Their responsibility for children is a part of their everyday lives. The more they learn about them and the way researchers study them, the better guide they can give them.

Question: which term is used to define the behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a particular group of people that are passed on from generation to generation?

culture

Socioeconomic status: grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economic characteristics

Usually, members of society have occupations that vary in prestige, different levels of access to education, different economic resources, different levels of power.

Low economic status, also described as low-income, working class, or blue collar

Examples: factory worker, manual laborer, maintenance worker

Middle economic status, also known as middle-income, managerial, or white collar

Examples: skilled worker, manager, and professional such as doctor, lawyer teacher, etc.

SES affects neighborhood income levels and resources provided to schools

Can influence a child’s development

Those in low-income areas have fewer resources and tend to have more students with lower achievement test scores, lower graduation rates, and smaller percentages of students going to college

Lower-SES parents

more concerned that their children conform to society’s expectations

authoritarian parenting style

rely on physical punishment

more directive and less conversational with their children

Higher-SES parents:

More concerned with developing children’s initiative

Strive to create home atmosphere where children are more equal participants

Less likely to use physical punishment

Less directive and more conversational with children

Children from low-SES backgrounds higher risk for mental health problems

Depression, low self-confidence, peer conflict, and juvenile delinquency are more prevalent; largely because they encounter more life stressors and have fewer resources to cope

Many children from low-SES backgrounds perform well in school.

Adolescents from wealthy families are vulnerable to high rates of substance abuse

Males tend to have more adjustment difficulties and have a higher rate of delinquency in wealthy neighborhoods

Females had higher levels of anxiety and depression

Influenced by their differences from their peers’ affluence within, associated with patterns of externalizing and internalizing problems

Sequence of Human development stages:

Development: pattern change that begins at conception and continues through life span

Involves growth, but also decline

Periods of Development:

Prenatal period: time from conception to birth, about nine months

Single cell grows into a fetus and then a baby

Infancy: from birth to about 18-24 months

Extreme dependence on adults

Many psychological activities just beginning (speaking, coordinating sensations, thinking with symbols)

Early childhood: end of infancy to 5-6 years (sometimes called preschool years)

Become more self-sufficient

Develop readiness skills

Spend many hours playing and w/ peers

Middle and late childhood: between 6 and 11 years (sometimes called elementary school years)

Master reading, writing, arithmetic skills

Formally exposed to the world and cultures

Achievement becomes more central

Self-control increases

Adolescence: transition from childhood to early adulthood, from 10-12 to 18-19

Begins with rapid physical changes (dramatic gain in height/weight, body shape)

Development of secondary sexual characteristics: enlargement of breasts, widening of hips for female, facial hair for males, etc.

Pursuit of independence and identity are central

More time spent outside family

Thought becomes more abstract, idealistic, logical

Development is a lifelong process, does not stop at adolescence.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory:

Trust vs. Mistrust: first year of life

Trust in infancy sets the stage for lifelong expectation that the world is a good place to live in

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt: 1-3 years

Infants begin to discover their behavior is their own, assert a sense of independence and realize their will

If they’re restrained too much/punished too harshly, they’re likely to develop shame and doubt.

Initiative vs. Guilt: early childhood, 3-5 years

Encounter widening social world, face new challenges that require responsible, purposeful behavior

Feelings of guilt can arise if child is irresponsible and made to feel too anxious

Industry vs. Inferiority: middle/late childhood, 6 years-puberty

Children direct their energy toward mastering knowledge and intellectual skills

Child may develop sense of inferiority, or feeling incompetent/unproductive

Identity vs. Identity confusion: adolescence, 10 to 20 years

Individuals confront tasks of finding out who they are, where they're going in life

If adolescents explore their role in healthy manner and arrive at a positive path to follow in life, then they’ll achieve a positive identity. If not, they will face identity confusion

Intimacy vs. Isolation: early adulthood, 20s-30s

Individuals form intimate relationships

If they have healthy friendships and an intimate relationship, intimacy will be achieved. If not, isolation will result.

Generativity vs. Stagnation: middle adulthood, 40s-50s

Concern for helping the younger generation to develop and lead useful lives is generativity

Stagnation is the feeling of have done nothing to help the next generation

Integrity vs. Despair: late adulthood, 60s and up

Person reflects on the past

If they review it as a life well spent, integrity is achieved

If not, they’ll face despair

Longitudinal study: researchers observe the same individuals over an extended period to track changes and development

Cross-sectional study: observational studies that analyze data from a population at a single point in time

Individualistic countries: giving priority to personal goals rather than a group, emphasizes values that serve the self

Countries: US, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands (western cultures)

Collectivistic countries: emphasizes values that serve the group

Countries: China, Japan, India, Thailand (eastern cultures) and Mexico

Immigration:

Immigrant risk model emphasizes that youth of immigrants have had a lower level of well-being and were at risk for more problems

Immigrant paradox model emphasizes that despite many cultural, socioeconomic, language, and other obstacles that immigrant families face, their youth show a high level of well-being and fewer problem than native-born youth

Support exists for both models

Immigrants often experience special stressors

Problems associated with being undocumented

Language barriers

Separation from support networks

Changes in SES

Struggle to preserve identity and acculturate

Biculturalism: keeping your culture while adopting a new one

Many immigrants come from collectivistic cultures

Their children growing up in a new country with individualistic culture may cause them to not understand each other, create distance

Displacement: television can take away time and attention from engaging in achievement-related tasks such as homework, reading, writing, and mathematics

Question: when twins are genetically identical, they _

Identical twins develop from a single zygote that splits into two genetically identical replicas, each of which becomes a person

Even if their genes are identical, they can still vary

Genetically identical twins separated as infants can show similarities in tastes, habits, choices

Charles Darwin: proposed the theory of evolution

Natural selection: evolution where individuals of a species that are best adapted are the ones that survive and reproduce. “Survival of the fittest”

All organisms must adapt to places, climates, food sources, ways of life.

Adaptive behavior: behavior that promotes an organism's survival in their natural environment

Evolutionary Psychology: emphasizes importance of adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” in influencing behavior

“fit” = refers to ability to bear offspring that survive long enough to bear their own offspring

David Buss reasons that evolution influences how we make decisions, our aggressiveness, fears, and mating patterns

One theoretical approach among many

Gametes: sex cell

Female: egg, or ovum

Male: sperm

Genotype: all of a person’s genetic material

Not all genetic material is apparent in observed/measurable characteristics

Phenotype: observable characteristics

Height, weight, hair color

Personality, intelligence

Question: the point of fertilization is also the point of ...

Conception

Endoderm: inner layer of an embryo, will develop into digestive and respiratory systems

amniotic fluid: clear fluid that surrounds and protects the fetus during pregnancy

Question: When does the greatest sensitivity to teratogens begin?

greatest in early embryonic period

Question on specific example of children, must know what develops first (proximodistal is one name)

Cephalocaudal pattern: growth sequence that gradually works from top to bottom of body

Most cases, sensory and motor development proceeds according to this pattern

Proximodistal pattern: growth sequence where growth starts at center of body and moves to extremities

Endocrine glands: secrete hormones

Pituitary gland is an important endocrine gland that controls growth and regulates other glands

Question: in order to develop motor skills infants must perceive something in the environment that motivates them to act and use their perceptions to finely tune their movements, this is the same as saying _

Review motor skills, motivation as an infant

Dynamic systems theory: infants assemble motor skills for perceiving/acting

Motivation leads to new motor behaviors (“tuned” w/ repetition)

Result of nervous system development, body's physical properties, a goal child is motivated to reach, and environmental support (Ex: walking)

Gross motor skills: involve large-muscle activities like moving arms/walking

Development requires postural control

Reflexes: built-in reactions to stimuli

Allow infants to respond to environment before learning

Rooting reflex: infant cheek stroked, or side of mouth is touched, so infant turns head tries to find something to suck

Sucking reflex: when infants suck an object placed in their mouth

Enables infant to get nourishment before nipple associated w/ food

Moro reflex: startle response to sudden, intense noise/movement

Newborns arch back, throw head back, fling arms/legs & rapidly close them

Grasping reflex: infant tightly grasps object place in palm

Question: a child who takes large steps that can exceed their leg length may _

indicate increased balance and strength

Question: possibly as early as 4 weeks babies can distinguish between _ . They have color preferences that mirror those of adults by four months of age.

colors

Question: what is the typical age when children have been shown to discern depth with binocular cues.

3 to 4 months

Stages of Prenatal Development

Conception occurs when the process of fertilization takes place

Sperm cell and ovum unite in the female’s fallopian tube

Over next few months, genetic code directs series of changes in fertilized egg

Typical prenatal development lasts 266 to 280 days (around 9 months):

Divided into 3 periods: germinal, embryonic, and fetal

Germinal: occurs in first two weeks after conception, includes creation of zygote, continued cell division, and implantation (attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall)

By one week of development, cell differentiation has already begun:

Group of cells consists of inner mass, blastocyst, that becomes an embryo and an outer layer, trophoblast, which provides nutrition and support

Embryonic period: occurs from two to eight weeks after conception

Cell differentiation intensifies, support systems for cells form, organs appear

Blastocyst is now embryo with 3 layers

Endoderm: inner layer, will develop into digestive and respiratory systems

Mesoderm: middle layer, will become circulatory system, bones, muscles, excretory system, and reproductive system

Ectoderm: will become the nervous system and brain, sensory receptors, and skin parts

Life-support develops rapidly:

Amnion: bag or envelope containing a clear fluid where developing embryo floats

Umbilical cord: contains two arteries and one vein, connects baby to placenta

Placenta: disk-shaped group of tissues in which small blood vessels from mother and offspring intertwine

Organogenesis: process of organ formation during first 2 months of development

Fetal period: lasts about seven months

Pregnancies are described as having three trimesters, each 3 months long:

Germinal and embryonic in first trimester

Fetal period begins in first trimester and continues through rest

Viability: possibility of surviving outside the womb, occurs at very end of second trimester

Basic architecture of brain assembled in first 2 trimesters:

Neural tube: develops out the ectoderm, forms at about 18-24 days after conception

Once it has closed, neurogenesis begins to take place (massive growth of neurons)

Neuronal migration: involves cells moving out from their origin to their appropriate locations and creating different levels, structures, and regions of brain

At birth, babies have approximately 100 billion neurons.

Genetic Disorders:

Down syndrome: an extra chromosome causes mild to severe intellectual disability and physical abnormalities

Klinefelter Syndrome: extra X chromosome, causes physical abnormalities

Fragile X syndrome: abnormality in X chromosome, can cause intellectual disability, learning disability, or short attention span

Turner Syndrome: missing X chromosome in females, can cause intellectual disability and sexual underdevelopment

XYY Syndrome: extra Y chromosome in men can cause above-average height

Question: research with infants called sticky _ involves preschool children learning to play ball with a ball glove that has velcro inside and a ball that will stick to the glove.