Prenatal Development Outline

chapter

8 development chapter outline
Nature, Nurture, and Prenatal Development
Determining the Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture Developmental Research Techniques Prenatal Development: Conception to Birth

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module 28
Adulthood
Physical Development: The Peak of Health Social Development: Working at Life Marriage, Children, and Divorce: Family Ties The Later Years of Life: Growing Old Physical Changes in Late Adulthood: The Aging Body Cognitive Changes: Thinking About—and During—Late Adulthood The Social World of Late Adulthood: Old but Not Alone Becoming an Informed Consumer of Psychology: Adjusting to Death Try It! How Do You Feel About Death? Psychology on the Web The Case of . . . Jean Sweetland, the Woman with
Too Many Hats Full Circle: Development

module 26 module 27

Infancy and Childhood
The Extraordinary Newborn The Growing Child: Infancy through Middle Childhood

Adolescence: Becoming an Adult
Physical Development: The Changing Adolescent Moral and Cognitive Development: Distinguishing Right from Wrong Social Development: Finding Oneself in a Social World Exploring Diversity: Rites of Passage: Coming of Age around the World

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They Met in Day Care
Danielle Link and Glen Zilly felt like their fi rst date really didn’t go so well. “We didn’t think we had any chemistry,” says Link. What they didn’t know was that they’d actually been on numerous very successful “dates” before as toddlers, under the care of the same Hampton, Virginia, babysitter, Louise Hughes. “I started looking after Glen as a newborn, and I got Danielle when she was about 8 months old,” recalls Hughes. “They were together five days a week for years.” Link, 29, and Zilly, 28, who both ended up living in Phoenix and randomly met on an Internet dating site, didn’t piece things together until almost six months into their relationship. “I was shocked,” says Zilly, whose mother made the connection during a phone chat with Hughes. Adds Link: “I was in love before this happened, but after finding this out, I realized our relationship was meant to be.” (People, 2007, p. 18)

Although it’s far from clear that Link’s and Zilly’s relationship was “meant to be,” it does raise questions of whether and how their early experiences affected their relationship decades later. Their story also serves as an introduction to one of the broadest and most important areas of psychology, developmental psychology. Developmental psychology is the branch of psychology that studies the patterns of growth and change that occur throughout life. It deals with issues ranging from new ways of conceiving children, to learning how to raise children most sensibly, to understanding the milestones of life that we all face. Developmental psychologists study the interaction between the unfolding of biologically predetermined patterns of behavior and a constantly changing, dynamic environment. They ask how our genetic background affects our behavior throughout our lives and whether our potential is limited by heredity. Similarly, they seek to understand the way in which the environment works with—or against—our genetic capabilities, how the world we live in affects our development, and how we can be encouraged to reach our full potential. We begin by examining the approaches developmental psychologists use to study the environmental and genetic factors: the nature–nurture issue. Then we consider the very start of development, beginning with conception and the nine months of life before birth. We look at both genetic and environmental influences on the unborn individual and the way they can affect behavior throughout the remainder of the life cycle. Next, we examine development that occurs after birth, witnessing the enormous and rapid growth that takes place during the early stages of life, and focusing on physical, social, and cognitive change throughout infancy, toddlerhood, and middle childhood. We then move on to development from adolescence through adulthood. We end with a discussion of the ways in which people prepare themselves for death. 281

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Nature, Nurture, and Prenatal Development
How many bald, six-foot-six, 250-pound volunteer firefighters in New Jersey wear droopy mustaches, aviator-style eyeglasses, and a the influence of nature versus key ring on the right side of the belt? nurture. The answer is two: Gerald Levey and Mark Newman. They are twins who were separated at birth. Each twin did not even know 25.2 Describe developmental the other existed until they were reunited—in a fire station—by a research techniques. fellow firefighter. . . The lives of the twins, although separate, took remarkably similar 25.3 Discuss prenatal paths. Levey went to college, studying forestry; Newman planned to development. study forestry in college but instead took a job trimming trees. . . . Both men are unmarried and find the same kind of woman attractive: “tall, slender, long hair.” They share similar hobbies, enjoying hunting, fishing, going to the beach, and watching old John Wayne movies and professional wrestling. Both like Chinese food and drink the same brand of beer.

learning outcomes

25.1 Compare and contrast

The remarkable range of similarities we see in many pairs of identical twins raises one of the fundamental questions posed by developmental psychology, the study of the patterns of growth and change that occur throughout life. The question is this: How can we distinguish between the environmental causes of behavior (the influence of parents, siblings, family, friends, schooling, nutrition, and all the other experiences to which a child is exposed) and hereditary causes (those based on the genetic makeup of an individual that influence growth and development throughout life)? This question embodies the nature–nurture issue. In this context, nature refers to hereditary factors, and nurture to environmental influences. Although the question was first posed as a nature-versus-nurture issue, developmental psychologists today agree that both nature Gerald Levey and Mark Newman

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and nurture interact to produce specific developmental patterns and outDevelopmental psychology The comes. Consequently, the question has evolved into How and to what degree branch of psychology that studies the do environment and heredity both produce their effects? No one grows up patterns of growth and change that free of environmental influences, nor does anyone develop without being occur throughout life. affected by his or her inherited genetic makeup. However, the debate over Nature–nurture issue The issue of the comparative influence of the two factors remains active, with different the degree to which environment and approaches and different theories of development emphasizing the environ- heredity influence behavior. ment or heredity to a greater or lesser degree (Pinker, 2002; Gottesman & Hanson, 2005; Rutter, 2006). For example, some developmental theories rely on basic psychological principles of learning and stress the role learning plays in producing changes in The nature–nurture issue behavior in a developing child. Such theories emphasize the role of the enviis a key question that is ronment in development. In contrast, other developmental theories emphasize pervasive throughout the the influence of one’s physiological makeup and functioning on development. field of psychology, asking Such theories stress the role of heredity and maturation—the unfolding of biohow and to what degree logically predetermined patterns of behavior—in producing developmental environment and heredity change. Maturation can be seen, for instance, in the development of sex characproduce their joint effects. teristics (such as breasts and body hair) that occurs at the start of adolescence. Despite their differences over theory, developmental psychologists concur on some points. They agree that genetic factors not only provide the potential for specific behaviors or traits to emerge, but also place limitations on the emergence of such behavior or traits. For instance, heredity defines people’s general level of intelligence, setting an upper limit that—regardless of the quality of the environment—people cannot exceed. Heredity also places limits on physical abilities; humans simply cannot run at a speed of 60 miles an hour, nor will they grow as tall as 10 feet, no matter what the quality of their environment (Dodge, 2004; Pinker, 2004). Figure 1 lists some of the characteristics most affected by heredity. As you consider these items, it is important to keep in mind that these characteristics are not entirely determined by heredity, for environmental factors also play a role. Developmental psychologists also agree that in most instances environmental factors play a critical role in enabling people to reach the potential capabilities that their genetic background makes possible. If Albert Einstein had received no intellectual stimulation as a child and had not been sent to

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Height Weight Obesity Tone of voice Physical Characteristics Blood pressure Tooth decay Athletic ability Firmness of handshake Age of death Activity level Intellectual Characteristics

Emotional Characteristics and Disorders

Shyness Extraversion Emotionality Neuroticism Schizophrenia Anxiety Alcoholism

Memory Intelligence Age of language acquisition Reading disability Mental retardation

Figure 1 Characteristics influenced significantly by genetic factors. Although these characteristics have strong genetic components, they are also affected by environmental factors.
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school, it is unlikely that he would have reached his genetic potential. Similarly, a great athlete such as baseball star Derek Jeter would have been unlikely to display much physical skill if he had not been raised in an environment that nurtured his innate talent and gave him the opportunity to train and perfect his natural abilities. Clearly, the relationship between heredity and environment is far from simple. As a consequence, developmental psychologists typically take an interactionist position on the nature–nurture issue, suggesting that a combination of hereditary and environmental factors influences development. Developmental psychologists face the challenge of identifying the relative strength of each of these influences on the individual, as well as that of identifying the specific changes that occur over the course of development (McGregor & Capone, 2004; Moffitt, Caspi, & Rutter, 2006).

From the perspective of . . .
A Child-Care Provider
Consider what factors might determine why a child is not learning to walk at the same pace as his peers. What kinds of environmental influences might be involved? What kinds of genetic influences might be involved? What recommendations might you make to the child’s parents about the situation?

LO 1

Determining the Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture
Developmental psychologists use several approaches to determine the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on behavior.
In one approach, researchers can experimentally control the genetic makeup of laboratory animals by carefully breeding them for specific traits. For instance, by observing animals with identical genetic backgrounds placed in varied environments, researchers can learn the effects of specific kinds of environmental stimulation. Although researchers must be careful when generalizing the findings of nonhuman research to a human population, findings from animal research provide important information that cannot be obtained, for ethical reasons, by using human participants. Human twins serve as another important source of information about the relative effects of genetic and environmental factors. If identical twins (those who are genetically identical) display different patterns of development, those differences have to be attributed to variations in the environment in which the twins were raised. The most useful data come from identical twins who are adopted at birth by different sets of adoptive parents and raised apart in differing environments. Studies of nontwin siblings who are raised in totally different environments also shed some light on the issue. Because they have relatively similar genetic backgrounds, siblings who show similarities as adults provide strong evidence for the importance of heredity (Gottesman, 1997; Sternberg,
2002a).

Identical twins Twins who are exactly

the same genetically.

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Researchers can also take the opposite tack. Instead of concentrating on people with similar genetic backgrounds who are raised in different environments, they may consider people raised in similar environments who have totally dissimilar genetic backgrounds. If they find, for example, similar courses of development in two adopted children who have different genetic backgrounds and have been raised in the same family, they have evidence for the importance of environmental influences on development.

LO 2

Developmental Research Techniques

Cross-sectional research A research

Because of the demands of measuring behavioral change across different ages, developmental researchers use several unique methods. The most frequently Longitudinal research A research used, cross-sectional research, compares people of different ages at the same method that investigates behavior as participants age. point in time. Cross-sectional studies provide information about differences in development between different age groups (Creasey, 2005; Huijie, 2006). Suppose, for instance, we were interested in the development of intellectual ability in adulthood. To carry out a cross-sectional study, we might compare a sample of 25-, 45-, and 65-year-olds who all take the same IQ test. We then can determine whether average IQ test scores differ in each age group. Cross-sectional research has limitations, however. For instance, we cannot be sure that the differences in IQ scores we might find in our example Be sure to be able to distinguish the three are due to age differences alone. Instead, the scores may reflect differences different types of in the educational attainment of the cohorts represented. A cohort is a group developmental research— of people who grow up at similar times, in similar places, and in similar cross-sectional (comparing conditions. In the case of IQ differences, any age differences we find in a people of different ages at cross-sectional study may reflect educational differences among the cohorts the same time); longitudinal studied: people in the older age group may belong to a cohort that was less (studying participants as likely to attend college than were the people in the younger groups. they age); and sequential A longitudinal study, the second major research strategy used by develop(a combination of crossmental psychologists, provides one way around this problem. Longitudinal sectional and longitudinal). research traces the behavior of one or more participants as the participants

method that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.

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Sequential research A research

method that combines crosssectional and longitudinal research by considering a number of different age groups and examining them at several points in time.
Chromosomes Rod-shaped structures that contain all basic hereditary information. Genes The parts of the chromosomes through which genetic information is transmitted.

age.
Longitudinal studies assess change in behavior over time, whereas crosssectional studies assess differences among groups of people. For instance, consider how we might investigate intellectual development during adulthood by using a longitudinal research strategy. First, we might give an IQ test to a group of 25-year-olds. We’d then come back to the same people 20 years later and retest them at age 45. Finally, we’d return to them once more when they were 65 years old and test them again. By examining changes at several points in time, we can clearly see how individuals develop. Unfortunately, longitudinal research requires an enormous expenditure of time (as the researcher waits for the participants to get older), and participants who begin a study at an early age may drop out, move away, or even die as the research continues. Moreover, participants who take the same test at several points in time may become “test-wise” and perform better each time they take it, having become more familiar with the test. To make up for the limitations in both cross-sectional and longitudinal research, investigators have devised an alternative strategy. Known as sequential research, it combines cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches by taking a number of different age groups and examining them at several points in time. For example, investigators might use a group of 3-, 5-, and 7-year-olds, examining them every six months for a period of several years. This technique allows a
developmental psychologist to tease out the specific effects of age changes from other possibly influential factors.

LO 3

Prenatal Development: Conception to Birth
Our increasing understanding of the first stirrings of life spent inside a mother’s womb has permitted significant medical advances in prenatal care and childbirth. Yet our increasing knowledge of the biology of conception—when a male’s sperm cell penetrates a female’s egg cell—and its aftermath make the start of life no less of a miracle. Let’s consider how an individual is created by looking first at the genetic endowment that a child receives at the moment of conception.

The Basics of Genetics
The one-cell entity established at conception contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, rod-shaped structures that contain all basic hereditary information. One member of each pair is from the mother, and the other is from the father. Each chromosome contains thousands of genes—smaller units through which genetic information is transmitted. Either individually or in combination, genes produce the particular characteristics of each person. ComIt’s important to understand posed of sequences of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules, genes are the the basic building blocks biological equivalent of “software” that programs the future development of of genetics: chromosomes, all parts of the body’s hardware. Humans have some 25,000 different genes which contain genes, which (see Figure 2). in turn are composed of Some genes control the development of systems common to all members sequences of DNA. of the human species—the heart, circulatory system, brain, lungs, and so forth; others shape the characteristics that make each human unique, such as facial configuration, height, and eye color. The child’s sex is also determined by a particular combination of genes. Specifically, a child inherits an

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A Conception

B 23 pairs of chromosomes

C DNA sequence

D Genes

Figure 2 Every individual’s characteristics are determined by the individual’s specific genetic information. At the moment of conception (A), humans receive 23 pairs of chromosomes (B), half from the mother and half from the father. These chromosomes are made up of coils of DNA (C). Each chromosome contains thousands of genes (D) that “program” the future development of the body.
X chromosome from its mother and either an X or a Y chromosome from its father. When it receives an XX combination, it is a female; with an XY combination, it develops as a male. Male development is triggered by a single gene on the Y chromosome, and without the presence of that specific gene, the individual will develop as a female. As behavioral geneticists have discovered, genes As behavioral geneticists have are also at least partially responsible for a wide variety of personal characteristics, including cognitive abilidiscovered, genes are also at least ties, personality traits, and psychological disorders. Of partially responsible for a wide variety course, few of these characteristics are determined by a single gene. Instead, most traits result from a comof personal characteristics, including bination of multiple genes, which operate together cognitive abilities, personality traits, with environmental influences (Plomin & McGuffin, 2003; Haberstick et al., 2005; Ramus, 2006).

and psychological disorders.

The Earliest Development
When an egg becomes fertilized by the sperm, the resulting one-celled entity, called a zygote, immediately begins to develop. The zygote starts out as a microscopic speck. Three days after fertilization, though, the zygote increases to around 32 cells, and within a week it has grown to 100–150 cells. These first Zygote The new cell formed by the two weeks are known as the germinal period. union of an egg and sperm. Two weeks after conception, the developing individual enters the embryEmbryo A developed zygote that has a onic period, which lasts from week 2 through week 8, and he or she is now heart, a brain, and other organs. called an embryo. As an embryo develops through an intricate, preproFetus A developing individual, from grammed process of cell division, it grows 10,000 times larger by 4 weeks eight weeks after conception until of age, attaining a length of about one-fifth of an inch. At this point it has birth. developed a rudimentary beating heart, a brain, an intestinal tract, and a number of other organs. Although all these organs are at a primitive stage of development, they are clearly recognizable. Moreover, by week 8, the embryo is about an inch long, and has discernible arms and legs and a face. From week 8 and continuing until birth, the developing individual enters the fetal period and is called a fetus. At the start of this period, it begins to be responsive to touch; it bends its fingers when touched on the hand. At 16 to 18 weeks, its movements become strong enough for the mother to sense them. At
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the same time, hair may begin to grow on the fetus’s head, and the facial features become similar to those the child will display at birth. The major organs begin functioning, although the fetus could not be kept alive outside the mother. In addition, a lifetime’s worth of brain neurons are produced—although it is unclear whether the brain is capable of thinking at this early stage. By week 24, a fetus has many of the characteristics it will display as a newborn. In fact, when an infant is born prematurely at this age, it can open and close its eyes; suck; cry; look up, down, and around; and even grasp objects placed in its hands, although it is still unable to survive for long outside the mother. The fetus continues to develop before birth. It begins to grow fatty deposits under the skin, and it gains weight. The fetus reaches the age of viability, Age of viability The point at which a fetus can survive if born prematurely. the point at which it can survive if born prematurely, at about prenatal age 22 weeks, although through advances in medical technology this crucial age is getting earlier. At prenatal age 28 weeks, the fetus weighs less than 3 pounds and is about 16 inches long. Before birth, a fetus passes through several sensitive periods (also referred to as critical periods). A sensitive period is the time when organisms are particular susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli. For example, fetuses are especially affected by their mothers’ use of drugs during certain sensitive periods before birth. If they are exposed to a particular drug before or after the sensitive period, it may have relatively little impact, but if exposure comes during a critical period, the impact will be significant (Werker & Tees, 2005; Uylings, 2006). Sensitive periods can also occur after birth. Some language specialists suggest, for instance, that there is a period in which children are particularly receptive to developing language. If children are not exposed to appropriate linguistic stimuli, their language development may be impaired (Innocenti, 2007; Sohr-Preston & Scaramella, 2006). Critical (or sensitive) periods, In the final weeks of pregnancy, the fetus continues to gain weight and which can occur before or grow. At the end of the normal 38 weeks of pregnancy, a fetus typically weighs after birth, are important around 7 pounds and is about 20 inches in length. However, the story is difbecause they indicate the ferent for preterm infants, who are born before week 38. Because they have time that organisms are not been able to develop fully, they are at higher risk for illness, future probparticularly susceptible to lems, and even death. For infants who have been in the womb for more than damage that may affect them 30 weeks, the prospects are relatively good. However, for those born before for the rest of their lives. week 30, the story is often less positive. Such newborns, who may weigh as

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little as 2 pounds at birth, are in grave danger because they have immature organs; they have less than a 50-50 chance of survival. If they do survive—and it takes extraordinarily heroic (and expensive) medical intervention to assure this—they may later experience significant developmental delays.

Genetic Influences on the Fetus
The process of fetal growth that we have just described reflects normal development, which occurs in 95 to 98 percent of all pregnancies. Some individuals are less fortunate, for in the remaining 2 to 5 percent of cases, children are born with serious birth defects. A major cause of such defects is faulty genes or chromosomes. Here are two of the more common genetic and chromosomal difficulties. ■ Phenylketonuria (PKU). A child born with the inherited disease phenylketonuria cannot produce an enzyme that is required for normal development. This deficiency results in an accumulation of poisons that eventually cause profound intellectual disabilities. The disease is treatable, however, if it is caught early. Most infants today are routinely tested for PKU, and children with the disorder can be placed on a special diet that allows them to develop normally (Ievers-Landis et al., 2005; Christ, Steiner, & Grange, 2006). ■ Sickle-cell anemia. About 10 percent of the African American population has the possibility of passing on sickle-cell anemia, a disease that gets its name from the abnormally shaped red blood cells it causes. Children with the disease may have episodes of pain, yellowish eyes, stunted growth, and vision problems (Taras & Potts-Datema, 2005; Selove, 2007). ■ Down syndrome. Down syndrome, one of the causes of mental retardation, occurs when the zygote receives an extra chromosome at the moment of conception. Down syndrome is often related to the mother’s age; mothers over 35 and younger than 18 stand a higher risk than other women of having a child with the syndrome (Roizen & Patterson, 2003).

Prenatal Environmental Influences
Genetic factors are not the only causes of difficulties in fetal development. Environmental influences—the nurture part of the nature–nurture Teratogens Environmental agents such as a drug, chemical, virus, or equation—also affect the fetus. Some of the more profound consequences are other factor that produce a birth brought about by teratogens, environmental agents such as a drug, chemidefect. cal, virus, or other factor that produce a birth defect. Among the major prenatal environmental influences on the fetus are the following: ■ Mother’s nutrition. What a mother eats during her pregnancy can have important implications for the health of her baby. Seriously undernourished mothers cannot provide adequate nutrition to a growing fetus, and they are likely to give birth to underweight babies. Poorly nourished babies are also more susceptible to disease (Zigler, Finn-Stevenson, & Hall, 2002; Najman et al., 2004). ■ Mother’s illness. Several diseases can have devastating consequences for a developing fetus if they are contracted during the early part of a pregnancy. For example, rubella (German measles), syphilis, diabetes, and high blood pressure may each produce a permanent effect on the fetus (Nesheim et al., 2004; Magoni et al., 2005). ■ Alcohol and nicotine use. Alcohol and nicotine are extremely dangerous to fetal development. For example, 1 out of every 750 infants is born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), a condition resulting in below-average
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Environmental Factor Rubella (German measles) Syphilis Addictive drugs Nicotine Alcohol Radiation from X-rays Inadequate diet Mother’s age—younger than 18 at birth of child Mother’s age—older than 35 at birth of child DES (diethylstilbestrol)

Possible Effect on Prenatal Development Blindness, deafness, heart abnormalities, stillbirth Mental retardation, physical deformities, maternal miscarriage Low birth weight, addiction of infant to drug, with possible death after birth from withdrawal Premature birth, low birth weight and length Mental retardation, lower-than-average birth weight, small head, limb deformities Physical deformities, mental retardation Reduction in growth of brain, smaller-than-average weight and length at birth Premature birth, increased incidence of Down syndrome Increased incidence of Down syndrome Reproductive difficulties and increased incidence of genital cancer in children of mothers who were given DES during pregnancy to prevent miscarriage Possible spread of AIDS virus to infant; facial deformities; growth failure Mental retardation and physical deformities

AIDS Accutane

development.

Figure 3

A variety of environmental factors can play a role in prenatal

psych 2.0 www.mhhe.com/psychlife Prenatal Development

intelligence, growth delays, and facial deformities. FAS is now the primary preventable cause of mental retardation. Even mothers who use small amounts of alcohol during pregnancy place their child at risk. Fetal alcohol effects (FAE) is a condition in which children display some, although not all, of the problems of FAS due to their mother’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Similarly, pregnant mothers who smoke put their children at considerable risk (Henderson, Kesmodel, & Gray, 2007; Niccols, 2007). Several other environmental factors have an impact on the child before and during birth (see Figure 3). Keep in mind that although we have been discussing the influences of genetics and environment separately, neither factor works alone. Furthermore, despite the emphasis here on some of the ways in which development can go wrong, the vast majority of births occur without difficulty. And in most instances, subsequent development also proceeds normally.

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recap
Compare and contrast the influence of nature versus nurture.
■ Developmental psychology studies growth and change throughout life. (p. 282) ■ One fundamental question is how much developmental change is due to heredity and how much is due to environment—the nature– nurture issue. (p. 282) ■ Heredity defines the upper limits of our growth and change, whereas the environment affects the degree to which the upper limits are reached. (p. 283) ■ Each chromosome contains genes, through which genetic information is transmitted. (p. 286) ■ The union of sperm and egg produces a zygote, which contains 23 pairs of chromosomes— with one member of each pair coming from the father and the other coming from the mother. (p. 287) ■ After two weeks the zygote becomes an embryo. By week 8, the embryo is called a fetus and is responsive to touch and other stimulation. At week 22 it reaches the age of viability, which means it may survive if born prematurely. (p. 287) ■ A fetus is normally born after 38 weeks of pregnancy, weighing around 7 pounds and measuring about 20 inches. (p. 288) ■ Genes affect not only physical attributes but also a wide array of personal characteristics such as cognitive abilities, personality traits, and psychological disorders. (p. 289) ■ Genetic abnormalities produce birth defects such as phenylketonuria (PKU) and Down syndrome. (p. 289) ■ Among the environmental influences on fetal growth are the mother’s nutrition, illnesses, and alcohol and nicotine intake. (p. 289)

Describe developmental research techniques.
■ Cross-sectional research compares people of different ages with one another at the same point in time. (p. 285) ■ Longitudinal research traces the behavior of one or more participants as the participants become older. (p. 285) ■ Sequential research combines the two methods by taking several different age groups and examining them at several points in time. (p. 286)

Discuss prenatal development.
■ At the moment of conception, a male’s sperm cell and a female’s egg cell unite, with each contributing to the new individual’s genetic makeup. (p. 286)

evaluate
1. Developmental psychologists are interested in the effects of both development. and on 2. Environment and heredity both influence development, with genetic potentials generally establishing limits on environmental influences. True or false? 3. By observing genetically similar animals in differing environments, we can increase our understanding of the influences of hereditary and environmental factors in humans. True or false? 4. research studies the same individuals over a period of time, whereas research studies people of different ages at the same time.
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5. Match each of the following terms with its definition: 1. Zygote 2. Gene 3. Chromosome a. Smallest unit through which genetic information is passed b. Fertilized egg c. Rod-shaped structure containing genetic information period if the embryo is to develop

6. Specific kinds of growth must take place during a normally.

rethink
When researchers find similarities in development between very different cultures, what implications might such findings have for the nature–nurture issue?
Answers to Evaluate Questions 1. heredity (or nature), environment (or nurture); 2. true; 3. true; 4. longitudinal, cross-sectional; 5. 1-b, 2-a, 3-c; 6. sensitive (or critical)

key terms
Developmental psychology p. 283 Nature–nurture issue p. 283 Identical twins p. 284 Cross-sectional research p. 285 Longitudinal research p. 285 Sequential research p. 286 Chromosomes p. 286 Genes p. 286 Zygote p. 287 Embryo p. 287 Fetus p. 287 Age of viability p. 288 Teratogens p. 289

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module 26

Infancy and Childhood
His head was molded into a long melon shape and came to a point at the back . . . He was covered with a thick greasy white material known as “vernix,” which made him slippery to hold, and also allowed him to slip easily through the birth canal. In addition to a shock of black hair on his head, his body was covered with dark, fine hair known as “lanugo.” His ears, his back, his shoulders, and even his cheeks were furry . . . His skin was wrinkled and quite loose, ready to scale in creased places such as his feet and hands . . . His ears were pressed to his head in unusual positions—one ear was matted firmly forward on his cheek. His nose was flattened and pushed to one side by the squeeze as he came through the pelvis. (Brazelton, 1969, p. 3)

learning outcomes
26.1 Describe the major competencies of newborns.

26.2 Explain the milestones of physical, social, and cognitive development during childhood.

What kind of creature is this? Although the description hardly fits that of Neonate A newborn child. the adorable babies seen in advertisements for baby food, we are in fact talking about a normal, completely developed child just after the moment of birth. Called a neonate, a newborn arrives in the world in a form that hardly meets the standards of beauty against which we typically measure babies. Yet ask any parents: nothing is more beautiful or exciting than the first glimpse of their newborn.

LO 1

The Extraordinary Newborn

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

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Reflexes
A neonate is born with a number of reflexes— unlearned, involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli. Critical for survival, many of those reflexes unfold naturally as part of an infant’s ongoing maturation. The rooting reflex, for instance, causes neonates to turn their heads toward things that touch their cheeks—such as the mother’s nipple or a bottle. Similarly, a sucking reflex prompts infants to suck at things that touch their lips. Among other reflexes are a gag reflex (to clear the throat), the startle reflex (a series of movements in which an infant flings Many of the reflexes that a neonate is born with are critical out the arms, fans the fingers, and arches the to survival and unfold naturally as part of an infant’s ongoing back in response to a sudden noise), and the maturation. Do you think humans have more or fewer reflexes Babinski reflex (a baby’s toes fan out when than other animals? the outer edge of the sole of the foot is stroked). Infants lose these primitive reflexes after the first few months of life, replacing them with more complex and organized behaviors. Although at birth a neonate is capable of only jerky, limited volThe basic reflexes— untary movements, during the first year of life the ability to move indepenunlearned, involuntary dently grows enormously. The typical baby rolls over by the age of about 3 responses—include the months, sits without support at about 6 months, stands alone at about 11 rooting reflex, the sucking months, and walks at just over a year old. Not only does the ability to make reflex, the gag reflex, the large-scale movements improve during this time, fine-muscle movements startle reflex, and the become increasingly sophisticated (see Figure 1). Babinski reflex.

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3.2 months: Rolling over

3.3 months: Grasping rattle

5.9 months: Sitting without support

7.2 months: Standing while holding on

8.2 months: Grasping with thumb and finger

11.5 months: Standing alone well

12.3 months: Walking well

14.8 months: Building tower of two cubes

16.6 months: Walking up steps

23.8 months: Jumping in place

Figure 1

Although at birth a neonate can make only jerky, limited voluntary movements, during the fi rst year of life the ability to move independently grows enormously. The ages indicate the time when 50 percent of children are able to perform each skill (Frankenburg et al., 1992). Remember, however, that the time when each skill appears can vary considerably. For example, 25 percent of children are able to walk well at age 11 months, and by 15 months 90 percent of children are walking well.

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Development of the Senses: Taking in the World
When proud parents peer into the eyes of their neonate, is the child able to Reflexes Automatic, involuntary return their gaze? Although it was thought for some time that newborns responses to incoming stimuli. can see only a hazy blur, most current findings indicate that the capabilities of neonates are far more impressive. Although their eyes have a limited capacity to focus on objects that are not within a seven- to eight-inch distance from the face, neonates can follow objects moving within their field of vision. They also show the rudiments of depth perception, as they react by raising their hands when an object appears to be moving rapidly toward the face (Gelman & Kit-Fong Au, 1996; Maurer et al., 1999). Neonates can also discriminate facial expressions—and even imitate them. As you can see in Figure 2, newborns who see an adult with a happy, sad, or surprised facial expression can produce a good imitation of the adult’s expression. Even very young infants, then, can respond to the emotions and moods that their caregivers’ facial expressions reveal. This capability provides the foundation for social interaction skills in children (Meltzoff, 1996; Lavelli & Fogel, 2005; Grossman, Striano, & Friederici, 2007). In addition to vision, infants display other impressive sensory capabilities. Newborns can distinguish different sounds to the point of being able to recognize their own mothers’ voices at the age of 3 days. They can also make the subtle perceptual distinctions that underlie language abilities. For example, at 2 days of age, infants can distinguish between their native tongue and foreign languages, and they can discriminate between such closely related sounds as ba and pa when they are 4 days old. By 6 months of age, they can discriminate virtually any difference in sound that is relevant to the production of language. Moreover, they can recognize different tastes and smells at a very early age. There even seems to be something of a built-in sweet tooth: neonates prefer liquids that have been sweetened with sugar over their

Figure 2 This newborn infant is clearly imitating the expressions of the adult model in these amazing photos. How does this ability contribute to social development?
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Children’s physical growth provides the most obvious sign of development. During the first year of life, children typically triple their birth weight, and their height increases by about half. This rapid growth slows down as the child gets older—think how gigantic adults would be if that rate of growth were constant—and from age 3 to the beginning of adolescence at around age 13, growth averages a gain of about 5 pounds and 3 inches a year (see Figure 3). Boys (50th percentile) Girls (50th percentile) The physical changes that occur as children develop are not just a matter of increasing growth; Figure 3 The average heights and weights of males the relationship of the size of the various body and females in the United States from birth through age parts to one another changes dramatically as chil20. At what ages are girls typically heavier and taller than boys? (Source: National Center for Health Statistics, 2000.) dren age. As you can see in Figure 4, the head of a fetus (and a newborn) is disproportionately large. However, the head soon becomes more proportional in size to the rest of the body as growth occurs mainly in the trunk and legs.

160 155 70 150 145 68 140 66 135 64 130 125 62 120 60 115 58 110 105 56 100 54 95 52 90 50 85 80 48 75 Height 46 70 44 65 60 42 55 40 50 38 45 40 36 Weight 35 34 30 32 25 20 30 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Age (years) 72

unsweetened counterparts (Cohen & Cashon, 2003; Rivera-Gaxiola et al., 2005).

The Growing Child: Infancy through Middle Childhood
LO 2
Throughout the remainder of childhood, moving from infancy into middle childhood and the start of adolescence around age 11 or 12, children develop physically, socially, and cognitively in extraordinary ways. In the remainder of this module, we’ll consider this development.
Weight (pounds)

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Physical Development

Figure 4 As development progresses, the size of the head relative to the rest of the body decreases until the individual reaches adulthood. Why do you think the head starts out so large?
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Development of Social Behavior: Forming Social Bonds and Attachment

As anyone who has seen an infant smiling at the sight of his or her mother can guess, at the same time that infants grow physically and hone their perceptual abilities, they also develop socially. The nature of a child’s early social development provides the foundation for social relationships that will last a lifetime. Attachment, the positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a particular individual, is the most important form of social development that occurs during infancy. Our understanding of attachment progressed when psychologist Harry Harlow, in a classic study, gave infant monkeys the choice of cuddling a wire “monkey” that provided milk or a soft, terry-cloth “monkey” that was warm but did not provide milk. Their choice was clear: They spent most of their time clinging to the warm cloth “monkey,” although they made occasional forays to the wire monkey to nurse. Obviously, the cloth monkey provided greater comfort to the infants; milk alone was insufficient to create attachment (Harlow & Zimmerman, 1959; Blum, 2002; see Figure 5). Building on this pioneering work with nonhumans, developmental psychologists have suggested that human attachment grows through the responsiveness of infants’ caregivers to the signals the babies provide, such as crying, smiling, reaching, and clinging. The greater the responsiveness of the caregiver to the child’s signals, the more likely it is that the child will become securely attached. Full attachment eventually develops as a result of the complex series of interactions between caregiver and child. In the course of these interactions, the infant plays as critical and active a role as the caregiver in the formation of the bond. Infants who respond positively to a caregiver produce more positive behavior on the part of the caregiver, which in turn produces an even stronger degree of attachment in the child.

The nature of a child’s early social development provides the foundation for social relationships that will last a lifetime.

Attachment The positive emotional

bond that develops between a child and a particular individual.

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Attachment—the positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a particular individual—is a key concept in understanding the social development of children.

Assessing Attachment
Developmental psychologists have devised a quick and direct way to measure attachment. Developed by Mary Ainsworth, the Ainsworth strange situation consists of a sequence of events involving a child and (typically) his or her mother. Initially, the mother and baby enter an unfamiliar room, and the mother permits the baby to explore while she sits down. An adult stranger then enters the room, after which the mother leaves. The mother returns, and the stranger leaves. The mother once again leaves the baby alone, and the stranger returns. Finally, the stranger leaves, and the mother returns (Ainsworth et al., 1978; Izard & Abe, 2004; Combrink-Graham & McKenna, 2006). Babies’ reactions to the experimental situation vary drastically, depending, according to Ainsworth, on their degree of attachment to the mother. One-year-old children who are securely attached employ the mother as a kind of home base, exploring independently but returning

Figure 5 Although the wire “mother” dispensed milk to the hungry infant monkey, the infant preferred the soft, terry-cloth “mother.” Do you think human babies would react the same way? What does this experiment tell us about attachment? (Source: Harry Harlow Primate Laboratory/
University of Wisconsin.)

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to her occasionally. When she leaves, they exhibit distress, and they go to her when she returns. Avoidant children do not cry when the mother leaves, and they seem to avoid her when she returns, as if they were indifferent to her. Ambivalent children display anxiety before they are separated and are upset when the mother leaves, but they may show ambivalent reactions to her return, such as seeking close contact but simultaneously hitting and kicking her. A fourth reaction is disorganized-disoriented; these children show inconsistent, often contradictory behavior.

The Father’s Role
Although early developmental research focused largely on the mother-child relationship, more recent research has highlighted the father’s role in parenting, and with good reason: the number of fathers who are primary caregivers for their children has grown significantly, and fathers play an increasingly important role in their children’s lives. For example, in almost 13 percent of families with children, the father is the parent who stays at home to care for preschoolers (Day & Lamb, 2004; Parke, 2004; Halford, 2006). When fathers interact with their children, their play often differs from that of mothers. Fathers engage in more physical, rough-and-tumble sorts of activities, whereas mothers play more verbal and traditional games, such as peekaboo. Despite such behavioral differences, the nature of attachment between fathers and children compared with that between mothers and children can be similar. In fact, children can form multiple attachments simultaneously (Paquette, Carbonneau, & Dubeau, 2003; Borisenko, 2007; Pellis & Pellis, 2007).

Social Relationships with Peers
By the time they are 2 years old, children become less dependent on their parents and more self-reliant, increasingly preferring to play with friends. Initially, play is relatively independent: even though they may be sitting side by side, 2-year-olds pay more attention to toys than to one another when playing. Later, however, children actively interact, modifying one another’s behavior and later exchanging roles during play (Lindsey & Colwell, 2003; Colwell & Lindsey, 2005). As children reach school age, their social interactions begin to follow set patterns, as well as becoming more frequent. They may engage in elaborate games involving teams and rigid rules. This play serves purposes other than mere enjoyment. It allows children to become increasingly competent in their social interactions with others. Through play they learn to take the perspective of other people and to infer others’ thoughts and feelings, even when those thoughts and feelings are not directly expressed (Royzman, Cassidy, & Baron, 2003). In short, social interaction helps children interpret the meaning of others’ behavior and develop the capacity to respond appropriately. Furthermore, children learn physical and emotional self-control: they learn to avoid hitting a
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playmate who beats them at a game, be polite, and control their emotional displays and facial expressions (e.g., smiling even when receiving a disappointing gift). Situations that provide children with opportunities for social interaction, then, may enhance their social development (Lengua & Long, 2002; Talukdar & Shastri, 2006).

The Consequences of Child Care Outside the Home
Research on the importance of social interaction is corroborated by work that examines the benefits of child care outside of the home, which is an important part of an increasing number of children’s lives. For instance, almost 30 percent of preschool children whose mothers work outside the home spend their days in child-care centers. By the age of 6 months, almost two-thirds of infants are cared for by people other than their mothers for part of the day. Most of these infants begin child care before the age of 4 months and are cared for by people other than their mothers for almost 30 hours per week (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2006; see Figure 6). Do out-of-the-home child-care arrangements benefit children’s development? If the programs are of high quality, they can. According to the results of a large study supported by the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD), children who attend high-quality child-care centers may not only do as well as children who stay at home with their parents, but in some respects may actually do better. Children in child care are generally more considerate and sociable than other children are, and they interact more positively with teachers. They may also be more compliant and regulate their own behavior more effectively, and their mothers show increased sensitivity to their children (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1999, 2001). In addition, especially for children from poor or disadvantaged homes, child care in specially enriched environments—those with many toys, books, a variety of children, and high-quality care providers—often proves to be more intellectually stimulating than the home environment. Such child care can lead to increased intellectual achievement, demonstrated in higher IQ scores and better language development. In fact, children in care centers sometimes are found to score higher on tests of cognitive abilities than those who are cared for

11% 4½ years

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Figure 6 As they get older, children are increasingly likely to spend time in some kind of child care outside the home or family (NICHD, 2006).
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by their mothers or by sitters or home day-care providers—effects lasting into adulthood (Wilgoren, 1999; Burchinal, Roberts, & Riggins, 2000). who are rigid and punitive and value However, outside-the-home child care does not have universally positive unquestioning obedience from their outcomes. Children may feel insecure after placement in low-quality child children. care or in multiple child-care settings. Furthermore, some research suggests Permissive parents Parents who give that infants who are involved in outside care more than twenty hours a week their children relaxed or inconsistent direction and, although they are warm, in the first year show less secure attachment to their mothers than do those require little of them. who have not been in outside-the-home child care. Finally, children who Authoritative parents Parents who spent long hours in child care as infants and preschoolers may have a reduced are firm, set clear limits, reason with ability to work independently and to manage their time effectively when they their children, and explain things to reach elementary school (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1998, them. 2001; Vandell et al., 2005; Belsky, Burchinal, & McCartney, 2007). The key to the success of nonparental child care is its quality. High-quality child care produces benefits; low-quality child care provides little or no gain and may even hinder children’s development. In short, significant benefits result from the social interaction and intellectual stimulation provided by high-quality child-care centers—especially for children from impoverished environments (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2000, 2002; National Association for the Education of Young Children, 2005; Zaslow, Halle, & Martin, 2006).
Authoritarian parents Parents

Parenting Styles and Social Development
Parents’ child-rearing practices are critical in shaping their children’s social competence, and—according to classic research by developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind—four main categories describe different parenting styles (Figure 7). Rigid and punitive, authoritarian parents value unquestioning obedience from their children. They have strict standards and discourage expressions of disagreement. Permissive parents give their children relaxed or inconsistent direction and, although warm, require little of them. In contrast, authoritative parents are firm, setting limits for their children. As the

Parenting Style Authoritarian

Parent Behavior Rigid, punitive, strict standards (example:“If you don't clean your room, I‘m going to take away your iPod for good and ground you.”) Lax, inconsistent, undemanding (example: “It might be good to clean your room, but I guess it can wait.”) Firm, sets limits and goals, uses reasoning, encourages independence (example: “You'll need to clean your room before we can go out to the restaurant. As soon as you finish, we’ll leave.”) Detached emotionally, sees role only as providing food, clothing, and shelter (example: “I couldn’t care less if your room is a pigsty.”)

Type of Behavior Produced in Child Unsociable, unfriendly, withdrawn

Permissive

Immature, moody, dependent, low self-control Good social skills, likable, self-reliant, independent

Authoritative

Uninvolved

Indifferent, rejecting behavior

Figure 7 According to developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind (1971), four main parenting styles characterize child rearing.
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children get older, these parents try to reason and explain things to them. They also set clear goals and encourage their children’s independence. Finally, uninvolved parents show little interest in their children. Emotionally detached, they view parenting as nothing more than providing food, clothing, and shelter for children. At their most extreme, uninvolved parents are guilty of neglect, a form of child abuse (Baumrind, 2005; Winsler, Madigan, & Aquilino, 2005; Lagacé-Séguin & d’Entremont, 2006). As you might expect, the four kinds of child-rearing styles seem to produce very different kinds of behavior in children (with many exceptions, of course). Children of authoritarian parents tend to be unsociable, unfriendly, and relatively withdrawn. In contrast, “Please, Jason. Don’t you want to grow up to permissive parents’ children show immaturity, moodiness, depenbe an autonomous peson?” dence, and low self-control. The children of authoritative parents fare best: with high social skills, they are likable, self-reliant, independent, and cooperative. Worst off are the children of uninvolved parents; they feel unloved and emotionally detached, and their physical and cognitive development is impeded. Children with low social skills face peer rejection that can have lasting results (Saarni, 1999; Berk, 2005; Snyder, Cramer, & Afrank, 2005). Know the four major Before we congratulate authoritative parents and condemn authoritarian, types of child-rearing permissive, and uninvolved ones, it is important to note that in many cases practices—authoritarian, nonauthoritative parents also produce perfectly well-adjusted children. permissive, authoritative, Moreover, children are born with a particular temperament—a basic, innate and uninvolved—and their disposition. Some children are naturally easygoing and cheerful, whereas effects. others are irritable and fussy, or pensive and quiet. The kind of temperament a baby is born with may in part bring about specific kinds of parental childrearing styles (Porter & Hsu, 2003; Lengua & Kovacs, 2005; Majdandzic & van den Boom, 2007). Uninvolved parents Parents who In sum, a child’s upbringing results from the child-rearing philosophy show little interest in their children and parents hold, the specific practices they use, and the nature of their own and are emotionally detached. their child’s personalities. As is the case with other aspects of development, Temperament The basic, innate then, behavior is a function of a complex interaction of environmental and disposition that emerges early in life. genetic factors. Psychosocial development

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Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
In tracing the course of social development, some theorists have considered how the challenges of society and culture change as an individual matures. Following this path, psychoanalyst Erik Erikson developed one of the more comprehensive theories of social development. Erikson (1963) viewed the developmental changes occurring throughout life as a series of eight stages of psychosocial development, of which four occur during childhood. Psychosocial development involves changes in our interactions and understanding of one another as well as in our knowledge and understanding of ourselves as members of society. Erikson suggests that passage through each of the stages necessitates the resolution of a crisis or conflict. Accordingly, Erikson represents each stage as a pairing of the most positive and most negative aspects of the crisis of that period. Although each crisis is never resolved entirely—life becomes increasingly complicated as we grow older—it has to be resolved sufficiently to equip us to deal with demands made during the following stage of development.

Development of individuals’ interactions and understanding of each other and of their knowledge and understanding of themselves as members of society.

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© The New Yorker Collection 1985 L. Lorenz from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.

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Four of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development occur during childhood: trust-versus-mistrust, autonomy-versus-shameand-doubt, initiative-versusguilt, and industry-versusinferiority.

Trust-versus-mistrust stage

According to Erikson, the first stage of psychosocial development, occurring from birth to age 1½ years, during which time infants develop feelings of trust or lack of trust.
Autonomy-versus-shame-anddoubt stage The period during which,

according to Erikson, toddlers (ages 1½ to 3 years) develop independence and autonomy if exploration and freedom are encouraged, or shame and self-doubt if they are restricted and overprotected.
Initiative-versus-guilt stage

According to Erikson, the period during which children ages 3 to 6 years experience conflict between independence of action and the sometimes negative results of that action.
Industry-versus-inferiority stage

According to Erikson, the last stage of childhood, during which children ages 6 to 12 years may develop positive social interactions with others or may feel inadequate and become less sociable.

In the first stage of psychosocial development, the trust-versus-mistrust stage (ages birth to 1½ years), infants develop feelings of trust if their physical requirements and psychological needs for attachment are consistently met and their interactions with the world are generally positive. In contrast, inconsistent care and unpleasant interactions with others can lead to mistrust and leave an infant unable to meet the challenges required in the next stage of development. In the second stage, the autonomy-versus-shame-and-doubt stage (ages 1½ to 3 years), toddlers develop independence and autonomy if exploration and freedom are encouraged, or they experience shame, self-doubt, and unhappiness if they are overly restricted and protected. According to Erikson, the key to the development of autonomy during this period is that the child’s caregivers provide the appropriate amount of control. If parents provide too much control, children cannot assert themselves and develop their own sense of control over their environment; if parents provide too little control, the children become overly demanding and controlling. Next, children face the crises of the initiative-versus-guilt stage (ages 3 to 6). In this stage, children’s desire to act independently conflicts with the guilt that comes from the unintended and unexpected consequences of such behavior. Children in this period come to understand that they are persons in their own right, and they begin to make decisions about their behavior. If parents react positively to children’s attempts at independence, they will help their children resolve the initiative-versus-guilt crisis positively. The fourth and last stage of childhood is the industry-versus-inferiority stage (ages 6 to 12). During this period, increasing competency in all areas, whether social interactions or academic skills, characterizes successful psychosocial development. In contrast, difficulties in this stage lead to feelings of failure and inadequacy. Erikson’s theory suggests that psychosocial development continues throughout life, and he proposes four more crises that are faced after childhood (described in the next module). Although his theory has been criticized on several grounds—such as the imprecision of the concepts he employs and his greater emphasis on male development than female development—it remains influential and is one of the few theories that encompass the entire life span.

Cognitive Development: Children’s Thinking About the World
Suppose you had two drinking glasses of different shapes—one short and broad and one tall and thin. Now imagine that you filled the short, broad one with soda about halfway and then poured the liquid from that glass into the tall one. The soda would appear to fill about three-quarters of the second glass. If someone asked you whether there was more soda in the second glass than there had been in the first, what would you say? You might think that such a simple question hardly deserves an answer; of course there is no difference in the amount of soda in the two glasses. However, most 4-year-olds would be likely to say that there is more soda in the second glass. If you then poured the soda back into the short glass, they would say there is now less soda than there was in the taller glass. Why are young children confused by this problem? The reason is not immediately obvious. Anyone who has observed preschoolers must be impressed by how far they have progressed from the early stages of development. They speak
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with ease, know the alphabet, count, play complex games, use computers, tell stories, and communicate ably. Yet despite this seeming sophistication, there are deep gaps in children’s understanding of the world. Some theorists have suggested that children cannot understand certain ideas and concepts until they reach a particular stage of cognitive development—the process by which a child’s understanding of the world changes as a function of age and experience. In contrast to the theories of physical and social development discussed earlier (such as those of Erikson), theories of cognitive development seek to explain the quantitative and qualitative intellectual advances that occur during development.

Cognitive development The process by which a child’s understanding of the world changes as a function of age and experience. Sensorimotor stage According to Piaget, the stage from birth to 2 years, during which a child has little competence in representing the environment by using images, language, or other symbols. Object permanence The awareness that objects—and people—continue to exist even if they are out of sight.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
No theory of cognitive development has had more impact than that of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Piaget (1970) suggested that children around the world proceed through a series of four stages in a fixed order. He maintained that these stages differ not only in the quantity of information acquired at each stage but in the quality of knowledge and understanding as well. Taking an interactionist point of view, he suggested that movement from one stage to the next occurs when a child reaches an appropriate level of maturation and is exposed to relevant types of experiences. Piaget assumed that, without having such experiences, children cannot reach their highest level of cognitive growth. Piaget proposed four stages: the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational (see Figure 8). Let’s examine each of them and the approximate ages that they span. Sensorimotor Stage: Birth to 2 Years. During the sensorimotor stage, children base their understanding of the world primarily on touching, sucking, chewing, shaking, and manipulating objects. In the initial part of the stage, children have relatively little competence in representing the environment by using images, language, or other kinds of symbols. Consequently, infants lack what Piaget calls object permanence, the awareness that objects—and people—continue to exist even if they are out of sight. How can we know that children lack object permanence? Although we cannot ask infants, we can observe their reactions when a toy they are playing with is hidden under a blanket. Until the age of about 9 months, children will

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Use Figure 8 to help remember Piaget’s stages of cognitive development.

Cognitive Stage Sensorimotor

Approximate Age Range Birth–2 years

Major Characteristics Development of object permanence, development of motor skills, little or no capacity for symbolic representation Development of language and symbolic thinking, egocentric thinking Development of conservation, of concept of reversibility Development of logical and abstract thinking

Preoperational Concrete operational mastery Formal operational

2–7 years 7–12 years 12 years–adulthood

development.

Figure 8

According to Piaget, all children pass through four stages of cognitive

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Preoperational stage According to

Piaget, the period from 2 to 7 years of age that is characterized by language development.
Egocentric thought A way of

make no attempt to locate the hidden toy. However, soon after that age they will begin an active search for the missing object, indicating that they have developed a mental representation of the toy. Object permanence, then, is a critical development during the sensorimotor stage.

Preoperational Stage: 2 to 7 Years. The most important development during the preoperational stage is the use of language. Children develop internal representational systems that allow them to describe people, events, Principle of conservation The and feelings. They even use symbols in play, pretending, for example, that a knowledge that quantity is unrelated book pushed across the floor is a car. to the arrangement and physical Although children use more advanced thinking in this stage than they appearance of objects. did in the earlier sensorimotor stage, their thinking is still qualitatively infeConcrete operational stage rior to that of adults. We see this when we observe a preoperational child According to Piaget, the period from using egocentric thought, a way of thinking in which the child views the 7 to 12 years of age that is world entirely from his or her own perspective. Preoperational children characterized by logical thought and a loss of egocentrism. think that everyone shares their perspective and knowledge. In addition, preoperational children have not yet developed the ability to Formal operational stage According to Piaget, the period from age 12 to understand the principle of conservation, which is the knowledge that adulthood that is characterized by quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical appearance of objects. abstract thought. Children who have not mastered this concept do not know that the amount, volume, or length of an object does not change when its shape or configuration changes. The question about the two glasses—one short and broad and the other tall and thin—with which we began our discussion of cognitive development illustrates this point clearly. Children who do not understand the principle of conservation invariably state that the amount of liquid changes as it is poured back and forth. They cannot comprehend that a transformation in appearance does not imply a transformation in amount. Instead, it seems as reasonable to the child that there is a change in quantity as it does to the adult that there is no change. thinking in which a child views the world entirely from his or her own perspective.

psych 2.0 www.mhhe.com/psychlife Concrete Operational Stage: 7 to 12 Years. Mastery of the principle of conservation marks the beginning of the concrete operational stage. However, children do not fully understand some aspects of conservation—such as conservation of weight and volume—for a number of years. During the concrete operational stage, children develop the ability to think in a more logical manner, and they begin to overcome some of the egocentrism characteristic of the preoperational period. However, their thinking still displays one major limitation: they are largely bound to the concrete, physical reality of the world. For the most part, they have difficulty understanding questions of an abstract or hypothetical nature. Formal Operational Stage: 12 Years to Adulthood. The formal operational stage produces a new kind of thinking that is abstract, formal, and logical. Thinking is no longer tied to events that individuals observe in the environment but makes use of logical techniques to resolve problems. The way in which children approach the “pendulum problem” devised by Piaget (Piaget & Inhelder, 1958) illustrates the emergence of formal operational thinking. The problem solver is asked to figure out what determines how fast a pendulum swings. Is it the length of the string, the weight of the pendulum, or the force with which the pendulum is pushed? (For the record, the answer is the length of the string.) Children in the concrete operational stage approach the problem haphazardly, without a logical or rational plan of action. For example, they may

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simultaneously change the length of the string and the weight on the string and the force with which they push the pendulum. Because they are varying all the factors at once, they cannot tell which factor is the critical one. In contrast, people in the formal operational stage approach the problem systematically. Acting as if they were scientists conducting an experiment, they examine the effects of changes in one variable at a time. This ability to rule out competing possibilities characterizes formal operational thought. Although formal operational thought emerges during the teenage years, some individuals use this type of thinking only infrequently. Moreover, it appears that many individuals never reach this stage at all; most studies show that only 40 to 60 percent of college students and adults fully reach it, with some estimates running as low as 25 percent of the general population. In addition, in certain cultures—particularly those that are less technologically oriented than Western societies—almost no one reaches the formal operational stage (Keating & Clark, 1980; Genovese, 2006).

Information-Processing Approaches: Charting Children’s Mental Programs
Information processing The way in If cognitive development does not proceed as a series of stages as Piaget suggested, what does underlie the enormous growth in children’s cognitive abil- which people take in, use, and store information. ities that even the most untutored eye can observe? To many developmental Metacognition An awareness and psychologists, changes in information processing, the way in which people understanding of one’s own cognitive take in, use, and store information, account for cognitive development (Lacprocesses. erda, von Hofsten, & Heimann, 2001; Cashon & Cohen, 2004; Munakata, 2006). According to this approach, quantitative changes occur in children’s ability to organize and manipulate information. From this perspective, children become increasingly adept at information processing, much as a computer program may become more sophisticated as a programmer modifies it on the basis of experience. Information-processing approaches consider the kinds of “mental programs” that children invoke when approaching problems. Several significant changes occur in children’s information-processing capabilities. For one thing, speed of processing increases with age, as some abilities become more automatic. The speed at which children can scan, recognize, and compare stimuli increases with age. As they grow older, children can pay attention to stimuli longer and discriminate between different stimuli more readily, and they are less easily distracted (Myerson et al., 2003; Van den Wildenberg & Van der Molen, 2004). Memory also improves dramatically with age. Preschoolers can hold only two or three chunks of information in short-term memory, 5-year-olds can hold four, and 7-year-olds can hold five. (Adults are able to keep seven, plus or minus two, chunks in short-term memory.) The size of chunks also grows with age, as does the sophistication and organization of knowledge stored in memory (see Figure 9). Still, memory capabilities are impressive at a very early age: even before they can speak, infants can remember for months events in which they actively participated (Cowan et al., 2003; Bayliss et al., 2005a, 2005b). Finally, improvement in information processing relates to advances in metacognition, an awareMetacognition involves the planning, ness and understanding of one’s own cognitive processes. Metacognition involves the planning, monitoring, and revising of monitoring, and revising of cognitive strategies. cognitive strategies. Younger children, who lack an awareness of their

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10 9 Mean number of symbols recalled 8 7 6 5 Letters 4 3 2 1 0 2 3 4 5 7 9 8 Age (years) 10 11 12 Numbers

own cognitive processes, often do not realize their incapabilities. Thus, when they misunderstand others, they may fail to recognize their own errors. It is only later, when metacognitive abilities become more sophisticated, that children are able to know when they don’t understand. Such increasing sophistication reflects a change in children’s theory of mind, their knowledge and beliefs about the way the mind operates (McCormick, 2003; Bernstein, Loftus, & Meltzoff, 2005; Matthews & Funke, 2006).

Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive Development: Considering Culture
6 Adults

According to Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky, the culture in which we are raised significantly affects our cognitive development. In an increasingly influenFigure 9 Memory span increases with age for both numbers tial view, Vygotsky suggests that the focus on and letters. (Source: Adapted from Dempster, 1981.) individual performance of both Piagetian and information-processing approaches is misplaced. Instead, he holds that we cannot understand cognitive development without taking into account the social aspects of learning (Vygotsky, 1926/1997; Maynard & Martini, 2005; Rieber & Robinson, 2006). Vygotsky argues that cognitive development occurs as a consequence of social interactions in which children work with others to jointly solve Zone of proximal development problems. Through such interactions, children’s cognitive skills increase, (ZPD) According to Lev Vygotsky, the and they gain the ability to function intellectually on their own. More spelevel at which a child can almost, but not fully, comprehend or perform a cifically, he suggests that children’s cognitive abilities increase when they task on his or her own. encounter information that falls within their zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development, or ZPD, is the level at which a child can almost, but not fully, comprehend or perform a task on his or her own. When children receive information that falls within the ZPD, they can increase their understanding or master a new task. In contrast, if the information lies psych 2.0 www.mhhe.com/psychlife outside children’s ZPD, they will not be able to master it. In short, cognitive development occurs when parents, teachers, or skilled peers assist a child by presenting information that is both new and within the ZPD. This type of assistance, called scaffolding, provides support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth. Vygotsky claims that scaffolding not only promotes the solution of specific problems, but also aids in the development of overall cognitive abilities (Schaller & Crandall, 2004). More than other approaches to cognitive development, Vygotsky’s theory considers how an individual’s specific cultural and social context affects Piaget’s Theory, intellectual growth. The way in which children understand the world grows Information-Processing out of interactions with parents, peers, and other members of a specific culture Approaches, and Vygotsky’s (John-Steiner & Mahn, 2003; Kozulin et al., 2003). Theory

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recap
Describe the major competencies of newborns.
■ Newborns, or neonates, have reflexes, unlearned, involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli. (p. 294) ■ Sensory abilities also develop rapidly; infants can distinguish color, depth, sound, tastes, and smells relatively soon after birth. (p. 295) ■ After birth, physical development is rapid; children typically triple their birth weight in a year. (p. 296) interactions and understanding of themselves and others. During childhood, the four stages are trust-versus-mistrust (birth to 1½ years), autonomy-versus-shame-and-doubt (1½ to 3 years), initiative-versus-guilt (3 to 6 years), and industry-versus-inferiority (6 to 12 years). (p. 301) ■ Piaget’s theory suggests that cognitive development proceeds through four stages in which qualitative changes occur in thinking: the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), the preoperational stage (2 to 7 years), the concrete operational stage (7 to 12 years), and the formal operational stage (12 years to adulthood). (p. 303) ■ Information-processing approaches suggest that quantitative changes occur in children’s ability to organize and manipulate information about the world, such as significant increases in speed of processing, attention span, and memory. In addition, children advance in metacognition, the awareness and understanding of one’s own cognitive processes. (p. 305) ■ Vygotsky argued that children’s cognitive development occurs as a consequence of social interactions in which children and others work together to solve problems. (p. 306)

Explain the milestones of physical, social, and cognitive development during childhood.
■ Attachment—the positive emotional bond between a child and a particular individual— marks social development in infancy. (p. 297) ■ As children become older, the nature of their social interactions with peers changes. Initially play occurs relatively independently, but it becomes increasingly cooperative. (p. 298) ■ The different child-rearing styles include authoritarian, permissive, authoritative, and uninvolved. (p. 300) ■ According to Erikson, eight stages of psychosocial development involve people’s changing

evaluate
1. The emotional bond that develops between a child and his or her caregiver is known as 2. Match the parenting style with its definition: a. Rigid; highly punitive; demanding obedience b. Gives little direction; lax on obedience c. Firm but fair; tries to explain parental decisions d. Emotionally detached and unloving 1. Permissive 2. Authoritative 3. Authoritarian 4. Uninvolved .

3. Erikson’s theory of development involves a series of eight stages, each of which must be resolved for a person to develop optimally.

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4. Match the stage of development with the thinking style characteristic of that stage: a. Sensorimotor b. Formal operational c. Preoperational d. Concrete operational 5. 1. Egocentric thought 2. Object permanence 3. Abstract reasoning 4. Conservation; reversibility

theories of development suggest that the way in which a child handles information is critical to his or her development.

rethink
Do you think the widespread use of IQ testing in the United States contributes to parents’ views that their children’s academic success is due largely to the children’s innate intelligence? Why? Would it be possible (or desirable) to change this view?
Answers to Evaluate Questions 1. attachment; 2. b-1, c-2, a-3, d-4; 3. psychosocial; 4. c-1, a-2, b-3, d-4; 5. information-processing

key terms
Neonate p. 293 Reflexes p. 295 Attachment p. 297 Authoritarian parents p. 300 Permissive parents p. 300 Authoritative parents p. 300 Uninvolved parents p. 301 Temperament p. 301 Psychosocial development p. 301 Trust-versus-mistrust stage p. 302 Autonomy-versus-shame-and-doubt stage p. 302 Initiative-versus-guilt stage p. 302 Industry-versus-inferiority stage p. 302 Cognitive development p. 303 Sensorimotor stage p. 303 Object permanence p. 303 Preoperational stage p. 304 Egocentric thought p. 304 Principle of conservation p. 304 Concrete operational stage p. 304 Formal operational stage p. 304 Information processing p. 305 Metacognition p. 305 Zone of proximal development (ZPD) p. 306

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module 27

Adolescence
Becoming an Adult learning outcomes
27.1 Summarize the major physical transitions that characterize adolescence.
Trevor Kelson, age 15: “Keep the Hell Out of my Room!” says a sign on Trevor’s bedroom wall, just above an unmade bed, a desk littered with dirty T-shirts and candy wrappers, and a floor covered with clothes. Is there a carpet? “Somewhere,” he says with a grin. “I think it’s gold.” (Fields-Meyer, 1999, p. 53)

27.2 Explain moral and

cognitive development in Like other adolescents, Trevor Kelson has characteristics that are adolescents. common to adolescence—concerns about friends, parents, appearance, independence, and his future. Adolescence, the developmen27.3 Discuss social tal stage between childhood and adulthood, is a crucial period. It is development in adolescents. a time of profound changes and, occasionally, turmoil. Considerable biological change occurs as adolescents attain sexual and physical maturity. At the same time, and rivaling these physiological changes, important social, emotional, and cognitive changes occur as adolescents strive for independence and move toward adulthood. Because many years of schooling precede most people’s entry into the workforce in Western societies, the stage of adolescence is fairly long, beginning just Adolescence The developmental before the teenage years and ending just after them. No longer children but con- stage between childhood and sidered by society to be not quite adults, adolescents face a period of rapid physi- adulthood. cal, cognitive, and social change that affects them for the rest of their lives.

LO 1

Physical Development: The Changing Adolescent

If you think back to the start of your own adolescence, the most dramatic changes you probably remember are physical ones. A spurt in height, the growth of breasts in girls, deepening voices in boys, the development of body hair, and intense sexual feelings cause curiosity, interest, and some- The physical changes that occur times embarrassment for individuals entering at the start of adolescence result adolescence. The physical changes that occur at the start of largely from the secretion of various adolescence result largely from the secretion of varihormones, and they affect virtually ous hormones, and they affect virtually every aspect of an adolescent’s life. Not since infancy has develop- every aspect of an adolescent’s life. ment been so dramatic. Weight and height increase
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Height spurt Penis growth First ejaculation Pubic hair 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Age (years) 17 18

Height spurt Onset of menstruation Breast development Pubic hair 10 11 12 13 15 16 14 Age (years) 17 18

Figure 1 The range of ages during which major sexual changes occur during adolescence is shown by the colored bars. (Source: Based on Tanner, 1978.) rapidly because of a growth spurt that typically begins around age 10 for girls and age 12 for boys. Adolescents may grow as much as five inches in one year. Puberty, the period at which maturation of the sexual organs occurs, begins at about age 11 or 12 for girls, when menstruation starts. However, there are wide variations (see Figure 1). For example, some girls begin to menstruate as early as age 8 or 9 or as late as age 16. Furthermore, in Western cultures, the average age at which adolescents reach sexual maturity has been steadily decreasing over the last century, most likely as a result of improved nutrition and medical care. Sexual attraction to Although puberty begins around age 11 or 12 for girls and others begins even before the maturation of the 13 or 14 for boys, there are wide variations. What are some sexual organs, at around age 10 (see Figure 1; Tanadvantages and disadvantages of early puberty? ner, 1990; Finlay, Jones, & Coleman, 2002). For boys, the onset of puberty is marked by their first ejaculation, known as spermarche. Spermarche usually occurs around the age of 13 (see Figure 1). Puberty The period at which At first, relatively few sperm are produced during an ejaculation, but the maturation of the sexual organs amount increases significantly within a few years. occurs, beginning at about age 11 or 12 Clearly, the rate at which physical changes occur during adolescence can for girls and 13 or 14 for boys. affect the way in which people are viewed by others and the way they view themselves. Just as important as physical changes, however, are the psychological and social changes that unfold during adolescence.

LO 2

Moral and Cognitive Development: Distinguishing Right from Wrong
In a European country, a woman is near death from a special kind of cancer. The one drug that the doctors think might save her is a medicine that a medical researcher has recently discovered. The drug is expensive to make, and the researcher is charging 10 times the cost, or $5,000, for a small dose. The sick

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woman’s husband, Henry, approaches everyone he knows in hopes of borrowing money, but he can get together only about $2,500. He tells the researcher that his wife is dying and asks him to lower the price of the drug or let him pay later. The researcher says, “No, I discovered the drug, and I’m going to make money from it.” Henry is desperate and considers stealing the drug for his wife.

What would you tell Henry to do?

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
In the view of psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, the advice you give Henry in the preceding scenario reflects your level of moral development. According to Kohlberg, people pass through a series of stages in the evolution of their sense of justice and in the kind of reasoning they use to make moral judgments (Kohlberg, 1984). Largely because of the various cognitive limitations that Piaget described, preadolescent children tend to think either in terms of concrete, unvarying rules (“It is always wrong to steal.” or “I’ll be punished if I steal.”) or in terms of the rules of society (“Good people don’t steal.” or “What if everyone stole?.”). Adolescents, however, can reason on a higher plane, having typically reached Piaget’s formal operational stage of cognitive development. Because they are able to comprehend broad moral principles, they can understand that morality is not always black and white and that conflict can exist between two sets of socially accepted standards. Kohlberg (1984) suggests that the changes in moral reasoning can be understood best as a three-level sequence (see Figure 2). His theory assumes that people move through the levels in a fixed order, and that they cannot reach the highest level until about age 13—primarily because of limitations in cognitive development before that age. However, many people never reach the highest

Sample Moral Reasoning of Subjects Level In Favor of Stealing the Drug Against Stealing the Drug

Level 1 Preconventional morality: At this level, the concrete interests of the individual are considered in terms of rewards and punishments.

“If you let your wife die, you will get in trouble. You’ll be blamed for not spending the money to save her, and there’ll be an investigation of you and the druggist for your wife’s death.”

“You shouldn’t steal the drug because you’ll be caught and sent to jail if you do. If you do get away, your conscience will bother you thinking how the police will catch up with you at any minute.” “After you steal the drug, you’ll feel bad thinking how you’ve brought dishonor on your family and yourself; you won’t be able to face anyone again.”

Level 2 Conventional morality: At this level, people approach moral problems as members of society. They are interested in pleasing others by acting as good members of society.

“If you let your wife die, you’ll never be able to look anybody in the face again.”

Level 3 Postconventional morality: At this level, people use moral principles which are seen as broader than those of any particular society.

“If you don’t steal the drug, and if you let your wife die, you’ll always condemn yourself for it afterward. You won’t be blamed and you’ll have lived up to the outside rule of the law, but you won't have lived up to your own conscience and standards of honesty.”

“If you steal the drug, you won’t be blamed by other people, but you’ll condemn yourself because you won’t have lived up to your own conscience and standards of honesty.”

Figure 2

Developmental psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg theorized that people move through a three-level sequence of moral reasoning in a fi xed order. However, he contended that few people ever reach the highest level of moral reasoning.

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s tudy aler t
The difference between the Kohlberg and the Gilligan approach to moral development is significant, with Kohlberg’s theory focusing on stages and Gilligan’s resting on gender differences.

level of moral reasoning. In fact, Kohlberg found that only a relatively small percentage of adults rise above the second level of his model (Kohlberg & Ryncarz, 1990; Hedgepeth, 2005; Powers, 2006).

Moral Development in Women
One glaring shortcoming of Kohlberg’s research is that he primarily used male participants. Furthermore, psychologist Carol Gilligan (1996) argues that because of men’s and women’s distinctive socialization experiences, a fundamental difference exists in the way each gender views moral behavior. According to Gilligan, men view morality primarily in terms of broad principles, such as justice and fairness. In contrast, women see it in terms of responsibility toward individuals and willingness to make sacrifices to help a specific individual within the context of a particular relationship. Compassion for individuals is a more salient factor in moral behavior for women than it is for men. Because Kohlberg’s model defines moral behavior largely in terms of abstract principles such as justice, Gilligan finds that it inadequately describes the moral development of females. She suggests that women’s morality centers on individual well-being and social relationships—a morality of caring. In her view, compassionate concern for the welfare of others represents the highest level of morality. The fact that Gilligan’s conception of morality differs greatly from Kohlberg’s suggests that gender plays an important role in determining what a person sees as moral. Although the research evidence is not definitive, it seems plausible that their differing conceptions of what constitutes moral behavior may lead men and women to regard the morality of a specific behavior in different ways (Weisz & Black, 2002; Lippa, 2005; Jorgensen, 2006).

psych 2.0 www.mhhe.com/psychlife Stages of Moral Development

LO 3

Social Development: Finding Oneself in a Social World
“Who am I?” “How do I fit into the world?” “What is life all about?” Questions such as these assume special significance during the teenage years, as adolescents seek to find their place in the broader social world. As we will see, this quest takes adolescents along several routes.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development: The Search for Identity
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development emphasizes the search for identity during the adolescent years. As was noted earlier, psychosocial development encompasses the way people’s understanding of themselves, one another, and the world around them changes during the course of developIdentity-versus-role-confusion ment (Erikson, 1963). stage According to Erikson, a time The fifth stage of Erikson’s theory (summarized, with the other stages, in adolescence of major testing to determine one’s unique qualities. in Figure 3), the identity-versus-role-confusion stage, encompasses adolescence. During this stage, a time of major testing, people try to determine Identity The distinguishing character of the individual: who each of us is, what is unique about themselves. They attempt to discover who they are, what our roles are, and what we are what their strengths are, and what kinds of roles they are best suited to play capable of. for the rest of their lives—in short, their identity. A person confused about the most appropriate role to play in life may lack a stable identity, adopt an unacceptable role such as that of a social deviant, or have difficulty maintaining close personal relationships later in life (Updegraff et al., 2004; Vleioras & Bosma, 2005; Goldstein, 2006).
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During the identity-versus-role-confusion period, an adolescent feels pressure to identify what to do with his or her life. Because these pressures come at a time of major physical changes as well as important changes in what society expects of them, adolescents can find the period an especially difficult one. The identity-versus-role-confusion stage has another important characteristic: declining reliance on adults for information, with a shift toward using the peer group as a source of social judgments. The peer group becomes increasingly important, enabling adolescents to form close, adult-like relationships and helping them clarify their personal identities. According to Erikson, the identityversus-role-confusion stage marks a pivotal point in psychosocial development, paving the way for continued growth and the future development of personal relationships.

From the perspective of . . .
A Retail Manager
How might the needs of adolescent employees differ from the needs of adult employees? Would you use different strategies to motivate and reward adolescent and adult workers?

Stage 1 2 3 4 5 Trust-vs.-mistrust Autonomy-vs.shame-and-doubt Initiative-vs.-guilt Industry-vs.inferiority Identity-vs.-roleconfusion Intimacy-vs.isolation Generativity-vs.stagnation Ego-integrity-vs.despair

Approximate Age Birth–1½ years 1½–3 years 3–6 years 6–12 years Adolescence

Positive Outcomes Feelings of trust from environmental support Self-sufficiency if exploration is encouraged Discovery of ways to initiate actions Development of sense of competence Awareness of uniqueness of self, knowledge of role to be followed Development of loving, sexual relationships and close friendships Sense of contribution to continuity of life Sense of unity in life’s accomplishments

Negative Outcomes Fear and concern regarding others Doubts about self, lack of independence Guilt from actions and thoughts Feelings of inferiority, no sense of mastery Inability to identify appropriate roles in life Fear of relationships with others Trivialization of one’s activities Regret over lost opportunities of life

6

Early adulthood

7 8

Middle adulthood Late adulthood

Figure 3 Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. According to Erikson, people proceed through eight stages of psychosocial development across their lives. He suggested that each stage requires the resolution of a crisis or conflict and may produce both positive and negative outcomes.
Module 27 adolescence: becoming an adult 313

Intimacy-versus-isolation stage According to Erikson, a period

during early adulthood that focuses on developing close relationships.
Generativity-versus-stagnation stage According to Erikson, a period

During early adulthood, people enter the intimacyversus-isolation stage. Spanning the period of early adulthood (from postadolescence to the early thirties), this stage focuses on developing close relationships with others. Difficulties during this stage result in feelings of loneliness and a fear of such relationships, whereas successful resolution of the crises of the stage results in the possibility of forming relationships that are intimate on a physical, intellectual, and emotional level. Development continues during middle adulthood as people enter the generativity-versus-stagnation stage. Generativity is the ability to contribute to one’s family, community, work, and society, and to assist the development of the younger generation. Success in this stage results in a person’s feeling positive about the continuity of life, whereas difficulties lead a person to feel that his or her activities are trivial or stagnant and have done nothing for upcoming generations. In fact, if a person has not successfully resolved the identity crisis of adolescence, he or she may still be foundering in identifying an appropriate career, for example. Finally, the last stage of psychosocial development, the ego-integrityversus-despair stage, spans later adulthood and continues until death. Now a sense of accomplishment signifies success in resolving the difficulties presented by this stage of life; failure to resolve the difficulties results in regret over what might have been achieved but was not.

© The New Yorker Collection 1993 R. Chast from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.

in middle adulthood during which we take stock of our contributions to family and society.
Ego-integrity-versus-despair stage According to Erikson, a

Stormy Adolescence: Myth or Reality?
Does puberty invariably foreshadow a stormy, rebellious period of adolescence? At one time, psychologists thought that most children entering adolescence were beginning a period fraught with stress and unhappiness. However, research now shows that this characterization is largely a myth,

period from late adulthood until death during which we review life’s accomplishments and failures.

Based on your experiences, do you believe adolescence to be stormy? 314 Chapter 8 development

that most young people pass through adolescence without appreciable turmoil in their lives, and that parents speak easily—and fairly often—with their children about a variety of topics (van Wel, Linssen, & Abma, 2000; Granic, Hollenstein, & Dishion, 2003). Not that adolescence is completely calm! In most families with adolescents, the amount of arguing and bickering clearly rises. Most young teenagers, as part of their search for identity, experience tension between their attempts to become independent from their parents and their actual dependence on them. They may experiment with a range of behaviors, flirting with a variety of activities that their parents, and even society as a whole, find objectionable. Happily, though, for most families such tensions stabilize during middle adolescence—around age 15 or 16—and eventually decline around age 18 (Smetana, Daddis, & Chuang, 2003; Smetana, 2005).

s tudy aler t
The characterization of a stormy adolescence is a myth for most adolescents.

Adolescent Suicide
Although the vast majority of teenagers pass through adolescence without major psychological difficulties, some experience unusually severe psychological problems. Sometimes those problems become so extreme that adolescents take their own lives. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for adolescents (after accidents and homicide) in the United States. More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease combined (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2004b). Male adolescents are five times more likely to commit suicide than are females, although females attempt suicide more often than males do. The rate of adolescent suicide is significantly greater among whites than among nonwhites. However, the suicide rate of African American males has increased much more rapidly than has that of white males over the last two decades. Native Americans have the highest suicide rate of any ethnic group in the United States, and Asian Americans have the lowest rate (CDC, 2004b; Gutierrez et al., 2005; Boden, Fergusson, & Horwood, 2007). Although the question of why adolescent suicide rates are so high remains unanswered, several factors put adolescents at risk. One factor is depression, characterized by unhappiness, extreme fatigue, and—a variable that seems especially important—a profound sense of hopelessness. In other cases, adolescents who commit suicide are perfectionists, inhibited socially and prone to extreme anxiety when they face any social or academic challenge (see Figure 4; CDC, 2004b; Richardson et al., 2005; Caelian, 2006). Family background and adjustment difficulties are also related to suicide. A longstanding history of conflicts between parents and children may lead to adolescent behavior problems, such as delinquency, dropping out of school, and aggressive tendencies. In addition, teenage alcoholics and abusers of other drugs These students are mourning the deaths of two classmates have a relatively high rate of suicide (Stron- who committed suicide. The rate of suicide among teenagers ski, Ireland, & Michaud, 2000; Winstead & has risen significantly over the last few decades. Can you think Sanchez, 2005). of reasons for this phenomenon?
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Family problems Peer relationships Self-esteem Just to talk Drugs and alcohol Abuse Sexuality School problems Death Mental illness Spirituality Pregnancy Other Legal issue Eating disorder AIDS 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Percentage of calls mentioning the concern 35 40 45

Figure 4 According to a review of phone calls to one telephone help line, adolescents who were considering suicide most often mentioned family, peer relationships, and self-esteem problems. (Source: Boehm & Campbell, 1995.)

psych 2.0 www.mhhe.com/psychlife Suicide Risk Factors

Several warning signs indicate when a teenager’s problems may be severe enough to warrant concern about the possibility of a suicide attempt. They include the following: ■ School problems, such as missing classes, truancy, and a sudden change in grades ■ Frequent incidents of self-destructive behavior, such as careless accidents ■ Loss of appetite or excessive eating ■ Withdrawal from friends and peers ■ Sleeping problems ■ Signs of depression, tearfulness, or overt indications of psychological difficulties, such as hallucinations ■ A preoccupation with death, an afterlife, or what would happen “if I died” ■ Putting affairs in order, such as giving away prized possessions or making arrangements for the care of a pet ■ An explicit announcement of thoughts of suicide For immediate help with a suicide-related problem, call 1-800-273-8255, a national hotline staffed with trained counselors, or visit the Web at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

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e x p l o r i n g d iver sit y
Rites of Passage: Coming of Age around the World
It is not easy for male members of the Awa tribe in New Guinea to make the transition from childhood to adulthood. First come whippings with sticks and prickly branches, both for the boys’ own past misdeeds and in honor of those tribesmen who were killed in warfare. In the next phase of the ritual, adults jab sharpened sticks into the boys’ nostrils. Then they force a five-foot length of vine into the boys’ throats, until they gag and vomit. Finally, tribesmen cut the boys’ genitals, causing severe bleeding. Although the rites that mark the coming of age of boys in the Awa tribe sound horrifying to Westerners, they are comparable to those in other cultures. In some, youths must kneel on hot coals without displaying pain. In others, girls must toss wads of burning cotton from hand to hand and allow themselves to be bitten by hundreds of ants (Selsky, 1997). Other cultures have less fearsome, although no less important, ceremonies that mark the passage from childhood to adulthood. For instance, when a girl first menstruates in traditional Apache tribes, the event is marked by dawn-to-dusk chanting. Western religions, too, have several types of celebrations, including bar and bat mitzvahs at age 13 for Jewish boys and girls and confirmation ceremonies for children in many Christian denominations (Magida, 2006). In most societies, males, but not females, are the focus of coming-of-age ceremonies. The renowned anthropologist Margaret Mead remarked, only partly in jest, that the preponderance of male ceremonies might reflect the fact that “the worry that boys will not grow up to be men is much more widespread than that girls will not grow up to be women” (1949, p. 195). Said another way, it may be that in most cultures men traditionally have higher status than women, and therefore those cultures regard boys’ transition into adulthood as more important. However, another fact may explain why most cultures place greater emphasis on male rites than on female ones. For females, the transition from childhood is marked by a definite, biological event: menstruation. For males, in contrast, no single event can be used to pinpoint entry into adulthood. Thus, men are forced to rely on culturally determined rituals to acknowledge their arrival into adulthood.

recap
Summarize the major physical transitions that characterize adolescence.
■ Adolescence, the developmental stage between childhood and adulthood, is marked by the onset of puberty, the point at which sexual maturity occurs. The age at which puberty begins has implications for the way people view themselves and the way others see them. (p. 309)
Module 27 adolescence: becoming an adult 317

Explain moral and cognitive development in adolescents.
■ Moral judgments during adolescence increase in sophistication, according to Kohlberg’s three-level model. Although Kohlberg’s levels provide an adequate description of males’ moral judgments, Gilligan suggests that women view morality in terms of caring for individuals rather than in terms of broad, general principles of justice. (p. 310)

Describe social development in adolescents.
■ According to Erikson’s model of psychosocial development, adolescence may be accompanied by an identity crisis. Adolescence is followed by three more stages of psychosocial development that cover the remainder of the life span. (p. 312) ■ Suicide is the third-leading cause of death in adolescents. (p. 315)

evaluate
1. 2. is the period during which the sexual organs begin to mature. proposed a set of three levels of moral development ranging from reasoning based on rewards and punishments to abstract thinking involving concepts of justice. 3. Gilligan’s theory of moral development focuses on the morality of caring, in which concern for others represents the highest level of morality. True or false? 4. Erikson believed that during adolescence, people must search for early adulthood, the major task is . , whereas during the

rethink
What implications does the fact that puberty is starting earlier have for the nature of schooling? In what ways do school cultures help or hurt students who are going through adolescence?
Answers to Evaluate Questions 1. puberty; 2. Kohlberg; 3. True; 4. identity, intimacy

key terms
Adolescence p. 309 Puberty p. 310 Identity-versus-role-confusion stage p. 312 Identity p. 312 Intimacy-versus-isolation stage p. 314 Generativity-versus-stagnation stage p. 314 Ego-integrity-versus-despair stage p. 314

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module 28

Adulthood
Psychologists generally agree that early adulthood begins around age 20 and lasts until about age 40 to 45, with middle adulthood beginning then and continuing until around age 65. Despite the enormous importance of these periods of life in terms of both the accomplishments that occur in them and their overall length (together they span some 45 years), they have been studied less than has any other stage. For one reason, the physical changes that occur during these periods are less apparent and more gradual than are those at other times during the life span. In addition, the diverse social changes that arise during this period defy simple categorization. However, developmental psychologists have recently begun to focus on the period, particularly on the social changes in the family and women’s careers.

learning outcomes
28.1 Explain physical development in adulthood. 28.2 Discuss social development in adulthood.

28.3 State the impact of marriage, children, and divorce on families.

28.4 Discuss the later years of adulthood. 28.5 Explain the physical

LO 1

Physical Development: The Peak of Health

changes that occur in late adulthood.

28.6 Identify the cognitive changes that occur in late adulthood.

For most people, early adulthood marks the peak of physical health. From about 18 to 25 years of age, people’s strength is greatest, their 28.7 Discuss the social aspects reflexes are quickest, and their chances of dying from disease are of late adulthood. quite slim. Moreover, reproductive capabilities are at their highest level. 28.8 Describe how people can Around age 25, the body becomes slightly less efficient and more adjust to death. susceptible to disease. Overall, however, ill health remains the exception; most people stay remarkably healthy during early adulthood. (Can you think of any machine other than the body that can operate without pause for so long a period?) During middle adulthood people gradually become aware of changes in their bodies. People often experience weight gain (although they can During middle adulthood people avoid such increases through diet and exercise). gradually become aware of changes Furthermore, the sense organs gradually become less sensitive, and reactions to stimuli are slower. in their bodies. But generally, the physical declines that occur during middle adulthood are minor and often unnoticeable (DiGiovanna, 1994; Whitbourne, 2007). The major biological change that does occur during middle adulthood pertains to reproductive capabilities. On average, during their late forties or early
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fifties, women begin menopause, during which they stop menstruating and are no longer fertile. Because menopause is accompanied by a significant reduction in the production of estrogen, a female hormone, women sometimes experience symptoms such as hot flashes, sudden sensations of heat. Many symptoms can be treated through hormone therapy (HT), in which menopausal women take the hormones estrogen and progesterone. However, hormone therapy poses several dangers, such as an increase in the risk of breast cancer, blood clots, and coronary heart disease. These uncertainties make the routine use of HT controversial. Currently, the medical consensus seems to be that younger women with severe menopausal symptoms ought to consider HT on a shortterm basis. On the other hand, HT is less appropriate for older women after menopause (Plonczynski & PlonczynWomen’s reactions to menopause vary ski, 2007; Rossouw et al., 2007; Lindh-Åstrand, Brynhildsignificantly across cultures, and according to one sen, & Hoffmann, 2007). study, the more a society values old age, the less For men, the aging process during middle adulthood difficulty its women have during menopause. Why is somewhat subtler. There are no physiological signals of do you think this would be the case? increasing age equivalent to the end of menstruation in women; that is, no male menopause exists. In fact, men remain fertile and Menopause The period during which are capable of fathering children until well into late adulthood. However, women stop menstruating and are no some gradual physical decline occurs: sperm production decreases, and the longer fertile. frequency of orgasm tends to decline. Once again, though, any psychological difficulties associated with these changes are usually brought about not so much by physical deterioration as by the inability of an aging individual to meet the exaggerated standards of youthfulness.

LO 2

Social Development: Working at Life

Whereas physical changes during adulthood reflect development of a quantitative nature, social developmental transitions are qualitative and more profound. During this period, people typically launch themselves into careers, marriage, and families. The entry into early adulthood is usually marked by leaving one’s childhood home and entering the world of work. People envision life goals and make career choices. Their lives often center on their careers, which form an important part of their identity (Vaillant & Vaillant, 1990; Levinson, 1990). In their early forties, however, people may begin to question their lives as they enter a period called the midlife transition. The idea that life will end at some point becomes increasingly influential in their thinking, and they may question their past accomplishments (Gould, 1978). Facing signs of physical aging and feeling dissatisfaction with their lives, some individuals experience what has been popularly labeled a midlife crisis. In most cases, though, the passage into middle age is relatively calm. Most 40-year-olds view their lives and accomplishments positively enough to proceed relatively smoothly through midlife, and the forties and fifties are often a particularly rewarding period. Rather than looking to the future, people concentrate on the present, and their involvement with their families, friends, and
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other social groups takes on new importance. A major developmental thrust of this period is coming to terms with one’s circumstances (Whitbourne, 2000). Finally, during the last stages of adulthood, people become more accepting of others and of their own lives and are less concerned about issues or problems that once bothered them. People come to accept the fact that death is inevitable, and they try to understand their accomplishments in terms of the broader meaning of life. Although people may begin, for the first time, to label themselves as “old,” many also develop a sense of wisdom and feel freer to enjoy life (Baltes & Kunzmann, 2003; Miner-Rubino, Winter, & Stewart, 2004; WardBaker, 2007).

LO 3

Marriage, Children, and Divorce: Family Ties

In the typical fairy tale, a dashing young man and a beautiful young woman marry, have children, and live happily ever after. However, that scenario does not match the realities of love and marriage in the twenty-first century. Today, it is just as likely that the man and woman would first live together, then get married and have children, but ultimately get divorced. The percentage of U.S. households made up of unmarried couples has increased dramatically over the last two decades. At the same time, the average age at which marriage takes place is higher than at any time since the turn of the last century. These changes have been dramatic, and they suggest that the institution of marriage has changed considerably from earlier historical periods. When people do marry, the probability of divorce is high, especially for younger couples. Even though divorce rates have been declining since they peaked in 1981, about half of all first marriages end in divorce. Before they are 18 years old, two-fifths of children will experience the breakup of their parents’ marriages. Moreover, the rise in divorce is not just a U.S. phenomenon: the divorce rate has accelerated over the last several decades in most industrialized countries. In some countries, the increase has been enormous. In South Korea, for example, the divorce rate quadrupled from 11 percent to 47 percent in the 12-year period ending in 2002 (Schaefer, 2000; Lankov, 2004; Olson & DeFrain, 2005). Changes in marriage and divorce trends have doubled the number of singleparent households in the United States over the last two decades. Almost 25 percent of all family households are now headed by one parent, compared with 13 percent in 1970. If present trends continue, almost three-fourths of American children will spend some portion of their lives in a single-parent family before they turn 18. For children in minority households, the numbers are even higher. Almost 60 percent of all black children and more than a third of Hispanic children live in homes with only one parent. Furthermore, in most single-parent families, it is the mother, rather than the father, with whom the children reside—a phenomenon that is consistent across racial and ethnic groups throughout the industrialized world (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000).

Changing Roles of Men and Women: The Time of Their Lives
One of the major changes in family life in the last two decades has been the evolution of men’s and women’s roles. More women than ever before act simultaneously as wives, mothers, and wage earners—in contrast to women in traditional
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marriages, in which the husband is the sole wage earner and the wife assumes primary responsibility for care of the home and children. Close to 75 percent of all married women with school-age children are now employed outside the home, and 55 percent of mothers with children under age 6 are working. In the mid-1960s, only 17 percent of mothers of 1-year-olds worked full-time; now, more than half are in the labor force (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2000; Halpern, 2005).

From the perspective of . . .
A New Employee
How would an understanding of human development enable you to work more effectively with co-workers who are younger than you? Older than you?

Women’s “Second Shift”
The number of hours put in by working mothers can be staggering. One survey, for instance, found that if we add the number of hours worked on the job and in the home, employed mothers of children under 3 years of age put in an average of 90 hours per week! The additional work performed by women is sometimes called the “second shift.” National surveys show women who are both employed and mothers put in an extra month of 24-hour days during the course of a year. Researchers see similar patterns in many developing societies throughout the world, with women working at full-time jobs and also having primary responsibilities for child care (Hochschild, 2001; Jacobs & Gerson, 2004; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2007). Consequently, rather than careers being a substitute for what women do at home, they often exist in addition to the role of homemaker. It is not surprising that some wives feel resentment toward husbands who spend less time on child care and housework than the wives had expected before the birth of their children (Stier & Lewin-Epstein, 2000; Kiecolt, 2003; Gerstel, 2005).

LO 4

The Later Years of Life: Growing Old

By focusing on the period of life that starts at around age 65, gerontologists, specialists who study aging, are making important contributions to clarifying the capabilities of older adults. Their work is demonstrating that significant developmental processes continue even during old age. And as life expectancy increases, the number of people who reach older adulthood will continue to grow substantially. Consequently, developing an understanding of late adulthood has become a critical priority for psychologists (Birren, 1996; Moody, 2000, Schaie, 2005).
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How might an understanding of the physical and mental changes in older adults help you treat an elderly patient, particularly in a high-stress, emergency situation?

LO 5

Physical Changes in Late Adulthood: The Aging Body

psych 2.0 www.mhhe.com/psychlife Many physical changes are brought about by the aging process. The most obvious are those of appearance—hair thinning and turning gray, skin wrinkling and folding, and sometimes a slight loss of height as the thickness of the disks between vertebrae in the spine decreases—but subtler changes also occur in the body’s biological functioning. For example, sensory capabilities decrease as a result of aging: vision, hearing, smell, and taste become less sensitive. Reaction time slows, and physical stamina changes (Stenklev & Attitudes toward Aging Laukli, 2004; Schieber, 2006; Madden, 2007). What are the reasons for these physical declines? Genetic preprogramming theories of aging suggest that human cells have a built-in time limit to their Genetic preprogramming theories of reproduction. These theories suggest that after a certain time cells stop dividaging Theories that suggest that human ing or become harmful to the body—as if a kind of automatic self-destruct cells have a built-in time limit to their button had been pushed. In contrast, wear-and-tear theories of aging suggest reproduction, and that after a certain that the mechanical functions of the body simply work less efficiently as peotime they are no longer able to divide. ple age. Waste by-products of energy production eventually accumulate, and Wear-and-tear theories of mistakes are made when cells divide. Eventually the body, in effect, wears out, aging Theories that suggest that the mechanical functions of the body just as an old automobile does (Ly et al., 2000; Miquel, 2006; Hayflick, 2007). simply stop working efficiently.

LO 6

Cognitive Changes: Thinking About—and During—Late Adulthood
At one time, many gerontologists would have agreed with the popular view that older adults are forgetful and confused. Today, however, most research indicates that this assessment is far from an accurate one of older people’s capabilities. One reason for the change in view is that more sophisticated

s tudy aler t
Two major theories of aging— the genetic preprogramming and the wear-and-tear views—explain some of the physical changes that take place in older adults.

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research techniques exist for studying the cognitive changes that occur in late adulthood. Still, some declines in intellectual functioning during late adulthood do occur, although the pattern of age differences is not uniform for different types of cognitive abilities (see Figure 1). In general, skills relating to fluid intelligence (which involves information-processing skills such as memory, calculations, and analogy solving) show declines in late adulthood. In contrast, skills relating to crystallized intelligence (intelligence based on the accumulation of information, skills, and strategies learned through experience) remain steady and in some cases actually improve (Stankov, 2003; Rozencwajg et al., 2005; van Hooren, Valentijn, & Bosma, 2007). Even when changes in intellectual functioning occur during late adulthood, people often are able to compensate for any decline. They can still learn what they want to; it may just take more time. Furthermore, teaching older adults strategies for dealing with new problems can prevent declines in performance (Saczynski, Willis, & Schaie, 2002; Cavallini, Pagnin, & Vecchi, 2003; Peters et al., 2007).

Memory Changes in Late Adulthood: Are Older Adults Forgetful?
One of the characteristics most frequently attributed to late adulthood is forgetfulness. How accurate is this assumption? Most evidence suggests that memory change is not an inevitable part of the aging process. Even when people show memory declines during late adulthood, their deficits are limited to certain types of memory. For instance, losses tend to be limited to episodic memories, which relate to specific experiences in people’s lives. Other types of memories, such as semantic memories (which refer to general knowledge and facts) and implicit memories (memories of which we are not consciously aware), are largely unaffected by age (Fleischman et al., 2004; Mitchell & Schmitt, 2006; St. Jacques & Levine, 2007).
55

50

Mean T-scores

45 Inductive reasoning Spatial orientation Perceptual speed 40 Numeric ability Verbal ability

Age-related changes in intellectual skills vary according to the specific cognitive ability in question. (Source: Schaie, 2005.)

Figure 1

Verbal memory 35 25 32 39 46 53 60 Age (years) 67 74 81 88

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Some cases of memory loss are produced by disease. For instance, Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities. Nineteen percent of people age 75 to 84 have Alzheimer’s, and almost 50 percent of people over age 85 are affected by the disease. Unless a cure is found, some 14 million people will experience Alzheimer’s by 2050—more than three times the current number (Cowley, 2000; Feinberg, 2002; Rogers, 2007). Alzheimer’s occurs when production of the beta amyloid precursor protein goes awry, producing large clumps of cells that trigger inflammation and deterioration of nerve cells. The brain shrinks, neurons die, and several areas of the hippocampus and frontal and temporal lobes deteriorate. So far, there is no effective treatment (Blennow & Vanmechelen, 2003; Wolfe, 2006; Medeiros et al., 2007). In sum, declines in cognitive functioning in late adulthood are, for the most part, not inevitable. The key to maintaining cognitive skills may lie in intellectual stimulation. Like the rest of us, older adults need a stimulating environment in order to hone and maintain their skills (Bosma et al., 2003; Glisky, 2007).

s tudy aler t
It’s important to be able to describe the nature of intellectual changes during late adulthood.

Alzheimer’s disease A progressive brain disorder that leads to a gradual and irreversible decline in cognitive abilities. Disengagement theory of aging

A theory that suggests that aging produces a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels.

From the perspective of . . .
A Medical Assistant
How would you handle someone who believed that getting older had only negative consequences?

LO 7

The Social World of Late Adulthood: Old but Not Alone

Just as the view that old age predictably means mental decline has proved to be wrong, so has the view that late adulthood inevitably brings loneliness. People in late adulthood most often see themselves as functioning members of society, with only a small number of them reporting that loneliness is a serious problem (Binstock & George, 1996; Jylha, 2004). Certainly, late adulthood brings significant challenges. People who have spent their adult lives working enter retirement, bringing about a major shift in the role they play. Moreover, many people must face the death of their spouse. Especially if the marriage has been a long and good one, the death of a partner means the loss of a companion, confidante, and lover. It can also bring about changes in economic well-being. Although there are declines in fluid intelligence There is no single way to age successfully. According in late adulthood, skills relating to crystallized to the disengagement theory of aging, aging produces a intelligence remain steady and may actually improve.
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gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels. However, such disengagement serves an important purpose, providthat suggests that the elderly who ing an opportunity for increased reflectiveness and decreased emotional are most successful while aging are investment in others at a time of life when social relationships will inevitably those who maintain the interests and be ended by death (Adams, 2004; Wrosch, Bauer, & Scheier, 2005). activities they had during middle age. The activity theory of aging presents an alternative view of aging, holding Life review The process by which people examine and evaluate their lives. that the people who age most successfully are those who maintain the interests, activities, and level of social interaction they experienced during middle adulthood. According to activity theory, late adulthood should reflect a continuation, as much as possible, of the activities in which people participated during the earlier part of their lives (Crosnoe & Elder, 2002; Nimrod & Kleiber, 2007). Regardless of whether people become disengaged or maintain their activities from earlier stages of life, most engage in a process of life review, in which they examine and evaluate their lives. Remembering and reconsidering what has occurred in the past, people in late adulthood often come to a better understanding of themselves, sometimes resolving lingering problems and conflicts, and facing their lives with greater wisdom and serenity. Clearly, people in late adulthood are not just marking time until death. Rather, old age is a time of continued growth and development, as important as any other period of life.
Activity theory of aging A theory

© The New Yorker Collection 1993 Roz Chast from cartoonbank.com. All rights reserved.

becoming an informed consumer
Adjusting to Death

of psychology

At some time in our lives, we all face death—certainly our own, as well as the deaths of friends, loved ones, and even strangers. Although there is nothing more inevitable in life, death remains a frightening, emotion-laden topic. Certainly, little is more stressful than the death of a loved one or the contemplation of our own imminent death, and preparing for death is one of our most crucial developmental tasks (see the Try It! box to assess your own attitudes toward death).
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try it!
How Do You Feel About Death?
To assess your feelings about death, complete the following questionnaire. For statements 1 through 11, use these scale labels: 1 Never; 2 Rarely; 3 Sometimes; and 4 Often 1. I think about my own death. 2. I think about the death of loved ones. 3. I think about dying young. 4. I think about the possibility of my being killed on a busy road. 5. I have fantasies of my own death. 6. I think about death just before I go to sleep. 7. I think of how I would act if I knew I were to die within a given period of time. 8. I think of how my relatives would act and feel upon my death. 9. When I am sick, I think about death. 10. When I am outside during a lightning storm, I think about the possibility of being struck by lightning. 11. When I am in a car, I think about the high incidence of traffic fatalities. For statements 12 through 30, use these scale labels: 1 I strongly agree; 2 I somewhat agree; 3 I somewhat disagree; and 4 12. I think people should first become concerned about death when they are old. 13. I am much more concerned about death than those around me. 14. Death hardly concerns me. 15. My general outlook just doesn’t allow for morbid thoughts. 16. The prospect of my own death arouses anxiety in me. 17. The prospect of my own death depresses me. 18. The prospect of the death of my loved ones arouses anxiety in me. 19. The knowledge that I will surely die does not in any way affect the conduct of my life. 20. I envisage my own death as a painful, nightmarish experience. 21. I am afraid of dying. 22. I am afraid of being dead. 23. Many people become disturbed at the sight of a new grave, but it does not bother me. 24. I am disturbed when I think about the shortness of life. 25. Thinking about death is a waste of time. 26. Death should not be regarded as a tragedy if it occurs after a productive life. 27. The inevitable death of humanity poses a serious challenge to the meaningfulness of human existence. 28. The death of the individual is ultimately beneficial because it facilitates change in society. 29. I have a desire to live on after death. (continued)
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I strongly disagree

try it! —concluded
30. The question of whether or not there is a future life worries me considerably.

Scoring
If you rated any of these items: 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 29, and 30, as 1, change your score to 4; those you rated as 2, change to 3; those you rated as 3, change to 2; and those you rated as 4, change to 1. Add up your scores. Average scores on the scale typically range from about 68 to 80. If you scored about 80, death is something that seems to produce some degree of anxiety. On the other hand, scores lower than 68 suggest that you experience little fear of death.
Source: Dickstein, 1972.

A generation ago, talk of death was taboo. The topic was never mentioned to dying people, and gerontologists had little to say about it. That changed, however, with the pioneering work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, who brought the subject of death into the open with her observation that those facing impending death tend to move through five broad stages (Kübler-Ross & Kessler, 2005): ■ Denial. In this stage, people resist the idea that they are dying. Even if told that their chances for survival are small, they refuse to admit that they are facing death. ■ Anger. After moving beyond the denial stage, dying people become angry—angry at people around them who are in good health, angry at medical professionals for being ineffective, angry at God. ■ Bargaining. Anger leads to bargaining, in which the dying try to think of ways to postpone death. They may decide to dedicate their lives to religion if God saves them; they may say, “If only I can live to see my son married, I will accept death then.” ■ Depression. When dying people come to feel that bargaining is of no use, they move to the next stage: depression. They realize that their lives really are coming to an end, leading to what Kübler-Ross calls “preparatory grief” for their own deaths. ■ Acceptance. In this stage, people accept impending death. Usually they are unemotional and uncommunicative; it is as if they have made peace with themselves and are expecting death with no bitterness. It is important to keep in mind that not everyone experiences each of these stages in the same way. In fact, Kübler-Ross’s stages pertain only to people who are fully aware that they are dying and have the time to evaluate their impending death. Furthermore, vast differences occur in the way individuals react to impending death. The specific cause and duration of dying, as well as the person’s sex, age, and personality and the type of support received from family and friends, all have an impact on how people respond to death (Carver & Scheier, 2002; Coyle, 2006). Few of us enjoy the contemplation of death. Yet awareness of its psychological aspects and consequences can make its inevitable arrival less anxiety-producing and perhaps more understandable.

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recap
Explain physical development in adulthood.
• Early adulthood marks the peak of physical health. Physical changes occur relatively gradually in men and women during adulthood (p. 319) • One major physical change occurs at the end of middle adulthood for women: they begin menopause, after which they are no longer fertile. (p. 320)

Explain the physical changes that occur in late adulthood.
■ Old age may bring marked physical declines caused by genetic preprogramming or physical wear and tear. (p. 323) ■ Although the activities of people in late adulthood are not all that different from those of younger people, older adults experience declines in reaction time, sensory abilities, and physical stamina. (p. 323)

Discuss social development in adulthood.
■ During middle adulthood, people typically experience a midlife transition in which the notion that life is not unending becomes more important. In some cases this may lead to a midlife crisis, although the passage into middle age is typically relatively calm. (p. 320) ■ As aging continues during middle adulthood, people realize in their fifties that their lives and accomplishments are fairly well set, and they try to come to terms with them. (p. 320)

Identify the cognitive changes that occur in late adulthood.
■ Intellectual declines are not an inevitable part of aging. (p. 323) ■ Fluid intelligence does decline with age, and long-term memory abilities are sometimes impaired. (p. 324) ■ Crystallized intelligence shows slight increases with age, and short-term memory remains at about the same level. (p. 324)

State the impact of marriage, children, and divorce on families.
■ Among the important developmental milestones during adulthood are marriage, family changes, and divorce. Another important determinant of adult development is work. (p. 321)

Discuss the social aspects of late adulthood.
■ Disengagement theory sees successful aging as a process of gradual withdrawal from the physical, psychological, and social worlds. In contrast, activity theory suggests that the maintenance of interests and activities from earlier years leads to successful aging. (p. 325)

Discuss the later years of adulthood.
■ Gerontologists, specialists who study aging, are making important contributions to clarifying the capabilities of older adults. (p. 322)

Describe how people can adjust to death.
■ According to Kübler-Ross, dying people move through five stages as they face death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. (p. 328)

evaluate
1. Rob recently turned 40 and surveyed his goals and accomplishments to date. Although he has accomplished a lot, he realized that many of his goals will not be met in his lifetime. This stage is called a . 2. theories suggest that there is a maximum time span in which cells are able to reproduce. This time limit explains the eventual breakdown of the body during old age. 3. Lower IQ test scores during late adulthood do not necessarily mean a decrease in intelligence. True or false?
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4. During old age, a person’s intelligence continues to increase, whereas intelligence may decline. 5. In Kübler-Ross’s stage, they stage, people resist the idea of death. In the attempt to make deals to avoid death, and in the stage, they passively await death.

rethink
Is the possibility that life may be extended for several decades a mixed blessing? What societal consequences might an extended life span bring about?
Answers to Evaluate Questions 1. midlife transition; 2. genetic preprogramming; 3. true; 4. crystallized, fluid; 5. denial, bargaining, acceptance

key terms
Menopause p. 320 Genetic preprogramming theories of aging p. 323 Wear-and-tear theories of aging p. 323 Alzheimer’s disease p. 325 Disengagement theory of aging p. 325 Activity theory of aging p. 326 Life review p. 326

looking back
Psychology on the Web
1. Find information on the Web about gene therapy. What recent advances in gene therapy have been made by researchers? What developments appear to be on the horizon? What ethical issues have been raised regarding the use of gene therapy to produce children with characteristics specified by their parents? 2. Find different answers to the question “Why do people die?” Search the Web for scientific, philosophical, and spiritual/religious answers. Write a summary in which you compare the different approaches to this question. How does the thinking in any one realm influence the thinking in the others?

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the case of . . .

Jean Sweetland never expected that she would one day have so many different hats to wear. But now, in her early forties, when Jean comes home from her full-time job as a nurse and takes off her nurse’s cap, it seems as though her day has barely started. With two teenage children living at home, Jean next must put on her mother’s hat and enforce household rules, dispense advice, help with homework, or just provide a shoulder to cry on. Before her husband comes home from his own job, Jean has to pop on her chef’s hat and get dinner started; the maid’s cap will come out later, when Jean does the family’s laundry and cleans the bathrooms. As if all this weren’t enough, the responsibility has fallen to Jean for looking

je an s wee tl and, the woman with too many hat s

after her aging mother as well. Two or three evenings a week Jean slips on her daughter’s hat and makes the trip across town to her mother’s house, where she spends an hour or so paying bills, restocking the cupboards, and helping with other household chores. Jean loves her family and she tries very hard to be the mother, wife, and daughter that they all need her to be—but the conflicting demands on her time are stressful and often tiresome. In recent months Jean has increasingly found herself wondering what became of her own wants and needs , and she has begun asking herself hard questions about the direction her life is headed.

1. How typical is the Sweetland family structure? In what ways is Jean’s situation typical of women her age?

2. What would be your best guess as to Jean Sweetland’s parenting style, and why do you think so?

3. Describe the stage of social development that Jean Sweetland’s adolescent children are most likely experiencing. In what ways might their own development be influencing Jean’s?

4. If you were Jean’s physician, how would you explain to her the changes that might be occurring in her aging mother?

5. Describe how Jean might react if her mother were to die? What stages of grief might she pass through?

development

331

full circle

development

Nature, Nurture, and Prenatal Development

Determining the Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture

Developmental Research Techniques

Prenatal Development: Conception to Birth

Infancy and Childhood

The Extraordinary Newborn

The Growing Child: Infancy through Middle Childhood

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Adolescence: Becoming an Adult

Physical Development: The Changing Adolescent

Moral and Cognitive Development: Distinguishing Right from Wrong

The Needs for Achievement, Affiliation, and Power

Adulthood

Physical Development: The Peak of Health

Social Development: Working at Life

Marriage, Children, and Divorce: Family Ties

The Later Years of Life: Growing Old

Physical Changes in Late Adulthood: The Aging Body

Cognitive Changes: Thinking About—and During—Late Adulthood

The Social World of Late Adulthood: Old but Not Alone

development

333