Chapter 3

List and discuss the stages of prenatal development List harmful influences on prenatal development List and discuss the motor and sensory capacitites of newborns and infants Define terms associated with the concept of attachment, and describe the research methodology

 development_ bc development_ bc  Maturation = the sequential unfolding of genetically influenced behavior and physical characteristics  3 Stages of prenatal development  Germinal Stage: 0-14 days: fertilized egg (zygote) divides and attaches to the uterine wall; outside becomes placenta, inner part becomes embryo  Embryonic stage: after implantation (about 2 weeks) to 8 th week: embryo develops, organs and limbs develop (heart and liver), testosterone is secreted in males  Fetal Stage – after 8 th week, further development and brain weight marked increase in nervous system development and brain weight. 4 th month = movement 5 th month = can identify gender 6 th month = organs more fully developed (baby could survive outside of womb)

 Harmful influences that can cross the placental barrier  German measles  Radiation  Toxic chemicals  STDs  Cigarette smoking  Heavy alcohol consumption  Prescription and nonprescription drugs

 Premature birth  Smaller in weight, though not always in length  Less physically & cognitively developed  Usually up to 2 months early still has a fighting chance  Teratogens  Noxious substance or factors that can disrupt prenatal development  X-rays: disrupt development of brain cells  Drugs: abnormal physical & psychological development  Alcohol: FAS; mental retardation, facial disfigurement

 Physical abilities  Newborns have functional motor reflexes  Newborns are able to see, but are nearsighted Will show evidence of depth perception within a few months Prefer faces  Many aspects of development depend on cultural customs  Attachment – provides a secure base from which children can explore  The Harlows demonstrated the importance of touching, or contact comfort   Between 7 and 9 months, babies may show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety until the middle of the second year or later

 Ainsworth experiment: the Strange Situation in which the baby’s behavior is observed when the mother leaves the baby with a stranger  Securely attached children are clearly more attached to the mother  Insecurely attached children show avoidance or anxiety   Factors affecting attachment  Neglect, abuse, and deprivation adversely affect attachment, however, differences in normal child- rearing practices have no effect  Daycare does not affect attachment  Temperament, chronic stress, and rejection can affect attachment  Cultural expectations play a role

Describe the stages of language development List and explain the fundamental principles of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development Describe the stages of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development Evaluate Piaget’s theory of cognitive development Explain the principles of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and describe the stages Summarize the criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

 From cooing to communicating  In first months, babies responsive to pitch, intensity and sound of language; people talk to babies with more varied pitch and intonation  By 4-6 months, babies have learned many basic sounds of their language, and over time lose ability to perceive speech sounds in another language  Between 6-12 months, babies enter the babbling phase; infants become more familiar with the sound structure of their native language  Starting at around 11 months, babies develop repertoire of symbolic gestures; gestures spur language learning  Between months, 2-3 word combinations are produced; first combinations have a telegraphic quality

 The innate capacity for language  Chomsky observed that children can figure out a sentences deep structure from the surface structure, therefore the brain must contain a language acquisition device that enables children to develop language if they are exposed to it Children everywhere go through similar stages of linguistic development Children combine words in ways that adults never would, so they could not simply be imitating adults Adults do not consistently correct their children’s syntax  Language development depends on both biological readiness and social experience; there is a critical period for language development

 Piaget proposed that children must make two types of mental adaptations  Assimilation – fitting new information into present system of knowledge, beliefs, and schemas (categories of things and people)  Accommodation – must change or modify existing schemas to accommodate new information that doesn’t fit

 Piaget’s cognitive stages  Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years old) Infants learn through concrete actions; “thinking” consists of coordinating sensory information with bodily movements Begin to understand object permanence at around six months; involves understanding that something continues to exist even if you can’t see it or touch it Object permanence represents the beginning of representational thought-ability to use mental imagery and other symbolic

 Preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7) Accelerated use of symbols and language in play and in imitation of adult behavior Limitations Cannot reason or use abstract principles (called operations) Piaget believed thinking was egocentric – that preoperational children are unable to take the point of view of another bh0&NR=1&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1 bh0&NR=1&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1 Cannot grasp conservation – notion that physical properties do not change when forms or appearances change Concrete operations stage (ages 7 to 11) Accomplishments – understand conservation, reversibility, cause and effect, identity, mathematical operations, serial ordering Thinking is still concrete, not abstract – grounded in concrete experiences Formal Operations Stage (ages 12 to adulthood) Beginning of abstract reasoning Can reason systematically, think about the future, think about situations they have not experienced firsthand

 Evaluating Piaget  Shifts from stage to stage not as sweeping or clear- cut as Piaget implied  Children understand more than Piaget gave them credit for Infants as young as 4 months show understanding of some physics principles Children advance more rapidly in their symbolic activities  Preschoolers are not as egocentric as Piaget though  Children’s cognitive development depends on education and culture  Piaget overestimated the cognitive skills of many adults Some people never develop the capacity for formal operations Other people continue to think concretely unless a specific problem requires abstract though  Most psychologists accept Piaget’s major point, that new reasoning abilities depend on the emergence of previous ones  Most people agree that children actively interpret their worlds

List the various parental styles of child-rearing and discuss the effects of each

 Power Assertion  Involves threats, physical punishment, denial of privileges  Associated with a lack of moral feelings and behavior, and with negative outcomes for children  Leads to aggressiveness and poor impulse control in children  These parents do not: state clear rules, require compliance, consistently punish violations, or praise good behavior  Induction  More successful at teaching moral feelings and behavior  The parent appeals to the child’s own resources, affection for others, and sense of responsibility  Tends to produce children who behave morally on many different measures and who have high self-esteem  Used by authoritative parents who give emotional support and encourage two-way communication

 Most parents are inconsistent depending on mood, stress, etc.  Some children turn out different DESPITE parenting. WHY?  The child’s temperament affects parenting style Authoritarian with impulsive Permissive with easy going, punitive with defiant Children respond differently to discipline  Peers affect the child enormously How successful are your peers? Does that influence your success? Are they hard-workers? What is “nerdy”?  So do parents matter??  They affect a child’s behavior and social development  Self-esteem