Intro to Psy. Chapter 3

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Coon, Introduction to Psychology, 16th Edition. © 2022 Cengage. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated,
or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. 1
or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Introduction to
Psychology,
16th Edition
Chapter 3: Human Development

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Icebreaker: Pair-Share
The class will be broken up into small groups of students.
1. Who do you look like? What are the influences of genetics on your looks?
2. What about your personality? Do you see similarities in your personality to
others in your family?
3. Do you agree we are shaped by nature? Or by nurture? Both? Why?
4. How do you account for siblings with wildly different personalities raised in the
same household?

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Chapter Objectives (1 of 4)
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
3.1.1 Explain how genes impact human development.
3.1.2 Explain how the environment impacts human development.
3.1.3 Explain how epigenetic factors impact human development.
3.2.1 Describe key aspects of physical development across the lifespan.
3.2.2 Explain key aspects of perceptual development across the lifespan.

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3.3.1 Describe key aspects of emotional development across the lifespan.
3.3.2 Describe key aspects of social development across the lifespan, including:
(a) the eight psychosocial dilemmas described by Erikson
(b) the importance of temperament and attachment in childhood
(c) what is known about parenting styles, and how they differ across
cultures
(d) the characteristics of emerging adults’ and older adults’ social networks

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3.4.1 Describe key aspects of language development across the lifespan.
3.4.2 Describe key aspects of cognitive development across the lifespan,
including:
(a) the central ideas that underlie Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
(b) the central ideas that underlie Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive
development
(c) the focus of more recent research concerning cognitive development

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3.4.3 Describe key aspects of moral development across the lifespan, including
Kohlberg’s three stages of moral development and Carol Gilligan’s criticism
of this theory.
3.5.1 Create a plan to manage a challenge to your own values.

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Unit 1
The Forces That Shape Development:
Nature and Nurture

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Nature: The Effects of Genetics
• Heredity (nature):
Transmission of genes
from parents to offspring
at conception
• Genome: Genetic
heritage that determines
our physical and
psychological
characteristics

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The Genome (1 of 2)
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA): Pairs of chemical molecules that act as a code
for genetic information
Chromosomes: Rodlike structures in the cell nucleus that house genes
Genes: Coded instructions of heredity located on the DNA
Genetic disorder: Caused by defective genes from either parent

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The Genome (2 of 2)
Dominant gene: Controls features
like eye color; will appear every time
the gene is present
Recessive gene: Must be paired with
second, identical recessive gene
Polygenic characteristics:
Controlled by many gene

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Nurture: The Effects of the
Environment (1 of 2)
The sum of all external conditions that affect development
Prenatal environment:
• Teratogen: Harmful substances that can cause birth defects
• Congenital problems: Birth defects that originate during prenatal development
• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD): Occurs in children whose mothers
consumed alcohol during pregnancy
• Babies can be born with other addictions as well.

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Nurture: The Effects of the
Environment (2 of 2)
Postnatal environment:
• Brain has fewer dendrites but is
highly plastic
• Sensitive period: Time when we
are more susceptible to some
environmental influences, and
can alter development
• Deprivation and enrichment
Brain development after birth

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Epigenetics: Where Genes and
Environment Meet
• It is the study of changes in organisms that are caused by modifications to gene
expression rather than alteration of the genetic code.
• How DNA is read: Methyl groups can turn particular genes on or off to create the
kind of cell that is needed.
• How DNA is packaged: If DNA is wound tightly around a histone, it is hard for
genes to express themselves.

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Discussion Activity 1
As a class, discuss the role of nature and nurture in our development.
1. Why do those who have the same biological parents (who live in the same
household) have different physical features and personalities?
2. Why do identical twins have different personalities?
3. What is more important, nature or nurture?

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Unit 2
Physical and Perceptual Development

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Physical Development in
Infancy and Childhood
Changes continue over the lifespan.
At birth, infant has several adaptive reflexes that help survival:
• Grasping
• Rooting
• Sucking
• Moro reflex
Rate of maturation varies, but order of maturation is almost universal

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Physical Development in
Adolescence and Adulthood
Puberty
• Hormonal changes promote physical
growth and reproductive maturity
• Biological event
• Social and intellectual maturity does
not occur at the same time as puberty
Adolescence
• Culturally defined period between
childhood and adulthood
• Period of transition
• Most reach physical peaks in early
adulthood and face decline thereafter

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Perceptual Development
How the senses develop in infancy and childhood:
• Senses are less acute but are there
• Environment has strong role in development
How the senses develop in adolescence and adulthood:
• Perceptual abilities continue to change
• Declines most noteworthy in later adulthood

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Knowledge Check Activity 1
Many use the terms puberty and adolescence interchangeably, but they are not.
Which of the following best defines adolescence?
a. Hormonal changes
b. Physical growth spurts
c. Reproductive maturity
d. Period of transition

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Knowledge Check Activity 1: Answer
Many use the terms puberty and adolescence interchangeably, but they are not.
Which of the following best defines adolescence?
d. Period of transition
Puberty is marked by hormonal changes, physical growth spurts, and
reproductive maturity. Adolescence is the culturally defined period between
childhood and adulthood, a period of transition.

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Unit 3
Emotional and Social Development

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Emotional Development (1 of 3)
By six months of age, infants can express at least six basic emotions:
1. Happiness
2. Sadness
3. Fear
4. Anger
5. Surprise
6. Disgust

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In adolescence and adulthood:
• Some evidence that emotions related to anxiety and depression are
becoming more common among adolescents
• Midlife crisis: Characterized by strong negative feelings and dissatisfaction;
may include midcourse correction instead of a crisis
• Midlife transition: Reworking old identities, goals, finding one’s truth, and
preparing for old age

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Kübler-Ross identified emotional reactions to impending death:
1. Denial and isolation
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

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Social Development
Our interaction with a wide range of others
Erik Erikson suggested that we face a
psychosocial dilemma at each stage of life.
Psychosocial dilemma: Conflict between
personal impulses and the social world
Erik Erikson

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Erikson’s Psychosocial Dilemmas
• Birth to 1 year: Trust versus mistrust
• 1–3 years: Autonomy (independence) versus shame and doubt
• 3–5 years: Initiative versus guilt
• 6–12 years: Industry versus inferiority
• Adolescence (12–19 years): Identity versus role confusion
• Young adulthood (20–34 years): Intimacy versus isolation
• Middle adulthood (35–64 years): Generativity versus stagnation
• Late adulthood (65 years and older): Integrity versus despair

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Social Development in Infancy and Childhood
Affectional needs: Emotional needs for care, love, and positive relationships
with others
Harry Harlow’s study of rhesus monkeys separated from mothers at birth:
• Study using surrogate mothers shows attachment begins with contact comfort
• Separation anxiety: When emotional bond has formed, and child is left
alone or with strangers

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Attachment: Mary Ainsworth
Secure
• Stable and positive
emotional bond
• Upset by
caregiver's
absence
• Seeks to be near
when caregiver
returns
Insecure—Avoidant
• Anxious emotional
bond
• Turn away from
caregiver when
they return
Insecure— Ambivalent
• Anxious emotional
bond
• Baby has mixed
feelings
• Seek to be near
caregiver and
angrily resists
contact with them

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Parenting: Diana Baumrind
Authoritarian
• Power assertion
• Withdrawal of love
• May result in low
self-esteem
Overly Permissive
• Little guidance
• Great deal of
freedom
• Lack of accountability
• May result in high
self-esteem and a
sense of entitlement
Authoritative
• Firm and consistent
guidance
• Love and affection
• Results in
resilience and
ability to manage
emotions

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Social Development in
Adolescence and Adulthood
Relationships with parents and other adults can become strained.
Emerging adulthood: A socially accepted period of extended adolescence
• In between, self-focused period of time
• Develop skills and explore identities and life possibilities

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Discussion Activity 2
College is typically a time of transition. In small groups of three or four, discuss
the social development processes you are experiencing.
1. Do you think you can be in more than one stage of social development at the
same time? For example, can you be an adolescent in some respects and an
adult in others? Why or why not?
2. Where does the college experience fit in the social development process?

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Unit 4
Language, Cognitive, and Moral Development

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Language Development (1 of 2)
Begins with cooing at around six to eight weeks
By seven months, nervous system has matured enough to allow babbling
Noam Chomsky:
• Biological predisposition to develop language (nature)
• Language patterns are inborn
• Many feel Chomsky underestimated importance of learning (nurture)

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Language Development (2 of 2)
Social interaction of language may be as important as innate language
processing.
Signals: Lay foundation for later language use
Motherese (parentese): Exaggerated pattern of speaking
• Simpler
• Distinct musical quality
• Gets baby’s attention, aids communication, teaches language

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Cognitive Development
Processes that contribute to thinking
As infants: Increasingly able to think, learn from what they see, make predictions,
search for explanations
Schema: Organized learned body of knowledge or skills about a topic
Assimilation: Applying established schema to new objects or problems

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Cognitive Development in Childhood and
Adolescence: Piaget’s Theory (1 of 2)
Sensorimotor Stage
• 0–2 years
• Cannot create internal
representations or mental images
• Lacking in object permanence
• Concerned with learning to
coordinate information
Preoperational Stage
• 2–7 years
• Cannot use mental operations to
manipulate images or ideas
• Egocentric
• Theory of mind: Understating that
people have different mental states
that vary

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Cognitive Development in Childhood and
Adolescence: Piaget’s Theory (2 of 2)
Concrete Operational Stage
• 7–11 years
• Emerging ability to carry out mental
operations
• Mastery of conservation: Physical
quantities stay constant despite
change in shape
Formal Operational Stage
• 11 years and up
• Self-reflective about thought
• Less egocentric

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An Alternative to Piaget: Vygotsky’s
Sociocultural Theory
Zone of proximal development: Some tasks are just beyond child’s reach
• Scaffolding: Supporting attempts to solve problems
• Offer hints and guidance to match evolving abilities
• Collaboration teaches cultural beliefs and values

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Cognitive Development in Adulthood
According to Piaget
• Full intellectual ability is attained during stage of formal operations
• Capable of indicative and deductive reasoning
• Improvements based on gaining specific knowledge, experiences, and
wisdom

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Moral Development (1 of 2)
Lawrence Kohlberg held that we clarify our values through thinking and
reasoning.
To study moral development, Kohlberg proposed dilemmas and classified
reasons given for each choice:
• Includes emotional, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions
• Begins in early childhood and continues into adulthood
• Moral intuition develops, in part, through experiences
• Three stages of moral reasoning

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Moral Development (2 of 2)
Preconventional
• Lowest level of
moral reasoning
• Guided by
consequences of
action (punishment
or reward)
Conventional
• Based on desire to
please others
• Follow accepted
authority, rules,
values
• Typical of older
children and most
adults
Postconventional
• Highest level
• Self-chosen ethical
principles are
comprehensive or
universal
• Emphasis on
justice, dignity, and
equality

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Moral Development: Carol Gilligan
Gilligan identified several issues with Kohlberg’s theory.
• Concerned mainly with fairness, or justice
• Does not consider harm, or caring about others
• Does not consider a woman’s concern with relationships, which can look like a
weakness

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Knowledge Check Activity 2
Which theorist focused on the impact of sociocultural factors on cognitive
development?
a. Jean Piaget
b. Noam Chomsky
c. Lev Vygotsky
d. Lawrence Kohlberg

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Knowledge Check Activity 2: Answer
Which theorist focused on the impact of sociocultural factors on cognitive
development?
c. Lev Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky was focused on the impact of sociocultural factors, stressing that
cognitive development was not universal across all children but instead
depended heavily on the culture and environment in which the child grew up.
More specifically, Vygotsky’s key insight was that children’s thinking develops
through dialogues with more capable persons.

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Unit 5
Psychology and Your Skill Set: Ethical Behavior

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Human Diversity and Moral Reasoning
Moral values come into focus during adolescence and transition to adulthood:
• The capacity for abstract thinking increases.
• People establish their own moral compass.
Human diversity and moral reasoning:
• Diverse groups—different ideas about morality and ethics
• Goes beyond fairness or harm
• Links moral values and cultural groups and religious beliefs

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How to Promote Ethical Behavior
A behavior can be legal, but still unethical.
• Recognize everyday ethical challenges.
• Anticipate conditions that may influence an ethical, or unethical, response.
• Plan ahead of time how to manage ethical challenges.

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Discussion Activity 3: Pair-Share
Move into groups of three or four and consider the following:
Most of us have heard the expression “treat others as you wish to be treated.”
1. Should we treat others the way we wish to be treated? Why or why not?
2. How do moral values shape your response to this?
3. Is it possible, based on culture, that some do not wish to be treated as we do,
but treated differently? Why or why not? Can you provide examples?

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Self-Assessment
Can you outline various factors of human development, including genetics, the
environment, and epigenetic factors?
Describe the physical and emotional developmental stages across the lifespan.
Explain Erikson’s psychosocial dilemmas, parenting styles, and the importance of
temperament.
Compare the central ideas of theorists as they relate to cognitive development.
How do morals and ethics develop during the course of the lifespan, according to
Kohlberg?

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Summary (1 of 4)
Now that the lesson has ended, you should have learned how to:
• Explain how genes impact human development.
• Explain how the environment impacts human development.
• Explain how epigenetic factors impact human development.
• Describe key aspects of physical development across the lifespan.
• Explain key aspects of perceptual development across the lifespan.
• Describe key aspects of emotional development across the lifespan.

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Summary (2 of 4)
• Describe key aspects of social development across the lifespan, including:
(a) the eight psychosocial dilemmas described by Erikson
(b) the importance of temperament and attachment in childhood
(c) what is known about parenting styles, and how they differ across
cultures
(d) the characteristics of emerging adults’ and older adults’ social networks

52
Summary (3 of 4)
• Describe key aspects of language development across the lifespan.
• Describe key aspects of cognitive development across the lifespan, including:
(a) the central ideas that underlie Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
(b) the central ideas that underlie Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive
development
(c) the focus of more recent research concerning cognitive development

53
Summary (4 of 4)
• Describe key aspects of moral development across the lifespan, including
Kohlberg’s three stages of moral development and Carol Gilligan’s criticism of
this theory.
• Create a plan to manage a challenge to your own values.

Intro to Psy. Chapter 3

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