Human Development Flashcards
What is Development? + Ontogenic Development
- Sequence of age-related changes that occur as a person progresses from conception to death
Ontogenic Development : The course of development of an individual through the lifespan (Breugelmans, Chasiotis, & Sam, 2012)
Explain Prenatal Development
- Extends from conception of birth (encompasses 9 months of pregnancy)
- Divided into 3 phases : Germinal Stage, Embryonic Stage & Fetal Stage
Explain the Germinal Stage of Prenatal Development
- Encompasses the first 2 weeks after conception
- Zygote is created through fertilisation, becomes a microscopic mass of multiplying cells that migrates along the mother’s fallopian tube to the uterine cavity
- Cell mass begins to implant itself in the uterine wall on the 7th day
- During implantation, placenta begins to form
Placenta : A structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into the foetus from the mother’s bloodstream and bodily wastes pass out to the mother
Explain the Embryonic Stage of Prenatal Development
- Lasts from 2 weeks til the end of the 2nd month
- Most of the vital organs and bodily systems begin to form
- Arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes, eyes and ears are discernible
- Period of great vulnerability as most major structural birth defects result from problems that occur here
Explain the Fetal Stage of Prenatal Development
- Lasts 2 months through birth
- First 2 months of the fetal stage bring rapid bodily growth as muscles and bones begin to form
- Organs continue to grow and gradually begin to function
- During final 3 months (6 months), brain cells multiply at a brisk pace, a layer of fat is deposited under the skin to provide insulation
- Respiratory and digestive systems mature
List the Environmental Factors and Prenatal Development
- Nutrition
- Stress and Emotion
- Drug Use
- Alcohol Consumption
- Maternal Illness
- Environmental Toxins
- Fetal Origins of Adult Disease
Explain 1. Nutrition as an Environmental Factor of Prenatal Development
- Maternal nutrition is important because the foetus needs a variety of essential nutrients
- Poor nutrition increases the risk of birth complications and neurological deficits
Explain 2. Stress and Emotion as an Environmental Factor of Prenatal Development
- A mother’s emotional reactions to stressful events can disrupt the hormonal balance that fosters healthy prenatal development
- Associated with increased stillbirths, impaired immune responses, heightened vulnerability to infectious diseases etc.
Explain 3. Drug Use as an Environmental Factor in Prenatal Development
- Most drugs pass through the placenta (slip through the membranes)
- Recreational drugs, prescription medicine and tobacco can cause problems for foetuses and newborns
Explain 4. Alcohol Consumption as an Environmental Factor of Prenatal Development
- Alcohol consumption during pregnancy carries serious risks
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome : A collection of congenital (inborn) problems associated with excessive alcohol use during pregnancy
- Heart defects, hyperactivity, microcephaly (small head), delayed motor development, impaired cognitive development etc.
Explain 5. Maternal Illness as an Environmental Factor of Prenatal Development
- The placenta screens out many infectious agents
- Diseases (Measles, rubella, syphilis and chickenpox) and HIV virus that can cause AIDS can be transmitted to a foetus and cause damage
- Transmission of AIDS can occur through the placenta during delivery or through breastfeeding
Explain 6. Environmental Toxins as an Environmental Factor of Prenatal Development
- Exposure to environmental toxins can cause impairments
- Prenatal exposure to air pollution has been linked to impairments in cognitive development at age 5
Explain 7. Fetal Origins of Adult Disease as an Environmental Factor of Prenatal Development
- Events during prenatal development can cause vulnerabilities decades later
- Adverse events can ‘program’ the fetal brain in ways that influence vulnerability
- Linked to schizophrenia (usually emerges in late adolescence/early adulthood)
Define Motor Development
- The progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities
- Basic motor skills include grasping/reaching, sitting up, walking, running etc.
Explain Maturation
- Development that reflects the gradual unfolding of one’s genetic blueprint
What are Developmental Norms?
- Developmental norms indicate the typical (median) age at which individuals display various behaviours and abilities
- Group averages
Cultural Variations and its Significance on Human Development
- Dynamic interplay between experience and maturation in motor development
- Relatively rapid motor movement has been observed in some cultures that provide special practise in basic motor skills (Kipsigis people of Kenya)
Explain Attachment in Early Emotional Development
- Close emotional bonds of affection that develop between infants and their caregivers
- First important attachment usually occurs with the mother (main caregiver)
What is Separation Anxiety in Early Emotional Development
- Emotional distress seen in many infants when they are separated from people with whom they have formed an attachment
Explain the Theories of Attachment
- Behaviourists have argued that attachment develops because mothers are associated with the reinforcing event of being fed
- Harry Harlow (1958, 1959) disproved this theory with his studies of attachment in infant rhesus monkeys
- John Bowlby (1969, 1973, 1980) argued that infants are biologically programmed to emit behaviour (smiling, cooing, clinging) that adults are programmed to respond to affectionately and protectively