DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
MEETING III
MGR. ET MGR. DAVID HAVELKA, PH.D.
Colloquium
Group discussion on case report / colloquial test
3 exam dates:
17.5. (17:00; 18:00)
14.6. (10:00; 11:00)
21.6. (14:00; 15:00)
Literature
Exploring developmental psychology understanding theory and methods
Margaret Harris
http://sk.sagepub.com/books/exploring-developmental-psychology
(after logging in via Masaryk university)
- The Oxford handbook of developmental psychology
Philip David Zelazo
- Attachment in the classroom : the links between children's early experience, emotional
well-being and performance in school.
GEDDES, Heather
Theory and practice
About SCARED STRAIGHT
creation: 1970´s
authors: inmates in long-term inprisonment (esp. Richard Rowe)
Goal: prevention of juvenile delinquency
Application: USA, UK, Norway, Australia, Germany, Canada
Media: TV series Beyond scared straight (13. 1. 2011 – 3. 9. 2015)
Documentary film
- 1978: Arnold Shapiro
- Until the end of 1979 – spread into 30 USA jurisdictions1
A little taste
Program effectivity
12 statistically sound studies (1978 – 2010)2
Showed that Scared straight
!DOES NOT WORK!
No study proving opposite was published1
2 - Klenowski, P. M., Bell, K. J., & Dodson, K. D. (2010). An Empirical Evaluation of Juvenile Awareness
Programs in the United States: Can Juveniles be ‘‘Scared Straight’’? Journal of Offender Rehabilitation,
stránky 254–272.
1- Petrosino, A., Carolyn, T.-P., Holis-Peel, M. E., & Stern, A. (2014). Scared Straight and Other Juvenile
Awareness Programs for Preventing Juvenile Delinquency. Crime Prevention Research Review.
Why program does not work?
Group discussion
Why program does not work?
◦ Disproportionate DOSING
◦ CONFRONTIERING nature of the program
◦ TRUE interest in juveniles
◦ CRUELTY of punishment is far less disparaging than CERTAINTY of punishment
◦ Lack of REHABILITATION components
◦ The program is not based on an explicit theory
◦ Nondelinquent X delinquent individuals
What may be the reasons leading people
to use this program?
Group discussion
What may be the reasons leading people
to use this program?
oArguments on emotions
oLogical appearance (missing theoretical background)
oSeemingly measurable
oOffer of simple solution to complex and challenging problem
oMay work on healthy population
oExtremely cheap
Developmental psychology lessons for
teaching practice
Teaching procedures and methods must :
 build on theory and knowledge, not simply on an intuition
 be based on the life story and developmental stage of the child
 simple solutions may not always be the best ones
 education is a long-term process, not a one-time shot
 child can be developed through supporting and developing it´s positive features, attributes &
talent, not only by highlighting the points in which he is insufficient
 consistent guidance is much more effective than hard punishment and restraints
 what is effecitve for us does not have to be effective for others
Basis of periodization in developmental
theories
Psychological development is a:
◦ regular process, composed of consecutive phases; that have typical, invariant
order
◦ holistic process involving somatic, psychological and social components (and
their interactions)
◦ continuum of gradual changes; differentiation and integration of processes and
properties leads to the emergence of qualitatively new forms that alter the
nature of interaction and stimulate further development
XXX
◦ Is not completely fluent and uniform; preparatory phases can be recognized;
there are also periods of latency or periods of cumulative changes - development
leaps (e.g. Sexual development)
◦ Is individually specific - general principles "apply" only in general
Developmental milestones
Signal more significant change in some areas of development (more often the
accumulation of changes)
Biological
(body growth, CNS maturation, motor changes, hormonal changes; examples: walking alone, development of
secondary sexual characteristics)
Psychological
(changes in mental capacity, changes caused by learning, changes in self-concept; examples: language
acquisition, the onset of specific operations stage,…)
Social
(defining of new roles, "transition rituals" – e.g. entering school, first ID card, retirement bill…)
Example of accumalation of changes: School maturity
Sensitive and critical phases
Sensitive phase:
In this phase person is significantly more receptive to stimuli of a certain
kind and seu up better to integrate them
Examples: speech development, development of the ability to establish
bilateral emotional relationship (see attachment)
Critical phase:
This term express the fact that certain stimuli are necessary at certain
stages – process of learning cannot be "completed" later
Example: imprinting period
Transitions between stages
and
developmental (transitional) crises
Development does not have to be smooth, there may appear a
"tension" between the „new“ and the „old“
Different concepts of crisis – crisis as:
◦ result of an unmanaged development task
◦ „Period between" two stable phases
◦ time of uncertainty in „new“ …
◦ subjectively perceived motivation for change
predictable developmental (transitional) crises have a different character than irregular
personal or social crises - their mastery is a developmental task
Types of periodization
o„life-span“
(e.g. E. Erikson – 8 stages)
o focused on certain part of life (usually considered as significant –
commonly childhood)
(e.g.: S. Freud – Psychosexual Development; M. Mahler – Separation-Individuation
Theory)
Focused on development of a certain function, system, property ...
aspect of life – emotional development, cognitive development, moral
development
(e.g.: J. Piaget, L. Kohlberg)
Eclectic „life-span“ periodization
(according to Vágner, 2005, 2007)
Periods:
◦ Prenatal
◦ Newborn
◦ Nursling
◦ Toddler
◦ Preschool period
◦ School age – younger, middle, older
◦ Adolescence
◦ Adulthood – young (20-40), middle (40-50), older (50-60)
◦ Senior age– early (60-75), genuine(75 a více)
Cognitive development
Cognition – Mental processes by which knowledge is acquired, elaborated, stored, retrieved,
and used to solve problems.
Cognitive Development – Refers to the changes that occur in children’s mental skills and abilities
over time.
Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980)
Swiss Psychologist
Published first paper at 10
Earned his doctorate in natural sciences at 21
Was intrigued by kids’ thoughts & behavior, & worked to understand their cognitive
development
Most widely known theory of cognitive development – GENETIC EPISTEMIOLOGY
Constructivism
Learning is an active process of construction rather than a
passive assimilation of information or rote memorization.
individuals construct their understanding
Child is a ‘little scientist’ constructing understandings of the world largely alone
Constructivist educators create an environment which encourages children to construct their
own knowledge.
Key concepts
Schemata - An organized pattern of thought or action that one constructs to interpret some
aspect of one’s experience. (Represent the way that people organize and understand the things
around them)
Equilibrium- refers to the cognitive balance that humans strive for through out development
(We adjust our ideas to make sense of reality)
Disequilibrium - we are driven or motivated to learn when we are in disequilibrium (We want to
understand things)
Adaptation- refers to the invariant process of change in schemata.
•Assimilation: process of matching external reality to an existing cognitive structure.
•Accommodation: When there’s an inconsistency between the learner’s cognitive structure
& the thing being learned the child will reorganize her thoughts
Stages of cognitive development
A child’s capacity to understand certain concepts is based on the child’s developmental stage
All children develop according to four stages based on how they see the world (age may vary
some, but we all go through the stages in the same order)
Sensorimotor Stage (0-2)
The child:
◦ Explore the world through senses & motor activity (learn about the world using senses - seeing,
hearing, tasting, feeling, smelling and motor skills - grabbing, stroking, pushing, kicking. Is attracted to
facing, music and things that move)
◦ Early on, baby can’t tell difference between themselves & the environment
◦ If they can’t see something then it doesn’t exist
◦ Begin to understand cause & effect
◦ Can later follow something with their eyes
◦ Object Permanence – knowledge that an object continues to exist
independent of our seeing, hearing, touching, tasting or smelling it!
Major Accomplishments of the Sensorimotor
Period
Object
Permanence
Mental
Representations
Symbol
System
Begins with no visual or manual
search
Mental Representations cannot be held
in mind: “ Out of Sight is Out of Mind”
No use of symbols
Searches for partially concealed
objects
Mental Representations are beginning to
be able to be held in mind
Emergence of rudimentary
symbols
Searches for completely
concealed objects
Mental Representations are able to be
held in mind
Representations are coded
with symbols: gestures &
sounds
Searchers after visible
displacement
Mental Representations can be held in
mind but their external existence is
tentative
Symbols are becoming
more complex and are
more linguistic
Searches after hidden
displacement
Mental Representations can be held in
mind and they are secure
Symbolic Function is
Achieved: Gestures and
Language
Preoperational Stage (2-7)
Divided into 2 subperiods: The Preconceptual (2-4) and The Intuitive
(4-7)
Major Characteristic: Symbolic Functioning evidenced by language,
imaginative play, increase in deferred imitation.
Acceleration of language is regarded as an outcome of the development of
symbolization, rather than the inverse.
Preoperational Thought is Characterized
by the Following
Egocentrism
Centration
State Fixation
Unstable
Equilibrium
Irreversibility
Transduscive
Reasoning
Egocentrism (4 yrs)
Draw how the mountains would look from the doll´s point of view
Piaget’s Demonstration of Preoperational
Thinking Errors: Conservation Tasks
•Conservation of Volume
•Conservation of Mass
•Conservation of Number
•Conservation of Length
The Concrete operational stage (7-11)
•The child begins to reason logically, and organize thoughts coherently. However, it cannot handle
abstract reasoning.
•children begin to process complex concepts such as numbers and relationships but they need
concrete examples to understand these concepts.
•There is the ability to perform multiple classification tasks, order objects in a logical sequence,
and comprehend the principle of conservation.
•The child is capable of concrete problem-solving. Some reversibility now possible (quantities
moved can be restored such as in arithmetic: 3+4 = 7 and 7-4 = 3, etc.)
•Class logic-finding bases to sort unlike objects into logical groups where previously it was on
superficial perceived attribute such as color. Categorical labels such as "number" or animal"
now available.
The Formal Operations Stage
Mental actions performed on ideas and propositions. Can reason logically about
hypothetical processes and events that may have no basis in reality.
Child is:
◦ able to think about hypothetical situations
◦ Form & test hypotheses
◦ Organize information
◦ Reason scientifically
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective
Sociocultural Theory – Vygotsky’s perspective on cognitive development, in which children
acquire their culture’s values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative
dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society.
Zone of Proximal Development: the range of tasks that are too complex to be mastered alone
but can be accomplished with guidance and encouragement from a more skillful partner.
Guided participation – adult-child interactions in which children’s cognitions and
modes of thinking are shaped as they participate with or observe adults engaged
in culturally relevant activities.
Theory of stages of moral development
Lawrence Kohlberg
Kohlberg's stages of moral development constitute an adaptation of a psychological theory
originally conceived of by Piaget.
Moral reasoning has six developmental stages, each more adequate at responding to moral
dilemmas than its predecessor.
the process of moral development was principally concerned with justice, and that it continued
throughout the individual's lifetime (how individuals would justify their actions if placed in
similar moral dilemmas).
Kohlberg's scale is about how people justify behaviors and his stages are not a method of
ranking how moral someone's behavior is.
Kohlberg’s Six Stages
• Stages cannot be skipped
• Each stage provides a new and
necessary perspective
• Each stage is more
comprehensive and
differentiated than its
predecessors
Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)
◦ Child’s level. (However, some adults act out of this level.)
◦ People at this level judge the morality of an action by its direct consequences.
◦ Solely concerned with the self in an egocentric manner.
◦ Person has not yet adopted or internalized society's conventions regarding what is right or
wrong, but instead focuses largely on external consequences that certain actions may bring
1. Punishment avoidance and Obedience orientation
(How can I avoid punishment?)
2. Exchange of Favors: Self-interest orientation
(What's in it for me?)
(Paying for a benefit)
Level 2 (Conventional)
◦ Typical of adolescents and adults
◦ Those who reason in a conventional way judge the morality of actions by comparing them to
society's views and expectations.
◦ At this level an individual obeys rules and follows society's norms even when there are no
consequences for obedience or disobedience.
◦ Adherence to rules and conventions is somewhat rigid, however
3. Good Boy/Good girl: Interpersonal accord and conformity
(Social norms)
(The good boy/good girl attitude)
4. Law & Order: Authority and social-order maintaining orientation
(Law and order, morality)
Level 3 (Post-Conventional)
◦ There is a growing realization that individuals are separate entities from society, and that
the individual’s own perspective may take precedence over society’s view; they may
disobey rules inconsistent with their own principles.
◦ These people live by their own abstract principles about right and wrong—principles that
typically include such basic human rights as life, liberty, and justice. Because of this level’s
“nature of self before others”, the behavior of post-conventional individuals, especially those
at stage six, can be confused with that of those at the pre-conventional level.
5. Social contract orientation
6. Universal ethical principles
(Principled conscience)
Heinz Dilemma
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5czp9S4u26M