Human Growth and Development - Completed

When the Morrisons were expecting their second child, the
couple faced an anguishing dilemma.
Their first child, a girl born in 2002, had a condition known as
congential adrenal hyperplasia, or CAH, which can sometimes result
in male-like genitals in female newborns. So when Mrs. Morrison
became pregnant again, the couple was well-aware the baby had a 1-
in-8 chance of being born with the same disorder.
There were choices. They could treat the fetus with a
powerful steroid that would most likely avert the possibility of the
genitals becoming malformed. But the couple
worried about doing this. There was little research on the long-term
effects of treating a
fetus with steroids, and statistically, there was a much greater
chance that the baby
wouldn’t have the genital problem at all . . . .
The couple decided to forgo the steroid treatment. “It was
touch-and-go, but in the end I couldn’t expose the baby to the
drugs,” says Mrs. Morrison. When the baby arrived, it was a girl and,

The Earliest Development &
Significant Weeks of the Child
• When an egg becomes fertilized by the sperm, the resulting
one-celled entity, called a zygote, immediately begins to
develop.

The Earliest Development & Significant Weeks of
the Child
Germination Period  first 2 weeks of the zygote
Embryonic Period  2 weeks after the mother’s
conception

The Earliest Development & Significant
Weeks of the Child
• Fetal Period  Week 8 until birth
• Week 16 until Week 18

Week 28
The Earliest Development &
Significant Weeks of the Child

The Earliest Development & Significant
Weeks of the Child
Sensitive Period
Week 38

The process of fetal growth that we have
just described reflects normal
development, which occurs in 95–98% of
all pregnancies. Some individuals are less
fortunate; in the remaining 2–5% of
cases, children are born with serious birth
defects. A major cause of such defects is
faulty genes or chromosomes.
Genetic Influences on the Fetus

Phenylketonuria (PKU)
A child born with the inherited disease
phenylketonuria cannot produce an enzyme that is
required for normal development.
Sickle-cell anemia
Abnormal shaped RBCs

Tay-Sachs Disease
Children born with these disease usually die at age 3
or 4 because of their inability to break down fats in
their body.
Down Syndrome
Occurs when the zygote receives an extra
chromosome at the moment of conception.

Genetic factors are not the only causes of
difficulties in fetal development.
Environmental influences—the nurture part
of the nature–nurture equation—also affect
the fetus. Some of the more profound
consequences are brought about by
teratogens, environmental agents such as
a drug, chemical, virus, or other factor that
produce a birth defect.

FACTORS:
Mother’s Nutrition
 What a mother eats during her pregnancy can have important
implications for the health of her baby. Seriously undernourished
mothers cannot provide adequate nutrition to a growing fetus,
and they are likely to give birth to underweight babies.
Mother’s Illness
 Several diseases that have a relatively minor effect on the
health of a mother can have devastating consequences for
a developing fetus if they are contracted during the early
part of a pregnancy.

• Mother’s Emotional State
• Mothers who are anxious and tense during the last
months of their pregnancies are more apt to have
irritable infants who sleep and eat poorly.
• Mother’s Use of Drugs
• Mothers who take illegal, physically addictive drugs
such as cocaine run the risk of giving birth to babies
who are similarly addicted.
FACTORS:

Factors:
 Alcohol
Alcohol is extremely dangerous to fetal
development. For example, 1 out of every
750 infants is born with fetal alcohol
syndrome ( FAS ).
Nicotine Use
 Pregnant mothers who smoke put their children at
considerable risk. Smoking while pregnant can lead
to miscarriage and infant death.

The Extraordinary Newborn
 His head was molded into a long melon shape and came
to a point at the back . . . . He was covered with a thick
greasy white material known as “vernix,” which made
him slippery to hold and also allowed him to slip easily
through the birth canal. In addition to a shock of black
hair on his head, his body was covered with dark, fine
hair known as “lanugo.” His ears, his back, his shoulders,
and even his cheeks were furry . . . . His skin was wrinkled
and quite loose, ready to scale in creased places such as
his feet and hands . . . . His ears were pressed to his head
in unusual positions—one ear was matted firmly forward
on his cheek. His nose was flattened and pushed to one
side by the squeeze as he came through the pelvis.

• Several factors cause a neonate’s strange appearance. The trip
through the mother’s birth canal may have squeezed the
incompletely formed bones of the skull together and squashed the
nose into the head. The skin secretes vernix, a white greasy
covering, for protection before birth, and the baby may have
lanugo, a soft fuzz, over the entire body for a similar purpose. The
infant’s eyelids may be puffy with an accumulation of fluids
because of the upside-down position during birth. All these
features change during the first two weeks of life as the neonate
takes on a more familiar appearance. Even more impressive are the
capabilities a neonate begins to display from the moment of
birth—capabilities that grow at an astounding rate over the ensuing
months.
The Extraordinary Newborn

A neonate is born with a
number of reflexes. Critical
for survival, many of those
reflexes unfold naturally as
part of an infant’s ongoing
maturation.

REFLEXES
 Rooting Reflex
 Sucking Reflex

Gag Reflex
Startle Reflex

Development of the Senses:
Taking in the World
When proud parents peer into the eyes of their neonate,
is the child able to return their gaze? Although it was
thought for some time that newborns can see only a
hazy blur, most current findings indicate that neonates’
capabilities are far more impressive. Although their eyes
have a limited capacity to focus on objects that are not
within a seven- to eight-inch distance from the face,
neonates can follow objects moving within their field of
vision. They also show the rudiments of depth
perception as they react by raising their hands when an
object appears to be moving rapidly toward the face.
Habituation
the decrease in the response to a stimulus that
occurs after repeated presentations of the
same stimulus.

Significant Periods for the Child
Second Day
Third Day
First Month
Fourth-Fifth Month
Sixth Month
Seventh Month
Twelfth Month

• Physical Development
• Children’s physical growth is the most obvious sign
of development. During the first year of life, children
typically triple their birth weight and their height
increases by about half. This rapid growth slows
down as the child gets older.
• Social Development
• As anyone who has seen infants smiling at the sight of their
mothers can guess, at the same time that infants grow
physically and hone their perceptual abilities, they also develop
socially. The nature of a child’s early social development
provides the foundation for social relationships that will last a
lifetime.

▫ As the age progresses, the size of the head
decreases until the individual reaches adulthood.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Attachment  positive emotional
bond between a child and a
particular individual

Although early developmental research focused largely on the
mother-child relationship, more recent research has highlighted the
father’s role in parenting—and with good reason: The number of
fathers who are primary caregivers for their children has grown
significantly, and fathers play an increasingly important role in their
children’s lives. For example, in almost 13% of families with children,
the father is the parent who stays at home to care for preschoolers.
When fathers interact with their children, their play often differs from
mothers’ play. Fathers engage in more physical, rough-and-tumble
sorts of activities, whereas mothers play more verbal and traditional
games, such as peekaboo. Despite such behavioral differences, the
nature of attachment between fathers and children compared with
that between mothers and children can be similar. In fact, children can
form multiple attachments simultaneously
FATHER’S ROLE

Social Relationship With Peers
• By the time they are 2 years old, children become less
dependent on their parents, more self-reliant, and
increasingly prefer to play with friends. Initially, play is
relatively independent.
• As children reach school age, their social interactions begin
to follow set patterns and become more frequent. They may
engage in elaborate games involving teams and rigid rules.
This play serves purposes other than mere enjoyment. It
allows children to become increasingly competent in their
social interactions with others. Through play they learn to
take the perspective of other people and to infer others’
thoughts and feelings, even when those thoughts and
feelings are not directly expressed

Consequences of Child Care
Outside the Home
• Do child-care arrangements
outside the home benefit
children’s development?

Authoritarian Parents
Permissive Parents
Uninvolved Parents

Theories of Development
•Erickson’s Theory of
Psychosocial Development
▫ Psychosocial Development
▫ Trust-Versus-Mistrust Stage
▫ Autonomy-Versus-Shame-and-Doubt
Stage
▫ Initiative-Versus-Guilt Stage
▫ Industry-Versus-Inferiority Stage

Jean Piaget
 “ children proceed through
a series of four (4) stages
Quantity Quality

• SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
• PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
• CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
• FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE

Adolescence: Becoming An Adult
• Joseph Charles, Age 13: Being 13 is very hard at school. I have to be bad in
order to be considered cool. I sometimes do things that aren’t good. I have
talked back to my teachers and been disrespectful to them. I do want to
be good, but it’s just too hard. (Gibbs, 2005, p. 51)
• Trevor Kelson, Age 15: “Keep the Hell Out of my Room!” says a sign on
Trevor’s bedroom wall, just above an unmade bed, a desk littered with
dirty T-shirts and candy wrappers, and a floor covered with clothes. Is
there a carpet? “Somewhere,” he says with a grin. “I think it’s gold.”
(Fields-Meyer, 1995, p. 53)
• Lauren Barry, Age 18: “I went to a National Honor Society induction. The
parents were just staring at me. I think they couldn’t believe someone
with pink hair could be smart. I want to be a high-school teacher, but I’m
afraid that, based on my appearance, they won’t hire me.” (Gordon et al.,
1999, p. 47)

Adolescence
• developmental stage between childhood
and adulthood, is a crucial period.
• time of profound changes.
• attain sexual and physical maturity.
• Important social, emotional, and cognitive
changes occur as adolescents strive for
independence and move toward adulthood.

Physical Development: The Changing
Adolescent
• Spurt in height
• Growth of breasts (girls)
• Deepening of voices (boys)
• Development of body hair (pubic && armpit)

PUBERTY
• period at which maturation of the sexual
organs occurs, begins at about age 11 or 12
for girls, when menstruation starts.
• the onset of puberty is marked by their first
ejaculation

Moral and Cognitive Development:
Distinguishing Right from Wrong
• In a European country, a woman is near death from a
special kind of cancer. The one drug that the doctors
think might save her is a medicine that a medical
researcher has recently discovered. The drug is expensive
to make, and the researcher is charging ten times the
cost, or $5,000, for a small dose. The sick woman’s
husband, Henry, approaches everyone he knows in hope
of borrowing money, but he can get together only about
$2,500. He tells the researcher that his wife is dying and
asks him to lower the price of the drug or let him pay
later. The researcher says, “No, I discovered the drug,
and I’m going to make money from it.” Henry is
desperate and considers stealing the drug for his wife.
What would you tell Henry to do?

ADULTHOOD
Begins at age 20 until 40-45 (middle) and then
up until 60.
EMERGING ADULTHOOD
Transitional phase which marks the start of adulthood
Beginning in the late teenage years extending to mid-20s

Physical Development: The
Peak of Health
 For most people, early adulthood marks the
peak of physical health. From about 18 to 25
years of age, people’s strength is greatest,
their reflexes are quickest, and their chances
of dying from disease are quite slim. Moreover,
reproductive capabilities are at their highest
level.

 During middle adulthood, people gradually become aware of
changes in their bodies. They often experience weight gain
(although they can avoid such increases through diet and
exercise). Furthermore, the sense organs gradually become
less sensitive, and reactions to stimuli are slower. But
generally, the physical declines that occur during middle
adulthood are minor and often unnoticeable (Di Giovanna,
1994). The major biological change that does occur during
middle adulthood pertains to reproductive capabilities. On
average, during their late 40s or early 50s, women begin
menopause, during which they stop menstruating and are no
longer fertile. Because menopause is accompanied by a
significant reduction in the production of estrogen, a female
hormone, women sometimes experience symptoms such as
hot flashes, sudden sensations of heat.

 For men, the aging process during middle
adulthood is somewhat subtler. There are no
physiological signals of increasing age equivalent
to the end of menstruation in women; that is, no
male menopause exists. In fact, men remain fertile
and capable of fathering children until well into
late adulthood. However, some gradual physical
decline occurs. Sperm production decreases, and
the frequency of orgasm tends to decline. Once
again, though, any psychological difficulties
associated with these changes are usually brought
about by an aging individual’s inability to meet the
exaggerated standards of youthfulness and not by
the person’s physical deterioration.

Social Development: Working at Life
 The entry into early adulthood is usually marked by leaving one’s
childhood home and entering the world of work. People envision life goals
and make career choices. Their lives often center on their careers, which
form an important part of their identity
 In their early 40s, however, people may begin to question their lives as
they enter a period called the midlife transition . The idea that life will end
at some point can become more influential in their thinking, which leads
them to question their past accomplishments
 Finally, during the last stages of adulthood, people become more
accepting of others and of their own lives and are less concerned about
issues or problems that once bothered them. They come to accept the
fact that death is inevitable, and they try to understand their
accomplishments in terms of the broader meaning of life.

Marriage, Children, and
Divorce:
Family Ties
In the typical fairy tale, a dashing young
man and a beautiful young woman
marry, have children, and live happily
ever after. However, that scenario does
not match the realities of love and
marriage in the 21st century. Today, it is
just as likely that the man and woman
would first live together, then get
married and have children, but
ultimately get divorced.

When people do marry, the probability of
divorce is high, especially for younger couples.
Even though divorce rates have been declining
since they peaked in 1981, about half of all first
marriages end in divorce. Before they are 18
years old, two-fifths of children will experience
the breakup of their parents’ marriages.
What are the economic and emotional
consequences for children living in homes with
only one parent?

• hair thinning and turning gray
• skin wrinkling and folding
• sometimes a slight loss of height as the
thickness of the disks between vertebrae in
the spine decreases
• but subtler changes also occur in the body’s
biological functioning. For example, sensory
capabilities decrease as a result of aging:
Vision, hearing, smell, and taste become less
sensitive. Reaction time slows, and physical
stamina changes

What are the reasons?
• Genetic Preprogramming Theories of
Aging
suggest that human cells have a built-in time limit to
their reproduction. These theories suggest that after
a certain time cells stop dividing or become harmful
to the body—as if a kind of automatic self-destruct
button had been pushed

• Wear-and-Tear Theories of Aging
suggest that the mechanical functions of the
body simply work less efficiently as people
age. Waste byproducts of energy production
eventually accumulate, and mistakes are
made when cells divide. Eventually the body
in effect wears out like an old automobile

Senility
broad, imprecise term typically applied
to older adults who experience
progressive deterioration of mental
abilities, including memory loss,
disorientation to time and place, and
general confusion.

progressive brain disorder that leads to a
gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive
abilities
occurs when production of the beta amyloid
precursor protein goes awry, producing large
clumps of cells that trigger inflammation and
deterioration of nerve cells. The brain shrinks,
neurons die, and several areas of the
hippocampus and frontal and temporal lobes
deteriorate.

THE SOCIAL WORLD OF LATE ADULTHOOD:
OLD BUT NOT ALONE
 Disengagement Theory of Aging
 aging produces a gradual withdrawal from the world
on physical, psychological, and social levels
However, such disengagement serves an important
purpose of providing an opportunity for increased
reflectiveness and decreased emotional investment in
others at a time of life when social relationships will
inevitably be ended by death

Activity Theory of Aging
> people who age most successfully are those
who maintain the interests, activities, and level of social
interaction they experienced during middle adulthood.
Activity theory argues that late adulthood should reflect
a continuation, as much as possible, of the activities in
which people participated during the earlier part of their
lives

Human Growth and Development - Completed

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