CHAPTER 5 Developing Through the Life Span

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CHAPTER 5: DEVELOPING THROUGH THE LIFESPAN

 Prenatal Development and the Newborn   Infancy and Childhood

 Adolescence  Adulthood

 Reflections on Two Major Developmental Issues

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DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Developmental Psychology examines how people are continually developing from infancy

through old age.

 Three major issues in Developmental Psychology 1.  Nature versus Nurture 2.  Continuity versus Stages 3.  Stability versus Change

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PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

  Embryonic Stage: Weeks 3-8   Physical structures are formed: head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth,

heart, arms and legs, (webbed) fingers and toes   Organs begin to form and function.   The embryonic precursor to the central nervous system forms.

  Fetal Stage: Weeks 9 – birth   Organ systems mature   Age of viability reached

  Germinal Stage: Weeks 0-2   Zygote = Fertilized egg.   Only half survive   Cells divide and

differentiate.

THE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

Germinal Period: The first two weeks of prenatal development after conception, characterized by

rapid cell division and the beginning of cell differentiation.

Embryonic Period: The stage of prenatal development from approximately the third through the eighth week after conception, during which the

basic forms of all body structures and internal organs develop.

Fetal Period: the stage of prenatal development from the ninth week until birth, during which organs grow in size and mature in functioning.

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PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED

  Environmental and genetic factors affect development.

  Teratogens   All agents and conditions, including viruses, drugs, and

chemicals, that can impair prenatal development and result in birth defects or death.

  Examples: Diseases, pollutants, radiation, social and behavioral factors, medicinal and recreational drugs

  Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s consumption of alcohol.

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THE COMPETENT NEWBORN

Reflex: an automatic movement occurring in response to a particular stimulus

  Newborns have many reflexes, some of which disappear with maturation

1.  Reflexes to maintain oxygen supply: breathing, hiccups, sneezes, thrashing when face is covered

2.  Reflexes to maintain body temperature: cry, shiver, tuck in legs close when cold; push away blankets and stay still when hot

3.  Reflexes to manage feeding: sucking reflex, rooting reflex, swallowing, crying when hungry, spitting up

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OTHER REFLEXES NOT NECESSARY FOR SURVIVAL:

Babinski Reflex

Stepping Reflex Palmar grasping Reflex

THE COMPETENT NEWBORN CONTINUED

 Abilities in the newborn 1.  Reflexes 2.  Social Responsiveness

  Newborns prefer sites and sounds that facilitate human social responsiveness.

  Faces, human voice, objects 8-12 inches away from the face.

3.  Scent preference for mother

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INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD

  Brain Development   At birth: 100 billion neurons, few dendrites and synapses   Transient exuberance: Great increase in the number of

dendrites during the first two years.   Followed by pruning, in which unused neurons and

dendrites atrophy and die (Barinaga, 2003).

  Motor Development   Developing brain enables physical coordination.   Individual differences in timing

  Maturation and Infant Memory   Our earliest memories rarely occur before our third or

fourth birthday.   Sensation then perception then cognition

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INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Cognition: all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and

communicating Leading researcher: Piaget

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INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED

1. Sensorimotor Stage:   Infants learn about the world from their sensory

impressions and motor activities.   Object permanence: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBh9ld_yIo&NR=1

2. Preoperational Stage:   Children use language, but do not yet understand formal

(concrete) logic.   Egocentric: they have difficulty perceiving things from

another’s point of view.   Theory of Mind: Close-Up on Autism and Mind-Blindness,

page 186-187

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INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED

3. Concrete operational stage: children can think logically about concrete events.   Conservation – Watch this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtLEWVu815o&NR=1

4. Formal operational stage: children can think logically about abstract concepts.

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INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

  Harlow’s monkeys (page 188-189)   Attachment is an emotional tie with

another person   Leading researchers: John

Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth

  How do infants display attachment?   Proximity-seeking behaviors   Contact-maintaining behaviors

  How do caregivers display attachment?   Watchful eye   Respond sensitively

MEASURING ATTACHMENT   How do we measure attachment?   The Strange Situation

  A laboratory procedure for measuring attachment   Developed by Mary Ainsworth

  4 aspects of behavior are observed 1.  Amount of child’s exploration 2.  Child’s reaction to departure of caregiver 3.  The child’s stranger anxiety (indicates temperament) 4.  The child’s reunion behavior with caregiver

  Watch this video of the strange situation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU&feature=related

Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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TYPES OF ATTACHMENT

Please note: This table is from a different book and merely included for your reference

DEPRIVATION OF ATTACHMENT

 By nature, humans are resilient, meaning they grow to be functioning adults despite the adversity they face as children.

  In cases of several abuse or neglect, the early trauma tends to leave a lasting footprint.   Exposure to excessive stress hormones in childhood

impairs later ability to handle stress   Natural experiment: Romanian orphans

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RECAP

 Prenatal Development and the Newborn   Stages of prenatal development   The competent newborn: Reflexes

  Infancy and Childhood   Brain development   Cognitive development: Piaget’s stages   Attachment

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ADOLESCENCE

 Puberty: The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing   Primary sex characteristics   Secondary sex characteristics   Menarche

 The adolescent brain   Selective pruning   Continued frontal lobe development

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BODY CHANGES OF PUBERTY

ADOLESCENCE: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

 Development of reasoning power in adolescence:

 Piaget’s formal operations: concepts of abstract thought and moral reasoning, age 12 through adulthood

 Kohlberg’s moral reasoning: the thinking that occurs as we consider right and wrong

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ADOLESCENCE: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

 Forming an identity   Identity: our sense of self; according to Erikson, the

adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

  Social identity: the “we” aspect of our self concept, including group memberships

 According to Erikson, the development of identity is followed by the capacity for intimacy, the ability to form close, loving relationships

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ADOLESCENCE: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUED

 Parents and Peer Relationships   In adolescence, the parent-teen relationship includes

increasing conflict. Most disagreements are composed of harmless bickering, yet some include great periods of stress.

  Positive parent-teen relations and positive peer relations tend to co-occur.

  Adolescence is typically a time of diminishing parental influence and increasing peer influence.

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ADOLESCENCE: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

 Emerging adulthood: a period from the late teens to early twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and responsible adulthood.   Sexual maturity is occurring earlier.   Delayed independence in industrialized cultures.   Ways to delay identity formation?

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EMERGING ADULTHOOD

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ADULTHOOD

 Early adulthood: 20s and 30s  Middle Adulthood: to age 65  Late adulthood: after 65

 Much wider variation in physical, psychological, and social development than in childhood

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ADULTHOOD

  Physical Development   Physical abilities peak in the mid twenties: muscular

strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, cardiac output

  Physical Changes in Middle Adulthood   Decline in fertility:   Menopause is the time of

natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes that accompany the decline of the ability to reproduce.

ADULTHOOD   Physical changes in later life

  Increase in life expectancy over the last 60 years   Decline sensory abilities   Decline in Health

  Weakened immune system – more susceptible to life threatening ailments

  Accumulation of antibodies – suffer fewer short term ailments   Changes in memory and cognitive abilities

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ADULTHOOD: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

  Aging and Memory   In later adulthood, we tend to describe our most

memorable events as occurring in our teens and twenties   As we age, our memory for names worsens (Figure 5.22)   The type of information presented influences the ability to

remember that information.

  Aging and Intelligence   Intelligence maintains throughout adulthood, not

declining until we reach old age.

  Crystallized intelligence – our accumulated knowledge as reflected in vocabulary – increases up until old age.

  Fluid intelligence – our ability to reason speedily and abstractly – decreases slowly up until old age.

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ADULTHOOD CONTINUED

 The brain areas important to memory atrophy in old age.

 However, physical activity in older adults is associated with better cognitive functioning

 Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease   Loss of brain cells and deterioration of neurons

producing acetylcholine (Ach)   Specifically, shriveled protein filaments and plaques

(globs of degenerating tissue) interfere with neuronal transmission in the Ach neurons

  Physically active, nonobese people have less risk for Alzheimer’s (e.g. Abbott et al., 2004)

  Adults with an active challenged mind are also at decreased risk (Wilson & Bennett, 2003).

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ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE C

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ADULTHOOD: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

 Adulthood’s Ages and Stages   Midlife transition   Social Clock: the culturally preferred timing to social

events such as marriage, parenthood, retirement

 Adulthood’s Commitments   Erikson’s stages during adulthood

  Intimacy: forming close relationships   Generativity: being productive and supporting future

generations

  Love:   Evolutionary perspective on marriage and children   Three aspects of love: passion, intimacy, commitment

  The role of work

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WELL-BEING ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN C

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WELL-BEING CONTINUED

  Note the increase in positive emotions, confidence, and self-esteem through adulthood

  Death and Dying   Death of spouse five times more likely in women than men   Grief is more severe with unexpected death

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REFLECTIONS ON TWO MAJOR DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES  Continuity and Stages

  Is development slow and continuous?   Does development proceed in distinct stages?

 Stability and Change   Over time, are people’s personalities consistent, or do

they change?

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CHAPTER 5 LEARNING OBJECTIVES   Define developmental psychology   Infancy and childhood:

  Describe the impact of teratogens.   Describe brain development in infancy and childhood.   What is Cognition? How does Piaget describe cognitive

development?   Define attachment. How is it measured? What happens when

children are deprived of attachment?   Adolescence:

  Describe puberty and adolescent brain development.   Describe social development in adolescence/emerging adulthood.

  What is emerging adulthood?   Adulthood

  Distinguish fluid and crystallized intelligence.   Which of Erikson’s stages occur in adulthood?

  Late Adulthood: Describe research findings in intelligence as we age.

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