Ch. 11: Human Development Across the Life Span

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Progress Before Birth:Prenatal Development

• 3 phases– germinal stage (Zygote) = first 2 weeks

• conception, implantation, formation of placenta

– embryonic stage = 2 weeks – 2 months• formation of vital organs and systems• Heart, spine, brain, arm, legs, hands, feet, fingers,

toes, eyes & ears. Most miscarriage occur and birth defects.

– fetal stage = 2 months – birth• bodily growth continues, movement capability

begins, brain cells multiply, sex organs develop• age of viability. 22-26 weeks

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Union of Egg & Sperm

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Genetic Influences

• X- Chromosomes– sex chromosome found in both males & females– females have two, males have one– an X-chromosome from each parent produces a

female

• Y-Chromosomes– sex chromosome found only in males– when paired with a X-chromosome from the

mother, it produces a male child

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Progress Before Birth:Prenatal Development

• Prenatal Period 9 complete months (40 weeks)– 1 in 5 pregnancies end before the women is aware she

pregnant.– Placenta. Allows oxygen and nutrients to pass through the

fetus

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Environmental FactorsPrenatal Development

Maternal nutritionMalnutrition linked to increased risk of birth complications, neurological problems, and psychopathology

Teratogens agents that can reach the embryo or fetus

during prenatal development & cause harm-Chemical, alcohol, some medicines, cocaine,

nicotine, viral

Fetal Alcohol Syndromephysical & cognitive abnormalities

caused by drinking in pregnancyHuman Development 6

The Childhood Years: Motor Development

• Rooting Reflex: tendency to turn head, open mouth & search for nipple when touched on the cheek

• Grasping Reflex: infants can hold there own body weight– Cephalocaudal trend – head to foot– Proximodistal trend – center-outward

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Infancy & Childhood

• Maturation: biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, uninfluenced by experience

• Developmental norms – median age– Cultural variations

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Easy and Difficult Babies:Differences in Temperament

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Temperament- Mood, activity level & emotional reactivity (established by 2-3 months old)

Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1970)3 basic temperamental styles

easy – 40%slow-to-warm-up – 15%difficult – 10%mixed – 35%stable over time

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Early Emotional Development: Attachment

• Attachment- close emotional bonds of affection. Develop around 6-8 months old

• Evolutionary Perspective- Attachment styles correlate to adult patterns in romantic relationships

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Social Development

• Critical Period an optimal period shortly after birth when a organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

• Imprinting the process that certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

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Harry Harlow: Attachment Preferences

• Surrogate Mother Experiment: monkeys prefer contact with comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother

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Early Emotional Development: Attachment

• Separation anxiety- Peaks around 14-18 months– Ainsworth (1979). Relationship between infant &

mother (caretaker)– The strange situation and patterns of

attachment• Secure• Anxious-ambivalent• Avoidant

• Developing secure attachment– Bonding at birth– Daycare– Cultural factors

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Ainsworth Separation Anxiety

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Stage Theories of Development: Personality

• Stage theories, three components– progress through stages in order– progress through stages related to age– major discontinuities in development

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Stage Theories of Development

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Stage Theories: Cognitive Development

• Jean Piaget (1920s-1980s)– 4 stages and major milestones

• Sensorimotor Birth-2– Object permanence

• Preoperational 2-7– Centration: 1 thing @ a time

– Irreversibilty: unable to rewind

– Egocentrism: unable to share others views

• Concrete Operational 7-11– Decentration, Reversibility, & Conservation

• Formal Operational 11<– Abstraction

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Piaget

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Piaget’s Stage Theory

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Piaget’s Conservation Task

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The gradual mastery of conservation

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Cognitive Development• Schema- framework that organizes &

interprets info• Assimilation- Interpreting new experiences in

terms of mental structures without changing them.

• Accommodation- Changing existing mental

structures to explain new experiences. • Habituation- A gradual reduction in strength of a

response when presented repeatedly.

• Dishabituation- If a new stimulus elicits am increase in strength of an habituated response.

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The Development of Moral Reasoning– Kohlberg Reasoning as opposed to behavior:

• Moral dilemmas: Measured nature & progression of moral reasoning

– 3 levels, each with 2 sublevels• Preconventional (Stages 1&2)

– Acts are wrong b/c they are punished » Stop b/c you fear a ticket

– Acts are right b/c they lead to positive consequences» Stop b/c you wont get into an accident

• Conventional (Stages 3&4)– Acts are determined by other’s approval/disapproval

» Stop b/c you want to be a good citizen

– Rules become internalized & viewed as absolute» Stop b/c it’s right

• Postconventional (Stages 5&6)– Rules are less rigid & show some flexibity

» Slow down, not stopping (no one will catch you)

– Allows for the possibility that you might not comply with society’s rules b/c it conflicts w/ personal ethics

» Don’t stop b/c you feel there’s no point no one will get hurt& no one» is watching Human

Development

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Kohlberg’s Stage Theory

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Adolescence: Physiological Changes

• Primary Sex Characteristics body structures that make sexual reproduction possible

• ovaries- female• testes- male• external genitalia

• Secondary Sex Characteristics

nonreproductive sexual characteristics• female- enlarged breast, hips• male- voice quality, body hair

• Menarche first menstrual period

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Physical development at Puberty

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Adolescence: Neural Changes

• Increasing myelinization• Synaptic pruning• Changes in prefrontal cortex

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The Search for Identity

• Erik Erikson (1968)– Key challenge - forming a sense of identity– Eight stages spanning the lifespan– Psychosocial crises determining balance

between opposing polarities in personality

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Erikson’s Stage Theory

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Search for Identity

• James Marcia (1988)– 4 identity statuses

• Foreclosure: identity based on parents• Moratorium: undecided • Identity Diffusion: Refuse to identify• Identity Achievement: Achieve your own identity

based on actual research/experience

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Adulthood

• Personality Development. (Stable until 50)– Midlife Crisis

• Transitions in Family Life– “U” Shaped Martial Bliss– Between Families

• Aging & Physical Changes– Physical Changes– Vision & Hearing– Hormonal Functioning– Dementia

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The Expanse of Adulthood

• Social Clock the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, & retirement

• Crystallized Intelligence accumulated knowledge & verbal skills, increases w/ age

• Fluid Intelligence ability to reason speedily & abstractly, decreases during late adulthood

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