Lifespan Development Chapters 1-3

Gene-environment interaction

Because of their genetic makeup, individuals differ in their responsiveness to qualities of the environment; people have unique, genetically influenced reactions to particular experiences

Small-for-date infants

Below their expected weight considering full length of the pregnancy

Heritability

Differences due to genetics - closer to 1.00 The more environments vary, the closer to 0.00, heritability estimates tell us nothing about how environment can modify genetic influences

Stages of childbirth

Dilation and effacement of the cervix, delivery of the baby, delivery of the placenta

Phenotypes

Directly observable characteristics

Fraternal twins

Dizygotic twins, the most common type of multiple offspring resulting from the release of two ova

Period of the Fetus

Ninth week to end of pregnancy - organism increases rapidly in size Trimesters - prenatal development

Somatic mutation

Normal body cells mutate

Organize theories based on three basic issues

(1) Is the course of development continuous or discontinuous? (2) Does one course of development characterize all people or are there many possible courses? (3) What are the roles of genetic and environmental factors-nature and nurture-in development?

Socioeconomic status

(1) Years of education, (2) the prestige of one's job and the skill it requires (social status) and (3) income (economic status)

Behavior modification

Consists of procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses

Analgesics and anesthetics

Control pain, necessary in complicated deliveries, can prolong labor and may have negative impact on newborn's adjustment

Gene therapy

Correcting genetic abnormalities by delivering DNA carrying a functional gene to the cells

Multidirectional

(1) Development is not limited to improved performance and (2) change is multidirectional within each domain of development

Lifespan perspective

(1) Lifelong, (2) multidimensional and multidirectional, (3) highly plastic, and (4) affected by multiple, interacting forces

Reflex

An inborn, automatic response to a particular form of stimulation. Some have survival value, foundation for voluntary motor skills, and help establish gratifying interactions

Plasticity

As open to change in response to influential experiences

Born to users of drugs

At risk for prematurity, low birth weight, physical defects, breathing difficulties, and death

Behavioral genetics

A field devoted to uncovering the contributions of nature and nurture to this diversity in human traits and abilities

Developmental science

A field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan

Natural, or prepared, childbirth

A group of techniques aimed at reducing pain and medical intervention and making childbirth a reward gin experience

PKU - phenylketonuria

Affects the way the body breaks down proteins

Developmental cognitive neuroscience

Brings together researchers from psych, bio, neuro, and med to study the relationship between changes in brain and person's cognitive processing/behavior patterns

Unexpected difficulties, preeclampsia

Can arise in mothers w preexisting health problems

Distinguishing sound

Can distinguish a variety of sound patterns and prefer complex sounds, especially responsive to human speech, can detect the sounds of any human language, and prefer their mother's voice

Kinship studies

Compare the characteristics of family members

Ethology

Concerned w the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history

Allele

Each form of a gene

Erikson's psychosocial theory

Emphasized that in addition to mediating id impulses and superego demands, the ego acquires attitudes and skills that make the individual an active, contributing member of society

Freud's psychosexual theory

Emphasizes that how parents manage their child's sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years is crucial for healthy personal development

Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale

Evaluates the newborn's reflexes, muscle tone, state changes, responsiveness to physical and social stimuli, and other reactions, helps researchers understand individual and cultural differences in new-born behavior

Adjusting to new family unit

Exciting but stressful, irregular and uncertain family schedule, positive relationship and social support and adequate income - problems usually temporary

History-graded influences

Explain why people born around the same time - called a cohort - tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times

Partial FAS

Facial abnormalities, brain injury

Internalizing/externalizing difficulties

Feeling worried and fearful and trying to repair their parent's relationship/anger and aggression

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Focuses on how culture is transmitted to the next generation

Cross-sectional design

Groups of people at differing age are studied at same point in time

Subcultures

Groups of people w beliefs and customs that differ from those of the larger culture

Fetal monitors

Help save the lives of many babies at risk for anoxia bc of pregnancy and birth complications

Nature vs. Nurture

Hereditary info we receive from our parents vs. complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences before and after birth

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

How conflicts are resolved determines the person's ability to learn, to get along w others, and to cope w anxiety

Extended-family households

In which three or more generations live together, vital in black families, grandparents play meaningful role in guiding younger generations

Cohort effects

Individuals born in same time period are influenced by specific historical and cultural conditions, results based on one cohort may not apply to people developing at different times

Prenatal malnutrition

Low birth weight, organ damage, suppression of immune system development, vitamin-mineral enrichment can help

Polygenic inheritance

Many genes influence the character in question

Heritability estimates

Measure the extent to which individual differences in complex traits in a specific population are due to genetic factors

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale

Predict school achievement

Severe emotional stress

Pregnancy complications and may permanently alter fetal neurological functioning

Maternal age, poverty

Prenatal problems, poor health and environmental risks associated w poverty

Stages

Qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development

Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Theory

Sensorimotor stage (birth-2 years) - use of senses and movements explore the world Preoperational stage (2-7 years) - symbolic but illogical thinking Concrete operational stage (7-11 years) - organized, logical reasoning Formal operational stage (11+ years) - abstract thought, systematic reasoning

Sequential design

Several similar cross-sectional or longitudinal designs conducted. Reveals cohort effects, permits tracking of age-related changes

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) Partial FAS

Slow physical growth, pattern of three facial abnormalities, brain injury

Cry

Stimulates strong feelings of discomfort, intensity and experiences leading up to it help parents identify what went wrong

Social-cognitive perspective

Strong emphasis on how we think about ourselves and other people

Amnion

Trophoblast forms membrane, amnion, that encloses the developing organism in amniotic fluid, which helps keep the temperature constant and provides a cushion

Period of the Zygote

Two weeks - until implantation

Normative

Typical or average bc affects many people in similar way

Born to users of tobacco

Underweight, physical defects, risk for long-term attention, learning, and behavior problems

Contexts

Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory

Views the person as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment

Cesarean deliveries

Warranted by medical emergency or serious maternal illness and for many babies in breech position - buttocks or feet first

X-linked inheritance

When a harmful allele is carried on the X chromosome males are more likely to be affected because their sex chromosomes do not match

Lanugo

White, downy hair appears over the body helping the vernix stick

Incomplete dominance

A pattern of inheritance in which both alleles are expressed in the phenotype, resulting in a combined trait, or one that is intermediate between the two

Discontinuous

A process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times

Continuous

A process of gradually augmenting the same types of skills that were there to begin with

Vernix

A white, cheese like substance that protects its skin from chapping

Multidimensional

Affected by an intricate blend of biological, psychological, and social forces

Social learning theory

Albert Bandura - emphasizes modeling (imitation or observational learning) as a powerful source of development

Genomic imprinting

Alleles are imprinted, or chemically marked, so that one pair member is activated, regardless of its makeup

Theory

An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior. Vital bc (1) provide organizing frameworks for our observations of people and (2) theories that are verified by research provide basis for practical action

Teratogen

Any environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period - dose, heredity, other negative influences, age - especially vulnerable during embryonic period, most widely used potent teratogen is Accutane

Natural birth program

Classes, relaxation and breathing techniques, labor coach

States of arousal

Degrees of sleep and wakefulness - REM (50%): stimulation essential for nervous system development, NREM: motionless, HR and breathing slow, drowsiness, quiet alertness, waking activity and crying

Ethnography

Descriptive, qualitative, and directed toward understanding a culture or a distinct social group through participant observation

Epigenesis

Development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels of environment

Nonnormative

Events that are irregular: they happen to just one person or a few people and do not follow a predictable timetable

Age-graded influences

Events that are strongly related to age and therefore fairly predictable in when they occur and how long they last

Sensitive period

Time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge and in which the individual is esp. responsive to environmental influences, less well-defined boundaries

Rh factor incompatibility

Inherits Rh positive blood from father, if a little crosses placenta into mother's bloodstream, antibodies formed which can destroy fetus's red blood cells and reduce oxygen supply

Vision

Least developed sense at birth, focusing ability and visual acuity - fineness of discrimination - are limited, attracted to bright objects but difficulty discriminating colors

Normative approach

Measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals, and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development

Prenatal diagnostic methods

Medical procedures that permit detection of developmental problems before birth - Amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, maternal blood analysis

Bronfenbrenner's environmental structures affecting development

Microsystem - the innermost level of environment; consists of activities and interaction patterns in the person's immediate surroundings Mesosystem - encompasses connections between microsystems Exosystem - social settings that do not contain the developing person but affect experiences in immediate settings Macrosystem - consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources Chronosystem - life changes imposed externally or can arise from within, since individuals select, modify, and create many of their own settings and experiences

Period of Embryo

Period of the embryo lasts from implantation through 8th week of pregnancy, rapid prenatal changes, Ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm formed

Apgar scale

To assess the newborn's physical condition quickly, rating of 0, 1, or 2 on five characteristics - combined score of 7 or or better is good

Low birth weight

Most common in infants born to poverty-stricken women, major cause of neonatal and infant mortality

Coparenting

Mutually supporting each other's parenting behaviors

Implantation

Occurs between the 7th and 9th days - blastocyst burrows deep into the uterine lining

Dominant-recessive inheritance

Occurs in many heterozygous pairings - only one allele affects the child's characteristics

Abnormalities of the sex chromosomes

Often not recognized until adolescence, most common problems involve an extra chromosome or absence of one X in females

Gene-environment correlation

Our genes influence the environments to which we are exposed Passive - the child has no control over it Evocative - children evoke responses that are influenced by the child's heredity - strengthen the child's original style Active - actively seek environments that fit their genetic tendencies

Longitudinal design

Participants are studied repeatedly, and changes are noted as they get older

Placenta

Permits food and oxygen to reach the organism and waste products to be rid of, attached to organism by umbilical cord - delivers blood loaded w nutrients and two arteries that remove waste

Prenatal exposures to high levels or ionizing, radiation, Hg, PCBs, lead, and dioxins

Physical malformations and severe brain damage, low-level exposure - cognitive defects and emotional and behavioral disorders

Affluent parents

Prestige and high-paid, too often fail to engage in family interaction and parenting that promotes favorable development, often make excessive demands for achievement

Infants during labor

Produce high level of stress hormones, help withstand oxygen deprivation, clear the lungs for breathing, and arouse them into alertness at birth

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Range of physical, mental, and behavioral outcomes caused by prenatal alcohol exposure

Infectious diseases

Rubella, babies w HIV - AIDS, leading to brain damage and early death, Cytomegalovirus and toxoplasmosis can be devastating to embryo and fetus

Home birth

Safe for healthy mothers who are assisted by a well-trained doctor or mid-wife, however safer in a hospital

Proteomics

Scientists modify gene-specified proteins involved in biological aging and disease

Evolutionary developmental psychology

Seeks to understand the adaptive value of specieswide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as they change w age

Senses

Senses of touch, taste, smell, and sound are well-developed at birth

Birth trauma

Supportive home environment can help restore their growth, infants w serious birth complication can recover w favorable experiences w parents and peers

Chorion

Surrounds the amnion and emerges villi and blood vessels

Germline mutation

Takes place in cells that give rise to gametes

Resilience

The ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development

Genotype

The complex blend of genetic information that determines our species and influences all our unique characteristics

Neural tube

The ectoderm folds over to form the neural tube (primitive spinal cord)

Information processing

The human mind might also be viewed as a symbol-manipulating system through which information flows

Age of viability

The point at which the baby can survive, occurs between 22 and 26 weeks

Canalization

The tendency of heredity to restrict the development of some characteristics to just one or a few outcomes

Niche-picking

The tendency to actively choose environments that complement our heredity

Preterm infants

Those born several weeks or more before their due date

Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND)

Three areas of mental functioning impaired

Identical, monozygotic twins

Zygote that has started to duplicate separates into two clusters of cells that develop into two individuals