PSYC105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Life Review, Mental Rotation, Internal Control
1 Jun 2018
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Developmental Psychology – Part Two: (Adult Development and Gender and
Moral Development)
Adult Development;
• Fathers → frequently not included in conversation, significant research gap for
this
o Deficit perspectives e.g. father absence
▪ Single parent families (20% in Aust) → risk and confounding
variables e.g. younger maternal age
o Unique contributions of fathers to child development;
▪ One is self regulation – child’s ability to regulate their
emotions/arousal levels; findings found fathers’ contributions
to this
▪ Another is risk taking – fathers play with young children that
may encourage exploration and physical risk; this may play a
role in reducing anxiety/inhibition in development
• Sociocultural change – women working more, fathers more involved in
childrearing
• Same principles for sensitive parenting apply
• Beyond infancy: Baumrind study –
o Four different parenting styles
▪ Authoritative → high warmth, high control (but democratic
control – perspective taking, reasoned discipline) – most
analogous to sensitivity (associated with positive child
development)
▪ Authoritarian → low warmth, high control – ‘I am the boss’ –
may become abusive
▪ Permissive → high warmth, low control – parent like a peer
▪ Uninvolved → low warmth, low control – neglect
o Cultural considerations have to be applied to different circumstances
Adolescence:
• Teenagers first described in 1950s
• Became a prominent force in 1960s
• Issue of identity formation → Erik Erikson
• Key changes in adolescence
o Biological → hormonal changes – oestrogens and androgens
▪ Puberty – sexual characteristics
• Menarche and spermarche
• Timing varies – some genetic contribution but also
environmental (health, nutrition)
o Cognitive → thinking, Piaget (formal operations, post formal thinking
– no absolutes)
▪ But frontal lobes not fully mature – impulse control
Emotional Development in Adolescence:
• Erikson’s developmental tasks → Identity vs. Role Confusion
o Who am i? what do I believe? What are my goals?
▪ Differentiation from parents/peer relations
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o A pre-requisite for the next phase – intimacy vs. isolation
1. Trust vs. Mistrust (birth-1) → hope
2. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (1-3) → will of their own
3. Initiative vs. guilt (3-6) → purpose
4. Industry vs. inferiority (6-11) → competence
5. Identity vs. role confusion (adolescence) → fidelity and belonging
6. Intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood) → love
7. Generativity (midlife) → care
8. Integrity vs. despair (late adult) → wisdom
Adulthood and Ageing:
• Adult transitions view → focuses on milestones that mark out adult life
o Age is not the issue; rather what you are doing at that point in your life
• Major milestones/transitions
o Starting out – leaving home
o Marriage or living alone
o Parenthood
o Empty nest
o Midlife assessment
o Retirement
o Widowhood
o Dying
• Transitions can also be non-events e.g. unable to have children, did not get a
job
• ‘Social Clock’ – Neugarten study – argued that the timing of transitions
affected development
o On time vs. Off time
o Normative life transitions (occur to most people can be on time or off
time)
o Non-normative; unusual, unexpected events or a timing not sanctioned
by society
• “Normative” timing is culturally/historically determined
o Varies 1 generation to the next – cohorts
o Maternal age varies over time
o Age at marriage/age at first birth all differs
• “Off Time” – events can be stressful
o Early widowhood
o Redundancy vs. planned retirement
o Age at first birth > 40; <20
o Failure of an expected event to happen is also stressful
▪ Not married or pregnant (cultural factors)
o These non-normative events are also challenging – requires adaptation
with no ‘preparation’; less social support
Old Age: Contemporary Perceptions –
• The meaning of old age is changing dramatically
• Changes to life expectancy (but note indigenous LE)
• Changing demographics in Australia:
o Adults over 65; 1901 = 4, 2015 = 15, 2032 = 19%
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Developmental psychology part two: (adult development and gender and. Adolescence: teenagers first described in 1950s, became a prominent force in 1960s, key changes in adolescence. No absolutes: but frontal lobes not fully mature impulse control. Summary: adult development is less universal/uniform" than child development, less tied to biological changes, more subject to diverse impact of life events, individual differences related to developmental history as well as current context. Importance of taking a broader view historical, cultural, social context in which development unfolds. Gender: sex is biological, gender is psychological, approaches to studying gender: most theories focus on different aspects of gender development. Infants begin to form categories of male" and female" activities. Cognitive abilities: men perform better than women on spatial tests involving mental rotation. Gender identity: kohlberg used the term gender constancy to refer to the concept that a person"s sex is a permanent attribute that is tied to underlying biological properties (i. e. the person"s genitals and genetic constitution)
