Unit 1 Objectives

Chapter 1

1. Describe what is is we will be studying in Lifespan Development and the importance

of the terms interdisciplinary and applied. What do you think you will appreciate learning in
this course?
Developmental psychology is a science which involves the study of understanding how
we change and how and in what ways we might remain the same as we go through the
lifespan. Because it is lifespan development we look at an individual from conception
to death. This study looks at those things that affect us and contribute to the ways we
may change over our lifetime.
The concept applied means that we dont just study development and how things affect
us in life, but that those studies can be applied in ways to improve our lives. The book
gives the example of how studies provide us information on child-rearing, and how to
help people adjust from loss. Because we will all experience loss in our life, it is
helpful to know how people can help us survive such a loss. This
science(developmental psychology) is valuable as it can be used to positively affect
lives.
The idea that lifespan development knowledge comes from a combined effort of other
fields of study is the called interdisciplinary. The book discusses how psychology,
sociology, anthropology, biology and neuroscience combine their work and contribute
to research by combining and assisting in research to help the areas of education, public
health and social services. In other words it is a study of those areas in human
development by a wide range of sciences that can provide service providers the
information that help them better serve people. For example, knowing how and when to
teach a child based on their brain development would be a contribution that would help
the education system help children. That would be developmental psychology with
contributions from several different sciences.
I think Ill like learning about all stages of life, from conception to death. Although
death is a depressing subject, it is something everyone will go through at some point.

2.Describe factors that sparked the emergence of the lifespan perspective, and
explain all the assumptions described in the text that make up this point of view.

The factors that sparked the emergence of the life span perspective are three basic issues.
Continuous development is a view that everyone responds to the world in the same way not
matter what the age. The difference is the amount of complexity between the infant and the
adult. This point of view believes that all ages have a similar perception of things, therefore
changes in thinking is continuous. Discontinuous development is development that takes place
in stages. This point of view believes that each person, starting at infancy takes steps in each
stage of development to reach maturity with periods of rapid transformation.
The second issue is, is there one course of development or many? Stage theorists believe that
everyone in the world follows the same sequence of development. The field of human
development believes a persons personal and environmental influence; result in their path of
change.
Contemporary theorists believe development is multi layered and complex. The personal side
includes heredity and biological makeup. The environmental side includes their home, school,
neighborhood, and circumstances.
The third issue is the nature vs nurture controversy. Nature is the heredity information
received from our parents and nurture is the physical and social world around us that influences
our biological makeup and psychological experiences.
3. Explain in general the contributions to developmental psychology by Darwin, Freud,
Piaget, Erickson, Watson, and Bandura. Who do you find most interesting and why?
Charles Darwin is best known for his theory of human evolution. His theory focused on
natural selection and survival of the fittest. His belief was that if a species had characteristics
that fit into their environment allowing them to adapt they would survive. If a species didnt fit
into their environment they would die. Only the strongest and able to adapt would reproduce
and pass on their genetics to future generations.
Darwin believed we had a lot in common with other animals, especially apes. His research
prompted others to pursue research in psychology of individual differences such as
intelligence.
Freuds contribution to developmental psychology is the psychoanalytic perspective. People
move through stages and confront conflicts in their lives. How they resolve these conflicts
determines their ability to learn, get along with people and cope with anxiety. His
psychosexual theory states that its how parents manage their childs sexual and aggressiveness
in the first few years that determine their personality development. In his theory there are three
parts of the personality. The id is the largest portion and is responsible for our needs and

desires. The ego is the rational part of our personality that directs the ids impulses. The
superego/conscience develops as parents teach their children societys values. All three of
these determine a persons personality during their early years. His theory stressed the
importance of early parent and child relationships on development.
Erik Eriksons contribution to development psychology is his psychosocial theory, which
expands on Freuds theory of id, ego, and superego. The ego mediates between the id and
superego, helping the person develop skills and attitudes that make them an asset to society.
Erikson used Freuds first five states of his psychosexual stages which start at birth and go up
until adolescence. Erikson added three more which were early adulthood, middle adulthood
and old age.
The psychoanalytic perspective research of Freud and Erikson sparked a lot of research on
emotional and social development during the persons life span.
Watsons focus was on traditional behaviorism and he used what was learned from Pavlovs
animal studies using classical conditioning and applied to children to see if he could elicit the
same type of response. In one of his experiments he taught an 11month old boy to fear a
neutral stimulus which was a rat by showing it to him several times and making a loud sound
which scared the baby. The boy had an intense fear of the rat he was eager to pet at first that
the ethics of these studies were challenged. Watson concluded that adults can mold a childs
behavior by controlling the stimulus in their environment.
Albert Bandura contribution to development psychology is the social learning theory, which
focuses on modeling, also known as imitation or observational learning. Observational
learning is something that is observed by someone the person looks up to. For example, a child
may hit because at home he is hit or a friend may dress or have the same hairstyle as you. His
revised theory places a strong emphasis on cognition and social cognition. He believes as
children grow they develop standards for behavior and self-efficacy.
Behaviorism and social learning have been helpful to people who have adjustment problems.
Behavior modification has helped children and adults with issues such as poor time
management and unwanted habits.
Jean Piagets contribution was his cognitive-developmental theory which states that children
construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. His view was influenced by
his training in biology. His theory was children move through four stages as their brain and
experiences develop. In the sensorimotor stage cognitive development begins as they use their
senses and movements to explore their surroundings. The preoperational state development of
language and make-believe takes pale but their thinking lacks logic. In the concrete
operational stage their reasoning becomes more logical. In the formal operational stage, their
thought becomes a systematic reasoning system. There has been further research done on his

four stages of development, focusing on childrens perceptions of themselves, of other people

and human relationships.
Why?
4. Describe in detail at least three of the research methods commonly used to study human
development, citing the strengths and limitations of each.
Some common research methods used to study human development are systematic observation,
self-reports and clinical or case studies of single individuals.
In naturalistic observation the researcher observes a person in their natural environment such
as at school, daycare or at home and record the behaviors they wish to study and hope to find
an explanation for. The strength of this method is that the researcher can view the subjects
everyday behavior but on the negative side the researcher cannot control the conditions of the
subject.
Structured observations are used in a controlled laboratory where everyone has the chance to
show a response to the same stimulus. Researchers also use recording devices in hard to
capture behaviors such as bullying. This type of observation shows how people behave but
doesnt tell why they behave in that particular setting.
One type of self-reports is a clinical interview. In a clinical interview the researcher asks the
subject certain questions and then expands to find out the persons reasoning for their thoughts.
Two major strengths of this type of interview is the researcher learns how people think in
everyday life and the researcher is able to get a lot of information in short period of time. A
limitation is the accuracy with what is reported. The subject may be telling the researcher what
they want to hear, say things that may not be their true thoughts or feelings, people may not
remember their past events and its too flexible. Questions may be phrased differently for each
person and their responses may not be the way they really think about a topic.
A Structured interview is when everyone in the study is asked the same questions the same
way. This allows the researcher to compare responses and by allowing people to pick answers
from a list it prompts them to choose a particular word or phrase they may not have considered
if they were just asked the question and expected to provide an answer. The limitation is that it
doesnt provide the amount of information a clinical interview does and it is still subject to
inaccurate reporting by the person being interviewed.
The clinical or case study method includes an interview, observation and test score to get all
possible information on just that particular person to determine that persons psychological
functioning. The strength of this method is that it provides an insight into factors that affect
development. The limitation is the results may be biased and findings can only be applied to
that particular person being interviewed.
5. Describe ethical issues related to lifespan research.

The federal governments set up guideline to ensure people arent exploited. Basic rights of
research patients ensure they are protected from physical and or psychological harm in
research. If harm seems possible investigators need to find other means to obtain the
information or abandon the study. Every participant has the right to have the research
explained to them so they can decide if they would like to participate. They have a right to
privacy so no one knows their identity on what was collected from them. They have the right
to be informed of the results and if experimental treatments are under investigation and they are
in the control group they have the right to alternative treatments if available.
Chapter 2
1. Describe the genetic events that determine the sex of the new organism.
The new organism is determined by the parents sex cells or gametes. The mother donates an
X chromosome and the father either donates an X or Y chromosome. If an X chromosome is
donated from the father, then its a girl. If a Y chromosome is donated, its a boy.
2. Explain the two types of twins, and detail how each is created.
Fraternal or dizygotic twins are the most common type of twins. This occurs from the release
and fertilization of two ova. The maternal factors linked to fraternal twinning are ethnicity,
family history of twins, age nutrition, the number of births, fertility drugs and in vitro
fertilization. Twins occur more among blacks, followed by whites and then Asians. Women
are more likely to have fraternal twins if their mothers and sister have had them. The chance of
having fraternal twins also rise with age, peaking at 35-39 and then dropping dramatically. It
occurs more in women who are tall and overweight or average weight. It is less common in
women who have poor diets. The more pregnancies a woman has the more likely she is to
have twins. The chances are also increased with fertility drugs as well as the chance of having
more than twins.
Identical or monozygotic twins occur when a zygote separates into two cells that develop into
two individual cells. These twins have the same genetic makeup. Research has shown that a
number of environmental influences increase the chance of having identical twins such as
temperature changes, varying oxygen levels, and late fertilization. Genetics also seem to play a
part in identical twins.
3. Describe at least two major chromosomal abnormalities and how they occur.
Chromosomal abnormalities occur during meiosis, causing serious developmental problems in
the developing fetus.
Downs syndrome occurs in 1 out of 770 live births. In most cases it results from the twentyfirst chromosome not separating during meiosis, resulting in three chromosomes instead of
two. This causes defects such as mental retardation, slow motor development, memory and
speech problems and a limited vocabulary. They also have physical features that include a

flattened face, almond shaped eyes, a large tongue, and a short build.
Individuals born with down syndrome are also born with health problems such as hearing loss
and heart defects. Environmental factors as well as family encouragement help them flourish.
The most common problem with abnormalities of sex chromosomes is that there is an extra X
or Y chromosome or the absence of one X chromosome in females. These chromosome
disorders arent recognized until adolescence.
Girls that are diagnosed with triple X syndrome and boys that have Klinefelter syndrome have
an extra X chromosome and have trouble with reading and vocabulary. Girls with Turner
syndrome who are missing the X chromosome have problems with spatial relationships such as
drawing pictures, following directions and noticing when someone changes their facial
expression.
4. Explain the importance of adoptive studies and how they are most used in the field of
developmental psychology.
Adoption agencies try their best to find the perfect fit for the children they are placing. They
try to place them with people of the same ethnicity, religious background and age of the
biological parents. In recent years the number of mothers giving up their newborns has
declined so people looking to adopt are looking into other countries as well as accepting older
children or children with disabilities.
Studies have shown that adopted children have more learning and emotional difficulties and
increases with the childs age during the adoption. Some explanations are that they may have
had an unpleasant childhood due to abuse. Children adopted after infancy may have a hard
time fitting into the family causing conflict, abuse and a lack of affection.
If the adopted family shows the child love and affection, the childs feelings will improve
toward the family.
When children are adopted at an older age they are more likely to have cognitive, emotional
and social problems.
5. Describe the social systems perspective on family functioning, along with aspects
of the environment that support family well-being and development.
Many things affect our physical and psychological well-being including our environment and
family relationships. Some people need more help from outside sources than others due to
individual tragedies and poverty. Family is the strongest bond for people and are usually life
long lasting. Our family teaches us language, skills, and social and moral values.
Bidirectional influences of family members behaviors affect other family members. Direct
influences come from interacting with family members. When parents are firm but loving,
children tend to respond positively. When parents have harsh punishment and are impatient,

children tend to respond negatively by rebelling which causes a lot of stress for both the parent
and the child.
Indirect influences are the interaction between two family members that is affect by others that
are present. These influences are referred to as third party and can be a means of support or a
barrier to development. When parents are caring and supportive of each other, they create a
loving environment for their children that include praise and an environment that is relaxed.
When parents are fighting and dont support one another it creates a hostile environment for the
children, creating emotional problems and fear, When this happens, other family members
such as grandparents can help the childs development directly, by responding to the child a
indirectly, by providing the parents with advice, skills and financial assistance.
6. Explain the impact of socioeconomic status and poverty on family functioning, and how the
role of neighborhoods, towns, cultural values, public policies and political and
economic conditions affect human development.
Socioeconomic status (SES) variables include the persons years of education, the prestige of
the persons job and the required skills, and their income. As SES rises and falls,
circumstances change and affect family functioning. SES is linked to timing of marriage,
parenthood and family size. Skilled and semiskilled manual occupations marry and have
children earlier; they have different values and expectations of their children than people who
have professional and technical occupations.
Parents with a lower SES focus more on external characteristics such as obedience, politeness
and neatness. They use commands, criticism and physical punishment. This is due to their
lack of education.
Parents with a high SES focus more on the childs psychological traits such as happiness,
curiosity and self-direction. They interact more with their children by reading to them, talking,
using explanations, verbal praise and they set higher academic goals than do parents with lower
SES. This may be due to their education where they learn about abstract and subjective ideas.
Poverty affects family functioning in many ways and is most common among ethnic minorities
and women. It causes stress for the mother or father who is the bread winner but doesnt make
enough money to support their family or doesnt have a job due to being unemployed. Single
women who are trying to raise their kids without the father suffer a big burden and it affects
how they interact with their children. Children that grow up in poverty or homelessness suffer
from developmental delays, emotional stress, lifelong poor health, deficits in cognitive
development, academic achievement and mental illness.
7. Explain what is believed about "how much" heredity and environment influence complex
human characteristics. How do you feel you are impacted by heredity and environment?
The question how much looks at the heritability estimate. According to the book,

Heritability estimates measure the extent to which individual differences in complex traits in a
specific population are due to genetic factors (Development through the lifespan, pg. 70).
Researchers have done kinship studies to compare family members. The findings are
controversial at best. They believe the more alike the family members the greater the
characteristics they share, such as identical twins. Research also shows that genetic factors are
important in personality and doesnt increase during their lifetime.
Chapter 3
1. Describe the three periods of prenatal development and the major milestones of each.
The period of the zygote lasts from fertilization until implantation, which is about two weeks.
The placenta forms by the embryos and mothers blood bonding together. The placenta
delivers food and oxygen to the developing fetus and carries away their waste. The umbilical
cord is connected to the placenta and has a large vein that delivers nutrient blood and two
arteries that remove waste products.
The period of the embryo starts from implantation through the 8th week. Rapid prenatal
changes take place during this period. In the last half of the first month, three layer of cells
form. The ectoderm will be the nervous system and skin, the mesoderm will develop the
muscles, skeleton, circulatory system and internal organs and the endoderm will become the
digestive system, lungs, urinary tract and glands. By the end of this period the embryo is about
1 inch long, weighs 1/7 of an ounce, responds to touch and can move.
The period of the fetus starts in the ninth week and lasts until the end of the pregnancy. During
this time, the fetus increases in body size and can kick, bend its arms, suck its thumb, yawn and
open its mouth. This is the time the heartbeat can be heard through a stethoscope.
During the second trimester, the mother can feel their babys movements. Vernix appears to
protect its skin from the amniotic fluid and lanugo helps the vernix stick to the skin. At the end
of this trimester, many organs are developed and the brain neurons are in place. The rapid
brain growth means the fetus can be stimulated, hear sounds and react to light.
The fetus reaches the age of viability between 22 to 26 weeks of the third trimester. The brain
continues to develop and the fetus spends more time awake due to neural connectivity
improving. Slowly the lungs mature, the fetus is getting too big for the uterus and the baby is
ready to be born.
2. Define the term teratogen, and give an example of a teratogen, and how it could affect to
the developing embryo or fetus.
A teratogen is an environmental agent that can cause damage to the developing fetus. The
harm done by teratogens depends on factors such as dose strength, heredity, other negative
influences such as lack of medical care and age.
There is rarely any impact in the period of the zygote. During the embryonic period when the
body parts are forming serious defects are likely to occur. Teratogenic damage is minor during

the fetal period but the brain, eyes, ears, teeth and genitals can be affected.
An example of a teratogen is cocaine. Cocaine can create a variety of problems such as
prematurity, low birth weight, physical defects, difficulty breathing and death. They are drug
addicted, irritable, stressed and have trouble sleeping. Some experience lasting physical
defects such as heart deformities, seizures, retardation, etc.
2. Describe the appearance of the newborn baby, and some common medical interventions
during childbirth.
The average height and weight of a newborn is 20 and 7 pounds. They have a large head, a
round face, chubby cheeks, big eyes and a small body. Physicians use the Apgar Scale to see
how the newborn is doing. A score of 7 or higher means the baby is in good physical
condition. A score of 4-6 means the baby needs help with breathing and other vital signs. A
score of 3 or below means the baby requires emergency medical care.
4. Differentiate between a pre-term and small-for-date birth, along with the factors that help
infants have the greatest chance for positive survival.
Pre-term newborns are born several weeks before their due date but are weight appropriate for
the time spent in the womb. Small for date newborns are full term but below their expected
weight for the time spent in the womb. Of the two, the small for date newborns experience
more health problems during their first year of life. By middle childhood they are smaller,
have lower intelligence scores, less attentive, have a hard time in school and are immature
compared to other kids in their age group. There may be a variety of reasons such as the
mother having poor nutrition during the pregnancy, the placenta may not have been functioning
properly, or the babies may have had defects, therefore not growing the way they should have.
For pre-term babies, the longer they can stay in the womb the better off they will fare. Even
just a week longer from 34 to 35 weeks, reduces the rate of illnesses, costly medical procedure
and long hospital stays. Preterm babies are shown to be below average in growth and delayed
in cognitive development.
There are several factors that help infants chances for positive survival. Special stimulation
mimicking the mothers womb or a tape recording of soft music or the mothers voice have
helped the babies gain weight, slept better and had greater alertness than those with no
stimulation. Touch is another important stimulation for these babies such as kangaroo care,
which places the baby between the mothers bare breast or next to the fathers bare chest to keep
the baby warm and helps the baby with stimulation of hearing, smell, touch and visual.

5. Describe the newborn baby's reflexes, especially survival reflexes, and their sensory
capabilities.
Newborns exhibit a lot of different reflexes. Some are for survival and some are the basis for

motor skills that develop later. Most of the reflexes disappear after a certain time period. A
permanent reflex is eye blinking. When bright light is shined in their eyes or someone makes a
loud noise next to them, it causes them to close their eyelids. This protects the infant from
strong stimulation.
Rooting is a reflex that appears as a newborn and disappears around 3 weeks of age because it
becomes voluntary. If you stroke the newborns cheek he or she will turn their head toward the
stimulation which helps the baby find the nipple. Without this reflex the human race wouldnt
have survived.
The Moro reflex disappears at 6 months of age. If there is a loud sound against the surface
supporting the infant, they will arch their back, extend their legs, throw their arms outward and
then bring them back into the body. This may have helped the infant cling to their mom. The
palmar grasp causes the infant to grasp a finger if you place your finger against their palm.
This reflex prepares the infant to grasp other objects and disappears at 3-4 months of age.
The stepping reflex happens when you hold an infant under their arms and they start lifting
their foot like they are stepping. This reflex disappears around 2 months of age and prepares
the infant for walking. The Babinski reflex happens when you stroke the sole of their foot and
they fan and curl their toes. It usually disappears at 8-12 months.
The infants sensory capabilities include touch, taste, smell, hearing and vision. Touch helps
stimulate growth. There have been studies done to show how important it is for babies to
receive that stimulation for their psychological wellbeing. Newborns and infants have a good
sense of taste and smell, preferring certain odors and tastes over others. A newborns sensitivity
to sound improves over the first few months. They prefer noises and voices over pure tones.
Their vision is the least developed of their senses because visual structures in the eye and brain
arent fully formed. They cant focus well and their visual acuity is limited.
6. Explain the purpose and value of the neonatal behavioral assessment.
The neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS) is an instrument that allows medical
personnel to assess the newborns behavior. The NBAS has been given around the world so
researchers can learn about individual and cultural differences. Sometimes the NBAS helps
parents get to know their newborns helping their relationship get off to a good start.