How people are continuously developing: cognitively, behaviorally, socially…Issues:Nature vs nurture: How do genetic inheritance (nature) and experience (nurture we receive) influence behavior?Continuity/Stages: is development gradual or in distinct stagesStability/change: are our early personality traits stable or do they changePRENATAL DEVELOPMENTConceptionPrenatal DevelopmentThe competent NewbornZygotebirth= very orderly/fragileSperm celleggfertilized cells (zygotes)cells divide and differentiate into section and function embryoFewer than ½ of zygotes (fertilized eggs) survive9 weeks after conception, the embryo looks unmistakably humanfirst 6 months organs have developed enough to allow a prematurely embryo to survive; can also hear/respond to soundTeratogen: harmful agents such as viruses and drugs that impact the fetus (alcohol and Meth are the 2 worse/most common)Alcohol- fetal alcohol syndrome (very specific syndroms); if the syndromes aren’t met there are fetal alcohol effectsFever/virusSmokingThe placenta is a filter but teratogens can get throughThe competent NewbornInfants are born with reflexes that aid survival, including rooting reflex which helps them locate foodSucking, tounging, crying, breathingCrying is sign to provide nourishmentINFANCY TO CHILDHOODBirthteenage yearsPhysical development=biological developmentbrainAt birth, most brain cells are present. After birth, the neural networks multiply resulting in increased physical and mental abilitiesBorn with excessive neuronsmakes connection (networks) with neurons your using and kills of those that aren’t being used3-4 years= extreme growth in connections in frontal cortex (rational planning/though= why toddlers so quickly develop focus skills)Maturation: the development of the brain unfolds based on genetic instructions, causing various bodily and mental functions to occur in sequence- standing before walking, babbling before talking.. Maturation sets the course of development, experience adjusts the courseSevere deprivation/abuse can harm the natural path of developmentIf babies aren’t in nurturing environment the neurons that are supposed to be but aren’t being stimulated will be killed off by the brain (no neural pathways are created)Will hamper motor/cognitive skills, but if put in nurturing environment, those skills will come back though laterEx) if a child is kept in a high chair all day and their muscles/nervous system was not getting stimulation, they would learn to walk much laterEx) rats trapped in box for extended period of time will lose some of their eye sightMotor Development: the developing brain enables muscle coordination; as the brain matures skills mature (maturing of nervous system)Roll oversit unsupportedcrawlwalk= development of neurological systemIndividual differences in walking age but 90% walk by 15 monthsMaturation in infant memoryThe earliest age of conscious memory is usually around 3 ½ years (after language—memory is rarely before language)= infantile amnesiaAt 5 years old they have a sense of self and an increase in long term memoryCognitive development and PiagetPiaget looked at childhood developmentWas interested in the answers that children got wrong; noticed that kids in the same age tended to answer incorrectly (the same wrong answer to the same questions)A child’s mind is not simply a miniature adult mind- it is developingbelieved that the driving force behind intellectual development is our biological envelopment amidst experiences with the environment; our cognitive development is shaped by the errors we makeSchemas: mental molds into which we pour our own experiencesAssimilation versus accommodationAssimilations: involves incorporating new experiences into our current understanding (schema); generalizing; scooting over for new experiencesAccommodation= new schema for the new experience; completely adjust the schema to accommodate ne experiencesEx) child learns “cow”sees moose and says “cow” assimilation: puts together big hairy animals and calls them “cow” accommodation: creates new schema to include a mom moose and a baby moose “moose” vs “cow”Piaget’s theory and current thinking: stages of cognitive thinkingSensory motor stage: babies take in the world through senses (sight, sound, touch…); take in the world by grasping, tounging, mouthing (puts everything in mouth)Object permanence: if the child is playing with a toy, the toy is covered with a blanket (hidden), the child will not look for it under the blanket because he/she thinks it has disappeared; children younger than 6 months of age do not grasp object permanence (that the object is merely underneath the blanket)Stranger anxiety: being uncomfortable with people they’re not familiar with and feeling anxiety with stangers (wanting primary caregiver); protective developmentCriticism:Piaget believed children in the sensorimotor stage could not think —they do not have any abstract concepts or ideas. However, recent research shows that children in the sensorimotor stage can think and count.Children understand the basic laws of physics. They are amazed at how a ball can stop in midair or disappear: if a ball is thrown in the air and it doesn’t come down, researchers can use their eye movement to confirm that the child is “amazed”Peroperational stage: Piaget suggested that from 2 years old to about 6-7 years old, children are in the preoperational stage—too young to perform mental operations.Ex) if the child is presented with 2 containers of the same size and shape with the same amount of liquid, they will understand that they are equal. However, if the liquid in one container is switched to another-same amount of liquid- (even in front of them), say before they were 2 thin tall glasses and now one is a short wide glass, the child will think that the short, wide one has less liquidPretend PlayEgotism: preschool children’s inability to perceive things from another’s point of viewEx) When asked to show her picture to mommy, 2-year-old Gabriella holds the picture facing her own eyes, believing that her mother can see it through her eyes.Theory of mind: As kids move out of egocentrism they begin to think about why someone is upset, when a sibling will share, what will make a parent by a toy; they will begin to tease and persuade. So, preschoolers, although still egocentric, develop the ability to understand another’s