Chapter 8

Development across the life span

Development Across the Life Span

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how

and why human beings change over the course of their life.
Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has
expanded to include adolescence, adult development,
aging, and the entire lifespan.
Lifespan development is the name psychologists have
given to the physical and cognitive changes that occur
throughout a person's life
Human development: the scientific study of the changes
that occur in people as they age from conception until
death
Developmental Research Designs
Developmental Research Designs
• Longitudinal design: research design in which
one participant or group of participants is studied
over a long period of time
– cohort effect: impact on development when a group of
people share common time period or life experience
 Longitudinal Design

Tested at 1 year Again at 4 years Again at 7 years

(Time 1) (Time 2) (Time 3)
 Longitudinal Design

Compare Compare

Tested at 1 year Again at 4 years Again at 7 years

(Time 1) (Time 2) (Time 3)

Same Participants

Different Times Different Times Different Times

Developmental Research Designs

• Cross-sectional design: research design in

which several different age groups of
participants are studied at one particular
point in time
• Cross-sequential design: research design
in which participants are first studied by
means of a cross-sectional design but also
followed and assessed over time.
 Nature versus Nurture

• Nature: the influence of our inherited

characteristics on our personality, physical
growth, intellectual growth, and social
interactions
• Nurture: the influence of the environment
on personality, physical growth, intellectual
growth, and social interactions
• Behavioral genetics: focuses on nature vs.
nurture
 Genetics and Development

• Genetics: the science of inherited traits

– behavioral genetics
• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid): special
molecule that contains the genetic material
of the organism
DNA Molecule
In this model of a DNA molecule, the two strands making up the sides of the “twisted ladder”
are composed of sugars and phosphates. The “rungs” of the ladder that link the two strands
are amines. Amines contain the genetic codes for building the proteins that make up organic
life.
 Genetics and Development

• Gene: section of DNA having a certain

pattern of chemical elements
– dominant: referring to a gene that actively
controls the expression of a trait
– recessive: referring to a gene that only
influences the expression of a trait when
paired with an identical gene
 Genetics and Development

• Chromosome: tightly wound strand of

genetic material or DNA
• Chromosome disorders include Down
syndrome, Klinefelter’s syndrome, and
Turner’s syndrome
• Genetic disorders include PKU, cystic
fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, and Tay-Sachs
disease
Genetic defects and chromosomal abnormalities are both
sometimes called "genetic conditions" or "genetic
disorders," but the difference lies in how much of the DNA
is actually affected.

A chromosomal abnormality affects an entire chromosome

and many or all of the genes that make it up. The most
common chromosomal abnormalities are duplications,
where an individual has an extra copy of a chromosome.

When differentiating genetic defects from chromosomal

abnormalities, it can be less confusing to call genetic
defects "single-gene defects" because they involve
mutations in individual genes. Though the affected gene
may not give proper instructions, the individual's overall
chromosome number and structure are normal.
 Conception

• Conception: the moment at which a female

becomes pregnant
• Ovum: the female sex cell, or egg
• Fertilization: the union of the ovum and
sperm
• Zygote: cell resulting from the uniting of
the ovum and sperm; divides into many
cells, eventually forming the baby
 Conception and Twins

• Monozygotic twins: identical twins

– formed when one zygote splits into two
separate masses of cells, each of which
develops into a separate embryo
• Dizygotic twins: often called fraternal twins
– occur when two eggs get fertilized by two
different sperm, resulting in the development
of two zygotes in the uterus at the same time
Monozygotic and Dizygotic Twins
Because identical twins come from one fertilized egg (zygote), they are called
monozygotic. Fraternal twins, who come from two different fertilized eggs, are
called dizygotic.
 Periods of Pregnancy

The three periods of prenatal development (not trimesters).

 Periods of Pregnancy

• Germinal period: first two weeks after

fertilization, during which the zygote
moves down to the uterus and begins to
implant in the lining
– embryo is the name for the developing
organism from two weeks to eight weeks after
fertilization
 Periods of Pregnancy

• Embryonic period: the period from two to

eight weeks after fertilization, during which
the major organs and structures of the
organism develop
– critical periods: times during which certain
environmental influences can have an impact
on the development of the infant
– teratogen: any factor that can cause a birth
defect
 Periods of Pregnancy

• Fetal period: the time from about eight

weeks after conception until the birth of
the child
– fetus: name for the developing organism from
eight weeks after fertilization to the birth of the
baby
– viability: the point at which it is possible for an
infant to survive outside the womb, usually
about 22-26 weeks
Physical Development in Infancy and Childhood

• Infants are born with 5 reflexes that help

them survive
– grasping
– Moro (startle)
– rooting
– stepping
– sucking
Infant Survival Reflexes
Shown here are (a) grasping reflex; (b) startle reflex (also known as the
Moro reflex); (c) rooting reflex (when you touch a baby‘s cheek it will
turn toward your hand, open its mouth, and search for the nipple);

grasping reflex startle reflex rooting reflex

aka Moro reflex
Infant Survival Reflexes
(d) stepping reflex; and (e) sucking reflex. These infant reflexes can be used to check the
health of an infant’s nervous system. If a reflex is absent or abnormal, it may indicate
brain damage or some other neurological problem.

stepping reflex sucking reflex

 Six Motor Milestones
Shown here are (a) raising head and chest - 2 to 4
months, (b) rolling over—2 to 5 months, (c) sitting up with
support—4 to 6 months,

raising head & chest rolling over sitting up with support

 Motor Milestones
(d) sitting up without support—6 to 7 months, (e) crawling—7 to 8 months, and
(f) walking—8 to 18 months. The motor milestones develop as the infant gains
greater voluntary control over the muscles in its body, typically from the top of
the body downward. This pattern is seen in the early control of the neck
muscles and the much later development of control of the legs and feet.

sitting up without support crawling walking

Physical Development in Infancy and Childhood

• The senses, except for vision, are fairly

well developed at birth
• Brain development
– synaptic pruning or axon pruning is the
process of synapse elimination that occurs
between early childhood and the onset of
puberty in many mammals, including
humans. Pruning starts near the time of birth
and is completed by the time of sexual
maturation in humans.
 Cognitive Development

• Cognitive development: the development

of thinking, problem solving, and memory
• Jean Piaget: developed a four-stage
theory of cognitive development based on
observation of infants and children
– schemes: mental concepts formed by children
as they experience new situations and events
Jean Piaget
 Piaget’s Stage Theory
• Sensorimotor stage: Piaget’s first stage of
cognitive development, in which the infant
uses its senses and motor abilities to interact
with objects in the environment
– The first stage of Piaget's theory lasts from birth to
approximately age two and is centered on the
infant trying to make sense of the world.
– object permanence: the knowledge that an object
exists even when it is not in sight
 Piaget’s Stage Theory

• Preoperational stage: Piaget’s second

stage of cognitive development, in which
the preschool child learns to use language
as a means of exploring the world
– egocentrism: the inability to see the world
through anyone else’s eyes
– centration: in Piaget’s theory, the tendency of
a young child to focus only on one feature of
an object while ignoring other relevant
features
 Piaget’s Stage Theory

• Preoperational Stage (cont’d)

– conservation: in Piaget’s theory, the ability to
understand that simply changing the appearance
of an object does not change the object’s nature
– irreversibility: in Piaget’s theory, the inability of
the young child to mentally reverse an action
Conservation Experiment
A typical conservation task consists of pouring equal amounts of water into two
glasses of the same size and shape. When the water from one of these glasses
is poured into a taller, narrower glass, children who cannot yet conserve tend to
focus (centrate) on the height of the water in the second glass, assuming that
the second glass now has more water than the first one. In the second
example, pennies are laid out in two equal lines. When the pennies in the top
line are spaced out, the child who cannot yet conserve will centrate on the top
line and assume that there are actually more pennies in that line.
 Piaget’s Stage Theory

• Concrete operations stage: third stage of

cognitive development, in which the
school-aged child becomes capable of
logical thought processes but is not yet
capable of abstract thinking
• Formal operations: Piaget’s last stage of
cognitive development, in which the
adolescent becomes capable of abstract
thinking
 Vygotsky’s Theory

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of human learning

describes learning as a social process and the
origination of human intelligence in society or culture.
The major theme of Vygotsky’s theoretical framework
is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in
the development of cognition.

• Scaffolding: process in which a more skilled learner

gives help to a less skilled learner, then reduces
the amount of help as the less skilled learner
becomes more capable
 Vygotsky’s Theory
• Zone of proximal development (ZPD): the difference
between what a child can do alone and what that
child can do with the help of a teacher

private speech: Vygotsky viewed this as a way for a

child to “think out loud” and advance cognitively
 Language Development

• Language development allows children to:

– think in words rather than images
– ask questions
– communicate their needs
– form concepts
• Child-directed speech: children attend to
higher-pitched, repetitious, sing-song
speech
Stages of Language Development

• Cooing
• Babbling
• One-Word Speech (Holophrases)
• Telegraphic Speech
• Whole sentences
 Autism Spectrum Disorder
– Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of
developmental disabilities that can cause
significant social, communication and
behavioral challenges.
– myths relating ASD to vaccines have been
debunked
 Autism Spectrum Disorder
People with ASD often have problems with social, emotional, and
communication skills. They might repeat certain behaviors and might not
want change in their daily activities. Many people with ASD also have
different ways of learning, paying attention, or reacting to things. Signs of
ASD begin during early childhood and typically last throughout a person’s
life.
Children or adults with ASD might:
• not point at objects to show interest (for example, not point at an
airplane flying over)
• not look at objects when another person points at them
• have trouble relating to others or not have an interest in other people at
all
• avoid eye contact and want to be alone
• have trouble understanding other people’s feelings or talking about their
own feelings
 Autism Spectrum Disorder
Children or adults with ASD might:
• prefer not to be held or cuddled, or might cuddle only when they want to
• appear to be unaware when people talk to them, but respond to other sounds
• be very interested in people, but not know how to talk, play, or relate to them
• repeat or echo words or phrases said to them, or repeat words or phrases in
place of normal language
• have trouble expressing their needs using typical words or motions
• not play “pretend” games (for example, not pretend to “feed” a doll)
• repeat actions over and over again
• have trouble adapting when a routine changes
• have unusual reactions to the way things smell, taste, look, feel, or sound
• lose skills they once had (for example, stop saying words they were using)
 Temperament
• Temperament: behavioral characteristics that
are fairly well established at birth
– easy: regular, adaptable, and happy
– difficult: irregular, nonadaptable, and irritable
– slow to warm up: need to adjust gradually to
change
– Temperament influences how a child behaves
toward individuals and objects around them and
how the environment affects them. This concept
also indicates that many behavioral tendencies
are inborn – not the result of faulty parenting.
 Attachment

• Attachment: the emotional bond between

an infant and the primary caregiver
– secure: willing to explore; upset when mother
departs, but easily soothed upon her return
– avoidant: unattached; explores without
“touching base”
 Attachment

• Attachment (cont’d)
– ambivalent: insecurely attached; upset when
mother leaves and then angry with mother
upon her return
– disorganized-disoriented: insecurely attached
and sometimes abused or neglected; child
seems fearful, dazed, and depressed
 Self-Concept
• Self-concept is the image you have of yourself
– based on your interactions with the important people
in your life.
 Erikson’s Stages

• Trust versus mistrust: first stage of

personality development
– the infant’s basic sense of trust or mistrust
develops as a result of consistent or
inconsistent care
• Autonomy versus shame and doubt:
second stage of personality development
– the toddler strives for physical independence
 Erikson’s Stages

• Initiative versus guilt: third stage of

personality development
– the preschool-aged child strives for emotional
and psychological independence and
attempts to satisfy curiosity about the world
• Industry versus inferiority: fourth stage of
personality development
– the adolescent strives for a sense of
competence and self-esteem
1st four stages of development
 Erikson’s Fifth Stage

• Identity versus role confusion: fifth stage of

personality development
– the adolescent must find a consistent sense
of self
• Parent–teen conflict
 Erikson’s Stages
• Intimacy versus isolation : an emotional and
psychological closeness that is based on the ability
to trust, share, and care, while still maintaining a
sense of self

6
 Erikson’s Stages
• Generativity versus stagnation : providing
guidance to one’s children or the next
generation, or contributing to the well-being of
the next generation through career or
volunteering
– parenting styles Optional Video
Authoritarian - very strict and controlling
Authoritative - good
Permissive - bad
7
 Erikson’s Stages
• Ego integrity versus despair : sense of wholeness
that comes from having lived a full life and the ability
to let go of regrets; the final completion of the ego

8
 Last 3 stages of development
LO 8.9 Physical and Cognitive Changes during Adulthood and Aging
 Freud’s stage theory
In Freudian psychology, psychosexual development is a
central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory,
that human beings, from birth, possess an instinctual libido
(sexual energy) that develops in five stages.
 Puberty and Adolescence

• Adolescence: the period of life from about

age thirteen to the early twenties, during
which a young person is no longer
physically a child but is not yet an
independent, self-supporting adult
• Puberty: the physical changes that occur
in the body as sexual development
reaches its peak
– period of about four years
 Egocentric Thinking

• Formal operations may begin to emerge

– Piaget’s final stage
– thinking of hypothetical situations
– egocentric thought remains

Egocentrism refers to the child's inability to see a

situation from another person's point of view. According
to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other
people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as the child
does.
 Egocentric Thinking

• Personal fable: young people believe

themselves to be unique and protected
from harm
• Imaginary audience: young people believe
that other people are just as concerned
about the adolescent’s thoughts and
characteristics as they themselves are
 Kohlberg’s Levels of Morality
1. Preconventional morality: behavior is governed
by the consequences of the behavior
2. Conventional morality: behavior is governed by
conforming to society’s norms of behavior
3. Postconventional morality: behavior is governed
by moral principles that have been decided on by
the individual
– may be in disagreement with accepted social norms
 Physical Changes and Aging

• Adulthood begins in the early twenties and

ends with old age and death
– divided into young adulthood, middle
adulthood, and late adulthood
– Emerging adulthood is proposed as a new
conception of development for the period from
the late teens through the twenties, with a
focus on ages 18-25.
 Physical Changes and Aging
• Women experience a physical decline in the
reproductive system called the climacteric
– ends at about age fifty with menopause: the
cessation of ovulation and menstrual cycles and
the end of a woman’s reproductive capability
• Andropause: gradual changes in the sexual
hormones and reproductive system of males
The reduction is rarely noticeable in men
younger than 60.
 Physical Changes and Aging

• Increase in health problems

• Decrease in reaction time
• Challenges in memory most likely caused
by stress and high volumes of information
to maintain
 Theories of Aging

• Cellular clock theory: based on the idea

that cells only have so many times that
they can reproduce
– once that limit is reached, damaged cells
begin to accumulate
• Wear-and-tear theory: as time goes by,
repeated use and abuse of the body’s
tissues cause it to be unable to repair all
the damage
 Theories of Aging

• Free radical theory: oxygen molecules with

an unstable electron move around the cell,
damaging cell structures as they go
• Activity theory: theory of adjustment to
aging that assumes older people are
happier if they remain active in some way,
such as volunteering or developing a
hobby
Stages of Death and Dying
The END Chapter 8
Development across the life span
The End