The Thunder Bolt

By Mr. Andrew Creek, HS Humanities Teacher

In Unit 6 — Developmental Psychology — of our AP Psychology class, students learned how physical and social changes over humans’ lifespans can influence behavior and mental processes from a variety of perspectives. Students diligently studied a variety of topics, including Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, attachment theory, parenting styles, Jean Piaget and cognitive development, adolescent development, Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, and adulthood.

I challenged my students to apply various theories and concepts by becoming egg parents. As a part of this eggsperiment, students created their very own baby egg. Their eggs were given names, decorated, and were to be carried around in a homemade carrier so they would never be too far from their mom, dad, or a trusted caregiver. In fact, the other High School teachers were asked to serve as social workers and would regularly check to make sure each AP Psychology student had their egg baby with them at all times.

To track their experience, students responded to different questions and scenarios closely related to the concepts explored in this unit. Each student even made Instagram posts about their egg using the hashtag #eggbabiesofconcordiahanoi. The experiment lasted for about one week and was a huge success all around! Luckily, none of the egg babies got prematurely scrambled.

Through the practical application of physical and social development theories and cognitive development theories in childhood, as well as the theories of adolescent development and moral development, students got a very small taste of what it might be like becoming parents or caregivers in the future. Students were asked to reflect on their experience as egg parents by responding to the following questions: “How will you use concepts learned in this unit as a real (not egg) parent?” and “What did you learn that will be helpful to you later in life?”

Here are some of the eggcellent things they had to say!

“Using Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, I would know what conflicts my child will have during each stage, and will know how to help my child. Also, by applying Harry Harlow’s theory, I can use a lot of physical contact to form a stronger attachment with my child.” – Hyewon, Grade 11

“I now know that young children think differently, and I should be understanding of their strange actions, like screaming from joy, sadness, and anger. I hope when I become a parent, I am able to raise my child with love but teach them about the world. I don’t want my child to become someone that hurts other people, and I especially do not want them to be ignorant about the world. I hope that I will be able to parent them with the authoritative style (i.e., setting rules and consistently enforcing them, but also explaining reasons and allowing input), and creating a secure attachment (Mary Ainsworth’s Attachment Theory).” – Ema, Grade 12

“I believe actually being aware of the different stages of my child’s life is important so I could tend to his needs. I also think parenting strategies are important to know what each different strategy means, how it is enacted in real life, and the strategies to enact a certain parenting style. Also, knowing the benefits of a lot of comfort, and the disadvantages of neglect is also very important to actually be fully present in your child’s life and to properly care for him/her.” – Yaseen, Grade 12

“I learned the importance of development of a newborn and early life as it establishes the psychological development and can affect the rest of her life. Although people assume babies know nothing, it is the foundation of everything and one wrong step may affect the child psychologically. If I were to have a child someday, I would recall the lessons I learned in this unit and be aware of my actions that can affect the child.” – Karin, Grade 11

“I learned a lot about each stage of cognitive development and psychosocial development. I know what is common and what is important in each stage. I will use this knowledge to understand children’s behavior and guide them to the next stage of development.” – Yeonwoo, Grade 10

“I have learned that there are three main different parenting styles with different consequences. When considering the consequences, I want to be a mother who applies an authoritative parenting style so my child is able to have high self-esteem and be independent at times. Moreover, to establish secure attachment with your child, you need to give attention to your child whenever he/she needs it. I believe that this will allow me to teach my child that I am a person that he/she can believe and seek help from. It will also allow him/her to acquire basic trust.” – Soobeen, Grade 10

“In this unit, I learned a lot about how to take care of a child and help it develop successfully through various stages of cognitive, moral, motor development, and more. I learned this especially well with the egg experiment because the scenarios let me practice practical situations, pulling from knowledge that I learned. Something that I would definitely take away is that it is crucial how a role model or caregiver reacts to a child at any stage in its development, since it would largely affect how the child reacts to and thinks about the situation itself. I also learned that children develop differently and at different paces, so it is perfectly normal if a child doesn't talk at 1 years old or still wets the bed at 4 years old. – Bao Nhi (Julia), Grade 11

“I would use concepts used in this unit to use an authoritative parenting style in the future as a real parent by setting rules and consistently enforcing them, but also explaining reasons and allowing input. Additionally, I would make sure that she does not lag behind in her cognitive and psychosocial stages of development as she goes through each phase by appropriately supporting her and fostering a healthy environment. I would also be attentive to her emotional needs to help her develop a secure attachment style and be able to form intimate relationships with others in the future. I learned that you need to be very attentive as a parent, and great responsibilities come with being a caretaker of another human being, when it is also pretty challenging to take proper care of your own life. I realized that being a mother is no easy feat and we should all be grateful for their support and efforts in raising us, since it comes with great sacrifice, which we might often take for granted since they’re always there with us most of the time.” – Jinseo, Grade 10

“Right now, it is extremely hard to conceptualize me being a human parent instead of just an egg mama. But, when that time in my life does come, I feel like I will be better equipped to be a (hopefully) really good parent to my kids in large part because of the information I’ve learned in this unit. It was really interesting to see the various stages children went through, both in terms of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development and Piaget’s stages of cognitive development. These clearly-sequenced stages have made it so much clearer the mental changes and hurdles that children of each and every age are going through. Knowing that will be helpful in helping my own children navigate each stage. Also, Mary Ainsworth’s experiment about strange situations and attachment styles also was pretty mind-blowing. Reading about what the mothers were like and the attachment styles their child exhibited helped me note what behaviors are helpful and which are harmful. All in all, this unit was wildly helpful for me even now as I approach a career in which I will be working with younger children. I definitely learned a lot of applicable knowledge which is very egg-citing!” – Meleyna, Grade 12