Exploring Lifespan Development, 4th Edition Class Notes

Exploring Lifespan Development, 4th Edition Class Notes summarizes important topics for quick revision.

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1CHAPTER 1HISTORY, THEORY, AND RESEARCH STRATEGIESCHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCEChapter OutlineInstruction IdeasSupplementsA Scientific, Applied, and InterdisciplinaryField p.3Learning Objective 1.1Test Bank Items 13(Please contact your Pearson salesrepresentative for a wide range of videoofferings available to adopters.)Basic Issues pp.35Continuous or Discontinuous Development? •One Course of Development or Many? •Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture?Learning Objective 1.2Learning Activity 1.1Test Bank Items 412,121The Lifespan Perspective: A BalancedPoint of View pp.59Development Is Lifelong • Development IsMultidimensional and MultidirectionalDevelopment Is Plastic • Development IsInfluenced by Multiple, Interacting ForcesLearning Objective 1.3Lecture Enhancement 1.1Learning Activities 1.2, 1.3Ask Yourself p.9Test Bank Items 1323Scientific Beginnings pp.911Darwin: Forefather of Scientific Child Study •The Normative Period • The Mental TestingMovementLearning Objective 1.4Learning Activity 1.2Test Bank Items 2429, 122Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories pp.1115The Psychoanalytic Perspective • Behaviorismand Social Learning Theory • Piaget’sCognitive-Developmental TheoryLearning Objective 1.5Learning Activities 1.2, 1.4Ask Yourself p.15Test Bank Items 3051, 123Recent Theoretical Perspectives pp.1621Information Processing • DevelopmentalNeuroscience • Ethology and EvolutionaryDevelopmental Psychology • Vygotsky’sSociocultural Theory • Ecological SystemsTheoryLearning Objective 1.6Learning Activities 1.2, 1.4, 1.5Ask Yourself p.21Test Bank Items 5268, 124Comparing Theories p.21Learning Objective 1.7Learning Activities 1.2, 1.4Test Bank Items69, 71Studying Development pp.2131Common Research Methods • GeneralResearch Designs • Designs for StudyingDevelopmentLearning Objectives 1.81.10Lecture Enhancement 1.2Learning Activities 1.6, 1.7Ask Yourself pp.25, 31Test Bank Items 70, 72117, 125126Ethics in Lifespan Research pp.3132Learning Objective 1.11Test Bank Items 118120BRIEF CHAPTER SUMMARYDevelopmental science is an interdisciplinary field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout thelifespan.All investigators who study developmentshare a single goal:to identify those factors that influence consistencies andtransformations in people from conception to death.Theories of human development take a stance on three basic issues: (1) Is the course of development continuous ordiscontinuous? (2) Does one course of development characterize all people, or are there many possible courses? (3) What arethe roles of nature and nurture in development? The lifespan perspective assumes that development is (1) lifelong,(2) multidimensional and multidirectional, (3) highly plastic, and (4) affected by multiple, interacting forces.

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e2Scientific study of human development dates back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Charles Darwin’stheory of evolution emphasized the adaptive value of physical characteristics and behavior. Sigmund Freud’s psychosexualtheory and Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory both viewed development as discontinuous (occurring in stages), but Eriksonadded three adult stages to Freud’s five stages of childhood.In contrast to the psychoanalytic perspective, behaviorism focused on directly observable events: stimuli and responses.Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, which emphasized modeling as a powerful source of development, remains influential.Jean Piaget, disagreeing with the behaviorists, developed a cognitive-developmental theory, based on the idea that childrenactively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world.Recent theoretical perspectives include information processing, which views the human mind as a symbol-manipulatingsystem; developmental neuroscience, which studies the relationship between changes in the brain and cognitive and emotionaldevelopment; ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology, which are concerned with the adaptive value of behavior;Lev Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, which focuses onhowcultureis transmittedthrough social interaction; and UrieBronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, which examines development in the context of a complex system of relationships.Research in human development, like all scientific research, begins with a hypothesis. Research methods used to studydevelopment include systematic observation; self-reports; the clinical, or case study, method, which focuses on a singleindividual; and ethnography, the study of a culture or social group.Investigators of human development can choose either a correlational research design, which cannot determine causality,or an experimental design, which uses dependent and independent variables to determine cause and effect. Experiments may becarried out in the field, or natural settings, or in the laboratory. To study how individuals change over time, investigatorsuselongitudinal, cross-sectional, and sequential designs, each of which has both strengths and limitations.Conducting research with human subjects poses special ethical dilemmas, particularly for children and for older adults whoare ill or cognitively impaired.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following:1.1What is developmental science, and what factors stimulated expansion of the field? (p.2)1.2Identify three basic issues on which theories of human development take a stand. (pp.35)1.3Describe the lifespan perspective on development. (pp.59, 10)1.4Describe major early influences on the scientific study of development. (pp.9, 11)1.5What theories influenced human development research in the mid-twentieth century? (pp.1115)1.6Describe recent theoretical perspectives on human development. (pp.1621)1.7Identify the stand taken by each major theory on the three basic issues of human development. (p.21)1.8Describe methods commonly used in research on human development. (pp.2125, 26)1.9Distinguish between correlational and experimental research designs, noting the strengths and limitations of each.(pp.25, 2728)1.10Describe designs for studying development, noting the strengths and limitations of each. (pp.2830)1.11What special ethical concerns arise in research on human development? (pp.3132)

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Chapter1 History, Theory, and Research Strategies3LECTURE OUTLINEI.A SCIENTIFIC, APPLIED, AND INTERDISCIPLINARY FIELD (p. 3)Developmental scienceis a field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan.Research in this area isinterdisciplinaryand has bothappliedand scientific importance.II.BASIC ISSUES (pp. 35)Atheoryis an orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior. A theory’scontinued existence depends onscientific verification.Theories of human development take a stand on three basic issues: (1) Is developmentcontinuousordiscontinuous(taking place instages)? (2) Does one course of development characterize all people, or are there many possiblecourses, affected by relationships between individuals and theircontexts? (3) What are the roles of genetic andenvironmental factors in development (thenaturenurture controversy)?III.THE LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE: A BALANCED POINT OF VIEW (pp. 59, 10)Modern theories recognize that both continuous and discontinuous changes occur and that development continues inadulthood as well as childhood and adolescence.Thelifespan perspectiveis based on the assumptions that development is (1) lifelong, (2) multidimensional andmultidirectional, (3) highly plastic, and (4) affected by multiple, interacting forces.During each major period of development, significant changes occur in three overlapping and interacting domains:physical, cognitive,andemotional/social.At every period, development ismultidimensionalaffected by a blend of biological, psychological, and socialforcesandmultidirectional:a joint expression of growth and decline.Plasticityin development is evident at all ages but gradually decreases. It varies greatly across individuals, dependingin part on theirresilience.Development is influenced by multiple, interacting forces, includingage-graded influences, history-gradedinfluences,andnonnormative influences.IV.SCIENTIFIC BEGINNINGS (pp. 9, 11)In the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin’stheory of evolutionemphasized the adaptive value of physicalcharacteristics and behavior.G. Stanley Hall and his student Arnold Gesell launched thenormative approachto child study, in which age-relatedaverages are computed to represent typical development.French psychologists Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon constructed the first successful intelligence test, sparkingtremendous interest in individual differences in development.V.MID-TWENTIETH-CENTURY THEORIES (pp. 1115)Thepsychoanalytic perspectiveassumes that people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflictsbetween biological drives and social expectations. How these conflicts are resolved determines the person’s ability tolearn, to get along with others, and to cope with anxiety.In Sigmund Freud’spsychosexual theory,three parts of the personalityid, ego,andsuperegobecome integratedduring five stages of development. Healthy personality development depends onthe quality of theearly parentchildrelationship.Erik Erikson’spsychosocial theoryimproved on Freud’s vision, adding three adult stages and emphasizing thepositive contribution of the ego to development and the importance of cultural context.According tobehaviorism,directly observable eventsstimuli and responsesare the appropriate focus of study.Albert Bandura’ssocial learning theoryemphasizesmodelingas a powerful source of development. Today, thistheory is described as asocial-cognitiveapproach.Behaviorism and social learning theory have given rise toapplied behavior analysis,which uses conditioning andmodeling procedures to eliminate undesirable behaviors in children and adults.According to Jean Piaget’scognitive-developmental theory,children move through four broad developmental stages,each characterized by qualitatively distinct ways of thinking:sensorimotor,preoperational,concrete operational,andformal operational.His theory encouraged the development of educational programs emphasizing discovery learning.Piaget’s theory has been challenged for underestimating the competencies of infants and preschoolers, for payinginsufficient attention to social and cultural influences, and for failing to recognize that important transformations occurin adulthood.

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e4VI.RECENT THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES (pp. 1621)Information-processingresearchers view the human mind as a symbol-manipulating system through whichinformation flows. Their view of development is one of continuous change.Developmental cognitive neurosciencebrings together researchers from psychology, biology, neuroscience, andmedicine to study the relationship between changes in the brain and the developing person’s cognitive processing andbehavior patterns.Developmental social neuroscience,a complementary new area, focuses on the relationship between changes in thebrain and emotional and social development.Ethologyis concerned with the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history.Asensitive periodis a time that is biologically optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the individual isespecially responsive to environmental influences.John Bowlby applied ethological theory to the development of human infantcaregiver attachment.Evolutionary developmental psychologyseeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive,emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age.Lev Vygotsky’ssociocultural theoryfocuses on how thecultureof a social group is transmitted to the nextgeneration throughsocial interactionin particular, cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members ofsociety.Urie Bronfenbrenner’secological systems theoryviews the person as developing within a complex system ofrelationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environmentmicrosystem, mesosystem, exosystem,andmacrosystemas well as atemporal dimension, thechronosystem.VII.COMPARING THEORIES (p. 21)Major theoretical perspectives focus on different domains of development.Every theory takes a stand on the basic issues of development.VIII.STUDYING DEVELOPMENT (pp. 2131)Common research methods include systematic observation, self-reports, clinical or case studies, and ethnographies.Systematic observationeithernaturalistic observationin the field orstructuredobservationsin a laboratoryprovides information about actual behavior but tells us little about the reasoning behind the responses.Self-reports include theclinical interview,in which researchers ask questions in a flexible, conversational style, andthestructured interview,in which each participant is asked the same set of questions in the same way.Theclinical,orcase study, methodbrings together a wide range of information on one person to obtain as completea picture as possible of a single individual.Ethnographyis directed toward understanding thecultural meaningsof behavior throughparticipant observation.Investigations of human behavior use two main types of research designs:correlationalandexperimental.Acorrelational designreveals relationships between participants’ characteristics and their behavior or developmentbutdoes not allow researchers to infer cause and effect.Acorrelation coefficientdescribes how two variables are associated with each other.Anexperimental designusesrandom assignmentof participants to treatment conditions. Researchers thenmanipulate anindependent variableand investigate the effects on adependent variable.Modified experimental designs includefield experimentsandnatural, or quasi-, experiments,in which investigatorscompare treatments that already exist.Designs for studying development include thelongitudinal design,in which participants are studied repeatedly atdifferent ages, and thecross-sectional design,in which groups of people differing in age are studied at the samepoint in time.Problems in conducting longitudinal research include participant dropout,practice effects,andcohort effects.The cross-sectional design also may suffer from cohort effects and does not provide evidence about development atthe individual level.To overcome some of these limitations, researchers may usesequential designs,in which they conduct severalsimilar cross-sectional or longitudinal studies, orsequences.Research that combines an experimental strategy with either a longitudinal or a cross-sectional approach is becomingincreasingly common.IX.ETHICS IN LIFESPAN RESEARCH (pp. 3132)Ethical concerns in research are especially complex when participants are children or older adults.

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Chapter1 History, Theory, and Research Strategies5Institutional review boards(IRBs) balance the costs of the research to participants against the potential value of thestudy, with preference always given to participants’ interests.The principle ofinformed consentrequires special interpretation when participants(including young children andadults who are cognitively impaired) cannot fully appreciate the research goals and activities.When deception and concealment are used in research,debriefingmust occur after the research session is over.Many experts believe that deception should be used with children only if the risk of harm is minimal.

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e6LECTURE ENHANCEMENTSLECTURE ENHANCEMENT 1.1Individual Resilience and Social Support: A Bidirectional Relationship (p.8)Objective:To consider evidence for a bidirectional relationship between individual resilience and social support, withimplications for designing interventions to promote resilience.The Biology and Environment box on page8identifies broad factors that promote resilience, including personal characteristics,close relationships, and social support. In this review of research, Sippel et al. (2015) address how two of these factorssocialsupport and community resourcescan foster individual resilience, and how more resilient individuals, in turn, can promote acommunity’s capacity to provide social support.Sippel et al. cite evidence that in addition to the positive effects of social support on individuals, “[i]ndividual well-being… appears to influence the well-being of one’s support system.” In their own work, for example, they have found thatcommunity programs providing support for individual families can lead to “[m]ore cohesive, engaged families [who] can thenfeed back to the well-being of the community.” And in studies of military veterans and survivors of natural disasters, they find“emerging evidence of a bidirectional relationship between healthy communities and more resilient individuals.” They note,however, that this “dynamic interplay of individual and collective experience” can have either positive or negative results.Forexample, immediately after a natural disaster, shared distress tends to promote a feeling of solidarity and altruism. But asfeelings of distress wane for most survivors, individuals who continue to experience severe trauma-related symptoms maycome to be viewed as a burden, challenging the community’s perception of its own successful recovery.This paper provides some interesting avenues for a discussion of resilience. In addition to the research cited by Sippel etal., classroom discussion can draw on examples from current news reportingconsidering, for example, what types of socialsupport may be most effective in promoting resilience in refugees fleeing war zones or in survivors of terrorist attacks.Sippel, L. M., et al. (2015).How does social support enhance resilience in the trauma-exposed individual?Ecology and Society,20(4): 10. doi: 10.5751/ES-07832-200410LECTURE ENHANCEMENT 1.2The “U.S. Immigrant Paradox”: Implications for Research, Policy, and Practice (p.26)Objective:To consider changes in modes of adaptation for immigrant youths, and the implications of these changes forresearch, policy, and practice.This article examines implications of the so-calledU.S. immigrant paradoxin childhood and adolescence. It can be used toexpand discussion of the Cultural Influences box on immigrant youths (page26), which cites evidence that children who areeither foreign-born(immigrated with their parents) orfirst-generation (American-born, withimmigrant parents) often havemore optimal developmental outcomesin terms of both academic achievement and psychological adjustmentthan theiragemates whohave native-born parents.These authors cite evidence that, for today’s immigrant youths,optimal modes of adaptation may include biculturalismrather than assimilation to the majority culture. Theoretical frameworks, however, have been slow to shift away from theassumption that immigrant youths will thrive as their families move toward full adoption of “American” ways. The authorssuggest thatbicultural models best capture optimal adaptationfor example, focusing on skills children need to coordinatetheir experiences across important everyday settings, such as home and school. Such models, they maintain,are more relevantto today’s immigrant families and their U.S.-born children than are the older cultural assimilation models.To enhance in-class discussion of adaptation by immigrant youths, the instructor can use the ideas presented in this articleto provide an overview of the ways in which research models may influence thinking about minority populations and,consequently, may affect policy and practice.Marks, A. K., Ejesi, K., & Coll, C. G. (2014). Understanding the U.S. immigrant paradox in childhood and adolescence.ChildDevelopment Perspectives, 8,5964.doi: 10.1111//cdep12071

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Chapter1 History, Theory, and Research Strategies7LEARNING ACTIVITIESLEARNING ACTIVITY 1.1Three Basic Issues of Human Development: What Is Your Stance? (pp.35)This exercise can be used as an in-class assignment to help students express their own views on some basic issues in humandevelopment.Directions:Here are four pairs of statements relating to basic issues of human development. Read each statement carefully andselect the statement in each pair that more closely reflects your own view.(1)A.Development is a continuous process in which new abilities, skills, and knowledge are added gradually.B.Development occurs at varying rates, alternating between periods of little change and periods of abrupt, rapidtransformation.(2)A.All humans follow the same general sequence of development.B.Each individual has a unique course of development, depending on personal and environmental circumstances.(3)A.Children respond to the world in much the same way as adults, except that children’s thinking is less sophisticatedand complex than that of adults.B.Children have unique ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving that are very different from those of adults.(4)A.An individual’s personality is mainly determined by heredity.B.An individual’s personality can be modified through influential experiences.Ask students to form small groups and discuss their answers to the following questions:(1)What is their stance on the three basic issues of human development?(2)Which theories take a stance similar to their own?(3)If students had to choose a theory that best represents their own view of development, would they choose a singletheory or would they select components of several different theories?(4)Which aspects of their chosen theory (or theories) make it more attractive than the others?LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.2Keeping a Theory/Research Notebook (pp.521)Among the many theories of human development, students are likely to find some more appealing and plausible than others.Encourage students to keep a theory/research notebook in which they construct a systematic list of their theoretical likes anddislikes. For each theory, ask students to list the concepts and principles they consider important and those they believe tobeinadequate or incorrect. As students learn more throughout the course, ask them to revise their opinions periodically, notingresearch that supports their changing views. At the end of the course, each student should have developed a personalperspective on human developmentone that may emphasize a single theory or blend aspects of a number of theories.LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.3Factors That Promote Resilience (pp.8)Ask students to think of an adult they know well, such as a family member or close family friend, who experienced andovercame significant adversity as a child or adolescent. For example, the individual might have experienced the death of aparent or sibling, experienced school or community violence, or become a teenage parent. Ask students to describe the person’sexperiences briefly and then to consider factors that may have contributed to resilience. For example, what personalcharacteristics does this individual possess that likely helped him or her overcome hardship? Did this person have a warmrelationship with a parent, social support outside the family, or access to community resources? Using research described inthetext, explain how these factors may have contributed to resilience.

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e8LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.4True or False: Mid-Twentieth-Century Theories and Recent Theoretical Perspectives (pp.1121)Present the following exercise as an in-class activity or quiz.Directions:Read each of the following statements and indicate whether it isTrue(T) orFalse(F)._____1.According to Freud, in each stage of psychosexual development, parents walk a fine line between permittingtoo much or too little gratification of their child’s basic needs._____2.Both Freud and Erikson pointed out that normal development must be understood in relation to each culture’slife situation._____3.Behaviorism has been praised for acknowledging people’s contributions to their own development._____4.In Piaget’s theory, as the brain develops and children’s experiences expand, they move through four broadstages, each characterized by qualitatively distinct ways of thinking._____5.Research indicates that Piaget underestimated the competencies of infants and preschoolers._____6.Information-processing researchers view the mind as a symbol-manipulating system through whichinformation flows._____7.Developmental neuroscience can identify relationships between changes in the brain and cognitive processing,but it has little to say about social or emotional development._____8.According toVygotsky,social interaction is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking andbehaving that make up a community’s culture._____9.The mesosystem consists of social settings that do not contain the developing person but nevertheless affectexperiences in immediate settings._____ 10.InBronfenbrenner’s theory, people are both products and producers of their environments.Answers:1.T2.F3.F4.T5.T6.T7.F8.T9.F10.TLEARNING ACTIVITY 1.5Applying Ecological Systems Theory to a Current Issue in Child or Adult Development (pp.1921)Have students form small groups and ask each group to select a current issue in child or adult development that is widelydiscussed in the mediafor example, child abuse and neglect, effects of infant child care on later adjustment, the obesityepidemic, sex education programs in schools, worklife balance for families, quality of care for older adults, or end-of-lifedecision making. Once each group has selected its topic, ask the groups to consider how each level of the environment mayaffect development in this area. Students should also consider bidirectional influences and the role of third parties.

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Chapter1 History, Theory, and Research Strategies9LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.6Research Methods and Designs: Choosing the Best Approach (pp.2125,2730)Present the following scenarios to students:(a)An investigator is interested in studying whether infant child care leads to an insecure attachment bond betweenchildren and their mothers during the first year of life as well as into the preschool years.(b)An investigator is interested in studying whether a new drug is as effective as diet and exercise in loweringcholesterol levels in an adult sample.(c)An investigator is interested in determining whether sociability in children is related to school achievement andwhether this relationship, if any, varies for children in preschool, elementary school, and middle school.For each scenario, ask students to answer the following questions:(1)What research method and design would you choose for this study? Why?(2)Would the results tell you anything about cause and effect? Why or why not?(3)Would this study involve any special ethical considerations? If so, what are they?LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.7Research Designs: Comparing Cross-Sectional, Longitudinal, and Sequential Designs (pp.2830)Present the following exercise as an in-class activity or quiz.Directions:Each of the following statements pertains to cross-sectional, longitudinal, or sequential research designs. For eachstatement, determine which research design it describes.1.The researcher studies groups of participants who differ in age at the same point in time.2.The researcher is interested in whether frequent exposure to violent television programming in early childhoodpredicts aggressive and antisocial behavior in adulthood.3.The researcher wants to investigate psychological well-being in middle adulthood for groups of participants born adecade apart.4.Age-related changes may be distorted because of participant dropout, practice effects,andcohort effects.5.The researcher follows a sequence of samples (two or more age groups), collecting data on them at the same points intime.6.This design does not permit the study of individual developmental trends. Age differences may be distorted because ofcohort effects.7.To investigate age-related changes in adults’ problem-solving skills, the researcher selects three samplesadults intheir thirties, adults in their fifties, and adults in their seventiesand tracks each group for five years.8.To investigate how children of different ages process traumatic events, such as school violence, the researcher recruitschildren who are in grades 6, 9, and 12 in the 20162017 school year and interviews them about their responses to theBoston Marathon bombing in 2013.9.The researcher studies the same group of participants repeatedly at different ages.Answers:1.Cross-sectional2.Longitudinal3.Sequential4.Longitudinal5.Sequential6.Cross-sectional7.Sequential8.Cross-sectional9.Longitudinal

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e10ASK YOURSELF. . .CONNECT: Distinguish age-graded, history-graded, and nonnormative influences on lifespan development. Cite anexample of each in Sofie’s story. (pp.23,7, 9)Age-graded influences are events that are strongly related to age and therefore fairly predictable in when they occur andhow long they last. As a baby, Sofie experienced age-graded influences when she engaged in exploratory play, crawled, andpulled herself up, as would be expected. She entered elementary school at the typical age.History-graded influences are forces unique to a particular era. For Sofie, the rise of the Nazis and World War II had asignificant impact on the events of her life. Her family had to flee Germany, eventually moving to the United States. She alsolost many of her loved ones in the Holocaust. In the United States, Sofie was able to launch a teaching career in midlife, whichmight not have been possible in another time or place.Sofie’s story also includes several nonnormative influencesirregular events that do not follow a predictable timetable. Byadolescence, she had become an accomplished pianist. And although most German girls of her time married by age 20, Sofiedecided to postpone marriage and childbearing in favor of attending university. At age 50, after returning to school for herteaching credential, she launched a careernot a typical path for a woman of her generation. Finally, Sofie’s struggle withcancer and her premature death represent events that were unique to her experience.APPLY: Anna, a high school counselor, devised a program that integrates classroom learning with vocational trainingto help adolescents at risk for school dropout stay in school and transition to work life. What is Anna’s position onstability versus plasticityin development? Explain. (pp.5,6)Anna’s program reflects her beliefthat development has substantialplasticitythroughout lifethat it is open tochangeinresponse to influentialexperiences. First, Anna takes the position that environmental influences, not just heredity, areimportant. Second, by devising a program for adolescents, she rejects the view that early experiences establish a lifelong patternof behavior that cannot be fully overcome by later, more positive experiences. Anna, taking a more optimistic view, believesthat high school students who are at risk for dropout will benefit from the program she has developed, because it will providepositive experiences that will enable them to overcome the effects of the negative events of their first few years.REFLECT: Describe an aspect of your development that differs from a parent’s or a grandparent’s when he or she wasyour age. Using influences highlighted by the lifespan perspective, explain this difference in development. (pp.57, 9)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.CONNECT: Although social learning theory focuses on social development and Piaget’s theory on cognitivedevelopment, each has enhanced our understanding of other domains. Mention an additional domain addressed by eachtheory. (pp.1315)Social learning theory emphasizesmodeling,also known asimitationorobservational learning,as a powerful source ofdevelopment. From its original emphasis on social development, the theory has evolved to stress the importance ofcognition,or thinking. As a result, the most recent revision of this theory is now known as asocial-cognitiverather than a social learningapproach. In addition to explaining children’s social development, social-cognitive theory provides insight into how, asindividuals acquire attitudes, values, and convictions about themselves, they control their own learning and behavior.Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory, best known for its emphasis on the stages of cognitive development, alsoexplores children’s reasoning about the social world. It has sparked a wealth of research on children’s conceptions ofthemselves, other people, and human relationshipsall aspects of the social/emotional domain.APPLY: A 4-year-old becomes frightened of the dark and refuses to go to sleep at night. How would a psychoanalystand a behaviorist differ in their views of how this problem developed? (pp.11,13)According to the psychoanalytic perspective, children move through a series of stages in which they confront conflictsbetween biological drives and social expectations. In this view, fear of the dark reflects an unconscious motivation or deep-seated anxiety within the child. A psychoanalyst might conclude, for example, that the child’s fear really represents anxietyabout nighttime separation from the parent. Once the anxiety is resolved, the fear will subside.In contrast, behaviorists look at the effects on behavior of directly observable events, not at the inner workings of the mind.From a behaviorist perspective, a child would be afraid of the dark as a result of previous negative experiences in the dark.Perhaps the child heard a sudden, loud noise at night or was frightened by the visual images of a nightmare. On the basis ofthese experiences, the child would be conditioned to respond fearfully to being in the dark.

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Chapter1 History, Theory, and Research Strategies11REFLECT: Illustrate Bandura’s ideas by describing a personal experience in which you observed and receivedfeedback from another person that strengthened your sense of self-efficacybelief that your abilities andcharacteristics will help you succeed. (p.14)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.CONNECT: Is ecological systems theory compatible with assumptions of the lifespan perspectivedevelopment aslifelong, multidirectional, highly plastic, and influenced by multiple, interacting forces? Explain. (pp.57, 9,1921)Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory,which views the person as developing within a complex system ofrelationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment,is consistent with the assumptions of the lifespanperspective. In this view, the environment is a series of nested structures, including but also extending beyond the home,school, neighborhood, and workplace settings in which people spend their everyday lives. Each layer joins with the others topowerfully affect development.Like the lifespan perspective, ecological systems theory stresses that all relationships are bidirectional. For example, adultsaffect children’s behavior, but children’s biologically and socially influenced characteristicstheir physical attributes,personalities, and capacitiesalso affect adults’ behavior. Further, the temporal dimension of Bronfenbrenner’s model, thechronosystemrepresenting the dynamic, ever-changing nature of environmental influencesunderscores the lifelongplasticity of development, in which the person and the environment form a network of interdependent effects.APPLY: Mario wants to find out precisely how children of different ages recall stories. Desiree is interested in howadultchild communication in different cultures influences children’s storytelling. Which theoretical perspective hasMario probably chosen? How about Desiree? Explain. (pp.1617,1819)Mario has probably chosen an information-processing perspective. Using this approach, he will likely design a flowchart tomap the precise steps children use to recall stories. Then he will analyze each step separately so he can compare them in detailas they apply to children of different ages.Desiree is more likely to choose a sociocultural perspective, focusing on how culturethe values, beliefs, customs, andskills of a social groupis transmitted to the next generation through social interaction. For example, she might compare theways in which children in different cultures engage in storytelling with adults and older peers and how these interactions helpthem develop the storytelling skills that are valued within their culture.REFLECT: To illustrate the chronosystem in ecological systems theory, select an important event from your childhood,such as a move to a new neighborhood, a class with an inspiring teacher, or parental divorce. How did the event affectyou? How might its impact have differed had you been five years younger? How about five years older? (p.21)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.CONNECT: What strengths and limitations do the clinical, or case study, method and ethnography have in common?(pp.2425)Both the clinical method and ethnography are descriptive, qualitative techniques. Whereas the aim of the clinical method isto obtain as complete a picture as possible of a single individual’s psychological functioning, ethnography is directed towardunderstanding a culture or a distinct social group. A major strength of both methods is that they yield richly detaileddescriptions that offer insights into many aspects of experience and themanyfactorsinfluencingdevelopment. A limitation ofboth methods is that investigators’ cultural values or theoreticalcommitmentsmay lead them to observe selectively ormisinterpret what they see. Another limitation of both methods is that findings cannot be assumed to generalize to otherindividuals or cultures.APPLY: A researcher wants to study the thoughts and feelings of parents on active duty in the military and those oftheir school-age and adolescent children. Which method should she use? Why? (pp.2324)Theclinical interviewis the method best suited to investigating this research question, because the researcher wants tolearn about participants’ thoughts and feelings. The clinical interview permits individuals to display their thoughts in terms thatare as close as possible to the way they think in everyday life. This method also provides a large amount of information in afairly brief period.The researcher might also consider using astructured interview,in which each participant is asked the same set ofquestions in the same way. The structured interview eliminates the risk that variations in responses may reflect the manner ofinterviewing rather than real differences in the way people think about a topic. However, structured interviews do not yieldthesame depth of information as a clinical interview.

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e12REFLECT: Reread the description of nonnormative influences on page7, and cite an example from your own life.Which method would be best suited to studying the impact of such a nonnormative event on development?(pp.2324)A self-report methodeither the clinical interview or the clinical, or case study, methodwould be well-suited to studyingthe impact of a nonnormative event on development. These methods gather richlydetailed information about an individual,including events that are unique to a single person.CONNECT: Review the study of the Family Check-Up, described on page27. Explain how it combines an experimentalwith a developmental design. What are the independent and dependent variables? Is its developmental approachlongitudinal or cross-sectional? (pp.2728)This study used an experimental design in which researchers randomly assignedethnically diverse, poverty-strickenfamilieswith a 2-year-old childto either a brief intervention condition (the Family Check-Up) or a no-intervention controlgroup. The independent variable was the Family Check-Up intervention, which consisted of three home-based sessions inwhich a consultant gave parents feedback about their child-rearing practices and their child’s adjustment, explored parents’willingness to improve, and offered follow-up sessions on parenting practices and other concerns. Researchers were interestedin seeing whether this intervention would lead to gains in positive parenting, which predicteda reduction in child problembehaviors and higher academic achievement when the children reached school age.The developmental approach of the Family Check-Up study was longitudinal: The same participants were studied atdifferent points in time to determine whether the intervention was effective.APPLY: A researcher compares older adults with chronic heart disease to those with no major health problems andfinds that the first group scores lower on mental tests. Can the researcher conclude that heart disease causes a decline inintellectual functioning in late adulthood? Explain. (pp.25,27)Because this study uses a correlational design, the researcher cannot conclude that heart diseasecausesdeclines inintellectual functioning. The study does not reveal whether heart disease is the cause of the lower mental test scores or if,instead, a third variablefor example, poor diet and lack of exerciseis causing both heart disease and declines in intellectualfunctioning in late adulthood.REFLECT: Suppose a researcher asks you to enroll your baby in a 10-year longitudinal study. What factors would leadyou to agree and to stay involved? Do your answers shed light on why longitudinal studies often have biased samples?(pp.2829)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.MEDIA MATERIALSFor details on individual video segments that accompany the DVD forExploring Lifespan Development,Fourth Edition, pleasesee the DVD Guide forExplorations in Lifespan Development.The DVD and DVD Guide are available through your Pearsonsales representative.Additional DVDs and streaming videos that may be useful in your class are listed below. They are not available throughyour Pearson sales representative, but you can order them directly from the distributor. (See contact information at the endofthis manual.)Child Development Theorists: Freud to Erikson to Spock ... and Beyond(2009, Films Media Group, 22 min.). An introductionto major child development theorists. Educational resources are available online.Ethics in Psychological Research(2013, Insight Media/Promedian, 19 min.). The importance of ethics in psychologicalresearch, including examples of research studies that have raised ethical issues.John Bowlby: Attachment Theory Across Generations(2007, Films Media Group, 40 min.). An exploration of attachmenttheory. Part of the seriesGiants of Psychology.Educational resources are available online.Lev Vygotsky: One Man’s Legacy Through His Life and Theory(2009, PHD Lowe Productions, 3 sections, 1 hr. 53 min.). Thelife and work of Lev Vygotsky. A 35-minute version is also available.Nonexperimental Research Methods in Psychology(2006, Films Media Group, 34 min.). The advantages and limitations ofnonexperimental research methods, including questionnaires, interviews, and naturalistic observation. Part of the series

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Chapter1 History, Theory, and Research Strategies13Understanding Psychology.Psychology Research in Context(2008, Films Media Group, 29 min.). An overview of selected principles of science that areused in psychological research. Educational resources are available online.Research Methods in the Social Sciences(2005, Films Media Group, 4-part series, 2346 min. each). An exploration ofqualitative and quantitative research methods used in the social sciences. Instructor’s guides are available online.Study of the Child: Theories of Development(2007, Films Media Group, 2-part series, 1627 min. each). A survey of thetheories of influential thinkers in child development.

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1CHAPTER 2GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTALFOUNDATIONSCHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCEChapter OutlineInstruction IdeasSupplementsGenetic Foundations pp.3641The Genetic Code • The Sex Cells • Boy orGirl? • Multiple Offspring • Patterns of GeneGene Interactions • ChromosomalAbnormalitiesLearning Objectives 2.12.3Learning Activities 2.12.2Ask Yourself p.41Test Bank Items 141,104105(Please contact your Pearson salesrepresentative for a wide range of videoofferings available to adopters.)Reproductive Choices pp.4145Genetic CounselingandPrenatal Diagnosis •AdoptionLearning Objective 2.4Learning Activity2.3Ask Yourself p.45Test Bank Items4253Environmental Contexts for Developmentpp.4553The Family • Socioeconomic Status andFamily FunctioningPoverty • Affluence •Beyond the Family: Neighborhoods andSchools • The Cultural ContextLearning Objective 2.5Lecture Enhancement 2.1Learning Activities2.42.5Ask Yourself p.53Test Bank Items5479, 106107Understanding the Relationship BetweenHeredity and Environment pp.5358The Question, “How Much?” • The Question,“How?”Learning Objective 2.6Lecture Enhancement 2.2Learning Activities2.2, 2.62.7Ask Yourself p.58Test Bank Items80103, 108109BRIEF CHAPTER SUMMARYThis chapter examines the foundations of development: heredity and environment. At conception, chromosomes containinggenetic information from each parent combine to determine characteristics that make us human and also contribute toindividual differences in appearance and behavior. Serious developmental problems often result from inheritance of harmfulrecessive alleles and from chromosomal abnormalities. Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnostic methods can help peoplemake informed decisions about the best reproductive options.The environment in which human development takes place is a many-layered set of influences. The family is the first andlongest-lasting context for development. Other important influences are socioeconomic status, neighborhoods, schools, culturalvalues and practices, and public policies affecting individuals at various stages of the lifespan.Behavioral genetics examines the contributions of nature and nurture to diversity in human traits and abilities. Researchersincreasingly regard heredity and environment as inseparable and focus on examining how nature and nurture work together.Heritability estimates confirm that heredity contributes to a broad array of human traits but provide no precise informationongeneenvironment interaction, or how children might respond to environments designed to help them develop as far aspossible.According to the concept of geneenvironment correlation, our genes influence the environments to which we are exposed.Epigenesis refers to development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels of theenvironment. One mechanism through which these exchanges occur is methylation, a biochemical process through whichenvironment can alter gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. Overall, development is best understood as aseries of complex exchanges between nature and nurture.

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e2LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following:2.1What are genes, and how are they transmitted from one generation to the next? (pp.3638)2.2Describe various patterns of genegene interaction. (pp.3840)2.3Describe major chromosomal abnormalities, and explain how they occur. (pp.4041)2.4What procedures can assist prospective parents in having healthy children? (pp.4145)2.5Describe family functioning from the perspective of ecological systems theory, along with aspects of the environmentthat support family well-being and development. (pp.4553)2.6Explain the various ways heredity and environment may combine to influence complex traits. (pp.5348)LECTURE OUTLINEI.GENETIC FOUNDATIONS (pp.3641)Heredity and environment combine to createphenotypes,which depend in part on each individual’sgenotype.Thenucleusof each cell in the human body containschromosomes,which are made up ofdeoxyribonucleic acid(DNA).Humangenesare segments of DNA along the length of the chromosome. They include bothprotein-coding genesandregulator genes.Thegametes,or sex cellsthe sperm and ovumare formed throughmeiosisand contain only 23 chromosomes, halfas many as regular body cells.When sperm and ovum unite at conception, the resultingzygoteagain contains 46 chromosomes.Each human cell contains 22 matching pairs of chromosomes, calledautosomes,and one pair ofsex chromosomes:in females, XX; in males, XY. The sex of the new organism is determined by whether an X-bearing or a Y-bearingsperm fertilizes the ovum.Fraternal,ordizygotic, twinsresult from the release and fertilization of two ova.Identical,ormonozygotic,twinsresult when a single zygote that has started to duplicate separates into two clusters of cells.Ifallelesfrombothparentsare alike, the child ishomozygousand will display the inherited trait. If the alleles differ,the child isheterozygous,and relationships between the allelesinfluencethe phenotype.Indominantrecessive inheritance,one allele (calleddominant) affects the child’s characteristics, while the secondallele (recessive) has no effect.Heterozygous individuals with just one recessive allele arecarriersof the recessive trait.Incomplete dominanceis a pattern of inheritance in which both alleles are expressed in the phenotype, resulting in acombined trait, or one that is intermediate between the two.When a harmful allele is carried on the X chromosome,X-linked inheritanceapplies, and males are more likely to beaffected.Genomic imprintingis a pattern of inheritance in which alleles areimprinted,or chemically marked, in such a waythat one pair member is activated, regardless of its makeup. Disruptions in imprinting are involved in severalchildhood cancers, inPrader-Willi syndrome,and infragile X syndrome.Harmful genes are created throughmutation,a sudden but permanent change in a DNA segment.Germline mutationtakes place in the cells that give rise to gametes.Somatic mutation,in which normal body cells mutate, can occur atany time of life.Polygenic inheritance,in which many genes influence a characteristic, accounts for traits such as height, weight,intelligence, and personality that vary on a continuum among people.The most common chromosomal disorder,Down syndrome,usuallyresults when the twenty-first pair of chromosomesfails to separate during meiosis, so the new individual receives three of these chromosomesrather thantwo.Abnormalities of the sex chromosomes often are not recognized until adolescence when, in some deviations, puberty isdelayed.

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Chapter 2Geneticand Environmental Foundations3II.REPRODUCTIVE CHOICES (pp.4145)Genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis help people make informed decisions about conceiving, carrying apregnancy to term, or adopting a child.Genetic counselinghelps couples assess their chances of giving birth to a baby with a hereditary disorder and choosethe best course of action in view of risks and family goals.Newgenomewide testing methodsenable genetic counselors to estimate risk for many genetic disorders.Increasing numbers of individuals are turning to alternative methods of conception, such as donor insemination, invitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood.Prenatal diagnostic methods,includingamniocentesis,chorionic villus sampling,andmaternal blood analysis,permit detection of developmental problems before birth and have led to advances in fetal medicine.Advances ingenetic engineeringoffer hope for correcting hereditary defects.Because the availability of healthy babies has declined, adults in North America and Western Europe who chooseadoption are increasingly adopting from other countries or accepting children who are past infancy or who haveknown developmental problems.Adopted children and adolescents tend to have morelearning andemotional difficulties than other children, adifference that increases with the child’s age at the time of adoption. However, most adopted children fare well.III.ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXTS FOR DEVELOPMENT (pp.4553)The family is the first and longest-lasting context for development. Other environmental influences include friends,neighbors, school, workplace, and community and religious organizations.Environments that powerfully affect development include not only themicrosystembut also themacrosystem,or broadsocial climate of society.Contemporary researchers view the family as a network of interdependent relationships in which the behaviors of eachfamily member affect those of others throughbidirectional influences.In addition to direct influences between family members, interaction between any two members is affected bythirdparties.For example, mothers and fathers who have a warm, considerate marital relationship are more likely to engagein effectivecoparenting.The family is a dynamic, ever-changing system of relationships, influenced by life events, the developmental status ofeach family member, and historical time period.Socioeconomic status (SES)is linked to timing of marriage and parenthood, to family size, and to child-rearingvalues and expectations.Poverty affects about 15 percent of Americans. Those hit hardest are parents under age 25 with young children, ethnicminorities, women, and older adults who live alone.Of all Western nations, the United States has the highest percentage of extremely poor children. They are more likelythan others to experience lifelong poor physical health, persistent deficits in cognitive development and academicachievement, high school dropout, mental illness, and antisocial behavior.When affluent parents fail to engage in family interaction and parenting that promote favorable development, theirchildren are more likely than youths in general to engage in alcohol and drug use, commit delinquent acts, and reporthigh levels of anxiety and depression.When community life is disrupted, family violence, child abuse and neglect, adult criminal behavior, and other socialproblems are especially high.In contrast, strong family ties to the surrounding social context reduce stress andenhance adjustment.Neighborhood resources and social ties play an important part in children’s development and also affect the well-beingof adults, especially older adults.Schools affect many aspects of development through their physical environments, educational philosophies, and sociallife.Themacrosystem,or larger cultural context, affects all environmental contexts for development.In the United States, central cultural values include independence, self-reliance, and the privacy of family lifeonereason the public has been slow to endorse government-supported benefits for all families.Within the United States, some people belong tosubcultureswith beliefs and customsthat differ from those of thelarger culturefor example, the African-American tradition ofextended-family households.Cultures can be compared on two broad sets of values:collectivism(which emphasizes group goals andinterdependentqualities) versusindividualism(which emphasizesindependence). The United States is more individualistic than mostWestern European countries.

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e4Nations attempt to solve widespread social problems throughpublic policiesdesigned to improve current conditions.Compared with other industrialized nations, the United States does not rank well on key measures of children’s healthand well-being. in part because of cultural values of self-reliance and privacy.Although the U.S. aging population is financially much better off now than in the past,agingadults in the UnitedStates are less well off than those in many other Western nations, which provide more generous, government-fundedincome supplements to older adults.Influential interest groups devoted to improving the well-being of children or older adults have emerged.Researchers are collaborating with community and government agencies to enhance the social relevance of theirinvestigations.IV.UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEREDITY AND ENVIRONMENT (pp.5358)Behavioral geneticsis a field devoted to uncovering the contributions of nature and nurture to the diversity of humantraits and abilities.A growing consensus of investigators believes that the important question ishow nature and nurture work together.Heritability estimates,which measure the extent to which individual differences in complex traits in a specificpopulation are due to genetic factors, are obtained fromkinship studies,which compare the characteristics of familymembers.Research supports a moderate role for heredity in intelligence and in personality.Heritability estimates tend to exaggerate the role of heredity, and they can easily be misapplied, as when highheritabilities have been used to suggest a genetic basis for ethnic differences in intelligence.Today, most researchers view development as the result of the dynamic interplay between heredity and environment.Geneenvironment interactionmeans that because of their genetic makeup, individuals differ in their responsivenessto qualities of the environment.The concept ofgeneenvironment correlationstates that our genes influence the environments to which we areexposed. Inpassivecorrelation, parents provide their children with environments influenced by their own heredity. Inevocativecorrelation, children evoke responses influenced by the child’s heredity, and these responses strengthen thechild’s original style.At older ages,activegeneenvironment correlation is seen inniche-pickingthe tendency to actively chooseenvironments that complement our heredity.Accumulating evidence reveals that the relationship between heredity and environment isbidirectional:Genes affectpeople’s behavior and experiences, but their experiences and behavior also affect gene expression.Epigenesisrefers to development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels ofthe environment.Researchers inepigeneticsare beginning to clarify the precise mechanisms through which environment can alter geneexpression without changing the DNA sequence. One such mechanism ismethylation.Findings from epigenetics remind us that development is best understood as a series of complex exchanges betweennature and nurture.

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Chapter 2Geneticand Environmental Foundations5LECTURE ENHANCEMENTSLECTURE ENHANCEMENT 2.1Environmental Contexts for Development: What Researchers Can Learn from Studying Latino Children and TheirFamilies (p.50)Objective:To consider ways in which an understanding of how Latino children develop within their culture can contribute toan understanding of the cultural contexts within which all children develop.The authors of “Learning from Latinos” begin with the observation that two generations ago, Latino children and their familieswere assumed to have uniform cultural traits and practices, which were typically seen as deficits compared with those of white,middle-class families.Research since the 1960s has exposed the limitations of this older conception of child development, which viewedsocialization only in terms of how well children fit into mainstream society. Today’s researchers understand that children aresocialized within a particular cultural community with its own values and practices, which may promote both cognitive andsocial development. From this perspective, distinct strengths of Latino families and resulting benefits for children can beidentified.“Learning from Latinos” provides context for class discussion of the text on page50, which deals with the ways in whichcultural context affects how children are socialized and how they learn within everyday activities. For example, the text notesthat Hispanic extended families in the United States are often characterized by a cooperative family structure in whichgrandparents actively collaborate with parents in child rearing. This type ofintergenerational shared parentingconsistent withthe Hispanic cultural ideal offamilism,which emphasizes close family tiesis beneficial for all generations.The authors note that schools and other institutions often fail to recognize the distinct social assets that characterize Latinochildren, such as respect for adults and a commitment to serve their family by succeeding in school. They conclude that a betterunderstanding of how Latino children develop within their cultural context can promote our understanding of how all childrenand adolescents learn and develop within their own distinct cultural or socioeconomic groups.Fuller, B., & García Coll, C. (2010). Learning from Latinos: Contexts, families, and child development in motion.Developmental Psychology, 46, 559565.doi: 101037/a0019412LECTURE ENHANCEMENT 2.2The Role of DNA Methylation in Gene Expression: Examples and Implications (pp.5658)Objective:To consider research evidence for the role of DNA methylation in gene expression, with implications for promotinghealth and wellness.As described in the discussion of environmental influences on gene expression (pages5658), research evidence reveals abidirectional relationship between heredity and environment. Not only do our genes affect the experiences to which we areexposed, but our experiences and behavior also influence gene expression, without actually changing the DNA sequence. Onemechanism through which such effects occur ismethylation“a biochemical process triggered by certain experiences, in whicha set of chemical compounds (called a methyl group) lands on top of a gene and changes its impact.”The Biology and Environment box on page57considers how methylation may have accounted for the consequences ofexposure to the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda for both pregnant mothers and their children.Szyf and Bick’s (2013) reviewpaper provides additional evidence for such effects. For example, the authors note “a striking resemblance” between differencesin DNA methylation associated with child abuse and those associated with low levels of maternal care in rats.Countering the widespread belief that differences between individuals in phenotype, disease susceptibility, and behaviorreflect differences in gene sequencing, these authors cite evidence that, in fact, these interindividual differences in genesequences “do not operate alone but interact with environmental conditions to predict phenotypic outcomes.” They hope thatfuture research into the precise mechanisms involved in methylation will eventually lead to the development of strategies foraltering gene expression in a way that promotes healthy outcomes.Szyf, M., & Bick, J. (2013).DNA methylation: A mechanism for embedding early life experiences in the genome. (SpecialSection: Genomics)Child Development,84,4957. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01793.x

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e6LEARNING ACTIVITIESLEARNING ACTIVITY 2.1Observing Similarities and Differences in Phenotypes Among Family Members (pp.3638)Ask students to think of several children and parents whom they know well and to jot down some similarities in physicalcharacteristics (for example, height, weight, eye and hair color) and behavior (personality, interests, hobbies) between thechildren and their parents. Did they find that one child shows combined features of both parents, another resembles just oneparent, or another is unlike either parent?Next, ask students to trace a visible genetic trait (phenotype), such as hair or eye color, through as many of their familymembers as possible, beginning with the youngest generation and working back. When the genetic family tree is complete, askthem to determine genotypes. Point out that for some dominant traits it is impossible to determine the genotype on the basisofthe phenotype, so students will have to make inferences. For example, it may not be evident whether a dark-haired person ishomozygous for dark hair or is heterozygous, with a genetic makeup consisting of a dominant dark-hair and a recessive light-hair allele. Ask students to explain what may be responsible for these differences between family members. Integrate the termsphenotype,genotype,andmeiosisinto the discussion.LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.2Demonstrating Environmental Influences by Comparing Identical Twins (p.38)As discussed in the text, identical, or monozygotic, twins have the same genetic makeup. Therefore, phenotypic variation ofidentical twins is perhaps the best evidence of the extent to which environmental influences can modify genetic expression. Todemonstrate, invite a pair of identical twins to join your class for observation and interviews. Before the visit, ask students togenerate a list of questions that they would like to ask each twin. These questions should be based on attributes or abilities thatare thought to have a significant genetic componentfor example, IQ, personality, interests, and talents. Students should alsonote any physical differences between the twins, such as height, weight, or handedness.After the visit, engage students in a discussion about similarities and differences between the twins, including ideas abouthow the environment may have contributed to differences.LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.3True or False: The Pros and Cons of Reproductive Technologies (pp.4243)Present the following exercise as an in-class activity or quiz.Directions:Read each of the following statements and determine if it isTrue(T) orFalse(F)._____1.One-fourth of all couples who try to conceive discover that they are infertile._____2.The success rate for donor insemination is only 30 to 40 percent._____3.Each year, 1 percent of all children in developed countries are conceived through in vitro fertilization._____4.The overall success rate of assisted reproductive techniques is about 70 percent._____5.Because of the lack of genetic ties between parent and child, caregiving tends to be less warm for childrenconceived through donor insemination or in vitro fertilization._____6.In the United States, doctors are not required to keep records of donor characteristics._____7.Because surrogacy usually involves the wealthy as contractors for infants and the less economicallyadvantaged as surrogates, it may promote the exploitation of financially needy women._____8.Most recipients of in vitro fertilization are in their fifties and sixties._____9.Most European nations allow only “altruistic” surrogacy, in which the surrogate mother has no financial gain.Answers:1.F2.F3.T4.F5.F6.T7.T8.F9.T

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Chapter 2Geneticand Environmental Foundations7LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.4InvestigatingSocial Indicators of the Well-Being of Children and Older Adults in the United States (pp.4748)According to the text, parents who are under the age of 25 and older adults who live alone are hit hardest by the effects ofpoverty. Further, untilwell intothe twentieth century, the United States had few policies in place to protectitsagingpopulation. To supplement research in the text, ask students to visit two websites: Child Trends (www.childtrends.org)andtheFederal Interagency Forum on Aging Related Statistics (www.agingstats.gov).Child Trends:Students should position their mouse over DataBank and click onDataBankByTopic, then choosePoverty andInequalityand select an article to review. Ask students to briefly summarize the article, addressing the following questions:(1)What child or adolescent indicator was highlighted?(2)What trends were revealed?(3)Did the article include past research? If so, how do past and current research findings compare?(4)Is any cultural or ethnic data reported? If so, what differences or similarities did you find between different cultural orethnic groups?Aging Stats:Ask students to explore the site and to list key indicators of well-being among older adults. What resources areavailable to older people? Ask students to compare this information to the information on children, and to share their findingswith the class.LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.5Conducting a Survey of Attitudes Toward Government Intervention into Family Life (p.50)Ask students to interview two or three friends, family members, or acquaintances, and ask the following questions:(1)Should government provide money and resources to low-income families with young children? If so, should thatsupport come from tax dollars?(2)Should governmentsupport for older adults serve primarily as a safety net for those in dire need, or should universalprograms such as Social Security and Medicare be maintained and even expanded?When students return to class with their interview responses, ask them to share their findings in class and to classify eachanswer on the basis of whether it reflects an emphasis onindependenceor oninterdependence.Do students agree with theviews expressed by their respondents? Why or why not?

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e8LEARNING ACTIVITY 2.6Matching: Understanding the Relationship Between Heredity and Environment (pp.5358)Present the following exercise as an in-class activity or quiz.Directions:Match each of the following terms with its correct description._____1.Heritability estimates_____2.Kinship studies_____3.Geneenvironment interaction_____4.Geneenvironment correlation_____5.Niche-picking_____6.Epigenesis_____7.MethylationDescriptions:A.The ways in which our genes influence the environments to which we are exposedB.Measure of the extent to which individual differences in complex traits in a specific population are due to geneticfactorsC.The tendency to actively choose environments that complement our heredityD.Development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels of the environmentE.Comparison of the characteristics of family membersF.Differences resulting from individuals’ genetic makeup in their responsiveness to qualities of the environmentG.A biochemical process triggered by certain experiences, in which a set of chemical compounds, called a methyl group,lands on top of a gene and changes its impact, reducing or silencing its expressionAnswers:1.B2.E3.F4.A5.C6.D7.GLEARNING ACTIVITY 2.7Exploring Epigenesis (pp.5658)Ask students to review the definition and example of epigenesis on pages5658of the text. Next, ask them to form smallgroups and consider several scenarios:(1)A preschool child from an economically at-risk family has received intensive early intervention services, includingacademic, health, and social support.(2)A child is born to a mother who, during her pregnancy in 2015, experienced extreme hardship and danger as a migrantfleeing the Syrian conflict and attempting to reach Europe. The mother and baby have now lived in a refugee camp forover a year.(3)A child is born to a mother who experienced physical and psychological abuse during her pregnancy. She left theabusive relationship when the child was a toddler and subsequently formed a mutually supportive, sustainedrelationship with a new partner.For each scenario, ask students to discuss the likely effects of environmental factors on gene expression.

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Chapter 2Geneticand Environmental Foundations9ASK YOURSELF . . .CONNECT: Referring to ecological systems theory (Chapter 1, pages1921), explain why parents of children withgenetic disorders often experience increased stress. What factors, within and beyond the family, can help these parentssupport their children’s development? (pp.3941)Ecological systems theory views the individual as developing within a complex system of relationships affected bymultiple levels of the surrounding environment. Caring for a childwith a genetic disordercan be expensive, exhausting, andstressful for parents. For example, Down syndrome, the most common chromosomal disorder, is associated with intellectualdisability, memory and speech problems, limited vocabulary, and slow motor development, and infants with Down syndromeare often born with eye cataracts, hearing loss, and heart and intestinal defects.From the viewpoint of ecological systemstheory, factors in themesosystemfor example, the availability of specialized infant and preschool intervention programscanhelp parentsof children with these disorderssupport theirchild’sdevelopment, both by providing experiences that promote thechild’s physical and cognitive development and by relieving the parents of the sole burden of caring for the child.APPLY: Gilbert’s genetic makeup is homozygous for dark hair. Jan’s is homozygous for blond hair. What proportionof their children are likely to be dark-haired? Explain. (p.38)Homozygous individuals inherit similar alleles from both parents, so they will always display the inherited trait. BecauseGilbert can pass on only the dominant dark-hair allele, all of Gilbert and Jan’s children will have dark hair. However,becausetheirchildren will also receive the recessive blond-hair allele from Jan, all of them will beheterozygouscarriers of the allelefor blond hair, which they can pass on to their own children.REFLECT: Provide illustrations from our discussion, and from people you know with genetic disorders, ofenvironmental influences on development. (pp.4041)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.CONNECT: How does research on adoption reveal resilience? Which factor related to resilience (see Chapter 1, page8)is central in positive outcomes for adoptees? (pp.4445)Research shows that adopted children and adolescents tend to have more learning and emotional difficulties than otherchildren, a difference that increases with the child’s age at time of adoption. Children adopted after infancy often have apreadoptive history of conflict-ridden family relationships, lack of parental affection, neglect and abuse, or deprivedinstitutional rearing. But despite these risks, most adopted children fare well, and those with preexisting problems whoexperience sensitive parenting usually make rapid progress.Further,children with troubled family histories who are adopted atolder ages generally improve in feelings of trust and affection for their adoptive parents as they come to feel loved andsupported.By adolescence, adoptees’ lives are often complicated by unresolved curiosity about their roots. They may face achallenging process of defining themselves as they try to integrate aspects of their birth family and their adoptive family intotheir emerging identity. But when parents have been warm, open, and supportive in their communication about adoption, theirchildren typically forge a positive sense of self. And as long as their parents took steps to help them learn about their heritage inchildhood, young people adopted into a different ethnic group or culture generally develop identities that are healthy blendsoftheir birth and rearing backgrounds. In general, a warm parental relationship, which is a key ingredient of resilience, contributesto favorable outcomes for adoptees.APPLY: Imagine that you must counsel a couple considering in vitro fertilization using donor ova to overcomeinfertility. What medical and ethical risks would you raise? (pp.4243)The couple should be told that in vitro fertilization poses greater risks than natural conception to infant survival and healthydevelopment. About 26 percent of in vitro procedures result in multiple births. Most are twins, but 3 percent are triplets orhigher-order multiples. Consequently, among in vitro babies, the rate of low birth weight is nearly four times as high as in thegeneral population. Risk of pregnancy complications, miscarriage, and major birth defects also rises, due to the biologicaleffects of in vitro techniques and the older age of many people seeking treatment. Further, in many countries, including theUnited States, doctors are not required to keep records of donor characteristics, though information about the child’s geneticbackground might be critical in the case of serious illness.

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10REFLECT: Suppose you are a carrier of fragile X syndrome and want to have children. Would you choose pregnancy,adoption, or surrogacy? If you became pregnant, would you opt for prenatal diagnosis? Explain your decisions.(pp.4145)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.CONNECT: Links between family and community foster development throughout the lifespan. Provide examples andresearch findings that support this idea. (pp.4849)Connections between family and community are vital for psychological well-being throughout the lifespan. For example,in poverty-stricken areas, community life is usually disrupted. Families move often, parks and playgrounds are in disarray, andcommunity centers providing organized leisure-time activities do not exist. In such neighborhoods, family violence, child abuseand neglect, child and youth internalizing and externalizing difficulties, adult criminal behavior, and depression and declines incognitive functioning in older adults are especially high. In contrast, strong family ties to the surrounding social contextasindicated by frequent contact with friends and relatives and regular church, synagogue,temple,or mosque attendancereducestress and enhance adjustment.Neighborhoods offer resources and social ties that play an important part in children’s development, especially foreconomically disadvantaged young people.In low-income neighborhoods, in-school and after-school programs thatsubstitutefor lack of other resources by providingart, music, sports, and other enrichment activities are associated with improvedacademic performance and a reduction in emotional and behaviorproblems in elementary and middle school.During late adulthood, neighborhoods become increasingly important because people spend more time at home. Especiallyin the absence of nearby family members, older adults mention neighbors and nearby friends as resources they rely on most forphysical and social support.APPLY: Check your local newspaper or one or two national news websites to see how often articles appear on thecondition of children, families, and older adults. Why is it important for researchers to communicate with the publicabout the well-being of these sectors of the population? (pp.5053)When widespread social problems arise, such as poverty, hunger, and disease, nations attempt to solve them throughdevisingpublic policieslaws and government programs designed to improve current conditions. Growing awareness of thegap between what we know and what we do to better people’s lives has led experts in developmental science to join withconcerned citizens as advocates for more effective policies.Besides strong advocacy, public policies that enhance development depend on research that documents needs and evaluatesprograms to spark improvements. By collaborating with community and government agencies, researchers can enhance thesocial relevance of their investigations. And by disseminating their findings to the public through reports to governmentofficials, websites aimed at increasing public understanding, and collaborations with the media to ensure accurate and effectivereporting,researchers can help create the sense of immediacy about the condition of children, families, and older adults that isnecessary to spur a society into action.REFLECT: Do you agree with the widespread American sentiment that government should not become involved infamily life? Explain. (p.50)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.CONNECT:Explain how each of the following concepts supports the conclusion that genetic influences on humancharacteristics are not constant but change over time: somatic mutation (page40), niche-picking (page55), andepigenesis (page56).Somatic mutationoccurs when normal body cells mutate,an event that can occur at any time of life. The DNA defectappears in every cell derived from the affected body cell, eventually causing disease (such ascancer) or disability. Somaticmutation provides evidence that individuals do not have a single, permanent genotype; rather, the genetic makeup of each cellcan change over time.Niche-pickingis the tendency to actively choose environments that complement our heredity. Infants and young childrencannot do much niche-picking because adults select environments for them. In contrast, older children, adolescents, and adults,who are increasingly in charge of their environments, can express their preferences through niche-picking. This helps explainwhy pairs of identical twins reared apart during childhood and later reunited may find, to their surprise, that they have similarhobbies, food preferences, and vocations.Epigenesismeans development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels of theenvironment. One mechanism through which environment can alter gene expression without changing the DNA sequence is

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Chapter 2Geneticand Environmental Foundations11methylationa biochemical process triggered by certain experiences, in which a set of chemical compounds (called a methylgroup) lands on top of a gene and changes its impact, reducing or silencing its expression. Methylation levels can be measured,and they help explain why identical twins, though precisely the same in DNA sequencing, sometimes display strikinglydifferent phenotypes with age.APPLY: Bianca’s parents are accomplished musicians. At age 4, Bianca began taking piano lessons. By age 10, she wasaccompanying the school choir. At age 14, she asked to attend a special music high school. Explain how geneenvironment correlation promoted Bianca’s talent. (pp.5569)According to the concept ofgeneenvironment correlation,our genes influence the environments to which we are exposed.Early in her development, Bianca probably experiencedpassivecorrelation when her parents, because of their own musicalbackgrounds, exposed her to musical activities, such as attending concerts and listening to classical music. Bianca’s parentsalso provided her first piano lessons and opportunities for other music-related experiences. Because Bianca was receptive tothis abundance of musical stimulation, she undoubtedly evoked positive responses from her parents, who continued to promoteher musical developmentan example ofevocativegeneenvironment correlation.As Bianca grew older, she became more active in choosing her own environments. She decided to accompany the schoolchoir and later asked to attend a special music high school. Bianca’s inherited musical talent led her to engage inniche-pickingchoosing activities and environments that complemented her genetictendencies. In these ways, heredity andenvironment worked together to advance Bianca’s musical endeavors.REFLECT: What aspects of your own developmentfor example, interests, hobbies, college major, or vocationalchoiceare probably due to niche-picking? Explain. (p.55)This is an open-ended question with no right or wrong answer.

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12MEDIA MATERIALSFor details on individual video segments that accompany the DVD forExploring LifespanDevelopment,FourthEdition, pleasesee the DVD Guide forExplorations in Lifespan Development. The DVD and DVD Guide are available through your Pearsonsales representative.Additional DVDs and streaming videos that may be useful in your class are listed below. They are not available throughyour Pearson sales representative, but you can order them directly from the distributors. (See contact information at the endofthis manual.)Epigenetics: The Hidden Life of Our Genes(2009, Films Media Group, 53 min.). An exploration of the emerging field ofepigenetics.Heredity & Environment: Beginnings of Life(2011, Learning Seed, 38 min.). An overview of heredity and environment,including genetic disorders and the role of prenatal counseling.Secret Life of Twins(2015, Films Media Group/BBC,51min.). Stories of several pairs of identical twins, from childhood toadulthood, revealing similarities and differences between them.Sperm Donor Anonymous(2015, Films Media Group, 58 min.). The efforts of donor-conceived adults to learn about theirgenetic heritage.Two of a Kind(2014), Films Media Group, 89 min.). Insights into epigenetics from research exploring differences betweenidentical twins.Unlocking the Code: Genetics and Medicine(2011, Films Media Group/Open University, 50 min.). How genetic breakthroughshave improved health-care technology. Part of the seriesThe Gene Code.Waiting on the World to Change: Poverty in Camden, New Jersey(2007, Films Media Group, 42 min.). The lives of threeyoung residents of Camden, New Jersey.AnABC Newsprogram.What Poor Child Is This? Poverty and America’s Children(2011, Films Media Group, 86 min.). Child poverty in the UnitedStatesits causes, its agents, and its impact. Part of the seriesPoverty in America.

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1CHAPTER 3PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT, BIRTH, AND THE NEWBORN BABYCHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCEChapter OutlineInstruction IdeasSupplementsPrenatal Development pp.6166Conception • Germinal Period • Period of theEmbryo • Period of the FetusLearning Objective 3.1Learning Activities 3.1Ask Yourself p.66Test Bank Items 129,110(Please contact your Pearson salesrepresentative for a wide range of videoofferings available to adopters.)Prenatal Environmental Influencespp.6675Teratogens • Other Maternal Factors • TheImportance of Prenatal Health CareLearning Objectives 3.23.4Lecture Enhancement 3.1Lecture Enhancement 3.2Learning Activities 3.1, 3.33.5Ask Yourself p.75Test Bank Items 3061, 111112Childbirth pp.7576The Stages of Childbirth • The Baby’sAdaptation to Labor and DeliveryAssessingthe Newborn’s Physical Condition: The ApgarScaleLearning Objective 3.5Learning Activities 3.2, 3.7Test Bank Items 6270, 113Approaches to Childbirth pp.7778Natural, or Prepared, Childbirth • HomeDeliveryLearning Objective 3.6Learning Activities 3.2Test Bank Items 7174Medical Interventions pp.7879Fetal Monitoring • Labor and DeliveryMedication • Cesarean DeliveryLearning Objective 3.7Learning Activity3.2Ask Yourself p.79Test Bank Items7582Preterm and Low-Birth-Weight Infantspp.7981Preterm versus Small-for-Date Infants •Consequences for Caregiving • Interventionsfor Preterm InfantsLearning Objective 3.8Learning Activities 3.5Ask Yourself p.81Test Bank Items8390,The Newborn Baby’s Capacities pp.8188Reflexes • States of Arousal • SensoryCapacitiesLearning Objectives 3.93.10Learning Activities 3.6Ask Yourself p.88Test Bank Items 91108,114Adjusting to the New Family Unitp.88Learning Objective 3.11Learning Activity 3.7Test Bank Items 109BRIEF CHAPTER SUMMARYThe vast changes that occur during pregnancy are usually divided into three periods: (1) the germinal period, (2) the periodofthe embryo, and (3) the period of the fetus. Various environmental agents, or teratogens, and other maternal factors, includingpoor nutrition and emotional stress, can damage the developing organism. Early and sustained prenatal health care is vital toensure the health of mothers and babies.The process of childbirth naturally divides into three stages: (1) dilation and effacement of the cervix, (2) delivery of thebaby, and (3) delivery of the placenta. Stress hormones produced during labor send blood to the brain and heart, prepare thebaby to breathe, and arouse the infant into alertness. The Apgar Scale is used to assess the infant’s physical condition quicklyafter birth. In Western nations, birth alternatives include natural, or prepared, childbirth; delivery in a family-centered,homelike birth center; or home birth. Preterm and low-birth-weight infants are at risk for many problems. Providing specialinfant stimulation and training parents in caregiving skills can help these infants develop favorably.Reflexes are the newborn baby’s most obvious organized patterns of behavior. Throughout the day and night, newbornsmove in and out of five states of arousal but spend the greatest amount of time asleep. The stimulation of rapid-eye-movement

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e2(REM) sleep is vital for growth of the central nervous system. Crying is the first way babies communicate that they need food,comfort, or stimulation. The senses of touch, taste, smell, and hearing are well-developed at birth; vision is the least-developedof the newborn’s senses.After childbirth, all family members face challenges adapting to the new family unit. When the parents’ relationship ispositive and cooperative, social support is available, and families have sufficient income, the stress caused by the birth ofababy remains manageable.LEARNING OBJECTIVESAfter reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following:3.1List the three periods of prenatal development, and describe the major milestones of each. (pp.6166)3.2Cite factors that influence the impact of teratogens, and discuss evidence on the impact of known or suspectedteratogens. (pp.6671)3.3Describe the impact of additional maternal factors on prenatal development. (pp.7172, 73)3.4Why is early and regular health care vital during the prenatal period? (pp.7375)3.5Describe the three stages of childbirth, the baby’s adaptation to labor and delivery, and the newborn baby’s appearance.(pp.7576)3.6Describe natural childbirth and home delivery, noting benefits and concerns associated with each. (pp.7778)3.7List common medical interventions during childbirth, circumstances that justify their use, and any dangers associatedwith each. (pp.7879)3.8Describe risks associated with preterm birth and low birth weight, along with effective interventions. (pp.7981, 82)3.9Describe the newborn baby’s reflexes and states of arousal, noting sleep characteristics and ways to soothe a crying baby.(pp.81, 8386)3.10Describe the newborn baby’s sensory capacities. (pp.8688)3.11Describe typical changes in the family after the birth of a new baby. (p.88)LECTURE OUTLINEI.PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT (pp. 6166)Conception usually takes place in one of the woman’s twofallopian tubes,where sperm and ovum unite to form thezygote.The 38 weeks of pregnancy are usually divided into three periods: (1) the germinal period, (2) the period of theembryo, and (3) the period of the fetus.The germinal period lasts about two weeks, from fertilization until the cell mass attaches itself to the wall of theuterus.Implantationoccurs between the seventh and ninth days, when the blastocyst burrows deep into the uterine lining.The trophoblast forms a membrane, theamnion,that encloses the developing organism in protectiveamniotic fluid.Ayolk sacemergesthat produces blood cells until the developing liver, spleen, and bone marrow are mature enough totake over this function.By the end of the second week, cells of the trophoblast form a protective membrane, thechorion,which surrounds theamnion.Theplacenta,which brings the embryo’s and mother’s blood close together, is connected to the developing organismby theumbilical cord.During the period of theembryo, from implantation through the eighth week of pregnancy, the groundwork is laid forall body structures and internal organs.In the last half of the first month, the embryonic disk forms three layers of cellsectoderm,mesoderm,and

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Chapter3Prenatal Development, Birth, and the Newborn Baby3endodermwhich give rise to all parts of the body.The ectoderm folds over to form theneural tube.At 3½ weeks, the top of the neural tube swells to form the brain.During the fifth week, production ofneuronsbegins. By the end of the second month, the embryo responds to touchand can move.During the period of thefetus, from the ninth week to the end of pregnancy, the organism increases rapidly in size.Prenatal development is sometimes divided into three equal time periods calledtrimesters.By the middle of the second trimester, the mother can feel the movements of the fetus.The fetus is covered with a white, cheeselike substance calledvernixand with white,downy hair calledlanugo.At the end of the second trimester, most of the brain’s neurons are in place and begin rapidly formingsynapses.Theage of viability,between 22 and 26 weeks, is the point at which the baby can first survive if born early.The third trimester brings greater responsiveness to external stimulation. The fetus also receives antibodies from themother’s blood that protect against illnesses.II.PRENATAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES (pp. 6675)Ateratogenis any environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period, including drugs, tobacco,alcohol, ionizing radiation, environmental pollution, and infectious disease.The harm done by teratogens depends on dose, heredity, other negative influences, and the age of the organism at timeof exposure.Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)refers to the range of physical, mental, and behavioral outcomes caused byprenatal alcohol exposure, includingfetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)(the most severe),partial fetal alcoholsyndrome (p-FAS),andalcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND).Exposure to ionizing radiation can cause miscarriage, brain damage, physical deformities, slow physical growth, andincreased risk of later problems.In industrialized nations, potentially dangerous environmental pollutants include mercury, PCBs, lead, dioxins, and airpollution.Infectious diseases that can affect the developing organism includerubella,thehuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV),cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex 2,andtoxoplasmosis.Prenatal malnutrition can cause serious damage to the central nervous system and can distort the structure of othervital organs, predisposing the individual to later health problems.When women experience severe emotional stress during pregnancy, their babies are at risk for later impaired physicaland psychological well-being.Rh factor incompatibilityoccurs when a mother lacks the Rh blood protein and the baby inherits the Rh-positiveblood type from the father. It can usually be prevented by giving a vaccine to the Rh-negative mother.In addition to increased risk of infertility, miscarriage, and chromosomal defects with older maternal age, birthcomplications rise after age 40.Regular medical checkups throughout pregnancy helps ensure the health of the mother and fetus.III.CHILDBIRTH (pp. 7576)The process of childbirth occurs in three stages:dilation and effacement of the cervix,delivery of the baby,anddelivery of the placenta.Stress hormones produced by the force of the contractions help the baby withstand oxygen deprivation by sending arich supply of blood to the brain and heart. They also prepare the baby to breathe and arouse the infant into alertness.TheApgar Scaleis used to assess the infant’s physical condition on the basis of five criteria: heart rate, respiratoryeffort, reflex irritability, muscle tone, and color.IV.APPROACHES TO CHILDBIRTH (pp. 7778)In Western nations, childbirth moved from home to hospital during the industrial revolution of the 1800s.By the mid-twentieth century, a natural childbirth movement arose as women questioned the routine use of medicalprocedures during labor and delivery.The techniques ofnatural,orprepared, childbirth,including relaxation and breathing techniques and the presence ofa labor coach, are aimed at reducing pain and medical intervention and making childbirth a rewarding experience.Mothers who receive social support during labor and delivery less often have instrument-assisted or cesareandeliveries or need medication to control pain, and their babies have higher Apgar scores.Home birth is popular in certain industrialized nations but is chosen by less than 1 percent of American women.V.MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS (pp. 7879)

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Instructor’s Resource Manualfor Berk /Exploring LifespanDevelopment,4e4Medical interventions during birth are justified to prevent serious complicationsfor example, when an infant suffersfromanoxiaor is inbreech positionbut in other cases, they can interfere with delivery and even pose new risks.The use offetal monitorsto track the baby’s heart rate during labor is linked to an increase in the number ofinstrument and cesarean deliveries.In more than 80 percent of U.S. births, some form of medication is used to control pain during labor.Because drugs rapidly cross the placenta, exposed newborns are at risk for respiratory distress and tend to be sleepyand withdrawn, to suck poorly during feedings, and to be irritable when awake.Medical control over childbirth is largely responsible for the worldwide rise incesarean delivery,which currentlyaccounts for 33 percent of births in the United States.VI.PRETERM AND LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT INFANTS (pp. 7981, 82)Preterm infantsare born several weeks or more before their due date. Their weight may be appropriate, based ontime spent in the uterus.Small-for-date infantsare below their expected weight considering length of the pregnancy. They usually have moreserious problems than preterm infants.The appearance and behavior of preterm babies can lead parents to be less sensitive in caring for them, but how wellthese infants develop has a great deal to do with the parentchild relationship.Skin-to-skin “kangaroo care” fosters improved oxygenation of the baby’s body, temperature regulation, sleep,breastfeeding, alertness, and infant survival.When preterm infants live in stressed, economically disadvantaged households, long-term, intensive intervention isnecessary to promote favorable development.Even the best caregiving environments cannot always overcome the biological risks associated with extreme pretermand low birth weight.The United States has made less progress in reducinginfant mortalitythan many other countries.VII.THE NEWBORN BABY’S CAPACITIES (pp. 81, 8388)Newbornreflexesare inborn, automatic responses to a particular form of stimulation. Some have survival value;others help parents and infants establish gratifying interaction.Most newborn reflexes disappear during the first six months, due to a gradual increase in voluntary control overbehavior as the cerebral cortex develops.Newborn infants move in and out of fivestates of arousalthroughout the day and night:rapid-eye-movement(REM) sleep, non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep,drowsiness, quiet alertness, and waking activity and crying.In industrialized nations, the leading cause of infant mortality in the first year issudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).Babies cry to communicate their physical needs and in response to other stimuli, such as a sudden noise. Cryingtypically peaks at about 6 weeks and then declines.Techniques for soothing a crying baby include lifting the baby to the shoulder and rocking or walking or swaddling thebaby snugly in a blanket.In cultures where babies are in physical contact with their caregivers almost continuously, infants show shorter boutsof crying than American babies.The cries of brain-damaged babies and of those who have experienced prenatal and birth complications are often shrill,piercing, and shorter in duration than those of healthy infants.Sensitivity to touch and to pain is present at birth, as are preferences for several basic tastes and for certain odors suchas the odor of the mother’s lactating breast.Newborns can hear a wide variety of sounds. They prefer complex sounds to pure tones and listen longer to humanspeech than to nonspeech sounds.Vision is the least-developed sense at birth. Newborns cannot focus their eyes well and have limitedvisual acuity.VIII.ADJUSTING TO THE NEW FAMILY UNIT (p. 88)In the first weeks after a baby’s birth, the mother needs to recover from childbirth, adjust to hormonal changes, andestablish the breastfeeding relationship. The father must become a part of this new threesome while supporting themother in her recovery.When the parents’ relationship is positive and cooperative, social support is available, and families have sufficientincome, the stress caused by the birth of a baby remains manageable.

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Chapter3Prenatal Development, Birth, and the Newborn Baby5LECTURE ENHANCEMENTSLECTURE ENHANCEMENT 3.1Pollution and Infant Health: Research Findings and Policy Implications (p.6970)Objective:To consider research findings on the health effects of prenatal exposure to low levels of pollution and theimplications of these findings for public policy.Currie’s (2013) review of recent research on the impact of low levels of pollution is a useful supplement to the text discussionof prenatal exposure to environmental pollution (pages6970). As described in the text, even low levels of maternal exposureto pollutants during pregnancy may pose serious risks. For example, low-level prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) islinked to reducedbirth weights, smaller heads,persisting attention and memory difficulties, and lower intelligencetest scoresin childhood. Similarly,babies with low-levelexposureto lead show slightly poorer mental and motor development.Currie focuses on studies that were specifically designed to investigate the health effects of the relatively low ambientlevels of pollution typically found in wealthy countries today, as compared with the much higher levels of the past. Forexample, “hazardous” levels of carbon monoxide (CO), as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency, rarely occur in thedeveloped world today. “Moderate” levels, however, are far more common, and urbanization means that more people than inthe past are subjected to these lower levels of pollution. On the other hand, plant closings due to economic downturns reducepollution in the immediate vicinity, and some studies have identified an associated decline in infant mortality in these areas.As Currie observes, some researchers argue that pervasive low-level exposure to environmental pollution may help toaccount for rising rates of asthma, autism, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in many rich countries. Her focus onefforts to identify causal effects of pollution, rather than simply documenting correlations, makes her work a valuable additionto class discussion of the effects of prenatal environmental pollution and of the policy implications of research findings.Currie, J. (2013). Pollution and infant health.Child Development Perspectives, 7,237242. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12047LECTURE ENHANCEMENT 3.2Effects of Prenatal Stress on Mothers and Infants: Evidence from Psychoneuroimmunology (pp.7172)Objective:To consider the adverse consequences of emotional stress during pregnancy on both mothers and infants, as well asthe potential mitigating effects of prenatal support programs.As described in the text (page71), when women experience severe emotional stress during pregnancy, they and their infants areat risk fora wide variety of difficulties, including miscarriage, prematurity, low birth weight, and lasting physical andpsychological impairments. In this paper, Coussons-Read (2012) reviews research in psychoneuroimmunology suggesting thatprenatal stress disrupts “adaptations in the maternal immune, endocrine, and nervous systems that support healthy pregnancy.”She cites evidence that prolonged stress leads to chronic activation of the body’s biological “fight or flight” response systems.When this activation occurs during pregnancy, it puts the health of the developing infant as well as the mother at risk.Coussons-Read notes that epigenetic studies indicate that mothers’ experience of stressful prenatal events, such as partnerabuse or poverty, has enduring physiological effects on offspring. She also cites evidence that for minority women, theexperience of discrimination and prejudice may exacerbate the effects of other types of prenatal stress. She calls for researchaimed at “developing interventions to reduce maternal stress [and] alleviate the maladaptive biological changes … associatedwith it,” thereby improving birth outcomes. This paper provides a context for class discussion of the NurseFamily Partnership,described in the Social Issues: Health box on page73, enabling students to consider the demonstrated benefits of this prenatalsocial support program in light of the research findings reviewed in this paper.Coussons-Read, M. E. (2012).The psychoneuroimmunology of stress in pregnancy.Current Directions in PsychologicalScience,21,323328. doi: 10.1177/0963721412453720
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