In this video I consider how it is that we improve our skills and abilities and how children make progress through different stages of development. This brings us to the work of Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky and his notion of … Read More
Cognitive Development: Concrete Operational & Formal Operational Stages
In this video I discuss Piaget’s last two stages of cognitive development; the concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage. The concrete operational stage (from about age 6-11) is characterized by improved understanding of the operations of the physical … Read More
Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development
In this video I begin describing the 4 stages of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Then I provide details of the sensorimotor stage along with more recent research suggesting that infant understanding of … Read More
Early Brain Development
In this video I discuss brain development and begin with the idea of infantile amnesia. Memories before about the age of 3 are very rare, suggesting that the infant brain is not yet developed to store episodic memories, though it … Read More
Infancy Stage: Motor & Perceptual Development
In this video I introduce some terms for understanding infant development, particularly for motor and perceptual skills. Infants are born with a number of reflexes (such as the rooting reflex and sucking reflex) which are gradually replaced with voluntary control … Read More
Prenatal Development
In this video I discuss prenatal development from conception until birth. This can be divided into the germinal stage, embryonic stage, and fetal stage. Conception occurs when a sperm cell and egg cell join to create a zygote, which then … Read More
Erikson’s 8 Ages of Man
In this video I introduce developmental psychology, which considers how we develop physically, cognitively, socially, and morally over our lifespan. I discuss some of the recurrent themes we will see in this chapter and then describe Erikson’s division of life … Read More
Motivation & Goal-Setting
In this last video on motivation I consider the relationship between motivation and the goals that we set for ourselves. I discuss the importance of setting self–concordant goals which are intrinsically motivated and then discuss strategies for achieving goals. In … Read More
Conscious & Unconscious, Approach & Avoidance Motivations
In this video I discuss how motivations may be conscious or unconscious influences on behavior. I describe some of the unconscious motivations proposed by Henry Murray and David McClelland and how external conditions may activate motivations. Next I describe the … Read More
Delay of Gratification & Ironic Effects of Punishment
In this video I introduce the concept of delay of gratification and the famous Marshmallow Test. Mischel, Shoda, and Rodriguez found that the ability to delay gratification at age 4 was associated with higher social competence, coping skills, and even … Read More