Summary with Life-Span Human development - Sigelman & Rider - 7th edition

How to understand Human Development? - Chapter 1

Development is the systematic changes and continuities that an individual undergoes during his or her lifespan. There are three main types of development: physical development, cognitive development, and psychosocial development. Physical development refers to body growth, organ growth, organ function, aging, and other physical changes and changes in motor abilities. Cognitive development refers to development in perception, language, memory, problem-solving skills and other processes of the mind. Psychosocial development refers to personal and interpersonal development. Examples include personality traits, relationships and interpersonal skills. While developmentalists tend to focus their research on one of the these three categories, all aspects of human development are intertwined and changes in one aspect can affect the other aspects.

Growth is defined by biologists as the physicl changes that happen during a person’s lifespan. When people consider the human lifespan, they tend to think of it in terms of biological development. Biological aging occurs when organisms deteriorate and die. Most people imagine these developments to be positive from birth until adolescence, to stay the same from adolescence through middle age, and to be negative from middle age until death. However, it is important to remember that development does not always follow the model of gain-stability-loss. There are gains and losses at each stage of development. For example while children gain cognitive abilities as they develop, they may also lose self-esteem. Aging does not happen in only biological terms. It can refer to other physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes. Changes as we develop can be positive and negative. These changes should not be viewed in terms of improving or worsening but as resulting in people becoming different than they were.

The concept of age differs depending on the society. Age grades, also known as age stratum, are the socially defined age groups in a society. People within different age grades are given different roles, privileges, and responsibilities. Developmentalists use the following age grades. The prenatal period is from conception to birth. Infancy is the first two years of a person’s life. Preschool period is from two years of age to five or six years of age. Middle childhood is the period from six until twelve years of age (or when puberty begins). Adolescence is the period from twelve years of age to twenty years of age. Adolescence ends when a person is independent of his or her parents. Early adulthood is the period from twenty to forty years of age. Some developmentalists divide this period into two periods with people from the age of eighteen to twenty-nine as belonging to the emerging adulthood period. Middle adulthood is the period from forty to sixty-five years of age. Late adulthood is from sixty-five years of age on. Some developmentalists further divide this period into young-old, old-old, and very old based on functioning. For the purposes of utilizing this text, it is necessary to understand how developmentalists have differentiated the periods of the life span. However, keep in mind that age is a rough indicator of development and people of the same age differ in functioning and personality.

Different cultures have different age grades and differ in how important they believe age to be. The St. Lawrence Eskimo has two age grades based on gender: boys and men and girls and women. The Arusha people of East Africa on the other hand have six age grades for males. Some cultures place great importance on the transition from one age grade to the next. A rite of passage is a ritual that marks this transition. For example, Jewish culture has bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs.

Age grades also define age norms. Age norms are societal expectations on how people should behave based on their age. For example, in our culture most people agree that a six year old child is at the appropriate age to attend school but is too young to drink or get married. Norms are necessary because they affect how people choose to lead their lives. Gerontologist Bernice Neugarten referred to this as the social-clock. A person can sense when things should happen and if he or she is ahead of schedule or behind schedule based on age norms. When a person does not adhere to age norms, this can affect him or her more negatively in terms of how he/she adjusts to life transitions. A thirteen year-old girl or a fifty-year old woman may find it harder to adjust to becoming a new parent than a twenty-eight year old woman. However, age norms have been weakening and it is no longer clear what is the socially appropriate age for certain events such as marriage or retirement. Additionally age norms do not only vary across cultures but vary across the subcultures of one society. American society is diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). These differences lead to different age norms and different developmental experiences. Linda Burton’s 1996 study on age norms of low-income African Americans showed that the community thought it was appropriate for a woman to become a mother at sixteen and that their mothers and grandmothers would help care for the children. Burton found that children in poorer communities had to grow up faster and take on adult responsibilities of helping to care for their siblings or prepare meals.

The definitions of terms such as childhood, adolescence, and adulthood have changed throughout history. Development should be seen in a historical and cultural (and subcultural) context. In Western culture children were not seen as different from adults, in need of protection and nurturing, until the seventeenth century. Children were treated as adults and expected to work with adults at home, in shops, and in the fields. Adolescence was not viewed as a separate phase of development until the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, at which point youths were no longer allowed to work due to child labor laws. Youths were then separated from adults by focusing their time on school. Middle age was not clearly recognized until the twentieth century when people started having smaller families and longer life expectancies. As a result, people lived long enough to see their children leave the nest. Additionally, only in the twentieth century did old age become a period of retirement. Previously, there were fewer old people, and even fewer that were in good health. The current life expectancy rate is seventy-eight years of age. Women have a higher life expectancy rate than men, and Whites have higher life expectancy rates than African Americans. While these gaps have been lessening, the gap between socioeconomic groups has been growing.

One possible explanation is that wealthier individuals are more inclined to make changes to lead healthier lives. Additionally, higher-income individuals have better health insurance coverage and access to health care. People are living longer and longer. This makes it difficult to predict changes in the aging experience in the future.

Nature Versus Nurture

Nature and Nurture are both important for development and they are interrelated and affect each other. An example would be why boys tend to be more aggressive than girls. Robert Munroe studied physical aggression in Belize, Kenya, Nepal, and American Samoa to see if gender differences in physical aggression exist across different cultures. His study founds that boys were more aggressive than girls in all four cultures. However, there were differences in the amount of aggression depending on the culture. Kenya and Nepal showed the most frequent aggressive behavior. Kenya and Nepal are also the most patrilineal of all four cultures. Patrilineal cultures are cultures where families are based on male kin groups. The study suggests that both biology and environmental factors affect why men are more physically aggressive than women.

Visualizing Development

Psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner developed a conceptual model of development. He called this the bioecological model of development. He wanted to emphasize that biology and environment both lead to development.Bronfenbrenner sees the developing person as surrounded by a series of environmental systems which interact with each other and with the person over time, thus affecting development. The first of four environmental systems is the microsystem. The microsystem consists of the immediate physical and social environment where a person interacts with others. For example, an infant’s microsystem probably consists of his or herself, the mother, and the father. As the infant grows, the microsystem may expand to the day care center. The second system is the mesosystem which links two or more microsystems. An example is if a teenagr’s parents are going through a divorce at home, his or her performance at school can be affected. The third environmental system is the exosystem. This system links social settings that affect a person but is not directly experienced by the person. For example, an individual can be affected by a spouse having a bad day at work. The fourth environmental system is the macrosystem. This is the largest cultural context that the other three contexts are embedded into. Culture is defined as the shared understandings and way of life of a people. Bronfenbrenner also developed the idea of the chronosystem to show that changes in people and in the environments they inhabit relate to a time frame and occur in patterns. All these environmental systems are constantly changing. Researchers must consider how person, context, time, and processes are related and affect human interaction.

Studying Human Development

The aim of studying development over a life-span is to describe, explain, and optimize development. Developmentalists describe normal developments and individual variations and how these change with age. Describing is the first step. The next step is to explain why humans develop they way they do. Third, developmentalists seek to optimize human development to encourage people to develop in positive ways and overcome developmental problems.

Optimization is especially important to “helping professionals” such as teachers, therapists, and counselors. Such professionals are encouraged to practice evidence-based practice. This is practice that comes out of research and treatments proven to be effective.

Scientific research on development did not occur until the late nineteenth century. Scholars started observing the development of their own children. They published their research as baby biographies. Charles Darwin is the most famous baby biographer. He recorded his son’s development daily. Darwin’s interest in development came out of his interest in evolution. He felt that understanding how children developed would aid in understanding how humans evolved. Scientifically speaking, the baby biographies were lacking. There was little commonality between which behaviors biographers chose to focus on, thus making the various biographies difficult to compare and not generalizable.

G. Stanley Hall is considered the founder of developmental psychology. He developed a questionnaire to gather more objective data with a larger sample of people. He wrote the book “Adolescence” in 1904, and described the tumultuous period of human development as a time of emotional highs and lows. He called this time storm and stress. While many of Hall’s theories are flawed and he tried to describe development instead of explain it, he encouraged research and raised questions on human development over the life span.

In the twentieth century, the study of development began dividing into specialities based on age-group such as infants, adolescence or gerontology (the study of old age and aging). Paul Baltes listed seven important assumptions of the life-span perspective. The first assumption is that development changes throughout the lifespan and is a lifelong process. Development in a certain period should be viewed in relation to overall development over the life span. Second, development does not only move in one direction, it is multidirectional. Different capacities exhibit different patterns of change and different functions have different paths of change. Third, gain and loss in development are interconnected in every phase of life. The fourth assumption is that a capacity to change exists in response to negative and positive experiences. This capacity is called plasticity. Development involves plasticity throughout the lifespan. For example, studies show that the elderly can improve or regain lost intellectual abilities through physical exercise or cognitive training. Studies conducted with animals show that improvements in cognitive ability come from neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and respond to experiences. Research shows that neurochemistry can be changed through physical exercise and mental stimulation. Fifth, a historical-cultural context shapes development. This relates to Bronfenbrenneer’s bioecological model. Glen Elder researched the effect of the Great depression on the lives of people who were children and adolescents during that time. The study showed that children had behavioral problems and poor grades if their fathers were unemployed, therefore more likely to be less affectionate and to provide less consistent discipline. These children grew up to have unstable careers and family lives. The study also showed that adolescents fared better than children since they were more independent of their parents. They worked to help support their families and developed a sense of responsibility.

The sixth assumption is that development is influenced by many factors and interacting causes. These causes can be internal or external to the person as well as biological and environmental. The seventh and last assumption is that in order to understand the complexity of human development many disciplines including but not limited to psychologists, biologists, neuroscientists, economists, historians, sociologists, etc. must work together.

Overview of Research Methods

It is important to understand the fundamentals of scientific research to understand the methods of describing, explaining, and optimizing development. The scientific method is utilized so that investigators rely on data or research findings. In this process, ideas are generated and tested. These initial observations lead to theories. Theories are concepts which describe and explain phenomena. Theories lead to the generation of hypotheses or predictions about specific observations. These hypotheses are tested through observed behavior. This helps researchers determine which theories should be refined and which theories should be rejected. Theories should satisfy three key requirements. First of all, theories should be internally consistent. This means that the different parts of the theory should not contradict the hypothesis. Second, theories should be falsifiable. This means the theory needs to be specific so that a hypothesis can be tested. If theories are too vague, they can lead to an unclear hypotheses which cannot help to direct research which will advance knowledge. Third, theories should be supported by research findings. This means that the observations or data should confirm the hypothesis.

Developmental studies focus on specific research samples. The sample group is a group of individuals that represent the larger population. The results of studying the sample group should be generalizable to a larger group. Ideally, random samples taken from the population of interest should be studied. Members of the larger populations should be randomly chosen. Random sampling increases the likelihood that the chosen sample group is representative of the larger population, thus increasing the likelihood that research findings will be generalizable.

Developmentalists gather data through different methods depending on the age group and their specific interests. We will discuss three main methods: verbal reports, behavioral observations, and physiological measurements. Examples of verbal reports include interviews, surveys, achievement tests, and personality scales. In all these forms, people are asked questions. These questions may be about themselves, this is known as self-report measures or they may be asked about someone else. Generally, researchers ask questions in the same order to all respondents so that results can be directly compared. While this is a popular method, there are pitfalls to keep in mind. Some individuals (such as infants or some elderly) are unable to answer questions that require a certain level of cognitive ability. People of different ages and backgrounds may also interpret the questions differently. Additionally, people may not respond to questions honestly because they do not want to be seen in a negative way.

The second method is through observing behavior. When people are observed in their everyday environment, this is called naturalistic observation. This method is used to study children since they are unable to be studied through self-report techniques. Naturalistic observation also has some limitations. Some behaviors do not occur regularly enough to be observed this way. An example would be heroic acts. Secondly, the exact cause of certain behaviors become difficult to pinpoint because many things happen at once in an everyday setting. People may also behave differently if they know they are being observed. To address these concerns, researchers use structured observation. This method involves staging or creating causes of the types of behavior they are interested in studying. Research participants are given the same stimuli so that results can be directly compared. There are also concerns associated with this method. Researchers may not be sure that participants are behaving naturally. Additionally, participants may behave differently in a natural setting. In which case, the results of a study using structured observation would not be generalizable to a real world situation.

The third method of gathering data is through physiological measurements. This includes using electrodes to measure brain activity, studying hormone changes, or measuring heart rates. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows how magnetic forces increase blood flow to areas of the brain which are activated. This allows researchers to observe which parts of the brain are engaged through certain cognitive activities. Studies have shown that individuals from different age groups use different parts of their brain to perform the same cognitive task. This helps researchers study how the brain develops and ages. Physiological measurement taking is a necessary method when studying groups that are unable to verbalize how they feel, infants for example. The results are difficult for people to fake. For example, while an individual may claim to not have taken drugs, a blood test would show if they had or hadn’t taken drugs. The concern with using physiological measurements is that in some cases it is not clear exactly what is being assessed. These three main methods are the most common. Keep in mind that each method has shortcomings. Therefore, it is best to use a variety of methods to study the same thing.

After developing a hypothesis, choosing a sample group, and determining what should be measured and how to measure it, developmentalists can begin to test their hypothesis. They do so in a variety of ways. The first way is through a case study. This is a detailed examination of an individual through gathering and analyzing data. This information is collected from various methods such as testing, observing, and interviewing. This method provides insights on the influences on the complex aspects of human development. Case studies are especially helpful when studying people with rare disorders. Additionally, there are other scenarios where case studies can be useful such as when it may prove challenging to find an appropriate sample group to test a hypothesis. The concern is that results based on one person’s case, or the case of a very small group of individuals will not be generalizable to the larger population.

Developmentalists more often use the second method which is the experimental method. Through experiments researchers manipulate variables within an environment to see how this change affects the behavior of research participants. The variables that are manipulated or altered so that its causal effects can be studied are known as independent variables. The dependent variable is the behavior that the researcher expects to be affected. Researchers use experimental methods to study what they hypothesize to be a cause-effect relationship with the independent variable being the cause and the dependent variable being the effect. True experiments should have three key features: random assignment, manipulation of the independent variable, and experimental control. Random assignment means that research participants should be randomly assigned to the treatment condition (the different experimental conditions). Random assignment is necessary so that the different treatment groups are similar. This allows the researcher to be sure that any perceived behavioral changes are a result of manipulation of the independent variables and not a result of inherent characteristics of the research participants. Researchers must set up situations where the different groups can undergo different experiences. Researchers can then assess and compare how the experiences affected behavior. Finally, researchers must maintain experimental control. This means that all the other factors aside from the variable that is being manipulated (the independent variable) must be held constant so they cannot be responsible for any behavioral changes. Experimental methods are key to establishing a cause and effect relationship. There are of course limitations. The results of studies conducted in a lab may not be hold true in a real life setting. There are also ethical limitations. For example, if a researcher is interested to studying how people react to traumatic experiments. It would be unethical for the researcher to create such a scenario. Researchers may conduct a quasi experiment. A quasi experiment is an experiment that studies the effects of manipulating factors without using random assignment. However, since individuals are not randomly assigned to treatment groups, there may be differences between groups that could affect the result. For this reason, quasi experiments do not show clear cause and effect relationships.

In light of the ethical concerns we’ve just discussed, researchers may use a correlational method rather than an experimental method. The correlational method is a systematic way of figuring out if two or more variables are related to each other. Instead of setting up an experiment, manipulating variables, and observing changes in behavior, researchers using the correlation method study people as they are to see if there is a correlation between their characteristics, relationships, and development. Researchers can figure out the strength of a correlation between two variables through calculating a correlation coefficient. This is an index of the extent to which a person’s scores on one variable are connected to his or her scores on another variable. The symbol for a correlation coefficient is r. The range for r is from -1.00 to +1.00. A positive correlation of r = +0.70 is a stronger relationship than r = +0.20. A correlation of r = 0.00 means that there is no correlation between two variables. A strong negative correlation would suggest that the opposite of the hypothesis is occurring. One concern of the correlation method is that a clear cause effect relationship cannot be determined since it is unclear what is the cause and what is the effect.

For example, while Huesmann’s study on how children’s TV watching correlated with their aggressive behavior as adults showed that the more violent adults also watched more violent TV as children, it is possible that children who are aggressive seek out violent TV shows. Another concern of the correlation method is that the relationship between two seemingly associated variables may actually be caused by a third variable. For example, perhaps children who were rejected by their parents are inclined to spend more time watching TV. In this case parental rejection is a third variable that is affecting the TV watching and the child’s aggression. There is then no direct relationship between watching violent TV and aggression. Essentially, correlational methods suggest at cause and effect relationships but cannot clearly establish them. However, this method is valuable. Not only does it allow researchers to study behavior that may be unethical for them to create in a laboratory setting, it also allows researchers to study how different factors in the real world interact to affect human behavior. Ideally, both experimental methods and correlational methods should be used so that a clear cause and effect relationship can be established and the research would be generalizable to the real world. The results from multiple studies can be analyzed and combined to create an overall conclusion using meta-analysis.

Developmental Research Methods

In addition to the methods previously discussed, developmental researchers rely on several other methods to study how people change or stay the same over time. These research methods are the cross-sectional design, the longitudinal design, and the sequential study. Cross-sectional designs compare the performances of different cohorts or age groups. Cohorts are groups of people born at the same time (in the same year or within a set span of years). This type of study gives information on how age groups differ. Researchers can then use this information to predict how performance will change with age. Researchers want to know how age and a specific aspect of development are connected. This relationship is known as age effects. Cohort effects are the effects from being born as a member of a specific cohort within a specific historical background. People currently in their fifties are not only older than people in their thirties, they also belong to a different cohort. They’ve had different experiences that have shaped their development. Cross-sectional designs show how different cohorts differ but do not show how people change as they age. Age effects and cohort effects are confounded. This means they are so closely connected that it is unclear what causes the resulting effect. Differences between cohorts help inform researchers about how different sociocultural environments can affect development. In situations where childhood experiences differ between cohorts, the cohort effect can be problematic to a cross-sectional study. Additionally, cross-sectional designs focus on a person at one point instead of over time. This does not allow the researcher to study how a person changes. The advantage to this approach is that such studies are conducted fairly quickly and easily. The results regarding age effects can be valid if the experiences of growing up between the different cohorts are comparable.

In order to study people over a longer span of time, researchers use longitudinal designs. In this method, researchers study the same individuals of one cohort over time. This method is useful in studying how people change as they age and can show if people tend to change in the same ways. It can help researchers understand what characteristics change over time and what characteristics tend to remain unchanged. It can also show if experiences during childhood can predict later behavior. Longitudinal designs have their own shortcomings since they focus on a specific cohort. Time-of-measurement effects may be a factor. Time-of-measurement effects are the effects of historical context during data collection. In contrast to cohort effects, time-of-measurement effects are not specific to a cohort. For example, a traumatic event like 9/11 affected people in more than one cohort. Age effects and time-of measurement effects are confounded in longitudinal studies. Researchers are unable to determine if changes related to age can be generalized to people in other socio historical contexts. Another disadvantage of longitudinal studies is that they require a lot of time and are expensive to conduct. As knowledge changes and new technology becomes available, tools and measurement methods become outdated. Finally, testing effects can be a concern. Research participants gain more practice at taking tests which can also affect their test performance.

Sequential designs combine both cross-sectional designs and longitudinal designs. Through this combination, both designs are improved. Sequential designs address age effects, cohort effects, and time-of-measurement effects by untangling them so that researchers can see what age-related trends cause developmental changes, how these trends differ between cohorts and which trends show that events within a certain period of history affected all cohorts living during that time. On the downside, sequential designs are very complex and are very expensive to conduct.

When conducting research, developmentalists face several challenges. They must be sensitive to culture differences. They must also protect the participant’s rights. Developmentalists see a need to study people from various ecological settings. One important component of such ecological settings is socioeconomic status (SES). Studies show that low-SES families deal with more stress and have fewer resources. Researchers must also be sure that surveys and questions have the same meaning for people from different economic and cultural backgrounds. This can prove especially difficult when questions need to be translated into different languages. Researchers also face the challenge of not allowing their own values to bias how they perceive others. Ethnocentrism, the belief that one’s own group is better than that of others, can affect research designs and procedures.

Research ethics are conduct standards which require researchers to protect research participants from physical and psychological dangers. Researchers have to consider many different ethical issues when conducting their research. The federal government and other agencies work together to determine the guidelines for how to research and work with human beings in an ethical way. Universities and other organizations which undertake such research have institutional review boards (IRBs). IRBs review research project proposals and only approve those proposals which conform to ethical standards. Members of IRBs must consider the benefits of research and compare those benefits to participant risk.

In order to be ethically responsible, researchers should allow participants to make an unpressured and informed choice as to if they want to take part in the research. This is called informed consent. Participants should be told what the research involves so they can make a voluntary choice. When researchers study “vulnerable” populations such young children, or people who are mentally impaired, they should gain consent form the individual and someone who can make the decision for that individual. Additionally, researchers should be sensitive to cultural differences. To do this researchers have began consulting community members when designing studies. Additionally, researchers should debrief participants after the study. This means that researches should tell participants the aim of the study if they have not already done so. Researchers must protect the participants from harm (both physical and psychological). Researchers should try to predict possible reactions during the study and be prepared to deal with the consequences. Finally, information provided by participants should be confidential. In the United States, the content of medical records is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). This information can only be shared if participants give permission or a court order requires disclosure.

What are the important Issues and Theories of Development? - Chapter 2

Five Issues of Contention

Theorists often disagree on several important issues of development. The first issue concerns if people are inherently bad, inherently good, or neutral. Prior to modern theories, philosophers debated the issue. Thomas Hobbes thought children were inherently bad and it was society’s role to teach people to behave morally. On the other hand, Jean-Jacques Rousseau thought children were inherently good and would develop positively if they remained uncorrupted by society. John Locke thought children are blank slates or tabulae rasae, neither good nor evil but waiting to be written on or directed by their life experiences.

The second topic of debate is if people develop based on biological forces or factors in their environment. This is the nature versus nurture debate we touched on in Chapter 1. This is the most complex and important issue. Rousseau was a champion of the importance of biological influences while Locke championed the importance of environmental influences.

The third topic of debate is the activity-passivity issue. This issue focuses on how involved people are in their own development through how active they are in influencing their environment. Theorists thinking in Rousseau’s tradition believe that people are actively involved in their development through exploring and shaping their environments. Theorists thinking in Locke’s tradition believe that people are passive and are shaped by forces they cannot control.

The fourth topic of debate is the continuity-discontinuity issue. This is a question of if people change gradually or if people change abruptly. Continuity theorists see development as a process of a series of small steps. They do not believe in sudden or dramatic changes. Discontinuity theorists view the process of human development as a series of stair-like steps. Each new level represents a new level of higher functioning. Another dimension of this debate is if changes are quantitative or qualitative. Continuity theorists feel that changes in development are quantitative. Quantitative changes are changes in degrees, such as growing taller, or gaining more wrinkles. Discontinuity theorists feel that changes in development are qualitative. Qualitative changes are changes in kind such as a caterpillar turning into a butterfly or a prepubescent child turning into a sexually mature adolescent. They view people as going through developmental stages. Each stage is a phase of development with its own distinct characteristics of abilities, emotions, motives, or behaviors. Discontinuity theorists believe that people progress from one stage to another and view each stage as qualitatively different.

The fifth topic of debate is the universality / context-specificity issue. This issue concerns the extent to which humans share common developmental changes. Stage theorists believe that the proposed stages are universal. Other theorists feel that there is considerable more variety in human development based on different cultures, subcultures, contexts and each individual person.

Four Major Theoretical Viewpoints

A theory of human development organizes information so that researchers can interpret and explain facts or observations. A theory also clarifies what is important to study, what can be predicted about what is being studied, and how it should be studied. This helps researchers collect new facts and new observations. There are different theoretical views. We’ll discuss four major views.

Viewpoint 1: The Psychoanalytic Viewpoint

The first theoretical view is Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic viewpoint. Psychoanalytic theory states that people are shaped by their earliest family experiences and motivated by urges and emotional conflict that they are unaware of. This theory focuses on instincts. Instincts are inherent biological forces that motivate how people behave. Freud thought people acted on unconscious motivation. He saw these forces as aggressive and selfish. Freud’s theory emphasizes nature over nurture. He attributed individuals with a fixed amount of psychic energy which is divided between the id, the ego, and the superego. When an infant is born, his or her psychic energy is all in the id. The id is the aspect of personality which seeks instant gratification. This is the irrational, selfish, and impulsive aspect of personality. During infancy, the ego develops. This is the aspect of personality that is rational and seeks to realize gratification in a realistic way. Between the ages of three and six, the superego emerges from the ego as children internalize moral values. The superego is the aspect of personality that requires people to satisfy their urges in ethical and socially acceptable ways. According to Freud, a mature and healthy personality has an id, ego, and superego that work in balance. The id states the need, the ego controls the id until there is a realistic way to satisfy the id’s need. The superego determines if ego’s strategy for satisfying the need/impulse is morally acceptable. Freud felt that psychological problems occurred when there was an imbalance between theses three aspects of personality.

Freud described five psychosexual stages of development. Freud theorized that as a child matures biologically, the libido moves to different parts of the body. The libido is the psychic energy of the sex instinct. The five psychosexual stages are oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital. Freud stated that while behavior is driven by inherent biological instincts which direct children through the five stages of development, nurture and early family experiences affected how different personalities developed. During the oral stage of development, an infant is focused on the mouth and will feel anxious if he or she is denied oral gratification. This can happen in many ways, for example if a mother stops breastfeeding too early or if the infant is scolded for mouthing objects. A child can become fixated, or stuck in a previous stage of development. For example, he or she may later become a chain smoker. During the anal stage of development, the toddler begins toilet training. If parents are too impatient or punish the toddler as he or she is learning to delay relieving themselves (delay gratification), the toddler may later resist authority through holding back or acting out. Thus parents need to allow a certain amount of gratification of impulses during this stage while still encouraging the child to learn to delay gratification and control his or her impulses.

During the phallic stage of development, which is between the ages of three and six, boys develop an Oedipus complex and girls develop an Electra complex. A boy with an Oedipus complex loves his mother and is afraid he will be castrated by his father. Through identification with his father, which is the internalizing of the attitude of his father, the boy is able to resolve this conflict. A girl with an Electra complex sexually desires her father and envies his penis. Through identification with her mother, the girl is able to resolve this conflict. Identification, or the internalizing of parental values, is critical to moral development. During the latent period, which occurs from the ages of six to twelve, children focus on school and play. During the genital stage, the final stage of psychosexual development, adolescents may experience the same feelings of conflict as during the phallic stage and try to create distance from their parents. According to Freud, people remain in the genital stage throughout adulthood.

The ego uses defense mechanisms (unconscious methods for coping) to protect itself from anxiety. In addition to identification, the ego uses repression, regression, projection, and reaction formation. Through repression, one removes traumatic memories and thoughts that may be unacceptable. A person may use denial to not accept the reality of the traumatic event. Through regression, one retreats to an earlier stage of development that was less traumatic than the stage the ego is trying to escape. Through projection, a person sees others having motives that they are afraid that they themselves have. Through reaction formation, a person acts the opposite of his or her real motives. Defense mechanisms are healthy when they allow people to function despite their anxiety. However, they can be problematic when they interfere with a sense of reality. Freud’s aim through psychotherapy was to make people conscious of their unconscious desires.

Freud is criticized because his theory is not easily falsifiable (testable). Specific ideas have not been supported by research when tested. For example, initially Freud stated that many of his patients had been physically or sexually abused as children but had repressed their memories. Later, he revised his theory to be that those in the phallic stage of development fantasized about having sex with their parent but did not actually have such an experience. Some wonder if Freud’s patients had false memories of abuse due to his analysis technique. While Freud’s ideas on sexual fantasy and development do not have much support from researchers, his focus on unconscious processes, early experiences, and emotions have greatly influenced human development theory. Freud also contributed by influencing people like Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, and Erik Erikson.

Erikson’s theory of human development differed from Freud in several ways. He saw social influences like peers, teachers, and the larger society as more important to development than the sexual urges Freud focused on. Erikson was more interested in the rational ego than the id. Erikson viewed human nature more positively than Freud did. Erikson also emphasized development beyond adolescence. Erikson described eight psychosocial stages.

The first stage is trust versus mistrust. This occurs from birth to one year of age. In this stage, the infant should learn to trust his or her parents. It is critical that parents are responsive during this first stage. If a parent neglects or rejects the infant, the infant will mistrust others. If the parent overindulges the infant, the infant will be too trusting of others. A balance should be achieved. The second stage is autonomy versus shame and doubt. Children experience this stage from one year of age to three years of age. During this stage, children should learn to assert their will and be able to do things for themselves. If children are unable to be autonomous, they will feel insecure about their abilities. The third stage is initiative versus guilt. Children experience this stage from three years of age to six years of age. During this stage, children develop initiative. They come up with and act out plans. It is important during this stage that children learn to respect the rights of others. The fourth stage is industry versus inferiority. Children experience this stage between the ages of six to twelve. In this stage, children should master social skills as well as academic skills and feel on par with their peers. If children feel that they are not able to keep pace with their peers, they feel inferior. In the fifth stage of development, identity versus role confusion, adolescents from twelve to twenty years of age establish their own identities. If they are unable to do so, they will be confused regarding their social and career identities as adults. Erickson is most famous for the conflicts of this stage of development. He saw this stage as a time of identity crisis where people must define who they are and how they fit into the larger society. While Freud’s stages of development stopped with adolescence, Erikson’s stages of development extend into adulthood. During the sixth stage, intimacy versus isolation, young adults from the ages of twenty to forty years of age search for another person they can form a shared identity with. Those who are afraid of intimacy will feel isolated and lonely. The seventh stage is generativity versus stagnation. Middle-aged adults between the ages of forty and sixty-five feel the need to create something that will outlive them. This can take the form of offspring or through contributions to society through work. The eighth and final stage is integrity versus despair. People experience this stage form sixty-five years of age and beyond. In this stage, older adults try to come to terms with the meaningfulness of their lives so they can face death.

Erikson, Freud and other psychoanalytic theorists, believed that people experience stages of development in a similar timeframe and experience personality changes at around the same age. Different personalities affect individual experiences. Unlike Freud who believed that a person’s personality is finalized during the first five years of his or life, Erikson saw biological maturation and the cultural environment as important influences on personality throughout adulthood. While Erikson’s stages are easier for many people to accept than Freud’s stages, Erikson is criticized for similar things. His theories are also vague and challenging to test and do not explain how development occurs. While Erikson had a strong influence on how adolescent identity is formulated, many developmentalists prefer theories that are more specific and falsifiable (in comparison to psychoanalytic theory).

Viewpoint 2: Learning Perspective

John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner were early learning theorists that felt that human behavior changed due to stimuli in the environment not due to biological predeterminations. Later, Albert Bandura revised the perspective because he felt people played a more active and cognitive role in their development. However, Bandura still emphasized the importance of environment and experiences.

Watson’s theory of behaviorism stressed the importance of drawing conclusions about human development through observations of behavior instead of assumptions regarding cognitive and emotional processes. He rejected Freud’s theories. Watson believed that children were not born with inherent tendencies and their development depended on how they were treated by others. Watson and Rosalie Raynor used principles of classical conditioning to demonstrate that fears can be learned. Classical conditioning is the process where a stimulus which has no effect on an individual to begin with, later has an effect due to its association with another stimulus that already has an effect. Classical conditioning was discovered by Ivan Pavlov when studying digestion in dogs. Pavlov found that dogs who have an innate tendency to salivate when they see food, learn to salivate at the sound of a bell if they are given food while the bell rings. In this case, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is the unlearned stimulus is the food. Salivation is the unlearned, unconditioned response (UCR) that occurs when the dog sees food. When Pavlov trained the dogs to associate the sound of the bell with the appearance of food, he made the bell the conditioned stimulus (CS). When the dogs began salivating at the sound of the bell even though the food did not appear, that salivation was the conditioned response (CR).

Watson and Raynor used Pavlov’s example to develop an experiment where an infant named Albert was trained to associate a white rat with fear. They did this by first showing the rat to Albert. The rat had no effect on Albert. In subsequent times when the rat was shown to Albert, researchers banged a steel rod and hammer together to create loud noises. Albert had the unconditioned response of being afraid of the loud noise since infants tend to be afraid of such noises. Through this training, Albert associated the appearance of the white rat with the scary noise and became scared of the white rat. While this type of experiment would be viewed as unethical today, Watson proved his point that emotional responses, in this case fear, can be learned. Fears learned through classical conditioning can also be unlearned if the feared stimulus is paired with a happy association. Classical conditioning explains how infants learn to love their caregivers, who provide positive reinforcement such as comfort or food. Proponents of the learning theory perspective do not believe that children progress through a series of stages like Freud and Erikson proposed. Rather, they see development as a learning process which is specific to a person and their context or environment.

B.F. Skinner advanced Watson’s behaviorism through studying operant conditioning. Operant conditioning occurs when a person’s behavior is more or less likely to occur based on the consequences or results of the behavior. Essentially, people will repeat behaviors that return positive results, and lessen behaviors that return negative results. Reinforcement takes place if a consequence makes a response stronger (makes it more likely to happen). Reinforcement can be positive or negative. Positive reinforcement occurs when a desirable event is the result of behavior, making the behavior more likely. Behaviorists have found that when a new behavior is being learned, parents should provide positive reinforcement each time the behavior occurs. Later, when the behavior has been learned but should be maintained, parents should adapt a partial reinforcement schedule. In this schedule some occurrences of the behavior receive positive reinforcement but not all occurrences. This helps the learner continue the behavior without constant positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement occurs when an undesirable event is removed from the situation, making the behavior more likely to occur again. Examples of negative reinforcement include when teenagers will lie to avoid being scolded by their parents. The scolding is the negative event that will be removed from the situation if the teenager lies. Reinforcement is different from punishment. While reinforcement increases the strength of a behavior, punishment decreases it. Positive punishment happens when a negative event is added to a situation after a behavior. For example, a child is spanked. Negative punishment happens when a positive event is removed from a situation after a behavior. For example, a child is not allowed to watch television.

Additionally, some behaviors have no consequences. Extinction occurs when a behavior is ignored or is not reinforced. Ignoring negative behavior is an alternative to punishment. Behavioral theorists tend to encourage positive reinforcement and discourage physical punishment. However, spanking as a form of physical punishment tends to be effective for the short term. For it to have longer effects, the spanking must be given immediately after the act, must be given consistently each time the act occurs, should not be too harsh, should be explained, should be given by someone who the child usually sees as affectionate, and should be used sparingly and in combination with positive reinforcement of desired behaviors. Studies conducted by Lisa Berlin of low-income families of different ethnic backgrounds found that punishment cause a child to be resentful and to become aggressive because they think hitting is an acceptable way to solve problems. Skinner’s principles help explain human development and are still studied and applied. However, some developmentalists feel that Skinner should have focused more on how cognitive processes affect learning. For this reason, developmentalists advocate Bandura’s cognitive approach to learning theory.

Bandura’s social cognitive theory states that humans actively process information in a way that is critical to their learning. Bandura saw human learning as complex because humans have sophisticated cognitive abilities. While Bandura agreed with Skinner’s views on operant conditioning, he believed that humans think about how their behavior and consequences are connected. In this way, a person may be more affected by what they think will happen than what actually happens. Self-criticism and self-congratulations also affect behavior. Bandura’s theory was first referred to as social learning theory. However, he changed it to social cognitive theory to emphasize the importance of motivation and cognition on behavior. Bandura focused on observational learning (learning through observing how other people behave). This is a more cognitive form of learning than conditioning because the learner pays attention and remembers what they saw. Additionally, they must retrieve these memories later to guide their behavior.

Bandura showed in an experiment that children could learn a response without the use of classical conditioning or operant conditioning. He showed a film of an adult model (the person that is being observed) attacking an inflatable doll to different groups of children. Some children saw the model being praised, others saw the model punished, and others saw no consequences. The children were then observed in a playroom with the same doll. The children who saw the model praised and those who saw no consequences behaved aggressively towards the doll in comparison to the children who saw the model punished. Latent learning happens when learning occurs but it not obvious in behavior. The children who saw the model punished were still able to reproduce the aggressive behaviors of the model when asked. This shows that children learn through observation even without imitating the action. Vicarious reinforcement affects whether people act out the behaviors they observe. Vicarious reinforcement is the process where learners are more likely or less likely to perform a behavior based on if the consequences experienced by the model are reinforcing or punishing.

Studies show that while observational learning is important to our society, it is even more important to traditional societies. Some cultures, such as Mayans in Guatemala emphasize observational learning over the system of learning used by European and American societies. Mayan children pay more attention and learn more when observing compared to Europeans and American children who depend on parents and teachers to structure a learning experience. Recently, Bandura has begun focusing on human agency. Human agency is the ways that people purposely cognitively control themselves as well as their environments. People develop a high or low sense of belief regarding how effectively they can produce a desired outcome. This belief is called self-efficacy. If you believe you can achieve a positive result in a task you’ve undertaken, you are more likely to succeed. In contrast to Watson and Skinner who felt that people had little control on how they were shaped by their environments, Bandura believes that people can choose, build, and change their surroundings. He proposed what he termed reciprocal determinism which is a continuous interaction between a person, his/her behavior, and his/her environment.

While learning theories have important applications for optimizing development, they are criticized. Learning theorists are usually unable to show that learning causes common developmental changes. The experiments they conduct only suggest that learning may cause change. Watson, Skinner, and Bandura are also criticized for ignoring how biology affects development. Learning theorists today are more aware of the importance of how many factors interact to affect human learning.

Viewpoint 3: Cognitive Developmental Viewpoint

Piaget’s theory was more cognitive and more obviously developmentally focused than previous theories. His position is known as constructivism. Piaget felt that children constructed new ideas about the world through their experiences. Children accomplish this through curiosity and exploration. Children observe their surroundings and notice when their level of understanding does not explain what they see.

Children will revise their understandings to reconcile with reality. Piaget saw intelligence as a process that is necessary for adaptation to the environment. As people develop, they gain more complex and organized patterns of thought which help them to better adapt to their environment. Biological maturation (especially in the brain) and experience interact. This is responsible for a person’s progression through four stages of cognitive development. Piaget emphasized that people of different ages think in qualitatively different ways. Piaget called the progression through the four stages the invariant sequence. The ages described in the stages are a guideline. All children progress through all stages in the same order, but at different rates.

The first stage is the sensorimotor stage. This stage generally occurs from birth to 2 years of age. In this stage, infants use their sense (perceptions) and motor skills (actions) to explore and try to understand the world. In the beginning of this stage, infants only have their innate reflexes. Towards the end of this stage, they use images or words and are able to think symbolically. The second stage is the preoperational stage (2-7 years of age/preschool aged) where children can think symbolically but cannot solve problems logically. They can imagine themselves doing something before doing it but remain egocentric. This means that children are unable to take on other perspectives than their own. They also are very dependent on what they see, thus they can be fooled by how things appear. An example is Piaget’s conservation of liquid quantity task. A child was shown short and wide glasses with the same amount of water. The water from one of the short glasses was then poured into a taller and thinner glass. When asked to compare the amount of water in the short wide glass to the amount of water in the tall thin glass, children in this stage could not show conservation. They thought the taller glass held more water. Conservation is the awareness that some properties of an object or substance do now change with the changing of physical appearance. The third stage is the concrete operations stage (7-11 years of age). In this stage, school-aged children are more logical. They are able to apply a trial-and-error method to problem-solving. They can perform logical operations in their head regarding concrete objects by mentally categorizing, adding, subtracting, and coordinating them. They still find it challenging at this stage to deal with abstract or hypothetical problems. Adolescents are able to think abstracting and hypothetically in the formal operations stage. They can define terms like justice in relationship to fairness without focusing on concrete things like a judge in a courthouse. They can form predictions, plan how to test them in a systematic way, and imagine the results. Piaget’s perspective of human developed dominated the field for three decades. The majority of developmentalists agree with his basic theories. His methods have changed education because parents and teachers adapt how the structure education to the age of the student. However, Piaget was criticized for not discussing how motive and emotion affect how people think. Critics also feel that Piaget’s stages generalize thinking and that certain cognitive skills are acquired at different rates than others. People also feel that he underestimated the cognitive ability of children. Others feel that he did not properly emphasize the important role of parents. For these reasons, developmentalists sought perspectives that included more diversity.

There were also cognitive based approaches that challenged Piaget’s approach. Vygostsky’s sociocultural perspective has been influential recently. Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky did not believe in universal stages of development. He saw cognitive development as resulting from how children interacted with members of their own culture. Since culture and language shape development, cognitive development varies depending on the context. Another challenge to Piaget’s approach was the information-processing approach. Proponents of this approach believed that the processes that make up thinking should be more closely examined. They saw the human mind as similar to a computer with changes in development occurring based on changes to the brain, how information is stored, and how information is processed.

Viewpoint 4: Systems Theory

Systems theories state that changes experienced over the lifespan result from continuous transactions between a changing organism and a changing environment. A person and his or her environment are connected in a system where all things affect each other. The path that development follows depends on a combination of many factors. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model (seen in Chapter 1) advocates this perspective.

Gilbert Gottlieb thought that development occurs within the context of evolution and the history of a species. He was inspired by Darwin’s theory of evolution which stated that genes that help a species adapt to their environment are more likely to survive from generation to generation than genes that do not. From Darwin’s theory, researchers developed the study of the evolved behavior of species in their natural environments. This field of study is ethology. Ethnologists believe that behavior is adaptive only in environments where that behavior is necessary. For example nomadic wandering may be an adaptive behavior in environments where food is scarce but would not make sense in environments where there is plenty of food. Ethologists think it is crucial to observe behavior in its natural context.

Gottlieb advocated an epigenetic psychobiological systems perspective. This perspective stated that development is a result of how biological and environmental forces interact. This not only applied to different and unique individuals interacting with different environments but to a species interacting with its environment over the course of evolution. According to Gottlieb, humans have an inherent genetic makeup and are not blank slates. Humans are predisposed to develop in certain directions. Humans deliberately change their environments through acts like farming, urbanizing, etc. In this interaction of genes and the environment, humans change how biological evolution advances. This happens because new environments require genes critical to survival that may not have been critical in previous environments. However, it is necessary to note that Gottlieb did not think that genes dictate the direction of development, they only participate in development in conjunction with environmental influences so that some outcomes are more likely than others. He proposed an epigenesis process where genes and environment act together to create developmental outcomes. He described this process as involving gene activity (that would alternate between being active and dormant), the behavior of neurons, the behavior of the organism, and environmental factors.

He showed that behavior assumed by biologists to be innate may not occur depending on an organism’s early experience. For example, biologists thought that the reason ducks preferred the sound of their mother to the sounds of other birds (chickens for example) was due to biology. Gottlieb exposed duck embryos to chicken calls before they hatched. The hatched ducklings preferred the call of a chicken to that of other ducks. From this study and others like it, it can be seen that seemingly innate patterns of behavior will only emerge if an individual has normal genes and normal experiences. Recent studies show that the biochemical environment of a cell (which is affected by factors like nutrition and stress) can affect which genes are expressed.

Systems theories are criticized for not giving a clear image view of the course of human development. Additionally, it has only been partially formulated and partially tested. Systems theories may not be able to give a coherent theory of development because it posits so many diverse potential paths that it is challenging to describe a course of development that would be common to most people.

To summarize, a stage theory perspective dominated the study of human development from its inception through the height of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. In the 1950s and 1960s learning theories began to dominate. Cognitive psychology and Piaget’s theory of cognitive development became more influential in the 1960s and 1970s (another stage theory model). In the 1980s and 1990s, an emphasis on the interaction of genes and environment prevailed. Today, most developments follow the theories of system theorists like Bronfenbreener and Gottlieb.

Theories guide research and practice. The same set of observations placed before Freud, Skinner, and Piaget would likely be interpreted differently. Each of the theories of human development we’ve just discussed define developmental issues differently. It is not necessary to fully accept one theory and reject all other theories. Most developmentalists today are theoretical eclectics. They rely on many theories because they believe that there is no theory that can explain everything about human development.

What is the Nature Versus Nurture dichotomy? - Chapter 3

Evolution and Heredity

Genes and environment both play key roles in development. While some inherited traits differ from person to person, eye color for example, others aspects remain the same. People are born with two eyes. These genetic traits that people have in common are a result of species heredity. Species heredity is partially responsible for certain patterns of development and aging are shared by a species. Charles Darwin formulated his theory of evolution to explain how new species evolve from older species and how characteristics change over time. Darwin believed that a species varies genetically. That is to say, some members of the same species have different genes than others. This difference allows for changes in genetic makeup to occur over time. Genetic variation results from errors in cell division. Darwin also believed that while some genes help a species adapt, other genes do not. Genes that do help in adaptation will be more likely to be passed on to future generations of a species than genes that do not help in adaptation. This is the principle of natural selection. Through this principle, the genetic makeup of a species will slowly change over time. Eventually, these series of changes can create a new species. Kettlewell’s study on moths in England illustrate the principles of evolution. He placed light-colored and dark-colored moths in several locations and discovered that light-colored moths were more likely to survive in rural locations because they were better camouflaged against the trees and dark-colored moths were more likely to survive in sooty industrial areas. When England industrialized the number of dark moths grew. Later, the number of light-colored moths increased as pollution was better controlled. Clearly, evolution is not only about genes but is about an interaction between both genes and the environment. In certain environments certain genes may help the species, while the same genes in a different environment could endanger the species. As the environment changes, so do the genes level of advantageousness. Genes are not responsible for all similarities in humans, cultural evolution also occurs. Cultural evolution is the process where humans inherit ways of adapting to the environment from previous generations. For example, as humans we learn and we socialize children. Such a process happens faster than biological evolution. Through biological evolution, humans have a powerful brain that allows for learning from experiences, adapting and changing our environments, and sharing knowledge.

Genes also contribute to differences in people. To understand how, we need to begin at conception. Conception is the moment when a sperm fertilizes the egg. Both the sperm and the ovum release genetic material to form a new cell nucleus. This new cell is called a zygote. A zygote has 46 chromosomes (23 pairs). Chromosomes are threadlike in shape and are made up of genes. The sperm and ovum both contributed 23 chromosomes to the zygote. Sperm and ovum only have 23 chromosomes because they are produced through meiosis, a specialized process of cell division. In meiosis, the reproductive cells of the female and the male (each containing 46 chromosomes) splits into two cells of 46 chromosomes each. These two cells then split again, for a total of four cells. In this last step, a division happens where each cell only receives 23 chromosomes.

At the end of this process, the female has one egg (and three nonfunctional cells) and the male has four sperm. A single-celled zygote becomes a multiple-celled organism through mitosis. Mitosis is a more usual process of cell division where each cell divides to produce two identical cells. Each of these identical cells also have 46 chromosomes. These cells continue to divide. With the exception of sperm and ova, all normal human cells are copies of the original 46 chromosomes combined during conception. Chromosomes are made up of strands of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is made from sequences of chemicals A (adenine), C (cytosine), G (guanine), and T (thymine). This double helix molecule’s chemical code is the source of genetic makeup. Some sequences of DNA are genes. Humans have about 20,000 to 25,000 genes. Each gene can have variations called alleles. Genes provide instructions to produce certain proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of the human body.

In The Human Genome Project, researchers mapped the sequence of the chemical units A, C, G, and T that comprise strands of DNA in a full set of human chromosomes using supercomputers and robots. Only about 2% of the human genome is made up of genes. The other 98% are crucial to regulating genes. The Human Genome Project and other genome analysis projects have led to incredible discoveries. For example, The International HapMap Project found that 999 out of 1000 base chemicals in humans are identical. What accounts for the differences in people rests in 1 out of 1000 base chemicals. Other analysis done by the Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium found that humans share a large majority of our genes with other primates. Additionally, analysis shows that genes such as the alleles that makes people tolerate lactose (found in milk) have evolved in recent centuries. Craig Ventor was apply to create artificial life using a computer designed genome.

Since chromosome pairs separate independently of other pairs and due to the number of pairs of chromosomes in a reproductive cell, a parent can produce 8 million different sperm or ova. Additionally, crossing over occurs in meiosis. This is the process where pairs of chromosomes cross each other and exchange parts before separating. This increases the number of unique sperm or ova that a person can produce. The result is that it is extremely unlikely that there will be two identical people. The exception is the case of identical twins (monozygotic twins) which results from one fertilized ovum dividing into two. The chances of this occurring are 1 out of 250 births. Since siblings all receive half of their genes from their mother and half from their father, they are said to have a genetic resemblance of 50% on average. However, some siblings share many more and some share fewer. Fraternal twins (dizygotic twins) result from two eggs fertilized by two different sperm. This happens in 1 out of 125 births. Fraternal twins share a greater genetic resemblance than siblings. The occurrence of fraternal twins tends to run in the family. They have also become more common due to fertility treatments.

Sex is determined by the 23rd pair of chromosomes. The other 22 pairs are the same for males and females. A male child has an X chromosome and a Y chromosome while a female has two X chromosomes. Researchers us a pattern known as a karyotype to study the number and form of chromosomes that have been photographed. A X chromosome has about 1100 genes while a Y chromosome has 80. Most of the genes on one of a female’s X chromosomes are normally inactive during the prenatal period. Since a mother has two X chromosomes and a father has one X and one Y, the gender of the child is determined by the father.

Genotypes are the genetic makeup a person inherits while phenotypes are the traits a person will have. Environmental factors and genes combine to determine how a certain genotype translates into a phenotype. For example, genes influence height. A person may have a genotype to be very tall, but if he or she is very malnourished during their formative years, he or she may be short in stature.

Differences in people are a result of what genes are expressed. Gene expression is the activation of certain genes in certain cells at particular times. A gene can only be influential if it is active. Gene expression is affected by regulatory DNA as well as by the environment. This partially explains why one twin of a pair of identical twins can develop disorders while the other does not. Mario Fraga analyzed the DNA and RNA of forty pairs of identical twins. The ages of the pairs of twins ranged from three years of age to seventy-four years of age. He found that the older twins were more different from each other than younger twins. Additionally, twins who spent less of their lives together or lived very different lifestyles also had more differences between which genes were turned on and which were turned off. This study shows that environment affects gene expression.

Three main ways exist for parents’ genes to influence the traits of their children. These are called mechanisms of inheritance. The first way is through single gene-pair inheritance. This means that only one pair of genes influences human characteristics. Gregor Mendel was a monk who cross breed different peas and observed the results. He found a predictable pattern in how two alternative traits appeared in the offspring. He referred to some of the characteristics as dominant (these appeared more often) and others as recessive. A dominant gene will be expressed when it is paired with a recessive gene. A person’s ability to curl his or her tongue is an example of a dominant gene. 3/4 of the population is able to do it while 1/4 has the recessive no-curl gene. A father who can curl his tongue has a genotype UU (two dominant genes) or U - (one dominant gene, one recessive gene) and a mother who cannot curl her tongue as the genotype - - . When they have children, each child will have one dominant gene for tongue curl and one recessive gene for no curl. This means that all children will be able to curl their tongues. If both parents have the U - genotype, they can have a child with a - - genotype who cannot curl his or her tongue. The chances of this occurring are one out of four. Since people who cannot curl their tongues have the genotype - -, their children will also be unable to curl their tongues.

There are many other examples of traits that are dominant and traits that are recessive. Brown eyes are dominant and blue/green/gray eyes are recessive. Dark hair is dominant, blond hair is recessive. Curly hair is dominant, straight hair is recessive. Normal vision is dominant and nearsightedness is recessive. Farsightedness is dominant, normal vision is recessive. Sometimes a dominant gene will not fully dominate the recessive gene and a blend results. For example, crossing a red flower with a white flower produces a pink flower. This is known as incomplete dominance. If crossing red flowers with white flowers produces a flower with red and white stripes, that is an example of codominance. This is when two genes affect a trait but both are expressed. Another example of this is when parents with A and B blood types produce a child with AB blood type.

The second mechanism of inheritance is through sex-linked characteristics. These are influenced by genes (mostly on the X chromosome) located on the sex chromosomes. Color blindness is one example. Far more males than females have color blindness. This is because it is a recessive gene on the X chromosome. Since Y chromosomes are shorter than X chromosomes, if a boy inherits the gene for colorblindness from his mother’s X chromosome, there is no color vision gene on the Y chromosome that could dominant the recessive gene for colorblindness. Females, on the other hand, usually have a color vision gene that can dominate so a female could only be color blind if she inherits two colorblind genes. Hemophilia (inability of blood to clot) is another example that is similar to colorblindness in how it affects males over females.

The third and most common mechanism of inheritance is through polygenic traits. Most important human characteristics are polygenic traits, this means that they are influenced by multiple pairs of genes interacting with the environment. Intelligence, height, weight, and personality are all examples of polygenic traits. This means that many degrees of the trait (intelligence for example) are possible. Most people are near the mean of the distribution with fewer people at the extremes. The distribution for a trait like intelligence looks like a normal curve or a bell curve.

While the three major mechanisms just described are how genes generally influence traits, sometimes a mutation occurs and a gene appears not through inheritance. A mutation occurs when the structure of one or more genes change to create a new phenotype. Hemophilia is believed to be an example of a mutation introduced into Europe by Queen Victoria. Mutations are more likely to happen in hazardous environments involving radiation or toxic waste. However, most mutations are spontaneous. Some mutations can be positive and become incorporated into a population due to natural selection. Sickle-cell disease is a blood disease where red blood cells have a sickle shape is an example. Sickle-shaped cells stick together which makes breathing difficult and causes joint swelling and blood clots. The gene for sickle-cell disease probably began as a mutation but become more common because the recessive sickle-cell gene protected people from malaria. However the gene is more harmful than beneficial in environments where malaria is not a concern.

Chromosome abnormalities are also influential. They occur when a child inherits too few, too many, or abnormal chromosomes from his or her parents. Most abnormalities occur during errors in cell division. In most instances the zygote with the wrong number of chromosomes is spontaneously aborted, this is the main cause of pregnancy loss. However, 1 out of 160 children is born with an abnormal number of chromosomes (usually too many). Down syndrome is an example of a chromosome abnormality. Down syndrome is also called trisomy 21 since it involves three instead of two 21st chromosomes. Down syndrome occurs by chance since errors in meiosis can occur in the mother or the father. However, the chance of chromosome abnormalities and other birth defects happening increases with the age of the parents. Couples over the age of forty are six times more likely to have a child with Down syndrome when compared with couples under the age of 35. As people age their ova and sperm are more likely to be abnormal because they have been exposed to potentially hazardous environmental influences for longer.

Additionally, older females may be less likely to spontaneously abort abnormal fetuses than younger females. Most other abnormalities are associated with too few or too many sex chromosomes. Turner syndrome, where a female has only one X chromosome is an example. Females born with Turner syndrome stay small and have stubby fingers and toes. They also have a webbed neck and breasts that are underdeveloped. They will not be able to reproduce and prefer traditionally feminine activities. Additionally, they have lower than average math reasoning and spatial abilities. Klinefelter syndrome is another example. In Klinefelter’s syndrome, a male is born with one or more extra X chromosomes. Male’s with Klinefelter’s syndrome are usually tall and look masculine. However, they are sterile and may develop breasts during puberty. While most test normally in intelligence, many have below average language skills and below average school reports. A final example is fragile X syndrome. The is the most common hereditary cause of mental retardation. One arm of the X chromosome is not well connected and looks like it will break off. This causes some degree of cognitive impairment. Sometimes this causes mental retardation or autism. Unless parents are aware that the condition runs in the family, most conditions are not diagnosed until the child is three years of age. The fragile X syndrome is likely to happen in males than females because it is a sex-linked inheritance. Additionally, the syndrome gets worse with future generations since it is caused by too many repeats of a sequence in genetic code which leads to a lack of protein that is necessary for regulating how neurons of the brain. Even family members with the gene that do not have full-blown fragile X syndrome have risks. For example, grandfathers and other older male relatives of children with fragile X may develop tremors, balance problems and decline intellectually during middle age. Mothers and female relatives may have fertility problems and experience menopause early.

It should be noted that only three percent of infants are born with major birth defects, diseases, or disorders. Genetic counseling is available to help people understand and adapt to these situations. Genetic counselors give information on the nature of genetically based disorders to people who think their unborn child will be at risk. These counselors can collect DNA samples to determine if a person has genes associated with diseases. We’ll now discuss a few diseases and how they are diagnosed and treated.

Cystic fibrosis occurs due to a recessive gene pair. It is a glandular problem which causes mucus to build up in lungs which makes breathing difficult and can shorten a person’s lifespan. While a DNA test can identify most carriers, it is impossible to test for all mutations because there are so many possibilities. People with the condition require physical therapy and antibiotics to prolong their life. Huntington’s disease occurs due to a rare but dominant gene. It happens in middle age. The nervous system deteriorates and causes slurred speech, personality changes, and dementia. A test can allow relatives of a person with Huntington’s disease to find out if they have the gene. If a prospective parent has the gene, preimplantation genetic diagnosis can be done to test if fertilized eggs have the gene. The doctor can then implant the eggs that are known to be healthy. Some people may be carriers of a disease. This means they do not have the disease but they can transmit it. In the case of sickle-cell disease which occurs due to a recessive gene pair, a child can inherit two recessive sickle-cell genes and have a one in four chance of having sickle-cell disease. Genetic counselors can provide prospective parents with information on prenatal screening to detect abnormalities. These techniques include amniocentesis, chorionic villus sampling, ultrasound, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and maternal blood sampling. If the tests reveal that the fetus has a serious defect, parents must choose between abortion and raising a child with a serious condition. While conditions due to polygenic origins cannot be tested for, counselors must be aware of any new discoveries and new technologies to inform families.

Behavioral Genetics

Behavioral genetics is the study of to what extent gene and environmental difference contribute to trait differences. While it is not possible to give a percentage on how much a trait is influenced by heredity, behavioral geneticists can estimate heritability. Heritability is the proportion of all the variability in a trait found in a large sample of people connected to differences in genetics. Behavioral geneticists do not only study how genes influence development, they also study how genes and the environment influence development. They collect evidence through experimental breeding and through studying twins, adoptions, and other family elements. Recently, they have started using molecular genetics techniques to study specific genes.

Behavioral geneticists use design breeding experiments to study how genes and the environment affect behavior. Mendel’s experiments with plant heredity is an example. Selective breeding occurs when scientists try to breed animals for a certain trait to see if the trait can be inherited. R.C. Tyron’s study on the ability of rats to run complicated mazes provides an example of selective breeding. Tyron tested rats for the ability to run complicated mazes and with the results created two labels: maze bright (had the ability) and maze dull (lacked the ability). He bred the maze bright rats with other maze bright rats and the maze dull rats with other maze dull rats across several generations. He noticed that across generations a larger performance gap developed between the maze bright rats and the maze dull rights. Tyron showed that genes influenced maze-learning ability in rats.

Other studies using selective breeding show that genes also influence traits like activity level, emotionality, aggression, and sex drive in mice, rats and chickens. Since humans cannot be selectively breed, studies of genetic influence in humans tend to be a comparison between if physical similarities or psychological similarities are connected to genetic similarities.

Behavioral geneticists also use twin, adoption, and family studies to see how genes and the environment affect behavior. One type of twin study is to see if identical twins who grew up together are more similar to each other than fraternal twins who grew up together. This serves to separate genetic and environmental influences on development. If genes are an important influence, identical twins should be more similar than fraternal twins. More complex twin studies also include identical and fraternal twins raised apart for a total of four groups. While popular, this method has been criticized. One criticism is that identical twins are more psychologically similar because they shared the same womb (prenatal environment) compared to fraternal twins. Additionally, people tend to treat identical twins more similarly than they do fraternal twins. However, studies do not show a clear relationship between how similarly twins are treated and how similar they are psychologically.

Another popular study method is the adoption study where the traits of adopted children are compared to their biological parents (genes) and their adoptive parents (environment). This method is also criticized because in addition to genes, the prenatal environment could have influenced a child’s development. This concern can be addressed by comparing biological father-child similarity to see if it is as influential as biological mother-child similarity. Additionally, researchers should be aware that adoption agencies try to place children in families similar to that of their biological parents. Adoptive families also tend to be above-average environments. Researchers should correct for these factors in their studies. Researchers also use complex family studies which can include a pairs of siblings with differing degrees of genetic similarity. Pairs can include identical twins, fraternal twins, full siblings, half siblings, and step-siblings.

After gathering data from twin, adoption, and family studies, researchers estimate the degree of gene influence and environment influence on individual trait differences through statistical calculations. When researchers study traits that a person either does or does not have such as smoking, diabetes, or being homosexual, they compare concordant rates. Concordant rates are the percentage of pairs of the people studied where if one member has the trait, the other member also has the trait. The trait is heritable if the concordant rate is higher for pairs more genetically related and lower for pairs less genetically related. A study on if homosexuality is genetically influenced provides an example. Bailey and Pillard conducted this study in 1991. They found the concordant rate for identical twins to be 52% and the concordance rate for fraternal twins to be 22%. This suggests that genes do influence sexual preference. However, environment is also a factor. This is clear because identical twins are not perfectly concordant. In 48% of the identical twin pairs, the twins differed in sexual orientation.

When traits can vary in degree (height and intelligence for example), researchers do not compare concordant rates. Instead they calculate and compare correlation coefficients. A correlation would show if the trait of one twin is systematically related to the trait of another. The larger the correlation for a group of twins, the closer the similarities between the twin pairs within the group. Robert Plomin conducted a study in Sweden which assessed the tendency of a person to be angry or have a quick temper (an aspect of emotionality) using many pairs of identical and fraternal twins, both raised together and raised separately. From the results of the study, behavioral geneticists noted that genes, shared environmental influences, and nonshared environmental influences affect emotionality. The study showed that identical twins are consistently more similar in emotionality (0.37) than fraternal twins are (0.17). Even identical twins raised apart have a correlation of 0.33 which shows the important influence of genetics. The data collected by the study shows that not only is emotionality inheritable, about one-third of the variation in emotionality can be linked to genetic make-up. People growing up in the same environment have shared environmental influences. The data shows that both identical and fraternal twins that grew up together are slightly more alike in emotionality than the pairs of twins raised apart. This means that while shared environment influences in this study do exist, they are weak. Experiences that are unique to an individual and not shared by family members are nonshared environmental influences. For example, an individual can be treated differently within a family than his or her siblings are treated. Additionally, an individual can experience life traumas that other family members do not experience. Individuals can also respond differently to the same event. In the study, identical twins raised together have a correlation of 0.37, much less than a perfect correlation of 1.00. The differences between identical twins who grew up together are due to the nonshared environmental influences (and any errors in measurement).

More recently, behavioral geneticists have begun to use molecular genetics to see how genes affect behavior. Molecular genetics is the study of specific genes and their effects. Behavioral geneticists identify specific alleles of genes which affect specific traits. They compare animals and humans who have the genes to those who do not have the genes. This process allows researchers to determine which genes cause which traits and how these genes combine with environmental factors to affect development. Molecular genetics is especially useful when identifying multiple genes that influence polygenic traits. Behavioral geneticists would like to say that a certain gene is responsible for some percentage of the variation in the trait they are studying. However, analysis has failed to identify genes that account for over 1% of the variation in a trait. This suggests that many genes contribute to each trait.

Notable Results of Research

Intelligence is one topic that behavioral genetics studies have changed our understanding of. Thomas Bouchard Jr and Matthew McGue researched the average correlations between IQ scores of pairs of relatives. From their study it is obvious that that correlations are higher between people who are closely related genetically since the highest correlation is found in identical twins.

The heritability of IQ scores is 0.05 on average. This means that genetic differences are responsible for half of the variation of IQ squares while the environment is responsible for the other half. The correlations seen in the table suggest that shared environmental influences usually make people who live together more similar than if they lived apart. However, identical twins that live together are not perfectly similar, they do not have a correlation of 1.00. This shows that nonshared experiences have contributed to their differences.

Genetic influences tend to increase as children develop. Ronald Wilson conducted a longitudinal study of identical and fraternal twins which showed that identical twins did not score any more similarly than fraternal twins did on a test measuring infant mental development during the first year of life. The effects of individual heredity began to appear when twins were eighteen months old. Identical twins shared similar patterns of intellectual development with a correlation of 0.85, while fraternal twins developed more dissimilar patterns of intellectual development with a correlation of 0.54 by the time they’d reached adolescence. This shows that the heritability of IQ scores grows from infancy to adolescence.

On the other hand, shared environmental influences tend to decrease as children develop. This probably happens because as children grow-up they begin to spend more time away from their parents within different peer groups. Share environmental influences accounts for about 30% of variation in childhood, 20% in adolescence, and 0% in adulthood. This is not to say that environmental factors are not important to how a child develops intellectually, While a child’s IQ is more strongly correlated to his or her biological parents versus his or her adoptive parents, the level of intellectual performance of an adopted child can increase by 20 points on an IQ test if the child is raised in an intellectually stimulating environment. Such environments help children achieve their full genetically based potential.

Genes continue to be influential on intelligence from early adulthood through middle-age by affecting the stability of intellectual ability. Any differences in performance between identical twins can be attributed to nonshared environmental influences. Some studies show that genes become less influential in very old age when nonshared environmental influences such as disease cause increased dissimilarity in identical twins.

Behavioral genetics studies have also changed our understanding of temperament and personality. Temperament can be defined as the tendency to respond in predictable ways. These are the foundations of later personality. Arnold Buss and Robert Plomin studied the temperaments of identical and fraternal twins. They found a correlation of 0.50 to 0.60 in identical twins and a correlation of just above zero in fraternal twins. Researchers studying fraternal twins, ordinary siblings, and biologically unrelated children adopted by the same family, found that living in the same home did not cause children to have similar personalities. Essentially, family influences have more of an affect on the differences between children and less of an effect on what makes them similar.

Studies have yielded similar findings for adults. There are times where shared environmental influences are important. Sometimes parents may request their children take on the same interests or attitudes they have. Adolescent siblings can be more similar because they influence one another to use drugs. Poor parenting can cause adolescent psychological problems in multiple children in the same family. However, nonshared environmental influences and genes seem to be more influential. Researchers are interested in how nonshared environmental influences lead siblings in different developmental paths. Research attempts to connect differences in personalities of siblings to specific nonshared environmental influences have been difficult because experiences are so varied and diverse.

Behavioral genetics studies have also changed our understanding of psychological disorders. Genes and the environment contribute to psychological disorders across the human lifespan. Most of the time, multiple genes in combination with multiple environmental factors cause a disorder to develop. We’ll discuss schizophrenia as an example. Schizophrenia is a mental illness where a person is not able to think logically, express their emotions, and has trouble with social interactions. The disorder usually appears during late adolescence or early adulthood. Genes are a big factor in this disorder. The average concordance rate for schizophrenia in identical twins is 48% and 17% in fraternal twins. Children who have at least one biological parent who is schizophrenic has an increased chance of developing the disorder. This is true even if the child was adopted at a young age. However, environmental factors also play a role because only 10% of children with a schizophrenic parent will have the disorder. Psychological disorders are not inherited. People inherit predispositions for developing a disorder. This means that genetics and environmental factors both play a part. While a child may genetically be predisposed to become schizophrenic, the illness must be triggered by a stressful event. Studies show that infants whose mothers had an infectious disease while pregnant are more likely to develop schizophrenia. Other stressful experiences like a lack of oxygen during the prenatal period can also contribute to an increased risk of schizophrenia.

While genes affect the degree of most human traits, some traits are more heritable than other traits. Aspects of physical appearance like height, weight, and eye color are strongly associated with genetics. Reactions to alcohol and measurable brain activity are examples of physiological traits that are also very heritable. Genes also affect how susceptible people are to disease and how long they will live. Genes also have a small effect on attitude and interests. It is challenging to find a trait that is not in some way heritable. Genes are responsible for about 50% of the variation for most psychological traits. While shared environmental influences are a factor during early childhood, the other 50% of the variation can be attributed to nonshared environmental influences. Additionally, heritability varies depending on the sample of people studied. It is not a fixed number and is affected by other factors including age and socioeconomic status. For example, Klump, McGue, and Ilacono, conducted a study on eating disorders in 11 year old prepubertal female twins, 11 year old pubertal twins, and 17 year old pubertal twins.

The results of the study suggest that changes brought on by puberty may activate genes which help trigger eating disorders. Another study conducted by Eric Turkheimer on the heritability of IQ in samples of children from families of different socioeconomic status. The results of the study suggest that while an non stimulating environment has a negative affect on most children, some children from poor families who can offer a stimulating environment can thrive.

Genes and Environment

Genes have a pattern of turning on and off throughout the human lifespan. By doing so, genes affect traits and behavioral patterns. They may also respond to the environment by changing their activity. Gene-environment interaction is the concept that effects of genes are dependent on the environment. Additionally, how a person responds to the environment in which they live also depends on their genes. Often, psychological problems are triggered only in cases of high-risk environments interacting with high-risk genes. Gene-environment correlations are the ways that a person’s environment or experiences and his or her genetic makeup are related in a systematic manner. Three types of gene-environment correlation are: passive, evocative, and active. An example of passive gene-environment correlation is that parents with different genotypes give a different home context to their offspring. Sociable parents not only transfer sociable genes to their children, they are also more likely to provide a sociable atmosphere. The evocative gene-environment correlation is so named because a child’s genotype also evokes reactions from others. A baby who smiles a lot is more likely to receive smiles and hugs from others than a baby who is fussy, shy, or cries a lot. Sociable children may be invited to play more. In this way, the genotype of the child also affects the type of environments he or she is likely to encounter through how others respond to him or her. The last type of gene-environment interaction is active gene-environment interaction where a child’s genotype affects what sorts of environments he or she actively seeks. An extroverted person may want to party every night while a shy person may avoid socializing.

Studies show that identical twins are more alike than fraternal twins, and biological siblings are more alike than adoptive siblings in their environments and how they respond to their environments. This makes sense if our personality traits (which are affected by genes) influence how others treat us and what types of experiences we have.

Behavioral genetics is a controversial field as researchers are able to identify carriers of disease and provide this information to parents (who may chose to abort a fetus predisposed for disease). Additionally researchers can experiment with stem cell research and attempt to alter genetic code through gene therapy.

What is the Prenatal Stage of Development? - Chapter 4

Development happens most rapidly in the time between conception and birth. The environment is also most important at this stage. About every twenty-eight days, females ovulate. An ovum, also known as an egg cell, leaves the ovary and travels through the fallopian tube to the uterus. If the egg is not fertilized, it exits the body through the menstrual flow. If a sperm penetrates the ovum, the egg becomes fertilized. Once this happens, a biochemical reaction takes place that repels the other sperm from the fertilized egg. Conception takes place when a sperm and egg form a zygote.

Infertility occurs when a couple cannot get pregnant after one year of trying. One in four couples experience infertility. Men and women both contribute to infertility. Infertility can be caused by many things. For example those who have had sexually transmitted diseases may become infertile. Sometimes there are fairly simple solutions. A man may need to wear looser pants so that sperm production is not interrupted. A woman may be advised to take her temperature to better be able to determine when she is ovulating. When simple solutions do not work, couples use assisted reproductive technologies (ART’s). Usually, the process begins with the female being given prescriptions drugs which stimulate her ovaries. If this doesn’t work, the couple may try artificial insemination. This means that the sperm is injected into her uterus. The sperm may be from the woman’s partner or a male donor. Another option is in vitro fertilization (IVF). In this process, several eggs are taken from a woman’s ovary and combined with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilized eggs are then put back in the woman’s uterus. Sometimes the fertilized eggs are implanted into a surrogate mother. These procedures are very expensive. Infertility is stressful and ART’s are not always successful (the success rate is 1 out of 4 for woman using fresh non-frozen eggs). The odds decrease as the woman increases in age.

Stages of the Prenatal Period

A zygote begins with 46 chromosomes and takes about 9 months to develop to a fetus with billions of cells. This occurs in three stages: the germinal stage, the embryonic stage, and the fetal stage. The germinal stage lasts for about 2 weeks. On the first day, fertilization occurs. On the second day the single-celled zygote starts to divide through mitosis. This usually happens twenty-four to thirty-six hours after fertilization. On the third and fourth days, the zygote is now a morula with sixteen cells. The morula moves down the fallopian tube to the uterus. On the fifth day, an inner cell mass develops. This mass is called a blastocyst (a hollow ball of around 150 cells) and is about the size of a pinhead. On the sixth or seventh day, the blastocyst attaches to the uterus wall through implanting tendrils from its outer layer. Only about 50% of all fertilized ova are able to be implanted into the wall of the uterus. On days eight through fourteen, the blastocyst is about 250 cells and is fully embedded in the uterus wall. 15% to 20% of recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage. Researchers believe that about 50% of unrecognized pregnancies end in miscarriage. Genetic defects are often the cause.

The embryonic stage happens from the third to the eighth week. During the embryonic stage, all major organs begin to develop in a process known as organogenesis. The layers of the blastocyst separate to form structures that can support and maintain development. The outermost layer becomes the amnion which is a watertight membrane full of fluid to protect the embryo. The outermost layer also becomes the chorion which is a second membrane that surrounds the amnion and attaches through extensions known as villi to the lining of the uterus. These villi collect nourishment for the embryo. Ultimately, the chorion turns into the lining of the placenta. A placenta is nourished by the mother’s blood vessels and connected to the embryo through the umbilical cord. The embryo gets oxygen and nutrition from the mother through the placenta and umbilical cord. The placental barrier lets the carbon dioxide and metabolic wastes pass through into the mother’s bloodstream. The placental barrier prevents the blood cells of the embryo from intermingling with the blood cells of the other. It also serves to protect the embryo from harmful substances. The interior cells of the blastocyst become the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm. These later develop into specific organ systems and tissues. Development happens very quickly during this period.

In the third week after conception the embryo is 2 mm long. In the fourth week, the now elongated embryo curves so much that the two ends almost touch. The brain starts to develop through the ectoderm folding into the neural tube. The bottom of the tube turns into the spinal cord. Lumps at the top of the tube are the beginnings of the brain. Sometimes the neural tube doesn’t close fully. When this happens at the bottom of the tube, spina bifida can occur. This means that the spinal cord is not fully protected by the spinal column. This later results in neurological problems in children. When the top of the tube doesn’t close fully, anencephaly can occur. This is a defect where the main part of the brain above the brainstem does not develop. This is lethal. Neural tube defects happen 25-29 days after conception. They are likely to happen if the mother doesn’t have enough folic acid which is necessary for gene functioning. The lower parts of the brain that control biological functions develop first. A heart starts to develop from the mesoderm and starts to beat. The endoderm splits to become the digestive tract and lungs. Eyes start to develop between days 21 and 28. In week five, the ears, mouth, and throat start to develop. The beginnings of arms and legs appear. The heart becomes two regions. The brain becomes the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. In week six to seven, the heart has four chambers. Fingers emerge. Facial features start to form. Sexual differentiation begins. The undifferentiated tissues become male testes or female ovaries depending on what chromosome was inherited at conception. The testes secrete testosterone which stimulates the male internal reproductive system to develop. The testes also secrete another hormone that prevents female reproductive systems to develop. When these hormones are not present, the embryo develops as a female. This becomes clear in week eight. The embryo also starts to straighten and look more human.

The fetal stage occurs from week nine until the fetus is born. In week nine, bone tissue appears and the embryo becomes a fetus. The head of a fetus accounts for about half of the full length of the fetus. During the fetal stage, the fetus has around 100 billion neurons due to rapid proliferation.

After birth, another proliferation period happens but this results in increased glial cells rather than nerve cells. Glial cells are support cells for neurons. Neurons migrate to programmed sites in the developing brain. Differentiation also occurs. Every neuron has the possibility of becoming any type of specific neuron depending on where it migrates to. Some early cells which have not migrated can become any type of cell or tissue, these are called stem cells. They also exist in adult tissue but are fewer and less able to specialize. Adult stem cells may be the key to new therapies for organ and tissue transplants. At this point the fetus can open and close its mouth as well as turn its head. In weeks ten through twelve, the fingers and toes are clearly developed. The external genitalia is formed. Arms and legs move vigorously, though the mother still can’t feel any movement at this point. In weeks thirteen through sixteen, the heartbeat of the fetus can be heard through a stethoscope. The mother can feel the fetus move. The fetus is around 4.5 inches long and developing a harder skeleton. In weeks seventeen through twenty-two, nails, hair, the beginnings of teeth, and eyelashes develop. The brain develops greatly in this stage and brainwaves can be detected. In weeks twenty-three through twenty-five the fetus has a chance of surviving (this is called the age of viability) outside the womb and is about 12 inches long. The fetus weighs around one pound. In weeks twenty-six through thirty-two the brain grows and the fetus gains weight. The neurons are not only multiplying (proliferation), they are also growing in size and developing a cover called myelin. Myelin helps neurons transmit signals faster. The nervous system becomes more organized. In weeks thirty-three through thirty-eight, the brain develops further and the fetus gains weight. The lungs develop to maturity and can expand and contract. By week thirty-six, the heart rate and movements of the fetus are more organized and a pattern of sleeping and waking called infant states is clear. A study done by Janet DiPietro found that when the heart rate and movements of the fetus were concordant at 36 weeks, they had better regulation of behavior (more alert, less irritable, able to sustain their attention better) at 2 weeks after birth. Fetuses that had slower and more varied heart rates had more difficulty with mental development and language development than the infants with fast and more regular heart rates.

During the ninth month of pregnancy, the fetus is most comfortable in the fetal position (head down, limbs curled). The uterus contracts at irregular intervals in the ninth month. Once these contractions become intense and regular, the mother is in the first stage of labor.

How the Environment Affects the Prenatal Period

The prenatal environment during the prenatal period is the mother’s womb. Studies show that what happens during the prenatal period can have lasting consequences on health and development. Teratogens are any diseases, drugs, or other environmental factors which may harm a fetus. Keep in mind that only 15% of newborns have minor problems and 5% have large problems due to teratogens. Teratogens have the worst effects during the critical period where the organs are developing quickly. Once an organ is fully formed, it is less vulnerable to harm. However, some organs or systems like the nervous system can be damaged throughout the prenatal period. The level of damage depends on the level and duration of exposure to the teratogen.

The greater the duration and exposure, the more harmful the teratogen.

Genetic makeup is also a factor as some mothers and some fetuses are more susceptible to teratogens. The environment also determines how much of an effect the teratogen will have. Defects that are present in an infant at birth are called congenital malformations. These are the leading cause of death in an infant’s first year. Examples of congenital malformations include heart defects, Down syndrome, and cleft palates.

Drugs

One common teratogen is drugs. We’ll discuss several examples. Thalidomide is a tranquilizer that was popular in the 1950s. It was used to cure morning sickness. While tests of pregnant rats led people to assume the drug was safe, there were tragic consequences. Women who took the drug gave birth to babies who were missing all their limbs or parts of their limbs. Different deformities were linked to specific critical periods of fetal development. The drug is being prescribed now for treating leprosy, AIDs, tuberculosis, and some types of cancer.

Tobacco is another teratogen. Women who smoke have a higher miscarriage rate than nonsmokers. Their babies develop at a slower rate in the womb and have a greater risk of being born premature, having low birth weight, having cleft lips and cleft palates. Since smoking inhibits blood flow to the fetus, the fetus receives less oxygen and nutrients. Even women who smoke as little as 5 cigarettes a day give birth to newborns that are more irritable and score lower on behavioral functioning assessments. The severity of the effects increases with the number of cigarettes the mother smokes. Potential damage includes respiratory problems, growth retardation, and neurological problems. Sudden infant death syndrome (a sleeping baby stops breathing suddenly and dies) also increases with the amount of smoking. However, smokers who quit smoking during their first trimester (even after the second trimester) reduced risks to the fetus.

Alcohol is another teratogen. It crosses the placenta and can directly affect development and hormone functions. Alcohol affects the process of neuronal migration. This can lead to different outcomes that vary in severity. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is the most severe result. FAS involves obvious physical characteristics such as a small head and other facial abnormalities including: small eye openings, flat midface, short nose, undefined groove between the nose and the mouth, epicanthal folds, low nasal bridge, minor ear anomalies, and a thin upper lip. Children with FAS are smaller and grow at a slower rate than children without FAS. Additionally, children with FAS have damage to their central nervous system. They are also more likely to be hyperactive and have difficulty focusing. Over 90% of children born with FAS experience mental health problems later. Surveys show that about 15% of pregnant women drink some alcohol during their pregnancy. This results in 3 out of 1000 American babies born with FAS. Other children exposed to alcohol in the prenatal period may not have FAS but may still have various physical, behavioral, or cognitive problems. Mothers who drink more alcohol have a greater risk of adverse affects to their children.

Additionally, mothers who binge drink have more negative effects on their children. If mothers drink during the first trimester when the face and skull bones are forming, the facial abnormalities linked to FAS can result. Consuming alcohol during the second or third trimesters can stunt growth as well as brain development. Different babies are affected differently by alcohol consumption. Again, genetics and the environment are both factors. Research also suggests that a father’s alcohol consumption can also affect fetal development through transferring his genes to his offspring. Other researchers think that the negative effects to children is due to poor parenting associated with alcohol abuse.

Cocaine use can also hurt the fetus. Cocaine use can lead to spontaneous abortion in the first trimester. It can also cause premature detachment of the placenta and fetal strokes. The fetus may also be malnourished, growth can be slowed, and the infant may have a low birth weight. Newborns may even have withdraw symptoms. Infants do not perform as well on measures of information processing and sensory motor skills in the first year. However, most of the effects of cocaine use during the prenatal period are not long lasting. It is not clear if the problems that do occur are a result of cocaine use or growing up with parents with substance abuse problems.

Disease

Diseases can also have negative effects on the prenatal environment. Doctors advise women to be immunized against rubella before conceiving a child. If a mother has rubella (German measles), it can cause blindness, deafness, heart defects, and mental retardation in her child. The effects depends on what trimester is affected. Rubella is most dangerous during the first trimester when eyes, ears, heart, and other critical organs are developing very quickly. Almost 15% of women with rubella have a miscarriage. Diabetes is a common complication during pregnancy. If it is controlled through a proper diet it can have little affect on the fetus, however if it not controlled it can increase the risk of premature delivery, miscarriage, stillbirth, lung development problems, and large fetal size. Syphilis during pregnancy can lead to stillbirth or miscarriage. Similar to rubella, babies may be born blind, deaf, with heart problems, or with brain damage. Unlike rubella which is more dangerous early in the pregnancy, syphilis is more dangerous later in the pregnancy because it cannot cross the placental barrier until week 18. The mother should be treated with penicillin before that time. Some infants may still die or be affected. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) can be transmitted to fetuses from their mothers during the prenatal period if the virus crosses the placenta. It can be transmitted perinatally if blood is exchanged as the umbilical cord separates from the placenta. It can also be transmitted postnatally during breast-feeding. If infected mothers take AZT (azidothymidine) or zidovudine, they can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their child.

Environmental Hazards

Radiation can affect fetal development. After atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, no woman within a half mile radius gave birth to a live child. 75% of women within a 1.25 mile radius had stillborn or severely handicapped children who died shortly after birth. The children that survived had a higher rate of mental retardation. Survivors had a higher-risk of leukemia and other cancers. Smaller doses of radiation such as through X-rays and cancer treatment can also cause mutations, spontaneous abortions, and other birth defects. Pollutants also pose a threat. Longitudinal studies show that the fetuses of women who were closer to the 9/11 site had increased pollution exposure. The children were shorter, lighter, and premature at birth. Later, some children also showed cognitive impairment. Researchers questioned if this was a result of pollution in combination with stress from the event. They found that prenatal exposure to pollution combined with exposure to cigarette smoke caused complications that were not found when the mother was exposed to one of the two factors. Heavy metals also pose a threat. Prenatally exposed children are smaller at birth and more likely to born premature. There is a direct relationship between the level of impaired intellectual functioning and the amount of lead found in the umbilical cord. Exposure to heavy metals after birth is also dangerous. Mercury can be ingested through fish. Exposure can also occur through vaccinations with thimerosal. Most vaccinations today do not have thimerosal. Mercury causes stunted development, delayed memory, and language and attention problems. The effects are commensurate with the level of mercury exposure. Pesticides, dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can also cause problems such as poor reflexes in infants and learning problems.

Factors in a Healthy Pregnancy: The Mother & Father

The age, race, emotional state, and nutritional status of the mother affect the prenatal environment. The safest and more common age to bear a child is between the ages of 20 and 40. Young mothers have an increased rate of birth complications such as stillbirths and delivering prematurely. The reproductive system of a younger woman may not be physically mature enough to carry a fetus to full term. The biggest problem is that young mothers do not seek prenatal care and are more likely to use alcohol than mothers over the age of 20. Older women may have difficulty getting pregnant. There is an increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and having a baby with a low birth weight. Fetal deaths used to be linked to genetic defects that appeared during the first few weeks after conception. However, prenatal testing today allows fetuses with genetic defects to be identified and aborted. Women over 35 are more likely to release more than one egg during ovulation. This increases the chance of having fraternal twins. This can lead to complications during pregnancy because higher-order pregnancies have additional health risks. In addition to age, the ethnicity of the mother can also affect fetal mortality rates. Non-hispanic black women experience twice the rate than other women. The cause is not clear. Possible reasons include poorer health prior to conception, less prenatal care, and increased risk of premature labor.

The emotional condition of the mother during pregnancy also affects the fetus. When a woman is emotionally aroused or stressed, her glands produce adrenaline which can cross the placenta. They temporarily increase the fetus’s motor activity. This should not have long lasting effects on the fetus unless the stress is prolonged and severe. Effects can be irregular heart rate, faster heart rate, and stunted growth in the prenatal stage which can lower the birth weight of the newborn. Acute stress experienced by the mother during the first trimester increases the risk of developing schizophrenia. However, not all mothers who experience stress have children who experience the effects we’ve just described. Jane Dipietro found that a mild to moderate level of stress may enhance fetal development if the mother is healthy in other regards. Depression affects the levels of neurotransmitters which can lead to impaired motor responses in newborns.

The nutritional condition of the mother during pregnancy is also a factor. Women are encouraged to gain 25 to 35 pounds during their pregnancy. They should eat healthy (eat green vegetables and drink milk) to lower the risk of having babies with low birth weight. Malnutrition can stunt prenatal growth. Again, the effects depend on which trimester the malnutrition takes place in (most severe effects during first trimester). Children can have cognitive deficits and be at risk for diseases like hypertension, coronary heart disease, and diabetes later in life. If women are properly nourished, there is no established link between specific nutrients and birth outcomes. Folic acid is the exception. Folic acid deficiency is connected to neural tube defects. For this reason, prenatal vitamins are prescribed.

Researchers have not done much research on how fathers contribute to prenatal development beyond passing on their genes.

Studies show that the age of the father is a factor in how the fetus develops. Similar to mothers, younger fathers and much older fathers (40-50 years of age) increase the risk of negative effects to the fetus. Environmental factors also play a role. Fathers exposed to radiation, pesticides, etc. can have damaged genetic material which causes genetic defects in his children.

The Perinatal Environment: Delivery

The perinatal environment is the birth environment. In the West, a shift happened in the 20th century where births moved from the home to the hospital. This also resulted in a change in how birth is viewed. Instead of as a natural family event, it is seen as a medical concern requiring medical intervention. Women today have more control over their birth experience. Some women choose to deliver in a hospital which combines technology with a homelike environment. High-risk pregnancies may need a maternal-fetal specialist called a perinatologist. Other women choose to deliver with the help of a midwife or doula. The support of a doula (a person trained to give continuous emotional and physical support throughout labor) can shorten delivery time by half. Women who have more support during childbirth have a more positive experience, few symptoms of postnatal depression, and are more likely to breastfeed.

Childbirth occurs in three stages. The first stage lasts about 9 hours for first time mothers and 4-6 hours otherwise. It begins when a mother starts to have regular contractions and ends when the cervix is fully dilated so that the head of the fetus can pass through. The second stage is the delivery stage where the head of the fetus passes through the cervix, through the vagina, and leaves the mother’s body. This stage can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour (first time mothers). The third stage is the delivery of the placenta which lasts only a few minutes.

Complications in the birth process can occur. One hazard is called anoxia (oxygen shortage). This can happen if the umbilical cord becomes tangled during birth, if sedatives for the mother reach the fetus, or if the baby is in breech presentation. This means that the baby is delivered feet or buttocks first. Fetuses in breech can be identified and delivered through cesarean section. Cesarean section is a surgical procedure where the baby is removed form the mother’s uterus. Anoxia poses a danger because brain cells will die if they do not receive oxygen. Mild anoxia can lead to motor delays in infants. These are usually not long lasting. Severe anoxia can lead to cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a disability associated with not being able to control muscle movements. Sometimes mothers need help during delivery. This may be because the delivery is proceeding too slowly, or the mother or child is in danger. Doctors use to use forceps to help with vaginal delivery. However, forceps could cause damage to a fetus’s soft skull.

Doctors use vacuum extraction which has few risks. In this procedure, a cup is attached to the baby’s scalp which adds traction during contractions. This may cause scalp swelling.

If the vacuum is not used correctly, more serious conditions can occur.

Cesarean sections are also controversial. While they are as safe as vaginal delivery and can even save the life of a baby in specific circumstances, mothers take longer to recover. Additionally, people feel that they are overused. Obstetricians may choose to do a C-section because it puts them at less risk for malpractice lawsuits that may result from complications during vaginal delivery. C-sections provide more profit for medical practices. Women who have c-sections must deliver via c-section for future children. This also increases the rate of C-sections. Some women choose to have c-sections because they can time the delivery. However, this can be a problem if not timed properly. If a mother delivers at 38 instead of 39 weeks, the infant has an increased risk of respiratory problems. C-sections performed at 41 weeks or later can also lead to complications such as stillbirth.

The medications given to mothers to help relieve pain, sedate them, or stimulate contractions can also affect the infant. The newborn will act as if they are drugged (sluggish and irritable). Regional analgesics (epidurals and spinal blocks for example) are a better option because they do not cross the placenta. Epidurals are also more effective at managing pain. There are however disadvantages such as longer labor times and increased necessity for forceps or vacuum extraction. Oxytocin is a commonly used drug to induce or speed up labor. It is relatively safe, as mothers produce low levels of oxytocin throughout pregnancy.

Many factors affect the mother’s experience of childbirth. These factors range from psychological factors, knowledge and expectations, sense control, to the amount of support given during delivery. Mothers experience less pain, need less medication, are less likely to have c-sections and have a better view of the process when they have the support of someone in the delivery (such as the father) that is there to comfort them through the delivery process.

The process have giving birth is also treated differently in different cultures. The Pokot people of Kenya offer strong social support to the mother. The father stops hunting so he can support the mother. A midwife delivers the baby. The mother has plenty of time to recover and spends 3 months devoted to her baby. In Uttar Pradesh, India, the blood of childbirth is seen as unclean. An attendant delivers the baby without offering any emotional support. The mother is isolated from others for weeks. The !Kung San of Namibia believe that women should give birth without help. In Western societies birth is very medicalized. Infant mortality rates are low, around 0.5%. However, the infant mortality rate is twice as high for black babies as for white babies. The best practice may be to combine emotional support with modern medicine.

It is common for women to feel mildly depressed for a few days after delivery. However, 1 in 10 new mothers experience a more severe episode of clinical depression called postpartum depression. The women affected usually have had a history of depression. Women are more likely to experience postpartum depression if they have other stresses in addition to the new baby. Also, lack of social support can also contribute. Postpartum depression has adverse affects to the children of depressed mothers.

Studies show that the children of depressed mothers were less attached to their mothers and were less responsive to their mothers than children of nondepressed mothers. As the children of postnatally depressed mothers grow up, they exhibit more violent behavior which suggests anger management problems, attention problems, and hyperactivity. Adolescents have higher levels of cortisol which is linked to major depression. This suggests that if a mother has postpartum depression, her child is more likely to experience depression as an adult. Mothers who are depressed may resent the child and be less focused or responsive. Early interaction problems may establish a pattern that affects the child’s behavior. In this way, genetic inheritance and early childhood experiences can contribute to later depression.

Fathers also view having a child as an important life event. Some experience couvade symptoms like bloating, weight gain, fatigue, nausea, and insomnia that mirror the mothers. Some people may assume this is entirely psychological. However, researchers have found hormone fluctuations in expectant fathers that are similar to those seen in expectant mothers. Fathers who attend prenatal classes have a better experience of childbirth. For some fathers though, what they learn in class can contribute to increased anxiety. Fathers are most stressed during pregnancy and less stressed after delivery. New fathers also experience depression after delivery. Fathers who are depressed interact less with the baby. Sometimes, the mother and father do not live together. Fathers in such cases tend to be much less involved. Stronger support systems can help both new mothers and new father cope with the stresses associated with having a child. Fathers may also be disappointed with the changes to their sexual relationship with their partner. Studies show that there is a decline in marital satisfaction for couples for at least 4 years after the birth of the child. Unplanned pregnancies tend to lower the rate of marital satisfaction because couples may experience stress due to not having a sense of control.

In many cases, a sibling in a family will also need to adjust to the new baby. The child’s immediate environment (the microsystem) affects how well they adapt to the new baby. For example, if a strong father-child relationship exists, the child may adjust better to having less attention from their mother once the newborn arrives. The exosystem of the larger environment also plays a role. A strong support system allows new parents to focus more energy on all their children. Additionally, if the child has good friendships when the new baby arrives, he or she is more likely to have a positive relationship with the sibling. The age, gender and personality also determine how the child responds to the new family addition. Children under the age of 2 adapt more easily than children between the ages of 2 and 5.

The Neonatal environment

The events in the first month after birth comprise the neonatal environment. Different cultures view the process of connecting to a baby differently. Hunter-gatherer Cultures like the !Kung indulge a new infant and will touch the baby 70% of daylight hours. The baby is also breastfeed whenever he or she wants and sleeps in the same bed as the mother.

Other cultures with a much lower infant mortality rate, like the United States for example, touch the new baby closer to 15-20% of daylight hours and breastfeed or bottle feed on a schedule. Babies sleep in cribs where they are less likely to be suffocated by bedding or an adult rolling over on them at night. T. Berry Brazelton developed the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale to assess the strong an infant’s reflexes and responses in 26 situations. Through this test, parents learn to understand their babies and appreciate their competencies.

Breastfeeding is the most natural way for newborns to get nourishment. Breast milk has substances that protect the infants from infections. It is given to premature babies to help them build their immune systems and gain weight. Children who breastfeed for at least four months have stronger lungs. Breastfeeding can protect infants from respiratory infections associated with second-hand smoke. Mothers are encouraged to breastfeed for the first six months of the baby’s life. While breastfeeding use to be the norm, in the 1970’s it dropped to an all-time low where only 1 in 4 mothers even attempted to breastfeed. Public awareness campaigns have lead to changes. Now 7 in 10 mothers attempt to breastfeed. However only one third of women breastfeed for six months. Women give several reasons for not breastfeeding including sore nipples and worries that the baby is not getting enough nutrition. Young women, women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and less educated women tend to breastfeed less. Black women are less likely to breastfeed their infants than white women. Hispanic women have a high rate of breastfeeding if they live outside of the United States. This may be due to an American culture of being ambivalent towards breastfeeding. Additionally, women who work outside the home are less likely to breastfeed. This may be due to the logistics of breastfeeding at work.

At-Risk Newborns

The Apgar test assesses a newborn’s heart rate, respiration, color, muscle tone, and reflexes with scores of 0,1, or 2. The scores are added together for a total score in the range of 0 to 10. A score of 7 or above means the infant is healthy and in good shape. A score of 4 or lower means the infant is at risk for short-term or long-term problems. The test is administered within 5 minutes of delivery.

Low birth weight (LBW) is one group of at-risk babies. The more preterm or small a baby is, the less likely he or she will be to survive. Babies who are born at full-term but are small are called small for gestational age. Others are born preterm and have more risk. Babies smaller than 3.3 pounds may not survive. About 8% of the babies born in the USA have LBW. However, they account for 65% of infant deaths. Additionally, babies with LBW are very expensive to care for. There are no clear causes of LBW.

However, studies show that women of low socioeconomic status are more likely to have babies of LBW. This may be due to the mother’s poor nutrition and lack of prenatal care. African American mothers are twice as likely to have LBW infants than non-Hispanic White mothers. Multiple births (twins, triplets etc.) also increase the risk of having LBW infants.

Babies with LBW can catch up to other babies in neonatal intensive care in terms of range of development. However, LBW infants (especially those weighing less than 2 pounds at birth) have an increased risk of neurobehavioral problems like blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, autism, and other health problems. Premature babies do not produce enough surfactant ( a substance that prevents air sacs of the lungs from sticking together). Surfactant therapy is used and has improved the survival rate for the most at risk infants. Other less high tech interventions can also improve developmental outcomes for LBW infants. As we’ve already mentioned, breast milk can measurably increase outcomes. Skin to skin contact is also beneficial. This is sometimes called kangaroo care and involves resting the infant on a parent’s chest to help the infant maintain body temperature, heart rate, and the level of oxygen in the blood. Tiffany Field found that premature babies can be helped by massage therapy. Infant’s who are given messages of moderate pressure experience an increase in weight gain. Additionally, massages help the digestive system work more efficiently. The prognosis for LBW infants is now good, however the outcomes depends on two key factors: the infant’s biological condition and the quality of the postnatal care they receive. Parent’s benefit from learning how to give responsive care and intellectually stimulate their babies. This increases the likelihood of a positive outcome for LBW infants.

Studies show that it is possible for children to recover from damaging effects. Emmy Werner and Ruth Smith conducted a longitudinal study of infants born in 1995 in Hawaii. All the women who gave birth on the island of Kauai in 1955 were interviewed every trimester of their pregnancy. Through this data, each woman’s baby was categorized according to whether they were exposed to severe, moderate, mild, or no prenatal or perinatal stress. Over the course of forty years, researchers interviewed the children as they grew up. One- third of the children who were classified as being at risk showed a lot of resilience and were able to develop on course. The main findings of this study showed that the effects of complications during the prenatal and perinatal period decrease over time and the outcomes of early exposure depended on their personal resources (intelligence, sociability, communication skills) and having a supportive postnatal environment.

What are Physical Developments? - Chapter 5

Growth and development over the human lifespan is complex and is influenced by both biological and environmental factors. During certain times and for specific developments genetic influences are more dominate than environmental influences. Height for example is largely genetic. However, there are factors that affect a person’s potential to grow to the height they are genetically capable of becoming. Malnutrition may result in a person being shorter than they are genetically predisposed to be. Celiac disease is an inherited digestive disorder where gluten causes an immune response that harms the small intestines. This causes malnutrition. A gluten-free diet will restore the body’s ability to absorb nutrition. Treatment leads to catch-up growth which reflects the body’s desire to get back its proper genetic growth course.

Growth and Hormones

The endocrine and nervous systems are essential to how genes and environment affect growth and development. The endocrine system is the hormonal system and is made up of endocrine glands. These glands secrete hormones into the blood. The pituitary gland is the most important endocrine gland. It is located at the base of the brain and is controlled directly by the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland controls all the other endocrine glands. This gland also produces growth hormone which triggers the hormones that directly control growth. If a person does not have the necessary growth hormones, they will not grow to over four feet tall. Treatment consists of synthetic growth hormones which if administered well before puberty can allow the child to reach almost full adult height. Children who are born small for their gestational age also tend to grow to be shorter adults. They may benefit from growth hormone treatment, but additional research is necessary. Adults sometimes inject growth hormones to increase their athletic performance. This not only puts them at risk for health problems such as heart attacks and insulin resistance, but has not been clinically proven to have any effect on athletic performance.

Infants with a thyroid deficiency will have slowed development which can lead to mental retardation if not treated. Children of mothers who had a thyroid deficiency during their pregnancy can have intellectual problems. If thyroid problems occur later in a person’s life, there will be less of an effect on the brain since it is fully developed. However, physical growth can still be slowed. Testosterone is the most important male hormone. For a male fetus to develop male reproductive organs, a gene on his Y chromosome must trigger the development of endocrine glands called the testes. Testes produce and secrete testosterone. The testes secrete testosterone and other male hormones called androgens which trigger the production of growth hormones during puberty. Estrogen and progesterone is a female hormone produced by ovaries which are also endocrine glands. Estrogen increases during puberty which leads to a growth spurt, breast development, pubic hair, female sex organs, and control of the menstrual cycle. Progesterone is the pregnancy hormone which allows the body changes necessary for conception.

The adrenal glands secrete hormones that affect bone and muscle maturation in both males and females. They also contribute to sexual motivation. During adulthood, the endocrine glands keep secreting hormones to regulate processes such as food metabolization and dealing with stress. Changes occur later in life. For example, menopause is associated with a decrease in sex hormones.

The Nervous System

The nervous system is made up of the brain, the spinal cord, and the neural tissue that continues into the rest of the body (peripheral nervous system). The spinal cord and brain make up the central nervous system. Neurons are the basic unit of the nervous system which exist in many shapes. Dendrites receive signals from other neurons and transmits these electrical signals to other neurons through the long axon. Axons of neurons connect to each other at a tiny gap known as a synapse. Neurons stimulate or inhibit the actions of other neurons by releasing the neurotransmitters stored at the end of its axons. Myelin is a fatty covering over axons. Myelination is the process where neurons are covered in myelin which speeds up the transmission of neural impulses. This process begins prenatally and continues for many years after the baby is born. It proceeds from the spinal cord through the brain and has many implications for changes to development. For example, after a period of rapid myelination to parts of the brain that involve language ability, toddlers have a spurt in their grasp of vocabulary. The progress of myelination through the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain, explains how people of different age groups have varying attention spans. Additionally development in the brain may help explain why adolescents and teenagers may exhibit risky behavior. The progression of myelination may also explain why adults can connect feelings and thoughts better than teenagers can.

The Brain

The brain is the most developed part of the body upon birth. It is also the largest in size. However, it continues the majority of its development after birth. How the brain develops is affected by genes. The brain has a great deal of plasticity. This means that the brain responds to a person’s experiences which affect how the brain develops. Negative influences like drugs or disease can greatly affect the brain. The good news is that the brain can also recover from many injuries since it is so adaptable. Neurons that have not yet been assigned a role can replace the damaged neurons in the brain. The most critical time for the brain’s development is in the late prenatal period and in the early postnatal period. A developing brain is especially sensitive to stimuli. Lateralization is the asymmetry and specialization of brain function. Functions of the two hemispheres of the brain do not develop the same way. Most people’s left hemisphere controls the right side of their body. The left hemisphere is associated with analytical thinking ability and language processing. The right hemisphere usually controls the left side of the body and is associated with the simultaneous processing of information that is needed for spatial understanding, hand eye coordination, and emotions. The two hemispheres function together through the corpus callosum. One hemisphere may be more active than the other hemisphere depending on the task, but both play a role. One hemisphere has the potential to take over the damaged functions of the other hemisphere. Children who have part of their brain removed due to seizures can still develop normal language function regardless of which hemisphere is removed.

Lateralization likely has a genetic basis since newborns show preferences for being “right or left handed.” 9 out of 10 people are right-handed. Males tend to be left-handed more often than females are left-handed. Children’s preference for their right or left hand is connected to the preferences of their parents. However, it is not clear if this is entirely genetic or if there is an environmental influence at work. The brain is never fully finished developing. It is capable of neurogenesis. Neurogenesis is the process where the brain generates new neurons. Studies show that neurogenesis can take place after an injury as well as from exercise.

During middle age, the two hemispheres of the brain are better integrated. A brain can stay healthy for longer through exercise. When people age, there is a slow and mild degeneration of the nervous system. Some neurons are lost, others do not function as well, and there is the possibility of harmful changes to the tissues that support neurons (the myelin covering for example). The weight of the brain decreases after age 50. Neuron loss tends to affect the parts of the brain that control motor function rather than the parts of the brain that are associated with thinking or basic life functions. Additionally, senile plaques which are hard areas in the tissue surrounding the neurons and decreased blood flow to the brain is associated with aging. An excess of senile plaque is found in people suffering from Alzheimer's. Aging affects different brains in different ways. In most cases, plasticity and growth can help people regain some function lost in degeneration until they reach their 70s or 80s. Brains can stay healthy for longer if disease can be avoided and if a person remains active intellectually.

Three Principles of Growth

Researchers consider three main principles to be the underlying principles of growth. The first principle is the cephalocaudal principle which states that growth happens from head to tail. Babies have large heads in comparison to the rest of their bodies. The trunk of the body grows the fastest during the first year after birth while the legs grow the fastest in the second year after birth. The second principle is the proximodistal principle. This principle states that muscles develop from the center of the body outwards. For example, in the prenatal period, internal organs and the chest develop before limbs do. The third principle is the orthogenetic principle which states that development begins globally and moves towards more and more differentiation.

The Newborn

On average newborns weigh around 7-7.5 pounds and are 20 inches in length. The size a baby is when he or she is born is not necessarily indicative of eventual height or weight. A baby’s size in the first few months after birth is determined by the prenatal environment. In the first few months in the postnatal environment babies grow very quickly. Growth is not as gradual as people assume. Infants tend to grow in spurts and may not grow for several weeks and grow an inch over a few days. Growth spurts cause infants to be irritable.

At birth, infants have soft and pliable bones. This makes it difficult for them to sit up or balance themselves. When the soft cartilage ossifies or hardens gradually into bones through calcium deposits, more bones develop. Infants have all the muscle cells they will have later in life, but are weak until their muscles grow.

Newborns are born with reflexes which are involuntary responses to stimuli. While reflexes may appear simple, they are actually complex behavioral patterns which helps infant engage with their surroundings. Survival reflexes are the reflexes that have a notable adaptive value. Examples include the reflexes for breathing, blinking, and sucking. Primitive reflexes are reflexes that may not be so obviously useful. Some researchers consider primitive reflexes to be the remnants of past evolutionary history. For example, when the bottom of an infant’s foot is stroked, he or she will fan his or her toes. This is called the Babinski reflex. Other examples include a strong grasping reflex, and the stepping reflex. Primitive reflexes tend to disappear after the first few months of infancy. Note that infants who show strong primitive reflexes at 6 weeks of age may not exhibit the same strong primitive reflexes later in their infancy. While such reflexes may not be clearly useful to infants, they do help diagnose neurological problems in infants. For example, doctors become aware that something may be wrong if infants do not display primitive reflexes or continue them for too long.

In addition to reflexes, proper behavioral states for newborns indicates good health. Newborns do not have an awareness of night and day and may wake up every one to four hours. Once they are around 3 months old, they have a more established sleep-wake cycle. By 6 months, the pattern is fairly stable. Newborns spend about half of the time they are asleep in REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep). Infants who are over six months of age spend about 25 - 30 percent of their sleep time in REM sleep. This is more similar to the 20% of sleep time that adults spend in REM sleep. Research suggests that newborns spend a great deal of time in REM because it is helpful for brain development. Learning and memory processes may be improved. Other researchers think that sleep helps infants process excess stimulation.

As children grow, they also begin to master motor movement. The average age that infants master a specific skill is called the developmental norm. These norms should be assessed carefully because children vary greatly. It is normal for infants to be 1 to 2 months behind in reaching motor milestones. Parents should only be concerned if mastery is very delayed. In the U.S. half of infants can lift their head when they are lying on their stomachs by 2 months of age, they can roll over onto their stomach from their back when they are 3 months of age, they can grasp a small object by 4 months, they can sit without support by the end of 5 months, they can stand by holding onto something by 6 months. They can roll from back to stomach at 7 months. They may start to crawl at 7 months. They can pull themselves up to a standing position at 8 months. After 9 months, they can walk by holding onto things as well as hit two objects together. In 10 months they can stand without help. At 12 months / 1 year, they can walk alone and drink from a cup.

When considering the age that most infants typically master motor milestones, the effects of the three principles of development are clear. Illustrating the cephalocaudal principle, infants can lift their heads before they can control their trunks. They can sit before they can walk. Illustrating the proximodistal principle, infants can master gross motor skills like kicking or drawing large circles before they are able to master fine motor skills like writing letters. Gross motor skills involve large muscle movement while fine motor skills involve precise movements in the fingers, hands, feet, and toes. The orthogenetic principle is also at play. A young infant will move his body as one unit, an example of a global response. As the infant gets older, he can move specific body parts (a differentiated response). As the infant continues to grow, he can combine different movements to create a sequence (an integrated response).

Locomotion is movement from one spot to another. Infants can do this in many different ways. Typically infants begin crawling on their hands and knees around 10 months of age. Once mobile, they can better explore their surroundings. Less infants crawl today. More infants skip crawling and begin moving on their knees only. Researchers posit that this is due to the “Back to Sleep” campaign that encouraged parents to not let their infants spend as much time on their stomachs. The campaign was aimed at reducing SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Children do not suffer any developmental setback from not crawling. Walking is another major milestone in a child’s development. Esther Tehlen conducted studies to show that children have the necessary motor patterns for walking upon birth. The results of the studies suggest that the ability to walk is not only dependent and a mature nervous system. It is also dependent on balance and proper muscle development. Karen Adolph collected and analyzed data to conclude that it takes an average of 13 tries before an infant can perform a certain motor skill consistently well. Infants may appear to regress when they are mastering a skill. When infants begin to walk, they may go back to crawling. The regression may be logical since the infant has mastered crawling and will be able to move more quickly on all fours than through a skill they have not yet mastered such as walking. In a sense, the infant is being efficient.

As mentioned, infants are born with a grasping reflex. The reflex is weaker when the infant is between 2 and 4 months old. During this period, they swipe at objects and make a fist instead of opening their hands to reach for something. At around 6 months, infants can grasp things well. They use the ulnar grasp (pressing the palms and fingers together) which is somewhat clumsy. Additionally, they have jerky movements and do not bend their elbows. After infants are at six months old, they smooth out their movements and will bend their elbows. Eventually, infants use the pincer grasp (using the thumb and forefinger). When an infant is 16 months of age, they are able to draw with a crayon.

Emergence of Motor Skills

Through observing infants, Esther Thelen found that infants spent much time moving their bodies in repetitive ways. This is known as rhythmic stereotypies. Thelen’s study showed that infants engage in rhythmic stereotypies before a new skill develops, but not after a skill is learned. For example, infants rock back and forth shortly before crawling. Once they start crawling they no longer rock back and forth. Thelen’s findings lead to the dynamic systems theory which states that developments happen over time through a process of self-organizing. In this process, children try different movements and use the feedback from the trails to change their behavior and adapt. Karen Adolph and Anthony Avolio conducted a study that found young toddlers were able to adapt their walking to their own body dimensions and the slope of the surface they were walking on. The researcher had the toddlers wear a vest with weights. The toddlers were able to adjust to this simulated rapid growth. Toddlers were also aware of when the slope was too dangerous to walk. They then either avoided it, or scooted down it. Additionally, toddlers were more adventurous when they could hold onto a sturdy handrail. Most people know that children fall frequently while learning to walk. Evidence suggests that these falls help children learn which surfaces are safe. As toddlers grow up they are better able to avoid falling. According to Thelen, nature and nurture are both interconnected and working together in the dynamic systems theory. Toddlers walk not because their genetic makeup tells them to, but because they realize that walking is a better way to navigate their surroundings. The feedback infants gain through their senses and motor skills is linked to their constantly changing abilities. Thus motor skills are closely linked to a child’s cognitive development.

Childhood

Development during childhood is steady but not as rapid as during infancy. On average, children grow 2-3 inches and gain 5-6 pounds per year from the ages of 2 until they reach puberty. Doctors track this growth with a growth chart to make sure development is not too slow, too fast, or erratic. Middle childhood occurs between the ages of 6 and 11. Children do not grow at a noticeable rate during this period. The lower parts of the body and extremities of children in this age range continue to fill out and bones continue to grow and harden. Additionally, muscles continue to get stronger.

Children learn to adapt to a changing environment. They learn to adapt their movements to changes in their surroundings. They refine their motor skills and are more accurate. They are better able to combine many movements into a series. For example, while young children will throw a ball while standing still, older children will raise their arm, rotate their trunk, step forward and throw. Children move more smoothly compared to toddlers. They are also more capable of avoiding obstacles. Between age 3 and age 5, hand-eye coordination improves quickly. Reaction time also improves steadily throughout childhood. Children are also able to improve their motor skills through practice. One study showed that children could improve their arm movements by 25-30% with practice, while adults could improve their arm movements by 10% with practice.

Studies show that boys are better at throwing than girls are, while girls are better at hopping and tasks that involve manual dexterity. These differences are due to how boys and girls are treated differently rather than an inherent gender difference. Each year of childhood brings new developments in motor skills. At age 3, children can walk in a straight line but have difficulty buttoning a shirt. By age 5, they are able to do all those things and cut in a straight line. At age 5 or six, children can tie their own shoes. At age 8 or 9, they can use tools like screwdrivers. Between the ages of 6 and 15, handwriting improves.

A child’s health is affected by his or her genes as well as by the educational and socioeconomic status of his or her parents. More educated parents are more likely to have children of better health. This is more often the case for White or Black families than in Asian or Hispanic families. This may be due stronger social networks in the Asian or Hispanic community. The leading cause of death during childhood is accidents such as car crashes. Nutrition also determines a child’s health. Children may have less of an appetite and become picky eaters. Children may eat fast food rather than eating a well-balanced diet. Parents can encourage healthy eating by being a good role-model and offering healthy options. Sodas with a lot of sugar are a common source of calories leading to weight gain and obesity. When children drink soda, they tend to drink less milk which negatively affects their bone health. Children who have a stressful family environment may eat more “comfort foods” which leads to weight gain. Schools can also encourage a child’s health by offering a breakfast program. Children who attend schools with such a program have a healthier BMI (body mass index). BMI is a way to measure body fat based on a ratio of height to weight. School lunches that are high in fat and sodium also contribute to weight gain and obesity in children. Children not only need to eat healthy, they also need to exercise. A child needs at least one hour of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily. Exercise may also aid in cognitive and psychological functioning. In recent years, children have become increasingly sedentary. This has led to a growth in the number of obese children. Someone is obese when they are 20% or more above their ideal weight. Research shows that children who live in neighborhoods where they can play outside safely are more likely to be active. However, children can also be physically active indoors. For example, they can play active sport and fitness video games. However, some children are predisposed to be more sedentary. The environment and a child’s characteristics interact to affect their level of physical activity.

Adolescence

Adolescence is characterized by a growth spurt and puberty. An increase in growth hormones triggers the adolescent growth spurt. The rate of growth differs between girls and boys with boys lagging behind girls by a year or two. Girls reach their peak rate of growth between 12 and 12.5 years on average, while boys reach their peak rate between 13.4 and 13.9 years on average. Girls are full grown by 16 years of age while boys may still grow when they are 20 years old. Muscles also grow during this period, with boys gaining a larger proportion of muscle mass. Girls gain fat in their breasts, hips and buttocks. Boys develop more broad shoulders. All these changes contribute to an increase in body weight.

Puberty occurs during adolescence. Puberty is defined as the biological process that leads to an individual's sexual maturity and ability to procreate. Between age 6 and age 8, adrenal glands produce more adrenal androgens. This is known as adrenarche. When these hormones circulate, they are partially responsible for the growth of pubic hair and armpit hair. The production of gonadal hormones also increases. These hormones are more responsible for the changes during puberty. The Tanner scale measures the progression of puberty. It has five stages ranging from prepubertal to adult secondary sexual characteristics. Menarche is a girl’s first menstruation which usually happens around age 12 on average but ranges from age 11 to 16. Girls often menstruate before they ovulate and are not able to reproduce right after menarche. Studies show that African American and Mexican American girls enter puberty before European American girls do. A girl’s birth weight is also a factor as the lighter a girl is and the more weight she gains during childhood, the earlier she begins to menstruate. The sexual maturation process in boys begins around age 11 to 11.5 with the enlargement of the scrotum and testes. Pubic hair develops and the penis grows rapidly. Semenarche is when a boy first ejaculates. This generally happens at around age 13. Boys do not produce sperm capable of fertilizing an egg at semenarche. Later, boys start to grow facial hair and their voice will crack as it begins to change.

Boys and girls begin the process of puberty with a comparable amount of sex hormones, but by the end of puberty men have more. Genes are partially responsible for the rate at which an adolescent develops. Identical twins reach puberty at the same time. Environment also plays a role. This is seen in the secular trend where industrialized societies tend to mature earlier and have greater body size. This may be a result of better nutrition and medical advances. Children in industrialized societies are less likely to have an illness that slows their growth. Other variations may be due to skeletal development which is affected by girls who regularly take part in strenuous physical activity or girls with anorexia nervosa. A girl’s family environment may also be a factor. Bruce Ellis and Judy Garber found that girls with depressed mothers were more likely to start puberty early. Girls who lived in a house where a stepfather or mother’s boyfriend was present were also more likely to start puberty early. A divorce which causes the father to leave home also increases the likelihood that a girl will begin puberty early. This suggests that stress can affect systems of the body and lead to early menarche.

Puberty and Self-Image

Adolescents react differently psychologically to puberty. While some girls report both positive and negative feelings about the process, many develop negative body images. Boys tend to have more positive body images than girls and look forward to gaining weight and growing taller. Adolescents who are at or below the fifth percentile on the growth chart are said to be experiencing constitutional growth delay. They begin puberty later but will develop at a normal pace. While they will catch up to other adolescents their age, they may experience emotional problems due to being small for their age. Boys also regard semenarche more positively than girls regard menarche.

An adolescent's relationship with his or her parents may also change during this time. Hormonal changes can lead to depression and moodiness. Adolescents have less physical contact with their parents and do not want to be seen naked by them. Teenagers gain more independence and are less close to their parents than during childhood. This does vary between cultures. For example, Mexican American boys seem to grow closer to their parents during peak puberty.

Boys who begin puberty early tend to be viewed by society as more confident and attractive. They are more accepted by their peers but are also more likely to become aggressive and take part in substance use. Boys who begin puberty late have more negative psychological effects. They are less confident and have more problems with behavior and adjustment. As a group, boys who enter puberty later do not score as well on school achievement tests. They are less likely to drink alcohol during their adolescent years. Girls, in contrast to boys, seem to experience more disadvantages from early development. Girls tend to enter puberty 1 to 2 years before boys, so girls who develop sooner than other girls may be teased. Girls who begin puberty early are more likely to engage in dietary and exercise habits that are not safe. They tend to socialize with an older peer group which increases the likelihood that they will date, smoke, drink, and have sex. Girls who begin puberty early and begin to have sex early have higher levels of depression. It is not clear which is the cause and which is the effect. Girls who mature later do not have as many negative disadvantages as boys who mature late. They tend to do better on school performance exams than other students. The differences between adolescents who mature early and those who mature late tend to fade into adulthood. However, girls who mature early tend to get less education than those who do not mature early. Early maturing girls also continue to be more likely to be depressed and anxious. The effects of puberty depend on how adolescents perceive their own development (as early, normal, or late). The feedback they receive from family and peers is also a factor to how they respond psychologically.

Physical Growth and Wellness

Muscles develop quickly during adolescence and teenagers become much stronger than they were as children. However, adolescents are not as physically active as they should be. Girls especially tend to live less active lives. This may be due to social norms which encourage more traditionally "feminine" activities. These activities tend to be more sedentary activities. Studies show that in the last few decades women are bridging the physical performance gap between top female athletes and top male athletes.

Physical fitness tests show that one-third of all teenagers have poor physical fitness. They have higher blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol which increases the chance of developing heart disease at an early age. As we've mentioned with children, consuming drinks with a lot of calories contributes to weight gain. The rate of having high blood sugar (diabetes) has increased dramatically in adolescents in the last few years. While genes play an important role in if a person is likely to be obese, eating habits and level of physical activity are also important.

Thus teenagers who have overweight parents are at an increased risk for obesity due to their genes and to their environment. The leading cause of death in teenagers is accidental injuries and violence in the form of homicide and suicide. A teenager's behavior greatly affects his or her health in the short term and in the long term. Teens who drink alcohol are more likely to smoke and are more likely to have unsafe sex. Additionally, they are more likely to ride in a car with a drunk driver and get into physical fights.

Adulthood

Young adult bodies are in their prime and physical changes are minimal in a person's twenties and thirties. From age 20 and on, bodily systems start to run less efficiently. Monique Samson conducted a study assessing handgrip strength of healthy people (both men and women) ranging from age 20 to 80. The results showed that women had small muscle strength decreases before age 55 and large decreases after age 55. Men lost muscle strength steadily from age 20 on. A person's hand grip strength can suggest if a person will have disabilities and other limitations later in life. When a person turns forty, changes are more noticeable. Skin wrinkles and is more dry and loose. This is particularly true for people who have been exposed to excess sun. Hair starts to thin and turn gray. People gain weight as their metabolism slows. Weight gain can be avoided with regular exercise. However, only 30% of adults take part in psychical activity in their free time. As a result, adults in middle age can be overweight or obese. Obesity may cause health problems including heart disease, some cancers, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. An obese person spends 42% more on healthcare than a person of normal weight. When people reach their 60's they start to lose weight. However, the weight is not from a decreased amount of body fat. Instead, people in their 60's start to lose muscle and bone. Aging may not cause muscle loss. Muscle loss may be a result from a person becoming less active as they age. Females decrease their level of vigorous physical activity as they age earlier than males do. Additionally, older adults who are less socially active or more lonely are less physically active than older adults who have a strong social life. Differences in functioning between individuals increases with age. There is more variation between measurable capacities like aerobic capacity among 60 year olds than among 20 year olds. As a person ages, there is also a decline in organ systems' ability to respond to working harder in emergencies. This ability is called reserve capacity. Older people and younger people have a similar resting heart rate, however older people will have a lower maximal heart rate.

Ageism is a prejudice against elderly people. There are many negative stereotypes about older people since society values youth. For these reasons, some people have difficulty dealing with the changes to their appearance and ability to function as they get older. Women tend to be more bothered by changes to their appearance than men are. White women tend to be more bothered by changes to their appearance than other women are. Laura Hurd conducted interviews in a senior center and found that women tried to avoid others they perceived to be "old" and to remain "not old." The categories were defined by the ability to function at a desirable level (not by age).

While some older adults suffer from chronic disease and other impairments, most people over the age of 65 consider themselves to be in good health.

The sex hormones that trigger puberty also affect the aging experience. Men's testosterone levels fluctuate throughout the year (the highest levels are in June and July) and even fluctuate throughout the day. Men with higher levels of testosterone are more aggressive and sexually active than other men. There are no other indications of how testosterone affects a man's mood or behavior. Andropause occurs when testosterone levels decrease in men. Symptoms include a lower libido, erection problems, and less energy. When men reach age 80, they have 20-50% less testosterone than they did in their 20's. Older men also have less viable sperm but can still become fathers. Some men have normal levels of testosterone but still report having symptoms associated with andropause.

Women's hormone levels change dramatically throughout the month. Estrogen and progesterone levels peak mid-cycle during ovulation then decline as menstruation begins. These changes in hormone levels affect women and can lead to PMS (premenstrual syndrome). Symptoms of PMS include bloating, moodiness, tender breasts, and headaches. Women experience these symptoms in varying degrees. About 10% of women have symptoms that are severe enough to interfere with their daily activity. There is debate over if PMS exists. When women were asked to complete mood surveys without being told their menstrual cycles were being studied, they did not report much change. Results suggest that expectations not hormones may be causing symptoms. Less than 5% of women experience PMS due to hormone changes. Women who have severe PMS may be helped by taking anti-depressants. Others can lessen their symptoms with Vitamin D and calcium which are not properly absorbed due to low estrogen levels. Genes also play a role in if women have or don't have symptoms associated with PMS. Menopause occurs when a woman stops having periods. On average, women starts menopause at age 51. The range is between 45 and 54. While life expectancy has changed, and the average age of menarche has changed, the average age of menopause has stayed the same. The age that a woman reaches menopause is connected to the age she began menstruating and to the age when her mother reached menopause. Periods become less regular and change in frequency gradually over 5-10 years. Estrogen levels decline, resulting in a hormone mix that is more masculine and less feminine when compared to women that are premenopausal. A woman stops ovulating at the end of menopause and cannot conceive children anymore. While menopausal women are stereotyped as being unstable or depressed, there is not much truth to the stereotype. Two-thirds of American women have hot flashes. Hot flashes are sudden "flashes" of sweating and warmth in the face and upper body. Hot flashes are unpredictable and last a few seconds or minutes. Menopausal women often have vaginal dryness, irritation, or pain during intercourse. Some women have no symptoms.

Karen Matthews studied 541 women over 3 years. At the beginning of the study, the women were premenopausal. Matthews compared the women who experienced menopause with women of the same age who did not. The typical woman had initial experiences of hot flashes. Some had mild depression, 10% become seriously depressed. Menopause did not affect anxiety, anger, stress, or job dissatisfaction levels. The women who had severe psychological problems during menopause often had the same problems earlier in their life. A woman's experience of menopause is partially due to biological factors. Women who have a history of PMS or other menstrual problems report more symptoms of menopause. Similar to PMS, social and psychological influences also affect how women expect to experience menopause. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) use to be seen as a way to cure menopausal symptoms. However, in 2002, HRT was found to increase the risk of breast cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. Short-term HRT should be only used in the most severe cases. Increased exercise and sleep may be alleviate some symptoms. Women who are premenopausal tend to have a more negative view of menopause than the women who have experienced it.

Older adults take more time (about 1.5 to 2 times the amount of time) to perform motor actions than younger adults. This is particularly true for fine motor skills where objects need to be manipulated (for example putting pegs in holes). If tasks are complex, they become more challenging. One reason this may be the case is that it takes longer for older people to construct a series of actions that are necessary to perform a complicated task. The brain slows down. James Birren states that the main change that occurs in older adults is the slowing down of the nervous system. Keep in mind that there are variations in reaction times of older people. Older people who are physically healthy react more quickly than older people who are less active or suffer from illness. It is challenging to separate the effects of illness from the effects of aging. Birren conducted a study of men between the ages of 65 and 91. The men were examined and separated into a group that was almost perfectly healthy and a group that had traces (not clinically diagnosable) of disease. These men were assessed for aspects of cognitive and physical functioning then compared to younger men. The healthy group of older men barely differed from younger men. The main difference was that their brain activity was slower so they reacted slower. This suggests that aging alone does not significantly affect cognitive or physical function, disease plays a key role in impairment. In some older adults, disuse of the body leads to more drastic decline in physical function than in other older adults. Muscles that are not used will atrophy. Additionally, the brain needs exercise to function effectively. Aside from disuse, abuse of the body also leads to decline. Examples of abuse include consuming too much alcohol, eating too much high fat food, and smoking. Drugs pose another hazard since they affect older people more than younger people due to changes in body chemistry.

Birren found it difficult to identify healthy older people for his study. Chronic disease is more common in older adults. Surveys show that many people over the age of 70 suffer from at least one chronic condition. Arthritis affects 54% of older women and 43% of older men. Osteoporosis is extreme bone loss. It causes bones to break more easily. It is particularly dangerous for older women (light framed European and Asian women especially) since women have less bone mass than men. To prevent osteoporosis, a person can do weight-bearing exercises. Osteoarthritis also poses a problem. It occurs when the cartilage that cushions bones from coming into contact with each other deteriorates. One-third of older people have heart disease. Problems are more common in older adults of low socioeconomic status. However, many older adults live active and healthy lives. Exercise improves the function of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Older adults who exercise feel less stress and are happier. David Snowdon did a longitudinal study on nuns from 75 to 106 years of age. The study showed that level of education affected health and how long a person would live. College educated individuals lived longer than those without a college degree. Prior to taking vows, each nun had written an autobiography. This text was used in the study. The study showed that the older healthy nuns used more complex vocabulary in their autobiographies while the nuns with alzheimer's used simple vocabulary. Nuns whose autobiographies reflected a more positive outlook also lived longer.

How does Perception develop? - Chapter 6

Sensation is the process where information is detected by sensory receptor neurons and transmitted to the brain. When a child is born, he or she is inherently able to sense light, sound, and other stimuli. When a person interprets a sensation, this is perception. Sensation and perception are the core of how humans function and are key to the nature versus nurture debate.

Constructivists believe that over time, experience and learning build our perceptions of the world. While they agree that humans are born with working sensory systems, the ability to perceive is learned through environmental interactions. Nativists, on the other hand, believe that perception develops due to innate human abilities. They view perception as direct and not requiring interpretation and creating associations through experience. New findings on the perceptual abilities of infants have caused some researchers to shift their stance from the popular constructivist viewpoint towards the nativist viewpoint.

Infancy

As researchers have developed more sophisticated studies, they’ve found signs that infants perceive the world more coherently than previously thought. Researchers have used four main methods. The first method is called habituation. Habituation is the process where humans learn to be bored when a stimulus is presented over and over. This procedure is helpful in detecting if an infant notices a difference between different stimuli. It can be used regarding all senses. One example is if an infant is shown a red square repeatedly and becomes bored and looks away. If the researcher then shows a blue square to the infant and the infant shows interest, it can be assumed that the infant can discriminate between the colors of the two squares. The second method is preferential looking. An infant may be presented with two items at the same time so that researchers can see which item the infant prefers (looks at longer). The third method is evoked potentials. Researchers can attach electrodes to an infant’s skin to measure and record brain activity in response to stimuli. Operant conditioning is the fourth method. As we’ve discussed in chapter 2, people tend to repeat actions that result in a positive consequence or reward and avoid actions that result in a negative consequence or punishment. Researchers can condition an infant to respond to a particular stimuli, then present the infant with an alternative stimuli and see if the infant responds in the same way. The infant’s response depends on if he or she can distinguish between the two different stimuli.

The Senses: Sight

Light enters the eye and is converted to electrochemical signals that travel to the brain. The minute a child is born, he or she can track slow moving objects and notices changes in the brightness of light. However, a newborn’s vision is not as good as a child or adult’s vision. Newborns have less ability to see detail. The ability to see detail is visual acuity. Newborns only see objects within 8 inches of their face clearly, everything else appears blurry.

Blurriness is also due to minimal visual accommodation, which is the ability of the eye lens to change shape to bring things into focus that are different distances away. Researchers use to think that young infants saw in black and white rather than in color. Studies show that newborns have color vision but cannot distinguish some color differences since their receptors have not matured. By the time an infant reaches 2 or 3 months of age, their color vision will be mature.

Infants prefer some patterns to other patterns. They tend to be attracted to patterns that transition greatly between light and dark. They are also attracted to contours or sharp boundaries between light and dark. Essentially, infants prefer high contrast patterns. This may help to explain why researchers thought very young infants could only see in black and white. Additionally, infants are attracted to patterns that are moderately complex. Studies show that infants prefer to look at drawings of human faces rather than other patterns. Some studies also show that soon after birth, infants prefer their mother’s face to the faces other women. Infants also prefer patterns that are top-heavy with more visual information in the upper half. It could be that infants are attracted to human faces because they satisfy the other conditions they prefer. Infants also prefer moving displays or dynamic displays over static displays. They look at moving objects longer and perceive the forms of moving objects better than static objects. Martin Banks explained an infant’s visual preferences by saying that infants like to look at what they can see well. Using a mathematical model, Banks predicts how infants perceive different patterns. Some studies suggest that infants are aware of shapes and forms. Most other studies suggest a pivotal age of 2 months where infants stop focusing on the contours or outlines and start to focus on what is inside the outlines. For example, instead of focusing on the outline of a human head, infants begin to spend time looking at features like eyes and lips. At 2 months, infants can also shift their attention from one stimulus to another.

Depth perception or the ability to know if objects are near or far is another key element of visual perception. While infants are not able to judge the size of an object in the distance, they do react defensively to objects that move towards them by blinking. Additionally young infants can tell that an object stays the same size even if it moves further away. This is the principle of size constancy. Eleanor Gibson and Richard walk were the first to study depth perception in infants. They used a visual cliff which is a glass platform that is elevated and divided into two sections. One section is the “shallow” side which has a checkerboard pattern placed directly under the glass and the other section is the “deep” side which has the checkerboard pattern several feet below the glass. While the glass is itself flat, there is an illusion of a cliff or drop-off. Infants were then placed in the center of the glass and coaxed by their mothers to cross the shallow and deep sections. While most infants crossed the shallow side to reach their mothers, only 3 out of 36 infants were willing to crawl across the “deep” side. This shows that infants of crawling age can perceive depth and are afraid of the “cliff”. However, the study relies on the ability of infants to crawl so the results are not applicable to younger infants.

Joseph Campos conducted an experiment with younger infants by lowering them over shallow and deep sides of the visual cliff and monitoring their heart rates. The results were that babies’ (as young as 2 months of age) heart rates were slower over the deep end than the shallow end. When people are afraid their heart rates speed up. This study shows that young infants are interested in the deep end of the visual cliff but are not afraid. The fear of drop-offs may be learned through an infant’s experiences of learning to crawl. For example, they may have crawled off a bed and experienced a drop-off. Fear of drop-offs is stronger in infants who have crawled for a few weeks when compared to infants who are the same age but have not begun to crawl.

The ability to perceive distinct objects even if they are partially hidden by other objects is another key aspect of visual perception. Katherine van Giffen and Marshall Haith found that 3 month old infants tended to focus on irregularities in circle or square patterns. They seemed to recognize that the rest of the pattern was perfect and they focused on the deviation. Infants can also tell when an object ends and begins. Infants of 4 months of age expect common motion. This means that they expect all parts of an object to move in the same direction. They use the perception of common motion to recognize what is a part of an object. Infants are not able to see the boundaries of stationary objects until around 6 months of age.

Studies even suggest that babies are aware of the physical laws that act upon objects (gravity for example). Researchers found that 4 month-old infants were surprised when an object was dropped, falling towards a shelf, but appeared underneath the shelf rather than resting on top of the shelf. Six month-old infants were surprised when a ball dropped behind a screen and when the screen is removed, the ball is suspended mid-air. This suggests that infants have some awareness of physical laws such as gravity and have some expectation of what should happen. They show surprise when researchers manipulate the visual results in a way that defies those principles. According to some developmentalists, the organized set of knowledge that infants are born with is known as intuitive theories. Beyond sensing the world, intuitive theories allow infants to make sense of the world.

The Senses: Sound

Hearing happens when the eardrum vibrates after moving air molecules enter the ear. Vibrations are converted to signals via the cochlea. Newborns can hear better than they can see. They move away from loud noises and move towards soft noises. Fetuses in the womb can hear as much as 3 months before they are born. Similar to how they respond to visual patterns, infants are attracted to moderately complex auditory stimuli. They are not as sensitive as adults are to very soft sounds. They prefer the sound of human speech to other sounds. The brain seems to be built to produce and understand language. Phonemes are basic speech sounds. Peter Eimas showed that two to three month-old infants are able to distinguish similar consonants sounds such as “ba” and “pa.” Infants can distinguish between vowel sounds for “a” and “i” from the second day after birth. Additionally they notice when sounds are standard and occur regularly in language, or deviant and occur infrequently. Since infants are born able to learn any language, there are even some sounds that infants distinguish between better than adults can. As infants grow older, they become more sensitive to differences in their own language and less sensitive to differences found in other languages. By the time an infant reaches one year of age, he or she exhibits increased sensitivity to sounds of their native language. The way they’ve experienced language thus far has affected how their neural connections are formed, thus making them more sensitive to their native language.

Additionally, infants can recognize their mother’s voice. Canadian researchers measured fetal heart rates responding to recordings of their mother’s voice and compared their response to recordings of another woman’s voice. The study showed that infants can distinguish between the two voices because their heart rates increased upon hearing their mother’s voice and decreased upon hearing the other woman’s voice. Other studies show that infants prefer to hear stories that they heard while in the womb. This may explain why infants do not show a preference for their father’s voice over the voice of another male. While they can distinguish between different male voices, they do not seem to prefer it because they have not experienced the same auditory learning with their fathers as they did with their mothers.

The Senses: Taste and Smell

Taste and smell are known as chemical senses because they rely on the detection of chemical molecules. Taste is detected by sensory receptors called taste buds that are found on the tongue. Newborns can distinguish sweet, bitter, and sour tastes. Adults can distinguish sweet, salty, bitter, and sour tastes. Studies show that newborns prefer sweet tastes and are able to distinguish different concentrations and varying degrees of sweet and bitter. While humans innately prefer sweet tastes to bitter tastes, preferences for certain flavors can be learned. Studies show that infants who were fed a bitter and sour formula for 7 months were more likely to consume sour foods in the future compared to infants who were fed a bland formula for 7 months. This research suggests that infants who are exposed to a more diverse range of foods may become less picky eaters. While learning is an obvious factor, infants are also genetically predisposed towards certain flavors. A taste gene has been discovered and shows that genetic variations help to explain variations in how people perceive bitter and sweet.

Smell is also called olfaction. The sensory receptors for olfaction are found in the nasal passage. The sense of smell also works well at birth. Newborns turn their heads away from unpleasant smells. Additionally, newborns prefer the smell of their own amniotic fluid to that of others. An infant can be calmed through exposure to a comforting smell like their mother’s breast milk that they are familiar with. Infants prefer the smell of human breast milk to the smell of formula. Breastfed babies can recognize their mothers from the smell of their breasts or armpits, while bottle fed babies cannot. Mother’s can also recognize their babies by smell.

The Senses: Touch

The sense of touch is one of the first senses to develop. Skin receptors detect the amount of pressure, heat, cold, and pain. Newborns can distinguish between warm and cold and respond to pain like needle pricks. Pain is also responsive to learning. For ethical reasons, researchers do not expose newborns to very painful stimuli. However, they have found that infants (of diabetic mothers) who have had their heels pricked to test for blood sugar levels react more strongly to having blood drawn than infants who have not been pricked. This suggests that infants who had their heels pricked knew that they were about to feel pain while the other infants did not. These studies suggest that infants undergoing surgery should be given some form of anesthesia. Additionally, breastfeeding during painful moments (having blood drawn or getting a vaccine) seems to reduce pain for infants.

The Senses: Working Together

From birth, an infant’s senses work together and are integrated. Infants look in the direction of sound and are frustrated when they are unable to touch an object that appears to be graspable. However, they find cross-modal perception to be challenging. This is the ability to recognize a familiar object through a different sense than one is used to. One example is to touch objects through a bag, and then try to recognize them visually. There is some debate on if infants are able to do this. Studies have varied in results. This may be due to the important role that some variables, such as which hand was used to manipulate the object, play. Consistent oral to visual cross-modal transfer is seen in children of 3 months of age who mouth or suck on objects they’ve experienced before. Other forms of cross-modal transfer are seen at 4-7 months of age when infants use both hearing and vision to gauge distance. Complex forms of cross-modal perception continue to develop throughout childhood into adolescence. Newborns are born with all their senses working and fine-tune these senses as they grow. By the time they are two years of age, important elements of perception have developed completely.

A sensitive period is a time frame where an individual will be more affected by an experience. The way early experiences affect vision can be viewed in terms of sensitive periods rather than critical periods. There are three main sensitive periods where vision can be strongly affected by experience: the visually driven normal development period, the sensitive period for damage, and the sensitive period for recovery. In the visually driven normal development period the expected changes in vision development happen in response to exposure to “normal” visual information. These expected changes would fail to occur in the absence of the “normal” exposure. In the sensitive period for damage, the absent visual input or an abnormal visual input causes permanent deficits. In the sensitive period for recovery period the visual system can potentially recover from the damage.

The visual system needs stimulation to develop. This is true even in early infancy. Infants born with congenital cataracts (clouded lens of the eye) may experience weeks, months, or years, without vision. Even after some infants suffering from the condition undergo surgery to correct it, they never develop normal vision. In the first three months of life, it is critical that the brain receive clear visual input from both eyes. Even with screening, some visually impaired infants are not identified in this period. Later in life, those who lacked early visual stimulation have difficulty distinguishing between high and middle spatial frequencies such as narrow stripes and medium stripes but can recognize low spatial frequencies such as wide stripes. They are able to recognize faces based on shape of facial features but have difficulty recognizing faces based on the spacing of facial features. Daphne Maurer posits that this results due to how a lack of visual input early in life affects brain development. Exposure to sound functions in a similar way. When children with hearing impairments have surgery to correct the damage, it may take the brain months to interpret the signals it receives.

Eleanor Bison sites three phases that infants experience for exploring their environments. From birth until they are 4 months old, infants explore their immediate environment. Between 5 and 7 months of age, infants focus on objects since they’ve developed the ability to grasp things. They use both vision and touch to explore objects. Around 8 or 9 months of age, infants have learned to crawl and will widen their exploration of their surroundings.

There seems to be little difference in basic sensory ability across different cultures. However, children from different cultures seem to respond to dissonant sounds differently. A child born into a Western culture is less sensitive to the dissonant notes in a musical scale from a different culture than they are to the dissonant notes in a musical scale of their own culture. When drawing the human form, children from cultures without a tradition of drawing or painting are unable to draw the human body unlike children who have attended school and seen drawings of people.

Childhood

The development of perception during childhood is the development of attention. Attention is focused perceiving and thinking on something specific. While infants have an orienting system where they react to their environment, children develop a focusing system. Not only do children’s attention spans grow longer, they also choose what they pay attention to more purposefully. Infants do not control their attention well. They have difficulty focusing on one thing and ignoring other things. This ability is known as selective attention. As children get older, they are more able to plan a strategy to help them attain their goals. When children are of preschool age they can orient themselves like adults, but cannot focus their attention as adults do. Their ability to focus increases greatly between the ages of 3.5 and 4. Kathleen Kannass and John Colombo conducted a study that tested 3.5 and 4 year old’s ability to focus under three different conditions. The first condition was no distraction. The second condition was constant distraction. The third condition was intermittent distraction.

While the 3.5 year old children could not complete their task when either intermittent or constant distraction was present, the 4 year old children were able to complete their task unless the distraction was constant. Additionally, the study showed that when the children looked away from their task when they were being distracted, they were less able to complete the task than the children who looked away from their task when a distraction was not present.

Children tend to conduct a visual search or scanning more slowly than adults do. They are also less efficient. Elaine Vurpillot conducted a study on the eye movements of children (ages 4 to ten) scanning an image. The children were asked to look at two pictures of houses and decide if they were the same or not. Each house had several windows, each window had a particular motif. While children under the age of six did not look at the houses in a systematic way (thus giving the wrong answer), children over the age of six had a system of checking windows in pairs. They would look at a specific window in the first house and compare it to the corresponding window in the second house. The ability to visually search quickly and efficiently generally continues to improve from childhood through adolescence.

Some children have continued difficulty focusing their attention. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is diagnosed when a combination of symptoms is present. One symptom is inattention. A child is inattentive when he or she does not appear to be listening, is distracted easily, and is unorganized or forgetful. A second symptom is impulsiveness. This means that the child acts before thinking through his or her action. The third symptom is hyperactivity. A child is hyperactive if he or she fidgets constantly and cannot stay still. About 5 to 9 percent of children attending school may be diagnosed with ADHD. It is twice as likely to be diagnosed in boys than in girls. However, girls with the disorder may not be diagnosed because they exhibit the symptoms of hyperactivity less than boys do. When ADHD is mostly hyperactivity-impulsivity, it can be seen in infancy. Infants with ADHD tend to be very active, temperamental, and have erratic sleeping and feeding patterns. Most children with ADHD will outgrow being hyperactive. However, ADHD can affect adolescents by causing them to be unable to focus on their schoolwork and causing them to act impulsively. One study shows that the hyperactive adults studied had lower performance as employees and achieved a lower level of education. When the symptoms of ADHD are very severe in childhood, it is more likely that the adult will have more negative outcomes. On average, 20% of children outgrow their ADHD, 60% continue to have mild problems throughout their lifespan, and 20% continue to have severe problems.

The brains of individuals with ADHD do not physically differ from the brains of individuals without ADHD, however their brain chemistry and how their brain works differ. Russell Barkley suggested that the frontal lobes of individuals with ADHD have executive function impairments and have difficulty controlling their behavior. This may be caused by inadequate levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. Genes are a factor and predispose some people to have ADHD and are responsible for 60% to 90% of the variation in people with ADHD.

The environment also plays a less direct role in if the genetic potential for ADHD will be realized and how the individual will adjust. ADHD is not caused by specific diets as has been suggested in the past. Factors like low birth weight and maternal alcohol use and smoking during pregnancy can affect if ADHD develops.

ADHD is treated with a stimulant drug called Ritalin (methylphenidate). Ritalin increases the level of dopamine in the frontal lobes of the brain as overactive children actually have under-aroused brains. There is controversy regarding Ritalin, since some people feel that it is overprescribed and causes side effects like lack of appetite and headaches. Ritalin does not cure ADHD. It improves functioning only while it is being taken. The Multimodal Treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Study (MTA) is a national study on children with ADHD. The study compared the effectiveness of medication, the effectiveness of behavioral treatment, and the effectiveness of a combination of the two. The study showed that medication alone is more effective than behavioral treatment alone, but the combination of medication and behavioral treatment is the most effective when the aim was not only to reduce symptoms but to also improve social adjustment, parent child relationships, and academic performance.

Adolescence

Adolescents are more able to sustain attention than children are. This ability is linked to increased myelination in the parts of the brain that control attention. Adolescents not only focus better than children, they are also better able to ignore distractions. Adolescents have a more sophisticated system for visual searching than children do.

While adolescence is characterized by optimal acuity of the senses, hearing may be damaged due to listening to music too loudly. While aware of the potential for hearing loss, teens do not consider hearing loss to be a serious health problem. Teens should be educated on the long-term consequences of exposure to loud sound. They should be made aware that hearing loss is a serious health concern. The stigma of wearing hearing protection should be reduced. Taste changes during adolescence. Teenagers shift slightly from preferring sweet tastes to preferring sour tastes, which brings on an interest in trying new foods. Additionally, adolescents have more of an acquired taste than children do and can enjoy eating foods that children do not enjoy eating. In addition to sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, some researchers identify a fifth taste called umami that is related to amino acid glutamate (found in MSG). MSG does not have much taste by itself but can heighten other tastes. People vary in their sensitivity to umami due to their genes. In addition to taste buds and smell, a sense of taste is affected by chemosensory irritation. This is how the skin in the mouth or nose reacts to the chemistry of foods. Cognition also affects taste. For example, people expect a brightly colored juice to taste better than a pale colored juice. This expectation affects a person’s perception of what they taste.

In adolescence and adulthood, women are more sensitive to smell than men are. This may be a result of the hormonal differences between the genders. When women are ovulating, their sense of smell can help them choose a healthier mate. Men also rate the way women smell while they are ovulating higher than when they are not. Essentially, smell helps men and women chose healthy mates that they can reproduce with.

Adulthood

As a normal person ages, his or her perception and senses decline. Decline begins in early adulthood. Decline generally becomes noticeable in a person’s forties. By the time a person is sixty-five years of age, he or she will have some form of perceptual impairment or sense impairment. Decline happens gradually. This enables most of us to compensate to some degree. Sensory thresholds are the points where low amounts of stimulation are detectable. As a person’s sensory capacity declines their sensory thresholds go up. This means that older people are less sensitive to low levels of stimulation. Additionally, as we age, it becomes more challenging to process sensory information.

In terms of vision, less than 2% of the elderly over the age of seventy are blind in both eyes. About 4.4% have blindness in one eye. Once a person enters their 80’s or 90’s, the chance of acquiring blindness increases. Other vision problems can be more prevalent. For example, 57% of adults over seventy years of age develop cataracts and 9% develop Glaucoma. As a person ages, many aspects of the vision system change. People see when light enters the eye through the cornea. The light then enters the pupil and lens. It is projected upside-down unto the retina. The optic nerve communicates the image to the brain. Healthy pupils change in size based on the amount of light. As a person ages, pupils becomes smaller and change less when the amount of light changes. This means that it becomes harder to see clearly in dim light, in very bright light, or in changing light. Older people have difficulty seeing at night due to slower dark adaptation. Dark adaptation is the process where the eye adapts to less light.

Additionally, the lens of the eye becomes thicker as a person ages leading to presbyopia. Presbyopia occurs when the lens is less able to accommodate objects close in proximity to the eye. This results in the need to move objects such as newspapers further away to see them. As a person ages, the lens of the eye loses flexibility and grows denser due to a build-up of cells. The lens yellows and the liquid behind the lens becomes more cloudy. The ability to see far (distance vision) is at its peak in a person’s twenties and starts to decline at a steady pace in old age. Studies suggest that women have more decline than men do. For most adults, the decline in vision is minor and can be addressed through corrective lenses. When vision cannot be corrected, the quality of life decreases greatly. The small number of older adults who experience more severe declines in their visual perception capabilities tend to have a pathological eye condition such as cataracts (can be removed with surgery).

As a person enters later adulthood, the retina functions less efficiently. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) occurs when cells in the retina that control central vision are damaged. This results in blurry vision and a blank space or dark space towards the center of the image. AMD is the biggest cause of blindness in the elderly. The cause is unclear, though some research suggests genes may be the cause and other research suggest the condition may be linked to smoking. While there is no cure, researchers are attempting to develop retinal implants. Doctors have been able to slow the progress of AMD through vitamins. Retinal changes result in a loss of peripheral vision. If the loss is significant, tunnel vision may result from retinitis pigmentosa (RP). RP is a group of inherited disorders involving the breaking down of light-sensitive retinal cells. While symptoms may be seen in childhood, RP is more often recognized in adulthood. RP also cannot be cured. Glaucoma is another condition that poses a problem due to increased fluid pressure in the eye. This pressure can damage the optic nerve. Glaucoma leads to blindness if untreated. It is common for adults over the age of fifty to have glaucoma. To prevent damage to the optic nerve, eye drops or surgery may be helpful for reducing pressure.

Other factors also affect perception during the aging process. People prioritize some visual displays over others. Specifically, people give prior attention to signs of a threat such as an angry face than to a neutral face. Studies show that older adults are less able to multi-task than younger adults. They are less able to focus on specific stimuli and ignore other stimuli. Charles Scialfa conducted a study where young adults and older adults were asked to locate a target in a display with different distracter items and to locate a target in a more challenging display where the target and the distracter items had something in common. For example, a red horizontal line should be located out of blue vertical lines versus a more complex task of locating a red horizontal line out of blue horizontal lines and red vertical lines. His study showed that older adults were less accurate and took more time. They were more distracted by information they should have ignored. However, older adults can improve their attention and visual search ability with practice.

Hearing impairment is three times more common in older adults than visual impairment is. Almost 90% of people over the age of sixty have some form of hearing impairment. Hearing continues to decline with very old age, however only a few older adults become deaf. Loss of hearing can be caused by a variety of sources including earwax build up, a slow nervous system, or ear infections. Most hearing-loss due to aging results from problems in the inner ear. Problems in hearing due to age are known as presbycusis. Aspects of the ear such as cochlear hair cells (auditory receptors) and the neurons which communicate with the brain break down slowly in adulthood. This results in a person being less sensitive to high-pitched or high-frequency sounds. After the age of fifty, lower-frequency sounds also become more difficult to distinguish. Hearing loss is found more in men than in women. Most people will have some hearing loss over their lifespan, however, those losses may be more severe due to experiences. There is also a cognitive component to hearing as sound needs to be transmitted to the brain and processed. Older adults have more difficulty understanding conversation than younger adults do. Studies show that older adults have more difficulty when they are unfamiliar with the topic. For example, they may be able to follow a normal conversation but have difficulty following a discussion on a topic they are not familiar with. Hearing loss can be corrected to some extent with hearing aids. Additionally, a person can compensate by being more aware of visual cues like reading lips or being aware of the context.

Taste and smell also decline to some degree with age. There is more variability in this regard as some older adults continue to be able to smell and taste well. Other adults will find food to be bland and are less able to distinguish differing levels of intensity of a taste in judging salty, bitter, or acidic. However, they are still able to judge different intensities of sweetness. The change in taste may be due to the fact that many older adults are prescribed medications that affect taste. Older adults also produce less saliva, which can also lead to a decrease in taste. The decline appears greater in men than in women. While older adults are less able to detect and remember pleasant smells, they are just as able as younger adults to detect and remember unpleasant smells. Like hearing, experience affects the decline of taste and smell. Those who have been exposed to chemicals, have disease, smoke, or are on medication are more affected. Claire Murphy conducted a study that showed that the reduced ability of older adults to identify blended foods was due to small losses of smell and cognitive ability rather than a loss of taste. Older adults may not consume enough nutrition if they feel that food lacks taste. This problem can be addressed with flavor enhancers.

The detection threshold for touch also increases with age. This means that older adults are less able to detect weak stimuli compared to younger adults. They are less sensitive to temperature changes, which increases their risk of death due to heat or cold as their bodies are less able to maintain an even temperature. However, older individuals are not less sensitive to pain.

How does Cognition Develop? - Chapter 7

This chapter focuses on how cognition develops. Cognition is the act of knowing. Cognition also involves how knowledge is acquired and how problems are solved.

Piaget began studying how children think by observing his own children. Later, he studied larger samples of children through his clinical method which involved asking children questions to find out how they think about problems. His questions were flexible and subsequent questions depended on the responses the children gave. Some contemporary researchers feel that his method is faulty because he did not use standardized questions. Piaget felt that it was important to follow a child’s path of logic to understand the child’s mind. Through observation and his clinical method, Piaget studied how children understand a variety of things from the rules for a game to ideas of space and time. Piaget defined intelligence as a basic life function which helps an individual adapt to the environment. Children and infants’ brains create schemes to understand what they experience. Schemes are organized patterns of action constructed by people cognitively. Infants’ grasping actions and sucking responses are behavioral schemes used to help them adapt to different objects. When children are two years of age, they develop symbolic schemes or concepts and internalize symbols. As children continue to develop, they manipulate their mental symbols to aid in problem-solving and are better able to adapt to their environments.

Organization and Adaptation

Piaget felt that genetics and the environment interacted with each other to affect the development of intelligence. Children gain knowledge through constructing schemes based on their experiences. This represents the environmental influence. Children gain this knowledge through two inherent functions: organization and adaptation. Organization is used to combine existing schemes into new and more complex schemes in a systematic manner. This serves to de-clutter the mind and organize interrelated actions and concepts in a logical way. Adaptation involves how people adjust to the environment. People adapt through assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when a new experience is interpreted in terms of existing schemes or experience we are familiar with. In this process, the environment is manipulated to fit into our existing cognitive structures. For example, a young child who encounters a skunk for the first time, may call the skunk a cat because like cats (which the child has experienced), the skunk is a small, furry, four-legged animal. However, the child may notice that the skunk smells bad and is unfriendly and as a result of these observations, he or she adjusts his or her understanding. The is the process of accommodation. Accommodation occurs when existing schemes are modified to better fit new experiences. Accommodation is necessary to advance our knowledge. Piaget theorized that new experiences resulted in a combination of assimilation and accommodation. When a new experience conflicts with our cognitive structures or schemes, disequilibrium can occur which leads to new understandings. Since mental conflict is unpleasant to us, we strive to regain equilibrium and reduce conflict.

Piaget termed this equilibration. Equilibration is the process where we regain mental stability and make internal thoughts consistent with the external environment. Piaget noted four distinct stages of cognitive development which represent different ways of thinking. All children go through the four stages in the same order but at different rates.

The Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget’s first stage is the sensorimotor stage. On average it occurs from birth to two years of age. The most dominate scheme or cognitive structures during this stage are behavioral. Infants familiarize themselves with their environment through their senses and actions. The sensorimotor stage can be divided into substages. The first substage is reflex activity which generally occurs from birth to one month of age. In this stage infants exercise and refine their inherent reflexes. The second substage is primary circular reactions which generally occurs between one and fourth months of age. In this stage, infants repeat actions connected to their own bodies such as sucking their thumbs. The third substage is secondary circular reactions and generally occurs between four and eight months of age. This substage is characterized by repeated actions involving objects such as shaking a rattle. The fourth substage occurs between eight and twelve months of age and is called the Coordination of secondary schemes. In this substage, actions are combined to solve simple problems. This stage represents the first clues of intentionality. For example, the infant may move aside an object to reach another object. The fifth substage is called Tertiary circular reactions and occurs between twelve and eighteen months of age. In this substage, the child experiments to find new ways to solve problems or gain outcomes that are interesting. The sixth substage is called Beginning of thought and occurs between eighteen and twenty-four months of age. In this substage, the first clues of insight involving mental problem solving are visible. In this stage, a child can use a symbol to represent objects or actions and no longer need to think through action, but can think through visualizing. By the last stage, children can internalize behavioral schemes to visualize and guide future behavior. The ability to use images, words, and gestures to represent experiences is called symbolic capacity.

One important development during the sensorimotor period involves how an infant understands the existence of an object. Piaget said that newborns do not understand object permanence, also called object concept. Object permanence is the understanding that an object continues to exist even if it is not visible. Since infants rely so much on their senses, they lack the understanding of object permanence. Until infants reach somewhere between four and eight months of age, they will not search for a toy if it is not clearly visible to them. By substage four (Coordination of secondary schemes), infants will search for a toy that they do not see, but they will search for it in the same place they last found it instead of in the new hiding place. This is called the A-not-B error. The error is more likely to happen when there are longer gaps between hiding and searching and the object is more often found in the first hiding place (A). By substage five (Tertiary circular reactions), infants no longer make the A-not-B error.

However, they still have difficulty. For example, if an infant is shown a toy in a person’s hand, and the person then puts their hand under a pillow and leaves the toy under the pillow, the infant will look for the toy in the person’s hand and will not look under the pillow. By 18 months, infants finally understand object permanence and will look for the object in its correct location.

More recent studies conducted by Rene Baillargeon found that infants have some understanding of object permanence earlier than Piaget theorized. Baillargeon’s research studied infants looking in a direction rather than reaching for something. Her study found that by three months of age, infants have some understanding of the conditions when objects should be visible when nothing is obstructing them. Another study compared healthy toddlers with toddlers with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Children with spinal muscular atrophy have a normal IQ but limited muscle movement. The study showed that the toddlers with SMA were able to correctly locate an object that the healthy toddlers were unable to locate. Later, the healthy toddlers were not allowed to search for the object right away and had to wait. After this delay, they were also able to locate the object correctly. This suggests that when children act less impulsively and have more time to act cognitively, they seem to have a better understanding of object permanence. Piaget did not think that looking and reaching were the same and could measure an understanding of object permanence in the same manner.

The Preoperational Stage

The preoperational stage generally occurs between the ages of 2 to 7 years. This stage is characterized by the symbolic capacity that developed towards the end of the previous stage. Children can use language to refer to things and ideas (not only in the present, but in the past, and the future). Children’s imaginations run rampant and some children create imaginary companions. They can take the form of humans or animals. The children realize that their imaginary companions are not real. Children in the preoperational stage differ from older children in that they focus on the most obvious aspects of a situation or thing. This focus is called perceptual salience. Children in the preoperational stage are unable to reason through a problem to come to the correct conclusion, instead they are easily fooled by how the situation appears. Piaget was most interested in how children of this stage differ from older children. Children of this stage lack the knowledge of conservation. Note the example from a previous chapter of pouring equal amounts of water into two glasses that are exactly the same. When the water from one glass is poured into a wider and shorter glass, children under 6 or 7 years of age believe the taller glass has more water although they watched the water being poured. They do not understand that volume is conserved regardless of the shape of the container.

Piaget stated that young children lack the ability to participate in decentration. Decentration requires focusing on more than one aspect of a problem at a time. In the previous example, the children must focus on both the height of the glass and the width of the glass. Children in the preoperational stage focus on one dimension, this is called centration. Children in this stage of development also do not grasp the concept of reversibility. Reversibility involves mentally undoing an action. Older children may ask the water to be poured back into the original glass, while children in this stage would not consider that possibility. Additionally, children in this stage are not advanced in their transformational thoughts and instead use static thought. Static thought focuses on end states. Transformational thought is the ability to conceptualize the changes from one state to another state and the process of the change. For the above reasons, children in this stage do not grasp the concept of conservation that is illustrated by the pouring of water and the different glasses.

Piaget also believed that the preoperational stage is characterized by egocentrism. Egocentrism occurs when an individual views the world only from his or her own perspective rather than consider the viewpoints of other individuals. Children in this stage assume that everyone shares their same vantage point, their same knowledge, and their same wants. Difficulty with classification is another key aspect of this stage. Since children in this stage depend so heavily on their intuition and what they perceive, they have difficulty classifying and sorting objects. While older pre-operational children can create systematic classifications based on shape, color, or function, children of 2 to 3 years of age will change the system they use to sort repeatedly during the process. Children between 4 and 7 years of age still have a difficult time relating classes to subclasses and the parts to the whole. Essentially, children are unable to understand the concept of class inclusion (that the parts are a part of the whole). For example, when children of this stage are shown a picture and asked if there are more dogs or animals, they do not consider that dogs are animals.

Other developmentalists feel that children are not as egocentric as Piaget suggested. Instead, they feel that the children were given overly complex tasks. Rochel Gelman found that when she simplified Piaget’s conservation-of-number task, children as young as 3 years of age were able to understand that the number of objects is constant even when they are rearranged spatially (as long as the items were not so numerous that the children could not count them). Another study showed that 3 year olds are not as egocentric as Piaget stated. When the children were shown a card with a cat on one side and a dog on the other, and the card was placed between the child and the experimenter, they were able to correctly state whether the experimenter was viewing a cat or a dog. In another study conducted by Sandra Waxman and Thomas Hatch, children were also able to show that they had an understanding of class inclusion. The children were asked to teach a puppet all the different terms they could think of for specific animals, plants, clothes, and furniture and then prompted by the researcher for the missing words.

For example, if a child forgot to teach the puppet the word “rose,” the researcher would ask if the missing word was an animal. Often the child would state, “no, it’s a plant.” Studies like these suggest that Piaget’s cognitive tasks may have been too complicated and that children develop certain abilities earlier than he theorized.

The Concrete Operations Stage

The concrete operations stage generally occurs between 7 to 11 years of age. This stage is characterized by the development and mastering of logical operations involving mental actions on objects. Children in this stage are capable of reversibility of thought, decentration, transformational thought, logical reasoning, inductive reasoning, creating multiple classifications, and are less egocentric. Piaget’s conservation tasks focused on the volume of liquids, mass, number, area, and water displacement. He found that conservation of mass and number were grasped earlier by children than conservation of area or volume. He referred to the different skills developing at different times within the same stage as horizontal decalage. Children in the concrete operations stage can think in terms of seriation which allows them to arrange a series of objects by length (for example) quickly and correctly. Children in earlier stages would need to compare each object to other objects in order to complete the task. Children in the concrete operations stage also understand transitivity. Transitivity involves drawing logical conclusion about the relationships between elements in a series. For example, if Sarah is taller than Beth, and Beth is taller than Anne, who is taller, Sarah or Anne? Concrete operators can logically conclude that Sarah is taller than Anne while children in the preoperational stage would need to perceive the difference through their senses.

Children in this stage are also better able to see other people’s perspectives. However, children in the concrete operations stage find it challenging to think in abstract or hypothetical terms, instead relying on real things, people, or events.

The Formal Operations Stage

The formal operation stage begins at around 11 or 12 years of age. This stage is characterized by mental rather than concrete operations. This means that adolescents in this stage can think in more abstract and hypothetical terms. One way that Piaget tested for formal operational thinking was by conducting the pendulum task. In this task, children are given different weights and told they can change the length of the string, the weight attached to the string, and the height from which the weight is released to figure out which factor affects the rate at which the pendulum swings. Children in the concrete operations stage would quickly begin experimenting while children in the formal operations stage would develop a plan and generate all possible hypotheses in a form of hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Hypothetico-deductive reasoning is reasoning from overall ideas to more specific potential outcomes. Using this type of reasoning for the given problems would require children to alter a variable (length of string for example) while keeping the other variables constant.

Essentially, in the formal operations stage, children can think in a systematic way and make use of scientific reasoning in the form of hypothetico-deductive reasoning. However, this ability does not develop right away but slowly throughout the stage. At the beginning of the stage (11 to 13 years of age), children can think hypothetically about simple problems but are not yet skilled at systematizing a problem solving strategy. Even with training, adolescents in the beginning of the formal operations stage are not skilled at working with multiple variables. By the ages of 16 or 17, this skill has improved. The Munich Longitudinal Study on the Ontogenesis of Individual Competencies (LOGIC), found that while most 12 year olds were able to recognize good scientific reasoning, very few could produce good scientific reasoning. By the age of 18, most of the adolescents who could recognize good scientific reasoning could also produce good scientific reasoning. Piaget stated that as children aged, their intuitive reasoning was replaced by scientific reasoning. Recent studies show that in older thinkers intuitive reasoning and scientific reasoning coexist. As adolescents age, they are able to decontexualise or separate their prior experiences from new evidence which would contradict those experiences. This allows individuals to reason more when solving a problem logically instead of relying on intuition.

Recent studies suggest that more recent cohorts of teens are more able to solve formal operational tasks than previous cohorts. This is most likely due to changes in education which encourage hands on scientific study. Other studies suggest that age and educational environment work together to affect a child’s capabilities involving formal operational tasks.

The ability to think abstractly and hypothetically also has some negative implications. Unlike children who tend to listen to authority, teenagers are more independent thinkers and question authority. This can lead to rebellion. David Elkind suggested that formal operational thought can cause adolescent egocentrism. Adolescent egocentrism is the inability for an adolescent to differentiate his or her thoughts from those of others. He noted two types of adolescent egocentrism: imaginary audience and personal fable. In the imaginary audience, an individual cannot separate his or her own thoughts or feelings from those of a hypothetical audience for their behavior. For example, a teen with a pimple may think that everyone in the room is judging her appearance. In the personal fable, an individual thinks that his or her thoughts are unique. This is a form of overdifferentiation of one’s own thoughts or feelings from the thoughts or feelings of others. For example, a teenager who is in love feels that he or she is the first to feel so strongly about another person. The personal fable can result in teenagers feeling that the rules that apply to everyone else do not apply to them, or that they will be the exception. Elkind stated that adolescent egocentrism peaks at the beginning of the formal operations stage and will lessen as the teenager ages. However, when teens do not feel that their parents are supportive, adolescent egocentrism may persist.

Despite the theories of Piaget and Elkind, no researchers supports a link between learning formal operational thinking and adolescent egocentrism. It is more likely that adolescent egocentrism develops as adolescents develop social perspective-taking abilities and consider how they are perceived by others. Joanna Bell and Rachel Bromnick suggest that rather than an imaginary audience, adolescents face a real audience because they realize that there are real consequences to how they are perceived by others.

Adulthood

While Piaget’s theory of cognitive development ended at age 18, when he felt that individuals were fully developed in cognitive terms, recent studies suggest that development continues in adulthood. Keep in mind that only 50% of college students consistently master formal operations in Piaget’s reasoning tasks. Piaget felt that adults would use formal operations in the field they were more familiar with and use concrete operations in other fields. Studies conducted by Richard De Lisi and Joanne Staudt confirm his statement. College students majoring in physics, political science, and English were given the pendulum problem, a political problem, and a literary criticism problem. While each student did well on the problem related to their own field, half of the students failed on problems outside of their field. Kurt Fischer suggests that an individual’s performance will be very inconsistent across different areas if he or she do not have relevant expertise in each field.

Another point of interest is why some adults perform so well cognitively. While the pendulum problem involves a specific set of variables, most problems encountered in the real world do not have such limits. Several theorists explore postformal thought or more complex thinking than thinking in the formal operations stage. Adults think in more flexible terms and see solutions in shades of gray rather than only black and white. The awareness that knowledge is dependent on context and perspective is called relativistic thinking. William Perry conducted a study which showed college students shifting from a search for absolute truth (through consulting a textbook or a teacher) towards more relativistic thinking as their studies progressed. Another type of advanced thinking is dialectical thinking or the ability to notice contradictions and inconsistencies and trying to reconcile them. Through this form of thinking, one challenges and redefines the concept of truth. Helena Marchand tired to relate different forms of postformal thinking. She stated that knowledge is relative and not absolute. The world is full of contradictions. People try to integrate contradictions with a larger “truth” or understanding.

Older Adulthood

Older adults have more difficulty solving Piaget’s cognitive tests of formal operational thinking. Sometimes, older adults also do poorly on concrete operational tasks. However, this may not be due to loss in cognitive ability, but instead to a cohort effect because older adults usually received less education than younger adults. Older adults may classify things based on different parameters such as by function rather than by similarity. Researchers should be careful to not draw incorrect conclusions based on what may be a difference in categorizing style. This also holds true for cultural differences and level of motivation.

Piaget: Contribution and Evaluation

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development was essential to the field of human development. He asked key questions on how humans learn about the world and relate to it. He suggested that the answers to those questions could be studied by observing the details of the daily lives of children. His theory has stimulated much research and is applicable to all aspects of human development. Piaget’s contributions include the understanding that that infants actively seek to understand and master problems and the realization that infants, children, adolescents, and adults think differently. Piaget’s basic theory of cognitive development is fairly correct in terms of the sequence of the different stages of development an individual goes through.

Challenges to Piaget’s theory are to be expected due to how influential his theory is in the field of human development. Challenges range from small alterations to suggestions that the theory should be thrown out. We’ll discuss five criticisms. The first criticism is that Piaget underestimated the cognitive abilities of children in the earlier stages (infants and young children). The second criticism is that Piaget did not clearly distinguish between competence and performance. Critics feel that Piaget did not account for other variables that may potentially affect a child’s ability to perform a task (motivation, verbal abilities, familiarity with the task, etc.) These critics feel that there is a difference between understanding a concept and the ability to perform a task which measures that concept. Piaget stressed a black and white approach to cognitive abilities in that children either had or did not have the competence, whereas acquiring competence is a more gradual process. The third key criticism is that Piaget too clearly established and divided broad stages of development. Critics feel that development within a stage is not as consistent as Piaget proposed and that the differences between stages are not so clear and abrupt. More and more researchers feel that cognitive development is domain specific and proceeds at different rates based on content. The fourth criticism is that Piaget did not explain development adequately but only described it. The fifth criticism is that Piaget did not pay enough attention to how environmental factors like culture and other social influences affect development. While Piaget did write about how peers help children gain new perspectives, he did not think that a child’s relationship with adults had much affect on their development since children view adults as being different from them. By Piaget’s model, no cognitive conflict would occur which would result in no cognitive growth.

Vygotsky: The Sociocultural Perspective

In contrast to Piaget, Leo Vygotsky emphasized that cognitive growth happens in a sociocultural context and comes out of how a child interacts with society. According to Vygotsky, intelligence is not held by an individual but by the group. Intelligence is closely related to language. Vygotsky and his colleague, Alexander Luria, believed that knowledge is dependent on social experiences. Luria conducted a study where he asked children from different social environments to respond with the first thing that came to mind when they were given a target word.

Children from rural areas gave very similar responses due to their limited social experience whereas children from large cities gave more diverse responses due to their exposure to many different social experiences. Vygotsky believed that children acquire the mental tools of their group through interacting with parents and other members. He felt that cognitive development occurs differently depending on the values and other mental tools (language for example) of a culture. Vygotsky felt that adults have many tools which they pass on to their children. These tools include spoken language, writing, numbers, memory strategies, and problem solving strategies. Vygotsky believed spoken language to be the most important tool. Unlike Piaget, who believed that cognitive development led to language development, Vygotsky believed that language affected cognitive development. For example, both Piaget and Vygotsky noticed that preschoolers tend to talk to themselves. Piaget attributed it to the an immature egocentric aspect of development while Vygotsky called it private speech. Private speech is speech to oneself that guides one’s thoughts and actions. Vygotsky saw private speech as an essential step in cognitive development which would be internalized later. Studies support his theory. For example, children use private speech more when they are confronted with a problem to solve. Other studies show that academically capable children tend to use private speech and transition to internal speech sooner than other students. This suggests that private speech is a sign of maturity rather than immaturity. Other studies show that private speech can led to more effective problem-solving. Private speech may be a transition between the social speech that occurs between a learner and a more skilled individual during guided participation. Essentially, social speech leads to private speech, which leads to inner speech.

Vygotsky’s theory emphasizes the importance of the zone of proximal development. This zone is the gap between what a learning individual can do on his or her own, and what he or she can do with the help of a more skilled individual. Skills that fall within the zone can be developed through instruction. Skills that fall outside of the zone are either skills the learner has already mastered, or skills that are still too complex for the learner to master. The learner will internalize the techniques of problem-solving. Essentially, the social interaction between two people (a learner and a more skilled individual) becomes a cognitive process within the learner. Vygotsky’s discussion of the zone of proximal development implies that knowledge is not a fixed stage and cannot be measured properly by one test or one score. Much research supports Vygotsky’s theory. For example, studies show that how children perform on assisted learning tasks can be a good predictor of how their future achievement. Additionally pairing less-skilled readers with more-skilled readers increases reading fluency in the less-skilled readers if they are given encouragement and the more-skilled readers acts as good role models.

Guided Participation is another form of learning in cultures where the learner actively participates in relevant activities with the support of their parents and other skilled group members. Jerome Bruner’s concept of scaffolding is similar. Parents who give structured support to a less skilled child and slowly reduce the level of support as the child’s competence grows are providing scaffolding. Vygotsky and Bruners emphasis on guided learning conflicts with Piaget’s emphasis on children as independent explorers. Vygotsky’s theory has been criticized for overly emphasizing social interactions over the individual.

What are Memory and the Information-Processing Perspective? - Chapter 8

Memory is our ability to store and later access information regarding the past. Memory develops and changes throughout our lifespan. The information-processing perspective differs from the theories of Piaget and Vygostsky. It developed due to influences from computer technology. As a result, cognitive psychologists started to view the brain as similar to a computer in how it processes information. The information-processing approach focuses on basic mental processes that occur during attention, perception, memory, and decision-making.

A computer is comprised of both hardware and software. A computer’s hardware is the machine consisting of the keyboards, the storage system, etc. A computer’s software is the programs which manipulate information. Similarly, the mind can be viewed as having hardware and software. The mind’s hardware is the nervous system and the mind’s software are the rules and strategies which process, interpret, store, access, and analyze information.

Figure 3 represents Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin’s conception of the human information-processing system. Information from the environment enters the brain and is logged for a fraction of a second in the sensory register which acts as an afterimage or echo. A great deal of information logged in the sensory register does not receive further processing and disappears. If an individual thinks that information needs to be remembered, the information will then be processed into short-term memory. Short-term memory can hold about seven items on average for a few seconds. For example, when you dial a telephone number after reading it, that is accessed through short-term memory. There are both passive and active types of short-term memory. Working memory is what stores information that one is actively processing. Information that needs to be remembered for longer is stored in long-term memory.

Process of Remembering

The first step after receiving information is to encode it or enter it into the system. The second step is to consolidate information and process it. The third step is to store the information. Storing a memory is a constructive process and not static. The final step is to retrieve or access the memory when necessary. Memory can be retrieved in different ways. Recognition memory refers to information we can recognize when given options, a multiple choice question for example. Recall memory refers to active retrieval where one is not given options or clues. A fill in the blank question is an example. Cued recall memory does not give clear options but provides a clue.

Long term memory can be either implicit or explicit. Implicit memory is also called procedural memory and occurs without a person being aware of their memory being accessed. Implicit memory remains intact when amnesia damages explicit memory. Explicit memory is also called declarative memory and involves effort. This form of memory is closely connected with language. Explicit memory is further categorized into semantic memory and episodic memory. Semantic memory refers to memory of general facts and knowledge of an event, while episodic memory refers to specific experiences or a personal recollection of an event. Research shows that implicit and explicit memory work independent of each other. Different memories require different parts of the brain. For example, knowing how to ride a bike is an implicit memory that takes place in the striatum of the forebrain. Explicit memories usually take place in the medial temporal lobe. Damage to the hippocampus in this area of the brain causes difficulty in creating new episodic memories.

The way information is stored and accessed depends on which cortex originally processed the information. For example, vocabulary is often stored in the limbic-temporal cortex. Specific cortical association areas of the brain are activated by sensory information. The sensory information then moves to the medial temporal lobe during consolidation and the information is stored in the cortical association area of the brain that was first activated.

Implicit memory and explicit memory develop differently. Implicit memory develops first. Explicit memory improves as the hippocampus matures. This usually takes place in the second half of an infant’s first year of life. Explicit memory continues to increase through adulthood then decreases in later adulthood. Implicit memory does not change very much across the lifespan.

Problem-solving is the use of the information-processing system to make a decision or accomplish a goal. A question moves through the memory system. One accesses a long term memory to comprehend the question. Necessary long term memories are transferred to working memory. In order to process the information, one needs to know what he or she is doing and make a decision. This requires executive control processes of planning and monitoring functions. Information processing is more complex than previously thought. People can engage in several cognitive activities at once and carry out parallel processing. Different processing approaches are used in different fields of knowledge.

This approach focuses on how people remember and how they solve problems instead of the information remembered or answered.

Infancy

Since infants are unable to tell researchers what they remember, methods such as imitation, habituation and operant conditioning techniques are used to gauge infant memory. Researchers see an infant’s imitation of a modeled act as a sign of memory. Studies with young infants show that they can imitate actions like sticking out their tongue or opening their mouth. This suggests Piaget’s theory that infants do not imitate actions until they are one year of age is incorrect. Infants as young as 6 months of age can imitate an act after a delay. This is known as deferred imitation. The ability to display deferred imitation suggests that infants are accessing stored memory. Deferred imitation may be an early form of explicit memory. As infants age, they can defer imitation for longer periods of time. By the age of two, children can recall events months later and recall is more flexible and less dependent on specific cues. Patricia Bauer showed in a study that infants as young as 13 months of age can reconstruct an action sequence such as putting a teddy bear in bed, covering it with a blanket, and reading the bear a story for as long as three months after the action sequence is modeled. Habituation is learning to not respond to a repeated stimulus. An infant’s ability to ignore a repeated stimulus suggests that he or she recognizes the stimulus to be familiar. Carolyn Rovee-Collier developed a task to test an infant’s long term memory. A researcher ties a ribbon to an infant’s ankle which is connected to a mobile. The mobile moves when the infant kicks. The researcher can test the infant’s memory by presenting it to the infant later and noting if the infant kicks to move the mobile. The study showed that when two month old infants were given 9 minute training sessions on kicking the mobile, they remembered how to move the mobile for up to 2 days. Three month olds remembered how to move the mobile for up to one week. Six month olds remembered how to move the mobile for up to two weeks. This task uses implicit memory. Infants of 18 months of age can remember how to move the mobile for two months. Researchers improved the infants’ memories by giving two 6 minute sessions, suggesting that distributed practice is beneficial. Cued recall also improved results. Early memories are dependent on cues and specific to context. Another study shows that 9 month old infants are capable of problem-solving when presented with the problem of how to reach an object. Younger infants could also solve the problem when they were given clues. As infants age, they pay more attention to cues from adults.

Childhood

By the time a child is two, he or she is verbal and can use language to describe and reconstruct events from months prior. Older children learn more quickly and retain the information for longer than younger children do. There are four main suggestions as to why this may be the case.

The first hypothesis is that older children have more powerful hardware and their brains have allotted more space for working-memory. Research shows that basic capacities do not change much after the first month of life. What does change is what happens to information once it reaches the sensory register and how information is consolidated. The main components of working memory are in place by the time a child is four years of age. However, improvements occur throughout childhood and into adolescence. The capacity of short-term memory improves significantly between 6 and 7 years of age and 12 and 13 years of age. Improvements in capacity are due to the hippocampus and other parts of the brain becoming more mature. Additionally, mental processes speed up with age which allows older children and adults to automate mental processes and perform more mental tasks at the same time. Neo-Piagetian theorists like Robbie Case have revised Piaget’s theory and suggest that children advance in the stages of cognitive development because they use available space in their working memory more efficiently. Research suggests that the amount of improvement depends on what is tested and the procedure for testing. Short-term memory capacity is specific to specific domains and changes depending on background knowledge of the task and the type of task given.

The second hypothesis is that older children also have better software and more effective ways for storing information in their long-term memories. Children of 2 years of age can remember key pieces of information though they rely on more memory aids. They are also more likely to remember when they are told to remember something specific. Until they reach the age of 4, children are unable to develop more effective memorization strategies. Children of ages 4 or 5 are more flexible in developing new effective strategies and switching to a more effective strategy. Children at this age are also able to focus on relevant information and ignore irrelevant information. Children younger than 4 or 5 make preservation errors which means they continue a strategy shown to be ineffective. Preservation errors start to decline at age 4. However, 4 year olds seldom use rehearsal to improve their memory. Rehearsal is the act of repeating information one is trying to learn and remember. 10% of 5 year old in a study rehearsed, while 50% of 7 year-olds use a rehearsal strategy and 85% of 10 year-olds use a rehearsal strategy. Other strategies include organization which occurs when one groups items together. One then rehearses each category. Chunking is another type of organizational strategy where items are broken down into smaller parts. For example, a long series of numbers may be organized into subunits of three numbers as found in phone numbers. Elaboration is a strategy of constructing meaningful links between the information that should be remembered. This technique is particularly useful when learning a foreign language. Rehearsal usually develops first, then organization develops, and elaboration develops last.

Children do not start using strategies all of a sudden. Instead, they progress through four stages. At first, children have a mediation deficiency where they are unable to spontaneously use strategies even if taught to do so. Later, children have a production deficiency where they can use the strategies they have been taught but are unable to develop strategies by themselves. Later still, children have a utilization deficiency where they can spontaneously use and produce strategies but without beneficial results. This may occur because the production of the strategy requires so much effort that children are unable to extend cognitive resources to completing the rest of the task. The final stage occurs when children can spontaneously produce and use strategies with effective results. While storing memory is important, the ability to retrieve a memory is also important to learning.

The third hypothesis is that older children know more about memory and can therefore develop better strategies for remembering. Metamemory is the knowledge of memory used to monitor and regulate memory processes. It is one component of metacognition. Metacognition is the knowledge of one’s mind and the range of one’s cognitive processes. For example, metacognition includes one’s knowledge that one is better at solving math problems than at learning a new language. Children by the age of two, understand that remembering something requires effort. While metacognitive awareness exists in young children, it improves throughout childhood. Researchers find a larger connection between memory ability and metacognitive awareness in older children and in children in situations where they must remember something. Studies show that in addition to knowing which strategy to use, children must know why it is effective in order to use it and benefit from it.

The fourth hypothesis is that older children are more knowledgeable about the world than younger children and are more familiar with the material they are learning. Knowledge of a content area is called knowledge base. Knowledge base clearly affects memory ability. Michelene Chi conducted a study that showed while adults typically outperform children on memory tests, children could outperform adults if they were more experienced in the task. She compared children who were expert chess players to adults who (while familiar with chess) lacked expertise. While the children did not perform as well as the adults when asked to recall a sequence of numbers, they outperformed adults when asked to recall chess piece locations.

Darlen DeMarie and John Ferron tested if three of the above factors combined could lead to better results than the use of one factor. They found that using memory strategies was especially important to recall ability and all three factors were correlated.

Memory of Personal Events

Autobiographical memories are episodic memories of events that occur in one’s life. Autobiographical memories are necessary for understanding who we are, present experiences, and future experiences. While infants and young children are capable of storing memories, older children and adults have childhood amnesia. This means they are unable to retrieve memories of autobiographical events from their first years.

Studies where researchers interviewed adults regarding their earliest memories show that adults remember events as early as two years of age. Other studies suggest that the majority of adults do not remember events before ages 4 or 5. One reason this may occur is that infants and young children may not have enough room in their working memory to hold all the information necessary for a coherent memory. However, studies showing that toddlers can remember such events suggests that this is an unlikely explanation. The lack of language before the age of two may be the explanation. Since autobiographical memory is closely connected to language, it increases as language skills increase. Studies show that when mothers conversed with their toddlers regarding an event and used elaborate descriptions, as these toddlers developed into adolescents, they had stronger autobiographical memories of the event than adolescents whose mothers were less elaborate when they were toddlers. Another reason causing childhood amnesia may be a lack of self-identity which is necessary to organize memories regarding “self.” Another suggested reason is the fuzzy-trace theory which states that children store verbatim accounts of an event and general accounts of an event separately. Since verbatim memories are unstable, they are forgotten over time leaving only a general gist of the event.

Children use scripts or general event representations which describe a pattern of actions connected to an event such as getting ready for bed. Having a script in mind helps children know how to behave in similar situations. For example, a script on how to order food at a fast food restaurant can be used in similar settings. A study shows that children as young as three years of age use scripts and report on their activities based on their script. When asked what happened the previous day at a fast food restaurant, they will speak about what generally happens rather than what specifically happened. As children gain more experience with scripts, their scripts become richer and more detailed. Children’s scripts also determine how a child remembers an event. Often children will remember an event as if it followed their usual script even if the actual event occurred differently. The way children reconstruct memories affects their ability to report clearly their eyewitness memory. Preschool aged children tend to be asked leading questions when they are needed to testify and describe an event. It is therefore necessary that young children be asked unbiased and clear questions.

Memory is also necessary in problem-solving, especially working memory. While Piaget proposed that children moved through stages of development that were qualitatively different from each other, Robert Siegler proposed the overlapping waves theory. Siegler saw problem-solving skills as connected to knowing and using many different strategies to solve problems. In this way, cognitive development resembles evolution in that many strategies are available and through a natural selection process, more effective strategies will be adapted. Siegler’s rule assessment approach view posits a child’s problem-solving attempts are governed by rules. Siegler used a balance beam where weights could be placed at different distances from the fulcrum. In order to correctly predict which way they beam will tip when it is released, one must consider both the amount of weight and the distance the weight is placed from the fulcrum. Siegler posed the question to subjects between the ages of three and twenty.

While the three year-olds did not use a rule, four year-olds and five years-old had the rule of guessing. 80% in that age group considered the weight and said that the side with more weight would drop. By age 8, subjects were able to also consider the distance from the fulcrum. By age twelve, many subjects could consider both distance and weight but were confused in complex situations where one side had more weights, but the other side has weights further from the fulcrum. By age twenty, 30% of the subjects realized that the pull on each arm was a function of weight times distance. For a detailed diagram, see Fig. 8.7 in Human Development Across the Lifespan, 7th ed.

Adolescence

Memory and problem-solving ability continue to improve in adolescence. An eleven or twelve year-old’s episodic memory is more similar to that of a child than to older teens or adults. This improves for several reasons. Adolescents use new learning and memory strategies and master the elaboration strategy. They also use strategies more deliberately and will reorganize information to help them remember better. Additionally, adolescents are more selective in which strategies they use. They are more able than children are disregard irrelevant information and leave more space in their working memory for task performance. Not only does strategy use improve, basic capacities improve. Adolescents are able to process information more quickly and process more information at the same time than children are able to process. As previously mentioned, adolescents have the added benefit (compared to children) of having more life experience. They are better able to judge how much time they need to set aside to learn new information.

Additionally, adolescent girls use more metacognitive strategies than adolescent boys do. This may be a possible explanation of why boys tend not do as well in school as girls do. Adolescents from higher socio-economic backgrounds also use metacognitive strategies more than adolescents from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Adulthood

At around twenty years of age, a person is considered to be at the height of their information processing ability and cognitive performance. Performance does continue to improve in adults as they become experts in their fields. Experts are more likely to remember information from their field of expertise than others are. They are better able to access appropriate information in their knowledge base in order to solve problems. However, studies show that expertise and high cognitive performance in one field does not mean that the same skills are transferable to another field. Experts depend on knowledge and information processing strategies specific to their field.

Factors Affecting Autobiographical Memory

Patricia Bauer sites four factors as having an effect on if an event will be recalled later. The four factors are personal significance, distinctiveness, emotional intensity, and the life phase in which the event occurred. While people tend to think that events that are important to a person will be more likely to be remembered, this is not the case. The personal significance of an event does not affect an individual’s ability to remember the event. As time passes and perspectives change, an event that was once considered important may lose its relevance and not be remembered. The distinctiveness of an event does affect recall. While common events may be grouped together in a more general memory, unique events are more likely to be remembered specifically. The emotional intensity of an event also affects recall. Highly emotionally negative or highly emotionally positive events are more likely to be remembered than events that drew a more neutral reaction. This may be that emotionally intense events cause the body to become alert and neural components responsible for encoding information to become more activated. The life phase in which the event occurred also affect recall. People remember more from events from their teenage years and their twenties than any other life phase. This may be a result of the important role these two phases play in a person’s developing identity.

The Aging Memory

Studies show that older adults need more time to learn new information, they do not learn as well, and they remember less of what they’ve learned than younger adults do. However, it should be noted that these studies rely on cross-sectional data to compare age groups. Additionally, differences between older adults and other adults are not noticeable until the older adults are 70 years of age. The does not affect all older adults and not all memory tasks are affected. Older adults do not learn or recall information as quickly as younger adults do, for this reason their ability to perform on memory tasks declines if a time limit is set.

Additionally, older adults have more difficulty if the task is unfamiliar to them or if they cannot relate it to what they already know. They do better in naturalistic situations than in the laboratory situation. They also perform more poorly when they cannot relate the task to their everyday life. Older adults do better on tasks that require recognition than on tasks that require recall. Since there is a large gap between recognition and recall, researchers believe that older adults have difficulty retrieving encoded information. Older adults also experience more difficult with tasks involving explicit memory than with tasks involving implicit memory. The level of ability regarding explicit memory also differs depending on if the memory is semantic or episodic. Older adults’ semantic memories do not decline much with age.

There are several potential reasons for declines in memory as a person ages. This can be discussed in the same terms used to discuss improving cognitive ability: knowledge base, metamemory, strategy use, and basic processing capacities. Unlike young children, older adults are not lacking in knowledge compared to adults functioning at their cognitive peak. Semantic memory increases with age until the age of 65 and verbal knowledge may not decrease until 90 years of age. Information that is consolidated well can be retained in long-term memory for years. One study showed that 50% of learned Spanish vocabulary could be recalled 50 years later. Metamemory also does not appear to decline with age except in some areas. Unlike younger adults, older adults may remember some events inaccurately. Older adults also tend to think more negatively of their memory ability. This negative belief affects memory performance. Becca Levy and Ellen Langer conducted a study with elderly hearing Chinese, elderly deaf Americans, and elderly hearing Americans to see how stereotypes affect memory. The hearing Chinese and deaf Americans are less negatively stereotyped than hearing Americans. The study showed that when negative stereotypes were activated subliminally in the hearing Americans, they performed worse on memory tasks. The elderly hearing Chinese performed the better than elderly hearing and deaf Americans and only performed slightly less well than young Chinese. These sorts of studies raise the question of the connection between decline in memory associated with age and negative stereotypes of the elderly. Older adults are familiar with memory strategies but do not use them as spontaneously. The decline is not in their ability to encode information, but rather in their ability to retrieve information. While people often have the sense that something is “on the tip of their tongue”, older adults experience this more often. This may be due to changes in basic processing capacity. Working-memory capacity declines after a person reaches 45 years of age. While older adults perform well when they must work with a few pieces of information at one time, their ability decreases as the amount of information increases. They are less able to ignore unimportant information than younger adults. This unimportant information takes up space in their working memory that affects their ability to perform tasks. A decline in working-memory is likely a result of a declining nervous system. Researches have also used brain-imaging techniques to see how brain activity during memory tasks differs between older and younger adults. The imaging showed different patterns in the prefrontal cortex. Some studies show underactivity and others show overactivity. Underactivity may result from an inability to use appropriate strategies while overactivity may result from the brain’s attempts to overcompensate.

While declines in basic processing capacity can explain some of the cognitive decline experienced by older adults, other factors are involved. For example, a decline in sensory ability also plays a role. As sight or hearing declines, more processing resources must be allotted to the task. This may lead to memory decline. The context must also be considered. Some theorists view performance on memory tasks and learning as a result of three factors interacting with each other. The first factor is the learner’s characteristics such as their motivation, ability, and health. The second factor is the task or situation’s characteristics. The third factor is the larger environment’s characteristics. For example cohorts may differ based on education and IQ. This can lead to difference in memory and learning ability that are not a result of age differences. The health and lifestyle of cohorts also affect memory and learning ability.

Older Adults and Problem Solving

If older adults are able to use their knowledge base and expertise effectively their problem-solving ability may not decline. When given the twenty-question game (where the subject can ask yes/no questions to determine which item out of an array of items the researcher is thinking of) the best strategy is to ask constraint-seeking questions. These are questions which will rule out several of the items. “Is it an animal” is an example of a constraint-seeking question. Children and older adults tend to ask questions that are too specific like, “Is it a peanut?” However when older adults perform the same task with a familiar subject (playing cards for example) they do match better. Other studies show that older adults performer at a more similar level as younger adults in situations involving everyday problems.

Some researchers believe that older adults approach problem-solving in a more selective and goal-focused way than younger adults do. Some researchers believe that older adults approach problem-solving in three steps: selection, optimization, and compensation. Older adults compensate for their memory loss. For example, they may write things down. Due to having more limited resources, older adults select the more important tasks to focus on. They may optimize their skills by focusing on what they do well. Researchers have tried to teach this model to patients with dementia from Alzheimer’s. The model works because it involves implicit memory processes and not explicit memory.

How to Measure IQ and Intelligence? - Chapter 9

Intelligence is not fixed. It is affected by the environment and can change over a person’s lifespan. Intelligence is hard to define and the definition has changed considerably since the first intelligence tests were developed. The psychometric approach led to the creation of standardized intelligence tests. In this approach, intelligence is viewed as a set of traits that some people have to a greater degree than other people. Psychometric theorists aim to precisely identify and measure these sets of traits. From the approaches conception theorists have debated if intelligence is many specific abilities or one overall cognitive ability.

Charles Spearman proposed a theory of intelligence based on two factors. The first factor is general mental ability (g). Spearman found that the g factor accounts for why people tend to perform consistently across a range of tasks. The second factor is special abilities (s). The s factor accounts for why someone who does well on most tasks can do poorly on a particular measure. Studies suggest that general mental ability contributes more to performance on IQ tests during childhood than during adolescence. As the processes involved in general mental ability have become more automatic by adolescence, more resources are available to develop specific abilities.

Raymond Cattell and John Horn proposed the idea of two broad aspects to intellect: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Fluid intelligence refers to an ability to actively solve novel problems. In order to solve such problems, individuals rely on their raw information processing power as the necessary skills cannot be taught. Crystallized intelligence refers to an ability to use knowledge gained through education and experience. Questions involving general information, vocabulary, and mathematical ability measure crystallized intelligence.

While there is still no clear definition of intelligence, most theorists agree on a few key aspects. Intelligence is a hierarchy that includes three key aspects. At the top of the hierarchy is a general ability. Next are several broad dimensions of ability such as fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, processing ability, and memory. At the bottom of the hierarchy are specific abilities such as mathematical skills, vocabulary, and spatial discrimination.

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon developed the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale which was a precursor to the modern IQ test. This test measured a child’s mental age. Mental age is the level of age-graded problems the child had the ability to solve. A child may be have a mental age of 5 without having an actual age of 5. Lewis Terman developed a method to compute a child’s intelligence quotient (IQ) where a child’s mental age is divided by their chronological age and then multiplied by 100. Average intelligence is 100. Currently, the fifth edition of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale is being used. The test norms of this test are based on the performances of a large sample of people from diverse backgrounds. Test norms are performance standards for average performance.

Now, mental age is not used to measure IQ. IQ scores are now based on how a person performs on the test compared to other people of the same age. 100 is still the average.

Wechsler Scales are also used to measure IQ. They were developed by David Wechsler and include The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI), The Wechsler Intelligence scale for Children (WISC-IV) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV). The Wechsler tests score verbal IQ based on vocabulary, general knowledge, math reasoning ability. The Wechsler tests score performance IQ based on puzzle assembly ability, maze-solving ability, geometric design reproduction ability, and the ability to rearrange pictures into a story. The verbal and performance scores are combined to score a person’s full-scale IQ. Normal distribution is a bell-shaped symmetrical curve around the average score of 100. Very high and very low scores are rare. Most people (two-thirds) score between 85 and 115. This range is the spread of scores within one standard deviation below or above the average score of 100. Fewer than 3% of people score below 70 and fewer than 3% score above 130. Critics of standardized intelligence tests feel that the tests summarize general ability and only assess some specific abilities. Critics feel that these tests do not accurately describe intelligence.

Howard Gardner posits that intelligence cannot be measured by a single score. He describes eight intellectual abilities. The first is linguistic intelligence such as language skills. The second is logical-mathematical intelligence which includes abstract thinking and problem-solving related to math. The third is musical intelligence. The fourth is spatial intelligence. The fifth is bodily-kinesthetic intelligence which refers to skilled use of the body to perform tasks. For example, dancers, surgeons, and athletes exhibit strong forms of this type of intelligence. The sixth is interpersonal intelligence, which is social intelligence and the ability to be sensitive to other people. The seventh is intrapersonal intelligence, which is the ability to understand one’s own feelings and be introspective. The eighth is naturalist intelligence, which is an understanding of the natural world. Most IQ tests only assess linguistic, mathematical, and sometimes spatial intelligence and do not assess the others. Gardner does not state that these are the only forms of intelligence though he sees these eight as distinct from each other. Evidence supports this. For example, savant syndrome occurs when a person is very talented in a certain area though he or she may be mentally retarded. Some researchers feel that the skills of savants depend on memory and are not specific. Gardner also posits that each of the eight intelligences develops in a different course. He also links each type of intelligence to specific brain structures. He views each of the eight intelligences as being distinct neurologically.

Robert Sternberg also felt that standardized IQ tests do not accurately measure intelligence. He posited a triarchic theory of intelligence. The first of the three aspects is the practical component. This form of intelligent behavior changes varies between different sociocultural contexts. People with high in the practical component of intelligence are able to adapt to new environments. This form of intelligence can be seen as street smarts or common sense. Intelligence also changes over time.

The second aspect of the triarchic theory of intelligence is the creative component. There are two types of intelligence in this component The first involves a person’s ability to “think outside the box” when they first engage with a new task or problem. The second is a type of automatization or an increase in a person’s ability to process information efficiently This is applicable to repetitive tasks. According to Sternberg, a researcher should be aware of how a familiar a person is with a task before they are assessed. The third component in the triarchic theory of intelligence is the analytic component. This is the aspect that is typically assessed with standardized tests. Sternberg criticized traditional tests for failing to assess the processes people use to produce intelligent answers. Sternberg further elaborated on his theory by positing the theory of successful intelligence. This theory states that people are intelligent to the extent that they have the skills and ability to succeed according to their own definition of success.

Creativity is the ability to produce meaningful and original responses appropriate in context that is seen as valuable by others. IQ scores do not relate to creativity scores because they involve two different ways of thinking. While IQ scores measure convergent thinking (finding the best answer), creativity measures divergent thinking (brainstorming many ideas or solutions). Divergent tasks are asses based on uniqueness, flexibility of or number of different categories seen in response ideas, and idea fluency. Fluency refers to the number of different or novel ideas a person can produce. It is often assessed to score creativity because it is easy to measure.

When divergent tasks are used to gauge creativity, this is a form of the psychometric or testing approach. While it is useful, it does not factor in the complexity of all the components that make up creativity. In contrast, Sternberg’s confluence approach views creativity as a convergence of several factors. Creativity is optimized with intellectual skills, field specific knowledge, an open mind, risk taking willingness, motivation, and a supportive environment. Having an abundance of one aspect may compensate for deficiencies in other aspects.

Infancy

Children under the age of three cannot be tested for intelligence using standardized test methods. The most widely used test is the Bayley Scales of Infant Development which is comprised of three parts. The first is motor scale which measures an infant’s ability to use motor ability such as grasp or throw. The second is mental scale which measures adaptive behaviors such as reaching for an item, searching for a toy, or following instructions. The third is the behavior rating scale which rates behavior regarding emotional regulation, goals, and social responsiveness. The first two scores yield a developmental quotient (DQ). This scale is helpful in diagnosing neurological problems and slow mental development.

Researchers are also curious if it is possible to predict future intelligence. Studies show there is little correlation between DQ and child IQ. While infants with low DQ tend to have low IQ, infants of high DQ are not more inclined to have high IQ as children. This may be due to what the different tests measure. While IQ tests measure abstract abilities, DQ tests measure sensory abilities and motor skills. Robert McCall suggests that maturational forces greatly affect the development of intelligence in infancy by keeping infants on course if environmental factors lead them astray. In this sense, DQ scores may be temporary deviations from their developmental course. However, recent studies suggest that other measures may be helpful in predicting later IQ. Speed of habituation and preference for novelty correlate with IQ in childhood (especially memory and verbal skills). Reaction time may also predict higher IQ in childhood.

Childhood

As we have mentioned, an infant’s DQ does not predict later IQ. However, by the age of four, there does appear to be a relationship between early IQ and later IQ. A longitudinal study of 220 children showed IQ is fairly stable. However, individual children have fluctuations in their IQs. One study found that the average difference between a child’s lowest and highest scores was 28.5 points. While these two studies may appear to contradict each other, researchers explain that a child’s standing within a group is stable in how each child compares to his or her peers across childhood. Additionally, the data relies on a child’s performance on standardized IQ tests. Such tests do not only reflect IQ, but also reflect a person’s motivation, the testing conditions, and so on. Fluctuations in test scores may also occur randomly. Other times, extreme fluctuations may be an indicator of unstable home environments. Children whose parents encourage achievement without being too strict or too lenient tend to gain IQ points while children in poverty tend to lose IQ points. This is explained in Otto Klineberg’s cumulative-deficit hypothesis that states that poverty stricken environments inhibit intellectual growth. This is more clearly the case when a child’s parents are both poor and have low intellectual ability.

Creativity in Childhood

Researchers measured divergent theory throughout childhood and found that children of preschool age have high levels of divergent thinking and can have many unique ideas. This creativity declines in kindergarten and first grade and declines further by fourth grade. Researchers refer to this as the fourth-grade slump. Creativity increases again after age 12. Recent studies show that the slumps are not as extreme as previously thought and may be a result of pressures to conform. Researchers compared highly creative children with normal IQs to less creative children with high IQs. The creative children were more original, humorous, aggressive and playful than the children with high IQs. They are more likely to experiment and have unconventional ideas. While IQ scores differ depending on race and socioeconomic factors, creativity does not. Genetics is not a factor in performance on creativity tests. Since twins are similar in their level of creativity but identical twins are not more similar in level of creativity than fraternal twins, it can be assumed that the environment is a factor.

Creative children tend to grow up in homes where parents value independence, encourage curiosity and encourage exploration. Children who have more distant relationships with their parents also tend to be more creative. This may be due to a need to overcome adversity through imagination. Creativity is not a result of the same factors that affect the cognitive ability measured by standardized IQ tests.

Adolescence

Intellect continues to grow in early adolescent and then slows and stabilizes in late adolescence. IQ tests were developed to predict school achievement. They achieve this purpose well as students with higher IQs tend to do better in school, drop out less, and go on to college. However, achievement in college is not correlated to IQ and is more likely to be a result of motivation.

Creativity in Adolescence

Howard Gardner posited that adolescents see increased creativity and can combine the technical ability they developed as children to produce creative works. The ages when creativity declines differs from culture to culture as pressure to conform differs from culture to culture. In general, the developmental course of creativity is not as predictable as the developmental course for IQ. Creativity tends to be affected by task demands and developmental needs. One study showed that six-graders could outperform college students in a certain creative task, while college students could out perform six-graders in a different creative task. Another study shows that creativity is fairly stable from fourth grade to ninth grade but creative feelings such as curiosity, imagination, and the desire to take risks increases in adolescence.

Through training, people can learn techniques to increase creativity. However, an individual’s environment must be supportive of creativity for the techniques to be effective. David Feldman found that prodigies in chess, math, and music were similar to their peers in other areas. People with special achievements tend to have talent and motivation. Other studies show that motivation and a desire to meet a challenge also lead to achievement. People who are more optimistic are more likely to be creative. These characteristics are a result of a “nature.” The environment (nurture) is also important to creativity. Environments that value and encourage creativity also contribute to creative achievement. Parents should encourage children to develop the necessary knowledge base without being too pushy.

While some studies show that tests that measure creativity given in elementary or secondary school can predict later creative output, keep in mind that creativity is exhibited differently at different times during the life span.

Adulthood

Longitudinal studies on how IQ affects occupational success show that individuals with higher IQ tend to have a small advantage in income and prestige. Overtime, a larger gap develops between those of higher IQ and those of lower IQ. Professionals such as scientists and engineers tend to have higher IQs than white-collar workers such as managers. White-collar workers tend to have higher IQs than blue-collar workers. Additionally, those with higher intelligence do not experience the plateaus and setbacks that individuals with lower IQs experienced. It is important to differentiate between the prestige of a occupation and the complexity of task performance necessary to an occupation. People of higher intelligence can perform complex and challenging tasks. They receive more training and more education which contributes to occupational success. While this is the trend, IQs still vary a great deal in each occupational group and people in low prestige jobs also have high IQs.

Studies also show that individuals in an occupation (regardless of prestige) are more productive than their peers. Intellectual ability is a better predictor of job performance than any other indicator. This is true across different ethnicities.

Health and IQ in Adulthood

A longitudinal study conducted in Scotland with 150,000 unique subjects found that individuals with who scored in the top 25% during adolescence were two to three times more likely to live past the age of 65 than individuals who scored in the lowest 25%. One possible explanation is that people of higher IQ tend to have better paying jobs leading to higher-socioeconomic status. However, when researchers controlled for living conditions, a correlation between IQ and health still remained. Linda Gottfredson posits that maintaining good health involves some of the same attributes that IQ tests measure. A person needs to be able to learn and problem-solve well to stay healthy. He or she must monitor his or her correctly and follow treatment instructions correctly.

Aging and IQ in Adulthood

How an individual scores on an IQ test is a good predictor of how the same individual will score on an IQ test given later in his or her life. Alan Kaufman did a cross-sectional study of adults between the ages of 16 and 89 who were tested using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. He found that IQ rises until a person is in his or her mid-forties and then begins to decline. The steepest decline begins at 80 years of age. However, a cross-sectional study compares people of different cohorts which may affect results. Kaufman addressed this concern in another longitudinal study. Kaufman found that over a 17-year time span, the 40-year-old cohort lost about 5 IQ points, the 50 and 60-year-old cohort lost about 7 to 8 points and the two oldest cohorts lost about 10 IQ points. This study shows that the oldest cohort lost double the number of IQ points as the youngest cohort. However, this does not clearly suggest that intellectual abilities lessen with age. While performance IQ is at its peak when a person is between the ages of 20 and 24, verbal IQ remained consistent.

K. Warner Schaie conducted a comprehensive sequential study using a sample of members of a health maintenance organization. Participants ranged from 22 to 70 years of age. Schaie tested the participants for primary mental abilities. There were five scores: verbal meaning, spatial ability, numerical ability, reasoning, and word fluency. Participants were retested seven years later along with a new sample of adults. This process was repeated several times at regular intervals. The study showed that cohort effects affect performance. This suggests that studies which compare different age groups reflect a greater decline in IQ with aging than is the case. Cohorts born recently outperform cohorts born in earlier generations on most tests. However when tested for numerical ability, people born after 1903 and 1924 outperformed other cohorts. Inductive reasoning scores have increased with each cohort tested while verbal meanings scores increased until 1952 and then declined and is increasing again. This study also found that different abilities have different aging patterns. Fluid intelligence declines more steeply and sooner than crystallized intelligence. This may be a result of the time limit given for tests on performance IQ and fluid IQ. As the nervous system slows, people process information more slowly. Decline in IQ during old age does not affect all individuals the same. A few participants in Schaie’s study experienced no decline in all five areas. Some experienced decline in one aspect but not others.

There are a few key predictors of later decline. People with poor health are more likely to experience a decline in IQ. Diseases and chronic illnesses lead to steeper declines. This is known as terminal drop. Additionally, people with an not stimulating lifestyle show steeper decline. Individuals who stay more engaged with their community and maintained active lifestyles showed less decline.

Wisdom and Aging

Some cultures do not equate aging with a decline in cognitive ability but rather with wisdom. Wisdom is not the same as high intelligence. Wisdom is a combination of knowledge about life and knowledge about strategies necessary for giving advice and managing conflicts. It is a combination of intelligence and creativity. Ursula Staudinger, Jacqui Smith, and Paul Baltes conducted a study where they interviewed young and elderly female clinical psychologists and other well-educated professionals. The researchers wanted to study how age and experience affect wisdom. The study found that expertise was a better predictor of wisdom than age was. Wisdom results from life experience. People who can accept ambiguity and compare and evaluate relevant issues tend to be more wise than people without these attributes. Environmental factors such as a supportive social environment also increase the likelihood that a person will be wise.

Creativity and Adulthood

Researchers studied famous creative individuals in art, music, science, and philosophy to see when creativity peaks. Harvey Lehman and Wayne Dennis found that in most fields, creativity increases from ages 20 to 30 and peaks in the late 30’s and 40’s before starting to decline. The age when creativity peaks also depends on the field. Historians and philosophers peak later than artists. Even within one field, difference can be found.

For example, poets peak before novelists do. This pattern can be seen in different cultures and different periods of history. It may result because creative production requires motivation and experience. Younger adults tend to have more motivation and enthusiasm while older adults have more experience. A combination occurs between the ages of 30 and 40. Dean Simonton proposed a theory that creative individuals have less to express once they’ve realized their potential. He posits that while a person does not use up all of his or her potential, as they age they have fewer new ideas left to express. Studies on creativity in people of average creativity show that divergent thinking decreased after age 40 and decreased steeply after age 70. Older adults are as able as younger adults to come up with unique ideas, however they generate fewer ideas overall. Creativity is still possible later in life, but less frequent.

Factors Contributing to Intelligence

The Flynn effect refers to the finding that average IQ scores increased over the 20th century. In the United States there was an increase of 1 to 3 points per decade. These increases are too large to be explained by genetic evolution. The environment may play a role as nutrition and living conditions have improved. Families are also smaller now which allows each child to receive more attention. Children today are also better educated and finish school compared to children of previous generations.

Hereditarians believe that genetic differences is determines differences in intelligence. Identical twins have more similar IQ scores than fraternal twins do. Adopted children have IQs more similar to their biological parents than their adoptive parents. However, most research shows that half of the variation in IQ scores within a group of individuals is due to genetic differences. This does not mean that intelligence is set in stone. Genes may determine the limits of intelligence but the environment is also a key factor. Arnold Sameroff conducted research to see which environmental factors put children at risk for lower intelligence. He posits ten factors which relate to IQ at age four and predict IQ at age 13. The more factors affecting a child, the lower the child’s IQ. The number of risk factors was more influential than which risk factor was experienced. The ten risk factors are as follows: child is a member of a minority group, the head of the child’s household is unemployed or a low-skilled worker, the child’s mother did not finish high school, the child has at least three siblings, the child’s father is absent, the child’s family has experienced stressful events, the child’s parents have rigid child-rearing values, the mother is very anxious or distressed, the mother has poor mental health, the mother is not affectionate. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) inventory is used to assess how intellectually stimulating a home environment is. HOME scores predict IQs of European and African American children at age 3. Children from stimulating homes are more likely to increase intellectual performance between the ages of 3 and 6. Studies involving the HOME inventory found that parental involvement and stimulation opportunity were the most important factors in predicting high IQs.

Genetics and environment both play a role in the development of intelligence in children. Parents of high IQ can pass their intellectual ability on to their children. They are also more likely to provide stimulating environments. While maternal IQ correlates to a child’s IQ, paternal IQ does not. Family income and home life also correlate to a child’s IQ. While poverty is defined by low family income, child poverty includes the inability to meet a child’s basic needs. Children in poverty may lack access to health care, nutrition, safe neighborhoods, and affectionate or supportive parents. Studies using rats found that rats raised in isolation developed fewer neurons than other rats. Children in poverty score 10 to 20 points less than middle-class children of the same age on IQ tests across all ethnic and racial groups. Children’s IQ scores can be improved if positive environmental changes occur. Children from poverty stricken backgrounds who were adopted by well-educated middle-class families scored average or above average on IQ tests.

There are racial and ethnic differences in IQ scores. In the United States, European American and Asian American children score higher on IQ tests (as a group) than African American, Hispanic American, or Native Americans children. Some studies show this gap to be decreasing, while other studies shows little change. Different groups score better in different areas of IQ testing. Black children do well on verbal tasks and Hispanic children do well on nonverbal tasks. These differences may be a result of bias in tests, motivational factors, genetic differences, and environmental differences. Standardized tests may be unfair to minority children if they are geared towards European American children. Language differences may also affect how well a minority child does on a test. However, testing bias is not the sole reason for the IQ gap.

Motivational differences are also a factor. Children from minority groups may feel uncomfortable being tested by a person of another race. Studies show that disadvantaged children score 7 to 10 points higher if they get to know the test giver. Claude Steele noted the stereotype threat. The stereotype threat is fear that African Americans have that they will be judged to have qualities associated with negative stereotypes of African Americans. Steele conducted a study that showed that African American students performed better on a test when they did not think their ability would be evaluated. Another study showed that a student’s test performance suffered if there was a preliminary question asking the test taker’s race. Gregory Walton and Steen Spencer conducted a study on the effects of stereotype threat. They found that stereotype threat accounts for 40 points of the gap in test scores between white students and black or Hispanic students. Margaret Shih found that positive stereotypes can also increase test performance. She conducted a study where Asian American women were given a math test in three ways. In the first, their gender was clear. In the second, their ethnicity was clear. The third condition did not emphasize any identity. The Asian American women performed worse when their gender was emphasized and better when their ethnicity was emphasized. Providing mentorship to disadvantaged children also reduces stereotype threat. Arthur Jenson, Herrnstein and Murray believe that IQ difference between European Americans and African Americans is due to genetic differences. This is a controversial idea which is much debated. Most psychologists do not think IQ gaps are a result of within-group differences but a result of between-group differences. They view the differences between racial groups as the differences between environments generally experienced by each group.

Since more African American children live in poverty than European American children, African American children score lower on IQ tests than European American children do. The environment that a child grows up is a key factor. African American children who are placed in more advantaged homes score average or above average on IQ tests.

Intellectual Disability and Giftedness

Intellectual disability (previously called mental retardation) is intellectual functioning that is significantly below average. Intellectually disabled people are limited in their ability to interact with others and take care of themselves. A person scoring below 75 has limited intellectual functioning. This combined with difficulty meeting mental age expectations results in intellectual disability. In this way, intellectual disability is a product of genetics and environment. The level of intellectual disability varies greatly. Some individuals who are mildly intellectually disabled may be able to work and live independently. Other individuals who score below 20-25 on IQ tests experience major delays in all areas of development and may require basic care.

Intellectual disability can be caused by organic conditions such as hereditary factors (Down Syndrome for example), injury, or disease. As discussed in chapter 3, prenatal risk factors can contribute to intellectual disability. However, in most cases, intellectual disability cannot be clearly traced to an organic cause. It may be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. About 3% of school aged children are diagnosed as intellectually disabled. Parents of intellectually disabled children (especially mothers) experience more stress than other parents. This stress declines when parents are happier in their marriage in in their parenting. As intellectually disabled children grow up they progress through the same developmental course as other children but do so more slowly. They also experience intellectual aging in later adulthood. A study of the “Camberwell Cohort” suggests that quality of life is lower for intellectually disabled adults who were diagnosed early in their lives. Adults who had milder intellectual disability had more positive results and lived in a community (either small group homes or with family).

Children use to be identified as gifted if they scored about 130 on IQ tests. Now, children who have special abilities are also seen as gifted. Children with high IQs do not excel equally well in all areas. Researchers now define giftedness as having high IQ or possessing special abilities in areas that society values. Joseph Renzulli posits that giftedness results from creativity, commitment to a task, and above-average ability.

Giftedness can usually be seen by toddlerhood. Allen Gottfried studied a sample of children ranging from 1 to 8 years of age. He noted which children had IQs above 130 by age 8 and studied the differences between these children and other children earlier in life. Gifted children could be identified (usually through their language skills) by as early as 18 months of age.

Additionally, gifted children tend to be more curious and want to learn. Linda Silverman uses the Characteristics of Giftedness Scale to find out if a child is gifted based on rapid learning, extensive vocabulary, good memory, long attention span, perfectionism, preference for older companions, sense of humor, interest in reading from an early age, ability to solve puzzles and mazes, maturity, and perseverance on tasks. While experts are usually right when they identify a child as not being gifted, some children identified as gifted will fall out of the category as they grow up.

Lewis Terman conducted a longitudinal study of 1500 schoolchildren who scored 140 or above on IQ tests. The children came to be called Termites. His study found that these children also had other characteristics in common. They had higher birth weights and learned to walk and talk earlier than their peers. They also reached puberty earlier and had better health. They were seen by their teachers as being more morally mature. They were quick to take on leadership roles. Even as adults, they fared better than their peers of average intelligence. Less than 5% were maladjusted. They had lower rates of mental illness, alcohol abuse, and delinquent behavior. A majority (88%) of the men had high-level jobs. The women in the group had less career success overall (probably due to sacrificing career prospects to raise families). However, the women were more likely to have careers than women of average intelligence. The termites also aged well and were more active as 60 and 70 year olds than adults of average intelligence.

Some research shows that children of very high IQs (closer to 180 than 130) are socially isolated and unhappy. Some of the children in Terman’s study grew up to lead unhappy lives.

How does Language Develop? - Chapter 10

Language is defined as a communication system where signals in the form of sounds, letters, or sign language, are combined in accordance with predetermined rules to create messages. In language there are systems that govern how words are combined and used. Phonemes are basic units of sound which that can change what a word means. For example, replacing the “c” sound in “cat” with “h” changes the meaning of the word. While the English alphabet has 26 letters, it has more than 26 phonemes since letters have different pronunciations. Morphemes are the basic units for meaning in a word. Some words only have one morpheme. For example the word “view.” Adding another morpheme such as “pre” or “re” in front of “view” changes the meaning. Morphemes should not be confused with syllables. Some words with more than one syllable such as alligator is only one morpheme since the word cannot be divided into smaller meaningful units. In order to master language, one must learn the systematic rules for forming sentences. This is called syntax. Syntax includes an understanding of acceptable sentence structure and an understanding that where a word falls in the sentence changes the meaning of the sentence. Knowledge of the differences in meaning reflects the semantics of a language. To master a language, one must also grasp the pragmatics of language. These are the rules for choosing appropriate language for different social contexts. This involves an understanding of the listener and what she or he wants to hear. How sounds are produced is known as prosody. Prosody includes pitch and intonation, which syllables are emphasized, and the timing of speech.

While infants are unable to form words until they are around 1 year of age, they are listening to speech and making their own sounds. Infants make sounds from birth which helps them exercise their vocal cords and practice different mouth and tongue positions. Newborns prefer speech sounds to non-speech sounds and they prefer their native language to other languages.

By the time infants are 6 to 8 weeks of age, they can coo. Cooing is the repetition of vowel sounds. Infants coo when they are happy and in response to happy voices. At this point, the infant is unable to distinguish the content of what is being said, but coos in response to the way he or she is spoken to. By 3 to 4 months of age, infants make consonant sounds. By 4 to 6 months of age, they begin babbling. Babbling is the repetition of consonant sounds like dada or baba. Before they are 6 months old, most infants sound the same. After reaching 6 months, deaf infants are less able to form syllables than hearing infants. When infants are 7.5 months of age, they can tell that a sentence is a series of words rather than one long word. This is known as word segmentation ability. At 8 months of age, infants babble with an accent and their native language can even be distinguished from their babbling accent. Infants learn to comprehend before they can produce language. By 10 months of age, infants can understand around 50 words while being unable to produce any words. Studies show that the number of words a child understands at this age can predict their later academic achievement. At 10 months of age, children use attentional clues to connect words to what is being referred to.

If their attention is captured by what mom is pointing to, they are likely to connect the thing being pointed to with what mom is verbalizing. By the time infants are one year old, they rely less on personal relevance and more on joint attention and syntactic bootstrapping. Joint attention is also called social gaze. It occurs when two people look at the same thing. An infant will follow a parent’s directed gaze and connect it to what is being verbalized. Syntactic bootstrapping is using where a word is located in a sentence to determine the word’s meaning.

An infant’s first words are called holophrases since the word represents an entire sentence. Infants use the same word in different contexts and say it in different ways to produce different meanings. They can use one word to name, question, request, and demand. They combine words with gestures such as pointing. One year old infants generally talk about objects and people that they interact with on an everyday basis. They also learn words which help them interact with others, such as “hello,” “bye,” “no.” This may be that infants are better able to learn the meanings of nouns and adults tend to use more nouns when speaking with young children. At this age infants learn words one by one and it can take months to build up their vocabulary to include ten words.

At around 18 months of age, infants have a vocabulary spurt where they begin learning words much more quickly. Steven Pinker, an experimental psychologist, suggests that during their vocabulary spurt, infants learn one word every two hours. By the time a child is 2 years of age, they know around 300 words. The vocabulary spurt may be a result of a child’s realization that everything has a name and they can communicate with others through learning to name things. Additionally, the vocabulary spurt appears to parallel the transition from relying on attentional cues to social cues like joint attention.

While children are learning so many words, they make several mistakes. One mistake is overextension, or using a word too broadly to refer to objects or events. For example, a two year old may refer to all four-legged animals (a cow for example) as “doggy.” Another mistake is underextension, or using a word too specifically to refer to objects or events. For example, a two year old may refer only to a German Shepard as “doggy.” Studies suggest that children make this mistake not because they are unable to distinguish between cows and dogs, but rather that they are trying to communicate with a limited vocabulary.

It is important to note that all children learn language differently and at different rates. The generalizations mentioned above do not account for individual differences in speaking style. Cultural differences also occur. For example, American children use more nouns and Korean children use more verbs.

Combining Words

At around 18 to 24 months of age, young children combine two words into a simple sentence. These combinations of two, three, or more words are called telegraphic speech because they exclude articles, prepositions, etc. and focus on the most important content words. For example, a child may so “no want”, or “ where dog.” Lois Bloom refers to these early sentences as functional grammar since they focus on naming, questioning, or commanding. From age two to age five, children greatly increase their ability to produce more sentences and different types of sentences. Their sentences are longer and more complex. While there will still be mistakes, these sentences start to include articles and prepositions.

As children progress in language acquisition, they may make mistakes which should not be seen as a step backwards. For example, a child who was saying “feet” and “went” may start to say “foots” and “goed.” They may actually represent a breakthrough in the child’s understanding of how to make a word plural and how to make a word past tense. Saying “feet” and “went” may have been due to imitating results rather than an understanding of language. A child may over apply new rules, for example applying the rule to irregular words. This is known as overregularization.

Noam Chomsky described a child’s acquisition of language in terms of transformational grammar. Transformational grammar is the rules of syntax for changing basic thoughts into various sentence forms such as questions, negative sentences, and imperative sentences. As children learn to ask questions, they may begin by using rising intonation (“See doggy?”). Later they may use question words like what or where (“Where doggy?”). In the second stage of questioning children use auxiliary verbs (“Where the doggy is going?”). Lastly, they learn the correct transformational rule (“Where is the doggy going?”).

When children enter first grade they generally know around 10,000 words and learn 5 to 13 new words each day they are in elementary school. School-age children can understand passive sentences and conditional sentences. Their grammar improves through adolescence. Children in middle childhood and adolescents are aware that language is a system. This is called metalinguistic awareness. Adolescents are able to define and understand abstract terms better than children (but not as well as adults). They can also infer meanings.

In adulthood, vocabulary continues to improve with increased life experience. Adults refine their language use based on their professional context and social contexts. For example, doctors develop a way to communicate effectively with their patients. Spouses tend to develop ways to communicate with each other that are not used with other people. Language ability tends to remain intact throughout adulthood, except when there is mental decline.

Older adults with hearing impairments may have difficulty distinguishing between some speech sounds. Older adults also use less complex sentences. They may have difficulty understanding complex sentences in cases where they cannot remember the beginning of the sentence.

Language and the Brain

Researchers studied the brains of people with language loss due to brain damage. From these studies, researchers determined that language resulted from activity in the brain’s left hemisphere. An area of the brain called Broca’s area regulated speech production and the Wernicke’s area regulated speech comprehension.

With the advances of technology in the form of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and event-related potentials (ERPs), researchers are better able to understand how brain activity relates to language. When listening to speech, activity increases in the left hemisphere. When processing the melody and rhythm of speech, activity increases in the right hemisphere. Adults who are successful at learning new words have different patterns of brain activity than those who are not. While brain activity during language processing is focused in the left hemisphere of men’s brains, it occurs in the left and right hemispheres of females’ brains. Fibers called the arcuate fasciculus connect the Braca’s area to the Wernicke’s area. Language is first comprehended in the Wernicke’s area and moves to the Braca’s area through the arcuate fasciculus where it becomes speech. When the arcuate fasciculus are damaged a type of language disorder develops where a person can understand language but is unable to repeat it. Language disorders are called aphasia. The Broca’s area shows increased activity when a person sees another person speaking or when a person hears speech.

Influences on Language Development

A child’s environment contributes to how they learn language. Children learn words that they overhear even if the words are not directed at them. Children are more likely to use new words if they are encouraged to do so. While learning theorists can explain how phonology and semantics develop in children, it is challenging to explain how syntax is learned. Studies on how young children and their mothers converse found that a mother’s reinforcement of a child’s speech depended on truth value, not grammatical correctness. Some suggest that children learn syntax through imitation. This is unlikely the case since children use sentences that adults would not. While children do imitate the speech of adults, imitation and reinforcement do not explain how children learn syntax.

A child’s biology also contributes to how they acquire language. Noam Chomsky championed a view that humans have knowledge of a universal grammar. Universal grammar is a system of rules for learning any language. Most of the languages in the world use a sentence structure of subject, verb, object, or subject, object, verb. While this offers a structure for learning language, it is not specific to one language. When a child is exposed to language, areas of the brain called the language acquisition device (LAD) are activated.

LAD filters the language, applies the universal grammar rules, and refines the system to the child’s native language. Children have the “learning ability factor” which is their ability to learn quickly without formal instruction. Children also go through the same sequences at around the same age and often make the same mistakes. This suggests that a species-wide maturational plan exists. Additionally, children progress through the same sequences regardless of differences in culture. Studies on learning a second language also support the nativist position. For example, studies on American Sign Language found that those individuals who learned it in infancy or early childhood mastered it better than those who learned it later. Another study conducted by Elissa Newport found that native speakers of Chinese or Korean who immigrated to the United States before puberty had a much better mastery of the English language than those who arrived after puberty regardless of how long they had lived in the United States. Environmental factors are also influential in that young children are immersed in a second language more than adults tend to be. Early experiences learning language may shape the language-processing areas of the brain. However, there does not seem to be a clear critical time for learning language, only a sensitive time. Researchers have found a gene called FOXP2 which is associated with the motor skills needed for speech. Additionally, identical twins have more similar verbal skills than fraternal twins do.

Interactionists feel that both learning and biology interact in language acquisition. They feel that learning language skills is connected to perceptual, cognitive, social, emotional, and motor skills. The interactionist view is similar to Piaget’s theory that language develops from maturing cognitive abilities. Unlike Piaget, interactionists focus on how a child’s interaction with adults affects the development of cognition and language ability. The speech adults use with children is called child-directed speech. This type of speech involves short sentences which are spoken slowly. Adults use a high-pitched voice and emphasise key words. Key words tend to be objects and activities. Catherine Snow conducted a study that found that Dutch speaking-children that watched German television did not learn German grammar or German vocabulary. This suggests that being exposed to language is not enough to learn a language. Child-directed speech helps children learn better. Adults also use communication strategies such as expansion to speak to children. A child may say “doggy goed.” An adult is using expansion if he or she elaborates, “yes, the dog went in the car.” This type of subtle feedback (in improving communication and in improving grammar) helps children learn language.

Education and Infancy

Mastery motivation is the inborn and universal motivation that infants have to explore, understand, and control their environments. Some infants seem to exert mastery motivation more than others. This may be that some infants are more interested in a certain goal than other infants are. For example, when given a toy one infant may only look at it while another infant will put it in her mouth, chew it, and throw it. This may be that the first infant is less interested in the toy than the second infant. Mastery motivation increases when parents stimulate an infant’s senses through tickling, playing games, etc.

Children of responsive parents tend to be more interested and persistent in accomplishing tasks than children of depressed parents. Additionally children of parents who discourage them are also less interested in new tasks. The level of an infant’s mastery motivation is related to their achievement later in their lives.

While manufacturers market products to encourage early education, David Elkind worries that too much early education interferes with a child’s intrinsic motivation to learn. Dimitri Christakis found that infants who watched Brainy Baby or Baby Einstein videos learned 6-8 words less than other babies for each hour spent watching the videos. It is unknown how this carried into childhood since the researchers did not follow the infants further. One study shows that 4-year olds in academically-focused preschools (as opposed to socially focused preschools) had an advantage in understanding numbers and letters but this advantage was lost by the end of kindergarten. Additionally, the 4-year olds in academic oriented pre-schools were more anxious in testing situations and were less creative. They also had more negative view of school. Deborah Stipek’s study showed that while preschool programs focused on academic achievement raises test scores, they also decrease a child’s sense of achievement. Preschools that intertwine academic activities and play can help young children. This is especially true for disadvantaged children. While many children who attend programs intended to prepare them for school are not more advanced than those who do not, disadvantaged children who attend such programs do better in school than disadvantaged children who do not. The Abecedarian Project is an example of a full-time program from infancy to age 5 for children from low-income families. Head Start, a government funded program, is another example. Another method is to train parents to provide experiences that benefit their children. Born to Learn is such an example.

Education and Childhood: Motivation

By age two, children are able to reflect on their performance as successful or not and seek approval from others when they succeed. By age three, children internalize performance standards and experience pride and shame depending on their achievement of those standards. Carol Dweck describes high and low achievers. Children who are high achievers tend to think they achieve due to internal and stable causes. For example, they think they have high ability. If they fail, they attribute their failure to an external cause such as a test being impossibly hard or the teacher not grading fairly. Students like this have mastery orientation. They believe they will be rewarded for increasing their effort and that they can overcome failure. Children who are low achievers tend to think they achieve due to an external cause such as luck or an internal cause such as working hard. They attribute their failures to low ability (an internal and stable cause). Students like this have a helpless orientation. They give up and stop trying when they fail because they do not think they can improve.

Education and Childhood: Contributions

The age and development level of a child also affects his or her level of achievement and motivation. Children younger than 7 years of age are unrealistically optimistic about their ability to succeed. Young children do not view ability as being stable. They believe ability changes and they will gain more ability as they become more intelligent. This belief leads them to have mastery goals, also known as learning goals, where they try to learn new things to improve their ability. As they grow up, children gain more accurate perceptions of their own abilities. They also start to see ability as unchanging and take on performance goals. This means they no longer try to improve their ability but rather prove their existing ability. This shift results from gaining feedback from others and becoming more cognitively mature. Children who do not shift their focus from mastery goals to performance goals tend to do better in school. For them, the learning process is satisfying. Children who focus on performance goals can become discouraged when they do poorly on a test or receive a bad grade since the grade was the goal. Such children are more bored and anxious which negatively affects achievement. Studies show that mastery goal focused children and performance goal focused children have different brain activity patterns in response to success and failure. Additionally, it is possible to be motivated by both mastery and performance goals simultaneously. A child’s level of intelligence is also a factor. However, motivation clearly plays an important role since children do better in subjects they think are important.

Parents can contribute to a child’s achievement by encouraging independence and self-reliance. They can also stress the importance of meeting high performance standards. Parents can be involved in their children’s education once children enter school. Additionally, parents can provide a home environment that is stimulating to cognitive development. This can take the form of providing access to books, encouraging intellectual conversations, attending cultural events and lectures, and visiting museums. Parents should encourage children to be curious and want to learn. Parents should avoid being too controlling, bribing children for good grades, and criticizing children for bad grades. Children are more motivated when parents focus on intrinsic goals such as learning to broaden a child’s knowledge rather than extrinsic goals such as learning to get high grades. Roland Fryer conducted a study where students were paid to achieve higher grades to see if they could achieve higher standardized test scores. Students in different cities were offered different incentives. Students in Chicago and New York City were paid differing rates for A, B and C test grades (students were paid the most, $50, for A grades). Students in Washington D.C. were paid for attendance and good behavior. Students in Dallas were paid $2 each time they read a book or took a quiz on their reading. The results showed that while students in NYC and Chicago were paid a lot of money for good grades, they did not improve their standardized test scores. Students who were paid for attendance and good behavior had mixed results but showed in overall improvement in reading scores on standardized tests. The students in Dallas who were paid for reading significantly improved their reading comprehension scores on standardized tests. This study suggests that rewarding students for behavior that contributes to a final outcome is more effective than rewarding students for the final outcome.

Schools also affect achievement. Most schools state their goal as improving a child’s learning. However, most schools tend to be competitive situations that emphasis grades and high scores on standardized tests. A study by Elaine Elliott and Carol Dweck found that fifth-graders who were told their performance on a task would be evaluated and compared with their peers did worse on the task than students who were told that working on the task would sharpen their minds. This suggests that teachers should encourage mastery goals rather than performance goals and refrain from comparing a student’s performance to that of other students. Schools can also encourage achievement by encouraging parents to be involved in their child’s education through regular meetings. Additionally, students who like school achieve more in school.

Literacy

Learning to read is an important step in achieving other academic skills. Skilled readers gain an academic advantage since they are able to read more printed material. Unlike learning language, learning to read requires instruction. Children begin by learning the alphabetic principle that letters connect to the sounds in words in a systematic manner. Linnea Ehri describes this as a four-step process. The first step is the pre-alphabetic phase where children memorize visual clues to learn words. A child in this stage may remember words on a page of a book based on the picture on the same page. A child in this stage may also recognize a word by its shape. The next step is the partial alphabetic phase where children learn the sounds and shapes of letters. The next step is the full alphabetic phase where children are able to fully connect written letters and their sounds. Children in this stage have phonological awareness. They are sensitive to a language’s sound system and are able to divide spoken words into phonemes. They can essentially “sound out” a word they do not recognize through using their understanding of phonetics. They are able to use sight reading for words they know so they do not need to sound out each word. The final phase is the consolidated alphabetic phase were letters that commonly appear together are viewed as a unit. “Ing” and “ed” are examples.

Emergent literacy consists of knowledge, skills, and attitudes which preclude reading skills in young children. Children who are more able to focus their attention and have greater working memories tend to be more ready to learn to read than other children. Encouraging these aspects of emergent literacy can improve reading ability. Parents can read to stories to preschoolers. This helps them learn vocabulary and see that spoken words are connected to printed language. Parents should involve children in reading and read stories again and again to help children develop a deeper understanding of the text. Stories and games that make use of rhymes help children develop phonological awareness.

Phonological awareness affects a child’s ability to read. Children with a high level of phonological awareness tend to be better readers than children with a low level of phonological awareness. Studies on eye movements of readers show that skilled readers view each word while unskilled readers skip words. Dyslexia is a reading disability. Most children with dyslexia have auditory perception problems while a minority has visual perception problems where words are read backwards or letters that look similar cannot be distinguished. Studies show that the brains of dyslexic children have different brain activity patterns when responding to speech sounds than the brains of non dyslexic children. Dyslexia persists through the lifespan.

Teaching Reading

There are two main approaches to reading that are often debated. The first approach is the phonics approach. The phonics approach is a code-oriented approach which teaches children to divide words into component sounds. The second approach is the whole-language approach. The whole-language approach is a look-say approach which focuses on reading for meaning which teaches children to identify words by sight. Research shows that the phonics approach is more effective. Children with learning disabilities can play computer games which help them practice distinguishing between speech sounds that are similar.

Factors in Effective Schools

Funding is not a key factor in effective schooling. While reasonable resources are necessary, the exact amount spent on each student does not play a major role in student outcomes. Some studies show that increasing funding to classroom instruction can benefit students. However, simply increasing a school’s budget does not mean that additional funding will be wisely spent. Average class size is also not a major factor in effective schooling. Tutoring students in kindergarten through third grade individually or in small groups can significantly improve math and reading ability. The amount of time children spend in school is also not a major factor in effective educating. Additionally year round school is also not a major factor. Some schools use ability grouping where students are placed in classes with other students of similar ability. This also does not offer a clear advantage except in the case of high ability or gifted students.

Schools that serve students of higher socioeconomic status tend to be more effective. This may be that students in such families have better access to computers and books. Additionally, high-achieving parents are more likely to raise high-achieving children through a combination of genes and environment. The quality of teachers at a school is also a major factor in student achievement. William Sanders used statistical analyses to conclude that teachers are essential to a child learning well. Sanders defines an effective teacher by his or her ability to advance their students each year. Eric Hanushek found that students with the best teachers advanced 1.5 years in a school year while students with the worst teachers advanced 0.5 years in a school year.

Effective teachers expect students to achieve and focus on academics. They create comfortable classrooms and focus on tasks. They discipline effectively. Supportive communities and supportive parents also contribute to effective schools. Parents who are involved in their child’s education encourage student achievement. Additionally, a student’s characteristics interact with the school’s characteristics. Essentially, both must be a good fit. Different students benefit from different teaching methods. For example, high achievers benefit from less structure where they can choose while low achievers benefit from structured classrooms. One study shows that students who are easily distracted benefit from using computers while other students benefited from computer-assisted instruction and a teacher’s presentation.

Education and Adolescence

Deborah Stipek found that as young adolescents move from elementary school to middle school, motivation, grades, and self-esteem, may decline. Leslie Gutman conducted a study with four groups of students: low risk students with high IQ, low risk students with low IQ, high risk students with high IQ and high risk students with low IQ. Students were categorized as high risk if they belonged to a minority group, their mothers received little education or had mental health problems, they had large families, experiences stressful life events and had fathers who were absent. Students of higher risk had steady academic achievement decline regardless of IQ. Students with lower risk factors had small increases in academic achievement until they entered sixth or seventh grade, at which point achievement dropped. Declines in motivation and interest in schools was more prevalent in boys than in girls.

There are several possible explanations for these declines. As children are more able to reflect on causes of events, interpret feedback they receive from teachers, and accurately infer high or low ability, they see their strengths and weaknesses more clearly. This may lead to declines in academic self-esteem and expectations. Students who are able to stay focused on mastery goals rather than performance goals achieve higher grades in high school. Students who attribute success to luck achieve lower grades in high school than students who don’t. The student’s family life also plays a role. Minority students, students from homes where their mom’s received less education, students from single-parent homes lower achievement levels. Students who grow up in small caring families with at least one parent who disciplines them do better in high school. Additionally, students who feel that their parents are involved in their education are more motivated (regardless of how involved their parents actually are). A student’s peers also play a role in his or her academic achievement. James Coleman’s study found that students were more concerned with being athletic or popular than being good students. Some students said they wanted to be average so as to be normal and not too smart. Peer pressure to achieve less is stronger for lower-income males and minority students. African American and Hispanic communities in low-income areas discourage academic achievement while European American and Asian American communities encourage academic achievement. High-achieving African American students may be rejected by their peers as “acting too white.” They may feel that they have to choose between their racial identity and academic success.

African American teenagers with a supportive peer group achieve more academically. Another reason that academic achievement declines in adolescence may be due to an incompatibility between the student and his or her environment. Some studies suggest that the transition between elementary school and middle school during pubertal changes is a factor. For this reason, there was a shift from junior high schools to middle schools (the transition occurred one year earlier before most students reached puberty). However, it is more likely that the environment of the new school has a larger effect on academic achievement than when students transition to a new school. Students move from smaller and elementary schools where they have closer relationships with teachers to larger schools with more impersonal relationships which tend to focus more on performance. Studies show receiving support and encouragement from their teachers is key to an adolescent maintaining intrinsic motivation and positive attitudes towards learning. Additionally decline in academic achievement can be avoided when mothers show high interest in academics and have high expectations.

While elementary school education focuses on reading and writing, secondary school education tends to focus on advanced concrete-operational skills such as skills relating to science and math. Compared to other students around the world, while American students score above the international average, they score far below countries such as Singapore, Korea, and Japan. Harold Stevenson conducted cross-cultural research to understand why American children do not perform as well in science and math. His study showed that Chinese, Japanese, and American children scored similarly on IQ tests when they enter school. The achievement gap occurs due to differences in how education is viewed. He found that asian students spend more of their time “on task” and spend more hours in school per day and more days in school per year. The style of teaching also differs. In China, teachers will continue to discuss correct answers to math questions while in the United States, teachers move on to the next question after the correct answer is given. Asian students are given more homework than American students are. Asian parents are more focused on education, have higher expectations, and communicate more with teachers. Asian peers value education more. Asian parents and Asian communities emphasize hard work as the key to achievement rather than innate ability.

Education and Part-time Jobs

Laurence Steinberg compared non-working and working high school students. He found that while working students learn about work, managing finances, and are more self-reliant, those that worked more than 20 hours per week had lower grade point averages than those that worked less than 10 hours per week. Working students were more likely to be bored with school and skip class. Additionally, working students were more likely to have psychological stress and increased alcohol and drug use due to being more independent of their parents. Other studies show a similar relationship between declines in academic achievement and the number of hours worked at a job. Jeylen Mortimer conducted a study with more positive results where family background and prior academic performance was controlled for. This study showed that working over 20 hours a week did not affect achievement. Students who worked less than 20 hours had higher grades than those who worked over 20 hours or those who did not work at all. Steinberg did find that students who worked over 20 hours per week showed increased alcohol consumption. Research suggests that working while attending school tends to negatively affect achievement. Adolescents tend to work in menial jobs that do not teach new skills.

Education and Adulthood

Achievement motivation that an individual gains in childhood and in adolescence affects outcomes in adulthood. Women that are motivated achievers are more likely to work outside the home. Joseph, Veroff, David Reuman, and Sheila Feld studied achievement motivation in later adulthood. They asked American adults to respond to pictures by telling stories. They found that older men has slightly less achievement motivation than other men. They found that older women had much less achievement motivation than other women. The steep decline was specific to career related motivation and competition. Motivation in other areas remained the same. This is most likely due to women traditionally becoming less focused on careers goals after having children. Highly educated women tend to again become focused on their careers after their children are older. Generally, studies show that shifts in work and family life have a greater effect on achievement motivation than ages does. Literacy is defined as the ability to use printed information to achieve goals, develop potential, and function socially. While few adults are completely illiterate, many adults lack functional literacy. 14% of American adults have a literacy level comparable to that of third grader or lower. 29% of American adults have basic literacy skills. 13% of American adults have proficient levels of literacy. Compared to other countries, the United States has very unevenly distributed literacy with a large group of illiterate adults as well as the most highly literate adults. Literacy is closely connected to socio-economic status. Programs intended to raise the literacy level have been largely unsuccessful.

More and more adults desire continued education. Almost 40% of students in college are over the age of 25. As the overall population ages, this number is likely to increase. Unlike traditional students between the ages of 17 and 24, these adults are motivated by internal rather than external expectations. Men are more likely to return to school to take courses necessary for their work while women are more likely to return to school to take courses for personal reasons such as interest or enrichment. These non-traditional students tend to try harder to understand material. however, there are disadvantages as well. It can be challenging to attend school once one has a job and a family. It may be difficult to find time to return to the classroom. Schools should be aware of these difficulties and be responsive to adult students. The benefits of continued education are far greater in allowing adults to stay competitive in their fields, advance their careers, and maintain both mental and physical health.

How to define Personality and Identity? - Chapter 11

Personality is a person’s attributes, motives, values, and behaviors that make him or her unique. Personality is generally described based on dispositional traits. Examples of dispositional traits are enduring characteristics like introverted or extroverted, independent or dependent. Dan McAdams and Jennifer Pals describe two other aspects of personality as being important: characteristic adaptations and narrative identities. Characteristic adaptations are how people adapt to environments and roles specific to a situation. Examples include goals, motives, plans, and coping strategies. Narrative identities are the stories about our past and future that we use to create our identities. Self-concept is our perceptions of the traits that make us unique. Self-conceptions are not always realistic and depend on our perceptions of ourselves. Self-esteem can be high or low depending on how we evaluate our own worth. Identity is an overall sense of who we are, where we are going, and how we contribute to society.

There are three main theories of personality: psychoanalytic theory, trait theory, and social learning theory. Psychoanalytic theorists rely on detailed interviews, dream analysis and other such techniques. Trait theorists use personality scales and factor analysis. They view traits as fairly unchanging. Trait theorists describe personality based on five-factors called the Big Five. The Big Five include openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. These five trait dimensions are influenced by genetics and can be seen early in a person’s life. Social learning theorists do not view personality traits as developing in universal stages and do not view personality traits as enduring. They believe that people change with their environments. Social theorists view personality as a set of behavioral tendencies which are affected by social interactions.

Infancy

Infants are able to differentiate themselves from the world in the first 2 to 3 months of their lives as they realize their actions cause things to occur. The first six months if focused on exploring their own physical properties and acting upon other people and things. After six months, infants notice that they are separate and have different perspectives than other people, though some perspectives are shared. An example of a shared perspective is joint attention where infants 9 months or older and their parents look at the same object at the same time. This is a shared perceptual experience. Infants sometimes point towards an object to draw another’s attention to it. This suggests that infants are aware that they are not experiencing a shared experience at that moment. Once they reach 18 months of age, infants exhibit self-recognition. This is their ability to recognize themselves in a photograph or a mirror. Younger infants would view such a photograph or mirror image as a picture of another baby. Additionally, babies develop a categorical self. This means that they classify themselves based on age, sex, and other visible characteristics into social categories. Infants younger than 18 months of age (while unable to recognize themselves in a mirror or photograph) can distinguish themselves from others by their gender and age.

Several factors contribute to self-recognition as seen in infants. Cognitive development is one factor. Mentally retarded children are unable to recognize themselves in a photo or mirror until they reach the mental age of 18 months. Social interaction is another factor. Chimpanzees who have been isolated from others do not recognize themselves in a mirror and infants who do not have secure relationships are less able to recognize themselves in a mirror than infants who have secure relationships. Social relationships and feedback are essential to developing to a sense of self. Toddlers who are able to recognize themselves in a mirror are more able to assert their will and talk about themselves. They are also more able to feel self-conscious emotions like pride or embarrassment. They can better coordinate their own perspectives with that of others through imitation, cooperation, and empathy.

Factors Contributing to Temperament

Unlike self awareness, infants are born exhibiting temperament. Temperament is defined as early tendencies to respond to events that build personality in a predictable manner. These are genetically based tendencies. Learning theorists have defined and measured temperament in different ways.

Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess gathered data regarding nine dimensions of behavior in infants. The nine dimensions include: typical mood, regularity of biological functions, response to new stimuli, intensity of emotions, and adaptability. Using these dimensions, the majority of infants can be categorized as easy temperament, difficult temperament, or slow-to warm up temperament. Infants with easy temperaments are generally happy, adaptable, and have regular biological functions. Infants with difficult temperaments have irregular biological functions, react negatively to changes and adapt slowly. Infants with slow-to-warm up temperaments are inactive, moody, and have moderately regular behavioral functions. They are also slow to adapt but respond less negatively than infants of difficult temperaments. They eventually adjust. Thomas and Chess’s longitudinal study found that 40% of infants had easy temperaments, 10% had difficult temperaments, and 15% had slow-to-warm up temperaments. The rest of the infants they studied had qualities of more than one category. Their study further showed that temperament continued into childhood but an adult’s adjustment was not connected to their temperament as infants.

Jerome Kagan studied temperament in terms of behavioral inhibition which is the infant’s tendency to be very shy or anxious in unfamiliar situations or with unfamiliar people. Inhibited children would be described by the Big Five dimensions as introverted and neurotic. Kagan found that 15% of the infants were inhibited, while 10% were extremely uninhibited. Inhibited infants tend to fuss and wriggle more than other infants when responding to novel stimuli. Inhibited infants grow up to be shy children. As adolescents, they tend to be wary of unfamiliar social situations. Kagan posited that behavioral inhibition results from biological factors, as inhibited people have stronger brain responses and faster heart rates when faced with unfamiliar stimuli. Twin studies show that temperament is connected to genes. People with ingrained behavioral inhibition have increased risk of anxiety disorders later in life.

Mary Rothbart discussed temperament in terms of emotional reactions and the regulation of emotional reactions. She describes three dimensions of temperament: surgency/extraversion, negative affectivity, effortful control. Surgency/extraversion is evident from infancy and is the tendency to approach new experiences in an emotionally positive, active, and energetic way. Negative affectivity can also be seen in infancy and is the tendency to be sad, scared, and irritable. Effortful control emerges in toddlerhood or early childhood and is the ability to focus and direct attention, exert self-control, make a plan of action, and control emotion.

An individual’s levels of neurotransmitters and brain function contribute to temperament differences. Environment plays a role in determining the adaptability of temperamental qualities. Thomas and Chess refer to the goodness of fit between a child and his or her environment. Goodness of fit is the compatibility of a child’s temperament with his or her social environment. Children who are behaviorally inhibited or have difficult temperaments can grow up to be well-adjusted adults if they experience a good fit in their environment, such as having supportive or patient parents. Parents should recognize their infants as individuals and adapt their parental behavior guide the infant’s personality development. Parents who receive training on recognizing and interpreting cues from their infants as well as how to respond to their infants properly can guide their children to be cry less and be less irritable as preschoolers (compared to parents who do not receive such training).

Childhood

By the time children are two years of age they are able to use personal pronouns (I, me, my, mine) and address another person as you. A child of preschool age has a self-concept that is concrete. For example, when asked to describe themselves they rely on their physical characteristics, possessions, events and accomplishments, and preferences. By age 8, children describe themselves in more psychological ways. They may describe enduring traits such as smart or funny. They describe themselves in terms of their social identity. For example, they may say which school they attend and if they are a member of a girl scout or boy scout group. Additionally, they are able to use social comparison. Social comparison is using information on how one compares with others to evaluate oneself. Young children lack the ability to compare themselves with others in a realistic way. They tend to think they are the best even when faced with evidence to the contrary. By the time a child reaches first grade, he or she is more interested in making such comparisons and what they imply. As children participate in social comparisons they begin to consider their worth which is connected to self-esteem. Susan Harter describes self-esteem as becoming more multidimensional with age. While preschool aged children tend to describe their competence and personal and social adequacy, children of mid-elementary school age describe themselves in terms of self-worth, school achievement, social acceptance, behavior, athleticism, and appearance. As children grow up, they integrate the different dimensions to form an overall sense of self-worth. Self-esteem does not only have several dimensions, it also has a hierarchy, overall self-worth is above each dimension. As children develop through elementary school, they are able to evaluate themselves more and more accurately. Children also develop a sense of an ideal self, the self they should aspire to be. As children grow up, the real self deviates more from the ideal self. This can result in a decrease in self-esteem.

Factors in self-esteem

Self-esteem is influenced by genetics and experiences. Self-esteem can be circular. For example, a child who does well in school will develop a more positive academic self-concept which contributes to future academic success. The social feedback that parents, teachers and peers give to children has a large impact on self-esteem. A warm, accepting and democratic parental style contributes to positive self-esteem. Once established, self-esteem stays fairly stable throughout the time a child is in elementary school. Effort can be made to increase a child’s self-esteem. However William Damon suggests that children should learn their own limits and not be given an unrealistic sense of their abilities. However, children can be helped in succeeding at tasks which can in turn increase their self-esteem.

Only recently has research been conducted regarding how temperament in infancy is linked to temperament in childhood and personality. Avsalom Caspi conducted a longitudinal study of 1000 children. He found that shy and fearful 3-year olds tend to grow up to be unassertive young adults. Irritable and very emotional 3 year olds grow up to be impulsive adolescents. Well-adjusted 3-year olds tend to stay well-adjusted. Temperament is also connected to the Big Five personality trait dimensions. However, it should be noted that early childhood traits has little correlation to adult traits. While some aspects of personality stabilize in elementary school, other aspects do not stabilize until adolescence or adulthood.

Adolescence

Adolescence is the most important time for self-development. Raymond Montemayor and Marvin Eisen questioned children and adolescents about their self-concepts by asking them to answer the question “Who am I?” They found that as children grow up their descriptions of themselves become increasing psychological and less physical. Additionally, their descriptions become more concrete and less abstract. Adolescents also have a more differentiated self-concept than children do. Older adolescents can integrate their self-perceptions into a coherent self-portrait. Adolescents have more self-awareness and more self-conscious.

Self-esteem decreases from childhood through early adolescence. As adolescents are more aware of their own limitations their self-esteem can decrease. The physical changes associated with puberty can also cause lower self-esteem. Social context also affects self-esteem. Herbert Marsh and Kit-Tai Hau studied the big fish-little pond effect. Their study of over 100,000 15-year olds in 26 countries found that a student who is a big fish in a little pond has a more positive academic self-concept than a student who is a small fish in a big pond. The big fish-little pond effect suggests that a student’s self-esteem can be affected by who they are being compared to.

For example, gifted-students who move from regular classes to more challenging classes with other gifted students may lose academic self-esteem. However, most adolescents enter adulthood with higher self-esteem than they had at the beginning of adolescence. It is important that adolescents can have a sense of approval and support from parents and their peers and attain a sense of accomplishment in areas they value. Adolescents with low self-esteem are more likely to be less healthy, have less financial prospects, and are more likely to engage in criminal behavior than adolescents with high self-esteem.

Identity versus role confusion

Erik Erikson viewed adolescence as critical to the formation of identity. He felt that adolescents had a psychosocial conflict he called identity versus role confusion. To form an identity, one must integrate different perceptions into a whole sense of self. Erikson described adolescents in complex societies as experiencing an identity crisis as their body image changes, cognitive changes and they increase their ability to think hypothetically, and social demands increase. Erikson described a moratorium period which is the time during high school and college where society allows individuals to play with different roles. During this period, a person has few responsibilities but creating a cohesive identity can be challenging because there are many possibilities. James Marcia further developed Erikson’s theory by researching how identity is formed. He used an interview procedure to classify adolescents into categories: diffusion status, moratorium status, foreclosure status, and identity achievement status. Marcia’s key questions revolved around if the individual had experienced a crisis and if the individual had achieved a commitment (resolved the questions raised through the crisis).

Philip Meilman conducted a study of boys and young men to determine how long it takes to establish a sense of identity. Meilman found that boys aged 12 and 15 were in the identity diffusion status or identity foreclosure status. Those in the identity diffusion status did not know who they were or felt that they were going to change. This can be described has having no crisis and no commitment. Those in the foreclosure status have commitment but no crisis. They have formulated an idea of who they are but do so through accepting an identity suggested by a parent or peer. They have not fully considered who they are. Around age 18, the subjects experience the moratorium status where they experience a crisis or try to explore issues of identity. In this status, the individual questions his upbringing. By age 24, over 50% of the subjects are have identity achievement status. In this status, he is able to answer the questions he posed in the moratorium status.

Identity and gender

While women progress at the same rate in establishing a sense of identity, women place more importance on identity in terms of secuality, interpersonal relationships, and balancing family and career goals. This is most likely due to being influenced by a traditional view of gender roles. The formation of a clear identity takes time. It can continue into adulthood as some adults continue in the moratorium status and other adults return to the moratorium status and reevaluate and strengthen their identities. Additionally, different aspects of identity progress at different rates. Identity does not progress in a clear path as identity statuses may be recycled through.

Identity and ethnicity

One aspect of developing an identity centers on an ethnic identity. This is an individual’s sense that he or she identifies with an ethnic group. While all individuals belong to an ethnic group, individuals in minority groups view ethnicity as playing a larger factor in their identities than individuals in majority groups. Studies show that 3 month-old Caucasian infants prefer looking at other Caucasian infants. This was also true for African infants. However, if African infants grew up among Caucasian infants, this was not the case. This suggests that infants develop a preference for the faces they see most. Children of preschool age are able to classify themselves based on their ethnicity. Adolescents form a positive ethnic identity through the same process as they form religious or career identities. An individual is more inclined to develop a positive ethnic identity if their parents teach them about cultural traditions, prepare them for living in a diverse world, and prepare them to deal with prejudice. This should be done in a way that does not cause anger or distrust for other ethnic groups.

Identity and Vocation

Throughout childhood, children narrow their potential career paths. Those younger than ten years of age may not be entirely realistic regarding future career plans. As young as kindergarten, boys and girls choose traditional gender-stereotyped careers and learn about the social status associated with different careers. Adolescents are more realistic and consider what they fare interested in as well as what their abilities are.

Additionally, they also consider their values and what is important to them, for example helping other versus making money. In late adolescence and early adulthood, individuals consider practical aspects of a career such as job availability, years of education needed, and work conditions. Essentially, through adolescence, individuals becoming increasingly realistic about their future career paths and goals. Those individuals from lower income families or minority groups living in poverty may have difficulty developing positive vocational identities. They may begin by aiming high but then settle for the job they view as more attainable. Women who adopt traditional gender-role attitudes may also have low expectations regarding their careers or aim for feminine-stereotyped jobs. Increasingly, more young women are aiming for high-status jobs. Many adolescents do not explore different potential career paths and do not find a career that is a good fit for their personalities or interests. Cognitive growth, personality, relationship with parents, exploration opportunities, and cultural context all affect how identity is formed.

Adulthood

An internet survey shows that there is some truth to the common conception that self-esteem rises as adults gain success and fails as they age. Self-esteem is high in childhood, drops in adolescence, rises gradually in adulthood, and drops in old age (70s and 80s). Other studies show that elderly adults are have more similarities than differences with younger adults. Aging adults can maintain positive self-images through several ways. The first is by reducing the gap between their ideal self and their real self. When asked to assess their ideal, likely future, present, and past selves, the older adult’s self-assessment converged so that the gap between their ideal selves and real selves was less than the gap experienced by children and adolescents. Second, as we progress through our lifespans, the standards by which we measure success change. As a result older individuals may not by as bothered by what a younger individual may deem failures. Third, older adults compare themselves to other older adults not younger adults. Fourth, older adults can avoid losing self-esteem if they can avoid accepting negative stereotypes of aging. Studies show that older individuals primed with positive stereotypes of aging perform the task of walking down a hall faster than older individuals primed with negative stereotypes of aging. Other studies show that middle-aged adults with a positive outlook on aging have better health in older age and can live seven years longer than less positive adults. Klaus Rothermund and Jochen Brandtstadter further studied aging stereotypes and self-perception by asking adults between the ages of 54 and 77 to rate a typical old person and to rate themselves. The respondents were studied over the course of 8 years. The study showed that adults view themselves more positively than they view typically old people. The study also showed that individuals who began the study with negative stereotypes of aging had negative self-perceptions later in the course of the study. This suggests that aging stereotypes do negatively affect self-perception. Self-conceptions are also a result of larger influences of culture. An individualistic culture is a culture where individuals define themselves as individuals and prioritize their own goals over the goals of their social group. A collectivist culture is a culture where individuals define themselves through their group and prioritize the goals of their social group over their own individual goals.

Western cultures tend to be individualistic while Latin American, Africa, and some East Asian cultures tend to be more collectivist. For example, American will describe themselves in terms of their unique characteristics while Japanese are more likely to describe themselves in terms of their roles and social relationships with others. Americans speak more generally about their personality while Japanese describe their personality as specific to different contexts such as school, home, and work. Additionally, members of collectivist cultures tend to be more modest and self-critical.

Personality Changes and Constants Across the Lifespan

Studies where individuals were given personality tests repeatedly over their lifespan show that in terms of the Big Five dimensions of personality, personality is fairly consistent though there is some room for change. As age increases, the tendency to remain consistent also increases as individuals progress through childhood and adolescence where personality is still being formed. Another type of continuity in personality is that the average level of a trait remains stable. While earlier cross-sectional studies showed that older adults and younger adults have very different personalities, this was most likely due to generational differences as a person’s personality is affected by when they were born and the larger environment of their childhood. Other age-group differences are consistent regardless of cohort effects. In terms of the Big Five personality dimensions, extraversion and openness to experience decline slightly while emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness increase. Other studies led to the conclusion that the Big Five are based in biology (genetic influences) and go through a universal process of maturational change. Thus personality is both continuous and discontinuous over a person’s lifespan. Developmentalists have studied what makes a personality stable. Heredity, childhood experiences, stable environments, and correlations between genes and environment contribute to stable personalities. Biological factors such as disease, environmental changes, and lack of compatibility between a person and his or her environment contribute to changes in personality.

While the studies mentioned above were conducted using standardized personality scales, in depth interviews can uncover more growth and change. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development (as discussed in Chapter 2) posits that maturational forces and social forces produce conflicts that should be resolved to create a healthy balance so an individual can gain psychosocial “virtue.” If the question “can I trust others?” posed in stage one (Trust vs. mistrust) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of hope. If the question, “Can I act on my own?” posed in stage two (Autonomy vs. shame and doubt) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of will. If the question “Can I implement my plans and succeed?” posed in stage three (Initiative vs. guilt) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of purpose. If the question, “Am I competent compared to others?” posed in stage four (industry vs. inferiority) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of competence. If the question, “Who am I?” posed in stage five (Identity vs. role confusion) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of fidelity. If the question “am I ready for a relationship?” posed in stage six (Intimacy vs. isolation) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of love.

Susan Whitbourne and Stephanie Tesch conducted a study to measure identity status and intimacy status. They found that the individuals with well-formed identities were more likely to experience lasting intimacy in relationships. Erikson posited that women resolve their identity issues when they find a mate and address their roles as wives and future mothers. Kroger posits that this is only true for some women who have feminine gender role-orientations. Other women due to traditional sex-role expectations resolve intimacy issues through taking on roles as wives and mothers before resolving identity issues. Women with more masculine gender-role orientations resolve their identity issues (such as focusing on career first) before resolving intimacy issues. If the question, “Have I left my mark?” posed in stage seven Generativity vs. stagnation) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of care. If the question “Have I led a meaningful life?” posed in the final stage (integrity vs. despair) is resolved successfully, an individual gains the strength of wisdom.

Robert Butler, a gerontologist, posited that older adults reflect on past conflicts that have not been resolved in order to find meaning and come to terms with their life. This process is called life review. Butler found that life review encourages people to to resolve regrets and adjust better and used the process as a form of therapy.

Erikson and Vaillant found little evidence of a midlife crisis. However, Daniel Levinson proposed a stage theory of development where adults build a “life structure” which they question and change in a repetitive process that occurs every seven years on average. He saw the transition period from 40 to 45 years of age as especially significant, a midlife crisis. Levinson’s theory is not well supported as people may experience changes due to life changes such as divorce, job changes, or the death of a parent at any age. It should be noted that this is not a true psychological crisis, but rather a time of questioning.

Career Path Development and Adjustment

Susan Phillips conducted a longitudinal study which showed that between the ages of 21 and 36, young adults move from open exploration of career possibilities to more specific training to stabilize their chosen occupation. Individuals generally reach the peak of their careers in their 40s. Workers of different ages (even older than their 40s) will repeat the process of exploring and choosing a career and change jobs. Job performance is related to the Big Five dimensions. Compatibility between an individual and their job environment is also important. Another factor is gender. While women are exploring more diverse fields now than they did before, certain roles such as teachers, nurses, and administrative assistants are generally filled by women. There is still a pay gap between men and women as women earn 20 cents less per dollar that men earn. Due to traditional gender-role norms, women may interrupt their careers to start families or refuse promotions that would require more time commitment or relocation. These factors combined with gender discrimination may lead to a pay gap. Older adults may also experience discrimination in the workplace as it is often assumed that they are less capable or motivated. A meta-analysis of age differences as related to vocational functioning shows that age and the quality of job performance are not connected. While older workers did not perform as well in training programs (possibly due to the use of new technology), they performed better than younger workers in good citizenship and safety. Decline in job performance are not significant until workers reach their 70s and 80s. Additionally, older workers have more job experience. Aging adults also use strategies like selective optimization with compensation (SOC) to cope with aging. This process involves selection which is focusing on set goals and the necessary skills, optimization which is the practice of those necessary skills, and compensation which developing ways around the need for other skills).

While a century ago most working adults worked as long as they could, now American adults retire sooner. 50% leave the labor force by age 62-64, two thirds leave the labor force by age 65-69, and 90% leave the labor force by age 70 or above. Many workers retire gradually by becoming self-employed, limiting their hours, or taking part-time jobs. In adjusting to retirement, individuals are met with two main challenges. The first is to adjust to no longer having an occupational role, the second is to develop a meaningful lifestyle outside of their previous careers. Robert Atchley described the phases involved in the transition from worker to retiree. The first phase is the pre-retirement phase where workers research, discuss, and plan for retirement. After retirement, the honeymoon phase occurs where the retiree enjoys their new freedom. Later, they enter the disenchantment phase where they feel that they lack purpose. Lastly, to enter the reorientation phase where they realize a new lifestyle. Studies show that retirement has little effect on adults beyond leading to a decline in income. It does not affect health, social networks, mental health, or life satisfaction.

Theories of Successful Aging

Activity theory posits that aging adults will retain life satisfaction if they can maintain their previous lifestyles and activity levels. In this theory, psychological needs do not changes as people enter old age. Disengagement theory posits that aging adults age successfully through withdrawing from society in a manner that is satisfying for both the aging adult and for society. In this theory, the aging adult has different needs and should leave their old roles and decrease their activity. Neither theory is a clear answer as an individual’s personality plays a key role in successful aging. The key to successful aging may rest in finding a good fit between an individual’s needs and personality and the retirement lifestyle they choose. It is helpful for older adults to focus on a few very important roles, projects, or relationships.

How to define Sex and Gender? - Chapter 12

A person’s gender and sex affects his or her characteristics and roles. Biological sex refers to physical characteristics that make a person male or female. Gender includes society’s associations of men and women. Men tend to have larger bones and more muscles than women do. This is an example of a biological difference. Women tend to earn less income than men do. This is an example of a gender difference. Gender roles are the patterns of behavior that society expects men and women to adopt. Gender stereotypes or overgeneralized beliefs based on assumptions of how men or women behave. Some of these assumptions are connected to biological differences. Unlike men, bear and nurse children. This contributes to the gender norm that women are nurturers and caregivers. The main aspect of feminine gender roles is communality which emphasizes emotion, connecting with others and being sensitive to others. The main aspect of masculine gender roles is agency which emphasizes individual action, achievement and competition. Jean Twenge’s study found that men and women describe themselves more differently in the 1970’s than in the 1990s (when she conducted her study). Modern women now view themselves as having more agentic traits. However, the personality profiles of men and women still relate to gender stereotypes.

Other research conducted by Janet Hyde focuses on the similarities between men and women rather than the differences. The gender similarities hypothesis states that males and females are more alike than they are different. Keep in mind that the findings are based on group rather than individual differences. The study found that females have stronger verbal abilities than males. The difference is small but females outperform males on reading tasks. The study also found that males do better than females on tests of spatial ability. However, females did better on some aspects of spatial ability such as remembering where objects are located. Males and females perform similarly on standardized tests. Females get slightly better math grades than males do in a classroom setting. Males express more positive views of math than females do. In some countries males still outperform females. This may be due to differences in the availability of education. In other countries females outperform males. Females have better memories than males do. Some research states that this is only true in certain areas. Males are more verbally and physically aggressive than females. Boys are more physically active than girls are. Boys are more vulnerable developmentally than girls are. Girls are more cooperative than boys are and follow the orders of adults more. However, they are not more likely than boys are to give into peer pressure. Females empathize more than males. Females are more inclined to have anxiety disorders, phobias, and become depressed. Males are more confident in using computers and use them more than females do.

Alice Eagly’s social-role hypothesis posits that the different roles that men and women have in society contribute to creating and maintaining gender stereotypes. For example, traditionally men have the leadership roles in business while women maintain the role of homemaker. While males and females are very similar in their psychological make-up, they may be steered by society and gender role expectations towards certain roles. Even in a professional setting, women are more likely to be teachers or nurses than men are.

Infancy

Aside from anatomical difference, there are few differences at birth between males and females. Newborn males are a bit more irritable than newborn females. Newborn females are a bit more alert than newborn males. Soon after birth, newborns are treated differently based on their gender. Boys are viewed as stronger, having larger features, and more coordinated. While girls are viewed as weaker, having finer features, and more awkward. Even in the nicknames that boys are girls are given (tiger, or big guy for boys, and sweetie or sugar for girls) gender stereotypes are apparent.

A study which measured visual tracking found that 3-8 month old boys spent more time looking at a truck while 3-8 month old girls spent more time looking at a doll. This suggests that infants recognize gender stereotypic information. By age 3-4 months infants can differentiate between male and female faces, and by one year of age infants can recognize male and females voices and connect them to male and female faces. By two years of age, they look longer at males and females performing tasks that are inconsistent with their gender stereotypes (a male putting on make-up for example) than males and females performing tasks that are consistent with their gender stereotypes (a male mowing the lawn). In categorizing people as male or female, by 18 months toddlers are beginning to understand that they are like other males or like other females. By two and a half years of age, children verbalize their sense of their own gender identity and begin to behave in ways that fit gender norms.

Childhood

Through gender typing children gain awareness of their biological sex and take on the motivations, values, and behavioral patterns that are viewed as appropriate by society. Young children learn gender stereotypes the same time they become aware of their basic gender identity. When shown images of toys that were either masculine-stereotyped or feminine-stereotyped, children as young as 3 years of age were aware of which toys were viewed as appropriate for boys and which toys were viewed as appropriate for girls. In another study, boys and girls also reinforced gender roles in career choices and stated they thought that males were more competent mechanics and females were more competent secretaries. Younger children (4-6 years of age) are more rigid in their views on gender roles than older children are (7-10 years of age). Some younger children may even acts as enforces and tell other boys to not play with dolls. Eleanor Maccoby posits that younger children cognitively exaggerate gender roles to clarify them. Once their gender identities are more fully formed, children then relax in their thinking of what is for girls or what is for boys. Other studies show that a child’s rigidity in regards to gender roles depends on how essential the behavior is to gender identity. For example, a child may believe that it is bad for a boy to wear a dress and it is not as bad for a boy to play with a toy kitchen if they believe the dress is more essential to the feminine gender role. As early as 30 to 36 months of age, children prefer to play with other children of the same gender. This preference becomes even stronger during the elementary school years. Gender segregation happens in many cultures. This may result from the differences in the styles of play that boys and girls partake in. While boys tend to be more physically active than girls, some highly active girls may begin school year playing with boys and end the year playing with girls. This may be an example of socialization pressure to play with peers of the same gender. Children who adhere strongly to gender norms tend to be more popular and accepted socially than children who violate gender norms. Boys are more pressured to conform to these norms than girls are.

Adolescence

Once individuals reach adolescence, they again become more rigid in their thinking about gender norms. While eighth-graders view gender role expectations as social conventions, adolescents view violations to gender role expectations as psychologically abnormal. This may be due to gender intensification where gender differences are exaggerated due to the hormonal changes and pressures that occur with puberty. In the process of gender intensification boys emphasize their masculinity while girls emphasize their femininity. This is connected to influences from peers and an interest in dating. In later adolescence, teenagers become more flexible in their thinking about gender role expectations.

How Gender-Roles Develop: Biosocial Theory

John Money and Anke Ehrhardt proposed the biosocial theory of gender-role development. According to the biosocial theory, biology influences gender development, but early biological developments affect how a child is treated which also has a strong effect on gender development. The theory posits that male and female chromosomes are only the beginning point and other important events influence an individual’s adoption of male or female gender roles. These events include if certain genes are present on the Y chromosome which leads to the development of testes rather than ovaries, if testosterone is secreted which leads to a male internal reproductive system rather than a female reproductive system, if the additional testosterone necessary for the growth of a penis and scrotum is secreted, and how the amount of testosterone affects brain and nervous system development. After birth, a child experiences social labeling and is treated differently based on his or her gender. Children who are mislabeled may take on a gender identity representative of how they are labeled rather than their biological sex. Once individuals reach puberty, biological factors again play a role. Puberty and an individual’s earlier gender identity combine to become a basis for adult gender identity.

Studies show that biological factors affect how males and females develop in many animal species. In the past, mothers who had trouble carrying a fetus to full term were prescribed progestins which converted into testosterone within the body. As a result, female fetuses with female internal organs were born with external organs that resembled those of males such as a large clitoris and fused labia. Studies on androgenized females (girls prenatally exposed to excess androgens) show that even after surgery to change their genitals and being raised as girls, the androgenized females were more likely to be tomboys and prefer boys’ toys. They dated later than other females and a high proportion were homosexual or bisexual. Androgenized females also outperform other females on tests of spatial ability. Some androgenized females are raised as boys until their abnormalities are discovered. Studies suggest that after the age of 3, a child has experienced prolonged gender typing and already label his or herself as a boy or girl. The critical time period for the establishment of gender identity is between 18 months and 3 years of age.

Evidence suggests that testosterone may be partially responsible for males being more inclined for violent acts than females. Female rhesus monkeys who were exposed prenatally to testosterone were more aggressive. Other studies show that men with higher levels of testosterone have higher rates of delinquency, drug abuse, and violence. However, these studies only show a link between aggression and testosterone. They do not show that testosterone causes aggression. Robert Sapolsky, a biologist, posits that being in an aggressive setting raises the level of testosterone.

How Gender Roles Develop: Social Learning Theory

Social learning theorists posit that masculine or feminine identities are learned through differential reinforcement where children are rewarded for sex-appropriate behaviors and punished for behaviors not appropriate for their sex and observational learning where children model themselves after other people of their sex. According to social learning theory, gender-role development is tied to environment.

Parents use differential reinforcement to teach children sex-appropriate behavior. For example, boys are encouraged to play with trucks, blocks, and push-and-pull toys and discouraged from asking for help or playing with dolls. Girls are encouraged to dress up, ask for help, play with dolls and discouraged from running, jumping, or climbing. Fathers are more likely to spank children than mothers are. Boys are more likely to receive spankings than girls are. Barbara Morrongeillo and Kerri Hogg conducted a study where they asked mothers to imagine how they would react if their 6 to 10 year old son or daughter disobeying in a way that may be dangerous. Mothers stated that they would be angry with their sons and disappointed in their daughters. Mothers stated that in the future they would give more rules to daughters but not to their sons since “boys will be boys.” Additionally, fathers are more protective of their daughters of preschool age than of their sons of preschool age. Fathers are more inclined than mothers are to reward gender appropriate behavior and discourage non gender appropriate behavior.

Jacquelynne Eccles conducted studies to explain why girls avoid math and science and women do not choose careers in math and science. Her findings suggest that parents have different expectations of the mathematical ability of boys and girls. Due to larger societal stereotypes parents expect sons to do better in math than daughters. They view math success of boys as due to ability but math success of girls as due to hard work. Children internalize the views of their parents and as a result girls feel less competent and more anxious than boys do regarding their math ability. As a result, girls become less interested in math.

Social learning theorists also posit that observational learning contributes to gender identity development. Children notice which toys are intended for girls and which are intended for boys. They copy individuals of their own sex. Children aged 6 or 7 pay more attention to same-sex models than to other-sex models. They will choose toys that others of the same sex choose even if more attractive toys are available. Children not only learn from same sex members of their immediate surroundings, but also from media such as television, movies, video games, and even books. Male characters in books are still depicted as more physically active and independent than female characters. Additionally, picture books often do not portray fathers. When fathers are portrayed they tend to be aloof and not as involved with their children as mothers are. The same stereotypes exist on TV. Children who watch a lot of TV tend to choose more gender appropriate toys and have stereotyped views than peers who watch little TV. The strongest traditional gender stereotypes seen today tend to exist in video games. Males play these games at a much higher rate than females do. Female characters are depicted as sexually provocative and helpless while male characters are aggressive and strong.

How Gender Roles Develop: Cognitive Theories

Cognitive theorists focus on cognitive aspects of gender-role development and posit that as children understand gender more, they actively teach themselves to be girls or boys. Lawrence Kohlberg’s cognitive theory is based on Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Carol Martin and Charles Halverson Jr.’s theory is based on an information processing approach.

Kohlberg’s cognitive theory of gender typing posits that gender-role development occurs in stagelike changes of cognitive development where children gain understanding of gender before they are influenced by social experiences. Kohlberg’s theory also posits that children are not passive. They are active in socializing themselves. Kohlberg’s theory inverts the positions of the psychoanalytic and social learning models. Those models state that children are influenced by their environments and adopt male or female roles before they identify themselves as boys or girls. Kohlberg posits that children first understand they are boys or girls and then actively try to behave in male or female roles. Kohlberg describes three stages in which children gain gender constancy and understand what being a boy or girl entails. In stage one, basic gender identity is established as children label themselves as male or female. This occurs around 2 to 3 years of age.

In the second stage, children gain gender stability and understand that gender identity is stable over time. This means that they know that girls grow up to be women and boys grow up to be men. This occurs around 4 years of age. The third stage is when children gain gender consistency and know that their sex is stable across situations and will not be altered by clothing or taking part in cross-sex activities. This occurs between 5 to 7 years of age.

Some research contradicts Kohlberg’s theory. One study shows that children who were in the first stage of being able to use gender labels could engage in gender-typed play which by Kohlberg’s theory would not occur until the last stage. Additionally, other studies show that children who are knowledgeable enough about male and female anatomy understand gender stability and constancy earlier.

Martin and Halverson posit a gender schema theory. Unlike Kohlberg, they view self-socialization as beginning by age 2 or 3, around the time that children gain basic gender identities. Children gain gender schema or organized beliefs and expectations about males and females which affect the kind of information they will pay attention to and remember. The schematic-processing model states that children first gain a in-group out-group schema to categorize objects, roles, and behaviors as gendered. In the next step, children search for more elaborate information about their own sex to create an own-sex schema and may ignore information about the other sex. After constructing a gender schemata, children distort new information in their memory to be consistent with their schemata. For example, children shown pictures of gender-consistent and gender-inconsistent activities remember the gender-consistent activities and distort the gender-inconsistent activities to be gender-consistent in their memories. This may explain why gender stereotypes persist since expectations affect how children remember experiences.

Adulthood

Gender roles and self-concepts regarding gender continue to change in adulthood as related to roles of student, professional, spouse, and parent. Once people marry, gender roles may become more distinct. Studies show that a wife do more housework than a husband regardless of her employment status. Once children are born, household chores become more divided in traditional gender-role ways. Once children grow up, male and female roles become more similar again. Gender role similarity continues to increase as adults enter old age.

Psychologists use to believe that agentic traits and communal traits were exclusive of each other. Now there is evidence that some individuals have psychological androgyny and balance or blend agentic and communal traits. This suggests that agency and communion are two different dimensions of personality rather than opposite ends of a spectrum. Studies conducted in the 1970’s show that one-third of adults were androgynous and one-third held traditional gender types.

More recent studies show that women now rate themselves higher in agency but men do not perceive themselves as more communal than before. Men and women evaluate themselves more similarly on agentic traits but still have traditional stereotypes of others. The majority of male and female college students believe the ideal person to be androgynous, able to be independent and resist social pressure but also able to nurture. Androgynous people are highly adaptable and can adjust their own behavior to the situation. Androgynous people have higher self-esteem and are perceived as warmer and more supportive parents. There are downsides as well. During childhood, androgynous individuals may be rejected by their peers for not conforming to gender norms. It may also be necessary to differentiate between positive androgynous and negative androgynous traits.

David Gutmann proposes the parental imperative which is the requirement that mothers and father take on different roles to successfully raise children. He posits that over the lifespan, after raising children, agentic men become communal and communal women become agentic. Another theory posits that adults experience an androgyny shift in midlife where they do not give up traits from before but instead gain qualities associated with the other sex and become more androgynous.

Sexuality in Infancy and Childhood

According to Sigmund Freud humans are sexual beings at birth. Infants in the oral stage of development feel pleasure in mouthing, sucking, and biting. Babies touch their genitals, feel physical arousal, and appear to have orgasms. While infants feel physical sensations, they are not aware that these sensations are sexual. Infants are sexual beings in that they have sensitive genitals and a nervous system which allows for sexual response.

As children age, they gain the knowledge that the main difference between men and women is their sexual anatomy. Additionally, children learn where babies come from. Even without being told how reproduction occurs, children formulate their own ideas. Young children may believe that babies are manufactured in a way similar to how toys are manufactured. Children as young as 7 are aware that sexual intercourse plays a part in reproduction. By the age of twelve, children have a more accurate understanding. Preschoolers between ages 2 and 5 are very curious about their bodies and masturbate and take part in same-sex and cross-sex sexual play such as playing doctor or playing house. While Freud described a latency period during the elementary school years where children became less interested in their sexuality and more interested in learning, studies show that age 10 is an important time in sexual development. This is the time where boys and girls experience sexual attraction for the first time. This is affected by adrenal glands which mature before puberty begins. Sex is also affected by environmental factors. Teenagers with peers who do not use condoms are less likely to use condoms and vice-versa. Culture (conservative or permissive) also affects how teenagers create their sexual identities.

Sexual Abuse

A survey conducted by The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that 25% of women and 16% of men surveyed had been molested. Studies show that the effects of abuse are varied. Victims may experience anxiety, depression, aggression, withdrawal, and low self-esteem. They may perform poorly in school. 20% to 30% of victims experience the symptoms listed above. There is little difference in the symptoms experienced by males and females or the degree of the experienced symptoms. Two main problems are connected with sexual abuse. The first is that the survivor will engage in sexual behavior such as masturbating in public, behaving seductively or promiscuously. This may be a way for individuals to control the trauma they experienced. Second, one-third of survivors have post-traumatic stress disorder where they have nightmares, flashbacks, and feel helpless or anxious. While one-third all all abused children do not experience any psychological symptoms, some children develop severe disorders. Children have more trouble coping with the trauma if the abuse involved penetration or occurred at frequent intervals over a longer period of time. Additionally, if the abuser is a close relative or if the victim’s mother did not provide emotional support a child has more difficulty coping.

Sexuality in Adolescence

Developing a sexual identity is important in adolescence, as individuals must realize their identities not just as males or females but as sexual males or sexual females. They realize how to express this sexuality and experiment with sexual behavior. One key awareness is an awareness of one’s sexual orientation or sexual preference for male or female partners, or both. Sexual orientation is not categorized in some cultures and exists on a continuum. However, we describe people as being primarily, heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. Most heterosexual individuals come to terms with their sexual orientation easily. However, homosexual and bisexual individuals may experience more challenges in accepting their sexual orientation in the face of negative social attitudes towards them. Additionally, they need to establish a positive identity. Heterosexual adolescents also experiment with homosexuality, though about 5% to 6% of adults have an long lasting homosexual or bisexual orientation.Contrary to stereotypes, gay men and lesbian women have the same psychological attributes as heterosexual individuals. Sexual orientation is influenced in part by genetics as twin studies show identical twins as more similar in sexual orientation than fraternal twins are. However, environment also plays a part as in 50% of the identical twin pairs studies, sexual orientation differed between the identical twins. A higher percentage of children who clearly preferred toys intended for the opposite gender grow up to define themselves as homosexual. However, this is true only for some individuals. We do not yet understand what environmental factors contribute the actualization of a genetic predisposition towards homosexuality. One hypothesis suggests that hormonal influences in the prenatal period of development has an affect on sexual orientation as androgynous females are more likely to be homosexual and males with older brothers are more likely to be homosexual. Another hypothesis is that biological factors and environmental influences interact to influence sexual orientation.

Attitudes towards sexual morality have changed greatly in the last century. Research on sexual attitudes suggest three key changes. 3 out of 4 adolescents believe that sex in a committed relationship is morally acceptable even if the individuals are not married. However, they do not find casual sex (without emotional involvement and outside of a committed relationship) to be morally acceptable. The average teenager waits 5 months before having sex with a romantic partner. Casual and frequent sex with more than one partner is not the norm for adolescents. Additionally, the double standard (which states that sexual behavior that is morally acceptable for men but not for women) has declined. It is no longer viewed as morally acceptable for men to “sow their oats” while women have to stay virgins until they are married. However, the double standard still exists to a certain extent as a woman who has many sexual partners is viewed as more immoral as a man who has many sexual partners. Finally, research also shows that adolescents receive confusing messages about sexual norms. Television and film send a different message than parents do.

Not only has attitudes towards sex changed, sexual behavior has also changed. Teenagers now engage in more intimate sexual behavior earlier than those of the past. Rate of sexual activity has increased. The percentage of both males and females who have had sex has also increased. A greater change has occurred in the sexual behavior of girls than of boys. This may be due to the declining double standard. There are higher rates of oral sex than intercourse as 80% of college students view oral sex as “having sex.” Teenagers today view oral sex as being less intimate than intercourse. This leads to teenagers’ perception that oral sex is safer than intercourse. While this reduces pregnancy rates, it does not prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Adults urge teenagers to abstain from having sex too young because they worry that early sexual behavior leads to risky behavior resulting in unwanted pregnancy or STI transmission. Jessica Siebenbruner conducted a study to see later behavior could be predicted. The researchers studied three groups of 16 year-olds who had been evaluated on various measures at the ages of 6,9,12, and 13. Researchers categorized the participants based on self-reported behavior at age 16 as sexual abstainers who had never had sex, low-risk takers who had five or fewer partners and always used contraception, and high-risk takers who had six or more partners and did not regularly use contraception. This study showed that high-risk takers had past behavioral problems and were more likely to have a mother who was not married at the time of their birth. They grow up in less emotionally supportive homes. The low-risk takers and sexual abstainers had more similar childhoods that did not diverge until adolescence. At age 13, the low-risk takers appeared more physically mature than the abstainers, had more romantic relationships, and were more likely to use alcohol. This study suggests that parents should be aware of behavior across childhood and adolescence and focus less on if their children are having sex or not. Adolescents who are psychologically unprepared for sex may experience unintended pregnancy or STIs. Adolescent couples often do not use contraception. This may be partially due to not being cognitively mature enough to realize the consequences of risky behavior.

Adolescence who give birth have their education interrupted which results in lower income. If the young mother goes back to school and limits her family size, her situation is likely to improve. Teens who feel close to their parents, particularly their mothers are less likely to engage in early sexual activity. Parents should communicate with their teenagers about sex regularly and clearly.

Sexuality in Adulthood

Adults have a varied sexual lifestyles. While some adults stay single, some search for a a range of partners. Almost 9 out of 10 Americans get married. Men tend to have more sexual partners than women do and report more sexual activity than women do. Most people have one sexual partner at a time. The quality of sex appears to decline over the course of a marriage. Men’s sexual satisfaction in marriage is mostly determined by the frequency of sex. As people age, they continue to be sexual beings. A survey of 6000 adults between the ages of 25 and 85 showed that most adults reported being sexually active and interested in sex. There was little gender difference in the younger adults and larger gender differences in the oldest adults as men aged 75 to 85 were twice as active and four times more likely to be interested in sex than women of the same age group. The occurrence of the transmission of STIs in people aged 45 and older has doubled. This may be due to their lack of using contraception when no longer able to bear children. Older adults experience a decline in sexual interest in part due physiological changes in sexual capacity. For example, an older man is slower to become aroused, slower to ejaculate, and slower to recover. Levels of male sex hormones decline with age. Women experience less dramatic physiological changes. Like older men, older women are slower to become sexually aroused. Other factors such as infirmity, disease and disabilities that occur in old age can diminish sexual activity. Social attitudes also affect how older individuals view sexual activity as they feel they are discouraged from expressing sexual interest. Additionally, there are fewer single older men to partner with older women, most of whom are single, widowed, or divorced.

How do Morality and Social Awareness Develop? - Chapter 13

The term social cognition refers to the perceptions, thoughts, emotions, motives, and behaviors of ourselves and other people and groups. In one study method, a young child experiences a research scenario where he or she witnesses a girl named Sally placing a marble in her basket and leaving the room. While the girl is gone, another child comes and take the marble out of the basket and puts it in a different basket. The young child is then asked where Sally will look for the marble. The false belief task gauges the understanding that people can have incorrect beliefs which can affect their behavior. Simon Baron-Cohen, Alan Leslie, and Uta Frith used this task to study if young children, children with autism, and children with Down syndrome have a theory of mind which is an understanding that people have mental states such as beliefs and intentions which guide behavior. Theory of the mind is also known as mind-reading skills. Children who pass the false belief task say that Sally will search for her marble in the basket she put it in rather than the basket it was moved to. Essentially, Sally’s actions is guided by her false belief that the marble is still where she placed it. The study conducted by Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues found that 85% of young children and older children with down syndrome passed the false belief task while 80% of children with autism (with mental ages greater than those of the children with down syndrome) failed the test. This suggests that autistic children lack a theory of mind to help them in interacting with others.

Theory of Mind: Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence

Most children are unable to pass false belief tasks until they are 4 years of age. However, researchers believe that a theory of mind beings to form in the first two years of age. Researchers detected some abilities that are signifiers of a theory of mind. Most of these skills are deficient in autistic children. Around 9 months of age, infants and their parents take part in joint attention where they both look at the same object at the same time. By pointing to encourage others to look at a certain object, infants show they are aware that others have different perceptions. In their first month infants understand that others have intentions. When infants pretend play between 1 to 2 years of age, they show an understanding between the differences of pretense and reality. In their first year, infants imitate others which shows they can mentally represent their actions. Infants who comfort others who are crying show emotional understanding. Researchers who simplified the false belief task claim that infants as young as 15 months of age understand that people can have false beliefs. This claim is debated but does suggest that infants know more about the world then previously thought. More solid evidence can be seen in the speech of 2 year olds. Other studies show that 2 and a half year olds will try to mislead others by trying to plant a false belief in the experimenter. For example, children will erase footprints they’ve made in sand leading to the hiding spot of a gold coins and jewels and place fake footprints going in a different direction. From these studies, Henry Wellman posits that theories of mind in children develop in two phases. The first occurs around two years of age and is called the desire psychology where toddlers state what they want and explain behavior in terms of desire.

The second phase occurs around four years of age is and called belief-desire psychology where children understand that people’s actions result from desire and the belief that some actions will help them achieve their desires. In terms of the nature and nurture debate, evolutionary theorists posit that a theory of mind became an aspect of biological endowment through natural selection. Additionally, studies of other primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and great apes show that they share the same basic theory-of-mind skills that people have. For example, primates can deceive to get what they desire. Human children have more advanced theory-of-mind skills than primates and are more successful at games which require cooperation to achieve a goal. The development of a theory of mind also relies on a certain level of biological maturation in neurological and cognitive development. Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging show that adult brains respond differently to false belief tasks than when shown a false photograph. Children between the ages of 4 and 6 who pass false belief tasks show activity in the same areas of the prefrontal cortex that adults use to think about the beliefs of others. However, children who fail these tasks use different parts of their brains.

Mirror neurons, which are neurons that become active when one performs a task and also become active when one views another person performing a task, have been discovered in several parts of the brain. Researchers think that mirror neurons play a role in imitation, understanding theory of mind, and empathy. These areas are all pose a challenge to people with autism. On the nature side of the debate, theorists argue that developing a theory of mind also requires interacting with others. Studies show that social interaction through language is necessary in the development of a theory of mind. Additionally, the way parents, especially mothers, speak to their children affects the child’s theory of mind. Mothers who use language appropriately and elaborate when speaking to the children and mothers who encourage their children to try to feel empathy have children with more advanced theory of mind skills. Theory of mind development also differs based on culture. In cultures such as the Junin quechua people of Peru who have few words for beliefs and do not talk about them, children as old as eight years of age have trouble understanding false beliefs. Children with advanced theory of mind skills tend to have more advanced social skills and adjust better socially. They understand the feelings of others and can think more maturely about issues of morality. Keep in mind that advanced theory of mind skills can also be put to negative use (for example, bullies and people who are good liars).

While young children often describe themselves and others in terms of physical characteristics or global terms such as “nice”, or “good” and are unaware that personality traits are enduring, they understand more than previously thought. For example, children aged 4 or 5 seem to understand that selfish behavior is a result of the trait of selfishness and can predict that a person with this trait may act selfishly in the future. By the time a child is 7 or 8 year of age, he or she is better able to describe people by their enduring psychological traits. By age 11 or 12, children can connect traits to motivations for behavior. Adolescents are able to construct integrated descriptions of a whole personality and incorporate inconsistencies. For example, a classmate who sometimes brags about his abilities but at other times appears to be insecure may be an insecure individual who brags to hide his insecurity.

As children grow up, they also become less egocentric and develop social perspective-taking skills. These are also referred to as role-taking skills. They are the ability to take on another person’s perspective to try to understand another’s thoughts and feels in relationship to one’s own thoughts and feelings. These skills are necessary when considering moral issues and also develop in stages. Children between 3 to 6 years of age tend to be egocentric and assume that their point of view is shared by others. Children between 8 and 10 years of age are aware that two people can have differing views, even when given the same information. Adolescents of 12 years of age are able to mentally juggle several perspectives which includes the larger society. Children are more likely to advance in social cognition when their parents are good role models, consider the feelings of their children, and explain to discipline their children rather than punishing them.

Adulthood

Studies suggest that social cognition continues to improve in adulthood. Results regarding elderly adults are more mixed but also suggest that social cognitive skills do not lessen with age. Other studies which suggest a that theory of mind skills do decrease in older adults found that the declines may result from decreased fluid intelligence, executive functioning, and the speed of information processing. Additionally, a decline in memory may also lead to poorer performance on theory of mind tasks. However, compared to non-social cognitive tasks, older adults are able to perform social cognitive tasks better. This may result from the slower rate of aging of the cortex which is connected to social cognition and emotional understanding. Another important research study found that older adults differ greatly from each other in social cognitive ability. Adults who have shaper social cognitive skills are more socially active and take part in more social roles than adults with duller social cognitive skills.

Moral Development

Morality is difficult to define but can be described to be the ability to differentiate right from wrong, to act in ways that are right, and to take pride from doing the right things and feel guilty when doing the wrong things. Developmental scientists are interested in three components of morality. The first component is affective or emotional and involves the feelings related to right and wrong actions. The second component is cognitive and involves social cognitive skills like role taking to conceptualize right and wrong and decide how to act. The third component is behavioral and involves how we behave when faced with choosing between right and wrong.

Morality and the Psychoanalytic Perspective

Moral affect or emotion are related to right and wrong in that negative emotions such as shame, anxiety, fear of being caught, or guilt steer us away from doing what we know to be wrong. Pride may steer us towards doing what we know to be right. Empathy is the ability to vicariously experience the feelings of another person. While empathy is not a specific emotion, it is viewed as important in moral development. The ability to empathize with people who are suffering leads to prosocial behavior which are positive social acts such as sharing or helping others. Empathy can also stop us from hurting others.

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory (discussed in Chapter 2) states that the superego forms when children are 3 to 6 years of age and in the phallic stage. Freud stated that the superego made sure that the plans of the rational ego to satisfy the urges of the id are morally acceptable. In this sense the superego is conscience. The superego forms when children in the phallic stage feel conflicted over their love for the parent of the opposite sex and resolve this conflict by taking on the moral standards of the parent of the same sex. Certain aspects of Freud’s theory are not supported. For example, cold and punitive parents do not more morally mature children. Instead, children develop a strong conscience when they have warm and responsive parents. Contrary to Freud’s prediction, males do not have stronger superegos than females. Moral development has been seen to begin developing before the phallic stage and continues beyond the phallic stage. Other research supports Freud’s main theory. For example, research shows that moral emotions are important to motivating moral behavior. Relationships with parents in early childhood affects moral development. Children should internalize moral standards in order to behave morally even when a parent is not there to punish bad behavior.

Morality and the Cognitive Developmental Perspective

Moral reasoning is the thinking process whereby an act is determined to be right or wrong. Cognitive theorists take the assumption that moral development is dependent on social cognitive development. Through social cognitive skills such as social perspective-taking, one constructs an idea of reciprocity or an equal give and take between individuals in a relationship where both individuals view the relationship as fair from the perspective of the other individual. Moral reasoning develops in a fixed series of universal stages. Cognitive theorists focus on the motivations behind actions rather than the actions themselves.

Jean Piaget formulated a moral developmental theory of a premoral period and two moral stages. The premoral period occurs when children are of preschool age. In this period, children do not understand rules and are not moral beings. The first moral stage is heteronomous morality which occurs when children are 6 to 10 years of age. In this stage, children take rules seriously and view them as fixed because they are given by authority figures. They judge breaking rules based on the resulting consequences and do not consider intentions. The second moral stage is autonomous morality which occurs around age 10 or 11. In this stage, children view rules as agreements between people that can be changed through consent. Children consider a person’s intentions when judging actions.

Lawrence Kohlberg asked 10, 13, and 16 year old boys questions involving moral dilemmas gauge their thinking. He formulated a cognitive developmental theory of moral development with a fixed sequence of three moral levels. Each level has two stages with each stage growing out of the previous stage. The first level is Preconventional Morality where rules are outside of the self rather than internal. Children in this level obeys rules of authority figures to avoid punishment and to gain rewards. They view what is right s what they can get away with and what is satisfying to them personally.

In first stage of the pre-conventional morality level is punishment-obedience orientation where the right or wrong of an action is based on the resulting consequences. Rules are obeyed to avoid punishment. Stage two is instrumental hedonism where a person obeys rules to gain a reward to personal satisfaction. The second level is Conventional Morality where individuals have internalized some values. He or she tries to follow rules to gain approval and later to keep social order. Stage three is “Good Boy” or “Good Girl” morality where right actions are those that pleases others. It is important to have good intentions and to be nice. This stage may involve reciprocity. Stage four is authority and social order maintaining morality where right actions are good for society as a whole. People in this stage conform out of a belief that it is necessary to keep the rules that keep social order. The third level is Postconventional Morality where right is determined based on principles of justice that exist separate of authority. People in this level can differentiate between what is legal and what is morally right. Stage five is the morality of contract, individual rights, and democratically accepted law stage. This is a social contract stage where one understands the reason laws exist and the purpose they serve. A person in stage 5 may challenge an established law they view to be against basic rights of democracy. Stage 6 is morality of individual principles of conscience. This is the highest stage of moral reasoning where right and wrong is determined by universal principles generated by oneself. A person in this stage reflects to find abstract principles that respect the rights of individuals which all moral authorities would find acceptable. This is Kohlberg’s idea of ideal morality. However, he stopped trying to measure because it is seldom seen.

Unlike Freud who focused on the parents’ role in moral development, Piaget and Kohlberg cited cognitive development and social interaction as the two key factors in moral development.

Morality and the Social Learning Perspective

Social theorists like Albert Bandura posit that moral behavior is learned through observation and reinforcement principles or punishment principles. They view morality as dependent on the situation where the moral dilemma arises. Bandura focused on self-regulatory mechanisms where we monitor and approve of or disapprove of our own actions. In this way we regulate our behavior. Bandura also described moral disengagement mechanisms where we do not judge ourselves even when we act in a way we know to be wrong. For example, an employee who feel underpaid and overworked may feel justified in stealing items from the store. Individuals who very skilled in moral disengagement tend to be the most antisocial and act in more unethical ways.

Morality and Evolutionary Theory

Dennis Krebs and other evolutionary theorists studied how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that may be considered moral helped humans adapt to environments through evolution. Behaviors such as cooperation may have come out of an increased likelihood of survival if people worked together to get food. The avoidance of doing harm to others may also come into being since the survival rate increases. Additionally, being altruistic to kin allowed our ancestors to pass on their genes.

Infancy

Infants are often seen as lacking a sense of morality or as amoral. While infants are unable to reflect on their actions based on standards of morality, they are predisposed to be social and to feel empathy. Children learn and internalize moral rules through social learning experiences. Infants learn that their actions lead to positive and negative reactions. By the time an infant is 18 to 24 months of age, they show visible distress when they expect to be reprimanded for breaking a rule. Some toddlers show guilt rather than only distress and are able to judge others based on if they behave morally. According to Grazyna Kochanska a secure parent-infant attachment is necessary for moral socialization to begin. When there is an insecure parent-infant attachment when the infant is 15 months old, at age 4 he or she will resent and oppose parental control and will behave aggressively and be disruptive at age 5. The parent and child should share a mutually responsive orientation which is an emotionally positive relationship with both parties care about the needs of the other party. This kind of relationship results in children trusting their parents and wanting to follow rules and adopt the values of their parents.

At birth, infants exhibit a primitive form of empathy and show anxiety when they hear other infants cry. Newborns are most likely unable to differentiate another’s stress from their own. Toddlers, however, will try to comfort someone who is distressed. Prosocial behavior such as sharing and comforting increases between one and two years of age. As children grow up, their empathy is less self-centered as the child develops social perspective-taking skills.

Childhood

Both Piaget and Kohlberg posited that moral reasoning does not occur until 10 years of age. Recent studies suggest that both theorists underestimated children. Sharon Nelson conducted an experiment where she asked 3 year old children to listen to a story about a boy throwing a ball to his friend. She showed the children drawings to illustrate potential scenarios where the boy had a good motive (to share his ball) or bad motive (to hit his friend with the ball) and positive consequences (the friend caught the ball and was happy to play) or negative consequences (the friend was hit by the ball and hurt). The three year-olds viewed the actions with positive results as better than the actions that hurt the friend. The three year olds also viewed the child with good intentions better than the child who wanted to hurt his friend. This suggests that even very young children are able to judge morality based on intention as well as consequences.

In another study which contradicts Piaget’s theory that children between the ages of 6 and 10 view rules as unchangeable, Elliot Turiel found that young children can differentiate between moral rules and social-conventional rules. Moral rules relate to the welfare and basic rights of a person while social-conventional rules describe what is appropriate in certain social situations. Studies show that children as young as preschool age understand moral rules as more unchangeable than social-conventional rules. Additionally, children of school age are able to challenge authority and do not blindly accept all rules.

As children develop theory of mind and are able to pass false belief tasks, they are better able to determine if an act was intentional or not. They can also distinguish between lying and not knowing the right facts. Through theory of mind skills, children as young as three are able to understand people’s emotional reactions which is important in differentiating between right and wrong. Children with developed theory of mind skills are better able to feel empathy for others. Bandura and other social learning theorists suggest that parents should reward moral behavior and punish immoral behavior. Additionally parents should act as positive moral role models for their children. Martin Hoffman makes additional suggestions after finding three main approaches to discipline as described in books on raising children. The first approach is love withdrawal which is the withholding affection or approval if a child behaves immorally. The second approach is power assertion which is using power to punish. the third approach is induction which is explaining why a certain action is wrong and how it negatively affects others. Hoffman views induction as helping children’s moral development more than the other two approaches. Hoffman also states that mild power assertion tactics such as saying NO forcefully or not allowing the child certain privileges can be used infrequently. Parents should use proactive parenting strategies to prevent immoral behavior and thereby lessening the need for discipline. However, parents generally use a combination of approaches as different situations may require different tactics. The essential element is a positive relationship between parent and child.

Adolescence

Moral development grows significantly in adolescence as adolescents move from preconventional reasoning to conventional reasoning (instrumental hedonism to good boy or girl to authority and social order-maintaining morality). While most adolescents internalize moral standards during this period of their lives, others behave antisocially. The majority of antisocial adults were once antisocial children and teenagers. They may break laws as minors (juvenile delinquency), leave school early, and have unhealthy or otherwise abusive relationships. They may be diagnosed as having conduct disorder which is a continued pattern of breaking social norms. As adults, they may find it hard to keep a job. However, the majority of aggressive adolescents do not develop into antisocial adults. Adolescents can be categorized into two groups: early-onset and late-onset. The early-onset group behaved antisocially in childhood, for example, by torturing animals or hitting other children. The late-onset group does not behave antisocially until adolescence.

Studies show that some juvenile delinquents use more pre-conventional rather than conventional moral reasoning. Aggressive adolescents are less likely to feel empathy or guilt. In this way, their moral emotions do not encourage them to behave in moral ways.

Social Information-Processing Model of Aggressive Behavior

Kenneth Dodge posits that the way a person reacts to being provoked, angry, or frustrated is more dependent on how he or she processes information than on the social cues of the situation. A person who is provoked advances through six steps of information processing. The first step is encoding of cues where information is taken in. The second step is the interpretation of cues where information is processed to determine what caused the other person’s actions. The third step is clarification of goals where the person decides what should be achieved in the situation. The fourth step is response search where the person thinks through potential actions to achieve the goal. The fifth step is response decision where pros and cons of each potential action are considered. The sixth and final step is behavioral enactment where action is taken. Dodge’s steps may not occur in order with some steps occurring at the same time. People of differing ages have different skills in acting out the six steps. Older children are better at interpreting situational cues than younger children. Very aggressive youths have difficulty processing information at each step and may process information in a biased way. Aggressive youths may act on impulse instead of reason. They process in information processing by assuming that the action that provoked him or her was deliberate and meant to cause harm. The goal is to get revenge. After considering alternative actions, an aggressive youth is likely to choose the aggressive response and then carry it out.

Coercive Family Environments

Gerald Patterson conducted studies that found highly antisocial youths tend to grow up in coercive family environments where family members struggle for power and use negative and coercive tactics to control each other. When parents and children both use coercive tactics such as negative reinforcement punishment tends to escalate. As a result children from such families are more likely to try to solve disputes in aggressive ways. In Patterson’s model of development being poorly disciplined by parents leads to conduct problems in early childhood. This results in being rejected by peers and academic failure in middle childhood. In later childhood and adolescence, the individual chooses a deviant peer group which leads to delinquent conduct.

Biological Factors and Environmental Influences on Antisocial Behavior

If we discuss aggression in the context of evolution, we describe males as more aggressive than females. Regardless of gender, some people are more genetically predisposed to be more irritable or behave impulsively. 40% of individual differences in antisocial behavior can be ascribed to genetic differences while the remaining 60% can be ascribed to environmental influences. Through gene-environmental interaction, children predisposed to be antisocial maybe become so if they grow up in abusive families or have parents with poor parenting skills.

Through gene-environmental correlation, children genetically inclined towards aggression draw out the coercive parenting described by Patterson. The evocative gene-environment correlation is seen in studies on aggression inclined children growing up with adoptive parents who bring out negative parenting in their adoptive parents. The prenatal environment through alcohol, drug, or lead exposure can also lead to behavioral problems. Different cultural contexts also contribute. Children in Japan are encouraged to value social harmony. Japanese children get angry less easily and respond less aggressively than American children. Additionally, Hispanic children who are taught value family are less likely to be antisocial than American children. Socioeconomic status also contributes to aggression. Schools with high bullying rates also contribute to aggression. Bullying is the repeated negative behavior in the form of words or actions of children towards other weaker peers. Kenneth Dodge tried to combine these various influences of aggression into a model he calls the dynamic cascade model that shows how these influences result in repeated and serious antisocial behavior in adolescence and adulthood.

Preventing Antisocial Behavior

Experts tend to believe that prevention of antisocial behavior should begin in early childhood through positive parenting. Programs like the Fast Track Program teaches social information-processing skills, how to improve academic performance, and how to manage behavior to parents across a ten year span of time (beginning when the child is in first grade). The program engages with the highest risk children. It is even more challenging to try to correct antisocial behavior in later childhood or adolescence.

Adulthood

According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development postconventional moral reasoning does not occur until adulthood. Kohlberg conducted a longitudinal studies over the course of 20 years and found that most adults in their 30s were able to reason at a conventional level. Some adults in this age group had moved from stage 3 to stage 4. A small group had moved to stage 5. This shows that morality continues to develop in early adulthood.

There are challenges to Kohlberg’s theory. Some people feel that his theory is culturally biased against people from non-Western cultures. Cross-cultural studies have found that stage 5 (the postconventional moral reasoning stage) occurs most often in Western cultures. People from cultures which strive for social harmony and the needs of the group over individual needs appear as stage 3 conventional moral thinkers according to Kohlberg’s stages. Other studies found that people of different cultures consider the breaking of some laws as significant in one culture and less significant in another. Such cross cultural studies suggest that morality is not as universal as Kohlberg posited. Other critics say Kohlberg’s theory is biased against political conservatives and only a person with liberal views can be categorized as in stage 5. Kohlberg’s theory has also been criticized for gender bias against women as his stages came out of interviews with men. Carol Gilligan described two types of morality, a masculine morality of justice which focuses on individual rights, laws and fairness, and a feminine morality of care which focuses on being selfless and caring for others.

In Kohlberg’s stages, women appeared to reason at stage 3 while men reasoned at stage 4 due to the differences between the two moralities. However, Gilligan’s claims have not been widely supported as women reason as complexly as men in the majority of studies. The largest criticism of Kohlberg comes from his overemphasis on moral thinking and lack of discussion on moral emotions and moral behavior. In his theory, Kohlberg posited that pre-conventional thinkers would be tempted to behave immorally if they were unlikely to be caught and that postconventional thinkers would not behave immorally because they understood the immoral behavior to be wrong on principle. While research supports higher moral thinkers as more inclined to behave prosocially, there is not a strong link between the stage of moral reasoning and moral behavior.

More recent developmentalists are exploring how emotion contributes to morality. Some feel that gut emotional reactions are essential to morality. For example, most people instinctively feel repulsed by the idea of cannibalism. Jonathan Haidt posits that humans have quick moral intuitions that are more crucial than reasoning in making moral decisions. Haidt believes that reasoning occurs after the behavior has taken place to rationalize it. Other developmentalists suggest a dual-process model of morality where both reasoned thought and emotion or intuition are factors in making moral choices.

While Kohlberg saw religion as separate from moral development, it is clear that they are connected as many people’s moral decisions are influenced by their religious beliefs. James Fowler suggested stages of religious development that closely resemble Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. While children may accept their parent’s religion, adolescents and young adults explore issues of religion on a deeper level and convert or create their own belief systems. Religiosity is sharing the belief system and taking part in the practices of a religious organization. Spirituality is less clearly definable but may be described as a search for something greater than oneself. Michelle Dillon and Paul Wink studied how religiosity and spirituality changes over the lifespan. Their study found that religiosity was strong in adolescence, lessened in middle age and increased in a person’s late 60s and 70s. Spirituality was lower than religiosity through adulthood but increased a great deal in middle age and old age (especially in women). The study also found that people tend to be very consistent over the years in how religious or spiritual they are. This is most likely due to their personalities. In late adulthood, religiosity is connected to a sense of well-being, good health, and prosocial behavior. Spirituality is connected is also connected to a sense of well-being through a sense of personal growth. Surveys show that African Americans and Caribbean Blacks are more religious than Whites.

How to deal with Social Relationships? - Chapter 14

While developmental theorists agree that relationships are essential to human development, they disagree on which relationships are the most influential. Many theorists such as Freud and Erikson consider the relationship between parent and child the most important. John Bowlby posited attachment theory which studied how attachment may have evolved and also focused on mother-child relationships and cognitive theory. Attachment is a strong tie of affection that connects two people. Through attachment individuals regulate emotional stress by finding security through closeness to another individual. Most people’s first attachment is to their parent. Throughout the human lifespan those that we attach ourselves to (mother, best friend, romantic partner) are special and not replaceable. Bowlby considered infants and parents as biologically inclined to form attachments.

Attachment is seen in other species as well. For example, young birds are more likely to survive if they stay in close proximity to their mothers. They have evolved to engage in imprinting which is an innate tendency where young follow a moving object, most likely the mother, in early life. Konrad Lorenz viewed imprinting as automatic, occurring in a critical period of time after hatching, and as irreversible. Later studies suggest that there is no critical period but rather a sensitive period, that imprinting is reversible, and imprinting only occurs through the interplay of biological factors and environmental influences. Human infants do not become imprinted to their mothers but they do form attachments and follow these attachments. Bowlby sites other characteristics which babies have such as sucking, clinging, smiling, cooing, crying, to gain love and care from their parents. Additionally, Bowlby stated that parents are also biologically programmed to respond to infants. The love hormone oxytocin also plays a role in forming an attachment between infant and parent. Human attachments tend to occur in the first 3 years of life. Attachment and bonding are different. Bonding is more biologically based and occurs in the first hours after birth. Bowlby believed that the parent-child relationship was also crucial for later relationships as infants construct internal working models which are cognitive representations of themselves and others which determine how they process social information and relationship behavior. While securely attached infants believe they are loveable and can trust others to care for them, insecurely attached infants believe they are difficult to love and others are unreliable. As insecure infants grow into adults, they may have trouble in close relationships.

Peers are social equals who are often of the same age. While most theorists agree that the parent child relationship is key to development, some also argue that peer relationships are just as important if not more important. Piaget and Harry Stack Sullivan both believed in the importance of peer relationships. Sullivan believed that our social needs change when we age and these needs are satisfied through different types of social relationships. He saw the parent-child relationship as being of key importance until the child reached 6 years of age when peers became more important. The child first needs peers to play with, then he or she needs to find acceptance within the peer group. Around 9 to 12 years of age individuals want intimacy through close friendships. Sullivan called these close friendships chumships and stressed them as being important to social perspective taking skills and validation which may counteract negative parent-child relationships. Through chumships children also learn how to act in emotionally close relationships and prepare for future romantic relationships.

Infancy

Carroll Izard posits that basic emotions develop early in life and are important to organizing and motivating behavior. He videotaped how infants reacted to events such as having a toy taken away for seeing their mother after a separation. His study shows that very young infants are able to show distinct emotions when responding to different experiences. Adults can interpret these emotions. At birth babies show they are happy by smiling. They show interest by staring at something and distress by grimacing. In the first 6 months, these three main emotions become more specific: contentment develops into joy, interest into surprise, and distress into sadness, disgust, anger, and fear. At 18 months, consciousness and self-referential behaviour develops, and later, between 2 and 3 years of age, these self-conscious emotions become even more specific. Embarrassment, envy, and empathy develop into embarrassment and pride, while acquisition and retention of standards and rules develops the feelings of guilt and shame.

For a detailed timeline of the emergence of different emotions, see figure 14.1 on page 465 in Human Development across the Lifespan, 7th ed.

Basic emotions appear to be biological and begin occurring at around the same age in infants of all cultures. When such emotions appear is connected to maturing cognition. An infant’s tendency to approach the unfamiliar with joy or distress is related to his or her heredity. However, environmental influences also play a role as infant emotions are also shaped by the attachment relationship. When infants are around 9 months of age they watch their companions for emotional reactions in unclear situations to decide how to feel and act. This is called social referencing. Infants who encounter a stranger will watch their mother to see how she reacts to the stranger. If she smiles the infant might smile as well. Infants play special attention to events that cause fear or anger in their caregivers. Infants also learn to regulate their emotions. Emotion regulation is the process where emotional responses are initiated, maintained, and altered. Young infants deal with stress by turning away from the negative stimuli or sucking on a pacifier. By one year of age, infants are also able to rock themselves back and forth and move away from negative stimuli. By one and a half to two years of ages, infants will act upon the negative stimuli by pushing it away. They can also distract themselves from unpleasantness. When children are able to speak and think symbolically they may repeat a mantra in stressful situations. How emotion regulation develops results from a combination of temperament and the caregiver’s behavior.

Infants attach themselves to caregivers in 4 phases. The first phase occurs from birth to 2 to 3 months of age when infants respond to voices, faces but do not clearly prefer one person over other people. The first phase is called undiscriminating social responsiveness. The second phase is discriminating social responsiveness and occurs between 2 to 3 months of age and 6 to 7 months of age. In the second phase, infants start to prefer people they are familiar with and direct their largest smiles and other expressions of emotion towards them. The third stage is active proximity seeking or true attachment which occurs from 6 to 7 months of age to around 3 years of age. As the infant learns to crawl he or she will follow the mother and be upset when she leaves. In the fourth stage called goal-corrected partnership which occurs from age 3 and up, children take part in goal-oriented partnerships. This means they consider a parent’s goals and change their behavior in order to keep their parents close.

In addition to other emotions, infants also experience different forms of fear. One form is called separation anxiety where after becoming attached to the caregiver, the infant feels distress when separated from the caregiver. Infants who are separated from their caregivers for longer periods of time or in some cases permanently due to illness, ware, or death, experience a grieving process. Once reunited, the infant tends to recover. If an infant is permanently separated from his or her caregiver, recovery can also occur if attachment is formed with someone else. Day Cares where infants are separated and reunited with their mothers daily do not make it less likely for infants to form secure attachments. The quality of the day care facility does play a role as children enrolled in better facilities perform better when tested for cognitive and language skills. The quality of the day care provider and the quality of the home environment interact. Another form of fear is called stranger anxiety where infants feel distressed when approached by strangers.

Not only do infants become attached to their caregivers, caregivers also become attached to their infants. A caregiver’s attachment may begin before the baby is born. Babies endear themselves to their caregivers in their responsive and ability to smile. Caregivers and infants experience synchronized routines where they respond to each other’s signals. Such routines are more likely to happen when parents are sensitive to their infants. The development of synchronized routines contributes to a secure attachment relationship between the caregiver and the infant. When caregivers and infants are securely attached, infants view the caregiver as a secure base for exploration or a safe place to return to if they become scared. Harry Harlow and Robert Zimmerman conducted a study to see if monkeys would prefer a surrogate mother who provided food over a surrogate mother who was warm and cuddly. Monkeys in the study were reared by two mothers, one made out of wire which fed them, and one made out of cloth. Half the monkeys were fed by the wire mother and half were fed by the cloth mother. The study showed that the infant monkeys all strongly preferred the cloth mother even if they were fed by the wire mother. This research shows that contact comfort which is the physical sensations given by a soft parent contribute more to attachment than providing nourishment.

Ainsworth tested Bowby’s hypotheses by establishing a way to assess the quality of parent-infant relationships in a procedure called the Strange Situation. The procedure uses eight episodes to gradually increase an infant’s stress level. Depending on how the infant responds the quality of parent-infant attachment is categorized as secure, resistant, avoidant, or disorganized-disoriented. Secure attachment is experienced by 60 to 65% of one year olds. Such an infant is confident in explore the room with his or her mother as a secure base. A securely attached infant will engage with strangers if his or her mother is present and will be happy to see his or her mother after being separated. Parents of securely attached children tend to be sensitive to the child’s needs and signals. The second category is resistant attachment that is seen in 10% of 1 year olds. Infants in this category seem to be unsure that they will receive the affection that they want. They do not actively explore even when their mothers are present. They seem to feel even greater separation anxiety than infants in the first category when the mother is gone but are not affectionate when she returns. They are also reluctant to interact with strangers even when the mother is present. Parents of resistantly attached children tend to be inconsistent in their behavior and may be enthusiastic sometimes and indifferent at other times. The third category is avoidant attachment and is seen in up to 15% of 1 year olds. They seem distant from their caregivers as if denying they need affection. They are not interested in exploring and are also not distressed when their mothers leave. They are indifferent when their mothers return and are also indifferent to strangers. Parents of avoidantly attached children tend to either give too much or too little stimulation. The fourth category is disorganized-disoriented attachment and is seen in up to 15% of 1 year olds. Infants in this category shift strategies because have not developed a way to deal with negative emotions. They seem confused between approaching or avoiding their caregivers. 80% of abused or mistreated infants experience disorganized-disoriented attachment. Parents are unprepared to care for children.

An infant’s level of cognitive development and temperament interact with the caregiver’s behavior to determine the likelihood of forming a secure attachment. In this way, sensitive caregivers and irritable babies can still form secure attachment. Depressed mothers and an infant with colic may form an insecure attachment. Generally speaking, the caregiver has a greater affect on what type of attachment forms with the infant than the infant does. Larger social contexts such as living in poverty, marriage trouble, and cultural differences also contribute to the likelihood of insecure or secure attachments forming. One example of how culture affects attachment is German parents who discourage infants from being too clingy. As a result German infants are often categorized as avoidantly attached. Japanese babies are rarely separated from their mothers and as a result are more likely than American babies to be classified as resistantly attached. Such findings suggest that research on attachment may be culturally biased.

Studies show that infants who grow up without being able to form attachments have eating problems, health problems and physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development delays. When the infants do manage to form attachments, their delays are overcome and they recover quickly. These children continue to have problems in relationships with others and more likely to exhibit disinhibited attachment which is being overly friendly to strangers and having difficulty in real social interactions. Children who form are only able to form attachments after they reach one year of age tend to form insecure and disturbed attachments.

Forming secure attachments early in childhood is important in that securely attached infants become preschoolers at are more independent and excited to learn. Securely attached infants are more likely to have positive emotional development and better able to deal with stress and regulate their emotion. Children with secure relationships with their caregivers stay well adjusted. While there is not a direct link between the quality of attachment during infancy and the quality of romantic relationships as adults, there is an indirect association.

Childhood

John Bowlby posited that the relationship between children and parents becomes more goal-corrected towards accommodating each other’s needs in childhood. The child is more sensitive and less dependent on his or her parents. Children of preschool age prefer predictable and controlled separations that may involve rituals like reading a book before bedtime. While children still view their parent as a safe have, they increasingly rely on peers for support. Between the ages of 2 and 12 children spend less time with adults and more time with their peers. Sharri Ellis observed 436 children and found that children spent more time with other children who were more than one year older or younger than with children who were less than one year older or younger. This suggests that peer groups are made up of children of different ages and levels of competence. Peer groups were also separated by gender. Boys spend more time in groups while girls spend more time in pairs.

Play is defined as activities that do not have a clear purpose. Scholars distinguish four types of play. The first type is locomotor play such as tag or ball. The second type is object play such as building blocks or crafts. The third type is social play using imitation or board games. The fourth type is pretend play in the form of acting out roles. Between infancy and age 5, two main changes occur in play. Play becomes more social and more imaginative. More serious play occurs after age 5. Thus the years between age 2 and 5 are known as the play years.

Mildred Parten categorized six classifications for types of play with unoccupied play being the least social to cooperative play being the most social. Unoccupied play occurs when children stand, look around, or do other thing like pace. Slightly more social is solitary play where children play by themselves using objects. Next is onlooker play where children watch other children play and are actively interested or talking to the player though not playing themselves.

Next is parallel play where children play next to each other doing the same thing but interacting very little. Then is associative play where children talk to each other, share materials, or follow each other though not working together towards a goal. The sixth and most social category is cooperative play where children play together to achieve a goal. It should be noted that play is more complex than described by Partern and children of all ages engage in varying levels of socially engaged play.

At around age 1, an infant first engages in pretend play. Pretend play occurs when one actor, object, or behavior stands for another. For example, an infant may pretend to eat or sleep. Between the ages of 2 and 5, children use pretend play more often and in more sophisticated ways. As they grow up, children can take on roles of heroes or heroines with super powers and use fewer props as they become more imaginative. Social pretend play happens when children play with caregivers or peers to act out dramas. Children of all cultures engage in social pretend play but the content and quality of the play differs between cultures. While American children tend to act out roles as super heros in dangerous or fantastical situations, Korean children tend to act out family roles in everyday situations. Once children begin elementary school they do not use pretend play as often, instead playing games with organized rules such as board games or computer games, playing tag or other organized sports. This shift is connected to Piaget’s theory where children begin the concrete operations stage at age 6 or 7 and can cooperate with other children in following rules. Play should be encouraged because it helps children prepare for future roles as well as encourages cognitive, motor, and social skills. Play also helps children manage emotional problems. Children who often use pretend play tend to perform better on tests measuring cognitive development, language skills, and creativity. Additionally, play allows children to express negative feelings and resolve emotional conflicts.

Researchers study how peers are accepted in groups using methods to determine who is liked and who is disliked. These methods are known as sociometric techniques. Children may be surveyed on which classmates they like and which they dislike and to rate classmates based on how likable they are. Children are then classified into 5 different categories. The first is popular which means the child is well liked by most peers. The second is rejected which means the child is often disliked by most peers. The third is neglected which means the child is not liked or disliked and seem invisible to most peers. The fourth is controversial which means the child is liked by many and disliked by many. The fifth is average which means the child falls in the middle of like and dislike scales. Popularity is influenced by traits a child may have little control of such as physical attractiveness, intelligence. Social competence is a strong predictor of popularity. Rejected children tend to be very aggressive. Children that fall into the neglected category tend to be shy and not assertive, though they usually have decent social skills. Controversial children may have the good social skills and leadership ability of popular children but also have the aggressive qualities of rejected children. The type of traits that affect popularity also differ based on culture. Shy children tend to be unpopular in Canada but popular in China.

About 10 to 15% of children are rejected by their peer group. They tend to continue being rejected due to aggressive behavior. They may grow up to be poorly adjusted, have low self-esteem, and may develop negative views towards others. Neglected children often grow up to gain more acceptance. Rejected and neglected children can improve their social competence through training and coaching. Popularity is not necessarily indicative of friendship. Many unpopular children have at least one friendship. One study shows that 39% of rejected children had at least one reciprocated friendship while 31% of popular children did not have one reciprocated friendship. Friendships help children to be better adjusted socially and less likely to be lonely or depressed.

Adolescence

Adolescents spend even more time with peers and less time with parents than children do. Similar to children, adolescents also need supportive parents to feel secure to explore. Adolescents who have a secure relationship with their parents have higher self-esteem, a greater sense of identity, are better adjusted emotionally, and are more socially competent. Successful development during adolescence is best achieved through a balance of attachment and exploration. As adolescents go to college they may experience separation anxiety similar to that experienced by infants.

Friendships change as children grow into adults. In early childhood, friendships are based on sharing the same activities. In late childhood, friendships are based on mutual loyalty. In adolescence, friendships are based on intimacy and self-disclosure. Additionally, teenagers begin to develop friendships with peers of the opposite gender.

Dexter Dunphy described five stages in which peer-group structures evolve in adolescence and prepare individuals for dating.

The first stage occurs in late childhood where boys and girls participate in same sex cliques or a small group of friends and do not interact with the opposite sex. In stage two boy cliques and girl cliques start to engage with each other. In stage three, the most popular girls and the most popular boys form their own clique. In stage four, a crowd (a collection of several heterosexual cliques) forms as less popular individuals form their own cliques. In stage five, couples form and the crowd disperses. Crowds in high school provide the opportunity to meet members of the opposite sex and also provide a social identity and social hierarchy. For example, most high schools have popular cliques, the jock clique, the stoner clique, the nerdy clique etc. Membership in cliques is linked to adjustment as adults. The “nerds” tend to graduate college and have high self-esteem at age 24. The “jocks” tend to achieve financial success but drink excessively. Adolescent peers actually influence peer behavior in more positive than negative ways. This differs with cliques as “nerds” discourage drug use while “stoners” encourage it.

Romantic Relationships

25% of 12 year-olds, 50% of 15 year-olds, and 70% of 18 year-olds report that they date. Relationships in early adolescence tend to last a shorter period of time and be more superficial than dating in later adolescence. Bradford Brown discusses four phases of adolescent romantic relationships. The first phase is the initiation phase which occurs in early adolescence. In this phase, individuals are focused on themselves and how to see themselves as a person who can relate romantically to a person of the opposite sex. The second phase is the status phase. This occurs in mid-adolescence where individuals date to gain peer approval and consider the larger peer group when choosing a partner. The third phase is the affection phase. This occurs in late adolescence as individuals focus on the relationship which becomes more personal and caring. The fourth phase is the bonding phase and occurs as adolescents grow into early adulthood. This phase is characterized by strong emotional intimacy and long-term commitment.

Adulthood

A social convoy is a social network and support system that follows us through life. As we grow into adulthood, our convoy expands. New members may join the convoy and other members may leave. Young adults, particularly single adults usually have more friends than middle-aged or older adults. As we marry and have children our number friends tends to decrease. Laura Carstensen posits the socioemotional selectivity theory which states that older adults prioritize valuable and emotionally satisfying friendships thus choosing to narrow their social network. Younger adults on the other hand need to be stimulated socially and may sacrifice emotional well-being to have a large social network. Studies show that older adults experience less negative emotions and longer lasting positive emotions than younger adults. This may be due to the positivity effect where through focusing on positive information they gain emotional satisfaction. Older adults are as satisfied as young adults are with their relationships. The negative consequences of the positivity effect is that older adults may ignore or avoid negative information and are biased towards positive information.

Choosing a Mate

Evolutionary theorists have conducted research that suggests men and women value different things in the opposite sex. Men place more importance on physical attractiveness than women do. Women place importance on the man’s social status and resources. Other theorists posits filter theories where individuals progress through a series of filters which narrows the field of potential partners from all possibilities to one specific mate. Researchers tend to agree that the largest influence on choosing a mate is homogamy or similarity. Robert Sternberg posits the triangular theory of love with the three aspects of passion, intimacy, and decision or commitment. Passion refers to sexual attraction and romance. Intimacy refers to warmth, caring, trust, and respect within the relationship. Decision and commitment means deciding that mutual love exists and committing to a long term relationship. In western cultures couples tend to begin with feeling passion then progress to feel intimacy, and finally to decision/commitment.

In other cultures with arranged marriage, decision/commitment comes first with intimacy and passion following later. Consummate love refers to high levels of all three components. Passion may have evolved to encourage partners to be in relationships to result in mating and children. Over time passion tends to evolve to companionate love which is love that is defined by high intimacy and commitment and less passion.

Phillip Shaver studied how adults become attached to each other in ways similar to how infants become attached to their caregivers. He describes four attachment styles which influence negative or positive self-perception as well as negative or positive perceptions of others.

Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver conducted a study that showed that the style of attachment of adults is connected to the quality of their romantic relationships.

Securely attached adults feel trust and many positive emotions and tend to have longer lasting relationships. Avoidant adults fear intimacy. Resistant adults are overly obsessed with their romantic partners. The quality of parent-child attachment is a predictor of adult attachment style and relationship quality in romantic relationships. Securely attached adults have a strong motivation to achieve and focus on meeting rather than avoiding challenges. Resistantly attached adults want approval from others and may complain about being undervalued. Avoidantly attached adults do not socialize with coworkers and focus solely on their tasks. Attachment styles continue to be important in old age. Older adults who fondly remember their relationship with their parents tend to be in better physical and mental health. Carol Magai found that the majority of European American and African American elderly were dismissing-avoidantly attached. This may be due to having to cope with the deaths of friends and loved ones and not wanting to be dependent on others in their old age. Older adults with a secure or avoidant attachment style are happier than those with a fearful or preoccupied style. This suggests that avoidant attachment may be a way to adapt to old age.

Friendships may become strained as older adults become less healthy and some older adults need more help than others. Equity is the balance of contributions and gains. Social psychologists view equity as important to relationship satisfaction. Relationships where one person takes more and the other person gives more are less emotionally satisfying. Friends who give more are usually less stressed than friends who take more. This may be that being able to help leads to higher self-esteem and lowered depression rates.

The quality of relationships is more important than the number of relationships to a sense of well-being. It is important to have at least one confidant who one feels attached to and can share feelings with.

How is the Family defined? - Chapter 15

The family systems theory views a family as a system which is a whole made up of interrelated parts. This system is dynamic as it adapts to change. A nuclear family is made up of a mother, a father, and at least one child. Coparenting is the methods parents use to coordinate parenting as a team. An extended family household consists of two parents, their children, living with other relatives such as grandparents, aunts, etc. In the United States, Hispanic Americans, African Americans and other minorities tend to live in extended families more often than European Americans. According to Bronfenbreener’s bioecological model, the family is a system within other systems as it interacts in a neighborhood and community. Linked lives refers to the theory that our development is connected with the development of other members of our family.

A family life cycle is the sequence of changes a family’s composition, roles, and relationships undergo from marriage until death. Evelyn Duvall described eight stages in the family cycle, all with different potential roles for the family members. The first stage is a married couple without children. Next is a childbearing family with one infant. Next is A family with preschool children. The fourth stage is a family with children of school-age. The fifth stage is a family with teenagers. Next is a family where the children are leaving the family unit. The seventh stage is a family without children who live at home. The eighth and final stage is the aging family which occurs from retirement to death.

According to census data, the family as a system has changed during the second half of the 20th century. There are now more single adults now that individuals live with a partner but stay unmarried. Marriages are being postponed as the average age of first marriages is decreasing. There are now more unmarried parents as people are delaying marriage. Adults are also having fewer children than they use to. More mothers are working outside of the home. The divorce rate is increasing. There are also now more single-parent families. There are also now more children living in poverty. This is connected to the increased rate of single-parent homes. More people are getting remarried. They may form reconstituted families or blended families which include at least one parent, a stepparent, and a child. As adults are getting married later, divorcing, and living longer, people now spend more years without children. There is now an increased number of multigenerational families as people are living longer. Finally, due to smaller families with fewer children, there are now fewer people to care for the elderly. Some view these changes as an example of a decline of the family. Others view some trends as positive. For example, postponing marriages tends to increase the chance of success. Men’s roles and women’s roles are now more equal within the family.

Infancy

Researchers found that fathers and mothers of young infants are more similar than they are different. Despite gender stereotypes, fathers are equally capable of caring for infants. Fathers are just as able to be sensitive to their children and to feed them properly. Father and mothers do however inhabit different roles in the child’s life and are different in the quantity and style of parenting. Fathers spend less time with children than mothers do. This is true across cultures. While fathers are now more involved with children than before, there is still a gap between paternal and maternal involvement. Mothers spend more of the interaction time in caregiving tasks like feeding, changing diapers, etc. while fathers spend more of the interaction time in play. However, when fathers are the primary rather than the “back-up” parent they are able to provide care as well. Fathers contribute to a child’s development in many ways. They provide financial support. They provide warmth and affection. Father’s who challenge their children in play to take risks encourage exploration which is important for development. Children with warm and caring fathers tend to have less psychological problems than those who do not have secure attachments with their fathers. Today 40% of infants are born to unwed mothers. Fathers who do not live with the child tend to be less involved. However, fathers are more likely to be involved with the child if they have a strong relationship with the child’s mother. Additionally fathers who avoid high risk lifestyles involving drug use, criminal activity or unemployment are more likely to be involved with their children. Some fathers move in and live with the mother and child without being married. Fathers who are involved before the child is born are more likely to be involved after the child is born. Counseling through couple’s groups can also increase a father’s interaction with his child.

Parents have indirect effects on children as each parent affects the behavior of the other parent. Mothers tend to be more patient and sensitive to their babies if they have close and supportive relationships with the father. Studies show that fathers who have just had a nice conversation with their wives are more engaged and supportive when interacting with their babies than those fathers who’ve recently argued with their wives. Parents cooperating together rather than competing encourages secure attachments with their children.

Childhood

Parenting styles can be thought of on two dimensions. The first is acceptance-responsiveness. This refers to how supportive and sensitive to a child’s needs parents are. Parents who are accepting and responsive are affectionate with their children. They smile at them, praise them, and encourage them. Parents who are less accepting or responsive criticize, ignore, or punish their children and rarely tell their children that they are loved. The demandingness-control dimension refers to how much control the parent has over decisions rather than the child. Parents who are controlling and demanding set rule that they expect their children to follow. Permissive parents are less controlling and demanding and allow their children to make their own decisions. In crossing the two dimensions, we see four patterns of behavior.

It is clear that parents should try to be high in the dimension of acceptance-responsiveness. Diana Baumrind found that parents who were authoritative raised the most well adjusted children. Parents who were authoritarian raised children who were moody, appeared unhappy, and were quickly annoyed. Permissive parents raised impulsive, aggressive, and self-centered children. However, a permissive style can be helpful for older children who have self-control. Neglectful parents raise children with the worst outcomes. They may grow up to be hostile and antisocial.

Socio-economic Status and Parenting

When studied as groups, parents of different socio-economic status exhibit several differences. Lower class and working-class parents emphasise the need to obey authority more so than middle-class or upper-class parents. Lower class parents also tend to be more strict and authoritarian, as well as showing less warmth. These differences in parenting style contribute to differences in developmental outcomes in regards to academic success and life adjustment and success. In considering the reasons why lower class and working-class parents have such different parenting styles than middle-class and upper-class parents it is necessary to consider the effects of financial stress, investment in children, and socialization goals. Parents with financial problems may become depressed which may increase marital conflict. This affects the effectiveness of parenting.

Parents of low economic status also have fewer resources to invest in children. For example, they may not be able to afford a good education, books, or computers. Additionally they have different socialization goals. They emphasize obedience to authority because that is a requirement for their own jobs. On the other hand, middle-class and upper-class parents may encourage initiative and creativity in their children because those traits are more common for professionals.

Three Models of Influence

The parent effects model assumes that parents, especially the mother, influence their children and not the other way around. A child affects model focuses on how children influence their parents. Infants of different ages require different styles of parenting. As children mature, parents tend to become less restrictive. A child’s personality may also influence the parent. Easygoing and well-behaved children may encourage parents to be warm and authoritative while stubborn and aggressive children may illicit more rejecting rather than accepting parenting. The third model is the transactional Model where parents and children both influence each other. A child’s problems in this model occur when the relationship with parents is negative over time.

Siblings

When a new baby arrives, mothers tend to pay less attention to the firstborns. As a result, firstborns may become more difficult or clingy and may develop problems with routines such as eating, sleeping, or using the toilet. Securely attached firstborns may become insecurely attached after the arrival of a sibling. Firstborns tend to adjust better to a new sibling when their parents have a good marital relationship and if the firstborn had secure attachments to both parents. Firstborns also adjust better if parents can maintain their routines and still pay them attention. Most older siblings adjust quickly. However, sibling rivalry or competition between brothers and sisters is normal. This may have a biological source as siblings compete for the attention of parents to insure their own welfare.

However, sibling relationships are mostly positive and positively influence development. Siblings provide emotional support as siblings confide in each other more often than in their parents. They may protect and comfort each other. Older siblings may provide care for younger siblings through babysitting, feeding, changing diapers, etc. Older siblings also teach younger siblings as well as provide a social experience. Through sibling interactions, individuals learn to take the perspective of others, negotiate, and work through conflicts. Siblings may also affect each other indirectly through the effect they have on their parents.

Adolescence

Contrary to popular belief, most parent-adolescent relationships are close and some even keep the same quality as in childhood. However, there are clear changes in adolescence as teenagers spend less time with their parents and more time with their peers. There is a slight increase in conflict between parent and child as puberty starts. Most conflicts are minor as young adolescents are asserting their individuality. Autonomy is the ability to make decisions and manage life tasks independently. During this period, teenagers must achieve autonomy in order to function later as adults. In adolescence the relationship between parent and child becomes more equal as parents become less restrictive as children assert their autonomy. However, it is not healthy for adolescents to become entirely detached from their parents. A balance of attachment and autonomy is necessary. What adolescents expect in terms of their freedom to make their own decisions differs between cultures. Chinese Americans, and Japanese tend to expect less freedom than European Americans. In Asian cultures, the balance of power does not shift as dramatically as in Western cultures. Teenagers are more likely to become autonomous when parents enforce reasonable rules and involve them in the decision making process. The best way is through an authoritative parenting style.

Adulthood

In the United States almost 90% of adults marry. Marriage is a significant time for adults as they must re-adjust, adapt, and compromise. Ted Huston’s longitudinal study of newlyweds found that marital satisfaction declined after being married one year. Huston found that the quality of a couple’s early relationship had implications for how long they stayed happily married.

Becoming a new parent is also an important time for adults. It is a stressful transition with both positive and negative aspects. A new child brings joy and contributes to growth of the parent. The new responsibility of taking on an additional role can be challenging. Additionally, egalitarian couples may shift to more traditional gender roles after becoming new parents. For these reasons, marital satisfaction declines in the first year of new parenthood. The decline tends to be more dramatic for women than for men as childcare responsibilities tend to fall more to mothers. Individuals vary in how they adjust. These differences result from parent and infant characteristics and the social support available to parents. A difficult baby may create stress for parents. Parents with strong problem-solving skills may adapt more easily to a new infant.

How new parents remember their own childhoods is another factor, parents who remember warm childhoods transition more easily than parents who felt rejected as children. Social support from friends and relatives help new parents cope with new stress. Most importantly, parents should feel support from their spouse. As infants grow into toddlers and children and parents have more children the level of stress also increases. Parents may experience a spike in stress once children enter adolescence and begin to assert their autonomy. Marital satisfaction decreases when the firstborn enters puberty. Once young adults leave the home, parents have an empty nest. This again requires a shift in roles. While some parents may experience deep sadness, most view the shift positively. This shift involves a increase in marital satisfaction. In this time parents experience less stress and have fewer responsibilities. They may view the empty nest as a sign that they’ve been good parents. Parents also keep in contact with their children and do not lose the parent-child relationship. In recent years, some adults do not leave the nest or return in the “boomerang effect.” Adults who live with their parents tend to be unemployed, divorced or separated.They may have had insecure attachments and been unable to develop a sense of autonomy.

Grandparents

Most adults become grandparents when they are in middle-age and still active in their jobs and communities. A national survey yielded results showing three main styles of grandparenting. The first is 29% of those surveyed and consists of remote grandparents who infrequently see their grandchildren. The second style is companionate. This is the most common style and accounts for 55% of the sample. These grandparents see their grandchildren often and enjoy playing with them. The third style is involved which accounts for 16% of the sample. They see their grandchildren frequently but are also involved in providing care and act as substitute parents.

How Relationships Change

Studies show that the stage of family life an adult is in is not clearly related to marriage satisfaction. Personality is much more influential. Happily married people tend to be more stable emotionally and voice negative feelings less. The personalities of couples in happy marriages tend to be similar, remain similar, and even become more similar over the course of the marriage. Studies show that partners affect the development of each other. Depression may arise in an individual whose partner is depressed.

Relationships between siblings also change. They tend to become more positive once they no longer live in the same house. Most adult siblings feel positively about each other and are in frequent contact. While most sibling relationships grow closer in adulthood, siblings may compete with each other in adulthood as well. Parents can encourage positive sibling relationships but not preferring one child to another.

Parent-child relationships differ in adulthood. Some may be strained and some may be obligatory, others friendly. This quality of the adult’s relationship with his or her parents tends to be similar to their adolescent relationship with parents. Parents may still experience stress when their adult children have trouble in life. Adults may become annoyed if they feel that parents are questioning their autonomy. When children reach middle-age and parents are elderly, they tend to continue to socialize and support each other. Most elderly prefer to live close to their children but not so close that they feel they are dependent on them. When middle-aged adults feel pressure from their children and from aging parents, this is called the middle generation squeeze. More and more adults with children are also now caring for their elderly parents. Daughters tend to spend more time in caring for their aging parents than sons do. In collectivist Asian societies, the role of main caregiver falls to daughters-in-laws as elderly parents move in with their oldest son. This is changing as as societies become more modern. In individualist societies, older parents do not want to live with and be dependent on their children. Due to greater financial independence elderly parents often do not live with their adult children. Middle-aged adults may also experience the caregiver burden which is psychological distress due to providing care for someone with physical or cognitive impairment. The distress is especially great if the elderly parent experiences dementia and as a result behaves inappropriately or disruptively. Cultural aspects also affect how the caregiver evaluates the burden. Whites spend fewer hours but feel more burdened than African Americans providing care.

Non-traditional Family Experiences

Not all adults progress through the family life cycle in the same stages. Some adults are single. These include young adults as well as adults who are divorced or widowed. More and more adults choose to live with a romantic partner instead of getting married. This is called cohabitation. Many cohabitors do have children as 4 out of every 10 children live with a cohabiting couple during childhood. 10% of adults never marry. There are also married couples who do not have children. Many of them may want children but be unable to have them. However, more and more highly educated and upper class adults choose to not have children or have them later. While attempting to have a child and being unable to adds stress to marriage, most married couples who choose to not have children are just as happy with their lives as married couples with children.

Spillover effect are the ways work events affect the home environment. As more and more mothers are working outside of the home, there have been effects for children. A working mother can serve as a good professional role model for daughters. Dual career families can also be positive when it increases the family’s income and can therefore provide more resources to the children. However, there may be negative consequences if parents do not have enough time to spend with their children. This is not a problem for most dual-career couples, especially those with strong support systems.

Gay men and lesbian women have diverse family experiences. Many become parents. Studies show that lesbian mothers tend to hit children less than heterosexual parents and to encourage imaginative play. However, gay and lesbian families are not fully recognized in some societies and are not afforded the same rights as heterosexual couples. Gay and lesbian couples usually have egalitarian roles where they share responsibilities equally. Overall, gay and lesbian couples go through the same family stages that heterosexual couples do. They are just as likely to raise children who grow up to be competent and happy adults. The are more likely to raise such children than single parents are.

Divorce disrupts the family life cycle. It is a series of stressful events, not just one event. Young couples in the 20s and 30s who have young children and have been married for about 7 years are most at risk for divorce. The risk is increased if the couple married when they were teenagers. Couples tend to choose divorce when their marriage lacks emotional fulfillment, compatibility, and communication. In the late 20th century divorce is not the taboo it use to be. However, most couples who divorce have several years of dissatisfaction before choosing divorce. Most families experience divorce as a crisis that lasts 1 to 2 years. Divorced adults have an increased risk of depression due to emotions of stress, anger, and guilt. Depression has negative effects on children of depressed parents. Children who are going through a divorce may also be angry and depressed. By six years after a divorce, there are no clear difference between children of divorced parents and children of intact families. It should be noted that some adults have higher self-esteem after leaving an unhappy marriage. This can result in a more positive home life for children. There are different influences on how children of divorced parents adjust. Families do better after a divorce if there is enough financial support. If the custodial parent maintains good parenting, children are more likely to adjust better. Additionally, if the non custodial parent can also maintain quality and frequent contact with the child, adjustment is better. Parents should aim to fight less and not undermine each other in front of the children. Divorced adults are less depressed if they have a strong support network. This has positive benefits for their children. Families do better if as little changes as possible. During and after divorce, parents should try to avoid having to relocate. Additionally personal resources such as intelligence and good coping skills affect how individuals deal with divorce.

Reconstituted families are families where single-parents remarry. This occurs in about 75% of divorced families. Of these 75%, 60% divorce again. This results in a cycle of being single, living with someone, getting married, being in conflict, separating, and getting divorced. In a third of the survey sample, children found the remarriage more stressful than the divorce. Things are more difficult when both individuals remarrying bring children into the new marriage. In time, most children adapt.

Family Violence

Child abuse is physically, emotionally, or sexually hurting a child. Child maltreatment is a broader term that also includes neglecting the needs of a child. Abuse can occur in all family relationships. For example, children may abuse their parents, one sibling may abuse another sibling, and one spouse may abuse another spouse. Elderly adults may be abused or neglected by family members. All these examples are examples of family violence.

One out of ten child abusers has a severe psychological disorder. Most abusers tend to be single parents living in poverty. Child abusers were often abused themselves as children. This is an example of the intergenerational transmission of parenting which is the passing down of parenting styles from one generation to another. Abusive mothers are also often battered by their partners. Additionally abusers tend to be insecure and have low-self esteem. They often also have unreasonable expectations from children and are not aware of what normal behavior for children is.

A child’s characteristics may also have some influence on abuse as abusive parents tend to choose only one child to abuse if they have several children. Some children are at greater risk for abuse than others including children with medical problems and those with difficult temperament. Recent studies show that a combination of high-risk parent and high-risk child may lead to abuse. The context also plays a role. Parents who are under a lot of stress and do not have social support from others is at a higher risk of becoming an abuser. Stressful life changes such as losing a job can also contribute to heightened risk. Abused children suffer problems such as physical injuries, cognitive deficits, emotional, behavioral, and psychological problems.

What is considered abnormal Development? - Chapter 16

Three criteria are used to determine if development is abnormal. The first is statistical deviance. This refers to if a person’s behavior is outside the range of what is considered normal behavior. The second is maladaptiveness which asks if the person’s behavior interferes with how he or she adapts as well as if the behavior put the person or others in danger. The third criteria is personal distress which questions if the behavior causes personal suffering.

Psychological disorders are diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The manual is in its fourth edition and describes the features and symptoms for psychological disorders. DSM-IV-TR defines major depressive disorder as at least one episode of profound depression, sadness, hopelessness and/or the loss of interest and ability to enjoy almost all activities for a period of at least 2 weeks. Some critics feel that the DSM-IV-TR does not consider culture and development enough. However it does make note that culture and development should be considered when diagnosing a patient. For example, Asians tend to describe the somatic symptoms which are body symptoms rather than the psychological symptoms of depression.

Developmental psychopathology is the study of abnormal behavior through a developmental approach. This new field was pioneered by L. Alan Sroufe and Michael Rutter who want to study the both abnormal and normal development to compare and contrast them. They are interested in studying how orders develop and change. The course of development is visualized as pathways leading towards normal outcomes. Some people start poorly but get on track later. Some start poorly and deviate even further. Others start on track and stay on track. Still others start on track and deviate later in their lives.

Social norms are expectations regarding on what is appropriate behavior in specific social contexts. What is considered appropriate or the norm in one context may not be the norm in another context. Abnormal behavior should also be discussed in terms of age norms. What is considered the norm for a 5 year old boy is not the same as what is normal for a 50 year old man.

Several developmental issues such as nature versus nurture and continuity and discontinuity should be discussed in relation to developmental pathways. To understand how biological factors and environmental influences influence psychopathology, the diathesis-stress model is useful. The model predicts that psychopathology is a result of a predisposition towards a disorder and personality interacting over time in addition to stress inducing situations. According to this model, vulnerable individuals have a low threshold for developing a disorder, and the more stress a vulnerable individual is faced with, the more severe the disorder. On the other hand, resilient individuals have a higher threshold for developing a disorder, and placed under the same stress that would cause a vulnerable person to develop a severe disorder, resilient individuals would only develop a mild disorder.

Researchers have found that having a variation of a gene that is involved in controlling the amount of serotonin combined with several stressful events in early adulthood leads to a high chance of major depression. Individuals who do not experience the interaction of both factors have a significantly decreased likelihood of major depression.

Infancy

Autism is a disorder involving abnormal social development, difficulty in using language to communicate, and repetitive behavior. These three symptoms are the three defining characteristics of autism. Autistic children find it challenging to have normal social relationships and respond appropriately to social cues. Autistic infants make much less eye contact than other infants. Some autistic children do not use language at all. Others can use language but cannot have a real conversation. As infants, autistic children do not babble and parrots what other people say in behavior called echolalia. Autistic children prefer repetition and dislike change. They may develop obsessions with specific objects and interests. There is a large amount of variation between people with autism. A family of autistic conditions called autism spectrum disorders includes Asperger’s syndrome where a child has normal or above-average intelligence, verbal skills, and desire to connect with others though has low social cognitive and communication skills. Autism most likely occurs from birth and can be seen in children as young as age three. Autistic infants are not interested in social stimulation and do not respond appropriately. Some autistic individuals have normal or high IQs but many have intellectual impairments. The rates of autism are rising and have increased in the last few decades. It is unlikely that this is due children being given a measles vaccination. Most researchers believe the increased diagnosis of autism can be contributed to the increased awareness of autism. As more people are being diagnosed with autism who are high functioning, less than 50% of autistic people have intellectual disabilities. Other autistic people have certain talents similar to individuals with savant syndrome.

Genes are a key factor in autism. Those with autism most likely inherited several genes. The three main symptoms of autism also tend to have distinct genetic causes. Sometimes certain genes have been copied too many times or too few times in meiosis. Autism is more likely to occur when both parents are older. Early environmental influences (such as a virus, or prenatal exposure to teratogens) also play a role as autism has been found in one twin out of an identical pair of twins. The mirror neuron hypothesis posits that mirror neuron systems malfunction causes autistic individuals to be deficient in theory of mind skills, empathy, and language. Other research suggests that a disconnect between the frontal cortex and other brain areas contribute to autism. Still other research suggests that the overgrowth of the amygdala is a contributing factor. Clearly, Autism results from several cognitive impairments as those with autism also have difficult with some executive functions which are the control functions which allows people to plan, change plans flexibly, and inhibit actions. Another theory is the extreme male brain hypothesis which describes an autistic brain as strong in “masculine” skills and weak in “feminine” skills.

Most people with autism improve in their functioning but there is no cure. Positive outcomes are likely for autistic individuals with IQs above 70 who had good communication skills by the age of five. Some autistic children are given medication to control hyperactive or obsessive behavior. Oxytocin has been used to improve attention but has short-lived effects. Intense and structured behavioral and educational training is the most effective treatment for autism.

Infancy and Depression

Infants can show some of the symptoms of depression, though there is debate over if depressive disorders can happen in infancy. Insecurely attached infants are more likely to show symptoms of depression. Additionally, infants of depressed mothers or father also are more at risk. They look sad, show delayed development and do not vocalize much. Such infants are also more likely to be depressed as adults and more likely to develop psychological disorders. Some neglected or abused infants or infants separated from the people that they are attached to may even have a disorder called failure to thrive. These infants lose weight, do not grow normally, and have delayed development. Some cases of failure to thrive result from physical problems such as a heart defect. Other cases, referred to as nonorganic failure to thrive, result from emotional problems. Outcomes for these infants can be improved by removing them from the negative environments through intervention.

Childhood

A small percentage of children are diagnosed with a psychological disorder. Such disorders include mental retardation, learning disorders, motor skills disorders, communication disorders, pervasive developmental disorders such as Autism, Attention deficit and disruptive behavioral disorders, feeding and eating disorders, Tourette’s disorder and elimination disorders such as Enuresis (inappropriate urination) or encopresis (inappropriate defecation). A child’s developmental problem can be categorized broadly as externalizing problems or internalizing problems. Externalizing problems are undercontrolled disorders where individuals behave inappropriately and disturb social expectations and other people. Such behaviors lessen from age 4 to age 18 and are more common in boys. Internalizing problems are overcontrolled disorders where individuals experience inner distress. Examples include anxiety disorders, depression, and phobias. Such behaviors increase from age 4 to 18 and are more common in girls.

Developmental disorder should be viewed from a family systems perspective and result from an interaction of predisposition and family interactions. While it is true that children with psychological disorders often have problems at home and insecure attachments, many of these children come from a family with history of psychological disorders. Studies also show that parents with psychological disorders who are able to be effective parents may have a decreased risk of having children that develop disorders. Longitudinal studies conducted by Avshalom suggest that a child’s early problems are significant for how they develop. However there is not a direct link between childhood behavioral problems and psychopathology in adulthood. When children have mild psychological problems and are provided help, their problems tend to be discontinuous. On the other hand, children with severe problems that are continuous. It is important to identify children with internalizing and externalizing problems and provide treatment.

Childhood and Depression

Children as young as three years of age can be diagnosed with major depressive disorder though it is more rare than in adolescents or adults. Many depressed children also have another problem such as ADHD or anxiety disorder. Having two or more conditions is called comorbidity. Comorbidity is a common occurrence across the human lifespan. Depression is expressed differently in children than in adults. Similar to infants, depressed children show behavioral rather than cognitive symptoms. They are no longer interested in activities they use to enjoy or lack appetite. Young children (aged 2 to 3) are capable of attempting suicide by jumping from high places, running into traffic, stabbing themselves, etc. While the majority of children who experience mild bouts of sadness they are less likely to carry depression into adulthood as adolescents are. But, children aged 5 to 6 who have many symptoms of depression are more likely to be depressed as adolescents. The good news is that most children with depression and other disorders benefit from psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy. This is a well-known approach which attempts to identify and correct distorted thinking and the resulting negative feelings and behavior. Many children with depression are also treated with medication, such as antidepressants, like Prozac. Prozac is not as effective in children as it is in adults. Some studies even show that Prozac can increase suicidal thinking. Thus it now prescribed less frequently. However, seriously depressed children benefit most from a combination of medication and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Adolescence

G. Stanley Hall,the founder of developmental psychology, is responsible for the viewpoint that adolescents experience emotional problems and stress. Most adolescents do not have emotional or behavioral problems. The 20% of adolescents who do have such problems were likely badly adjusted as children. There is some truth to Hall’s statement as adolescents take risks such as experimenting with drugs and are more vulnerable to some psychological disorders than children are. Teenagers deal with more stress than children do and if a buildup of stress can lead to psychological disorders in the future.

Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa disproportionately affect adolescent females. Anorexia nervosa is the refusal to keep a weight that is at least 85% of the healthy weight determined by age and height. Individuals with anorexia are afraid of becoming overweight and have a distorted view of their bodies. For example, they may believe they are overweight when they are emaciated. Females with anorexia do not have regular menstrual cycles. Bulimia nervosa is seen in individuals who eat large amounts of food and then purge themselves using self-induced vomiting, laxatives, or dieting and fasting. Less than 3 out of 1000 teenage girls have anorexia. For every 11 females with anorexia, one male has anorexia. It occurs in increasingly younger individuals and across all socioeconomic levels as well as racial groups and cultures. Biological factors and environmental influences contribute to the occurrence of Anorexia. In the large cultural context, girls are bombarded with images of thin women and self-esteem is becomes connected to being thin. As girls enter puberty, they gain weight which leads them to feel less attractive. This may be way anorexia tends to emerge during adolescence. However, most girls do not develop eating disorders. Genes are also an influence on which individuals are predisposed eating disorders. Twin and adoption studies show that over half of the risk variation of eating disorders is genetic. Longitudinal studies show that early risk factors for developing anorexia include feeding problems in infancy and under-eating throughout childhood. People with anorexia may have low levels of serotonin which regulates appetite and mood. Inadequate amounts of dopamine may also be involved in compulsive behavior. Some personality traits such as being anxious, obsessive, and a perfectionist are associated with anorexia. These traits are influenced by genetic makeup. However, anorexia may not occur unless a genetically predisposed individual also experiences environmental influences such as societal pressure to be thin. Family dynamics and insecure attachment may also lead to an increased likelihood of the emergence of anorexia. Anorexia can be treated with behavioral modification programs to help individuals gain weight and control eating behavior. Psychotherapy can be used to help an individual understand and control their problems.

Family therapy can help change family dynamics. The Maudsley approach to family therapy begins by focusing on how to get the victim to gain weight and considers the family to be a part of the treatment rather than the problem. Family members must cooperate and assess their interactions to respond constructively to the eating behavior. After the victim reaches the weight goals for a healthy weight, family problems are addressed. Those with anorexia may be difficult to treat because they refuse to admit there is a problem. The rate of successful treatment increases if victims are treated before they reach 18 years of age. Eric Stice attempted to prevent anorexia from developing by using dissonance producing intervention in the Body Project. By asking adolescent girls with poor body image to critique thin ideals in essays, role-playing, etc, cognitive dissonance was created and was able to reduce how the girls internalized the ideal of being thin. This led to a decrease in negative body image, dieting, and eating disorders.

Substance abuse is the use of a substance which has adverse results such as interfering with academic or job performance, leading to interpersonal problems, or putting the person in dangerous situations. Substance dependence is continued substance abuse. The Monitoring the Future study at the University of Michigan tracked substance use in adolescence and found the rate of use of substances increased with each grade level. There are also clear ethnic differences in substance use. Native Americans have the highest rate of use, Hispanic Americans and European-Americans are in the middle, and African Americans and Asian Americans have the lowest rates. Kenneth Dodge developed the cascade model of substance use to show how the pathways to substance use starts in childhood. The first cascade begins with a child with a difficult temperament. The second cascade is when such a child is born into a family under stress, in poverty, or that abusing substances. The third cascade is the child being exposed to conflict and harsh parenting. The fourth cascade occurs when the child has behavior problems. The fifth cascade is when a child is rejected by his or her peer due to behavioral problems. The sixth cascade occurs when parents become too frustrated to monitor their child. The seventh cascade occurs when the child becomes involved with a negative peer group. Intervention can be helpful at any level to stop the cascade towards substance abuse. However, it becomes harder and harder over time. It should be noted that genetic factors also contribute to substance abuse. Some people are more predisposed to substance abuse and to being affected by negative environmental influences. Additionally, substance use are often comorbid with depression or anxiety disorders and may develop as a way to deal with emotional problems.

Rates of depression climb after puberty. The depression rate for girls is higher than for boys. Depression can result from the stress of puberty and stressful life events. Girls tend to use ruminative coping where they dwell on their problems more than boys do. Ruminative coping makes problems appear worse than they are and predicts future depression and binge eating in girls. Depression can lead to suicidal thoughts. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in people between the ages of 15 and 24. While 12% of male adolescents and 22% of female adolescents have considered suicide, adults are still more likely to commit suicide than adolescents are.

Men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women are. However, women are three times more likely to attempt suicide than men are. This may be due to men’s tendency to use more lethal methods such as guns. Adolescents attempt suicide more than adults do. This may be seen as a cry for help as the adolescent may want others to take notice rather than to actually die. Youth psychological disorders, family pathology, psychopathology, life events that cause stress, and having access to firearms are main factors in suicide.

Adulthood

Early adulthood is the most stressful period of adulthood. As adults start to have more stable lives in middle-age, the level of stress decreases.

28% of Americans are diagnosed with a mood disorder by age 75. The average age of those who develop major depression is in their early 20s. Older adults are less likely to develop major depression unless they have physical health problems which increase their stress levels. However, depression in old age is still concerned because depressed older adults are more likely to attempt suicide than depressed adolescents. Depression can be difficult to diagnose in later adulthood because symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and cognitive deficits may be interpreted as normal signs of aging. In addition to age differences in depression, there are also gender differences. Beginning in adolescence, women are twice as risk for depression as men are. However, in old age the rate of depression in men and the rate of depression in women are more similar. Depressed elderly adults often feel that their problems are a normal part of the aging process and wait to seek treatment. Those who do go to therapy usually overcome the depression and may even have better cognitive functioning as a result of therapy.

Dementia is cognitive decline or senility due to the deterioration of neural functioning. It includes decline in memory, intellectual ability, judgment, etc. While rates of dementia increase with age, dementia is not a normal part of aging. It is also not one disorder. Many conditions can cause symptoms. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia and causes about 70% of cases of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease causes senile plaques with a toxic protein known as beta-amyloid to form. Additionally, it causes neurofibrillary tangles which are twisted strands of neural fibers. Elderly adults also have senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles but to a much lesser degree than adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Symptoms of the disease can be seen 2-3 years before dementia is diagnosable. Adults will have trouble learning and remembering names and phone numbers. As the disease progresses, individuals have more difficulty thinking of the words they want to speak and forget what they are doing in the middle of a task. Eventually, individuals with Alzheimer’s cannot care for themselves. They do not recognize friends and family, become unable to communicate, and die. The disease cannot be traced to one single Alzheimer’s gene though it has a genetic basis. Genetic researches found a gene for early onset Alzheimer’s on the 21st pair of chromosomes. Late-onset Alzheimer’s is more common but does not have a clear gene contribution.

A variation of a gene on Chromosome 19 is important to late-onset Alzheimer’s. The gene controls the production of ApoE which is a protein that helps to process cholesterol. If an individual has two of the APOE4 variations of the gene, he or she is 15 times more likely than those without the variations develop the disease. Individuals with the two gene variations also show signs of brain atrophy before they show signs of cognitive decline. The APOE4 gene may be responsible for an increased accumulation of beta-amyloid in senile plaques. Keep in mind that many people with Alzheimer’s also do not have the two gene variations. This suggests that the environment is also a factor. Head injuries in earlier adulthood as seen in football players increases the risk. Obesity also increases risk as does eating in a way which results in high blood pressure, heart disease, or high cholesterol. Cognitive reserve which is the cognitive capacity that becomes necessary as people age, also plays a role. Those people with more cognitive reserve (people with advanced education, high intelligence, mentally active) tend to experience less impairment as Alzheimer’s affects their brains. Researchers hope that early detection can lead to the prevention or delay of changes to the brain due to Alzheimer’s. Drugs are prescribed to correct the deficit in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which helps with memory and learning. No medication can prevent or reverse the disease but some do increase cognitive functioning, decrease behavioral problems, or slow the disease. Physical and mental exercise can also delay cognitive decline.

Vascular dementia is the second most common type of dementia. It often occurs with Alzheimer’s. It is caused by a series of small strokes which stop blood from reaching the brain. Vascular dementia deteriorates cognition after each stroke. Unlike Alzheimer’s which causes memory impairment the most, vascular dementia causes loss in executive functions and areas of the brain affected by the strokes. It is caused more by environmental factors than genetic factors as smoking, a diet high in fat can cause cerebrovascular diseases which decrease blood flow to the brain. Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Aids, and Multiple Sclerosis may also cause vascular dementia.

10% of dementia is not related to Alzheimer’s or vascular dementia and can be cured or reversed. Dementia can also be caused by alcoholism, medication allergies, infections, malnutrition, and metabolic disorders. Once these problems are treated, the symptoms of dementia can function normally. Some elderly adults are diagnosed with dementia when they should be diagnosed as having delirium which can be treated. It comes and goes throughout the day with symptoms of disorientation, confusion, and hallucinations. Delirium may emerge as a reaction to stress. Other older adults are diagnosed with dementia when they are experience depression which can be treated with medication and therapy.

Life-Span Human Development - Sigelman & Rider - 7th edition - ExamTests

Chapter 1

1. Which of the following is not one of the three types of development?

A. Cognitive development.

B. Behavioural development.

C. Physical development.

D. Psychosocial development.

2. ________ is defined as the physical changes that happen during a person’s lifespan.

A. Development.

B. Flow.

C. Adaption.

D. Growth.

3. _________ are the socially defined age groups in society.

A. Age grades.

B. Population grades.

C. Age norms.

D. Societal ages.

4. What is the name given to the period of age from twelve years to twenty years of age?

A. Late adulthood.

B. Early adulthood.

C. Adolescence.

D. Emerging adulthood.

5. What is the term given for the societal expectations on how people should behave based on their age?

A. Age norms.

B. Age grades.

C. Societal norms.

D. Cultural norms.

6. In terms of the bioecological model of development, which system focusses most on cultural context?

A. Mesosystem.

B. Macrosytem.

C. Microsystem.

D. Exosystem.

Ans. Key: B, D, A, C, A, B

Chapter 2

According to Thomas Hobbes, children are inherently __________. John Rousseau believed children were inherently ___________. John Locke thought children were ___________.

A. good, blank slates, bad.

B. bad, good, blank slates.

C. blank slates, bad, good.

D. good, bad, blank slates.

2. The term tabulae rasea implies

A. Inherent goodness.

B. Blank slate or neutral.

C. Inherent badness.

D. Unchangeable fixed morality.

3. Growing taller, getting grey hairs, or gaining more wrinkles are all examples of

A. descriptive changes.

B. growth development.

C. quantitative changes.

D. qualitative changes.

4. ___________ theory states that people are shaped by their earliest family experiences and motivated by urges and emotional conflict that they are unaware of.

A. Socialization.

B. Habituation.

C. Psychoanalytic.

D. Cognitive.

5. The ___________ is the aspect of personality that requires people to satisfy their urges in ethical and socially acceptable ways.

A. Id.

B. Ego.

C. Conscience.

D. Superego.

6. If someone removes traumatic memories and thoughts that may be unacceptable, what defence mechanism are they engaging in?

A. Repression.

B. Regression.

C. Projection.

D. Reaction formation.

Ans. Key: B, B, C, C, D, A

Chapter 3

1. Which of the following is the term given to genetic traits which are common among all people?

A. Natural selection.

B. Species heredity.

C. Universal genes.

D. Common genes.

2. Genes that do help in adaptation will be more likely to be passed on to future generations of a species than genes that do not help in adaptation. This process is known as which of the following?

A. Darwinian processing.

B. Sexual selection.

C. Natural adaptation.

D. Natural selection.

3. The sperm and the ovum release genetic material to form a new cell nucleus. This new cell is known as which of the following?

A. Meiosis.

B. Chromosome.

C. DNA.

D. Zygote.

4. _________ are the genetic makeup a person inherits while __________ are the traits a person will have.

A. Genotype, phenotype.

B. Phenotype, genotype.

C. Characteristics, attitudes.

D. None of the above.

5. Which of the following is not one of the three mechanisms of inheritance?

A. Sex-limited characteristics.

B. Single gene-pair inheritance.

C. Sex-linked characteristics.

D. Polygenic traits.

6. __________ is the study of specific genes and their effects.

A. Biological genetics.

B. Genetic interactions.

C. Behavioural genetics.

D. Molecular genetics.

Ans. Key: B, D, D, A, A, D

Chapter 4

1. Which of the following is not one of the three stages of the prenatal period.

A. The conception stage.

B. The embryonic stage.

C. The fetal stage.

D. The germinal stage.

2. Sometimes during development, the neural tube doesn’t close fully. When this happens at the bottom of the tube, what might occur?

A. Anencephaly.

B. Neural leaking.

C. Spina bifida.

D. Accelerated development.

3. What is the term given to any diseases, drugs, or other environmental factors which may harm a fetus?

A. Prenatal influences.

B. Prenatal stimulants.

C. Teratogens.

D. None of the above.

4. If a mother has rubella, which of the following may occur to the child following conception?

A. Blindness.

B. Deafness.

C. Heart defects.

D. All of the above.

5. High risk pregnancies may need the help of a maternal specialist known as a

A. perinatologist.

B. maternal nurse.

C. labour specialist.

D. pregnancy consultant.

6. What is the term given to defects present in an infant at birth?

A. Teratogens.

B. Infant malformations.

C. Abnormal disparity.

D. Congenital malformations.

Ans. Key: A, C, C, D, A, D

Chapter 5

1. The endocrine system is the hormonal system and is made up of endocrine glands which secrete _______ into the blood.

A. glucose.

B. nutrients.

C. hormones.

D. water.

2. The _________ glands secrete hormones that affect bone and muscle maturation in both males and females.

A. pituitary.

B. thyroid.

C. pineal.

D. adrenal.

3. What is the name given to the process where neurons are covered in myelin which speeds up the transmission of neural impulses?

A. Transmission activation.

B. Myelin facilitation.

C. Myelination.

D. Proliferation.

4. ________ is the asymmetry and specialization of brain function.

A. Localization.

B. Neural balance.

C. Plasticity.

D. Lateralization.

5. Researchers consider three main principles to be the underlying principles of growth. Which principle states that muscles develop from the center of the body outwards?

A. Orthogenetic principle.

B. Proximodistal principle.

C. Centrifugal principle.

D. Cephalocaudal principle.

6. What is the term given for when testosterone levels decrease in men?

A. Andropause.

B. Menopause.

C. Testopause.

D. Testosterone degradation.

Ans. Key: C, D, C, D, B, A

Chapter 6

1. _________ is the process where information is detected by sensory receptor neurons and transmitted to the brain.

A. Perception.

B. Vision.

C. Sensation.

D. Consciousness

2. ________ believe that perception develops due to innate human abilities. _________, on the other hand, believe that over time, experience and learning build our perceptions of the world.

A. Nativists, constructivists.

B. Biologists, behaviourists.

C. Constructivists, nativists.

D. Behaviourists, biologists.

3. __________ is the process where humans learn to be bored when a stimulus is presented over and over.

A. Extinction.

B. Adaptation.

C. Mere exposure.

D. Habituation.

4. The ability to see detail, which new-borns must develop, is known as which of the following?

A. Visual agnosia.

B. Visual perception.

C. Depth perception.

D. Visual acuity.

5. What is the name given to the time frame where an individual will be more affected by an experience?

A. The stimulated period.

B. The orienting period.

C. A sensitive period.

D. A learning phase.

6. ___________ are the points where low amounts of stimulation are detectable.

A. Sensory thresholds.

B. Dark adaptations.

C. Sensory limits.

D. Stimulation boundaries.

Ans. Key: C, A, D, D, C, A

Chapter 7

1. Infants grasping actions and sucking responses are both examples of which of the following?

A. Assimilation.

B. Socialization.

C. Schemes.

D. Accommodation.

2. __________ is used to combine existing schemes into new and more complex schemes in a systematic manner.

A. Accommodation.

B. Organization.

C. Assimilation.

D. Equilibration.

3. _________ occurs when existing schemes are modified to better fit new experiences.

A. Accommodation.

B. Equilibration.

C. Assimilation.

D. Organization.

4. If an infant is engaging in repeated actions involving objects such as shaking a rattle, what substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage is the infant in?

A. The coordination of secondary schemes.

B. Tertiary circular reactions.

C. Primary circular reactions.

D. Secondary circular reactions.

5. What is the term given for the understanding that an object continues to exist even if it is not visible?

A. Object permanence.

B. Symbolic capacity.

C. Beginning of thought.

D. Perceptual salience.

6. What occurs when an individual views the world only from his or her own perspective rather than consider the viewpoints of other individuals?

A. Self-propagation.

B. Egocentrism.

C. Self-promotion.

D. Neuroticism.

Ans. Key: C, B, A, D, A, B

Chapter 8

1. __________ is what stores information that one is actively processing.

A. Active memory.

B. Passive memory.

C. Working memory.

D. Long-term memory.

2. The first step after receiving information is to ________ it or enter it into the system. The second step is to __________ information and process it. The third step is to _______ the information.

A. store, encode, consolidate.

B. store, consolidate, encode.

C. encode, consolidate, store.

D. encode, store, consolidate.

3. What is the name given to the memory referred to for information we can recognize when given options, for example a multiple choice question?

A. Working memory.

B. Implicit memory.

C. Episodic memory.

D. Recognition memory.

4. ___________ is also called procedural memory and occurs without a person being aware of their memory being accessed.

A. Explicit memory.

B. Long-term memory.

C. Implicit memory.

D. Semantic memory.

5. __________ is a strategy of constructing meaningful links between the information that should be remembered.

A. Chunking.

B. Elaboration.

C. Organization.

D. Rehearsal.

6. Which of the following is the knowledge of memory used to monitor and regulate memory processes?

A. Knowledge base.

B. Working memory.

C. Metamemory.

D. Regulation memory.

Ans. Key: C, C, D, C, B, C

Chapter 9

1. Charles Spearman theorized a theory of intelligence based on two factors. The first factor is ____________ (g). The second factor is _________ (s).

A. general mental ability, specific abilities.

B. genetic ability, specific abilities.

C. genetic ability, special abilities.

D. general mental ability, special abilities.

2. What is the term given for the ability to use knowledge gained through education and experience?

A. Crystallized intelligence.

B. Implicit intelligence.

C. Fluid intelligence.

D. Long-term intelligence.

3. Which of the following is not an aspect of the triarchic theory of intelligence?

A. Creative component.

B. Theoretical component.

C. Analytical component.

D. Practical component.

4. What is the most widely used test for intelligence for infants?

A. Ravens Progressive Matrices.

B. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.

C. Bayley Scales of Infant Development.

D. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children.

5. People with poor health are more likely to experience a decline in IQ. This effect is known as which of the following?

A. Terminal drop.

B. Affective health model.

C. Health-environment interaction effect.

D. Health-intelligence interaction effect.

6. __________ refers to the finding that average IQ scores increased over the 20th century.

A. The cohort effect.

B. The Flynn effect.

C. Terminal drop.

D. Intelligence adaptation effect.

Ans. Key: D, A, B, C, A, B

Chapter 10

1. What is the term given for the basic units of sound which can change what a word means?

A. Morphemes.

B. Prosodies.

C. Word segmentations.

D. Phonemes.

2. ________ are the basic units for meaning in a word.

A. Prosodies.

B. Morphemes.

C. Letters.

D. Phonemes.

3. At what age do infants first gain the word segmentation ability?

A. 7.5 months.

B. 2.5 months.

C. After the age of 12 months.

D. After the age of 24 months.

4. If, for example, a two year old refers to all four legged animals as “doggy”, what term describes this?

A. Underextension.

B. Overextension.

C. Vocabulary spurt.

D. Syntactic bootstrapping.

5. What is the term given when schools place students of similar ability together?

A. Selective placement.

B. Specific grouping.

C. Special assignment.

D. Ability grouping.

6. What is the term given to language disorders?

A. Linguistic limitations.

B. Aphasia.

C. Communication deficiencies.

D. Left hemisphere deficiency.

Ans. Key: D, B, A, B, D, B

Chapter 11

1. ____________ are the stories about our past and future that we use to create our identities.

A. Characteristic adaptations.

B. Self-concepts.

C. Descriptive identities.

D. Narrative identities.

2. __________ is an overall sense of who we are, where we are going, and how we contribute to society.

A. Narrative identities.

B. Personality.

C. Identity.

D. Self-concept.

3. Which of the following best describes early tendencies to respond to events that build personality in a predictable manner?

A. Behaviour.

B. Temperament.

C. Self-concept.

D. Attitudes.

4. What is the term given to the process of using information on how one compares with others to evaluate oneself?

A. Social grade effect.

B. Social role evaluation.

C. Social comparison.

D. Goodness of fit.

5. Western cultures tend to be _______________ while Eastern cultures tend to be more ___________.

A. collectivist, individualistic.

B. individualistic, segregated.

C. individualistic, collectivist.

D. segregated, collectivist.

6. ____________ posits that aging adults age successfully through withdrawing from society in a manner that is satisfying for both the aging adult and for society.

A. Disengagement theory.

B. Passivity theory.

C. Refractory theory.

D. Activity theory.

Ans. Key: D, C, B, C, C, A

Chapter 12

1. __________ refers to physical characteristics that make a person male or female.

A. Gender.

B. Gender roles.

C. Agency.

D. Biological sex.

2. ____________ are the patterns of behaviour that society expects men and women to adopt.

A. Gender roles.

B. Societal roles.

C. Behavioural roles.

D. Sex roles.

3. What is the name given to the hypothesis which states that males and females are more alike than they are different?

A. The gender disparity hypothesis.

B. The male-female correlation hypothesis.

C. The gender similarity hypothesis.

D. The social-role hypothesis.

4. According to Alice Eagly’s social role hypothesis, different roles that men and women have in society

A. contribute to creating and maintaining stereotypes.

B. contribute to diminishing the presence of stereotypes.

C. contribute to altering the stigma surrounding stereotypes.

D. have no effect on stereotypes.

5. ____________ occurs where gender differences are exaggerated due to hormonal changes and pressures which occur during puberty.

A. Gender confusion.

B. Role confusion.

C. Gender intensification.

D. Gender segregation.

6. According to Kohlberg, at what age do children establish a basic gender identity as they label themselves as male or female?

A. By 12 months.

B. After 3 years.

C. Around 2 or 3 years.

D. At 4 years.

Ans. Key: D, A, C, A, C, C

Chapter 13

1. Which of the following is not included in the definition of social cognition?

A. Thoughts.

B. Attitudes.

C. Behaviours.

D. Perceptions.

2. Desire psychology, where toddlers state what they want and explain behaviour in terms of desire first occurs around what age?

A. 6 months.

B. 1 year.

C. 2 years.

D. 3 years.

3. ____________, which are neurons that become active when one performs a task and also become active when one views another person performing a task, have been discovered in several parts of the brain.

A. Learning neurons.

B. Mirror neurons.

C. Mimicry neurons.

D. Observational neurons.

4. According to Piaget, during which period do children begin taking rules seriously and view them as fixed because they are given by authority figures?

A. Premoral period.

B. Postmoral period.

C. Homoeronomous period.

D. Heteronomous period.

5. What is term given for situations where family members struggle for power and use negative and coercive tactics to control each other?

A. Manipulative family situations.

B. Coercive family environments.

C. Antisocial family environments.

D. Antisocial family situations.

6. __________ mechanisms are where we monitor and approve of or disapprove of our own actions.

A. Self-esteem.

B. Moral.

C. Amoral.

D. Self-regulatory.

Ans. Key: B, C, B, D, B, D

Chapter 14

1. John Bowlby posited __________ which studied how attachment may have evolved and also focused on mother-child relationships and cognitive theory.

A. attribution theory.

B. dependent theory.

C. attachment theory.

D. dispositional theory.

2. What is the name for the hormone often called the love hormone?

A. Orexin.

B. Oxytocin.

C. Seratonin.

D. Dopamine.

3. Which of the following is an example of an infant engaging in social referencing in the context of meeting a stranger?

A. The infant drawing on prior knowledge to assess the stranger.

B. The Infant will wait until the stranger acts before they make an assessment.

C. The infant looks to their mother for confirmation.

D. The infant approaches the stranger to investigate.

4. Which of the following is not an attachment style?

A. Secure attachment.

B. Resistant attachment.

C. Independent attachment.

D. Disorganized-disoriented attachment.

5. Social pretend play refers to what type of situation?

A. When children play with caregivers or peers to act out dramas.

B. When children pretend to like a caregiver in order to get what they want.

C. When children pretend to like another child of a similar age.

D. When children reject whatever activity they are supposed to be engaging in.

6. Researchers study how peers are accepted in groups using methods to determine who is liked and who is disliked. Which of the following describes these methods?

Sociometric techniques.

Socialization studies.

Quantitative research.

Within-group studies.

Ans. Key: C, B, C, C, A, A

Chapter 15

1. A ______ family is made up of a mother, a father, and at least one child.

A. normal.

B. balanced.

C. nuclear.

D. co-parented.

2. Which parenting style dimension refers to how supportive and sensitive to a child’s needs parents are?

A. Demandingness-control.

B. Sensitivity-supportiveness.

C. Understanding-reaction.

D. Acceptance-responsiveness.

3. Which parenting style dimension refers to how much control the parent has over decisions rather than the child?

A. Understanding-reaction.

B. Demandingness-control.

C. Acceptance-responsiveness.

D. Sensitivity-supportiveness.

4. The _____________ assumes that parents, especially the mother, influence their children and not the other way around. A ____________ focuses on how children influence their parents.

A. child effects model, parent effects model.

B. transactional model, interactional model.

C. parent effects model, child effect model.

D. interactional model, transactional model.

5. If a grandparent rarely sees their grandchildren, which style of grandparenting are they fitting?

A. Involved.

B. Remote.

C. Removed.

D. Companionate.

6. Middle-aged adults may experience the _____________ which is psychological distress due to providing care for someone with physical or cognitive impairment.

A. Depression.

B. Mid-life crisis.

C. Caregiver burden.

D. Cognitive dissonance

Ans. Key: C, D, B, C, B, C

Chapter 16

1. Which of the following is not included in the definition of abnormal development?

A. Statistical deviance.

B. Maladaptiveness.

C. Stability.

D. Personal distress.

2. The ________ model predicts that psychopathology is a result of a predisposition towards a disorder and personality interacting over time in addition to stress inducing situations.

A. Predisposition.

B. Interaction.

C. Diathesis-stress.

D. Categorical.

3. ________________ are undercontrolled disorders where individuals behave inappropriately and disturb social expectations and other people.

A. Explicit disorders.

B. Externalizing problems.

C. Internalizing problems.

D. Implicit problems.

4. What disorder is categorized by someone eating large amounts of food and then purging themselves using self-induced vomiting, laxatives, or dieting and fasting?

A. Bulimia nervosa.

B. Depression.

C. Anorexia nervosa.

D. None of the above.

5. Which approach to family therapy begins by focusing on how to get the victim to gain weight and considers the family to be a part of the treatment rather than the problem?

A. Adaptive therapy.

B. The Maudsley approach.

C. Cognitive behavioural therapy.

D. Physiotherapy.

6. The most beneficial treatment for seriously depressed children is which of the following?

A. Medication.

B. Cognitive behavioural therapy.

C. Exercise.

D. A combination of medication and cognitive behavioural therapy.

Ans. Key: C, C, B, A, B, D