Anthropology the study logos of humans anthros Childhood one stage in a sequence of stages that occur over the lifespan of all humans the human childhood stage of life spans the time from about 3 to 7 years of age Child a version of human Can other species experience childhood Other species experience change over the lifespan but only humans label one stage childhood 28 Up About 14 British children born 1956 10 boys 4 girls Filmed in 7 year intervals starting in 1964 28 Up Socio economic distribution 5 elite Bruce John Andrew Charles M Suzi F 2 middle class Peter Neil 7 working class Tony Nick Paul Simon M Jackie Lyn Sue F 28 Up Characters Tony jockey to cab driver Bruce sensitive teacher Suzi chain smoker to happy mother Nick farm to physics Paul from children s home to Australia bricklaying John barrister courtroom lawyer declined last interview Andrew solicitor people s lawyer Charles BBC producer declined last interview Jackie doesn t want children comprehensive school Lynn librarian after selective grammar school Sue happy mother after comprehensive school Simon from children s home to family life with five children How can you identify a child Body size and proportions Expressive behavior lively vs sedate Voice quality high pitch vs low pitch Speed of speech rapid vs slow Body movements energetically wasteful vs energetically efficient Big dreams for the future vs acceptance of limitation Education in England Elite Secondary school Public school prestigious selective private often a boarding school Primary School Preparatory school prestigious selective admission private often a boarding school Education in England State supported ed Secondary school Grammar school a selective admission secondary school which prepares students for university Comprehensive school a non selective state funded secondary school Heterochrony an evolutionary process that alters the timing of growth stages from ancestors to their descendants Ontogeny the process of growth development and maturation of the individual organism from conception to death Stages of human growth and development 1 infancy 2 childhood 3 juvenility 4 adolescence and 5 adulthood Adrenarche the progressive increase in the secretion of adrenal androgen hormones Adrenal androgens produce the mid growth spurt in height a transient acceleration of bone maturation and the appearance of axillary and pubic hair and seem to regulate the development of body fatness and fat distribution Explanations for Childhood 1 an extended period for brain growth 2 time for the acquisition of technical skills e g toolmaking and food processing and 3 time for socialization play and the development of complex social roles and cultural behavior 5 Reasons Themes for Childhood according to Bogin 1 Childhood is a feeding and reproductive adaptation 2 The allometry of the growth of the human child releases nurturing and care giving behaviors in older individuals 3 Children are relatively inexpensive to feed 4 Babysitting is possible 5 A further important reason for the evolution of childhood is that childhood allows for developmental plasticity Species an important concept in biology that has helped us to organize and understand the variety of life on earth Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy geneology chart Humans Class Mammals Order Primates Superfamily Hominoidea Mammal Homeothermy fur Reproduction Internal gestation Lactation Extended parental care Emotional bond Play behavior Mastication chew food Primates Physical Characteristics Eyes face forward Bony protection Cross over of visual tracts Stereoscopic vision Color vision Reduced snout for reduced emphasis on smell Primates Emphasize vision not smell Manipulation with eye hand coordination Large brains Slow maturation and long life Homonoid 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 serves as a way of looking at the world that provides deep predictive and explanatory power Natural selection and the complementary idea of how genes individuals and species change over time should be as much a part of developing critical thinking skills as deductive reasoning and the study of ethics Traits that distinguish humans from all other species Striding bipedalism Tool use handpower Brain size brainpower Speech language Cultural dependence Habitual striding bipedalism distinguishing traits of mammals series of falls Tool use and handpower versatility of hand use distinguishing trait of mammals Brain size brainpower Humans have a brain that is 6 7 times bigger than expected for a mammal of our body size Compared to chimpanzees humans have a large braincase and a small flat face with small front teeth Speech language Learned arbitrary Cerebral cortex dependent Displacement Open system Duality of patterning Grammar Quantity quality of information humans transfer with language is enormous Cultural dependence Behavior and the mental infrastructure that drives behavior Learned extragenetic Shared by a group a society social group Intergenerational passed from one generation to the next Cumulative Cultural Evolution additive and revisionist Species traits shared traits animal vertebrate mammal primate hominoid unique traits bipedalism toolmaking large brains speech culture Life history Total lifespan short vs long Age of first reproduction early vs late Rate of maturation of offspring fast vs slow number of stages during immaturity length of each stage Growth development Growth proportionate changes in size Development increasing complexity progress toward maturity Distance curve shows pattern of size change during maturation 7 Stages of Human Lifespan embryonic gestation infancy childhood juvenile adolescence adulthood old age Embryonic gestation in mammals the fertilized egg is embedded in the uterus for internal gestation in mammals this stage ends with the birth of an infant that must now survive outside of the mother s body Infancy a stage found in all mammals and only in mammals begins with birth and ceases when nursing ceases Juvenile feeding independence but lacks sexual maturity Child according Barry Bogin 3 7 years old No longer nursing therefore not an infant Immature dentition small digestive tract needs special food Rapid brain growth needs lots of food Motor cognitive social deficits needs protection Milestones of Bogin s