DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY - Changes over generations

o Adolescence only recently

1ST SEMESTER NOTES
introduced in industrial societies.

CHAPTER 1: THE STUDY OF HUMAN PERIODS OF LIFE SPAN:

DEVELOPMENT
PRENATAL PERIOD
- Conception until birth
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD
- Scientific study of processes of change and
stability throughout the human life span. - Birth to age 3
FORMAL STUDY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT EARLY CHILDHOOD
- The scientific study of how human develop - Age 3 to 6
o Development is systematic
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD
o Development is adaptive
o Development is lifelong - Age 6 to 11
LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT ADOLESCENCE
- Concept of human development as a - Age 11 to 20
lifelong process, which can be studied
scientifically. EMERGING AND YOUNG ADULTHOOD

FOUR GOALS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT - Age 20 to 40

DESCRIBE – What is happening? MIDDLE ADULTHOOD

EXPLAIN – Why does it happen? - Age 40 to 65

PREDICT – Will it happen again? LATE ADULTHOOD

MODIFY – How can it be changed? - Age 65 until death

DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

PHYSICAL DOMAIN - Differences in characteristics, influences, or

developmental outcomes.
- Growth of body and brain, including patterns
of change in sensory capacities, motor
skills, and health. HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT, MATURATION
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT HEREDITY
- Pattern of change in mental abilities, such - Inborn traits or characteristics inherited from
as learning, attention, memory, language, the biological parents.
thinking, reasoning, and creativity. - NATURE
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
- Changed to SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL - Totality of nonhereditary, or experiential,
DEVELOPMENT influences on development.
- (1) Pattern of change in emotions, - NURTURE
personality, and social relationships. (2) In
Erikson’s eight-stage theory, the socially MATURATION
and culturally influenced process of
- Unfolding of a natural sequence of physical
development of the ego, or self.
and behavioral changes.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION
CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT
- A concept or practice that may appear
FAMILY
natural and obvious to those who accept it
but that in reality is an invention of a - Smallest unit of society
particular culture or society. - Depends
PERIODS OF LIFE SPAN: A SOCIAL NUCLEAR FAMILY
CONSTRUCTION
- Two-generational kinship, economic, and
- Based on assumption or subjective household unit consisting of one or two
perceptions. parents and their biological children,
- Varies among cultures adopted children, or stepchildren.
EXTENDED FAMILY ETHNIC GROUP
- Multigenerational kinship network of - A group united by ancestry, race, religion,
parents, children, and other relatives, language, or national origins, which
sometimes living together in an extended- contribute to a sense of shared identity.
family household. - A shared identity
POLYGAMY ETHNIC MINORITIES
- Family structure in which one spouse, most - Ethnic groups with national or cultural
commonly a man, is married to more than traditions different from the majority of the
one partner. population.
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS (SES)
- Combination of economic and social factors INTERSECTIONALITY AND INEQUITY IN
describing an individual or family, including HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
income, education, and occupation.
INTERSECTIONALITY
POVERTY HURTS CHILDREN
- An analytic framework focused on how a
person’s multiple identities combine to
create differences in privilege or
discrimination.
BLACK LIVES MATTER (BLM)
- A political and social movement focused on
eliminating racially based violence against
Black people through nonviolent protest and
activism.
RISK FACTORS
BIPOC
- Conditions that increase the likelihood of a - Black, Indigenous, People of Color
negative developmental outcome.
RACE
LOW SES & RELATED FACTORS
- A grouping of humans distinguished by their
Poverty related risk that increases chance of outward physical characteristics or social
negative outcome
qualities from other groups. Not a biological
- Living in neighborhood with high construct.
unemployment rate - A socially constructed term
- Lack of social support o Scholars have no real consensus on
o Social support less likely in high definition
unemployment neighborhoods. o Categories “fluid” – shaped by
society and politics
COVID-19
ETHNIC GLOSS
- A novel coronavirus disease causing
fatigue, loss of sense of smell, fever, and - Overgeneralization about an ethnic or
respiratory distress; the source of the 2019 cultural group that obscures differences
pandemic. within the group.
- Simplistic categorical label
o Asian, Hispanic, Asian-American
CULTURE
- A societies or group’s total way of life, CONTEXT OF DEVELOPMENT: HISTORICAL
including customs, traditions, beliefs, CONTEXT
values, language, and physical products—
all learned behavior, passed on from - Unique time in which people live and grow
parents to children. up
- Experience tied to time and place
INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURE o Great depression, World War II, the
- A culture in which people tend to prioritize 60’s
personal goals ahead of collective goals
and to view themselves as distinct
individuals. NORMATIVE AND NONNORMATIVE
INFLUENCES
COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURE
NORMATIVE
- A culture in which people tend to prioritize
collaborative social goals ahead of - Characteristic of an event that occurs in a
individual goals and to view themselves in similar way for most people in a group.
the context of their social relationships. NORMATIVE AGE GRADED INFLUENCE
 - Similar for an age group 1. Development is Lifelong
2. Development is multidimensional
MATURATION
3. Development is multidirectional
- Fixed in time 4. Relative influence of biology and culture
o Poverty, menopause shift over life-span
5. Development involves changing resource
SOCIAL allocation
- Timing is flexible 6. Development shows plasticity
o Marriage, toddlerhood 7. Development is influenced by the historical
and cultural contexts
NORMATIVE-HISTORY GRADED INFLUENCE
- Significant events that shape the behavior
and attitudes of a historical generation CHAPTER 2: THEORY AND RESEARCH

HISTORICAL GENERATION
- A group of people strongly influenced by a BASIC THEORETICAL ISSUE
major historical event during their formative THEORY
period.
- a set of logically related concepts or
COHORT statements that seek to describe and
- A group of people born at about the same explain development and to predict the
time. kinds of behavior that might occur under
certain conditions.
NONNORMATIVE - Provides groundwork for hypotheses
- Characteristic of an unusual event that HYPOTHESES
happens to a particular person or a typical
event that happens at an unusual time of - explanations or predictions that can be
life. tested by further research.
- Tentative explanations that can be tested by
TYPICAL EVENTS AT ATYPICAL TIMES further research
- Poverty at age 20
- Marriage in teens
ISSUE 1: IS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVE OR
ATYPICAL EVENTS REACTIVE?
- Birth defect MECHANISTIC MODEL (PASSIVE)
- Winning the lottery
- Model that views human development as a
series of predictable responses to stimuli.
- people are like machines that react to
TIMING OF INFLUENCES
environmental input
IMPRINTING
ORGANISMIC MODEL (ACTIVE)
- Instinctive form of learning in which, during
- Model that views human development as
a critical period in early development, a
internally initiated by an active organism
young animal forms an attachment to the
and as occurring in a sequence of
first moving object it sees, usually the
qualitatively different stages.
mother.
- sees people as active, growing organisms
- Indicate predisposition or readiness to learn
who set their own development in motion
CRITICAL PERIOD
- Specific time when a given event or its
ISSUE 2: IS DEVELOPMENT CONTINUOUS OR
absence has a specific impact on
DISCONTINUOUS?
development.
QUANTITATIVE CHANGE
PLASTICITY
- change in number or amount, such as
- (1) Range of modifiability of performance.
height, weight, or vocabulary size.
(2) Modifiability, or “molding,” of the brain
- Mechanistic model is continuous. Focuses
through experience.
on quantitative change
SENSITIVE PERIODS - Some processes are involved: think of a
ramp
- Times in development when a person is
particularly open or responsive to certain QUALATITATIVE CHANGE
kinds of experiences.
- Discontinuous change in kind, structure, or
organization.

PAUL B. BALTES LIFE SPAN APPOACHES:

 - marked by the emergence of new PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
phenomena that could not be easily
- (1) Pattern of change in emotions,
predicted on the basis of past functioning.
personality, and social relationships. (2) In
- Organismic theory is stage
Erikson’s eight-stage theory, the socially
- Focus on qualitative change. Different
processes are involved: think of stairs. and culturally influenced process of
development of the ego, or self.
- Erik Erikson
- “Neo-Freudian”
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
- Emphasized influence of society
- five major perspectives - Development is lifelong, not just during
childhood
I. PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE - Each of eight stages of development
- View of human development as shaped by involves a “crisis”
unconscious forces that motivate human - Crisis resolution gains a “virtue”
behavior. TRUST VERSUS MISTRUST
- Sigmund Freud
- Believed in reactive development, as well as o Birth to 12-18 months
qualitative changes over time.
AUTONOMY VERSUS SHAME AND
PSYCHOANALYSIS DOUBT
- Therapy that gives insight into unconscious o 12-18 months to 3 years
emotional conflicts
INITIATIVE VERSUS GUILT
FREUDIAN PARTS OF PERSONALITY:
o 3 to 6 years
ID
INDUSTRY VERSUS INFERIORITY
o Pleasure principle
o 6 years to puberty
EGO
IDENTITY VERSUS ROLE
o Reality principle CONFUSION
o mediator
o Puberty to young adulthood
SUPEREGO
INTIMACY VERSUS ISOLATION
o Follows rules of society
o Young adulthood
o Moral principle
GENERATIVITY VERSUS
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
STAGNATION
- In Freudian theory, an unvarying sequence
o Middle adulthood
of stages of childhood personality
development in which gratification shifts
from the mouth to the anus and then to the
genitals. II. LEARNING THEORY
o Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital - Long-lasting change in behavior, based on
o First three stages are crucial experience

ORAL LEARNING PERSPECTIVE

o Birth to 12-18 months - View of human development that holds that

o Birth to about 15 months (ppt) changes in behavior result from experience
o Sucking and feeding or from adaptation to the environment.

ANAL BEHAVIORISM

o 12-18 months to 3 years - We respond based on whether the situation

o Potty training is:
o Painful or Threatening
PHALLIC o Pleasurable
- Learning theory that emphasizes the
o 3 to 6 years
predictable role of environment in causing
o Attachment to parents
observable behavior.
LATENCY
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
o 6 years to puberty
- Learning based on associating a stimulus
o socialization
that does not ordinarily elicit a response
GENITAL with another stimulus that does elicit the
response.
o Puberty through adulthood
- John B. Watson: Conditioning of Fear “Little
o Mature adult sexuality
Albert”
OPERANT CONDITIONING - Sense of one’s capability to master
challenges and achieve goals.
- (1) Learning based on association of
behavior with its consequences. (2)
Learning based on reinforcement or
III. COGNITIVE THEORY
punishment.
- Focuses on thought processes
- Individual learns the consequences of
o and behavior that reflects those
“operating” on the environment
processes
- B. F. Skinner formulated original ideas by
- Includes organismic and mechanistic
working with animals, then applied them to
theories
humans
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
REINFORCEMENT
- View that thought processes are central to
- The process by which a behavior is
development.
strengthened, increasing the likelihood that
the behavior will be repeated. PIAGET: COGNITIVE STAGE THEORY
o Positive: Giving a reward
▪ Candy for finishing a task - Piaget’s theory that children’s cognitive
o Negative: Removing something development advances in a series of four
aversive stages involving qualitatively distinct types
▪ No chores for getting an A+ of mental operations.
on homework - Clinical Method
o Combining observation with
PUNISHMENT questioning
- Development begins with an inborn ability to
- The process by which a behavior is
adapt
weakened, decreasing the likelihood of
o Rooting for a nipple, feeling for a
repetition.
pebble
o Positive: (Punishment by
Addition) Adding something ORGANIZATION
aversive
▪ Getting scolded - (1) Piaget’s term for the creation of
o Negative: (Punishment by categories or systems of knowledge. (2)
Removal) Removing something Mnemonic strategy of categorizing material
pleasant to be remembered.
▪ Taking away car keys • SCHEMES
Getting a “time-out”
- Piaget’s term for organized patterns of
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY thought and behavior used in particular
- Theory that behaviors are learned by situations.
observing and imitating models. Also called - Schemas
social cognitive theory. ADAPTATION
- Albert Bandura: Development is
“bidirectional” - Piaget’s term for adjustment to new
information about the environment,
RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM achieved through processes of assimilation
- Bandura’s term for bidirectional forces that and accommodation.
affect development. - How children handle familiar information
- person acts on world as the world acts on ASSIMILATION
the person
o Piaget’s term for incorporation of
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING OR new information into an existing
MODELING cognitive structure.
- Children choose models to imitate ACCOMMODATION
- Learning through watching the behavior of
others. o Piaget’s term for changes in a
cognitive structure to include new
SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY: AN information.
UPDATE TO MODELING
EQUILIBRATION
- Emphasizes cognitive processes as central
to development - Piaget’s term for the tendency to seek a
- Beginning of “self-efficacy” stable balance among cognitive elements;
- People observe models and learn “chunks” achieved through a balance between
of behavior assimilation and accommodation.
o Imitating dance steps of teacher
SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY
SELF-EFFICACY
- Lev Vygotsky
 - Stresses children’s active interaction with
social environments
- Vygotsky’s theory of how contextual factors
affect children’s development.
ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (ZPD)
- Vygotsky’s term for the difference between
what a child can do alone and what the child
can do with help.
SCAFFOLDING
- Temporary support to help a child master a
task.
INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH
- Analyzes processes involved in perceiving
information
- Helps children be aware of their own mental
strategies. and strategies for improvement.
- (1) Approach to the study of cognitive
development by observing and analyzing
V. EVOLUTIONARY/SOCIOBIOLOGICAL
the mental processes involved in perceiving
PERSPECTIVE
and handling information. (2) Approach to
- View of human development that focuses on
the study of cognitive development that
evolutionary and biological bases of
analyzes processes involved in perceiving
behavior.
and handling information.
- Uses Darwin’s evolutionary theory
COMPUTER-BASED MODELS - Survival of the fittest
o Animals with traits suited to
- Infers what happens between stimulus and environment survive
response o These adaptive traits are passed on
- Often uses flowcharts to define steps of to offspring
processing that people use - Natural selection
- Unlike Piaget, views development as o As environments change, traits
continuous change in adaptiveness
PIAGETIAN THEORIES ETHOLOGY
- Focus on specific concepts, strategies, and - Study of distinctive behaviors that have
skills adaptive value
o Number concepts - Study of distinctive adaptive behaviors of
o Comparisons of “more” and “less” species of animals that have evolved to
increase survival of the species.
o Innate behaviors evolved to increase
IV. CONTEXTUAL APPROACH survival odds
- Development can be understood only in its ▪ Think of imprinting
social contexts ▪ Squirrels’ burying of nuts
- Urie Bronfenbrenner
- Describes range of interacting influences EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
that affect development - Application of Darwinian principles of
- Identifies contexts that stifle or promote natural selection and survival of the fittest to
growth individual behavior.
o Home, classroom, neighborhood - How biology and environment interact to
CONTEXTUAL PERSPECTIVE produce behavior and development
- Humans unconsciously strive for personal
- View of human development that sees the survival and genetic legacy
individual as inseparable from the social o Result: A development of
context. mechanisms that evolved to solve
problems
BIOECOLOGICAL THEORY
▪ Morning sickness actually
- Bronfenbrenner’s approach to protects fetuses
understanding processes and contexts of
human development that identifies five
levels of environmental influence. RESEARCH METHODS
BRONFENBRENNER’S FIVE CONTEXTUAL QUANTITATIVE
SYSTEMS
- Research that deals with objectively
- Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, measurable data.
Macrosystem, and Chronosystem
 - Objectively measurable data - “People watching”
o Standardized tests - Behavior is observed in natural settings,
o Physiological changes without interfering
o Limitations:
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
▪ Can not inform causes of
1. Identify problem behavior
2. Formulate hypotheses ▪ Researcher cannot know all
3. Collect data possible influences on
4. Analyze data behavior
5. Form conclusions - Research method in which behavior is
6. Share findings studied in natural settings without
- System of established principles and intervention or manipulation.
processes of scientific inquiry, which LABORATORY OBSERVATION
includes identifying a problem to be studied,
formulating a hypothesis to be tested by - Research method in which all participants
research, collecting data, analyzing the are observed under the same controlled
data, forming tentative conclusions, and conditions.
disseminating findings. - Behavior observed and recorded in
controlled environment
QUALITATIVE
- More likely to identify and control causal
- Research that focuses on nonnumerical influences
data, such as subjective experiences, o Limitation:
feelings, or beliefs. ▪ OBSERVER BIAS: A
- Non-numerical data researcher’s tendency to
o Feelings interpret data to fit
o Beliefs expectations
▪ Any expectations, beliefs, or
personal preferences of a
POPULATION researcher that
unintentionally influence their
- The entire pool of individuals under study findings.
from which a sample is drawn and to which
findings may apply. BEHAVIORAL AND PERFORMANCE
MEASURES
SAMPLE
- Objective measures
- A smaller group within the population o Mechanical and electronic devices
- Studying the entire population is inefficient o Assessing skills, knowledge, and
abilities
RANDOM SELECTION
▪ Heart rate
- Each person in population has an equal ▪ Brain activity
chance of being in sample ▪ Intelligence tests

RANDOM SAMPLE MEANINGFUL MEASURES:

- A sample of individuals chosen in such a RELIABLE

way that every individual in the population
- Results are consistent from time to time
has an equal and independent chance of
being chosen. VALID
WEIRD - The test actually measures what it claims to
measure
- Acronym (Western, educated, industrialized,
rich, and democratic) for the type of OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
societies from which research samples are
typically drawn. - Defining abstract ideas in objective terms
o What is intelligence?
▪ A score on a test
o Are there different kinds of
FORMS OF DATA COLLECTION
intelligence?
SELF-REPORT ▪ Emotional intelligence
▪ Academic intelligence
- Diaries - Definition stated solely in terms of the
o Recording daily activities operations or procedures used to produce
- Interviews or measure a phenomenon.
o Ask questions about attitudes,
opinions, or behavior SOCIAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
o Can be open-ended or a
- Emerging field
questionnaire
o Bridges mind, brain, and behavior
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION - Uses data from:
o Cognitive neuroscience
 o Social psychology INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
o Info-processing approaches
- Experimenter has direct control over
RESEARCH DESIGNS
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
CASE STUDY
- Something that may or may not change as
- Study of a single subject, such as an in- result of changes in independent variable
dividual or family.
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
- PROS: Flexibility
- CONS: Reduced generalizability - Assignment of participants in an experiment
- Study of an individual (such as Genie) to groups in such a way that each person
- Offer useful in-depth information has an equal chance of being placed in any
- Shortcomings group.
o Not generalizable - Participants have an equal chance of
o No way to test conclusions placement in experimental or control
group(s)
ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
- Helps avoid unintentional differences
- In-depth study of a culture, which uses a between groups
combination of methods including
LOCATION:
participant observation.
- PROS: Universality of phenomena - Control over cause and effect varies,
- CONS: Observer bias depending on location
- Describe patterns that make up a society’s o Laboratory – most control
way of life o Field – controlled
o Relationships, customs, beliefs, arts, ▪ Everyday settings
traditions ▪ Home or school
o Natural – least control
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
- Research method in which the observer
lives with the people or participates in the CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
activity being observed.
o Subject to observer bias - Study designed to assess age-related
- Useful in cross-cultural research differences, in which people of different
ages are assessed on one occasion.
CORRELATIONAL STUDY - People assessed at one point in time
- Positive or negative relationships LONGITUDINAL STUDY
- PROS: Enables prediction
- CONS: Cannot establish cause and effect - Study designed to assess age changes in a
- Research design intended to discover sample over time.
whether a statistical relationship between - Same people studied more than once
variables exists. SEQUENTIAL STUDY
- Study design that combines cross-sectional
and longitudinal techniques.
- Adds more data than either design alone

ETHICS
- Balancing benefits or research against
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY mental and physical risks to participants
- Considerations:
- Controlled procedures o Right to informed consent
- PROS: Establishes cause and effect o Avoidance of deception
- CONS: Reduced generalizability o Right to privacy
EXPERIMENT o Confidentiality
- Researchers are guided by:
- Rigorously controlled, replicable procedure o Beneficence
in which the researcher manipulates o Respect
variables to assess the effect of one on the o Justice
other. - Researchers should be sensitive to
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP participants’ developmental needs and
cultural issues and values
- People who are exposed to the treatment
CONTROL
CHAPTER III: FORMING A NEW LIFE
- Similar to the experimental group but do
NOT receive the treatment
GENETIC TESTING AND ENGINEERING - Increasing use of fertility drugs
GENOMICS RELATED RISKS
- the study of functions and interactions of - Pregnancy complications
various genes - Premature delivery and lower birth weight
- Infant disability or death
GENETIC TESTING
- Should children be tested?
o Would you want to know if you were MECHANISMS OF HEREDITY
predisposed for a particular
DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID
disease?
o Are there potential ethical and moral - Chemical that carries inherited instructions
issues with genetic testing? for the development of all cellular forms of
life.

CONCEIVING NEW LIFE

SEX DETERMINATION
FERTILIZATION (CONCEPTION)
CHROMOSOMES
- Union of sperm and ovum to produce a
single-celled zygote - Coils of DNA carrying genes
- Also called conception
AUTOSOMES:
ZYGOTE
- 22 pairs not related to sexual expression
- One-celled organism resulting from
fertilization. SEX CHROMOSOMES:
- 1 pair determining sex
o XX = female
ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY o XY = male
(ART)
- Methods used to achieve conception
through artificial means. GENES

IN VITO FERTILIZATION (IVF) - Small segments of DNA located in definite

positions on particular chromosomes;
- a woman’s ova are surgically removed, functional units of heredity.
fertilized in a laboratory dish, and implanted
in the woman’s uterus. HUMAN GENOME
- Complete sequence of genes in the human
body.
TWO TYPES OF MULTIPLE BIRTHS
MUTATION
MONOZYGOTIC (MZ)
- Permanent alterations in genes or
- One egg – One sperm chromosomes that may produce harmful
- Identical twins characteristics.
- Share 100% of genes
- Twins resulting from the division of a single
zygote after fertilization; also called identical DOMINANT AND RECESSIVE INHERITANCE
twins; they are genetically similar.
DOMINANT INHERITANCE
DIZYGOTIC (DZ)
- Heterozygosity, with a dominant allele
- Two eggs – Two sperm - Pattern of inheritance in which, when a child
- More common receives different alleles, only the dominant
- Fraternal twins one is expressed.
- Share 50% of genes – just like non-twin
siblings RECESSIVE INHERITANCE
- Twins conceived by the union of two
- Homozygosity, with no dominant allele
different ova (or a single ovum that has split)
- Pattern of inheritance in which a child
with two different sperm cells; also called
receives identical recessive alleles, resulting
fraternal twins; they are no more alike
in expression of a nondominant trait.
genetically than any other siblings.

TRAIT INHERITANCE
RISE IN MULTIPLE BIRTH RATE:
ALLELES
FACTORS
- Rising trend toward delaying childbirth
 - Two or more alternative forms of a gene that SEX-LINKED INHERITANCE
occupy the same position on paired
- Pattern of inheritance in which certain
chromosomes and affect the same trait.
characteristics carried on the X
HETEROZYGOUS chromosome inherited from the mother are
transmitted differently to her male and
- Possessing two identical alleles for a trait.
female offspring.
HOMOZYGOUS
SEX-LINKED DEFECTS
- Possessing differing alleles for a trait
- Disorders linked to genes on sex
POLYGENIC INHERITANCE chromosomes
o Red/green color blindness,
- Interaction of several genes for a trait hemophilia
- Most traits - Affects males and females differently
- Pattern of inheritance in which multiple - Carrier
genes at different sites on chromosomes o Individual unaffected by disorder but
affect a complex trait. passes on gene to offspring
CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES
GENE EXPRESSION - Errors in cell division
GENOTYPE - Result in missing or extra chromosomes
- Can occur in sex chromosomes or
- Actual genetic makeup or allele autosomes
combinations
o Tongue curling ability: DD or Dd DOWN SYNDROME

PHENOTYPE - Trisomy 21 – an extra 21st chromosome

- Most common autosomal disorder
- Observable expression of genetic makeup - Responsible for 40% of moderate to severe
- Product of the genotype mental retardation
- Genetic makeup of a person, containing - Chromosomal disorder characterized by
both expressed and unexpressed moderate-to-severe intellectual disability
characteristics. and by such physical signs as a downward-
sloping skin fold at the inner corners of the
MULTIFACTORIAL TRANSMISSION
eyes. Also called trisomy-21.
- Experience modifies the expression of a
genotype
- Combination of genetic and environmental GENETIC COUNSELING
factors to produce certain complex traits.
- Helps prospective parents assess risk of
bearing a child with a genetic defect
- Karyotype chart shows chromosomal
EPIGENESIS
abnormalities
- Epigenetic framework or chemical - Especially helpful when:
molecules that alter the way a cell “reads” o Already have biological children with
the gene’s DNA defect
- Epigenetic markers may contribute to o Family history
cancer, diabetes or heart disease o Ethnicity
- Epigenetic markers may change due to - Clinical service that advises prospective
environment factors parents of their probable risk of having
- Imprinting children with hereditary defects.
- Mechanism that turns genes on or off and
BEHAVIORAL GENETICS
determines functions of body cells.
- How does heredity and environment
influence traits?
INHERITED DEFECTS - Quantitative study of relative hereditary and
environmental influences on behavior.
- Dominant abnormal gene
- Recessive abnormal gene HERITABILITY:
- Incomplete: Partial dominance
- Statistical estimate of heritable influence on
o Trait is not fully expressed
trait variance in a population
o Sickle-cell anemia: Only some parts
- Statistical estimate of contribution of
of the disease are expressed
heredity to individual differences in a
INCOMPLETE DOMINANCE specific trait within a given population.

- Pattern of inheritance in which a child

receives two different alleles, resulting in
MEASURING HERITABILITY
partial expression of a trait.
FAMILY STUDIES
 - The degree to which bio-relatives share - The unique environment in which each child
traits grows up, consisting of distinctive influences
or influences that affect one child differently
ADOPTION STUDIES
than another.
- The degree to which adopted children - Development reflects unique environment in
resemble biological relatives or adopted which each child grows up
family members o Accidents
o Illnesses
TWIN STUDIES o Unique interactions with friends or
CONCORDANCE peers

- Term describing tendency of twins to share

the same trait or disorder. TRAITS INFLUENCED BY HEREDITY &
- The degree to which MZ and DZ twins ENVIRONMENT
resemble each other for a trait
- Obesity
- Intelligence, school achievement
HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT: WORKING - Personality
TOGETHER - Schizophrenia

REACTION RANGE OBESITY

- Potential variation in a trait - Extreme overweight in relation to age, sex,

- Potential variability, depending on height, and body type as defined by having
environmental conditions, in the expression a body mass index at or above the 95th
of a hereditary trait. percentile.

CANALIZATION TEMPERAMENT

- Heritable restrictions on the range of trait - Characteristic disposition, or style of

development approaching and reacting to situations.
- Limitation on variance of expression of SCHIZOPHRENIA
certain inherited characteristics.
- Mental disorder marked by loss of contact
with reality; symptoms include hallucinations
GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION and delusions.

- The portion of phenotypic variation that

results from the reactions of genetically GESTATION
different individuals to similar environmental
conditions. - Period of development between conception
and birth.
GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT (G X E)
CORRELATIONS GESTATION AGE

- Environment reflects or reinforces genetic - Age of an unborn baby, usually dated from
differences the first day of an expectant mother’s last
- Tendency of certain genetic and menstrual cycle.
environmental influences to reinforce each
other; may be passive, reactive (evocative),
or active. Also called genotype-environment CEPHALOCAUDAL PRINCIPLE
covariance.
- Principle that development proceeds in a
PASSIVE head-to-tail direction; that is, that upper
parts of the body develop before lower parts
- Parents provide environment that fosters of the trunk.
trait
PROXIMODISTAL PRINCIPLE
REACTIVE OR EVOCATIVE
- Principle that development proceeds from
- Based on their traits, children evoke
within to without; that is, that parts of the
different responses from others
body near the center develop before the
ACTIVE OR NICHE PICKING extremities.

- choosing an environment that suits your

traits STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
- Tendency of a person, especially after early
childhood, to seek out environments GERMINAL
compatible with his or her genotype.
- Conception to 2 weeks
EMBRYONIC
NONSHARED ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
 - 2 to 8 weeks - Teratogenic: birth defect producing
- Nutrition and maternal weight
FETAL
- Drug and alcohol intake
- 8 weeks to birth - Nicotine
- Caffeine
- Maternal illnesses
GERMINAL STAGE - Sexually transmitted diseases (HIV/AIDS)
- Maternal age and stress
- First 2 weeks of prenatal development, - Outside environmental hazards
characterized by rapid cell division,
blastocyst formation, and implantation in the FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME (FAS)
wall of the uterus. - Combination of mental, motor, and
IMPLANTATION developmental abnormalities affecting the
offspring of some women who drink heavily
- The attachment of the blastocyst to the during pregnancy.
uterine wall, occurring at about day 6.
ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY
SYNDROME (AIDS)
EMBRYONIC STAGE - Viral disease that undermines effective
functioning of the immune system.
- Second stage of gestation (2 to 8 weeks),
characterized by rapid growth and PANDEMIC
development of major body systems and
organs. - An epidemic or disease spread across
multiple countries or continents.
EMBRYONIC STAGE CHARACTERISTICS
STRESS
- Organs and major body systems develop
rapidly - (1) Physical or psychological demands on a
o Respiratory person or organism. (2) Response to
o Digestive physical or psychological demands.
o Nervous PATERNAL FACTORS
- Risk of spontaneous abortion, or
miscarriage - May affect quality of sperm:
o Exposure to lead
SPONTANEOUS ABORTION o Marijuana or tobacco smoke
- Natural expulsion from the uterus of an o Alcohol or radiation
embryo that cannot survive outside the o Pesticides
womb; also called miscarriage. o Paternal age

FETAL STAGE MONITORING PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

- Final stage of gestation (from 8 weeks to - Ultrasound and amniocentesis

birth), characterized by increased - Chorionic villus sampling CVS)
differentiation of body parts and greatly - Embryoscopy
enlarged body size. - Maternal blood test

DEVELOPMENT DURING FETAL STAGE PRENATAL CARE

- Organs and body become more complex - Includes:

- “Finishing Touches” – toenails, eyelids o Education
- Appearance of bone o Social services
o Nutritional services
- Helps protect the life and health of the infant
and mother
ULTRASOUND
- Not evenly distributed among SES, ethnic
- Prenatal medical procedure using high- groups
frequency sound waves to detect the outline
PRECONCEPTION CARE
of a fetus and its movements, so as to
determine whether a pregnancy is - CDC recommendations include:
progressing normally. o Physical examinations
o Vaccinations
NEURONS
o Risk screening
- Nerve cells. o Counseling

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES: CHAPTER IV: BIRTH AND PHYSICAL

DEVELOPMENT DURING THE FIRST THREE
MATERNAL FACTORS YEARS
 - Surgically removing baby from uterus
through abdomen
GENERATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH CUSTOMS
- Almost 30% of all U.S. births
PRE 20TH CENTURY: - Often used when labor progresses slowly
- Changing preferences among women and
- Birthing was a modest “female only” ritual some physicians
- Use of midwives was predominant - Common with:
- Death rates high for mother and baby o First and/or large babies
- One out of four babies died in first year o older moms
MODERN GENERATIONS: o Mothers with previous C-sections

- Dramatic reductions in death rate due to:

o Antibiotics UNMEDICATED DELIVERY
o Prenatal care
NATURAL CHILDBIRTH
- Mother receives training in fitness, breathing
“HUMANIZING” CHILDBIRTH: A SOCIAL TREND and relaxation
- Home births have brought back intimacy of - Method of childbirth that seeks to prevent
event pain by eliminating the mother’s fear
- Birthing centers and hospital through education about the physiology of
o Soft lights reproduction and training in breathing and
o Father or partner as coach relaxation during delivery.
o Baby stays in room TRADITIONAL CULTURES
- Use of doula Experienced helper provides
BIRTH PROCESS emotional support to mother

PARTURITION PREPARED CHILDBIRTH

- brings on labor - Lamaze

- Two weeks before delivery - Mother learns to substitute other responses
- Uterine contractions for feelings of pain
- Cervix becomes flexible - Method of childbirth that uses instruction,
- Stimulated by rising estrogen levels breathing exercises, and social support to
- The act or process of giving birth. induce controlled physical responses to
uterine contractions and reduce fear and
pain.
THREE STAGES OF VAGINAL CHILDBIRTH

DOULA
- An experienced mentor who furnishes
emotional support and information for a
woman during labor.

MEDICATED DELIVERIES
STAGES OF CHILDBIRTH
- Local or regional anesthesia
FIRST: Longest, typically 12–14 hours for first child,
o Blocks pain receptors in brain
cervix dilates
- Relaxing analgesic
SECOND: 1–2 hours, contractions stronger and - Approximately 60% of women choose pain
closer together, baby’s head moves through birth relief during labor
canal; Stage 2 ends with baby emerging from
mother’s body
SIZE AND APPEARANCE OF THE NEWBORN
THIRD: 10–60 minutes, placenta and umbilical cord
expelled from mother - Average neonate is:
o 20 inches long
o 7.5 pounds
ELECTRONIC FETAL MONITORING
FONTANELS
- Mechanical monitoring of fetal heartbeat
- soft plates of head
during labor and delivery.
LANUGO
- fuzzy prenatal hair
CESAREAN DELIVERY
VERNIX CASEOSA
- Delivery of a baby by surgical removal from
the uterus. - oily protection against infection
BODY SYSTEMS OF THE NEWBORN INFANT AROUSAL STATES
BREATHING
- Anoxia or hypoxia can lead to birth trauma
ANOXIA
- Lack of oxygen, which may cause brain
damage.
MECONIUM
- Stringy waste in fetal intestinal tract
NEONATAL JAUNDICE
CHILDBIRTH COMPLICATIONS
- Yellowing of skin and eyeballs
- Caused by immaturity of the liver - Birth trauma
- Half of all babies’ experience - Post maturity
- Usually, baby does not need treatment - Prematurity
- Condition, in many newborn babies, caused - Low birth weight
by immaturity of liver and evidenced by
LOW BIRTHWEIGHT
yellowish appearance; can cause brain
damage if not treated promptly. - Weighing less than 5 ½ lbs.
- Very low birth weight - less than 3 ½ lbs.
NEONATAL PERIOD
- 15.5% of all births, most in developing
- First 4 weeks of life, a time of transition from countries
intrauterine dependency to independent - Prematurity and low birth weight are the
existence. second-leading cause of infant death, after
birth defects
NEONATE
MATERNAL TRAITS THAT INCREASE RISK
- Newborn baby, up to 4 weeks old. OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT
- Underage or overage
ASSESSMENTS: APGAR SCALE - Uneducated and poor
- Poor nutrition
- Standard measurement of a newborn’s - Smoking and drinking
condition; it assesses appearance, pulse, - Stress
grimace, activity, and respiration. - Infections and high blood pressure

PRETERM (PREMATURE) INFANTS

- Infants born before completing the 37th

week of gestation.

SMALL-FOR-DATE (SMALL-FOR-GESTATIONAL-
AGE) INFANTS

- Infants whose birth weight is less than that

of 90 percent of babies of the same
ASSESSMENTS: BRAZELTON NBAS gestational age, as a result of slow fetal
growth.
- Neurological and behavioral test to measure
neonate’s responses to the environment. IMMEDIATE TREATMENT FOR PREMATURITY
- Tests responses to physical and social
environment - Intravenous feeding
o Motor organization - Surfactant
o Reflexes
o Attention and interactive capacity KANGAROO CARE
o CNS instability
- Method of skin-to-skin contact in which a
newborn is laid face down between the
NEONATAL SCREENING TESTS mother’s breasts for an hour or so at a time
after birth.
- Help detect correctable disorders
o PKU ISOLETTE
o Galactosemia
o Hypothyroidism - controlled environment, like an incubator
 LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF LOW BIRTH - May have underlying biological defect
WEIGHT (heart gene mutations)
- May be associated with sleeping on
- Greater risk of:
stomach
o Neurological and cognitive
- Sudden and unexplained death of an
impairment
apparently healthy infant.
o Lower academic achievement
o Social, behavioral, and attention DEATHS FROM INJURIES
problems
- 90% of injury deaths in infancy due to:
o Suffocation
o Motor vehicle accidents
POSTMATURITY & STILLBIRTH
o Drowning
POSTMATURE o Residential fires or burns

- 42 weeks or more
- A fetus not yet born as of 2 weeks after the
IMMUNIZATIONS
due date or 42 weeks after the mother’s last
menstrual period. - About 90% all children today are vaccinated
- Some regions are better vaccinated than
STILLBIRTH
others
- Death of fetus at or after 20th week of - No causal connection between vaccines and
gestation autism or other disorders
o Reduction may be due to fetal
monitoring
PROPORTIONS OF PHYSICAL GROWTH

OVERCOMING BIRTH COMPLICATIONS

- Higher family SES

- Quality early environment
- Educational day care
- Educating parents about children’s health

PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR DEVELOPMENT NUTRITION:

- Individual traits BREAST FEEDING
o Sociability
o Intelligence - Breast milk almost always the best food
- At least one supportive adult in child’s life o More digestible
o Child has a “sense of meaning” o Reduces allergic reactions–
o Rewarded at school or work Minimizes numerous infections
o May reduce risk of SIDS
DEATH DURING INFANCY o Better cognitive performance
- Primary causes worldwide: - Recommendation is babies exclusively
o Preterm delivery breast-feed for 6 months
o Sepsis or pneumonia BOTTLE FEEDING
o Asphyxiation at birth
- Birth defects are leading cause in the U.S. - Formula should be iron fortified
- Improvement in U.S. infant mortality rates - Necessary for women with infectious
likely due to SIDS awareness illnesses
- Does NOT reduce emotional bonding
INFANT MORTALITY RATE between mother and baby
- Proportion of babies born alive who die OTHER NUTRITIONAL CONCERNS
within the 1st year.
- Solid food introduced second half of first
SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS) year
- “Crib death” - Malnutrition
- Sudden death of infant under 1 year of age - Overweight
- Cause of death unexplained
 o 6% of U.S. infants classified as - Reactions to changes in posture or balance
overweight
LOCOMOTOR
o Parental obesity strong predictor
- Resemble later-appearing voluntary
movements
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM - Walking and swimming reflexes

- Brain and spinal cord.

LATERALIZATION EARLY HUMAN REFLEXES

- Tendency of each of the brain’s hemi- - Moro

spheres to have specialized functions. - Darwinian
- Tonic
- Rooting
BRAIN CELLS - Babkin and Babinski

NEURONS

- Send and receive information ROLE OF EXPERIENCE IN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

- Nerve cells.
- Postnatal brain is molded by development
GLIA - Plasticity
- Threats Sensory impoverishment
- Nourish and protect neurons
Malnutrition
NEUROTRANSMITTERS - Corrective experiences can relieve past
deprivations
- Chemical messengers

MYELINATION
EARLY SENSES OF TOUCH & PAIN
- Fatty substance helps send faster signals
- Process of coating neural pathways with a TOUCH
fatty substance called myelin, which enables
- First sense to develop
faster communication between cells.
- Rooting reflex
- Able to experience pain at birth

NEURONAL GROWTH: TWO PROCESSES EARLY SENSES OF SMELL & TASTE

INTEGRATION - Begins to develop in womb

- Newborns prefer sweet tastes
- Neurons that control groups of muscles
- Fluids and odors may be transmitted
- Process by which neurons coordinate the
through amniotic fluid
activities of muscle groups.
NATURE VS. NURTURE?
DIFFERENTIATION
- Odor preference requires experience
- Each neuron takes on a specialized function
o 6-day-olds prefer mother’s breast
- Process by which cells acquire specialized
pad to another nursing mother’s
structures and functions.
- Certain tastes are innate
o Sweetened water calms crying
newborns, whether full-term or
CELL DEATH
premature
- In brain development, normal elimination of
HEARING
excess brain cells to achieve more efficient
functioning. - Even in the womb, fetuses respond to
sound, as indexed by changes in brain
activity, heart rate, or physical movements.
REFLEX BEHAVIORS
SENSE OF HEARING
- Automatic, involuntary, innate responses to
- Functional before birth
stimulation.
- 3-day-olds can tell new speech sounds from
REFLEXES: UNLEARNED & PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS ones they’ve already heard

POSTURAL SIGHT
 - Vision is the least developed sense at birth, DEPTH PERCEPTION
perhaps because there is so little to see in - Ability to perceive objects and surfaces
the womb. three-dimensionally.
SENSE OF SIGHT HAPTIC PERCEPTION

- The sense least developed at birth - Ability to acquire information about

- 20/20 reached by about 6 months properties of objects, such as size, weight,
and texture, by handling them.
- Binocular vision (depth) develops around 4.5
months
ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF PERCEPTION

MILESTONES OF MOTOR DEVELOPMENT - Theory developed by Eleanor and James

Gibson, which describes developing motor
and perceptual abilities as interdependent
parts of a functional system that guides
behavior in varying contexts.

THELEN’S DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY

- Esther Thelen’s theory, which holds that
motor development is a dynamic process of
active coordination of multiple systems
within the infant in relation to the
environment.
SYSTEMS OF ACTION - Learning occurs through detecting the many
features of an environment
- Increasingly complex combinations of motor - With experience, babies learn to gauge their
skills, which permit a wider or more precise environment
range of movement and more control of the o Is that ball moving away from me?
environment. o Is that ground too rough to walk on?

DENVER DEVELOPMENTAL SCREENING TEST CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON MOTOR

DEVELOPMENT
- Gross motor skills
- Fine motor skills - Depends on the pace of the culture
- “Average” - African and West Indian cultures actively
o Head control encourage early motor strength Bouncing
o Hand control and stepping exercises
o Locomotion - Other cultures discourage
- Screening test given to children 1 month to o … Ache mothers pull infants to their
6 years old to determine whether they are laps when they crawl away
developing normally.
GROSS MOTOR SKILLS
RESEARCH IN ACTION: AUTISM
- Physical skills that involve the large
muscles. - Brain disorder
o Lack of normal social interactions
FINE MOTOR SKILLS o Impaired communication
o Repetitive movements
- Physical skills that involve the small
o Restricted range of activities and
muscles and eye–hand coordination.
interests
- Asperger syndrome
- Prevalence
WALK & GIBSON: THE VISUAL CLIFF - Related disorders
- Do infants perceive depth?
- 6-month-old babies would approach “ledge,”
but avoided “drop”
- Demonstrated depth perception
VISUAL CLIFF
- Apparatus designed to give an illusion of
depth and used to assess depth perception
in infants.