Chapter 10 Human Development Across the Lifespan Development

Chapter 10 Human Development Across the Lifespan

• Development = sequence of age-related changes that occur as person progresses from conception - death.

Progress Before Birth: Prenatal Development

• Zygote = a one-celled organism formed by the union of a sperm and an egg • prenatal period = from conception to birth, usually encompassing nine months of pregnancy • placenta = structure that allows oxygen & nutrients to pass into fetus from mother’s bloodstream & bodily wastes to pass out to mother • Source: Microsoft Clip. Art

The Course of Prenatal Development • Germinal (first 2 weeks) • Embryonic (2 weeks - 2 months) = period of great vulnerability, as most physiological structures are being formed • Source: Micro. Soft Clip. Art

The Course of Prenatal Development • Fetal stages (2 months - birth) = brings rapid growth as physiological systems mature • Threshold of viability at around 23 -26 weeks. • Source: Microsoft Clip. Art

Environmental Factors & Prenatal Development • Nutrition • Severe maternal malnutrition increases risk of birth complications & neurological deficits for newborn • Stress and Emotion • Prospective mothers’ emotional reactions to stressful events can disrupt delicate hormonal balance that fosters healthy prentatal development

Environmental Factors & Prenatal Development • Drug Use • Maternal use of illicit drugs can be dangerous to unborn child. • Alcohol Consumption • Even normal social drinking & routine tobacco use can be hazardous during prenatal development

Environmental Factors & Prenatal Development • Maternal Illness • can interfere with prenatal development. • Environmental Toxins • Exposure during prenatal development can “program” fetal brain in ways that influence vulnerability to various types of illness decades later

The Wondrous Years of Early Childhood

Exploring the World: Motor Development • Motor development = progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities • Maturation = development that reflects gradual unfolding of one’s genetic blueprint

Understanding Developmental Norms • Developmental norms = typical (median) age at which individuals display various behaviors & abilities

Cultural Variations • Cultural variations in emergence of basic motor skills show that environmental factors can accelerate or slow early motor development. • Source: Microsoft Clip. Art

Early Emotional Development: Attachment • Attachment = close emotional bonds of affection that develop between infants & their caregivers. • separation anxiety—emotional distress seen in many infants when separated from people with whom they are attached

Theories of Attachment • Harlow’s work with monkeys undermined reinforcement explanation of attachment. • Bowlby proposed an influential evolutionary theory that attachment relationships have survival value. • Attachment emerges out of an interplay between infant & parent.

Patterns of Infant/Mother Attachment • Secure = play & explore comfortably with parent present, become visibly upset when leaves, & are quickly calmed by their return • Anxious-ambivalent = anxious when parent is near & protest excessively when leaves, but are not comforted when they return

Patterns of Infant/Mother Attachment • Avoidant = seek little contact with their parent and often are not distressed when they leave

Culture & Attachment • Cultural variations in childrearing can affect the patterns of attachment seen in a society, but secure attachment is predominant around the world.

Attachment Theory and its Effects on Adult Relationships

Learning to Communicate: Language Development • Initial vocalizations by infants are similar across languages, but their babbling gradually begins to resemble sounds from surrounding language. • 1 st words around 1 st birthday • Vocab spurt begins 18 months

Using Words • overextension = child incorrectly uses word to describe wider set of objects or actions than meant to. • underextension = incorrectly uses word to describe narrower set of objects or actions than meant to.

Combining Words • Combine words by the end of 2 nd year • Early sentences are telegraphic • mainly of content words; articles, prepositions, & other less critical words omitted.

Personality & Cognitive Development in Childhood

Becoming Unique: Personality Development • Stage = developmental period during which characteristic patterns of behavior are exhibited & certain capacities become established.

Stage theories assume that • (1) individuals must progress through specified stages in a particular order because each stage builds on previous stage, • (2) progress through these stages is strongly related to age, • (3) development is marked by major discontinuities that usher in dramatic transitions in behavior

Stage Theories of Development

Erikson’s Stage Theory • Individuals evolve through 8 stages over life span. • Each stage the person wrestles with two opposing tendencies evoked by that stage’s psychosocial crisis. • Source: Microsoft Clip. Art

Erikson’s Stage Theory • Stages through Childhood. • 1) Trust vs. Mistrust – Does my world support my needs? • 2) Autonomy vs. Shame – Can I do things for myself? • 3) Initiative vs. Guilt – Am I a good or bad? • 4) Industry vs. Inferiority – Am I competent? • Source: Microsoft Clip. Art

Erikson’s Stage Theory

Growth of Thought: Cognitive Development • Cognitive development = transitions in youngsters’ patterns of thinking, including reasoning, remembering, & problem solving

Overview of Piaget’s Stage Theory • (1) sensorimotor period (birth to age 2) • Object permanence = child recognizes that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible.

Overview of Piaget’s Stage Theory • (2) preoperational period (2 - 7) • Centration = tendency to focus on just 1 feature of problem, neglecting other important aspects • Irreversibility = inability to envision reversing an action • Egocentrism = thinking characterized by limited ability to share another person’s viewpoint

Overview of Piaget’s Stage Theory • (2) preoperational period (2 - 7) • Not yet mastered principle of conservation. • Conservation • awareness that physical quantities remain constant in spite of changes in their shape or appearance.

Overview of Piaget’s Stage Theory • (3) concrete operational period ( 7 - 11) • decline in egocentrism & gradual mastery of conservation as it applies to liquid, mass, number, volume, area, and length.

Overview of Piaget’s Stage Theory • (4) formal operational period (11 onward) • Children begin to apply their operations to abstract concepts in addition to concrete objects • further developments in thinking are changes in degree rather than fundamental changes in nature of thinking

Evaluating Piaget’s Theory • Piaget appears to have underestimated young children’s cognitive development ( Birney et al. , 2005). • children understand object permanence much earlier than Piaget thought ( Birney & Sternberg, 2011).

Evaluating Piaget’s Theory • Children often simultaneously display patterns of thinking, characteristic of several stages.

Evaluating Piaget’s Theory • Sequence of stages is largely invariant, but timetable that children follow in passing through these stages varies considerably across cultures (Dasen, 1994; Rogoff, 2003). • Infants appear to understand surprisingly complex concepts with virtually no opportunity to learn them.

The Development of Moral Reasoning • Morality = ability to distinguish right from wrong & behave accordingly.

Kohlberg’s Stage Theory ~ Moral Reasoning • Focuses on moral reasoning rather than overt behavior • Progresses through six stages related to age & determined by cognitive development.

Kohlberg’s Stage Theory ~ Moral Reasoning • Preconventional - emphasizes external authority. • Conventional - focuses on adherence to social order. • Postconventional - involves working out a personal code of ethics.

Kohlberg’s Stage Theory

The Transition of Adolescence

Physiological Changes • Growth spurt at puberty is prominent event involving development of reproductive maturity & secondary sex characteristics.

Physiological Changes • primary sex characteristics—the structures necessary for reproduction • secondary sex characteristics—physical features that distinguish one sex from other but not essential for reproduction

Physiological Changes • menarche—the first occurrence of menstruation • at ages 12– 13 w/ sexual maturation continuing until approx age 16 • spermarche—the first occurrence of ejaculation • at ages 13– 14 w/ sexual maturation continuing until approx age 18

Physiological Changes • Generational changes exist in timing of puberty. • Girls who mature early & boys who mature late experience more subjective distress with the transition to adolescence. • Early sexual maturation = greater variety of behavioral problems for both sexes.

Neural Development • During adolescence neurons are becoming more myelinated, while synaptic pruning continues to sculpt neural networks. • Prefrontal cortex (executive control center) appears to be the last area of the brain to mature fully. • Contributing to adolescent risk taking.

Peer Influence on Risk Taking

The Search for Identity • Erikson’s 5 th stage; Identity vs. Role Confusion. • James Marcia identified four patterns of identity formation: • Foreclosure = premature commitment to visions, values, & roles— typically prescribed by parents (conformity)

The Search for Identity • Moratorium = delaying commitment to experiment w/ alternative ideologies & careers • Identity diffusion = a state of rudderless apathy, with no commitment to an ideology • Identity achievement = arriving at sense of self & direction after some consideration of alternative possibilities, associated w/ higher self-esteem, conscientiousness, security, achievement motivation, & capacity for intimacy

Emerging Adulthood as a New Developmental Stage • Arnett argues we ought to recognize existence of a new developmental stage in modern societies; christened emerging adulthood. • feeling in between adolescence & adulthood & experiencing continued identity formation.

The Expanse of Adulthood

Personality Development • Personality marked by both stability and change, • Agreeableness & conscientiousness tend to increase in the adult years, • Extraversion, neuroticism & openness to experience tend to decline

Erikson’s View of Adulthood • 6) Intimacy vs. Isolation - develop the capacity to share intimacy with others • 7) Generativity Versus Self-Absorption - to acquire a genuine concern for the welfare of future generations • 8) Integrity Versus Despair - to find meaning and satisfaction in their lives, rather than wallow in bitterness and resentment

Memorize Erikson's 8 Theories of development fast - phycology test prep

Transitions in Family Life • % of young adults who are postponing marriage until their late 20’s or early 30’s steadily risen since mid-60’s • Source: Microsoft clip. Art

Adjusting to Marriage • Difficulty adjusting to marriage is more likely when spouses have different role expectations, especially about housework.

Adjusting to Parenthood • (1) parents exhibit lower marital satisfaction than comparable nonparents, • (2) mothers of infants report the steepest decline in marital satisfaction, • (3) more children couples have, lower their marital satisfaction tends to be ( Twenge, Campbell, & Foster, 2003).

Aging & Physiological Changes • age-related physiological transitions include changes in appearance, sensory losses (especially in vision and hearing), & hormonal changes.

Aging & Neural Changes • Drastic mental decline not part of normal aging process, • Dementia 5%-8% of people ages 65 -70 and 15%-20% of those aged 75 -80.

Aging & Neural Changes • Alzheimer’s disease has a subtle onset marked by chronic forgetting of newly learned information, followed by a progressive deterioration over 8 -10 years. • causes of disease not well understood, although genetic factors & chronic inflammation appear to contribute.

Aging & Cognitive Changes • Studies found decreases in older adults’ memory capabilities. • Mental speed declines in late adulthood,

Aging & Cognitive Changes • Studies suggest that high levels of mental activity in late adulthood can delay the typical age-related declines in cognitive functioning.

Death & Greiving • Grieving process tends to include feelings of denial, anger, depression, sadness • Excessive rumination in the form of “if only I had…” lends to an increase in emotional turmoil. • Grief tends to happen in waves, with strong unrelenting waves, which eventually softens to the more occasional occurrence.