Chapter 3
List and discuss the stages of prenatal development
List harmful influences on prenatal development
List and discuss the motor and sensory capacitites of
newborns and infants
Define terms associated with the concept of
attachment, and describe the research methodology
http://www.babycenter.com/100_fetaldevelopment_5214615.bc
 Maturation = the sequential unfolding of genetically influenced behavior and physical
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characteristics
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3 Stages of prenatal development
Germinal Stage: 0-14 days: fertilized egg (zygote)
divides and attaches to the uterine wall; outside
becomes placenta, inner part becomes embryo
 Embryonic stage: after implantation (about 2 weeks) to
8th week: embryo develops, organs and limbs develop
(heart and liver), testosterone is secreted in males
 Fetal Stage – after 8th week, further development and
brain weight marked increase in nervous system
development and brain weight.
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4th month = movement
5th month = can identify gender
6th month = organs more fully developed (baby could survive
outside of womb)
 Harmful
influences that can cross the
placental barrier
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German measles
Radiation
Toxic chemicals
STDs
Cigarette smoking
Heavy alcohol consumption
Prescription and nonprescription drugs
 Premature
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birth
Smaller in weight, though not always in length
Less physically & cognitively developed
Usually up to 2 months early still has a fighting chance
 Teratogens
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Noxious substance or factors that can disrupt prenatal
development
X-rays: disrupt development of brain cells
Drugs: abnormal physical & psychological development
Alcohol: FAS; mental retardation, facial disfigurement
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Physical abilities
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Newborns have functional motor reflexes
Newborns are able to see, but are nearsighted
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Will show evidence of depth perception within a few
months
Prefer faces
Many aspects of development depend on cultural
customs
Attachment – provides a secure base from which
children can explore
The Harlows demonstrated the importance of
touching, or contact comfort
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsA5Sec6dAI
 Between 7 and 9 months, babies may show stranger
anxiety and separation anxiety until the middle of the
second year or later
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Ainsworth experiment: the Strange Situation in
which the baby’s behavior is observed when the
mother leaves the baby with a stranger
Securely attached children are clearly more attached
to the mother
 Insecurely attached children show avoidance or
anxiety
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsewNrHUHU
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Factors affecting attachment
Neglect, abuse, and deprivation adversely affect
attachment, however, differences in normal childrearing practices have no effect
 Daycare does not affect attachment
 Temperament, chronic stress, and rejection can
affect attachment
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Cultural expectations play a role
Describe the stages of language
development
List and explain the fundamental principles
of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Describe the stages of Piaget’s theory of
cognitive development
Evaluate Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development
Explain the principles of Kohlberg’s theory
of moral development and describe the
stages
Summarize the criticisms of Kohlberg’s
theory of moral development
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From cooing to communicating
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In first months, babies responsive to pitch, intensity
and sound of language; people talk to babies with
more varied pitch and intonation
By 4-6 months, babies have learned many basic
sounds of their language, and over time lose ability
to perceive speech sounds in another language
Between 6-12 months, babies enter the babbling
phase; infants become more familiar with the sound
structure of their native language
Starting at around 11 months, babies develop
repertoire of symbolic gestures; gestures spur
language learning
Between 18-24 months, 2-3 word combinations are
produced; first combinations have a telegraphic
quality
 The
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Chomsky observed that children can figure out a
sentences deep structure from the surface
structure, therefore the brain must contain a
language acquisition device that enables children
to develop language if they are exposed to it
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innate capacity for language
Children everywhere go through similar stages of
linguistic development
Children combine words in ways that adults never
would, so they could not simply be imitating adults
Adults do not consistently correct their children’s
syntax
Language development depends on both
biological readiness and social experience; there
is a critical period for language development
 Piaget
proposed that children must make two
types of mental adaptations
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Assimilation – fitting new information into
present system of knowledge, beliefs, and
schemas (categories of things and people)
Accommodation – must change or modify
existing schemas to accommodate new
information that doesn’t fit
 Piaget’s
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cognitive stages
Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years old)
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Infants learn through concrete actions; “thinking”
consists of coordinating sensory information with
bodily movements
Begin to understand object permanence at around six
months; involves understanding that something
continues to exist even if you can’t see it or touch it
Object permanence represents the beginning of
representational thought-ability to use mental
imagery and other symbolic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBh9ld_yIo
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Preoperational stage (ages 2 to 7)
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Accelerated use of symbols and language in play and in imitation of
adult behavior
Limitations
 Cannot reason or use abstract principles (called operations)
 Piaget believed thinking was egocentric – that preoperational
children are unable to take the point of view of another
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=OinqFgsI
bh0&NR=1&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
 Cannot grasp conservation – notion that physical properties do
not change when forms or appearances change
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLj0IZFLKvg
Concrete operations stage (ages 7 to 11)
 Accomplishments – understand conservation, reversibility, cause
and effect, identity, mathematical operations, serial ordering
 Thinking is still concrete, not abstract – grounded in concrete
experiences
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA04ew6Oi9M
Formal Operations Stage (ages 12 to adulthood)
 Beginning of abstract reasoning
 Can reason systematically, think about the future, think about
situations they have not experienced firsthand
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjJdcXA1KH8
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Evaluating Piaget
Shifts from stage to stage not as sweeping or clearcut as Piaget implied
 Children understand more than Piaget gave them
credit for
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Infants as young as 4 months show understanding of some
physics principles
Children advance more rapidly in their symbolic activities
Preschoolers are not as egocentric as Piaget though
Children’s cognitive development depends on
education and culture
 Piaget overestimated the cognitive skills of many
adults
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Some people never develop the capacity for formal
operations
Other people continue to think concretely unless a
specific problem requires abstract though
Most psychologists accept Piaget’s major point, that
new reasoning abilities depend on the emergence of
previous ones
Most people agree that children actively interpret
their worlds
List the various parental styles
of child-rearing and discuss the
effects of each
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Power Assertion
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Involves threats, physical punishment, denial of
privileges
Associated with a lack of moral feelings and behavior,
and with negative outcomes for children
Leads to aggressiveness and poor impulse control in
children
These parents do not: state clear rules, require
compliance, consistently punish violations, or praise
good behavior
Induction
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More successful at teaching moral feelings and behavior
The parent appeals to the child’s own resources,
affection for others, and sense of responsibility
Tends to produce children who behave morally on many
different measures and who have high self-esteem
Used by authoritative parents who give emotional
support and encourage two-way communication
Most parents are inconsistent depending on
mood, stress, etc.
 Some children turn out different DESPITE
parenting. WHY?
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The child’s temperament affects parenting style
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Peers affect the child enormously
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Authoritarian with impulsive
Permissive with easy going, punitive with defiant
Children respond differently to discipline
How successful are your peers? Does that influence your
success? Are they hard-workers? What is “nerdy”?
So do parents matter??
They affect a child’s behavior and social development
 Self-esteem
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