12- Chapter Development over the Lifespan
Development- refers to the continuities and changes that occur within the individual between conception
and death.
Nature vs Nuture
- is our development product of hereditary (nature) or environment (nuture)
Critical and sensitive periods
- critical;age range in which certain experiences must occur for development to proceed normally
along a certain path
- sensitive;optimal age range for certain experiences, but if those experiences occur at another time,
normal development will still be possible
Continuity vs discontinuity
- is development continual and gradual or discontinuous, progressing through qualitatively distinct
stages
Stability vs change
- do our characteristics remain consistent?
A. No change- ability present at/or before birth that remains relatively constant across lifespan
B. Continous change-an ability not present or very immature at birth that development gradually over
months etc remains constant over age
C. Stages (discontinuity)- an ability that progresses in stages, with relatively rapid shifts from a lower
level of performance to a higher level
D. Inverted U-shaped function- an ability that emerges after birth, peaks, and disappears with age
E. U-shaped function- an ability that is present early in life, disappears temporarily, and re-emerges
later
Cross- sectional design- compare people of different ages at the same point in time.
Longitudal design- repeatedly tests the same cohort as it grows older.
Sequential Design- combines cross-sectional and longitudal. We can repeatedly test serveral age cohorts as
they grow older an determine whether they follow a similar developmental pattern. Most comprehensive,
but most time consuming.
Prenatal Development
3 stages-1. Germinal Stage- constitutes approximately first two weeks of development, beginning when one
sperm fertilizes egg, called zygote. Through repeated cell division, zygote becomes a mass of cells that
attach to mothers uterus about 10 to 14 days after conception.
2. Embryonic Stage- extends from end of the 2nd week through to 8th week , and the cell mass now is called
embryo. Two life-support structures, placenta and umbilical cord, develop at start of stage. Placenta
contains membranes that allow for nutrients to pass from mothers blood to umbilical cord. Umbilical cord
contains blood vessels which carry nutrients and oxygen to embryo, waste products back from embryo.
Bodily organs and systems begin to form, by week 8 heart is beating, brain forming, facial features can be
recognized.
3. Ninth week after conception embryo is now fetus. During Fetal Stage; lasting until birth, muscles
become stronger, bodily systems continue to develop. 24 weeks eyes open, 28 weeks fetus attains age of
viability-meaning it is likely able to survive outside womb in case of premature birth.
Genetics and Sex Determination
Egg and Sperm-23 chromosomes
Women (XX) Male (XY) Y chromosome-containes specific gene TDF(testis determining factor) gene
which triggers male sexual development.
Environmental Influences
Teratogens-environmental agents that cause abnormal prenatal development. Placenta prevents disease
from reaching fetus, acting as barrier, but some harmful chemicals get through.
Sexually transmitted diseases can pass from mother to child.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome- group of severe abnormalities that results from prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Nicotine is another ex of teratogens. Maternal smoking increases risk of miscarriage, premature birth, low
weight.
Review- developmental psychology studies the process of aging. Cross sectional design compares people
of different age groups at a single point in time. A longitudinal design repeatedly tests the same age group
as it grows older. A sequential design tests several groups at one point in time and then again when they are
older. Prenatal development involves the zygote, embryonic and fetal stages. The 23rd chromosome in a
mothers egg cell is always an X. If the 23rd Chromosome in fathers sperm is X child will be a femle (XX)
and if its a Y child will be born male (XY). Maternal malnutrition, stress, illness, drug use and
environmental toxins can cause prenatal abnormalities and development. Behavioural responses and
learning begin during the fetal stage.
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Preferential looking procedure- used to study infants visual preferences.
Visual habituation procedure- same stimulus is presented repeatedly until infant looking time declines.
Auditory Habituation procedure- study infant memory.
Cephalocaudal Principle- reflects tendency for development to proceed in a head-to-foot direction.
Proximodistal Principle- states that development begins along the innermost parts of the body and
continues outwards.
- Biology sets limits on environmental influences- best nutrition will not enable most people to
grow, no infant can be toilet trained before the nerve fibres that help regulate bladder control have
matured biologically.
- Environmental influences can be powerful- nurturing environments foster physical, sensory-motor
and psychological growth while impoverished environments can stunt growth.
- Biological and environmental factors interact- enriched environments enhance brain development.
In turn, brain development facilitates our ability to learn and benefit from environmental
experiences. Physical deprivation early in life can lead to permanent deficits.
REVIEW- Newborns have poor sensory acuity, but they can distinguish between different visual patterns,
speech sounds, odours, and tastes. They can display perceptual preferences, learn through classical and
operant conditioning, and may have primitive capacity for imitation.
- Sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities have several different developmental functions. Most
rapidly improve during the first year of life. Some newborn perceptual-motor responses
temporarily decline during the first few months after birth and then recover during the first years
of life.
- Experience is critical for normal development; without pattern vision, visual acuity stalls at the
newborn level but recovers to a large extent when vision is restored, although permanent deficits
remain in the deprivation occurs during the sensitive/ critical period.
Assimilation- process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas.
Accomodation- process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change.
Sensorimotor Stage- infant understands world through sensory and motor experiences, achieves object
permanence, emergence of symbolic thought; birth to 2.
Preoperational Stage- symbolic thinking; child uses words and images to represent objects and experiences;
pretend play, thinking displays egocentrism, irreversilibity, and centration; 2-7.
Concrete operational Stage-child can think logically about concrete events, grasps concepts of conservation
an serial ordering 7-12.
Formal operational-adolescent can think more logically, abstractly and flexibly, can form hypotheses and
test them systemitcally; 12 on.
Conservation- principle that basic properties of objects, such as volume or mass, or quantity stay the same.
Egocentrism- difficulty in viewing the world from someone elses perspective.
Zone of Proximal Development- difference between what a child can do independently and what a child
can do with assistance from adults or more advanced peers.
Theory of Mind- refers to a persons beliefs about the mind and ability to understand other peoples mental
states.
REVIEW-According to Piaget, cognitive development depends on processes of assimilation and
accommodation, and occurs in 4 stages:sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete formal
operational.
- operational, Although the general cognitive abilities associated with Piagets four stages occur in the same
order across cultures, children aquire many cognitive skills at an earlier age than Piaget believed.
Vygotsky emphasized that cognitive development occurs in a sociocultural context. Each child has
a zone of proximal development, reflecting the difference between what a child can do and what
the child can do with assistance from others.
- Information processing capacities improve with age. Older children search for information more
systematically, process it more quickly, and display better memory.
- Children begin to develop a theory of mind (beliefs about another persons knowledge, feelings,
intentions, etc) around 3-4 years of age.
Psychosocial Stages:
- Basic trust vs basic mistrust- depends on how adequately our needs are met, love and attention
received during first year of life.
- Autonomy versus shame and doubt-during next 2 years, children become ready to exercise their
individuality. If parents restrict children or make harsh demands leads to later lack of courage in
development.
- Initiative vs guilt-from 3-5 children display great curiosity about the world. Allowed freedom to
explore they develop sense of initiative. Held back their desires and curiosity suppress.
- Industry vs inferiority- from age 6 untill puberty- childs life expands into school and peer
activites. Children who experience pride and encouragement in mastering tasks develop industry;
a striving to achieve. Repeated failure and lack of praise leads to sense of inferiority.
Imprinting- biologically primed form of attachment. Attachment refers to the strong emotional bond that
develops between children and their primary caregivers.
Indiscriminate Attachment- newborns cry, vocalize and smile and they emit these behaviours towards
everyone, evoking caregiving from adults.
Discriminate Attachment- around 3 months infants direct their attachment behaviours more toward familiar
caregivers than towards strangers.
Specific attachment behavior- by 7/8 months infants develop first meaningful attachment to specific
caregivers, who become secure base from which infant can crawl about and explore.
Strange Situation Test (SST)- standardized procedure for examining infant attachment.
Authoritative Parents- controlling but warm. Establish clear rules, consistency enforces them, reward
childrens compliance with warmth and affection. Good child parent communication.
Authoritarian Parents- exert control over their children, within a cold unresponsive or rejecting relationship.
Indulgent Parents- warm, caring relationships with their children, but do not provide the guidance and
discipline that helps children learn responsibility and concern for others. Children tend to be more
immature and self-centered.
Neglectful Parents- provide neither warmth nor rules and guidance. Children most likely insecurely
attached, have low achievement motivation and disturbed relationships with peers and adults at school, and
be impulsive and aggressive.
Socialization-process by which we acquire the beliefs, values, and behaviours of a group, plays key role in
shaping our gender identity and sex-role sterotypes.
Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Reasoning
Level 1-Preconventional
- actual or anticipated punishment and rewards, rather than internalized values, obeying rules and
avoiding punishment (stage 1), self0 interest and gaining rewards (stage 2).
Level 2- Conventional
- Conformity to the expectations of social groups; person adopts other peoples values, gaining
approval and maintaining good relations with others (stage 3), doing ones duty, showing respect
for authority, and maintaining social order (stage 4).
Level 3- Postconventional
- Moral principles that are well thought out and part of ones belief and value system, general
principles agreed upon by society that foster community and welfare and individual rights;
recognition that society can decide to modify laws that lose their social utility (stage5), abstract
ethical principles based on justice and equality; following ones conscience (stage 6).
Temperament reflects a biologically based pattern of reacting emotionally and behaviourally to the
environment. Extreme tempermental styles in infancy and childhood can predict some aspects of
functioning years later.
Adolescence- period of development and gradual transition between childhood and adulthood.
Puberty- period of rapid maturation in which the person becomes capable of sexual reproduction.
REVIEW- In western cultures puberty makes the onset of adolescence. Hormones that steer puberty also
can affect mood and behavior. Generally, early maturation is a more positive experience for boys than girls.
During adolescence, neural restructuring is especially prominent in the prefrontal cortex and the limbic
system, regions that play a key role in planning and coordinating behaviours that satisfy motivational goals,
emotional urges and moral decisions. Young adults are at the peak of their physical, sexual and perceptual
functioning in their 20s. Declines in physical processes (perception, bone density, basic metabolic rate,
flexibility) begin in the 30s, and become more pronounced in late adulthood, but an active lifestyle, good
nutrition, and positive attitude can offset many age- related declines.
REVIEW- Improvements in information- processing processes (speed, memory) foster increases in abstract
reasoning during adolescence. How ever, many teens and adults continue to struggle on formal operational
tasks while some people frequently use abstract reasoning, others rarely do so. Information- processing
capacities decline steadily after reaching 30s. However longitudinal data show that many intellectual
abilities do not begin to decline reliably until late adulthood. Cross sectional studies suggest that wisdom
increases with age.
REVIEW-Erikson proposed that intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and integrity
versus despair are the main crises of early, middle and late adulthood.
- Young adolescents often show egocentrism in their social thinking. The search for new identity is
a key task of adolescence, With age, teens who have not experienced and identity crisis become
more likely to do so, and most resolve it successfully.
- During adolescence, peer relationships become more important and intimate. Most teens maintain
good relations with their parents.
- IN North America, the most important criterion for a transition into adulthood is becoming
responsible, independent person. In traditional cultures, marriage is a common marker of this
transition.
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In general, married people tend to be happier and live longer.
Premarital cohabitation is associated with a higher risk of marital divorce, though this does not
appear to be a casual relation.
For many couples, marital satisfaction tends to decline in years following the birth of children, but
it increases later in adulthood. Adult- mother attachment styles are related to social relationships
and may be passed on from one generation to the next.
Work serves important psychological and social functions. Overall, women experience more
career gaps and their career paths are more variable than mens. Most adults do not experience a
full-blown mid-life crisis. Similarly, most retired people do not become more anxious, depressed
or lonely because of retirement.
Many terminally ill patients experience similar psychological reactions as they cope with their
impending death, but beliefs and feelings about death vary with culture and age, and there is no
normal way to approach death.