First, some questions for your notes:
What is the ideal age
and why?
What is the worst age
to be, and why?
Market Facts, Inc. asked these questions of more than
1000 adults…
Most respondents, regardless of their actual age, said
they feel and act as if they are in their mid-thirties.
Both men and women wanted to be about 32 years old.
“Psychological age,” suggested the pollsters, “may be
just as important as real age when trying to understand
people’s behavior and such things as their buying
decisions.” The sexes differed, however, on the age
they considered to be “old.” Men thought old age
occurred in the late sixties, and women said old age
began in one’s seventies.
More recently, a Harris poll asked 2306 American
adults the following questions: “If you could stop time
and live forever in good health at a particular age,
what age would it be?”
In this poll, responses varied with the age group. For
18- to 24-year-olds, it was 27. For 25- to 29-year-olds,
the age selected was 31. For 30- to 39-year-olds, the
answer was 37. For 40- to 49-year-olds, the response
was 40. For 50- to 64-year olds, the age was 44; for
those 65 and older, it was 59.
Now, how do your answers compare???
Prenatal
Development and
the Newborn
Chapter 5, Lecture 2
“Nothing is more natural than a species
reproducing itself. Yet nothing is more
wondrous.”
- David Myers
Prenatal Development and the
Newborn
How, over time, did we come to be
who we are? From zygote to birth,
development progresses in an
orderly, though fragile, sequence.
Conception
A single sperm cell (male) penetrates the outer
coating of the egg (female) and fuses to form
one fertilized cell.
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
Prenatal Development
A zygote is a fertilized egg with 100 cells that
become increasingly diverse. At about 14 days
the zygote turns into an embryo (a and b).
Biophoto Associates/ Photo Researchers, Inc.
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
Prenatal Development
At 9 weeks, an embryo turns into a fetus (c and d).
Teratogens are chemicals or viruses that can enter
the placenta and harm the developing fetus.
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
Lennart Nilsson/ Albert Bonniers Publishing Company
The Competent Newborn
Infants are born with
reflexes that aid in
survival, including the
rooting reflex which
helps them locate food.
The Competent Newborn
Offspring cries are important signals for parents
to provide nourishment. In animals and humans
such cries are quickly attended to and relieved.
Lightscapes, Inc. Corbis
Carl and Ann Purcell/ Corbis
The Competent Newborn
To study cognition in newborns,
developmental psychologists use the concept
of habituation, or decreasing responsiveness
with repeated stimulation.
As infants gain familiarity with repeated
exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest
wanes and they look away sooner.
Figure 5.3 Quick—which is the cat?
Myers: Psychology, Ninth Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Worth Publishers
How was this figure used in
research with newborns? What did
this research tell us about newborns?
Figure 5.4 Newborns’ preferences?
Myers: Psychology, Ninth Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Worth Publishers
How about this figure?
Homework
Read p.177-188