1. Part 1: Genetics and infancy
Human Development
Part 1: Genetics and infancy

2. PSYCHOLOGY (8th Edition) David Myers
PowerPoint Slides
Mr. Mable
Tucker High School
2009

3. Developing Through the Life Span and Genetics Chapter 3&4

4. Developmental Psychology
Studies Lifespan Development
From the “Cradle to the Grave” or from the “Womb to the Tomb.”
What changes occur?
How do we reduce Negative effects?

5. Developmental Issues Continuity and Stages
Researchers who view development as a slow, continuous process are generally those who emphasize experience and learning. Biologists, on the other hand, view maturation and development as a series of genetically predisposed steps or stages. These include psychologists like Piaget, Kohlberg and Erikson.
OBJECTIVE 33| Summarize current views on continuity versus stages and stability versus change in lifelong development.

6. Developmental Issues Stability and Change
Lifelong development requires both stability and change. Personality gradually stabilizes as people age. However, this does not mean that our traits do not change over a lifetime. Some temperaments are more stable than others.

7. Nature vs. Nurture Issue
Nature - Heredity & Genetics
Nurture - Environmental Influences
Twin Studies are used to determine which is influencing our behavior. Longitudinal & Cross-sectional studies are also used.

8. Developmental Psychology
Issue
Details
Nature/Nurture
How do genetic inheritance (our nature) and experience (the nurture we receive) influence our behavior?
Continuity/Stages
Is developmental a gradual, continuous process or a sequence of separate stages?
Stability/Change
Do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as we age.
OBJECTIVE 1| State the three areas of change that developmental psychologists study, and identify the three major issues in developmental psychology.

9. Genetic Basics Each Parent contributes 23 Chromosomes
A Human has a total of 46 Chromosomes
Each Chromosome contains DNA
Genotype (Underlying Trait)
Phenotype (Observable Trait)
Dominant vs. Recessive Genes

10. Punnet Square (Genetic %)

11. Genetic Possibilities

12. Developing Through the Life Span
Prenatal Development and the Newborn
Conception
Prenatal Development
The Competent Newborn
Infancy and Childhood
Physical Development
Cognitive Development

13. Prenatal Development and the Newborn
How, over time, did we come to be who we are? From zygote to birth, development progresses in an orderly, though fragile, sequence.

14. Conception
A single sperm cell (male) penetrates the outer coating of the egg (female) and fuses to form one fertilized cell.
OBJECTIVE 2| Describe the union of sperm and egg at conception.
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company

15. Prenatal Development
A zygote is a fertilized cell with 100 cells that become increasingly diverse. At about 14 days the zygote turns into an embryo (a and b).
OBJECTIVE 3| Define zygote, embryo and fetus, and explain how teratogens can affect development.
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
Biophoto Associates/ Photo Researchers, Inc.

16. Prenatal Development
At 9 weeks, an embryo turns into a fetus (c and d). Teratogens are chemicals or viruses that can enter the placenta and harm the developing fetus.
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company

17. Prenatal Risks Teratogens – Poisons that can pass through the Placenta
Radiation
Toxic Industrial Chemicals (Mercury)
Diseases: Rubella, AIDS, Herpes, Syphallis
Drugs: Alcohol, Cocaine, Heroin
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome & Birth Defects

18. Common Birth Defects

19. Down’s Syndrome
People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, or part of it. They suffer a mild mental retardation

20. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

21. Symptoms of FAS low birth weight small head circumference
failure to thrive
developmental delay
organ dysfunction
facial abnormalities, epilepsy
poor coordination/fine motor skills
poor socialization skills,
lack of imagination or curiosity
learning difficulties
behavioral problems
Hyperactivity
inability to concentrate,

22. Tay-Sachs Disease Deterioration of the Central Nervous System
Defective enzyme (hexosaminidase A)
Recessive Gene (Genetic Disorder)
1/3500 (common in Ashkenazi Jews)

23. Turner’s Syndrome
Turner’s Syndrome
Caused by a single X-chromosome.

24. Klinefelter’s syndrome
47 XXY
Caused by and
extra X chromosome
in males
1 out of 1,000 live male births

25. Phenylketonuria PKU Brain fails to develop in Infancy
Defective Enzyme (phenylalanine hydroxylase)
Recessive Gene
1/12,000

26. Cystic Fibrosis Mucus clogs lungs, liver, and pancreas
Failure of chloride ion transport system
Recessive Gene
1/2500 (Caucasians)
Results in premature death

27. Sickle Cell Anemia Poor blood circulation
Abnormal Hemoglobin molecules
Recessive Gene
1/625 (African Americans)

28. Hemophilia Blood fails to clot Defective blood clotting factor VII
Sex Linked Recessive Gene
1/10,000 (males)

29. Huntington’s Disease Brain tissue gradually deteriorates in middle age
Production of an inhibitor of brain cell metabolism
Dominant Gene
1/24,000
Results in death

30. Muscular Dystrophy Muscles waste away
Degradation of myelin coating on nerves stimulating muscles
Sex-Linked Recessive Gene
1/3700 (Males)

31. Stages of Life Chart
Prenatal:
Conception
Zygote
Embryo
Fetus
Birth

32. Stages of Life Chart Infancy (Birth to 2 years old)
Childhood (2 through puberty)
Adolescence (Puberty to 20)
Young Adulthood (20 to 40)
Middle Adulthood (40 to 60)
Late Adulthood (60 to 80+)

33. INFANCY
Birth to 2 years Old

34. Physical Development- Children
Very poor eyesight at birth (visual cliff)
Cephalocaudal Development (head to toe)
Brain is only 25% of adult size & lbs.
Dendrites & neural connections must increase & Myelin must grow creating faster, more coordinated movements.

35. Infant Reflexes
Babinski Response - fanning out of toes as sole of foot is stroked

36. Infants are born with reflexes that aid in survival to locate food.
The Competent Newborn
Infants are born with reflexes that aid in survival to locate food.
Sucking - occurs when lips are touched
Rooting- turning head as cheek is touched
OBJECTIVE 4| Describe some of the abilities of the newborn, and explain how researchers use habituation to assess infant sensory and cognitive abilities.

37. Infant Reflexes Grasping- when palm is touched
Moro - Startle reflex : arching back with flailing of arms & legs

38. Cognitive Development in the Newborn
Investigators study infants becoming habituated to objects over a period of time. Infants pay more attention to new objects than habituated ones, which shows they are learning.

39. Infancy and Childhood
Infancy and childhood span from birth to the teenage years. During these years, the individual grows physically, cognitively, and socially.
Stage
Span
Infancy
Newborn to toddler
Childhood
Toddler to teenager

40. THE JOB OF CHILDREN IS TO PLAY!!!!
Physical Development
Infants’ psychological development depends on their biological development. To understand the emergence of motor skills and memory, we must understand the developing brain.
THE JOB OF CHILDREN IS TO PLAY!!!!

41. Developing Brain
The developing brain overproduces neurons. Peaking around 28 billion at 7 months, these neurons are pruned to 23 billion at birth. The greatest neuronal spurt is in the frontal lobe enabling the individual to think rationally.
OBJECTIVE 5| Describe some developmental changes in the child’s brain, and explain why maturation accounts for many of our similarities.

42. Maturation
The development of the brain unfolds based on genetic instructions, causing various bodily and mental functions to occur in sequence— standing before walking, babbling before talking—this is called maturation.
Maturation sets the basic course of development, while experience adjusts it.

43. Motor Development
First, infants begin to roll over. Next, they sit unsupported, crawl, and finally walk. Experience has little effect on this sequence.
OBJECTIVE 6| Outline four events in the motor development sequence from birth to toddlerhood, and evaluate the effects of maturation and experience on that sequence.
Renee Altier for Worth Publishers
Phototake Inc./ Alamy Images
Profimedia.CZ s.r.o./ Alamy
Jim Craigmyle/ Corbis

44. Maturation and Infant Memory
The earliest age of conscious memory is around 3½ years (Bauer, 2002). A 5-year-old has a sense of self and an increased long-term memory, thus organization of memory is different from 3-4 years.
OBJECTIVE 7| Explain why we have few memories of experiences during our first three years of life.
Courtesy of Carolyn Rovee-Collier
Amy Pedersen

45. Cognitive Development
Piaget believed that the driving force behind intellectual development is our biological development amidst experiences with the environment. Our cognitive development is shaped by the errors we make.
OBJECTIVE 8| State Piaget’s understanding of how the mind develops, and discuss the importance of assimilation and accommodation in this process.
Both photos: Courtesy of Judy DeLoache

46. Schemas are mental molds into which we pour our experiences.

47. Assimilation and Accommodation
The process of assimilation involves incorporating new experiences into our current understanding (schema). The process of adjusting a schema and modifying it is called accommodation.
Bill Anderson/ Photo Researchers, Inc.
Jean Piaget with a subject

48. Piaget’s Theory and Current Thinking
OBJECTIVE 9| Outline Piaget’s four main stages of cognitive development, and comment on how children’s thinking changes during these four stages.

49. Sensorimotor Stage
In the sensorimotor stage, babies take in the world by looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping. Children younger than 6 months of age do not grasp object permanence, i.e., objects that are out of sight are also out of mind.
Doug Goodman

50. Object Permanence

51. Sensorimotor Stage: Criticisms
Piaget believed children in the sensorimotor stage could not think —they do not have any abstract concepts or ideas.
However, recent research shows that children in the sensorimotor stage can think and count.
Children understand the basic laws of physics. They are amazed at how a ball can stop in midair or disappear.

52. Sensorimotor Stage: Criticisms
2. Children can also count. Wynn (1992, 2000) showed that children stared longer at the wrong number of objects than the right ones.

53. Ontario Science Center
Preoperational Stage
Piaget suggested that from 2 years old to about 6-7 years old, children are in the preoperational stage—too young to perform mental operations… Characterized by one-dimensional thinking
Ontario Science Center

54. Law of Conservation

55. Law of Conservation

56. Preoperational Stage: Criticism
DeLoache (1987) showed that children as young as 3 years of age are able to use metal operations. When shown a model of a dog’s hiding place behind the couch, a 2½-year-old could not locate the stuffed dog in an actual room, but the 3-year-old did.

57. Egocentrism
Piaget concluded that preschool children are egocentric. They cannot perceive things from another’s point of view.
When asked to show her picture to mommy, 2-year-old Gabriella holds the picture facing her own eyes, believing that her mother can see it through her eyes.

58. The problem on the right probes such ability in children.
Theory of Mind
Preschoolers, although still egocentric, develop the ability to understand another’s mental state when they begin forming a theory of mind.
The problem on the right probes such ability in children.

59. Concrete Operational Stage
In concrete operational stage, given concrete materials, 6- to 7-year-olds grasp conservation problems and mentally pour liquids back and forth into glasses of different shapes conserving their quantities.
Children in this stage understand conservation and can think in TWO Dimensions

60. Formal Operational Stage
Around age 12, our reasoning ability expands from concrete thinking to abstract thinking. We can now use symbols and imagined realities to systematically reason. Piaget called this formal operational thinking.

61. Formal Operational Stage
Rudiments of such thinking begin earlier (age 7) than what Piaget suggested, since 7-year-olds can solve the problem below (Suppes, 1982).
If John is in school, Mary is in school. John is in school. What can you say about Mary?

62. Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory
Piaget’s stage theory has been influential globally, validating a number of ideas regarding growth and development in many cultures and societies. However, today’s researchers believe the following:
Development is a continuous process.
Children express their mental abilities and operations at an earlier age.
Formal logic is a smaller part of cognition.
OBJECTIVE 10| Discuss psychologists’ current views on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.