Psych Notes: Developmental Psychology

-study of how we change physically, socially, cognitively, and morally

Nature vs. Nurture
-Nature: the way we are born
-Nurture: the way we are raised

Physical Development
-how we change physical

Prenatal Development
-Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm
-The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the eggs surface
-once the sperm penetrates the egg, the fertilized egg is called the zygote
-The first stage of prenatal development and lasts about two weeks and consists of rapid cell division.

Zygotes
-less than half  of all zygotes survive first two weeks
-about 10 days after conception, the zygote will attach itself to the uterine wall
-the outer part of the zygote becomes the placenta (which filters nutrients)

Embryo
-after two weeks, zygote develops into embryo
-lasts about 6 weeks
-heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop

Fetus
-by nine weeks, it is a fetus
-The fetus by about the 6th month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside of the mother
-at this time the baby can hear and recognize sounds and respond to light

Teratogens
-chemical agents that can harm the prenatal environment
-Alcohol (FAS)
-STDs
-HIV
-Herpes
-Genital warts

Healthy Newborns
-turn heads toward voices
-see 8-12 inches from their faces
-gaze longer at human-like objects right from birth

Reflexes
-inborn automatic responses: rooting (a baby's tendency to, when touched on the cheek, open their mouths and search for the nipple), grasping

Maturation
-physical growth, regardless of environment
-Puberty: period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
-Primary sexual characteristics: body strucures that make reproduction possible (penis, testes, vagina, ovaries)
-Secondary sexual characteristics: non-reproductive sexual characteristics (wider hips, deeper voice, breast development)

Landmarks for Puberty
-Menarche: a girl's first perion
-Spermarche: a boy's first ejaculation

Physical Milestone
-Menopause: when a woman's menstrual cycle ends

Stages of Death/Grief
-Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Social Development
-Stranger Anxiety: when an infant exhibits anxiety upon encounter with a stranger
-Separation Anxiety: when a child exhibits anxiety when separated from their parents

Attachment
-Harry Harlow and his monkeys
-experiment to test attachment by pulling baby monkeys away from real mothers and see who they attach to
-monkeys tend to stick with the fake cloth monkeys over the fake wire monkeys