PSYC121 Developmental Psychology

Tēnā tātou katoa

• I’m Chris (not the Kris who taught you about psychopathology)
• PhD in Developmental Psychology here at VUW in 2018
• Nowadays, I am a Cognitive Scientist interested in:
  • What is it to feel “present” and what makes us feel more, or less, present?
  • Do strong emotional responses (terror, disgust) improve or impair cognition?
  • Can people regulate strong negative emotions?

Lecture Objectives

• In the next two weeks (4 lectures):

1. Why do we study how humans develop from infants to adults?
2. What are some of the most interesting questions and discoveries from developmental psychology?
3. What are some of the methods used by developmental psychologists that revealed these discoveries?

• This week (2 Lectures):

1. Learn about how and why infants form a strong connection (attachment) to their caregiver.
2. Learn about how different parenting styles can impact attachment.
3. Learn about how social learning early in life can lead to different outcomes later in life.

The infant lives in a world of Uncertainty

• Uncertainty is expensive
• As we learn about the world, it becomes more predictable
• When we can make predictions about the world, we are better at conserving valuable energy/resources
• Lots of questions in developmental psychology are about how humans learn to reduce uncertainty
• Examples:
  • Language Development: reducing uncertainty in the behaviour of other people by decoding sounds.
  • Physical Development: reducing uncertainty about how to operate the body in which you were born.

Evolution & Uncertainty

• Evolution is the process by which all living things gradually change in ways that allow them to better adapt to their environment

• When psychologists try to understand different tendencies in human behaviour, they are usually trying to understand what adaptive function it serves.

• In other words they are asking “how does the observed behaviour help the organism to survive”.

• Because uncertainty is so expensive, there are many different behaviours that evolved to adapt to uncertainty.

  • Learning about the world (Cognitive Development)

  • Getting help from others (Social Development)

Social Development

• The study of how children interact with other people in their social world
• We will be talking about some of the key questions psychologists ask about children’s social development
• And about some of the methods psychologists use to answer those questions
• Examples of popular research topics:

1. caregiver-child attachment
2. styles of parenting
3. moral development
4. prosocial behaviour

Evolutionary basis of attachment

• Unlike other mammals, humans evolved to walk on two legs
• In order to walk on two legs, the pelvis needs to be quite narrow
• Unlike other mammals, humans have also evolved quite enormous brains
• For childbirth to be physically possible, it needs to take place before their brain grows too large to fit down the birth canal.
• Therefore, babies are born underdeveloped, compared to other mammals.

Lorenz’ Discovery of Imprinting

1. Lorenz divided Graylag goose eggs into two groups:

   1. One group of eggs hatched with the mother goose

   2. The other group of eggs hatched in the absence of the mother goose (but in the presence of Konrad Lorenz)

2. Findings:

   1. The group that hatched around their mother followed the mother around wherever she went

   2. The group that hatched around Lorenz followed him around wherever he went!

   3. Then, Lorenz placed all of the goslings in a box so they could see (but not reach) their mother and Lorenz.

      1. The goslings who hatched near the mother moved as close to her as they could, and the goslings who hatched near Lorenz, moved toward him!

Critical vs. Sensitive Periods

Harlow’s Studies on Attachment in Rhesus monkeys

• Why did Harlow choose to study Rhesus monkeys?
• are quite similar to humans (genetically, physiologically, behaviorally)
• have shorter lifespans compared to other great apes, so they’re easier subjects for studying development
• live in complex social groups (social hierarchies, cooperation, conflict resolution)
• will live with their mothers for extended period (for several months, but some as long as 2-3 years)

Harlow’s Studies on Attachment in Rhesus monkeys - Findings

1. Regardless of which mother fed them, they spent more time with the cloth mother (strong evidence against the feeding hypothesis)

2. Younger monkeys (up to 13 days old) who were fed by the wire mother, spent less time with the cloth mother than those who were fed by the cloth mother (so feeding may have some effect on attachment!)