Chapter 10- Development 1

Question 1

Researchers in human development are interested in studying age-related changes across the life span in three major domains

Answer 1

physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development

Question 2

Research in human development seeks to answer three questions:

Answer 2

Is development a distinct, discontinuous process (is our growth punctuated by sharp and sudden changes in our abilities?) or is it a gradual, continuous process?
How doe nature (our genes) and nurture (our environment) interact to make us who we are?
To what extent do we stay the same over time (remain stable) versus change?

Question 3

interactionist approach:

Answer 3

believing that development incorporates all of these ideas

Question 4

Cross-sectional design

Answer 4

Individuals of different ages are studied at one point in time to find age-related differences
Advantage: Allows researchers to collect data quickly and inexpensively
Disadvantage: Cohort effects: Participants in each age group/cohort grew up in different historical contexts, can’t be certain if the differences between groups are due to age or the different social and political conditions experiences by each group
Ex: Studying differences in intellectual abilities of people who are 10, 30, 50, and 70.
Although 70 year olds may score lower on tests of intellectual ability than 30 year olds, may be due to differences in education, access to technology, or nutrition (not necessarily aging)

Question 5

Longitudinal design

Answer 5

Same people are studied over time at various ages to find age related changes
Advantage: Allows researchers to look at real age-related changes because they are able to compare the same individuals at different ages
More sensitive to developmental influences than cross-sectional designs

Disadvantage: More costly and time consuming because it takes a number of years to complete
Selective attention/participant drop-out is an issue because over time people might lose interest or move away. May end up with a smaller and less representative sample
History effects: Can’t be sure whether changes in intellectual ability are due to aging and occur to everyone, or are unique to particular cohort

Question 6

Longitudinal-sequential design

Answer 6

Combination of the cross-sectional and longitudinal designs
Two or more age groups of people are studied repeatedly over time
Allows researchers to repeatedly test two or more age cohorts as they grow older
Can compare different cohorts at the same age to see if they exhibit the same behaviours
Can determine if different cohorts follow a similar developmental pattern
Advantage: Very comprehensive
Disadvantage: Costly and time consuming

Question 7

Prenatal development is divided into 3 distinct stages

Answer 7

the germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages.

Question 8

Germinal Stage

Answer 8

Begins at conception, lasts for 2 weeks

Conception: fertilized egg is a single celled zygote

Question 9

Zygote

Answer 9

the single cell that results when a sperm fertilizes an egg

Develops rapidly around 36 hours after conception

Question 10

Blastocyst

Answer 10

The multi-celled organism developed by the 7th day
On 7th day, travels down the fallopian tube and attaches to the uterine wall
30-50% do not implant properly and the pregnancy ends without the woman knowing she was pregnant

Question 11

2) Embryonic Stage

Answer 11

Occurs if implantation is successful
From 2-8 weeks after conception
Growing bundle of cells is an embryo
Marked by the formation of the major organs: the nervous system, heart, eyes, ears, arms, legs, teeth, palate, and external genitalia

Question 12

3) Fetal Stage

Answer 12

8 weeks after conception
Formation of bone cells
Heartbeat can be detected between 8-12 weeks into development
Organs grow and mature while the fetus rapidly increases in size
Rate of new neural growth is 3 million neurons per minute at its peak

Question 13

Central nervous system (brain and spinal cord)

Answer 13

takes the longest amount of time to develop

Begins developing in the third week after conception and continues to develop nearly the entire time in the womb

Question 14

Most major abnormalities occur in the

Answer 14

in the early stages of development

Blue bar indicates when major abnormalities can occur. After that period, minor abnormalities can still occur

Question 15

The ovum is fertilized

Answer 15

in the fallopian tube

Question 16

As the zygote grow

Answer 16

it moves through the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it attaches to the uterine wall and implants there

Question 17

The brain is the first major organ to develop and is still growing rapidly at birth

Answer 17

By time infant is born, its head has grown to 25% of its adult weight, whereas its body is only 5% of its adult weight

Question 18

Neural migration

Answer 18

The movement of neurons from one part of the fetal brain to more permanent destinations
Occurs during the 3rd to 5th month of pregnancy/fetal stage
Prenatal exposure to toxins and viruses may interfere with normal neural migration and increase the risk of psychological disorders

Question 19

Development Timeline

Answer 19

After nervous system starts to form, the embryo begins to move
4-6 months after conception, the fetus’s movements are noticeable
Mothers can feel the fetus moving as early as 16 weeks into pregnancy, although it might feel like abdominal gas or “butterflies”
Male fetus’s are more active than females, their greater activity levels after birth may be inborn

Question 20

How Can Researchers Know What a Fetus Prefers?

Answer 20

Monitor the fetus’s heart rate
Slowed heart rate indicates attention, interest, or orienting response
Increased heart rate indicates fear or distress
Certain sounds and music that fetuses are exposed to change their neural networks, these sounds/music are retained in memory for at least four months after birth
Learning already occurs prior to birth

Question 21

The major sensory systems develop at different times and rates.

Hearing

Answer 21

Ears are connected to auditory pathway 18 weeks after conception
Neurons connecting the ear to the brain are complete
Responds to sound 26 weeks after conception
Fetuses find their mother’s voice soothing, prefer the sound of their mother’s voice to others 6 months + few weeks after conception
Hearing almost adult like after birth

Question 22

Smell and Taste

Answer 22

Taste and odour from mother’s diet are present in amniotic fluid
Sensitive to odours in the amniotic fluid before birth and remember those smells
When pregnant mothers consume anise flavoured foods during the end of their pregnancy, their newborns liked the smell of anise more than babies whose mothers did not consume anise
Taste buds of fetus look like adults 13 to 15 weeks after conception
Sweet taste preference exists in the womb
Premature babies prefer sweet flavours

Question 23

Vision

Answer 23

Fetuses do not open their eyes
recall: vision perception occurs in the brain, the brain needs visual stimulation to develop the sense of sight
At birth infants are near sighted
Cannot see as well as adults until 6 months old

Question 24

Prenatal Programming

Answer 24

The process by which events in the womb alter the development of physical and psychological health
Chemical substances mother consumes/exposed to may influence the development of the brain and body systems in fetus
Common factors are maternal nutrition and substances that can cause permanent damage, known as teratogens

Question 25

Teratogens

Answer 25

substances that interfered with development and can cause birth defects

Question 26

Known teratogens

Answer 26

viruses (rubella/measles, flu), alcohol, nicotine, prescription drugs (antidepresssants/Prozac/Zoloft), and radiation

Question 27

Viruses

Answer 27

Major impact during early pregnancy, little effect towards end of pregnancy
If a pregnant women develops an infection (like the flu) during the 4th-6th month of pregnancy, the risk of schizophrenia increases for the child later in life

Question 28

Alcohol

Answer 28

No safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy

Most serious effect is fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Question 29

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Answer 29

Consequence of prenatal alcohol exposure
Causes damage to CNS, low birth weight, physical abnormalities in the face, head, heart, and joints, intellectual disability and behavioural problems
Described as a spectrum of disorders because the types/degrees can vary
In Canada, 9/1000 children born suffer from FASD, 3000 babies a year
leading cause of intellectual disability
Binge drinking increases the severity

Question 30

Nicotine

Answer 30

Interferes with oxygen supply to the fetus
Can lead to premature and low birth weight babies
Increased risk of stillbirth
If pregnant women smoke, doubles the risk of the child developing bipolar

Question 31

Caffeine

Answer 31

Studies yield mixed results
Link between heavy caffeine consumption (over 300mg/3 cups of coffee a day) and increased risk of miscarriage or delivering low weight baby
Don’t need to stop drinking coffee, but should avoid over indulging

Question 32

Prescription Drugs

Answer 32

Antidepressants Zoloft and Prozac can cause respiratory problems, increased risk of premature birth, and short-lasting effects on motor development
Other studies suggest there are few risks to developing fetus
If possible, avoid these drugs prior to pregnancy

Question 33

Folic acid + Vitamins

Answer 33

reduce the rates of abnormalities in the nervous system, which starts developing 19 days after conception

Question 34

Malnourishment

Answer 34

Schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder more likely to occur if mother is malnourished during pregnancy

Question 35

Iron deficiency

Answer 35

Iron deficiency in diet and maternal stress predispose infant to anemia/low red blood cell count, which affects how well the body functions
Can lead to cognitive impairment, motor deficiencies, and poor emotional functioning

Question 36

Pregnancy Sickness

Answer 36

“Morning sickness”
Built in toxin detector
Pregnant women develop aversions to certain foods, nausea, vomiting
Worst during first 3 months of pregnancy, when fetus’ major organs develop and embryo is most vulnerable to teratogens
Occurs most commonly to foods with moulds (cheese and mushrooms), and to bitter substances (coffee). Possibly because these foods can cause birth defects

Question 37

epigenetics

Answer 37

study of how environment affects gene expression
One of the most important examples(maternal nutrition) of epigenetics
Diet is environment
Certain maternal diet can lead to obesity in offspring