Lifespan Development

• Continuous: Cumulative, gradual improvement on existing skills

• Discontinuous: Unique stages occurring at specific times or ages, sudden changes

• Nature: biology and genetics

• Nurture: environment and culture

  • Your environment can turn genes “on” and “off” (epigenetics)… and your genes can regulate how much your environment affects you.

Lifespan Development Theories

• Psychosexual Theory of Development: Personality develops during early childhood, and childhood experiences shape our personalities and behaviors for the rest of our lives.

• Psychosocial theory of Development: Based on the social nature of our development.

  • Personality develops throughout the lifespan

  • Our interpersonal interactions shape our sense of self

  • We need to achieve competency in primary life tasks.

• Cognitive Theory of Development: Thinking is the central aspect of development

  • Cognitive abilities develop through specific stages

  • Schema: mental models that are used to help us categorize and interpret information, or a pattern of thought or behavior that organizes information and the relationships among them.

  • Assimilation: Take in information that is comparable to what we already know

  • Accommodation: Changing your schemata based on new information

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

• Sociocultural Theory of Development: The social world forms the basis for the formation of language and thought.

  • Intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences and interactions

  • Human development is rooted in one’s culture

  • Historical influences (that create culture) are key to development

  • The process of development is an interaction with the environment

• Moral Theory of Development

  • A major phase beginning in childhood and continuing through adolescence is knowing right from wrong.

  • Proposes that moral development occurs in stages

Prenatal Stages of Development

• Germinal Stage

  • Conception: Sperm fertilizes the egg and fuses

  • Zygote: Single-celled structure that forms upon conception and begins to divide through mitosis

• Embryonic Stage

  • A cluster of cells travels down the fallopian tubes and implants into the uterine lining

  • Cells begin to specialize

  • Placenta: a structure that provides oxygen and nourishment via the umbilical cord

• Fetal Stage

  • Sex organs differentiate

  • Internal organs continue to form and develop

  • Nearly fully developed around 36 weeks; premature complication risks are minimized

  • Fetus: embryo after 9 weeks of development

  • Age of viability: Around 24 weeks, when the fetus has a chance to survive outside the womb

• Prenatal Influences

  • Teratogen: An environmental agent that causes harm to the fetus

  • Critical period: Specific periods of development where organs are particularly susceptible to teratogenic effects

Infancy and Childhood

• Newborn Reflexes

  • Stepping: walking movement

  • Rooting: turning the mouth and head towards stimulation

  • Grasping: palm grasp for objects

  • Babinski: pantar grasp and ‘tickle.’

  • Moro: Startle reflex

  • Tonic neck: preparing for coordinated movement and crawling

• Physical Development

  • Growth does not occur at a steady rate

  • Born with all our brain cells = nervous system continues to grow and develop.

  • Brain size increases rapidly

  • Motor development occurs in a sequence

    • Gross motor skills - movement and coordination of large muscle groups

    • Fine motor skills - movement and coordination of small actions with fingers, toes, and eyes

  • Temperament: innate traits, first displays of personality

  • Attachment: Connection or bond with others, especially caregivers

    • Attachment Styles

      • Secure: healthy attachment, caregiver as a secure base, preferred over a stranger

      • Avoidant: Child unresponsive to parent

      • Resistant: Clingy but rejects attempts for interactions from caregivers

      • Disorganized: Odd behavior when faced with a caregiver, common in cases of abuse

  • Parenting Styles