The Early Years

Conventional Wisdom

• babies were a tabula rasa i.e blank slate and totally helpless and passive
• young children were little adults who simply did not know much

New Research
1. Infants

• babies are far more able and active than earlier conceptions
• their senses are finely tuned to interact socially with adults so that they will meet their needs
• babies actively explore the environment
• the baby brain has more neurons than the adult but less connections
• the baby brain is plastic and a great deal of pruning takes place as it interacts with the environment
• physical skills develop at a predictable sequence i.e maturation

2. Childhood

• children are qualitatively different to adults
  
• critical periods of development occur when nurture stimulates the development of certain mental processes e.g language development entails exposure to language and a huge increase in neural connections that enable language to develop
• children are intellectually very busy as they sort out how the world works
  

Unit 9 Developmental Psychology

Outcomes
1. Identify the major physical, cognitive, and social developments of life.
2. Understand and evaluate the different theories of development.

Topic and Activities

1. Developmental Psychology:
Class Discussion: The Decades of Life and major project “The Life Line”
PP Presentation Chapter 4

2. Major Theories of Development
‘Ages and Stages’

3. Infancy and Early Childhood
Handout 3.1 ‘Piaget Meets Santa’ and Classroom Visit
Video: The Developing Child

4. Adolescence
Lecture and weblog posting “My Teenage Years”
Readings: Adolescence: Forgotten Age Forgotten Problems
Video: The Human Body

5. Adulthood and Aging
Are you ageist or ignorant?
Application Activity Chapter 10 and
Video: The Human Body: Maturing and Aging

Weblog posting for discussion:

What do you consider the perfect age? Why?
Have your teenage years been the worst or the best of times?
How do you feel about the prospect of growing old?

EQ

Definition: the regulation of emotions to improve life
The EQ Factor
Emotions
· long neglected by psychology, perhaps we like to see ourselves as the ‘thinking’ species
· emotions are impulses to act and originate in the more primitive parts of the brain
· emotions and rationality (thoughts) can be in conflict
· emotions can hijack the brain
· the power of emotions comes from our evolutionary past: acting quickly had great survival value
The Ingredients of Emotional Intelligence

1. Knowing your emotions
Strategies

self-awareness
acceptance
learning to follow your instincts

2. Managing Emotions
Strategies
soothing yourself, self-talk, distraction shaking yourself out of negative emotional states
Example #1 Anger
- triggered by a sense of danger either physical or psychological
- you are energized by two waves of energy: a sudden burst of energy and a more general heightening of arousal levels
- anger builds on anger
- control can be achieved by identifying the thought that triggered the anger and challenging that thought
cooling down by distracting yourself
Example #2 Sadness
- people spend most effort on this emotion
- control can be achieved by shifting the mood through
1) exercise
2) cognitive reframing and
3) helping others

3. Motivation
- the master aptitude of emotional intelligence
Strategies
- learning to delay gratification
- stifling impulsiveness
4. Empathy
- people skills seen as a key ingredient in a successful life
- need to tune into the feelings of others as they signal what others need and want
5. Handling Relationships
Skills include:
-organizing others
-solving problems
-making connections
-understanding others

EQ Test

Chapter 12 Handy Hints

1. Be able to define the following key terms: instinct, incentive, homeostasis and hierarchy of needs.
   
2. What is the difference between a need and a drive?
3. What is the arousal theory good at explaining?
4. What are the differences between flow, peak and plateau experiences?
5. What are the defining characteristics of a person with high achievement motivation?
   
6. Draw Venn diagrams that compare and contrast social and task leadership and theory X and theory Y leaders.