PSYC 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Spina Bifida, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Prenatal Vitamins
18 Jun 2018
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Chapter Objectives:
●Provide an understanding of how psychological constructs (thinking, language,
morality, etc) develop within the context of physical maturation of the brain/body.
●Illustrate the complexity of physical development while acknowledging
developmental resilience as well as developmental susceptibility to damaging
agents/conditions.
Brief Lecture Outline:
I. Background
A. Broad issues in developmental research
● Nature vs nurture
● Critical and sensitive periods
● Continuity vs discontinuity
● Stability vs change of characteristics
B. Research methods in developmental psychology
●Longitudinal research: follow the same group of individuals across the life span
●Cross sectional research: examines people of multiple different ages at a
single point in time (greater amount of variance)
C. Developmental homeostasis
●Developmental homeostasis: despite widely divergent rearing environments,
most people develop in a very similar manner
II. Physical development
●o Gross development issues:
● § Cephalocaudal trend: development process in a head to foot direction
● § Proximodistal trend: development begins in the increases parts and moves
outward
● § Maturation: radial unfolding of genetic blueprint
A. Prenatal development
●(conception to birth)
●o DNA and Chromosomes: 23 chromosomes donated by sperm and 23 from e.
games carry haploid number of chromosomes
● § Sex chromosomes: (X and Y)
●o Zygote or germinal stage (conception to 2 weeks) : a fertilized eggs and it
contains the diploid number of chromosomes
●o Embryo (2 weeks through 8 weeks): the placenta attaches to the stems
stages begin to form and heart starts to beat
● Higher amounts of miscarriages and birth defects
●o Fetus (9 weeks to birth) looks immiscible human. By the end of the 6ths the
digestive system is function and fetus will respond to sounds
B. Important considerations prior to birth
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
●o Teratogens: harmful events such as drugs or viruses that can cross the
placental barrier and cause birth defects (both physical and psychological)
●o Fetal alcohol syndrome: occurs as a result of prenatal alcohol consumption
by the mother.
● § Disproportionately small head
● § Permanent brain abnormalities
● § Leading cause of mental retardation
● § Proximal cognitive and behavioral problems
●o (not taking) prenatal vitamins – improper diet during pregnancy may
produce infant apathy, irritability and reduced immunity.
● § Folic acid reduces risk of spina bifida
C. General developmental stages
●o Infancy (birth until 2 years)
● § Resting reflex – when something touches an infant’s cheek, babies will open
their mouths and vigorously search for the object (breastfeeding)
● § Infant preference – research shown that infants prefer sights and sounds
which facilitate social experiences.
●o Childhood (2 to 12 years)
●o Adolescence (13 to 20 years)
● § Environmental estrogen and growth hormones. Do these affect growth and
development?
●o Early adulthood (20 to 40 years)
●o Adulthood (40 to 60 years)
●o Late adulthood (60 years plus)
D. Landmarks in motor development
E. Puberty and the development of secondary sex characteristics
III. Psychological development
A. Cognitive development (Piaget)
●o Schema: mental entities (or structures) that provide the basis for thought and
that change in a stage-like way through development
● § Ex: knowing how waiter asks for drinks and food in order
● § Contains info about the actions that one can perform on objects, either in
reality or symbolically in the mind
● § Assimilation: new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas
● § Accommodation: new experiences cause existing schemas to change
● · Sound of fireworks different to different people
B. Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
●o Stages 1 – 4
● § (look up can see slide)
● § Sensorimotor stage:
● · Object proximity – objects exists when and perceived
● · Stranger (?) anxiety
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Provide an understanding of how psychological constructs (thinking, language, morality, etc) develop within the context of physical maturation of the brain/body. Illustrate the complexity of physical development while acknowledging developmental resilience as well as developmental susceptibility to damaging agents/conditions. Brief lecture outline: background, broad issues in developmental research. Stability vs change of characteristics: research methods in developmental psychology. Longitudinal research: follow the same group of individuals across the life span. Cross sectional research: examines people of multiple different ages at a single point in time (greater amount of variance: developmental homeostasis. Developmental homeostasis: despite widely divergent rearing environments, most people develop in a very similar manner. Cephalocaudal trend: development process in a head to foot direction. Proximodistal trend: development begins in the increases parts and moves outward. Maturation: radial unfolding of genetic blueprint: prenatal development. O dna and chromosomes: 23 chromosomes donated by sperm and 23 from e. games carry haploid number of chromosomes.
