Developme

nt
Fahria Karim
Lecturer
NSU
What is The branch of
psychology that
Developmen studies the
patterns of growth
tal and change that
occur throughout
Psychology? life
 • How can we distinguish between the
environmental causes of behavior and hereditary
causes?

• E: Influence of parents, siblings, family, friends,

schooling, nutrition etc.
Cont.
• H: Based on genetic makeup that influence
growth and development throughout the life

• Nature-Nurture issue: In this context, nature

refers to hereditary factors, and nurture refers to
environmental influences
 • Clearly, the relationship between
heredity and environment is complex

• Therefore, developmental
psychologists typically take an
Cont. interactionist position on the nature-
nurture issue by suggesting that:

A combination of hereditary and

environmental factors influences
development
 • 1. Prenatal Development
• 2. Infancy and Childhood
• 3. Adolescence
Phases of • 4. Adulthood
Developmen
t
 • When an egg becomes fertilized by
the sperm, the resulting one-cell
1. Prenatal entity is called a Zygote
Developmen
t: • Two weeks after conception, the
Conception zygote enters an embryonic period,
to Birth lasts from week 2 to 8. The Embryo
has heart, brain and other organs
The Earliest
Developmen • From week 8 and continuing until
t birth, the developing individual is
called a Fetus
Cont.
 • At about prenatal age of 22 weeks, the
fetus reaches the Age of Viability, the
point at which it can survive if born
prematurely

Cont. • In general, a fetus is born at the end of

normal 38 weeks of pregnancy, typically
weighing 7 pounds and 20 inches of
length
 • In some cases, children are born with serious birth
defect. A major cause is faulty genes or chromosomes

• Phenylketonuria (PKU): The child can not produce an

enzyme that is required for normal development

• Sickle-cell anemia: A disease which causes

Genetic Influences abnormally shaped red blood cells
on the fetus
• Tay-Sachs disease: A disease in which children usually
die by age 3 or 4 because of the body’s inability to
break down fat

• Down syndrome: The disease occurs when the zygote

receives an extra chromosome at the moment of
conception. This is one of the causes of intellectual
disability
 • Some profound consequences are
brought about by teratogens: The
environmental agents such as drug,
chemical, virus, or other factors that
produce a birth defect
Prenatal
Environmental • Mother’s nutrition
Influences • Mother’s illness
• Mother’s emotional state
• Mother’s use of drugs
• Alcohol
• Nicotine use
 • Physical Development: It provides the most
obvious sign of development

2. Infancy and • During the first year of life, children

typically triple their birthweight and their
Childhood height increase by about half
Physical
Development • From age 3 to at around 13, growth
averages a gain of about 5 pounds and 3
inches a year
Development of Social Behavior
• Attachment: It is the positive emotional bond that
develops between a child and a particular
individual. It is the most important form of social
development that occurs during infancy

• Human attachment grows through the

responsiveness of infant’s caregivers to signals such
as crying, smiling, reaching, and clinging

• The more the caregivers respond to the child’s

signal regarding their emotions, the more likely the
child will become securely attached
 • Child rearing practices are critical in shaping
children’s competence. Four main
categories describe different parenting

Parenting • Authoritarian: They are rigid and punitive,

and they value unquestioning obedience
Styles and from their children. They have strict
standards and discourage expressions of
Social disagreement

Development • Permissive: They give their children relaxed

or inconsistent direction. Although they are
warm, they require little of them
 • Authoritative: They are firm and set limits for their
children. As the children get older, these parents try to
reason and explain thing to them. They also set clear
goals and encourage children’s independence
Cont.
• Uninvolved: They show little interest in their children and
are emotionally detached. View parenting as nothing
more than providing food, clothing, shelter.
Cont.
Cont. • Before we rush to congratulate Authoritative
parents and condemn other 3, it’s important to
note that in many non-authoritative parental
cases, there are perfectly well-adjusted children

• Why?

• Because of children’s inborn characteristics:

Easygoing and cheerful, irritable and fussy,
positive and quiet etc.
 • Cognitive development is the process by
Cognitive which a child’s understanding of the
Development world changes due to the child’s age and
experience
 • He suggested that children around the
world proceed through a series of four
stages in a fixed order
Piaget’s
Theory of • These stages differ in quantity of
information as well as in the quality of
Cognitive knowledge and understanding
Development
• He proposed 4 stages of cognitive
development
 • 1. Sensorimotor stage (Birth to 2 yrs):
The stage from birth to two years, during
which a child has little competence in
representing the environment by using
images, language, or other symbols

Cont. • Major Characteristics: Development of

object permanence (after 9 months),
Development of motor skills, little or no
capacity for symbolic representation

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 • 2. Preoperational stage (2-7yrs):
The period from 2 to 7 years of
age that is characterized by
language development

Cont. • Major characteristics: Language,

Symbolic thinking, Egocentric
thinking, lack of conservation

• [Link]
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 • 3. Concrete operational stage (7-
12 yrs): The period from 7-12
years of age that is characterized
by logical thought and a loss of
egocentrism

Cont. • Major characteristic:

Development of conservation,
Mastery of concept of
reversibility

• [Link]
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 • 4. Formal operational stage (12-
adulthood): The period from age
12 to adulthood that is
characterized by abstract thought

Cont. • Major characteristics:

Development of logical and
abstract thinking

• [Link]
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 • Adolescence is the developmental
stage between childhood and
3. adulthood

Adolescence • The most dramatic physical changes

Physical occur in this stage
Development
• In this period, boys start becoming
men and girls start becoming women
Other forms
• Along with Physical development,
of adolescents develop in Moral and
Cognitive domain as well as in Social
Developme domain
nt
 • Once, psychologists thought that
adolescents were filled with stress and
unhappiness.

Stormy • Now, however, studies show that this is a

myth. The reality is: Most young people
Adolescenc pass through adolescence without great
turmoil and they get along with their
e: Myth or parents

Reality • But, in terms of risk taking, adolescents

are apt to engage in risky behavior than
they are later in life. Partly, their riskiness
is due to the immaturity of brain system
that regulate impulse control
 • Early Adulthood: It marks the peak of
physical health. From about 18-25 years of
age:
• People’s strength is greatest
4. Adulthood • Reflexes are quickest
• Chances of dying from disease are quite
slim
• Reproductive capabilities are at the highest
level
 • Around the age 25, the body becomes
slightly less efficient and more susceptible
to disease
Cont.
• However, most people stay remarkably
healthy during early adulthood
 • During middle adulthood, people gradually
become aware of changes in their bodies

• Often experience weight gain (can be

avoided through diet & exercise)

Middle • The sense organs gradually become less

Adulthood sensitive

• Physical declines during this time are

minor and often unnoticeable
 • The major biological changes that occur
during middle adulthood is menopause,
females are no longer able give birth. This
is associated with hormonal changes

Cont. • For men, aging during middle adulthood is

subtler. There is no physiological
equivalence of menopause because no
male menopause exists. In fact, men
remain fertile and capable of fathering
until well into late adulthood
 • Late adulthood: Characterized by the
physiological and psychological decline

• The mechanisms of the body simply stop

Growing Old working efficiently

• Human cells have built-in time limit to

their reproduction and that they are no
longer able to divide after a certain time
The End.