Chapter 1 The Study of Human Development Human development Study of patterns of change and stability in human growth throughout life It has the following characteristics 1 Systematic organized 2 Adaptive to internal external conditions ex kids who have stairs in their house may be 3 more adapted to stairs in a mall than a kid in a one story house Lifespan development It is a lifelong process Long ago it was assumed that development ended at age 18 we now know we mature our entire life The goals of human development are to 1 Describe ex when child says first word 2 Explain ex how children acquire language 3 Predict ex likelihood that a child will have a serious speech problem 4 Intervene ex give a child speech therapy Domains of Development Physical Cognitive and Psychosocial Development is a unified process and all three domains work together Physical development growth of body and brain including patterns of change in sensory capacities motor skills and health Cognitive development patterns of change in mental abilities such as learning attention memory language thinking reasoning and creativity Psychosocial development patterns of change in emotions personality and social relationships Periods of Lifespan Lifespan periods are social constructs a concept that may appear natural and obvious to those who accept it but in reality is an invention of a particular culture or society Ex 1 some parents in the pacific islands beat their 3 5 year old children if they cry Ex 2 childhood adolescence adulthood when are you defined as an adult does smoking cigs buying alcohol fighting in a war voting getting married etc make one an adult The Eight Periods of Human Development 1 Prenatal Period conception birth 2 Physical developments Conception occurs genetic endowment interacts w environmental influences basic body structures and organs form vulnerability to environment Cognitive developments Abilities to learn and remember and respond to stimuli develop Psychosocial developments Fetus responds to mother s voice Infancy and Toddlerhood birth age 3 Physical developments All senses and body systems operate to varying degrees the brain grows in complexity and physical growth and development of motor skills are rapid Cognitive developments Ability to learn and remember use of symbols and ability to solve problems develop by end of second year comprehension and use of language develop Psychosocial developments attachment to parents self awareness and interest in children 3 Early Childhood age 3 6 4 Middle Childhood age 6 11 5 Adolescence age 11 20 6 Emerging Adulthood age 20 40 7 Middle Adulthood age 40 65 8 Late Adulthood age 65 Influences on Development 1 Heredity inborn traits or characteristics inherited from the biological parents NATURE DNA chromosomes genes We share more DNA with our siblings than our parents 2 2 Environment totality of nonhereditary or experiential influences on development NURTURE Begins in the womb Parents siblings schools neighborhoods 3 Maturation unfolding of a natural sequence of physical and behavioral changes over time Throughout life maturation continues to influence certain biological processes such as brain development Contexts of Development Contexts environment philosophies institutions background 1 Family especially with a significant other when bringing two people together with different backgrounds Nuclear Family two generational network of one or two parents and their biological children adopted children or step children Extended Family multigenerational network parents children and other relatives 2 Socioeconomic Status Combination of economic and social factors describing an individual or family including income education and occupation ex where you live 3 Gender Roles girls do the laundry while boys mow the lawn 4 Culture a society s total way of life ethnicity language religion geographic location Ethnic group consists of people united by a distinctive culture ancestry religion language or national origins which contribute to a sense of shared identity Ethnic gloss an overgeneralized idea of a culture group Influences on Development 1 Normative biological or environmental events that affect many or most people in a group 2 Normative Age Graded Influences what we go through at specific ages puberty realization This is what we expect to happen of no Santa when we stop losing our teeth 3 Normative History Graded Influences events that shape the behavior of the people who went through it ex some young children don t know what 9 11 is yet they are heavily influenced by technology advances today Cohort group of people born at the same time Historical generation group of people influenced by a major historical event 4 Non normative Influences characteristics of an unusual event that happens to a particular person or a typical event that happens at an unusual time of life Affect the individual uniquely ex divorced parents illness disease trauma Imprinting instinctive form of learning in which during a critical period in early development a young animal forms an attachment to the first moving object it sees usually its mother Critical Period Specific time when a given event or its absence has a specific impact on devel Plasticity molding of the brain through experience Sensitive Periods times in development when a person is open to certain experiences Chapter 2 Theoretical Perspectives on Human Development Children have internal drives and needs that influence development but children are also social animals who cannot develop in isolation Two contrasting models 1 Mechanistic Model 2 Organismic Model 1 Mechanistic Model People are like machines that react to environmental input If we know enough about how the machine is put together the forces acting on it we can predict what the person will do See development as continuous and always governed by the same processes Deal with quantitative changes changes in the number or amount 2 Organismic Model People are active growing organisms that set their own development in motion They initiate events they do not just react The driving force is internal not external See development as occurring in a series of stages like stair steps Deal with qualitative changes changes in kind structure or organizations Major Theoretical Perspectives Psychoanalytic Learning Cognitive Contextual Evolutionary Psychoanalytic focuses on unconscious emotions and drives Learning studies observable behavior Cognitive analyzes thought
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