Physical & Cognitive Development
Goals of DP
Examine & describe Behavioral changes as they occur
o Biological
o Physical
o Psychological
o Social
o Behavioral
Find out what causes/ drives these changes
,The 4 Broad issues of DP
Issues describing developmental change
1. Stability vs. Change
Is there any development or do we remain constant
o Can be asked specifically to one period of time/stages
General trend
o Most changes happen is the first 5 years of life
o Long periods of stability when we are adults
2. Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Development is continuous
o Supported by early psychologists
Influenced by behaviorists
Development happens in distinct stages
o Jean Piaget proposed this ides
Issues identifying what drives these changes
3. Nature vs. Nurture
To what extent development is a product of genetics or environment
How nature & nurture interact
Psychologists today agree that both nature & nurture interact to produce
specific developmental patterns & outcomes
Genetics (Nature)
o Provide the potential for particular behaviours or traits to emerge
o Limits the emergence of behaviour or traits.
o Defines people’s general level of intelligence
Setting an upper limit that people cannot exceed.
o Also places limits on physical abilities.
o Example
Maturation
Environment (Nurture)
o Play a critical role in enabling people to reach the potential
capabilities
o Example
Learning
If Einstein hadn’t received intellectual stimulation as a child
he probably wouldn’t have reached his genetic potential.
4. Critical periods vs. Sensitive periods
Critical Period
o Age range during which certain experiences must occur for
development to proceed normally
Sensitive period
o Optimal age range for certain experiences to happen
o If experiences don’t happen in this time normal development is
still possible
,Investigation Designs
Cross-sectional designs
Compares people of different ages at the same time
Problems
o Different generations may differ
o Newer generations more intelligent because of better schooling
Longitudinal Design
Repeatedly tests the same people as they age
Problems
o Time consuming
o Sample group may shrink
Dropouts
Relocation
Death
Sequential Design
Does both cross-sectional & longitudinal
Positives
o Most comprehensive
Problems
o Costliest
o Most time consuming
Microgenetic design
Longitudinal method but over a short period of time
“Genetic” in the word “Microgenetic”
o Refers to genesis (the development itself)
,Prenatal Development
3 Stages of Prenatal Development
Germinal stage
First two weeks of development
when a sperm fertilizes an egg (ovum)
Fertilized egg = zygote
Zygote becomes a mass of cells that attaches to uterus
o Through repeated cell division the
o About 10 -14 days after conception.
Embryonic stage
Weeks 2-8
Cell mass is now called an embryo
Placenta & umbilical chord develop at the start of this stage
By the end of week 8
o The heart of the embryo is beating
o The brain is forming
o Facial features such as eyes can be recognized
Foetal stage
From week 9 onwards
Muscles strengthen & other bodily systems develop
24 weeks the eyes open
Age of viability = 27 weeks
o Likely to survive outside the womb in case of premature birth after
this time
,Threats to Prenatal Development
Environmental factors
can influence development even before birth.
Teratogens
Maternal diseases
Agents that cause abnormal prenatal development
o Tobacco
o Drugs
o Environmental toxins
o Alcohol
Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Stunted growth
Physical abnormalities
Physiological abnormalities
Mental retardation
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
Group of abnormalities
Results from prenatal exposure to alcohol
Characteristics of the mothers
Age
Diet
Emotional state
,Infancy (02 Years)
Reflexes
Newborns are equipped with a number of reflexes.
o Automatic, inborn behaviours
o Occur in response to specific stimuli
Can perceive, understand & interact with their environment after just a
few days
Don’t have a reflex for every action/interaction with our environment.
Reflexes increase the baby’s ability to feed & survive.
Examples of newborn reflexes
o Rooting reflex
When you stroke a baby’s cheek, he will turn his head
towards the location in which he was touched, & open his
mouth.
o Sucking reflex:
When you place something in an infant’s mouth, he will
suck on it.
Learning
Learning mechanisms are change & adapt behaviours to new stimuli
Ways newborns learn
o Habituation
o Classical conditioning
o Operant conditioning
Sensory Capabilities & Perceptual Preferences
Visual Preference Technique
No matter how old, infants prefer complex patterns to simple ones
Visual Habituation Technique
Infants prefer new images that they haven’t seen before
Novelty factor
Face Perception in Early Infancy
Infants can discriminate faces from other stimuli
They also prefer faces to other stimuli
Demonstrate face preference just minutes after birth
o Not a learned, but rather innate
,Perceptual Development in Early Infancy
Discrimination of angles
1½ Month olds discriminate on the basis of orientation
3½ Month olds discriminate on the basis of shape configuration
Discrimination of sounds
In their home language
o 6-12 month olds all performed the same
In a foreign language
o Younger children performed better
Perceptual narrowing
Lose ability to discriminate between tings they don’t
experience in their first year
, Infants’ Physical Development
Physical & motor development trajectories
Cephalocaudal trajectory
Development in a head-to-foot direction.
o Head of the foetus & infant is disproportionately large
because physical growth concentrates first on the head.
o Also applies to motor skills
maintain postural balance of the head & neck first
Proximodistal trajectory
Development begins along the inner-most parts of the body & continues
outward.
o Arms will develop before the hands & fingers.
Physical development of the brain
Size devlopment
o At birth the brain is about 25% of its eventual adult weight.
o By 6 months the brain is at 50% of its adult size.
Development speed
o Grows rapidly during childhood
o Slows by adolescence.
What develops when
o Neural networks develop rapidly
o Form the basis for cognitive & motor skills
o frontal lobe is one of last areas to develop
responsible for highest-level cognitive functioning.
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