1. Chalalai taesilapasathit Faculty of liberal arts, Thammasat university
Human Development
Chalalai taesilapasathit
Faculty of liberal arts, Thammasat university

2. What is Development?
Growth, evolution, maturation, expansion, enlargement, etc.
Developmental psychology:
the study of the pattern of growth and change that occur throughout life.
Change consists of growth and decline.

3. Nature vs. Nurture
Degree to which environment and heredity influence behavior
Nature:
Biological inheritance
Nurture:
Environmental experiences
Self:
Individual takes active role in own development.

4. McGraw-Hill Education

5. Characteristics Influenced Significantly by Genetic Factors

6. Early vs. Later Experience
Which has a greater impact?
Life-span developmentalist stress that researchers have given too little attention to adult development and aging.
Resilience:
- A person’s ability to recover from or adapt to difficult times
- Resilient children become capable adults.
- A key concept that helps developmental psychologists understand the role of negative early life experiences on later development.

7. Human Development Childhood
Starting from conception through elementary school years
Adolescence
Between the ages of 10 and 12 through 18 to 21
Adulthood and Aging
Early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood

8. Childhood Development
Prenatal development:
Germinal period (Weeks 1 – 2)
- Conception and fertilization
- Zygote: new cell formed by the union of an egg and sperm
Embryonic period (Weeks 3 – 8)
- Differentiation of tissue and organ formation
- Developed zygote that has a heart, a brain, and other organs
Fetal period (Months 2 – 9)
- Development of functionality from 8 weeks after conception

9. Childhood Development
Prenatal development: Threats to fetus
Preterm infants: born before week 38
- Unable to develop fully in utero, infants are at higher risk for illness, future problems, and death
Genetic influences: Down syndrome
Teratogens: environmental agents that produce birth defect
- Alcohol, drug use, nicotine
- Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
- Mother’s nutrition and emotional state

10. Environmental Factors
and
Development
McGraw-Hill Education

11. Childhood Development
Physical development in infancy and childhood
During the period of infancy (from 18 to 24 months)
More physical development than during any other period of life
Children gain triple birth weight during first year of life
From age 3 to adolescence, average growth of 5 pounds and 3 inches per year

12. Childhood Development
Physical Development
Reflexes: Unlearned, involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli
Rooting reflex
Sucking reflex
Startle reflex
Babinski reflex

13. Voluntary Movement Milestones

14. Childhood Development
Development of the Senses
Neonates can follow objects moving within their field of vision. They also show the beginnings of depth perception as they react by raising their hands when an object appears to be moving rapidly toward their face.
Visual abilities grow rapidly after birth
Distinguishing different sounds: Recognizing mother’s voice at the age of 3 days
Distinguishing taste and smell

15. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior
Attachment: Positive emotional bound that develops between a child and a particular individual
Konrad Lorenz’s imprint theory:
Focuses on newborn goslings
Imprinting is behavior that takes place during a critical period and involves attachment to the first moving object observed
Harry Harlow’s study on attachment:
Wire monkey vs. Cloth monkey

16. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior
Assessing attachment: Ainsworth strange situation
Involving a child and caregiver (typically mother)
Securely attached children
Avoidant children
Ambivalent children
Disorganized-disoriented children

17. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior
Father’s role:
Number of fathers who are primary caregivers for their children has grown significantly
Engage in more physical, rough- and-tumble activities
Nature of attachment to children can be similar to that of mother’s

18. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior
Social relationships with peers:
Helps children interpret the meaning of others’ behavior and develop the capacity to respond appropriately
Helps children learn physical and emotional self-control
Provides children with opportunities for social interaction, enhancing their social development

19. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior
Consequences of child care outside the home:
High-quality care centers can positively impact the child
Children in child care are more considerate and sociable than other children
Children in child care interact more positively with teachers
Intellectually more stimulating
Low-quality child care provides little or no gain and may even hinder development

20. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior: Parenting styles and social development

21. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior
Temperament:
Is basic, innate characteristic way of responding and behavioral style
Resilience is ability to overcome circumstances that place children at high risk for psychological or even physical harm

22. Childhood Development
Development of Social Behavior
Socioemotional development:
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development
Psychosocial development is development of individuals’ interactions and understanding of each other and of their knowledge and understanding of themselves as members of society
Socioemotional development in childhood: From trust to industry

24. Childhood Development
Cognitive Development : The process by which a child’s understanding of the world changes as a function of age and experience Piaget’s theory of cognitive development:

25. Childhood Development
Cognitive Development
Information-Processing Approaches:
The way in which people take in, use, and store information
Working memory is linked to many aspects of child development. Children with better working memory are more advanced in reading comprehension, math skills, and problem solving.
Executive function refers to higher-order, complex cognitive processes such as thinking, planning, and problem solving, and it manages one’s ability to engage in goal-directed behaviors.
Parents and teachers play an important role in the development of executive functioning.

26. Adolescence
Becoming an Adult: Developmental stage between childhood and adulthood
Puberty:
Period at which maturation of the sexual organs occurs beginning at about age 11 or 12 years for girls (menstruation), and 13 or 14 years for boys (spermarche).

27. The Range of Ages During which Major Sexual Changes Occur

28. Adolescence Moral and Cognitive Development
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development:
Changes in moral reasoning can be understood as a three-level sequence:
Preconventional morality
Conventional morality
Postconventional morality
Difficulty with the theory: Pertains to judgments, not moral behavior

29. Adolescence The Search for Identity
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development:
Identity is a distinguishing character of the individual
Who each of us is, what our roles are, and what we are capable of

30. Adolescence Stormy Adolescence Myth or Reality?
Adolescent egocentrism: State of self-absorption in which a teenager views the world from his own point of view
Personal fables: Belief that one’s experience is unique, exceptional, and shared by no one else

31. Adolescence Social Development Finding oneself in a social world:
Adolescent suicide: Third leading cause of death for adolescents
Warning sings:
School problems Frequent incidents of self-destructive behavior
Loss of appetite or excessive eating Withdrawal from friends and peers
Sleeping problems Preoccupation with death
Putting affairs in order Explicit announcement of suicidal thoughts
Signs of depression, tearfulness, or overt indications of psychological difficulties

32. Adulthood and Aging Emerging adult Five key features
Period beginning in the late teenage years and extending into the mid-twenties
Five key features
Identity exploration
Instability
Self-focus
Feeling “in between”
Age of possibilities

33. Adulthood and Aging Physical Development: The Peak of Health
Early Adulthood:
Peak of physical development
Middle Adulthood:
Most lose height, many gain weight
Menopause for women (late 40s or early 50s)
Late Adulthood:
Accumulated wear and tear
Less ability to repair and regenerate

34. Adulthood and Aging Social Development: Working at Life
People typically launch themselves into careers, marriage, and families during this period
Midlife transition – Period when people may begin to question their lives
Midlife crisis

35. Adulthood and Aging Marriage, Children, and Divorce: Family Ties
Changes in marriage and divorce trends have doubled the number of single-parent households in the United States over the last two decades
Probability of divorce
Economic and emotional consequences for the single-parent households
Often economically less well off
Children: parents’ divorce may result in obstacles establishing close relationships later in life
Children: may blame themselves, or feel pressure to take sides

36. Adulthood and Aging
Changing Roles of Men and Women: The Time of Their Lives
More women act simultaneously as wives, mothers, and wage earners
Women’s “second shift”
Additional work performed by women with a career and home responsibilities

37. Adulthood and Aging Physical Changes in Late Adulthood: The Aging Body
Genetic preprogramming theories of aging:
Suggest that human cells have a built-in time limit to their reproduction and that they are no longer able to divide after a certain time
Wear-and-tear theories of aging:
Suggest that the mechanical functions of the body simply stop working efficiently

38. Adulthood and Aging Socioemotional Development
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development:
From intimacy to ego integrity

40. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development: Stage 1 to 8

41. Adulthood and Aging
Cognitive Changes: Thinking About – and During – Late Adulthood
Fluid intelligence: Information-processing skills such as memory, calculations, and analogy
Shows decline in late adulthood
Crystallized intelligence: Based on the accumulation of information, skills, and strategies learned through experience
Remains steady and in some cases improves

42. Age-Related Changes in Intellectual Skills Vary

43. Adulthood and Aging
Cognitive Changes: Thinking About – and During – Late Adulthood
Memory changes in late adulthood: Are older adults forgetful?
Senility – Severe cases of memory decline accompanied by other cognitive difficulties
Alzheimer’s disease: Progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities

44. Adulthood and Aging
Cognitive Changes: Thinking About – and During – Late Adulthood
Social world of late adulthood: Old but not alone
Disengagement theory of aging: Suggests that aging produces a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels
Activity theory of aging: Suggests that successful aging is characterized by maintaining the interests and activities of earlier stages of life
Life review: Process by which people examine and evaluate their lives

45. Adulthood and Aging Adjusting to Death
Five stages of facing impending death suggested by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance