Chapter 5: Human Development
Developmental Psychology – is the scientific study of the changes that occur across the lifespan.
Developmental psychologists may focus on certain areas such as:
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psychological development
social development
emotional development
cognitive development
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget (1896-1980), was a Swiss Psychologist, who studied cognitive development.
He proposed that cognitive abilities develop through a series of stages.
Piaget’s Theory
Piaget believed that a child constructs new mental processes as he or she interacts with
the environment.
Schema –
New schemas are added, and old schemas are changed as the child matures.
Adaptation of old schemas takes place through two processes.
1. Assimilation
2. Accommodation
The following are four of Piaget’s cognitive developmental stages:
1. Sensorimotor
Birth to 2 years of age
2. Preoperational
2 to 7 years of age
3. Concrete Operations
7 to 11 years of age
4. Formal Operations
11 years of age and older
1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years)
Behavior consists primarily of simple motor responses to sensory stimuli.
Object Permanence –
An infant does not know that a hidden object is still there until about 8-9 months
of age.
As infants progress through the sensorimotor stage, they begin to develop a
concept of self. At about 1 year of age, they begin to show signs that they
recognize themselves. By the time they are in the Preoperational Stage, they have
developed the concept of self and object permanence.
2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
In the preoperational stage the child lacks operations. The term “operations”
refers to reversible mental processes.
They have egocentric thinking
Another concept that preoperational children lack is conservation.
Children in the early preoperational stage have difficulty distinguishing
appearance from reality.
3. Concrete Operations Stage (7-11 years)
From about age 7, children begin to exhibit reversible operations and understand
the conservation of physical properties.
However, during the stage of concrete operations children have trouble with
abstract or hypothetical ideas.
Reversibility – awareness that actions can be reversed.
Conservation – the child understands that changing the form of a substance or
object does not change its physical properties
4. Formal Operations Stage (11 years and beyond)
Formal Operations – Piaget’s term for the mental processes used to deal with
abstract, hypothetical situations.
Researchers have found that some people take longer to reach formal operations,
and some people never do.
Erikson’s Stages of Human Development
Psychosocial Development
Erikson divided the human life span into eight stages, each with its own social and
emotional conflicts.
1. Trust vs. Mistrust – Infancy: Birth to 1 Year
The major emphasis is on the caregiver’s positive and loving care for the child.
The result is the development of trust and hope.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame – Early Childhood: 1 Year to 3 Years
Mastering skills and gaining a sense of personal control and independence leads to a
sense of courage and will.
3. Initiative vs. Guilt – Play Age: 3 to 6 Years
Taking the initiative and gaining a sense of purpose
4. Industry vs. Inferiority – School Age: 6 to 12 Years
Accomplishing new skills and knowledge and developing a sense of competence
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion – Adolescence: 12 to 18 Years
Discovering a sense of self
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation – Young adulthood: 18 to 35
Interest in exploring personal relationships, which leads to affiliation and love.
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation – Middle Adulthood: 35 to 55 or 65
Contributing to the world and being active in the home and community lead to the
strength of production and care.
8. Integrity vs. Despair – Late Adulthood: 55 or 65 to Death
Looking back on life with happiness, contentment, and meaning leads to integrity and
wisdom.
Attachment Theory
Attachment is a feeling of closeness between a child and a caregiver.
Harry Harlow (1958) separated eight newborn rhesus monkeys from their mothers.
Two artificial mothers
1. one made out of wire and had a milk bottle
2. one made of cloth – no milk
Results: The monkeys preferred the mother made out of cloth
Contact comfort
Chapter 6: Learning
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s Experiments
Operant Conditioning
Skinner’s Experiments
Social Learning
Bandura’s Experiments
Learning
Learning is defined as any relatively permanent change in behavior that is based upon
experience. Behaviorists study only events that they can measure and observe.
1. Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
Neutral stimulus – a stimulus that initially produces no specific response other
than focusing attention.
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) → An event that consistently and automatically
elicits an unconditioned response.
Unconditioned Response (UCR) → An action that the unconditioned stimulus
automatically elicits.
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) → Formerly the neutral stimulus, having been paired
with the unconditioned stimulus, elicits the same response.
Conditioned Response (CR) → The response elicited by the conditioned stimulus
due to the training.
Classical Conditioning: Generalization and Discrimination
1. Stimulus generalization is a response from the training stimulus to similar
stimuli.
2. Discrimination is responding differently to two stimuli because they are
different enough to elicit different responses.
Classical Conditioning: Extinction
Extinction – to extinguish a classically conditioned response, the
conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned
stimulus.
The return of an extinguished response is called spontaneous recovery.
Explanations of classical conditioning
Temporal contiguity – The less time that elapses between the presentation
of the CS and the UCS, the faster the CR is acquired.
The CS comes before the UCS.
2. Operant Conditioning
The type of learning that Skinner studied is called operant or instrumental conditioning.
Skinner used an “operant chamber” (referred to as a “Skinner box”) to study operant
conditioning.
Shaping establishes new responses by reinforcing successive approximations to it.
Chaining is an operant conditioning method where behaviors are reinforced by
opportunities to engage in the next behavior.
The animal learns the final behavior, and then the next to last, and so on,
until the beginning of the sequence is reached.
Reinforcement and Punishment
A reinforcement increases the probability that a behavior will be repeated.
A punishment decreases the probability of that behavior from occurring again.
Reinforcement
(behavior increases)
Punishment
(behavior decreases)
Positive
(something
added)
Positive Reinforcement:
Positive Punishment:
Something added
increases behavior
Something added decreases
behavior
Negative
(something
removed)
Negative
Reinforcement:
Negative Punishment:
Something removed
increases behavior
Something removed decreases
behavior
Schedules of Reinforcement
A schedule of reinforcement is a set of rules or procedures for delivery of
reinforcement
A continuous reinforcement schedule provides reinforcement every time a
response occurs.
Most reinforcement is on an intermittent schedule.
Two major categories of intermittent reinforcement schedules
1. Ratio – delivery of reinforcement depends on the number of responses
given by the individual.
a. Fixed-ratio schedule b. Variable-ratio schedule 2. Interval – delivery of reinforcement depends on the amount of time that
has passed since the last reinforcement.
a. Fixed-interval schedule b. Variable-interval schedule –
Operant Conditioning: Extinction
Extinction – stop giving the reinforcement. Extinction of responses tends
to take longer when an individual has been on an intermittent schedule
rather than a continuous schedule.
Operant Conditioning: Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination
Stimulus generalization – the subject responds to the new stimulus
because it is similar to the original reinforced stimulus
Discrimination – the subject does not respond to the new stimulus because
it is different enough from the original stimulus
3. Social Learning
Albert Bandura
Children who saw the versions of the films with aggressive behavior were more
likely to repeat those actions when left alone with a similar toy.
Much learning, especially in humans, results from observing (modeling or imitating) the
behaviors of others.

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