

















Review for Test
Environmental Influences
Detection and Treatment of Disorders
Birth & its compicaltions
Cultural variations in Childbirth
Brain development in first year
Infant states
Reflexes
Habituation/dishabituation
Infant learning (including imitation)
Concept of preparedness
Motor skill development in first year
Sensory systems in the first year
Depth perception: monocular and binocular cues
Looming
Visual cliff experiments
Size and shape constancy
9/19 First test, bring Scantron 882 form and a #2 Pencil
















The nature of development
Preformationism, predeterminism, and empiricism
Heinz Werner: differentiation and hierarchic integration, spiral pattern
Qualitative versus Quantitative change
Normative versus individual
Heredity and Environment (nature/nurture issue)
Piaget’s theory (mechanisms and major periods)
Information-Processing theories (sensory, short-term, and longterm memory)
Lev Vygosky and Sociocultural theories
Psychoanalytic theories (including Freud’s and Erkson’s stages)
Social Learning theory
Bowlby’s adaptational theory
Major issue: Gradual versus stage, Early versus current experience
Specificity versus generality
Methods of Developmental Psychology: Experiments, Natural experiments
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.















Methods of Developmental Psychology: Experiments, Natural experiments
Naturalistic observation, Longitudinal versus cross-sectional versus cross-sequential (accelerated longitudinal design)
Challenges of doing research with children of different ages
Challenges of doing research with children from different cultures
Bidirectional effects
Effects of daycare
Contexts of Development
Marasmus, hospitalism, failure to thrive, institutionalization
Urie Bronfrenbrenner’s model: Biological environment, Immediate environment
Social and economic environment, Cultural environment, and interactions among the levels
Cell Division: mitosis and meiosis
Gene and Environment Interaction
Conception
Prenatal Development















Stages from conception to birth
Mother’s Experience of Pregnancy
Problems in Prenatal Development
Ultrasound, amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, MRI, blood tests
Genetic Defects
Environmental Influences (teratogens)
Detection and Treatment of Disorders
Birth & its complications
The Apgar Scale
Cultural variations in Childbirth
Concept of critical periods and their importance in prenatal development
Brain development and timing of capabilities
Cycle of poverty
Brain development in first year











Infant states
Reflexes
Habituation/dishabituation
Infant learning (including imitation)
Concept of preparedness
Motor skill development in first year
Sensory systems in the first year
Depth perception: monocular and binocular cues
Visual cliff experiments
Size and shape constancy

2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
They depend on prewired abilities built into the nervous system at birth.
They often meet survival needs.
From the beginning, they involve organized sequences of actions that serve some purpose.
They involve selective responses.
They allow infants to detect relationships between actions and consequences.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Trimesters:
Three-month periods that correspond to changes in the mother ’ s experience of pregnancy.



Fatigue, drowsiness, swelling, frequent urination, morning sickness are common during the first trimester.
Intensity of symptoms varies from woman to woman.
Second trimester often the most enjoyable for the mother.
Quickening: The first fetal movements, usually felt by mother by end of the fourth month.

Third trimester can be trying, as the increase in fetal size pressures her organs.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.






 alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs medications diseases maternal stress maternal malnutrition maternal age
Teratogen:
Any substance in the environment that can cause physical malformations during prenatal development.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Ultrasound A technique that produces a computer image of a fetus by bouncing sound waves off it.
Amniocentesis Withdrawal of amniotic fluid through a needle inserted into the mother ’ s abdomen to check for chromosomal abnormalities.
Chorionic villus sampling
A technique for analyzing fetus ’ s genetic makeup; cells are suctioned from developing placenta through small tube through vagina and cervix or through abdominal wall.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

1.
2.
3.
Regular, strong contractions begin 15-20 min. apart; become stronger, more frequent as labor progresses, till cervix is fully opened ( more than a day.
dilated ). From an hour to
Normal, head-first deliveries begin 2nd stage with crowning , when crown of infant ’ s head pushes through cervix into vagina. 30 min. to 2 hrs.
Baby is delivered. Ends with delivery of afterbirth which includes placenta and other membranes.
,
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.



Apgar scale – score (from zero to 10) at one and five minutes after birth is the sum of the ratings (0, 1, 2) for heart rate, respiration, reflexes, muscle tone, and skin color.
Scores below 5 indicate the need for immediate medical attention.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Premature:
Born less than 35 weeks after conception.
Low birth weight:
Weighing less than 2500 grams at birth.
Very low birth weight:
Weighing less than 1500 grams at birth.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

A disruption in the baby ’ s oxygen supply during or just after birth.
Can occur in two basic ways:
1.
2.
Umbilical cord may become pinched during delivery.
In breech-birth, infant is delivered in bottom- or feet-first position.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.




In Holland, most births take place at home with a midwife.
Lay midwives deliver many babies in developing countries.
The U.S. has changed somewhat over the past
30 years:




Childbirth preparation classes, e.g. Lamaze method
Decreased anxiety about labor and delivery
Less reliance on painkillers
Increase in deliveries by cesarean section.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.




Genes guide within environmental contexts that include events and developmental changes in the past and present.
Genes are activated and deactivated in response to environmental signals.
The mother is embedded in physical, social, and cultural environment that can affect her body and her developing child.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

1.
2.
How heredity and environment work jointly to guide development.
How infants ’ initial skills and their experiences provide seeds for development of more complex and flexible skills by the end of the first year.
3. Preadapted: Equipped at birth with built-in capacities that make it possible to understand the environment and form social relationships.

Researchers use a combination of approaches to study early brain development:

Measure indirectly by charting head growth.





Port-mortem examinations.
Electroencephalography (EEG).
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Position emission tomography (PET).
Estimate from animal experiments.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

•
•
•
Infant brain at birth is ¼ of its adult weight.
By one year, the brain has tripled in weight.
One measure of this growth is head circumference, starting at 13.5 inches and growing in spurts to its average adult size of
20.5 inches.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

•
•
•
Developmental Timetable
Spinal cord and brainstem (for basic reflexes & survival functions) are fully functional at birth.
The thalamus (sensory relay station), the
cerebellum (motor functions), the
hippocampus (memory formation), and the cerebral cortex all undergo continued development and reorganization.
Cerebral cortex (higher cognitive functions) has the longest period of continued development.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

•
•
•
•
•
Developmental Processes
•
Early brain development involves 6 main processes: neurogenesis & neuron migration neuron elaboration & differentiation synaptogenesis glial cell formation & myelination increasing connections between brain regions pruning excess synapses & loss of plasticity
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Sleep States

There are two infant sleep states:


Quiet sleep: Babies lie still, breathing slowly and regularly.
Active sleep: They stir often, move arms and legs, crinkle faces, breathe faster & more irregularly, and sometimes show rapid eye movements (REMs) behind closed eyelids.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.




Newborns usually spend less than 10% of their time crying.
1.
2.
3.
3 distinct crying patterns: hungry cries upset cries pain cries
Babies differ in how easily they can be soothed by others or by themselves.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.



During the first few months, states change often, but by five months they are more predictable.
Babies vary in how frequently they change states and in how smoothly they make transitions.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Reflex: An automatic, inborn response to a particular stimulus.
sucking When object brushes lips, rhythmic sucking occurs.
Babkin When lying down, pressure on both palms causes head to turn, mouth to open, eyes to close.
stepping When held up, feet can make a stepping motion.
grasping Pressure on palm causes fingers to curl and grasp.
tonic neck On back, tends to turn head to one side, extend arm and leg on that side, flex limbs on other side (fencing position).
rooting When cheek is stroked, head turns that way and mouth opens.
Moro Startled, infant extends arms, brings them together, grasps fingers.
Babinski When foot is stroked from heel to toes, toes fan out & foot twists.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Habituation: The decrease in attention when the same stimulus is presented repeatedly.
Orienting response: Response when stimulus is first presented, involving behavioral and physiological changes.
Dishabituation: Increased attention to a new stimulus after habituation to a previous stimulus.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Associative Learning
Learning certain stimuli or events tend to go together to be associated with one another. 2 types:
Classical conditioning:
A learning process in which a new stimulus comes to elicit an established reflex response through association with an old stimulus.
Instrumental (operant) conditioning:
Learning in which behaviors are influenced by their consequences.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Reinforcement: Consequences following a behavior that increase the likelihood the behavior will be repeated.
Contingencies: The relationships between events and their consequences.
Shaping: Reinforcing gradually closer approximations of a target behavior.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Imitative learning: A way of learning new behaviors by copying others ’ behaviors.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Preparedness: The genetic predisposition to learn certain behaviors.
Some see early social behaviors (e.g., smiling and cooing when adults speak) fitting this concept.

Motor Skills and Physical Growth
There are major milestones in development involving average ages, yet there is a great deal of individual difference in the age at which motor skills emerge.
Principles of Motor Skill Development



 differentiation cephalocaudal development proximodistal development joint role of maturation and experience
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Controlled Eye Movements
Saccadic eye movements:
The rapid, jerky eye movements that occur when the gaze is shifted to a new object.
Pursuit eye movements:
The smooth, continuous eye motions used to track a moving object.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Reaching and Grasping
Newborns Prereaching: Early spontaneous arm movements, sometimes in response to an object.
1-4 months Decline in prereaching.
@ 4 mos.
Intentional reaching emerges.
By 15 mos. Children commonly reach for things smoothly and accurately.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Walking
Depends on:
 ability to integrate systems including balance

 maturation of muscles & nervous system practice
Stereotypic leg movements:
Rhythmic, repetitive leg movements elicited automatically when infant reaches a certain level of excitement.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Sensing & Perceiving the World
Sensory Systems in the Newborn:
Vision
Issues include determining:

How clearly can babies see?

Can infants see colors?
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Sensing & Perceiving the World
Sensory Systems in the Newborn:
Hearing



Fetuses respond to sound at 26-28 weeks.
For young infants to hear a noise, it must be 10-20 decibels louder than for adults.
It takes 12-13 years to equal adult hearing.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Sensing & Perceiving the World
Sensory Systems in the Newborn:
Smell & Taste



Infants ’ senses of taste and smell are more fully developed at birth than their vision and hearing.
Newborns seem to discriminate among sweet, sour, & bitter.
Ability to sense saltiness develops gradually over 1st 4 months.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Sensing & Perceiving the World
Sensory Systems in the Newborn:
Touch



Touch is more fully developed at birth than other senses.
This is adaptive because touch is involved in many newborn reflexes.
Even premature newborns and older fetuses feel pain.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Newborns use their sensory capacities in an organized way:

Babies visually scan environment rather than simply staring straight ahead.

Hearing a noise, they direct their gaze toward it.

They scan edges.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Perception: The process by which the brain interprets information from the senses.



Depth and Distance Perception
Kinesthetic depth cues: Information about depth & distance is carried in the motion of objects.
Binocular depth cues: Cues resulting from the fact that visual information reaches the brain from 2 eyes.
Pictorial depth cues: Cues used to depict depth & distance in 2-dimensional pictures -- e.g., linear perspective.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Size constancy: Perceiving an object as constant in size, even though its image on the retina grows larger or smaller.
Shape constancy: Perceiving an object as constant in shape, even though its image on the retina changes shape when it is viewed from different angles.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Newborns do not look longer at faces than at other equally complex figures.
By 3 months, infants prefer pictures of their mothers to pictures of strangers.
By 5 months, infants can remember strangers ’ faces.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Newborns comes into the world prepared in many ways for the developmental tasks they face. They have:
 reflexes


 a variety of sensory capacities preadaptations to attend certain stimuli preadaptations for social interaction
Environment, in turn, provides experiences that help shape brain development, motor skills, perceptual abilities, and learned behaviors.
Copyright © 2004 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.