Three Developmental Controversies
•Nature and Nurture or nature vs. nurture
•Nature: All the genetic influences on development
•Nurture: all the environmental influences on development.
•Stability or change
oEarly years are crucial in the development of an individual’s abilities in the 3
domains.
oEarly developmental paths no matter how extreme can be changed reversed
by one’s later experiences.
•Guy runs over his son and he had to get his arm amputated.
•Continuity or discontinuity
oDevelopment involves gradual, cumulative change (weeks, months, years).
oDevelopment involves distinct, exact moments of change (immediate;
from nothing to something)
oConclusion to the controversies: Life-span Perspective:
▪Lifelong (womb-tomb)
▪Multidimensional (four domains)
▪Multidirectional (expand/shrink)
▪Plasticity (capacity for change)
▪Multidisciplinary
▪Contextual (family; society;
history) Prenatal Development: Psalm 139:13-18
•Conception: Begins with a woman’s cycle:
o
The period of prenatal development that takes place in the
first
two weeks after conception is known as the germinal
period.
oPeriod (1st day), (11th-14th day) ovulation, (21-31st) cycle begins again.
oOvulation
▪Egg must be fertilized within 24 hours of releasing
▪Sperm can live in woman’s body up to 72 hours
▪Only time pregnancy can occur; body prepares for pregnancy; woman
generally more aroused/interested due to increase in testosterone
levels.
oPeriod (21st-31st day) Short cycle vs. Long Cycle
▪Woman’s emotions less stable, need to learn how to handle these times.
▪1 Peter 3:7
oSome exceptions to normal cycle:
▪Eating disorder
▪PCOS
▪Hormonal imbalances
▪Excessive exercise
▪Endometriosis
Prenatal development
•Most common abortion method: suction
•Fetal stem cells harvested @ 7-10 weeks so organ cells can be sold/used.
•Rape/incest does not change the humanity of the baby.
•By 12th week = genital organs fully formed.
•20th week: baby can visibly feel pain (can feel an abortion happening)
•22nd week: ovaries completely formed
•Contain lifetime supply of eggs
•Baby weighs about a pound
•Fetal period
oBaby just needs more time to develop, maturing of brain, and weight.
The First Two Years-09/30/2021
•Biosocial Development
oBreast feeding: the ideal diet
▪This is increasing!
▪Breast milk is the ideal infant food
•Always sterile and body temperature
•Contains more iron, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A than cow’s milk
•Contains antibodies that provide protection against disease
(first few days contains colostrum)
•Specific fats and sugars make it more digestible than any formula
•Breast-fed babies have fewer allergies, asthma and
stomach upsets.
•Research is continually finding new and crucial substances in
the breast milk.
▪Benefits to Mother
•Lower incidence of breast cancer.
•Reduction in ovarian cancer.
•Stimulates contractions: a return to pre-baby body
•Using as a type of birth control does not work for all women
oNutrition
▪By 6 months old, solid food should be gradually added.
•Begin by adding baby cereal
•Only add 1 new food every few days to test tolerance
•Move gradually to fruits, veggies, then meats/fish
oSenses:
▪Hearing
•Acute at birth
•Prefer human voices
•Prefer soothing, rhythmic sounds
▪Seeing
•Least mature sense at birth
•See 4-30 inches away and 20/600 at birth 20/40 at 6 months
•Face/people preference
▪Tasting, smelling, touching
•Present at birth
•Continue to adapt to positive/negative stimulation
▪Habituation: Decreased responsiveness after repeated exposure.
•The pacifier tests
oGross Motor Skills
▪Requires postural control
▪Sitting up @ 6 months
▪Walking at 1 year
▪Running/climbing by age 2
oFine Motor Skills
▪Involve finely tuned movements:
•Reaching and grasping
▪Sticky mittens experiment:
▪Grasped/manipulated objects earlier
▪Looked at the objects longer
▪Swatted at them more
▪More likely to mouth the objects
o
