1. Developing Through the Life Span
PowerPoint®
Presentation
by Jim Foley
Developing Through the Life Span
© 2013 Worth Publishers

2. Module 9: Developmental Issues, Prenatal Development, and the Newborn
Topics we’ll be bringing to life
Issues in Thinking about Development
Nature and Nurture
Continuity and Stages
Stability and Change
Prenatal Development
Conception  Zygote
Embryo  Fetus
Teratogen Risks
Newborn Skills and Behaviors
No animation.

3. Module 9: Developmental Issues, Prenatal Development, and the Newborn
No animation.

4. Topics we’ll be bringing to life
Issues in Thinking about Development
Continuity and Stages
Stability and Change
Prenatal Development
Conception  Zygote
Embryo  Fetus
Teratogen Risks
Newborn Skills and Behaviors
No animation.

5. Issues in Developmental Psychology
nature and nurture
How do genes and experience guide development over our lifespan?
change and stability
In what ways do we change as we age, and in what ways do we stay the same?
Issues in Developmental Psychology
continuity and stages
Click to reveal issues.
Instructor: You can mention here that nature and nurture don’t need further summary, because we just finished a chapter about it. However, if you skipped that chapter, you may want to go to the presentation for that chapter and use slides that summarize that issue, as well as slides that show the cell, chromosomes, and genes.
Is development a gradual change or are there some leaps to a new way of thinking or behaving?

6. Nature, Nurture, and Differences
Childhood involves a genetically-driven process of maturation, AND a process of interacting with, and being formed by, the world of objects and media, parents and peers.
When racial or ethnic or gender groups of people differ from each other in traits or abilities, the differences within groups tends to be greater than the difference between groups. Why?
The environment and culture affects all of us, but due to our similar biological heritage, it affects us in much the same way.
Genetic variations within groups affect traits and behavior more than the variations between groups.

7. Continuity vs. Stages, Nurture and Nature
Researchers who see development as a function of experience tend to see development as continuous and gradual.
Nurture is continuous.
Researchers who focus on biological maturation see spurts of growth and other changes that make one stage of development very different from another.
Nature has stages.
Automatic animation.

8. Stages and Continuity
Three different types of development--cognitive, moral, and psychosocial--have been running in parallel.
Are they really separate stages, or a continuous process of development?
Click to reveal bullets and example.

9. Change and Stability
Are there some parts of who we are that remain stable throughout development?
Our temperament? Our overall personality?
Do some of our attributes change during development (even while we maintain our sense of identity)?
Our abilities? Our interests? Our habits? Our traits?
Click to reveal bullets.
Some of these questions will be addressed in later chapters on intelligence and personality.

10. Stability and Change
Are we essentially the same person over long periods? Some answers from research:
In general, temperament seems stable.
Traits can vary, especially attitudes, coping strategies, work habits, and styles of socializing.
Personality seems to stabilize with age.
Stability helps us form identity, while the potential for change gives us control over our lives.
Click to reveal bullets.

11. Starting the Path to Personhood: Prenatal Development and the Newborn
Conception
Prenatal Development
The Competent Newborn
Automatic animation.
Instructor: You can note here (unless you think it’s obvious) that “prenatal” literally means “before birth.”
You could ask students to answer or think about these questions over the next group of slides:
--Where do you think the study of development should begin: at birth, or in utero?
--At what stage in this process does it make sense to talk about the process of nature AND nurture? Is there “nurture” in utero?

12. In the beginning: Conception
Sperm and egg unite to bring genetic material together and form one organism: the zygote (the fertilized cell).
Conception
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What does the Michael Phelps cartoon from the book illustrate?...that most sperm do not make it to the egg.
Of those that make it, only one sperm is allowed through the protective coating. Then, after several hours, the nuclei fuse, which might be considered the actual moment of conception.

13. Prenatal Development The Zygote Stage: First 10 to 14 Days
After the nuclei of the egg and sperm fuse, the cell divides in 2, 4, 8, 16, 100…
Milestone of the zygote stage: cells begin to differentiate into specialized locations and structures
Implantation: The Embyro, 2 to 8 weeks
This stage begins with the multicellular cluster that implants in the uterine wall.
Milestone of the implantation stage: differentiated cells develop into organs and bones
Click to reveal bullets.
Instructor: You can ask students if they think that teratogens qualify as a “nurture” factor influencing development. If we recall that “nurture” really means “environmental influences” and not “cuddling,” it should be clear that this is an example of how nature and nurture both operate before birth.
Sometimes, the zygote first fully splits into two; this is the start of identical twins.
The outer layer of cells becomes the placenta, the mechanism for providing nutrients and oxygen to the child and filtering out toxins; it will be more visible on the next slide.
Embryo

14. The Fetus
At nine weeks, hands and face have developed; the embryo is now called a fetus (“offspring”).
Placenta
At 4 months, many more features develop.
Milestone of the fetal stage: by six months, the fetus might be able to survive outside the womb
Click to reveal bullets.

15. Fetal Life: The Dangers
Teratogens (“monster makers”) are substances such as viruses and chemicals that can damage the developing embryo or fetus.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) refers to cognitive, behavioral, and body/brain structure abnormalities caused by exposure to alcohol in the fetal stage.
Click to reveal bullets.
Examples of noticeable problems in FAS: hyperactivity, learning problems, emotion control problems, and unusual facial size, shape, and features. The underlying problem of FAS may be that alcohol switches genes on and off, diverting the normal course of development.

16. Fetal life: Responding to Sounds
Fetuses in the womb can respond to sounds.
Fetuses can learn to recognize and adapt to sounds that they previously heard only in the womb.
Fetuses can habituate to annoying sounds, becoming less agitated with repeated exposure.
Click to reveal bullets.
Evidence of learning to recognize sounds from inside the womb: immediately after birth, newborns prefer mother’s voice, and even coo and cry in the tones of her language.
Evidence of habituating to annoying sounds: after birth, newborns can ignore sounds that would agitate other newborns.

17. After the fetal period, the child is born!
No animation.

18. Inborn Skills The Competent Newborn
Reflexes are responses that are inborn and do not have to be learned.
Newborns have reflexes to ensure that they will be fed.
The rooting reflex--when something touches a newborn’s cheek, the infant turns toward that side with an open mouth.
The sucking reflex can be triggered by a fingertip.
Crying when hungry is the newborn talent of using just the right sounds to motivate parents to end the noise and feed the baby.
Click to reveal bullets.
How do we conclude that these abilities are inborn?...because they are evident within hours of birth.
The rooting reflex triggers the baby to get in position for breastfeeding.

19. More Inborn Abilities
Newborns (one hour old!) will look twice as long at the image on the left.
What can we conclude from this behavior?
Click to show smiley face.
Newborns might have an inborn preference for looking at faces, AND the ability to distinguish a facelike pattern of dots and lines from a less face-like pattern!
You could ask if students can describe a possible survival/evolutionary function of this face preference. Perhaps this preference might help infants seek out and make eye contact with people rather than light bulbs, to assure that others are motivated to care for them.