Developmental Unit 9

Zygote Embryo Fetus PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT conception – 2 weeks period of rapid cell division Embryo 2 weeks – 3 months cells attach to mother’s uterine wall & organs develop Fetus 3 months - birth developing human organism

Prenatal Development - TERATOGENS TERATOGENS: Agents that can reach the developing embryo or fetus and cause harm Alcohol Nicotine Drugs (both prescription drugs & “street” drugs) Viruses (the flu) Toxoplasmosis (contact with cat feces) Food poisoning

Neonate (newborn) REFLEXES Rooting Grasping Startle (Moro Reflex) Sucking, swallowing, breathing

Babies like to look at complex shapes & faces INFANT VISION A baby’s vision improves dramatically during the first 6 months as children become able to accommodate (focus) NEWBORN Babies’ vision is 40x less accurate than adults at seeing fine details 1 MONTH Most of the cells in the visual cortex are not yet coated in myelin. Poor contrast sensitivity & color recognition. 2 MONTHS A newborns rods are fairly mature but their cones are not, making it difficult to decipher fine lines and color. 3 MONTHS Dramatic change occurs as the visual cotex begins to control vision better. Vision has caught up to other senses. Depth perception is still not accurate. 6 MONTHS A baby can focus at different distances as well as an adult can. Their ability to see fine details is only 8xworse than ours, 5x better than it was at birth. ADULT Between age 6-7 years, a child’s vision reaches adult values Babies like to look at complex shapes & faces

Senses & Social Responsiveness Sound: Turn towards human voices Mother’s voice- suck more vigorously Sight: Gaze longer at human faces vs. random images (bulls-eye/target) Smell: Week old; detect mother’s scent over stranger

Newborn Capacities Habituation: describes infants’ decreasing responsiveness to repeated stimuli. Researchers infer that newborns have cognitive ability to differentiate between different visual stimuli.

MATURATION: In terms of brain development, natural maturation causes neural interconnection to multiply rapidly after birth. However, severe deprivation and abuse will retard development. Furthermore, increased stimulation will cause early neural connections. Maturation sets the basic course of development; experience adjusts it.

Normal Maturation

Piaget & Cognitive Development SCHEMA A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information Assimilation Accommodation Make new information fit into existing schemas Adjust your schema to fit new information

“Heart” = SCHEMA Assimilation Accommodation Make new information fit into existing schemas Accommodation Adjusting your schema to fit new information

Law of Conservation (Concrete Operational Stage) Children (age 6-12) gain a fuller understanding of conservation and other mental operations that allow them to think logically, but only about concrete events. By age 7, develop law of Conservation Not yet  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLj0IZFLKvg There we go  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA04ew6Oi9M

Tests of Conservation

IMPRINTING: Owen the baby hippo & Mzee, the 130-year-old tortoise the process by which animals form attachments during a limited critical period early in life Owen the baby hippo & Mzee, the 130-year-old tortoise

Harry HARLOW Conducted a study of attachment in monkeys. (1963-1968). key name Harry HARLOW 1905-1981 Conducted a study of attachment in monkeys. (1963-1968). Monkeys preferred the comfort of a cloth surrogate "mother" over that of a wire one – proving that attachment is about more than just supplying food . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I Worked with Maslow at U Wisconsin

Baby Monkeys Raised In Isolation Overly aggressive or; Overly fearful Incapable of mating when older

PARENTING STYLES (Diana BAUMRIND) “Because I said so.” AUTHORITARIAN rhymes with “Totalitarian” Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience. “Whatever.” PERMISSIVE Permissive parents submit to their child’s desires, make few demands and use little punishment. “Let’s talk about it.” AUTHORITATIVE Authoritative parents encourage open discussion and allow for exceptions when enforcing rules.

What’s Best? Authoritative: Authoritarian: Permissive: Highest self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competency Authoritarian: Less social skills and self-esteem Permissive: More aggressive and less mature