Chapter 5 Developing Through the Lifespan Development pPredictable changes associated with increasing age Developmental Psychology Focuses on human development across the lifespan Maturation Systematic physical growth of the body Nature versus Nurture debate are human beings a product of their biology or their environment upbringing Most psychologists and lay people agree that we are a product of both our biology and our environment Examples language development and toilet training we must be taught these things but our biology must also be ready and able to acquire these new skills Growth and Development Prenatal development Germinal Stage 2 weeks Conception cell division and uterine implantation Blastocyst cells dividing Hours after conception Implantation of blastocyst 6 days after conception Embryonic Stage 2 8 weeks post conception Major organs are formed 5 Weeks post conception heart beats 8 weeks post conception All major organs formed Fetal Stage the rest of the pregnancy weeks 9 40 Continued growth and development of all major organs Neonatal Period the newborn birth 2 wks Transition from womb to independent life Weak and dependent Rooting and Suckling Reflex allows baby to nurse eat Sensory ability can sense sound small taste and touch but vision is limited nearsighted can only see 12 inches from face Sleep 16 hours a day Infancy 2 weeks 2 years Most rapid growth of entire life in during the 1st year 2 months raise head vision increases to 12 feet 6 months roll over crawl vision becomes 20 20 1 year walk 2 years toddle explore Language Development Infancy Emotional Social Development Neonate surprise pleasure distress 2 months 1st social behavior smile at caregivers 4 9 months anger and separation anxiety 2 years more complex emotions emerge such as guilt shame formed strong attachments to those close to him her Early Childhood 2 7 years Physical Development improved small and large muscle control and coordination Emotional Social Dev full range of positive and negative emotions Early Childhood Continued Play Behavior 2 years solitary play 2 5 years parallel 5 years cooperative play Children act in sex typed ways during this stage Growth and Development Continued Middle Childhood 7 11 years Physical Dev growth is slower but continued improvement in strength and coordination Formal education begins Social Dev by the end of this stage peers are becoming very important Most friendships are same sex Adolescent Development Rapid physical growth and change Peers become almost more important than parents End of adolescence is unclear Adulthood only begins when established adult relationships and adult work patterns Adolescent Dev Continued Puberty developmental point where individual becomes physically capable of sexual reproduction Primary Sexual Characteristics Girls ovulation and menstruation Menarche 1st menstrual period 12 yrs 6 months Boys production of sperm cells 14 years Physical changes lead to increased interest in sex and sexual desire Adolescent Dev Continued Secondary Sex Characteristics Girls fat accumulates in breasts budding breasts gradually enlarge over several years fat accumulates in hips broadening of hips growth of pubic hair Boys testes and penis grow shoulders broaden voice deepens growth of pubic and facial hair Adolescent Emotional and Social Dev Peers become most influential 3 problem areas 1 Parent child conflicts dating behavior social activities 2 Mood changes shifty moods extreme highs and lows 3 Risky behavior alcohol drugs reckless driving sex increased suicide risk Adulthood this stage Early adulthood body continues to grow and strengthen until the end of After early adulthood age 25 body begins a slow decline Middle Older adulthood body steadily declines impaired vision hearing strength Adulthood Personality Changes Personality is stable across time however certain trends emerge ON AVERAGE as we age we become less outgoing less emotional and anxious and less creative ON AVERAGE as we age we become more agreeable dependable and accepting of life Adulthood Critical Periods Climacteric period between 45 60 yrs when women lose their capacity to sexually reproduce and men s capacity to reproduce declines Menopause women Cessation of ovulation and menstruation Men decline in sperm cells Both sexes have somewhat decreased sex drive Human Attachment Harry Harlow Attachment Deprivation study Monkeys were reared by wire mothers One mother was covered with a soft cloth the other was not Monkeys clung to the soft cloth mother and rejected the wire mother even when the wire mother provided all the food This is evidence that contact comfort is necessary for attachment Other monkeys were reared for the first 6 months of their life with no contact at all social deprivation Even though they were exposed to normal parenting after the 6 months the monkeys showed severely abnormal social behavior throughout their lives They made terrible mates and parents some even killed their infants This is evidence of the importance of an early attachment relationship Human Attachment Continued Harlow s study applied to humans research shows that touching and massaging infants leads to significant physical and emotional benefits Studies on severely neglected abused children show that they continue to have trouble forming attachments late in their lives Stage Theories of DevelopmentPiaget Jean Piaget all children go through four cognitive stages at approximately the same age regardless of the culture in which they live Huffman Vernoy Vernoy 2000 Sensorimotor Stage birth 2 years infants develop a sense of the world through their senses and motor activity Object Permanence 6 9 months old the understanding that objects continue to exist been when they are out of view Preoperational Stage 2 7 years the child cannot perform logical mental functions or operations but does think symbolically using words and sentences Egocentrism the preoperational child is completely self centered in his her thinking cannot think of things from another person s perspective Animism the preoperational child s belief that inanimate objects are alive the moon is alive and following them the stuffed animal is alive imagination is very active in this stage Concrete Operational Stage Reversibility can reverse operations Example 7 2 9 can be reversed to 9 2 7 Conservation ability to recognize that volume remains unchanged even when put in different sized and shaped containers Formal Operational Stage
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