1. Chapter 3: Human Development

2. Heredity and Environment—The Nurture of Nature
The Newborn Baby—The Basic Model Comes with Options
Social Development—Baby, I’m Stuck on You
Parental Influences—Life with Mom and Dad
Language Development—Fast-Talking Babies
Cognitive Development—How Do Children Learn to Think?
Moral Development—Growing a Conscience
The Story of a Lifetime: Rocky Road or Garden Path?
Midlife and Old Age
Aging and Ageism
Psychology in Action
Effective Parenting—Raising Healthy Children

3. Developmental Psychology
The study of progressive changes in behavior and abilities

4. Heredity
Transmission of physical and psychological characteristics from parents to their children through genes
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid): Molecular structure, shaped like a double helix that contains coded genetic information

5. Genes
Specific areas on a strand of DNA that carry hereditary information
Dominant: The gene’s feature will appear each time the gene is present
Recessive: The gene’s feature will appear only if it is paired with another recessive gene

9. Temperament Categories (Chess & Thomas, 1986)
The physical “core” of personality
Easy Children: 40 %; relaxed and agreeable
Difficult Children: 10 %; moody, intense, easily angered
Slow-to-Warm-Up Children: 15 %; restrained, unexpressive, shy
Remaining Children: Do not fit into any specific category

10. Environment (Nurture)
Sum of all external conditions that affect development, especially the effects of learning
Sensitive Period: A period of increased sensitivity to environmental influences; also, a time when certain events must occur for normal development to take place
Congenital Problem: A problem or defect that occurs during prenatal development; “birth defect”

11. Environment Continued
Genetic Disorder: Problem caused by inherited characteristics or gene deficits
Anything capable of causing birth defects (e.g., narcotics, radiation, cigarette smoke, lead, and cocaine)
Deprivation: Lack of normal stimulation, nutrition, comfort, or love

12. Enrichment
When an environment is deliberately made more complex and intellectually stimulating
Enriched Environments: Environments deliberately made more novel, complex, and stimulating

14. Newborns (Neonates) and Their Reflexes

15. Grasping Reflex
If an object is placed in the infant’s palm, she’ll grasp it automatically (all reflexes are automatic responses; i.e., they come from nature, not nurture)

16. Rooting Reflex
Lightly touch the infant’s cheek and he’ll turn toward the object and attempt to nurse; helps infant find bottle or breast

17. Sucking Reflex
Touch an object or nipple to the infant’s mouth and she’ll make rhythmic sucking movements

18. Moro Reflex
If a baby’s position is abruptly changed or if he is startled by a loud noise, he will make a hugging motion

19. Maturation
Physical growth and development of the body, brain, and nervous system
Increased muscular control occurs in patterns
Cephalocaudal: From head to toe
Proximodistal: From center of the body to the extremities

20. Social Smile
Smiling elicited by social stimuli such a seeing a parent’s face

25. Separation Anxiety
Crying and signs of fear when a child is left alone or is with a stranger; generally appears around 8-12 months

26. Quality of Attachment (Ainsworth)
Secure: Stable and positive emotional bond; upset by mother’s absence
Insecure-Avoidant: Tendency to avoid reunion with parent or caregiver
Insecure-Ambivalent: Desire to be with parent or caregiver and some resistance to being reunited

27. Parenting Styles (Baumrind, 2005)

28. Authoritarian
Enforce rigid rules and demand strict obedience to authority; children are obedient and self-controlled

29. Authoritative
Supply firm and consistent guidance combined with love and affection; children tend to be competent, self-controlled, independent, and assertive

30. Overly Permissive
Give little guidance, allow too much freedom, or don’t require child to take responsibility; children tend to be dependent and immature and frequently misbehave

32. Optimal Caregiving
Maternal Influences: All the effects a mother has on her child
Paternal Influences: Sum of all effects a father has on his child

33. Goodness of Fit (Chess & Thomas)
Degree to which parents and child have compatible temperaments

36. Language Acquisition
Cooing: Repetition of vowel sounds by infants (like “oo” and “ah”); starts at about 6-8 weeks
Babbling: Repetition of meaningless language sounds (e.g., babababa); starts at about 7 months
Single-Word Stage: The child says one word at a time
Telegraphic Speech: Two word sentences that communicate a single idea (e.g., Want yogurt)

39. Noam Chomsky and the Roots of Language
Biological Disposition: Presumed hereditary readiness of all humans to learn certain skills such as how to use language
Chomsky: Language patterns are inborn

40. Parentese (Motherese)
Pattern of speech used when talking to infants
Marked by raised voice, short, simple sentences, slower speech, exaggerated voice inflections, and repetition

41. Jean Piaget and Cognitive Development
Piaget believed that all children passed through a set series of stages during their intellectual development; like Freud, he was a Stage Theorist
Transformations: Mentally changing the shape or form of a substance and to perceive that its volume remains the same; children younger than 6 or 7 cannot do this

42. Assimilation
Application of existing mental patterns to new situations

43. Accommodation
Existing mental patterns are changed to accommodate new information or experiences

44. Piaget: Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years)
All sensory input and motor responses are coordinated; most intellectual development here is nonverbal
Object Permanence: Concept that objects still exist when they are out of sight

46. Piaget: Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
Children begin to use language and think symbolically, but their thinking is still intuitive and egocentric
Intuitive Thought: Makes little use of reasoning and logic
Egocentric Thought: Thought that is unable to accommodate viewpoints of others and is self-centered

47. Piaget: Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 Years)
Children become able to use concepts of time, space, volume, and number but in ways that remain simplified and concrete, not abstract
Conservation: Mass, weight, and volume remain unchanged when the shape or appearance of objects changes
Reversibility of Thought: Relationships involving equality or identity can be reversed

49. Piaget: Formal Operations (11 Years and Up)
Thinking now includes abstract, theoretical, and hypothetical ideas
Abstract Ideas: Concepts and examples removed from specific examples and concrete situations
Hypothetical Possibilities: Suppositions, guesses, or projections

51. Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Children’s cognitive development is heavily influenced by social and cultural factors.
A child’s thinking develops through dialogues with more capable persons

52. Zone of Proximal Development
Range of tasks a child cannot master alone even though they are close to having the necessary mental skills; they need guidance from a more capable partner in order to complete the task

53. Scaffolding
Adjusting instruction so it is responsive to a beginner’s behavior and so it supports the beginners efforts to understand a problem or gain a mental skill

54. Moral Development
When we acquire values, beliefs, and thinking abilities that guide responsible behavior

55. Lawrence Kohlberg’s Three Stages of Moral Development
Preconventional: Moral thinking guided by consequences of actions (punishment, reward, exchange of favors)
Conventional: Reasoning based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules, authority, and values
Postconventional: Follows carefully examined and self-accepted moral principles

56. Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Dilemmas

57. Stage One: Trust versus Mistrust (Birth-1)
Children are completely dependent on others
Trust: Established when babies given adequate warmth, touching, love, and physical care
Mistrust: Caused by inadequate or unpredictable care and by cold, indifferent, and rejecting parents

58. Stage Two: Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt (1-3)
Autonomy: Doing things for themselves
Overprotective or ridiculing parents may cause children to doubt abilities and feel shameful about their actions

59. Stage Three: Initiative versus Guilt (3-5)
Initiative: Parents reinforce initiative by giving children freedom to play, use imagination, and ask questions
Guilt: May occur if parents criticize, prevent play, or discourage a child’s questions

60. Stage Four: Industry versus Inferiority (6-12)
Industry: Occurs when child is praised for productive activities such as painting, reading, and studying
Inferiority: Occurs if child’s efforts are regarded as messy, inadequate, or childish

62. Stage Five (Adolescence): Identity versus Role Confusion
Identity: For adolescents; problems answering, “Who am I?”
Role Confusion: Occurs when adolescents are unsure of where they are going and who they are

63. Stage Six (Young Adulthood): Intimacy versus Isolation
Intimacy: Ability to care about others and to share experiences with them
Isolation: Feeling alone and uncared for in life

64. Stage Seven (Middle Adulthood): Generativity versus Stagnation
Generativity: Interest in guiding the next generation
Stagnation: When one is only concerned with one’s own needs and comforts

65. Stage Eight (Late adulthood): Integrity versus Despair
Integrity: Self-respect; developed when people have lived richly and responsibly
Despair: Occurs when previous life events are viewed with regret; experiences heartache and remorse

67. Types of Child Discipline
Power Assertion: Using physical punishment or a show of force to enforce child discipline
Withdrawal of Love: Withholding affection; refusing to speak to a child or threatening to leave to enforce child discipline
Management Techniques: Combine praise, recognition, approval, rules, and reasoning to encourage desirable behavior and to enforce child discipline

68. Effective Parenting Have stable rules of conduct (consistency)
Show mutual respect, love, encouragement, and shared enjoyment

69. Effective Communication
I-Message: Tells children the effect their behavior had on you (Use this)
You-Message: Threats, name-calling, accusing, bossing, criticizing, or lecturing; tells a child what is “wrong” with them (Avoid this)

70. Consequences
Natural Consequences: Effects that naturally follow a particular behavior; intrinsic effects
Logical Consequences: Rational and reasonable effects