Ch. 9: Development

1. Ch. 9: Development • The historical debate has been between nature and nurture • Nature = hereditary (genetic makeup variables that influence development) • Nurture = environmental (family, friends, school) • Developmental psychologists agree that both nature and nurture interact to produce specific developmental patterns and outcome. • Developmental theories emphasize the role of heredity and maturation-- the unfloding of biologically predetermined patterns of behavior that produce developmental change. • Heredity - define people’s level of intelligence, it places limits on physical abilities • Please turn to page 32 of the text Developmental Research Techniques Cross-Sectional: The most frequently used is Cross-Sectional research: comparing people of different ages at the same point in time. This provides information about differences in development among different age groups. Longitudinal Studies: tracing the behavior of one or more participants as they age, assessing change in behavior over time. We might give an IQ test at age 25 and follow these folks, give the IQ test again 20 years later and again at age 65 Prenatal Development The basics of genetics: We have 23 pairs of chromosomes which contain the basic hereditary information; one member of each pair is from the mother and one from the father. Each chromosome contains thousands of genes through which genetic information is transmitted. Genes produce the specific characteristics of each person. They are composed of sequences of DNA molecule;s genes are the biological equivalent of software that programs future development of all parts of the body’s hardware. Humans have 25,000 different genes. Some genes control the development of systems; the heart, brain, lungs, others shape the characteristics of facial features, height, eye color. A child inherits an X chromosome from the mother and either a X or Y from its father. If its an XX combination we have a male

2. The Human Genome Project • In 2001-- scientists mapped the specific location and sequence of every human gene as part of the massive Human Genome Project. • We can now identify the specific genes responsible for genetically caused disorders • For example-- in gene therapy, we can inject genes directly into a patients bloodstream to correct specific diseases directly. The gene allows the body to produce chemicals that can alleviate the problem. • In other cases-- genes are inserted to replace missing or defective cells. • Early Development Two weeks after conception-- we have the embryonic period lasting from 2 to 8 weeks and it’s called an embryo. By week 8 - the embryo is about an inch long and has discernible arms, legs and a face. From week 8 until birth-- the developing human enters the fetal period and called a fetus. At 16-18 weeks-- its movements are stronger, mother can sense them. At 24 weeks, infant can close and open eyes, look up and down. At prenatal age of 22 weeks-- we say the fetus reaches age of viability because it can survive if born prematurely. At week 28- fetus weighs less than 3 pounds and is about 16 inches long. At the end of the 38 weeks-- fetus weighs about 7 pounds and is about 20 inches long. Genetic Influences on the Fetus: PKU Sickle-Cell Anemia Tay-Sachs Disease Down Syndrome

3. Prenatal Environmental Influences • Teratogens are environmental agents such as drug, chemical virus or other factors that produce a birth defect. • 1) Mother’s Nutrition: mothers should not be under-nourished; these babies may be underweight and prone to more diseases and adverse impact on mental development. • 2) Mother’s Illness: if mother has hypertension, diabetes, etc. this can create problems • 3) Mother’s Emotional State: mothers who are anxious may have more irritable infants who sleep and eat poorly • 4) Mother’s Use of Drugs: using cocaine can give birth to babies who are addicted, baby suffers withdrawal symptoms and sometimes has permanent physical and mental impairment • 5) Alcohol: a mother using alcohol can have a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome; one out of every 750 babies has FAS and this includes below average intelligence, growth delays and facial deformities. • 6) Nicotine Use: smoking leads to more than 100,000 miscarriages and the deaths of over 5,000 in the US each year. • Infancy and Childhood A neonate is born with reflexes; unlearned involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli. Rooting reflex: turn their head to things that touch their cheek Sucking reflex: suck at things that touch their lips. They lose these reflexes after a few months- replacing them with more complex behaviors. Development of Social Behavior Attachment - a positive, emotional bond that develops between the child and a specific individual; occurs during infancy. Harlow’s monkey experiments; monkeys had choice of cuddling with a wire monkey that provided milk or a soft, terry cloth monkey that was warm but not provide milk. They spent most time with a terry cloth monkey with occasional forays to the wire monkey to nurse. The cloth monkey provided greater comfort and milk alone was insufficient to create attachment. Children who are securely attached to mothers tend to be more socially and emotionally competent than less securely attached peers. As adults, children who are securely attached tend to have more successful romantic relationships

4. The Consequences of Childcare Outside of Home • Remember-- if the programs like day care are of high quality, these children do as well as stay at home kids, but may do better in some respects. Children in child care outside of home are more considerate and sociable and they interact more positively with teachers. If the program is educationally enriched with books, toys and diverse children and highly qualified teachers- then the child can be more intellectually stimulated and achieve more in terms of language development and IQ scores. • Parenting Styles • Authoritarian Parents - rigid and punitive, these parents value unquestioning obedience from children; have strict standards and discourage disagreement with their children. These children are unsociable and unfriendly, and withdrawn. • Permissive Parents - give their children inconsistent direction, and they are warm with their kids-- but they require little of their kids. These children are immature, moodiness, dependence, and low self-control. • Authoritative Parents - are firm, setting limits with their kids and they explain things to them and encourage them to disagree-- but explain things to them; they encourage independent thinking. These children have good social skills, are likeable, self-reliant, independent and cooperative • Uninvolved Parents - they show little interest in their children, are emotionally detached and view parenting as nothing more than providing food, clothing and shelter for their kids. These children feel unloved, emotionally detached, and their physical and cognitive development is impeded. • Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development • Erikson was a psychoanalyst who developed a comprehensive, life span development model consisting of 8 stages-- 4 during childhood and 4 in adulthood. • One must encounter and resolve each passage or crisis/conflict. Erikson frames each passage with a positive and negative outcome. • 1st stage: Trust vs. Mistrust: birth to one and a half years infants develop trust if their needs met for attachment; inconsistent care leads to mistrust. • 2nd stage: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt: one and a half to 3 years; toddler develops independence, freedom is encouraged and they experienced shame and doubt is their expression for independence is restricted; parents need to let toddler explore and not control toddler • 3rd stage: initiative vs. guilt: ages 3 to 6; child’s desire to act independently conflicts with guilt that comes from unintended and unexpected consequences of this behavior; parents need to react positively to the child’s attempts at independence. • 4th stage: industry vs. inferiority stage: here we have increasing competency in many areas and this is confidence building; difficulties here lead to feelings of inadequacy and failure. • Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development • Piaget theorized children pass through 4 stages in a fixed order. Maturation dictates progression to stages. • Sensorimotor Stage: from birth to 2 years; child has little competence in comprehending environment by using images, language or symbols. • Object Permanence: awareness that objects and people continue to exist even if out of sight

5. Preoperational Stage: ages 2 to 7 years; characterized by language development; can describe people, events and feelings; egocentric thought emerges where it’s a what of thought where child views the world entirely from his/her own perspective; and they think everyone shares their perspective. • Concrete Operational: ages 7-12 years; now we see logical thoughts; embraces reversibility where he/she understands changes can be undone by reversing an earlier action; example is you can use clay to make ball, then a human being-- and back to a ball. • Formal Operations Stage: 12 years to adulthood; now we have abstract thought, formal and logical thought. • Adolescence and Becoming an Adult • Adolescence: a developmental stage between childhood and adulthood; a crucial period marked by physiological changes, social, emotional and cognitive changes as one pushes for independence. • Puberty: secretion of hormones; maturation of sexual organs begins around age 11-12 for girls who may begin menstruating; for boys at around age 13 it’s first ejaculation called spermache. • Moral and Cognitive Development • Kohlber’s Theory of Moral Development • Kohlberg theorizes that changes in moral reasoning can be understood in his model through a fixed order; and that few people reach the highest level of moral reasoning. • Please refer to Elie’s notes here. • Continuation of Erikson’s Psychosocial Development • The 5th stage is Identity vs. Role Confusion; adolescence is a time for the individual to discover who he/she is, their strengths, roles they assume; their identity; if confused he/she lacks a stable identity; may become deviant or unable to maintain relationships. • The 6th stage is Intimacy vs. Isolation; early adulthood to early 30’s, developing close relationships; if doesn’t then one is lonely and fear of intimacy • The 7th stage is Generativity vs. Stagnation; generativity is the ability to contribute to one’s family, community work and society, if not resolved, one feels disempowered, lacking meaning in life. The 8th stage is Ego Integrity vs. Despair: later adulthood until death; one feels a sense of accomplishment in life; failure to resolve this passage results in regret in what might have been achieved but wasn’t.

6. Adolescent Suicide • Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among adolescents (after accidents and homicide). • A teenager commits suicide every 90 minutes. • Male adolescents are 5 times more likely to commit suicide than females; and females attempt suicide more often than males. • The sharp rise in stress, alcohol and rug use, social pressure and family dysfunction account for the suicide rate.