Childhood Around the World Anthropology Anthropology the study of humans o Anthropos human o Logos word study of o Holistic study The place of humans in the genealogy chart we call the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy o Kingom Animalia Class Mammalia Order Primates Superfamily Hominoidea Humans share traits with mammals primates and hominoids o These shared traits are used by taxonomists to position humans within the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy and show our position in the diversity of living organisms Life history compare the life history profiles of different species in order to better understand each species o Species vary in patterns of Total lifespan short vs long Age of first reproduction early vs late Rate of maturation of offspring fast vs low Number of stages during immaturity length of each stage What is a human o Traits unique to our species Habitual striding bipedalism this frees the hands from locomotor duties African apes gorilla chimpanzee bonobo have hands which are adapted for knuckle walking and suspension Humans have a long opposable thumb and movement versatility that exceeds that of any other primate Homo faber the tooluser and toolmaker Compared to chimpanzees humans have a large braincase and a small flat face with small front teeth Human brain is 6 7 times bigger than most mammals and 3 4 times bigger than most primates Speech and language speech is learned and cerebral cortex dependent Way through which humans transfer information Culture behavior that is learned and shared by a group Passed from one gerneration to the next Cumulative and evolutionary The power of group living and cultural sharing amplifies the abilities of the individual o The human lifespan includes 7 stages o Passing through the sequence of stages in an inevitable part of being human Embryonic in mammals the fertilized eggs is embedded in the uterus ends in the birth of the infant also exists in other vertebrates such as birds reptiles amphibians and fish Infancy found only in mammals begins with nursing ends when nursing ceases Milestones include food dependence steady body growth brain growth locomotion gains efficiency eruption of first permanent molar 6 or 7 mid growth spurt mark ups of childhood Child 3 7 years old Uniquely human Juvenile feeding independence but lacks sexual maturity o Growth proportionate changes in size Distance curve pattern of size change during maturation for general body mass brain mass and reproductive tissue Velocity curve height for age Infants grow very fast slow growth between child and juvenile growth spurt in adolescent growth ceases at adulthood o Development increasing complexity and progress toward maturity What is a mammal o Homeothermy fur o Reproduction Lactation Extended parental care emotional bond and play behavior Internal gestation o Mastication chew food have four different kinds of teeth What is a primate o Emphasize vision not smell o Touch and manipulation with eye hand coordination Way of life hand eyes o Large brains o Slow maturation and long life o Primates have grasping hands and feet nails tactile pads with touch receptors friction ridges o Apes mature slowly live long grow up Ape mothers invest heavily in a few offspring who take a long time to o Lemur and monkeys are both primates but lemur is more primitive eyes face forward but wide distance between orbits The money has eyes very close together and set in a complete bony socket o Tooth eruption is used to define life periods and to compare primates What is a hominoid o Forearms are adapted for suspension and have a versatile range of motion Long muscular arms Rotator shoulder joint allows 360 rotation of the arm Fully extendable elbow 180 rotation of forearm Extended motion in wrist Evolution an explanation for the origin of organisms o Comparative anatomy o Fossil record o Comparative molecules A child is a version of a human o Children are appropriate objects of study by anthropologists o Versions of human can be sorted into stages o Childhood is one stage over the lifespan of all humans o Stages Gestation Infancy Childhood Subadult adult Species is an important concept in biology that has helped us to organize and understand the variety of life on earth o Millions of species have been identified each marked by unique traits reproductive isolation and ecological niche o Species traits Traits shared with other organisms Traits that are unique to each species o Humans share basic properties with other species groupings of species such as genera families orders etc Recognizing these shared traits helps us to understand ourselves Many species experience changes in structure and behavior ie stages Species vary in the number and duration of life stages Sometime the change is very dramatic Ex infant panda is 1 900th the size of its mother pink hairless blind Childhood a stage in the life cycle of the human species only humans How are children different from adults o Appearance o Motor ability early reflexive behavior Trends in motor ability o Increase in strength o Increase in control precision coordination Locomotion balance pivot stop quickly hop skip gallop Skipping is an age specific behavior maturation also changes behavior Upper body throwing and catching is impossible for non hominoids Hands individual finger control Throwing is a use of suspensory adaptation for a new abilitiy that A lot of the motor cortex is devoted to controlling hand and finger movements especially the thumb Allow for holding a writing marking instrument o Hard to define but easy to recognize is a familiar category of behavior whose What is play existence is hard to explain o Characteristics of play Short sequences fragments of motor patterns Repetitious Reordering Exaggeration Rapid alterations of behavior No obvious immediate benefit Matacommunication this is play o The costs of play Time and energy expenditure Accidental injury or death Increased risk of predation Delay of maturation o Fagen found that all reported examples of play were found in birds and mammals o Immatures play more adults less o Some categories of play identified in mammals Locomotor play is universal among mammals Social play Object play it helps to have manipulative hands o Benefits of play Practice Knowledge Bonding Flexibility o Dutch historian in 1938 stated that play is primary in human culture Play in Parakana children o Hunter gatherer children play the do not hunt or gather or cook or clean instead the life of children is