What is the field of child development, and
what factors stimulated its expansion?
Child development is an area of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception through adolescence. It is part of the larger, interdisciplinary field
developmental science, which includes changes throughout the lifespan.
Research on c
How is child development typically divided into domains?
Development is often divided into physical, cognitive, and emotional and social domains. These domains are not really distinct; they combine in an integrated, holistic fashion.
How is child development typically divided periods?
(1) prenatal period (conception to birth)
(2) infancy and toddlerhood (birth to 2 years)
(3) early childhood (2 to 6 years)
(4) middle childhood (6 to 11 years)
(5) adolescence (11 to 18 years).
Identify three basic issues on which child development theories take a stand .
1) Is development a continuous process or
discontinuous?
(2) Does one general course of development characterize all children, or are there many possible courses, influenced by the contexts in which children grow up?
(3) nature-nurture controversy and are
Describe major historical influences on theories of child development
?medieval times: childhood was regarded as a separate period of life.
? Reformation: the Puritan conception of original sin led to a harsh philosophy of child rearing.
?Enlightenment brought a new emphasis on human dignity and respect that led to more hum
What theories influenced child development
research in the mid-twentieth century?
? psychiatrists and social workers turned to the psychoanalytic perspective for help in treating children's emotional and behavior problems. In Freud's psychosexual theory, children move through five stages, during which three parts of the personality� id
Describe recent theoretical perspectives on child development
? Information processing views the mind as a
complex, symbol-manipulating system, much
like a computer. This approach helps investiga-
tors achieve a detailed understanding of what
children of different ages do when faced with
tasks and problems.
? develo
Identify the stand taken by Psychoanalytic perspective theory on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1. Discontinuous: Psychosexual and psychosocial development takes place in stages.
2. One course: Stages are assumed to be universal.
3.Both nature and nurture: Innate impulses are channeled and controlled through child-rearing experiences. Early experien
Identify the stand taken by Behaviorism and social learning theory on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1.Continuous: Development involves an increase in learned behaviors.
2.Many possible courses: Behaviors reinforced and modeled may vary from child to child.
3.Emphasis on nurture: Development results from conditioning and modeling. Both early and later ex
Identify the stand taken by Piaget's cognitive-developmental
theory on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1. Discontinuous: Cognitive development takes place in stages.
2.One course: Stages are assumed to be universal.
3.Both nature and nurture: Development occurs as the brain grows and children exercise their innate drive to discover
reality in a generally s
Identify the stand taken by Information processing on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1. Continuous: Children gradually improve in perception, attention, memory, and problem-solving skills.
2.One course: Changes studied characterize most or all children.
3.Both nature and nurture: Children are active, sense-making beings who modify their t
Identify the stand taken by Ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1.Both continuous and discontinuous: Children gradually develop a wider range of adaptive behaviors. Sensitive periods occur, in which qualitatively distinct capacities
emerge fairly suddenly.
2.One course: Adaptive behaviors and sensitive periods apply t
Identify the stand taken by Vygotsky's sociocultural theory on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1.Both continuous and discontinuous: Language acquisition and schooling lead to stagewise changes. Dialogues with more
expert members of society also lead to continuous changes that vary from culture to culture.
2.Many possible courses: Socially mediated
Identify the stand taken by Ecological systems theory on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1.Not specified .
2.Many possible courses: Children's characteristics join with environmental forces at multiple levels to mold development in unique ways.
3.Both nature and nurture: Children's characteristics and the reactions of others affect each other
Identify the stand taken by Dynamic systems perspective on the basic issues of child development
1.CONTINUOUS OR DISCONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT? 2.ONE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OR MANY?
3.RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF NATURE AND NURTURE?
1. Both continuous and discontinuous: Change in the system is always ongoing. Stagelike transformations occur as children reorganize their behavior so components of the system
work as a functioning whole.
2.Many possible courses: Biological makeup, everyd
Explain the importance of social policies for safeguarding children's well-being
? The field of child development has become increasingly concerned with applying its vast knowledge base to solving pressing social problems. When widespread problems arise,
nations attempt to solve them through a special type of social policy called publ
cite factors that affect the policy-making process, noting the role of child development research
? One important factor influencing public policies is the extent to which a society's values are individualistic (emphasizing individual well-being) or collectivist (emphasizing group needs and goals).
?Other factors are a nation's economic resources and
Describe various patterns of genetic inheritance.
? Homozygous individuals have two identical alleles. If the alleles differ, the individual is heterozygous, and relationships between the alleles determine the phenotype.
-In dominant-recessive inheritance, only the dominant allele affects the child's phe
Describe major chromosomal abnormalities, and explain how they occur.
Most chromosomal abnormalities are due to errors during meiosis.
-The most common is Down syndrome, which results in physical defects and broad intellectual disability.
-Sex chromosome abnormalities, such as XYY, triple X, Klinefelter, and Turner syndrome
What procedures can assist prospective parents in having healthy children?
?Genetic counseling helps couples at risk for giving birth to children with genetic abnormalities consider appropriate options.
- Prenatal diagnostic methods allow early detection of genetic problems.
? Reproductive technologies, such as donor inseminatio
Effects of Drugs
? Babies born to users of heroin, methadone, or
cocaine are at risk for prematurity, low birth
weight, and physical defects and are born
drug-addicted. Evidence on long-term effects,
however, is mixed.
Cite factors that influence the impact of teratogens
-length of exposure
- genetic makeup of mother and fetus,
-presence or absence of other harmful agents
- age of the organism at time of exposure.
Effects of tobacco
? Infants whose parents use tobacco are often born underweight, may have physical defects, and are at risk for attention, learning, and behavior problems in childhood.
Effects of alcohol
? Maternal alcohol consumption can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
-Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) involves slow physical growth, facial abnormalities, and mental impairments.
-Milder forms�partial fetal alcohol syndrome (p-FAS)
-alcohol-rel
Effects of radiation
? Prenatal exposure to high levels of radiation, mercury, lead, dioxins, and PCBs leads to physical malformations and severe brain damage.
-Low-level exposure has been linked to cognitive deficits and emotional and behavior disorders.
Effects of maternal diseases
? Among infectious diseases, rubella causes wide-ranging abnormalities. Babies with prenatally transmitted HIV rapidly develop AIDS, leading to brain damage and early death.
Cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex 2, and toxoplasmosis can also be devastating to t
Describe the impact of additional maternal
factors on prenatal development.
(nutrition, stress, age)
?Prenatal malnutrition can lead to low birth weight, damage to the brain and other organs, and suppression of immune system development. Maternal vitamin-mineral supplementation, including folic acid, can prevent prenatal and birth complications.
? Severe
Describe the three stages of childbirth
-In the first stage of childbirth, contractions widen and thin the cervix.
-In the second stage, the mother feels an urge to push the baby
through the birth canal.
- In the final stage, the placenta is delivered.
Describe the baby's adaptation to labor and delivery
During labor, infants produce high levels of stress hormones, which help them withstand oxygen deprivation, clear
the lungs for breathing, and arouse them into alertness at birth.
Describe the newborn baby's appearance.
Newborn babies have large heads and small
bodies. The Apgar Scale is used to assess their
physical condition at birth.
Apgar Scale
-Appearance (color)
-Pulse (heart rate)
-Grimace (motor irritability)
-Activity (muscle tone)
-Respiration (breathing)
Describe natural childbirth
-the expectant mother and a companion attend classes about labor and delivery, master relaxation and breathing techniques to counteract pain, and prepare for coaching during childbirth. Social support from a partner, relative, or doula reduces the length
Describe natural home delivery
Home birth is as safe as hospital birth for healthy mothers who are assisted by a well trained doctor or midwife.
explain the risks of using pain-relieving drugs during labor and delivery.
The use of analgesics and anesthetics during childbirth can prolong labor and cause newborns to be withdrawn and irritable and to feed poorly.
What risks are associated with oxygen deprivation
Inadequate oxygen supply during labor and delivery can damage the brain and other organs. Effects of even mild to moderate anoxia often persist, although many children
improve over time.
what factors can help infants who survive a traumatic birth and Preterm infant?
?
- providing special stimulation in the intensive care nursery "Kangaroo care"
-teaching parents how to care for and interact with their babies.
-Preterm infants in stressed, low income households need longterm, intensive
intervention.
? When infants exp
Explain the various ways heredity and environment may combine to influence complex traits.
? Behavioral genetics looks at the contributions
of nature and nurture to complex traits. Researchers use kinship studies to compute heritability estimates, which show that genetic factors contribute to such traits as intelligence and personality. However
List the three periods of prenatal development, and describe the major milestones of each.
zygote
� 2 weeks
� Blastocyst
� Embryonic disk
� Trophoblast
� Implantation
� Amnion / Amniotic Fluid
� yolk sac
� chorion
� placenta
� umbilical cord
embryo
� 6 weeks
� Ectoderm /Mesoderm / Endoderm
� Neural tube
-neurons
2nd month
-Rapid growth: eyes, e
What is the best available predictor of infant survival and healthy development
Birth weight is the best available predictor of infant survival and healthy development.
What system develop fastest at the beginning period of the embryo
nervous
which form of exercise is recommended for pregnant women
regular moderate exercise, such as walking,
swimming, biking, or an aerobic workout, is related to increased birth weight and a reduction in risk for certain complications, such as pregnancy-induced maternal diabetes and high blood pressure
What is one of the most powerful tools for preventing developmental problems and enhancing children's quality of life
public policy
The fact that people with asthma or hay fever tend to have mothers, not fathers, with the illness is best explained by
genomic imprinting
The fact that children are more likely to develop diabetes if their father, rather than their mother, suffers from it is best explained by
genomic imprinting
hemophilia, a disorder in which the blood fails to clot normally. which have greater likelihood of inheritance by male
children whose mothers carry the abnormal allele. This is best explained by
x-linked inheritance
prenatal tobacco exposure is linked to
impaired heart rate and breathing during sleep, infant death, and asthma and cancer later in childhood,
prenatal radiation exposure linked to
abnormal EEG brain-wave activity, lower intelligence test scores, and rates of language and emotional disorders two to three times greater;brain abnormality
prenatal stress linked to
higher rates of miscarriage, prematurity, low birth
weight, infant respiratory and digestive illnesses, colic (persistent infant crying), sleep disturbances, and irritability during the child's first three years
prenatal rubella virus
embryonic period:
deafness; eye deformities, including cataracts; heart, genital, urinary, intestinal, bone, and dental defects; and intellectual disability.
fetal period:
low birth weight, hearing loss, and bone defects may still occur. The organ damage
Examples of Dominant and Recessive Diseases
Autosomal Diseases
-Cystic Fibrosis(recessive)
-PKU (recessive)
-Sickle cell Anemia (Incomplete Dominance)
-Huntington Disease(Dominant)
Examples of Dominant and Recessive Diseases
X-Linked Diseases
-Duchenne muscular Dystrophy(recessive)
-Hemophilia (recessive)
examples of genetic imprinting diseases
-Prader-Willi
-Fragile-X syndrome
Individuals likely to choose genetic counseling include:
-Those who have had difficulty bearing children
-Women who delay childbearing past age 35
-Those with a family history of inherited disorders/diseases
Prenatal diagnostic methods
-Amniocentesis
-Chorionic villus sampling
-Fetoscopy
-Ultrasound
-Maternal blood analysis
-Preimplantation genetic diagnosis
Placenta:
-Permits food and oxygen to reach developing organism
-Permits waste products to be carried away
Umbilical cord:
-Delivers blood to developing organism
-Removes waste from developing organism
gastrulation
The inward movement of proliferating cells
Age of viability is between
22-26 weeks
caffeine
-Increased rate of spontaneous abortion
-Low birth weight
alcohol
-FASD
-cognitive/learning impairment
-motor functioning impairment
Marijuana
-low birth weight
-premature birth
-neurological differences
tobacco
-increased rate of abortion, stillbirth, neonatal death
nicotine
-reduction of oxygen
-increase in CO2
-low birth weight
cocaine
-higher risk of premature birth
-higher risk of strokes
-birth defects
-delayed languages
-problem in self regulation
Heroin/Methadone
-addicted to drug
-premature
-low birth weight
-vulnerable to respiratory illness
-attention impairment
-motor function impair
prescription drugs
physical deformities as seen with thalidomide
virus
-congenital heart disease (rubella)
-sensory defects (deafness)
-mental retardation
Radiation
-prenatal death
-malformation (depend on dose)
-mental retardation
pollution
-birth defects/growth retardation
-premature birth
-mercury -> cerebral palsy
Passive correlation
- child does not contribute to the environmental exposure
Evocative correlation
- child's heredity evokes a particular environmental response
Active correlation
-child seeks environment that supports his/her genetic tendencies
--Niche-picking
During a particular period, the most rapid prenatal changes occur.
This is the period of the embryo!
Examples: neural tube, primitive brain and spinal cord, heart, muscles
If blood test show PKU doctor must
doctors place the baby on a diet low in phenylalanine.