ESSENTIALS OF UNDERSTANDING

PSYCHOLOGY
8TH EDITION
By Robert Feldman

Ch#12: DEVELOPMENT

MODULE 27: Nature and

Nurture and Prenatal
Development

How do psychologists study

the degree to which
development is an interaction
of hereditary and
environmental factors?
What is the nature of
development before birth?
What factors affect a child
during the mothers
pregnancy?

Developmental Psychology
Study of the patterns
of growth and
change that occur
throughout life
Nature-nurture
issue
Developmental

Determining the Relative

Influence of Nature and
Nurture

Genetically control
laboratory animals and
place in varied
environments
Identical twins

Developmental Research
Techniques
Cross-sectional Research
Compares people of different
ages at the same point in time
Differences among groups of people

Longitudinal Research
Traces the behavior of one or
more participants as the
participants age
Change in behavior over time
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Developmental Research
Techniques
Sequential Research
Combines crosssectional and
longitudinal
approaches by
taking a number of
different age
groups and

Prenatal Development:
Conception to Birth
The Basics of Genetics
Chromosomes
Rod-shaped structures that
contain all basic hereditary
information
Genes
Smaller units through which
genetic information is
transmitted
Composed of sequences of DNA
7

Prenatal Development:
Conception to Birth
The Human Genome
Project
Scientists mapped the
specific location and
sequence of every human
gene
Gene therapy
Health-care providers inject
genes to correct particular
diseases directly into a patients

The Extraordinary
Newborn
Reflexes
Unlearned, involuntary responses that
occur automatically in the presence of
certain stimuli
Rooting reflex
Sucking reflex
Gag reflex
Startle reflex
Babinski reflex

The Extraordinary
Newborn
Development of the Senses:
Taking in the World
Visual abilities grow rapidly
after birth
Habituation
Decrease in the response to a
stimulus that occurs after repeated
presentations of the same stimulus

10

The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
Physical
Development
During first year of
life children
typically triple
birthweight
Height increases
by about half

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Figure 4 of Module 28

The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
Development of Social
Behavior: Taking on the World
Attachment
The positive emotional bond that
develops between a child and a
particular individual
Konrad Lorenz
Imprinting

12

The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
Harry Harlows
study on
attachment
Wire monkey
versus cloth
monkey

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Figure 6 of Module 28

The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
Assessing Attachment
Mary Ainsworth
Ainsworth strange situation
Securely attached
Avoidant
Ambivalent
Disorganized-disoriented

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The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
The Fathers Role
Number of fathers who
are primary caregivers
for their children has
grown significantly
Nature of attachment
can be similar
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The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
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

16

The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
The Consequences of
Child Care Outside the
Home
High-quality care centers
can positively impact
child
Low-quality child care
provides little or no gain
and may even hinder
development

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The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
Cognitive Development: Childrens
Thinking About the World
Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development
Concrete operational stage
7 to 12 years of age
Reversibility

Formal operational stage

12 years of age to adulthood
Abstract, formal, and logical thinking

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Piagets Stages of Cognitive

Development

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Figure 9 of Module 28

The Growing Child: Infancy

Through Middle Childhood
Vygotskys View of Cognitive
Development: Considering
Culture
Cognitive development occurs as a
consequence of social interactions in
which children work with others to
jointly solve problems
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Level at which a child can almost, but not
fully, comprehend or perform a task on
his or her own

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Adolescence: Becoming an
Adult

What major physical, social,

and cognitive transitions
characterize adolescence?
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Adolescence
Developmental stage
between childhood and
adulthood
Moral and Cognitive
Development:
Distinguishing Right from Wrong
Kohlbergs Theory
of Moral
Development
Three-level sequence
Judgments, not
moral behavior
Moral development
in women
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Figure 2 of Module 29

Social Development:
Finding Oneself in a Social
World
Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial
Development: The Search for
Identity
Identity-versus-role-confusion stage
Identity

Intimacy-versus-isolation stage
Early adulthood
Focuses on developing close relationships with
others

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Social Development:
Finding Oneself in a Social
World
Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial
Development: The Search for Identity
Generativity-versus-stagnation stage
Middle adulthood
Ability to contribute to ones family,
community, work, and society, and to assist
the development of the younger generation

Ego-integrity-versus-despair stage
Later adulthood until death
Sense of accomplishment

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Social Development:
Finding Oneself in a Social
World
Stormy Adolescence: Myth
or Reality?
Research shows that adolescence
is not a period fraught with stress
and unhappiness as once thought,
but nevertheless does have some
strife
Adolescent egocentrism
State of self-absorption in which a
teenager views the world from his own
point of view

25

Social Development:
Finding Oneself in a Social
World
School problems

Signs of depression

Self-destructive behavior

Preoccupation with death

Loss of appetite or
excessive eating

Putting affairs in order,

giving away prized
possessions

Withdrawal from friends

and peers
Sleeping problems

Explicit announcement of
thoughts of suicide

Adolescent Suicide
Third leading cause of death for
adolescents
Warning signs:

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Adulthood
What are the principal kinds of
physical, social, and intellectual
changes that occur in early and
middle adulthood, and what are
their causes?
How does the reality of late
adulthood differ from the
stereotypes about that period?
How can we adjust to death?

27

Physical Development:
The Peak of Health
For most people, early adulthood
marks the peak of physical health
Around age 25, the body
becomes slightly less efficient
and more susceptible to disease

28

Social Development:
Working at Life
People typically launch
themselves into careers, marriage,
and families
Midlife transition
Period when people may begin to
question their lives
Midlife crisis

29

Marriage, Children, and

Divorce: Family Ties
Changes in marriage and
divorce trends have doubled
the number of single-parent
households in the U.S. over
the last two decades
Economic and emotional
consequences for the singleparent households

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Marriage, Children, and

Divorce: Family Ties
Changing Roles of Men and Women: The
Time of Their Lives
More women act simultaneously as wives,
mothers, and wage earners

Womens Second Shift

Additional work performed by women with a
career and home responsibilities

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The Later Years of Life:

Growing Old
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

Wear-and-Tear Theories of Aging

Suggest that the mechanical functions of
the body simply work less efficiently as
people age
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The Later Years of Life:

Growing Old
Cognitive Changes: Thinking
in Late Adulthood
Memory Changes in Late
Adulthood: Are Older Adults
Forgetful?
Alzheimers disease
Progressive brain disorder that leads
to a gradual and irreversible decline
in cognitive abilities
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The Later Years of Life:

Growing Old
The Social World of Late
Adulthood: Old but Not Alone
Disengagement Theory of
Aging
Aging produces a gradual
withdrawal from the world on
physical, psychological, and social
levels
Life review
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The Later Years of Life:

Growing Old
The Social World of
Late Adulthood: Old but
Not Alone
Activity Theory of
Aging
Late adulthood should
reflect a continuation, as
much as possible, of the
activities in which people

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Adjusting to Death
Elisabeth Kbler-Rosss Five Stages
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance

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