Lecture 1 - Lifespan Development

Unit 2: Development Across the Lifespan chapter 8 Development is change over time Prenatal Development: Conception of sperm and egg for cell division ● Single Zygote into 2 (Monozygotic identical Twin) ● Double Zygote into 2 (Fraternal twins) Twin Studies: both nature and nurture ● Identical twins reared together: same genes and environment ● Identical twins reared apart: control for genes, vs environment on behavior Germinal Stage (0-2 weeks) ● Unattached to woman, preparing uterus ● If implanted, the blastocyst begins cell differentiation and has support systems Embryonic Stage (2-8 weeks) ● Beginning of major systems of nutrition and waste at a basic level ● Most critical period of prenatal development due to direct connection to mom Fetal Stage (8 weeks-term) ● Tremendous growth with 50% viability at week 24; preterm prior to week 37-38 Maternal Health ● Nutrition: vitamins A-E, iron, zinc, cobalt, folic acid (20-35lb weight gain) ● Activity: moderate activity but not intense as it releases harmful hormones, stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline) are potentially damaging ● Drugs/Illnesses: legal & illegal drugs bad, some illnesses can affect ○ Ex. Rubella -> Deafness ○ ○ Herpes -> Blindness ● Teratogens: radiation, mercury/heavy metals, alcohol 9 Infancy – Physical ● Reflex: weak body so relies on reflex for survival ● Sensation & Perception starts learning from senses around them ● Motor Development: learn how to move large to fine movements Infancy – Cognition Piaget’s Stage Model: studied the common steps in child development ● Schemas: mental “blueprints” ● Assimilation: attach things into existing schemas if fits in (more as adult) ● Accommodation: create a new schema if it doesn’t fit in (more as child) Sensorimotor Stage ● Integrate sense and motor skills: recognize own body/space to interact with world ● Learn rules governing physical world (ex. Gravity) ● Mentally represent physical objects (thinking abt a cat without seeing it) Object Permanence ● Understand that objects exist independent of our perception of them (peek-a-boo) Violation of Expectations (Baillargeon) ● Shows development of a sensorimotor skill earlier than Piaget thought ● Creates impossible or magical events to see if kids are surprised ○ Surprise only comes from expectation ○ If they aren’t surprised, they have no reaction for it being not normal ○ If they are surprised, they will physically show as they can’t say they are Psychosocial ● Attachment: reciprocal emotional bond between child and primary caregiver ● Harry Harlow (1905-1981): the attachment of animals to primary caregiver ○ Took child away from mother to be raised: child chose the Cloth Muppet for contact comfort as when scared, the monkey went to the “mother” for security ○ Ex. Foster adoption gets fed, but didn’t form emotional connection due to no proximal connection ● Mary Ainsworth (1913 – 1999): RECIPROCAL connection of the caregiver ○ Strange Situation: contrived situation where infant experiences new stimuli, interaction w/stranger, and absence of & reunion of caregiver ○ Found 3 consistently appearing styles and Quality of caregiver ■ Secure Attachment: ideal as when child explores and gets anxious, they will go back to caregiver as a “secure base” then go back. They are distressed at caregiver absence and joy at reunion. The caregiver is responsible for infant cues and enjoys interacting ■ Avoidant Attachment: child has no secure base and is indifferent at absence/reunion. Caregiver is unresponsible to infant cues and doesn’t enjoy interacting or soothe child on emotional level ■ Ambivalent Attachment: child is hesitant to explore and is very upset at absence yet hard to sooth at reunion and intense stranger anxiety. Caregiver reacts to infant but not at needs/right time. Ex. Getting picked up at wrong time/not getting picked up when want ● Erikson’s Theory (Erik Erikson 1902 – 1994): series of 8 stages across life and how performance in 1 stage affects subsequent stages ○ Trust v. Mistrust (8-12 mo.): Infancy must rely on others and wonders if the world is welcoming due to their needs, wants, and trust. Mistrust is needed to develop skills to deal with this to learn to self-soothe ex. Sleeping by self ○ Autonomy v. Shame/Doubt (1-3 yrs.): Toddler can do more but not all so wants to do things independently, but understand that they can’t do all or by trying and failing. Ex. Doubt that they can go down stairs by themselves ■ Ex. Sense of independence due to one’s ability to control own actions ○ Initiative vs. Guilt (3-5 yrs.): take responsibility for own behaviors as develops self control. Succeed controlling reactions/behavior develop sense of initiative. Failing feels irresponsible, anxious, and guilt ○ Industry vs. Inferiority (5-12yrs.): learn academic and social skills and compare themselves to measure success/failure. Develop sense of industry of competence and self-esteem if succeed at learning new skills. Feels inferior compared to others if fail at learning skills ○ Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs.): in-between stage ■ Centration: inability to focus on multiple aspects of an object/situation simultaneously ■ Egocentrism: relate to world in terms of self (bad at lying) ■ Conservation: understand changes in one factor doesn’t necessarily change others ■ Semi-Logical Reasoning: children begin to reason logically but lack of knowledge results in inaccurate real-world conclusions as don’t have enough experience to have right answers. Right reasdoning but wrong conclusion and explanations