Human Development

1. Human Development Continuation of Chapter 33

2. Physiological Development • Childhood is divisible into 3 levels • Early: birth to age 5 • Middle: 6 to age 8 • Late: 9-12 First 5 years hold multitude of changes that set up success for life

3. Birth To 3 Months • Most infants begin to: • Raise head slightly when lying on stomach • Hold head up for a few seconds, when supported • Hold hand in a fist • Lift head and chest, while lying on stomach • Use sucking, grasping, and rooting (holding tongue to the roof of the mouth) reflexes • Touch, pull, and tug own hands with fascination • Repeat body movements, and enjoy doing so

4. 3 to 6 Months • Babies are quickly becoming stronger and more agile. Most begin to: • Roll over • Push body forward and pull body up by grabbing the edge of a crib • Reach for and touch objects • Reach, grasp, and put objects in mouth • Make discoveries with objects (for example, a rattle makes noise when it is moved)

5. 6 to 9 months • "Child-proofing" becomes important as babies get more mobile. During this time most begin to: • Crawl • Grasp and pull things toward self • Transfer objects between hands

6. 9 months to 1 yr • By this time, most babies can: • Sit without support • Stand unaided • Walk with aid • Roll a ball • Throw objects • Pick things up with thumb and one finger • Drop and pick up toys

7. 1-2 yrs Walking and self-initiated movement become easier. Most children can: • Walk alone • Walk backwards • Pick up toys from a standing position • Push and pull objects • Seat self in a child's chair • Walk up and down stairs with aid • Move to music • Paint with whole arm movement Balance improves and eye-hand coordination becomes more precise. Most children can: • Put rings on a peg • Turn two or three pages at a time • Scribble • Turn knobs • Grasp and hold a small ball; can use in combination with large motor skills to throw the ball • Shift marker or any drawing or painting tool from hand to hand and draw strokes

8. 2-3 yrs Children become more comfortable with motion, increasing speed, and coordination. Most begin to: • Run forward • Jump in place with both feet together • Stand on one foot, with aid • Walk on tiptoe • Kick ball forwardChildren are able to manipulate small objects with increased control. Most can: • String large beads • Turn pages one by one • Hold crayon with thumb and fingers instead of fist • Draw a circle • Paint with wrist action, making dots and lines • Roll, pound, squeeze, and pull clay

9. 3-4 yrs Movement and balance improve. Most children can: • Run around obstacles • Walk on a line • Balance on one foot • Push, pull, and steer toys • Ride a tricycle • Use a slide without help • Throw and catch a ballChildren's precision of motion improves significantly. Most are able to: • Build a tall tower of blocks • Drive pegs into holes • Draw crosses and circles • Manipulate clay by making balls, snakes, etc.

10. 4-5 yrs Children are now more confident, and most are able to: • Walk backwards • Jump forward many times without falling • Jump on one foot • Walk up and down stairs without assistance, alternating feet • Turn somersaultsChildren develop skills that will help them as they enter school and begin writing. Most can: • Use safety scissors • Cut on a line continuously • Copy squares and crosses • Print a few capital letters

11. Social Emotional Development • Social and emotional milestones are often harder to pinpoint than signs of physical development. • This area emphasizes many skills that increase self-awareness and self-regulation. • Research shows that social skills and emotional development (reflected in the ability to pay attention, make transitions from one activity to another, and cooperate with others) are a very important part of school readiness.

12. Birth to 3 months Babies spend a lot of time getting to know their own bodies. They: • Suck their own fingers • Observe their own hands • Look at the place on the body that is being touched • Begin to realize she is a separate person from others and learn how body parts, like arms and legs, are attachedInfants are interested in other people and learn to recognize primary caregivers. Most infants: • Can be comforted by a familiar adult • Respond positively to touch • Interact best when in an alert state or in an inactive and attentive state • Benefit from short, frequent interactions more than long, infrequent ones • Smile and show pleasure in response to social stimulation

13. 3-6 months Babies are more likely to initiate social interaction. They begin to: • Play peek-a-boo • Pay attention to own name • Smile spontaneously • Laugh aloud

14. 6-9 months Babies show a wider emotional range and stronger preferences for familiar people. Most can: • Express several clearly differentiated emotions • Distinguish friends from strangers • Respond actively to language and gestures • Show displeasure at the loss of a toy

15. 9-12 months As they near age one, imitation and self-regulation gain importance. Most babies can: • Feed themselves finger foods • Hold a cup with two hands and drink with assistance • Hold out arms and legs while being dressed • Mimic simple actions • Show anxiety when separated from primary caregiver

16. 1-2 yrs Children become more aware of themselves and their ability to make things happen. They express a wider range of emotions and are more likely to initiate interaction with other people. At this stage, most children: • Recognize themselves in pictures or the mirror and smile or make faces at themselves • Show intense feelings for parents and show affection for other familiar people • Play by themselves and initiate their own play • Express negative feelings • Show pride and pleasure at new accomplishments • Imitate adult behaviors in play • Show a strong sense of self through assertiveness, directing others • Begin to be helpful, such as by helping to put things away

17. 2-3 yrs Children begin to experience themselves as more powerful, creative "doers." They explore everything, show a stronger sense of self and expand their range of self-help skills. Self-regulation is a big challenge. Two-year-olds are likely to: • Show awareness of gender identity • Indicate toileting needs • Help to dress and undress themselves • Be assertive about their preferences and say no to adult requests • Begin self-evaluation and develop notions of themselves as good, bad, attractive, etc. • Show awareness of their own feelings and those of others, and talk about feelings • Experience rapid mood shifts and show increased fearfulness (for example, fear of the dark, or certain objects) • Display aggressive feelings and behaviors

18. 2-3 yrs Children enjoy parallel play, engaging in solitary activities near other children. They are likely to: • Watch other children and briefly join in play • Defend their possessions • Begin to play house • Use objects symbolically in play • Participate in simple group activities, such as singing clapping or dancing • Know gender identity

19. 3-4 yrs As their dexterity and self-help skills improve, 3-year-olds become more independent. Most can: • Follow a series of simple directions • Complete simple tasks with food without assistance, such as spreading soft butter with a dull knife and pouring from a small pitcher • Wash hands unassisted and blow nose when remindedChildren become more interested in other children. They are now more likely to: • Share toys, taking turns with assistance • Initiate or join in play with other children and make up games • Begin dramatic play, acting out whole scenes (such as traveling, pretending to be animals)

20. 4-5 yrs At this age, children are more aware of themselves as individuals. They: • Show some understanding of moral reasoning (exploring ideas about fairness and good or bad behavior) • Compare themselves with others4-year-olds are very interested in relationships with other children. They: • Develop friendships • Express more awareness of other people's feelings • Show interest in exploring sex differences • Enjoy imaginative play with other children, like dress up or house • Bring dramatic play closer to reality by paying attention to detail, time, and space

21. Thinking Skills • Infants were once thought of as passive and unknowing. It was commonly believed that until they mastered language, young children were incapable of thinking or forming complex ideas. • Today, we know otherwise. From the very start, young children are aware of their surroundings and interested in exploring them. • Scientists from several fields have shown that from the first weeks of life, babies are active learners. They are busy gathering and organizing knowledge about their world.

22. Birth to 3 mon Newborns begin right away to use and integrate their senses to explore their world. Most infants can: • See clearly within 13 inches • Focus on and follow moving objects, including human faces • See all colors and distinguish hue and brightness • Distinguish the pitch and volume of sound • Discriminate sweet, sour, bitter, and salty tastes • Respond with facial expressions to strong stimuli (like odors) • Prefer high contrast items and geometric shapes • Begin to anticipate events (for example, sucking at the sight of a nipple)

23. 3-6 months Babies perceptual abilities improve rapidly. At this age, they are able to: • Recognize faces • Differentiate between different people based on the way they look, sound, or feel • React to and imitate the facial expressions of others • Respond to familiar sounds

24. 6-9 months • Stare longer at "impossible" events (like ordinary objects suspended in midair) • Distinguish between inanimate and animate objects, and understand that inanimate objects must be propelled into motion by an external force • Distinguish among pictures that show different numbers of items • Use the relative size of objects as a clue to how close or how far away they are

25. 9-12 months As they grow, children continue to explore how the world works and build on the conceptual leaps described above. At this age, most babies can: • Understand that an object still exists even when it's not in view • Respond to simple directions and questions with gestures, sounds, and perhaps words • Imitate gestures and actions • Experiment purposefully with the physical properties of objects, for example, by seeing how objects fit into a container or what happens if the container is turned over • Enjoy looking at picture books

26. 1-2 yrs Children at this age spend much of their time intently observing and imitating the actions of adults. Most can: • Imitate adults' actions and language • Understand words and commands and respond appropriately • Begin to match similar objects • Recognize and identify familiar objects in storybooks with adult assistance • Distinguish between "you" and "me"

27. 2-3 yrs A lot of learning is done through a child's own exploration, and this really takes off at this age. Most children can: • Respond to simple directions • Choose picture books, name pictured objects, and identify several objects within one picture • Group objects by category • Stack rings on peg in order of size • Identify themselves in the mirror, saying "baby" or their own name • Relate what they are doing to others • Observe and imitate more complex adult actions (for example, housekeeping play)

28. 3-4 yrs As children have more experiences in the world, their analytic powers grow. For some time, they have been observing and mentally "sorting" objects according to their physical properties. Now most children can: • Understand concepts like grouping and matching (for example, recognizing and matching colors) • Organize materials on their own, for example by stacking blocks or rings in order of size • Identify parts of a whole, like a slice of pie • Draw, name, and briefly explain somewhat recognizable pictures that are meaningful to them • Actively seek information through why and how questions • Tell you their full name and age • Attend to an activity for a longer stretch of time (between 5 and 15 minutes) • Learn both by observing and listening to adults' explanations • Show awareness of past and present

29. 4-5 years At this age, children actively seek information and new experiences from the people in their environment. Most can: • Play with words, mimicking and creating sounds, and make rhymes • Point to and name many colors • Understand order and process • Draw a person with detail • Draw, name, and describe pictures • Count to 5 (at the least) • Tell you their street and town

30. Communication Skills • Long before children can say words or join them into sentences, they are active language learners. Within a few short years, young children go from newborns without language to excellent communicators and lively inventers and tellers of stories.

31. Birth to 3 months In the first year, they can distinguish all of the speech sounds that occur in natural language; then they begin to specialize in the sounds of their home language. Most infants will: • Respond to speech by looking at the speaker • Respond differently to the voice of a parent than to other voices • React to changes in a speaker's tone, pitch, volume, and intonation • Respond differently to their home language and another language • Communicate with bodily movements, by crying, babbling, and laughing • Attempt to imitate sounds

32. 3-6 months Even small babies love to have "conversations." Most children of this age: • Exchange sounds, facial expressions, or gestures with a parent or caregiver • Listen to conversations • Repeat some vowel and consonant sounds

33. 6-9 months Children's vocalizations increase. Most babies of this age: • Begin repetitive babbling (deaf children also start to babble with their hands) • Associate gestures with simple words and two-word phrases, like "hi" and "bye-bye" • Use vocal and non-vocal communication to express interest and influence others

34. 9-12 months Children are getting ready to talk. Around the first birthday, language production doubles. Many babies of this age: • Understand the names of familiar people and objects • Show their understanding with responsive body language and facial expressions • Say a few words • Respond to a firm "no" by stopping what they are doing

35. 1-2 yrs Children begin to learn many new words and begin to use simple phrases. Many children can: • Understand many words, as well as simple phrases and directions ("Drink your juice") • Follow a series of two simple but related directions • Respond correctly when asked "where?" • Say a few words clearly, and a few dozen additional words so that family members can understand. The words denote important people and common objects, and a few prepositions such as "on," "in," or "under." Many can say "more" and "all gone." • Say successive single words to describe an event • From about 18 months, begin learning about 9 new words a day • Use "my" or "mine" to indicate possession; begin to use "me," "I," and "you"

36. 2-3 yrs Both understanding of language and speaking develop more rapidly at this stage. Most can: • Join familiar words into phrases • Begin to use modifiers (adverbs and adjectives) • Point to common objects when they are named • Name objects based on their description • Respond to "what?" and "where?" questions • Enjoy listening to stories and asking for favorite stories • Recount events that happened that day

37. 3-4 yrs Language usage becomes more complex. Most can: • Make themselves understood to strangers, despite some sound errors • Use and understand sentences • Use more complex grammar, such as plurals and past tense • Understand sentences involving time concepts (for example, "Grandma is coming tomorrow") and narrate past experiences • Understand size comparisons such as big and bigger • Understand relationships expressed by "if… then" or "because" sentences • Follow a series of two to four related directions • Sing a song and repeat at least one nursery rhyme

38. 4-5 yrs Most can: • Retell a story (but may confuse facts) • Combine thoughts into one sentence • Ask "when?" "how?" and "why?" questions • Use words like "can," "will," "shall," "should," and "might" • Combine thoughts into one sentence • Refer to causality by using "because" and "so" • Follow three unrelated commands appropriately • Understand comparatives like loud, louder, loudest • Listen to long stories (but may misinterpret the facts) • Understand sequencing of events when clearly explained (for example, "First we plug the drain, then we run the water, and finally we take a bath")

39. Middle Childhood 6-8 • Middle childhood brings many changes to a child’s life. By this time, children can dress themselves, catch a ball more easily with only their hands, and tie their shoes. • Developing independence from family becomes more important now. Events such as starting school bring children this age into regular contact with the larger world. • Friendships become more and more important. Physical, social, and mental skills develop rapidly at this time. • This is a critical time for children to develop confidence in all areas of life, such as through friends, schoolwork, and sports.

40. Emotional/Social Changes • More independence from parents and family. • Stronger sense of right and wrong. • Beginning awareness of the future. • Growing understanding about one’s place in the world. • More attention to friendships and teamwork. • Growing desire to be liked and accepted by friends.

41. Mental/Cognitive Changes • Rapid development of mental skills. • Greater ability to describe experiences and talk about thoughts and feelings. • Less focus on one’s self and more concern for others.

42. Late Childhood 9-11 • child’s growing independence from the family and interest in friends might be obvious by now. Healthy friendships are very important to child’s development, but peer pressure can become strong during this time. • Children who feel good about themselves are more able to resist negative peer pressure and make better choices for themselves. This is an important time for children to gain a sense of responsibility along with their growing independence. • Also, physical changes of puberty might be showing by now, especially for girls. Another big change children need to prepare for during this time is starting middle or junior high school.

43. Form stronger, more complex friendships and peer relationships. It becomes more emotionally important to have friends, especially of the same sex. • Experience more peer pressure. • Become more independent from the family. • Become more aware of his or her body as puberty approaches. Body image and eating problems sometimes start around this age. • Face more academic challenges at school.

44. Early Adolescence 12-14 • Early adolescence is a time of many physical, mental, emotional, and social changes. Hormones change as puberty begins. • Boys grow facial and pubic hair and their voices deepen. Girls grow pubic hair and breasts, and start menstruating. They might be worried about these changes and how they are looked at by others. • This will also be a time when teenagers might face peer pressure to use alcohol, tobacco products, and drugs, and to have sex. Other challenges can be eating disorders, depression, and family problems. • At this age, teens make more of their own choices about friends, sports, studying, and school. They become more independent, with their own personality and interests.

45. More concern about body image, looks, and clothes. • Focus on self, going back and forth between high expectations and lack of confidence. • Moodiness • More interest in and influence by peer group. • Less affection shown toward parents. May sometimes seem rude or short-tempered. • Anxiety from more challenging school work. • Eating problems sometimes start at this age. • Mental/Cognitive Changes • More ability for complex thought. • Better able to express feelings through talking. • A stronger sense of right and wrong. • Many teens sometimes feel sad or depressed. Depression can lead to poor grades at school, alcohol or drug use, unsafe sex, and other problems.

46. Middle Adolescence 15-17 • Middle adolescence is a time of physical, mental, cognitive, and sexual changes for teenager. • Most girls will be physically mature by now, and most will have completed puberty. Boys might still be maturing physically during this time. Teenagers might have concerns about her body size, shape, or weight. Eating disorders can also be common, especially among females. • During this phase of development, teenager is developing his unique personality and opinions. • Peer relationships are still important, yet will have other interests as he develops a more clear sense of identity. • Middle adolescence is also an important time to prepare for more independence and responsibility; many teenagers start working, and many will be leaving home soon after high school.

47. Emotional/Social Changes • Increased interest in the opposite sex • Decreased conflict with parents • Increased independence from parents • Deeper capacity for caring and sharing and the development of more intimate relationships • Decreased time spent with parents and more time spent with peers

48. Mental/Cognitive Changes • More defined work habits • More concern about future educational and vocational plans • Greater ability to sense right and wrong • Sadness or depression, which can lead to poor grades at school, alcohol or drug use, unsafe sex, thoughts of suicide, and other problems

49. Theories on aging • Current evolutionary explanations of aging and limited longevity of biological species are based on two major evolutionary theories: the mutation accumulation theory and the antagonistic pleiotropy theory • These two theories are based on the idea that, from the evolutionary perspective, aging is an inevitable result of the declining force of natural selection with age. • For example, a mutant gene that kills young children will be strongly selected against (will not be passed to the next generation), while a lethal mutation with effects confined to people over the age of eighty will experience no selection because people with this mutation will have already passed it to their offspring by that age. So, over successive generations, late-acting deleterious mutations will accumulate, leading to an increase in mortality rates late in life (mutation accumulation theory). • Moreover, late-acting deleterious genes may even be favored by selection and be actively accumulated in populations if they have any beneficial effects early in life (antagonistic pleiotropy theory).

50. Predictors of longevity include: • being female • being physically active • not smoking • having good cognitive functioning • higher than average socioeconomic status • high levels of social activity • life satisfaction • work satisfaction • a high happiness rating • satisfying sexual activity.