Makkala Belavanige Mattu Arogya Rakshane

Child Health & Development

Heredity

Developmental Psychology: The study of progressive changes in behavior and abilities

Heredity (Nature): Transmission of physical and psychological characteristics from parents to their children through genes

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid): Molecular structure, shaped like a double helix that contains coded genetic information

Genes

Genes: Specific areas on a strand of DNA that carry hereditary informationDominant: The gene’s feature will appear

each time the gene is presentRecessive: The gene’s feature will appear

only if it is paired with another recessive gene

Fig. 3.1 This image, made with a scanning electron microscope, shows several pairs of human chromosomes. (Colors are artificial.)

© Biophoto Associates/Science-Source/Photo Researchers

Fig. 3.2 (Top left) Linked molecules (organic bases) make up the “rungs” on DNA’s twisted “molecular ladder.” The order of these molecules serves as a code for genetic information. The code provides a genetic blueprint that is unique for each individual (except identical twins). The drawing shows only a small section of a DNA strand. An entire strand of DNA is composed of billions of smaller molecules. (Bottom left) The nucleus of each cell in the body contains chromosomes made up of tightly wound coils of DNA. (Don’t be misled by the drawing: Chromosomes are microscopic in size and the chemical molecules that make up DNA are even smaller.)

Fig. 3.3 Gene patterns for children of brown-eyed parents, where each parent has one brown-eye gene and one blue-eye gene. Since the brown-eye gene is dominant, 1 child in 4 will be blue-eyed. Thus, there is a significant chance that two brown-eyed parents will have a blue-eyed child.

Temperament and Environment

Temperament: The physical “core” of personality; includes sensitivity, irritability, distractibility, and typical mood Easy Children: 40 %; relaxed and agreeable Difficult Children: 10 %; moody, intense, easily

angered Slow-to-Warm-Up Children: 15 %; restrained,

unexpressive, shy Remaining Children: Do not fit into any specific

category

Environment

Environment (“Nurture”): All external conditions that affect a person and perhaps his/her development

Sensitive Periods: A period of increased sensitivity to environmental influences; also, a time when certain events must occur for normal development to take place

Congenital Problem: A problem or defect that occurs during prenatal development; “birth defect”

Genetic Disorder: Problem caused by inherited characteristics from parents; e.g., cystic fibrosis

Teratogens

Anything capable of causing birth defects (e.g., narcotics, radiation, cigarette smoke, lead, and cocaine)Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): Caused by

repeated heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Infants:

Have low birth weight, a small head, body defects, and facial malformations

Lack Cupid’s Bow, the bow-shaped portion of the upper lip (look in the mirror to see)

How to Minimize Prenatal Risks

Maintain good nutrition during pregnancy

Learn relaxation and stress reduction techniques to ease transition to motherhood

Avoid teratogens and other harmful substances

Get adequate exercise during pregnancy

Obtain general education about pregnancy and childbirth

Childbirth

Medicated Birth: Traditional; mother is assisted by physician and given drugs for pain

Prepared Childbirth: Parents learn specific behavioral techniques to manage pain and facilitate labor. Lamaze method is most famous

Deprivation and Enrichment

Deprivation: Lack of normal stimulation, nutrition, comfort, or love

Enrichment: When an environment is deliberately made more complex and intellectually stimulating and emotionally supportive

The Mozart Effect: Real or Nonsense?

Rauscher & Shaw (1998) claimed that after college students listened to Mozart they scored higher on a spatial reasoning test

Original experiment done with adults; tells us nothing about infants

What effect would listening to other styles of music have?

Most researchers unable to duplicate the effect

Conclusion: Those who listened to Mozart were just more alert or in a better mood

Newborns (Neonates) and Their Reflexes

Grasping Reflex: If an object is placed in the infant’s palm, she’ll grasp it automatically (all reflexes are automatic responses; i.e., they come from nature, not nurture)Rooting Reflex: Lightly touch the infant’s cheek and he’ll turn toward the object and attempt to nurse; helps infant find nipple or foodSucking Reflex: Touch an object or nipple to the infant’s mouth and she’ll make rhythmic sucking movementsMoro Reflex: If a baby’s position is abruptly changed or if he is startled by a loud noise, he will make a hugging motion

Fig. 3.5 Infant imitation. In the top row of photos, Andrew Meltzoff makes facial gestures at an infant. The bottom row records the infant’s responses. Videotapes of Meltzoff and of tested infants helped ensure objectivity. (Photos courtesy of Andrew N. Meltzoff.)

Fig. 3.7 Motor development. Most infants follow an orderly pattern of motor development. Although the order in which children progress is similar, there are large individual differences in the ages at which each ability appears. The ages listed are averages for American children. It is not unusual for many of the skills to appear 1 or 2 months earlier than average or several months later (Frankenberg & Dodds, 1967; Harris & Liebert, 1991). Parents should not be alarmed if a child’s behavior differs some from the average.

Maturation

Definition: Physical growth and development of the body, brain, and nervous system

Increased muscular control occurs in patterns; order of maturation is almost universal Cephalocaudal: From head to toe Proximodistal: From center of the body to the

extremities

Fig. 3.8 Psychologist Carolyn Rovee-Collier has shown that babies as young as 3 months old can learn to control their movements. In her experiments, babies lie on their backs under a colorful crib mobile. A ribbon is tied around the baby’s ankle and connected to the mobile. Whenever babies spontaneously kick their legs, the mobile jiggles and rattles. Within a few minutes, infants learn to kick faster. Their reward for kicking is a chance to see the mobile move (Hayne & Rovee-Collier, 1995).

© Michael Newman/PhotoEdit

Emotional and Social Development

Basic Emotions: Anger, fear, joy; appear to be unlearnedSocial Smile: Smiling elicited by social stimuli; not exclusive to seeing parentsSelf-Awareness: Awareness of oneself as a person; can be tested by having infants look in a mirror and see if they recognize themselvesSocial Referencing: Observing other people to get information or guidance

Fig. 3.9 The traditional view of infancy holds that emotions are rapidly differentiated from an initial capacity for excitement. (After K.M.B. Bridges, 1932. From “Emotional Development in Early Infancy.” Reprinted by permission of the Society for Research in Child Development.)

Fig. 3.10 Infants display many of the same emotional expressions as adults do. Carroll Izard believes such expressions show that distinct emotions appear within the first months of life. Other theorists argue that specific emotions come into focus more gradually, as an infant’s nervous system matures. Either way, parents can expect to see a full range of basic emotions by the end of a baby’s first year. Over the first 2 years, children become increasingly active in initiating emotional exchanges with parents (Grolnick, Cosgrove, & Bridges, 1996).

Imprinting (Lorenz)

Definition: Rapid, relatively permanent type of learning that occurs during a limited time period early in lifeLorenz (an ethologist) studied natural behavior patterns of animalsHatched baby geese in an incubator; when geese were born, first moving object they saw was LorenzThey followed him around and acted as though he were their mother!

Mary Ainsworth and Attachment

Separation Anxiety: Crying and signs of fear when a child is left alone or is with a stranger; generally appears around 8-12 monthsQuality of Attachment (Ainsworth) Secure: Stable and positive emotional bond Insecure-Avoidant: Anxious emotional bond; tendency to

avoid reunion with parent or caregiver Insecure-Ambivalent: Anxious emotional bond; desire to be

with parent or caregiver and some resistance to being reunited with Mom

Contact Comfort (Harlow): Pleasant and reassuring feeling babies get from touching something warm and soft, especially their mother

Fig. 3.17 Children under age 7 intuitively assume that a volume of liquid increases when it is poured from a short, wide container into a taller, thinner one. This boy thinks the tall container holds more than the short one. Actually each holds the same amount of liquid. Children make such judgments based on the height of the liquid, not its volume.