Human development
Prenatal - Newborn
Development
Conception
• Sperm penetrates an ova
– Zygote
– Complete set of genetic instructions
– <50% of zygotes survive
Prenatal development
• Germinal period (zygote) - first 14 days
– Zygote implants on day 10
• Embryonic period - 3rd through 8th
weeks
• Fetal period - 9th week through birth
– Fetus is born ~week 37
Prenatal behavior
• Neurons are present, not connected
• Prenatal reflexes strengthen neural
connections
– Sensory reflexes
– Facial expressions
– Response to sound and light
Prenatal development
• Genes and environment influence
development
Genetic Sex Determination
• The 23rd pair of chromosomes
determines sex.
– The ova carries an X chromosome
– The sperm sometimes carries an X
and sometimes carries a Y
chromosome.
Genetic Inheritance
• Additive genes
• Nonadditive (Dominant-recessive) genes
Environmental influence
• Teratogens
– Outcomes
– Timing of exposure
– Predicting outcomes?
Newborn behavior
• Sensory behavior
– Sight
– Sound
– Smell
• Reflexes - innate behaviors
– Rooting
– Crying
– Palmer
– Moro
Infancy - Childhood
0-12 years
Physical development
• Brain development
– Neural connections
– Motor development
– Cognitive development
Cognitive development
• Thinking, remembering & intellectual
capacity
• Based on experience
• Schemas
– Assimilation
– Accommodation
Cognitive development
• Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
– Sensorimotor stage
• 0-2 years
– Preoperational stage
• 2-6 years
– Concrete operational stage
• 6-12 years
– Formal operational stage
• 12 years-adult
Cognitive development
• Sensorimotor stage
– Object permanence
– Some abstract thought
Cognitive development
• Preoperational stage
– Representational thought
• Imagination
– Lacks logical thought
• Conservation
– Obstacles to logical thought
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Egocentrism
Centration
Static reasoning
Irreversibility
– Theory of Mind
Cognitive development
• Concrete operational stage
– Logical principles develop
• Classification
• Identity
• Reversibility
– Lacks hypothetical thought
Cognitive development
• Formal operational stage
– Reasoning abilities develop
• Abstract thought
• Hypothetical contemplation
Social development
• Attachment
• Development of bonds
– Bodily contact and
tactile comfort
• Harlow
Social development
• Development of
bonds
– Familiarity
• Lorenz’s imprinting
studies
• Critical period
• Human bonding
Social development
• Attachment styles
– Secure attachment
– Ambivalent-insecure attachment
– Avoidant-insecure attachment
Social development
• Parenting styles
– Permissive parenting
– Authoritarian parenting
– Authoritative parenting
Adolescence - emerging
adulthood
Teens - mid-twenties
Physical development
• Onset of puberty
– Gap between physical maturity and
independence
• Release of hormones from hypothalamus
– Weight
– Height
– Muscles
Physical development
• Sexual development
– Primary sex structures
• Menarchy
• Spermarchy
– Secondary sex structures
• Timing varies among individuals
– Early developers
– Late developers
Physical development
• Brain development continues
– Frontal cortex
• Sleep and circadian rhythms
Cognitive development
• Formal operational thought
– Abstract thought, hypothetical reasoning
– Social awareness
• Adolescent thought patterns
– What I am thinking
• Egocentric thought
– What others are thinking
• Imaginary audience
– Ideal situations
Cognitive development
• Intuitive thought
• Analytical thought
– Together support adolescent ideals and
passions
Cognitive development
• Kohlberg’s development of moral
reasoning
– Preconventional morality
– Conventional morality
– Postconventional morality
• Varies based on culture and gender
Social development
• Identity formation
– Solidification of beliefs
– Multiple selves
• Acceptable false self
• Pleasing false self
• Experimental false self
Social development
• Parents
– Generation gap
– Conflict
• Peers
– Friendship
– Peer-pressure
– Romantic attraction
• Sequence of attraction
• Cultural variables
Social development
• Emerging adulthood (18-25 years)
– Independence is delayed
– Parents are the main source of support
Adulthood
Biopsychosocial development
continues until death
Physical development
• Physical performance - peaks and
declines
– Motor abilities
– Sensory abilities
• Reproductive capacity
– Females
– Males
Cognitive development
• Brain function slows
– Cognitive abilities diminish with age
• May be prevented with exercise!
– Fluid intelligence
• Memory declines
– Recall memory vs. recognition memory
– Crystallized intelligence
Social development
• Social clock
– Culturally determined
Social development
• List 5 of your own major accomplishments.
• List 5 of your own major goals.
• Count how many from both lists are
related to relationships and career.
Social development
• “A healthy adult is one who can love and
work” - Freud
• Adulthood is characterized by
commitments
– Love
– Work
Social development
• Love and intimacy
– Gateways to attraction
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Attractiveness
Availability
Absence of exclusion criteria
Frequent exposure
– Romantic relationships are based on:
• Passion
• Intimacy
• Commitment
Social development
• Work and productivity
• Two major sources of generativity in
adulthood:
– Work
– Parenthood