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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
In this video I describe one way of organizing the many other motivations that we face: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow proposed that motivations could be categorized and then …
Masters & Johnson’s Human Sexual Response Cycle
In this video I briefly describe the work of William Masters and Virginia Johnson in identifying 4 distinct phases of the human sexual response cycle: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. …
Sexual Motivation
In this video I introduce the basics of sexual motivation and briefly describe hormones involved. Next I discuss some important differences between humans and other species when it comes to …
Introduction to Eating Disorders
In this video I introduce 3 eating disorders: bulimia nervosa, binge–eating disorder, and anorexia nervosa. I briefly describe the symptoms of these disorders and how they may arise from complex …
Hunger Signaling
In this video I describe how hunger is turned on (the orexigenic signal) and off (the anorexigenic signal) and how hormones and other cues influence motivation to eat. The lateral …
Arousal Theory, Yerkes-Dodson Law, & Flow
In this video I describe arousal theory, the Yerkes–Dodson law, and flow. Arousal theory suggests that there is an optimal level of arousal that we are motivated to maintain and …