The developing person Unit IV

Nature/Nurture

How do genetic inheritance (our nature) and experience (the nurture we receive) influence our behavior?

Continuity/Stages

Is development a gradual, continuous process or a sequence of separate stages?

Stability/Change

Do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as we age.

Conception

A single sperm cell (male) penetrates the outer coating of the egg (female) and fuse to form one fertilized cell.

Pre-natal development

How, over time, did we come to be who we are? zygote, embryo, fetus

Zygote

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

Embryo

lasts 6 weeks, organs development

Fetus

9th week to 40 weeks, placenta

when the zygote turns into a embryo

At about 14 days the zygote turns into an embryo and is nourished by the yolk sack.

Lasts about 6 weeks.

Heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop.

placenta

A structure that allows an embryo to be nourished with the mother's blood supply

when an embryo turns into a fetus

At 9 weeks an embryo turns into a fetus and begins to gain nourishment from the placenta.

Teratogens

Substances that cross the placental barrier and harm the prenatal environment. They prevent the fetus from developing normally. ex.. radiation, toxic chemicals, viruses, STDs, drugs, alcohol, nicotine, etc.

Infancy

the stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months

Childhood

the stage of development that begins at about 18 to 24 months and lasts until adolescence. (teenager)

Competent Newborn

Infants are born with reflexes that aid in survival, including rooting REFLEXES which helps them locate food, HABITUATION (less responsive to stimulus over time), TEMPERAMENT (biological characteristics)

Developing Brain

At birth, most brain cells are present. After birth, the neural networks multiply resulting in increased physical and mental abilities. Peaking around 28 billion at 7 months, these neurons are pruned to 23 billion at birth.

Maturation

development that reflects the gradual unfolding of one's genetic blueprint. ex. standing before walking, babbling before talking. Sets the basic course of development, experience adjusts it .

Motor Development

the progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities

Rooting reflex

a baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple

Grasping reflex

Reflex that causes a newborn to grasp vigorously any object touching the palm or fingers or placed in the hand

Moro reflex

When startled a baby will fling its body outward and then retract them to become as small as possible

Babinski reflex

Reflex in which a newborn fans out the toes when the sole of the foot is touched

infantile amnesia

the inability to remember events from early childhood

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Jean Piaget

First studied intelligence testing in France. Later developed a theory of cognitive development in children

biological development

Piaget believed that the driving force behind intellectual development. physical, nature

Cognitive Development (Piaget)

First comprehensive theory of cognitive development based on systematic observation of infant's behavior

Schemas

Concepts or mental frameworks that people use to organize and interpret information

Assimilation

Interpreting a new experience within the context of existing schemas

Accommodation

Adapting current schemas to incorporate new information

Differentiation

process in which cells become specialized in structure and function

Apgar test

a routine diagnostic test that determines an infant's physical condition at birth

sensorimotor stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

Preoperational Stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6-7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

Egocentrism

in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view

Theory of Mind

ability to reason about what other people know or believe

Concrete Operational Stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

Formal Operational Stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Lev Vygotsky

child development; investigated how culture & interpersonal communication guide development; zone of proximal development; play research

Reflecting on Piaget's Theory

1. Development is a continuous process.

2. Children express their mental abilities and operations at earlier ages.

3. Formal logic is a smaller part of cognition.

Attachment Theories

Social development begins at birth as a child forms an attachment (a strong emotional bond) with the primary caregiver(s), usually the mother.

Stranger Anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

Harlow

researcher that highlighted the importance of physical contact comfort in the formation of attachments with parents (baby monkeys) "contact comfort"

Konrad Lorenz

researcher who focused on critical attachment periods in baby birds, a concept he called imprinting

Secure attachment

a relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver

Insecure attachment

cling to their mothers or caregivers, and are less likely to explore the environment. Show great anxiety when mothers are removed. MORE NEGATIVE

Insecure-disorganized (disoriented) attachment

The type of attachment indicated by the infant's confusion when the mother leaves and returns in the Ainsworth strange situation procedure. The infant acts disoriented, seems overwhelmed by the situation, and does not demonstrate a consistent way of coping with it.

Insecure-avoidant attachment

a pattern of attachment in which an infant avoids connection with the caregiver, as when the infant seems not to care about the caregiver's presence, departure, or return

Insecure-ambivalent attachment

an anxious emotional bond marked by both a desire to be with a parent or caregiver and some resistance to being reunited

Separation Anxiety

an infant's distress when a familiar caregiver leaves, most obvious between 9 and 14 months. PEAK 13 MONTHS

Deprivation of Attachment

children become withdrawn, frightened, unable to develop speech

authoritative parenting

parenting style characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making

authoritarian parenting

style of parenting in which parent is rigid and overly strict, showing little warmth to the child

permissive parenting

an approach to child rearing that is characterized by high nurturance and communication but little discipline, guidance, or control

uninvolved parenting

a type of parenting that places few demands on children and that provides them with little warmth.

Baumrind

Developed the Four Parenting Styles: Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive, Rejecting-neglecting. Views authoritative parenting as the healthiest

Self-Concept

our understanding and evaluation of who we are. a sense of one's identity and personal worth emerges gradually around 6 months. Around 15-18 months they can recognize themselves in the mirror. By 8-10 years, their self-image is stable.

gender roles

sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one's status as male or female

gender identity

our sense of being male or female

gender typing

The process of developing the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions associated with a particular gender.

Identity Diffusion

Low commitment to a particular identity.

Identity Foreclosure

A commitment to an identity without a crisis.

Identity Moratorium

In the midst of a crisis, searching for an identity to adopt.

Identity Achievement

Identity is said to be achieved when the adolescent has undergone a crisis (exploration) and now made a commitment to a particular identity.

Kohlberg

theorist who claimed individuals went through a series of stages in the process of moral development.

Heinz dilemma

A woman is dying and needs an expensive medication. Husband cannot afford the medication, should he steal it or should she die?

Carol Gilligan

Presented feminist critique of Kolhberg's moral development theory; believed women's moral sense guided by relationships

moral feeling

when posed with simulated moral dilemmas, the brain's emotional areas only light up when the nature of the dilemmas is emotion-driven

moral action

doing the right thing

adulthood

the stage of development that begins around 18 to 21 years and ends at death