Chapter 11 Human Development

physical cognitivesocial

Prenatal Development of the Human Brain

Changes in Body Proportions Half the body area of a 2-month-old fetus is devoted to the head and brain. At birth, the head measures one-fourth the body's length, giving the infant its characteristic baby look.

Common Teratogens and Their Effects

Continuous versus Stage-like Development Evidence supports both ways of viewing human development.

Milestones in Motor Development

Growth, Birth through Adulthood These curves represent the average growth of many humans, measured periodically.

Visual Preferences in Newborns

Infants' Ability to Imitate Infants often imitate adult facial movements. Here 2- to 3-week-old infants respond by sticking out a tongue, making an "O" with the mouth, and pursing the lips.

Depth Perception This child's ability to perceive depth is indicated by her hesitancy to crawl off the "visual cliff," from the "shallow surface" of the tabletop onto the "deep" surface of transparent glass.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Conservation of Volume Even young children will recognize that beakers A and B (left) contain the same amount of fluid. But when beaker B’s contents are poured into Beaker C (middle) only children who understand the conservation of volume will report that beakers A and C contain the same amount of fluid (right). Younger children in the preoperational stage will report that beaker C contains more fluid than beaker A.

Conservation Tasks

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory Adults play a major role in a child's cognitive development. Parents pass on memes to child through language. Early language is particularly important. As the child grows, "self-talks" become the child's internal voice, or private speech. Children who use private speech during problem solving have been found to be more successful than those who do not.

The Development of Infant Memories Infants who had learned to move a mobile by kicking it (red circles) or to make a train move by pressing a button (blue circles) could remember the experience. The older they were when they learned the task, the longer they could remember it. Source: From “The Development of Infant Memory” by C. Rovee-Collier in Current Directions in Psychological Science, (1999),vol. 8, pp. 80–85. © by the American Psychological Society. Reprinted by permission of Blackwell Publishers.

Memory in Adults Memory for names as a function of age. The ability to remember a new name declines with age. Rehearsal (three introductions compared to just a single introduction) greatly aids name recall in the young but not the old.

Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence as a Function of Age Crystallized intelligence is relatively unaffected by age, but fluid intelligence begins to decline after age 30.

Kohlberg's Stage Theory of Moral Development

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

Attachment Harry and Margaret Harlow (1962) demonstrated that in the absence of a real mother, monkeys will cling to a terry-cloth-covered artificial mother in preference to a wire-frame mother that provides milk. The Harlows concluded that: –Primates have a primary need for contact comfort. –Contact comfort promotes pair bonding (attachment). –The presence of a nurturing mother is a critical component of child rearing.

Bowlby's Theory of Attachment Preattachment Phase (birth to 6 weeks) Attachment-in-the-Making Phase (6 weeks to 6 to 8 months) "Clear-cut" Attachment (6 to 8 months to about 18 months) Reciprocal Attachment (18 months to 2 years and beyond)

Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation Test A procedure used to study attachment, in which an infant is placed in a novel environment and is observed reacting to it in the presence and then absence of a caregiver. Types of Attachment Securely attached (two out of three children) Insecurely attached (resistant and avoidant)

Cross-Cultural Differences in Attachment The majority of babies from Japan, Germany, and the United States are securely attached to their mothers. In comparison with American children, however, Japanese babies show more resistant attachment, and German babies show more avoidant attachment. Source: Modified from van Ijzendoorn & Kroonenberg, 1988.

Temperament A trait that is characterized by the quality and intensity of an individual's emotional reactions. The biological basis of temperament is apparent in infancy and is a measurable feature of adult personality.

Stages of Bereavement Avoidance Confrontation Accommodation