5 Chapter -Developmental psychology-examines how people are continually developing, physically, cognitively, and socially; from infancy to old age. -centers on 3 major issues; -Nature v. Nurture- how do genetic inheritance (our nature) and experience we receive (our nurture) influence our development. -Continuity/stages- development a gradual continuous process like riding an escalator, or does it proceed through a sequence of separate stages, like climbing rungs on a ladder -Stability/change-do our early personality traits persist through life or do we become different persons as we age. -Prenatal development-fewer than half of all fertilized eggs, called zygotes survive beyond the first 2 weeks -about 10 days after conception, the zygote attaches to the mothers uterine wall -the zygotes inner cells become the embryo and over the next 6 weeks, organs begin to form and function and heart begins to beat -by 9 weeks after conception the embryo takes on the human form and now is a fetus -Teratogens-harmful viruses or drugs such as tobacco, alcohol and HIV that are introduced into the mothers body during child bearing term -fetal alcohol syndrome-physical and cognitive abnormalities on children caused by a pregnant womans heavy drinking. Can cause facial misproportioning -Competent newborns-are equipped with automatic responses ideally suited for our survival; withdrawing limbs to escape pain -Rooting- when a baby feels a touch on their cheek, babies turn toward that touch, open their mouth and vigorously root for the mothers nipple; begin sucking, which requires coordinated sequence of reflexive tonguing, swallowing and breathing. -failing find satisfaction the baby begins to cry; example of a babies instinct. Habituation- decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to visual stimulants, their interest wanes they and look away sooner. -Physical Development-as a flower unfolds according to its genetic instructions, so de humans in the biological growth process called mturation. -Motor development
-the developing brain enables physical coordination; as infants muscles and nervous system mature, more complicated skills emerge (ex crawl before walking) -These behaviors is not imitation but a maturing nervous system; blind children too crawl before they walk -Genes play a major role in motor development. Identical twins typically begin sitting up snd walking on nearly the same day -maturation, including rapid development; especially in the cerebellum at the back of the brain creates our readiness to learn walking at about age 1 -earliest childhood memories begin at around 3-3.5 years of age. -Carolyn Rovee-Collier preformed studies on her own child and confirmed, contrary to popular belief at the time, that babies did have the capacity to learn -What the conscious mind does not know and cannot express in words, the nervous system somehow remembers. -Cognition refers to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating -Piagets studies led him to believe that a childs mind develop through a series of stages, in an upward march from the newborns simple reflexes to the adults astract reasoning power -Piagets core idea is tha the driving force behind our intellectual progression is an inceasing struggle to make sense of our experiences. -the maturing brain builds schemas; concepts or mental molds into which we pour our experiences. -Piaget proposed 2 more concepts, the first is we assimilate new experiences; we interrupt them in terms of our current understandings (ex a cow as an animal with four legs) -as we interact with the world, we also adjust or accommodate, our schemas to incorporate information provided by new experiences.