CHAPTER 10

Human
Development
Across the
Life Span

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 10.1 PROGRESS BEFORE BIRTH:
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Key Learning Goals

• Outline the major events of the three stages of
prenatal development.
• Summarize the impact of environmental factors
on prenatal development.

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 The Course of Prenatal Development
(slide 1 of 2)

Germinal Stage
• Germinal stage – The first phase of prenatal
development, encompassing the first two weeks after
conception
– A zygote is created through fertilization and becomes a
microscopic mass of multiplying cells that migrates along the
mother’s fallopian tube to the uterine cavity.
– On about the seventh day, the cell mass begins to implant itself
in the uterine wall.
– During the implantation process, the placenta begins to form.
• Placenta – A structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into
the fetus from the mother’s bloodstream and bodily wastes to pass
out to the mother

© 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.

 The Course of Prenatal Development
(slide 2 of 2)

Embryonic Stage
• Embryonic stage – The second stage of prenatal development,
lasting from two weeks until the end of the second month
– Most of the vital organs and bodily systems begin to form.
– Arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, toes, eyes, and ears are discernible.

Fetal Stage
• Fetal stage – The third stage of prenatal development, lasting from
two months through birth
– The first two months of the fetal stage bring rapid bodily growth, as
muscles and bones begin to form.
– Organs continue to grow and gradually begin to function.
– During the final three months, brain cells multiply at a brisk pace, a layer
of fat is deposited under the skin to provide insulation, and the
respiratory and digestive systems mature.
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 Environmental Factors and
Prenatal Development (slide 1 of 2)
Nutrition
• A fetus needs a variety of essential nutrients.
• Poor nutrition increases the risk of birth complications and
neurological deficits.

Stress and Emotion

• A mother’s emotional reactions to stressful events can disrupt the
delicate hormonal balance that fosters healthy prenatal
development.

Drug Use
• Most drugs pass through the placenta.
• Recreational drugs, prescription medicine, and tobacco can cause
problems for fetuses and newborns.
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 Environmental Factors and
Prenatal Development (slide 2 of 2)
Alcohol Consumption
• Alcohol consumption during pregnancy carries serious risks.
– Fetal alcohol syndrome – A collection of congenital (inborn) problems
associated with excessive alcohol use during pregnancy

Maternal Illness
• The placenta screens out many infectious agents.
• Diseases and HIV can be transmitted to a fetus and cause damage.

Environmental Toxins
• Exposure to environmental toxins can cause impairments.

Fetal Origins of Adult Disease

• Events during prenatal development can cause vulnerabilities
decades later.
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 10.2 MOTOR, SOCIAL, AND LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDHOOD

Key Learning Goals

• Understand the role of maturation and cultural
variations in motor development.
• Describe Harlow’s and Bowlby’s views on
attachment, and discuss research on patterns of
attachment.
• Trace the development of human language
during childhood.

© 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.

 Figure 10.2

Figure 10.2
Milestones in motor development. The left edge, interior mark, and right
edge of each bar indicate the age at which 25%, 50%, and 90% of infants have
mastered each motor skill shown. Developmental norms typically report only
the median age of mastery (the interior mark), which can be misleading in light
of the variability in age of mastery apparent in this chart.
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 Early Emotional Development:
Attachment (slide 1 of 3)
• Attachment – The close emotional bonds of affection that develop
between infants and their caregivers
• Separation anxiety – Emotional distress seen in many infants
when they are separated from people with whom they have formed
an attachment

Theories of Attachment
• Behaviorists have argued that attachment develops because
mothers are associated with the reinforcing event of being fed.
• Harry Harlow disproved this theory with his studies of attachment in
infant rhesus monkeys.
• John Bowlby argued that infants are biologically programmed to
emit behavior that adults are programmed to respond to
affectionately and protectively.
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 Early Emotional Development:
Attachment (slide 2 of 3)
Patterns of Attachment
• Secure attachment – Infants play and explore comfortably with their
mother present, become visibly upset when she leaves, and are
quickly calmed by her return.
• Anxious-ambivalent attachment (resistant attachment) – Infants
appear anxious even when their mothers are near and protest
excessively when she leave, but are not particularly comforted when
she returns.
• Avoidant attachment – Infants seek little contact with their mothers
and often are not distressed when she leaves.

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 Early Emotional Development:
Attachment (slide 3 of 3)
Day Care and Attachment
• When mothers are sensitive to their children, the amount and quality
of day care tend to be unrelated to attachment security.
• Decreases in attachment security have been seen when mothers
are relatively insensitive and their children experience low-quality
day care.

Culture and Attachment

• Attachment is a universal feature of human development.
• The factors that promote secure attachment and its associated
outcomes vary some across cultures.

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 Learning to Communicate:
Language Development
• Language development is determined by biological maturation.
• Toddlers typically can say between three and fifty words by 18 months.
• Fast mapping – The process by which children map a word onto an
underlying concept after only one exposure
• Overextension – Mistake in language learning that occurs when a child
incorrectly uses a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than it is
meant to
• Underextension – Mistake in language learning that occurs when a child
incorrectly uses a word to describe a narrower set of objects or actions than
it is meant to
• Telegraphic speech – A child’s early sentences, which consist mainly of
content words; articles, prepositions, and other less critical words are omitted
• Overregularization – Mistake in language learning that occurs when a child
incorrectly generalizes grammatical rules to irregular cases where they do
not apply

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 10.3 PERSONALITY, COGNITIVE, AND
MORAL DEVELOPMENT IN
CHILDHOOD
Key Learning Goals
• Describe the basic tenets of Erikson’s theory
and his stages of childhood personality
development.
• Describe Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of
cognitive development, and evaluate the notion
that some cognitive abilities may be innate.
• Discuss Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
and criticism of his theory.

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 Figure 10.5

Figure 10.5
Erikson’s stage theory. Erikson’s theory of personality development asserts
that people evolve through eight stages over the life span. Each stage is
marked by a psychosocial crisis that involves confronting a fundamental
question, such as “Who am I and where am I going?” The stages are described
in terms of alternative traits that are potential outcomes from the crises.
Development is enhanced when a crisis is resolved in favor of the healthier
alternative (which is listed first for each stage).
© 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.
 Figure 10.6

Figure 10.6
Piaget’s stage theory. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development identifies four
stages marked by fundamentally different modes of thinking through which
youngsters evolve. The approximate age norms and some key characteristics
of thought at each stage are summarized here.
© 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.
 Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

• Children’s cognitive development is fueled by social

interactions with parents, teachers, and older children
who can provide invaluable guidance.
• Language acquisition plays a crucial role in fostering
cognitive development.
• Children use private speech to plan their strategies,
regulate their actions, and accomplish their goals.
• As children grow older, this private speech is internalized
and becomes the normal verbal dialogue that people
have with themselves.

© 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.

 Figure 10.8

Figure 10.8
Kohlberg’s stage theory. Kohlberg’s model describes three levels of moral
reasoning, each of which can be divided into two stages. This chart
summarizes some of the key facets in how individuals think about right and
wrong at each stage.
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 10.4 THE TRANSITION OF
ADOLESCENCE
Key Learning Goals
• Review the physiological changes of puberty,
and summarize research on neural development
in adolescence.
• Discuss identity formation in adolescence and
the stage of emerging adulthood.

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 Physiological Changes

• Secondary sex characteristics – Physical features that

distinguish one sex from the other but that are not
essential for reproduction
• Puberty – The stage during which sexual functions
reach maturity, which marks the beginning of
adolescence
– Menarche – The first occurrence of menstruation
– Spermarche – The first occurrence of ejaculation
• Today’s adolescents begin puberty at a younger age,
and complete it more rapidly, than their counterparts in
earlier generations.

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 Neural Development
• Immaturity of the prefrontal cortex may explain why risky
behavior peaks during adolescence.
– The prefrontal cortex, crucial to cognitive control and emotional
regulation, is the last area of the brain to fully mature.
• Other features of neural development also contribute.
– Elevated sensitivity to reward is attributed to early maturation of
the subcortical dopamine circuits that mediate pleasure.
– The brain’s early-maturing reward system overpowers the late-
maturing prefrontal cortex.
• Susceptibility to peer influence may also contribute to
adolescent risk taking.

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 The Search for Identity
• According to Erikson, the main challenge of adolescence
is the struggle to form a clear sense of identity.
• James Marcia proposed four different identity statuses.
– Identity diffusion – A state of rudderless apathy, with no
commitment to an ideology
– Identity foreclosure – A premature commitment to visions,
values, and roles
– Identity moratorium – A delay of commitment to experiment with
alternative ideologies and careers
– Identity achievement – Arrival at a sense of self and direction
after some consideration of alternative possibilities

© 2019 Cengage. All rights reserved.

 Figure 10.13
Figure 10.13
Emerging adulthood as a phase in
between adolescence and
adulthood. Arnett (2006)
characterizes emerging adulthood as
an “age of feeling in-between.” This
characterization comes from a study
in which he asked participants of
various ages “Do you feel like you
have reached adulthood?” As you
can see in the data shown here, the
dominant response in the 18–25 age
SOURCE: Arnett, J. J. (2006). Emerging group was an ambivalent “Yes and
adulthood: Understanding the new way of no,” but it shifted to predominantly
coming of age. In J. J. Arnett & J. L. Tanner “Yes” in the 26–35 age group.
(Eds.), Emerging adults in America: Coming of
age in the 21st century (p. 11). Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
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 10.5 THE EXPANSE OF ADULTHOOD

Key Learning Goals

• Discuss personality development in adulthood, and trace
typical transitions in family relations during the adult
years.
• Describe the physical changes associated with aging,
and summarize information on Alzheimer’s disease.
• Understand how memory and mental speed change in
later adulthood.
• Discuss attitudes about death, the process of dying, and
variations in how people cope with bereavement.

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Personality Development (slide 1 of 2)
The Question of Stability
• Personality in adulthood is characterized by both stability
and change.
– There are variations among people in the extent to which they
experience personality change.
– The biggest changes in raw scores tend to occur between the
ages of 20 and 40.
– Significant changes can even occur in old age.
– Typical developmental trends represent “positive” changes that
move people toward great social maturity.

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Personality Development (slide 2 of 2)
Erikson’s View of Adulthood
• Erikson divided adulthood into three stages:
– Intimacy versus isolation – In early adulthood, the key concern is
whether one can develop the capacity to share intimacy with
others.
– Generativity versus self-absorption – In middle adulthood, the key
challenge is to acquire a genuine concern for the welfare of future
generations.
– Integrity versus despair – During the retirement years, the
challenge is to avoid the tendency to dwell on the mistakes of the
past and on one’s imminent death.

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Transitions in Family Life (slide 1 of 2)
• More young adults are prolonging the transitional period before
forming a new family.
• More than 90% of adults eventually marry.

Adjusting to Marriage
• The most commonly reported problems are difficulties balancing work
and marriage and financial concerns.
• Cohabitation prior to marriage has gradually become the norm rather
than the exception.
• One major source of conflict in many new marriages is the negotiation
of marital roles in relation to career commitments.

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Transitions in Family Life (slide 2 of 2)
Adjusting to Parenthood
• The majority of married couples continue to have children.
• The transition to parenthood has more impact on mothers than on
fathers.
• Research has found that:
– Parents exhibit lower marital satisfaction than comparable nonparents.
– Mothers of infants report the steepest decline in marital satisfaction.
– The more children couples have, the lower their marital satisfaction tends
to be.
• When youngsters reach adolescence, gradual realignments occur in
parent-child relationships.

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 Aging and Physiological Changes
• People experience many physical changes as they progress
through adulthood.
– Hair tends to thin out and become gray.
– Many men confront receding hairlines and baldness.
– The proportion of body fat tends to increase.
• In the sensory domain, the key changes occur in vision and hearing.
– Farsightedness and difficulty seeing in low light become more common.
– Hearing sensitivity becomes more noticeable after age 50.
• Age-related changes occur in hormonal functioning.
– Among women, these changes lead to menopause.
• The proportion of people with chronic diseases climbs steadily.
– Psychological factors have a protective value in diminishing the effects
of aging.

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 Aging and Neural Changes
• The amount of brain tissue and the brain’s weight decline gradually in
late adulthood.
• Dementia – An abnormal condition marked by multiple cognitive
deficits that include memory impairment
• Alzheimer’s disease accounts for 60%–80% of all cases of dementia.
– Profound and widespread loss of neurons and brain tissue occurs,
especially in the hippocampal region known to play a key role in memory.
– Genetic factors contribute.
– Some protective factors that diminish vulnerability include:
• Regular exercise
• Lower cardiovascular risk factors
• Frequent participation in stimulating cognitive activities
• Maintenance of active social engagement with friends and family

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 Aging and Cognitive Changes
• Numerous studies report decreases in older
adults’ memory capabilities.
• Speed in learning, solving problems, and
processing information tends to decline with age.
• Evidence supports the notion that high levels of
mental activity in late adulthood can delay the
typical age-related declines in cognitive
functioning.

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 Death and Dying (slide 1 of 2)
• Anxiety about death typically declines from early to late
adulthood.
• Kübler-Ross identified five stages of confronting death:
– Denial
– Anger
– Bargaining (with God for more time)
– Depression
– Acceptance
• Considerable variation exists among cultures in how
people deal with bereavement.

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 Death and Dying (slide 2 of 2)
• Grief reactions of bereaved spouses fall into five patterns:
– Absent grief or the resilient pattern – Low levels of depression
before and after the spouse’s death
• Most common pattern, exhibited by roughly half of bereaved spouses
– Chronic grief – Low pre-loss depression followed by sustained
depression after the spouse’s death
– Common grief – A spike in depression shortly after the spouse’s
death and a decline in depression over time
– Depressed-improved – High pre-loss depression followed by a
relatively quick and sustained decline in depression after the
spouse’s death
– Chronic depression – High levels of depression both before and
long after spousal loss

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 10.6 REFLECTING ON THE CHAPTER’S
THEMES
Key Learning Goals
• Identify the five unifying themes highlighted in this
chapter.

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Reflecting on the Chapter’s Themes
(slide 1 of 2)

• Psychology is theoretically diverse.

– Cognitive development
– Personality development
• Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context.
– Gender differences
• Behavior is determined by multiple causes.
– Development of attachment
• Behavior is shaped by cultural heritage.
– Attachment
– Motor development
– Cognitive development
– Moral development

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Reflecting on the Chapter’s Themes
(slide 2 of 2)

• Heredity and environment jointly influence behavior.

– Children with “difficult” temperaments will elicit different reactions
from different parents, depending on the parents’ personalities
and expectations.
– Parents will affect different children in different ways, depending
on the inborn characteristics of the children.

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