Myers EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY 7th Ed Chapter 4 The Developing Person James A McCubbin PhD Aneeq Ahmad Ph D Modified by Ray Hawkins Ph D Worth Publishers Developing Through the Life Span Prenatal Development and the Newborn Conception Prenatal Development The Competent Newborn Infancy and Childhood Physical Development Cognitive Development Social Development Developing Through the Life Span Adolescence Physical Development Cognitive Development Social Development Emerging Adulthood Developing Through the Life Span Adulthood Physical Development Cognitive Development Social Development Reflections on Two Major Developmental Issues Continuity and Stages Stability and Change Prenatal Development and the Newborn Developmental Psychology a branch of psychology that studies physical cognitive and social change throughout the life span Developmental Psychology Issue Details Nature Nurture How do genetic inheritance our nature and experience the nurture we receive influence our behavior Continuity Stages Is development a gradual continuous process or a sequence of separate stages Stability Change Do our early personality traits persist through life or do we become different persons as we age Prenatal Development and the Newborn How over time did we come to be who we are From zygote to birth development progresses in an orderly though fragile sequence Conception A single sperm cell male penetrates the outer coating of the egg female and fuses to form one fertilized cell Lennart Nilsson Albert Bonniers Publishing Company Lennart Nilsson Albert Bonniers Publishing Company Prenatal Development A zygote is a fertilized egg with 100 cells that become increasingly diverse At about 14 days the zygote turns into an embryo a and b Biophoto Associates Photo Researchers Inc Lennart Nilsson Albert Bonniers Publishing Company Prenatal Development At 9 weeks an embryo turns into a fetus c and d Teratogens are chemicals or viruses that can enter the placenta and harm the developing fetus Lennart Nilsson Albert Bonniers Publishing Company Lennart Nilsson Albert Bonniers Publishing Company Prenatal Development and the Newborn Teratogens agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm Fetal Alcohol Syndrome FAS cognitive and physical abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman s heavy drinking Cognitive Development Poor impulse control Poor judgment Hyperactivity Attention deficits Memory deficits Difficulty learning from consequences Immature social behavior Physical Development small head flat nasal bridge short nose flat midface smooth philtrum epicanthal folds small eye openings The Competent Newborn Infants are born with reflexes that aid in survival including rooting reflex which helps them locate food Fetal Newborn Reflexes 8 weeks 19 weeks Palmar Grasping Reflex The Competent Newborn Offspring cries are important signals for parents to provide nourishment In animals and humans such cries are quickly attended to and relieved Lightscapes Inc Corbis Carl and Ann Purcell Corbis Infancy and Childhood Infancy and childhood span from birth to the teenage years During these years the individual grows physically cognitively and socially Stage Span Infancy Newborn to toddler Childhood Toddler to teenager Physical Development Infants psychological development depends on their biological development To understand the emergence of motor skills and memory we must understand the developing brain Developing Brain At birth most brain cells are present After birth the neural networks multiply resulting in increased physical and mental abilities 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 this is called maturation Maturation sets the basic course of development while experience adjusts it Prenatal Development and the Newborn Rooting Reflex opens mouth and search for nipple when touched on the cheek Preferences human voices and faces Face like images smell and sound of mother testing method habituation Motor Development First infants begin to roll over Next they sit unsupported crawl and finally walk Experience has little effect on this sequence Profimedia CZ s r o Alamy Phototake Inc Alamy Images Jim Craigmyle Corbis Renee Altier for Worth Publishers Infancy and Childhood Physical Development Babies only 3 months old can learn that kicking moves a mobile and can retain that learning for a month Rovee Collier 1989 1997 Maturation and Infant Memory The earliest age of conscious memory is around 3 years Bauer 2002 A 5 year old has a sense of self and an increased long term memory thus organization of memory is different from 3 4 years Courtesy of Carolyn Rovee Collier Amy Pedersen Cognitive Development Piaget believed that the driving force behind intellectual development is our biological development amidst experiences with the environment Our cognitive development is shaped by the errors we make Both photos Courtesy of Judy DeLoache Schemas Schemas are mental molds into which we pour our experiences Assimilation and Accommodation Bill Anderson Photo Researchers Inc The process of assimilation involves incorporating new experiences into our current understanding schema The process of adjusting a schema and modifying it is called accommodation Jean Piaget with a subject Piaget s Theory and Current Thinking Sensorimotor Stage In the sensorimotor stage babies take in the world by looking hearing touching mouthing and grasping Children younger than 6 months of age do not grasp object permanence i e objects that are out of sight are also out of mind Doug Goodman Sensorimotor Stage Criticisms 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 1 Children understand the basic laws of physics They are amazed at how a ball can stop in midair or disappear Sensorimotor Stage Criticisms 2 Children can also count Wynn 1992 2000 showed that children stared longer at the wrong number of objects than the right ones Preoperational 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 Ontario Science Center Four Aspects of Preoperational Thought Centration Focus on appearance
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