3.1 Intro to Development and 3.2 Physical Development

Developmental Psychology

Physical, Cognitive, and Social change through the lifespan

Nature vs Nurture

How much of who we are can be attributed to genetics vs. the environment

Stability vs. Change

Are people born who they are vs. do they change over time?

Continuity vs. Stage

Is development continuous vs. do we move through specific stages

Cross Sectional Research Method

Examining groups of subjects who are different ages

Longitudinal Research Method

Examining the same group of subjects two or more times as they age

Prenatal Development

The process of development within the womb, from conception (fertilization) through birth

• 3 Stages: Zygote, Embryo, and Fetus

Placenta

Protective tissue that supplies oxygen, nutrients, and protects a developing embryo

Teratogens

Agents that can reach the embryo or fetus by crossing the placenta barrier and harming the prenatal development

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by alcohol use during pregnancy

Critical Period

Time when a major development process is occurring

• Teratogen cause the most significant harm during this time

Infancy: Birth - 1 Year

What Stage of Development is This?

learn to regulate their bodily functions and interact with the world primarily through senses and motor skills

• Reflexes: Automatic, involuntary movements present in babies at birth, triggered by specific stimuli

Rooting Reflex

An infant’s automatic, involuntary response to touch on the cheek

Gross motor skills

Movement of bigger muscles

• walking, climbing, sitting, jumping

Fine Motor Skills

Small muscle movements

• Cutting with scissors

• Holding a pencil

• stacking blocks

• opening a lunch box

Puberty

Period of biological sexual maturation after which a person is capable of reproduction

Primary sex characteristics

Make reproduction possible (ovaries, testes)

Secondary sex characteristics

Nonreproductive characteristics that change during puberty (voice deepens, hips become wider, body hair growth)

Menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation (about age 50)

Men experience decreasing hormones and fertility