CHAPTER 12 – HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

* Developmental Psychology – field of psychology concerned with the course and cause of developmental changes over lifespan (heredity AND environment)

* Maturation – natural growth or change that unfolds in a fixed sequence relatively independent of environment

* Nature and Nurture – operate to make us all alike as human beings and unique in our personal differences


PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

* Zygote – fertilized egg

* Embryo – heart, nervous system, stomach, esophagus, genitalia, facial features, appendages form

* Fetus – kick, make fist, turn head, open mouth, swallow, frown, organs begin to function, basic learning


   Prenatal Risks

* Teratogens – 


* Critical period –



* Fetal alcohol syndrome – pattern of defects that include mental retardation, facial malformations


NEWBORN DEVELOPMENT

* Sensory functioning – 



* Motor skills –



INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

* Number of connections in brain cells proliferate and become more complex

* Piaget’s Theory – series of stages, all children follow same order

o Schemas – 



o Assimilation – 



o Accommodation – 




   Periods of Cognitive Development

* Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years) – motor movements (reflexes)

o Object permanence –


o New research - 



* Preoperational (2 to 7 years) – think with symbols, relate what they sense and communicate with language

o Fantasy - 


o Animism –


o Egocentric – 


o Conservation –


* Concrete Operations (7 – 11 years) – limited logical thinking, see problem and be able to solve it

o Conservers – 

* Formal Operations (12 - __ years) – fully developed logical thinking, abstract – understand deep mental processes



   Criticisms of Piaget

* Reasoning depends on:

o Ease of task

o Familiarity of objects

o How well they understand language used

o Experiences in similar situations


INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

   Temperament

* A child’ s temperament will likely fall into one of __________ patterns and remain ______________________

* Affected by ____________, ____________ environment, and ____________ environment (if significant)


   Attachment

* Harlow and the Monkey – wire vs. terry cloth



* Attachment Styles – Strange Situation

o Secure – 


o Avoidant –


o Ambivalent –



o Style has import beyond infancy - social and emotional competence

o Cultural variations



   Parenting Styles

o Authoritarian – 


o Permissive –


o Authoritative –


       
       Gender Roles

o General pattern of work, appearance, and behavior associated with being a male or female

o Blanket Study – 


o Gender schemas – 


o Anatomy, hormones, brain organization and functioning


KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF MORAL REASONING

* The decision is not important, it’s WHY you made the decision

* Heinz Dilemma


   Stages

* Preconventional (________________)

o Stage 1 – 


o Stage 2 –

* Conventional (________________)

o Stage 3 –


o Stage 4 –


* Postconventional (___________________)

o Stage 5 –


o Stage 6 –


* Limitations

o Stages 5 and 6 not universal for some collectivistic cultures

o Gender – justice vs. protecting relationships

o Moral ideas are not absolute and universal


ADDITIONAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES

* Discuss the research on memory in early childhood. (see Linkages: Development and Memory)
* Describe the impact of culture on cognitive development. Define scripts. (see Culture and Cognitive Development)
* Describe the potential impact of the environment on cognitive development. (see Variations in Cognitive Development)
* Discuss the question of whether day care damages the formation of a healthy mother-infant attachment. (see Thinking Critically:  Does Day Care Harm the Emotional Development of Infants?)
* Describe the different kinds of social relationships and the development of social skills in children. Define self-regulation. (see Relationships with Peers; see also Social Skills)
* Describe the phenomenon of resilience. (see Risk and Resilience)
* Define puberty, and discuss the physical and psychological changes and problems that occur during adolescence. Describe the relationship adolescents have with their parents and peers. (see The Challenges of Change)
* Describe the development of both the personal and the ethnic identity. Define identity crisis. (see Identity and Development of the Self)
* Describe the physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur during adulthood. (see Adulthood)
* Define menopause, generativity, and terminal drop. (see Adulthood)