Chapter 5 Development Through the Lifespan Developmental Psych s Major Issues Developmental Psychology how we change develop on a physical cognitive and social level throughout our lifespan a branch of psychology interested in studying o 1 Nature vs Nurture how much of any given behavior is nature and how much is nurture o 2 Continuity vs stages continuity suggests that we are constantly growing a smooth trajectory of growth while stages suggest that we develop until we reach a critical point and then jump to the next step o 3 Stability vs change Prenatal Development and the Newborn Conception o Women born with all eggs they will ever have o Men begin producing sperm during puberty and continue throughout life o Sperm eat away protective layer of egg o One sperm enters egg blocks out others o Nuclei of sperm egg fuse Prenatal Development o Zygote fertilized egg 10 days post fertilization attach to uterine wall o Embryo from about 2 weeks after fertilization through second month Formed from inner cells of zygote outer cells of zygote make placenta harmful agents such as chemicals or viruses that can 9 weeks after conception to birth o Fetus o Teratogens reach the embryo or fetus during development children caused by pregnant mother s heavy alcohol use o Fetal alcohol syndrome FAS physical and cognitive abnormalities in decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation The Competent Newborn o Reflexes o Habituation To study visual preference To study categorization Social responsiveness Physical Development Infancy and Childhood o Brain development Pruning you get rid of unused connections because they just take up space o Brain Maturation and Infant Memory Infantile amnesia memories prior to our 3rd birthday finding that we have relatively few Hippocampus and frontal lobes develop into adolescence 2 month olds show evidence of learning ex they kick to Unconscious of stored information about unused native activate mobile childhood language Adolescence transition from childhood to adulthood period of sexual maturation become capable of reproducing o The start of sexual maturation o Ends with independence in young adulthood o Puberty o Primary sex characteristics body structures that make sexual reproduction possible directly involved in sexual reproduction characteristics o Secondary sex characteristics non reproductive sexual Adulthood o Much wider variation in development compared to earlier stages o Early young adulthood twenties and thirties o Middle adulthood to age 65 o Late adulthood age 65to death o Changes in Middle Adulthood Physical vigor influenced by physical activity level o Changes in Later Adulthood Telomeres little caps on the end of our chromosomes production influenced by smoking obesity and stress General decline in sensory abilities Immune system weakens but build up of antibodies help fight infections Brain areas responsible for memory atrophy memories start to wear away Physical exercise beneficial to physical and mental abilities Cognition mental activities associate with thinking knowing remembering Cognitive Development and communicating Infancy and Childhood o Assimilation o Accommodation information o Egocentrism we do Adulthood o Best memory in early adulthood interpreting new ideas in terms of existing schemas adapting current schemas to incorporate new the belief that other people have the same knowledge o Depends on type of memory Recognition is always better than recall o Older adults have difficulty with prospective memory o Older adults have good memory for meaningful information o Older adults memory for skills decline less than for verbal information Social Development Infancy and Childhood o Origins of Attachment emotional connection to another person Attachment Comes from body contact not necessarily nourishment Familiarity Critical period optimal period in early life when exposure to certain stimulus leads to normal development Imprinting attachment process in which certain animals form o Birds imprint a lot They have a survival mechanism that causes them to treat the first moving thing that they see as their mother o Attachment Differences Secure Attachment vs Insecure Attachment If an infant and a mother have a secure attachment when the mother is present the infant will happily explore look around the room play with toys and occasionally check back on mother to make sure that what they re doing is okay When the mother leaves the infant will be distressed When mother comes back in the room the infant will seek contact seek out mother for comfort If an infant and a mother have an insecure attachment they will stay attached to the mother will not explore They cry when mother leaves openly very upset When the mother comes back they are upset indifferent They ll be angry with the mother for leaving them Attachment style seems to be result of parenting style rather than temperament related to but not exactly the same thing as personality its your general disposition refers to whether you re laidback and easygoing or insecure and fussy largely genetically determined Children who develop secure attachments have basic trust later in life