TC Developmental
Psychology
Chapter 05 – Physical Development
A) Changes in height
and weight
1)
Babies
grow very rapidly during the first two years.
2)
If
the growth continued at the same rate from age 2-18, the individual would be
about 12’ 3” and weigh several tons!
B) Changes in body
proportions
1)
Cephalocaudal
(head down) and proximodistal (center outward).
2)
See
chart, P. 171.
C) Skeletal development
1)
Prenatal
period = soft cartilage … ossify (harden) into bones.
2)
Ankles/feet,
wrists/hands develop more bones with maturity.
D) Muscular development
1)
Newborns
are born with all the muscle fibers they will ever have.
2)
Cephalocaudal
and proximodistal development patterns as well.
[Individual
Variations & Cultural Variations apply]
E) Brain development
1)
What
weighs about 3 lbs. and looks like Tofu?
2)
Astounding
development rate – increasing from 25% of its eventual adult weight to 75% of
adult weight by age 2.
3)
Not
all parts of the brain develop at the same rate.
4)
One
brain, two hemispheres … P. 176 (read different centers
role).
F)
Motor
development
1)
Chart,
P. 179
2)
Maturational Viewpoint: sees motor development as an
unfolding of a genetically programmed sequence of events.
3)
Experiential Hypothesis: sees
“practice/experience” as enhancing motor development.
4)
Dynamical Systems Theory: sees each new
skill as a construction that emerges
as infants actively reorganize existing capabilities into new and more complex
action systems.
G) Fine Motor
development
1)
What
happens if you touch a pencil to an infant’s palm?
a)
Ulnar
Grasp (fingers to palm) – birth forward.
b)
Pincer
Grasp (thumb is used in opposition to fingers) – end of first year.
H) Puberty
1)
Boys
and girls are nearly equal in physical abilities until puberty, when boys
continue to improve on tests of large-muscle activities and girls’ skills level
off or decline. {Why do you think this is?
2)
Reaches
puberty & Adolescent growth spurt.
3)
Sexual
maturation (girls, 9-11 & boys, 10-13).
a)
Average
first menstruation: 1900, age 14-15 / 1950, age 13-14; today, age 12. {Why do you think this is?
I)
Environmental
Influences
1)
Nutrition
vs. Under-nutrition vs. Over-nutrition.
PLAY NPR INTERVIEW WITH DR. DANIEL LIEBERMAN ON
HOW OUR STONE AGE
BODIES STRUGGLE IN MODERN TIMES
LINKS ON RW’S COURSE BLOG SITE
TC Developmental
Psychology
Chapter 06 – Cognitive Development (Part I)
A) There are 3 classic
approaches to studying cognitive development:
1)
The Behaviorist
Approach
= studies the basic mechanics of learning; it’s concerned with how behavior
changes in response to experience.
2)
The Psychometric
Approach
= seeks to measure quantitative differences in cognitive abilities by using
tests.
3)
The Piagetian
Approach
= looks at changes (stages) in the quality of cognitive functioning.
a)
Four
Stages of Cognitive Development
1-
Sensorimotor
Stage (birth – 2 years): infants rely on behavioral schemes as a means of
exploring and understanding the environment.
2-
Preoperational
Stage (age 2-7 years): the use of symbolic thought (images and words) emerges.
3-
Concrete-Operational
Stage (age 7-11): children are acquiring cognitive operations and thinking more
logically.
4-
Formal-Operational
Stage (age 11-12, and beyond): begins to think more rationally and
systematically about abstract concepts and hypothetical events.
b)
Show Video:
Piaget
c)
Small Groups:
Discuss the challenges to Piaget (P.228-230)
B) Vygotsky’s
Sociocultural Perspective
·
Suggests
children acquire their culture’s values, beliefs, and problem solving
strategies through collaborative dialogues (interactions) with more knowledgeable/competent
members of society.
·
Compare
Piaget & Vygotsky > Chart, P. 241
TC Developmental
Psychology
Chapter 07 – Cognitive Development (Part II)
A) The
Information-Processing Perspectives
1)
These
compare the operations of the human brain to that of a computer
(input/process/execute).
2)
There
is no single information processing theory.
3)
To
understand the dynamics, see Fig.7.1 on P. 251
B) Memory
1)
There
are two general kinds of memory:
a)
Event Memory = “natural” memory
… memory of events (enhanced by organizing into scripts – ie: ask child what happens at lunch time and they reply
with the steps that lead up to it, etc).
b)
Strategic
Memory = the processes involved when we consciously try to retain or retrieve
information (enhanced by mnemonics).
2)
Major
contributions to the development of memory > Chart, P.273
C) Reasoning: A special type of
problem solving wherein known information helps formulate inference (give
example).
D) Arithmetic Skills: Discuss the overall
importance of this skill.
TC Developmental
Psychology
Chapter 08 – Intelligence
A) What is
“intelligence?” [Have class define it]
1)
No
single absolute definition exists.
2)
Alfred
Binet & Theodore Simon produced the forerunner of our modern day
intelligence tests (France, 1904).
a) It measured
“Mental Age.”
3)
The
notion that one score could measure intelligence was challenged by some. They
argued that intelligence involved a variety of components (ie: verbal meaning,
spatial ability, memory, reasoning, etc).
4)
Later
the notion that there was simply one form of intelligence was challenged as
well. See chart, P.297.
B) How is intelligence
measured?
1)
Intelligence
tests provide an IQ (Intelligence Quotient).
2)
IQ
tests were originally designed to help identify students who may be slow
learners and thus benefit from remedial assistance.
3)
The
IQ is based on the formula of: IQ = mental age divided by chronological age
times 100. An IQ of 100 represents “average” intelligence. See diagram, P. 299
for IQ distribution.
4)
WAIS
and WISC-4
5)
Potential issues: culture-fair?, ESL issues, testing
motivation, administration style/skill, etc.
C) Creativity: The ability to generate novel ideas and
innovation solutions.
1)
Intelligence
does not ensure creativity.
2)
Example
of creativity >>> Name all the possible uses of a tire.
