Ages 3 to 6 Preschool age: Purpose Basic task is to achieve a sense of years Initiative versus Competency competence and initiative. If children are given freedom to select personally guilt Fidelity meaningful activities, they tend to develop a positive view of self and follow through Ages 6 to 12 School age: with their projects. If they are not allowed years Industry versus to make their own decisions, they tend to develop guilt over taking initiative. They inferiority then refrain from taking an active stance and allow others to choose for them Ages 12 to 19 Adolescence: Child needs to expand understanding of years Identity versus world, continue to develop appropriate role confusion gender-role identity, and learn the basic skills required for school success. Basic task is to achieve a sense of industry, which refers to setting and attaining personal goals. Failure to do so results in a sense of inadequacy. A time of transition between childhood and adulthood. A time for testing limits, for breaking dependent ties, and for establishing a new identity. Major conflicts centre on clarification of self-identity, life goals, and life’s meaning. Failure to achieve a sense of identity results in role confusion. Ages 19 to 35 Young Love Developmental task at this time is to form years adulthood: intimate relationships. Failure to achieve Intimacy versus intimacy can lead to alienation and isolation. isolation Ages 35 to 60 Middle age: Care There is a need to go beyond self and years Generativity family and be involved in helping the next generation. This is a time of adjusting to versus the discrepancy between one’s dream and stagnation one’s actual accomplishments. Failure to achieve a sense of productivity often leads to psychological stagnation. 50 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Ages 60 and Later life: Wisdom If one looks back on life with few regrets above Integrity versus and feels personally worthwhile, ego integrity results. Failure to achieve ego despair integrity can lead to feelings of despair, hopelessness, guilt, resentment, and self- rejection. 4.5.2. Strengths and weaknesses of Erikson’s theory Erikson’s eight stages form a foundation for discussions on emotional and social development during the lifespan. Keep in mind, however, that these stages or crises can occur more than once or at different times of life. For instance, a person may struggle with a lack of trust beyond infancy. Erikson’s theory has been criticized for focusing so heavily on stages and assuming that the completion of one stage is prerequisite for the next crisis of development. His theory also focuses on the social expectations that are found in certain cultures, but not in all. For instance, the idea that adolescence is a time of searching for identity might translate well in the middle-class culture of the United States, but not as well in cultures where the transition into adulthood coincides with puberty through rites of passage and where adult roles offer fewer choices. By and large, Erikson’s view that development continues throughout the lifespan is very significant and has received great recognition. However, like Freud’s theory, it has been criticized for focusing on more men than women and also for its vagueness, making it difficult to test rigorously. SUMMARY 1. Theories of development provide a framework for thinking about human growth, development, and learning. 2. Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis has provided us with a framework in which he explains the development of human personality in stages which start from infancy to adolescence. 3. The stages of development represent a crucial aspect that the child encounters during each stage. 4. In case of the child not able to successfully resolve the dilemma in that stage, the child becomes fixated at that stage. This impacts his personality and may also result in dis-functioning or become a concern for treatment. 5. According to Freud’s theory, child development occurs in a series of stages focused on different pleasure areas of the body. 6. Erik Erikson is also an important contributor to the theory formulated to explain human development. 51 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
7. While Erikson’s theory shared some similarities with Freud’s, it is dramatically different in many ways. Erikson believed that social interaction and experience play a decisive role. 8. His eight-stage theory of human development described this process from infancy through death. 9. Each stage of the psycho-social theory of Erikson has a conflict or a struggle a person will encounter. When successfully accomplished the person will gain a virtue that will help him or her in nest stages of development. KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • Eriksonian developmental stages- The eight ages of man or epigenetic stages in the development of self-described by Erik Erikson • psychodynamic perspective: - the perspective that behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness and control • psychosexual stages: - Freud’s oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages • psychosocial theory: - the theory that emphasizes the social relationships that are important at each stage of personality development LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Explain in detail the psychosocial stages of human development. 2. Explain the Psychodynamic Perspective in detail 3. Explain the Psychosocial Perspective in detail UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 52 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
1. A child who has not received love and parental care in the early stages will develop problems in personality development and interacting with other. Explain this with the Freud’s theory of development. 2. Girls are closer to their fathers and boys to their mother. Explain with the help of psychosexual stages given by Freud. 3. Life poses challenges as every stage in development. Explain this sentence from Erik Erikson’s perspective? 4. Which stage of development are you currently at? Do you feel you are having similar challenges that Erikson has mentioned for that stage? How do you act in order to overcome them? 5. Which of the two theories (psycho-sexual stages or psycho-social stages) to you find close to you? B. Multiple Choice Questions 1. Which of the following is the correct order of emergence of the Psycho-social strengths? [a] Love, Fidelity, Wisdom, Care [b] Fidelity, Care, Wisdom, Love [c] Fidelity, Love, Care, Wisdom [d] Care, Wisdom, Fidelity, Care 2. Which of the following sequence is correct? [a] Anal, Oral, Phallic, Latency, Genital [b] Oral, Anal, Phallic, Genital, Latency [c] Latency, Oral, Anal, Phallic, Genital [d] Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital 3. Which Neo-Freudian challenged his ideas about penis envy? 53 [a] Adler [b] Fromm [c] Jung [d] Horney CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. The Psychodynamic perspective was propagated by [a] Adler [b] Freud [c] Jung [d] Horney 5. The Psychosocial perspective was propagated by [a] Erikson [b] Freud [c] Jung [d] Horney Answer 1 [b] 2 [d] 3 [d] 4 [b] 5 [a] REFERENCE • Santrock, J.W. (2006). A Topical Approach to Life Span Development. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. • Berk, L.E. (2003). Child Development. New Delhi: Pearson Education. • Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2002). Life Span Development. Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon. • Bukatko, D. and Daehler, M.W. (2001). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. • Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. (1999). Development through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. • Morgan, L. and Kunkel, S. (1998). Aging: The Social Context. London: Pine Forge Press. • Hetherington, M.E. and Parke, R.D. (1993). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw Hill. • Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring Lifespan Development (4th Ed.) Pearson Publisher. • Sigelman, C. K. and Rider, E. A. (2017). Life Span Human Development (9th Ed.). Wadsworth Publisher. 54 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Broderick, P. C. and Blewitt, P. (2014). Life Span, The Human Development for Helping Professionals (4th Ed.) Pearson Higher Ed USA. • Alan Slater, & J. Gavin Bremner (2017). An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley. • Gines, Et Al (1998) Rex Book Store Inc. • Margaret Harris, & George Butterworth (2012). Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Psychology Press • Peter Mitchell, & Fenja Ziegler (2013). Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology. Psychology Press 55 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 5 COGNITIVE THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT Structure Learning Objectives Introduction Jean Jean Piaget’s Theory Components of Jean Jean Piaget’s Theory Schemas Assimilation and Accommodation Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explain the contribution of Jean Piaget to human developmental theories • Describe the components of the theory given by Jean Piaget • Describe Lev Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory • Explore and compare different theories of attachment • Analyse the experiments conducted by Harry Harlow to study attachment INTRODUCTION Does a 3 year old child understand things the same way as would an 8 year old? Jean Piaget stressed that children actively construct their understanding of the world. Information, according to him does not simply enter their minds from the environment. As children grow, additional information is acquired and they adapt their thinking to include new ideas, as this improves their understanding of the world. Jean Piaget believed that a child’s mind passes through a series of stages of thought from infancy to adolescence. Each stage is characterised by a distinct way of thinking and is age related. It is important to remember that it is the different way of thinking which makes one stage more advanced than the other and not the amount of information. This also shows why you at your age think differently from an 8 year old. The child during infancy, i.e. the first two years of life, experiences the world through senses and interactions with objects — through looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping. The newborn lives in the present. What is out of 56 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
sight is out of mind. For example, if you hide the toy in front of the child with which the child has been playing, the young infant would react as if nothing has happened, i.e. s/he will not search for the toy. The child assumes the toy does not exist. According to Jean Piaget, children at this stage do not go beyond their immediate sensory experience, i.e. lack object permanence — the awareness that the objects continue to exist when not perceived. Gradually by 8 months of age the child starts pursuing the object partially covered in her/his presence. The basis of verbal communication seems to be present in infants. Vocalisation begins with the infant’s babbling, sometime between 3 to 6 months of age. Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development states that our cognitive abilities develop through four specific stages. The Swiss cognitive theorist Jean Jean Piaget is one of the most influential figures in the study of child development. He developed his cognitive-developmental theory based on the idea that children actively construct knowledge as they explore and manipulate the world around them. Jean Piaget was interested in the development of “thinking” and how it relates to development throughout childhood. His theory of four stages of cognitive development, first presented in the mid-20th century, is one of the most famous and widely-accepted theories in child cognitive development to this day. Jean Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment. JEAN PIAGET’S THEORY Jean Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his job was to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests. He became intrigued with the reasons children gave for their wrong answers to the questions that required logical thinking. He believed that these incorrect answers revealed important differences between the thinking of adults and children. Jean Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. His contributions include a stage theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities. What Jean Piaget wanted to do was not to measure how well children could count, spell or solve problems as a way of grading their I.Q. What he was more interested in was the way in 57 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
which fundamental concepts like the very idea of number, time, quantity, causality, justice and so on emerged. Before Jean Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less competent thinkers than adults. Jean Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly different ways compared to adults. According to Jean Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based. COMPONENTS OF JEAN PIAGET’S THEORY The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses. To Jean Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment. There Are Three Basic Components To Jean Piaget's Cognitive Theory: • Schemas (building blocks of knowledge). • Adaptation (processes that enable the transition from one stage to another lie equilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation). • Stages of Cognitive Development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.) Schemas Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past experience or to plan future actions. Schemas are the basic building blocks of such cognitive models, and enable us to form a mental representation of the world. Jean Piaget (1952, p. 7) defined a schema as: \"a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning.\" In more simple terms Jean Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior – a way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as “units” of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions, and abstract (i.e., theoretical) concepts. 58 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Wadsworth (2004) suggests that schemata (the plural of schema) be thought of as 'index cards' filed in the brain, each one telling an individual how to react to incoming stimuli or information. When Jean Piaget talked about the development of a person's mental processes, he was referring to increases in the number and complexity of the schemata that a person had learned. When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e., a state of cognitive (i.e., mental) balance. Jean Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development and described how they were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations. The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply them when needed. For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The schema is a stored form of the pattern of behavior which includes looking at a menu, ordering food, eating it and paying the bill. This is an example of a type of schema called a 'script.' Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and apply it to the situation. The schemas Jean Piaget described tend to be simpler than this - especially those used by infants. He described how - as a child gets older - his or her schemas become more numerous and elaborate. Jean Piaget believed that newborn babies have a small number of innate schemas - even before they have had many opportunities to experience the world. These neonatal schemas are the cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are genetically programmed into us. For example, babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching the baby's lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a person's finger. Jean Piaget, therefore, assumed that the baby has a 'sucking schema.' Similarly, the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a baby's hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards something which touches its cheek, are innate schemas. Shaking a rattle would be the combination of two schemas, grasping and shaking. Assimilation and Accommodation Jean Jean Piaget (1952; see also Wadsworth, 2004) viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through: • Assimilation – Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation. 59 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Accommodation – This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation. • Equilibration – This is the force which moves development along. Jean Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds. Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation). Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge (accommodation). Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it. Example of Assimilation A 2-year-old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair on the sides. To his father’s horror, the toddler shouts “Clown, clown” (Siegler et al., 2003). Example of Accommodation 60 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
In the “clown” incident, the boy’s father explained to his son that the man was not a clown and that even though his hair was like a clown’s, he wasn’t wearing a funny costume and wasn’t doing silly things to make people laugh. With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of “clown” and make this idea fit better to a standard concept of “clown”. Stages of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget believed that as children grow and their brains develop, they move through four distinct stages that are characterized by differences in thought processing. In his research, he carefully observed children and presented them with problems to solve that were related to object permanence, reversibility, deductive reasoning, transitivity, and assimilation (described below). Each stage builds upon knowledge learned in the previous stage. Jean Piaget’s four stages correspond with the age of the children and are the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages. Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development: Jean Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development includes four stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Sensorimotor Stage 61 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The sensorimotor stage occurs from birth to age 2. It is characterized by the idea that infants “think” by manipulating the world around them. This is done by using all five senses: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. Children figure out ways to elicit responses by “doing”, such as pulling a lever on a music box to hear a sound, placing a block in a bucket and pulling it back out, or throwing an object to see what happens. Between 5 and 8 months old, the child develops object permanence, which is the understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists (Bogartz, Shinskey, & Schilling, 2000). For example, a child learns that even though his mother leaves the room, she has not ceased to exist; similarly, a ball does not disappear because a bucket is placed over it. By the end of this stage, children are able to engage in what Jean Piaget termed deferred imitation. This involves the ability to reproduce or repeat a previously-witnessed action later on; rather than copying it right away, the child is able to produce a mental representation of it and repeat the behavior later on. By 24 months, infants are able to imitate behaviors after a delay of up to three months. Preoperational Stage The preoperational stage occurs from age 2 to age 7. During this stage, children can use symbols to represent words, images, and ideas, which is why children in this stage engage in pretend play. A child’s arms might become airplane wings as she zooms around the room, or a child with a stick might become a brave knight with a sword. Language development and make-believe play begin during this stage. Logical thinking is still not present, so children cannot rationalize or understand more complex ideas. Children at this stage are very egocentric, meaning they focus on themselves and how actions will impact them, rather than others. They are not able to take on the perspective of others, and they think that everyone sees, thinks, and feels just like they do. Concrete Operational Stage The concrete operational stage occurs from age 7 to age 11. It is characterized by the idea that children’s reasoning becomes focused and logical. Children demonstrate a logical understanding of conservation principles, the ability to recognize that key properties of a substance do not change even as their physical appearance may be altered. For example, a child who understands the principles of conservation will recognize that identical quantities of liquid will remain the same despite the size of the container in which they are poured. Children who do not yet grasp conservation and logical thinking will believe that the taller or larger glass must contain more liquid. Children begin to organize objects by classes and subclasses, and they can perform mathematical operations and understand transformations, such as addition is the opposite of subtraction and multiplication is the opposite of division. They still think in very linear ways and can only conceptualize ideas that can be observed directly—they have not yet mastered 62 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
abstract thinking (described below). By the end of this stage, children will develop true mental operations and master the concepts of reversibility, transitivity, and assimilation. Reversibility is the idea that something can be changed back to its original state after it has been altered (for example, pouring water back and forth between two differently shaped glasses and still having the same amount of water). Transitivity is the concept of relation—for example, if A is related to B and B is related to C, then A must also be related to C. Finally, assimilation is the absorption of new ideas, information, or experiences into a person’s existing cognitive structure, or what they already know or understand of the world. Jean Piaget determined that in this stage, children are able to incorporate inductive reasoning, which involves drawing inferences from observations in order to make a generalization. In contrast, children struggle with deductive reasoning, which involves using a generalized principle in order to try to predict the outcome of an event. Formal Operational The formal operational stage occurs from age 11 to adulthood. It is characterized by the idea that children develop the ability to think in abstract ways. This enables children to engage in the problem-solving method of developing a hypothesis and reasoning their way to plausible solutions. Children can think of abstract concepts and have the ability to combine various ideas to create new ones. By the end of this stage, children have developed logical and systematic thinking, are capable of deductive reasoning, and can create hypothetical ideas to explain various concepts. Beyond Formal Operational Thought As with other major contributors of theories of development, several of Jean Piaget’s ideas have been challenged by later research. For example, several contemporary studies support a model of development that is more continuous than Jean Piaget’s discrete stages (Courage & Howe, 2002; Siegler, 2005, 2006). Many others suggest that children reach cognitive milestones earlier than Jean Piaget describes (Baillargeon, 2004; de Hevia & Spelke, 2010). Many developmental psychologists suggest a fifth stage of cognitive development, known as the postformal stage (Basseches, 1984; Commons & Bresette, 2006; Sinnott, 1998). In postformal thinking, decisions are made based on situations and circumstances, and logic is integrated with emotion as adults develop principles that depend on contexts. One way that we can see the difference between an adult in postformal thought and an adolescent in formal operations is in terms of how they handle emotionally charged issues. It seems that once we reach adulthood, our problem-solving abilities change: as we attempt to solve problems, we tend to think more deeply about many areas of our lives, such as relationships, work, and politics (Labouvie-Vief & Diehl, 1999). Because of this, postformal thinkers are able to draw on past experiences to help them solve new problems. Problem- 63 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
solving strategies using postformal thought vary depending on the situation. Adults can recognize, for example, that what seems to be an ideal solution to a disagreement with a coworker may not be the best solution for a disagreement with a romantic partner. LEV VYGOTSKY'S SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY The work of Lev Vygotsky (1934) has become the foundation of much research and theory in cognitive development over the past several decades, particularly of what has become known as sociocultural theory. Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist who argued that culture has a major impact on a child’s cognitive development. Jean Piaget and Gesell believed development stemmed directly from the child, and although Vygotsky acknowledged intrinsic development, he argued that it is the language, writings, and concepts arising from the culture that elicit the highest level of cognitive thinking (Crain, 2005). He believed that the social interactions with adults and more learned peers can facilitate a child’s potential for learning. Without this interpersonal instruction, he believed children’s minds would not advance very far as their knowledge would be based only on their own discoveries. Sociocultural theory views human development as a socially mediated process in which children acquire their cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society. Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition (Vygotsky, 1978), as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of \"making meaning.\" Unlike Jean Piaget's notion that children’s development must necessarily precede their learning, Vygotsky argued, \"learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function\" (1978, p. 90). In other words, social learning tends to precede (i.e., come before) development. Vygotsky has developed a sociocultural approach to cognitive development. He developed his theories at around the same time as Jean Jean Piaget was starting to develop his ideas (1920's and 30's), but he died at the age of 38, and so his theories are incomplete - although some of his writings are still being translated from Russian. No single principle (such as Jean Piaget's equilibration) can account for development. Individual development cannot be understood without reference to the social and cultural context within which it is embedded. Higher mental processes in the individual have their origin in social processes. Let’s review some of Vygotsky’s key concepts. 64 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding: Vygotsky’s best known concept is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Vygotsky stated that children should be taught in the ZPD, which occurs when they can almost perform a task, but not quite on their own without assistance. With the right kind of teaching, however, they can accomplish it successfully. A good teacher identifies a child’s ZPD and helps the child stretch beyond it. Then the adult (teacher) gradually withdraws support until the child can then perform the task unaided. Researchers have applied the metaphor of scaffolds (the temporary platforms on which construction workers stand) to this way of teaching. Scaffolding is the temporary support that parents or teachers give a child to do a task. Private Speech: Do you ever talk to yourself? Why? Chances are, this occurs when you are struggling with a problem, trying to remember something, or feel very emotional about a situation. Children talk to themselves too. Jean Piaget interpreted this as Egocentric Speech or a practice engaged in because of a child’s inability to see things from another’s point of view. Vygotsky, however, believed that children talk to themselves in order to solve problems or clarify thoughts. As children learn to think in words, they do so aloud before eventually closing their lips and engaging in Private Speech or inner speech. Thinking out loud eventually becomes thought accompanied by internal speech, and talking to oneself becomes a practice only engaged in when we are trying to learn something or remember something. This inner speech is not as elaborate as the speech we use when communicating with others (Vygotsky, 1962). Contrast with Jean Piaget: Jean Piaget was highly critical of teacher-directed instruction believing that teachers who take control of the child’s learning place the child into a passive role (Crain, 2005). Further, teachers may present abstract ideas without the child’s true understanding, and instead they just repeat back what they heard. Jean Piaget believed children must be given opportunities to discover concepts on their own. As previously stated, Vygotsky did not believe children could reach a higher cognitive level without instruction from more learned individuals. Who is correct? Both theories certainly contribute to our understanding of how children learn. SUMMARY 1. Jean Piaget developed his cognitive -developmental theory based on the idea that children actively construct knowledge as they explore and manipulate the world around them. 2. The four stages of Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development correspond with the age of the child; they include the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages. 65 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
3. The sensorimotor stage occurs from birth to age 2 and is characterized by the idea that infants” think” by manipulating the world around them. 4. The preoperational stage occurs from age 2 to age 7 and is characterized by the idea that children use symbols to represent their discoveries. 5. The concrete operational stage occurs from age 7 to age 11 and is characterized by the idea that children’s reasoning becomes focused and logical. 6. The formal operational stage occurs from age 11 to adulthood and is characterized by the idea that children develop the ability to think in abstract ways. KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • object constancy- The perceptual tendency to see objects as unchanging as the light reflected from them changes with movement, occlusion, and changes in illumination or distance. • Jean Piaget’s theory- A set of ideas developed by the Swiss physiologist Jean Piaget, who suggested that the human mind develops in a set of stages, which he called the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete, operational, and formal operational stages. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. Write in detail about the Jean Piaget’s theory of human development. 2. Explain Bowlby’s and Ainsworth’s Attachment Theory. UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1. Piaget has explained in details about cognitive development of a child. Elaborate on the different aspects of cognitive development as given by him? 2. Have you played peek-a-boo with a small child? How does he react? How do you think Piaget would describe this? 3. Children learn a lot through games. How the learning and constructing games help children develop cognitive abilities? 66 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. We say that children adapt to new settings fast you moved or changed schools? What was you experience in trying to adapt to new surrounding? 5. Children when given support move on higher levels of cognitive development. Explain with the help of Vygotsky’s concepts related to cognitive development. B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. According to Jean Piaget, the children are able to grasp the concept of object performance and conservation in; [a] Sensory Motor Stage [b] Pre-Operational Stage [c] Concrete Operational Stage [d] Formal Operational Stage 2. are the basic building blocks of such cognitive models. [a] Schemas [b] Assimilation [c] Attachment [d] Accommodation 3. believed in intrinsic development of children. [a] Jean Piaget [b] Harry Harlson [c] Lev Vygotsky [d] Sigmund Freud 4. is not a component of Jean Piaget’s theory of development. [a] Schemas [b] Assimilation 67 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
[c] Attachment [d] Accommodation 5. Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding are the terms given by [a] Jean Piaget [b] Harry Harlson [c] Bowlby [d] Lev Vygotsky Answer 1 [a] 2 [a] 3 [c] 4 [c] 5 [d] REFERENCE • Santrock, J.W. (2006). A Topical Approach to Life Span Development. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. • Berk, L.E. (2003). Child Development. New Delhi: Pearson Education. • Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2002). Life Span Development. Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon. • Bukatko, D. and Daehler, M.W. (2001). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. • Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. (1999). Development through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. • Morgan, L. and Kunkel, S. (1998). Aging: The Social Context. London: Pine Forge Press. • Hetherington, M.E. and Parke, R.D. (1993). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw Hill. • Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring Lifespan Development (4th Ed.) Pearson Publisher. • Sigelman, C. K. and Rider, E. A. (2017). Life Span Human Development (9th Ed.). Wadsworth Publisher. • Broderick, P. C. and Blewitt, P. (2014). Life Span, The Human Development for Helping Professionals (4th Ed.) Pearson Higher Ed USA. • Alan Slater, & J. Gavin Bremner (2017). An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley. • Gines, Et Al (1998) Rex Book Store Inc. 68 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Margaret Harris, & George Butterworth (2012). Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Psychology Press • Peter Mitchell, & Fenja Ziegler (2013). Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology. Psychology Press • Crain W., (2005). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. Pearson/Prentice Hall • Vygotsky L.S. at.al., (1978). Mind in Society: Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press 69 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 6 ECOLOGICAL THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT Structure Learning Objectives Introduction The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model Implications of the Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model Criticism of the Early Model Later Models Process — Person — Context — Time (PPCT) Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explain the ecological model given by Bronfenbrenner • Explore the components of ecological theory • Identify the implication of ecological theory on human development • Critically analyse the ecological theory of human development INTRODUCTION American psychologist, Urie Bronfenbrenner, formulated the Ecological Systems Theory to explain how the inherent qualities of children and their environments interact to influence how they grow and develop. The Bronfenbrenner theory emphasizes the importance of studying children in multiple environments, also known as ecological systems, in the attempt to understand their development. According to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, children typically find themselves enmeshed in various ecosystems, from the most intimate home ecological system to the larger school system, and then to the most expansive system which includes society and culture. Each of these ecological systems inevitably interact with and influence each other in all aspects of the children’s lives. 70 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
THE BRONFENBRENNER ECOLOGICAL MODEL Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed the ecological systems theory to explain how everything in a child and the child's environment affects how a child grows and develops. He labelled different aspects or levels of the environment that influence children's development, including the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem. The microsystem is the small, immediate environment the child lives in. Children's microsystems will include any immediate relationships or organizations they interact with, such as their immediate family or caregivers and their school or day-care. How these groups or organizations interact with the child will have an effect on how the child grows; the more encouraging and nurturing these relationships and places are, the better the child will be able to grow. Furthermore, how a child acts or reacts to these people in the microsystem will affect how they treat her in return. Each child's special genetic and biologically influenced personality traits, what is known as temperament, end up affecting how others treat them. This idea will be discussed further in a later document about child temperament. Bronfenbrenner's next level, the mesosystem, describes how the different parts of a child's microsystem work together for the sake of the child. For example, if a child's caregivers take an active role in a child's school, such as going to parent-teacher conferences and watching their child's soccer games, this will help ensure the child's overall growth. In contrast, if the child's two sets of caretakers, mom with step-dad and dad with step-mom, disagree how to best raise the child and give the child conflicting lessons when they see him, this will hinder the child's growth in different channels. The exosystem level includes the other people and places that the child herself may not interact with often herself but that still have a large effect on her, such as parents' workplaces, extended family members, the neighbourhood, etc. For example, if a child's parent gets laid off from work, that may have negative effects on the child if her parents are unable to pay rent or to buy groceries; however, if her parent receives a promotion and a raise at work, this may have a positive effect on the child because her parents will be better able to give her effect physical needs. Bronfenbrenner's final level is the macrosystem, which is the largest and most remote set of people and things to a child but which still has a great influence over the child. The macrosystem includes things such as the relative freedoms permitted by the national government, cultural values, the economy, wars, etc. These things can also affect a child either positively or negatively. 71 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Microsystem The Bronfenbrenner theory suggests that the microsystem is the smallest and most immediate environment in which children live. As such, the microsystem comprises the daily home, school or day-care, peer group and community environment of the children. The microsystem reflects the immediate setting that contains the person. Keeping in mind how our immediate setting changes throughout the day, the microsystem in which we find ourselves changes as well. Although the library might be the microsystem in which we found ourselves late at night, our office or classroom might be the parallel microsystem during the day. All microsystems have three different dimensions. The first is the physical space and activities within the microsystem such as the lighting over our desk or the temperature of the classroom during a test. The second is the people and their roles who are part of the microsystem such as our roommate or our classroom teacher. Finally, the third is the interaction between the people in the microsystem and the person. At one time, for example, 72 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
we might be angry with a roommate who does not do his or her assigned tasks. At another time, we might act like best friends. Interactions within the microsystem typically involve personal relationships with family members, classmates, teachers and caregivers. How these groups or individuals interact with the children will affect how they grow. Similarly, how children react to people in their microsystem will also influence how they treat the children in return. More nurturing and more supportive interactions and relationships will understandably foster they children’s improved development. One of the most significant findings that Urie Bronfenbrenner unearthed in his study of ecological systems is that it is possible for siblings who find themselves in the same ecological system to experience very different environments. Therefore, given two siblings experiencing the same microsystem, it is not impossible for the development of them to progress in different manners. Each child’s particular personality traits, such as temperament, which is influenced by unique genetic and biological factors, ultimately have a hand in how he/she is treated by others. The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Mesosystem The second level, called the mesosystem, focuses on the relationships between the different settings that the person is in during different times in development. The mesosystem focuses on interrelations among microsystems. For example, the mesosystem for college freshmen might consist of the dining hall, the classroom, home, and the intramural softball field. The mesosystem encompasses the interaction of the different microsystems which children find themselves in. It is, in essence, a system of microsystems and as such, involves linkages between home and school, between peer group and family, and between family and community. According to Bronfenbrenner’s theory, if a child’s parents are actively involved in the friendships of their child, for example they invite their child’s friends over to their house from time to time and spend time with them, then the child’s development is affected positively through harmony and like-mindedness. However, if the child’s parents dislike their child’s peers and openly criticize them, then the child experiences disequilibrium and conflicting emotions, which will likely lead to negative development. The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Exosystem The third element is the exosystem. Bronfenbrenner believes that the exosystem is a set of specific social structures that do not directly contain the individual, but still have an impact 73 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
on the person’s development. These structures “influence, delimit, or even determine what goes on” in the microsystem of the developing individual. The individual does not participate in these settings, but they do have a direct impact on his or her behaviour. For example, an exosystem might be the doctor’s office, the teacher’s lounge, or grandma’s house. These are all places with an indirect impact on the person’s development. The exosystem pertains to the linkages that may exist between two or more settings, one of which may not contain the developing children but affect them indirectly nonetheless. Based on the findings of Bronfenbrenner, people and places that children may not directly interact with may still have an impact on their lives. Such places and people may include the parents’ workplaces, extended family members, and the neighbourhood the children live in. For example, a father who is continually passed up for promotion by an indifferent boss at the workplace may take it out on his children and mistreat them at home. The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Macrosystem The last element or structure in his model is called the macrosystem. It consists of all the elements contained in the micro-, meso-, and exosystems, plus the general underlying philosophy or cultural orientation within which the person lives. As Bronfenbrenner says, these are the “overarching institutional patterns of the culture or subculture, such as the economic, social, educational, legal, and political systems of which local micro, meso, and exosystems are the concrete manifestations” The macrosystem is the largest and most distant collection of people and places to the children that still have significant influences on them. This ecological system is composed of the children’s cultural patterns and values, specifically their dominant beliefs and ideas, as well as political and economic systems. For example, children in war-torn areas will experience a different kind of development than children in peaceful environments. The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model: Chronosystem The Bronfenbrenner theory suggests that the chronosystem adds the useful dimension of time, which demonstrates the influence of both change and constancy in the children’s environments. The chronosystem may include a change in family structure, address, parents’ employment status, as well as immense society changes such as economic cycles and wars. By studying the various ecological systems, Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory is able to demonstrate the diversity of interrelated influences on children’s development. Awareness of the contexts that children are in can sensitize us to variations in the way children may act in different settings. 74 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
For example, a child who frequently bullies smaller children at school may portray the role of a terrified victim at home. Due to these variations, adults who are concerned with the care of a particular child should pay close attention to his/her behaviour in different settings, as well as to the quality and type of connections that exist between these settings. This early model of the ecology of human development helps us in two primary ways as far as understanding human development. First, it places the interaction between nature and nurture in a very clear and easily definable context of one of the four systems discussed above. Second, it encourages us to move away from laboratory-based settings and begins to examine development in the “natural stream” of when and where it occurs. More and more scientists who study human development are emphasizing the qualitative nature of changes and using such methods that reflect that emphasis—away from the more tightly controlled laboratory study. But, as with all good scientists, Bronfenbrenner has moved on. Along with Morris’s help, he has taken the next step and further developed their ideas placing an emphasis on several new and complimentary ideas. The primary change in the ideas presented almost 20 years ago, and now referred to as part of a bioecological model, involves proximal processes (or interactions in the immediate environment). • In order for the person to develop, he or she needs to be an active contributor to the environment. • These activities and contributions have to take place on a regular basis and over an extended period of time. • These activities also need to become more complex over time—doing the same thing as before will not act as the “engine” of development that Bronfenbrenner and Morris emphasize. • The process of development is a reciprocal one where each member of a dyad or group influences each other member. • While interactions with people are very important, interactions with objects are important as well. • The importance and role of proximal processes change over time as the individual and environment change as well. IMPLICATIONS OF THE BRONFENBRENNER ECOLOGICAL MODEL Bronfenbrenner sees the instability and unpredictability of family life we’ve let our economy create as the most destructive force to a child’s development (Addison, 1992). Children do 75 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
not have the constant mutual interaction with important adults that is necessary for development. According to the ecological theory, if the relationships in the immediate microsystem break down, the child will not have the tools to explore other parts of his environment. Children looking for the affirmations that should be present in the child/parent (or child/other important adult) relationship look for attention in inappropriate places. These deficiencies show themselves especially in adolescence as anti-social behaviour, lack of self- discipline, and inability to provide self-direction (Addison, 1992). This theory has dire implications for the practice of teaching. Knowing about the breakdown occurring within children’s homes, is it possible for our educational system to make up for these deficiencies? It seems now that it is necessary for schools and teachers to provide stable, long-term relationships. Yet, Bronfenbrenner believes that the primary relationship needs to be with someone who can provide a sense of caring that is meant to last a lifetime. This relationship must be fostered by a person or people within the immediate sphere of the child’s influence. Schools and teachers fulfil an important secondary role, but cannot provide the complexity of interaction that can be provided by primary adults. For the educational community to attempt a primary role is to help our society continue its denial of the real issue. The problems students and families face are caused by the conflict between the workplace and family life – not between families and schools. Schools and teachers should work to support the primary relationship and to create an environment that welcomes and nurtures families. We can do this while we work to realize Bronfenbrenner’s ideal of the creation of public policy that eases the work/family conflict (Henderson, 1995). It is in the best interest of our entire society to lobby for political and economic policies that support the importance of parent’s roles in their children’s development. Bronfenbrenner would also agree that we should foster societal attitudes that value work done on behalf of children at all levels: parents, teachers, extended family, mentors, work supervisors, legislators. CRITICISM OF THE EARLY MODEL Bronfenbrenner’s early model of the bioecological system has sometimes been criticized for not emphasizing the active role of the individual in his or her own development. As such, sometimes the individual’s own biological and identifying characteristics, such as age, health, sex or gender are considered the unofficial first layer of the nested systems. In later iterations, a fifth stage is considered part of the bioecological model, called the chronosystem. This system focuses on the interaction between the various systems and how they affect one another over time. One instance of this would be parents scolding a child for disobedience, which is an instance of microsystem-macrosystem interaction. While the parents are members of the microsystem, they are reinforcing a cultural belief that children 76 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
should always listen to their parents. The assumption is that over time, the child would grow up to be obedient. LATER MODELS 6.5.1. Process — Person — Context — Time (PPCT) This model was later adapted to include the chronosystem, based on four establishing principles and their interactions which were Bronfenbrenner’s original basis for the bioecological theory: Process — The developmental processes that happen through the systematic interactions mentioned above. What Bronfenbrenner referred to as proximal processes functioned as the primary mechanism of an individual’s development. Person — This principle was established to indicate the role of the individual and their personal characteristics in social interactions and their individual development. These characteristics include age, sex, gender, physical or mental health, and others. Some of these characteristics are more visible than others (such as age) and as such, are more easily measured over time. Context — The (now five) systems of the bioecological model serve as the context for an individual’s development — the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro-, and chronosystems. Time — The most essential element of the bioecological model. Because this model measures an individual’s development, these interactions occur on a measurable, chronological scale. Time influences the systemic interactions within an individual’s lifespan as well as across generations, such as in the case of “family values,” a set of morals or beliefs that are passed down between generations and shape development. This would be an example of microsystem interaction over time. SUMMARY 1. There have been many different approaches to explaining development, but one especially has tried to deal with the importance of the environment without ignoring the uniqueness of the individual. 2. Urie Bronfenbrenner, and more recently along with Pamela Morris, has developed what is called an experimental ecology of human development or an ecological theory of human development. 3. Within this model he stresses the importance of the developing person in his or her surrounding environment. 77 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. He defines the phrase ecology of human development as the study of “the progressive, mutual accommodation, throughout the life span, between a growing human organism and the changing immediate environments in which it lives.” 5. His basic argument is that traditional studies in human development are very rigorous and tightly controlled. While this can be a benefit, the studies are also very limited in scope because many of these experiments take place in settings that are unfamiliar to the participants and artificial in their construction. 6. In other words, they don’t very accurately represent what the real world is about; in Bronfenbrenner’s earlier and own words, developmental research has been “the study of the strange behavior of children in strange situations for the briefest possible period of time.” 7. Because he is so concerned with the qualities and characteristics of the environment, part of his ecological model defines a series of structures that are “nested” within one another. In his earliest works, he described four such structures. 8. These structures nest or “fit” within each other, beginning with the microsystem (as he points out much like the stacking Russian dolls that disappear within one another). KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • The ecological systems theory- The ecological systems theory holds that we encounter different environments throughout our lifespan which influence our behaviour. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What is The Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model? 2. What are the different stages of the Bronfenbrenner Ecological Model? UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 78 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
1. We live as a part of a number of social groups and institutions (family, school, social group, religious group, etc). Can you name a few of the groups you belong to and how you became the members of these groups? 2. Family has a major influence on a child. How has your family affected you? Give examples of various aspects of behaviours and values you have learned from your family and family members. 3. Identify the different systems that a person is surrounded by according to Urie Bronfenbrenner? 4. Not all the psychologist has accepted the ecological model by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Elaborate. 5. A person behaves in a particular way (process) at a specific time. The behaviour has a contextual significance (context). Explain. B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. According to Urie Bronfenbrenner, the systems in ecological model are; [a] Micro system [b] All of the above [c] Macro system [d] Chrono System 2. is the smallest and most immediate environment in which children live. [a] Micro system [b] All of the above [c] Macro system [d] Chrono System 3. developed the ecological systems theory to explain how everything in a child and the child's environment affects how a child grows and develops. [a] Jean Piaget [b] Wadsworth 79 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
[c] Bowlby [d] Urie Bronfenbrenner 4. consists of all the elements contained in the micro-, meso-, and exosystems. [a] Micro system [b] All of the above [c] Macro system [d] Chrono System 5. Who conducted experiment on rhesus monkeys to [b] Wadsworth [c] Bowlby [d] Harry Harlow 6. In PPCT Model, C refers to [a] Cognition [b] Context [c] Complex [d] None of the above Answer 1 [b] 2 [a] 3 [d] 4 [c] 5 [d] 6 [b] REFERENCE • Santrock, J.W. (2006). A Topical Approach to Life Span Development. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. • Berk, L.E. (2003). Child Development. New Delhi: Pearson Education. 80 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2002). Life Span Development. Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon. • Bukatko, D. and Daehler, M.W. (2001). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. • Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. (1999). Development through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. • Morgan, L. and Kunkel, S. (1998). Aging: The Social Context. London: Pine Forge Press. • Hetherington, M.E. and Parke, R.D. (1993). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw Hill. • Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring Lifespan Development (4th Ed.) Pearson Publisher. • Sigelman, C. K. and Rider, E. A. (2017). Life Span Human Development (9th Ed.). Wadsworth Publisher. • Broderick, P. C. and Blewitt, P. (2014). Life Span, The Human Development for Helping Professionals (4th Ed.) Pearson Higher Ed USA. • Alan Slater, & J. Gavin Bremner (2017). An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley. • Gines, Et Al (1998) Rex Book Store Inc. • Margaret Harris, & George Butterworth (2012). Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Psychology Press • Peter Mitchell, & Fenja Ziegler (2013). Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology. Psychology Press 81 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 7 METHODS IN DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY Structure Learning Objectives Introduction What Is Scientific Research Research Approaches in Life-Span Development Psychology Research Designs in Life-Span Development Psychology Case Study Observation Laboratory Observation Survey Interview Secondary/ Content Analysis Research Involving Time-Spans Cross-sectional Research Longitudinal Research Cross-Sequential Research Conducting Ethical Research Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations Learning Activity Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explore the research approaches used in life-span development psychology • Identify which research designs can be used in life-span development psychology • Analyse the different research designs involving time-spans • Outline the ethical considerations to be followed while conducting research 7.1 INTRODUCTION Developmental psychology is the scientific study of progressive psychological changes that occur in human beings as they age. 82 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Originally concerned with infants and children, and later other periods of great change such as adolescence and aging, it now encompasses the entire life span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes, problem solving abilities, conceptual understanding, acquisition of language, moral understanding, and identity formation. It is imperative that individuals studying any branch of psychology become familiar with the methodology applied to this scientific discipline. This becomes even more important when the methodology places limitations on the conclusions one can draw from the empirical research. All too often false conclusions are reached when reading research based on a lack of understanding concerning these limitations. This is particularly true for the study of human development as much of the research is quasi-experimental in nature. Below are several topics related to research methodology and the evaluation of developmental research. WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH? Scientific research is objective, systematic, and repeatable. It reduces the likelihood that information will be based on personal beliefs, opinions, and feelings. Scientific research is based on the scientific method, an approach that can be used to discover accurate information. It involves the processes of: conceptualizing the problem, collecting requisite data, drawing conclusions, and revising research conclusions and formulating a theory therefrom. The first step, conceptualizing a problem, involves identifying the problem. For example, a team of researchers decides that they should study ways to improve the achievement of children from impoverished backgrounds. The researchers have identified a problem, which, at a general level, might not seem like a difficult task. However, as part of the first step, they also must go beyond a general description of the problem by isolating, analysing, narrowing, and specifically focusing more on what aspect of it they hope to study. Perhaps, the researchers decide to discover if mentoring can improve the academic performance of children from poor economic backgrounds. At this point, even more narrowing and focusing needs take place. What specific strategies do the researchers want the mentors to use? How often will the mentors see the children? How long will the mentoring programmes last? What aspects of the children’s achievement do the researchers want to assess? As researchers formulate a problem to study, they often draw on theories and develop hypotheses. The next step is to collect information (data). In a study, a researcher might decide to see if one method of teaching is better than another, teachers’ ratings, and achievement tests given to the learners before the teaching began and at the end of the month are forms of data collected. 83 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Once data have been collected, child development researchers use statistical procedures to understand the meaning of the data. Then they try to draw some conclusion. In the study of mentoring, statistics would help determine whether or not the observations are due to chance. After data have been analysed, researchers compare their findings with those others have found about the same topic. The final step in the scientific method is revising research conclusions and a number of theories that have been generated to describe and explain children’s development. Over time, some theories have been discarded, others revised. In the next chapter subsequent ones, you will read about a number of theories of development. RESEARCH APPROACHES IN LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY There are two preferred controlled observations designs used in developmental psychology: longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. In longitudinal studies, the same individuals are observed on several occasions over time. The major advantage of this approach is that it observes how specific individuals are developing over time. The changing relationship between earlier and later stages can thus be rather precisely defined. Nevertheless, longitudinal studies have disadvantages: they take decades to complete and data can be subject to error and contamination as individual participants are susceptible to the effects of learning and repeated exposure to the experimental methodology. Cross-sectional studies observe individuals of different age groups simultaneously at a particular time. This method can thus gather developmental data from different age groups in a relatively short period of time. An important drawback is that the developmental data do not come from the same individuals. Hence, conclusions may not adequately reflect the true processes involved in individuals’ psychological development over time. In essence, both methods have their advantages and limitations. A limitation of both methods is generational differences caused by the simple effect of time: developmental changes that are attributable to different historical backgrounds are confounded with those attributable to normal aging, thus rendering generational differences vulnerable to being mistakenly interpreted as individual developmental changes. RESEARCH DESIGNS IN LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT PSYCHOLOGY A research design is the specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data. Psychologists use three major types of research designs in their research, and each provides an essential avenue for scientific investigation. Descriptive research is research that describes what is occurring at a particular point in time. Correlational research is research 84 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge. Experimental research is research in which a researcher manipulates one or more variables to see their effects. Each of the three research designs varies according to its strengths and limitations. Case Study: Sometimes the data in a descriptive research project are based on only a small set of individuals, often only one person or a single small group. These research designs are known as case studies which are descriptive records of one or a small group of individuals’ experiences and behaviour. Sometimes case studies involve ordinary individuals. Developmental psychologist Jean Jean Piaget observed his own children. More frequently, case studies are conducted on individuals who have unusual or abnormal experiences. The assumption is that by carefully studying these individuals, we can learn something about human nature. Case studies have a distinct disadvantage in that, although it allows us to get an idea of what is currently happening, it is usually limited to static pictures. Although descriptions of particular experiences may be interesting, they are not always transferable to other individuals in similar situations. They are also time consuming and expensive as many professionals are involved in gathering the information. Observations: Another type of descriptive research is known as observation. When using naturalistic observation, psychologists observe and record behaviour that occurs in everyday settings. For instance, a developmental psychologist might watch children on a playground and describe what they say to each other. However, naturalistic observations do not allow the researcher to have any control over the environment. Laboratory observation: Laboratory observation, unlike the naturalistic observation, is conducted in a setting created by the researcher. This permits the researcher to control more aspects of the situation. One example of laboratory observation involves a systematic procedure known as the strange situation test, which you will learn about in chapter three. Concerns regarding laboratory observations are that the participants are aware that they are being watched, and there is no guarantee that the behaviour demonstrated in the laboratory will generalize to the real world. Survey: In other cases, the data from descriptive research projects come in the form of a survey, which is a measure administered through either a verbal or written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviours of a sample of people of interest. The people chosen to participate in the research, known as the sample, are selected to be representative of all the people that the researcher wishes to know about called the population. A representative 85 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
sample would include the same percentages of males, females, age groups, ethnic groups, and socio-economic groups as the larger population. Surveys gather information from many individuals in a short period of time, which is the greatest benefit for surveys. Additionally, surveys are inexpensive to administer. However, surveys typically yield surface information on a wide variety of factors but may not allow for in-depth understanding of human behaviour. Another problem is that respondents may lie because they want to present themselves in the most favourable light, known as social desirability. They also may be embarrassed to answer truthfully or are worried that their results will not be kept confidential. Additionally, questions can be perceived differently than intended. Interviews: Rather than surveying participants, they can be interviewed which means they are directly questioned by a researcher. Interviewing participants on their behaviours or beliefs can solve the problem of misinterpreting the questions posed on surveys. The examiner can explain the questions and further probe responses for greater clarity and understanding. Although this can yield more accurate results, interviews take longer and are more expensive to administer than surveys. Participants can also demonstrate social desirability, which will affect the accuracy of the responses. Secondary/Content Analysis: Secondary/Content Analysis involves analyzing information that has already been collected or examining documents or media to uncover attitudes, practices or preferences. There are a number of data sets available to those who wish to conduct this type of research. For example, the U. S. Census Data is available and widely used to look at trends and changes taking place in the United States. The researcher conducting secondary analysis does not have to recruit subjects, but does need to know the quality of the information collected in the original study. RESEARCH INVOLVING TIME-SPANS Cross-sectional research Cross-sectional research compares samples that represent a cross-section of the population who vary in age. Participants might be asked to complete a survey or take a test of some physical or cognitive skill. The attitudes or skill levels based on age are compared. In cross- sectional research, respondents are measured only once, and consequently this method is not expensive or time consuming. In addition, because participants are only tested at one point in time, practice effects are not an issue as children do not have the opportunity to become better at the task over time. There is also no need to keep in contact with, or follow-up with, participants over time. 86 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
However, cross-sectional research does not allow the researcher to look at the impact of having been born in a certain time-period, which is known as the cohort effect. For example, those born during the depression have very different views about and experiences with the internet than those born in the last twenty years. Different attitudes about the Internet, for example, might not be due to a person’s biological age as much as their life experiences as members of a cohort. Longitudinal research Longitudinal research involves studying a group of people who are the same age, and measuring them repeatedly over a period-of-time. This type of design allows researchers to study individual differences in development. Longitudinal studies may be conducted over the short term, such as a span of months, or over much longer durations including years or decades. For these reasons, longitudinal research designs are optimal for studying stability and change over time. Problems with longitudinal research include being very time consuming and expensive. Researchers must maintain continued contact with participants over time, and these studies necessitate that scientists have funding to conduct their work over extended durations. An additional risk is attrition. Attrition occurs when participants fail to complete all portions of a study. Participants may move, change their phone numbers, or simply become disinterested in participating over time. Researchers should account for the possibility of attrition by enrolling a larger sample into their study initially, as some participants will likely drop out over time. Even with a large sample size, the experimenter never knows if there was something different about the individuals who dropped out versus those that remained in the study. The results from longitudinal studies may also be impacted by repeated assessments. Consider how well you would do on a math test if you were given the exact same exam every day for a week. Your performance would likely improve over time not necessarily because you developed better math abilities, but because you were continuously practicing the same math problems. This phenomenon is known as a practice effect. Practice effects occur when participants become better at a task over time because they have done it again and again; not due to natural psychological development. 87 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Cross-Sequential research Sequential research includes elements of both longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs. Similar to longitudinal designs, sequential research features participants who are followed over time; similar to cross-sectional designs, sequential work includes participants of different ages. This research design is also distinct from those that have been discussed previously in that individuals of different ages are enrolled into a study at various points in time to examine age-related changes, development within the same individuals as they age, and account for the possibility of cohort effects. For example, in a study with a sequential design, a researcher might enrol three separate groups of children (Groups A, B, and C). Children in Group A would be enrolled when they are 2 years old and would be tested again when they are 4 and 6 years old. This is similar in design to the longitudinal study described previously. Children in Group B would also be enrolled when they are 2 years old, but this would occur two years later when Group A is now 4 years old. Finally, children in Group C would be enrolled when they are 2 years old and Group A is now 6 and Group B is now 4. At this time, the children would represent a cross-sectional design (2, 4, and 6 years of age). Further, along the diagonal children of the same age can be compared to determine if cohort effects are evident. Sequential designs are appealing because they allow researchers to learn a lot about development in a relatively short amount of time. Because they include elements of longitudinal and cross-sectional designs, sequential research has many of the same strengths and limitations as these other approaches. For example, sequential work may require less time and effort than longitudinal research, but more time and effort than cross-sectional research. Although practice effects may be an issue if participants are asked to complete the same tasks or assessments over time, attrition may be less problematic than what is commonly experienced in longitudinal research since participants may not have to remain involved in the study for such a long period-of-time. Table 1.6 identifies advantages and disadvantages for each of the described time span research design. 88 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Table: Time Span Research Designs Advantages and Disadvantages Longitudinal Advantages Disadvantages Cross-sectional • Examines changes • Expensive • Takes a long time Sequential within an individual • Participant attrition over time • Possibility of practice • Provides developmental effects analysis • Cannot examine cohort effects • Examines changes • Cannot examine between participants of change over time different ages at the • Cannot examine cohort same time effects • Provide information on age-related changes • Examines changes • May be expensive within individuals • Possibility of practice over time effects • Examines changes between participants of different ages at the same time • Can be used to examine cohort effects CONDUCTING ETHICAL RESEARCH One of the issues that all scientists must address concerns the ethics of their research. Research in psychology may cause some stress, harm, or inconvenience for the people who participate in that research. Psychologists may induce stress, anxiety, or negative moods in their participants, expose them to weak electrical shocks, or convince them to behave in ways that violate their moral standards. Additionally, researchers may sometimes use animals, potentially harming them in the process. Decisions about whether research is ethical are made using established ethical codes developed by scientific organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, and federal governments. In the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services provides the guidelines for ethical standards in research. The following are the American Psychological Association code of ethics when using humans in research (APA, 2016). 89 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• No Harm: The most direct ethical concern of the scientist is to prevent harm to the research participants. • Informed Consent: Researchers must obtain informed consent, which explains as much as possible about the true nature of the study, particularly everything that might be expected to influence willingness to participate. Participants can withdraw their consent to participate at any point. Infants and young children cannot verbally indicate their willingness to participate, much less understand the balance of potential risks and benefits. As such, researchers are oftentimes required to obtain written informed consent from the parent or legal guardian of the child participant. Further, this adult is almost always present as the study is conducted. Children are not asked to indicate whether they would like to be involved in a study until they are approximately seven years old. Because infants and young children also cannot easily indicate if they would like to discontinue their participation in a study, researchers must be sensitive to changes in the state of the participant, such as determining whether a child is too tired or upset to continue, as well as to what the parent desires. In some cases, parents might want to discontinue their involvement in the research. As in adult studies, researchers must always strive to protect the rights and wellbeing of the minor participants and their parents when conducting developmental research. • Confidentiality: Researchers must also protect the privacy of the research participants’ responses by not using names or other information that could identify the participants. • Deception: Deception occurs whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it. Deception may occur when the researcher tells the participants that a study is about one thing when in fact it is about something else, or when participants are not told about the hypothesis. • Debriefing: At the end of a study debriefing, which is a procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the research and remove any harmful aftereffects of participation, must occur. SUMMARY 1. Developmental psychologists study how people grow, develop and adapt at different life stages. 2. They conduct research designed to help people reach their full potential — for example, studying the difference between learning styles in babies and adults. 90 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
3. Developmental psychologists study a wide range of theoretical areas, such as biological, social, emotion, and cognitive processes. 4. Child development is a fascinating field of study – but care must be taken to ensure that researchers use appropriate methods to examine infant and child behaviour, use the correct experimental design to answer their questions, and be aware of the special challenges that are part-and-parcel of developmental research. 5. Research conducted in the field of human development includes case studies, observations (controlled and naturalistic), interviews, survey and psychological assessment. 6. The different approaches used in developmental psychology are longitudinal research, cross sectional research and sequential research KEY WORDS/ ABBREVIATIONS • Cross-sectional research- Cross-sectional research involves using different groups of people who differ in the variable of interest but share other characteristics, such as socioeconomic status, educational background, and ethnicity. • Longitudinal study- A longitudinal study is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables over short or long periods of time. It is often a type of observational study, although they can also be structured as longitudinal randomized experiments. LEARNING ACTIVITY 1. What are the different research designs in life-span development psychology? 2. What are the different research designs in life-span development psychology involving life-spans? UNIT END QUESTIONS (MCQS AND DESCRIPTIVE) A. Descriptive Questions 1. Research in an integral part of any field of knowledge. Explain the significance of research in life span development? 91 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
2. Laboratory experiments are no possible to understand human development. What are the different approaches a researcher can use to conduct experiments in human development? 3. Not all researchers can conduct research for 20 to 30 years. Do they have an option if they want to opt of longitudinal research? 4. Some research happen over long period of time. Some happen at a short duration. Explain the research methods that are based on their timelines. 5. Ethics and ethical considerations is a key to any research. Explain with examples the ethics consideration, a researcher should to follow while conducting research in developmental psychology? B. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) 1. compares samples that represent a cross-section of thepopulation who vary in age. [a] Experimental Research [b] Longitudinal Research [c] Cross-sectional Research [d] Sequential Research 2. is a research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables over short or long periods of time. [a] Experimental Research [b] Longitudinal Research [c] Cross-sectional Research [d] Sequential Research 3. study how people grow, develop and adapt at different life stages. [a] Developmental psychologist [b] Physiological psychologists [c] Cognitive psychologist [d] Behavioural psychologists 92 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
4. includes elements of both longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs [a] Experimental Research [b] Longitudinal Research [c] Cross-sectional Research [d] Sequential Research 5. The goal of the is to provide more definitive conclusions about the causal relationships among the variables [a] Experimental Research [b] Longitudinal Research [c] Cross-sectional Research [d] Sequential Research Answer 1 [c] 2 [b] 3 [a] 4 [d] 5 [a] REFERENCE • Santrock, J.W. (2006). A Topical Approach to Life Span Development. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. • Berk, L.E. (2003). Child Development. New Delhi: Pearson Education. • Bee, H. and Boyd, D. (2002). Life Span Development. Boston, M.A: Allyn and Bacon. • Bukatko, D. and Daehler, M.W. (2001). Child Development: A Thematic Approach. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. • Newman, B.M. and Newman, P.R. (1999). Development through Life: A Psychosocial Approach. New York: Wadsworth Publishing Company. • Morgan, L. and Kunkel, S. (1998). Aging: The Social Context. London: Pine Forge Press. • Hetherington, M.E. and Parke, R.D. (1993). Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint. New York: McGraw Hill. • Berk, L. E. (2017). Exploring Lifespan Development (4th Ed.) Pearson Publisher. 93 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• Sigelman, C. K. and Rider, E. A. (2017). Life Span Human Development (9th Ed.). Wadsworth Publisher. • Broderick, P. C. and Blewitt, P. (2014). Life Span, The Human Development for Helping Professionals (4th Ed.) Pearson Higher Ed USA. • Alan Slater, & J. Gavin Bremner (2017). An Introduction to Developmental Psychology (3rd ed.). Wiley. • Gines, Et Al (1998) Rex Book Store Inc. • Margaret Harris, & George Butterworth (2012). Developmental Psychology: A Student's Handbook. Psychology Press • Peter Mitchell, & Fenja Ziegler (2013). Fundamentals of Developmental Psychology. Psychology Press 94 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
UNIT 8 CONCEPTION Structure Learning Objectives Introduction Pre-natal Development Definition of Prenatal Period Issues in Development Prenatal Period Hazards during Prenatal Development Postnatal Period Stages of Postnatal Development Summary Key Words/ Abbreviations 8.11.Learning Activity 8.12.Unit End Questions (MCQs and Descriptive) 8.13.Reference LEARNING OBJECTIVES After this unit, you will be able to, • Explain the nature of pre natal development • Outline the stages of pre natal development • Identify hazards during pre natal development • Explore the nature of post natal development • Outline the stages of post natal development INTRODUCTION While you might think of child development as something that begins during infancy, the prenatal period is also considered an important part of the developmental process. Prenatal development is a time of remarkable change that helps set the stage for future psychological development. The brain develops over the course of the prenatal period, but it will continue to go through more changes during the early years of childhood The process of prenatal development occurs in three main stages. The first two weeks after conception are known as the germinal stage, the third through the eighth week is known as the embryonic period, and the time from the ninth week until birth is known as the fetal period. 95 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
Developmental psychologists consider the process of human development as it relates to physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. This lifespan development is organized into different stages based on age. Prenatal development is the process that occurs during the 40 weeks prior to the birth of a child, and is heavily influenced by genetics. There are three stages of prenatal development—germinal, embryonic, and fetal. Prenatal development is also organized into trimesters: the first trimester ends with the end of the embryonic stage, the second trimester ends at week 20, and the third trimester ends at birth. PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT Prenatal development is the term given to the process of gestation that an embryo undergoes, right from the fertilisation stage to childbirth. The prenatal period is one of the most fascinating stages of our development. Its end is marked by a beginning; the birth of a new- born baby. The prenatal period encompasses the most rapid phase of development of our lives, beginning as a single cell and ending as a new-born baby emerging into the world. Development during this time is considered as proceeding largely under genetic control and immune to external influences. However, as technology has advanced and scientists have become more sophisticated in examining the fetus, it has become apparent that development during this time is far from a simple question of genetically determined growth. Environmental agents may adversely affect the development of the fetus, and moreover the environment may determine the functional capacity of the organs of the body. The actions and reactions of the baby will shape its own development. DEFINITION OF PRENATAL PERIOD i) The Prenatal or Antenatal development is the process in which an embryo or fetus (or foetus) gestates during pregnancy, from fertilisation until birth. Often, the terms fetal development, foetal development, or embryology are used in a similar sense. ii) Prenatal (from Greek peri, “about, around” and Latin nasci “to be born”) defines the period occurring “around the time of birth”, specifically from 22 completed weeks (154 days) of gestation (the time when birth weight is normally 500 g) to 7 completed days after birth. iii) The antepartum period (from Latin ante “before” and parere “to give birth”) is literally equivalent to prenatal (from Latin pre- “before” and nasci “to be born”). Practically, however, antepartum usually refers to the period between the 24th/26th week of gestational age and birth of a child. 96 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
iv) Postnatal period begins immediately after the birth of a child and then extends for about six weeks. During this period the mother’s body returns to pre-pregnancy conditions as far as uterus size and hormone levels are concerned. ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENT Three key issues to be considered in the prenatal period are: 1) The nature or nurture debate: How much is development during this period determined by genes and how much by the environment? Traditionally, the prenatal period has been viewed as largely under the control of genes but development during this period is an interaction between genes and environment. 2) Whether development is continuous or discontinuous: For many years the event of birth was considered a new beginning, ignoring events before as having any meaning for future development. However, this view is now changing. It is logically possible, that at the moment of birth the behavioural, sensory, and learning abilities of the new-born are suddenly switched on, and these abilities have their origins in the prenatal period, implying a continuity of development across the birth period. 3) The function of fetal behaviour: This question that has been raised as studies have begun to unravel the behavioural abilities of the fetus is: why does the fetus exhibit the behaviour and reactions that it does? Are they a by-product of its maturation, or do they serve a function? PRENATAL PERIOD A child takes about 9 months or 40 weeks to reach the stage of birth, and in this time period, a lot of changes and processes occur to the child’s body and the mother’s body as well. The prenatal development stages outline the growth of the child and give a clearer picture of the development of the child in the womb The Period of Prenatal Development i) Period of the Zygote (fertilisation to end of second week) • The stages can be divided into three parts, and each part carries its own significance and importance in the development of a fetus. These are the period of the Zygote, period of the Embryo and the period of fetus. • The size of the zygote-that of a pinhead- remains unchanged because it has no outside source of nourishment and is kept alive by yolk in the ovum. • As the zygote passes down the Fallopian tube to the uterus, it divides many times and separates into an outer and an inner layer. 97 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
• The outer layer later develops into the placenta, the umbilical cord, and the amniotic sac, and the inner layer develops into a new human being. • About ten days after fertilisation, the zygote becomes implanted in the uterine wall. ii) Period of the Embryo (end of the second week to end of the second lunar month) • The embryo develops into a miniature human. • Major development occurs, in the head region first and in the extremities last. • All essential features of the body, both external and internal are established. • The embryo begins to turn in the uterus, and there is a spontaneous movement of the limbs. • The placenta, the umbilical cord, and the amniotic sac develop and protect and nourish the embryo. • At the end of the second prenatal month, the embryo weighs 1.25 ounces and measures 1.5 inches in length. iii) Period of the Fetus (end of the second lunar month to birth) • Changes occur in the actual size of the parts already formed and in their functioning. No new features appear at this time. • By the end of the third lunar month, some internal organs are well developed to function. Fetal heartbeat can be detected by about the fifteenth week. • By the end of the fifth lunar month, the different internal organs have assumed positions nearly like the ones they will have in the adult body. • Nerve cells, present from the third week, increase rapidly in number during the second, third and fourth lunar months. Whether or not this increase will continue will depend upon conditions within the mother’s body such as malnutrition, which adversely affects nerve cell development – especially during the latter months of the prenatal period. • Fetal movements first appear between eighteen and twenty two weeks and then increase rapidly up to the end of the ninth lunar month when they slow down because of crowding in the amniotic sac and pressure on the fetal brain as the fetus takes a head down position in the pelvic region in preparation for birth. These fetal movements are of different kinds – rolling and kicking and short or quick. • By the end of the seventh lunar month, the fetus is well enough developed to survive, should it be born properly. • By the end of the eighth lunar month the fetal body is completely formed, though smaller than that of a normal, full – term infant. 98 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
HAZARDS DURING PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT Most prenatal development occurs normally, following the established patterns with little variation. However, there are a number of things that can go wrong during this time, which are usually caused by genetics or environmental problems. i) Psyc-hological Hazards: Psychological hazards are serious because their effects tend to be persistent and as a result influence development after birth as well as before birth. These are in the form of three hazards; Traditional beliefs about parental influences: Traditional beliefs about parental influences are regarded as hazardous not because of their effects on the developing child during prenatal period but because of their effects on attitudes and treatment children receive during the early formative years of their life from significant people who hold these beliefs. Maternal Stress: Stress a persistent form of heightened emotionality involving such unpleasant emotions as fear, anger, or grief may come from many causes. It may be the result of not wanting the child-to-be, feeling of inadequacy, or fear of having a defective child. This stress is hazardous as it upsets the normal functioning of maternal endocrine system. Unfavourable attitude on the part of significant people: Unfavourable attitude held by relatives, siblings, neighbours and friends but most importantly parental attitude does affect development. These attitudes like wanting the child of a particular sex, negative attitude towards unwed mother or divorced mother affect pre as well as postnatal development. ii) Physical Hazards Period of the Zygote • Starvation: The zygote will die of starvation if it has too little yolk to keep it alive until it can lodge itself in the uterine wall or if it remains too long in the tube. • Lack of Uterine Preparation: Implantation cannot occur if, as a result of glandular imbalance, the uterine walls are not prepared in time to receive the zygote. • Implantation in the wrong place: If the zygote becomes attached to a small fibroid tissue in the uterine wall or to the wall of the Fallopian tube, it can’t get nourishment and will die. iii) Period of the Embryo • Miscarriages: Falls, emotional shocks, malnutrition, glandular disturbances, vitamin deficiency, and serious diseases such as pneumonia and diabetes can cause the embryo to become dislodged from its place in the uterine wall, resulting in a miscarriage. Miscarriages that are due to unfavourable conditions in prenatal 99 CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)
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