely 100% shared and there could be subtle
differences in features
- Dizygotic twins: result from two separate zygotes (share 50% of DNA same as all
full siblings)
By comparing sets of twins we can learn a lot about the influence of genes on the
behaviour controlling also the environment
Genotype: refers to a person’s entire genetic inheritance
Relates to their genetic potential (internal code)
Phenotype: refers to traits that someone actually displays
- Observable characteristics
- Combination of genes and experiences
Culture has an effect on phenotypes- the environment could definitely modify the
phenotypes
Genes and environment interact
- Each child’s genes may elicit other people’s response,that would shape the
development
Ex: temperament in infancy
Prenatal development: process encompassing the period from the formulation of the
embryo,through the development of the foetus
- Begins with fertilisation and ends with birth
Three periods
1. Germinal stage: 0-2 week
- Creation of the fertilised egg,the zygote
- Cleavage: the zygote undergoes rapid mitotic division
- Differentiation starts take place
- Attachment of the zygote to uterine wall- implantation
- Inner mass of cells develops into the embryo and outer layer of cells provide nutrition
and support to the embryo
2. Embryonic stage: 2-8 weeks
- Rate of cell differentiation intensify: cells become more specialised and they take
the name of embryo
- Major organs are formed
- Growth from basic to specified
Cephalocaudal:growth at top of the body (head) moving gradually downward to rest
of body
Proximo-distal: e.g. muscular control of trunk and arms
➔ to extremities (hands and feet)
Life support development
- Amnion: a sac filled with clear fluid that surrounds and protects the
developing baby
- Umbilical cord:connects the baby to the placenta for nutrition and waste
exchange
- Placenta
- Small molecules like oxygen,water,salts and nutrients
Organogenesis: a critical phase where the baby is vulnerable to environmental
factors
Sensory experiences
- Sight: unlikely to be stimulated
- Taste:depends on the mother diet
- Hearing:internal sounds and external sounds
- Newborns show recognition of the mother’s voice and prenatal sounds
- Impact of the diet on first 4 weeks of development
● Technique of high amplitude sucking:babies altered sucking pattern to hear
passage
- Changes in the baby’s sucking patterns when exposed to familiar sounds
3. Fetal prenatal period:9-36 week
Foetal period: the foetus continues to grow
- Development of sex organs
- Brain development
- Facial features starts to show
- Random movements
Viability at 24-25 weeks: it has a chance to survive outside the womb
Preterm and newborn baby: the difference is the maturation of the
neurological,respiratory and cardiovascular systems
Key millstones:26 weeks- Grasping reflex develops
Prenatal environment
Development of movement
- From sudden quick movements at 8 weeks to complex movements, such as thumb
sucking
- Corresponds to increasing complexity of organs and motor functions
Teratogen: a non genetic agent (environmental) that can cause malformation to the embryo
or foetus
- Is any disease, drug, or other environmental agent that can harm the
developing embryo/foetus by causing physical deformities, severe growth
retardation, blindness, brain damage or death
Teratology is the science of risk analysis and the study of birth defects
Influence depends on amount and timing
Amount: threshold effect – some substances may not be harmful in small amounts
Timing: critical period – time at which developing organs are most susceptible to damage
➔ Varies depending on the particular organ
Type of teratogens:
● Prescription and nonprescription drugs:antibiotics,analgesics,asthma
medications,antidepressants,certain hormones: progestin and synthetic oestrogen
● Psychoactive drugs: caffeine, alcohol: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, nicotine,
cocaine,marijuana,heroin
● Environmental hazards: X-ray radiation, environmental pollution and toxic wastes
● Maternal or paternal diseases:
- Diseases and Infections: can cross the placental barrier and may cause
damage during birth
- Maternal Diet and Nutrition: Maternal Obesity
➔ Increases risk of hypertension and may lead to respiratory
complications.
- Maternal Age:younger and older maternal ages can pose risks and impacts
on fertility and potential complications during pregnancy.
- Emotional States and Stress:maternal stress can affect fetal development.
Emotional well-being is crucial for a healthy pregnancy.
- Paternal Factors:may cause abnormalities in sperm, leading to miscarriage
and other issues.
● Other risks: age of mother, health and diet
- Specific dietary deficiencies and also emotional diseases can lead to problems
Stages of birth:
1. First Stage: Early Labour
- Duration: uterine contractions occur approximately every 15 to 20 minutes
- Progression: contractions become closer together as labour advances-
- Cervical Dilation: the goal of this stage is to dilate the cervix to an opening of
10 centimetres
2. Second Stage: Delivery
- Process: the baby's head begins to move through the cervix and into the birth canal.
- Termination: this stage ends when the baby completely emerges from the mother’s
body.
3. Third Stage: Afterbirth
- Description: this is the shortest stage of labour
- Process: the placenta, umbilical cord, and other membranes are detached and
expelled from the body
Assessing the newborn:
● The Apgar Scale: in first minute of birth
● Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS):
➔ Administered 24-36 hours after birth
➔ Assesses neurological competence up to one month after birth
➔ Evaluates reflexes and reactions to people and objects
➔ Provides insights into infant development and behaviour
● Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS):
➔ Used for infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
➔ Assesses behavior, neurological function, and stress responses.
➔ Evaluates regulatory capacities and behavioral responses in at-risk infants.
➔ Helps identify needs for early intervention and support.
Low birth weight:considered low birth weight if under 5.5 pounds
- May be due to lifestyle choices,maternal malnutrition,multiple
births,prescription drugs, unknown causes
- Early intervention is important:
● Parents encouraged to share in caregiving: kangaroo care (spending
time holding baby with skin-to-skin contact)
● Social support crucial
Sensory capacities at birth: all the senses function at birth
- Early sensation has two primary functions: social interaction and comfort
Reflex Responses:certain sounds trigger reflexive responses, indicating sensitivity to
auditory stimuli
- Startle Reflex: sudden noises can cause a startle reaction, demonstrating their
awareness of loud sounds.
- Soothing Effect of Rhythmic Sounds: newborns often respond positively to
rhythmic sounds, which can have a calming effect.
- Head Turning:infants quickly learn to turn their heads toward sounds, showcasing
their ability to locate and respond to auditory stimuli.
- Matching Sounds to Sights: they become able to associate sounds with
corresponding visual stimuli, enhancing their cognitive development.
- Frequency Sensitivity: newborns are less sensitive to low-frequency sounds, which
means they respond more readily to higher-pitched noises
SIGHT
- Colour Vision: newborns have some ability to perceive colours, though it may be
limited initially
- Sensitivity to Bright Light: they are sensitive to bright light and may squint or turn
away from it.
- Fixed Focal Length: newborns have a fixed focal length of approximately 20 cm,
which is ideal for seeing their caregiver’s face during feeding and interaction.
- Preference for Patterns: Infants are drawn to high-contrast patterns and complex
visual stimuli rather than plain surfaces.
- Studied by Habituation Technique:researchers use habituation to study visual
preferences, where infants show decreased responsiveness to familiar stimuli and
increased interest in novel patterns
Smell:
- Preference for Sweet Smells: newborns show a strong preference for sweet
aromas, which may be linked to the sweetness of breast milk.
- Recognition of Mother’s Scent:infants can detect and recognize their mother’s
smell within the first few days after birth, facilitating bonding and attachment.
Taste:
- Taste Sensitivity: newborns exhibit different facial expressions in response to
various tastes.
Touch: sensitive to touch
- Over time infants become responsive to whose touch it is and what it communicates
and exhibit a number of reflexes
Reflex: are responsive movements that are automatic
- Many survival reflexes displayed at birth
- Three sets critical for survival:those that maintain oxygen supply, those that
maintain constant body temperature, those that manage feeding
- Other primitive reflexes also displayed (disappear within first few months of
life)
● The Palmar grasp (when an object is placed on palm, fingers close and
grasp object)
● The Moro reflex (due to loss of support and is the only unlearned fear –
infant spreads arms, then pulls them in and cries)
● The Babinski reflex (after the sole of the foot has been firmly stroked. The
big toe then moves upward or toward the top surface of the foot. The other
toes fan out)
● Walking’ and ‘swimming’ reflexes
Sleep: Infants sleep up to 17 hours a day
- Correlates with normal brain maturation, learning, emotional regulation, and
psychological adjustment in school and within the family
- Type of sleep changes over first few months
- Sleep patterns affected by: birth order, diet,brain maturation,child rearing practices
Development in the first two years of life
Three major changes:
- Biosocial changes: brain growth and motor skills
- Cognitive changes: perception,memory,language
- Psychosocial changes: emotional development
Biosocial development:
- Growth and weight
- Neurological brain development
- Development of motor skills
- Influence of nature and nurture
1. Growth and weight:
A lot of physical changes in the first two years of life
- Growth is fast
➔ Birth weight doubles in the first 4 months
➔ Triple by age 1 and quadruples by age 2
- Need regular check ups: neglect can be severe at this stage
Malnutrition affects growth:
- Can be a major problems in certain societies
Headsparing: critical adaptive process that helps preserve cognitive function during periods
of nutritional stress
2. Neurological development: brain is disproportionately large at birth and continues
to grow
- Newborn brain: 25% of adult weight
➔ By 6 months: 50%
➔ 2 years: 75%
Brain contains billions of neurons at the birth,connected to each other by intricate
networks
- Transient exuberance: five fold increase in connections over the first two years
Neurons at birth: 85 billions neurons which are immature
- Dendritic growth and synaptogenesis: connections between neurons through
dendritic branches and creation of synapses
- Synaptic pruning: every synapse if not used become disconnected
- Myelination: process that fast the connections between cells
- Brain growth
3. Gene and environment influence
- Brain structure and growth depends on genes and environment
- Some connections are strengthened while others wither away
➔ Depends on a person’s experience
The Bucharest Intervention project (BEIP)
Study groups
- Institutionalised group: children raised in institutional settings
- Foster care group: institutionalised at the birth and then raised in foster care
- Never institutionalised group: raised with their biological families
Institutionalised can result in severe developmental consequences in both brain structure
and behaviour
- Lack of healthy experience: early healthy experiences are vital for brain
development
- Impact on institutionalised children: miswiring and underspecification of brain
circuits
Importance of timing in brain development: early intervention is the key
- Earlier intervention leads to better outcomes for brain development
Two types of brain functions:
- Experience expectant: common experiences that must happen
- Experience dependent: experiences that might happen depending on the cultural or
individual family
Implications for caregivers:
- The brain is designed to grow and adapt: some plasticity is retained
throughout life
- Need to be aware of what brain is capable of
4. Motor development:
- Babies develop gross motor skills
➔ Depends on muscle strength,brain maturation and practice
- Fine motor skills also develop: minor muscles development
Culture variations: age at which children walk varies greatly
- Some cultures discourage certain motor skills- both genetic and culture
Cognitive development
Cognition= thinking
- Includes perception,memory,thinking
- A lot of changes in this area during the first two years of life
Piaget:first stage of cognitive development is that of sensori-motor intelligence
- Infants learn through senses and motor actions
1. Language: form of communication that can be spoken,written or signed based on
symbols
Characteristics:
- Infinite generativity: ability to produce and understand an endless number of
sentences
- Organisational rules: specific rule who describe how the language works
● Clearly language develops rapidly in the first two years of life
● Move from making simple sounds to more complex sentences involving multiple
words
● Follows a universal sequence
➔ Suggests language is innate
● Pre Language sound recognition: reflexive communication (cries,
movements,facial expressions) and a meaningful range of noises
● Language specialisation (6-12): infants become more skilled at perceiving
sound changes in their native language
- Gradually they lose the ability to detect the differences in sounds that aren’t relevant
➔ 6-10 months:babbling, including vowels and consonants repeated in syllabus
➔ 10-12 months: comprehension of simple words and at the end first spoken world in
the native language
➔ 13-18 months: slow growth of vocabulary
➔ 21 months: first two words sentences
➔ 24 months: multi word sentences
● Native language sensitivity: the brain is more receptive to learning the sounds of
the native language at specific time
- Vowels: sensitivity increases around 6 months
- Consonants: sensitivity increases around 9 months
● Speech segmentation: infants start to separate continuous speech into individual
words
● Statistical learning for word boundaries: see statistical patterns to identify the
beginnings and endings of words
● Word association: infants begin associating words with concrete, perceptually
available objects
2. Perception: mental processing of information that arrives at the brain from the
sensory organs
- Different from sensation
- Depends on current developmental level,past experiences,sensory awareness of
opportunities, immediate needs and motivation
Maurer and Barrera (1981): infants show no preferences between faces or similar curved
symmetrical shapes,until about two months
- Eye tracking technology allows us to show exactly where babies look
- By 2-3 months infants look more closely at the eyes and mouth of a face
Affordance: an opportunity for perception and interaction that is offered by a person, place,
or object in the environment
- Infants develop knowledge of affordances over the first few months of life
➔ Depends on their experiences
Depth perception: Visual Cliff experience
- Young infants can see the depth but don’t understand the affordance of falling
- Babies need experience to connect what they see with what it means for their safety
3. Memory: infants begin life with fragile memories
Young infants can remember if:
- Experimental conditions are similar to “real life”
- Motivation is high
- Special measures are taken to aid memory retrieval
● From 6 months infants can retain information for a longer period of time with
less training
● By the middle of the 2nd year toddlers can remember and reenact more complex
sequences
Psychosocial development
1. Temperament: infants vary in their temperament
- Involves individual differences in behavioural styles,emotional expression,
characteristics that influence how individuals respond to their environment
● Inborn differences between one person and another in
Early appearing and stable individual differences:
- Reactivity: quickness and intensity of emotional arousal,attention and motor reaction
- Self regulation: strategies to modify reactivity
➔ Social acceptable responses are preferred instead of instinct responses
Thomas and Chess (1956): element to define temperament
- Activity level, rhythmicity,distractibility..
● Most babies fit into three temperament types:
- Easy Child (40%): establishes regular routines,cheerful and adapts well to new
situations and experiences
- Slow to warm up child (15%): inactive with mild and low key reactions to
stimuli,adjust slowly to new experiences
- Difficult child (10%): irregular routines,slow to accept new situations and react
negatively and intensely
- Hard to classify (35%)
Temperament is epigenetic:
- Originated in genes
- Affected by prenatal experiences and child rearing practices
Development of emotions: infants progress from reactive pain and pleasure to complex
patterns of social awareness, within the first two years of life
● Newborns’ first discernable emotions: distress and contentment
● Social smiles evident at 6 weeks old
➔ Later emotions: anger and fear (6-9 months)
➔ Complex emotions as pride,shame,embarrassment,guilt in the second year
Infants can detect emotions in others from an early age
- Smiled as twice as quickly and seven times as long when seeing happy mother
● Children also develop a sense of self awareness around age 1
● Self recognition emerges at 18 months
Attachment development
Kangaroo care: parents chest regulates temperature better than incubators
- Skin to skin contact helps the baby to breathe better
- The child becomes more calm and gains weight faster
- Parents’ bacterial flora reduces the risk of serious infections in these delicate children
● Babies are born with a biological drive to seek proximity to a protective adult for
survival
- Dependent on the physical and emotional availability
Attachment: concept used to describe relationships that are ongoing and involve emotional
bonds
- Refers to a deep enduring emotional bonds that forms between two individuals
● It is important because it allows the infant to set up a mental representation of the
caregiver in an infant’s mind,which is the infants first coping mechanism
- Prepare an infant to separate from the caregiver without distress
Lack of secure attachment can have negative consequences
- Reason for seeking psychological help
- Can affect other aspects of life
● Central to everyday psychological well being and development
From birth,infants are completely dependent on others for care
- Evolutionarily beneficial to form a strong relationship or attachment with the caregiver
Harlow: rhesus monkeys
- Demonstrate that attachment is not solely about physical need but also about
emotional security and comfort
Orphaned monkeys could choose to spend time with either:
1. A cloth ‘cuddly’ mother
2. A wire mother that provided food
Preference of the cloth mother: seeking for comfort and security
- Response to fear: cling for reassurance even though they were hungrier
- Exploration and comfort: explore the environment and cling for reassurance when
needing for comfort
Attachment theory: exploring the aim
- Explore the different ways in which people can become attached to each other
- Explain the processes involved in the formation of these bonds
- Explore the effect that these bonds have on later development
Bowlby proposed the attachment theory:
- Infants are biologically predisposed to attach to the mother
➔ Slow and gradual process
● Leads to different attachment ‘styles’
- Reflected in child’s behaviour towards others
- Influence relationships in later life
Bowlby was influenced by research from:
1. Ethology: Attachment as a basic biological process
➔ Konrad Lorenz: imprinting in the greylag geese
2. Neuroscience and cognitive psychology: idea that infants must develop
‘mental representations’ for attachment to occur
3. Psychoanalysis: Freud emphasised the importance of early parental
relationships on later development
Development of attachment: four phases
1. 0-3 months: indiscriminative sociability
- No preference for any person
- Proximity seeking behaviours promote attachment
2. 3-6 months: focusing on familiar people
- Infants shows an increasing preference for most familiar and responsive
individuals
3. 6 months-2 years: intense attachment behaviour
- Seeking the proximity of mother figure
- React negatively to strangers
- Distress when separated from the mother
4. 2 years-end of childhood: goal coordinated partnerships
- Children tolerate short parental absences
- Understands that the mother will return
● The infant must come to represent mother as a secure base from which
exploration is possible
- Mother will be reliably available as a source of security and comfort
● The infant must acquire an internal working model
- Must be activated even when the mother figure is not physically presents
Compromises of three models: the self,the mother figure, the relationship between these
two
Mary Ainsworth examined the effects of maternal deprivation on children’s development
- Ainsworth moved to Uganda and observed 28 mothers and their children
➔ Noticed differences in reunions when children had been separated from mothers
● Developed the ‘Strange Situation’ experiment :an empirical way of assessing
attachment security
- Involves a standardised set of episodes with child, mother and a stranger
- Sequence of separations and reunions
Attachment styles:
1. Type A: insecure avoidant (20%)
- Child does not seek proximity of mother on reunion and rejects her attempts to
calm or comfort
- The child might seen indifferent or may continue playing or exploring
- The child may not show distress when the mother leaves
Develops when the caregiver is constantly irresponsive or emotionally unavailable
2. Type B: secure (65%)
- Child seeks proximity on reunion and allows the mother to comfort him\her
- The child may be distressed when the mother leaves,showing signs of
anxiety or unsettled behaviour
Develops when a caregiver is responsive,consistent and emotionally available
● Secure attachment is more likely if:
1. The parent is sensitive and responsive
2. The parents are not stressed
3. The parents have a secure attachment with their own parents
4. The child’s temperament is ‘easy’
3. Type C: insecure resistant or ambivalent (15%)
- Child shows both avoidant and proximity-seeking behaviours, and may behave
in an apparently inconsistent way towards the mother
- The child become extremely distressed when the caregiver leaves
Develops when the caregiver is inconsistent in their responsiveness
4. Disorganised attachment: (type D)
- Child seems to lack a coherent coping strategy; may freeze or rock on mother’s
return
- The child may not show clear attachment strategy
Develops when is linked to trauma and severe inconsistencies in caregiving
● Insecure attachment is more likely if:
- The parent mistreats the child
- The mother is mentally ill
- The parents are highly stressed
- The parents are intrusive and controlling
- The parents are alcoholics
- The child’s temperament is ‘difficult’ or ‘slow to warm up’
Quality of ECE is vital
- Low quality ECE can have negative implications
- High quality ECE can promote social responsiveness and cognitive development
Five essential characteristics of high quality care and education:
- Adequate attention to each infant
- Encouragement of language and sensorimotor development
- Attention to health and safety
- Professional caregivers
- Warm and responsive caregivers
