1. Chapter 12: Life-Span Development
Amanda Moreno

2. Prenatal Phase Approximate age is conception through birth
Highlights include rapid physical development of the nervous system and the body

3. Stages of the Prenatal Period
Zygote stage
Zygote: cell formed at conception
Lasts about 2 weeks
Zygote divides many times, begins to form internal organs
Embryo stage
Lasts about 6 weeks
Marked by rapid development
Heart begins to beat, brain functions
Major body structures begin to form
Sexual development begins

4. Sexual Development XX chromosomes=female XY chromosomes=male
Gonads: precursor to sex organs
Androgens: sex hormones produced by testes, spur development of male sex organs
Figure 12.1, page 373

5. Fetal Stage Third and final stage Lasts for about seven months
Begins with the appearance of bone tissue
Ends with birth

6. Threats to Prenatal Development
Teratogens: Substances that can cause birth defects, such as drugs (prescription or illegal), alcohol, and cigarettes
Mother malnourishment
Number one cause of birth defects?

7. Infancy and Childhood Phases
Birth to 2 years
Motor development
Attachment to primary caregiver
Childhood
1.5 years to 12
Logical thinking
Abstract reasoning
Motor skill refinement
Peer influences

8. Motor Development Reflexes present at birth
Rooting
Sucking
Swallowing
Patterns of motor development
See Figure 12.2, page 375
Maturation: A relatively stable change in thought, behavior or physical of growth due to the aging process

9. Perceptual Development
Perception of Patterns
Salapatek’s (1975) study, results shown on page 376, Figure 12.3
By 3 mos., babies prefer seeing facial patterns (Rosser, 1994)
Perception of Space
Gibson and Walk (1960) and the visual cliff
Stereopsis: depth perception gained fron each eye’s slightly different view

10. Critical Periods
Specific timeframes for experiences to occur in order to have normal development
Applies to behavioral, perceptual and cognitive abilities
Stresses importance of interaction between organism and environment

11. Cognitive Development
The importance of the environment
Watson and Ramey’s (1972) study with mobiles and movement, Figure 12.4, page 377
Retardation of infants raised in unstimulating environments

12. Jean Piaget’s Work
Cognitive Structures: Rules or mental representations used to understand the world and solve problems
Schemata: representations or rules for a specific category of behavior; encompasses execution and context of behavior

13. Piaget’s Basic Concepts
Assimilation: New experiences are changed to fit old schemata
Accomodation: Old schemata are changed by new experiences; results in new schemata or modified existing ones

14. Piaget’s 4 Periods of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor
Birth to 2 years
Object Permanence
Deferred imitation
Symbolic thinking
Preoperational
2 to 6 or 7 years
Increased symbolic thought ability
Egocentrism
Not yet able to solve conservation problems

15. Piaget’s Periods (cont’d)
Concrete operational
6 or 7 years to 11 years
Mastery of conservation
Understand categorization
No abstract thinking
Formal operational
11 years and up
Abstract thinking and hypothetical thought

16. Criticisms of Piaget
Some studies show that conservation can occur earlier than proposed when appropriate tasks used
Children can be less egocentric than Piaget thought
Did not always define terms operationally

17. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Culture plays a significant role in cognitive development
Studies support this hypothesis
Language serves as basis for cognitive development in remembering, problem solving, etc.
Importance of social interactions

18. Case’s M-Space Model
Mental Space (M-Space: much like short-term memory, functions to process info from the environment
Variables involved in expansion of M-Space
Brain maturation (physical capacity)
Practice effects
Acquisition of central conceptual structures

19. Fischer’s Skill Model Cognitive development requires skill learning
Optimal Level of Skill Performance: brain’s maximal capacity for processing information
New skills are acquired, practiced and perfected--lead to increases in reasoning and abstract thought

20. TV and Cognitive Development
Content
Sesame Street vs. Jerry Springer
Commercials aimed toward kids
Medium
“Mesmerizing effects”
Replacing reading or activity
Attention span
Cognitive passiveness

21. Social Development
Attachment: the lasting social and emotional bond between the infant and the caregiver
Interactions between infant and parent are crucial to attachment
Cultural variables have a strong influence in the attachment behaviors

22. Attachment Behaviors Sucking Cuddling Looking Smiling Crying
Harlow’s (1974) monkeys and surrogate mothers
Looking
Figure 12.8, p. 389
Tronick et al, 1978
Smiling
An effective reinforcer for both baby and parent
Crying
Different patterns may serve different purposes
Negative reinforcement effect

23. The Nature of Attachment
Stranger Anxiety: Fearful responses exhibited in the presence of strangers
Separation Anxiety: Fearful responses made when the caregiver leaves the infant

24. Ainsworth’s Strange Situation
Test of attachment that exposes the infant to events or stimuli that can cause distress
Secure Attachment: Ideal pattern of attachment
Resistant Attachment: Tension present in mother-child relation
Avoidant Attachment: Infant ignores mother

25. Interactions with Peers
Harlow’s Monkeys--Early social contact is crucial to forming later relationships
Isolation effects can be eliminated with “therapist monkeys”
Fuhrman, Rahe and Hartup (1979) generalized these results to human children

26. Parenting Approaches
Authoritarian parents: firm rules and punishment for breaking them
Permissive parents: few rules, not very many consequences
Authoritative parents: establish and enforce rules, but make allowances and explain consequences

27. Single-Parent and Divorced Families
Child’s development--similar to children from traditional family if mother finishes school and has social support
Younger children more negatively affected by divorce
Decreased parent conflict and interaction w/both parents reduce adverse affects

28. Development of Gender Roles
Gender identity: an individual’s own sense of being male or female
Gender roles: cultural expectations about the behaviors of men and women
Gender stereotypes: beliefs about the differences between men and women, has a strong effect on one’s acquisition of gender roles and identity

29. Gender Differences Girls: Boys: Develop earlier verbally
Express and interpret emotion more effectively
More compliant with adults and peers
Boys:
Show stronger spatial abilities
Show more aggression
Are more likely to take risks
More likely to have developmental problems

30. Causes of Gender Role Differences
Biological Causes
Exposure to male sex hormones in the brain
Differences in cognitive ability, reproduction issues may be results of evolution
Cultural Causes
Perceptions of boys and girls by adults and peers
Socialization by parents

31. Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development
Moral Realism:
From 5 to 10 years
Egocentrism
Blind adherence to rules
Can consider only the outcomes of an act, not the intent
Morality of cooperation:
Begins at 10 years
Rules are more flexible because they are social conventions
Can consider the effects of acts on others as well

32. Kolhberg’s Theory Preconventional Level Conventional Level
Morality of punishment and obedience
Morality of naïve instrumental hedonism
Conventional Level
Morality of maintaining good relations
Morality of maintaining social order

33. Kohlberg (cont’d) Postconventional Level See Table 12.3, page 398
Morality of social contracts
Morality of universal ethical principles
Morality of cosmic orientation
Very few people reach this level
See Table 12.3, page 398

34. Criticisms of These Theories
Piaget’s idea of moral realism may extend to adults in certain situations
Kohlberg and the wording of Heinz’s dilemma
Kohlberg’s theory gender-biased?

35. Adolescent Phase 13 years to about 20 years
End of this phase is culturally influenced
Thinking and reasoning become more “adultlike”
Identity crisis
Continued peer influences

36. Physical Development in Adolescence
Puberty: The period of the maturation of the reproductive system, starts the transition into adulthood
Gonads secrete sex hormones that cause the development of both primary and secondary sex characteristics

37. Social Development Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
People will encounter crises in social relations
Resolving these conflicts results in development
Psychosocial development never ends
See Table 12.4, page 401

38. Marcia’s 4 Identity Statuses
Crisis
YES NO
Identity
Achieved
Foreclosure
YES
Commitment
Moratorium
Identity
Diffusion NO

39. Identity and Self-Perception
Adolescents begin to expand their definitions of themselves using values or social characteristics
Sexual behavior increases
Friendships deepen
Family conflicts
Variable mood states

40. The Phases of Adulthood and Old Age
20 years to 65 years
Love and marriage
Career
Stability, then decrease in physical ability
Old Age
65 years until death
Reminiscing
Physical health deteriorates
Preparation for death
Death

41. Cognitive Development
Alzheimer’s Disease
Occurs in ~5% of the population
Most prevalent form of dementia
Progressive loss of memory and other mental functions
Associated with lower levels of acetylcholine, degeneration of the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, esp. association cortex of frontal & temporal lobes

42. Cognitive Development (cont’d)
Depression: another cause of mental deterioration
Crystallized and fluid intelligence
Abstract reasoning capacity (fluid) declines with age
Older people excel in crystallized intelligence
Speed of responses go down

43. Social Development Erikson’s Stages in Adulthood Levinson’s Crises
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Integrity vs. despair
Levinson’s Crises
Early in adulthood
Mid-Life

44. Death Kubler-Ross’ 5 Phases of Coping with Death Denial Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance

45. The End