Developing Through the Life Span

Developing Through the Life Span: Lecture Notes

Reflections on Three Major Developmental Issues

• Nature and Nurture: Discussions surrounding the influence of genetic inheritance vs. environmental factors on human development.

• Continuity and Stages: Examination of whether development is a gradual, continuous process or a series of distinct stages.

• Stability and Change: The inquiry into which characteristics are stable over time and which are subject to change throughout life.

Developing Through the Life Span: Prenatal and Newborn

• Overview of key milestones from conception through various developmental stages including Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence.

• Reference to Erikson’s Stages of Social Development.

Prenatal Development and the Newborn

• Conception and Prenatal Development:

  • Zygote:

  • Definition: The life cycle begins at conception when one sperm cell unites with an egg to form a zygote (fertilized egg).

  • Development: Zygote enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division.

  • Embryo:

  • Development: Zygote’s inner cells become the embryo; outer cells become the placenta.

  • Definition: An embryo is a developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through 2 months.

  • Fetus:

  • Definition: By 9 weeks, the fetus is recognizably human.

  • Visuals: Images depicting developmental stages (40-day old embryo, 9-week old fetus, 16-week old fetus)

• Environmental Risks:

  • Teratogen:

  • Definition: An agent that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

  • Examples: Chemical or viral exposure, including substances like alcohol, nicotine, marijuana that can affect fetal development.

• Critical Periods for Teratogen Exposure:

  • Embryonic period (first 8 weeks):

  • Period of greatest vulnerability to teratogens.

  • Early fetal period (9 to 16 weeks):

  • Late fetal period (17 weeks and beyond):

  • Developmental stages that show decreasing susceptibility to teratogens.

• Fetal Sensitivity to Environmental Stimuli:

  • Sound Sensitivity: Fetuses can respond to external sounds.

  • Taste and Smell: Changes in facial expressions indicate varying responses to flavors (carrot vs. kale).

The Competent Newborn

• Infants are born with reflexes assisting in survival, notably the rooting reflex, allowing them to locate food effectively.

• Research Techniques:

  • Researchers employ habituation to study infant behavior, measuring responses to different stimuli.

Infancy and Childhood

• Stage Development Overview:

  • Infancy: Ranges from newborns to toddlers.

  • Childhood: Ranges from toddlers to teenagers.

Infant and Child Cognitive Development

• Cognitive Development: Shaped significantly through error and experience.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Stage and Description

1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to nearly 2 years):

   • Key Milestones:

     • Object permanence

     • Stranger anxiety

   • Infants learn through physical interaction with their environment, such as seeing, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping.

2. Preoperational Stage (About 2 to 6 or 7 years):

   • Key Milestones:

     • Representing things with words and images.

     • Engaging in pretend play and displaying egocentrism.

3. Concrete Operational Stage (About 7 to 11 years):

   • Key Milestones:

     • Ability to think logically about concrete events.

     • Understanding mathematical transformations and conservation principles.

4. Formal Operational Stage (About 12 through adulthood):

   • Key Milestones:

     • Reasoning abstractly with the capacity for mature moral reasoning.

Sensorimotor Stage Insights

• Children do not grasp object permanence until around 6 months, indicating that objects that are out of sight are not necessarily out of mind.

• Recent research contests earlier beliefs, showing that infants have a rudimentary understanding of counting.

Preoperational Stage and Egocentrism

• Preschool children demonstrate egocentric behavior, lacking ability to see perspectives outside their own.

• Theory of Mind: Development of the capability to understand others' mental states emerges, reflecting cognitive maturation.

Concrete Operational Insights

• In the concrete operational stage, children demonstrate understanding of conservation and can manipulate mathematical functions cognitively.

Formal Operational Insights

• As adolescents enter the formal operational stage, they gain the ability to approach problems abstractly and critically.

Social Development: Origins of Attachment

• Harlow’s Research:

  • Infants' attachment to caregivers stems predominantly from physical contact rather than nourishment.

  • Imprinting observed in some species like goslings furthers understanding of attachment origins.

Attachment Differences

• Secure Attachment (60% of children):

  • Characteristics: Explore environments happily with mothers present but show distress upon separation.

• Insecure Attachment (30% of children):

  • Characteristics: Clinginess to mothers and less expressed willingness to explore new environments.

Child-Rearing Practices

Parenting Styles

1. Authoritarian:

   • Description: Parents impose rules and expect obedience from their children.

2. Permissive:

   • Description: Parents submit to children's demands with limited limits.

3. Authoritative:

   • Description: Parents set demanding expectations but remain responsive to children's needs.

Adolescent Brain Development

• During adolescence, substantial changes occur in the frontal cortex. Neuron development contributes to quicker nerve conduction, impacting decision-making and impulsivity levels.

Moral Development

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Thinking

1. Preconventional Morality: Focus on avoiding punishment or gaining rewards.

2. Conventional Morality: Accepts social rules and laws for their own sake.

3. Postconventional Morality: Bases moral decisions on agreed-upon rights and personal ethical principles.

Moral Intuition

• Jonathan Haidt proposes that moral reasoning stems largely from emotional intuitions, influencing reasoned ethical decisions.

Trolley Problem

• Presents moral dilemmas like the switch flip or man push scenario to assess moral reasoning in ethical decision-making.

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Overview of Stages and Tasks

1. Infancy (up to 1 year): Trust vs. Mistrust

   • Key Task: Development of trust when needs are reliably met.

2. Toddlerhood (1 to 3 years): Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

   • Key Task: Encouraging self-sufficiency versus instilling doubt about abilities.

3. Preschool (3 to 6 years): Initiative vs. Guilt

   • Key Task: Initiating tasks and feeling guilt for independent efforts.

4. Elementary School (6 years to puberty): Competence vs. Inferiority

   • Key Task: Learning competently applies to being capable or feeling inferior.

5. Adolescence (teen years to 20s): Identity vs. Role Confusion

   • Key Task: Refining a sense of self through role testing and integration.

6. Young Adulthood (20s to early 40s): Intimacy vs. Isolation

   • Key Task: Forming close relationships and developing intimate love or feeling isolated.

7. Middle Adulthood (40s to 60s): Generativity vs. Stagnation

   • Key Task: Finding purpose in contribution to society versus lacking direction.

8. Late Adulthood (late 60s and beyond): Integrity vs. Despair

   • Key Task: Reflecting on life and feeling satisfaction or regret regarding one's achievements and failures.

Implications of Erikson’s Framework

• Understanding the psychosocial challenges individuals face at different life stages can enhance approaches towards personal growth, education, and mental health support.