Human Development

Chapter 12

Before you were born

Prenatal development
Stages zygote embryo fetus Prenatal risks

Embryonic stage is the critical period certain kinds of growth MUST happen if infants development is to go on normally. Teratogens harmful substances that can cause birth defects Fetal alcohol syndrome FAS if mother drinks alcohol

The newborn
Reflexes
grasping reflex grabs things rooting reflex turn mouth towards anything that touches cheek sucking reflex suck anything that touches lips

Piaget

Development of knowledge: Piagets theory

Cognitive development happens in stages, cannot skip any stages

Sensorimotor

Birth 2 years 27 years 7 11 years 11 and above

Object permanenc e Images and symbols Conservation

Preoperational

Concrete operational Formal operational

Abstract thinking

Object permanence
Now you see it, now you dont

Conservation

Temperament
Individual temperament - biological
Easy babies eat and sleep regularly, no fuss Difficult babies dont eat and sleep regularly, fussy Slow-to-warm-up babies react warily to new things and people

Harlows monkeys

Harlows monkeys
Harlows (1959) wire and terrycloth mothers
Newborn monkeys separated from mother at birth Raised in cage with 2 artificial mothers
one mother is made of wire, but has nipple second mother has no food, but is wrapped in terrycloth

infant monkeys prefer terrycloth mothers especially when scared.

Ainsworths Strange Situation

Ainsworths (1978) Strange Situation mom and stranger plays with infant in a room, mom leaves, stranger leaves, both come back.

Secure use mom as base, welcomes mom after separation Insecure when mom comes back
avoidant ignore mom ambivalent upset when mom leaves, when mom returns they either cling or reject angrily disorganized inconsistent

Baumrinds parents
Baumrinds (1971) 4 types of parents
Authoritarian strict, punitive unsympathetic Permissive affectionate, no discipline, freedom Authoritative set limits but encourage independence, firm but understanding, reasonable and consistent demands. Uninvolved neglect.

By the way, what style of leadership is most effective

Authoritarian / Dictatorship? Authoritative / Democratic? Laissez-faire / Permissive

Social skills

Empathy feel what the other person is feeling most popular Self-regulation ability to control your own emotions and behavior
Children learn to calm themselves by sucking their thumbs Parents are close by when children in distressing situations children can regulate emotion better in other such situations

Gender roles
Biological factors
Brain differences, hormones, anatomy Consistent gender differences across cultures Research with non-human primates reveal similar results with children. Behavior genetics

Gender roles
Socialization factors
Adults treat girls differently from boys gentler Peers

Gender roles
Cognitive factors
Child interpret what is gender-appropriate and behave according to what they think is appropriate gender schemas Reason: most children want to be accepted by peers. Eg: Girls good at language, boys good at maths.

Adolescents
Body, brain and thinking
Body can reproduce puberty sex hormones Brain more dopamine have more pleasure Cognition can think abstractly

Adolescents
Adolescent feelings and behavior Risk-taking and sensation seeking
Love and sex - 70% of 18-year-olds have a romantic relationship, half have sex by 16 Violence aggression is as stable in an individual as intelligence is! Adolescents who have fearlessness, low intelligence, lack of empathy, lack of emotional regulation

Kohlbergs moral development model

Kohlbergs stages of moral reasoning
Preconventional not based on conventions / rules of the society Conventional follow people in authority children and adolescents Postconventional personal standards or abstract, universal systems of justice

Where you are now

Identity crisis your original concept about yourself changes, try out alternative identities Time when you travel from childhood to adulthood
Learn to cope with challenges Handle emotions Settle on identity

Choose a major, a career

Young adulthood: some interesting facts

Young adults who had secure attachments go into warm relationships, feel worthy of love. Young adults without secure attachment with parents become insecure, obsessive, misunderstood, worry about abandonment Marriage satisfaction declines when baby is born, especially mothers who are disappointed by parenthood, resents extra responsibility, career woman, difficult babies, non-supportive partners When the father does not share in caring for the infant, both partners are dissatisfied. 75% African-American women are single mothers 50% of marriages in the US end in divorce

Middle adulthood

Midlife transition happy about life or have midlife crisis Sandwich generation takes care of parents and child Generativity think about the next generation

Older adulthood

Declining cognitive abilities as we grow older

Unfamiliar, complex and difficult tasks Episodic memory, not semantic memory Easy to trust others Alzheimers disease 3% of world population

Terminal drop sharp decline in mental functioning a few years or months before death.