Development over the Lifespan Notes

Prenatal (9 months)  Physical Development  Takes place over about 40 weeks  Fastest physical growth  Compared to every other stage  Genotype  Phenotype  Teratogen

Genotype  Genetic Make-up  XX = female  XY = male  23 Chromosomal Pairs  23 rd pair determines sex of the baby

Phenotype  Physical Characteristics  Attached earlobe vs. Unattached  Eye Color  Hair Color attachedunattached

Teratogen  Any environmental factor or disease- causing agent that can harm a fetus  Fetal Alcohol Syndrome  “Crack Babies”  AIDS  X-Rays  Don’t stand too close to the microwave  Mercury (Found in Fish)

Infancy (0-2 years)  Physical Development  Skill begins to replace reflex  Grasping, sucking, blinking, rooting, plantar  Growth rate decline from Prenatal Stage

Infancy  Social Development  Harry Harlow’s Theories  Secure/Insecure Attachment  Stranger Anxiety  Peaks at 6 months  Separation Anxiety  Peaks at 18 months 

Secure Attachment  After numerous positive experiences with a caregiver, the infant begins to become attached to that caregiver  After a while, the infant trusts that the caregiver will take care of them

Infants who are securely attached will…  Exhibit less stress  Also have less extreme reactions to it  More willing to try new things/explore  Be better problem solvers  Form better relationships

Insecure Attachment  Develops in infants that have negative or unpredictable experiences with the caregiver  Learn that adults are not predictable and therefore not trustworthy

Infants with insecure attachment will…  Refuse interactions with others  Avoid relationships  Exaggerate stress/distress  Show anger, anxiety and fear

Infancy  Cognitive Development  Prefer Face-like patterns  Do NOT like masks  Love Peek-a-boo  Baby Einstein Videos  Visual Cliff  Bad with depth perception  Can’t figure out depth perception before crawling stage  m/watch?v=p6cqNhHrMJ A#t=30 m/watch?v=p6cqNhHrMJ A#t=30

Childhood (2 – Middle School Age)  Physical Development  More extensive neural networks  More complexity of thought  Critical thinking skills  Growth rate declines again

Childhood  Social Development  Gender Identity  Independence

Childhood  Cognitive Development  Learning  Language  The roots of language are still very malleable but they are starting to take shape here  Thinking skills  More complex, critical thought

4 Major Theories of Development  Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development  Piaget’s Stages Cognitive Development  Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development  Kohlberg’s ideas on Moral Development

Adolescence (about 9-19)  Physical Development  Physical growth and maturation  Muscle development  Bones become denser  Sexual Development  Puberty  Hormone production increases

Adolescence  Social Development  Peer groups become more important than family  Attraction to the opposite sex heightens  Development of relationships (dating)  3 main issues  Pregnancy  Eating Disorders  Depression/Suicide  Even more so today

Cognitive  Cognitive Development  Logical and hypothetical thinking  Introspective thought  Pshhh… teens, logical?

Adulthood (20s – Late 50s)  Physical Development  Peak Physical Ability  Declines by 1% each year  Women = menopause  Idiosyncratic  Happens sometime between late 30s – early 50s

Adulthood  Social Development  Mate selection  Monogamous polygamous relationship  Parenting  Career Selection  Social groups moves back towards the family

Adulthood  Cognitive Development  Reaction time (mental) declines  Depending on how mentally active one stays  Memory slowly declines  More rapidly towards the end of adulthood

Later Years (60s+)  Physical Development  Decline in muscle tone and strength  Decline in sensory abilities and reaction time  Aches and pains in joints  Bone and muscle deterioration

Later Years  Social Development  Retirement  Become more isolated  Return to the family dynamic  Lack of mobility  Decline in health

Later Years  Cognitive Development  Cognitive Declines continue depending on how mentally active you stay  Memory  Mental acuity

Research Methods  Cross-Sectional  Varying ages tested at any given time  Ex:  Longitudinal  Same group of subjects over a long period of time  Ex:  Historical  Historical circumstances of an era  Ex: