Development Across the Life Span, 9th Edition Robert S Feldman Solution Manual

Instructor’s Resource Manual For

Development Across the Lifespan Ninth Edition Robert S. Feldman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Prepared by Alan Swinkels, St. Edward’s University

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

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Learning Objectives

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Chapter Outline

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Lecture Launchers

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Student Activities

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Supplemental Reading

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Revel Multimedia

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Handouts

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Resources

Chapter Outline An Orientation to Lifespan Development Defining Lifespan Development The Scope of the Field of Lifespan Development Influences on Development Key Issues and Questions: Determining the Nature—and Nurture—of Lifespan Development

Learning Objectives 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4

Theoretical Perspectives on Lifespan Development The Psychodynamic Perspective: Focusing on the Inner Person The Behavioral Perspective: Focusing on Observable Behavior The Cognitive Perspective: Examining the Roots of Understanding The Humanistic Perspective: Concentrating on the Unique Qualities of Human Beings The Contextual Perspective: Taking a Broad Approach to Development Evolutionary Perspectives: Our Ancestors’ Contributions to Behavior Why “Which Approach Is Right?” Is the Wrong Question Research Methods Theories and Hypotheses: Posing Developmental Questions Choosing a Research Strategy: Answering Questions Correlational Studies Experiments: Determining Cause and Effect Theoretical and Applied Research: Complementary Approaches Measuring Developmental Change Ethics and Research

Learning Objectives 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11

Revel Resources

Lecture Launcher 1.1 Student Activity 1.1, 1.2

Lecture Launchers 1.2, 1.3 Student Activities 1.3

Crash Course: Freud Crash Course: Humanism Assimilation and Accommodation Evolutionary Psychology

Learning Objectives 1.12, 1.13, 1.14, 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18 Lecture Launchers 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 Student Activities 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7

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Scientific Research Methods How to Answer Psychological Questions Ethics and Psychological Research

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 1.1

Define the field of lifespan development and describe what it encompasses.

LO 1.2

Describe the areas that lifespan development specialists cover.

LO 1.3

Describe some of the basic influences on human development.

LO 1.4

Summarize four key issues in the field of lifespan development.

LO 1.5

Describe how the psychodynamic perspective explains lifespan development.

LO 1.6

Describe how the behavioral perspective explains lifespan development.

LO 1.7

Describe how the cognitive perspective explains lifespan development.

LO 1.8

Describe how the humanistic perspective explains lifespan development.

LO 1.9

Describe how the contextual perspective explains lifespan development.

LO 1.10 Describe how the evolutionary perspective explains lifespan development.

LO 1.11 Discuss the value of applying multiple perspectives to lifespan development.

LO 1.12 Describe the role that theories and hypotheses play in the study of development.

LO 1.13 Compare the two major categories of lifespan development research.

LO 1.14 Identify different types of correlational studies and their relationship to cause and effect.

LO 1.15 Explain the main features of an experiment.

LO 1.16 Distinguish between theoretical research and applied research.

LO 1.17 Compare longitudinal research, cross-sectional research, and sequential research.

LO 1.18 Describe some ethical issues that affect psychological research.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Prologue: New Conceptions A. Lifespan development research interests related to Louise Brown’s story: 1. Louise Brown, the first “test tube baby,” was born by IVF 40 years ago.

2. Lifespan development researchers who investigate behavior at the level of biological processes might determine if Louise’s functioning prior to birth was affected by her conception outside the womb.

3. Specialists in lifespan development who study genetics might examine how the genetic endowment from Louise’s parents affects her later behavior.

4. For lifespan development specialists who investigate the ways thinking changes over the course of life, Louise’s life might be examined in terms of how her understanding of the nature of her conception changed as she grew older.

5. Researchers in lifespan development who focus on physical growth might consider whether her growth rate differed from children conceived more traditionally.

6. Lifespan development experts who specialize in the social world and social relationships might look at the ways that Louise interacted with others and the kinds of friendships she developed.

II. An Orientation to Lifespan Development A. Defining Lifespan Development 1. LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT is the field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span.

2. Developmental psychologists test their assumptions about the nature and course of human development by applying scientific methods.

3. Lifespan development focuses on human development. a) Universal principles of development b) Cultural, racial, and ethnic differences c) Individual traits and characteristics 4. Lifespan developmentalists view development as a lifelong, continuing process.

5. Lifespan developmentalists focus on change and growth in addition to stability, consistency, and continuity in people’s lives.

6. Lifespan developmentalists are interested in people’s lives from the moment of conception until death.

B. The Scope of the Field of Lifespan Development 1. Topical Areas in Lifespan Development a) PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT involves the body’s physical makeup, including the brain, nervous system, muscles, and senses, and the need for food, drink, and sleep as a determinant of behavior. b) COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT involves the ways that growth and change in learning, memory, problem solving, and intelligence influence a person’s behavior. c) PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT involves the ways that the enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another change over the life span. d) SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT is the way in which individuals’ interactions with others and their social relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life.

2. Age Ranges and Individual Differences a) The life span is usually divided into broad age ranges.

(1) Prenatal period (conception to birth) (2) Infancy and toddlerhood (birth to age 3) (3) Preschool period (ages 3 to 6) (4) Middle childhood (ages 6 to 12) (5) Adolescence (ages 12 to 20) (6) Young adulthood (ages 20 to 40) (7) Middle adulthood (ages 40 to 60) (8) Late adulthood (age 60 to death) b) It is important to remember that people mature at different rates and reach developmental 4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e milestones at different points.

(1) These broad periods of development are social constructions. A social construction is a shared notion of reality, one that is widely accepted but is a function of society and culture at a given time. c) Environmental factors, such as one’s culture, can play a significant role in determining the age at which a particular event is likely to occur. d) In addition, age ranges are averages and some people will show substantial deviation.

3. The Links Between Topics and Ages C. Influences on Development 1. One’s COHORT is the group of people born around the same time and same place.

2. HISTORY-GRADED INFLUENCES are the biological and environmental influences associated with a particular historical moment.

3. AGE-GRADED INFLUENCES are biological and environmental influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group, regardless of when or where they are raised.

4. SOCIOCULTURAL-GRADED INFLUENCES include the impact of social and cultural factors present at a particular time for a particular individual, depending on such variables as ethnicity, social class, and subcultural membership.

5. NON-NORMATIVE LIFE EVENTS are specific, atypical events that occur in a particular person’s life at a time when they do not happen to most people.

6. Developmental Diversity and Your Life: How Culture, Ethnicity, and Race Influence Development a) Developmentalists must take into consideration broad cultural factors and ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and gender differences if they are to achieve an understanding of how people change and grow throughout the life span. b) Progress concerning issues of human diversity has been slow in the field of lifespan development. c) Members of the research community have sometimes used terms such as race and ethnic group in inappropriate ways.

(1) Race is an outdated biological concept referring to classifications based on physical and structural characteristics.

(2) Ethnic group and ethnicity are broader terms, referring to cultural background, nationality, religion, and language.

D. Key Issues and Questions: Determining the Nature—and Nurture—of Lifespan Development 1. Continuous Change versus Discontinuous Change a) CONTINUOUS CHANGE involves gradual development in which achievements at one level build on those of previous levels. b) DISCONTINUOUS CHANGE is development that occurs in distinct steps or stages, with each stage bringing about behavior that is assumed to be qualitatively different from behavior at earlier stages.

2. Critical and Sensitive Periods: Gauging the Impact of Environmental Events a) A CRITICAL PERIOD is a specific time during development when a particular event has its greatest consequences. b) Because individuals are now considered more malleable than was first thought, developmentalists are more likely to speak of SENSITIVE PERIODS as a point in development when organisms are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environments, but the absence of those stimuli does not always produce irreversible consequences.

3. Lifespan Approaches versus a Focus on Particular Periods a) Early developmentalists focused on “infancy” and “adolescence.” b) Today, the entire life span is seen as important for several reasons.

(1) Growth and change continue throughout life.

(2) An important part of every person’s environment is the other people around him or her, the person’s social environment.

4. The Relative Influence of Nature and Nurture on Development 5 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) Nature refers to traits, abilities, and capacities that are inherited from one’s parents.

(1) It encompasses MATURATION, any factor that is produced by the predetermined unfolding of genetic information. b) Nurture refers to the environmental influences that shape behavior.

5. The Later Action of Nature and Nurture a) Developmental psychologists reject the notion that behavior is the result solely of either nature or nurture. b) It is useful to think of the nature-nurture controversy as opposite ends of a continuum, with particular behaviors falling somewhere between the two ends.

III. Theoretical Perspectives on Lifespan Development A. The Psychodynamic Perspective: Focusing on the Inner Person 1. THEORIES are explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest, providing a framework for understanding the relationships among an organized set of facts or principles.

2. The PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE is the approach that states behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts of which a person has little awareness or control.

3. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory a) PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY suggests that unconscious forces act to determine personality and behavior. b) According to Freud (1856–1939): (1) The unconscious is a part of the personality about which a person is unaware and is responsible for much of our everyday behavior.

(2) One’s personality has three aspects: (a) ID: the raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality present at birth that represents primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and irrational impulses. (i) Operates according to the pleasure principle, in which the goal is to maximize satisfaction and reduce tension. (b) EGO: the part of personality that is rational and reasonable. (i) Acts as a buffer between the outside world and the primitive id. (ii) Operates on the reality principle, in which instinctual energy is restrained in order to maintain the safety of the individual and help integrate the person into society. (c) SUPEREGO: the aspect of personality that represents a person’s conscience, incorporating distinctions between right and wrong. (i) Develops about age five or six. (ii) Learned from parents, teachers, and other significant figures.

(3) Freud suggested that PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT is a series of stages that children pass through in which pleasure, or gratification, is focused on a particular biological function and body part. (a) Oral (birth to 12–18 months) (b) Anal (12–18 months to 3 years) (c) Phallic (3 to 5–6 years) (d) Latency (5–6 years to adolescence) (e) Genital (adolescence to adulthood) (4) If children are unable to gratify themselves sufficiently or receive too much gratification, a FIXATION, behavior reflecting an earlier stage of development, may occur.

2. Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory a) PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT is the approach that encompasses changes in our understanding of individuals, their interactions with others, and their standing as members of society. b) Erikson (1902–1994) suggested that developmental change occurs throughout our lives in eight distinct stages.

(1) Trust vs. mistrust (birth to 12–18 months) 6 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (2) Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (12–18 months to 3 years) (3) Initiative vs. guilt (3 to 5–6 years) (4) Industry vs. inferiority (5–6 years to adolescence) (5) Identity vs. role diffusion (adolescence to adulthood) (6) Intimacy vs. isolation (early adulthood) (7) Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood) (8) Ego integrity vs. despair (late adulthood) c) Each stage emerges in a fixed pattern and is similar for all people. d) Each stage presents a crisis or conflict that each individual must address sufficiently at a particular age. e) Unlike Freud, Erikson believed that development continued throughout the life span.

3. Assessing the Psychodynamic Perspective a) Contemporary psychological research supports the idea that unconscious memories have an influence on our behavior. b) The notion that people pass through stages in childhood that determine their adult personalities has little research support. c) Because Freud based his theory on a small sample of upper-middle-class Austrians living during a strict, puritanical era, it is questionable how applicable the theory is to multicultural populations. d) Because his theory focuses on men, it has been criticized as sexist and devaluing women. e) Erikson’s view that development continues throughout the life span is highly important and has received considerable support. f) Erikson also focused more on men than women. g) Much of Erikson’s theory is too vague to test rigorously. h) In sum, the psychodynamic perspective provides a good description of past behavior, but imprecise predictions of future behavior.

B. The Behavioral Perspective: Focusing on Observable Behavior 1. The BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE suggests that the keys to understanding development are observable behavior and outside stimuli in the environment. a) Behaviorists reject the notion that people universally pass through a series of stages. b) Development occurs as the result of continuing exposure to specific factors in the environment. c) Development is viewed as quantitative rather than qualitative.

2. Classical Conditioning: Stimulus Substitution a) CLASSICAL CONDITIONING is a type of learning in which an organism responds in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response.

(1) John B. Watson (1878–1958) argued that by effectively controlling a person’s environment, it was possible to produce virtually any behavior.

3. Operant Conditioning a) OPERANT CONDITIONING is a form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending on its association with positive or negative consequences.

(1) F. Skinner (1904–1990) claimed that people operate on their environments to bring about a desired state of affairs.

(2) Reinforcement is the process by which a stimulus is provided that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated.

(3) Punishment is the introduction of an unpleasant or painful stimulus or the removal of a desirable stimulus; it will decrease the probability that a behavior will occur in the future.

(4) When behavior receives no reinforcement, it is likely to be discontinued or extinguished.

(5) Principles of operant conditioning are used in BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION, a formal technique for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence of unwanted ones.

4. Social-Cognitive Learning Theory: Learning Through Imitation a) Albert Bandura suggests that a certain amount of learning occurs in the form of SOCIAL7 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY, which is learning by observing the behavior of another person, called a model.

(1) Observer must pay attention to model’s behavior.

(2) Observer must successfully recall the behavior.

(3) Behavior must be reproduced accurately.

(4) Observer must be motivated to learn and carry out behavior.

5. Assessing the Behavioral Perspective a) According to classical and operant conditioning, people and organisms are black boxes in which nothing that occurs inside is understood or even cared about. b) Social-cognitive learning theory argues that what makes people different from rats and pigeons is mental activity, which must be taken into account. c) Social-cognitive learning theory has come to predominate over classical and operant conditioning.

C. The Cognitive Perspective: Examining the Roots of Understanding 1. The COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE focuses on the processes that allow people to know, understand, and think about the world.

2. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development a) Jean Piaget (1896–1980) proposed that all people pass in a fixed sequence through a series of universal stages of cognitive development. b) In each stage, the quantity of information increases; the quality of knowledge and understanding changes as well. c) Piaget suggested that human thinking is arranged into schemes, organized mental patterns that represent behaviors and actions. d) Piaget suggested that the growth of children’s understanding of the world can be explained by two principles: (1) ASSIMILATION is the process in which people understand an experience in terms of their current stage of cognitive development and way of thinking.

(2) ACCOMMODATION is the process that changes existing ways of thinking in response to encounters with new stimuli or events. e) Assessing Piaget’s Theory (1) Thousands of investigations have shown it to be largely accurate.

(2) Some cognitive skills emerge earlier than Piaget suggested.

(3) Some cognitive skills emerge according to a different timetable in non-Western countries.

(4) In every culture, some adults never reach Piaget’s highest level of cognitive thought—formal, logical thought. f) Some developmentalists believe cognitive thought does not develop discontinuously, but slowly, steadily, and continuously. g) Information Processing Approaches (1) INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACHES provide the model that seeks to identify the ways individuals take in, use, and store information.

(2) The theory grew out of the computer age.

(3) Theorists assume that even complex behaviors such as learning, remembering, categorizing, and thinking can be broken down into a series of individual steps.

(4) They assume cognitive growth is more quantitative than qualitative.

(5) They suggest that as people age, they are better able to control their mental processing and change the strategies they choose to process information.

(6) Assessing Information Processing Approaches: (a) Pay little attention to behavior such as creativity. (b) Do not take into account the social context in which development takes place.

3. Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches a) COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE APPROACHES look at cognitive development through the lens of brain processes.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (1) Cognitive neuroscientists seek to identify actual locations and functions within the brain that are related to different types of cognitive activity; for example, by using brain scans.

(2) This innovative research has identified specific genes associated with some physical and psychological disorders.

(3) Brains of children diagnosed with the disorder autism show explosive, dramatic growth in the first year of life.

4. Assessing the Cognitive Neuroscience Approach (a) Definitely a new frontier (b) Results of investigations are often more descriptive than explanatory D. The Humanistic Perspective: Concentrating on the Unique Qualities of Human Beings 1. The HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE contends that people have a natural capacity to make decisions about their lives and control their behavior. a) According to this approach, each individual has the ability and motivation to reach more advanced levels of maturity, and people naturally seek to reach their full potential. b) This perspective emphasizes free will, the ability of humans to make choices and come to decisions about their lives. c) Carl Rogers suggests that all people have a need for positive regard that results from an underlying wish to be loved and respected. d) Abraham Maslow suggests that self-actualization, a state of self-fulfillment in which people achieve their highest potential in their own unique way, is a primary goal in life.

2. Assessing the Humanistic Perspective a) The humanistic perspective has not had a major impact on the field of lifespan development. b) It has not identified any sort of broad developmental change that is the result of age or experience. c) Some criticize the theory’s assumption that people are basically good, which is unverifiable.

E. The Contextual Perspective: Taking a Broad Approach to Development 1. The Biological Approach to Development a) The BIOECOLOGICAL APPROACH (Bronfenbrenner) is the perspective suggesting that different levels of environment simultaneously influence individuals.

(1) The microsystem is the everyday, immediate environment such as homes, caregivers, friends, and teachers.

(2) The mesosystem connects various aspects of the microsystem, linking children to parents, students to teachers, employees to bosses, and friends to friends.

(3) The exosystem represents such broad influences as local government, the community, schools, places of worship, and the local media.

(4) The macrosystem represents larger cultural influences such as society in general, types of government, religious systems, and political thought.

(5) The chronosystem involves the way the passage of time, including historical events, affects children’s development. b) There are several advantages to taking a bioecological approach to development.

(1) It emphasizes the interconnectedness of the influences on development.

(2) It illustrates that influences are multidirectional.

(3) It stresses the importance of broad cultural factors that affect development. (a) The dominant Western philosophy is individualism, emphasizing personal identity, uniqueness, freedom, and the worth of the individual. (b) Collectivism is the notion that the well-being of the group is more important than that of the individual.

2. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory a) Vygotsky (1896–1934), a Russian child developmentalist, developed SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY, an approach that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Vygotsky argued that children’s understanding of the world is acquired through their problemsolving interactions with adults and other children. c) He also argued that to understand the course of development, we must consider what is meaningful to members of a given culture. d) Sociocultural theory emphasizes that development is the result of recurring reciprocal transactions between people in the child’s environment and the child. e) Assessing Vygotsky’s Theory: (1) Some suggest the strong emphasis on culture and social experience ignores biological factors.

(2) Vygostky minimizes the role individuals can play in shaping their own environment.

F. Evolutionary Perspectives: Our Ancestors’ Contributions to Behavior 1. EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVES seek to identify behavior in today’s humans that is the result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors. a) Evolutionary perspectives grew out of the work of Charles Darwin, who argued in The Origin of Species that a process of natural selection creates traits in a species that are adaptive to their environment. b) The evolutionary perspectives argue that our genetic inheritance determines not only such physical traits as skin and eye color, but also certain personality traits and social behaviors. c) The evolutionary perspective draws on the field of ethology (Konrad Lorenz, 1903–1989), which examines the ways in which our biological makeup influences our behavior. d) The evolutionary perspective encompasses one of the fastest growing areas within the field of lifespan development: behavioral genetics, which studies the effects of heredity on behavior.

2. Assessing the Evolutionary Perspectives a) Some developmentalists criticize the evolutionary perspective for paying insufficient attention to the environment and social factors. b) Others argue that there is no good experimental way to support theories derived from evolution.

G. Why “Which Approach Is Right?” Is the Wrong Question 1. Each emphasizes different aspects of development.

2. Psychodynamic approach emphasizes emotions, motivational conflicts, and unconscious determinants of behavior.

3. Behavioral approaches emphasize overt behavior.

4. Cognitive and humanist approaches look more at what people think than what they do.

5. The evolutionary perspective focuses on how inherited biological factors underlie development.

IV. Research Methods A. Theories and Hypotheses: Posing Developmental Questions 1. The SCIENTIFIC METHOD is the process of posing and answering questions using careful, controlled techniques that include systematic, orderly observation and the collection of data. a) The scientific method involves the formulation of theories, broad explanations, and predictions about phenomena. b) Theories are used to develop HYPOTHESES, predictions stated in a way that permit testing.

B. Choosing a Research Strategy: Answering Questions 1. CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH seeks to identify whether an association or relationship between two factors exists. a) The strength and direction of a relationship between two factors is represented by a mathematical score, called a correlational coefficient, which ranges from +1.0 (positive) to –1.0 (negative).

(1) A positive correlation indicates that as the value of one factor increases, it can be predicted that the value of the other will also increase.

(2) A negative correlation informs us that as the value of one factor increases, the value of the other factor declines. b) Finding that two variables are correlated with one another proves nothing about causality.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 2. Types of Correlational Studies a) NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION is the observation of a naturally occurring behavior without intervention in the situation.

(1) This research has the advantage of seeing people [children] in their natural habitats.

(2) Critiques (a) Researchers cannot control factors of interest and may be unable to see enough behavior to draw any conclusions. (b) Children may know they are being watched and modify their behavior.

(3) Ethnography is a method borrowed from the field of anthropology and used to investigate cultural questions. (a) Researchers act as participant observers, living for a period of weeks, months, or even years in another culture or environment. (b) Ethnography has the same drawbacks as other naturalistic observation, in addition to the problems of generalizing from one culture to another or misinterpreting what is observed.

(4) In qualitative research, researchers select particular settings and seek to describe, in narrative fashion, what is occurring, and why. b) CASE STUDIES involve extensive, in-depth interviews with a particular individual or a small group of individuals.

(1) Case studies are designed to derive broader principles or draw tentative conclusions that might apply to others.

(2) Diaries may be used in that participants are asked to record specific behaviors. c) SURVEY RESEARCH, where people are chosen to represent some larger population and are asked questions about their attitudes, behavior, or thinking on a given topic.

3. Psychophysiological Methods a) PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL METHODS focus on the relationship between physiological processes and behavior.

C. Experiments: Determining Cause and Effect 1. An EXPERIMENT is a process in which an investigator, called an experimenter, devises two different experiences for subjects or participants.

2. These are called TREATMENTS, procedures applied by an investigator based on two different experiences devised for participants.

3. The group receiving the treatment is known as the TREATMENT GROUP or EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. 4. The CONTROL GROUP is the group that receives either no treatment or alternative treatment.

5. Independent and Dependent Variables a) The formation of treatment and control groups represents the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE, the variable that researchers manipulate in an experiment. b) In contrast, the DEPENDENT VARIABLE is the variable that researchers measure in an experiment and expect to change as a result of the experimental manipulation.

6. A critical step in the design of an experiment is to assign participants to different treatment groups on the basis of chance alone, called random assignment, allowing the researcher, through laws of statistics, to draw conclusions with confidence.

7. Choosing a Research Setting a) First, researchers choose a SAMPLE, a group of participants chosen for the experiment. b) FIELD STUDY is a research investigation carried out in a naturally occurring setting. c) LABORATORY STUDY is a research investigation conducted in a controlled setting explicitly designed to hold events constant.

D. Theoretical and Applied Research: Complementary Approaches 1. THEORETICAL RESEARCH is research designed specifically to test some developmental explanation and expand scientific knowledge.

2. APPLIED RESEARCH is research meant to provide practical solutions to immediate problems.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e E. Measuring Developmental Change 1. In LONGITUDINAL RESEARCH, the behavior of one or more individuals is measured as the subjects age. a) They require a tremendous investment of time. b) There is the possibility of participant attrition, or loss. c) Participants may become “test-wise.”

2. From Research to Practice: Developmental Research to Improve Public Policy a) Research on the benefits of foster care encouraged legislation, extending eligibility for foster care to older children (Peters et al., 2008).

3. In CROSS-SECTIONAL RESEARCH, people of different ages are compared at the same point in time. a) Differences may be due to cohort effects. b) Selective dropout, where participants in some age groups are more likely to quit participating in the study than others. c) Changes in individuals or groups are unable to be explained.

4. In SEQUENTIAL STUDIES, researchers examine a number of different age groups over several points in time. a) This combines longitudinal and cross-sectional research. b) It can tell about age changes and age differences.

F. Ethics and Research 1. The Society for Research in Child Development and the American Psychological Association have developed ethical guidelines for researchers. a) Freedom from harm b) Informed consent c) Use of deception d) Maintenance of privacy

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 1.1: Activities for the First Day of Class Humanity: Individually and Collectively Present the following quotation to your students (on a PowerPoint slide, handout, or simply written on the blackboard): Every person is like every other person.

Every person is like some other person.

Every person is like no other person.

Ask students to write three examples of each statement in their notebooks and then volunteer their answers.

Explain to the class that during the semester you will be discussing how developmental psychologists attempt to discover: 1. Universal human qualities over the course of the life span (the first statement); 2. How membership in social groups (gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, age) affects human development (the second statement); and 3. That researchers cannot definitively know the answer to the third statement because all humans are individuals with unique qualities.

I Once Was Blind…

Table 1-4 in the textbook offers a fine summary of the major perspectives on lifespan development. Share that table with your students as you distribute Handout 1-1, which reprints John Godfrey Saxe’s The Blind Men and the Elephant.

This poem is a good introduction to why there are so many theoretical perspectives in developmental psychology. As Feldman states in the text, “…each perspective emphasizes somewhat different aspects of development…the same developmental phenomenon can be looked at from a number of perspectives simultaneously. In fact, some lifespan developmentalists use an eclectic approach, drawing on several perspectives simultaneously.”

Although the textbook briefly introduces the major theories of development (Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Cognitive, Humanistic, and Evolutionary) in Chapter 1, later chapters to go into greater depth on each. You may want to introduce these theories in depth in the beginning of the semester. Some students may be confused by the various theories and an early, in-depth introduction provides more opportunities for your students to understand the similarities and differences among the approaches.

Lecture Launcher 1.2: Biographies of Major Theorists Students often find theories more meaningful and understandable when they understand how each theorist’s life influenced the development of a theory. You may want to supplement your introduction to the various theories by relating germane points from each theorist’s life.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Freud Gay, P. (2006). Freud: A life for our time. New York: Norton. https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss39990.04819/?sp=1 Erikson Hopkins, J. R. (1995). Erik Homburger Erikson (1902–1994). American Psychologist, 50 (9), 796-797. https://www.erikson.edu/about/history/erik-erikson/ Skinner Skinner, B. F. (1976). Particulars of my life. New York: Knopf.

Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a behaviorist. New York: Knopf.

Skinner, B. F. (1983). A matter of consequences. New York: Knopf. https://www.bfskinner.org/ Bandura https://www.psych.ualberta.ca/GCPWS/Bandura/Biography/Bandura_bio3.html https://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Bandura/bandurabio.html Piaget Piaget, J. (1952). Autobiography. In E. Boring (Ed.) History of psychology in autobiography. Vol. 4. Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.

Piaget, J. (1976). Autobiographie. Revuee Européenne des Sciences Sociales, 14 (38-39), 1-43. http://www.piaget.org/aboutPiaget.html Vygotsky Blank, G. (1992). Vygotsky: The man and his cause. In L. C. Moll (Ed). Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press. https://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/obituary.htm

Lecture Launcher 1.3: Introducing Developmental Theories Pose these questions to your students: • • • • •

What is a theory?

What is developmental theory?

Of what value is developmental theory?

How are facts and theories related?

What are the main issues of developmental psychology?

Focus the class discussion not so much on methodology, but more on the core issues: What does it mean to explain human development? If development is a process, can we ever explain what’s happening at any specific moment in time? Moreover, if two theories make competing predictions about what happens between Time X and Time Y…can’t we just wait until Time Y and see what resulted? Keeping the discussion at a higher, theoretical level should help your students master the nitty-gritty of specific theoretical approaches.

Lecture Launcher 1.4: How Do We Know What We Know?

Dependence on observation is one of the hallmarks of science, but it is not the only way humans acquire knowledge. There are, in fact, many questions that cannot be answered by scientific methods and for which other means of acquiring knowledge are more appropriate. Begin your discussion by asking students the following questions: 14 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e • • • • • •

How do you know that George Washington was the first president of the United States?

How do you know that you really have a stomach?

What makes you so sure the sun will rise tomorrow?

How do you know the color of the shirt I’m wearing?

How can you be sure that there aren’t little creatures inside computers that are responsible for the things computers do?

Are you sure you don’t have a big hole in the back of your pants or skirt?

Authority is one source of knowledge. We know, or believe, that Washington was the first president because we trust the authority of historians and history books. During the centuries that Western civilization was dominated by the church, the authority of holy writings was believed to be the only dependable way of knowing.

Reason was considered by Renaissance scholars to be the most reliable source of knowledge. If you say, “All humans have stomachs; I am human; therefore, I have a stomach,” you have used deductive reasoning. If you say, “The sun rose today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, and for as long as I or anyone can remember,” you are using inductive reasoning.

Observation is yet another way of acquiring knowledge. You know the color of my shirt because you can see the shirt. You assume that you do not have a hole in the posterior of your clothing because you have not observed stares and giggles from others.

One might use any of these ways of knowing to deny the existence of little creatures in computers. People you perceive to be authorities about computer innards may have told you how they work. You may have reasoned that creatures need nourishment and there is no food supply inside microprocessors. Or you may have looked inside a computer and failed to see little creatures waiting to solve your problems. But there is no way one can absolutely refute the computer-creature hypothesis; so if you want to keep your computer running, maybe you should find out what the little creatures eat.

All these ways of knowing—authority, reason, and observation—are used by scientists, but observation must be the basis for knowledge that is scientific. Science puts greater emphasis on evidence provided by the senses than on the authority of others or reasoning. In short, science relies on empirical evidence.

Lecture Launcher 1.5: Correlation and Causality There seems to be a general human tendency to attribute causality to correlated events. Laypeople, like psychologists, often impose patterns of (apparently) lawful regularity on observed events. Given what is perceived as an “effect,” we search for causes. Events are more likely to be singled out for attention and analysis when they are unusual, anomalous, and discontinuous with our prior experience. When such events are natural phenomena, they are typically relegated to the status of “cause” and then the search is directed toward their aftereffects.

One of the most persistent instances in which pseudo-correlations of behavioral consequences are reported to flow from salient natural and human events is the “baby boom” syndrome. For example, the allegation of increased birthrate nine months after a major power blackout in New York is well known, as is the baby boom in Israel nine months after their war with Egypt.

Invariably, when base rate data are used to compare the assumed “increase in births,” the effect vanishes. That is, when seasonal fluctuations in births are taken into account, there is no unusual effect left to relate to the ninemonths-earlier unusual event. But that does not deter the correlation seekers. Three University of North Carolina sociologists attributed a 1955 drop in Southern birth rates to the Supreme Court’s 1954 school desegregation 15 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e decision (Rindfuss, Reed, & St. John, 1978). They theorized that uncertain prospects for the future “demoralize” prospective parents (both whites and, to a lesser extent, blacks), causing them to postpone any children they might otherwise have conceived in the three- or four-month period immediately following the decision. The subsequent recovery in the birth rate is attributed to the realization that desegregation would in fact proceed slowly.

Rindfuss, R. R., Reed, J. S., & St. John, C. A. (1978). A fertility reaction to a historical event: Southern white birth rates and the 1954 desegregation ruling. Science, 201, 178-180.

Lecture Launcher 1.6: Damned Lies, Damned Statisticians Joel Best has written an excellent book examining the misuse and abuse of statistics, especially those asserted in the public forum and used for social and political decision-making. The book is a great source of lecture ideas and demonstrations; an anecdote from the introduction will illustrate the kind of material you might draw from.

Best served on the dissertation committee of a student who asserted the following claim in the first sentence of her or his dissertation prospectus: “Every year since 1950, the number of American children gunned down has doubled.” This dramatic statistic certainly attracts attention and would seem to call for strong, unambiguous, immediate legislation of all sorts. But as Best points out, there’s a certain stink hanging over this claim. Let’s say, for example, that in 1950 only one child was gunned down in America. That would mean that in 1951 two children were gunned down, in 1952 four children were gunned down, in 1953 eight children were gunned down, and so on. If this statistic were accurate, by 1965 there would have been 32,768 children gunned down (Best notes that FBI statistics for 1965 revealed only 9,960 criminal homicides of any kind in the entire country). By 1970 the number of deaths would have passed 1 million, and by 1980 it would have passed 1 billion. By 1983 there would have been 8.6 billion gunned down children (more than twice the population of the planet at that time), and by 1995, when this student made this assertion, the number of American children gunned down would have been 35 trillion—a staggering statistic indeed, but for a very different reason!

A little digging by Best revealed the error of the student’s ways. The statement was harvested verbatim from a published article in a journal in the student’s field, but the original statement was made by the Children’s Defense Fund. However, the original statement read, “The number of American children killed each year by guns has doubled since 1950.” Notice that this is a very different statement with a very different meaning: In 1994 the number of children “gunned down” was twice what it was in 1950. Some creative license on the part of the article’s authors (and the student’s lifting of it) led to the combinatorial confusion revealed by Best.

But there’s more to the story. As Best points out, the population of the United States also rose between 1950 and 1994, by about 73 percent. We might therefore expect all kinds of events to increase, including the number of childhood fatalities. Because the population had nearly doubled, the number of childhood shootings (and number of cars purchased, and children born, and television sets bought, and books written, and any number of things) might indeed have seemed to increase just because there were more people. Moreover, there’s some fuzziness about the claim itself. “Child” is a little sticky, given that some Children’s Defense Fund statistics include anyone under the age of 25. Also, “died by gunshot” could include suicides and accidents as well as homicides. Finally, it’s not clear who has compiled the information on these childhood deaths or how the counting was done.

Unfortunately, there are more than enough of these types of statistical missteps that you can share with your students. Use these examples to stress the importance of critical thinking and a keen evaluation of dubious claims.

Best, J. (2012). Damned lies and statistics (updated ed.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

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Lecture Launcher 1.7: Theoretical Research vs. Applied Research For fiscal year 2017, about $1.5 billion was requested by the president of the United States for The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The money budgeted to the NIMH is used to fund psychology research around the country. In broad terms, these research projects can be divided into two categories: basic and applied.

The goal of basic research is simply to expand our understanding and increase our knowledge. For example, a basic research project sponsored by the NIMH may study the function of a single protein in the brain to figure out what it does. The goal of applied research, on the other hand, is to solve a particular problem, such as developing pharmaceutical agents to treat depression. How much taxpayer money should go to basic versus applied research can be a contentious issue. Some feel that basic research wastes money pursuing “knowledge for knowledge’s sake,” and that this money would be put to better use developing treatments for psychological and neurological problems. Supporters of basic research argue that practical treatments often arise from the knowledge gained from basic research, and that applied researchers wouldn’t know where to begin if not for basic research.

After introducing students to the debate over funding for basic versus applied research, ask for volunteers to share their opinions with the class. How would they distribute the NIMH budget? As students discuss the issue, you may want to pose the following questions: When Congress appropriates funds to the NIMH, should it be allowed to specify what percentage goes to basic or applied research? Can the United States afford to fund research that may have no clear benefit to society? What role does serendipity play in scientific discovery?

Make sure students come away from the lesson with an understanding of the importance of both types of research. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/budget/fy-2017-budget-congressional-justification.shtml

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 1.1: Myths about Aging Quiz Distribute copies of Handout 1-2 to your students. Tell them you are going to collect the handouts and save them until you get to the chapters on late adulthood (and then put them where you will remember them!). You can tell your students that late adulthood is a relatively new area of study in developmental psychology. Those who study this life stage are called gerontologists. The reason it is becoming such a popular field of study is that more people are living longer than ever before. Most of your class can expect to live into their 80s or beyond.

You might want to ask the class why they think people are living longer.

Student Activity 1.2: Critical Thinking Exercises Here are a few ways you can incorporate critical thinking into your class.

•

Write a critical thinking question (or several) on the board just before class begins. As students enter, they should take out a piece of paper and try to answer the question. This is useful for motivating them to read the relevant chapter before class if you give them credit for their answers. You can add additional motivation if you tell them some of the critical thinking questions will be on the test. It’s helpful for grading purposes if you decide ahead of time the three or four main points you are looking for in each question.

•

You can choose a critical thinking question as an “exit pass.” Discipline yourself to stop lecturing about five minutes before class ends and pose a thoughtful question related to the day’s material. Students must answer the critical thinking question to exit class. Give them credit for their answers. This is also helpful as a means of taking attendance and preventing students from leaving class early without a good reason.

Student Activity 1.3: How to Think Like a Psychologist Donald McBurney has examined some fundamental principles, vocabulary, and common misconceptions about psychology. Here are a few critical-thinking exercises adapted from his book that relate to Chapter 1. You might also consider making the other titles in the References optional reading, or the basis for an extra-credit assignment.

1. Name several theories of science (or, in particular, developmental psychology) that are “facts” in the everyday sense because they are universally accepted as true.

2. How might considering child development as a puzzle to figure out, rather than a mystery to wonder about, lead one to take a different approach to working with children?

3. How would defining violent incidents operationally help one to study the amount of violence on different TV programs? How would that reduce the subjectivity involved in comparing different programs?

4. If you asked one of your grandparents how child-rearing practices have changed in her or his lifetime, how might she or he explain the changes? What do you think your grandparents would think of them?

5. How does psychology relate to other sciences, such as biology, chemistry, and physics?

McBurney, D. H. (2002). How to think like a psychologist: Critical thinking in psychology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e DiYanni, R. (2015). The Pearson guide to critical and creative thinking. Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education.

Ruggiero, V. R. (2015). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought (11th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education.

Student Activity 1.4: Design a Research Study An appropriate collaborative learning activity for teaching about research methods is to allow students the opportunity to design their own study. Divide your class into groups with the assignment to design a study in some area related to human development. Some suggestions are: What foods do infants prefer? Why are children aggressive? Why do adolescents like to hang out at malls? What methods of quitting smoking are most effective? Why do we fall in love? Does having a pet increase the well-being of elderly people? Groups can also develop ideas of their own.

Using Handout 1-3, ask each group to design a study to investigate the topic of their choice. Groups can share their designs with the class, and other groups can critique the designs.

Student Activity 1.5: Reading Professional Journals Handouts 1-4 and 1-5 are designed to acquaint students with research published in the field of developmental psychology. This assignment also familiarizes students with the scientific method and the tone of professional writing. Students can learn to use computer databases to select topics of interest and find various journals.

It’s even better to have a selection of journals on hand for the students to browse through. This is a good opportunity to have students check out the methods section and determine whether experimental research or correlational research was used. An alternative way of using this assignment is to have students find two research reports on the same topic and compare how each study was conducted. Which study was preferred, and why?

Student Activity 1.6: Understanding Correlations This exercise on correlations can be used as a classroom demonstration or as a take-home assignment following a lecture on the nature and uses of correlations. The student handout for this exercise is included as Handout 1.6. Suggested answers are provided below; however, there are other reasonable explanations.

1.

Positive. Mutual influence. Similar life experiences.

2.

Negative. Orphanage environment has an adverse effect on cognitive development. Intelligent children are more likely to be adopted.

3.

Positive. Violent pornography stimulates violent behavior. Both the violent crime and the number of stores are related to the size of cities. Violent criminals are attracted to violent pornography.

4.

Negative. Absent students miss pearls of wisdom from the mouth of the instructor. Students with jobs or other responsibilities find it difficult both to get to class and to find time to study.

5.

Positive. The money appropriated to control crime was poorly spent. The city grew during the eight years, resulting in more crime and more tax revenues.

6.

Positive. Both variables are related to socioeconomic factors; children from affluent homes have both intellectual and physical advantages over children from substandard home environments. Age is the third variable that accounts for scores on both variables; older children have bigger vocabularies and are also stronger and better coordinated.

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Student Activity 1.7: Reflective Journals Keeping a journal throughout the course is a good way for students to integrate material learned in class with their own lives. Determine ahead of time how often students will hand in their journals for comment. Keep in mind that if students are graded on their reflections, they will make a greater effort to give you higher-quality work. Realize also that it may take a few weeks for students to feel comfortable sharing their lives with you.

Stress that any journal material is strictly confidential and will only be read by the instructor. Note: You might want to assign a particular type of notebook or binder so that you can carry all the journals on the day students turn them in. Use Handout 1-7 to guide the first reflective journal assignment.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Bucx, F. (2018). Child development: Theories and critical perspectives. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(1), 304-308.

Bukowski, W. M., Laursen, B., & Rubin, K. H. (Eds.). (2018). Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups. New York: Guilford Publications.

Chung, D. (2018). The eight stages of psychosocial protective development: Developmental psychology. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 8(06), 369.

Congdon, E. L., Novack, M. A., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2018). Gesture in experimental studies: How videotape technology can advance psychological theory. Organizational Research Methods, 21(2), 489-499.

Demetriou, A. & Spanoudis, G. (2018). Growing minds: A developmental theory of intelligence, brain, and education. New York: Routledge.

Genovese, J. E. (2018). Evidence of a Flynn effect in children's human figure drawings (1902–1968). The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 1-7.

Illeris, K. (2018). An overview of the history of learning theory. European Journal of Education, 53(1), 86-101.

Kenny, D. T. (2018). Bringing up baby: The psychoanalytic infant comes of age. New York: Routledge.

Lerner, R. M. & Lerner, J. V. (2018). An idiographic approach to adolescent research: theory, method, and application. In Reframing Adolescent Research (pp. 39-52). New York: Routledge.

McKenney, S. & Reeves, T. C. (2018). Conducting educational design research. New York: Routledge.

Mercer, J. A. (2018). Child development: concepts and theories. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Mukherji, P. & Albon, D. (2018). Research methods in early childhood: An introductory guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Owen, I. R. (2018). On attachment: The view from developmental psychology. New York: Routledge.

Shelton, L. (2018). The Bronfenbrenner primer: A guide to develecology. New York: Routledge.

Solan, R. (2018). The enigma of childhood: The profound impact of the first years of life on adults as couples and parents. New York: Routledge.

Taylor, S. & Workman, L. (2018). The psychology of human social development: From infancy to adolescence.

New York: Routledge.

Von Tetzchner, S. (2018). Child and adolescent psychology: Typical and atypical development. New York: Routledge.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Crash Course: Freud

A brief overview of psychoanalytic theory

1. What did Freud assume about people’s awareness of their own motives, wishes, and desires?

2. Briefly explain how free association and dream analysis contribute to the goals of psychoanalytic therapy.

Crash Course: Humanism

A brief overview of the humanistic perspective

1. What is the main focus of the humanistic perspective? What points do humanists emphasize?

2. Explain why both humanistic and psychoanalytic theorists agree that insight is the key to self-awareness and growth?

Assimilation and Accommodation

Key Piagetian concepts are reviewed

1. Explain how assimilation and accommodation differ from one another, and give an example of each.

2. Discuss how sensory abilities (using hands, mouth, eyes, and so on) allow an infant to engage in assimilation and accommodation.

Evolutionary Psychology

David Buss discusses the central elements of this perspective

1. What is the central question asked by psychologists who adopt the evolutionary perspective?

2. Why are survival and reproduction core concepts in the evolutionary perspective?

Scientific Research Methods

Variables, random assignment, and other procedures are discussed

1. What is the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable?

2. Why is random assignment to conditions necessary in order to reach valid conclusions from an experiment?

How to Answer Psychological Questions

Wondering how? This video tells you

1. Why is it important to select the appropriate research strategy for a question of interest? Provide an example where the question asked would not be well-served by the method used to answer it.

2. Briefly explain the key elements of any two research techniques commonly used by psychological scientists.

Ethics and Psychological Research

A very brief overview of ethical guidelines is presented

1. What primary considerations need to be balanced when planning an ethical research study?

2. Why is deception sometimes necessary when conducting experiments in psychology?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 1-1

The Blind Men and the Elephant

By John Godfrey Saxe Is mighty plain”, quoth he; “’Tis clear enough the elephant Is very like a tree.”

It was six men of Indostan To learning much inclined, Who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind.

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said, “E’en the blindest man Can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can, This marvel of an elephant Is very like a fan!”

The First approached the elephant, And, happening to fall Against his broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: “God bless me! but the elephant Is nothing but a wall!”

The Sixth no sooner had begun About the beast to grope, Than, seizing on the swinging tail That fell within his scope, “I see,” quoth he, “the elephant Is very like a rope!”

The Second, feeling of the tusk, Cried, “Ho! what have we here So very round and smooth and sharp?

To me ’tis mighty clear This wonder of an elephant Is very like a spear!”

And so these men of Indostan Disputed loud and long, Each in his own opinion Exceeding stiff and strong, Though each was partly in the right, And all were in the wrong!

The Third approached the animal, And, happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands, Thus boldly up and spake: “I see,” quoth he, “the elephant Is very like a snake!”

So, oft in theologic wars The disputants, I ween, Rail on in utter ignorance Of what each other mean, And prate about an elephant Not one of them has seen!

The Fourth reached out his eager hand, And felt about the knee: “What most this wondrous beast is like

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 1-2 The Myths of Aging Quiz Circle T for true or F for false.

T

F

1.

The majority of old people are senile (e.g., have defective memory, are disoriented, or demented).

T

F

2.

The five senses all tend to weaken in old age.

T

F

3.

The majority of old people have no interest in, nor capacity for, sexual relations.

T

F

4.

Lung capacity tends to decline in old age.

T

F

5.

The majority of old people feel miserable most of the time.

T

F

6.

Physical strength tends to decline in old age.

T

F

7.

At least 25 percent of the aged are living in long-term institutions (such as nursing homes, mental hospitals, and homes for the aged).

T

F

8.

Aged drivers have fewer accidents per driver than those under age 65.

T

F

9.

Older workers usually cannot work as effectively as younger workers.

T

F

10.

Over three-fourths of the aged are healthy enough to carry out their normal activities.

T

F

11.

The majority of old people are unable to adapt to change.

T

F

12.

Old people usually take longer to learn something new.

T

F

13.

It is almost impossible for the average old person to learn something new.

T

F

14.

Older people tend to react more slowly than do younger people.

T

F

15.

In general, old people tend to be pretty much alike.

T

F

16.

The majority of old people say they are seldom bored.

T

F

17.

The majority of old people are socially isolated.

T

F

18.

Older workers have fewer accidents than younger workers.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 1-3 Design a Research Study Working with your group members, design a study related to human development. In doing so, address the following issues: 1.

What is your research problem or question?

2.

Are you seeking to establish cause and effect (an experimental design) or looking for a relationship between variables (a correlational design)?

3.

What are your variables? Is there a need to identify one as the independent variable and one as the dependent variable? If so, what are they? How are the variables operationally defined?

4.

What is your hypothesis?

5.

What major developmental design are you using? Note whether you are incorporating longitudinal, cross-sectional, cross-sequential, or cross-cultural methods.

6.

Who are the members of your population? How did you draw your sample? Will you have an experimental and control group? If so, how are participants assigned to each group?

7.

What data gathering strategies will you use?

8.

Describe, diagram, or explain your research procedure.

9.

What do you think your results will be?

10.

How did you minimize bias in your study?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 1-4 Professional Journal Assignment 1. Choose an empirical article from a professional journal where the authors describe the purpose, method, and results of a scientific investigation. Some examples of relevant journals in developmental psychology are: Adolescence Aging and Cognition Child Development Death Studies Developmental Psychology Developmental Review Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences Human Development Journal of Black Psychology Journal of Marriage and the Family Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Journal of Youth and Adolescence Merrill-Palmer Quarterly Psychology and Aging Research on Aging Note that not all research articles are complicated reading. As a novice, it might help to browse through the journals until you come upon one that is of interest as well as readable.

2. Identify your article by including a full APA style reference of it at the top of your assignment.

3. Briefly summarize the research article using the headings most common to such empirical reports.

These include the Introduction, which generally states a rationale for the investigation and the purpose of the study. The Introduction also reviews relevant research. Next is the Method section, which includes a description of the participants, instruments, and procedures. The Results section which comes next, addresses the significant findings of the study. Finally comes the Discussion, where the authors summarize the findings and future directions.

Note that in writing an abstract you do not want to reproduce or summarize the entire article. Rather, you want to provide the most salient information as succinctly as possible in each of the aforementioned areas. Further, in some instances you might choose to replicate or incorporate part of the original text. In these cases you MUST put quotation marks around the words you are copying, followed by the page number in parentheses.

4. Type your one-page abstract.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 1-5 Sample Abstract Oltjenbruns, K. A. (1991). Positive outcomes of adolescents’ experience with grief. Journal of Adolescent Research, 6(1), 43-53.

INTRODUCTION Reports suggest that by the time youngsters finish high school, 90 percent of them will have experienced the death of a family member or friend. Yet, there is very little grief-related literature examining adolescent populations, particularly in terms of possible positive outcomes to grief. Thus, the purpose of this research was to “examine the perceptions of older adolescents regarding positive outcomes, if any, to the grief experience” and “to determine if there are significant differences in responses related to ethnicity, gender, or the personality variable of locus of control” (p. 46).

METHOD Participants Research packets were mailed to a computer-generated random sample list of 1,200 addresses. A total of 336 individuals returned consent forms and completed surveys; however, only 93 fit the criteria for inclusion in the study. Of these 93 participants, 37 percent were Mexican-American, 63 percent were Anglo-American, 28 percent were male, and 72 percent were female. The age range of participants was 16 to 22 years old.

Procedure Participants responded to the question “What positive outcomes, if any, do you feel were the result of your grief experience(s)? Check all that apply” (p. 47). Seven checklist options were included; for example, “have a deeper appreciation for life, developed emotional strength, and increased empathy for others” (p. 47). In order to measure the personality variable, participants also responded to the Rotter I-E Locus of Control Scale.

RESULTS Results indicated that 96 percent of the participants identified at least one positive outcome. The most frequent positive outcomes were “deeper appreciation of life (74 percent), greater caring for loved ones (67 percent), strengthened emotional bonds with others (56 percent), and developed emotional strength (53 percent)” (p. 48). The less-noted positive outcomes were “increased empathy for others (47 percent), better communication skills (28 percent), and enhanced problem solving skills (9 percent)” (p. 48). Chi-square tests with Yates correction formula were computed to determine if there were significant differences in responses between ethnic groups or gender. No differences were found. However, “significantly more persons with an internal locus of control orientation reported that better communication skills were a positive outcome of their grief experience (X2 = 4.153 [1, N = 93], p < .05)” (p. 48). Some participants added positive outcomes that were not included in the list, for example, “put priorities in a different perspective and made me more independent” (p. 49).

DISCUSSION It is suggested that learning more about adolescent grief reactions, both painful and positive outcomes, can be beneficial for both the griever and helper. It is also suggested that more research be conducted.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout Master 1.6 Understanding Correlations Correlational studies show relationships between variables. If high scores on one variable predict high scores on the other variable, the correlation is positive. If high scores on one variable predict low scores on the other variable, the correlation is negative.

Showing that two variables are related does not justify claiming that a causal relationship exists. There may be a causal relationship, but other explanations usually exist. For example, the variables may be related because both have a causal relationship with a third variable.

For each of the correlational studies described below, decide whether the correlation is positive or negative, and give two alternative explanations for each finding.

1. A study of married couples showed that the longer they had been married, the more similar their opinions on social and political issues were.

Positive or negative?

Explanation 1:

Explanation 2:

2. An intelligence test was given to all the children in an orphanage. The results showed that the longer children had lived in the orphanage, the lower their IQ scores.

Positive or negative?

Explanation 1:

Explanation 2:

3. In a study of American cities, a relationship was found between the number of violent crimes and the number of stores selling violence-depicting pornography.

Positive or negative?

Explanation 1:

Explanation 2:

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e A college professor found that the more class absences students have, the lower their grade in the course tends to be.

Positive or negative?

Explanation 1:

Explanation 2:

4. A politician running against a candidate who had been in office for eight years pointed out that violent crime had increased steadily during those eight years even though the administration appropriated more and more money to fight crime.

Positive or negative?

Explanation 1:

Explanation 2:

5. It was found that elementary-school children who made high scores on a vocabulary test also tended to make high scores on a test of physical strength and muscular coordination.

Positive or negative?

Explanation 1:

Explanation 2:

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Handout 1-7 Reflective Journal Exercise 1 Think of yourself at a particular time in your childhood (e.g., age 10). Using Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological perspective, reflect in your journal about the following: microsystem Describe: your family your school and teacher your peer group the media: favorite TV shows, books, movies your surrounding community mesosystem Describe: how your parents interacted with your peers how your parents interacted with your school whether your parents helped with schoolwork how your community supported your school or activities (e.g., sports) exosystem Describe: your parents’ jobs vacations you took whether there was a divorce in your family macrosystem Describe: your ethnic heritage your religious affiliations whether you lived in an urban (city) or rural (country) setting your social class (poor, working class, middle class, wealthy) what was going on in the world at the time (e.g., international conflicts, who was president) chronosystem Describe: how you were impacted by an historical event (such as the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001) or more gradual historic changes (the change in the number of women who work outside of the home)

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Chapter 2 THE START OF LIFE: PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

11

Student Activities

15

Supplemental Reading

17

Revel Multimedia

18

Handouts

19

1 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Resources

Revel Resources

Earliest Development Genes and Chromosomes: The Code of Life Multiple Births: Two—or More—for the Genetic Price of One Boy or Girl? Establishing the Sex of the Child The Basics of Genetics: The Mixing and Matching of Traits The Human Genome and Behavioral Genetics: Cracking the Genetic Code Inherited and Genetic Disorders: When Development Deviates from the Norm Genetic Counseling: Predicting the Future from the Genes of the Present The Interaction of Heredity and Environment The Role of the Environment in Determining the Expression of Genes: From Genotypes to Phenotypes Studying Development: How Much Is Nature? How Much Is Nurture?

Genes and the Environment: Working Together Psychological Disorders: The Role of Genetics and Environment Can Genes Influence the Environment?

Learning Objectives 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7

An Introduction to Embryonic and Fetal Development

Prenatal Growth and Change Fertilization: The Moment of Conception The Stages of the Prenatal Period: The Onset of Development Pregnancy Problems The Prenatal Environment: Threats to Development

Learning Objectives 2.13, 2.14, 2.15, 2.16

Chapter Outline

Lecture Launchers 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 Student Activities 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4

Learning Objective 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12

Student Activity 2.1

Student Activities 2.3, 2.5, 2.6

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2D and 4D Ultrasounds Genetic Mechanisms and Behavioral Genetics

Lecture Launcher 2.1, 2.6

Lecture Launchers 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5

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Genetics and Prenatal Development

Crash Course: Sex and Fertilization Healthcare Triage News

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 2.1

Describe how genes and chromosomes provide our basic genetic endowment.

LO 2.2

Compare monozygotic twins with dizygotic twins.

LO 2.3

Describe how the sex of a child is determined.

LO 2.4

Explain the mechanisms by which genes transmit information.

LO 2.5

Describe the field of behavioral genetics.

LO 2.6

Describe the major inherited disorders.

LO 2.7

Describe the role of genetic counselors and differentiate between different forms of prenatal testing.

LO 2.8

Explain how the environment and genetics work together to determine human characteristics.

LO 2.9

Summarize how researchers study the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in development.

LO 2.10 Explain how genetics and the environment jointly influence physical traits, intelligence, and personality.

LO 2.11 Explain the role genetics and the environment play in the development of psychological disorders.

LO 2.12 Describe ways in which genes influence the environment.

LO 2.13 Explain the process of fertilization.

LO 2.14 Summarize the three stages of prenatal development.

LO 2.15 Describe some of the physical and ethical challenges that relate to pregnancy.

LO 2.16 Describe the threats to the fetal environment and what can be done about them.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Prologue: The Future Is Now A. The Monacos’ story illustrates the difficult decisions that sometimes accompany prenatal development.

B. Genetic testing can provide information that aids in prenatal decision-making.

II. Earliest Development A. Genes and Chromosomes: The Code of Life 1. Humans begin life as a single cell.

2. Our genetic code is stored and communicated in our GENES, the basic units of genetic information. a) Genes are composed of sequences of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the substance that determines the nature of every cell in the body and how it will function. b) Humans have over 25,000 genes. c) Genes are arranged in specific locations and in a specific order along 46 CHROMOSOMES, rod-shaped portions of DNA that are organized in 23 pairs.

(1) One pair of chromosomes (via the gametes) is provided by the mother; one by the father at fertilization. d) GAMETES (sperm and ova) are formed by a process called meiosis. e) ZYGOTE is one cell formed by fusion of the two gametes. f) All other cells replicate the genetic code by a process called mitosis. g) There are tens of trillions of possible genetic combinations.

B. Multiple Births: Two—or More—for the Genetic Price of One 1. Less than 3 percent of all pregnancies produce twins; the odds are slimmer for three or more children.

2. MONOZYGOTIC TWINS, who are genetically identical, form when a cluster of cells in the ovum splits off within the first two weeks following fertilization.

3. DIZYGOTIC TWINS, who are produced when two separate ova are fertilized by two separate sperm, are no more genetically similar than two siblings.

4. Other kinds of multiple births (triplets, quadruplets, etc.) can form from either mechanism.

5. Using fertility drugs increases the chances of having a multiple birth. a) 1 in 10 are dizygotic. b) Older women are more likely to have multiple births. c) Racial and ethnic differences affect the rate of multiple births. d) Caucasian: 1 out of 86 dizygotic. e) African American: 1 out of 70 dizygotic.

C. Boy or Girl? Establishing the Sex of the Child 1. The 23rd chromosome determines the sex of the child. a) Females are XX. b) Males are XY. c) The father’s sperm determines the sex of the child.

D. The Basics of Genetics: The Mixing and Matching of Traits 1. An Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel (1822-1884), working with peas, discovered that when two competing traits were present, only one could be expressed. a) The trait that is expressed when two competing traits are present is called the DOMINANT TRAIT. b) The trait that is present in the organism but not expressed is called the RECESSIVE TRAIT. c) GENOTYPE is the underlying combination of genetic material present (but not outwardly visible) in an organism. d) PHENOTYPE is an observable trait, the trait that is actually seen. e) Alleles are genes for traits that may take alternate forms.

(1) HOMOZYGOUS is inheriting from parents similar genes for a given trait.

(2) HETEROZYGOUS is inheriting from parents different forms of a gene for a given trait. f) If a child receives a recessive allele from each parent, it will display the recessive characteristic.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 2. Transmission of Genetic Information a) Discussion of the transmission of phenylketonuria (PKU), an inherited disorder in which a child is unable to make use of an essential amino acid present in proteins found in milk and other foods. Untreated, PKU levels will build up, causing brain damage and intellectual impairment.

3. Polygenic Traits a) Most traits are the result of POLYGENIC INHERITANCE, in which a combination of multiple gene pairs is responsible for the production of a particular trait. b) Some genes (such as those for blood type AB) are neither dominant nor recessive but are a combination. c) Some recessive genes are X-LINKED GENES, meaning they are located on the X chromosome.

(1) Males have a higher risk for a variety of X-linked disorders because they lack a second X chromosome to counteract the genetic information that produces the disorder.

(2) Hemophilia is a blood disorder produced by X-linked genes.

E. The Human Genome and Behavioral Genetics: Cracking the Genetic Code 1. In 2001, molecular biologists succeeded in mapping the human genome—the specific sequence of genes on each chromosome. a) The number of human genes has been revised downward from 100,000 to 25,000. b) Humans share 99.9 percent of the gene sequence.

2. The most recent approach to the study of the effects of heredity on behavior and development is called BEHAVIORAL GENETICS. a) This field merges psychology—the study of behavior—with genetics—the study of transmission of characteristics through heredity. b) These researchers are learning how behavioral difficulties (such as schizophrenia) may have a genetic basis. c) Researchers also seek to identify how genetic defects may be remedied.

F. Inherited and Genetic Disorders: When Development Deviates from the Norm 1. Some genetic disorders are inherited (e.g., PKU).

2. Some genetic disorders are the result of genes that become physically damaged. a) Sometimes genes spontaneously change their form, a process called spontaneous mutation. b) Certain environmental factors, such as exposure to X-rays, can produce malformed genetic material. c) Some genetic disorders include: (1) DOWN SYNDROME is a disorder produced by the presence of an extra chromosome on the 21st chromosome pair, once referred to as mongolism.

(2) FRAGILE X SYNDROME is a disorder produced by injury to a gene on the X chromosome, producing mild to moderate intellectual impairment.

(3) SICKLE-CELL ANEMIA is a blood disorder that gets its name from the shape of the red blood cells in those who have it.

(4) TAY-SACHS DISEASE is an untreatable disorder that produces blindness and muscle degeneration prior to death.

(5) One male out of every 400 is born with KLINEFELTER’S SYNDROME, a disorder resulting from the presence of an extra X chromosome that produces underdeveloped genitals, extreme height, and enlarged breasts.

G. Genetic Counseling: Predicting the Future from the Genes of the Present 1. Discipline focuses on helping people deal with issues related to inherited disorders.

2. Genetic counselors use a variety of data. a) They can take a thorough family history, seeking any familial incidence of birth defects. b) The age of mother and father will be taken into account. c) Blood, skin, and urine may be used to isolate and examine specific chromosomes. d) Possible genetic defects can be identified by assembling a karyotype, a chart containing enlarged photos of each of the chromosomes.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 3. Prenatal Testing: Other tests take place once the woman is already pregnant: a) ULTRASOUND SONOGRAPHY is a process in which high-frequency sound waves scan the mother’s womb to produce an image of the unborn baby, whose size and shape can then be assessed. b) CHORIONIC VILLUS SAMPLING (CVS) is a test used to find genetic defects that involves taking samples of hairlike material that surrounds the embryo. c) AMNIOCENTESIS is the process of identifying genetic defects by examining a small sample of fetal cells drawn by a needle inserted into the amniotic fluid surrounding the unborn fetus.

4. Screening for Future Problems a) Huntington’s disease and more than a thousand other disorders can be predicted based on genetic testing. b) At home, genetic tests are joining the ranks of at-home pregnancy tests, whereby people simply collect a saliva specimen and send it off to a lab to uncover his or her carrier status for inherited conditions.

5. Are “Designer Babies” in our future? a) Other advances include germ-line gene therapy, a process where genetic modifications can correct problems not only for unborn individuals but for future generations. b) Technology is making possible the feat of cloning—the creation of a complete human being.

III. The Interaction of Heredity and Environment A. The Role of the Environment in Determining the Expression of Genes: From Genotypes to Phenotypes 1. Interaction of Factors a) An individual’s TEMPERAMENT, the patterns of arousal and emotionality that represent consistent and enduring characteristics, may represent MULTIFACTORIAL TRANSMISSION, traits that are determined by a combination of both genetic and environmental factors in which a genotype provides a range within which a phenotype may be expressed. b) Some genotypes are not as sensitive to the environment as others are.

B. Studying Development: How Much Is Nature? How Much Is Nurture?

1. The correct question is not whether behavior is caused by nature or nurture, but how much by nature and how much by nurture.

2. Nonhuman studies Animal Studies: Controlling Both Genetics and Environment a) Scientists put laboratory animals bred to share genetic backgrounds in different environments to explore the effects of these environments. b) Conversely, they use genetically different animals in similar environments to determine the role of genetics.

3. Contrasting Relatedness and Behavior: Adoption, Twin, and Family Studies a) Scientists use human twins to study the effects of genes and the environment. b) Differences between monozygotic twins separated at birth are most likely but not always due to different environments. c) If monozygotic twins are more similar than dizygotic twins on a particular trait, then we can assume that genetics plays a role. d) People who are unrelated but share the same environment also tell us about environmental influences. e) Researchers also study biological parents and their children versus adoptive parents and their children to see the effects of heredity versus environment. f) Bottom line: Virtually all traits, characteristics, and behaviors are the joint result of the combination and interaction of nature and nurture. g) The more genetically similar two people are, the more likely they are to share physical characteristics (e.g., height, weight). h) Genetics plays a significant role in intelligence; however, the environment is also a significant factor.

C. Genetics and the Environment: Working Together 6 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 1. Physical Traits: Family Resemblances a) Twins plainly show a great deal of resemblance, but genetics also influences similarity of blood pressure, respiration, or longevity.

2. Intelligence: More Research, More Controversy a) The extent to which “biology is destiny,” especially with regard to cognitive skills, remains hotly contested.

3. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Personality: Born to Be Outgoing? a) Increasing evidence supports the conclusion that at least some personality traits have at least some genetic components. b) Neuroticism refers to the degree of moodiness, touchiness, or sensitivity an individual characteristically displays. c) Extroversion is the degree to which a person seeks to be with others, to behave in an outgoing manner, and generally to be sociable. d) Certain traits reflect the contribution of genetics more than others.

(1) Social potency (2) Traditionalism e) Political attitudes, religious interests and values, even attitudes toward human sexuality seem to have genetic components.

D. Psychological Disorders: The Role of Genetics and Environment 1. Several psychological disorders have been shown to be related, at least in part, to genetic factors: a) Schizophrenia b) Major depression c) Alcoholism d) Autism e) Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder E. Can Genes Influence the Environment?

1. Sandra Scarr suggests three ways a child’s genetic predisposition might influence his or her environment: a) Children focus on environments that are connected with their genetically determined abilities.

(1) Ex: Active, aggressive child toward sports b) Passive gene-environment influence (1) Ex.: Sports-oriented parent, who has good coordination genes, provides many opportunities for a child to play sports. c) Genetically driven temperament may evoke certain environmental influences.

(1) Infant’s demanding behavior causes parents to be more attentive.

IV. Prenatal Growth and Change A. Fertilization: The Moment of Conception 1. FERTILIZATION is the process by which a sperm and an ovum—the male and female gametes— join to form a single new cell.

B. The Stages of the Prenatal Period: The Onset of Development 1. The Germinal Stage: Fertilization to 2 Weeks a) The prenatal period consists of three phases: (1) The GERMINAL STAGE is the first and shortest stage of prenatal development, which takes place during the first two weeks following conception.

(2) It is characterized by methodical cell division and the attachment of the organism (blastocyst) to the wall of the uterus.

(3) The developing child is called a zygote at this stage.

(4) The cells become specialized with some forming a protective layer around the zygote, while others create: (a) PLACENTA, the conduit between the mother and fetus, providing nourishment and oxygen via the umbilical cord.

2. The Embryonic Stage: 2 Weeks to 8 Weeks 7 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) The second stage is called the EMBRYONIC STAGE, the period from two to eight weeks following fertilization during which significant growth occurs in the major organs and body systems.

(1) At this point, the developing child is called an embryo.

(2) The developing child is now composed of three layers: (a) The ectoderm is the outer layer forming the skin, hair, teeth, sense organs, brain, and spinal cord. (b) The endoderm is the inner layer producing the digestive system, liver, pancreas, and respiratory system. (c) The mesoderm is sandwiched between the inner and outer layers and forms the muscles, bones, blood, and circulatory system.

3. The Fetal Stage: 8 Weeks to Birth a) The FETAL STAGE begins about eight weeks after conception and continues until birth.

(1) The developing child from eight weeks after conception until birth is called a FETUS. (2) The fetus dramatically increases in size and weight.

(3) Organs become more differentiated and operational.

(4) By three months, the fetus swallows and urinates.

(5) By four months, the mother will be able to feel her fetus move.

C. Pregnancy Problems 1. INFERTILITY a) Fifteen percent of couples suffer from INFERTILITY, the inability to conceive after 12 to 18 months of trying to become pregnant. b) Infertility is produced by several causes: (1) The age of the parents (2) Previous use of birth control pills, illicit drugs or cigarettes, STDs (3) Men who have an abnormally low sperm count (4) The woman’s mother taking certain drugs during pregnancy (5) The most common cause of infertility is failure to release an egg through ovulation— possibly caused by hormonal imbalance, damage to fallopian tube or uterus, or stress. c) There are several approaches to conception.

(1) ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION is a process of fertilization in which a man’s sperm is placed directly into a woman’s vagina by a physician.

(2) IN VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF) is a procedure in which a woman’s ova are removed from her ovaries, and a man’s sperm are used to fertilize the ova in a laboratory. (a) IVF Statistics (i) Success rates as high as 33 percent for younger women (lower rates for older women) (ii) Worldwide, more than 3 million babies created via IVF (b) Examples of IVF (i) Choosing sex of baby (ii) In rarer cases, a SURROGATE MOTHER, a woman who agrees to carry the child to term, may be used in cases where the mother is unable to conceive; she is artificially inseminated by the biological father, and she gives up rights to the infant.

(3) GAMETE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER (GIFT) and ZYGOTE INTRAFALLOPIAN TRANSFER (ZIFT), procedures in which an egg and sperm or fertilized egg are implanted in a woman’s fallopian tubes.

2. Ethical Issues a) Ethical and legal issues, as well as emotional concerns, are present and may result in the rights of the mother, the father, the surrogate mother, and ultimately the child being in conflict. b) Sex selection techniques are even more troubling, and questions arise about intervening in the reproductive process to obtain a favored sex or other characteristics.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Evidence suggests that the quality of parenting in families who have used artificial means to conception may even be superior to naturally conceived children. d) The psychological adjustment of children conceived artificially is no different than that of children conceived using natural techniques.

3. Miscarriage and Abortion a) A miscarriage—known as spontaneous abortion—occurs when pregnancy ends before the developing child is able to survive outside the womb.

(1) 15 to 20 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage.

(2) Many times, the mother is not even aware she is pregnant.

(3) Typically, miscarriages are attributable to some sort of genetic abnormality.

(4) Abortion is the voluntary termination of a pregnancy by the mother.

D. The Prenatal Environment: Threats to Development 1. Certain aspects of mother’s and father’s behavior, both before and after conception, can produce lifelong consequences for the child. a) Some of the most profound consequences are brought about by a TERATOGEN, an environmental agent such as a virus, chemical, or other factor that produces a birth defect. b) At some phases of prenatal development, a teratogen may have minimal impact; at other periods, consequences can be severe.

2. Mother’s Diet a) A mother’s diet clearly plays an important role in bolstering the development of the fetus. b) A woman who eats a varied diet high in nutrients is apt to have fewer complications during pregnancy, an easier labor, and a generally healthier baby.

3. Mother’s Age a) Research shows that mothers over 30 and adolescent mothers are at greater risk for a variety of pregnancy and birth complications: (1) Premature birth (2) Low birth weight (3) Down syndrome (4) Higher infant mortality rates for adolescent mothers 4. Mother’s Prenatal Support a) Many teenage moms do not have enough economic and social support.

(1) May affect infant health (2) Prevents getting good prenatal care 5. Mother’s Health a) Illness in a pregnant woman can have devastating consequences.

(1) Rubella (German measles) prior to the 11th week can cause blindness, deafness, heart defects, or brain damage.

(2) Chicken pox and mumps may cause birth defects and miscarriage, respectively.

(3) Syphilis and gonorrhea can be transmitted to the child.

(4) AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) can affect newborns (a) If a mother with AIDS takes antiviral drugs (e.g., AZT), less than 5 percent of infants are born with the disease. (b) Babies born with AIDS must remain on antiviral drugs their entire lives.

6. Mother’s Drug Use a) Mother’s use of legal and illegal drugs pose serious risks to the unborn child: (1) Aspirin, for example, taken for a headache, can lead to fetal bleeding.

(2) Thalidomide causes missing limbs.

(3) DES (diethylstilbestrol) later caused cervical and vaginal cancer in daughters.

(4) Marijuana restricts oxygen to the fetus.

(5) Cocaine restricts blood flow and oxygen; babies are born addicted and go through withdrawal; they are shorter and weigh less; they have serious respiratory problems and birth defects or seizures; it is often impossible to soothe them.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 7. Mother’s Use of Alcohol and Tobacco a) Both alcohol and cigarettes can disrupt the development of the fetus: b) FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDER (FASD) is a disorder caused by the pregnant mother consuming substantial quantities of alcohol during pregnancy, potentially resulting in intellectual impairment, delayed growth, and facial deformities.

(1) Even smaller amounts of alcohol can produce FETAL ALCOHOL EFFECTS (FAE), a condition in which children display some, although not all, of the problems of FASD due to their mother’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.

(2) Just two drinks a day have been associated with lower intelligence. c) Smoking reduces the oxygen content and increases carbon monoxide.

(1) Babies can miscarry or are born with abnormally low birth weight.

(2) Babies born to smokers are shorter and may be 50 percent more likely to have intellectual impairment.

8. Do Fathers Affect the Prenatal Environment? a) Fathers can affect the prenatal environment: (1) Secondhand smoke can affect the mother’s health.

(2) Alcohol and illegal drugs can lead to chromosomal damage at conception.

(3) Stress may produce an unhealthy environment for the mother.

(4) Sperm damage may result from father’s exposure to environmental toxins in the workplace.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 2.1: “The Epidemic That Wasn’t”: Crack Babies The findings of Barry Lester’s longitudinal research on crack babies are discussed in this New York Times article. Although there are significant differences in IQ between those exposed to crack prenatally and their nonexposed counterparts, the differences are smaller than even Lester expected and likely not clinically significant.

Discuss with your students how something that can appear to be an obvious teratogen (and likely almost always is) can nonetheless have its effects modulated by genetic and environmental factors.

Lester, B. M., Andreozzi, L., & Appiah, L. (2004). Substance use during pregnancy: time for policy to catch up with research. Harm Reduction Journal, 1(1), 5.

Okie, S. (2009). The epidemic that wasn’t. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/health/27coca.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126478643

Lecture Launcher 2.2: Fertility Traditionally, estimates of women’s fertility ranged anywhere from two days to 10 days a month. However, a study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, found that women are fertile for five days before ovulation as well as on the day of ovulation. Researchers were surprised to find that having sex just one day after ovulation will not result in a pregnancy.

According to the study, the probability of conception ranges from 10 percent when intercourse occurs five days before ovulation to 33 percent when it happens on the day of ovulation. Daily intercourse results in the highest chance of pregnancy, 37 percent. The study had some other findings: There is no evidence that the timing of intercourse influences whether the baby will be a boy or a girl. Also, there is no sign that aging sperm is more likely to produce babies with defects, although the study was too small to support this conclusively.

On average, couples have a 20 percent chance of getting a viable pregnancy each month. However, according to Dr. Allen Wilcox, who conducted the study, “even couples who are very fertile are not fertile in every cycle. We don’t understand why that is.” Results from another study show that women who drink three or more cups of coffee a day reduce their chances of conception by 26 percent. It is believed that caffeine disrupts the menstrual cycle and may lead to early pregnancy loss.

Gaskins, A. J., Sundaram, R., Louis, G. M. B., & Chavarro, J. E. (2018). Predictors of sexual intercourse frequency among couples trying to conceive. The journal of sexual medicine, 15(4), 519-528.

Lara, L. A., Fuentealba-Torres, M., dos Reis, R. M., & Cartagena-Ramos, D. (2018). Impact of infertility on the sexuality of couples: An overview. Current Sexual Health Reports, 1-7.

Russo, L. M., Whitcomb, B. W., Mumford, S. L., Hawkins, M., Radin, R. G., Schliep, K. C., ... & Kuhr, D. L. (2018). A prospective study of physical activity and fecundability in women with a history of pregnancy loss. Human Reproduction, 33(7), 1291-1298.

Wilcox, A. J., Weinberg, C. R., & Baird, D. D. (December 7, 1995). Timing of sexual intercourse in relation to ovulation. Effects on the probability of conception, survival of the pregnancy, and sex of the baby. New England Journal of Medicine, 333(23), 1517-1521.

Wilcox, A. J., Baird, D. D., Dunson, D. B., McConnaughey, D. R., Kesner, J. S., & Weinberg, C. R. (2004). On the frequency of intercourse around ovulation: Evidence for biological influences. Human Reproduction, 19(7), 1539-1543.

Wilcox, A. J. (2010). Fertility and pregnancy: An epidemiologic perspective. Oxford University Press.

Lecture Launcher 2.3: Infertility Contrary to popular opinion, infertility rates are not on the rise. In 1965, the U.S. infertility rate was 13.3 percent; in 1988 it was 13.7 percent. The current infertility rate is about 10 percent, or approximately 6.1 million women in the United States. Although statistically the rates are low (and declining), individually that’s cold comfort for a woman trying to conceive a child. Share with your students some information about ways to treat infertility, such as: 11 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e • • • • •

in vitro fertilization (IVF) gamete intrafallopian transfers (GIFT) intrauterine insemination (IUI) zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

There are some pros and cons associated with these reproductive technologies. For example, before the 1970s, only donor insemination—injection of sperm from an anonymous man into a woman—was available for infertile women. Today, in vitro fertilization is a common choice where hormones are used to stimulate the production of several ova, which are removed. The eggs are placed in a dish of nutrients, sperm are added, and then the fertilized eggs are injected into the mother. Ova can be screened for genetic defects and fertilized ova can also be frozen for use in the future. Sperm can also be frozen. Unfortunately, few states have legal guidelines for these procedures, and consequently, problems may arise such as: • • • • • •

genetic defects sexually transmitted infections poor records of donor characteristics possibility that children from the same donor may eventually marry use of genetic selection for the “perfect child” use of “surrogate mothers”

Handout 2-1 reviews some common reasons for infertility and various solutions.

Benyamini, Y., Gozlan, M., & Kokia, E. (2005). Variability in the difficulties experienced by women undergoing infertility treatments. Fertility and Sterility, 83(2), 275-283.

Cornell, J. (2018). Infertility treatments. Microreviews in Cell and Molecular Biology, 4(2).

Greil, A. L. (1997). Infertility and psychological distress: a critical review of the literature. Social science & medicine, 45(11), 16791704.

Luk, B. H. & Loke, A. Y. (2018). Sexual satisfaction, intimacy and relationship of couples undergoing infertility treatment. Journal of reproductive and infant psychology, 1-15.

Orvieto, R., Zilberberg, E., Vanni, V. S., & Botchan, A. (2018). A novel approach to infertility treatment of advance-age patient with prominent intramural fibroid. Gynecological Endocrinology, 34(7), 551-553.

Patel, A., Sharma, P. S., & Kumar, P. (2018). Role of mental health practitioner in infertility clinics: A review on past, present and future directions. Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, 11(3), 219.

Wirtberg, I., Möller, A., Hogström, L., Tronstad, S. E., & Lalos, A. (2006). Life 20 years after unsuccessful infertility treatment. Human Reproduction, 22(2), 598-604.

Lecture Launcher 2.4: Chromosome Abnormalities Students are typically fascinated by the intricacies of prenatal development, and rightly so. It’s pretty amazing that a stew of cells can develop into…well, someone like them, sitting in a college classroom reading about a stew of cells. Unfortunately, this process sometimes goes awry, and the manifestations of those disruptions can take different forms.

Down syndrome, named after the British physician John Langdon Down, who first described its symptoms in 1866, is a disorder in which there is an extra chromosome within the body’s cells. The particular chromosome is associated with the 21st pair, making that pair a triplet. This most common type of Down syndrome is called trisomy 21, indicating “three number 21 chromosome bodies.” The risk of having a child with Down syndrome increases greatly in women over the age of 35 or under the age of 18 who give birth. Symptoms include wide-set eyes with an almond shape and intellectual impairments.

Edwards syndrome, also called trisomy 18, results from an extra chromosome on the 18th pair. Although very rare (there are fewer than 20,000 diagnosed cases a year), it can result in low birthweight, an abnormally shaped 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e head, and clenched hands. Structural defects of the kidney, heart, intestines, and palate are also associated with the disorder. Patau syndrome (trisomy 13) is also very rare and leads to multiple organ defects. Warkany syndrome (trisomy 8), trisomy 9, trisomy 16, and trisomy 22 illustrate that extra chromosomes landing where they shouldn’t can result in a range of impairments.

Other chromosome disorders include Klinefelter syndrome, in which the 23rd set of sex chromosomes is XXY, with the extra X producing a male with reduced masculine characteristics, enlarged breasts, obesity, and excessive height. Another disorder is Turner syndrome. In this disorder, the 23rd pair is missing an X, so that the result is a lone X chromosome. These females tend to be very short, averaging about 4 feet 7 inches in height. They are infertile and tend not to develop the breast tissue and rounded hips typical of other girls in adolescence. Many Turner’s syndrome females have difficulty in learning, especially in the area of mathematics.

And just to complete the alphabet soup, conditions such as XYY syndrome and triple X syndrome (trisomy X, or XXX) illustrate that the normal mixing and matching of XY and XX pairs can easily go awry. Although many of these disorders involve the addition of a chromosome, other disorders, such as cri du chat syndrome, Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, and other so-called monosomies are just as deleterious.

Lecture Launcher 2.5: In Vitro Fertilization and Multiple Births In 2009, a single mother named Nadya Suleman gained national attention when she gave birth to octuplets.

Dubbed the “Octomom” by the press, Suleman already had six children, with all of her pregnancies resulting from in vitro fertilization, which can carry the consequence of multiple births. Several reality television programs, like the once-popular “Jon and Kate Plus 8,” have also made celebrities out of parents who have had multiple-birth pregnancies using assisted reproduction technologies. All of this attention has caused some people to ask whether children from multiple-birth pregnancies are at risk for developmental problems.

Concern over developmental problems with multiple births focuses on two distinct issues. First, multiple-birth pregnancies are associated with premature births, lower birth weights, and other complications from having multiple fetuses in the womb at once. Because abnormal in utero development can have a long-lasting impact on brain development, multiple-birth pregnancies have the potential to cause permanent cognitive disabilities.

The other issue of concern regarding the development of children in multiple-birth families is whether the strain that so many children at the same age puts on a family interferes with the parents’ abilities to provide a healthy environment. For example, parents may have little time and attention to devote to each child. Furthermore, the financial burdens may cause children to go without toys and other items. It’s worth noting in this regard that “Jon and Kate” are now pretty much “Kate Only,” as the Gosselins divorced in 2009, spurred in part by the pressures fame brought them. Ms. Suleman, the Octomom, subsequently made a living working as a stripper and as an actress in pornographic films.

Introduce the concept of multiple births to students, along with their increased prevalence when in vitro fertilization is used. Ask students to discuss whether they believe children from large, multiple-birth pregnancies are likely to have their development affected in a negative way. Should fertility doctors be banned from implanting more than one or two embryos at a time? Do they feel that children in large families from single births are also at risk? To extend the activity, ask students to respond to this writing prompt: Using evidence from the textbook chapter on development, what are some developmental concerns you might have for children from large multiple births?

Sample answer: Carrying multiple fetuses at once may cause premature births, which increases the risk of learning disabilities later in life. After they are born, children may have very little individual attention. Children with inattentive parents are more likely to develop insecure attachment, which may delay their development. In extreme cases where children do not have access to their parents’ affection, children can develop severe 13 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e cognitive and emotional problems as in the infamous Romanian orphanages. This, however, is very unlikely to occur unless the neglect is extreme.

Lecture Launcher 2.6: My Mother, Myself Many people feel that their mothers are “a part of them.” Recent findings suggest that there may be considerable truth to that phrase.

Many adults apparently still have cells in their bodies that they picked up from their mothers during the gestation period. Similarly, many mothers still have cells in their bodies that came from their own children during pregnancy. Technically speaking, these “guest cells” are actually the product of stem cells that got planted in the “host’s” body and started reproducing decades later. And, technically speaking, there aren’t too many of them. Some estimates put the number of foreign cells at less than one in a million, a comforting thought for anyone conjuring up images of parasitic offspring or alien-like entities living happily rent-free.

The meaning of these microchimeras is less clear. There is some evidence that these cells might contribute to autoimmune diseases, although there is also speculation that these cells might confer a health benefit. Because this area of study is relatively young, there remain more questions than answers (such as, what about women who have cells from both their mothers and their own offspring?). It’s comforting to know, though, that in some small way a parent is always with us.

Bianchi, D. W. (2018). The inadvertent discovery of human fetal cell microchimerism. Clinical Chemistry, 64(9), 1400-1401.

Boddy, A. M., Fortunato, A., Sayres, M. W., & Aktipis, A. (2015). Fetal microchimerism and maternal health: A review and evolutionary analysis of cooperation and conflict beyond the womb. Bioessays, 37(10), 1106-1118.

Fjeldstad, H. E., Staff, A. C., Chae, A., Redman, C., Gammill, H. S., & Johnsen, G. M. (2018). 313. Fetal microchimerism in pregnancy and placental dysfunction. Pregnancy Hypertension, 13, S122.

Gammill, H. S. & Nelson, J. L. (2010). Naturally acquired microchimerism. International Journal of Developmental Biology, 54, 531543.

Ritter, M. (2003, May 9). Moms, you’ve got a little of your kids inside you. Austin American-Statesman, A1, A16.

Shute, N. (2010, Apr. 3). Beyond birth: A child’s cells may help or harm a mother long after delivery. Scientific American. http://www.microchimerism.org/

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 2.1: The Nature-Nurture Issue: Lessons from the Pillsbury Doughboy David B. Miller uses a cooking metaphor to describe the interactions between genetics (nature) and the environment (nurture). In his metaphor, flour represents genes. He takes four different food items, which represent four different developmental outcomes that all use flour as a base, but that have other ingredients that interact with the flour in unique ways.

1.

2.

3.

4.

FLOUR + SALT + WATER + FRIED IN SHORTENING = FLOUR TORTILLA FLOUR + SALT + WATER + BAKED WITHOUT SHORTENING = MATZO FLOUR + SALT + WATER + YEAST + BAKING = BREAD FLOUR + SALT + BUTTER + COCOA + SUGAR + BAKING = BROWNIE

Depending on how adventuresome you feel, you can demonstrate this lesson in a variety of ways. You can bring in an example of each ingredient (e.g., a bag of flour, a box of salt, some water, a can of shortening, a packet of yeast, some butter, a can of cocoa, a bag of sugar, and perhaps a toy oven) and use them as props to create the “developed” results (e.g., tortilla, matzo, bread, and brownie). You could actually mix some of the ingredients and assign students to finish them at home. Finally, you could assign small groups ahead of time to make the various products and bring them to class; each group must explain how their ingredients relate to real-world human development (i.e., flour = genes, salt = culture, water = health, baking/frying = home environment). Each group must explain their results. Miller suggests that the metaphor of tortilla versus matzo shows how similar ingredients (i.e., shared genes of identical twins) can yield different developmental outcomes (i.e., different personalities, intelligence, and so on) due to different environments (i.e., baking versus frying).

Miller, D. B. (1996). The nature-nurture issue: Lessons from the Pillsbury Doughboy. In Ware, M. E. and Johnson, D. E. (Eds.), Handbook of demonstrations and activities in the teaching of psychology, Volume II: Physiological-comparative, perception, learning, cognitive, and developmental. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 201-203.

Student Activity 2.2: Conception and Pregnancy Distribute Handout 2-2 before you discuss conception and pregnancy. Tell students that some of the answers are in Chapter 2 and some they will have to find on their own using other sources.

This handout can be used as an assignment to be completed before your lectures on conception and pregnancy or as a review. The answers are: Conception 1. ovary → fallopian tube → uterus → uterine wall (fertilized) or vagina (unfertilized) 2. penis → vagina → uterus → fallopian tube → egg (ovum) 3. possible answers include blocked/damaged fallopian tubes, abnormal ovulation, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometriosis, damaged ovaries, hostile cervical mucus, fibroid tumor 4. possible answers include low sperm count, dilated veins around testicle, damaged sperm ducts, hormone deficiency, sperm antibodies 5. possible answers include surgery, in vitro fertilization, hormone therapy, antibiotics, artificial insemination Pregnancy 1. possible answers include cessation of menses, breast tenderness, nausea 2. Stage 1: Germinal stage lasts two weeks (from conception till week 2), the cells divide and attach to the uterine wall, the baby is called a “zygote” 15 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Stage 2: Embryonic stage lasts 6 weeks (from week 2 until week 8), the cell layers (endoderm, ectoderm, mesoderm) form, the baby is called an “embryo” Stage 3: Fetal stage lasts 7 months (from week 8 until birth), all the child’s systems are developing rapidly, the child is called a “fetus” 3. possible answers are see an obstetrician/midwife; eat a healthy diet, including calcium and multivitamin and mineral supplements; abstain from caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and unnecessary drugs; get plenty of rest; avoid X-rays; exercise moderately 4. amniocentesis—fetal cells are taken via a needle from amniotic fluid chorionic villus sampling (CVS)—samples of hair-like material taken from embryo ultrasound sonography—high-frequency sound waves produce an image of baby 5. possible answers include alcohol, nicotine, X-rays, prescription drugs such as thalidomide, illicit drugs such as cocaine and marijuana, illnesses of the mother such as rubella, influenza, and AIDS

Student Activity 2.3: Hello Mother, Hello Father Ask your students two questions: “What does it mean to father a child?” and “What does it mean to mother a child?” Chances are that responses to the first question will focus on biological aspects of reproduction; “being a sperm donor,” “impregnating a woman,” or “having sex.” Responses to the second question typically emphasize nurturance or prolonged commitment; “raising a child,” “showing attention,” or “being supportive” are likely offerings. Discuss with your students why they hold these views and why they responded to the questions differently. This is an opportunity to discuss sex-role stereotypes, gender roles, and some issues of early adulthood. If your students are a particularly enlightened bunch there may be no difference in their responses to the two questions. In that case discuss what led to their egalitarian outlooks, or why other people might respond differently.

Student Activity 2.4: Buying the Ingredients of Life on the Internet Ask students to use the Internet to explore their options for becoming parents. Have them note the prices paid for eggs, sperm, etc., by visiting several sites that offer reproductive help or reproductive services. You might be surprised—or then again, maybe not—how easy it is to type “buy sperm” into a search engine and get 58 million results.

Pose the following question: How far is too far to go? Ask students what they would do if they wanted to have a child, but could not. (Consider the following possibilities: they found out that they are infertile; they have a genetic condition that has a chance of being passed to their offspring.) You might also share Handouts 2-3 and 2-4 in this context. Handout 2-3 lists some dominant and recessive characteristics that sometimes influence people’s wishes for a “designer baby.” Handout 2-4 lists some common teratogens that can affect prenatal development.

Student Activity 2.5: Sonograms Here’s an easy and interesting way to introduce the topic of prenatal development. Bring pictures of sonograms to class and see if students can identify the various anatomical parts of the fetus. You can easily find examples of sonograms on the Internet; search “sonogram” or “ultrasound” and you should find plenty of samples.

Student Activity 2.6: Reflective Journal Ask students to interview a woman about her pregnancy; ideally, a family member, but any close friend, colleague, or willing acquaintance will do. Distribute Handout 2-5 as a starting point for their task, and emphasize that the interviewee’s responses should form the basis for the student’s own reflections.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Arck, P. C., Schepanski, S., Buss, C., & Hanganu-Opatz, I. (2018). Prenatal immune and endocrine modulators of offspring’s brain development and cognitive functions later in life. Frontiers in immunology, 9, 2186.

Berenbaum, S. A. (2018). Beyond pink and blue: The complexity of early androgen effects on gender development. Child development perspectives, 12(1), 58-64.

Dutton, H., Borengasser, S. J., Gaudet, L. M., Barbour, L. A., & Keely, E. J. (2018). Obesity in pregnancy: optimizing outcomes for mom and baby. Medical Clinics of North America, 102(1), 87-106.

Fitzgerald, B., Boyle, C., & Honein, M. A. (2018). Birth defects potentially related to Zika virus infection during pregnancy in the United States. JAMA, 319(12), 1195-1196.

Foland-Ross, L. C., Ross, J. L., & Reiss, A. L. (2019). Androgen treatment effects on hippocampus structure in boys with Klinefelter syndrome. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 100, 223-228.

Grove, K., Lewis, A. J., & Galbally, M. (2018). Prenatal antidepressant exposure and child motor development: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 142(1), e20180356.

Hawksworth, D. J., Szafran, A. A., Jordan, P. W., Dobs, A. S., & Herati, A. S. (2018). Infertility in patients with Klinefelter Syndrome: Optimal timing for sperm and testicular tissue cryopreservation. Reviews in urology, 20(2), 56.

Klitzman, R. (2018). How infertility patients and providers view and confront religious and spiritual issues. Journal of religion and health, 57(1), 223-239.

Shiota, K. (2018). Study of normal and abnormal prenatal development using the Kyoto Collection of Human Embryos. The Anatomical Record, 301(6), 955-959.

Sosnowski, D. W., Booth, C., York, T. P., Amstadter, A. B., & Kliewer, W. (2018). Maternal prenatal stress and infant DNA methylation: A systematic review. Developmental psychobiology, 60(2), 127-139.

Stallings, E. B., Isenburg, J. L., Mai, C. T., Liberman, R. F., Moore, C. A., Canfield, M. A., ... & Forestieri, N. E. (2018). Population‐based birth defects data in the United States, 2011–2015: A focus on eye and ear defects. Birth defects research.

Stroud, L. R., McCallum, M., & Salisbury, A. L. (2018). Impact of maternal prenatal smoking on fetal to infant neurobehavioral development. Development and Psychopathology, 30(3), 1087-1105.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA An Introduction to Embryonic and Fetal Development

Prenatal development is considered

1. Outline the process of cell division that all mammals experience in the prenatal environment.

2. At what point does an embryo transition to be identified as a fetus? What features need to be present?

Genetics and Prenatal Development

DNA, genes, chromosomes, and their friends are reviewed

1. Why are sperm cells responsible for determining the sex of offspring?

2. How can only 25,000 genes produce the near-infinite variety of humans on the planet?

2D and 4D Ultrasounds

This silent feature presents what is advertised: 2D and 4D images

1. Which features are most noticeable when examining an ultrasound of a developing human?

2. Speculate on how physicians and parents might have determined the sex, health, or other features of a developing fetus prior to the advent of technology.

Genetic Mechanisms and Behavioral Genetics

Pedigrees, twin studies, and similar techniques are discussed

1. Outline the ways psychological scientists can examine genetic relationships among people to determine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to development.

2. What kind of research design, no matter how unethical, might be used to more definitively determine the roles of nature and nurture in human development?

Crash Course: Sex and Fertilization

A highly technical overview of where babies come from

1. What mechanism allows only a single sperm cell to fertilize an ovum?

2. What forms a male pronucleus and a female pronucleus?

Healthcare Triage News

Drinking + pregnancy = bad

1. What factors might contribute to the vastly different reported percentages of drinking while pregnant within a given cultural setting?

2. Why would smoking and drinking while pregnant tend to be positively correlated? How might the factors that contribute to one bad behavior also contribute to another bad behavior?

18 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 2-1 Fertility Problems and Solutions WOMEN PROBLEM

SOLUTION

Damaged fallopian tubes Abnormal ovulation

Surgery, in vitro fertilization Hormone therapy, antibiotics, in vitro fertilization

Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

Antibiotics, surgery, change in birth control methods

Endometriosis

Antibiotics, hormone therapy, surgery, artificial insemination

Damaged ovaries Hostile cervical mucus

Surgery, antibiotics, hormone therapy Antibiotics, artificial insemination, hormone therapy

Fibroid tumor

Surgery, antibiotics

Stress

Relaxation techniques

Tipped uterus, fibroid tumors

Surgery

MEN PROBLEM

SOLUTION

Low sperm count

Antibiotics, hormone therapy, artificial insemination, lowered testicular temperature

Dilated veins around testicle Damaged sperm ducts

Surgery, lowered testicular temperature, antibiotics Surgery, antibiotics

Hormone deficiency

Hormone therapy

Sperm antibodies

Antibiotics, in vitro fertilization

Chronic illness, alcoholism, drug abuse, long-term use of marijuana

Artificial insemination

Pollutants

Artificial insemination

Stress

Relaxation techniques

19 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 2-2 Facts about Conception and Pregnancy Review your knowledge of conception and pregnancy by answering the questions below.

Conception 1. Trace the journey of the egg in a woman’s body: _________________ __ovary________ → __________________ → ____________________

fertilized

_________________ unfertilized

2. Trace the journey of sperm cells from ejaculation to conception: ___penis________ → ______________ → ______________ → ___________ → _____________ 3. List three possible reasons for infertility in women. a. ___________________________________________________________________ b. ___________________________________________________________________ c. ___________________________________________________________________ 4. List two possible reasons for infertility in men. a. ___________________________________________________________________ b. ___________________________________________________________________ 5. List and define three treatments for infertility. a. ____________________________________________________________________ b. ____________________________________________________________________ c. ____________________________________________________________________ Pregnancy 1. List three early signs and symptoms of pregnancy. a. ___________________________________________________________________ b. ___________________________________________________________________ c. ___________________________________________________________________

20 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 2-2, continued 2. Name the three stages of prenatal development. How long does each stage last? What systems have developed? What is the developing child called?

Stage 1: _______________

Stage 2: ____________

Stage 3: ____________

______________________

____________________

___________________

______________________

_____________________

___________________

______________________

_____________________

___________________

3. List six important components of good prenatal care. a. _____________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________ d. _____________________________________________________________________ e. _____________________________________________________________________ f. _____________________________________________________________________

4. Name and describe three prenatal tests. a. _____________________________________________________________________ b. _____________________________________________________________________ c. _____________________________________________________________________

5. Name six teratogens. a. __________________________

b. ____________________________

c. __________________________

d. ____________________________

e. __________________________

f. ____________________________

21 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 2-3 Dominant and Recessive Characteristics Characteristics in the left-hand column dominate over characteristics listed in the right-hand column.

DOMINANT TRAITS

RECESSIVE TRAITS

eye coloring

brown eyes

grey, green, hazel, blue eyes

vision

farsightedness normal vision normal vision normal vision

normal vision nearsightedness night blindness color blindness*

hair

dark hair non-red hair curly hair full head of hair widow’s peak

blonde, light, red hair red hair straight hair baldness* normal hairline

facial features

dimples unattached earlobes freckles broad lips

no dimples attached earlobes no freckles thin lips

appendages

normal number normal digits normal digits normal joints normal proportion normal thumb normal joints

extra digits fused digits short digits fingers lack 1 joint limb dwarfing clubbed thumb double-jointedness

other

immunity to poison ivy normal pigmented skin normal blood clotting normal hearing normal hearing and speaking normal—no PKU

susceptibility to poison ivy albinism hemophilia* congenital deafness deaf mutism phenylketonuria (PKU)

*sex-linked characteristic

22 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 2-4 Possible Teratogens This list of suspected teratogens contains many common items. Most babies are born without defects, so the placenta may be an effective barrier to many of these substances. Additionally, the timing of the exposure to a teratogen is critical to its impact on prenatal development. Overall, more damage is likely early in the pregnancy when organ systems are developing.

DISEASES Chlamydia Rubella (German measles) HIV Toxoplasmosis

Pneumonia Herpes Syphilis Tuberculosis

Gonorrhea Scarlet fever Mumps Influenza

Hexachlorophene Amphetamines LSD Anticoagulant drugs Sedatives Caffeine Tranquilizers Diethylstilbestrol (DES)

Alcohol Lithium Anti-cancer drugs Quinine Barbiturates Thalidomide Cocaine Marijuana

Mercury Fumes from paints, solvents, glues, dry-cleaning fluids Radiation (X-rays, video display terminals) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)

Cat feces Pesticides Herbicides

DRUGS Accutane Iodides Antibiotics Opiates Aspirin Smallpox vaccination Nicotine Vitamins in excess ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Cadmium Nickel Insecticides Manganese Hair dyes

Lead

NONINFECTIOUS MATERNAL CONDITIONS Alcoholism Rh + factor Diabetes mellitus

Chemical dependency Anemia Young/older mother

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Phenylketonuria Stress

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 2-5 Reflective Journal Exercise 2 If possible, interview your parents or guardians (if this is not possible, try an aunt, uncle, or grandparent) about your own prenatal development. Use the following questions to get started.

1.

Was this a planned pregnancy?

2.

Was this your first baby?

3.

How did you find out you were pregnant?

4.

How did you feel?

5.

Were you working?

6.

When did you first see a doctor?

7.

8.

Did you take vitamins?

When did you start feeling the baby?

9.

When did you begin wearing maternity clothes?

10. What changes did your body go through?

11. What are some of the strongest memories you have of this pregnancy?

12. Did you have any prenatal tests?

13. How did your lifestyle change?

14. Did you smoke? Drink alcohol? Drink coffee or tea? Take any drugs?

15. Did you know the sex of the baby before the birth? Did you have a preference for a boy or a girl? How did you feel when you found out the sex of your baby?

16. When did you decide on a name for the baby?

17. Did you attend any special classes or workshops about childbirth or nursing?

18. Did you know of any preexisting conditions?

19. Where were you living?

20. Were there any features or characteristics you were hoping the baby would have? Were there any you were hoping the baby would NOT have?

21. How much of your partner’s medical history did you know? In retrospect, how important would that have been?

22. What roles or expectations did you have for this child?

23. What influenced your decision to have a child at this time?

24. Did you have any trouble conceiving? Did you expect to have any trouble becoming pregnant?

Reflect on what you learned. How do you think your own pregnancy (or your partner’s) will be (or was) the same or different than your mother’s?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 3 BIRTH AND THE NEWBORN INFANT CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

12

Supplemental Reading

13

Revel Multimedia

14

Handouts

15

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Resources

Chapter Outline Birth Labor: The Process of Birth Begins Birth: From Fetus to Neonate Approaches to Childbirth: Where Medicine and Attitudes Meet

Learning Objectives 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 Lecture Launchers 3.1, 3.2 Student Activity 3.3

Birth Complications Preterm Infants: Too Soon, Too Small Postmature Babies: Too Late, Too Large Cesarean Delivery: Intervening in the Process of Birth Stillbirth and Infant Mortality: The Tragedy of Premature Death Postpartum Depression: Moving from the Heights of Joy to the Depths of Despair

Learning Objectives 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8

The Competent Newborn Physical Competence: Meeting the Demands of a New Environment Sensory Capabilities: Experiencing the World Early Learning Capabilities Social Competence: Responding to Others

Learning Objective 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12

Lecture Launcher 3.3, 3.4 Student Activity 3.2

Student Activities 3.1, 3.3, 3.4

2 .

Revel Resources Are Home Births Safe?

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 3.1

Describe the normal process of labor.

LO 3.2

Explain the events that occur in the first few hours of a newborn’s life.

LO 3.3

Describe some of the current approaches to childbirth.

LO 3.4

Describe some of the causes of, effects of, and treatments for preterm births.

LO 3.5

Identify the risks that postmature babies face.

LO 3.6

Describe the process of cesarean delivery and the reasons for its increase in use.

LO 3.7

Describe rates of infant mortality and what factors affect these statistics.

LO 3.8

Describe the causes and effects of postpartum depression.

LO 3.9

Describe the physical capabilities of the newborn.

LO 3.10 Describe the sensory capabilities of the newborn.

LO 3.11 Describe the learning capabilities of the newborn.

LO 3.12 Describe the social competencies of newborns.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Smaller Than a Soda Can II. Birth A. Labor: The Process of Birth Begins 1. About 266 days after conception, a protein called corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) triggers the process of birth.

2. The hormone oxytocin is released from mother’s pituitary.

3. Braxton-Hicks contractions have been occurring since the fourth month.

4. Contractions force the head of the fetus against the cervix.

5. Labor proceeds in three stages: a) The first stage is the longest.

(1) Uterine contractions occur every 8–10 minutes and last about 30 seconds.

(2) Contractions increase to their greatest intensity, a period known as transition.

(3) The mother’s cervix fully opens.

(4) For first babies, this stage can last 16–24 hours (this varies widely).

(5) Subsequent children involve shorter periods of labor. b) During the second stage of labor, the baby’s head moves through the birth canal.

(1) This stage typically lasts 90 minutes.

(2) After each contraction, the baby’s head emerges more and increases the vaginal opening.

(3) An EPISIOTOMY is an incision sometimes made to increase the size of the opening of the vagina to allow the baby to pass.

(4) This stage ends when the baby is born. c) The third stage of labor occurs when the child’s umbilical cord and placenta are expelled.

(1) This is the shortest stage.

(2) The third stage of labor lasts only minutes. d) Cultural perspectives color the way that people in a given society view the experience of childbirth.

B. Birth: From Fetus to Neonate 1. The exact moment of birth occurs when the fetus passes through the vagina and emerges from the mother’s body.

2. As soon as they are born, most babies cry to clear their lungs and begin breathing on their own.

3. In the U.S., professional healthcare workers (worldwide the figure is 50 percent) attend 99 percent of births.

4. Trained healthcare workers use the APGAR SCALE, a standard measurement system that looks for a variety of indications of good health in newborns. a) The scale was developed by Virginia Apgar in 1953. b) The APGAR directs attention to five qualities: (1) Appearance (color) (2) Pulse (heart rate) (3) Grimace (reflex irritability) (4) Activity (muscle tone) (5) Respiration (respiratory effort) c) Each quality is scored 0 to 2, producing an overall scale score that ranges from 0 to 10.

(1) Most babies score around 7.

(2) Scores under 4 need immediate life-saving intervention. d) Some fetuses experience a restriction of oxygen—ANOXIA—which can cause brain damage.

4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 5. Newborn Medical Screening: Neonates are tested for a variety of diseases and genetic conditions, ranging from hearing difficulties to sickle cell anemia to extremely rare conditions.

6. Physical Appearance and Initial Encounters a) Vernix, a thick, greasy substance that smoothes the passage through the birth canal, often coats new babies. b) A fine, dark fuzz called lanugo often covers newborns. c) Baby’s eyelids may be swollen and puffy from an accumulation of liquids during birth. d) A matter of considerable controversy is the subject of BONDING—the close physical and emotional contact between parent and child during the period immediately after birth, (Lorenz, 1957) and argued by some to affect later parent-child relationship strength.

(1) Research on nonhumans (e.g., ducklings) showed a critical period just after birth when organisms showed a readiness to imprint on members of their species who happened to be present.

(2) For humans, the theory suggests that the critical period for bonding is soon after birth and lasts only a few hours, requiring skin-to-skin contact for deep, emotional bonding.

(3) Scientific evidence for the human critical period for bonding is absent and there appears to be no lingering reaction to separations immediately following birth, which, for example, is a comfort for adoptive parents and parents whose children require immediate medical attention.

(4) Although mother-child bonding may not be critical, newborns benefit from gentle touching and massaging soon after birth, as this physical stimulation leads to production of chemicals in the brain that instigate growth (Field, 2001).

C. Approaches to Childbirth: Where Medicine and Attitudes Meet 1. There are varieties of choices for how to give birth and no research proves that one method is more effective than another.

2. There are several alternative birthing procedures. a) Lamaze birthing techniques (1) The goal is to learn how to deal positively with pain and to relax at the onset of a contraction.

(2) Low income and minority groups may not take advantage of these natural childbirth techniques. b) Bradley Method (1) Known as “husband-coached childbirth” (2) Principle: childbirth should be as natural as possible (3) Involves no medication or medical interventions c) Hypnobirthing (1) Involves a self-hypnosis during delivery, which produces peace and calm, thereby reducing pain. d) Water birthing (1) Relatively uncommon in the United States (2) Giving birth in warm water presumably has benefits for both mother and child (3) Some parents use a midwife, a nurse specializing in childbirth, instead of an obstetrician, a physician who specializes in childbirth.

3. Although relatively rare in the U.S., midwives deliver some 80 percent of babies in other parts of the world. a) The newest trend in childbirth is one of the oldest: the doula.

4. Pain and Childbirth: The use of medication during childbirth has benefits and disadvantages. a) It reduces pain.

5 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (1) As opposed to other kinds of pain, childbirth pain is a sign that the body is healthy and working normally. b) Use of Anesthesia and Pain-Reducing Drugs: 80 percent of women receive some form of pain medication during childbirth.

(1) One third receive an epidural anesthesia, which produces numbness from the waist down. (a) A newer form is known as walking epidural or dual spinal-epidural, which use smaller needles and a system of delivering continuous doses of anesthetic, allowing women to move about more freely during labor. (b) Anesthetics may depress the flow of oxygen to the fetus and slow labor, and they may harm the fetus. (i) depresses oxygen flow (ii) slows labor (iii) fetus becomes less responsive (iv) fetus may have slower motor control (v) fetus may be slower to sit and stand during first year (vi) initial interaction between mother and fetus may be affected (c) Not all studies suggest harmful effects for fetus.

5. Postdelivery Hospital Stay: Deliver, Then Depart? a) The average hospital stay following normal births decreased from an average of 3.9 days in 1970 to 2 days currently. b) The American Academy of Pediatrics states that women should stay in the hospital no less than 48 hours after giving birth. c) The U.S. Congress has passed legislation mandating a minimum insurance coverage of 48 hours for childbirth.

III. Birth Complications A. Preterm Infants: Too Soon, Too Small 1. PRETERM INFANTS, who are born prior to 38 weeks after conception (also known as premature infants), are at high risk for illness and death. a) The main factor in determining the extent of danger is the child’s weight at birth.

(1) The average newborn weighs 3,400 grams (7-1/2 pounds).

(2) LOW-BIRTHWEIGHT INFANTS weigh less than 2,500 grams (5-1/2 pounds).

(3) Although only 7 percent of all newborns in the U.S. are low-birthweight, they account for the majority of newborn deaths.

(4) SMALL-FOR-GESTATIONAL-AGE INFANTS, because of delayed fetal growth, weigh 90 percent or less than the average weight of infants of the same gestational age. b) Premature infants are susceptible to respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) because of poorly developed lungs. c) Low-birthweight infants are put in incubators, enclosures in which oxygen and temperature are controlled.

(1) Easily chilled, susceptible to infection, sensitive to environment d) Preterm infants develop more slowly than infants born full-term.

(1) Sixty percent eventually develop normally.

(2) Thirty-eight percent have mild problems (learning disabilities, low IQ).

2. VERY-LOW-BIRTHWEIGHT INFANTS weigh less than 1,250 grams (2-1/4 pounds) and, regardless of weight, have been in the womb less than 30 weeks and are in grave danger because of the immaturity of their organ systems. a) Medical advances have pushed the AGE OF VIABILITY, or point at which an infant can survive a premature birth, to about 22 weeks. b) A baby born earlier than 25 weeks has less than a 50–50 chance of survival.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Costs of keeping very-low-birthweight infants alive are enormous. d) Research shows that children who receive more responsive, stimulating, and organized care are apt to show more positive outcomes than children whose care was not as good.

3. Causes of preterm and low-birthweight deliveries a) Multiple births b) Young mothers (under age 15) c) Too closely spaced births d) General health and nutrition of mother e) African-American mothers have double the number of low-birthweight babies that Caucasian mothers do.

B. Postmature Babies: Too Late, Too Large 1. POSTMATURE INFANTS, those still unborn two weeks after the mother’s due date, face several risks. a) Blood supply to baby’s brain may be decreased and cause brain damage. b) Labor and delivery become more difficult.

C. Cesarean Delivery: Intervening in the Process of Birth 1. Over a million mothers in the U.S. today have a CESAREAN DELIVERY, where the baby is surgically removed from the uterus, rather than traveling through the birth canal.

2. Several types of difficulties can lead to cesarean delivery. a) Fetal distress is the most frequent. b) Used for breech position, where the baby is positioned feet first in the birth canal. c) Used for transverse position, in which the baby lies crosswise in the uterus. d) Used when the baby’s head is large. e) Mothers over age 40 are more likely to have cesarean deliveries than younger ones.

3. Routine use of FETAL MONITORS, devices that measure the baby’s heartbeat during labor, have contributed to soaring rates of cesarean deliveries, up 500 percent from the 1970s, and has several criticisms. a) There is no association between cesarean delivery and successful birth consequences. b) It involves major surgery and a long recovery for the mother. c) There is a risk of infection to the mother. d) Easy birth may deter release of certain stress hormones, such as catecholamines, which help prepare the infant to deal with stress outside the womb. e) Babies born via cesarean delivery are more prone to breathing problems at birth. f) Mothers who deliver via cesarean report less satisfaction with the birthing experience. g) Medical authorities currently recommend avoiding routine use of fetal monitors.

D. Stillbirth and Infant Mortality: The Tragedy of Premature Death 1. INFANT MORTALITY is defined as death within the first year of life.

2. The overall rate of infant mortality is 7 deaths per 1,000 live births and has declined since the 1960s.

3. STILLBIRTH is the delivery of a child who is not alive and occurs in less than one delivery in 100.

4. Parents grieve in the same manner as if an older loved one dies.

5. Depression is a common aftermath.

6. Following a stillbirth, some parents experience posttraumatic stress disorder.

E. Postpartum Depression: Moving from the Heights of Joy to the Depths of Despair 1. Postpartum depression is a period of deep depression following childbirth.

2. This depression affects about 10 percent of all new mothers.

3. Symptoms such as an enduring sleep, deep feelings of sadness, and unhappiness may last for months or even years.

4. Postpartum depression may be triggered by changes in hormone production after giving birth.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 5. Maternal depression may lead to emotional detachment and lack of responsiveness to infants that may affect an infant’s social maturation and behavior.

IV. The Competent Newborn A. Physical Competence: Meeting the Demands of a New Environment 1. REFLEXES are unlearned, organized, and involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli. a) Sucking and swallowing reflexes permit the neonate to ingest food. b) Rooting reflex, which involves the turning in the direction of a source of stimulation near the mouth, guides the infant to the breast and nipple.

2. The newborn’s digestive system produces meconium, a greenish-black material that is a remnant of the neonate’s days as a fetus.

3. Because their livers do not work efficiently, almost half of all newborns develop neonatal jaundice, a yellowish tint to their bodies and eyes.

4. Jaundice is most likely to occur in preterm and low-weight babies.

B. Sensory Capabilities: Experiencing the World 1. Infants’ visual and auditory systems are not yet fully developed. a) They can see levels of contrast and brightness. b) They can tell size consistency and distinguish colors. c) They react to sudden sounds and recognize familiar sounds.

2. They are sensitive to touch.

3. Their senses of taste and smell are well developed.

C. Early Learning Capabilities 1. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING, a type of learning in which an organism responds in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response, underlies the learning of both pleasurable and undesired responses in the newborn.

2. OPERANT CONDITIONING, a form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened, depending on its association with positive or negative consequences, functions from the earliest days of life.

3. HABITUATION, the decrease in the response to a stimulus that occurs after repeated presentations of the same stimulus, is probably the most primitive form of learning and occurs in every sensory system of the infant. a) Habituation produces an orienting response, in which infants become quiet and attentive to new stimuli.

4. Three factors limit the success of learning during infancy. a) The behavioral state: the infant must be in a sufficiently attentive state to sense, perceive, and recognize relationships between stimuli and responses. b) Natural constraints: not all behaviors are physically possible for an infant. c) Motivational constraints: the response involved must not be so taxing on infants that they simply are unmotivated to respond.

D. Social Competence: Responding to Others 1. Infants have the ability to imitate others.

2. Infants can differentiate between such basic facial expressions as happiness, sadness, and surprise.

3. Newborns cycle through various STATES OF AROUSAL, different degrees of sleep and wakefulness ranging from deep sleep to great agitation.

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LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 3.1: Epigenetics Since the time of Watson and Crick’s initial discovery of the structure of DNA, geneticists have learned a tremendous amount about how our genetic code determines our observable characteristics (i.e., phenotypes). A great deal of research, however, has focused on changes in phenotype that are not due to changes in the genetic code. Instead, these changes are caused by epigenetic mechanisms that change the way genes are expressed, without changing the genetic code directly. A good example of this is cellular differentiation. Following cellular differentiation in a human body, each cell type performs a specialized role. For example, certain neurons may make the neurotransmitter serotonin, whereas some pancreas cells may make insulin. This difference in function, however, is not due to a difference in the cell’s genetic code. In fact, both cell types would contain the genes necessary to create serotonin and insulin. This means that there must be epigenetic mechanisms that, for example, turn the insulin gene expression on in a pancreas cell, but off in most neurons. In short, these microscopic engines chugging away intracellularly help produce the baby that eventually emerges at birth.

There are several epigenetic mechanisms that have been identified by researchers. For example, one way to stop the expression of a gene is to wrap that section of DNA around a protein called a histone. If a gene is on the section of DNA that is wrapped around a histone, the protein coded by that gene will not be created by the cell. Another way that gene expression can be regulated is by a process called methylation, which involves the bonding of a methyl group to specific areas of DNA. This methylation does not change the genetic sequence, but does alter the expression of genes.

Although epigenetic changes do not change the DNA sequence directly, they can be inherited by other cells, just as direct changes to DNA are passed on when cells divide. This is why, after a cell has undergone differentiation, all subsequent cells created from that cell-line tend to be the same cell type.

Most intriguing, however, is evidence that epigenetic changes can be inherited from one generation to the next. This means that epigenetic changes in a parent may be passed on to a child!

Many psychologists have begun to explore how epigenetic mechanisms might affect the brain and behavior. There is increasing evidence that environmental factors, such as nutrition and early life experiences, may cause long-lasting changes to gene expression by altering epigenetic mechanisms. In addition, some behaviors may be passed on from generation to generation through epigenetic inheritance.

For example, the maternal behavior style of certain rats has been shown to be passed on to their female offspring through epigenetic mechanisms.

Bjorklund, D. F. (2018). Behavioral epigenetics: The last nail in the coffin of genetic determinism. Human Development, 61(1), 54-59.Dean, C. (2017). What holds epigenetic memory? Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 18(3), 140-140.

Goldberg, A. D., Allis, C. D., & Bernstein, E. (2007). Epigenetics: a landscape takes shape. Cell, 128(4), 635-638.

Holt, M. V., Wang, T., & Young, N. L. (2017). Recent advances in understanding histone modification events. Current Molecular Biology Reports, 3(1), 11-17.

Hughes, T. R. & Lambert, S. A. (2017). Transcription factors read epigenetics. Science, 356(6337), 489-490.

Moen, G. H., Sommer, C., Prasad, R. B., Sletner, L., Groop, L., Qvigstad, E., & Birkeland, K. I. (2017). Mechanisms in endocrinology: Epigenetic modifications and gestational diabetes: a systematic review of published literature. European Journal of Endocrinology, 176(5), R247-R267.

Waye, M. M. & Cheng, H. Y. (2018). Genetics and epigenetics of autism: A review. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 72(4), 228-244.

Lecture Launcher 3.2: Childbirth Options 9 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Methods of childbirth have changed dramatically during the past 50 years. Most current methods are based on the pioneering work of Grantly Dick-Read in England and Fernand Lamaze in France. In 1944, Dick-Read proposed that fear is the major cause of most of the pain of childbirth. He proposed the concept of natural childbirth and developed a method of teaching women about reproduction, pregnancy, delivery, and exercises in breathing, relaxation, and fitness. Lamaze, in the 1950s, developed a method called prepared childbirth where expectant mothers are taught to breathe and concentrate on sensations other than contractions. This is facilitated by a “coach,” usually the father, who attends classes with her and helps time her breathing. Fathers then became a part of the childbirth process, and by the 1970s hospitals were beginning to allow them to go into the delivery room to assist. Now, most fathers elect to participate in the birth of their children.

Although the vast majority of all babies born in the United States are born in hospitals, some women elect to have their babies at home with the services of either a physician who specializes in home births or a midwife, a specially trained nurse. These options should only be used by women whose pregnancies are low risk. Hospitals responded to the home-birth movement by offering birthing centers, rooming-in facilities so mothers and babies are together all day, and sibling visitations. Some women also enlist the services of a doula, a non-medical professional who can provide support during labor (and sometimes afterward, during the baby’s first few days of life).

Lecture Launcher 3.3: Are There Too Many Cesarean Deliveries?

More cesarean section deliveries (c-sections) are performed in the United States than in any other industrialized nation; 32 percent of all deliveries. Reasons for cesarean delivery include: labor is progressing poorly; the mother has had a previous c-section (although many women can successfully deliver vaginally after a previous c-section); the baby is in the breech or transverse position; the mother has an active case of genital herpes; and to avert potential malpractice suits. Some critics argue that the use of a fetal monitor has increased the incidence of c-sections. Babies born by c-section miss out on the stress hormones released during birth (catecholamines). These hormones are believed to help in the postbirth breathing process. The effects on mothers include the major abdominal surgery involved, which is associated with a longer hospital stay, longer recovery, higher rates of postpartum depression, and a greater risk of infection.

Lecture Launcher 3.4: Benefits of Massaging Preterm Babies Post-maturity syndrome occurs when the placenta reaches its peak before term and calcifies to such an extent that the fetus is not able to be adequately nourished. Babies delivered under these conditions may have dry, peeling skin, appear emaciated, and often spend time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

This can be a traumatic experience…especially for a tiny person who’s just entered the world and doesn’t know many people yet! Tiffany Field and her colleagues recognized that fetuses knew how to suck their thumbs, so they gave pacifiers to newborns as they were being given heel-sticks (a way to draw blood for testing). The researchers gave one group the pacifiers during this procedure while another group (the controls) did not receive them. Those in the pacifier groups cried less, showed slower breathing, and had a slower heart rate. In another study, they gave pacifiers to babies who were being tube fed. These babies were weaned from tube feeding earlier, were easier to bottle feed, gained more weight per day, and were discharged from the hospital sooner.

In her infant massage work, Field built on the technique of an abdomen massage that was being used by nurses in another part of the country. Field and her colleagues gave whole-body massages to preterm infants, being careful that they were Swedish massages because they entailed deep pressure. (Light pressure is likely to be perceived as an aversive tickle. This may explain why other research that had 10 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e examined the effects of infant massage yielded mixed results: Some studies found weight gain and others did not.) Field and colleagues randomly assigned some babies to the experimental groups that received 45 minutes of massage a day for a 10-day period in 15-minute sessions at the beginning of three consecutive hours. The others did not receive the massages. Following the 10-day period, the massaged babies showed fewer stress responses (they were less likely to clench their fists and less likely to show grimacing). They scored better on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale and most incredibly, they gained more weight (despite being fed the same number of calories as those in the control group).

This is a great example of applied research that got a lot of attention—after all, think of the money that was saved by being able to send these babies home sooner!

Field, T. (1993). The therapeutic effects of touch. In M. R. Merrens, & G. G. Brannigan (Eds.), The developmental psychologists: Research adventures across the lifespan. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Field, T., Diego, M. A., Hernandez-Reif, O., Deeds, A., Ascencio, & Begert, G. (2007). Preterm infant massage elicits increases in vagal activity and gastric motility that are associated with greater weight gain. Acta Paediatrica, 96,(11), 1588-1591.

Field, T., Diego, M. A., & Hernandez-Reif, M. (2010). Preterm infant massage therapy research: A review. Infant Behavior and Development, 33(2), 115-124.

Silva, N. D. F., Linhares, M. B. M., & Gaspardo, C. M. (2018). Developmental care approaches for mitigating stress in preterm neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit: A systematic review. Psychology & Neuroscience, 11(2), 117.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 3.1: Infant Reflexes If possible, invite several parents to bring in their babies to illustrate reflexes in the newborn. Distribute copies of Handout 3-1, which lists both survival and primitive infant reflexes. Your students might try to guess the survival value of each reflex.

Student Activity 3.2: Critical Thinking Exercises 1. Ask students to read this New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/09/magazine/does-anyone-here-think-tnis-baby-can-live.html? pagewanted=all) and compose an essay considering the following questions: •

What are some ethical considerations related to the provision of intensive medical care to verylow-birthweight babies?

•

Do you think such interventions should be routine practice? Why or why not?

2. Have students investigate the cost of childbirth in their city. These costs should include prenatal care, the hospital/doctor or midwife charges, and costs of items for the baby, such as clothing, well-baby checkups, and furniture.

Student Activity 3.3: The Batteries Are Inaccessible, on Purpose You can decide if it’s worth the investment, but…

Several “practice babies” are available for purchase on the Internet. The target audience for these mannequins is typically middle school and high school students, and the intention is for young people to get frustrated with the non-living thing as a means to avoid unintentionally creating the actual living thing. Mechanical infants that cry, get hungry, get cranky, and are generally an enigma are a decent substitute for the real McCoy, so having one on hand and bringing it to class opens a world of opportunities for demonstrations, discussions, and other active learning.

If you’d rather not spring for one of these yourself, consider asking students about their own educational experiences. Chances are many of them had the “carry the sack of flour around” exercise in Sex Education, or participated in some other form of childcare activity. (Some students might have even been responsible for keeping a Tamagotchi alive, which is close enough in a pinch.) Ask volunteers to share their experiences as a point of departure for class discussion. https://www.realityworks.com/categories/infant-simulators https://www.realityworks.com/products/realcare-baby https://www.a3bs.com/baby-care-model-female-1005089-w17001-60109,p_155_4137.html https://www.fishersci.com/shop/products/basic-baby-care-model-newborn/s28472 https://www.homeschoolbabies.com/

Student Activity 3.4: Reflective Journal Handout 3-2 offers some prompts to reflect on the process of childbirth and the first few days of life. Ask students to use these questions to construct a Reflective Journal entry.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Chen, C., Zhang, J., Xia, H., Zhang, H., Betran, A. P., Zhang, L., ... & Guo, C. (2018). Epidemiology of preterm birth in China in 2015 and 2016: a nationwide survey. The Lancet, 392, S73.

Field, T. (2018). Postnatal anxiety prevalence, predictors and effects on development: A narrative review. Infant Behavior and Development, 51, 24-32.

Glodowski, K. R., Thompson, R. H., & Martel, L. (2018). The rooting reflex as an infant feeding cue. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, September 2018.

Greiner, K. S., Hersh, A. R., Gallagher, A. C., Tilden, E., & Caughey, A. B. (2018). A two-delivery model utilizing doula care: A cost-effectiveness analysis. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 131, 36S-37S. Hamer, E. G., La Bastide-Van Gemert, S., Boxum, A. G., Dijkstra, L. J., Hielkema, T., Vermeulen, R. J., & Hadders-Algra, M. (2018). The tonic response to the infant knee jerk as an early sign of cerebral palsy. Early Human Development, 119, 38-44.

Karadag-Saygi, E. & Kenis-Coskun, O. (2018). Rehabilitation for hydrocephalic children. Pediatric Hydrocephalus, 1-12.

Kingdon, C., Downe, S., & Betran, A. P. (2018). Non-clinical interventions to reduce unnecessary caesarean section targeted at organisations, facilities and systems: Systematic review of qualitative studies. PloS one, 13(9), e0203274.

Lee, A. C., Blencowe, H., & Lawn, J. E. (2018). Small babies, big numbers: Global estimates of preterm birth. The Lancet Global Health.

Medina, I. M. F., Granero-Molina, J., Fernández-Sola, C., Hernández-Padilla, J. M., Ávila, M. C., & Rodríguez, M. D. M. L. (2018). Bonding in neonatal intensive care units: Experiences of extremely preterm infants’ mothers. Women and Birth, 31(4), 325-330.

Meltzoff, A. N., Murray, L., Simpson, E., Heimann, M., Nagy, E., Nadel, J., ... & Subiaul, F. (2018).

Eliciting imitation in early infancy. Developmental Science, e12738.

Powell, L. J. & Spelke, E. S. (2018). Human infants’ understanding of social imitation: Inferences of affiliation from third party observations. Cognition, 170, 31-48.

Reynolds, J. & Cicchillitti, J. (2018). Doulas and midwives: Creating relationships. Women and Birth, 31, S1.

Schantz, C., Ravit, M., Traoré, A. B., Aboubakar, M., Goyet, S., de Loenzien, M., & Dumont, A. (2018).

Why are caesarean section rates so high in facilities in Mali and Benin? Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, 16, 10-14.

Shaw, J. G., Nelson, D. A., Shaw, K. A., Woolaway-Bickel, K., Phibbs, C. S., & Kurina, L. M. (2018).

Deployment and preterm birth among U.S. army soldiers. American Journal of Epidemiology, 187(4), 687-695.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Are Home Births Safe?

Some pros and cons of home versus hospital delivery are discussed

1. Describe various ways that terms such as “safe,” “likely,” or “unlikely” might be defined, and apply those considerations to the decision to opt for home birth or not.

2. Discuss why “this is the right way to do it” rarely meets with universal agreement when it comes to deciding how and where a child should be born.

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Handout 3-1 Infant Reflexes Survival Reflexes Breathing

Infants reflexively inhale to obtain oxygen and expel carbon dioxide.

Rooting

If you touch an infant’s cheek, the infant will turn its head toward the stimulus and open its mouth as if expecting a nipple.

Sucking

If you touch or otherwise stimulate an infant’s mouth, the infant will respond by sucking and making rhythmic movements with the mouth and tongue.

Pupillary

The pupils of an infant’s eyes narrow when in bright light and when going to sleep, and widen when in dim light and when waking up.

Eye-blink

Infants blink in response to an object’s moving quickly toward their eyes or to a puff of air.

Primitive Reflexes Moro (startle)

When infants are startled by loud sounds or by being suddenly dropped a few inches, they will first spread their arms and stretch out their fingers, then bring their arms back to their body and clench their fingers.

Palmar

When an infant’s palm is stimulated, the infant will grasp tightly and increase the strength of the grasp as the object is pulled away.

Plantar

When an object or a finger is placed on the sole of an infant’s foot near the toes, the infant responds by trying to flex the foot.

Babinski

If you stroke the sole of an infant’s foot from heel to toes, the infant will spread the small toes and raise the large one.

Stepping

When infants are held upright with their feet against a flat surface and are moved forward, they appear to walk in a coordinated way.

Swimming

Infants will attempt to swim in a coordinated way if placed in water in a prone position.

Tonic neck

When infants’ heads are turned to one side, they will extend the arm and leg on that side and flex the arm and leg on the opposite side, as if in a fencing position.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 3-2 Reflective Journal Exercise 3 You may (a) consult with your parents about your own birth, (b) interview a new parent about her birth experience, or (c) consider the birth of your own child(ren). Please discuss the following in your journal: 1. Describe the events leading up to the delivery. Where did the delivery take place? Who was present?

Was any medication used? Was the birth experience as you expected it to be?

2. What was your initial reaction to the newborn? How soon were you able to hold the baby? When did you name the child? If you stayed in a hospital, describe your experience after the birth.

3. What were the first weeks at home like? What problems did you experience? How was having a baby different than you expected? Describe a typical day at home during the first weeks after the baby was born.

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Chapter 4 PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

12

Supplemental Reading

14

Revel Multimedia

15

Handouts

16

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CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Resources

Revel Resources

Growth and Stability Physical Growth: The Rapid Advances of Infancy The Nervous System and Brain: The Foundations of Development Integrating the Bodily Systems: The Life Cycles of Infancy SIDS and SUID: The Unanticipated Killers

Learning Objectives 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4

Sleep Training for Parents and Infants

Motor Development Reflexes: Our Inborn Physical Skills Motor Development in Infancy: Landmarks of Physical Achievement Nutrition in Infancy: Fueling Motor Development Breast or Bottle?

Learning Objectives 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8

Chapter Outline

Lecture Launchers 4.1, 4.2

Reflexes Infancy

Lecture Launchers 4.3, 4.4 Student Activities 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4

The Development of the Senses Visual Perception: Seeing the World Auditory Perception: The World of Sound Smell and Taste Sensitivity to Pain and Touch Multimodal Perception: Combining Individual Sensory Inputs

2 .

Learning Objectives 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.12, 4.13 Student Activities 4.5

Preferential Looking

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 4.1

Describe how the human body develops in the first 2 years of life, including the four principles that govern its growth.

LO 4.2

Describe how the nervous system and brain develop in the first 2 years of life and how the environment affects such development.

LO 4.3

Explain the body rhythms and states that govern an infant’s behavior in the first 2 years of life.

LO 4.4

Discuss SIDS and SUID and how they can be prevented.

LO 4.5

Explain how the reflexes that infants are born with help them adapt to their surroundings and protect themselves.

LO 4.6

Summarize the landmarks of motor skill development in infancy.

LO 4.7

Summarize the role of nutrition in the physical development of infants.

LO 4.8

Summarize the benefits of breastfeeding in infancy.

LO 4.9

Describe the capabilities of infants in the realm of visual perception.

LO 4.10 Describe the capabilities of infants in the realm of auditory sensation and perception.

LO 4.11 Describe the smell and taste capacities of infants.

LO 4.12 Describe the nature of pain and touch in infants.

LO 4.13 Summarize the multimodal approach to perception.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: First Steps II. Growth and Stability A. Physical Growth: The Rapid Advances of Infancy 1. By age 5 months, the average infant’s birthweight has doubled to about 15 pounds.

2. By age 1, the infant’s birthweight has tripled to approximately 22 pounds.

3. By the end of its second year, the average child weighs four times its birthweight.

4. By age 1, the average baby stands 30 inches tall.

5. By the end of the second year, the average child is 3 feet tall.

6. Not all parts of the body grow at the same rate.

7. There are 4 major Principles of Growth a) The CEPHALOCAUDAL PRINCIPLE states that growth follows a pattern that begins with the head and upper body parts and then proceeds to the rest of the body. b) The PROXIMODISTAL PRINCIPLE states that development proceeds from the center of the body outward. c) The PRINCIPLE OF HIERARCHICAL INTEGRATION states that simple skills typically develop separately and independently but are later integrated into more complex skills. d) The PRINCIPLE OF INDEPENDENCE OF SYSTEMS suggests that different body systems grow at different rates.

B. The Nervous System and Brain: The Foundations of Development 1. The nervous system comprises the brain and the nerves that extend throughout the body.

2. Infants are born with between 100 and 200 billion NEURONS, the nerve cells of the nervous system. a) Neurons communicate with other neurons by means of chemical transmitters that travel across the small gaps between neurons, known as synapses.

3. SYNAPTIC PRUNING is a process where neurons that do not become interconnected become unnecessary and die off as the infant’s experience increases. a) Neurons increase in size.

(1) Neurons become coated with MYELIN, a fatty substance that helps insulate neurons and speeds transmission of nerve impulses.

(2) The brain triples its weight in the first 2 years of life.

(3) The infant’s brain is 3/4 its adult size by age 2. b) As they grow, neurons become arranged by function.

(1) Some move into the CEREBRAL CORTEX, the upper layer of the brain.

(2) Others move to subcortical levels, which regulate fundamental activities such as breathing and heart rate and are below the cerebral cortex.

(3) Synapses and myelination experience a growth spurt at around 3 to 4 months in the area of the cortex involving auditory and visual skills (areas called the auditory cortex and the visual cortex).

4. Environmental Influences on Brain Development a) PLASTICITY is the degree to which a developing structure (e.g., the brain) or behavior is susceptible to experience and is relatively great for the brain.

(1) Infants who grow up in severely restricted environments are likely to show differences in brain structure and weight.

(2) Research with nonhumans reveals that a SENSITIVE PERIOD exists, which is a specific but limited time span, usually early in an organism’s life, during which the organism is particularly susceptible to environmental influences relating to some particular facet of development.

4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e C. Integrating the Bodily Systems: The Life Cycles of Infancy 1. Rhythms and States a) Behavior becomes integrated through the development of various body RHYTHMS, which are repetitive, cyclical patterns of behavior. b) An infant’s STATE is the degree of awareness it displays to both internal and external stimulation. c) Although irregular in infants, brain waves become regular by age 3. d) Changes are reflected in brain waves measured by a device called an EEG, or electroencephalogram.

2. Sleep: Perchance to Dream? a) The major state occupying the infant is sleep. b) On average, newborns sleep 16–17 hours daily, ranging from 10 to 20 hours a day. c) Sleep stages are fitful and “out of sync” during early infancy. d) By the end of the first year, most infants are sleeping through the night for a total of about 15 hours. e) Infants have a cycle of sleep similar to but different than REM—RAPID EYE MOVEMENT, the period of sleep found in adults and children and associated with dreaming.

(1) Brain waves are different in infants than the dreaming sleep of adults.

(2) This active REM-like sleep takes up half an infant’s sleep at first.

(3) Researchers think the function of REM sleep in infants is to provide a means for the brain to stimulate itself—a process called auto stimulation.

(4) Cultural practices affect the sleep patterns of infants.

D. SIDS and SUID: The Unanticipated Killers 1. SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS) is a disorder in which seemingly healthy infants die in their sleep. a) It affects 1 in 1,000 infants in the US annually. b) No cause has been found. c) It is the leading cause of death in children under 1 year old. d) Boys, African Americans, low-birthweight, low Apgar scorers, babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy, babies with certain brain defects, and children who are abused are at higher risk. e) SIDS deaths occur in children of every race and socioeconomic group, as well as children with no apparent health problems. f) Since Back-to-Sleep was recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, there has been a significant decrease in the number of SIDS deaths.

III. Motor Development A. Reflexes: Our Inborn Physical Skills 1. Basic REFLEXES, unlearned, organized, involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli, represent behavior that has survival value for the infant. a) Swimming reflex b) Eye blink reflex c) Some reflexes stay throughout life; others disappear over time. d) Some researchers believe reflexes stimulate the brain toward development. e) Reflexes can serve as helpful diagnostic tools for pediatricians because they appear and disappear on a regular timetable. f) Reflexes are genetically determined and universal and may be remnants from the past. g) Reflexes evolved because they had, at one point in humankind’s history, survival value. h) There appear to be cultural variations in the way reflexes are displayed.

2. Ethnic and Cultural Differences and Similarities in Reflexes a) The time at which specific motor skills appear is in part determined by cultural factors.

5 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Activities that are intrinsic to a culture are more apt to be purposely taught to infants in that culture, leading to their earlier emergence. c) However, there are certain genetically determined constraints on how early a skill can emerge.

B. Motor Development in Infancy: Landmarks of Physical Achievement 1. Gross Motor Skills a) By 6 months, infants can move by themselves. b) Crawling appears between 8 and 10 months. c) Infants can walk holding on to furniture by 9 months and most can walk alone by 1 year. d) Most can sit unsupported by 6 months.

2. Fine Motor Skills a) By 3 months, infants can coordinate movements of limbs. b) Infants can grasp an object by 11 months. c) By age 2, infants can drink from a cup without spilling. d) Motor skill development follows a sequential pattern in which simple skills are combined with more sophisticated ones.

3. According to Dynamic Systems Theory, motor skills development involves the development of muscle, perceptual abilities, and nervous system, as well as the motivation to carry out activities.

4. It is important to keep in mind that developmental NORMS are the average performance of a large sample of individuals of a certain age and mask substantial individual differences. a) BRAZELTON NEONATAL BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT SCALE is a measure used to determine infants’ neurological and behavioral responses to their environment.

(1) Supplements the Apgar (2) It includes 27 categories of responses (a) Interactions with others (b) Motor behavior (c) Physiological control (d) Response to stress b) Norms should be based on large, heterogeneous samples. c) The time at which specific motor skills appear is in part determined by cultural factors. d) There are certain genetic constraints on how early a skill can emerge.

C. Nutrition in Infancy: Fueling Motor Development 1. Without proper nutrition, infants cannot reach their physical potential and also may suffer cognitive and social consequences.

2. Malnutrition, the condition of having an improper amount and balance of nutrients, produces several results. a) Slower growth b) Susceptibility to disease c) Lower IQ scores d) Risks are greater in underdeveloped countries and in areas with high poverty rates. e) Undernutrition is where there is some deficiency in the diet. f) Malnutrition can cause MARASMUS, a disease characterized by the cessation of growth in infants.

3. A malady, KWASHIORKOR (a disease in which a child’s stomach, limbs, and face swell with water), typically associated with famine, drought, natural disaster, poverty, and poorly educated parents, is showing up in infants raised by affluent, well-educated parents. The symptoms are: a) Malnutrition b) Swollen feet and abdomen c) Listlessness 6 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e d) Skin changes e) Tooth loss f) In some cases, NONORGANIC FAILURE TO THRIVE is a disorder in which infants stop growing due to a lack of stimulation and attention as the result of inadequate parenting.

4. Infant OBESITY a) Defined as weight greater than 20 percent above the average for a given height. b) Research, although inconclusive, suggests an excess of fat cells early on (which remain in the body throughout life) may predispose an individual to be overweight as an adult.

D. Breast or Bottle?

1. For the first 4 to 6 months of life, there is no better food for an infant than breast milk. a) All essential nutrients b) Natural immunity to childhood diseases c) More easily digested d) It is sterile, warm, and convenient for mother to dispense. e) Some evidence it may enhance cognitive growth f) Health advantages for mother g) Emotional advantages for both mother and child 2. Approximately 70 percent of mothers in U.S. breastfeed their infants. a) Issues of age, social status, and race influence the decision to breastfeed. b) Infectious disease or medication may preclude breastfeeding. c) Working women find breastfeeding inconvenient. d) Lack of education is also an issue.

3. Introducing solid foods: Most babies can begin to eat solid foods at about 4 to 6 months. a) Foods are introduced gradually. b) Weaning, the cessation of breastfeeding, occurs on average in the U.S. at 3 to 4 months. c) Experts recommend infants be breastfed for the first 12 months of life.

IV. The Development of the Senses A. Visual Perception: Seeing the World 1. SENSATION is the stimulation of the sense organs.

2. PERCEPTION is the sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli involving the sense organs and brain.

3. Newborn infants cannot see beyond 20 feet.

4. By 6 months, the average infant’s vision is 20/20.

5. Binocular vision, the ability to combine both eyes’ vision to see depth and motion, is achieved at 14 weeks. a) Gibson’s “visual cliff” experiments showed that most infants between 6 and 14 months would not crawl over the apparent cliff. b) We do not know how early this depth perception occurs in infancy.

6. Infants prefer to look at patterns and complex stimuli.

7. Infants prefer to look at faces.

B. Auditory Perception: The World of Sound 1. The ability to hear begins prenatally.

2. Infants are more sensitive than adults to high and low frequencies but not to the middle ranges.

3. Sound localization permits infants to discern direction from which a sound is emanating. a) This skill is poorer in infants than adults because of infants’ smaller heads. b) It reaches adult level at 1 year.

4. Infants can differentiate changes in melodies and sounds—a requirement for language—and their mother’s voice from other voices.

C. Smell and Taste 7 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 1.

2.

3.

4.

Infants react to unpleasant tastes and smells from birth.

Newborns can detect their mother’s smell, but only when breastfed.

Infants have an innate sweet tooth.

Infants also develop taste preferences based on what their mothers drank while they were in the womb.

D. Sensitivity to Pain and Touch 1. Infants are born with the capacity to feel pain. a) There seems to be a developmental progression in reactions to pain. b) Research with rats suggests that exposure to pain in infancy may lead to permanent rewiring of the nervous system that results in greater sensitivity to pain during adulthood.

2. Touch is one of the most highly developed sensory systems in a newborn. a) The rooting reflex is strong. b) Infants gain information about the world through touch. c) Even the youngest infants respond to gentle massages and are calmed by them.

E. Multimodal Perception: Combining Individual Sensory Inputs 1. Eventually infants use the MULTIMODAL APPROACH TO PERCEPTION in which information collected by various individual sensory systems is integrated and coordinated.

2. Infant’s perceptual growth is aided by AFFORDANCES, the action possibilities that a given situation provides.

8 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 4.1: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) A tragic killer of infants is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and sudden unexpected infant death (SUID). Data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that, in 2016, 3600 infants less than 1 year old died from SUID. Within that figure, 1,500 deaths were attributable to SIDS, 1,200 were due to unknown causes, and 900 deaths were caused by accidental strangulation or suffocation in bed. Happily, the trend in SUID has been decreasing steadily since 1990, although that’s cold comfort for parents who experience this horrific occurrence.

Although much is unknown about the mechanisms behind SIDS, some data are available. For example, risk factors associated with SIDS include: • Sex. Boys are slightly more likely than girls to die of SIDS. • Age. Infants are most vulnerable between the second and fourth months of life.

• Race. Nonwhite infants are more likely to develop SIDS compared to other racial or ethnic

groups.

• Family history. Babies who’ve had siblings or cousins die of SIDS are at higher risk of SIDS. • Secondhand smoke. Babies who live with smokers have a higher risk of SIDS. • Being premature. Both being born early and having a low birth weight increase a baby’s chances of SIDS. Physical factors associated with SIDS are: • Brain defects. Some infants are born with problems that make them more likely to die of SIDS.

In many of these babies, the portion of the brain that controls breathing and arousal from sleep hasn’t matured enough to work properly.

• Low birth weight. Premature birth or being part of a multiple birth increases the likelihood that a baby’s brain hasn’t matured completely, therefore she or he has less control over such processes as breathing and heart rate.

• Respiratory infection. Many infants who died of SIDS had recently had a cold, which might contribute to breathing problems.

Environmental factors also play a role, such as: • Sleeping on the stomach or side. Babies placed in these positions to sleep might have more

difficulty breathing than those placed on their backs.

• Sleeping on a soft surface. Lying face down on a fluffy comforter, a soft mattress, or a waterbed can block an infant’s airway.

• Sharing a bed. Although the risk of SIDS is lowered if an infant sleeps in the same room as her or his parents, the risk increases if the baby sleeps in the same bed with parents, siblings or pets.

• Overheating. Being too warm while sleeping can increase a baby’s risk of SIDS. Some evidence assigns a role to maternal factors. These include being younger than 20 years old, smoking cigarettes, using drugs or alcohol, or receiving inadequate prenatal care. https://www.cdc.gov/sids/data.htm

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Lecture Launcher 4.2: Infant Brain Growth When the human pelvis evolved to adapt to walking in an upright position, the brain was also evolving and getting larger. Consequently, in order to pass through the birth canal, human infants must be born early in their brain development. Brain weight at birth is only about 25 percent of adult brain weight. (By comparison, baby chimps are born with 50 percent of their adult brain weight.) By 24 months, the brain is about 75 percent of adult weight, which explains why babies and toddlers are so top heavy! All of this brain growth is not new cells; in fact, many neurons die as the brain specializes for language, motor skills, and so on. What grow are the axons and dendrites that connect neurons, and the myelin that coats the axons and speeds brain processing. Thus, the major portion of brain growth occurs outside the womb.

At birth, the lower brain (brain stem, cerebellum, limbic system) is better developed than those parts of the brain allocated to thinking and reasoning (cerebrum). The lower brain helps the infant breathe, eat, and sleep, and controls all vital organs. The development of the “thinking” brain requires more dendrite connections and myelin sheathing. This development requires a tremendous amount of sleep and nutrients. This helps explain why infants sleep so much and eat so frequently. Moreover, dendrite growth is stimulated as the infant is exposed to a rich environment of sights and sounds and is allowed to move around. Ample research findings illustrate that severe malnutrition can cause inadequate brain growth and intellectual impairment. Studies with rats show that those who grow up in a rich environment with lots of visual stimulation and movement have heavier brains than rats that grow up in stark cages.

Dean, D. C., Planalp, E. M., Wooten, W., Schmidt, C. K., Kecskemeti, S. R., Frye, C., ... & Davidson, R. J. (2018). Investigation of brain structure in the 1-month infant. Brain Structure and Function, 223(4), 1953-1970.

Hanson, J. L., Hair, N., Shen, D. G., Shi, F., Gilmore, J. H., Wolfe, B. L., & Pollak, S. D. (2013). Family poverty affects the rate of human infant brain growth. PloS one, 8(12), e80954.

Matthews, L. G., Walsh, B. H., Knutsen, C., Neil, J. J., Smyser, C. D., Rogers, C. E., & Inder, T. E. (2018). Brain growth in the NICU: Critical periods of tissue-specific expansion. Pediatric Research, 83(5), 976-981.

Tamnes, C. K. & Østby, Y. (2018). Morphometry and development: Changes in brain structure from birth to adult age. In Brain Morphometry (pp. 143-164). Humana Press, New York, NY. Vuoksimaa, E., Panizzon, M. S., Franz, C. E., Fennema-Notestine, C., Hagler, D. J., Lyons, M. J., ... & Kremen, W. S. (2018).

Brain structure mediates the association between height and cognitive ability. Brain Structure and Function, 223(7), 34873494.

Lecture Launcher 4.3: How Far Would You Go To Get Breast Milk For Your Child?

The many benefits of breastfeeding, especially for premature babies, have been well-established. But what if someone is unable to breastfeed, perhaps because a child is adopted or the person is going through chemotherapy? A recent article in The New York Times discussed the online networks that exist through which mothers either donate their milk or offer it for sale. The article discusses the story of two men who wanted to continue giving their premature twins breast milk after they left the hospital. They were able to get a lot of milk via donations that were posted on the Internet. An alternative is to buy breast milk from established human milk banks, which screen the milk for diseases and pasteurize it. However, it is very expensive (up to $5.50 an ounce) and the pasteurization process destroys substances such as immunoglobin A, an important antibody.

Rabin, R. C. (February 12, 2013). Picking source of baby’s milk. The New York Times. (https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/picking-source-of-babys-milk/) https://www.milkbank.org/ https://www.hmbana.org/ https://www.onlythebreast.com/ http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com/

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Lecture Launcher 4.4: Does Breastfeeding Increase Intelligence?

Most pediatricians agree that feeding infants breast milk during the first few months of life is better than feeding them formula. Research suggests that some of the benefits of breastfeeding include fewer gastrointestinal issues, a more robust immune system, and other long-lasting health benefits. However, the question of whether breastfeeding leads to an increase in intelligence is more controversial.

Many studies have found a correlation between breastfeeding and higher IQ scores. For example, several studies have found that, on average, those who were breastfed have IQs 6 or 7 points higher than those who were not. This has led many people to conclude that early breastfeeding facilitates brain development, which in turn leads to increased cognitive ability. Others, however, point out that the decision to breastfeed a child is often correlated with other factors that may influence the intelligence of the child. For example, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and the mother’s own IQ all play a role in a mother’s choice regarding breastfeeding. As a result, it may be these confounding variables, and not the breastfeeding itself, that account for any differences in IQ. In fact, a 2006 study that used statistical techniques to control for the influence of many confounding variables found that breastfeeding itself had little to no effect on intelligence. Nonetheless, other studies continue to find evidence that breastfeeding does influence future cognitive ability, even when attempts to control for confounding variables are made.

To complicate matters further, a study conducted in 2007 found that breastfeeding does increase IQ scores, but only if the infant has a particular version of a gene. Infants with a different version of this gene did not show a cognitive benefit from breastfeeding.

Perhaps lost in all of this is the question of effect size. After controlling for other factors, it is important to note that most studies only find a small increase in average IQ associated with breastfeeding. So, even if breastfeeding can be shown to have a statistically significant role in cognitive development, it is only one of many factors that help determine a person’s intelligence. Additionally, because breastfeeding is believed to have many other benefits for both mother and infant, pediatricians and other experts are likely to continue to recommend early breastfeeding under most circumstances, even if breastfeeding is eventually shown to have no effect on intelligence.

Bernard, J. Y., Armand, M., Peyre, H., Garcia, C., Forhan, A., De Agostini, M., ... & EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study Group. (2017). Breastfeeding, polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in colostrum and child intelligence quotient at age 5-6 years. The Journal of Pediatrics, 183, 43-50.

Caspi, A., et al. (2007). Moderation of breastfeeding effects on the IQ by genetic variation in fatty acid metabolism.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(47), 18860-18865.

Der, G., Batty, G., & Deary, I. (2006). Effect of breast feeding on intelligence in children: Prospective study, sibling pairs analysis, and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal, 333, 945-948.

Jacobi-Polishook, T., Collins, C. T., Sullivan, T. R., Simmer, K., Gillman, M. W., Gibson, R. A., ... & Belfort, M. B. (2016).

Human milk intake in preterm infants and neurodevelopment at 18 months corrected age. Pediatric Research, 80(4), 486-492.

McCartney, M. (2007). Mixed messages over breast milk and brainy babies. British Medical Journal, 335, 1074.

Quigley, M. A., Hockley, C., Carson, C., Kelly, Y., Renfrew, M. J., & Sacker, A. (2012). Breastfeeding is associated with improved child cognitive development: A population-based cohort study. The Journal of Pediatrics, 160(1), 25-32.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 4.1: From Idea to Execution Considering the information in this chapter, ask students to roughly develop (using either a brief descriptive paragraph or drawings with notations) a newborn’s toy, blanket, mobile, baby room, or crib decorations. Remind them to use the known research about newborns to justify the choice of applicable color, tone, texture, or recommended distance and placement. To avoid students simply submitting a photo of an existing toy clipped from the Internet, ask them to explain (either in writing or to other class members) the specific principles underlying their choices.

Student Activity 4.2: Critical Thinking Exercise Catharina Svanborg, a Swedish physician and immunologist, discovered that a component of ordinary breast milk kills cancer cells in infants. Besides its newfound cancer-destroying properties, breast milk protects the infant against: Diarrhea Lower respiratory infection Otitis media (ear infection) Bacteremia Bacterial meningitis Botulism Urinary-tract infection

Necrotizing enterocolitis Sudden infant death syndrome Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus Crohn’s disease Ulcerative colitis Allergies

Against this array of documented beneficial outcomes, ask your students to discuss circumstances under which a) it might be impossible or impractical to breastfeed, versus b) simply inconvenient to breastfeed.

What do they make of the distinction between “I can’t” versus “I just don’t feel like it?” How does that attribution play into illnesses that a baby might then develop? For example, whose “fault” is it if a capable mother simply didn’t want to be inconvenienced by breastfeeding, and her child developed ulcerative colitis? During the discussion, stress that there are not necessarily right or wrong answers, although empirical evidence might point toward more or less advantageous choices. https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lucat/user/e1d888ee386fca48c7171d1b883c9a59

Student Activity 4.3: What Is “Normal”?

The text mentions average ages at which particular motor behaviors occur in the first year or so of life.

These ages, plus the typical range of variation, constitute developmental norms. It is important for students to realize that the average ages listed do not constitute a set of rules that babies must obey. It is also important that they realize that babies who begin a behavior before or after the average time are considered normal as long as their behavior is within the normal range. Babies who display a behavior considerably later than the normal range may also be normal, but the reasons for the delay should be investigated, in case they are manifestations of an undetected problem.

Two class meetings before you plan to discuss this topic, give your students the assignment of finding out how old they were when they began to walk independently. Ask them to write this information down on a slip of paper and bring it to the next class. Collect this information from students and plot the ages of their beginning to walk independently as a histogram that you can share with the class when you are ready to discuss this topic. Most students probably began to walk at around 12 or 13 months. However, you will 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e find a tremendous range of ages at which students began to walk. Because all of these students have ended up in the same introductory psychology class, it should also be apparent that how early or late a child begins to walk independently is not much of a predictor of what she or he will do in the future.

Student Activity 4.4: Leaving the Classroom Encourage your students to step outside the classroom and leave “book-learnin’” behind for a while. By observing newborns, infants, and toddlers “in the wild,” students will gain a better appreciation for the principles they’re reading about.

A Daycare Center with Infants

•

Students can observe the physical development of various infants (see Handout 4-1).

A Toy Store

• •

Using Handout 4-2, have students determine how toys for infants enhance sensory development.

If students have children or young brothers or sisters at home, they can bring in examples of toys that develop the senses.

Pediatric Care Unit

• •

Ask students to visit a children’s ward of a hospital and report on what special skills are required of nurses working with infants.

Students might also share their observations of infants with developmental delays.

Student Activity 4.5: Reflective Journal Handout 4-3 provides prompts that can be used for a Reflective Journal entry relevant to this chapter.

13 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

SUPPLEMENTAL READING Anderson, D. I., Dahl, A., Campos, J. J., Chand, K., He, M., & Uchiyama, I. (2018). Availability of peripheral optic flow influences whether infants cross a visual cliff. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 6(s1), S76-S88.

Flensborg‐Madsen, T. & Mortensen, E. L. (2018). Associations of early developmental milestones with adult intelligence. Child Development, 89(2), 638-648.

Flensborg-Madsen, T. & Mortensen, E. L. (2018). Developmental milestones during the first three years as precursors of adult intelligence. Developmental Psychology, 54(8), 1434.

Glodowski, K. R., Thompson, R. H., & Martel, L. (2018). The rooting reflex as an infant feeding cue. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, September 24, 2018.

Greco, A. L. R., da Costa, C. S. N., & Tudella, E. (2018). Identifying the level of trunk control of healthy term infants aged from 6 to 9 months. Infant Behavior and Development, 50, 207-212.

Hamer, E. G., La Bastide-Van Gemert, S., Boxum, A. G., Dijkstra, L. J., Hielkema, T., Vermeulen, R. J., & Hadders-Algra, M. (2018). The tonic response to the infant knee jerk as an early sign of cerebral palsy. Early human development, 119, 38-44.

Kismul, H., Mapatano, M. A., & Banea, J. P. (2017). Diet and Kwashiorkor in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation: From Biology to Policy, 1-19.

Kovaniemi, S., Alakortes, J., Carter, A. S., Yliherva, A., Bloigu, R., Joskitt, L. O., ... & Ebeling, H. E. (2018). How are social-emotional and behavioral competences and problems at age 1 year associated with infant motor development? A general population study. Infant Behavior and Development, 51, 1-14.

Lavezzi, A. (2018). Toxic effect of cigarette smoke on brainstem nicotinic receptor expression: Primary cause of sudden unexplained perinatal death. Toxics, 6(4), 63.

Millán, A. P., Torres, J. J., Johnson, S., & Marro, J. (2018). Concurrence of form and function in developing networks and its role in synaptic pruning. Nature Communications, 9(1), 2236.

Pierson, T. C. & Diamond, M. S. (2018). The emergence of Zika virus and its new clinical syndromes. Nature, 560(7720), 573.

Shapiro-Mendoza, C. K. (2018). Sudden unexpected infant death rates differ by age at death. The Journal of Pediatrics, 198, 322-325.

Soeters, P., Bozzetti, F., Cynober, L., Forbes, A., Shenkin, A., & Sobotka, L. (2017). Defining malnutrition: A plea to rethink. Clinical Nutrition, 36(3), 896-901.

Tester, D. J., Wong, L. C., Chanana, P., Jaye, A., Evans, J. M., FitzPatrick, D. R., ... & Tfelt-Hansen, J. (2018). Cardiac genetic predisposition in sudden infant death syndrome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 71(11), 1217-1227.

Thion, M. S. & Garel, S. (2018). Microglia under the spotlight: Activity and complement-dependent engulfment of synapses. Trends in Neurosciences, 41(6), 332-334.

Ueno, M., Uchiyama, I., Campos, J. J., Anderson, D. I., He, M., & Dahl, A. (2018). Crawling experience relates to postural and emotional reactions to optic flow in a virtual moving room. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 6(s1), S63-S75.

14 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA Sleep Training for Parents and Infants

An overview of options for a baby who won’t sleep regularly

1. Summarize three major responses parents have to a child who cries when put down to sleep.

2. Consider this statement: “No baby has ever died from crying.” Put aside, for a moment, crying that results in asphyxiation, burst blood vessels in the brain, and so on, and reflect on the general meaning of that idea. What does it suggest about the best approach to dealing with a child at bedtime?

Reflexes

An overview of infant reflexes is presented

1. Explain why reflexes are evolutionarily adaptive, and provide some examples.

2. What would the absence or delay of one or more reflexes indicate about a baby’s internal states, such as neural development or perceptual ability?

Infancy

The hallmarks of infancy are considered

1. Provide an example of both proximodistal and cephalocaudal growth, then consider the consequences that would result if these trends were reversed. For example, what outcomes would result from bottom-totop or extremity-to-torso growth patterns?

2. Why should the development of motor milestones always be considered within a given age range?

Preferential Looking

The application of preferential looking as a research technique is reviewed

1. Describe different stimuli that might be used in a preferential looking experiment, and predict the outcomes that should result.

2. It’s been claimed that “preferences need no inferences;” that is, we like what we like because we like it, and there’s no need for a lot of thinking to be involved. How might this concept apply to the interpretation of infant preferential looking?

15 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 4-1 Motor Development in Infancy Observe several infants from newborns to 2 years old. Determine their levels of gross motor skills (lifting head, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, cruising, walking alone, walking up stairs, running) and fine motor skills (reaching, grabbing, picking up objects, feeding self, holding a cup).

Infant #1 sex age gross motor skills fine motor skills Infant #2 sex age gross motor skills fine motor skills Infant #3 sex age gross motor skills fine motor skills Infant #4 sex age gross motor skills fine motor skills Infant #5 sex age gross motor skills fine motor skills

16 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 4-2 Infant Toy Survey Examine several toys marketed for infants (see package for age ranges). Determine how these toys are designed for infant safety and for stimulating infant development, especially sensory development. Try to find one good toy and one poor toy.

Toy #1 Description:

Recommended age range: Toy rating (1 = poor, 2 = fair, 3 = average, 4 = good, 5 = excellent). Explain why. durability

safety

attractiveness

source of stimulation

Toy #2 Description:

Recommended age range: Toy rating: durability

safety

attractiveness

source of stimulation

17 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 4-3 Reflective Journal Exercise 4 If possible, write about your own first year of life, drawing on the recollections of friends and family members who knew you way back then. (If this is not possible, you can write about your own children, or interview another person about their first year.)

Where did you sleep?

Describe your typical sleeping pattern during the first months (e.g., How many naps did you take? When did you begin to sleep through the night?).

Were you breastfed or bottle-fed? Why? For how long?

When were you introduced to solid food?

Were you allergic to any foods?

Were you overweight, underweight, or average weight at 1 year old?

How old were you when you: rolled over, sat up, crawled, cruised, walked alone?

What were some of your favorite toys? Why do you think this is so?

(You might want to include some photos of yourself from this period.)

18 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 5 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

16

Revel Multimedia

17

Handouts

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Resources

Chapter Outline Piaget’s Approach to Cognitive Development Key Elements of Piaget’s Theory The Sensorimotor Period: The Earliest Stage of Cognitive Growth Appraising Piaget: Support and Challenges

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 Lecture Launchers 5.1, 5.2

Information Processing Approaches to Cognitive Development The Foundations of Information Processing Memory During Infancy: They Must Remember This…

Individual Differences in Intelligence: Is One Infant Smarter Than Another?

Student Activities 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 Learning Objectives 5.4, 5.5, 5.6 Lecture Launchers 5.3, 5.4 Student Activity 5.3

The Roots of Language The Fundamentals of Language: From Sounds to Symbols The Origins of Language Development Speaking to Children: The Language of Infant-Directed and Gender-Related Speech

Learning Objectives 5.7, 5.8, 5.9 Lecture Launchers 5.5, 5.6 Student Activity 5.4

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Crash Course: Language

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 5.1

Summarize the fundamental features of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

LO 5.2

Describe Piaget’s sensorimotor stage of cognitive development.

LO 5.3

Summarize the arguments both in support of and critical of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

LO 5.4

Describe how infants process information according to information processing approaches to cognitive development.

LO 5.5

Describe the memory capabilities of infants during their first 2 years of life.

LO 5.6

Describe how infant intelligence is measured using information processing approaches.

LO 5.7

Outline the processes by which children learn to use language.

LO 5.8

Outline the major theories of language development.

LO 5.9

Describe how children influence adults’ language.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Baby Talk II. Piaget’s Approach to Cognitive Development A. Key Elements of Piaget’s Theory 1. Piaget’s simple rule on the ways infants learn: Action = Knowledge a) Knowledge is the product of direct motor behavior in infants.

2. All children pass through a series of universal stages in a fixed order. a) Sensorimotor b) Preoperational c) Concrete operations d) Formal operations 3. Both content and quality of knowledge increase.

4. Focus is on change in understanding that occurs as a child moves through stages.

5. Movement through stages occurs with physical maturation and experience with environment.

6. Piaget believed that infants have mental structures called SCHEMA, organized patterns of sensorimotor functioning.

7. Two principles underlie the growth in children’s schema: a) ASSIMILATION is when people understand an experience in terms of their current stage of cognitive development and way of thinking. b) ACCOMMODATION is change in existing ways of thinking that occur in response to encounters with new stimuli or events.

B. The Sensorimotor Period: The Earliest Stage of Cognitive Growth 1. The SENSORIMOTOR STAGE OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT (birth until age 2), Piaget’s initial major stage of cognitive development, can be broken down into six substages. a) Substage 1: Simple reflexes (1) First month of life (2) Various reflexes determine the infant’s interaction with world.

2. Substage 2: First habits and primary circular reactions a) A CIRCULAR REACTION is an activity that permits the construction of cognitive schema through repetition of a chance motor event. b) One to 4 months of age c) Coordination of actions d) Primary circular reactions are the infant’s repeating of interesting or enjoyable actions on his or her own body.

3. Substage 3: Secondary circular reactions a) Four to 8 months of age b) Begins to act on world (e.g., rattles rattle) c) Secondary circular reactions are repeated actions meant to bring about a desirable consequence on the outside world. d) Vocalization increases and imitation begins.

4. Substage 4: Coordination of secondary circular reactions a) Eight to 12 months of age b) Employ GOAL-DIRECTED BEHAVIOR, where several schema are combined and coordinated to generate a single act to solve a problem. c) Development of OBJECT PERMANENCE, the realization that people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen.

5. Substage 5: Tertiary circular reactions a) Twelve to 18 months of age

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Tertiary circular reactions are the deliberate variation of actions to bring desirable consequences.

6. Substage 6: Beginning of thought a) Eighteen to 24 months of age b) Capacity for MENTAL REPRESENTATION, an internal image of a past event or object.

(1) Permits the child to understand causality.

(2) The child gains the ability to pretend and use DEFERRED IMITATION, in which a person who is no longer present is imitated by children who have witnessed a similar act.

C. Appraising Piaget: Support and Challenges 1. Most developmentalists agree that Piaget’s descriptions of how cognitive development proceeds during infancy are accurate. a) Piaget was a master observer. b) Studies show that children do learn about the world by acting on objects in their environment.

2. However, specific aspects of Piaget’s theory have been criticized. a) Some developmentalists question the stage concept, thinking development is more continuous. b) Piaget’s notion that development is grounded in motor activity ignores the importance of infants’ sensory and perceptual abilities. c) Baillargon conducted violation-of-expectation studies (2009) that suggest that object permanence may occur as early as 3 1/2 months of age, far earlier than Piaget was able to discern. d) Imitation may occur earlier than Piaget suggested. e) Some development is universal, and some appears to be subject to cultural variations.

III. Information Processing Approaches to Cognitive Development A. INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACHES seek to identify the way that individuals take in, use, and store information.

B. The Foundations of Information Processing 1. Encoding, storage, and retrieval a) Encoding is the process by which information is initially recorded in a form usable to memory. b) Storage refers to the maintenance of material saved in memory. c) Retrieval is the process by which material in memory storage is located, brought into awareness, and used.

2. Automatization is the degree to which an activity requires attention. a) Processes that require little attention are automatic. b) Processes that require large amounts of attention are controlled. c) Automatization processes help children in their initial encounters with the world by “automatically” priming them to process information in particular ways. d) Children learn how different stimuli are found together simultaneously. This permits the development of concepts, categorizations of objects, events, or people that share common properties. e) The existence of basic mathematical skills in infants has been supported by findings that nonhumans are born with some basic numeric proficiency. Newly-hatched chicks show some counting abilities (Rugani, 2009).

C. Memory During Infancy: They Must Remember This…

1. Memory Capabilities in Infancy a) MEMORY is the process by which information is initially recorded, stored, and retrieved.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) The ability to habituate implies some memory. c) Infants’ memories improve with age. d) Research suggests that memory during infancy is dependent upon the hippocampus and that memory at a later age involves additional structures of the brain.

2. The duration of memories a) Research supports the notion of INFANTILE AMNESIA, the lack of memory of experiences that occurred prior to 3 years of age. b) Although memories are stored from early infancy, they cannot be easily retrieved. c) Early memories are susceptible to interference from later events. d) Memories are sensitive to environmental context.

3. The cognitive neuroscience of memory a) Advances in brain scan technology suggest there are two separate systems involved in long-term memory. b) These two systems are explicit and implicit memory.

(1) Implicit memory, not consciously aware memory, such as that involving motor skills, is the forerunner of explicit memory.

(2) Explicit memory, conscious and recalled intentionally, such as recalling a name, evolves later than implicit memory.

D. Individual Differences in Intelligence: Is One Infant Smarter Than Another?

1. Infant intelligence, like adult intelligence, is difficult to define.

2. Arnold Gesell formulated the DEVELOPMENTAL QUOTIENT, an overall developmental score that relates to performance in four domains: motor skills, language use, adaptive behavior, and personal-social. a) He compared babies’ performance at different ages to learn what behaviors were most common at a particular age.

3. BAYLEY SCALES OF INFANT DEVELOPMENT evaluate an infant’s development from 2 to 30 months of age. a) Mental Scale (1) Senses (2) Perception (3) Memory (4) Learning (5) Problem solving (6) Language b) Motor Scale (1) Gross motor skills (2) Fine motor skills c) Like Gesell, Bayley scales a developmental quotient (DQ).

4. These normative scales are useful in identifying infants who are significantly behind their peers but are not good at predicting future behavior.

5. Contemporary approaches to infant intelligence measure how quickly infants process information. a) VISUAL-RECOGNITION MEMORY is a measure of memory and recognition of a stimulus that has been previously seen. b) CROSS-MODAL TRANSFERENCE is the ability to identify a stimulus that has previously only been experienced through one sense using another sense. c) These measures correlate moderately well with later measures of intelligence.

6. Assessing Information Processing Approaches a) Rather than focusing on broad explanations of the qualitative changes that occur, as Piaget’s does, information processing looks at quantitative change. b) Information processing approaches see cognitive growth as more gradual, step by step.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Information-processing approaches are often able to use precise measures of cognitive ability.

IV. The Roots of Language A. The Fundamentals of Language: From Sounds to Symbols 1. LANGUAGE is the systematic, meaningful arrangement of symbols, and provides the basis for communication. a) Language has several formal characteristics that must be mastered as linguistic competence is developed.

(1) Phonology refers to the basic sounds of language, called phonemes, that can be combined to produce words and sentences.

(2) Morphemes are the smallest language unit that has meaning.

(3) Semantics are the rules that govern the meaning of words and sentences. b) Language is closely tied to the way infants think and how they understand the world. c) Linguistic comprehension is the understanding of speech. d) Linguistic production is the use of language to communicate. e) Comprehension precedes production.

2. Early Sounds and Communication a) Infants show PRELINGUISTIC COMMUNICATION through sounds, facial expressions, gestures, imitations, and other nonlinguistic means.

(1) BABBLING is when infants make speechlike but meaningless sounds at about 2 to 3 months of age continuing to about 1 year.

(2) Babbling is a universal phenomenon.

(3) Babbling begins with easy sounds (b - p) and proceeds to more complex sounds (d - t).

(4) By the age of 6 months, babbling differs according to the language to which the infant is exposed.

(5) Infants who cannot hear, and who are exposed to sign language, babble with their hands instead of their voices.

3. First Words a) Generally spoken between 10 and 14 months of age. b) First words are typically HOLOPHRASES, one-word utterances that depend on the particular context in which they are used to determine meaning. c) By 15 months, the average child has a vocabulary of 15 words. d) Between the ages of 16 and 24 months, a child’s vocabulary increases to 100 words.

4. First Sentences a) By 18 months, infants are linking words in sentences using TELEGRAPHIC SPEECH, where words not critical to the message are left out. b) UNDEREXTENSION, using words too restrictively, is common. c) OVEREXTENSION, using words too broadly, is also common. d) Some infants use a REFERENTIAL STYLE of language use in which language is used primarily to label objects. e) Others use an EXPRESSIVE STYLE of language use in which language is used primarily to express feelings and needs about oneself and others.

B. The Origins of Language Development 1. LEARNING THEORY APPROACH posits that language acquisition follows the basic laws of reinforcement and conditioning. a) Through the process of shaping, language becomes more and more similar to adult speech. b) This theory does not explain how children learn grammar. c) It does not explain how children produce novel phrases, sentences, and constructions, such as nonsense words, using correct grammar.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 2. An alternative theory is the NATIVIST APPROACH, which proposes that a genetically determined, innate mechanism directs language development. a) Proposed by Noam Chomsky b) Chomsky argues that all the world’s languages share a similar underlying structure called UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR. c) The brain is wired with a LANGUAGE-ACQUISITION DEVICE (LAD), a neural system of the brain hypothesized to permit the understanding of language. d) Critics argue that since primates can be taught to talk, the uniqueness of human linguistic capacity is called into question. e) Support for Chomsky’s approach comes from recent findings identifying a specific gene related to speech production. f) Also, recent research suggests that infant and adult speech processing is similar, suggesting an evolutionary basis for language. g) Critics suggest that we must identify mechanisms other than the LAD or learning theory principles to fully understand language development.

3. The Interactionist Approaches a) An alternative approach combines both schools of thought: the interactionist perspective suggests that language development is produced through a combination of genetically determined predispositions and environmental events.

C. Speaking to Children: The Language of Infant-Directed and Gender-Related Speech 1. INFANT-DIRECTED SPEECH, a type of speech directed toward infants, characterized by short, simple sentences. a) This type was previously called motherese.

(1) Pitch of voice becomes higher.

(2) Intonation may be singsong.

(3) Typically only used during first year. b) Infants seem more receptive to this type of speech. c) Use of this type of speech is related to the early appearance of words. d) Developmental Diversity and Your Life: Is Infant-Directed Speech Similar in All Cultures?

(1) For example, 6 of the 10 most frequent characteristics of infant-directed speech used by native speakers of English and Spanish are common to both languages.

(2) Reasons for the similarities: 1) the characteristics activate innate responses in infants, so their perceptual systems may be more responsive to those characteristics; 2) it facilitates language development.

(3) Note that there are differences in quantity of speech. For example, the Gusii speak less to their infants than American parents do.

2. Research shows that parents use different language for boys than for girls. a) They use diminutives more with girls, warmer phrases and more emotional referents, and tend to make refusals less direct. b) Boys tend to hear firmer, clearer language.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 5.1: Object Permanence Changes Infants often fail to search for a hidden object until approximately one year of age, which suggested to Piaget that the infant lacked the concept of object permanence. Flavell, Miller, and Miller, however, noted that research suggests infants may have a greater understanding of object permanence earlier than Piaget assumed. The belief that object permanence does not stabilize until the end of the first year may have been the result of Piaget’s methodology. That is, his observations were based upon the child’s ability to perform certain motor behaviors that do not appear until later in development. John Flavell and his colleagues noted, however, that a failure to perform a search for the object does not necessarily mean that the child lacks the concept of object permanence. Researchers have developed several techniques that visually present situations that are either possible or impossible given the rules of object permanence. Based upon observations of the reactions of infants to these presentations, the results indicated that infants as young as 3 to 4 months exhibited surprise reactions when situations were presented that were impossible given the rules of object permanence. Such findings suggest that the concept of object permanence may appear much earlier than originally proposed by Piaget.

Bremner, J. G., Slater, A. M., & Johnson, S. P. (2015). Perception of object persistence: The origins of object permanence in infancy. Child Development Perspectives, 9(1), 7-13.

Davidson, G., Miller, R., Loissel, E., Cheke, L. G., & Clayton, N. S. (2017). The development of support intuitions and object causality in juvenile Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius). Scientific Reports, 7. doi: 10.1038/srep40062.

Flavell, J. H., Miller, P. H., & Miller, S. A. (2001). Cognitive development (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Majecka, K. & Pietraszewski, D. (2018). Where’s the cookie? The ability of monkeys to track object transpositions. Animal Cognition, 1-9.

Mangalindan, D. M. J. & Schmuckler, M. A. (2017). To cue or not to cue: Toddlers’ use of beacons and associative cues in object‐displacement tasks. Infancy. doi: 10.1111/infa.12178.

Zentall, T. R. & Pattison, K. F. (2016). Now you see it, now you don’t: Object permanence in dogs. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25(5), 357-362.

Lecture Launcher 5.2: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words Young children sometimes have difficulty recalling information. One study suggests that drawing can enhance children’s memories for events.

Sarnia Butler, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, led a study involving 5- and 6-yearolds who took a field trip to a fire station. While there, the children clambered on the fire engines, watched drills performed by the firefighters, tried on the firefighting gear, and even watched as one of their chaperones slid down the firepole, much to the displeasure of the tour leader, who reprimanded her.

(This event, and several others, were prearranged ahead of time.) Both one day and one month later, the children were asked about their outing. Those children who were asked to draw and describe the events of that day—how they got there, what they saw, the events that transpired—accurately reported much more information than those children who were simply asked to tell what happened. This effect was not observed among 3- to 4-year-olds, although among both groups drawing did not appear to increase errors in recall.

This research indicates that memory for pleasant events may be increased by coupling words and pictures.

It remains to be seen whether the same effect would hold for negative events. If so, this technique may hold promise for boosting children’s recall of abuse, incest, or other traumatic events.

Butler, S., Gross, J., & Hayne, H. (1995). The effect of drawing on memory performance in young children. Developmental Psychology, 31(4), 597-608.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Macleod, E., Gross, J., & Hayne, H. (2016). Drawing conclusions: The effect of instructions on children's confabulation and fantasy errors. Memory, 24(1), 21-31.

Staff (1995). Kids draw on their memories. Science News, 148, 111.

Woolford, J., Patterson, T., Macleod, E., Hobbs, L., & Hayne, H. (2013). Drawing helps children to talk about their presenting problems during a mental health assessment. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, doi: 1359104516653642.

Lecture Launcher 5.3: Does Breastfeeding Increase Intelligence?

Most pediatricians agree that feeding infants breast milk during the first few months of life is better than feeding them formula. Research suggests that some of the benefits of breastfeeding include fewer gastrointestinal issues, a more robust immune system, and other long-lasting health benefits. However, the question of whether breastfeeding leads to an increase in intelligence is more controversial.

Many studies have found a correlation between breastfeeding and higher IQ scores. For example, several studies have found that, on average, those who were breastfed have IQs 6 or 7 points higher than those who were not. This has led many people to conclude that early breastfeeding facilitates brain development, which in turn leads to increased cognitive ability. Others, however, point out that the decision to breastfeed a child is often correlated with other factors that may influence the intelligence of the child. For example, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and the mother’s own IQ all play a role in a mother’s choice regarding breastfeeding. As a result, it may be these confounding variables, and not the breastfeeding itself, that account for any differences in IQ. In fact, a 2006 study that used statistical techniques to control for the influence of many confounding variables found that breastfeeding itself had little to no effect on intelligence. Nonetheless, other studies continue to find evidence that breastfeeding does influence future cognitive ability, even when attempts to control for confounding variables are made.

To complicate matters further, a study conducted in 2007 found that breastfeeding does increase IQ scores, but only if the infant has a particular version of a gene. Infants with a different version of this gene did not show a cognitive benefit from breastfeeding.

Perhaps lost in all of this is the question of effect size. After controlling for other factors, it is important to note that most studies only find a small increase in average IQ associated with breastfeeding. So, even if breastfeeding can be shown to have a statistically significant role in cognitive development, it is only one of many factors that help determine a person’s intelligence. Additionally, because breastfeeding is believed to have many other benefits for both mother and infant, pediatricians and other experts are likely to continue to recommend early breastfeeding under most circumstances, even if breastfeeding is eventually shown to have no effect on intelligence.

Bernard, J. Y., Armand, M., Peyre, H., Garcia, C., Forhan, A., De Agostini, M., ... & EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study Group.

(2017). Breastfeeding, polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in colostrum and child intelligence quotient at age 5-6 years. The Journal of Pediatrics, 183, 43-50.

Caspi, A., et al. (2007). Moderation of breastfeeding effects on the IQ by genetic variation in fatty acid metabolism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(47), 18860-18865.

Der, G., Batty, G., & Deary, I. (2006). Effect of breast feeding on intelligence in children: Prospective study, sibling pairs analysis, and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal, 333, 945-948.

Jacobi-Polishook, T., Collins, C. T., Sullivan, T. R., Simmer, K., Gillman, M. W., Gibson, R. A., ... & Belfort, M. B. (2016).

Human milk intake in preterm infants and neurodevelopment at 18 months corrected age. Pediatric Research, 80(4), 486492.

McCartney, M. (2007). Mixed messages over breast milk and brainy babies. British Medical Journal, 335, 1074.

Quigley, M. A., Hockley, C., Carson, C., Kelly, Y., Renfrew, M. J., & Sacker, A. (2012). Breastfeeding is associated with improved child cognitive development: A population-based cohort study. The Journal of Pediatrics, 160(1), 25-32.

Lecture Launcher 5.4: Measuring Intelligence in Infants Most intelligence tests are designed to assess intelligence in older children and adults. There are,

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e however, several instruments that are designed to assess intellectual functioning in infants and very young children. These measures may be examining different aspects of intelligence, such as physical, psychomotor, and social and emotional development rather than the verbally based measures typically used by intelligence tests. Although these measures may not accurately predict later intelligence, they can be useful in identifying potential developmental problems.

The Bayley Scales of Infant Development The Bayley Scales are probably the most often used measure of early infant intellectual development.

This test assesses mental (e.g., memory, language usage, attempts at communication) and psychomotor (e.g., coordination and proficiency in motor activities such as sitting, walking, and grasping) development in children between the ages of 2 to 30 months. In addition, it includes a behavior rating scale to assess the child’s emotional and social development.

Denver Developmental Screening Test, Revised This test assesses potential delays in development occurring from birth to 6 years of age. Using direct observation of the child, it is designed to evaluate developmental progress in four areas: language, fine motor movements, gross motor movements, and social behaviors.

Gesell Developmental Schedules This assessment instrument, originally developed in 1940, uses direct observation to assess development in five areas: adaptation, fine motor movements, gross motor movements, language, and social behavior. This instrument has been shown to be effective in detecting cognitive deficits associated with neurological problems. It is also known as the Gesell Maturity Scale, the Gesell Norms of Development, and the Yale Tests of Child Development.

Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale The Brazelton scale is used with infants from 3 days to 4 weeks of age, and assesses competence in areas such as neurological, social, and behavioral functioning. Factors such as reflexes, startle reactions, hand-mouth coordination, motor maturity, or cuddliness are used to derive 47 scores (20 elicited responses and 27 behavioral ratings). The chief limitation of the Brazelton scale is the absence of norms: Scores are obtained for a single case, but comparisons across infants are not easily made.

Dorris, L. (2017). Predicting the IQ of young children from early developmental markers. European Journal of Paediatric Neurology, 21(2), 247.

Furfey, P. H. & Muehlenbein, J. (1932). The validity of infant intelligence tests. The Pedagogical Seminary and Journal of Genetic Psychology, 40(1), 219-223.

Gardner, M. K. & Clark, E. (1992). The psychometric perspective on intellectual development in childhood and adolescence. In R. J. Sternberg & C. A. Berg (Eds.), Intellectual development (pp. 16-43). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Kaplan, R. M. & Saccuzzo, D. P. (2013). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues (8th ed.). NY: Cengage.

Rose, S. A. (1989). Measuring infant intelligence: New perspectives. Stability and continuity in mental development: Behavioral and biological perspectives, 171-188.

Lecture Launcher 5.5: Talk That Talk, Baby “Does baby want to play with the beads?! Do yoooooouuuu want to play with the beeeeeaaaaads? Yes you doooooo!! Yes you doooooooo, don’t yooouuuuuuuuu?!!” The high-pitched, drawn-out baby talk that new babies seem to find mesmerizing and new parents seem to find necessary may have a deeper significance

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e than previously suspected. That semi-annoying tendency to repeatedly accentuate vowel sounds may serve an important function in language development and may have a universal component.

Patricia Kuhl, a neuroscientist at the University of Washington, studied mothers in Sweden, Russia, and Seattle as they talked to their infants. Swedish, Russian, and English have substantially different vowel systems, yet the vowel sounds that are common to each language—“ee,” “ah,” and “oo”—were the same sounds that were unintentionally accentuated in the mothers’ speech. These parents did not accentuate all sounds or raise the pitch of all words, as might someone pretending to speak “baby talk.” Rather, acoustic profiles of some 2,363 words across all three groups revealed that just these important vowels were exaggerated, and, according to Kuhl, for good reason. By providing an infant with unambiguous examples of which vowel sounds belong together, the task of language acquisition is presumably made that much easier. To an infant learning to enunciate vowel sounds this can be an important boost.

Some intriguing unanswered questions remain, however. First, although Kuhl and her associates have demonstrated the type of input given to these infants, it’s not known what babies do with this information or how and when learning takes place. If an adult did not exaggerate vowel sounds, for example, it’s not clear whether there would be a negative effect on an infant’s learning or simply no effect at all. Second, the universality of this effect suggests a biological basis for knowing how to talk to an infant. “Ee,” “ah,” and “oo” are in fact sounds common to all human languages. Why they are spontaneously stressed under certain circumstances hints at an important adaptive tendency.

Kuhl, P. K., Andruski, J. E., Chistovich, I. A., Chistovich, L. A., et al (1997). Cross-language analysis of phonetic units in language addressed to infants. Science, 277(5326), 684-686.

Kuhl, P. K., Ramirez, R., Bosseler, A., Lin, J.-F., & Imada, T. (2014). Infants’ brain responses to speech suggest analysis by synthesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 11238-11245.

Moon, C., Lagercrantz, H., & Kuhl, P. K. (2013). Language experienced in utero affects vowel perception after birth: A twocountry study. Acta Pediatrica, 102, 156-160.

Moon, C., Zernzach, R. C., & Kuhl, P. K. (2015). Mothers say “baby” and their newborns do not choose to listen: A behavioral preference study to compare with ERP results. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 153.

Neergaard, L. (1997, August 1). Baby talk contributes to an infant’s learning. Austin American-Statesman, A19.

Polka, L. & Bohn, O-S. (2011). Natural referent vowel (NRV) framework: An emerging view of early phonetic development.

Journal of Phonetics, 39(4), 467-478.

Lecture Launcher 5.6: Sound Research on Language Learning Several intriguing studies have focused on language acquisition by toddlers.

Experiments led by Gary E. Marcus of New York University looked at the ability of 7-month-old babies to discern and remember rules for speech sounds. Infants heard examples of a sequence in which two syllables preceded the repeat of the initial one, such as “ga ti ga” or “ni la ni.” After hearing more such sequences, they were exposed to new sequences that repeated the second syllable, such as “wo fe fe.” The babies oriented much longer in the direction of the novel sequence, reflecting curiosity about the unexpected sound patterns. Marcus and his colleagues argue that the infants had learned the rule that the first and third syllables sound the same. This ability to recognize sound patterns and discern the statistical tendency of certain syllables to co-occur may pave the way for children to develop a rule-based grammar.

A second set of studies, conducted by Christine L. Stager and Janet F. Werker of the University of British Columbia, focused on language acquisition among 14-month-old infants. The researchers argue that by disregarding certain sounds in words, infants have greater cognitive resources available to start learning the meanings of words. In short, by turning a deaf ear to some of the nuances of spoken language, these toddlers may enhance their overall grasp of the language. To test this notion, Stager and Werker exposed 64 infants to a pair of stimuli, a spoken nonsense syllable (such as “dih” or “bih”) coupled with one of two colorful shapes shown on a computer monitor. Decreases in the infants’ orienting response to the 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e shapes indicated that the pairing had become familiar (and less stimulating) to the child. Then, a new pairing of each shape with the sounds previously associated with the other shape was presented. The children were just as disinterested in these combinations, suggesting that they failed to notice the switch in syllables. Similar results were found in an additional study of 14-month-olds; however, 8-month-olds in this case looked much longer at the new pairings, suggesting they were still attuned to the nuances of the sounds. Finally, a last study revealed that the 14-month-olds did notice new pairings when the sounds were dissimilar, such as “lif” and “neem.” Coupled with Marcus’ study, the present results suggest that up to 7 or 8 months of age, infants are quite adept at spotting the sound components of language. At around one year, however, their attention shifts to the important task of assigning meanings to sounds (i.e., what we grown-ups call “words”), sacrificing some attention to the details of the sounds themselves.

Finally, a third set of studies from Northwestern University, directed by neuroscientist Beverly A. Wright, suggests that the chatter of everyday conversation may hinder the ability of some children to distinguish discrete sounds and words. The result, according to coauthor Michael A. Merzenich of the University of California, San Francisco, may be specific language impairment (SLI). The researchers studied eight children diagnosed with SLI and eight who showed good language skills, all of whom were, well, age 8.

Each child heard a brief tone that was presented either before, during, or after one of two masking sounds.

These masks were either of a frequency similar to the target tone or of a contrasting frequency. During the similar-frequency trials, the children with good language skills found it easiest to detect the target tone when it preceded the mask, and more difficult to detect it when the two tones occurred simultaneously.

The SLI children, in comparison, could not hear any of the test tones unless they were substantially louder than those played for the other group. What’s more, the SLI group had as much difficulty detecting the target tone when it was presented before the mask, as when it was presented simultaneously or after the mask. These findings suggest that hearing deficits among SLI children may limit their ability to perceive individual speech sounds during the course of normal conversation, leading to the marked inability of SLI children to use and understand speech.

Bower, B. (1997, May 10). Language disorder tied to sound perception. Science News, 151, 286.

Bower, B. (1997, July 26). Wordy tots ignore some speech sounds. Science News, 152, 54.

Bower, B. (1999, January 16). Follow the rules, baby. Science News, 155, 42.

Estes, K. G. & Bowen, S. (2013). Learning about sounds contributes to learning about words: Effects of prosody and phonotactics on infant word learning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114(3), 405-417.

Estes, K. G. (2014). Learning builds on learning: Infants’ use of native language sound patterns to learn words. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 126, 313-327.

Graf Estes, K. & Hay, J. F. (2015). Flexibility in bilingual infants’ word learning. Child Development, 86(5), 1371-1385.

Stager, C. L., Werker, J. F. (1997). Infants listen for more phonetic detail in speech perception than in word-learning tasks.

Nature, 388(6640), 381-382.

Wright, B. A., Lombardino, L. J., King, W. M., Puranik, C. S., Leonard, C. M., & Merzenich, M. M. (1997). Deficits in auditory temporal and spectral resolution in language-impaired children. Nature, 387(6629), 176-178.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 5.1: Testing for Object Permanence Using Handout 5-1, ask students to perform Piaget’s object permanence exercises with two or more infants of varying ages (i.e., from a daycare center, nieces or nephews, perhaps their own children).

Students should share their findings with the class.

Student Activity 5.2: Speaking Piaget’s Language: Assimilation and Accommodation Students often have a difficult time grasping the distinction between Piaget’s terms assimilation and accommodation. To help them gain an understanding of these terms, divide your class into groups and have them think of examples of assimilation and accommodation in an infant’s development. Then ask the groups to make a list of examples of these concepts at work in their own adult lives. Use Handout 5-2 for this exercise. Ask representatives from each group to present their examples to the entire class.

Student Activity 5.3: Can Cognitive Development Be “Speeded Up”—and Should It Be? People used to ask Piaget whether it was possible to speed up cognitive development. Piaget called this concern “the American question” because Americans, he said, are always trying to hurry things along.

Most researchers agree that such pressure is indeed detrimental if the child is not developmentally prepared to learn. But others question Piaget’s assumption that children’s cognitive capacities develop like the ripening of a peach, and are largely unaffected by outside events.

Distribute the copies of Handout 5-3 and ask students to identify two of the benefits of encouraging children to speed their intellectual development and two of the possible disadvantages.

Some possible advantages: • • • • • •

The child may learn early in life to value intellectual skills such as reading and problem-solving.

The child may be more likely to reach the most mature stages of cognitive development (that many people never do reach).

The child whose intellectual development is faster than average may do better in school, and as a result have higher self-esteem.

Any special talents the child has may be recognized earlier, and therefore be more fully developed by training.

The child may be better equipped to take advantage of educational resources at school and therefore better qualified for a professional-level career.

The extra stimulation may enhance brain development and give the child an edge later on.

Some possible disadvantages: • •

The child may feel stressed and pressured by the parents to be perfect, and as a result actually learn to dislike intellectual activities.

The child may start to feel that he or she is simply a possession that the parents wish to show off, and self-esteem may suffer.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e • • • •

The parents may push the child to accomplish things for which he or she is not developmentally ready, and everyone may be left feeling frustrated.

The child may be so busy “speeding up” that he or she misses out on important developmental tasks of childhood accomplished through normal, unstructured play.

The child may lose the intrinsic pleasures of learning for its own sake.

The parents may become so psychologically invested in the child’s intellectual “success” that they communicate, subtly or not so subtly, that the child is inadequate if he or she “lets them down.”

Student Activity 5.4: Reflective Journal Use Handout 5-4 to help your students reflect on their own intellectual growth during infancy.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Dallas, D. C. & Traber, M. G. (2018). How does breast milk enhance lutein absorption? The Journal of Nutrition, 148(1), 1-2.

Dupoux, E. (2018). Cognitive science in the era of artificial intelligence: A roadmap for reverseengineering the infant language-learner. Cognition, 173, 43-59.

Flensborg-Madsen, T. & Mortensen, E. L. (2018). Developmental milestones during the first three years as precursors of adult intelligence. Developmental Psychology, 54(8), 1434.

Fort, M., Lammertink, I., Peperkamp, S., Guevara‐Rukoz, A., Fikkert, P., & Tsuji, S. (2018). Symbouki: A meta‐analysis on the emergence of sound symbolism in early language acquisition. Developmental Science, e12659.

Karaman, F. & Hay, J. F. (2018). The longevity of statistical learning: When infant memory decays, isolated words come to the rescue. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44(2), 221.

MacNeill, L. A., Ram, N., Bell, M. A., Fox, N. A., & Pérez‐Edgar, K. (2018). Trajectories of infants’ biobehavioral development: Timing and rate of A‐Not‐B performance gains and EEG maturation. Child Development, 89(3), 711-724.

Majecka K. & Pietraszewski, D. (2018). Where’s the cookie? The ability of monkeys to track object transpositions. Animal Cognition, 1-9.

Ozkan, A. (2018). Using eye-tracking methods in infant memory research. The Journal of Neurobehavioral Sciences, 5(1), 62-66.

Perszyk, D. R. & Waxman, S. R. (2018). Linking language and cognition in infancy. Annual Review of Psychology, 69, 231-250.

Poulain, T. & Brauer, J. (2018). The changing role of mothers’ verbal and nonverbal behavior in children’s language acquisition. First Language, 38(2), 129-146.

Prieto, P. & Esteve-Gibert, N. (Eds.). (2018). The development of prosody in first language acquisition (Vol. 23). New York: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Suskind, D. L., Leung, C. Y., Webber, R. J., Hundertmark, A. C., Leffel, K. R., Fuenmayor Rivas, I. E., & Grobman, W. A. (2018). Educating parents about infant language development: A randomized controlled trial. Clinical Pediatrics, 57(8), 945-953.

Vöhringer, I. A., Kolling, T., Graf, F., Poloczek, S., Fassbender, I., Freitag, C., ... & Keller, H. (2018).

The development of implicit memory from infancy to childhood: On average performance levels and interindividual differences. Child Development, 89(2), 370-382.

Wyly, M. V. (2018). Infant assessment. New York: Routledge.

Yu, H., McCoach, D. B., Gottfried, A. W., & Gottfried, A. E. (2018). Stability of intelligence from infancy through adolescence: An autoregressive latent variable model. Intelligence, 69, 8-15.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Crash Course: Language

The building blocks of language are reviewed

1. Distinguish phonemes, morphemes, and syntax.

2. How can a limited number of sounds produce a near-infinite variety of languages?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 5-1 Object Permanence Exercise Observe two or more infants (6 months to 2 years). In a familiar setting, give the infant one of her or his favorite toys. Record the infant’s reactions.

Infant #1

sex ________

age ________

1. While the infant is watching, partially hide the toy.

2. While the infant is watching, completely hide the toy.

3. With the infant watching, hide the toy under a cloth and then move the toy to another place that the infant can see.

4. With the infant watching, hide the toy under a cloth. Move the toy to another hiding place and then move the toy once again to a third hiding place. All hiding places should be in the view of the infant.

Infant #2

sex ________

age ________

1. While the infant is watching, partially hide the toy.

2. While the infant is watching, completely hide the toy.

3. With the infant watching, hide the toy under a cloth and then move the toy to another place that the infant can see.

4. With the infant watching, hide the toy under a cloth. Move the toy to another hiding place and then move the toy once again to a third hiding place. All hiding places should be in the view of the infant.

On the back of this sheet, compare your findings with Piaget’s description of object permanence.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 5-2 Assimilation and Accommodation Define the concept of assimilation.

Define the concept of accommodation.

List several ways in which an infant displays the use of assimilation.

List several ways an infant displays the use of accommodation.

List several ways adults display the use of assimilation.

List several ways adults display the use of accommodation.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 5-3 Can Cognitive Development Be “Speeded Up”—and Should It Be? Many American parents would like to “hurry up” the stages of cognitive development in their children.

What are two benefits of encouraging children to speed their intellectual development and what are two possible disadvantages?

Two benefits are:

Two disadvantages are:

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Handout 5-4 Reflective Journal Exercise 5 If possible, ask your parents to help you write about your cognitive development during the first two years of life. (If your parents are not available, you can write about your own children or interview a parent of an infant.) You can use the following questions to help you reflect.

What were your first words?

What is your earliest memory? How old were you?

Was there a game you particularly liked to play, such as peekaboo or patty cake?

What were your favorite books?

How did your parents try to stimulate your intellectual growth?

Was your intelligence ever tested?

Was more than one language spoken at home? If so, which did you prefer to use?

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Chapter 6 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN INFANCY CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

15

Supplemental Reading

17

Revel Multimedia

18

Handouts

19

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CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Chapter Outline Developing the Roots of Sociability Emotions in Infancy: Do Infants Experience Emotional Highs and Lows?

Stranger Anxiety and Separation Anxiety: It’s Only Natural Social Referencing: Feeling What Others Feel The Development of Self: Do Infants Know Who They Are? Theory of Mind: Infants’ Perspectives on the Mental Lives of Others—and Themselves

Instructor’s Resources

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5

Stranger Anxiety

Lecture Launchers 6.1, 6.2

SelfAwareness Task

Student Activities 6.1, 6.2

Forming Relationships Attachment: Forming Social Bonds Producing Attachment: The Roles of the Mother and Father Infant Interactions: Developing a Working Relationship

Learning Objectives 6.6, 6.7, 6.8 Lecture Launchers 6.3, 6.4 Student Activities 6.3 Learning Objectives 6.9, 6.10, 6.11, 6.12, 6.13

Differences Among Infants Personality Development: The Characteristics That Make Infants Unique Temperament: Stabilities in Infant Behavior Gender: Boys in Blue, Girls in Pink Family Life in the 21st Century How Does Infant Child Care Affect Later Development?

Lecture Launcher 6.5, 6.6 Student Activities 6.4, 6.5, 6.6

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Monkeys and Morality

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 6.1

Discuss how children express and experience emotions in the first 2 years of life.

LO 6.2

Differentiate stranger anxiety from separation anxiety.

LO 6.3

Discuss the development of social referencing and nonverbal decoding abilities.

LO 6.4

Describe the sense of self that children possess in the first 2 years of life.

LO 6.5

Summarize the theory of mind and evidence of infants’ growing sense of mental activity by age 2.

LO 6.6

Explain attachment in infancy and how it affects a person’s future social competence.

LO 6.7

Describe the roles that caregivers play in infants’ social development.

LO 6.8

Discuss the development of relationships in infancy.

LO 6.9

Describe individual differences that distinguish an infant’s personality.

LO 6.10 Define temperament, and describe how it affects a child in the first 2 years of life.

LO 6.11 Discuss how the gender of a child affects his or her development in the first 2 years of life.

LO 6.12 Describe 21st-century families and their consequences for children.

LO 6.13 Summarize how nonparental child care affects infants.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Anarchy in the Back Seat II. Developing the Roots of Sociability A. Emotions in Infancy: Do Infants Experience Emotional Highs and Lows?

1. Across every culture, infants display a fairly wide range of emotional expressions, and show similar facial expressions relating to basic emotions. a) Nonverbal encoding, the nonverbal expression of emotions, is consistent across the life span. b) Darwin argued that humans and primates have an inborn, universal set of emotional expressions, a view consistent with today’s evolutionary approach to development. c) The degree of emotional expressivity varies among infants.

(1) Chinese infants are generally less expressive than European, American, and Japanese infants are. d) DIFFERENTIAL EMOTIONS THEORY suggests that emotional expressions not only reflect emotional experiences but also help in the regulation of emotion itself.

2. Experiencing Emotions a) Developmentalists believe a true emotion has three components: biological arousal, a cognitive component, and a behavioral component. b) Emotional expressions have an adaptive function, permitting infants to express their needs nonverbally to caretakers before they have developed linguistic skills. c) As they get older, infants both display and experience a wider range of increasingly complex emotions, and a wider array of emotions.

3. Smiling a) By 6 to 9 weeks, babies exhibit the SOCIAL SMILE, smiling in reference to other individuals.

(1) Infants are able to discriminate facial and vocal expressions of emotion early in infancy via nonverbal decoding abilities.

B. Stranger Anxiety and Separation Anxiety: It’s Only Natural 1. STRANGER ANXIETY is the caution and wariness displayed by infants when encountering an unfamiliar person. a) Appears in the second half of the first year. b) The same cognitive advances that allow infants to respond so positively to those with whom they are familiar also mean they are able to recognize people who are unfamiliar. c) Infants with more experience with strangers tend to show less anxiety. d) Infants tend to show less anxiety with female strangers and other children than males.

2. SEPARATION ANXIETY is the distress displayed by infants when a customary care provider departs. a) Usually begins about seven or eight months and peaks at 14 months b) Largely attributable to the same cognitive skills as stranger anxiety C. Social Referencing: Feeling What Others Feel 1. SOCIAL REFERENCING is the intentional search for information to help explain the meaning of uncertain circumstances and events. a) First occurs in infants at about 8 to 9 months. b) Infants make particular use of facial expressions in their social referencing. c) Social referencing is most likely to occur in uncertain and ambiguous situations.

D. The Development of Self: Do Infants Know Who They Are? 1. The roots of SELF-AWARENESS, knowledge of self, begin to grow around 12 months. a) Self-awareness is assessed by the mirror-and-rouge task. b) Most infants touch their nose to attempt to wipe off the rouge at 17-24 months.

4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Crying, when presented with complicated tasks, also implies consciousness that infants lack capability to carry out tasks. d) Children’s cultural upbringing also impacts the development of self-recognition; for example, Greek children show self-recognition at an earlier age than African children in Cameroon.

E. Theory of Mind: Infants’ Perspectives on the Mental Lives of Others—and Themselves 1. Infants have a THEORY OF MIND, knowledge and beliefs about the mental world, at a fairly early age. a) Infants see others as compliant agents, beings similar to themselves, who behave under their own power and respond to the infant’s requests. b) Children’s capacity to understand intentionality and causality grow during infancy. c) By age 2, infants demonstrate EMPATHY, an emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of another person. d) By age 2, children can “pretend.”

III. Forming Relationships A. Attachment: Forming Social Bonds 1. The most important form of social development that occurs during infancy is ATTACHMENT, the positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a particular individual. a) Lorenz studied imprinting in animals, the rapid, innate learning that takes place during a critical period and involves attachment to the first moving object observed. b) Freud suggested that attachment grew out of a mother’s ability to satisfy a child’s oral needs. c) Harlow showed that, with monkeys, food alone is insufficient to bring about attachment—what he called contact comfort. d) The earliest work on humans was carried out by John Bowlby, who suggested that attachment had a biological basis based on an infant’s needs for safety and security.

(1) Since the mother provides safety and security, this attachment is different from others.

(2) Having a strong, firm attachment provides a home base from which the child can gain independence. e) Based on Bowlby’s work, Mary Ainsworth developed the AINSWORTH STRANGE SITUATION, a sequence of eight staged episodes that illustrate the strength of attachment between a child and (typically) his or her mother.

(1) Two-thirds of 1-year-olds have the SECURE ATTACHMENT PATTERN, a style of attachment in which children use mother as a home base and are at ease as long as she is present; when she leaves, they become upset and go to her as soon as she returns.

(2) Twenty percent have the AVOIDANT ATTACHMENT PATTERN, a style of attachment in which children do not seek proximity to the mother; after the mother has left, they seem to avoid her when she returns as if they are angered by her behavior.

(3) About 10 to 15 percent have the AMBIVALENT ATTACHMENT PATTERN, a style of attachment in which children display a combination of positive and negative reactions to their mothers; they show great distress when the mother leaves, but upon her return they may simultaneously seek close contact but also hit and kick her.

(4) A more recent expansion of Ainsworth’s work suggests a fourth category: DISORGANIZED-DISORIENTED ATTACHMENT PATTERN, a style of attachment in which children show inconsistent, often contradictory behavior, such as approaching the mother when she returns but not looking at her; they may be the least securely attached children of all.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (5) Infant attachment may have significant consequences for relationships at later stages in life.

(6) Not all children who are not securely attached as infants experience difficulties later in life; some research suggests that those who had avoidant and ambivalent attachment do quite well later in life.

(7) REACTIVE ATTACHMENT DISORDER, a psychological problem in forming attachments to others, manifests usually when the child’s development of attachment has been severely disrupted.

F. Producing Attachment: The Roles of the Mother and Father 1. Mothers are most often the attachment figure. a) They are sensitive to their infant’s needs. b) They are aware of the infant’s moods. c) They provide appropriate responses. d) Mothers whose communication involves interactional synchrony, in which caregivers respond to infants appropriately and both caregiver and child match emotional states, are more likely to produce secure attachment. e) There is substantial stability in attachment patterns from one generation to another.

2. Changing societal norms and current research show that some infants form strong initial attachment to their fathers and with multiple individuals simultaneously. a) Paternal involvement may reduce certain disorders, such as depression and substance abuse. b) Children’s emotional well-being is enhanced by fathers’ expressions of nurturance, warmth, affection, support, and concern.

3. There are differences in attachment to mothers and fathers. a) When stressed, infants tend to prefer their mothers. b) Almost all fathers contribute to child care. c) Fathers engage in more rough-and-tumble play; mothers spend more time feeding and nurturing.

G. Infant Interactions: Developing a Working Relationship 1. Processes Underlying Relationship Development a) Adults appear to be programmed genetically to be sensitive to infants.

(1) Brain scanning techniques have found that facial features of infants (but not adults) activate a specialized structure in the brain called the fusiform gyrus within a seventh of a second.

(2) Such reactions may elicit nurturing behavior and trigger social interaction. b) The development of relationships occurs according to the MUTUAL REGULATION MODEL, which states that infants and parents learn to communicate emotional states to one another and to respond accordingly.

(1) The process of RECIPROCAL SOCIALIZATION further increases attachment, by which the infant’s behaviors invite further responses from parents and other caregivers.

(2) Infants are apt to respond with sad looks and turn away when their mothers display unhappy expressions.

2. Infants’ Sociability with Their Peers: Infant-Infant Interaction a) Infants react positively to the presence of other infants.

(1) They laugh, smile, and vocalize.

(2) They show more interest in infants than inanimate objects. b) By 1 year, they show stronger preferences for familiar people than for strangers. c) Fourteen-month-olds imitate each other. d) Infants can learn new behaviors, skills, and abilities from exposure to other children. e) Infants’ ability to imitate suggests that imitation may be inborn. The existence of 6 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e MIRROR NEURONS provides evidence for this claim. They are neurons that fire not only when an individual enacts a particular behavior, but also when the individual simply observes another organism carrying out the same behavior. f) Dysfunction of mirror neurons may be related to the development of disorders such as autism.

IV. Differences Among Infants A. Personality Development: The Characteristics that Make Infants Unique 1. The origins of PERSONALITY, the sum total of the enduring characteristics that differentiate one individual from another, begin in infancy.

2. Erik Erikson’s THEORY OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT considers how individuals come to understand themselves and the meaning of others’—and their own— behavior. a) Infancy marks the time of the TRUST-VERSUS-MISTRUST STAGE (birth to 18 months) during which infants develop a sense of trust or mistrust, largely depending on how well their needs are met by their caretakers. g) From around 18 months to 3 years, infants enter the AUTONOMY-VERSUS-SHAMEAND-DOUBT STAGE during which, according to Erikson, toddlers develop either independence and autonomy if they are allowed the freedom to explore, or shame and doubt if they are restricted and overprotected. h) Erikson argues that personality is largely shaped by infant’s experiences.

H. Temperament: Stabilities in Infant Behavior 1. TEMPERAMENT is the pattern of arousal and emotionality that represents consistent and enduring characteristics of an individual. a) Temperament refers to how children behave.

(1) Temperamental differences among infants appear from the time of birth.

(2) Temperament shows stability from infancy through adolescence.

(3) There are several dimensions to temperament. (a) Activity level is the degree of overall movement. (b) Irritability reflects the fact that some infants are easygoing while others are easily disturbed.

2. Categorizing Temperament: Easy, Difficult, and Slow-to-Warm Babies a) Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess carried out a large-scale study known as the New York Longitudinal Study (1984) where they describe three profiles of temperament.

(1) EASY BABIES have a positive disposition; their body functions operate regularly and they are adaptable. (a) Forty percent of infants (2) DIFFICULT BABIES have negative moods and are slow to adapt to new situations; when confronted with a new situation, they tend to withdraw. (a) Ten percent of infants (3) SLOW-TO-WARM-UP BABIES are inactive, showing relatively calm reactions to their environment; their moods are generally negative, and they withdraw from new situations, adapting slowly. (a) Fifteen percent of infants (b) The remaining 35 percent cannot be consistently categorized 3. The Consequences of Temperament: Does Temperament Matter a) No temperament is inherently good or bad.

(1) Long-term adjustment depends on the GOODNESS OF FIT, the notion that development is dependent on the degree of match between children’s temperament and the nature and demands of the environment in which they are being raised.

(4) A key determinant is the way parents react to the infant’s behavior.

(5) Culture also has a major influence on the consequences of a particular temperament.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (6) Buss and Plomin argue that temperament represents inherited traits that make up the core of personality.

4. The Biological Basis of Temperament a) Inherited traits are fairly stable during childhood and across the life span. b) These traits make up the core of personality. c) Ex. Physiological reactivity to novel stimuli, which has been termed inhibition to the unfamiliar, is exhibited as shyness. High reactivity in one’s brain when viewing unfamiliar faces, shyness, continues from childhood through adulthood. d) High reactivity to unfamiliar situations in infants has also been linked to greater susceptibility to depression and anxiety disorders in adulthood.

B. Gender: Boys in Blue, Girls in Pink 1. An infant’s GENDER, the sense of being male or female, has effects throughout life. b. Fathers interact more with sons than daughters; mothers more with daughters. c. Infants wear different clothes and are given different toys based on gender. d. Infants’ behavior is interpreted differently depending on gender. e. Male infants are more active and fussier than females. f. By age 1, infants are able to distinguish between males and females.

2. Gender Differences a. Differences within gender are greater than those between genders.

3. Gender Roles a. Gender differences become increasingly influenced by gender roles in society.

(1) In addition to societal encouragement and reinforcement, differences in behavior may also result from prenatal exposure to abnormal levels of male or female hormones.

I. Family Life in the 21st Century 1. A single parent heads an increasing amount of all families with children.

2. The average size of families is shrinking.

3. Births to (generally unmarried) 15- to 17-year-olds remain a concern.

4. A substantial number of children under the age of 3 are cared for by other adults while their parents work, and more than half of mothers with infants work outside the home.

5. Many children live in poverty.

J. How Does Infant Child Care Affect Later Development?

1. More than 80 percent of infants are cared for by people other than their mothers at some point during their first year of life.

2. Majority of these infants begin child care outside the home before the age of 4 months and are enrolled for almost 30 hours per week.

3. Although research suggests some benefits to this trend, some of the findings are less positive; for example, infants may be less secure, have less effective time management skills, and have a lower ability to work independently.

4. Recent research on preschoolers found that children who spend 10 or more hours in group child care for a year or more have an increased probability of being disruptive in class.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 6.1: Reflecting on Self-Awareness A basic question of development focuses on how we come to know ourselves. Advocates of mind-altering substances or devotees of certain mystic rites point to the “expanded consciousness” and greater awareness of ourselves that can be attained, and almost everyone embraces the admonition to “know thyself.”

The framework suggested by these examples, however, recruits a rather select group of self-knowers: sentient, rational adults with long prior experience (from any number of sources) of acquiring selfknowledge. An investigation of the origins and limits of self-knowledge, however, might entail both phylogenetic and ontogenetic approaches. For example, how much self-recognition does an infant have?

Certainly a preverbal child cannot describe her or his experience of the self, and if the child could, its vocabulary would probably be inadequate to capture the richness of the self-recognition experience.

(Imagine your 2-year-old reporting that she “apprehended the self-as-known in a moment of lucid insight.”) To press the point further, to what extent are members of other species self-aware? We can repeatedly ask the 2-year-old child what she or he is experiencing until, with time, a vocabulary capable of describing the experiences is developed. We cannot, however, expect our cat to relate the “reflective experience of comparing the present self to the ideal self,” no matter how much we ask it.

Several researchers have been interested in questions of self-recognition, self-awareness, and selfknowledge in other species, and have actively sought ways to gather evidence for these processes. As an example, Gordon G. Gallup, Jr., developed a technique for testing self-recognition among primates that circumvented the barrier produced by lack of a common communication system between species. One marker of self-recognition is the ability to visually identify oneself, such as occurs when looking in a mirror. Gallup capitalized on this facet of recognition in a study using chimpanzees. The chimps were given several days of exposure to a mirror in their environment. Gallup noted that at first the chimpanzees acted as though the image in the mirror was another animal. Gradually, however, they began to respond in a way that suggested they had realized they were seeing an image of themselves. To validate these observations, Gallup anesthetized the chimpanzees and applied an odorless, bright red dye to their faces, in such a location that it could only be seen in the mirror. When the chimpanzees were revived and the mirrors were reintroduced, all the chimpanzees reacted in a way that strongly suggested mirror selfrecognition. The chimps reached up to their faces, exploring the marks, while watching their reflections, and did so more often than under control conditions.

This procedure, subsequently dubbed the “mark test” or “mirror test,” has been used with a number of other species. Gallup contends, however, that although chimpanzees and orangutans can reliably demonstrate self-recognition of this type, the effect has not been reliably demonstrated among gorillas, monkeys, or prosimians. Nonetheless, more recent research has demonstrated self-recognition among bottlenose dolphins, Asian elephants, magpies, ants, and orca whales.

Brandl, J. L. (2018). The puzzle of mirror self-recognition. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 17(2), 279-304.

Cammaerts, M-C & Cammaerts, R. (2015). Are ants (hymenoptera, formicidae) capable of self recognition? Journal of Science, 5(7), 521-532.

Derégnaucourt, S. & Bovet, D. (2016). The perception of self in birds. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 69, 1-14.

Gallup, G. G., Jr. (1970). Chimpanzees: Self-recognition. Science, 167, 341-343.

Hafandi, A., Hanafi, R., Azwan, H., Hezmee, M. M., Hassim, H. A., Zeid, Z. I., ... & Putra, T. T. R. (2018). The preliminary study of mirror self-recognition (msr) on Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). Journal of Veterinary Malaysia, 30(1), 2325.

Hotta, T., Komiyama, S., & Kohda, M. (2018). A social cichlid fish failed to pass the mark test. Animal Cognition, 21(1), 127-

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Morrison, R. & Reiss, D. (2018). Precocious development of self-awareness in dolphins. PloS one, 13(1), e0189813.

Parker, S. T., Mitchell, R. W., & Boccia, M. L. (Eds.) (1994). Self-awareness in animals and humans: Developmental perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Plotnick, J. M., deWaal, F. B. M., & Reiss, D. (2006). Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(45), 17053-17057.

Prior, H., Schwarz, A., & Güntürkün, O. (2008). Mirror-induced behavior in the magpie (Pica-pica): Evidence of selfrecognition. PloS Biology, 6(8), 1642-1650.

Rogers, L. J. (2018). Minds of their own: Thinking and awareness in animals. New York: Routledge.

Lecture Launcher 6.2: The Development of Attachment In 1964, Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson interviewed mothers of babies from early infancy to 18 months of age. The research is interesting from a historical perspective, and also allows you to poll your students on their knowledge of more recent developments in attachment theory. The researchers discovered that babies progress through four stages of attachment: Stage 1: Asocial Attachment (0 to 6 weeks) Infants show no specific attachment to anyone.

Stage 2: Indiscriminate Attachment (6 weeks to 7 months) Infants enjoy interactions with others and play with just about anyone. They prefer humans to toys and at about 3 to 6 months are beginning to smile biggest for familiar people.

Stage 3: Specific Attachment (7 to 9 months) Infants now begin to protest when separated from a particular individual, mostly their primary caregiver.

Infants want to be near the primary caregiver and are beginning to be wary of strangers. According to Schaffer and Emerson, this is the beginning of true attachment.

Stage 4: Multiple Attachments (9 to 18 months) Most infants show additional attachments to other persons after the initial attachment (which is usually to the primary caregiver). These additional attachments may be to other caregivers, siblings, grandparents, or consistent babysitters. However, the initial attachment seems to be the strongest one and this is the person infants go to when upset or frightened.

Schaffer, H. R. & Emerson, P. E. (1964). The development of social attachments in infancy. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 29(3), Serial #94.

Lecture Launcher 6.3: Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Test Mary Ainsworth’s groundbreaking study of infant attachment grew out of the work of theorists in the fields of ethology, developmental psychology, and psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud declared that infants become attached to their mothers because their mothers feed them and satisfy their oral needs. However, psychoanalyst Rene Spitz noticed that infants in foundling homes, even when fed adequately, died at an alarming rate. He hypothesized that they were dying from lack of loving attention and touch. Harry Harlow had read Spitz’s work and decided to test the theory of “contact comfort” against Freud’s oral needs theory, using infant rhesus monkeys. Harlow took monkeys right after birth and put them with “surrogate mothers.” Some “mothers” were made of wire mesh and had bottles attached for feeding.

Other “mothers” were made of terry cloth and had no bottle. Although the young monkeys went to the wire mesh “mothers” when they were hungry, they spent the rest of their time clinging to the terry cloth “mothers.” And when Harlow frightened the monkeys, they ran for safety to the cloth “mothers.” Harlow also found that monkeys separated from their mothers and raised in isolation became antisocial and later

10 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e became poor mothers themselves. Thus, it seemed, with monkeys at least, that “mother love” and touch were more important than food.

But what about the human mother-infant bond? In England, John Bowlby was studying the effects of early maternal deprivation (precipitated by World War II). He proposed that children go through three stages when separated from their mothers: protest, despair, and finally, detachment. Influenced by Konrad Lorenz’s work on imprinting, Bowlby hypothesized that early maternal separation is harmful because it thwarts the infant’s instinctive need for a close bond with its mother. Bowlby maintained that infants inherit several behaviors that help them to maintain contact with significant others and to elicit caretaking.

These behaviors include signaling; orienting; and contact behaviors such as crying, cooing, smiling, grasping, and babbling that adults find impossible to ignore. Thus, behaviors on the part of both the infant and caretaker ensure survival and promote attachment.

Ainsworth worked with Bowlby in the early 1950s analyzing data on the effects of maternal separation on children under 5. Later, in Uganda, Ainsworth observed infant-mother attachment and devised her categorization system. When she moved to Baltimore in the 1960s, Ainsworth decided to further test these categories under experimental conditions. She used a “strange situation” after reading Harlow’s research with monkeys. First Ainsworth and four assistants closely observed 26 infant/mother pairs for over 72 hours in the children’s homes, watching for these interactions: feeding, crying, cuddling, eye contact, and smiling. Then, when the babies were a year old, they were brought to Ainsworth’s lab and observed during what came to be called the “strange situation.” The experiment proceeded as follows.

(You may wish to use Handout 6-1 to accompany this part of the lecture.)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Mother and baby are alone in an unfamiliar room with toys.

Mother sits down and baby is free to explore and play with the toys.

An unfamiliar adult enters the room.

Mother leaves the room; the baby stays with the unfamiliar adult.

Mother comes back into the room; the stranger leaves.

Mother leaves baby alone in the room.

Stranger comes back instead of mother.

Stranger leaves and mother comes back into the room.

Of particular concern to Ainsworth and her associates was the baby’s reaction to its mother during #5 and #8. She found three patterns: 1. Securely attached These infants explored the room, keeping an eye on their mothers. They cried when separated from their mothers, but when their mothers returned they were greeted with pleasure, often by the baby’s wanting to be held. These children were easy to console.

2. Insecurely attached—ambivalent These infants were clingy even before the mother left and were afraid to explore the room. They were extremely anxious and agitated when their mother left the room and cried to be held when she returned.

However, they arched away from her body and refused to be consoled.

3. Insecurely attached—avoidant These children explored the room but did not turn around to keep an eye on their mothers. When the mother left, these infants did not get upset, and when she returned, they avoided her.

From the home and laboratory observations, Ainsworth was able to explain the mothering styles that produced each type of attachment. Mothers of securely attached infants responded to their infant’s 11 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e feeding signals and crying promptly. In addition, they smiled a lot with their infants. Mothers of anxiously attached infants responded in inconsistent, ignoring, or rejecting ways.

Not all developmentalists accept Ainsworth’s interpretations. Chief among her detractors is Jerome Kagan, who believes another way to interpret infants’ attachment styles is to look at parenting behaviors and infant temperament. Kagan asserts, for example, that “insecurely attached” infants may merely be temperamentally less able to cope with maternal separation and strangers. Kagan also claims that crosscultural research indicates that some forms of socialization teach infants to suppress their fears in unfamiliar places.

Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, S. M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bowlby, J. (1980). Loss: Sadness and depression. New York: Basic Books.

Chae, Y., Goodman, M., Goodman, G. S., Troxel, N., McWilliams, K., Thompson, R. A., ... & Widaman, K. F. (2018). How children remember the Strange Situation: The role of attachment. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 166, 360-379.

DePasquale, C. E., Raby, K. L., Hoye, J., & Dozier, M. (2018). Parenting predicts Strange Situation cortisol reactivity among children adopted internationally. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 89, 86-91.

Ezquerro, A. (2016). Encounters with John Bowlby: Tales of attachment. New York: Routledge.

Theisen, J. C., Fraley, R. C., Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., & Chopik, W. J. (2018). How do attachment styles change from childhood through adolescence? Findings from an accelerated longitudinal Cohort study. Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 141-146.

Lecture Launcher 6.4: Should You Let a Baby Cry? Many developmentalists believe that the discomfort caused by listening to a baby cry is an adaptive response that assures the helpless baby will get attention from an adult. However, even the experts disagree on how quickly caregivers should respond to a crying baby.

The first psychologist to advise new parents on whether to allow babies to cry or not was John B. Watson.

Watson argued that when parents respond each time their baby cries, they are rewarding the crying and increasing its happening. In other words, they are spoiling their children. To avoid this, Watson advises to treat them ...as though they were young adults... Let your behavior always be objective and kindly firm. Never hug or kiss them, never let them sit on your lap.... Shake hands with them in the morning.... In a week’s time, you will find how easy it is to be perfectly objective... [yet] kindly. You will be utterly ashamed at the mawkish, sentimental way you have been handling [your child] (1928, 81–82).

A few years later his wife, Rosalie Rayner Watson, wrote the following in Children magazine (the precursor to today’s Parents): One grave reason why I am a very bad mother, behaviorally speaking, is because I am still somewhat on the side of the children. I am afraid the scientists tackled me too late in life to wholly recondition me. I cannot restrain my affection for the children completely.

The respect in which I am the very worst behaviorist is because I too want to break all rules once in a while (cited in Parents, August, 1996, p. 50).

By the 1940s, Benjamin Spock (in his classic Baby and Child Care) was dispensing very similar advice: when babies are fussy and won’t sleep, let them cry it out until they fall asleep. Fifty years later, Richard Ferber, head of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children’s Hospital in Boston, wrote a bestselling book called Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems. After studying babies’ sleep habits for years, Ferber says that most healthy babies are sleeping through the night by age 3 months. Babies need to learn 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e that if they cry at night parents will not (a) take them out of the crib, (b) feed them, or (c) play with them.

Also, says Ferber, if a baby learns to fall asleep only while being held, rocked, or fed, she’ll insist on those conditions being met night after night. Although it’s normal for babies to wake during the night, Ferber continues, it is knowing how to go back to sleep that is the problem. Ferber suggests giving the baby a pat (not a cuddle) and leaving the room. If the crying continues, parents should return and calmly reassure the child. Ferber suggests increasing the intervals between returning to the child’s room by 5 minutes at first, then 10, then 15. Within a week, claims Ferber, the child will be trained to fall asleep on her own.

Many developmentalists disagree with the behaviorist view. John Bowlby argued that babies’ cries are preprogrammed distress signals that bring caregivers to the baby. The caregivers, too, are programmed to respond to babies’ cries. The adaptive significance of crying ensures that the infant’s basic needs will be met, a sense of trust in others will develop, and the infant will have sufficient contact with other human beings to form social and emotional attachments. Mary Ainsworth also believed that you cannot respond too much to an infant’s crying in the first year. She found that mothers who responded quickly to their infants when they cried at age 3 months had infants who cried less later in life.

Your students might find this an interesting topic for discussion. Students may even enjoy surveying parents they know about their views on responding to babies’ crying.

Bell, S. M. & Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1972). Infant crying and maternal responsiveness. Child Development, 43, 1171-1190.

Bowlby, J. (1989). Secure and insecure attachment. New York: Basic Books.

Ferber, R. (1989). Solve your child’s sleep problems. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Gewirtz, J. (1977). Maternal responding and the conditioning of infant crying: Directions of influence within the attachmentacquisition process. In B. C. Etzel, J. M. LeBlanc, & D. M. Baer (Eds.), New developments in behavioral research. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Is it wrong to show affection to children? (August, 1996) Parents, 50.

Maute, M. & Perren, S. (2018). Ignoring children's bedtime crying: The power of western‐oriented beliefs. Infant mental health journal, 39(2), 220-230.

Spock, B. (1957). Baby and child care. New York: Pocket Books.

Watson, J. B. (1928). Psychological care of infant and child. New York: W. W. Norton.

Lecture Launcher 6.5: Day Care and Social Development The accumulated data from many studies of day care reveal no consistent negative effects. On the contrary, many studies find that children actually do better in day care than in home care. According to one such study of 150 children, ages 2 to 4, the social and intellectual development of children who were attending day-care centers (part time or full time) was advanced over that of children in home care (with the mother, a sitter, or a day-care provider in the home) (Clarke-Stewart, 1991).

What about the effects of putting infants in day care during their critical first year? In a major longitudinal study of 2,387 children, Frank Mott (1991) investigated whether various forms of infant care were related to the child’s performance on tests of physical, cognitive, and social development several years later.

First, he controlled for a wide range of factors that would have been linked with a child’s having been put in day care during infancy, such as mother’s use of drugs or family income. That done, Mott found no statistically significant association between day care in infancy and the child’s later motor or social development. As for cognitive development, the children who had been in day care as infants scored higher than those who had been at home. On closer inspection, Mott found that healthy baby girls benefited the most by being away from their mothers in day-care arrangements; healthy baby boys neither gained nor lost by being in day care; but boys who were physically unhealthy in their first year benefited by being home in maternal care. Mott concluded that “no type of infant care arrangement can be generalized as being uniformly preferable or detrimental.”

13 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Most psychologists today, instead of assuming that day care is universally helpful or harmful, are asking different questions. Specifically, they are concerned with how the quality of day care affects children’s development, which children do well and which do poorly in different environments, and how parents and day-care programs can work effectively together. Children develop well in many kinds of caretaking arrangements. They go through the same stages of indiscriminate friendliness, fear of strangers, and independence, whether they are at home or in day care, as long as the care is good (Clarke-Stewart, 1991; Mott, 1991).

Clarke-Stewart, K. A. (1991). A home is not a school: The effects of child care on children’s development. In S. L. Hofferth & D.A. Phillips (eds.), Child Care Policy Research. Journal of Social Issues, 47(2), 105-124.

Dujardin, C., Fonder, M., & Lejeune, B. (2018). Does formal child care availability for 0–3 year olds boost mothers' employment rate? Panel data based evidence from Belgium. Annals of Economics and Statistics, (129), 103-126.

Felfe, C. & Lalive, R. (2018). Does early child care affect children's development? Journal of Public Economics, 159, 33-53.

Mott, F. L. (1991). Developmental effects of infant care: The mediating role of gender and health. In S. L. Hofferth & D. A. Phillips (eds.), Child Care Policy Research. Journal of Social Issues, 47(2), 139-158.

Lecture Launcher 6.6: Gender Identity and the Case of David Reimer David Reimer, a Canadian, was born in 1965 as a healthy boy. During circumcision, his penis was inadvertently destroyed and he was subsequently raised as a girl. Psychologist John Money oversaw the case and reported the gender reassignment as successful, providing the opinion that gender identity is primarily learned. This case was particularly interesting as David had an identical twin brother. Much controversy followed, including David’s admission that he never identified himself as a female and his subsequent suicide in 2004. Extensive information about this case is available online, as well as in a book

by John Colapinto, As Nature Made Him. Bailey, J. M., Vasey, P. L., Diamond, L. M., Breedlove, S. M., Vilain, E., & Epprecht, M. (2016). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(2), 45-101.

Beh, H. G. & Diamond, M. (2005). David Reimer's legacy limiting parental discretion. Cardozo JL & Gender, 12, 5.

Colapinto, J. (2000). As nature made him: The boy who was raised as a girl. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Davis, G. (2015). Contesting intersex: The dubious diagnosis. New York: NYU Press.

Green, R. & Money, J. (1969). Transsexualism and sex reassignment. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Hampson, J. G., Money, J., & Hampson, J. L. (1956). Hermaphrodism: recommendations concerning case management. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 16(4), 547-556.

Money, J., Hampson, J. G., & Hampson, J. L. (1955). Hermaphroditism: Recommendations concerning assignment of sex, change of sex and psychologic management. Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, 97(4), 284-300.

Vikbladh, O. (2016). Identity theft. Science, 352(6281), 46.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 6.1: Observing Attachment Behaviors If you can, arrange to have several infants brought to class with their parents. It is helpful to have a range of ages from early infancy to 2 years old. Have your students observe as you approach each infant and interact with her or him. Your students should write down their observations, paying special attention to emotions, attachment behaviors, and differences between infants based on age, sex, and perhaps temperament. You can also talk to the parents about their babies’ personalities. Afterward, discuss with the class what they discovered about observing infants. Handout 6-2 can be used during this activity.

Student Activity 6.2: Observing Infants’ Emotions Parenting techniques can help (or hinder) an infant’s ability to regulate her or his emotions. Parents whose children learn to manage their emotions employ several strategies: •

Parents try to soothe fussy or distressed infants under 18 months by holding them, talking to them, and trying to distract their attention from upsetting events.

•

By the time a child is 2 years old, parents begin to introduce them to novel and unfamiliar events, including stressful situations. While leading their children into uncomfortable circumstances, the parents remain close by as a safe base for their children to return to if emotions get too difficult to handle.

Your students may enjoy the opportunity to observe several infants and compare their personalities.

They can ask friends, neighbors, or relatives for permission to watch their infants, or students can visit a local daycare center. Handout 6-2 is also relevant to this activity.

Student Activity 6.3: Think About It Students can either discuss in class or write a short essay to answer the following questions: •

Can fathers provide the same quality of care that mothers provide? How can fathers promote attachment with their infants?

•

Using Erikson’s stage of trust versus mistrust as a model, explain the seemingly contradictory behavior of toddlers who gleefully and independently run away when called to eat or go to bed, yet cling to parents when tired or frightened.

•

Explain why the emotions of embarrassment, guilt, contempt, pride, and empathy are not evident in infants until they are nearly 2 years old.

Student Activity 6.4: Gender Roles in Children’s Books Many studies have documented the subtle (and sometimes unsubtle) gender stereotypes conveyed in children’s books. One way to highlight this point is to divide students into small groups, and give each group a children’s book to examine. (If you don’t own any children’s books, you can obtain them from your local library.) Tell students that they should analyze the characters and plot of the book, and look for the following things: 15 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

• Frequency of male and female characters • Active versus passive behavior of male and female characters • Occupations or roles of male and female characters The analysis should take 10 to 15 minutes. Reserve additional time for discussing the results. Many books, even recent ones, will convey gender-typing by showing fewer female characters, placing male characters in more active roles, and portraying male and female characters in gender-typed occupations or roles (females are mothers and princesses, males are doctors and cowboys). In particular, students will probably find few fathers and many mothers portrayed in children’s books, a fact that certainly conveys information about the appropriate behavior of men and women.

Student Activity 6.5: Media Influences on Gender-Role Development One activity that is consistently popular with students is to have them explore a variety of media for views of sex-role development, gender identity, and the portrayal of gender stereotypes. Books (including children’s books as well as books aimed at parents), movies, videos, newspapers, magazines (including children’s magazines), and advertisements are all suitable subjects for analysis. After gathering a variety of sources, students should write a short paper applying principles from the text and lecture to their examples. What common themes or stereotypes are found throughout? Are there many instances of sextyped behavior? Are there certain kinds of media that break stereotypic portrayals? What influence will these portrayals likely have on the development of gender identity and gender role awareness in children?

If available, it might be particularly instructive to compare older media sources (e.g., magazines or books that are 10 to 15 years old) with current ones. Which stereotypes seem to be firmly rooted in our culture and resistant to change? In what ways have stereotypes changed in the past decade? Because television is such an influential medium, particularly with respect to children, your students might also consider gender portrayals in various types of programming, comparing and contrasting children’s educational shows (e.g., Daniel Tiger, Sesame Street), cartoons (e.g., Kim Possible), and situation comedies (e.g., Coop and Cami Ask the World, Bizaardvark, Bunk’d). Students’ papers can also form the basis for a lively class discussion on this important topic.

Lacy, C. B. & Swinkels, A. (2005). “Give me the boy”: Sexist language in parenting guides. Poster presented at the 51st Annual Convention of the Southwestern Psychological Association, Memphis, TN. Swinkels, A. & Swinkels, E. L. (2008). Cover girls and banished boys: Depictions of children on magazine covers. Poster presented at the 20th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.

Student Activity 6.6: Reflective Journal Use Handout 6-3 to help your students reflect on their own temperaments.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

SUPPLEMENTAL READING Filippetti, M. L. & Tsakiris, M. (2018). Just before I recognize myself: The role of featural and multisensory cues leading up to explicit mirror self‐recognition. Infancy, 23(4), 577-590.

Frick, M. A., Forslund, T., Fransson, M., Johansson, M., Bohlin, G., & Brocki, K. C. (2018). The role of sustained attention, maternal sensitivity, and infant temperament in the development of early self‐regulation. British Journal of Psychology, 109(2), 277-298.

Harris, L. J., Cárdenas, R. A., Stewart, N. D., & Almerigi, J. B. (2018). Are only infants held more often on the left? If so, why? Testing the attention-emotion hypothesis with an infant, a vase, and two chimeric tests, one “emotional,” one not. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 133.

Herbst, C. M. (2018). The rising cost of child care in the United States: A reassessment of the evidence. Economics of Education Review, 64, 13-30.

Jin, K. S., Houston, J. L., Baillargeon, R., Groh, A. M., & Roisman, G. I. (2018). Young infants expect an unfamiliar adult to comfort a crying baby: Evidence from a standard violation-of-expectation task and a novel infant-triggered-video task. Cognitive psychology, 102, 1-20.

Mariti, C., Carlone, B., Sighieri, C., Campera, M., & Gazzano, A. (2018). Dog behavior in the Ainsworth Strange Situation Test during separation from the owner and from the cohabitant dog. Dog Behavior, 4(1), 1-8.

Miller, C. (2004). Can a crying baby stop a riot? Law Enforcement Technology, 31(3), 8.

Poulin‐Dubois, D. & Yott, J. (2018). Probing the depth of infants’ theory of mind: Disunity in performance across paradigms. Developmental Science, 21(4), e12600.

Solomon, J., Beetz, A., Schöberl, I., Gee, N., & Kotrschal, K. (2018). Attachment security in companion dogs: Adaptation of Ainsworth’s strange situation and classification procedures to dogs and their human caregivers. Attachment & Human Development, 1-29.

Theisen, J. C., Fraley, R. C., Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., & Chopik, W. J. (2018). How do attachment styles change from childhood through adolescence? Findings from an accelerated longitudinal Cohort study. Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 141-146.

Webb, R., Ayers, S., & Endress, A. (2018). The City Infant Faces Database: A validated set of infant facial expressions. Behavior Research Methods, 50(1), 151-159.

Wellman, H. M. (2018). Theory of mind: The state of the art. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1-28.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA Stranger Anxiety

A wiggly baby would rather be elsewhere

1. Why would stranger anxiety be an evolutionarily adaptive response?

2. At what point does stranger anxiety move from being a normal response to a pathological one?

Self-Awareness Task

A child recognizes itself

1. Why would self-awareness be expected to take some time to develop? For example, why would a 4-month-old not have much need to be self-aware?

2. Self-awareness has been demonstrated in several other animals. What does this suggest about development of the self within and across species?

Monkeys and Morality

A review of Harry Harlow’s research is presented

1. Secure attachment describes the vast majority of attachment styles displayed by infants. Why would this make sense from a genetic, social, and evolutionary standpoint?

2. Based on what we know about attachment, contact comfort, and the importance of touch, what recommendations would you provide to governmental or private agencies regarding orphanages, group homes, or other institutional settings for infants and children?

18 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 6-1 Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Test Episode

Description

Behaviors Observed

1.

Mother, baby, and observer enter experimental room. Observer leaves. Many attractive toys are scattered around.

2.

Mother sits and watches while baby is free to explore the secure room.

Does baby use mother as a base?

3.

Stranger enters. Stranger is silent for one minute. Stranger talks to mother for one minute. Stranger approaches baby. Mother leaves room unobtrusively.

What are baby’s reactions to stranger?

4.

Baby is alone with stranger.

Is there separation anxiety?

5.

Mother comes back into room and greets and comforts baby. Baby is encouraged to play again.

How did baby react to mother’s return?

6.

Mother leaves room, says “Bye-bye.” Baby is alone.

Is there separation anxiety?

7.

Stranger enters room and interacts with baby.

Does the baby have the ability to be comforted by the stranger?

8.

Mother enters room. Greets baby and picks up baby. Stranger leaves.

How does baby react to reunion with mother?

19 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 6-2 Observing Infants Observe one infant at a time. Write down your best interpretation of what you see.

Infant #1

sex ________

age ________

What emotional displays did you observe? Describe the situation.

What temperament style do you think the infant has (easy, difficult, slow-to-warm-up)? Why?

Describe the infant’s interactions with its parent(s).

20 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 6-2 (continued) Observing Infants Observe another infant. Write down your best interpretation of what you see.

Infant #2

sex ________

age ________

What emotional displays did you observe? Describe the situation.

What temperament style do you think the infant has (easy, difficult, slow-to-warm-up)? Why?

Describe the infant’s interactions with its parent(s).

How do you explain the differences between the two infants?

21 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 6-3 Reflective Journal Exercise 6 How would you describe your own temperament? If possible, ask your parents or someone who knew you when you were an infant about your temperament. Were you an easy child, a difficult child, or a slow-towarm-up child? How stable has your temperament been over the course of your development? If you had brothers or sisters, how different or similar were your individual temperaments? Do you think temperament is inherited? How do other individuals (your parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, teachers) react to your temperament style? What have been the advantages and disadvantages of having your temperament? Do you think there is a connection between your temperament and how your body feels during emotions? (For example, if you are shy, do certain situations make your body feel uncomfortable?)

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 7 PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE PRESCHOOL YEARS CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

10

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

17

Revel Multimedia

18

Handouts

19

1 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Chapter Outline Physical Growth The Growing Body The Growing Brain Motor Development

Instructor’s Resources

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 7.1, 7.2, 7.3

Healthy Eating

Lecture Launchers 7.1, 7.2

Intellectual Development Piaget’s Stage of Preoperational Thinking Information Processing Approaches to Cognitive Development Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive Development: Taking Culture into Account

Student Activities 7.1, 7.2 Learning Objectives 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 Lecture Launcher 7.3 Student Activities 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6

The Growth of Language and Learning Language Development Learning from the Media: Television and the Internet Early Childhood Education: Taking the “Pre” Out of the Preschool Period

Learning Objectives 7.7, 7.8, 7.9 Lecture Launchers 7.4, 7.5 Student Activities 7.7, 7.8, 7.9, 7.10

2 .

Conservation Tasks The Preschool Years: Egocentrism

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 7.1

Describe a child’s bodily growth and overall health risks during the preschool years.

LO 7.2

Summarize how preschool children’s brains develop.

LO 7.3

Explain how preschool children’s motor skills develop.

LO 7.4

Summarize how Piaget explains cognitive development during the preschool years.

LO 7.5

Summarize the information processing approaches to cognitive development in the preschool years.

LO 7.6

Describe Vygotsky’s view of cognitive development in the preschool years.

LO 7.7

Explain how children’s language develops in the preschool years.

LO 7.8

Identify the effects of digital media and television on preschoolers.

LO 7.9

Distinguish the educational programs available to children in the preschool years.

3 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Aaron II. Physical Growth A. The Growing Body 1. Children grow steadily during the preschool period.

2. The average 6-year-old child weighs 46 pounds and is 46 inches tall.

3. There are significant individual differences in height and weight. a) Ten percent of 6-year olds weigh 55 pounds or more, 10 percent weigh 36 pounds or less. b) By the age of 6, boys are taller and heavier, on average, than girls. c) There are profound differences in height and weight between children in economically developed countries and those in developing countries. d) Differences in height and weight also reflect economic factors within the U.S. 4. Changes in body shape and structure occur during the preschool years. a) Boys and girls become less chubby and roundish and more slender. b) Arms and legs lengthen. c) Body proportions are more similar to those of adults. d) Children grow stronger as muscle size increases and bones become sturdier. e) The sense organs continue to develop.

5. Nutritional needs change during the preschool years. a) The growth rate slows during this age, thus preschoolers need less food to maintain their growth. b) Encouraging children to eat more than they want to may lead to increased food intake.

(1) This may lead to OBESITY, defined as a body weight more than 20 percent higher than the average weight for a person of a given age and height.

(2) Obesity among older preschoolers has increased significantly over the last 20 years.

(3) Obesity is brought about by both biological (genetics, responsiveness to sweets) and social factors (parental encouragement). c) Children tend to be quite adept at maintaining an appropriate intake of food. d) The best strategy is to ensure that a variety of foods low in fat and high in nutritional content are available. e) Children should be given the opportunity to develop their own natural preferences for foods.

6. The majority of children in the United States are reasonably healthy. a) For the average American child, the common cold is the most frequent and most severe illness. b) An increasing number of children are being treated with drugs for emotional disorders.

7. The danger of injuries during the preschool years is in part a result of children’s high levels of physical activity. a) Some children are more apt to take risks than others. b) Economic and ethnic differences exist in injury rates.

8. Some 14 million children are at risk for lead poisoning. a) The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has called lead poisoning the most hazardous health risk to children under the age of 6. b) Even tiny amounts of lead can permanently harm children.

(1) Lower intelligence (2) Problems in verbal and auditory processing (3) Hyperactivity and distractibility (4) Higher levels of antisocial behavior, including aggression and delinquency (5) Illness and death 4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Poor children are particularly susceptible. d) Parent education and legislation are among the efforts to reduce lead poisoning.

B. The Growing Brain 1. The brain grows at a faster rate than any other part of the body.

2. By age 5, children’s brains weigh 90 percent of the average adult brain weight.

3. Brain growth is so rapid because of the increase in the number of interconnections among cells, and the increase in myelin (the protective insulation that surrounds parts of neurons).

4. The corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain, becomes considerably thicker, developing as many as 800 million individual fibers that help coordinate brain functioning between the two hemispheres.

5. Brain Lateralization a) LATERALIZATION, the process where certain functions are located more in one hemisphere of the brain than the other, becomes more pronounced in early childhood. b) The left hemisphere focuses on verbal competence (speaking, reading, thinking, reasoning), and processes information more sequentially. c) The right hemisphere concentrates on nonverbal areas (spatial relations, recognition of patterns and drawings, music, emotional expression) and processes information more globally. d) The two hemispheres of the brain act in tandem. e) Individual differences exist in lateralization—10 percent of left-handed and ambidextrous people have language centered in the right hemisphere, with no specific language center. f) There are many individual differences in the nature of lateralization, and in relation to gender and culture.

(1) Males show greater lateralization of language in the left hemisphere, whereas for females, language is more evenly divided between the two hemispheres. (This may account for why female language development proceeds at a more rapid rate during early childhood.)

(2) The differences in lateralization between males and females may be attributed to both genetic (corpus callosum differences) and environmental factors (girls typically receive greater verbal encouragement).

6. The Links Between Brain Growth and Cognitive Development a) There are periods during childhood when the brain shows unusual growth spurts, and these are linked to cognitive abilities. b) Other research suggests that increased myelination may be related to preschoolers’ growing cognitive abilities, for example, increased attention spans and memory (hippocampus).

C. Motor Development 1. Both gross and fine motor skills become increasingly fine-tuned during this age. a) These skills may be related to increased myelination. b) Also, children spend a lot of time developing them—preschoolers’ level of activity is extraordinarily high.

2. Girls and boys differ in certain aspects of motor development. a) Boys, because of increased muscle strength, tend to be somewhat stronger and have an overall greater activity level than girls. b) Girls tend to surpass boys in tasks of dexterity or those involving the coordination of limbs.

3. Fine motor skills (cutting with scissors, tying one’s shoes, playing the piano, printing) are progressively developing, too.

4. Another aspect of muscular skills is bowel and bladder control. a) There is disagreement among professionals as to the correct approach to take to toilet training.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends beginning when signs of readiness occur, such as staying dry for at least two hours during the day or being dry following a nap. These are indications from the child that they are aware when urination or a bowel movement is about to occur and that they have the ability to follow simple directions. c) Even after children are toilet trained during the day, it may take months or even years to achieve night control. d) Complete toilet training usually occurs as children mature and attain greater muscle control.

5. Most preschool children show a clear preference for the use of one hand over another—the development of HANDEDNESS. Ninety percent are right-handed, and more boys than girls are left-handed.

III. Intellectual Development A. Piaget’s Stage of Preoperational Thinking 1. Piaget saw the preschool years as a time of both stability and great change.

2. Preschoolers are in the PREOPERATIONAL STAGE, from age 2 to 7, characterized by symbolic thinking. a) Mental reasoning and the use of concepts increases, but children are not capable of OPERATIONS, organized, formal, logical mental processes.

3. A key aspect of preoperational thought is symbolic function, the ability to use symbols, words, or an object to represent something that is not physically present. a) Symbolic function is directly related to language acquisition.

(1) Language allows preschoolers to represent actions symbolically.

(2) Language allows children to think beyond the present to the future.

(3) Language can be used to consider several possibilities at the same time. b) Addressing the question if thought determines language or if language determines thought, Piaget argued that language grows out of cognitive advances.

4. CENTRATION—the process of concentrating on one limited aspect of a stimulus and ignoring other aspects—is a major characteristic of preoperational thought, and the major limitation of this period because it leads to inaccuracy of thought.

5. CONSERVATION is the knowledge that quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical appearance of objects. a) Preschool children do not yet understand this principle. b) They cannot focus on the relevant features of a situation or follow the sequence of transformations that accompanies the change in appearance of a situation.

6. Children in the preoperational period are unable to understand the notion of TRANSFORMATION, the process in which one state is changed into another.

7. EGOCENTRIC THOUGHT, thinking that does not take into account the viewpoint of others, takes two forms. a) Lack of awareness that others see things from different physical perspectives b) Failure to realize that others may hold thoughts, feelings, and points-of-view different from one’s own. c) Egocentrism is at the root of many preschool behaviors, for example, talking to oneself and hiding games.

8. A number of advances in thought occur in the preoperational stage. a) INTUITIVE THOUGHT—the use of primitive reasoning and avid acquisition of knowledge about the world. b) Children begin to understand functionality—the concept that actions, events, and outcomes are related to one another in fixed patterns. c) They begin to understand the concept of identity—that certain things stay the same regardless of changes in shape, size, and appearance.

9. Critics of Piaget’s theory argue that he seriously underestimated children’s capabilities.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) They argue that cognition develops in a continuous manner, not in stages. b) They believe that training can improve performance in conservation tasks. c) They also argue that Piaget focused too much on the deficiencies of young children’s thought.

B. Information Processing Approaches to Cognitive Development 1. Information processing theorists focus on two domains. a) Understanding of numbers (1) The average preschooler is able not only to count, but to do so in a fairly systematic, consistent manner.

(2) By age 4, most can do simple addition and subtraction and compare quantities. b) Memory: Recalling the Past (1) AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY, memory of particular events from ones’ own life, is not very accurate until after age 3.

(2) Preschoolers’ autobiographical memories fade, they may not be accurate (depending on when they are assessed), and they are susceptible to suggestions. (a) Preschoolers’ memories of familiar events are often organized in terms of SCRIPTS, broad representations in memory of events and the order in which they occur. (b) With age, scripts become more elaborate.

2. Information Processing Theories in Perspective a) According to information processing approaches, cognitive development consists of gradual improvements in the ways people perceive, understand, and remember.

(1) Preschoolers begin to process information with greater sophistication.

(2) They have longer attention spans, attend to more than one dimension of an object, and can better monitor what they are attending to. b) Information processing provides a clear, logical, and full account of cognitive development.

(1) Reliance on well-defined processes that can be tested is one of this perspective’s most important features.

(2) Information processing theorists pay little attention to social and cultural factors.

(3) Information processing theorists pay so much attention to the detailed, individual sequence of processes that they never paint a whole, comprehensive picture of cognitive development.

C. Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive Development: Taking Culture into Account 1. Culture and societies influence cognitive development. a) Cognition proceeds because of social interactions where partners jointly work to solve problems. b) This partnership is determined by cultural and societal factors.

2. According to Vygotsky, children’s cognitive abilities increase when information is provided within their ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (ZPD), the level at which a child can almost, but not fully, perform a task independently, but can do so with the assistance of someone more competent. a) The assistance provided by others is called SCAFFOLDING, the support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth. b) The aid that more accomplished individuals provide to learners comes in the form of cultural tools, the actual physical items such as pencils, paper, calculators, and computers.

3. Vygotsky’s view has become increasingly influential in the last decade. a) It helps explain a growing body of research attesting to the importance of social interaction in promoting cognitive development. b) The zone of proximal development is not precise and not easily testable.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) His theory is silent on how basic cognitive functions such as attention and memory develop.

IV. The Growth of Language and Learning A. Language Development 1. Sentence length increases with age. a) SYNTAX, the ways words and phrases are combined to make sentences, doubles each month.

2. By age 6, the average child has a vocabulary of 14,000 words. a) They manage this feat through a process known as FAST MAPPING, instances in which new words are associated with their meaning after only a brief encounter. b) By age 3, children use plurals and possessive forms of nouns (boys/boy’s), employ the past tense (adding -ed), use articles (the/a), and can ask and answer complex questions (“Where did you say my book is?”).

3. Preschoolers begin to acquire the principles of GRAMMAR, the system of rules that determine how our thoughts can be expressed.

4. Preschoolers engage mostly in PRIVATE SPEECH, speech by children that is spoken and directed to themselves. a) Use of private speech allows children to practice the practical skills required in conversation, known as PRAGMATICS. (1) Pragmatics is the aspect of language relating to communicating effectively and appropriately with others. b) Vygotsky argues that private speech facilitates children’s thinking; it helps them control their behavior, solve problems, and reflect. c) Twenty to 60 percent of what children say is private speech.

5. SOCIAL SPEECH, speech directed toward another person and meant to be understood by that person, increases.

6. The language children hear at home influences their language development. a) Poverty affects language.

(1) Economic level is a significant factor in the amount of parental interactions, types of language children were exposed to, and kinds of language used.

(2) Poverty is also related to lower IQ scores by age 5.

B. Learning from the Media: Television and Internet 1. The average preschooler is exposed to over 4 hours per day of screen time.

2. Television: Controlling Exposure a) The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no television for children under the age of 2. b) Children exposed to advertising on television are not able to critically understand or evaluate the messages they are exposed to. c) Children do not fully understand plot. d) Children may have difficulty separating fantasy from reality. e) Some information is well-understood by young viewers, i.e., facial expressions. f) Yet, much of what is viewed is not representative of events in the real world.

3. Television may be harnessed to facilitate cognitive growth. a) Sesame Street is the most popular educational program in the U.S. (1) Viewers had significantly larger vocabularies.

(2) Lower-income viewers were better prepared for school, scored higher on tests of cognitive ability, and spent more time reading.

(3) Critics of Sesame Street suggest that viewers may be less receptive to traditional modes of teaching. b) There are difficulties in assessing the effects of educational viewing (e.g., the effects may be related to parenting).

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e C. Early Childhood Education: Taking the “Pre” Out of the Preschool Period 1. Three-quarters of children in the U.S. are enrolled in some kind of care outside the home. a) Major factor is working parents. b) Evidence suggests that children can benefit from early educational activities.

2. There Are a Variety of Early Education Programs a) Early education alternatives are vast. Some outside-the-home care for children is little more than babysitting, while others are designed to promote intellectual and social advances. The major choices are as follows: b) CHILD-CARE CENTERS are places that typically provide care for children all day, while their parents work.

(1) Some are home-care.

(2) Others are provided by organized institutions. c) PRESCHOOLS (or NURSERY SCHOOLS) provide care for several hours a day, and are designed primarily to enrich the child’s development. They vary enormously in the activities they provide.

(1) Montessori preschools create an environment that fosters sensory, motor, and language development.

(2) The Reggio Emilia preschool approach is a “negotiated curriculum,” that promotes cognitive development through the integration of the arts and participation in weeklong projects. d) SCHOOL CHILD CARE is a child-care facility provided by some local school systems in the United States.

3. The Effectiveness of Child Care a) There are pros and cons of attending early education programs.

(1) Advantages might include increases in verbal fluency, memory and comprehension tasks, self-confidence, independence, and knowledge about the social world. b) Disadvantages found included children being less polite, less compliant, less respectful of adults and sometimes more competitive and aggressive.

4. The Quality of Child Care a) The key factor in determining the effects of early education programs is quality. b) Well-trained care providers c) Overall size of the group and the child-care provider ratio d) Curriculum 5. In the United States, the best-known program designed to promote future academic success is Head Start. a) Although graduates of Head Start tend to show immediate IQ gains, these increases do not last. b) Children who attend Head Start are more ready for future schooling than those who do not. c) Graduates of Head Start have better future school adjustment than their peers, and are less likely to be in special education programs or to be retained a grade.

6. Are We Pushing Children Too Hard and Too Fast? a) David Elkind argues that U.S. society tends to push children so rapidly that they begin to feel stress and pressure at a young age.

(1) Children require DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE, education based on both typical development and the unique characteristics of a given child.

(2) Better to provide an environment where learning is encouraged, not pushed.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 7.1: Homeless Families and Children Families with children comprise an increasing percentage of the homeless population, and women with young children are often most vulnerable to becoming homeless. One reason for this trend is the baby boom that led to larger numbers of people competing for affordable living space. Another reason, especially for the already poor, is having children, which increases expenses and makes it more difficult to work. Ask your students about other possible reasons for increased homelessness among women with children; for example, substance abuse, domestic violence, unmarried mothers, noncontributing fathers, or mental illness. Have students discuss some of the immediate and long-term consequences of homeless families—for the homeless children, mothers and/or fathers, and also society. What can or should be done to curb or prevent homelessness?

Bradley, C., McGowan, J., & Michelson, D. (2018). How does homelessness affect parenting behaviour? A systematic critical review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 21(1), 94-108.

Menke, E. M. (2010). Comparison of the stressors and coping behaviors of homeless, previously homeless, and never homeless poor children. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 21, 691–610.

Roze, M., Vandentorren, S., & Melchior, M. (2018). Factors associated with depression among homeless mothers. Results of the ENFAMS survey. Journal of affective disorders, 229, 314-321.

Wall-Wieler, E., Roos, L. L., Nickel, N. C., Chateau, D., & Brownell, M. (2018). Mortality among mothers whose children were taken into care by child protection services: a discordant sibling analysis. American Journal of Epidemiology, 187(6), 11821188.

Lecture Launcher 7.2: Left-Handedness A great deal of research reveals that the two hemispheres of the brain are lateralized for different functions. Handedness is an interesting example of lateralization. Most people (90 percent) are righthanded and have dominant motor control in their left hemisphere. There are some intriguing differences between right- and left-handed populations.

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Males are more likely to be left-handed than females.

There is a higher proportion of left-handers among architects, engineers, university mathematics teachers, mathematics students, artists, astronauts, chess masters, and performing musicians than in the general population.

According to Jerre Levy, 60 percent of left-handers have their speech and language control in their left hemisphere (as do right-handed people). These tend to be left-handers who write with a hooked hand posture.

Forty percent of left-handers have speech and language controlled in their right hemispheres.

These lefties tend to write with their hands in an upright posture.

Reading disabilities, stuttering, autism, immune diseases, migraine headaches, allergies, eczema, and some categories of intellectual impairment are more prevalent in left-handers than in righthanders.

Left-handers are more likely to be precocious, mathematical, and less skilled at verbal tasks (except for analogies).

No one knows, however, why left-handedness develops. As with most other human traits, theories can be roughly divided into four categories: environmental, genetic, developmental, and evolutionary.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Environmental Theories 1. The sword and shield theory This theory (supposedly put forth by Thomas Carlyle) suggests that, because shields were held in the left hand in order to protect the heart, those soldiers who were right-handed survived battle in greater numbers.

2. The mother with baby theory This theory claims that mothers evolved to become right-handed because when they held their babies close to their hearts (on the left side) it freed their right hands to perform tasks. (This is not a very popular theory.)

3. The parental pressure theory This theory claims that we are mostly right-handed because our parents were mostly right-handed and taught us to be right-handed.

Genetic Theories 1. Meta-analyses show that right-handed parents have a 9.5 percent chance of having a left-handed child; a 19.5 percent chance of having a left-handed child if one parent is left-handed; and 26.1 percent chance of having a left-handed child if both parents are left-handed.

2. Adopted children are more likely to follow the handedness of their birth parents than their adopted parents.

3. Identical twins are more likely (76 percent) to both be left-handed. (However, if handedness were purely genetic, there would be a 100 percent concordance rate for handedness in identical twins.)

Developmental Theories 1. Geschwind and Galaburda’s testosterone theory This theory claims that elevated levels of testosterone are responsible for deviations from normal hemispheric dominance (i.e., right-handed and left hemisphere dominant for language and right hemisphere dominant for visual-spatial skills). It is believed that excess testosterone delays left hemisphere growth. The right hemisphere compensates for this growth delay by developing more quickly. This seems to account for many correlations between being left-handed, male, and various skills or disabilities.

2. Bakan’s birth stress theory This theory argues that left-handedness is caused by prenatal stress. Much evidence seems to support this theory. Lefties have more birth complication, lower Apgar scores, and developmental disorders such as Down syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy. (We know, however, that stress raises testosterone levels in rats and might be implicated in this regard.)

3. Previc’s vestibular-monoaminergic theory This theory posits that human laterality can be traced to fetal position in the womb. When the fetus is confined to a leftward position in the last trimester, the mother’s walking puts forces on the developing fetus and causes asymmetrical laterality.

Evolutionary Theories 1. Corballis This theory proposes that because both handedness and language require so much fine motor control, both are lateralized in the same hemisphere.

2. MacNeilage’s postural origins theory Because language requires body movements (postures) different from other skills, the left hemisphere evolved to process language and the right hemisphere evolved to process visual-spatial abilities.

Andersen, K. W. & Siebner, H. R. (2018). Mapping dexterity and handedness: recent insights and future challenges. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 20, 123-129.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Coren, S. & Halpern, D. F. (1991). Left-handedness: A marker for decreased survival fitness. Psychological Bulletin, 109, 90106.

Harris, L. (1993). Do left-handers die sooner than right-handers? Psychological Bulletin, 113, 203-234.

Hirnstein, M., Hugdahl, K., & Hausmann, M. (2018). Cognitive sex differences and hemispheric asymmetry: A critical review of 40 years of research. Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 1-49.

Nurhayu, W., Nila, S., Raymond, M., & Suryobroto, B. (2018). Are right-and left-handedness relevant as general categories in a non-industrialized country? Acta Ethologica, 21(1), 21-28.

Segal, N. L. (2018). Revisiting sources of left-handedness in multiple-birth individuals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201806879.

Lecture Launcher 7.3: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words Young children sometimes have difficulty recalling information. One study suggests that drawing can enhance children’s memories for events.

Sarnia Butler, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, led a study involving 5- and 6-yearolds who took a field trip to a fire station. While there, the children clambered on the fire engines, watched drills performed by the firefighters, tried on the firefighting gear, and even watched as one of their chaperones slid down the firepole, much to the displeasure of the tour leader, who reprimanded her.

(This event, and several others, was prearranged ahead of time.) Both one day and one month later, the children were asked about their outing. Those children who were asked to draw and describe the events of that day—how they got there, what they saw, the events that transpired—accurately reported much more information than those children who were simply asked to tell what happened. This effect was not observed among 3- to 4-year-olds, although among both groups drawing did not appear to increase errors in recall.

This research indicates that memory for pleasant events may be increased by coupling words and pictures.

It remains to be seen whether the same effect would hold for negative events. If so, this technique may hold promise for boosting children’s recall of abuse, incest, or other traumatic events.

Butler, S., Gross, J., & Hayne, H. (1995). The effect of drawing on memory performance in young children. Developmental Psychology, 31iv, 597-608.

Macleod, E., Gross, J., & Hayne, H. (2016). Drawing conclusions: The effect of instructions on children's confabulation and fantasy errors. Memory, 24(1), 21-31.

Staff (1995). Kids draw on their memories. Science News, 148, 111.

Woolford, J., Patterson, T., Macleod, E., Hobbs, L., & Hayne, H. (2013). Drawing helps children to talk about their presenting problems during a mental health assessment. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, doi: 1359104516653642.

Lecture Launcher 7.4: Understanding Bilingual/Bicultural Young Children A discussion of linguistically diverse children might be of value, especially if there are a number of education majors in your class. Meeting the needs of bilingual/bicultural children is a growing challenge for educators. Language minority students comprise an increasing proportion of our young learners. The number of non-English language background (NELB) children aged birth to 4 years old rose from 1.8 million in 1976 to an estimated 2.6 million in 1990, and the number of NELB children aged 5 to 14 was around 3.6 to 5.1 million in the year 2000. In response to this trend, the field of Bilingual Early Childhood Education has evolved primarily in two directions. One emphasizes formal language learning instruction, whereas the other emphasizes natural language acquisition. Most experts in the field suggest that educators need to incorporate practices that enhance, enrich, and optimize educational opportunities for speakers of other languages.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Sinclair, J. (2018). ‘Starving and suffocating’: evaluation policies and practices during the first 10 years of the U.S. Bilingual Education Act. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(6), 710-728.

Soto, L. D. (2001). Making a difference in the lives of bilingual/bicultural children. New York: Peter Lang Publishers.

Soto, L. D. & Kharem, H. (Eds.) (2010). Teaching bilingual/bicultural children: Teachers talk about language and learning.

Teachers College Press.

Lecture Launcher 7.5: Should We Allow Infants to Watch TV? Psychologists have warned for many years about the problems associated with school-age children watching too much television. More recently, however, the attention has shifted to the possible dangers associated with allowing infants to watch television. Some experts are specifically worried about DVDs and videos designed and marketed for infants. Many of these videos explicitly or implicitly claim to increase brain development, increase IQ, stimulate language development, etc. Research, however, has failed to show that early exposure to these videos has any positive effect on brain development or cognitive ability. In fact, in October 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced that it would begin offering refunds to parents who bought videos from the immensely popular Baby Einstein series. The refund was in response to parents who felt that the Baby Einstein videos had been falsely marketed as educational.

The concern over Baby Einstein and similar videos is not just that they do not boost cognitive development, but that exposing children to television at too early of an age may actually impair their development. Several studies have shown that infant television exposure is associated with a delay in language development. Additionally, there is some evidence that children who watch significant amounts of television as infants are at a higher risk to develop attention problems later in childhood. Although most of these studies are correlational, they do suggest that infants’ exposure to television should be limited. This is a potentially serious problem, given that the average age infants began watching television in 2009 was 5 months!

After introducing the topic to the class, ask students to discuss whether infants should be allowed to watch television. Should television programs and videos designed for infants be banned, or should they be allowed as long as they do not claim to be beneficial? Encourage students to consider some of the reasons children might begin watching television as infants. Could better access to childcare help parents find an alternative to using the television as a surrogate babysitter? To extend the lesson, have students respond to this writing prompt: Why do you think that the original creators of videos filled with bright colors, shapes, sounds, words, etc., thought that they would make infants become intelligent children and adults? What would you expect to happen if an infant was raised in an environment that had none of these stimuli?

Sample answer: When we are infants, our brains have a lot of plasticity. Exposure to a variety of stimuli helps our brains to develop. For example, colors and shapes help our brains develop the ability to process visual information. Some abilities have a critical period, which is a limited time period during which a function can develop. If an infant was raised in an environment without visual stimuli or language, it is likely that they would never develop normal vision or use of language. This is because the necessary stimuli were not available during the critical period.

Brown, A. & Council on Communications and Media Executive Committee. (2011). Media use by children younger than 2 years.

Pediatrics, 128(5), 1040-1045.

Christakis, D. (2009). The effects of infant media usage: What do we know and what should we learn? Acta Pædiatrica, 98, 8-16.

Fidler, A. E., Zack, E., & Barr, R. (2010). Television viewing patterns in 6‐ to 18‐month‐olds: The role of caregiver–infant interactional quality. Infancy, 15(2), 176-196.

Lewin, T. (2009, October 23). No Einstein in your crib? Get a refund. www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/education/24baby.html.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 7.1: On-the-Spot Mini-Lecture An in-class mini-lecture is ideal for class sizes between 15 and 30. These “lecturettes” are also quite effective in covering a chapter’s topic quickly yet thoroughly. Suggest that students bring their textbook to the next class meeting. When the next class begins, quickly divide students into groups, giving each group a copy of the Lecture Guidelines and Topics (see Handout 7-1) and assigning each group a different numbered question. (Last-minute shifts or deletions are almost always necessary. You might also be selective in terms of which students or groups respond to which question, as some questions are more complex than others.) Highlight the guidelines. Tell the students to get right to work, and that time is of the essence. You might have to direct some groups as to how they can divide the material or how to get started. Several minutes into their preparation, you might wish to comment as to whether you had mentioned that those members in groups with good lectures will get extra points. This serves as a motivator. (Of course, in the end each participant will receive the bonus points. Sending around a group sign-up sheet will help in awarding the points.) When the preparation time is up, you simply act as conference moderator introducing the various groups of scholars to report on their findings (and timing them). Students enjoy the mock conference approach, especially the first time they do an On-the-Spot Mini-Lecture. You can also direct the content by asking a question or briefly clarifying comments. Exam items can be drawn from the presentations.

Student Activity 7.2: Create a Flyer Have students form small groups. Tell them they have just been hired as part of a large grant to educate young parents about the physical and cognitive development of young children, ages 3 to 6.

Their job is to create two flyers or brochures, one on physical development and the other on cognitive development. In these brochures they are to inform parents about early childhood development. They also need to address the major developmental milestones in each area (e.g., what parents can and cannot expect from their children) and provide examples of activities parents can do to promote their child’s development. Remind them that just like textbooks, brochures that are clear, interesting, and manageable are more likely to be read! Students will need some class time to meet, as well as time to work outside class. Have the class discuss and share their flyers.

Student Activity 7.3: Conservation of Volume Explain to students that you will be demonstrating a common procedure for testing whether a child has acquired conservation of volume. Then ask for a volunteer to play the role of the child and have them join you at the front of the class. Begin the test by placing two identical cups side-by-side and then filling about two-thirds of the first cup. (Note that using water with food coloring in it makes the water level much easier for students to see from a distance.) Next, slowly begin filling the second glass until the volunteer determines that the two glasses contain the same amount of water. Then ask the volunteer, “Does the first container have more water, does the second container have more, or do both containers have the same amount?” The volunteer should respond that both glasses have the same amount. Then show the volunteer a bowl and demonstrate that it has nothing in it. With the volunteer watching, transfer every drop of the water from the second cup to the bowl. Finally, with the first cup and the bowl side-byside, again ask the volunteer, “Does the first container have more, does the second container have more, or do both containers have the same amount?” Make sure students understand that a child who has not yet acquired conservation of volume would answer that the cup now contains more water than the bowl, because the height of the water in the bowl is now below the water in the cup. Older children will, of course, realize that the total amount of water is not changed by pouring it into a differently shaped 14 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e container. Encourage students with younger family members to repeat the test at home.

Student Activity 7.4: Visiting Children: Piaget and Memory Demonstrations Some students have had little, if any, contact with preschoolers. It can be a real eye-opener to see these youngsters in action. Invite three or four children to class. Ideally, the children’s ages should vary, 3–4, 5–6, or 7–8 years old. (This will better illustrate the concept of development.) Bring various props to class (e.g., different-sized clear containers, colored water, checkers, Play-Doh, flashcards, children’s books, a doll, etc.). Begin to test the children. Can they conserve? Which row of checkers has more? What does the doll see? What were the pictures on the flashcards? Can you remember what I read from the book? You might have students take observational notes, much as an experimenter would. Afterward, involve your students in a discussion of the Piagetian concepts they observed.

Student Activity 7.5: Vygotsky’s Views in Present-Day Society In the spirit of Vygotsky, ask students to consider: 1. What is important and meaningful to members of present-day U.S. society?

2. How might this be predicting or influencing cognitive development, which, according to Vygotsky, proceeds as the result of social interactions in which partners jointly work to solve problems? (See Handout 7-3.)

This activity could be used either as an in-class group discussion or an individual assignment.

Student Activity 7.6: Show & Tell Susan Beers noted that the topic of developmental psychology often generates a desire to share personal experiences on the part of students and she proposed the activity described here as a means to formalize the sharing process. Ask your students to bring to a designated class period some physical artifact from their childhood that has special meaning to them (for example, a photo, toy, craft, or school project). Prior to the class meeting, they should think about how the artifact relates to a developmental concept that has been discussed in class or the textbook and be prepared to describe the relationship. Beers suggested that you can either organize the presentation of different artifacts chronologically or have the students present them to each other in small groups, with each group selecting the best example for presentation to the entire class. Beers warns that you should be careful to make sure that the presentations focus on developmental stages, not simply anecdotal experiences. She also suggested that this activity is a good opportunity to discuss how psychologists can use artifactual evidence to study development.

Beers, S. E. (1987). “Show and tell” for developmental psychology. In V. P. Makosky, L. G. Whittemore, & A. M. Rogers (Eds.), Activities handbook for the teaching of psychology: Vol. 2 (pp. 93-94). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Student Activity 7.7: Children’s TV: Let’s Talk about It Record brief segments of various television shows children might watch, such as Sesame Street, Barney, cartoons, early evening sitcoms, reruns, or the news. Show the segments to the class, and have them comment after each, compare the segments, and/or discuss these in relation to child development. You might hand out a series of questions to facilitate discussion (see Handout 7-2). If you cannot record segments for use in class, either ask students do complete this as a take-home project or find short clips on YouTube that would be suitable. Build your next class discussion around their findings and comments.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e You might use the clips (or student projects) to move into a broad discussion about children and television in general. Is it good or bad? Does it make children passive or active participants in their own development? Does it stimulate thinking? How does television viewing impact the parent-child relationship? Do parents monitor their children’s viewing? Should TV programs be rated by the industry?

What is the impact of violence on TV? Do all children react the same? How do commercials influence young children?

Student Activity 7.8: Analysis of Children’s Books Children’s books offer a great resource for studying themes in early childhood development. You might have students create an inventory of books intended for the preschool or young school-aged child, perhaps listing a minimum of 10. Then ask students to analyze or discuss the books (or a selected few of them) in terms of developmental themes or principles. You might suggest that they look at the books in terms of content. For example, many children’s books attempt to strengthen children’s development with respect to moral development (e.g., lying, stealing), coping with adversity or stress (e.g., death, divorce), enhancing cognitive development (e.g., vocabulary, information), teaching skills or social development (e.g., sharing, self-esteem), or tolerance for diversity (e.g., racial or religious differences). Suggest also that they look at the books in terms of gender, stereotypes, artwork, intended messages, possible unintended interpretations, attention span or memory, and any other developmentally related themes (e.g., is the book designed for the fine motor skills of the reader?).

Student Activity 7.9: Early Childhood Observations Students often benefit from observing and interacting with preschoolers. This assignment provides an opportunity for both, and also facilitates students’ understanding of the research process. Distribute the accompanying directions (see Handout 7-4) for the assignment and review them in class. Some students may have access to children on their own. Perhaps others can visit a nearby childcare center. Be certain that you have made arrangements with the center ahead of time! Also be certain to inform students about politeness, safety, and appropriate behaviors related to visiting a center.

Student Activity 7.10: Reflective Journal It’s difficult for adults to imagine themselves as little children or what their life was like then (let alone remember), but ask your students to try. As they do, ask them to reflect on how those early days might have influenced their development. Handout 7-5 will provide them with some questions and ideas to help fuel their memories.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

SUPPLEMENTAL READING Ahmad, A., Tabassum, R., & Farooq, R. A. (2018). Comparison of primary school boys and girls on number conservation ability. Journal of Educational Research (1027-9776), 21(1).

Fischer, U., Suggate, S. P., Schmirl, J., & Stoeger, H. (2018). Counting on fine motor skills: Links between preschool finger dexterity and numerical skills. Developmental Science, 21(4), e12623.

Jaekel, J., Sorg, C., Baeuml, J., Bartmann, P., & Wolke, D. (2018). Head growth and intelligence from birth to adulthood in very preterm and term born individuals. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 1-9.

Jeong, J., Kim, R., & Subramanian, S. V. (2018). How consistent are associations between maternal and paternal education and child growth and development outcomes across 39 low-income and middleincome countries? Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(5), 434-441.

Logan, S. W., Ross, S. M., Chee, K., Stodden, D. F., & Robinson, L. E. (2018). Fundamental motor skills: A systematic review of terminology. Journal of Sports Sciences, 36(7), 781-796.

Osgood-Zimmerman, A., Millear, A. I., Stubbs, R. W., Shields, C., Pickering, B. V., Earl, L., ... & Browne, A. J. (2018). Mapping child growth failure in Africa between 2000 and 2015. Nature, 555(7694), 41.

Ribot, K. M., Hoff, E., & Burridge, A. (2018). Language use contributes to expressive language growth: Evidence from bilingual children. Child Development, 89(3), 929-940.

Ronen, I. (2018). “Authentic tasks” and “extreme tasks”: Potential approaches to overcoming incorrect responses in conservation tasks. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 16(7), 1337-1354.

Schmerse, D., Anders, Y., Flöter, M., Wieduwilt, N., Roßbach, H. G., & Tietze, W. (2018). Differential effects of home and preschool learning environments on early language development. British Educational Research Journal, 44(2), 338-357.

Skaug, S., Englund, K. T., & Wichstrøm, L. (2018). Young children's television viewing and the quality of their interactions with parents: A prospective community study. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 59(5), 503-510.

Szekely, E., Schwantes‐An, T. H. L., Justice, C. M., Sabourin, J. A., Jansen, P. R., Muetzel, R. L., ... & Wilson, A. F. (2018). Genetic associations with childhood brain growth, defined in two longitudinal cohorts. Genetic Epidemiology, 42(4), 405-414.

Thompson, D. A., Johnson, S. L., Schmiege, S. J., Vandewater, E. A., Boles, R. E., Lev, J., & Tschann, J. M. (2018). Beliefs about child TV viewing in low-income Mexican American parents of preschoolers: Development of the beliefs about child TV viewing scale (B-TV). Maternal and Child Health Journal, 22(6), 849-857.

Tran, U. S., Kossmeier, M., & Voracek, M. (2018). Associations of bisexuality and homosexuality with handedness and footedness: A latent variable analysis approach. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-11.

Zysset, A. E., Kakebeeke, T. H., Messerli-Bürgy, N., Meyer, A. H., Stülb, K., Leeger-Aschmann, C. S., ... & Munsch, S. (2018). The validity of parental reports on motor skills performance level in preschool children: a comparison with a standardized motor test. European Journal of Pediatrics, 177(5), 715722.

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REVEL MULTMEDIA Healthy Eating

The benefits of healthy eating are explored

1. Many parents prepare separate, different meals for their children, reasoning that “they need to eat something” and “it’s too much hassle to fight about it.” Evaluate that strategy. What long-term consequences might this capitulation have for a child?

2. Through what mechanisms might parental food choices influence child food choices? For example, what roles may be played by genetics, observational learning, reinforcement, and social behavior? Which factor has the greatest impact?

Conservation Tasks

Children are befuddled as mass changes shape

1. Propose tasks that would illustrate conservation of volume, number, area, length, and weight.

2. What kind of information processing are children unable to do that leads them to make conservation errors?

The Preschool Years: Egocentrism

For a child, it’s all about “me, me, me,” and rightly so

1. For some people, egocentrism seems to persist well into the adult years. How is the concept of “I can only see things my way” different for young children compared to grown adults?

2. What type of cognitive development would be necessary in order to facilitate perspective-taking?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 7-1 “On-the-Spot” Mini-Lecture (Guidelines and Topics) Below are seven lecture topics about the physical and cognitive development of the preschooler. Your goal, as a group, is to match your group number with the numbered topic and prepare a brief presentation for the class (from the front of the room). “Brief” means no more than five minutes! In preparing your presentation, keep the following in mind: •

Everyone in your group must participate in the presentation.

•

Your goal is to enhance understanding of the topic; thus, you may define, demonstrate, give examples, or use the blackboard.

•

You must have all your preparation completed during the allotted time! Simply stated, when the other groups are presenting you must be attentive, not working among yourselves.

•

Also, in giving your presentation, remember: Others will be listening—so strive to be interesting and to keep their attention.

•

You will NOT be able to address everything in the time frame, so plan accordingly.

•

You can refer to your text and/or notes in presenting, but you cannot simply read from the text.

•

Note that your audience is your fellow students, not me.

1. Discuss physical growth in early childhood, including height, weight, and changes in body shape and structure.

2. Briefly discuss nutrition and health issues in the preschool years.

3. Describe brain growth and lateralization, discuss the cerebral hemispheres, and comment on gender differences.

4. Describe gross and fine motor development, provide examples, and discuss handedness.

5. Briefly discuss the views of Piaget, information processing theory, and Vygotsky.

6. Briefly discuss language development; define private and social speech.

7. Briefly discuss television’s effects on preschoolers, define the different types of early education programs and some of their outcomes, and comment on David Elkind’s ideas about improving cognitive skills.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 7-2 Children’s TV: Let’s Talk about It For each television show or clip viewed, answer as many of the following questions as apply.

Give the title or a brief description of the television program or scene.

1. Is the television program designed specifically for young children? How do you know? Did it intentionally provide an educational message? If so, what was the intended message? If not, what do you think a preschooler would have learned from viewing the show?

2. Identify several stimuli (e.g., characters, acoustics, colors, themes) that you think a preschooler would most readily attend to, and explain why. What image or message would they have learned from these salient features of the show?

3. How many aggressive or violent acts are in the show? Briefly describe one. Try to explain this scene through the eyes of a preschooler (e.g., what might she or he be thinking or concluding?). Did anything occur that you think might promote fear or distress for a young viewer? Why?

4. How many prosocial or humorous acts are in the show? Briefly describe one. Try to explain this scene through the eyes of a preschooler (e.g., what might she or he be thinking or concluding?).

5. Are references made to both males and females? How is each portrayed? Were there any role or cultural stereotypes? Was there any comment, scene, or action that might send a message about social norms or expectations (e.g., discipline, materialism, relationships)?

6. Would you let your own preschool child view this television show? Explain why or why not.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 7-3 Vygotsky’s View in Light of Present-Day American Society Lev Vygotsky believed that by emphasizing particular tasks, culture and society shape the nature of specific cognitive advances. He argued that unless we look at what is important and meaningful to members of a given society, we may seriously underestimate the nature and level of cognitive abilities that ultimately will be attained.

Consider the present-day United States, and list at least five specific tasks, skills, abilities, expectations, or norms that exist. Comment as to how you think these might be shaping an individual’s cognitive focus or development. For example, one of the most commonly asked questions when people first meet is, “What do you do for a living?” How might this influence or shape cognitive or personal development?

Describe a specific social task, skill, ability, expectation, or norm, and explain how this influence might shape cognitive or personal development.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 7-4 Early Childhood Observation Assignment The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to better understand early childhood development by observing and interacting with someone in this age group. The assignment consists of three loosely defined tasks, one related to each of the domains of development (physical, cognitive, psychosocial).

In short, you will be like a researcher, gathering insight into the developing child through observation and interviews. For each of the areas, define and state your purpose. Identify your subject(s) or the participants in your observation. You do not need to have the same subject(s) for each area. Develop strategies to gather your data (e.g., interview questions, props, observation guidelines). Briefly summarize your results and relate this to information, concepts, or theories discussed in the text.

First, address the physical abilities or motor development of a preschooler. You might want to observe his or her activity for an identified amount of time—maybe three intervals of two minutes, and precisely record EVERYTHING the child does. You might ask the child to perform a few tricks like standing on one foot, jumping on one foot, holding a crayon, or cutting paper—maybe compare these across ages or between boys and girls.

Second, explore the cognitive abilities of the young child. You might use Piaget’s model or information processing theory. You could test children’s conservation skills by asking them some “why” questions to see if their answers are egocentric or if they use animism. You might test their memory by asking them to repeat a list of words and then ask them how they remember, or perhaps teach them to use rehearsal and see if there’s a difference in recall.

Third, examine an area of social development. Here you may observe a group of children playing and note, describe, and/or time the types of play they engage in. You may ask a child to describe herself or himself and interpret her or his response in terms of research on self-development. Try to observe boy/girl play, toys, or socialization in terms of gender role development, or interview a child about various role models and what their jobs are.

NOTE: You are free to arrange and organize your observations, results, and interpretations as you see fit.

You will be evaluated on the clarity of your stated purpose, the appropriateness of your data collection (i.e., whether or not you are addressing your purpose), the logic behind your summaries and interpretations, and the degree to which you integrate and refer to the information, concepts, or theories discussed in the textbook. You might want to follow an outline to write your report. For example: Physical Development Purpose: To examine fine and gross motor skills and note any age or gender differences, to evaluate these, and comment in terms of motor skill development.

Participants: 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old females; 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old males.

Setting: All were at the day-care center. It was mid-afternoon, and the children were outside in free play.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Procedure: Asked the children to do a number of motor tasks (e.g., hop on one foot, skip).

Age

Task

Outcome

3-F

4-F

5-F

3-M

4-M

5-M

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Comments

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 7-5 Reflective Journal Exercise 7 It’s difficult for grownups to imagine themselves as little children or what their life was like then. Write an essay titled “When I Was a Preschooler...” Listed below are a number of questions to help you recreate your life as a preschooler. You might have to ask a parent or relative for some of the answers. Feel free to include other relevant information or stories about yourself. As you reflect on or find out about your life as a young child, consider how those early days might have influenced your later development.

1. Where did your family live when you were a preschooler? Who was living in the house? Did you share a bedroom? With whom? Did you have a bedtime routine? Can you describe it?

2. What was your favorite toy? Game? Story?

3. Describe one of your preschool birthdays. Who was there? What presents did you get?

4. Recreate an early holiday or special occasion. Do any of the family traditions still occur today? If you have children, do you carry on these traditions for holidays in a similar fashion?

5. Did your parents work? Did you go to preschool or have a babysitter? When did you first write your name? Is there a copy of it somewhere?

6. Do you recall any special event, pleasant or traumatic, that happened to you or in your family between 2 and 6 years of age? How might this have affected your later development?

7. Who was your closest friend? Describe a common activity you enjoyed.

8. What was your health like? Any serious illnesses? Did you have any food preferences?

9. Ask someone to describe your personality and some of your typical behaviors.

10. Try to describe your earliest memory.

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Chapter 8 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE PRESCHOOL YEARS CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

10

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

16

Revel Multimedia

17

Handouts

18

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Revel Resources Multimedia

Chapter Outline Forming a Sense of Self Psychosocial Development: Resolving the Conflicts Self-Concept in the Preschool Years: Thinking About the Self Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Awareness

Learning Objectives 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 Lecture Launchers 8.1, 8.2, 8.3 Student Activities 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4

Friends and Family: Preschoolers’ Social Lives The Development of Friendships Playing by the Rules: The Work of Play Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind: Understanding What Others Are Thinking Preschoolers’ Family Lives Child Abuse and Psychological Maltreatment: The Grim Side of Family Life Resilience: Overcoming the Odds

Learning Objectives 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9 Lecture Launcher 8.4

Play Styles Theory of Mind across Cultures Myths about Child Abuse

Student Activities 8.5, 8.6, 8.7

Moral Development and Aggression Developing Morality: Following Society’s Rights and Wrongs Aggression and Violence in Preschoolers: Sources and Consequences

Learning Objectives 8.10, 8.11 Lecture Launcher 8.5

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Bandura’s Bobo Doll Studies

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 8.1

Describe the major developmental challenges that preschool-age children face.

LO 8.2

Explain how preschool-age children develop a concept of themselves.

LO 8.3

Explain how preschool-age children develop a sense of racial identity and gender.

LO 8.4

Describe the sorts of social relationships that preschool-age children engage in.

LO 8.5

Explain how and why preschool-age children play.

LO 8.6

Summarize how thinking changes in the preschool years.

LO 8.7

Describe the types of disciplinary styles parents employ and the effects they have on their children.

LO 8.8

List the factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect.

LO 8.9

Define resilience, and describe how it can help abused children.

LO 8.10 Explain how preschool-age children develop a moral sense.

LO 8.11 Describe how aggression develops in preschool-age children.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: A Marvelous Julian II. Forming a Sense of Self A. Psychosocial Development: Resolving the Conflicts 1. PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT encompasses changes in the understanding individuals have of themselves as members of society, and in their comprehension of the meaning of others’ behavior. a) Erikson proposed an eight-stage theory of psychosocial development, from infancy to old age. b) From age 3 to 6, children experience the INITIATIVE-VERSUS-GUILT STAGE, the period during which children experience conflict between independence of action and the sometimes negative results of action.

B. Self-Concept in the Preschool Years: Thinking About the Self 1. Preschoolers begin to form their SELF-CONCEPT, their identity, or their set of beliefs about what one is like as an individual. a) The “Who am I?” question may affect children for the rest of their lives. b) Youngsters typically overestimate their skills and knowledge. c) They also begin to develop a view of self that reflects the way their particular culture considers the self.

(1) Asian societies tend to have a COLLECTIVISTIC ORIENTATION, promoting the notion of interdependence, blending in, and being interconnected.

(2) Western cultures tend to embrace an INDIVIDUALISTIC ORIENTATION that emphasizes personal identity, uniqueness, and competition.

C. Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Awareness 1. Racial Identity: Developing Slowly a) By the time they are 3 or 4 years of age, preschoolers distinguish between members of different races and begin to understand the significance of race in society.

(1) Some youngsters begin to show preferential feelings for members of their own race.

(2) Many minority children experience ambivalence over the meaning of their racial identity.

(3) Some may experience RACE DISSONANCE, the phenomenon in which minority youngsters indicate preference for majority values or people. (a) Ethnic identity emerges somewhat later than racial identity, because it is usually less conspicuous than race.

2. Gender Identity: Developing Femaleness and Maleness a) Gender, the sense of being male or female, is well-established in young children. (Sex typically refers to sexual anatomy.) b) One way gender is manifested is in play.

(1) During the preschool years, boys increasingly play with boys.

(2) Girls tend to play with girls. c) Gender outweighs ethnic variables when it comes to play. d) Preschoolers also begin to develop expectations about appropriate behaviors for girls and boys.

(1) Like adults, preschoolers expect males to be more independent, forceful, and competitive, and expect females to be warm, nurturing, expressive, and submissive.

(2) However, young children typically hold stronger gender stereotypes than adults do.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e e) Several theoretical explanations for gender-related attitudes exist.

(1) Biological perspectives argue that physical characteristics associated with the different sexes, hormone differences, and differences in the structure of female and male brains might lead to gender differences.

(2) Psychoanalytic perspectives attribute gender differences to IDENTIFICATION, the process in which children attempt to be similar to their same-sex parent, incorporating the parent’s attitudes and values.

(3) Social-learning approaches argue that children learn gender-related behavior and expectations from direct training and from their observation of others, including the media.

(4) Cognitive approaches argue that individuals develop a GENDER IDENTITY, the perception of oneself as male or female. (a) To do this, they develop a GENDER SCHEMA or a cognitive framework that organizes information relevant to gender. (b) Preschoolers begin developing rules about what is right and what is inappropriate for males and females. (c) By the time they are 4 or 5 years of age, children develop an understanding of GENDER CONSTANCY, the belief that people are permanently males or females, depending on fixed, unchangeable biological factors. (d) Sandra Bem argued that one can minimize rigid views of gender by encouraging children to be ANDROGYNOUS, a state in which gender roles encompass characteristics thought typical of both sexes.

III. Friends and Family: Preschoolers’ Social Lives A. The Development of Friendships 1. Around age 3, children develop real friendships.

2. Peers come to be seen as individuals with special qualities.

3. Relationships are based on companionship, play, and entertainment.

4. Friendship is focused on the carrying out of shared activities.

B. Playing by the Rules: The Work of Play 1. Categorizing play a) Three-year-olds typically engage in FUNCTIONAL PLAY, which involves simple, repetitive activities; that is, doing something for the sake of being active. b) By age 4, children typically engage in CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY, which involves manipulating objects to produce or build something.

(1) Constructive play allows children to test developing cognitive skills.

(2) Constructive play allows children to practice motor skills.

(3) Constructive play allows children to problem solve.

(4) Constructive play allows children to learn to cooperate.

2. Social Aspects of Play: Mildred Parten (1932) noted various types of play (see Table 8-2, entitled Preschoolers Play, page 261). a) PARALLEL PLAY is when children play with similar toys, in a similar manner, but do not interact with each other. b) ONLOOKER PLAY occurs when children simply watch others play but do not actually participate themselves. c) ASSOCIATIVE PLAY is where two or more children actually interact with one another by sharing or borrowing toys or materials, although they do not do the same thing. d) In COOPERATIVE PLAY, children genuinely play with one another, taking turns, playing games, or devising contests.

3. Associative and cooperative play generally do not emerge until the end of the preschool years.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 4. The nature of a child’s play is influenced by their social experiences.

5. Vygotsky argued that pretend play, particularly if it involves social play, is an important means for expanding preschool-age children’s cognitive skills.

6. Cultural background also results in different styles of play.

C. Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind: Understanding What Others Are Thinking 1. Theory of mind refers to knowledge and beliefs about the mental world.

2. Children are able to come up with explanations for how others think and the reasons for their behaving the way they do.

3. During preschool years, children can increasingly see the world through others’ perspectives.

4. Preschool children can understand that people have motives and reasons for their behavior.

5. How does theory of mind develop? a) Brain maturation b) Social interaction and make-believe play 6. There are cultural differences in theory of mind. a) Western children are likely to regard others’ behavior as due to the kind of people they are, seeing it as a function of their personalities. b) Non-Western children may see others’ behavior as produced by forces that are less under their personal control, such as unhappy gods or bad fortune.

D. Preschoolers’ Family Lives 1. Diana Baumrind noted four types of parenting or patterns of discipline. a) AUTHORITARIAN PARENTS are controlling, punitive, rigid, and cold; their word is law; they value strict, unquestioning obedience from their children and do not tolerate expressions of disagreement. b) PERMISSIVE PARENTS provide lax and inconsistent feedback and require little of their children.

(1) Permissive-indifferent parents are usually uninvolved in their children’s lives. (a) Their children tend to be dependent and moody. (b) Their children also tend to have low social skills and low self-control.

(2) Permissive-indulgent parents are more involved with their children, but they place little or no limits or control on their behavior. (a) Their children typically show low control and low social skills. (b) However, these children tend to feel that they are especially privileged. c) AUTHORITATIVE PARENTS are firm, setting clear and consistent limits, but try to reason with their children, giving explanations for why they should behave in a particular way.

(1) Children of authoritative parents tend to fare best: they are independent, friendly with their peers, self-assertive, and cooperative. Parents are not always consistent in their parenting or discipline styles.

(2) Children whose parents engage in aspects of the authoritative style related to supportive parenting, which encompasses parental warmth, proactive teaching, calm discussion during disciplinary episodes, and interest and involvement in children’s peer activities, show better adjustment and are protected from the consequences of later adversity. d) UNINVOLVED PARENTS show virtually no interest in their children.

2. Cultural Differences in Child-Rearing Practices a) Child-rearing practices reflect cultural perspectives about the nature of children and the role of the parents. b) Child-rearing practices in Eastern societies are more likely to involve strict control. Such control is seen as a measure of parents’ involvement in and concern for the welfare of their children.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) In Western societies, and especially in the United States, parents are more often advised to use authoritative methods. d) Children’s behavior is in part produced by their unique genetic endowments, and their behavior can in turn shape parental behavior.

E. Child Abuse and Psychological Maltreatment: The Grim Side of Family Life 1. Five children are killed by their caretakers every day.

2. Approximately 140,000 others are physically injured every year.

3. Three million children are abused or neglected annually in the U.S. 4. Physical Abuse a) Child abuse can occur in any home, though it is most frequent in families living in a stressful environment.

(1) Poverty (2) Single-parent homes (3) Families with high levels of marital discord (4) Most parents don’t intend to abuse their children. b) Children who are fussy, resistant to control, slow to adapt to new situations, overly anxious, frequent bed wetters, and who have developmental delays are more prone to being victims of abuse. c) Labeling children as being at a higher risk for abuse does not make them responsible for their abuse. d) There are many reasons for why child abuse occurs.

(1) There is a vague demarcation between permissible and impermissible forms of physical punishment or violence.

(2) Privacy in Western childcare households (i.e., private, isolated households) leads to high rates of abuse.

(3) In other non-Western cultures, childrearing is seen as a joint responsibility of several people or the society, and others can help out when a child may test one’s patience. e) There is increasing evidence that spanking should be avoided and that this type of punishment may result in a number of long-term side effects.

(1) Spanking is associated with a lower quality of parent-child relationships, mental health issues for parent and child, higher levels of delinquency/antisocial behavior.

(2) Spanking also teaches children that violence is an acceptable solution to problems.

(3) The CYCLE-OF-VIOLENCE HYPOTHESIS argues that the abuse and neglect that children suffer predisposes them as adults to be abusive.

5. Not all abuse is physical: PSYCHOLOGICAL MALTREATMENT is abuse that occurs when parents or other caregivers harm children’s behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or physical functioning.

F. Resilience: Overcoming the Odds 1. RESILIENCE refers to the ability to overcome circumstances that place a child at high risk for psychological or physical damage. a) Resilient children are affectionate, easygoing, good communicators, and intelligent. b) They are able to elicit positive responses from others. c) They tend to feel that they can shape their own fate and are not dependent on others or luck.

IV. Moral Development and Aggression A. Developing Morality: Following Society’s Rights and Wrongs 1. MORAL DEVELOPMENT refers to changes in people’s sense of justice, of what is right and wrong, and in their behavior related to moral issues. a) Several theoretical approaches have evolved for explaining moral development in children.

2. Piaget’s View of Moral Development 7 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) Piaget’s theory of moral development focuses on the moral reasoning of children.

(1) According to Piaget, HETERONOMOUS MORALITY is the initial stage of moral development (from 4 to 7 years old) in which rules are seen as invariant and unchangeable. (a) Youngsters in this stage do not take intention into account. (b) Children in the heteronomous stage also believe in IMMANENT JUSTICE, the notion that broken rules earn immediate punishment.

(2) The next stage, according to Piaget, is the incipient cooperation stage (from age 7 to 10). (a) Children become more social and play according to a shared conception of rules.

(3) During the autonomous cooperation stage (beginning at age 10) children become fully aware that game rules can be modified if the people who play them agree.

(4) Critics argue that he underestimated the age at which children’s moral skills develop.

3. Social-Learning Approaches to Morality a) Social-learning approaches to morality focus on how the environment influences children’s PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR, helping behavior that benefits others.

(1) In this view, moral conduct is learned through reinforcement and modeling.

(2) Preschoolers are more apt to model the behavior of warm, responsive adults and models viewed as highly competent or high in prestige.

(3) Children do more than simply mimic modeled behavior. (a) By observing others’ behavior, they begin to learn society’s norms. (b) This leads to ABSTRACT MODELING, the process of developing more general rules and principles that underlie behavior.

4. Genetic Approaches to Morality a) The GENETIC APPROACH to understanding empathy is the most recent and most controversial approach.

5. Empathy and Moral Behavior a) According to some developmentalists, EMPATHY—the understanding of what another individual feels—lies at the heart of some kinds of moral behavior. b) The roots of empathy grow early—1-year-old infants will cry when they hear other infants crying. c) Positive emotions—sympathy and admiration, in addition to negative emotions—anger at an unfair situation or shame over a transgression—may promote moral behavior.

B. Aggression and Violence in Preschoolers: Sources and Consequences 1. AGGRESSION is the intentional injury or harm to another person. a) Infants do not act aggressively; however, by the preschool years children demonstrate true aggression. b) Aggressive acts in young children are often related to attaining a desired goal. c) Throughout the preschool years, children develop EMOTIONAL SELFREGULATION, the capability to adjust emotions to a desired state and level of intensity. d) Aggression is a relatively stable trait; the most aggressive preschoolers tend to be the most aggressive school-aged children.

2. The Roots of Aggression a) There are varying explanations for aggressive behavior among children.

(1) Freud claimed we all have a death drive, which leads us to act aggressively.

(2) Konrad Lorenz argues that humans, like all animals, share a fighting instinct.

(3) Sociobiologists, scientists who consider the biological roots of social behavior, argue that aggression facilitates the goal of strengthening the species and the gene pool in general.

3. Social Learning Approaches to Aggression 8 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) Social-learning approaches contend that aggression is based on prior learning, and how social and environmental conditions and models teach individuals to be aggressive. b) Albert Bandura illustrated the power of models in a classic study of preschoolers—the Bobo doll experiment.

4. Viewing Violence on TV: Does It Matter? a) Violent television shows and video games perennially raise the spectre of social learning.

5. Cognitive Approaches to Aggression: The Thoughts Behind Violence a) Cognitive approaches argue that aggression stems, in part, from the manner in which children interpret others’ actions and situations.

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LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 8.1: Hormones and Toy Preferences An early characteristic of gender role stereotypes is the preference for playing with sex-typed toys.

Studies of individuals with the genetic disorder congenital adrenal hyperplasis (CAH), a condition characterized by high levels of adrenal androgens during prenatal development, reveal that CAH women exhibit traditional male characteristics (for example, more active and rougher play, a preference for masculine activities, and a greater spatial ability than their female relative). Most studies of this type, however, rely on interview data rather than direct observation.

To remedy this methodological shortcoming, Sheri Berenbaum and Melissa Hines studied 37 children (26 girls and 11 boys) with CAH and 33 unaffected male and female relatives, all between the ages of 3 and 8. The dependent variable, toy preference, was measured as the amount of time spent playing with either masculine (e.g., helicopters, cars, construction blocks), feminine (e.g., dolls, kitchen supplies, toy telephones), or neutral toys (e.g., books, board games, jigsaw puzzles). Although the control girls and boys showed large differences in toy preferences along sex-typed lines, CAH girls showed a significant preference for masculine toys (compared to the control girls) and also played with feminine toys less often than did the controls. Parental surveys and medical data indicated that these results could not be attributed to differential treatment or disease factors. The researchers concluded that “Although the data are consistent with an androgen influence on sex-typed toy choices, it is not necessary that hormones have a direct influence on these choices. Hormones may affect toy choices indirectly, perhaps through an influence on activity level, motor skills, abilities, or temperament” (1992, p. 205).

Berenbaum, S. A. & Beltz, A. M. (2016). How early hormones shape gender development. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 7, 53-60.

Berenbaum, S. A. & Hines, M. (1992). Early androgens are related to childhood sex-typed toy preferences. Psychological Science, 3, 203-206.

Fine, C. & Rush, E. (2016). “Why does all the girls have to buy pink stuff?” The ethics and science of the gendered toy marketing debate. Journal of Business Ethics, 136, 1-16.

Giuliano, T. A., Popp, K. E., & Knight, J. L. (2000). Footballs versus Barbies: Childhood play activities as predictors of sport participation by women. Sex Roles, 42(3-4), 159-181.

Hines, M., Pasterski, V., Spencer, D., Neufeld, S., Patalay, P., Hindmarsh, P. C., ... & Acerini, C. L. (2016). Prenatal androgen exposure alters girls' responses to information indicating gender-appropriate behaviour. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 371(1688), 20150125.

Lecture Launcher 8.2: Male and Female Brain Development Research has shown the male and female brains differ in a variety of ways. Some of these differences are likely caused by gonadal hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone, which begin to affect the brain in adolescence. However, many of the differences between male and female brains can be seen before puberty. What causes male and female brains to develop differently?

Early in a pregnancy, an embryo has the potential to develop into a male or a female. In general, the default is for the embryo to develop as a female. This means that, if left alone, it will develop into a child with a female body and a female brain. If, however, the embryo has a Y chromosome, a combination of hormones usually “masculinizes” the body and the brain. Interestingly, the body and brain are masculinized by different hormones. For the external genitals of the body to become male, the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) must be present at a critical time during development. The brain however, is masculinized primarily by estrogen. This may seem odd, because estrogen is often considered a “female” hormone. During fetal development, however, it is the presence of estrogen that makes the brain develop in a typically male way.

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Because of the specific roles for DHT and estrogen on body and brain development, some interesting results can occur during this process. For example, if a child with a Y chromosome is not exposed to DHT at just the right point in development, he will not develop external male genitals. His brain, however, would be masculinized. Alternatively, the absence of estrogen during a critical period during development could leave a person with a male body, but with a more typically female brain. Finally, if a female is exposed to too much of the mother’s estrogen in the womb, she may develop a masculinized brain. These interesting combinations of body and brain sex may explain why some people “feel” one gender, but physically resemble the other.

Kandel, E., Schwartz, J., & Jessell, T. (2012). Principles of neural science (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Lecture Launcher 8.3: Gynandromorphs & Songbird Brains Zebra finches are small song birds that are often kept as pets. Male zebra finches sing a courtship song to attract a mate, whereas females do not. Research has shown that this is because the brain of male finches is different than female finches, especially the nuclei responsible for singing, which are much larger in the male’s brain. Female finches can be made to sing courtship songs by treating them as hatchlings with gonadal hormones, which cause their brains to become more like male finches. This indicates that hormones are responsible for determining whether the brain of a finch is male or female. A rare occurrence, however, has led researchers to reexamine this conclusion.

The rare occurrence was the discovery of a gynandromorphic zebra finch by a neuroscientist studying the birds. Gynandromorphs are animals that have both male and female characteristics. In this case, the feathers on the zebra finch’s right side had male markings, whereas the markings on the left side were female! This left-right distinction even occurred at the genetic level, with the cells on the right being genotypically male, and the cells on the opposite side being genotypically female. (In birds, the sex chromosomes are W and Z, not X and Y. Normal males are ZZ, whereas females are WZ.) So what about the brain? Remember that some previous research had indicated that hormones were responsible for the sex differences between male and female brains in zebra finches. Because hormones circulate throughout the entire body, both hemispheres of the gynandromorph’s brain should be either male or female because they would have been exposed to the same hormones. In fact, when the brain was examined, it turned out that the song nuclei were much bigger in the right hemisphere than in the left hemisphere, indicating that the right hemisphere was more male than the left. This has led researchers to conclude that, although hormones do play an important role in brain sex differences, sex chromosomes in brain cells may also play an important role.

Agate, R. et al. (2003). Neural, not gonadal, origin of brain sex differences in a gynandromorphic finch. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(8), 4873-4878.

Arnold, A. P. (2004). Sex chromosomes and brain gender. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(9), 701-708.

Beach, L. Q., Tang, Y. P., Kerver, H., & Wade, J. (2016). Inhibition of TrkB limits development of the zebra finch song system. Brain research, 1642, 467-477.

Jahner, J. P., Lucas, L. K., Wilson, J. S., & Forister, M. L. (2015). Morphological outcomes of gynandromorphism in Lycaeides butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Journal of Insect Science, 15(1), 38.

Wade, J. (2016). Genetic regulation of sex differences in songbirds and lizards. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B,371(1688), 20150112.

Wright, L. (2003, March 25). Unique bird sheds light on sex differences in the brain. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=unique-bird-sheds-light-o

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Lecture Launcher 8.4: The Consequences of Sexual Abuse Several studies have found evidence that severe childhood sexual abuse leaves a permanent mark on the brain. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in organizing memory, in groups of women. The studies found that the hippocampal volume of women who had suffered severe sexual abuse as children was smaller than that of women who were comparable in age but who had not been abused. Both groups of women were recruited from the same women’s health clinic where they were receiving general care.

This cerebral alteration may predispose people to experience dissociation and to develop the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Other investigators have reported similar reductions in hippocampal volume among Vietnam combat veterans suffering from PTSD. However, the point at which the reduction takes place is not clear, especially given that many adults who develop PTSD have experienced prior traumas.

If the severe trauma of child sexual abuse or combat releases stress hormones that harm the hippocampus, it may account in part for the fragmented memories experienced by many people suffering from PTSD. However, it is also known that many trauma survivors display no memory disruptions, dissociation, or symptoms of PTSD. This has led some researchers to speculate that a genetic predisposition to react strongly to extreme stress may also be implicated, especially in men. Further research will hopefully clarify this link between behavior and brain.

If you or any of your students suspect a child is a victim of any kind of abuse, call 1-800-4-A-CHILD. This is the toll-free number of Childhelp USA, an organization that offers help, counseling, and referrals for victims of child abuse. You may want to offer several local phone numbers of abuse hotlines for your students.

Bower, B. (1995). Child sex abuse leaves mark on brain. Science News, 147, 340.

Dennis, E. L., Babikian, T., Alger, J., Rashid, F., Villalon‐Reina, J. E., Jin, Y., ... & Giza, C. C. (2018). Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of fiber tracts in children with traumatic brain injury: A combined MRS–Diffusion MRI study. Human Brain Mapping, 39(9), 3759-3768.

Edwards, D. (2018). Childhood sexual abuse and brain development: A discussion of associated structural changes and negative psychological outcomes. Child Abuse Review, 27(3), 198-208.

Hansen, J. B., Frazier, T., Moffatt, M., Zinkus, T., & Anderst, J. D. (2018). Evaluations for abuse in young children with subdural hemorrhages: findings based on symptom severity and benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces. Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics, 21(1), 31-37.

Lutz, P. E., Gross, J. A., Dhir, S. K., Maussion, G., Yang, J., Bramoulle, A., ... & Turecki, G. (2018). Epigenetic regulation of the kappa opioid receptor by child abuse. Biological Psychiatry, 84(10), 751-761.

Perkins, A. (2018). The red flags of child abuse. Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, 16(2), 34-41.

Lecture Launcher 8.5: Young Children’s Understanding of Everyday Emotions Children experience a host of emotions ranging from everyday feelings of frustration, anger, and happiness to those associated with traumatic experiences, such as divorce or death. Children’s understanding of emotions changes with age and is influenced by parents and teachers. Children come to know that it is possible to experience more than one feeling at a time, that one can hide one’s emotions, and how to read the emotional states of others.

Talking about feelings is important for children to learn about emotions and how to manage them, especially in preschool populations. You might bring an assortment of children’s books with emotionrelated themes to class, or ask students to bring in one they found. For instance, there are books for 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e preschoolers about divorce, death, anger, being sad, losing a friend, moving, having a birthday, winning a prize, feeling good, and more. These could be circulated, read, and discussed as part of your lecture.

Boelts, M. & Jones, N. Z. (2009). Those shoes. Candlewick Publishers.

Braida, D. I. (1997). What holds the family together. Jo-Eric Publications.

Bunting, E. (1993). Fly away home. HMH Books for Young Readers.

Curcio, A. (2015). My daddy’s in jail. ICG Children’s Books.

Disalvo-Ryan, D. (1997). Uncle Willie and the soup kitchen. New York: HarperCollins.

Higgins, M. (2013). The night dad went to jail. Picture Window Books.

Langsen, R. C. & Rubel, N. (1996). When someone in the family drinks too much. Dial Publishing.

Matthies, H. & Valiant, K. (2011). The goodbye cancer garden. Albert Whitman and Company.

Rylant, C. (1995). Dog heaven. Blue Sky Press.

Sanders, J. & Smith, C. (2015). Some secrets should never be kept. Educate2Empower Publishing.

Starishevsky, J. & Padron, A. (2014). My body belongs to me. Free Spirit Publishing.

Williams, L. (2017). The can man. Lee and Low Books.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 8.1: Do Children Learn What They Live?

Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to discuss whether (or how) children learn what they live.

Have the group create a list of do’s and don’ts for parents to follow in order to raise a well-adjusted child, drawing upon research cited in the text.

Student Activity 8.2: Gender Roles in Children’s Books Many studies have documented the subtle (and sometimes unsubtle) gender stereotypes conveyed in children’s books. One way to highlight this point is to divide students into small groups, and give each group a children’s book to examine. (If you don’t own any children’s books, you can obtain them from your local library.) Tell students that they should analyze the characters and plot of the book, and look for the following things: • • •

Frequency of male and female characters Active versus passive behavior of male and female characters Occupations or roles of male and female characters

The analysis should take 10 to 15 minutes. Reserve additional time for discussing the results. Many books, even recent ones, will convey gender-typing by showing fewer female characters, placing male characters in more active roles, and portraying male and female characters in gender-typed occupations or roles (females are mothers and princesses, males are doctors and cowboys). In particular, students will probably find few fathers and many mothers portrayed in children’s books, a fact that certainly conveys information about the appropriate behavior of men and women.

Student Activity 8.3: Gender Socialization Divide your class into discussion groups. Give each group about 20 minutes to come up with a list of all the ways our society (parents, peers, relatives, siblings, teachers, media, etc.) socializes young children to be masculine or feminine. To get their creative juices flowing, you can write the following kickstarters on the board.

• • • • • •

When the baby is born When the baby comes home from the hospital Toys and books Birthday parties, Halloween, other holidays TV/media Occupations

Student Activity 8.4: Media Influences on Gender-Role Development One activity that is consistently popular with students is to have them explore a variety of media for views of sex-role development, gender identity, and the portrayal of gender stereotypes. Books (including children’s books, as well as books aimed at parents), toys, movies, videos, newspapers, magazines (including children’s magazines), television shows (especially children’s cartoons), and advertisements are all suitable subjects for analysis. After gathering a variety of sources, students should write a short paper applying principles from the text and lecture to their examples. What common themes or 14 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e stereotypes are found throughout? Are there many instances of sex-typed behavior? Are there certain kinds of media that break stereotypic portrayals? What influences will these portrayals likely have on the development of gender identity and gender role awareness in children? If available, it might be particularly instructive to compare older media sources (e.g., magazines, television shows, movies, or books that are 10 to 15 years old) with current ones. Which stereotypes seem to be firmly rooted in our culture and resistant to change? In what ways have stereotypes changed in the past decade? Because television is such an influential medium, particularly with respect to children, your students should enjoy analyzing gender portrayals in various types of programming, comparing and contrasting children’s educational shows, cartoons, action shows, and situation comedies. Students’ papers can also form the basis for a lively class discussion on this important topic.

Handout 8-1 and Handout 8-2 are useful for assignments of how children’s books and toys contribute to gender stereotypes and the development of gender roles.

Student Activity 8.5: Interview Sex-Role Comparisons between Groups This assignment will provide data for a comparison of children’s and adults’ conceptions of sex roles.

Provide students with a copy of the Sex-Role Interview (Handout 8-3). Ask that they interview four individuals of varying ages (e.g., children, teens, adults) and different sexes. The items on the scale are purposely stereotypical. It is interesting to see whether children, who are not aware of stereotyping, answer with more stereotypical responses than the adults, who may be concerned about appearing to stereotype. It will also be interesting to see if any gender differences appear. The data from the class can be graphed or tabulated statistically, perhaps as an in-class activity. This would provide an opportunity to discuss the role and methods of research in developmental psychology, as well as the results. A discussion of how and why stereotypes emerge and the impact of these on the developing individual should prove to be interesting.

Student Activity 8.6: Child-Related Literature Have students collect and organize into a notebook or journal a variety of pamphlets, brochures, and booklets addressing issues related to topics discussed in the current chapter. For example, many agencies (e.g., Child Abuse Prevention Council, Governor’s Office for Children, Planned Parenthood, Parents Anonymous), schools, hospitals, medical offices, and education centers provide free literature on disciplining children, single parenting, children’s stress, and much more. Have students prepare a brief presentation for the class summarizing, highlighting, and/or evaluating the resources and information they found.

Student Activity 8.7: Reflective Journal Use Handout 8-4 to encourage your students to reflect on their own caregivers’ parenting style.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Alberts, C. & Durrheim, K. (2018). Future direction of identity research in a context of political struggle: A critical appraisal of Erikson. Identity, 18(4), 295-305.

Carr, A., Duff, H., & Craddock, F. (2018). A systematic review of the outcome of child abuse in longterm care. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 1524838018789154.

Chernyak, N., Harris, P. L., & Cordes, S. (2018). Explaining early moral hypocrisy: Numerical cognition promotes equal sharing behavior in preschool‐aged children. Developmental Science, e12695.

Fast, A. A. & Olson, K. R. (2018). Gender development in transgender preschool children. Child Development, 89(2), 620-637.

Hu, M. H., Huang, G. S., Huang, J. L., Wu, C. T., Chao, A. S., Lo, F. S., & Wu, H. P. (2018). Clinical characteristic and risk factors of recurrent sexual abuse and delayed reported sexual abuse in childhood. Medicine, 97(14), 12-17.

Jones, C. R., Simonoff, E., Baird, G., Pickles, A., Marsden, A. J., Tregay, J., ... & Charman, T. (2018).

The association between theory of mind, executive function, and the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder. Autism Research, 11(1), 95-109.

Kollmayer, M., Schober, B., & Spiel, C. (2018). Gender stereotypes in education: Development, consequences, and interventions. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15(4), 361-377.

Kulke, L., von Duhn, B., Schneider, D., & Rakoczy, H. (2018). Is implicit theory of mind a real and robust phenomenon? Results from a systematic replication study. Psychological Science, 0956797617747090.

Mammen, M., Köymen, B., & Tomasello, M. (2018). The reasons young children give to peers when explaining their judgments of moral and conventional rules. Developmental Psychology, 54(2), 254.

Masten, A. S. (2018). Adult resilience after child abuse. Nature Human Behaviour, 2(4), 244.

Metheny, N. A. & Meert, K. L. (2018). Water intoxication and child abuse. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 44(1), 13-18.

Miller, D. I., Nolla, K. M., Eagly, A. H., & Uttal, D. H. (2018). The Development of Children's Gender‐Science Stereotypes: A meta‐analysis of 5 decades of U.S. draw‐a‐scientist studies. Child Development, 89(6), 1943-1955.

Myers, W., Lloyd, K., Turanovic, J. J., & Pratt, T. C. (2018). Revisiting a criminological classic: The cycle of violence. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 1043986218770003.

Perry, K. J. & Ostrov, J. M. (2018). The reciprocal relations between female and male play partners and aggression in early childhood. Child Development, doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13178.

Sullivan, J., Moss-Racusin, C., Lopez, M., & Williams, K. (2018). Backlash against gender stereotypeviolating preschool children. PloS one, 13(4), e0195503.

Tomasello, M. (2018). The normative turn in early moral development. Human Development, 61(4-5), 248-263.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Play Styles

Parallel, associative, onlooker, and cooperative play styles are illustrated

1. Summarize and give an example of each of the different play styles children enact.

2. What kind of development—social, cognitive, emotional, or otherwise—needs to occur to enable a child to explore different play styles?

Myths about Child Abuse

The cycle of violence hypothesis is examined

1. In the study referred to in the video, men were much more likely than women to be arrested for sex crimes, regardless of their developmental history. What do you make of this finding?

2. “Having experienced abuse…” seems to push the mind toward “…will later make a person abuse.”

Take that general form and apply it to other developmental circumstances, such as “having experienced bad parenting will make me a bad parent” or “having had educational opportunities will make me value education” or “having been raised in poverty will mean I stay poor.” What are the parameters and limitations of such statements? What other circumstances intervene to make that “If A then B” reasoning less than 100 percent perfect? What examples, both for and against such reasoning, can you generate?

Theory of Mind across Cultures

Understanding the self and others is a key developmental milestone

1. Some children have difficulty understanding the understandings of others. For example, children with autism seem to lack a theory of mind, or at least have an impoverished conception of it. These cases represent an extreme outcome, but more generally, is it possible to navigate the world successfully while not really understanding what other people know, or appreciating how other people think?

2. The video shows that theory of mind is achieved in the same way and at about the same developmental stage in different cultural settings. Why is that? What does this acquisition illustrate about the fundamental workings of humans’ cognitive apparatus?

Bandura’s Bobo Doll Studies

Classic footage demonstrates how to abuse a toy

1. Albert Bandura’s experiment illustrates the consequences of modeling aggressive behavior. Extend that to forms of corporal punishment that some parents and school systems still advocate, such as spankings or “whuppins.” What message is being consistently sent to children? Now extend that to a further extreme, as occurs in physical child abuse. Is there a direct line from punishment to abuse, following the same principles, or are they qualitatively different in some way? If so, how?

2. Recall what you know about the general principles of reinforcement, punishment, and observational learning. What gets learned when a child is physically punished for acting aggressively?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 8-1 Children’s Television Programs and Gender Stereotyping For this assignment you are to watch a children’s television program (e.g., Paw Patrol, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, My Little Pony). Answer the following questions.

Name of program ___________________________________________________________________ Day and time of program _____________________________________________________________ Who was the primary audience for this show (girls or boys)? _________________________________ Why would children like this show? ____________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ List any incidences of gender stereotyping (aggressive men, beautiful but weak women, violence, men working and women staying home, etc.). ________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ What did you like about this show? _____________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ What did you dislike about this show? __________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ Did any advertisements contribute to stereotyping? ________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 8-2 Toy Store Assignment Examine the toy department of a large store. Consider the following questions.

1. How are the toys presented (categorized and displayed)?

2. Do the toys represent stereotypical views of girls and boys? Describe how.

3. Are any toys presented so that they seem appropriate for either gender?

4. Are there any toys that are stereotypically a boy toy or a girl toy because of how they are packaged, but could be attractive to either sex with another package or name?

5. Are there any toys marketed to both boys and girls?

6. How does the marketing of toys appeal to parents as well as children?

7. How do toys contribute to gender roles in our society?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 8-3 Sex Role Interview Ask each of your participants to label each of the following behaviors as masculine or feminine. Record each response as M or F under the appropriate column.

Behavior

Age/Sex

1. Wearing pink 2. Wearing blue 3. Cooking hamburgers on a grill 4. Baking cream puffs 5. Cleaning the house 6. Changing a baby’s diapers 7. Driving a truck 8. Going to the ballet 9. Going to a sporting event 10. Owning a dog 11. Owning a cat 12. Piloting an airliner 13. Being a flight attendant 14. Becoming a doctor 15. Becoming a nurse 16. Teaching at a university or college 17. Teaching grade school 18. Demonstrating love and sadness openly (hugging or crying) 19. Demonstrating anger by being aggressive 20. Getting into a fight

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Age/Sex

Age/Sex

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 8-4 Reflective Journal Exercise 8 Reflect on your early childhood years. What style of parenting did your primary caregivers use? Did all your caregivers use the same style or were they different? Explain your answers, using examples. How has your caregivers’ style affected the person you have become? How has their style of parenting affected how you plan to discipline your children?

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Chapter 9 PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

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Learning Objectives

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Chapter Outline

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Lecture Launchers

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Student Activities

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Supplemental Reading

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Revel Multimedia

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Handouts

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Chapter Outline Physical Development The Growing Body Motor Development Physical and Mental Health During Middle Childhood Children with Special Needs

Instructor’s Resources

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4

Middle Childhood Health Disparities

Lecture Launchers 9.1, 9.2, 9.3

Intellectual Development Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development Information Processing in Middle Childhood Vygotsky’s Approach to Cognitive Development and Classroom Instruction Language Development: What Words Mean

Learning Objectives 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.8

Tools of the Mind

Lecture Launchers 9.4, 9.5 Student Activities 9.1, 9.2

Schooling: The Three Rs (and More) of Middle Childhood Reading: Learning to Decode the Meaning Behind Words Educational Trends: Beyond the Three Rs Intelligence: Determining Individual Strengths Below and Above Intelligence Norms: Intellectual Disabilities and the Intellectually Gifted

Learning Objectives 9.9, 9.10, 9.11, 9.12 Lecture Launchers 9.6, 9.7 Student Activities 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7

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School and Education in Middle Childhood Across Cultures Intelligence Tests and Stereotypes

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 9.1

Describe ways in which children grow during middle childhood and factors that influence their growth.

LO 9.2

Outline the course of motor development in middle childhood.

LO 9.3

Summarize the main physical and mental health concerns of school-age children.

LO 9.4

Describe the sorts of special needs that may become apparent in school-age children and how can they be met.

LO 9.5

Summarize the Piagetian view of cognitive development in middle childhood.

LO 9.6

Explain how children develop cognitively in middle childhood according to information processing approaches.

LO 9.7

Summarize Vygotsky’s interpretation of cognitive development during middle childhood.

LO 9.8

Describe how language develops during middle childhood.

LO 9.9

Explain how children learn to read.

LO 9.10 Summarize what schools teach beyond the basics in middle childhood.

LO 9.11 Describe how intelligence is measured and what controversies arise from measuring it.

LO 9.12 Describe how children with intellectual disabilities and children who are intellectually gifted are educated in middle childhood.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I.

Prologue: Seeding a Garden

II. Physical Development A. The Growing Body 1. Beginning at age 6 and continuing to age 12, these years are often referred to as the “school years.”

2. Height and Weight Changes a) Compared with the swift growth during the first five years, physical growth during middle childhood is slow but steady. b) School-aged children grow, on average, 2 to 3 inches per year. c) This is the only time during the life span when girls are, on average, taller than boys. d) By age 11, the average girl is 4’10”. e) The average 11-year-old boy is 4’9½”. f) During middle childhood, both boys and girls gain from 5 to 7 pounds a year. g) Variations of a half a foot in children the same age are not uncommon. h) Height and weight variations can be affected by poor nutrition and racial or ethnic background.

3. Cultural Patterns of Growth a) Inadequate nutrition and disease produce children who are shorter and who weigh less than they would if they had sufficient nutrients.

(1) Ex.: Children in poorer areas of cities such as Calcutta, Hong Kong, and Rio de Janeiro are smaller than children raised in affluent sections. b) Some variations in height and weight are linked to genetic factors such as Asian and Oceanic Pacific children tending to be shorter, on average, than those with northern or central European heritages. c) The rate of growth is generally more rapid for black children than it is for white children.

4. Promoting Growth with Hormones a) Available only in the last decade, prototropin and other artificial human growth hormones are being given to abnormally short children.

(1) Some question whether shortness is serious enough to warrant drug intervention.

(2) The drug is costly and may lead to premature puberty (which can restrict later growth).

(3) These artificial hormones are effective, adding over a foot of height.

5. Nutrition a) Nutrition is related to social and emotional functioning, and contributes to cognitive performance.

6. Childhood Obesity a) Research links proper nutrition to positive personality traits and cognitive performance. b) A good diet is necessary to staying fit. c) Obesity is defined as body weight that is more than 20 percent above the average for a person of a given height and weight.

(1) Seventeen percent of children are obese.

(2) This proportion has tripled since the 1970s.

(3) The epidemic of obesity may be leading to decline in life span in the United States.

(4) Obesity can be caused by a combination of genetic and social characteristics. (a) Adopted children’s weight is more like their biological parents than their adoptive parents. (b) Children’s poor diets can also contribute.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (c) School lunch programs have sometimes contributed to the problem by failing to provide nutritious options. (d) Many schools have reduced the time available for recess and gym classes. (e) School-age children tend to engage in little exercise and are not particularly fit. (f) The correlation between TV viewing and obesity is strong.

C. Motor Development 1. School-age children’s gross and fine motor skills develop substantially over middle childhood. a) An important improvement in gross motor skills is muscle coordination. b) Fine motor skills advance because of increases in the amount of myelin, the protective insulation surrounding parts of nerve cells, which speeds the electrical impulses between neurons.

D. Physical and Mental Health During Middle Childhood 1. More than 90 percent of children in middle childhood have at least one serious medical condition, although most are short-term illnesses.

2. ASTHMA, a chronic condition characterized by periodic attacks of wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath, has increased significantly in the last several decades. a) More than 15 million children in the U.S. suffer from this illness. b) Asthma occurs when the airways leading to the lungs constrict, partially blocking the passage of oxygen. c) Asthma attacks are triggered by a variety of factors.

(1) Respiratory infections (2) Allergic reactions to airborne irritants (3) Dust mites (4) Animal dander and excretions (5) Stress (6) Exercise (7) A sudden change in air temperature or humidity d) Some researchers believe the increase in asthma is due to pollution, dust, better-insulated buildings, and poverty.

3. Accidents a) Boys are more apt to be injured than girls (physical activity is greater). b) Injury death rates are: (1) Highest for American Indian and Alaska Natives (2) Lowest for Asian and Pacific Islanders (3) The same for Whites and African Americans c) Increasing independence and mobility of school-age children lead to new safety issues.

(1) Children walking to school face dangers of being hit by cars and trucks due to inability to judge distances/speed.

(2) The most frequent source of injury to children is automobile accidents. (a) Car crashes annually kill 4 out of every 100,000 children between ages 5 and 9. (b) Fires and burns, drowning, and gun-related deaths follow in frequency. d) The newest threat to the safety of school-age children comes from the Internet or the World Wide Web. (1) Cyberspace makes available materials that parents may find objectionable.

4. Psychological Disorders a) Childhood depression is often overlooked by teachers and parents. b) It is characterized by the expression of exaggerated fears, clinginess, or avoidance of everyday activities. c) In older children it may produce sulking, school problems, and acts of delinquency. d) It can be treated with a variety of drugs.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e e) The use of antidepressant drugs has become a popular treatment for childhood psychological disorders.

E. Children with Special Needs 1. One student in a thousand requires special education services relating to VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, legally defined as difficulties in seeing that may include blindness (less than or 20/200 after correction) or partial sightedness (20/70 after correction). a) Visual impairments can also include the inability to see up close and disabilities in color, depth, and light perception.

2. AUDITORY IMPAIRMENT involves the loss of hearing or some aspect of hearing, which affects 1 percent to 2 percent of school-age children and can vary across a number of dimensions. a) The loss may be limited to certain frequencies. b) Loss in infancy is more severe than after age 3.

(1) Children who have little or no exposure to the sound of language are unable to understand or produce oral language themselves.

(2) Abstract thinking may be affected.

3. Auditory impairments are sometimes accompanied by SPEECH IMPAIRMENTS, speech that is impaired when it deviates so much from the speech of others that it calls attention to itself, interferes with communication, or produces maladjustments in the speaker. a) Three to 5 percent of school-age children have speech impairments. b) CHILDHOOD-ONSET FLUENCY DISORDER, a substantial disruption in the rhythm and fluency of speech, is the most common speech impairment.

4. One in ten school-age children in the U.S. is officially labeled as having LEARNING DISABILITIES, difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities. a) Some suffer from dyslexia, a reading disability that can result in the reversal of letters during reading and writing, confusion between left and right, and difficulties in spelling.

5. ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER (ADHD) is a learning disability marked by inattention, impulsiveness, a low tolerance for frustration, and generally a great deal of inappropriate activity. a) Three to five percent of school-age children are estimated to have ADHD. b) Common signs of ADHD include: (1) Persistent difficulty finishing tasks, following instructions, and organizing work; (2) Inability to watch an entire television program; (3) Frequent interruption of others; (4) And a tendency to jump into a task before hearing all the instructions. c) Causes of ADHD (1) Not clear (2) May be a thickening of the brain’s cortex in children with ADHD, which lags three years behind that of children without the disorder. d) Ritalin or Dexadrine are stimulants used to reduce hyperactivity levels in children with ADHD. (1) These drugs help in increasing attention span and compliance; however, the side effects are considerable.

(2) Some studies suggest that, after a few years, children treated with drugs do not perform any better academically than those untreated.

(3) Drugs are prescribed more frequently in the U.S. than in any other country, suggesting that they may be overprescribed.

(4) Besides drugs, behavior therapy is often employed, primarily involving the use of rewards (verbal praise).

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (5) Some research shows links between ADHD and diet. (a) Higher in fatty acids and food additives III. Intellectual Development A. Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development 1. The school-age child enters the CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE, the period of cognitive development between 7 and 12 years of age, which is characterized by the active and appropriate use of logic. a) Concrete operational thought involves applying logical operations to concrete problems. b) Children at this stage can solve conservation problems. c) Because they are less egocentric, they can take multiple aspects of a situation into account, a process known as DECENTERING. d) They attain the concept of reversibility, realizing that a stimulus can be reversed, returning to its original form. e) They can understand such concepts as relationships between time and speed. f) However, they are tied to concrete, physical reality and cannot understand abstract or hypothetical reasoning.

2. Piaget is criticized for underestimating children’s abilities and for exaggerating the universality of the progression through the stages.

3. Research suggests that Piaget was more right than wrong, although children in some cultures may differ from Westerners in demonstrating certain cognitive skills.

B. Information Processing in Middle Childhood 1. Children become increasingly able to handle information because their memories improve.

2. MEMORY is the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. a) Encoding is the process by which information is recorded in a form usable to memory. b) The information must be stored, or placed and maintained in the memory system. c) Information must be retrieved, or located and brought into awareness.

3. During middle childhood, short-term memory capacity improves significantly. a) This may explain why children have trouble solving conservation problems during the preschool period.

4. METAMEMORY, an understanding about the processes that underlie memory, emerges and improves during middle childhood. a) Children use control strategies, conscious, intentionally-used tactics to improve cognitive functioning. b) Children can be trained to use control strategies.

C. Vygotsky’s Approach to Cognitive Development and Classroom Instruction 1. Vygotsky’s approach has been particularly influential in the development of several classroom practices. a) Classrooms are seen as places where children should have the opportunity to try out new activities. b) Specifically, Vygotsky suggests that children should focus on activities that involve interaction with others.

(1) Cooperative learning incorporates several aspects of Vygotsky’s theory.

(2) Reciprocal teaching, a technique where students are taught to skim the content of a passage, raise questions about its central point, summarize the passage, and, finally, predict what will happen next, helps lead students through the zone of proximal development.

D. Language Development: What Words Mean 1. Vocabulary continues to increase during the school years.

2. School-age children’s mastery of grammar improves.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 3. Children’s understanding of syntax, the rules that indicate how words and phrases can be combined to form sentences, grows during childhood.

4. Certain phonemes, units of sound, remain troublesome (j, v, h, zh).

5. School-age children may have difficulty decoding sentences when the meaning depends on intonation, or tone of voice.

6. Children become more competent in their use of pragmatics, the rules governing the use of language to communicate in a social context.

7. One of the most significant developments in middle childhood is the increase in METALINGUISTIC AWARENESS, an understanding of one’s own use of language.

8. Language helps children control their behavior.

9. BILINGUALISM is the use of more than one language. a) English is a second language for more than 1 in 5 Americans. b) Educators are challenged by children speaking little or no English.

(1) One approach is bilingual education, in which children are initially taught in their native language, while at the same time learning English. c) An alternative approach is to immerse students in English. d) Being bilingual may have cognitive advantages.

(1) Greater cognitive flexibility (2) Higher self-esteem (3) Greater metalinguistic awareness (4) May improve scores on IQ tests e) From Research to Practice: The Benefits of Speaking One’s Mind (1) Bilingual children have greater meta-linguistic awareness, score higher on some tests of intelligence, and do better on selective attention tasks.

(2) They are better at interpreting tone of voice to determine the speaker’s emotion and have better interpersonal skills than their monolingual counterparts.

(3) Their brain seems to be more efficient as a result of switching between languages.

IV. Schooling: The Three Rs (and More) of Middle Childhood A. Reading: Learning to Decode the Meaning Behind Words 1. Development of reading skill generally occurs in several broad, frequently overlapping stages. a) Stage 0, from birth to the start of first grade, where children learn the essential prerequisites for reading, including identification of the letters in the alphabet, writing their names, and reading a few words. b) Stage 1, first and second grades, is the first real reading, but it is largely a phonological decoding skill where children can sound out words by sounding out and blending letters. c) Stage 2, typically around second and third grades, is when children learn to read aloud with fluency. d) Stage 3 extends from fourth to eighth grades and is where reading becomes a means to an end and an enjoyable way to learn. e) Stage 4 is where the child understands reading in terms of reflecting multiple points of view.

2. There is an ongoing debate among educators regarding the most effective way to teach reading. a) Code-based approaches to reading emphasize phonics and how letters and sounds are combined to make words. b) Whole-language approaches to reading are based on the notion that children should learn to read as they learn to talk, by exposure to complete writing and being immersed in literature.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 3. The National Research Council, in a landmark decision in 1998, argued that the optimum approach was to use a combination of elements from both approaches.

B. Educational Trends: Beyond the Three Rs 1. Schools in the U.S. are experiencing a return to educational fundamentals—the three Rs— reading, writing, and arithmetic.

2. Elementary schools today also stress accountability. a) Students are likely to take tests, developed at the state or national level, to assess their competence. b) Many students are also being given large quantities of homework.

3. Homeschooling is a major educational phenomenon in which students are taught by their parents in their own homes. Parents choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons: a) Belief that their child(ren) will thrive with one-on-one attention. b) Dissatisfaction with instruction and teachers in local schools. c) Some parents engage in homeschooling for religious reasons.

4. Developmental Diversity: Multicultural Education a) Culture is a set of behaviors, beliefs, values, and expectations shared by members of a particular society. b) Subcultural groups are particular racial, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, or gender groups within a given culture. c) In recent years, the goal has been to establish MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION to help minority students develop competence in the culture of the majority group while maintaining positive group identities that build on their original culture. d) Multicultural education is based on several models.

(1) The CULTURAL ASSIMILATION MODEL fosters the view of the American society as the proverbial melting pot.

(2) More recent trends are based on the PLURALISTIC SOCIETY MODEL, which is the concept that American society is made up of diverse, coequal cultural groups that should preserve their individual cultural features.

(3) Today, most educators recommend that children develop a BICULTURAL IDENTITY by maintaining their original cultural identity while integrating into the dominant culture.

C. Intelligence: Determining Individual Strengths 1. INTELLIGENCE is the capacity to understand the world, think rationally, and use resources effectively when faced with challenges.

2. Understanding what is meant by intelligence has proven to be a major challenge—how do you separate the intelligent from intelligent behavior? a) Alfred Binet’s pioneering efforts in intelligence testing left three important legacies.

(1) He defined intelligence pragmatically as that which his test measured.

(2) Intelligence tests should be reasonable indicators of school success.

(3) He invented the concept of IQ, INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT, a measure of intelligence that takes into account a student’s mental and chronological age ((MA CA X 100 = IQ). (a) MENTAL AGE is the typical intelligence level found for people at a given chronological age. (b) CHRONOLOGICAL (OR PHYSICAL) AGE is the actual age of the child taking the intelligence test. (c) Scores today are deviation IQ scores, so that the degree of deviation from the average (100) permits a calculation of the proportion of people who have similar scores. (i) Two-thirds of all people fall within 15 points of the average.

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(ii) As scores rise and fall beyond this range, the percentage of people falls significantly. b) Intelligence tests have become increasingly sophisticated.

(1) One of the most widely used tests today is the STANFORD-BINET INTELLIGENCE SCALE, Fifth Edition (SB5), a test that consists of a series of items that vary according to the age of the person being tested.

(2) The WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN-REVISED (WISC-III) is a test for children that provides verbal and performance (or nonverbal) skills as well as a total score.

(3) The WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE-REVISED (WAIS-III) is a test for adults that provides separate measures of verbal and performance (or nonverbal) skills as well as a total score.

(4) The KAUFMAN ASSESSMENT BATTERY FOR CHILDREN 2ND EDITION (KABC-II) tests children’s ability to integrate different kinds of stimuli simultaneously and to use step-by-step thinking.

Intelligence tests are based on the notion that intelligence is composed of a single, unitary mental ability. a) Many theorists dispute the notion that intelligence is unidimensional.

(1) Some developmentalists suggest there are two kinds of intelligence. (a) FLUID INTELLIGENCE is the ability to deal with new problems and situations. (b) CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE is the store of information, skills, and strategies that people have acquired through education and prior experiences, as well as through their previous use of fluid intelligence.

(2) Howard Gardner suggests there are eight distinct intelligences.

(3) Vygotsky suggests that to assess intelligence, we should look not only at those cognitive processes that are fully developed, but at those that are currently being developed as well.

(4) Robert Sternberg developed the triarchic theory of intelligence, which states that intelligence consists of three aspects of information processing: componential, experiential, and contextual. (a) The componential element reflects how people process and analyze information. (i) Infer relationships between parts (ii) Solve problems (iii) Evaluate solutions (iv) Score highest on traditional IQ tests (b) The experiential element is the insightful component. (i) Compare new information to what is already known (ii) Can combine and relate facts in novel and creative ways (c) The contextual deals with practical intelligence—the demands of everyday environment.

The question of how to interpret differences between intelligence scores of different cultural groups is a major controversy.

If intelligence is primarily determined by heredity and largely fixed at birth, attempts to alter intelligence will not be successful.

If intelligence is largely environmentally determined, modifying social conditions is a promising strategy for increasing intelligence. a) Herrnstein and Murray, in the book The Bell Curve, argued that IQ is primarily genetics. b) Most developmentalists disagree with The Bell Curve, believing that cultural and social minority groups may score lower due to the nature of the tests themselves.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e D. Below and Above Intelligence Norms: Intellectual Disabilities and the Intellectually Gifted 1. In 1975, Public Law 94–142, called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, was enacted. a) It ensured that children with special needs be put in the LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT, the setting that is most similar to that of children without special needs. b) This act came to be called MAINSTREAMING, an educational approach in which exceptional children are integrated to the extent possible in the traditional educational system and are provided with a broad range of educational alternatives.

(1) Research failed to discern any advantages for special-needs children placed in separate, rather than regular classrooms.

(2) The labeling of students relegated to special classrooms often produced negative expectations and self-concepts.

(3) Special-needs children must learn to function in a normal environment.

(4) Research shows that special-needs children and normal children benefit from mainstream classrooms.

(5) The benefits of mainstreaming have led some professionals to promote an alternative educational model known as full inclusion, the integration of all students, even those with the most severe disabilities, into regular classrooms.

2. INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, defined as a significantly subaverage level of intellectual functioning that occurs with related limitations in two or more skill areas, is found in approximately 1 percent to 3 percent of the school-age population. a) About 1 percent to 3 percent of the school-age population is intellectually impaired. b) Most cases of intellectual impairment are classified as familial impairment (in which no cause is apparent, but there is a history of intellectual impairment in the family). c) The most common biological causes are fetal alcohol syndrome and Down syndrome. d) Intellectual impairment is typically measured by IQ tests.

(1) Ninety percent are classified as MILD INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, where IQ is in the range of 50 or 55 to 70. (a) Can reach third to sixth grade level in school (b) Can hold jobs and function independently (2) Five to 10 percent are classified as MODERATE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, where IQ is from 35 or 40 to 50 or 55. (a) Slow to develop language and motor skills (b) Generally cannot progress beyond second grade (c) Capable of training and social skills but typically need supervision (3) Those with SEVERE INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, IQs ranging from 20 or 25 to 35 or 40, and PROFOUND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, where IQ is below 20 or 25, are the most limited. (a) No speech (b) Poor motor control (c) Need 24-hour care 3. Three to 5 percent of school-age children are GIFTED AND TALENTED, showing evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership capacity, or specific academic fields. a) Contrary to stereotypes, research shows that highly intelligent people also tend to be outgoing, well-adjusted, and popular. b) Two approaches to educating the gifted and talented exist.

(1) ACCELERATION, where special programs allow gifted students to move ahead at their own pace, even if this means skipping to higher grade levels.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (2) ENRICHMENT is an approach through which students are kept at grade level but are enrolled in special programs and given individual activities to allow greater depth of study in a given topic.

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LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 9.1: Obesity According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity is defined as being at the 95th percentile or higher of body mass index (BMI) values on the CDC growth chart. Based on that definition, the CDC reports that rates of obesity in the United States are: • • • • •

13.9 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds 18.4 percent of 6- to 11-year-olds 20.6 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds Hispanics (25.8 percent) and non-Hispanic blacks (22.0 percent) had higher obesity rates than non-Hispanic whites (14.1 percent) Non-Hispanic Asians (11.0 percent) had lower obesity rates than non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

Reputable BMI calculators for children and teens can be found here: http://nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/Calculator.aspx http://www.cdc.gov/widgets/healthyliving/index.html http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/tool_for_schools.html http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/in-depth/bmi-calculator/itt-20084938 You can also find several permission-free BMI charts on the Internet to share with your students. Again, be sure to use charts and calculators designed specifically for children, rather than those for adults.

Experts believe that children are overweight for the same reasons adults are: lack of physical activity as a result of too much television consumption, video games, and computers, in addition to eating a diet with too many calories. Besides being a serious health hazard (increased risk of heart attacks, high blood pressure, strokes, and diabetes), being obese carries a social stigma, which in many ways could be more pronounced for children and teens than it is for adults.

Lecture Launcher 9.2: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Students are captivated by attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder because they all seem to be aware of someone who has been diagnosed with it. Your lecture should concentrate on three areas: (a) the current DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ADHD (see Handout 9-1); (b) the effects of ADHD on school performance and social interactions; and (c) treatment of the disorder, which often includes stimulants such as Ritalin and Dexedrine, and cognitive behavior training.

Lecture Launcher 9.3: Learned Optimism: A Vaccine against Depression?

Although there are several explanations for why children become depressed (e.g., genetics, biochemical, cognitive, and environmental, to name a few), Martin Seligman has argued that childhood depression occurs when a child feels helplessness in the face of hardship and failure. His view of learned helplessness proposes that when children are faced with prolonged stress, pain, anger, sadness, or anxiety, parents rush in to protect them from these negative feelings. As a consequence, children fail to develop the skills necessary to make changes in order to eliminate the negative feelings. As a result, when life gets 13 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e tough, the child feels pessimistic about being able to cope or change things. The child believes that problems will last forever and will give up trying to do anything about them.

Seligman believes that it is possible to vaccinate children against pessimistic thinking and depression.

Modeled on the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk, Seligman and colleagues designed the Penn Resiliency Program to help parents and children learn skills to face adversity with the optimism to galvanize change.

Based on techniques therapists use to help depressed patients, the Penn program is simple.

1. Thought catching: Learn to recognize the automatic thoughts that occur to you when you feel depressed.

2. Evaluating: Acknowledge the fact that the things you say to yourself are not necessarily accurate.

3. More accurate explanations: Learning to challenge automatic thoughts with new explanations that may be more truthful.

4. Decatastrophizing: Learning to direct energy to solving the problem at hand rather than thinking of the worst possible consequences.

Brunwasser, S. M., Freres, D. R., & Gillham, J. E. (2018). Youth cognitive-behavioral depression prevention: testing theory in a randomized controlled trial. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 1-15.

Brunwasser, S. M. & Gillham, J. E. (2018). Identifying moderators of response to the Penn Resiliency Program: A synthesis study. Prevention Science, 19(1), 38-48.

Brunwasser, S. M., Gillham, J. E., & Kim, E. S. (2009). A meta-analytic review of the Penn Resiliency Program’s effect on depressive symptoms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(6), 1042-1054.

Seligman, M. E. with Reivich, K., Jaycox, L., & Gillham, J. (1995). The optimistic child. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Lecture Launcher 9.4: Termites Show Intelligence When intelligence testing was in its infancy, there was a wide spectrum of unanswered questions. How should intelligence best be assessed? What was the stability of the intelligence quotient over time? What factors contributed to poor versus superior performance? How did geniuses differ from the rest of the population? To address some of these questions, Lewis Terman undertook in the early part of the 20th century a longitudinal study of geniuses.

A group of 250,000 elementary school students (who had been identified by their teachers as possibly gifted) formed the basis for Terman’s initial screening. After administering intelligence tests Terman selected 857 boys and 671 girls (1,528 students total) who had IQs in the superior range. Specifically, the mean IQ of these children was 150, with a low score of 135 and 80 students scoring above 170. These 8to 12-year-olds were then observed carefully for the next few years.

One early finding was that, contrary to popular opinion, gifted children were not bookish, maladapted freaks. Rather, these children (“Termites,” as they were later dubbed) were typically taller and broader than average children, and had many markers of physical prowess, such as superior hand grip strength, greater lung capacity, and earlier sexual maturity. Intrigued by these findings, Terman decided to extend his study to a very large-scale longitudinal design; so longitudinal, in fact, it has continued for over 70 years, even long after Terman’s death.

Some summary findings are these. First, in keeping with their childhood development, the Termites tended to have lower rates of childhood illnesses and accidents than the population as a whole, lower incidences of alcoholism and criminality, and lower death and accident rates than the rest of the population. Second, although these children tended to do better academically than their peers (as might be imagined), they were no better in non-academic arenas, such as physical education, art, or metal shop. As 14 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a corollary, these children also did not burn out over time; their academic performance remained strong as 70 percent went on to complete university degrees. Third, this gifted group became well-off financially.

Perhaps because of their education and suitability for a range of professions (e.g., physicians, lawyers, architects, executives) their median salary during the 1950s tended to be in the upper 1 percent of the population. Finally, when assessed later in life, the Termites also were a contented group. Overall they report feeling generally satisfied with their lives, again contrary to the notion that highly intelligent people are more susceptible to neuroses or psychological disturbances.

Terman’s studies were not without criticism, much of it focused on his sometimes dicey emphasis on genetic components of intelligence. Nonetheless, this long-term study of genius has proven to be a oncein-a-lifetime glimpse into the lives of a very select group.

Simonton, D. K. (2017). Reverse engineering from eminent exemplars: How about a retrospective study too?. Roeper Review, 39(3), 203-205.

Terman, L. M. (Ed.) (1921–1959). Genetic studies of genius (Volumes 1–5). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Warne, R. T. (2018). An evaluation (and vindication?) of Lewis Terman: What the father of gifted education can teach the 21st century. Gifted Child Quarterly, 0016986218799433.

Lecture Launcher 9.5: Mnemonics in Mind Here is a collection of mnemonics, divided into naive strategies (i.e., those used regularly and easily by most people, without needing formal instruction) and technical mnemonics (i.e., those requiring some training). Share these with your students, both as an illustration of how children can improve their memory and as tips for their own memory enhancement.

Naive Mnemonics • • • • •

Rehearsal: Simple rote repetition Rhyme: Constructing a little ditty to keep track of information Chunking: Restructuring a list into meaningful units Images: Visualizing a cereal box full of money to remember “Bank and Groceries” First-letter mnemonics – Acronyms: Roy G. Biv for the visible spectrum; HOMES for the Great Lakes – Acrostics: Arithmetic: “A Real Idiot Thinks He Might Eat Turkey In Church”

Technical Mnemonics • • • • •

Method of Loci: A physical setting is first memorized, then filled in Peg-Word: Construct a rhyme, then “hang” the information on the rhyme’s peg Number-Letter: A translation scheme matching letters to numbers and vice versa Link: A visual image of each item is linked to the following one, forming a chain Story: Like the link system, but with stories using the to-be-remembered information

Lecture Launcher 9.6: The Pragmatics of Language Development “Put the apple on the towel in the box.” The ambiguity inherent in that sentence can lead to great confusion. Should the apple that’s currently on the towel go in the box? Should the towel lying near the apple first go in the box, followed by the apple on top of it? Or should the apple be placed on the towel in the box, rather than on the plate that’s in the box?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Until recently, most views of speech comprehension emphasized the decoding of grammar, followed by a search for contextual clues that might aid in following a command. The grammar in this example illustrates that sometimes that can be a tall order. One study, however, suggests that visual cues irrelevant to grammar play a prominent early role in influencing message comprehension. A combination of visual and linguistic information helps us better understand what others tell us.

A research team led by Michael K. Tanenhaus at the University of Rochester tracked the eye movements of volunteers while they listened to a variety of messages. These simple commands asked them to manipulate objects that were visible in the laboratory. The researchers found that people look at targets as soon as they hear words that distinguish the target from other items. As an example, when asked to “touch the starred yellow square” participants took about a quarter-second to look at the correct target (that lay among other unstarred blocks) after hearing the word “starred.” However, if the items included two starred yellow blocks, participants looked at the target after hearing the word “square.”

But where does the apple go? When presented with either an ambiguous phrase (“Put the apple on the towel in the box”) or an unambiguous one (“Put the apple that’s on the towel in the box”) participants’ eye movements differed. As they heard a particular command, participants viewed either a display with an apple set on a towel; another towel without an apple, a box, and a pencil; or a similar arrangement in which the pencil was replaced by an additional apple on a napkin. When faced with only one apple, the ambiguous phrase led participants to glance at the towel after hearing “towel,” showing their inclination that the apple should be placed there, and then both placed in the box. Those participants given the unambiguous phrase, however, never glanced at the towel. When the two-apple arrangement was presented, however, both ambiguous and unambiguous instructions produced the same patterns of eye movements. Participants looked from one apple to the other upon hearing the word “apple,” then looked at the appropriate apple upon hearing the word “towel,” and made no further eye movements until hearing the word “box.” An apple on a towel in a box illustrates the coordination that takes place between vision and hearing in speech comprehension. But if the apple stays in the box it doesn’t do much for the hearinghunger connection.

Arnold, J.A., Tanenhaus, M.K. Altmann, R.J., & Fagnano, M. (2004). The old and, theee, uh, new: Disfluency and reference resolution. Psychological Science, 9, 578-582.

Bower, B. (1995). Understanding speech: I see what you mean. Science News, 147, 373.

Eberhard, K.M., Spivey-Knowlton, M.J., Sedivy, J.C. & Tanenhaus, M.K. (1995). Eye-movements as a window into spoken language comprehension in natural contexts. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 24, 409-436.

Ferreira, F., Foucart, A., & Engelhardt, P. E. (2013). Language processing in the visual world: Effects of preview, visual complexity, and prediction. Journal of Memory and Language, 69(3), 165-182.

Henderson, J. & Ferreira, F. (2013). The interface of language, vision, and action: Eye movements and the visual world.

Psychology Press.

Spivey, M.J. Tanenhaus, M.K., Eberhard, K.M. & Sedivy, J.C. (2002). Eye movements and spoken language comprehension: Effects of visual context on syntactic ambiguity resolution. Cognitive Psychology, 45, 447-481.

Lecture Launcher 9.7: Do Rewards Affect Motivation and Learning?

Does giving children A’s, toys, candy, or money undermine their interest in learning? Long ago E. L. Thorndike concluded that learning is controlled by its consequences: If a behavior is reinforced, it is more likely to be repeated. Ever since, generations of educators and parents have been rewarding children, hoping to reinforce their motivation to learn. Unfortunately, many studies have shown that when children are given rewards for their behavior, they often lose interest in that behavior compared to students who are not given rewards.

Should we therefore abolish grades, incentives, and even praise? First, it is important to make a distinction among various types of rewards. Intrinsic rewards are ones that naturally follow from performing a behavior well, such as seeing a tennis ball go over the net when it is hit correctly. Extrinsic 16 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e rewards come from an outside source, such as praise from a teacher, or candy for reading a certain number of books. Extrinsic rewards have been shown to negatively affect motivation, but only under certain conditions.

Rewards can be categorized into three types of contingencies (what the reward is predicated on): Task-contingent rewards: Children are rewarded merely for participating in an activity without regard to any standard of performance. Most studies find that motivation and interest decline in task-contingent situations.

Performance-contingent rewards: Children are rewarded when they meet certain performance criteria.

Research is mixed here; sometimes these rewards reduce interest in an activity and sometimes they don’t.

Success-contingent rewards: Children are given rewards for a good performance that is linked to achievement of a goal. These types of rewards have been shown to increase interest and motivation.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 9.1: Piaget in Action If you can round up some children of various ages (from about age 5 through 12 works well), demonstrate Piaget’s tasks for your class. Students gain a much better understanding of Piaget from actually seeing how children think through the various tasks and especially the errors they make. Remind your students that Piaget always asked his subjects to justify their answers. This proves to be a very popular classroom demonstration, especially if some of the children are brought in by your students. Distribute copies of Handout 9-2 to help students with their observations. Some additional tasks include: 1. Ask the child if she or he has any sisters (or brothers). Then ask the child if their sister (or brother) has any sisters.

2. Have an uneven amount of poker chips of two different colors (e.g., blue and white). Ask the child, “Are there more blue chips or poker chips?”

3. Ask for a volunteer from among your students. Then ask a child to hide a candy bar somewhere in the room and make sure that the child knows that the student volunteer can see where she or he is hiding the candy. Then ask the student volunteer to leave the room. Conspiratorially, tell the child that you are going to move the candy bar and hide it somewhere else. The child hides the candy again. Now ask the child where the student will look for the candy bar when she or he returns to the room.

Student Activity 9.2: Going to the Source Have students interview an elementary school teacher or school psychologist about the role of testing in the schools. They should prepare an essay explaining the similarities and differences between intelligence tests (e.g., WISC-R, WAIS), aptitude tests (e.g., Iowa Test of Basic Skills, Stanford Achievement Test), and achievement tests.

Student Activity 9.3: Constructing a Multiple Intelligences Test The textbook discusses a variety of theorists who propose that intelligence is composed of several distinct aptitudes or abilities rather than a single, general one. One way for students to gain a better understanding of the concept of multiple intelligences is to construct their own test. The late Lester Sdorow suggested that students find a relevant article in PsycINFO and use it, along with the background material in the text, to write a three-page paper proposing their own intelligence test. Students’ tests should assess more than the abilities required to succeed academically. In addition, students should describe in their papers: (a) the rationale and components (i.e., distinct aptitudes or abilities) of the test, (b) how they would standardize it and determine its reliability and validity, (c) any similarities or differences to other intelligence tests (such as the Stanford-Binet, the WAIS, WISC, or even other multiple intelligences tests). Students will no doubt enjoy this opportunity to creatively apply course concepts, and will also be left with a better understanding of how tests are constructed.

Sdorow, L. (1994). The Frankenstein course: Teaching assistants, laboratory exercises, and papers in introductory psychology.

Paper presented at the Southwest Regional Conference for Teachers of Psychology, Fort Worth.

Student Activity 9.4: What Exactly Is Intelligence?

An in-class discussion of what constitutes intelligence can be an interesting and enlightening experience.

Having students get together in small groups to discuss the definition of intelligence can produce even better results, pedagogically speaking. The following questions should be addressed by each group, and 18 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e the groups should be prepared to share their ideas with the other groups.

•

What are the common characteristics of intelligent behavior? In other words, how can you tell if someone is intelligent? Why? (Try to come up with five or six common characteristics.)

•

What proposed characteristics of intelligence that came up during your discussion were eventually eliminated? Why?

•

What special challenges do you see in applying your definition of intelligence to children compared to adults?

Student Activity 9.5: Measuring Intelligence If your department, student disabilities center, or counseling center has a copy, arrange to bring in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R). Show the class the various subtests included in the Verbal Scale and the Performance Scale. You might want to divide your class into groups and let them try some of the items themselves. Ask your students to discuss whether these tests are valid measures of intelligence. (This is an especially useful exercise if you have had your students previously come up with their own definitions of intelligence.)

Student Activity 9.6: Physical and Cognitive Development in Special Populations Have your students locate a nearby school that mainstreams disabled children. Your students should plan to observe a class for several days. See Handout 9-3 for questions about this experience.

Student Activity 9.7: Reflective Journal Use Handout 9-4 to help students reflect on the culture they grew up in as children, including their individual subculture.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

SUPPLEMENTAL READING Amour, M. D. S., O’Leary, D. D., Cairney, J., & Wade, T. J. (2018). What is the effect of ADHD stimulant medication on heart rate and blood pressure in a community sample of children? Canadian Journal of Public Health, 1-6.

Aubry, A. & Bourdin, B. (2018). Short forms of Wechsler scales assessing the intellectually gifted children using simulation data. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 830.

Berg, D. H. & McDonald, P. A. (2018). Differences in mathematical reasoning between typically achieving and gifted children. Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 30(3), 281-291.

Egbert, A. H., Wilfley, D. E., Eddy, K. T., Boutelle, K. N., Zucker, N., Peterson, C. B., ... & Goldschmidt, A. B. (2018). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms are associated with overeating with and without loss of control in youth with overweight/obesity. Childhood Obesity, 14(1), 50-57.

Etchell, A. C., Civier, O., Ballard, K. J., & Sowman, P. F. (2018). A systematic literature review of neuroimaging research on developmental stuttering between 1995 and 2016. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 55, 6-45.

Gross, K. (2018). Success in school tied to healthy vision. The Education Digest, 83(6), 57-60.

Lean, R. E., Paul, R. A., Smyser, C. D., & Rogers, C. E. (2018). Maternal intelligence quotient (IQ) predicts IQ and language in very preterm children at age 5 years. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(2), 150-159.

Leung, M. P., Thompson, B., Black, J., Dai, S., & Alsweiler, J. M. (2018). The effects of preterm birth on visual development. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 101(1), 4-12.

Ntourou, K., Anderson, J. D., & Wagovich, S. A. (2018). Executive function and childhood stuttering: Parent ratings and evidence from a behavioral task. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 56, 18-32.

Robertson, J., Baines, S., Emerson, E., & Hatton, C. (2018). Postural care for people with intellectual disabilities and severely impaired motor function: A scoping review. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 31, 11-28.

Stevenson, J., Pimperton, H., Kreppner, J., Worsfold, S., Terlektsi, E., Mahon, M., & Kennedy, C. (2018).

Language and reading comprehension in middle childhood predicts emotional and behaviour difficulties in adolescence for those with permanent childhood hearing loss. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(2), 180-190.

Walgermo, B. R., Frijters, J. C., & Solheim, O. J. (2018). Literacy interest and reader self-concept when formal reading instruction begins. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 44, 90-100.

Wojcicki, J. M., Medrano, R., Lin, J., & Epel, E. (2018). Increased cellular aging by 3 years of age in Latino, preschool children who consume more sugar-sweetened beverages: A pilot study. Childhood Obesity, 14(3), 149-157.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Middle Childhood

An overview of middle childhood hallmarks is presented

1. “Strong healthy bodies,” a central theme of this video, are surely desirable, but what about people for whom that’s not possible? What do developmentalists need to take account of in order to have an inclusive psychology? How should children with special intellectual or physical needs be addressed within general psychological principles?

2. Although it’s handy to think of distinct developmental stages (e.g., early childhood, middle childhood, late childhood), the very concept of “development” implies continuous growth and change. Apply this distinction to when and how middle childhood might be defined, and discuss any limitations of “segmenting” development in this way.

Health Disparities

Shelley Taylor reviews some of the effects of stress on health

1. It’s rare for children to experience the health and behavioral effects of stress, such as heart disease, hypertension, or diabetes. Then again, it was once thought rare that children should be obese, yet significant proportions of the childhood population are. What do you predict about children’s health status in an increasingly stressful world?

2. “Stress” is a concept usually associated with “grown-ups.” Provide some examples of stressors in middle childhood and how they might affect developmental outcomes.

Tools of the Mind

Adele Diamond is interviewed regarding kindergarten curricula

1. Compare Vygotsky’s approach to learning and education with Piaget’s approach. Are there merits of each perspective?

2. A perennial issue in the United States is the state of the educational system. From low-paid teachers to poor standardized test performance to embarrassing national comparisons, many people seem to want something to change in education, but they’re not sure what. What principles can developmental psychologists offer to affect positive and substantial change? What do we know about how children learn and the overall processes of intellectual development that can aid in addressing this question of applied psychology?

School and Education in Middle Childhood across Cultures

Universal education is not a given

1. List the social, economic, religious, or other reasons why cultural variation in educational goals and standards might exist.

2. Anecdotes are great; they provide colorful examples that may or may not resonate with broader factual conclusions. What general principles can you extract from the anecdotes presented in this video?

Intelligence Tests and Stereotypes

The mechanics of stereotype threat are reviewed

1. Explain how expectations for performance, both self- and other-generated, can affect actual performance, especially in a cognitive domain.

2. Not all stereotypes are negative. Propose a positive stereotype that would nonetheless produce the performance disruptions seen in stereotype threat.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 9-1 Diagnostic Criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Inattention: Six or more symptoms of inattention for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of inattention have been present for at least 6 months, and they are inappropriate for developmental level • • • • • • • • •

Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked) Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework) Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g., school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, cell phone).

Is often easily distracted Is often forgetful in daily activities

Hyperactivity and Impulsivity: Six or more symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity for children up to age 16, or five or more for adolescents 17 and older and adults; symptoms of hyperactivityimpulsivity have been present for at least 6 months to an extent that is disruptive and inappropriate for the person’s developmental level • • • • • • • • •

Often fidgets with or taps hands or feet, or squirms in seat Often leaves seat in situations when remaining seated is expected Often runs about or climbs in situations where it is not appropriate (adolescents or adults may be limited to feeling restless) Often unable to play or take part in leisure activities quietly Is often “on the go,” acting as if “driven by a motor” Often talks excessively Often blurts out an answer before a question has been completed Often has trouble waiting his or her turn Often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games)

In addition, the following conditions must be met: • • • • •

Several inattentive or hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were present before age 12 years Several symptoms are present in two or more settings (e.g., at home, school or work; with friends or relatives; in other activities) There is clear evidence that the symptoms interfere with, or reduce the quality of, social, school, or work functioning The symptoms do not happen only during the course of schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder.

The symptoms are not better explained by another mental disorder (e.g., Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorder, or a Personality Disorder)

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 9-2 Piagetian Tasks Administer the following tasks to two or more children individually. (This is much more useful if you select children of different ages, such as one age 5 and another age 10.) Take notes about what you do.

Pay special attention to the concepts of centering and reversibility. Reflect on what you discover and evaluate the usefulness of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

1. Perspective Taking “Pretend that your ____________ (friend, teacher, aunt, uncle) is going to have a birthday, and you want to surprise that person with a gift they will really like. How would you decide what kind of gift _______ would really like?”

Reflection: What cognitive strategies, insight, and social inference does each subject reveal in determining what gift would please a person? Does the subject consider age, gender, etc.?

2. Conservation of Volume Have two identical containers (e.g., glasses) and a third that is either taller and slimmer or shorter and fatter. Have a pitcher of water (you may want to color it for emphasis).

Give the subject the similar containers. Say, “Please pour water into both so that each has exactly the same amount of water.” “Do both have exactly the same amount of water?” “How do you know?”

Give the subject the third, different container. Say, “Now take one glass and pour it into this new one.”

“Now, do they both have the same amount of water?” “How do you know?” “Pour this new one back into the original one. Now is there the same amount of water?” “How do you know?”

Reflection: What similarities and differences did you note about the explanations?

3. Conservation of Number Obtain 12 pennies or poker chips. With the child and you seated at a table, lay out the items in two identical and parallel rows, equally spaced and identical in length.

Say, “Which row has more pennies—this one or this one? Or are there the same number in each row?”

“Are you sure? How do you know? How many pennies are there in each row?”

Spread out one of the rows to about twice its length. Repeat the above questions. Then say, “But there must be more in this row because it looks longer.”

Reflection: What similarities and differences did you note about the explanations?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 4. Conservation of Mass Have two balls of Play-Doh®. Say, “Do these two balls have the same amount of Play-Doh?” If the subject says no, ask, “Why don’t you make it so they both have the same amount of Play-Doh?” “Are you sure they have the same amount? How do you know?”

Then say, “OK, now roll out one of these balls into a snake.” Ask, “Now, do both have the same amount of Play-Doh?” “How do you know?”

Say, “Now, make the snake back into a ball.” “Do both balls have the same amount of Play-Doh?” “How do you know?”

Reflection: What similarities and differences did you note about the explanations?

5. Prediction Have some M&Ms® and a brown paper lunch bag. With the subject, select 10 red M&Ms, five yellow M&Ms, and two blue M&Ms. Have the subject count them out with you. Put all 17 M&Ms into the sack.

Say, “Now, if I put my hand into the sack and take out only one M&M, what color do you think it will be? Why?” Reflection: What similarities and differences did you note about the explanations? Did some of the children’s responses surprise you? Why? What do their errors tell you about their thinking? Do you think Piaget was correct about his theory of cognitive development?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 9-3 Observing Exceptional Children in the Classroom Observe a class where at least one child is mainstreamed.

1. Describe two teacher-child interactions.

2. Describe two child-peer interactions.

3. What modifications have been made to the classroom or school building for mainstreamed children?

4. What special support services (for example, transportation, tutoring, interpreting, large-print books, psychological/physical/speech therapy, etc.) are available to the child(ren) you are observing?

5. Interview the teacher about the Individual Education Plan (IEP) for the child(ren). What are the educational objectives? How are they accomplished? How is the child evaluated?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 9-4 Reflective Journal Exercise 9 The purpose of this exercise is to reflect on the influence of family characteristics on your socialization and development.

•

What socioeconomic status was your family? On what do you base your answer?

•

What ethnic group(s) did your family identify with? List any values, beliefs, attitudes, holidays, foods, etc., supported by your ethnic group(s).

•

What religion did your family practice? Describe the effects of that religion on your school years.

•

How did your family feel about education and future goals? Were they supportive?

•

Did you experience any school difficulties (e.g., poor or failing grades, behavior problems, truancy, etc.) during your elementary school years? How did your family react to these?

•

How do you think your upbringing affects how you plan to (or already do) raise your own family?

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Chapter 10 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE CHILDHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

10

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

16

Revel Multimedia

17

Handouts

18

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CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Resources

Chapter Outline The Developing Self Psychosocial Development in Middle Childhood Understanding Oneself: A New Response to “Who Am I?” Self-Esteem: Developing a Positive—or Negative—View of the Self Moral Development

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 Lecture Launcher 10.1, 10.2 Student Activities 10.1, 10.2

Relationships: Building Friendship in Middle Childhood Stages of Friendship: Changing Views of Friends Individual Differences in Friendship: What Makes a Child Popular?

Gender and Friendships: The Sex Segregation of Middle Childhood Cross-Race Friendships: Integration In and Out of the Classroom

Learning Objectives 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8

Friendships and Peer Relationships

Student Activities 10.3, 10.4

Learning Objectives 10.9, 10.10

Family and School: Shaping Children’s Behavior in Middle Childhood Families: The Changing Home Environment School: The Academic Environment

Lecture Launchers 10.3, 10.4, 10.5 Student Activity 10.5

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Work/Family Conflict

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 10.1

Describe the major developmental challenges of middle childhood.

LO 10.2

Summarize ways in which children’s views of themselves change during middle childhood.

LO 10.3

Explain why self-esteem is important during middle childhood.

LO 10.4

Describe how children’s sense of right and wrong changes in middle childhood.

LO 10.5

Describe the sorts of relationships and friendships that are typical of middle childhood.

LO 10.6

Describe what makes a child popular and why popularity is important in middle childhood.

LO 10.7

Describe how gender affects friendships in middle childhood.

LO 10.8

Describe how friendships between the races change during the school years.

LO 10.9

Summarize how today’s diverse family and care arrangements affect children in middle childhood.

LO 10.10 Describe how children’s social and emotional lives affect their school performance in middle childhood.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: New Kid in Town II. The Developing Self A. Psychosocial Development in Middle Childhood 1. According to Erik Erikson, middle childhood encompasses the INDUSTRY-VERSUSINFERIORITY STAGE, the period from ages 6 to 12 characterized by a focus on efforts to attain competence in meeting the challenges presented by parents, peers, school, and the other complexities of the modern world.

B. Understanding Oneself: A New Response to “Who Am I?” 1. During middle childhood, children begin to view themselves less in terms of external physical attributes and more in terms of psychological traits. a) Children realize they are good at some things and not so good at others. b) Their self-concepts become divided into personal and academic spheres.

2. Children use SOCIAL COMPARISON, comparing themselves to the abilities, expertise, and opinions of others. a) Festinger proposed that when objective measures are absent, people rely on social reality, how others act, think, feel, and view the world. b) Children look to others who are similar to themselves. c) Sometimes children make downward social comparisons with others who are obviously less competent or successful to raise or protect their self-esteem.

C. Self-Esteem: Developing a Positive—or Negative—View of the Self 1. Change and Stability in Self-Esteem a) SELF-ESTEEM, an individual’s overall and specific positive and negative selfevaluation, develops in important ways during middle childhood.

(1) Children increasingly compare themselves to others.

(2) Children are developing their own standards.

(3) Self-esteem, for most children, increases during middle childhood.

(4) Children with low self-esteem may become enmeshed in a cycle of failure that is difficult to break.

(5) Parents can help break the cycle of failure by promoting their child’s self-esteem through use of the authoritative child-rearing style.

2. Race and Self-Esteem a) Early research showed that the self-esteem of minority groups was lower than majority groups due to prejudice and discrimination. b) According to social identity theory, if minority groups do not accept the views of their group by the majority group, their self-esteem will not suffer.

D. Moral Development 1. Kohlberg suggests that people pass through a series of stages in the development of moral reasoning. a) Preconventional Morality (Stages 1 & 2) is where people follow unvarying rules based on rewards and punishments. b) Conventional Morality (Stages 3 & 4) is where people approach problems in terms of their own position as good, responsible members of society. c) Postconventional Morality (Stages 5 & 6) is where universal moral principles are invoked and considered broader than a particular society.

(1) Kohlberg assessed people’s moral reasoning using moral dilemmas.

(2) According to Kohlberg, people move through these stages in a fixed order.

(3) Middle childhood is at Stage 1 & 2, the preconventional stage, because of the limits of children’s cognitive abilities.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (4) Kohlberg’s theory is a good account of moral judgment but not adequate at predicting moral behavior.

(5) His theory does not generalize to non-Western cultures.

(6) Because his theory was based on data from males, it does not accurately explain girls’ development by placing their moral reasoning at a lower level than boys.’

2. Carol Gilligan suggests that the way boys and girls are raised in our own society leads to differences in moral reasoning. a) Boys view morality primarily in terms of justice and fairness. b) Girls see morality in terms of responsibility and compassion toward individuals and a willingness to sacrifice for relationships. c) Gilligan sees morality in girls developing in three stages.

(1) Orientation toward individual survival, where females concentrate on what is practical and best for them.

(2) Goodness as self-sacrifice, where females think they must sacrifice their own wishes to what others want.

(3) Morality of nonviolence, women come to see hurting anyone as immoral, including themselves. d) Not all research finds males and females differing in their moral reasoning.

III. Relationships: Building Friendship in Middle Childhood A. Stages of Friendship: Changing Views of Friends 1. Friendships influence children’s development in several ways. a) Friends provide information about the world and other people. b) Friends provide emotional support and help kids handle stress. c) Friends teach children how to manage and control their emotions. d) Friends teach about communication with others. e) Friends foster intellectual growth. f) Friends allow children to practice relationship skills.

2. Although friends and peers become increasingly influential during middle childhood, their influence does not become greater than the influence of parents and other family members.

3. According to William Damon, children’s friendships go through three stages. a) Stage 1 (ages 4–7) (1) Children see friends as like themselves.

(2) Children see friends as people to share toys and activities with.

(3) Children do not take into account personal traits. b) Stage 2 (ages 8–10) (1) Children now begin to take other’s personal qualities and traits into consideration.

(2) Friends are viewed in terms of the kinds of rewards they provide.

(3) Friendships are based on mutual trust. c) Stage 3 (ages 11–15) (1) Friendships become based on intimacy and loyalty.

(2) Friendships involve psychological closeness, mutual disclosure, and exclusivity.

B. Individual Differences in Friendship: What Makes a Child Popular?

1. Children’s friendships show clear hierarchies in terms of STATUS, the evaluation of a role or person by other relevant members of a group. a) High-status children have greater access to resources such as games, toys, books, and information. b) Lower-status children tend to follow the lead of higher-status children. c) High-status children tend to form friendships with high-status children and low-status children form friendships with other lower-status children. d) Popularity is a reflection of a child’s status.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e e) High-status children are more likely to form exclusive and desirable cliques and tend to play with a greater number of children than lower-status children. f) Lower-status children are more likely to play with younger or less popular children.

2. Popular children have SOCIAL COMPETENCE, the collection of individual social skills that permit individuals to perform successfully in social settings. a) They are helpful and cooperative. b) They have a good sense of humor. c) They have good emotional understanding. d) They ask for help when necessary. e) They are not overly reliant on others. f) They can adapt to social situations.

3. Another factor that relates to children’s popularity is skill at SOCIAL PROBLEM SOLVING, the use of strategies for solving social conflicts in ways that are satisfactory both to oneself and to others. a) Kenneth Dodge argues that successful social problem solving proceeds through steps that correspond to children’s information processing strategies: (1) Find and identify relevant social cues.

(2) Interpret and evaluate the social cues.

(3) Determine possible problem-solving responses.

(4) Evaluate responses and their possible consequences.

(5) Choose a response. b) Knowing these steps allows adults to intervene and target a child’s specific deficits. c) Several programs have been developed to teach children social skills.

4. Schoolyard and Cyber-Yard Bullies a) According to the National Association of School Psychologists, 160,000 U.S. school children stay home from school each day because they are afraid of being bullied. b) Victims of bullies share several characteristics.

(1) Loners who are fairly passive (2) Cry easily (3) Lack social skills c) About 10 to 15 percent of students are bullies.

(1) Half of all bullies come from abusive homes.

(2) They tend to prefer violent television.

(3) They misbehave at home more than other children.

(4) When caught, they lie and show little remorse.

(5) They are more likely to break the law as adults. d) Victims of bullying can be taught to protect themselves and understand the bully’s behavior. e) Bullies need to be taught the importance of a caring, warm environment and to exercise social skills.

C. Gender and Friendships: The Sex Segregation of Middle Childhood 1. Avoidance of the opposite sex becomes very pronounced during middle childhood.

2. Children’s friendships are almost entirely sex-segregated.

3. This sex segregation is seen in nearly all societies.

4. When the sexes interact it is called “border work,” is often romantic, and helps emphasize the clear boundaries between the sexes.

5. The nature of boys’ and girls’ friendships is different. a) Boys have larger networks of friends than girls do. b) Boys have a strict DOMINANCE HIERARCHY, which is composed of rankings that represent the relative social power of those in a group hierarchy.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Boys attempt to maintain and improve their status in the hierarchy, which makes for a style of play known as restrictive play, where interactions are interrupted when status is challenged. d) Girls focus on one or two “best friends” of relatively equal status. e) Conflicts among girls are solved by compromise, ignoring the situation, or giving in. f) Girls, however, can be confrontational with other girls who are not their friends or with boys. g) Girls’ language is less confrontational and direct than boys.’

D. Cross-Race Friendships: Integration In and Out of the Classroom 1. Children’s closest friends tend largely to be with others of the same race.

2. Whites and African Americans show a high degree of mutual acceptance.

3. Research supports the notion that contact between majority and minority group members can reduce prejudice and discrimination.

IV. Family and School: Shaping Children’s Behavior in Middle School A. Family: The Changing Home Environment 1. During middle childhood, children move from being almost completely controlled by their parents to increasingly controlling their own destinies. a) COREGULATION is a period in which parents and children jointly control children’s behavior.

2. Siblings also have an important influence on children during middle childhood. a) Brothers and sisters can provide support, companionship, and a sense of security. b) They can also be a source of strife—sibling rivalry can occur and is most intense when siblings are close in age and the same gender. c) Only children are not spoiled and self-centered, but often have higher self-esteem and stronger motivation.

3. In most cases, children whose parents both work full-time outside the home fare quite well. a) Women who are satisfied with their lives tend to be more nurturing at home. b) Research shows that children whose parents both work spend essentially the same amount of time with the family, in class, with friends, and at home as children who have a parent at home. c) Children may spend more time with their father if their mother works.

4. SELF-CARE CHILDREN are youngsters who let themselves into their homes after school and wait alone until their parents return from work, previously known as latchkey children. a) The consequences of being a self-care child are not necessarily harmful. b) Some children report being lonely. c) Some children develop a sense of independence and competence. d) Some research shows self-care children have higher self-esteem because they are helping the family.

5. Divorce a) Only half of children in the U.S. will pass through childhood living with both parents, each of whom has been married only once. b) School-age children tend to blame themselves for the breakup. c) Both children and parents may show several types of psychological maladjustments for 6 months to 2 years after a divorce.

(1) Anxiety (2) Depression (3) Sleep disturbances (4) Phobias d) Most children will live with their mother and the mother-child relationship may decline temporarily.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e e) After 18 months to 2 years, most children return to their predivorce psychological adjustment. f) Twice as many children of divorced parents require psychological counseling than children from intact families. g) Divorce brings a decline to both parents’ standard of living. h) For some children, living in a home with an unhappy marriage that is high in conflict has stronger negative consequences than a divorce.

6. Single-parent families: Almost one-quarter of all children under 18 in the U.S. live with only one parent. a) Numbers are higher for minority children. b) In the majority of cases, the single parent is the mother.

7. MULTIGENERATIONAL FAMILIES are households consisting of several generations living together. a) Prevalence is greater among African Americans than Caucasians.

8. BLENDED FAMILIES include a remarried couple that has at least one stepchild living with them. a) Experts predict that by 2000, over 50 percent of children born in the last decade will be stepchildren. b) Living in a blended family involves role ambiguity, in which roles and expectations are unclear. c) School-age children often adjust relatively smoothly to a blended family.

(1) Financial status of family improves (2) More people to share household chores (3) More social interaction and attention d) Not all children adjust well, especially if the new relationship is threatening.

9. Families with gay and lesbian parents: a growing number of children have two mothers or two fathers. a) Children of lesbian and gay parents have similar relationships with their peers as children of heterosexual parents. b) Research suggests that there is little developmental difference between children whose parents are gay and lesbian and heterosexual parents.

10. Race and family life a) African American families have a particularly strong sense of family. b) Hispanic families stress also the importance of family as well as community and religious organizations. c) Asian fathers, per early research, are more apt to be powerful family figures, maintaining discipline.

11. Poverty and family life a) Economically disadvantaged families face significant hardships, such as unsafe neighborhoods or housing, high rates of violence, and inferior schools. b) The chronic stress associated with poverty makes children more susceptible to cardiovascular disease, depression, and diabetes.

12. Group Care: Orphanages in the 21st Century a) The term “orphanage” has been replaced by group home or residential treatment center, which are group homes used for youngsters whose parents are no longer able to care for them adequately.

(1) About three-quarters of children in group homes are victims of abuse and neglect.

(2) Most will eventually return home; however, one-fourth will be in group care throughout childhood.

(3) Experts disagree on the advantages and disadvantages of group care.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (a) Some see group care as a solution to unwed mothers who become dependent on welfare. (b) Many who work in these homes say they cannot provide adequate love and support as a family could. (c) They cost ten times as much as foster care or welfare (e.g., $40,000/year).

B. School: The Academic Environment 1. During the school year, more of the day is spent in a classroom than anywhere else and schools have a large influence on children’s lives.

2. Bernie Weiner proposed a theory of motivation based on people’s ATTRIBUTIONS, their understanding of the reasons behind their behavior.

3. The attributions children make about their successes and failures in school have important implications for their performance.

4. Race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status have strong influences on attributions of success and failure. a) African American children are less likely to attribute success to internal causes, feeling that prejudice and discrimination are to blame. b) Women tend to attribute failure to low ability and success to luck.

5. Schools are beginning to teach techniques to increase students’ EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, the set of skills that underlie the accurate assessment, evaluation, expression, and regulation of emotions. a) Children are taught assessment, evaluation, expression, and regulation of emotions. b) They are also provided with lessons in empathy, self-awareness, and social skills. c) Critics suggest that nurturance of emotional intelligence is best left to students’ families and that schools should concentrate on the basics. d) Most consider emotional intelligence worthy of nurturance.

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LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 10.1: Morality Before this lecture, you may want to have your class participate in the Alligator River exercise (see Handout 10-4, and the Student Activity, below). You might begin this lecture by asking your students for their definitions of morality. Point out that researchers have looked at morality in a variety of ways: as (a) behavior that helps another human being, (b) behavior in conformity with societal norms, (c) the internalization of social norms, (d) the arousal of empathy or guilt, (e) reasoning about justice, and (f) putting another’s interests ahead of one’s own. You can write these on the board as you ask students to give you examples of how our society enforces each as a measure of moral behavior. What institutions have been created to enforce each element?

Lawrence Kohlberg extended Jean Piaget’s theory of moral development by presenting his research participants with moral dilemmas. Kohlberg emphasized that it is the structure of the answer—the way the individual reasons about the dilemma—and not the content that is important. Here are some interesting points about the research conducted using Kohlberg’s approach.

1. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal research provide evidence that moral reasoning develops in stages and with age. Also, research confirms that the stages are invariant.

2. Research shows that the development of moral reasoning is slow and gradual.

3. Postconventional morality at stage 6 is so rarely found that Kohlberg believed few people ever attained it and its existence is speculative.

4. When subjects generate real-life moral dilemmas, they tend to score at a lower stage than when reasoning about hypothetical dilemmas.

5. Moral reasoning is highly correlated with IQ, performance on Piagetian tasks, and perspective-taking skill.

6. Peer experiences can enhance moral reasoning. A study of peer discussion and role-playing showed sixth- and tenth-graders moved partially or totally to the next moral stage compared with those students who did not participate in the class interventions. Role-playing games facilitated moral reasoning, more so than discussions.

7. Parental child-rearing practices helped enhance moral reasoning. Researchers asked parents and firstthrough tenth-grade children to discuss moral dilemmas. Parents who were supportive, listened well, asked clarifying questions, praised, had a sense of humor, and used higher-level reasoning themselves had children who gained the most in moral reasoning. Parents who lectured, used threats, or made sarcastic remarks had children who changed little or not at all.

8. Cross-cultural research shows that people in technologically advanced, urban cultures progress through Kohlberg’s stages more rapidly than people in nonindustrialized, village societies.

9. Level of education correlates highly with advanced levels in moral reasoning.

Lecture Launcher 10.2: The Moral Machine Either as a supplement to your lecture or as a student activity, consider visiting the Moral Machine website hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Various scenarios are presented that update traditional moral dilemmas (such as the Heinz dilemma or trolley problem). These include moral choices and outcomes surrounding autonomous vehicles; what’s the moral decision to be made when no sentient agent is involved? Sharing these dilemmas with your students is a great way to start a discussion of their own moral values, but also opens the door to the cognitive complexity of children. Ask your students how they think someone in middle childhood would approach these same moral conundrums. http://moralmachine.mit.edu/

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Lecture Launcher 10.3: The Effects of Divorce E. Mavis Hetherington has studied the process and effects of divorce, including a longitudinal study, in an attempt to assess the long-term effects of divorce on parents and children. She began with a sample of 144 middle-class, white children and their parents. Half were from divorced, mother-custody homes; the other half were from intact homes. Half were boys and half girls. The mean age was 10. Six years later, the sample included 124 of the original families, some of whom had remarried, some of whom had redivorced, and some of whose children had changed custody arrangements. Using a variety of measures, Hetherington found: 1. There were few differences between the mothers who remained single and the ones who remarried.

Mostly the remarried mothers reported greater life satisfaction. The nonremarried mothers reported more loneliness and depression and a sense of less control over their lives.

2. Both sets of remarried fathers reported that the relationship with their stepchildren adversely affected the marital relationship.

3. Mother-son relations are problematic in divorced, nonremarried homes. Relationships with daughters are problematic in remarried families. Divorced mothers spend less time with their sons and report less closeness and rapport with them.

4. Both sons and daughters in divorced families had more responsibilities and independence than children in nondivorced families.

5. Divorced mothers monitored their children’s behavior less closely than mothers in intact families.

Children in divorced families were less likely to have adult supervision in their parent’s absence.

6. Stepfathers report low affection for their stepchildren. The interchanges between stepfathers and stepdaughters and the conflicts between divorced mothers and sons are rated as the highest on hostility of any dyad.

Hetherington, E. M. & Kelly, J. (2003). For better or for worse: Divorce reconsidered. New York: W. W. Norton.

Lecture Launcher 10.4: Is the Potential for Divorce Genetic?

Matt McGue and David Lykken noted that one of the strongest predictors of divorce is a family background that includes parental divorce. Although most researchers have attributed this effect to environmental factors such as social modeling, McGue and Lykken investigated potential genetic factors.

Using subjects from the Minnesota Twin Registry, they obtained survey information on marital history from 722 same-sex monozygotic twins, 794 same-sex dizygotic twins, their parents, and their spouse's parents. They reported that the concordance rate for divorce was significantly higher for monozygotic twins than for dizygotic twins. Based upon their results, they estimated that the predicted divorce rate for a hypothetical marriage between two monozygotic twins with divorced parents and a divorced co-twin would be 77.5 percent, whereas the predicted divorce rate for a marriage between two monozygotic twins with a background of no familial divorce would be 5.3 percent. The researchers concluded that their “data suggest that cultural factors influence the threshold for divorce while, within a given culture, variations in underlying aggregate risk are strongly influenced by genetic factors” (p. 372). They do, however, emphasize that genetic factors may be mediated by personality factors such as personal values and the individual’s capacity for happiness.

Hatemi, P. K., McDermott, R., & Eaves, L. (2015). Genetic and environmental contributions to relationships and divorce attitudes. Personality and Individual Differences, 72, 135-140.

Jerskey, B. A. et al. (2010). Marriage and divorce: A genetic perspective. Personality and Individual Differences, 49(5), 473-478.

McGue, M. & Lykken, D. T. (1992). Genetic influence on risk of divorce. Psychological Science, 3, 368-373.

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Lecture Launcher 10.5: Mood Awareness Emotional intelligence (a broad collection of abilities related to understanding and utilizing affect) and alexithymia (a stunted awareness of one’s emotional states) share a common component, that awareness of one’s moods and emotions can contribute to successful social interaction. This idea has been pursued in a set of empirical studies.

Mood awareness refers to individual differences in attention directed toward one’s mood states. It is measured by the Mood Awareness Scale (MAS; Swinkels & Giuliano, 1995), a reliable 10-item measure composed of two related but distinct dimensions: mood labeling and mood monitoring. Mood labeling refers to the ability to identify and categorize one’s mood states, whereas mood monitoring refers to the tendency to focus on, evaluate, or scrutinize one’s mood.

The processes of mood labeling and mood monitoring may be better understood by an analogy. There is a marked difference in the approaches used by a physician and by a hypochondriac when trying to assess states of health. The physician, because of training, experience, or insight, is usually successful in making an accurate diagnosis of an illness and recommending some course of treatment. In other words, the medical condition is diagnosed or categorized fairly readily, and steps are then taken to remedy the complaint (e.g., “take two aspirin and call me in the morning”) or maintain the state of health (e.g., “keep jogging to work every day”). In contrast, hypochondriacs are quite concerned about the state of their physical health, and in fact may become preoccupied with keeping track of their health status. A process of monitoring physical symptoms and checking for the onset of illness may become an ongoing ritual.

The problem, of course, is that although hypochondriacs may be vigilant in checking their health, they are apt to be misled many times about their condition. In other words, they check on their physical states often, but may not reach a satisfactory or final judgment about their health, concluding instead that they are suffering from some vague bodily complaint.

Several studies have demonstrated that labeling and monitoring exert different influences on other moodrelevant variables. For example, in comparison with low mood labelers, high mood labelers tend to seek and be satisfied with social support, experience positive affect, have higher levels of self-esteem, be extraverted, be less socially anxious or neurotic, and express greater global life satisfaction. High (as compared with low) mood monitors, by contrast, tend to experience more intense affective states, experience greater negative affect, have lower self-esteem, and report neurotic tendencies. Various other studies have investigated the role of mood awareness in depression; self-views; reactions to life stress; self-reported physical symptoms; intelligence and cognitive abilities; and numerous other personality dimensions.

More importantly, mood monitoring and mood labeling play a role in the process of mood regulation.

Most people are motivated to sustain a positive mood (mood maintenance) or change a negative one (mood repair), although monitors and labelers might be more or less successful at this task. One study (Swinkels & Giuliano, 1995, Study 4), for example, found that although high mood monitors agreed that their moods influenced their behavior and were important to them, they reported less success at regulating their negative mood states. Another study (Giuliano, 1995) found that the ability of mood labelers and mood monitors to repair their negative moods over time differed. High labelers were able to take relatively quick action to alter their mood states, whereas high monitors tended to wallow in their negative moods for a longer period of time.

The reason for these differences can be understood by returning to the medical analogy. The act of labeling something implies that it becomes identified or categorized for further use. The physician who has made an accurate diagnosis now knows the likely course and duration of the illness, the available 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e treatments, and the number of subsequent office visits for which the patient can be billed. In this sense mood labeling should generally promote constructive thought and behavior in regard to one’s feelings. A mood that is readily labeled is a mood that does not need to be dwelt upon in order to be understood: the mood state has been identified and the stage presumably is set for acting on that mood in some way.

In contrast, monitoring implies a certain degree of vigilance by an individual, which may or may not be productive. Like the hypochondriac who is nervously attuned to each twitch and tremor of her or his body, mood monitoring would imply a similar type of examination of or dwelling upon one’s mood; for some, perhaps, to the point of unhealthfulness, but for most out of a simple concern with tracking the progress of one’s feelings. The difficulty with mood monitoring, then, is that it may contribute to becoming absorbed in one’s mood state, much like the overconcern with physical health experienced by the hypochondriac. The high mood monitor may check on her or his moods often, and be quite vigilant in doing so, yet may still remain a bit confused about the nature of the mood state. Just as the accuracy of the hypochondriac’s diagnoses may be clouded by numerous false alarms or uncertainty about the nature of the discomfort, so too may the high mood monitor’s judgments of her or his mood be clouded by too great an absorption in the mood state itself. In the case of bad moods, this absorption may produce prolonged negative affect.

Boden, M. T. & Thompson, R. J. (2017). Meta-analysis of the association between emotional clarity and attention to emotions. Emotion Review, 9(1), 79-85.

Giuliano, T. A. (1995, August). Mood awareness predicts mood change over time. Presented at the 103rd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, New York.

Swinkels, A. (1993, August). Exploring the role of mood awareness in mood regulation. In D. Tice (Chair), Self regulation of mood and emotion. Symposium conducted at the 101st Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.

Swinkels, A. (2001). Research using the Mood Awareness Scale, 1991–2000. Technical Report 1, St. Edward’s University Psychology Laboratory.

Swinkels, A. & Giuliano, T. A. (1995). The measurement and conceptualization of mood awareness: Monitoring and labeling one’s mood states. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 934-949.

Swinkels, A., Giuliano, T. A., & Helweg-Larsen, M. (1996, August). Assessing mood awareness in diverse groups. Presented at the 104th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.

Swinkels, A. & Giuliano, T. A. (1992a). Mood awareness and self-regulation. Presented at the Fourth Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society, San Diego, California.

Swinkels, A. & Giuliano, T. A. (1992b). [Mood clash: Negotiating interpersonal affect]. Unpublished research data.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 10.1: Moral Dilemmas You may have your class try the moral reasoning dilemmas on Handouts 10-1, 10-2, and 10-3. It’s helpful to let your class write out their answers anonymously so they won’t feel anxious about possibly feeling amoral! Then, encourage your students to collect data from children and adults using the same moral dilemmas, and ask them to reflect on the pattern of results they obtain. You can use this activity as an in-class exercise, a reflective journal option, or as the basis of a short written assignment.

As an alternative, you could present the “Heinz dilemma” as a model and ask each student to generate and bring to the next class meeting one or two dilemmas that would be especially relevant to middle childhood. During class, collect the dilemmas and go over them with your students, critiquing them and selecting the best examples from the group. After class, compile the best examples and type up a survey that includes the dilemmas along with instructions for how to respond. Then, distribute two copies of the survey to your students and ask each to give the survey to two children. Preferably, the subjects would be different on some dimension, such as age or sex. Students should try to keep as accurate a record of their subjects’ responses as possible, and should also try to determine the level of moral development based on those responses. During the next class session, you can collate the data and read several interesting responses. This should spark an involving class discussion in which students compare responses (including information about the age and sex of subjects) and interpret them in terms of Kohlberg’s stages. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5czp9S4u26M http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/kohlberg.dilemmas.html

Student Activity 10.2: Morality and the Double Standard Your students will enjoy this exercise, which assesses morality and the double standard. Divide your class into discussion groups. Half of the groups should receive the Abigail version of the story; the other half should receive the Gregory version (see Handout 10-4, which should be cut in half).

The task is for the groups to read the story and then, as a group, rank each character from the one they like best to the one they find most despicable. Have a recorder from each group write their rankings on the board. These rankings, of course, should differ because the groups had different stories. Ask the students to figure out why the rankings are so different. Have the students reflect on what they found.

You may want to vary the stories and compare how the rankings are affected by the changes: • “Gregory and Abigail have been going together for some time and plan to be married. However, they have never set a date and people doubt that they will ever go through with it.”

• “Abigail (Gregory) rushes to Simon’s (Samantha’s) house and asks him (her) to take her (him) across the river. Simon (Samantha) cares for Abigail (Gregory) very much, but she (he) has never returned his affections.”

• “Abigail (Gregory) is shocked by this proposition and runs to Ivan’s. Abigail (Gregory) knows that Ivan has a gun, and she (he) hopes that he will force Simon (Samantha) to cooperate.”

• “Simon (Samantha) agrees to the bargain. Abigail (Gregory) enjoys it very much.”

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e • “Gregory (Abigail) explains that he (she) always thought that Abigail (Gregory) was a nice girl (guy), tells her (him) he (she) doesn’t want to see her (him) for a while, and stomps off into the jungle.”

• “Chris gets so angry at Gregory’s (Abigail’s) responses that he goes off into the jungle and sets fire to Gregory’s (Abigail’s) house.”

Student Activity 10.3: Popularity Divide your students into groups with the assignment that each group must compile a list of all the qualities that make for a popular child and the qualities of unpopular children, and why these qualities help or hinder friendships. The textbook lists some most- and least-liked behaviors in Table 10-3. If there is time, you might ask students to devise ways of helping unpopular children learn better social skills (see Handout 10-5). Some common approaches are: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Reinforcing socially appropriate behaviors Modeling social skills Coaching Role playing

One approach being used by schools involves conflict resolution training and peer mediation. These approaches are particularly effective in teaching children how to handle bullies and fighting. For information on school-based conflict resolution programs, contact: The National Institute for Conflict Resolution: http://www.nifcr.com/

Student Activity 10.4: You’ve Got a Friend Ask your students to answer one or more of the following questions: 1. Does the fact that students in low-achievement schools often have higher academic self-esteem than students in high-achievement schools argue against high-achievement schools? Why or why not?

2. What is an example of the relationship between low self-esteem and failure in an area other than academics? What can be done about it?

3. How do children’s friendships and adult friendships differ? How are they similar?

4. Do you think boys’ and girls’ different approaches to friendship are primarily genetic or environmental? In what ways might they be influenced by cultural factors?

5. Do expectancies work outside the classroom among adults? How?

Student Activity 10.5: Reflective Journal Use Handout 10-6 to help your students reflect on their feelings of social competence as school-age children.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Callaghan, T. & Corbit, J. (2018). Early prosocial development across cultures. Current Opinion in Psychology, 20, 102-106.

Dantchev, S., Zammit, S., & Wolke, D. (2018). Sibling bullying in middle childhood and psychotic disorder at 18 years: a prospective cohort study. Psychological Medicine, 1-8.

Garandeau, C. F., Lee, I. A., & Salmivalli, C. (2018). Decreases in the proportion of bullying victims in the classroom: Effects on the adjustment of remaining victims. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42(1), 64-72.

Harris, M. A., Wetzel, E., Robins, R. W., Donnellan, M. B., & Trzesniewski, K. H. (2018). The development of global and domain self-esteem from ages 10 to 16 for Mexican-origin youth. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42(1), 4-16.

Holl, A. K., Kirsch, F., Rohlf, H., Krahé, B., & Elsner, B. (2018). Longitudinal reciprocity between theory of mind and aggression in middle childhood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 42(2), 257-266.

Jambon, M. & Smetana, J. G. (2018). Individual differences in prototypical moral and conventional judgments and children's proactive and reactive aggression. Child Development, 89(4), 1343-1359.

Jordan, K. & Tseris, E. (2018). Locating, understanding and celebrating disability: Revisiting Erikson’s “stages.” Feminism & Psychology, 28(3), 427-444.

Magro, S. W., Utesch, T., Dreiskämper, D., & Wagner, J. (2018). Self-esteem development in middle childhood: Support for sociometer theory. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 0165025418802462.

Maunder, R. & Monks, C. P. (2018). Friendships in middle childhood: Links to peer and school identification, and general self‐worth. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12268.

McKelvey, L. M., Edge, N. C., Mesman, G. R., Whiteside-Mansell, L., & Bradley, R. H. (2018). Adverse experiences in infancy and toddlerhood: Relations to adaptive behavior and academic status in middle childhood. Child Abuse & Neglect, 82, 168-177.

Orth, U. & Robins, R. W. (2019). Development of self-esteem across the lifespan. In D. McAdams, R. L. Shiner, & J. L. Tackett (Eds.), Handbook of Personality Development, (pp. 328-345).

Zuffianò, A., Colasante, T., Buchmann, M., & Malti, T. (2018). The codevelopment of sympathy and overt aggression from middle childhood to early adolescence. Developmental psychology, 54(1), 98.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Friendships and Peer Relationships

Middle childhood friendships are explored cross-culturally

1. Much of the conversation in this video ends with “boys do boy stuff and girls do girl stuff.” Is this a universal, sex-based phenomenon? How might culture, in both the broadest and most focused senses of that term, play a role?

2. What general principles of peer relationships can you extract from the anecdotes presented in this video?

Work/Family Conflict

Cross-cultural views of social roles are considered

1. Many of the conversations in this video end with “men do men stuff and women do women stuff.” Is this a universal, sex-based phenomenon? How might culture, in both the broadest and most focused senses of that term, play a role?

2. What general principles of work, family, and social roles can you extract from the anecdotes presented in this video?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 10-1 Moral Reasoning Interview for a Child Procedure: After you have obtained permission from the child’s parents and explained the project, show or read the following moral dilemma to the child and ask the questions that follow.

Age of child _________

Sex of child _________

Kenny is walking to the store. It’s his mother’s birthday on Saturday.

He’s feeling bad because he hasn’t been able to save up enough money to get her the present he’d like to give her. Then, on the sidewalk, he finds a wallet with $10 in it—just what he needs to buy the present! But there’s an identification card in the wallet telling the name and address of the owner.

1. What should Kenny do? Why?

2. What would be a good reason for Kenny to return the wallet? Can you think of any other reasons?

3. Would it be stealing to keep the money? Why is it wrong to steal?

4. What if the owner of the wallet were rich and greedy and wouldn’t even give Kenny a reward for returning it; should he return the wallet then?

18 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 10-2 Moral Reasoning Interview for an Adult Procedure: Read the following dilemma to the adult. Then ask him or her the questions that follow.

Age of adult _________

Sex of adult _________

Sharon and Jill were best friends. One day they went shopping together.

Jill tried on a sweater and then, to Sharon’s surprise, walked out of the store wearing the sweater under her coat. A moment later, the store’s security officer stopped Sharon and demanded that she tell him the name of the girl who had walked out. He told the storeowner he’d seen the two girls together and was sure the one who left had been shoplifting. The storeowner said to Sharon, “Come on now, come clean. You could get into serious trouble if you don’t give us your friend’s name.”

1. Should Sharon tell Jill’s name to the security officer? Why?

2. Would it make any difference if Jill had recently done a big favor for Sharon?

3. Would it make a difference if they were not good friends?

4. What factors should Sharon consider in making her decision?

5. Is shoplifting wrong? Why? What’s the most important reason why it is wrong?

19 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 10-3 Comparing Moral Reasoning Compare the answers to the moral dilemmas you gave to a child and an adult. The following questions will help you reflect on your assignment.

1. How did the responses of the child and the adult differ in terms of maturity of moral judgments?

2. To what extent did the responses correspond with the stages postulated by Piaget, Kohlberg, and Gilligan?

3. Are there any factors (e.g., intelligence, education, breadth of experience, religious affiliation) other than age or sex that might explain the basis for differences in maturity or sophistication?

4. To what extent did personality, cultural values, gender, attitudes, or individual experience appear to reflect the person’s reasoning?

5. Do you believe that differences in types of moral reasoning are related to the characteristic patterns of behavior (e.g., honesty, altruism, or responsibility) of the persons you studied? Explain.

20 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 10-4 Alligator River Once upon a time there was a woman named Abigail who was in love with a man named Gregory.

Gregory lived on the shore of a river. Abigail lived on the opposite shore of the river. The river that separated the two lovers was teeming with alligators. Abigail wanted to cross the river to be with Gregory. Unfortunately, the bridge had been washed out in a flood. So she went to Simon, who had a boat, and asked him to take her across. He said he would be glad to if she would have sex with him. She promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivan to explain her plight. Ivan didn’t want to get involved at all in the situation. Abigail felt her only alternative was to accept Simon’s terms. Simon fulfilled his promise to Abigail and delivered her into the arms of Gregory.

When Abigail told Gregory about her bargain with Simon, Gregory, who told her he always thought she was virtuous and pure, cast her aside with disdain. Heartsick and dejected, Abigail turned to Chris with her tale of woe. Chris, feeling sorry for Abigail, found Gregory and beat him up.

Please rank the characters from best (1) to worst (5) in terms of their overall behaviors.

Gregory

Abigail

Simon

Ivan

Chris

Handout 10-4 Alligator River Once upon a time there was a man named Gregory who was in love with a woman named Abigail.

Gregory lived on the shore of a river. Abigail lived on the opposite shore of the river. The river that separated the two lovers was teeming with alligators. Gregory wanted to cross the river to be with Abigail. Unfortunately, the bridge had been washed out in a flood. So he went to Samantha, who had a boat, and asked her to take him across. She said she would be glad to if he would have sex with her.

Gregory promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivan to explain his plight. Ivan didn’t want to get involved at all in the situation. Gregory felt his only alternative was to accept Samantha’s terms.

Samantha fulfilled her promise to Gregory and delivered him into the arms of Abigail.

When Gregory told Abigail about his bargain with Samantha, Abigail, who told him she always thought he was virtuous and pure, cast him aside with disdain. Heartsick and dejected, Gregory turned to Chris with his tale of woe. Chris, feeling sorry for Gregory, found Abigail and beat her up.

Please rank the characters from best (1) to worst (5) in terms of their overall behaviors.

Gregory

Abigail

Samantha

Ivan

21 .

Chris

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 10-5 What Encourages Positive Social Relationships?

•

Showing empathy and kindness

•

Helping

•

Giving

•

Accepting help graciously

•

Sharing

•

Showing positive verbal and physical contact

•

Comforting another in distress

•

Donating to others who are less fortunate

•

Showing concern

•

Responding to others who are sad

•

Taking the perspective of another person

•

Showing affection

•

Cooperating with others to complete a task

22 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 10-6 Reflective Journal Exercise 10 Think back to your elementary and middle school years.

How would you describe your social competence?

Were you a high- or low-status child? Did you play predominantly with high- or low-status children?

Were you popular? Think of a popular child in your school and an unpopular child (first names only!).

Describe the popular child. Make sure to consider the characteristics that contributed to that child’s popularity.

Describe the unpopular child. What characteristics contributed to this child’s unpopularity?

23 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 11 PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

13

Supplemental Reading

18

Revel Multimedia

19

Handouts

20

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Chapter Outline Physical Maturation Growth During Adolescence: The Rapid Pace of Physical and Sexual Maturation Nutrition, Food, and Eating Disorders: Fueling the Growth of Adolescence Brain Development and Thought: Paving the Way for Cognitive Growth

Instructor’s Resources

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 11.1, 11.2, 11.3

Adolescence

Lecture Launchers 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4

Body Image in Adolescence Eating Disorders

Student Activities 11.1, 11.2, 11.3 Learning Objectives 11.4, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.8

Cognitive Development and Schooling Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development: Using Formal Operations Information Processing Perspectives: Gradual Transformations in Abilities Egocentrism in Thinking: Adolescents’ Self-Absorption School Performance Cyberspace: Adolescents Online

Lecture Launchers 11.5 Student Activities 11.4, 11.5

Threats to Adolescents’ Well-Being Illegal Drugs Alcohol: Use and Abuse Tobacco: The Dangers of Smoking Sexually Transmitted Infections

Learning Objectives 11.9, 11.10, 11.11, 11.12 Lecture Launchers 11.6 Student Activities 11.6, 11.7, 11.8

2 .

Personal Fable

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 11.1

Describe the physical changes adolescents experience as the body reaches puberty.

LO 11.2

Explain the nutritional needs and concerns of adolescents.

LO 11.3

Summarize the ways in which the brain develops in adolescence.

LO 11.4

Describe how cognitive development proceeds during adolescence according to Piaget.

LO 11.5

Summarize how information processing approaches explain adolescent cognitive development.

LO 11.6

Describe how adolescent egocentrism affects thinking and behavior.

LO 11.7

Analyze the factors that affect adolescent school performance.

LO 11.8

Describe how adolescents use the Internet and social media.

LO 11.9

Analyze what illegal drugs adolescents use and why.

LO 11.10 Discuss how adolescents use and abuse alcohol.

LO 11.11 Summarize how and why adolescents use tobacco.

LO 11.12 Describe the dangers adolescent sexual practices present and how these dangers can be avoided.

3 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: A Jury of Their Peers II. Physical Maturation A. Growth During Adolescence: The Rapid Pace of Physical and Sexual Maturation 1. Growth spurt during adolescence produces dramatic changes in height and weight.

2. Girls’ growth spurts start and stop two years earlier than boys.’

3. PUBERTY is the period when sexual organs mature, beginning earlier for girls than for boys. a) Puberty begins when the pituitary gland in the brain signals other glands to begin producing androgens (male hormones) or estrogens (female hormones) at the adult level. b) Girls begin puberty about 11 or 12; boys begin at 13 or 14. There is wide variation among individuals.

4. Puberty in Girls a) MENARCHE, the onset of menstruation, varies in different parts of the world and even with affluence levels.

(1) More affluent, better nourished, healthier girls start menstruation earlier.

(2) Obesity—which results in an increase in the secretion of leptin, a hormone associated with the onset of menstruation—leads to early puberty.

(3) Some studies show that the proportion of fat to muscle in the body plays a part in the timing of menarche.

(4) Environmental stress can bring about early menarche.

(5) Menarche age in the U.S. has declined since the 19th century when menarche began around age 14 or 15. b) The earlier start of puberty is an example of a SECULAR TREND, a statistical tendency observed over several generations.

(1) Early development has been linked to reduced disease and better nutrition. c) The development of PRIMARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS involves organs and structures of the body related to reproduction. d) SECONDARY SEX CHARACTERISTICS involve the visible signs of sexual maturity that do not involve sex organs directly.

5. Puberty in Boys a) Boys’ sexual maturation follows a different course.

(1) Spermarche, a boy’s first ejaculation, usually occurs around the age of 13, although the body has been producing sperm for about a year.

6. Body image involves an adolescent’s own reactions to these physical changes. a) Western society’s views of menarche have become more positive than they used to be, so girls tend to have higher self-esteem, a rise in status, and self-awareness when they begin menstruating. b) Boys’ first ejaculation is roughly equivalent to girls’ menarche, but it is rarely discussed. c) Girls are often unhappy with their developing bodies, a result of strong societal pressures regarding the ideal female shape.

7. The timing of puberty is a key factor for how adolescents react to it. a) Early maturation is generally positive for boys.

(1) Early maturing boys tend to be better at athletics, be more popular, have more positive self-esteem, and grow up to be more cooperative and responsible.

(2) On the other hand, these boys also are more likely to have school difficulties and become more involved in delinquency and substance abuse with older friends. b) Early maturation is often difficult for girls.

4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (1) Early maturing girls tend to be more popular but they may not be ready to deal with dating situations.

(2) Reactions depend on cultural norms (country and community). c) Late maturation is difficult for boys.

(1) Smaller boys are seen as less attractive and have a disadvantage in sports.

(2) Their dating lives may suffer.

(3) These difficulties often lead to decline in self-concept, which can extend into adulthood.

(4) However, coping with these challenges may help late-maturing boys become assertive, insightful, and more creative. d) For late-maturing girls, the picture is complicated.

(1) Late-maturing girls can be overlooked and have low social status at first.

(2) However, when they catch up, their self-esteem is high with higher body esteem because they are more slender and “leggy” than early-maturing girls.

B. Nutrition, Food, and Eating Disorders: Fueling the Growth of Adolescence 1. The adolescent growth spurt requires an increase in food (especially key nutrients such as calcium and iron). a) The average girl requires 2,200 calories and the average boy 2,800.

2. Obesity is a common concern during adolescence. a) Estimates are that 1 in 5 adolescents is overweight and 1 in 20 can be formally classified as obese. b) The psychological consequences of adolescent obesity are severe since body image is a key focus. c) Potential health consequences of obesity are also of concern. d) Obese adolescents have an 80 percent chance of becoming obese in adulthood. e) The availability of reasonably-priced, high caloric and fat, fast foods are the culprits for high rates of obesity during adolescence. f) Sedentary activities such as watching TV, playing video games, and surfing the Web, which are often accompanied by snacks and junk food, also play a major role in obesity.

3. ANOREXIA NERVOSA is a severe eating disorder in which individuals refuse to eat, while denying that their behavior and appearance, which may become skeletal, are out of the ordinary. a) This disorder primarily affects white women between the ages of 12 and 40. b) Fifteen to 20 percent starve themselves to death.

(1) These women are often intelligent, successful, attractive, and from affluent homes.

(2) About 10 percent of anorexics are male. c) BULIMIA is an eating disorder characterized by binges on large quantities of food, followed by purges of the food through vomiting or the use of laxatives.

(1) A chemical imbalance results from constant vomiting or diarrhea.

(2) This can have serious effects, including heart failure. d) Eating disorders are products of both biological and environmental causes, so treatment involves multiple approaches.

C. Brain Development and Thought: Paving the Way for Cognitive Growth 1. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that allows people to think, evaluate, and make complex judgments, undergoes considerable development throughout adolescence and is not fully developed until age 20. a) It underlies the increasingly complex intellectual achievements that are possible during adolescence. b) Because the prefrontal cortex is also involved in impulse control, the ability to inhibit impulses explains the tendency toward risky and impulsive behaviors in some adolescents.

5 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) During adolescence, the prefrontal cortex becomes increasingly efficient in communicating with other parts of the brain.

2. The Immature Brain Argument: Too Young for the Death Penalty a) Research suggests that the brain of adolescents still develops in important ways and, therefore, they lack judgment because of brain immaturity. b) Supreme Court decision that no one under 18 can be executed was based upon research that adolescents are not fully capable to make reasonable decisions because their brains are not yet wired like those of adults.

3. Sleep Deprivation a) Sleep deprivation comes at a time when adolescents’ internal clocks shift and increasing academic and social demands are placed on them. b) Half of adolescents get 7 hours or less of sleep. c) Sleepy teens have lower grades, are more depressed, and are prone to mood swings.

III. Cognitive Development and Schooling A. Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development: Using Formal Operations 1. FORMAL OPERATIONS PERIOD is the stage during which people develop the ability to think abstractly. a) Full capabilities of using principles of logic unfold gradually, throughout early adolescence (approximately ages 12 to 15). b) Hypothetico-deductive reasoning, in which adolescents start with a general theory and deduce explanations from it, also distinguishes the formal operational period. c) This allows the adolescent to think abstractly. d) Adolescents also can employ propositional thought, reasoning that uses abstract logic in the absence of concrete examples. e) Not everyone achieves formal operational skills (some studies estimate that anywhere from 25 to 60 percent of college students do not). f) Cultural values also influence the achievement of these skills.

2. The ability to think abstractly affects everyday behavior. a) Adolescents become more argumentative. b) This makes adolescents more interesting, but challenging.

3. There are some criticisms of Piaget’s theory and approach. a) Research finds individual differences in cognitive abilities, not universal. b) Some researchers suggest that cognitive development is more continuous, less step-like than Piaget proposed. c) Piaget underestimated the skills of infants and young children. d) Piaget focused only on thinking and knowing, missing other kinds of intelligence. e) More sophisticated forms of thinking may follow this stage and do not develop until early adulthood.

B. Information Processing Perspectives: Gradual Transformations in Abilities 1. The INFORMATION PROCESSING PERSPECTIVE sees changes in cognitive abilities as gradual transformations in the way that individuals take in, use, and store information. a) From this view, thinking advances during adolescence result from the ways people organize their thinking and develop new strategies. b) METACOGNITION is the ability to think about one’s own thinking process and the ability to monitor one’s cognition.

C. Egocentrism in Thinking: Adolescents Self-Absorption 1. ADOLESCENT EGOCENTRISM is a stage of self-absorption where the world is seen only from one’s own perspective.

2. Thus, adolescents are highly critical of authority figures, unwilling to accept criticism, and quick to find fault with others.

3. Adolescent egocentrism leads to two distortions: 6 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) IMAGINARY AUDIENCE, where adolescents think they are the focus of everyone else’s attention. b) PERSONAL FABLES, the belief that the adolescent is unique and exceptional.

D. School Performance 1. On average, students’ grades decline during adolescence.

2. Socioeconomic Status and School Performance 3. Ethnic and Racial Differences in School Achievement a) The reason for differences is not clear. b) African-American and Hispanic families are more likely to live in poverty. c) In general, African-American and Hispanic students perform at lower levels than Caucasians and Asians who perform at higher levels. d) Additional success factors are the cultural value of school success, attributions of school success, and consequences for not doing well.

4. Dropping out of school is a bad trip, man.

E. Cyberspace: Adolescents Online 1. Teenagers use media and technology to a staggering degree: Instant messaging, texting, cell phones, and MP3 players. a) The Web has changed how teens tap into a vast array of information. b) Educational promise of Internet is significant. c) Dangers (1) Predators and objectionable material (2) Cyberbullying (3) Declining interpersonal competence d) Digital divide: poorer adolescents have less access to computers.

IV. Threats to Adolescents’ Well-Being A. Illegal Drugs 1. Some theories of why adolescents try illegal drugs are: a) Perceived pleasurable experience b) Escape from daily pressures c) The thrill of doing something illegal d) A number of role-models use drugs e) Peer pressure 2. ADDICTIVE DRUGS produce biological or psychological dependence in users, leading to increasingly powerful cravings for them.

3. A major danger of drugs as escapism is that adolescents never learn to confront original problems and learn problem-solving skills.

4. Casual users can escalate to more dangerous forms of substance abuse.

B. Alcohol: Use and Abuse 1. More than 75 percent of college students have consumed at least one alcoholic drink during the last 30 days.

2. More than 40 percent say they’ve had five or more drinks within the past 2 weeks.

3. Seventy-six percent of high school seniors drink alcohol.

4. Binge drinking—drinking five or more drinks for men and four or more for women in one sitting—is a particularly troubling pattern in college students.

5. Why do adolescents drink? a) It is an adult thing to do. b) It maintains a “macho” image for male athletes. c) It releases inhibitions and tension. d) The false consensus effect—the assumption that everyone else is doing it.

6. ALCOHOLICS are persons with alcohol problems who have learned to depend on alcohol and are unable to stop their drinking.

7 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) Teens may be genetically prone to become alcoholic. b) Stress may trigger drinking and alcoholism for some teens.

C. Tobacco: The Dangers of Smoking 1. There are significant numbers of adolescents smoking still, although the overall proportion has decreased.

2. Smoking is more prevalent among girls.

3. Whites smoke more than African Americans.

4. Why do adolescents smoke? a) Smoking is considered hip and sexy. b) Nicotine can produce biological and psychological dependency. c) Smoking produces a pleasant emotional state that smokers seek to maintain. d) Exposure to parents’ smoking and peer smoking increases the chances that an adolescent will take up the habit. e) Smoking is sometimes seen as an adolescent rite of passage, being seen as a sign of growing up. f) The availability of e-cigarettes has introduced a new cachet to the smoking habit.

5. People who smoke as few as ten cigarettes early in their lives stand an 80 percent chance of becoming habitual smokers.

D. Sexually Transmitted Infections 1. AIDS (ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME) is a sexually transmitted disease produced by the HIV virus that has no cure and ultimately causes death. a) AIDS is a SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE (STD) transmitted through the exchange of bodily fluids (usually sexual contact). b) Because AIDS is spread primarily through sexual contact, it is classified as a sexually transmitted infection (STI).

(1) It has been difficult to motivate adolescents to use safe sex measures and change their sexual behavior.

(2) African Americans and Hispanics account for 70 percent of new AIDS cases in the United States.

(3) More than 25 million people have died of AIDS, and the number of people living with the disease is 34 million worldwide.

2. Other Sexually Transmitted Infections a) Over 2.5 million teenagers contract a sexually transmitted infection. b) HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS (HPV) is the most common STI, often with no symptoms and long suspected of leading to cervical cancer.

(1) A vaccine recommended by the CDC that protects against some kinds of HPV is now available. c) CHLAMYDIA is the most common sexually transmitted disease, caused by a parasite. d) GENITAL HERPES is a common sexually transmitted disease that is a virus (not unlike cold sores that sometimes appear around the mouth). e) Trichomoniasis is an infection caused by a parasite. f) Gonorrhea and syphilis used to be deadly but can now be treated with antibiotics.

3. Avoiding STIs a) Beyond abstinence, adolescents practicing safe sex (e.g., know your sexual partner, use condoms, avoid exchanging bodily fluids, stay sober, and consider monogamy) promote a healthy life.

LECTURE LAUNCHERS

8 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Lecture Launcher 11.1: Bulimia—Too Much, Too Little, Too Many Many students are surprised by how prevalent eating disorders are, especially bulimia, among their peers.

In bulimia, there are periods of binge eating during which enormous amounts of food (usually starches and sweets) may be eaten. To prevent body weight and shape from ballooning, the person compensates by vomiting, exercising, or using laxatives or diuretics. Although bulimic individuals are concerned about their weight and appearance, they do not have the distorted self-image typical of those with anorexia nervosa. Bulimia, in fact, is not limited to underweight people; in fact, it is probably more common in people of normal weight. The DSM-5 criteria for bulimia are: •

Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both of the following: o eating, in a discrete period of time (for example, within any two-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances o a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (for example, a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)

•

The binge-eating episodes are associated with three (or more) of the following: o eating much more rapidly than normal o eating until feeling uncomfortably full o eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry o eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating o feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterwards

• • •

Marked distress regarding binge eating is present.

The binge eating occurs, on average, at least once a week for three months.

The binge eating is not associated with the recurrent use of inappropriate compensatory behavior (for example, purging) and does not occur exclusively during the course of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.

Share these criteria with your students in a supportive, nurturing atmosphere. Be sensitive to the fact that some of your students may have struggled with (or still be struggling with) an eating disorder.

Lecture Launcher 11.2: Weight and See Perceptions of body weight can play a role in the motivation to eat; from the perceptual distortions seen in anorexic patients, to the inexplicable way clothes seem to shrink at the waist, to the hesitancy to have one more doughnut as we look in the mirror. One study suggests, however, that culture may play a role in one’s perceptions of weight and body image.

Researchers at the University of Arizona asked African-American and white teenage girls to describe their version of an “ideal” girl. The white teens suggested someone blue-eyed, 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing between 100 and 110 pounds—in short, Barbie. The black teens, in contrast, emphasized personal characteristics such as a sense of style, a nice personality, or having a good head on one’s shoulders. When pressed for a physical description, most responded that fuller hips, large thighs, and a small waist were desirable.

The researchers also found that close to 90 percent of the white teens were dissatisfied with their weight, 9 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e whereas 70 percent of the black respondents were satisfied. In the case of the white teens, having weight as so central an aspect of their self-views may promote increased social stress and unrealistic expectations about achieving some “body ideal.” The African-American women, though satisfied with their bodies, may not be concerned enough about their weight, given their heightened risk of hypertension as adults. In either case, perceptions of one’s body image are clearly influenced by personal, social, and cultural standards that may vary from one subculture to another.

Halliwell, E. (2015). Future directions for positive body image research. Body Image, 14, 177-189.

Staff (1994, September/October). White weight. Psychology Today, p. 9.

Nichter, M. (2001). Fat talk: What girls and their parents say about dieting. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Tylka, T. L., & Wood-Barcalow, N. L. (2015). What is and what is not positive body image? Conceptual foundations and construct definition. Body Image, 14, 118-129.

Lecture Launcher 11.3: Pro-Ana As you discuss eating disorders with your class, some students may mention the existence of pro-eatingdisorder-websites, blogs, or Instagram and Twitter accounts. For example, there are hundreds of proanorexia, or “pro-ana,” discussion groups on the Internet. Although some of these websites claim to be nonjudgmental support groups for people suffering from anorexia, many provide tips for losing weight, and post “thinspirational” photos of extremely slender people. Some even claim that anorexia is a valid lifestyle choice. Since these websites first began to appear, doctors and clinicians have grown increasingly concerned about the effect they might have on those suffering from eating disorders, especially young girls. Studies suggest that visiting these websites negatively affects self-esteem and body image, and that the severity and length of an eating disorder can be made worse by visiting them. Some experts and advocates have called for these pro-eating disorder sites to be banned or blocked by various governments around the world.

As a group, ask students to debate whether pro-anorexia websites should be banned or not. If students are unable to think of reasons to allow the sites, use the following questions to broaden the debate: Does freedom of speech apply to these websites? Could genuine support groups for anorexia get caught up in the ban? If websites should be banned if they encourage dangerous behaviors, should websites that encourage drug use or even skydiving be banned? Do they believe that closing pro-ana websites would reduce the prevalence of anorexia? Extend the activity by having students respond to this writing prompt: A study in 2006 showed that patients who visited pro-anorexia websites had more problems related to their anorexia. Does this necessarily mean that viewing pro-ana websites exacerbates anorexia? Why or why not? Describe a study that might help test the hypothesis that visiting pro-ana websites causes more severe anorexia.

Sample answer: The study showed that visiting pro-eating-disorder websites is correlated with more severe eating disorders, but this does not mean that visiting the sites caused the more severe eating disorder. It may be the case that people who have more severe eating disorders are simply more likely to visit these websites. One way to test whether these websites make anorexia worse is to take a random sample of anorexia patients and to restrict their access to the websites. If their symptoms get better, it is likely that the websites were making them worse.

Bardone-Cone, A. & Cass, K. (2007). What does viewing a pro-anorexia website do? An experimental examination of website exposure and moderating effects. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 40(6), 537-548.

Boepple, L. & Thompson, J. K. (2016). A content analytic comparison of fitspiration and thinspiration websites. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 49i, 98-101.

Cornelius, T. & Blanton, H. (2016). The limits to pride: A test of the pro-anorexia hypothesis. Eating Disorders, 24(2), 138-147.

Ging, D. & Garvey, S. (2018). ‘Written in these scars are the stories I can’t explain’: A content analysis of pro-ana and thinspiration image sharing on Instagram. New Media & Society, 20(3), 1181-1200.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Springen, K. (2006, December 7). Mixed messages. http://www.newsweek.com/id/44107.

Wick, M. & Harriger, J. (2018). A content analysis of thinspiration images and text posts on Tumblr. Body image, 24, 13-16. http://www.proanatips.com/.

Lecture Launcher 11.4: Sleep and School Times Studies have shown that adolescents have greater sleep needs than adults, due to changes in circadian rhythms. If they are in their late adolescence, your students are likely to report preferring to go to sleep later at night and then to sleep later in the morning. In addition, adolescents face a need for a greater amount of sleep compared to older people.

Ask students how this information can be used. Recently, for example, high schools have begun moving their start times to a later hour in the morning to accommodate these adolescent sleep needs. Schools that have taken this step report better attendance. However, this measure often causes a logistical problem with busing young children in the predawn hours. In addition, later school start times may restrict teens’ abilities to participate in sports or to hold after-school jobs. Nevertheless, the findings from studies of adolescent sleep needs led U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) to propose the ZZZ’s to A’s Act in March 2001. The act was designed to encourage school districts to delay school start times until after 9 a.m. by providing federal grants of up to $25,000 to cover the administrative and operating costs associated with making this transition. Would your students support such a bill? Do they wish that their schools had started later? What do they see as the pros and cons?

Blankinship, D. G. (2016). School starting later for some high school students. http://www.tweentribune.com/ Frontline: Inside the human brain: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from.

Lecture Launcher 11.5: Should Teenagers Be Held Culpable for Their Actions?

In a landmark 2005 decision, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that murderers who were younger than 18 at the time of their crime should not be put to death. In order to reach their conclusion, the justices relied heavily on psychological and neurological research showing that the brains of adolescents are not fully mature until around 20 years old. In particular, the frontal lobes—where much of our ability to process the consequences of our actions is located—are usually among the last areas of the brain to fully mature.

This, along with other evidence showing that teenagers often lack the ability to control their impulsive behaviors, led the majority of the justices to conclude that adolescents younger than 18 are not fully culpable for their actions. In fact, this was similar to the reason why the Supreme Court barred the execution of intellectually impaired people several years earlier.

The question of whether teenagers are legally responsible for their actions raises a host of interesting questions for students to consider. For example: If teenagers have impaired judgment and lack the ability to control impulsive behavior, can they be held responsible for any of their actions? Where should the line be drawn? Does the Supreme Court’s ruling barring the execution of criminals 17 and younger equate being a teenager with a form of intellectual impairment? If so, do students feel that this is accurate? If compulsive stealing were shown to have neurological causes, does this mean that kleptomaniacs could not be held legally responsible for their actions? Should a person with high testosterone levels be legally culpable for any violent acts they might carry out? How much of our behavior is biological, and how much is driven by personal choice?

Beckman, M. (2004). Crime, culpability, and the adolescent brain. Science, 305, 596-599.

Larsen, B. & Luna, B. (2018). Adolescence as a neurobiological critical period for the development of higher-order cognition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 94, 179-195.

Lickley, R. A. & Sebastian, C. L. (2018). The neural basis of reactive aggression and its development in

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e adolescence. Psychology, Crime & Law, 24(3), 313-333.

Oyefiade, A. A., Ameis, S., Lerch, J. P., Rockel, C., Szulc, K. U., Scantlebury, N., ... & Mabbott, D. J. (2018). Development of short‐range white matter in healthy children and adolescents. Human Brain Mapping, 39(1), 204-217.

Lecture Launcher 11.6: Gender Differences in Sexuality A meta-analysis has examined the interplay of gender and sexuality, a topic relevant to adolescence. As their bodies mature and an interest in sexual activity grows, adolescents are at risk of unwanted pregnancies, contracting sexually transmitted infections, date rape, and so on. Often, differences in the behavior and attitudes of girls and boys becoming women and men fuel these outcomes.

Mary Beth Oliver and Janet Shibley Hyde examined 177 sources that reported gender differences in a variety of sexual behaviors and attitudes. Their meta-analytic review concluded that: •

Between the 1960s and the 1980s, gender differences decreased for many behaviors. The authors credit this narrowing of the gap to a variety of factors, such as the availability of birth control pills (starting in 1960), the legalization of abortion, a rapidly rising divorce rate, and the AIDS and herpes epidemics (begun in the 1980s).

•

There were two large gender differences in sexuality: Men reported a higher incidence of masturbation, and also held more permissive attitudes toward sex. For example, men were more likely than women to be accepting of premarital sex and to feel less guilty about engaging in it.

Although attitudes toward masturbation did not differ between genders, 92 percent of men (compared to 52 percent of women) masturbate during the course of their lifetimes.

•

Men and women show little difference in their attitudes toward homosexuality, although men are more likely to engage in homosexual acts.

•

Men lose their virginity earlier than women, have sex more frequently, and report having more sexual partners over their lifetimes. The effect sizes for these differences were in the small to moderate range.

Cherkasskaya, E. & Rosario, M. (2018). The relational and bodily experiences theory of sexual desire in women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1212-9.

Lammers, J. & Stoker, J. I. (2018). Power affects sexual assertiveness and sexual esteem equally in women and men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1285-5.

Oliver, M. B. & Hyde, J. S. (1993). Gender differences in sexuality: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 29-51.

Reynolds, T., Baumeister, R. F., & Maner, J. K. (2018). Competitive reputation manipulation: Women strategically transmit social information about romantic rivals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 78, 195-209.

Thompson, A. E., Bagley, A. J., & Moore, E. A. (2018). Young men and women’s implicit attitudes towards consensually nonmonogamous relationships. Psychology & Sexuality, 9(2), 117-131.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 11.1: Introducing Real, Live Adolescents If possible, invite a panel of adolescents to class who are willing to be interviewed by a moderator. Don’t enlist students in the class, but try to get volunteers from a local high school. Have students get together in small groups ahead of time to prepare questions for the panel. As a twist, have students write down their own expectations for the answers they will get to their questions. As the class reviews this exercise, remind students to compare the real answers they got to their own expectations. Students are often surprised that they are no longer considered peers by adolescents and, more importantly, they don’t really know current adolescent slang, issues, or concerns as well as they thought they did.

Student Activity 11.2: Adolescence and Identity Development An excellent and involving way for students to consider the topic of adolescent development is to apply theory and research in this area to their own experiences. For this assignment, ask your students to write a thoughtful, reflective paper exploring aspects of their own identity formation during adolescence.

Students should be given latitude to address whatever issues they feel are important and to include personal experiences at their discretion. It is important to assure students that their papers will be strictly confidential and that they do not have to reveal any sensitive information about themselves. Although there need not be firm guidelines for this assignment, you might suggest the following questions as potential issues for discussion: 1. Describe five positive and five negative characteristics you had as an adolescent. How did you come to be aware of your positive characteristics? Your negative characteristics? How did you overcome the negative aspects of your personality?

2. What were your typical concerns during early, middle, and late adolescence? How did you deal with these concerns?

3. Can you think of one or more events that happened during your high school years that marked a turning point in your life or that had a profound influence on your personality? In other words, was there an event that caused you to feel that you were crossing some boundary or somehow growing up and developing into a different, more mature person? Looking back, how do you feel about it now?

4. What were you peer relationships like? How did they affect your life? How did your peer relationships change throughout adolescence?

5. What was your relationship with your parents like? Describe some of the positive and negative aspects. What were the major issues in this relationship? How has your relationship with your parents changed?

6. How would you generally characterize your adolescence? Was it difficult? Does it support the “storm and stress” view of adolescence? What were your fears, anxieties, and hopes?

7. Can you think of personal instances that support David Elkind’s fallacies of adolescent thinking: imaginary audience and personal fable? Do these concepts apply to your thoughts and behaviors at that time?

8. How did your peers influence you with respect to alcohol or tobacco use? What information about smoking, drugs, and sexual behavior did you receive from school? What influenced your own decisions about these matters?

Student Activity 11.3: The Ideal Body You might explore with your students the role advertisements play in the development and perpetuation 13 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e of gender-role stereotypes and ideal-body imagery. Melinda Jones (1991) noted that an analysis of advertisements by Erving Goffman (1976) found numerous instances of subtle stereotyping including: 1. functional ranking—the tendency to depict men in executive roles and as more functional when collaborating with women 2. relative size—the tendency to depict men as taller and larger than women, except when women are clearly superior in social status 3. ritualization of subordination—an overabundance of images of women lying on floors and beds or as objects of men's mock assaults 4. the feminine touch—the tendency to show women cradling and caressing the surface of objects with their fingers 5. family—fathers depicted as physically distant from their families or as relating primarily to sons, and mothers depicted as relating primarily to daughters Using the types of stereotyping listed above, you’ll need to find a set of advertisements that illustrate one or more of the types and preferably incorporate them into a PowerPoint presentation. Jones indicated that she found it relatively easy to find examples in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Newsweek, and Vogue. She also recommended combining advertisements from the 1950s with more current advertisements to allow the comparisons of different trends in gender stereotyping over time. You can also include advertisements that illustrate nontraditional or innovative gender-role portrayals, as well as ads that do not incorporate gender stereotypes at all. After reviewing Goffman’s types of gender stereotyping (it is best to write them on the board) and providing several sample advertisements, ask students to take out a blank sheet of paper and number it from 1 to 20. Tell students that you are going to show them a series of 20 advertisements, and they are to indicate which types of gender stereotyping, if any, are depicted in each ad. After showing the advertisements, review them and discuss students’ responses to each. Jones suggested that class discussion can focus on how advertisements influence gender stereotypes as well as changes in stereotypes over time (if you included advertisements from the 1950s), and how other sources (such as television or the workplace) contribute to gender stereotyping.

Be sure to tie your presentation and classroom discussion to adolescent development. At a time when young people are experiencing their own bodily changes and contemplating their roles in society, how do these messages affect physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development?

Basow, S. A. (1986). Gender stereotypes: Traditions and alternatives. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Döring, N., Reif, A., & Poeschl, S. (2016). How gender-stereotypical are selfies? A content analysis and comparison with magazine adverts. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 955-962.

Goffman, E. (1976). Gender advertisements. New York: Harper and Row. Jones, M. (1991). Gender stereotyping in advertisements. Teaching of Psychology, 18, 231-233.

Prieler, M., Ivanov, A., & Hagiwara, S. (2015). Gender representations in East Asian advertising: Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. Comunicación y Sociedad, 28(1), 27. http://www.genderads.com/

Student Activity 11.4: Adolescent Antics Distribute 3x5 cards and ask your students to write on the card the dumbest, wildest thing they did as a young teenager (in high school or late junior high). Ask them to give their responses anonymously.

Collect them, divide the class into groups, and distribute the cards, randomly, to the groups. Ask the groups to determine which actions could be explained by Elkind’s ideas about adolescent egocentrism and the personal fable.

Student Activity 11.5: Back to the Future

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e How has the nature of adolescence changed over the past 100 years? Ask students to use either popular culture (e.g., movies such as the Andy Hardy series, Rebel Without a Cause, The Blackboard Jungle), history (e.g., old magazines), scholarly studies, interviews with elderly people, or their own ideas to review (or think about) this adolescent developmental stage. Remind students that 100 years ago, adolescence was not thought of as a specific stage of development; people went from being children to being young adults. How has the extension of education, especially higher education, contributed to this change? How has this affected adolescents? What have been the effects on society?

Student Activity 11.6: Teaching Children about Sex and STIs The following role-play exercise helps students become more aware of what they consider the important issues in sexuality. Through it, they may realize the influence of current cultural and intrapsychic scripts influencing sexual behavior, and may be surprised to discover the power of cultural prescriptions regarding appropriate gender role behaviors.

Divide the class into groups of six to eight students and suggest the following characters and situation for them to role play. The characters involved are Ann Adams, a 30-year-old mother; Ben Baird, a 30-yearold father; Carol, a 12-year-old girl; and Chuck, a 12-year-old boy. The situation they should role play is that, due to a comment made by the son or daughter while watching a movie on TV, the parents realize that they must speak to their child about sex. Designate the groups as either Carol’s parents or Chuck’s parents, and have a person in each group role play Ann, and a person roleplay Ben speaking to their girl or boy child. After the role play, have each group discuss the following topics: What were the differences in Ann and Ben’s talk with their child? Do you think those differences reflect gender roles and parental expectation differences?

1.

Do you think the parents were anxious or embarrassed by having to talk to their child? What message does that convey to the child about sex? Why is it often difficult for parents to speak to their children about sex?

2.

What do you think a child of this age needs to know about sex? Should topics such as homosexuality, birth control, and masturbation be discussed? What about rape, abortion, and pedophilia?

3.

What is the best approach to warning children about the dangers of sexually transmitted infections and how they can be prevented.?

4.

It is important to schedule time for the groups to come together after their role play and discussions. Have at least one of “Carol’s parents” groups and one of “Chuck’s parents” groups report on their role play and discussion. Have the class consider if there are any differences in what a girl and a boy need to know about sex, and if there are differences in the way parents behave toward male and female children.

Student Activity 11.7: AIDS in Film To provide your students with a better understanding of HIV and AIDS as a sexually transmitted infection (STI), ask them to write a reaction paper in response to one of the films listed below. What did they learn about AIDS and its victims that they didn’t already know? Did they have any misconceptions that were cleared up by the film? Do they have better insight into and empathy for the suffering of AIDS patients?

What suggestions do they have for getting the message across to teenagers and college students to engage in safer sex?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e •

120 BPM (2017). This French film focuses on the AIDS epidemic in 1990s France. Protests organized by ACT UP lead to support for and disagreements with that organization on a personal and interpersonal level. Ultimately, a story of individual triumphs and tragedies is conveyed.

•

And the Band Played On (1993). Matthew Modine heads an all-star cast in this excellent madefor-cable movie that dramatizes the story of the AIDS epidemic. The story chronicles the initial discovery of the disease by the Centers for Disease Control; the failure of the blood-bank industry to take proper precautions; efforts in the gay community to adopt safer sex and to shut down bathhouses; and the long, uphill battle to convince the government and the public of the severity of the problem, with many intriguing subplots in between. Based on the book by the late Randy Shilts.

•

Dallas Buyers Club (2013). Matthew McConaughey plays a person with AIDS who smuggles unapproved treatment drugs into Texas during a time when little was understood about the course and prevention of the disease.

•

Longtime Companion (1990). Bruce Davison stars in this highly acclaimed film that follows a close-knit group of gay men in New York City in the early days of AIDS. The affecting and sensitive film reveals the increasingly devastating and personal consequences of the disease, as each of the men individually becomes affected by it in one way or another.

•

Philadelphia (1993). Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of a gay man with AIDS who was fired by a law firm because of his condition. Denzel Washington plays the attorney who helps the man sue the law firm for wrongful dismissal and, as a result, changes his own attitudes about homosexuality and AIDS.

•

Parting Glances (1986). This film, produced relatively early in the AIDS era, focuses on Robert and Michael, a couple preparing for a two-year separation. Steve Buscemi plays the role of Nick, a rock star dying of AIDS, but living life with grace and dignity. (An Early Frost [1985] offers another early cinematic look at HIV and AIDS.)

•

A Home at the End of the World (2004). Colin Farrell and Robin Wright Penn star in this downbeat tale of desperation, identity, and hope. The lives of several people are intertwined as one of them fights (and loses) his battle with AIDS.

•

Kids (1995). Some people think director Harmony Korine is a genius; others disagree. A compelling argument can be made for either case after viewing Gummo, Trash Humpers, or Spring Breakers. His directorial debut, Kids, offers a glimpse of teenage life during the rise of the AIDS crisis in New York City.

•

Rent (2005). You saw the musical on Broadway (OK, maybe you didn’t; maybe you couldn’t get tickets). But you probably saw the movie. Continuing the “AIDS in New York” theme of several of the films listed here, Rent follows the lives of several Bohemian types as they laugh, languish, and learn their way through life.

In addition, there are a number of excellent documentaries (as opposed to fictionalized feature films) on the subject.

Student Activity 11.8: Reflective Journal

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Ask students to write in their journals about their own body images when they were adolescents. How did they think and feel about their bodies? Where did they learn these reactions? What do they think now?

Has their body type changed much since early adolescence? What kind of relationship have they had with and about food? Eating? Dieting? Handout 11-1 can be used in conjunction with this exercise.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Allan, E., Le Grange, D., Sawyer, S. M., McLean, L. A., & Hughes, E. K. (2018). Parental expressed emotion during two forms of family‐based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa. European Eating Disorders Review, 26(1), 46-52.

Christian, P., & Smith, E. R. (2018). Adolescent undernutrition: Global burden, physiology, and nutritional risks. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 72(4), 316-328.

Corica, D., Aversa, T., Pepe, G., De Luca, F., & Wasniewska, M. (2018). Peculiarities of precocious puberty in boys and girls with McCune-Albright syndrome. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 9, 337.

Dahl, R. E., Allen, N. B., Wilbrecht, L., & Suleiman, A. B. (2018). Importance of investing in adolescence from a developmental science perspective. Nature, 554(7693), 441.

Dawson, R. S. (2018). Adolescent sexual health and education: Where does the pediatrician's responsibility fall? Pediatric Annals, 47(4), e136-e139.

Foulkes, L. & Blakemore, S. J. (2018). Studying individual differences in human adolescent brain development. Nature Neuroscience, 21, 315-323.

Holland, K., Dickson, A., & Dickson, A. (2018). ‘To the horror of experts’: reading beneath scholarship on pro-ana online communities. Critical Public Health, 28(5), 522-533.

Leal, W. E. & Jackson, D. B. (2018). Energy drinks and escalation in drug use severity: An emergent hazard to adolescent health. Preventive Medicine, 111, 391-396.

Linardon, J. & Wade, T. D. (2018). How many individuals achieve symptom abstinence following psychological treatments for bulimia nervosa? A meta‐analytic review. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 51(4), 287-294.

Matković, T., Cohen, N., & Štulhofer, A. (2018). The use of sexually explicit material and its relationship to adolescent sexual activity. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(5), 563-569.

Morris, A. S., Squeglia, L. M., Jacobus, J., & Silk, J. S. (2018). Adolescent brain development: Implications for understanding risk and resilience processes through neuroimaging research. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 28(1), 4-9.

Titchen, K. E., Maslyanskaya, S., Silver, E. J., & Coupey, S. M. (2018). Sexting and adolescent girls: Associations with sexual activity and abuse. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(2), S62.

Vijayakumar, N., de Macks, Z. O., Shirtcliff, E. A., & Pfeifer, J. H. (2018). Puberty and the human brain: Insights into adolescent development. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 92, 417-436.

Vaughn, M. G., Salas-Wright, C. P., Cordova, D., Nelson, E. J., & Jaegers, L. (2018). Racial and ethnic trends in illicit drug use and binge drinking among adolescent and young adult offenders in the United States. Journal of Criminal Justice, 59, 71-80.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Adolescence

An overview of the adolescent period is presented

1. Adolescence is usually defined by the onset of puberty; that is, bodily changes that mark a significant development (i.e., the ability to reproduce). For many people, however, a bodily change signifies little if a corresponding psychological change doesn’t also occur. Comment on this. To what extent does “being” an adolescent physically match with “feeling” like an adolescent psychologically? What happens in cases of a mismatch?

2. The ability to think abstractly brings with it the ability to think about “big questions,” existential conundrums that all humans wrestle with at some point. Discuss three of these big-ticket items, and note how thinking about them changes from pre-adolescence through adolescence to post-adolescence.

Body Image in Adolescence

12-year-old Kianna shares her perspective on life and relationships

1. Kianna’s mother recognizes the role of both parental and peer influence on her daughter. Comment on the extent to which both sources of feedback should be considered by a developing adolescent.

2. Do you think Kianna and her friend have a realistic view of their bodies and the societal pressures exerted on young girls?

Eating Disorders

The variety of eating disorders is considered

1. Summarize the health problems that result from each of the three eating disorders discussed in the video.

2. What do you think is the “worst” eating disorder to have? Although they’re all bad, they can be bad in different ways, so are some origins, progressions, or consequences worse than others?

Personal Fable

An explanation of how adolescents think, such as that is, is the focus of this video

1. A “personal fable” sounds like something enjoyable, like a tailor-made bedtime story that ends with happy children and a moral to be learned. In what sense is that true of how adolescents construct the fables in their lives? From their perspective, is a fable an instructive morality tale, or just “made up stuff” with little basis in reality? What about a parent’s perspective on their child’s fable?

2. Risk-taking is associated with endorsing a personal fable. Knowing this, and knowing the limitations of adolescents’ reasoning abilities, what programs or interventions can you suggest for reducing the risks associated with problematic adolescent behavior, such as consuming alcohol, smoking, taking drugs, or having unprotected sexual intercourse?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 11-1 Reflective Journal Exercise 11 Body image (how you think you look to other people) is an important part of your self-concept and selfesteem. This is especially true during adolescence. Because of the rapid changes taking place, many adolescents are dissatisfied with their bodies. Think back to high school. How did you feel about your body?

Use the following guidelines to help you reflect on how you felt about how you looked and whether this had any effect on how you felt about yourself or how you dressed and behaved.

Try to imagine yourself on a typical day in high school.

Compared to others, how did you feel about your: height weight breasts muscles ears hips legs nose hair eyes face clothes posture nails athletic ability skin teeth smile sexual activity with a dating partner overall body How do you think these early adolescent feelings have affected how you feel about yourself now?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 12 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN ADOLESCENCE CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

19

Revel Multimedia

20

Handouts

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CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Revel Resources Multimedia

Chapter Outline Identity: Asking “Who Am I?” Self-Concept and Self-Esteem Identity Formation: Change or Crisis?

Marcia’s Approach to Identity Development: Updating Erikson Religion and Spirituality Identity, Race, and Ethnicity Depression and Suicide: Psychological Difficulties in Adolescence

Learning Objectives 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 12.5, 12.6 Lecture Launchers 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4 Student Activities 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.4 Learning Objectives 12.7, 12.8, 12.9

Relationships: Family and Friends Family Ties: Changing Relations with Relations Relationships with Peers: The Importance of Belonging Popularity and Conformity

Lecture Launchers 12.5, 12.6, 12.7

Religion What Does It Mean to Have a Mental Disorder?

Adolescent Conflict With Parents What are Cliques and Crowds?

Student Activities 12.5, 12.6, 12.7 Dating, Sexual Behavior, and Teenage Pregnancy Dating and Sexual Relationships in the 21st Century Sexual Orientation: Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, and Transgender Individuals Teenage Pregnancies

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Learning Objectives 12.10, 12.11, 12.12 Student Activities 12.8, 12.9, 12.10

The Dating Game Sexual Orientation

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 12.1

Describe how self-concept and self-esteem develop during adolescence.

LO 12.2

Summarize how Erikson explains identity formation during adolescence.

LO 12.3

Explain Marcia’s categories of adolescent identity.

LO 12.4

Describe the role religion and spirituality play in identity formation in adolescence.

LO 12.5

Discuss the challenges ethnic and minority groups face in identity formation in adolescence.

LO 12.6

Identify the dangers adolescents face as they deal with the stresses of their age.

LO 12.7

Describe what family relationships are like during adolescence.

LO 12.8

Explain how relationships with peers change during adolescence.

LO 12.9

Discuss what it means to be popular and unpopular in adolescence and how adolescents respond to peer pressure.

LO 12.10 Describe the functions and characteristics of dating during adolescence and how sexuality develops.

LO 12.11 Explain how sexual orientation develops in adolescence.

LO 12.12 Summarize the challenges of teen pregnancy and the types of programs that are most effective in preventing it.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Satellite Vision II. Identity: Asking “Who Am I?” A. Self-Concept and Self-Esteem 1. Self-concept broadens during adolescence to include both your own assessment of who you are and also includes others’ views. a) The view of self becomes more organized and coherent. b) Adolescents can look at themselves in terms of traits and can see multiple aspects of themselves (which can be confusing at first).

2. Self-Esteem: How Do I Like Myself? a) Self-esteem is influenced by several factors: (1) Gender—especially in early adolescence, girls have lower self-esteem.

(2) SES—higher SES leads to more self-esteem (especially in late adolescence when one can buy things of value).

(3) Race—although this finding is now being questioned: Traditional research says that prejudice is incorporated into minority adolescents’ self-concepts. Recent research indicates that African American adolescents now have same levels of self-esteem as Caucasians (in fact, strong racial identity is related to higher self-esteem levels).

3. Gender Differences in Self-Esteem a) Adolescent boys have a higher self-esteem than girls.

4. Socioeconomic Status and Race differences in Self-Esteem a) The higher the SES, the higher the self-esteem. b) Using the combination of race and gender together (ethgender), findings indicate that: (1) African American and Hispanic males had the highest self-esteem.

(2) Asian and Native American females had the lowest levels.

B. Identity Formation: Change or Crises?

1. Erikson’s stage is the IDENTITY-VERSUS-IDENTITY-CONFUSION STAGE, where adolescents seek to determine what is unique and distinctive about themselves. a) Those who do not find a suitable identity tend to follow a dysfunctional path because their sense of self is diffuse—failing to organize around a central, unified core identity.

2. Societal Pressures and Reliance on Friends and Peers a) There are a lot of social pressures to achieve a secure identity (or at least have clear career or major goals). b) Now, adolescents rely more on friends and peers than adults.

3. Erikson suggests that adolescents have a psychological moratorium to let go of responsibilities for a while and explore new roles and possibilities.

C. Marcia’s Approach to Identity Development: Updating Erikson 1. He suggests four categories within which is either crisis, a period of identity development in which an adolescent consciously chooses between various alternatives and makes decisions— or commitment, a psychological investment in a course of action or an ideology.

2. The four statuses are: a) IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT: adolescents consider and explore various alternatives without commitment. b) IDENTITY FORECLOSURE: adolescents here did not do adequate personal exploration but made a commitment (usually following others’ directives). c) IDENTITY DIFFUSION: adolescents explore various options but never commit to one. d) MORATORIUM: adolescents explore and do not commit to an option and that creates anxiety and conflict. An identity is usually defined later, after a struggle.

4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e D. Religion and Spirituality 1. Spirituality is a sense of attachment to some higher power such as God, nature, or something sacred.

2. Children often accept their religious identity without question, but teenagers may view religion more critically and seek to distance themselves from formal religion.

3. Children view God quite literally, while adolescents begin to think more abstractly.

4. Leaving adolescence (individuative-reflective stage), people reflect on their beliefs and values, accepting multiple views of God as possible.

5. In the final stage of faith development, conjunctive stage, an individual develops a broad, inclusive view of religion and humanity.

6. Although adolescents are not stuck in one category, research indicates that identity gels by the age of 18.

E. Identity, Race, and Ethnicity 1. Forming an identity presents a particular challenge for members of ethnic and racial backgrounds because of several choices. a) Cultural assimilation model holds that individual cultural identities should be assimilated into a unified culture. b) Pluralistic society model suggests that the U.S. society is made up of diverse, coequal cultural groups that should preserve their individual cultural features. c) Bicultural identity suggests that adolescents can draw from their own culture and integrate themselves into the dominant culture.

F. Depression and Suicide: Psychological Difficulties in Adolescents 1. Adolescent Depression a) Although many adolescents experience depressed moods, only about 3 percent experience a major depression, a full-blown psychological disorder in which depression is severe and lingers for long periods.

(1) Depression has several causes, including biological, environmental, and social factors. b) Girls have higher incidences of depression than boys, but the cause is not clear.

(1) Are there more stresses on the female gender role?

(2) Is this the result of girls’ tendencies to react to stress by turning inward, thus experiencing helplessness and hopelessness?

(3) Hormonal differences are not a factor.

2. Adolescent Suicide a) Adolescent suicide rates have tripled in the last 30 years—it is the third most common cause of death for teenagers.

(1) The current rate is one teenage suicide every 90 minutes.

(2) More girls attempt suicide than boys, but more boys succeed. (a) Males tend to use more violent methods. (b) There are estimates of as many as 200 attempts for every successful suicide. b) One reason for this increase is the increase in teenage stress—but that is not the whole picture. Other factors include: (1) Depression (2) Family conflicts (3) History of abuse and/or neglect (4) Drug and alcohol abuse c) CLUSTER SUICIDE occurs when one suicide leads to attempts by others to kill themselves.

III. Relationships: Family and Friends A. Family Ties: Changing Relations with Relations

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 1. Family relationships change when adolescents begin to question, and sometimes rebel, against their parents’ views.

2. The Quest for Autonomy a. Adolescents are seeking AUTONOMY—independence and a sense of control over their lives. b. The increase in autonomy usually occurs gradually throughout adolescence and changes the parent-child relationship from an asymmetrical to a more balanced one (for power and influence).

3. Culture and Autonomy a) The degree of autonomy achieved varies with families and with cultural expectations (Western societies tend to value individualism whereas Asian cultures value collectivism). b) Cultural and gender differences emerge in autonomy.

(1) Culturally, Western adolescents seek autonomy at an earlier age than the Eastern counterparts, culturally valuing individualism over collectivism.

(2) Gender plays a role, with males permitted more autonomy at an earlier age than females.

3. The Myth of the Generation Gap a) The GENERATION GAP, a divide between parents’ and adolescents’ attitudes, values, aspirations, and world views, is mostly a myth; adolescents and their parents tend to share the same major values.

(1) In matters of personal taste, differences are often great.

(2) Adolescents’ argumentativeness and new assertiveness can initially cause conflict in the family but are usually resolved by the end of this stage.

(3) Often the disagreements involve differing definitions of, and rationales for, appropriate and inappropriate conduct.

(4) Newly sophisticated reasoning abilities may lead teens to think about parental rules in more complex ways.

B. Relationships with Peers: The Importance of Belonging 1. Peer relationships are more critical to adolescents than any other time of life.

2. Peers provide an opportunity for social comparison.

3. REFERENCE GROUP, a group of people with whom one compares oneself. Reference groups present a set of norms or standards, against which adolescents judge their social success.

4. Cliques and Crowds: Belonging to a Group a) One of the consequences of the increasing cognitive sophistication of adolescents is the ability to group others in more discriminating ways. b) Adolescents are usually part of some identifiable group. c) CLIQUES are 2 to 12 people that have frequent interaction. d) CROWDS are larger groups where people share some characteristic but often don’t interact with each other. e) There are strong expectations that people in a particular crowd behave in specific ways.

(Is it a self-fulfilling prophecy?) f) Membership in particular cliques and crowds (1) Determined by degree of similarity with members of group such as substance abuse (2) Group labels are abstractions (a) Requiring teens to make judgments of people (i) With whom they may interact only rarely and (ii) Of whom they have little direct knowledge

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 5. Gender relations change during the period of adolescence. a) SEX CLEAVAGE is characteristic of early adolescence where girls play with girls, boys with boys. b) With puberty, there is hormonal and social pressure to interact and eventually most adolescents are in mixed-sex cliques. c) At the end of adolescence, cliques become less powerful and male-female relationships become the focus.

C. Popularity and Conformity 1. Popularity and rejection are central foci of adolescent lives. a) Popular: those who are most liked. b) CONTROVERSIAL ADOLESCENTS are liked by some peers and disliked by others. c) REJECTED ADOLESCENTS are actively disliked, and peers may react to them in an obviously negative manner. d) NEGLECTED ADOLESCENTS receive relatively little attention from their peers in the form of either positive or negative interactions.

2. PEER PRESSURE is the influence of one’s peers to conform to their behavior and attitudes. a) For other decisions, adolescents turn to those whom they consider to be experts in that field or problem area. b) In essence, susceptibility to peer pressure does not rise in adolescence; in fact, conformity decreases as adolescents increase their own autonomy.

3. Juvenile Delinquency: The Crimes of Adolescence a) UNDERSOCIALIZED DELINQUENTS are raised with little parental supervision or discipline: they have not been appropriately socialized.

(1) They tend to be relatively aggressive and violent early in life; are rejected by their peers; are likely to have ADHD; and are usually less intelligent than average.

(2) They are relatively unlikely to be rehabilitated. b) SOCIALIZED DELINQUENTS are adolescent delinquents who know and subscribe to the norms of society, and who are fairly normal psychologically.

(1) They are usually influenced by a group and their criminal behavior is usually committed with a group.

IV. Dating, Sexual Behavior, and Teenage Pregnancy A. Dating and Sexual Relationships in the 21st Century 1. The Functions of Dating a) Dating serves the functions of learning how to establish intimacy, entertainment, and developing one’s own identity. b) Research indicates that most dating in early and middle adolescence is superficial, so it does not help in learning to establish intimacy. c) True intimacy is more common in late adolescence where it can be a potential prelude to marriage. d) For homosexual adolescents, dating presents challenges such as: (1) Homophobic prejudice (2) Finding partners willing to openly express their sexual orientation 2. Dating, Race, and Ethnicity a) Cultural influences affect dating patterns for minority adolescents, especially if concept of dating is unfamiliar to parents.

3. Sexual Behavior a) MASTURBATION, sexual self-gratification, is the initiation into sexuality for most adolescents.

(1) Although it is widespread, it can still cause feelings of shame.

(2) Today, masturbation is seen as normal, healthy, and harmless; precisely opposite to the historical legacy of shame, guilt, and punishment.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 4. Sexual Intercourse a) Ages for first sexual intercourse have been declining. b) Racial and ethnic differences (1) African Americans generally have sex for the first time earlier than do Puerto Ricans, who have sex earlier than whites do. c) The old double standard, in which premarital sex was considered permissible for males but not for females, has largely been supplanted by a new norm—permissiveness with affection, where premarital intercourse is viewed as permissible for both men and women if it occurs in the context of a long-term, committed, or loving relationship.

C. Sexual Orientation: Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, and Transgender Individuals 1. It is difficult to determine exact proportions of homosexuality because sexuality is seen as a continuum.

2. What Determines Sexual Orientation a) Causes for homosexuality are not understood, but biological and genetic factors seem to play an important role. b) Psychological family theories do not hold up because no one type of family dynamic is related to sexual orientation.

3. Homosexual adolescents have a very difficult time and they are at greater risk for depression and suicide.

D. Teenage Pregnancies 1. Teenage pregnancy, although decreasing, is still of concern.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 12.1: Identity and the Tasks of Adolescence Sometimes a concept from academic research or theory catches the attention of the public and becomes integrated into the framework of society’s general knowledge. Perhaps this occurs because the concept is particularly relevant at the time, or because it provides a framework for a generally recognized problem or issue. The “identity crisis” as proposed by Erik Erikson is such a concept, for it was eagerly adopted by American society in the 1960s. At that time the baby-boom cohort was reaching adolescence and young adulthood. The Vietnam War loomed as a threat to young people, civil rights activists challenged the thoughtless discrimination practiced by older generations, and the women’s liberation movement contested traditional ideas of female identity. Also, by the 1960s, adolescence had become established as a life stage created by society: a span of years between childhood and full adult status in which a young person prepared to live and work in an increasingly complex society.

Erikson saw adolescence as a pivotal stage of development in which earlier psychosocial conflicts return in a new form, and in which the foundations are laid for the intimacy, generativity, and wisdom that are the favorable outcomes of later stages. Developmental psychologists sometimes organize discussions of life stages around the developmental tasks of the stage, the things we must do to be ready to move to the next stage. The elements of the identity crisis can be considered “tasks of adolescence,” as explicated in the following list: 1. Acquiring temporal perspective. One aspect of temporal perspective is to have a clear conception of past and future, and to have the confidence to plan for the future. Another aspect of temporal perspective is the ability to regulate one’s own time. First-year students entering university who are living away from home for the first time often have difficulty regulating their own time. With no parent present to say “go to bed” they will solve the world’s problems all night and be unable to get up for class the next morning. There are people in middle age who lose jobs, miss airplanes, and alienate friends because of their lack of ability to regulate their time.

2. Acquiring self-certainty. Self-certainty is equivalent to what is also referred to as self-confidence or self-esteem. Erikson thought that efforts to begin to “sever the apron strings” and to become an autonomous or independent person begin early in life, about the time we begin to walk. If the child sees herself being able to do for herself and accomplish little things independently, then she has the basis to develop confidence in herself. In adolescence there are new threats to self-confidence—the prospect of having to be financially independent and to find a desirable partner, for example. Another aspect of self-certainty or self-esteem is that it must be accompanied by a self-image that is compatible with reality. Self-esteem that is unrealistic is a defense, a fantasy that prevents selffulfillment.

3. Role experimentation. During childhood, we usually look to parents or teachers for role models.

During adolescence, young people are likely to reject earlier models and go through a series of “trying on” different roles. Movies and television provide a smorgasbord of roles and role models.

Role models can be real people, characters from fiction, historical personages, or creations of our own imagination. Erikson thought that role experimentation is a healthy manifestation of the search for identity, but at some time we have to take the pieces we like from our role experimentation and put them together into a consistent identity.

The opposite of role experimentation is role fixation. Sometimes one encounters a young person who has had an identity laid on so heavily by parents that attempts at role experimentation produce too 9 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e much guilt to be pursued.

4. Apprenticeship. Theorists are often reluctant to talk about anything as mundane as getting a job and earning a living. Erikson recognized that the prospect of having to be self-supporting is a real concern of adolescents. This doesn’t mean that an adolescent has to choose her life’s work in junior high school, but it does mean making general preparation for independence. You may not have chosen a career or even decided on a major, but the fact that you are here in class suggests that you do not suffer from what Erikson called “work paralysis.”

5. Sexual polarization. Adolescents must determine whether they are heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual, often in the context of great pressures for conformity to sexual roles that parents and most peers consider “normal.” Erikson wrote about the aspect of sexual polarization that can be described as “comfort and confidence in the role of male or female.” In early adolescence, young people often feel sexually inadequate because their bodies are less than perfect, or because they feel inferior to peers who tell tall tales of sexual adventures and prowess. Furthermore, sexual roles are changing at the same time that adolescents must form a sexual identity.

6. Questions of authority, and being a leader and a follower. Resentment of authority is so common among American adolescents that it is tempting to think of it as normal. Differentiating between legitimate authority and arbitrary authority is a task of identity establishment. Identity formation also includes being able to take the role of leader or follower in the appropriate circumstances.

7. Ideological commitment. As identity is formed, young people must select a basic philosophy, a set of values, an orientation toward religion and politics. Excessive zeal for a cause, dramatic religious conversion, or allegiance to a cult are some of the more extreme symptoms of young people searching for something to believe in. The task the adolescent faces is to adopt an ideology that is internally consistent and compatible with the self and the self-image.

Identity formation brings together various aspects of the self into a coherent whole and establishes a psychic “core” that defines the self. It is probably not a coincidence that Erikson’s identity crisis begins concurrently with Piaget’s stage of formal operations. Some of the cognitive skills of the mature intellect represented by this stage of cognitive development are instrumental in bringing together the threads of self.

Lecture Launcher 12.2: Adolescents Aren’t Just Slackers Many of the negative stereotypes about adolescents involve their “laziness” and inability to pay attention or complete tasks. There is a general sense that teenagers are “flaky” and seem to “lose their minds” during puberty. Because most college students are in their early 20s, they can easily recall situations in which their parents seemed to get frustrated by their behaviors and decisions. Students may be relieved to find out that many of the attention and concentration problems of adolescence are related to a lack of brain maturation. Recent studies have demonstrated that the brain areas related to multitasking, which are located in the frontal cortex, continue to develop throughout adolescence. Another source of conflict between parents and teens is associated with teen sleeping patterns. Contrary to earlier beliefs that teens are just lazy, research has shown that teenagers need to sleep longer and later than adults in order to function optimally. http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-still-under-construction/complete-index.shtml http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/sleepteen.html http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050518104401.htm

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Lecture Launcher 12.3: Understanding Adolescent Depression Although mood swings are considered normal or to be expected during adolescence, there is also a high incidence of forms of depression during adolescence that too often gets overlooked as something that will pass. A key aspect of depression is the cognition that “I am not adequate; I’m not OK as a person.”

Because adolescence is a time of rapid and dramatic change in almost all areas (physical, mental, emotional), adolescents go through periods when there seems to be no natural or comfortable way to be.

Just when one has gotten used to being a child, something changes, including one’s own and others’ expectations. Remind students, too, of adolescent egocentrism: the teenager feels as if everyone is watching her or him (imaginary audience) and that no one really understands what it is like for her or him (personal fable). If you put this feeling of isolation together with uncomfortable and seemingly uncontrollable changes, it is not surprising that teenagers have a great deal of self-doubt, selfrecrimination, and frustration.

When family and friends are dealing with someone in depression, they often do (with the best of loving intentions) the very worst things possible. A natural response people have to someone who is depressed is to try and cheer the person up or make the person feel better. That usually takes the form of reminding the person of all of the good things in life, of how really lucky the person is, and that many other people worldwide face adversity. Again, the intention is to cheer up the depressed adolescent (or adult), but what has really unintentionally been communicated is that “you have no right to be depressed. You really are inadequate, stupid, or just plain selfish to be feeling like that!”

Reassuring or cheering up someone who is depressed is a good way to make that person feel more depressed. It invalidates the real emotions that are felt and tells the person that feeling that way is wrong or bad. The lesson the depressed person takes from such an interaction is to not tell the reassuring person about their feelings. The other lesson is to stuff one’s feelings down (one of the genuine psychological factors in developing depression). With authentic feelings buried, the depressed person feels superficial, out of contact with the world, and unable to muster genuine feelings at all.

What’s a better strategy? Don’t tell an adolescent, “I know just what you’re feeling.” Even if it’s true, the person cannot hear that, so it will not ring true to her or him. Empathy is the key. Let the depressed adolescent know that you are concerned, that you care, and that it is obvious that she or he has some very difficult concerns. Just being there is the most active, helpful thing you can do for a depressed friend.

Lecture Launcher 12.4: Suicide in Adolescence: Don’t Ignore the Warning Signs Use Handout 12-1 to go over the warning signs for suicide. Suicide rates among adolescents have tripled since 1950—it is the third leading cause of death for this age group, following accidents and homicides.

As in depression, an adolescent’s life often feels chaotic and confused, her or his own identity is not clear, and problems seem overwhelming, unique, and unsolvable. Suicide is a grasp at a permanent solution, but not a solution that really solves anything.

Lecture Launcher 12.5: Breaking the Ties One of the key tasks of adolescence is separating from one’s family and becoming an independent person.

This can be a very difficult task depending on the ongoing dynamics in the family. Ideally, adolescence is when a person starts to become more inner-directed rather than psychologically dependent on the family.

Also, ideally, the family wants to help a teenager develop her or his own identity and allow her or him to

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e try new behaviors, ideas, and so on. This is what happens, happily, in the majority of families. But what happens if the family is not ready to let this child go?

Some families become “child focused.” That means that the adults in the family relate to each other only in terms of the children, not as individual adults. The children, therefore, are vital to that couple to keep them together. If they lost the children, they might lose their relationship. Couples often don’t realize that they have turned into this kind of child-focused relationship. But think about how powerful a drive it would be for a child-focused couple to hold on to their child to try to keep the adolescent from leaving them. The family would believe that it was holding on to the child for the child’s own best interest (not for the family’s own). Remember, these are not bad or abusive families; rather, these are adults who have probably not had their own needs met and are doing the best they can.

Ask students what they would expect in this kind of situation. There are two likely scenarios. One scenario is that the adolescent will unconsciously agree to follow her or his parents’ desires and stop trying to separate from the family. This adolescent tends to become a homebody: somewhat passive, usually shy, with few friends or interests outside of things she or he can do at home. (By the way, that very behavior supports the family’s belief that the adolescent is not ready to be out on her or his own and needs the extra help and protection of the family.)

The second scenario is that the adolescent pulls against the family to break out. Remember, unconsciously the family tries to pull the teenager back, so it will take a large amount of effort to break out. The adolescent in this scenario is the one who exhibits wild, rebellious behavior. Because the adolescent is unsure of how to be her or his own person, the most psychologically logical thing to do is to go to the extreme and act (try to be) just the opposite of what the family wants. What is a family’s usual reaction to wild, rebellious behavior? Usually the family will try to “pull the child back,” either by guilt or by threats.

Because being pulled back is the very thing the adolescent is fighting, the situations will usually continue to escalate. This very difficult situation is, in fact, often psychologically logical if one looks at the entire family situation. Handout 12-2 is useful for an assignment on family dynamics.

Lecture Launcher 12.6: When Is It Delinquency?

While they are experimenting with new behaviors and values, it is normal for adolescents to begin breaking the adult rules that they have been following since they were children. In fact, some rulebreaking behavior is considered healthy for adolescents. But when does rule-breaking become delinquency? How does one differentiate rebellion from exuberance? One of the main factors in chronic delinquency is lack of parental supervision. How does a parent provide adequate supervision without stifling the adolescent?

Lecture Launcher 12.7: The Mosquito As we age, damage to the hair cells in the cochlea results in gradual hearing loss. This age-related hearing loss, called presbycusis, differentially affects higher-frequency hearing. For example, people younger than 20 can usually hear tones in the 15–18 kHz range, whereas adults older than 25 or 30 usually cannot.

Recently, the fact that teenagers can hear sounds that older adults cannot has been used in several creative ways. In 2005, an inventor named Howard Stapleton created a device called the Mosquito, which is designed to keep rowdy teenagers from loitering around shops and in other places they may cause trouble.

It works by emitting a high-frequency noise that older people cannot hear but that teenagers find annoying. However, use of the Mosquito has been controversial, with some even claiming that the device violates the human rights of teenagers and younger adults. Others are concerned that exposure to the loud, 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e high-frequency noise produced by the Mosquito might actually damage the hearing of children. Among approaches to combatting delinquency, however, points must be awarded for innovation!

In an interesting twist, some teenagers have taken the anti-teenager Mosquito technology and turned it to their advantage. By recording the Mosquito’s high-frequency sound, they were able to create a ring-tone called “teen buzz” for their cell phones that cannot be heard by most adults. This means that students using the special ringtone can leave their cell phones on and receive text-message alerts while at school, without the teacher hearing the phones ringing. In a similar application, the developers of the Mosquito system created a dance track with a secret melody embedded in the song that only younger listeners can hear!

Block, M. (2006, May 26). Teens turn ‘repeller’ into adult-proof ringtone. http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=5434687 Calls to ban ‘anti-teen’ device (2008, February 12). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7240180.stm Lyall, S. (2005, November 30). Rowdies buzz off as the Mosquito bites. http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/rowdies-buzzoff-as-the-mosquito-bites/2005/11/29/1133026467657.html Secret alarm becomes dance track (2006, September 26). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/5382324.stm http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/ http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2011/06/mosquito-ringtones/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H75hBXvjsw

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 12.1: Right On! Ask students to design a “bill of rights and responsibilities” for adolescents. What should adolescents be allowed to do, expected to do, and forbidden to do? How do these rights and expectations extend to parental influence, requests, and demands? For example, is a curfew a demand or an expectation, and at what point might it change from one to the other? Is sexual activity forbidden, discouraged, or inevitable, and who decides that—a parent or the adolescent? Ask students to focus on behaviors of both a personal and interpersonal nature, and to comment on the larger context in which those behaviors occur. For example, a one-sentence bill of rights stating “I’m free to be me, man, and everybody else should just leave me alone” surely has the ring of adolescence to it, but isn’t feasible in the social and familial contexts in which people live. Have groups compare their results with one other.

Student Activity 12.2: Say It Loud Either in conjunction with Activity 12.1, or alone, ask students to create an “Advice to Parents of Adolescents” flyer. What should parents of adolescents do and not do?

Student Activity 12.3: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia Have students get into groups to discuss the ideas of James Marcia’s categories of identity achievement— identity achievement, foreclosure, diffusion, or moratorium—reflecting upon where they were personally at the end of high school. Also, ask the groups to talk about whether they went through a crisis of decision-making or not. Have groups share common perceptions and problems.

Student Activity 12.4: Adolescence and Identity Development: A Personal Exploration An excellent and involving way for students to consider the topic of adolescent development is to apply theory and research in this area to their own experiences. For this assignment, ask your students to write a thoughtful, reflective paper exploring aspects of their own identity formation during adolescence.

Students should be given latitude to address whatever issues they feel are important and to include personal experiences at their discretion. It is important to assure students that their papers will be strictly confidential and that they do not have to reveal any sensitive information about themselves. Although there need not be firm guidelines for this assignment, you might suggest the following questions as potential issues for discussion: 1. Describe five positive and five negative characteristics you had as an adolescent. How did you come to be aware of your positive characteristics? Your negative characteristics? How did you overcome the negative aspects of your personality?

2. What were your typical concerns during early, middle, and late adolescence? How did you deal with these concerns?

3. Can you think of one or more events that happened during your high school years that marked a turning point in your life or that had a profound influence on your personality? In other words, was there an event that caused you to feel that you were crossing some boundary, or somehow growing up and developing into a different, more mature person? Looking back, how do you feel about it now?

4. What were you peer relationships like? How did they affect your life? How did your peer relationships change throughout adolescence?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 5. What was your relationship with your parents like? Describe some of the positive and negative aspects. What were the major issues in this relationship? How has your relationship with your parents changed?

6. How would you generally characterize your adolescence? Was it difficult? Does it support the “storm and stress” view of adolescence? What were your fears, anxieties, and hopes?

7. Can you think of personal instances that support David Elkind’s fallacies of adolescent thinking: imaginary audience and personal fable? Do these concepts apply to your thoughts and behaviors at that time?

8. How did your peers influence you with respect to alcohol or tobacco use? What information about smoking, drugs, and sexual behavior did you receive from school? What influenced your own decisions about these matters?

Student Activity 12.5: Cliquety-Clack Ask students to identify the types of cliques and significant groups that existed in their high schools.

Identify the types of clothing, behavior, social styles, and other characteristics that tied the groups together. Is there an identifiable transition that takes place when high school students transition to college? Do these groups go away, or simply get harder (or easier) to identify? Are new cliques with the same characteristics formed during the college years, or are college cliques qualitatively different?

Student Activity 12.6: Dear Daughter/Dear Son Ellen Junn describes an innovative exercise from her course on parenting and family relations that can be readily adapted for a developmental psychology course. For this assignment, Junn suggests having students write semi-autobiographical letters as a way of exploring developmental issues from a more concrete and personal perspective. Tell your students that you want them to write a letter to a future (or if they already have one, actual) child on the occasion of her or his 18th birthday. You should assure students that their letters are confidential and are not meant to elicit overly private or emotional events in their lives. According to Junn, students should give the following questions careful consideration in their letter: (a) When or why did you decide to have the child? (b) What are the most important qualities for a parent to have and why? (c) What personal qualities do you possess that might facilitate or interfere with your ability to be a good parent? (d) What qualities do you hope your child will possess and why?

Students should also mention specific strategies that they can use as a parent to foster growth in terms of physical, motor, cognitive, moral, social, personality, and sex-role development, relying on concepts presented in the text and lecture. Junn notes that this assignment increases the sensitivity of students to their own attitudes and beliefs about child development and parenting. In addition, it promotes understanding and application of course material to a personally relevant task. Junn also described a similar assignment asking students to write a letter to their parents.

Junn, E. N. (1989). “Dear Mom and Dad”: Using personal letters to enhance students’ understanding of developmental issues.

Teaching of Psychology, 16, 135-138.

Student Activity 12.7: Raising Parents Students apply information from the chapter to answer questions about parenting. The student handout for this activity is included as Handout Master 12.3. Suggested answers are given below.

1. The psychologists may have attributed the children’s current problems to the divorce without considering other possible causes, such as peer pressure or normal adolescent conflicts. Without control groups of children of parents who did not divorce, or of children who were living in families marked by conflict, the researchers cannot conclude that the problems of the children of divorced 15 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e parents were unusual. It is difficult to know what “lowered” academic motivation means if you haven’t defined “average” motivation!

2. This item gives students practice in reasoned argumentation. Most students disagree with the portrayal of the United States as child-oriented, but a few agree with it. The best answers will consider not only the responses and attitudes of individual parents, but also social and governmental policies regarding children. Sometimes students are motivated to look up statistics regarding the availability of affordable child care, public support for education, the quality of the U.S. educational system, health care for children, prenatal care for pregnant women, the birth of unwanted children, child-support payments by fathers, crimes that threaten children, the availability of safe public parks, the lack of jobs for teenagers, and so forth. Such efforts, of course, should be praised.

Here is one student’s response. In her evaluation, the instructor noted that the second point needed to be supported by evidence.

I do not agree. (1) Of the 33 million poor Americans, 13 million are children, 500,000 of them homeless. We are supposed to be an abundant nation. Yet we have less money for school teachers, for school lunch programs. Thirty percent of high school students don’t graduate. The gulf between rich and poor Americans is wider than ever and children are suffering. (2) Children who come from wealthier homes have been overindulged by parents. Some have no sense of values, no sense of responsibility and less commitments of any kind. Preoccupied with their bodies, youth has lost touch with mental discipline. This is evidence that the U.S. cannot be a “child-devoted” society. (3) Child abuse is on the rise in the U.S. Between 1968 and 1972, the number of cases of child abuse in California jumped from 4,000 to 40,000. (4) Many housing complexes across the nation are now banning children. (5) Anyone who works with children gets less pay, less prestige, and lower status than people who work with adults. Thus, pediatricians rank below other doctors.

3. In both answers, students should demonstrate that they understand the drawbacks of punitive forms of discipline and the advantages of an inductive, authoritative approach. a. Questions might include the following: − What circumstances led to the shoving? − Is this standard behavior for my child? − What would I be communicating if I yelled at or hit my child for the misbehavior? − Am I so annoyed or disturbed that I’m forgetting the message I want to get across? − How might I elicit empathy for the other child? − How might I explain, in terms a 5-year-old can understand, why shoving is wrong and why I disapprove of it? − What alternative ways of responding can I teach my child? What lesson do I want my child to learn?

The best way of disciplining the child would be to use induction. Even very young children are capable of empathy; they are not as egocentric as Piaget thought. A parent might briefly but firmly explain why shoving is wrong (it hurts other people, it results in fights in which both people get hurt, it often doesn’t get you what you want anyway), and insist that the child politely request a chance to use the toy (and accept a refusal if necessary). The aggression should not be ignored, or it might be reinforced and become more likely in the future. Conversely, the return of the toy should be praised.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b. Questions might include the following: − What should my goal be in responding to this theft; is it to let my daughter know that this is unacceptable behavior, or to tell her she’s a bad person? − What might the child’s motives have been? Is money the motive, or is the child expressing anger in an indirect way? − Have I been an “approachable” parent? − Does the child have an opportunity to earn some pocket money, or does she get an allowance? − Is this a first transgression, or part of a pattern?

This is a difficult situation. One approach might be to mention the missing money and let the child voluntarily return it (anonymously). The parent could make a point of how worried she or he had been and how happy she or he is that the money has reappeared. However, that approach would not resolve any underlying problems, and would be dishonest.

Another strategy might be to ask the child directly about the missing money and hope for a voluntary confession (rewarding it when it comes); but what if it doesn’t come?

A third strategy is to tell the child that the parent knows about the theft, and feels disappointed and worried about the child’s behavior. Then the parent can explain why trust is so important in families (family members shouldn’t have to keep their possessions under lock and key!), and why stealing is hurtful and disruptive to human relationships. The parent might also discuss positive ways for the child to earn spending money. The parent should use induction to get the child to see why the behavior is wrong, but probably should not jump to the conclusion that the child is an incorrigible thief. Children sometimes act before they think.

Student Activity 12.8: Heard It through the Grapevine Ask students to think about how they learned about sex. Who told them the basic biological information?

More importantly, where did they learn the sexual mores or standards that they held during high school?

Did their own views agree with their peers? With their family? What process for disseminating information would they recommend for future adolescents?

Activity 12.9: Sexual Orientation Panel Discussion For a powerful class discussion, arrange for a panel of people who identify as LGBTQIA to speak to your class. Your campus may have a gay and lesbian student organization that could provide you with potential panelists, or your city or community may have such a group. Many big cities, for example, have a Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Speakers Bureau that supplies presenters to a variety of organizations. Panelists typically share personal stories (e.g., how they came out to friends and relatives, experiences with homophobia or harassment) and discuss a wide variety of topics, including religious issues, nontraditional relationships, parenting aspirations, and what life is generally like for them. Much of the time in these sessions is usually spent in a question-and-answer period, and students appreciate the opportunity to ask a variety of questions and get honest, firsthand answers. Students typically find these discussions to be enlightening and of great interest, and both panelists and students report them to be helpful in reducing prejudicial attitudes.

Anne Dineen suggests a few helpful tips to keep in mind. 1) Plan ahead; contact speakers well in advance of the presentation, and be sure to inform them of relevant issues that have been discussed and how their 17 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e presentation might best fit in with your course. 2) Try to have an equal number of sexual orientations represented on the panel (and from a variety of occupations, if possible). (3) Be sure to allot plenty of time for questions; one recommended format is to have panel members tell their personal stories at the beginning of the session and then use the remainder of the period for questions and discussions.

Bailey, J. M., Vasey, P. L., Diamond, L. M., Breedlove, S. M., Vilain, E., & Epprecht, M. (2016). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17ii, 45-101.

Dineen, A. (1995). The use of sexual orientation panel discussions in the teaching of psychology. Paper presented at the 17th National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Petersburg Beach.

Student Activity 12.10: Reflective Journal Ask students to think back to their own adolescence and identify the groups and individuals that had the greatest impact on their own sense of identity and self. Use Handout 12-3 to guide this assignment.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

SUPPLEMENTAL READING Brandes, M. A. (2018). Integrated spiritual development: A new approach to nurturing adolescent spirituality and faith. Religious Education, 113, 191-202.

Cingel, D. P. & Olsen, M. K. (2018). Getting over the hump: Examining curvilinear relationships between adolescent self-esteem and Facebook use. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 62(2), 215-231.

Debnam, K. J., Milam, A. J., Mullen, M. M., Lacey, K., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2018). The moderating role of spirituality in the association between stress and substance use among adolescents: Differences by gender. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(4), 818-828.

Fuller, T. R., White, C. P., Chu, J., Dean, D., Clemmons, N., Chaparro, C., ... & King, P. (2018). Social Determinants and teen pregnancy prevention: Exploring the role of nontraditional partnerships. Health Promotion Practice, 19(1), 23-30.

Nesi, J., Choukas-Bradley, S., & Prinstein, M. J. (2018). Transformation of adolescent peer relations in the social media context: Part 1—A theoretical framework and application to dyadic peer relationships. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 21, 1-28.

Pelco, L. E. & Ball, C. T. (2018). Identity status, service-learning, and future plans. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 22(2), 103-126.

Reidpath, D. D. & Allotey, P. (2018). Predicting U.S. state teenage birth rates using search engine query data on pregnancy termination and prevention. Health Reports, 2, e2018001.

Shoemaker, D. J. (2018). Theories of delinquency: An examination of explanations of delinquent behavior. Oxford University Press.

Smink, F. R., van Hoeken, D., Dijkstra, J. K., Deen, M., Oldehinkel, A. J., & Hoek, H. W. (2018).

Self‐esteem and peer‐perceived social status in early adolescence and prediction of eating pathology in young adulthood. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 51(8), 852-862.

Thornberry, T. (2018). Developmental theories of crime and delinquency. New York: Routledge. van de Grift, T. C., Cohen-Kettenis, P. T., de Vries, A. L., & Kreukels, B. P. (2018). Body image and self-esteem in disorders of sex development: A European multicenter study. Health Psychology, 37(4), 334.

Veldhuis, J., Alleva, J. M., Bij de Vaate, A. J., Keijer, M., & Konijn, E. A. (2018). Me, my selfie, and I: The relations between selfie behaviors, body image, self-objectification, and self-esteem in young women. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 22, 1-17.

Wilkinson, B. & John, R. M. (2018). Understanding masturbation in the pediatric patient. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 32(6), 639-643.

Zhang, S., Baams, L., van de Bongardt, D., & Dubas, J. S. (2018). Intra-and inter-individual differences in adolescent depressive mood: The role of relationships with parents and friends. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 46(4), 811-824.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA Religion

People from different cultures share some thoughts on the role of religion in their lives

1. The narrator tells us that “every known culture has some form of religion.” Why do you think that is?

What does that suggest about humans’ need for ritual, belief, ceremony, and similar constructs?

2. Anecdotes are colorful stories about personal experiences, and this video is full of them. What general principles can you extract from these stories? How can you relate those principles to adolescent development?

What Does It Mean to Have a Mental Disorder? Deidre Kolarick gives the lowdown on mental illness 1. “Context is important for interpreting abnormality” is a central theme of this video. How does that apply to adolescence? It’s a pretty abnormal time, what with body parts growing, hormones raging, mental functioning expanding, and social relationships in seemingly constant flux. Against that backdrop, how easy is it to spot “normal” adolescent behavior?

2. How should treatment of disorders in adolescence differ or be the same as treatment of those same disorders during other periods of life? Is the depression experienced by a 13-year-old girl the “same” depression experienced by a 36-year-old woman?

Adolescent Conflict with Parents

“You just don’t understand!” seems to be a familiar refrain

1. Do you feel that keeping secrets from elders is a universal trend among teens? Why or why not?

2. The narrator tells us that interdependence is valued in the Mexican village where one of the female teens is from. Do you think that U.S. families could impact their teen’s life if they placed a higher value on interdependence rather than independence?

What are Cliques and Crowds?

Some definitions of cliques and crowds are provided

1. “Friend,” “acquaintance,” “hanger-on,” “confidant,” “BFF,” and “just there” seem to carry specific, yet at the same time fluid, connotations. How and why might these roles change for the same two adolescents over a period of time? At what point, and why, does “friend” turn into “best friend?”

2. It could be that a certain amount of “hanging out” is necessary to identify who then becomes a close friend; that is, simply spending time with a lot of people may help isolate those people with whom you then want to spend more (and better) time with. Comment on this process. Do you think that’s how friendships develop?

The Dating Game

David Buss applies evolutionary theory to dating and mating

1. Dating and mating strategies are seen as adaptations to evolutionary problems. Do you think that somehow “robs” something from the romance of falling in love? We’d like to believe that we’re attracted to someone based on soulmate characteristics, stars aligning, and mental telepathy, but is it really just the urges of our genes to continue their lineage?

2. Do you think the evolutionary perspective is both necessary and sufficient to account for why people are attracted to one another?

Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation, in all its forms, is considered

1. Summarize the various forms that sexual attraction and sexual orientation can take. Does this list seem longer or more varied than might have been assumed when your grandparents were your age?

2. Why is asking “What causes [this specific sexual orientation X]?” not the correct question to ask?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 12-1 Danger Signals for Depression 1. A general and lasting feeling of hopelessness and despair 2. Inability to concentrate, making reading, writing, and conversation difficult 3. Changes in physical activities, such as eating, sleeping, and sex 4. Frequent physical complaints with no evidence of physical illness 5. Loss of self-esteem, which brings on continual questioning of personal worth 6. Withdrawal from others due to immense fear of rejection 7. Threats or attempts to commit suicide 8. Hypersensitivity to the words and actions of others, and general irritability 9. Misdirected anger and difficulty in handling most feelings 10. Feelings of guilt in many situations 11. Extreme dependency on others

Warning Signs of Potential Suicide 1. Withdrawal from contact with others 2. Sudden swings in mood 3. Recent occurrence of a life crisis or emotional shock 4. Personality change 5. Gift-giving of cherished belongings 6. Depression and helplessness 7. Aggression and/or risk taking 8. Direct threats to commit suicide

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 12-2 Understanding Family Scripts To understand more about how your identification in your family of origin developed, take a few minutes to think back to your adolescent days and answer the following questions: •

When were you an adolescent?

•

What was the best thing that your family said about you or did for you?

•

Try to remember one exact day when that was said or done for you. Remember now what you felt then. When do you feel this way now?

•

Who did the family think you were like?

•

Did you have a nickname? How did you feel about it?

•

Did family members tell you what you would end up being? Or doing? Was it what you wanted to be or do? How did you respond?

•

How do you think your family would have described you to a close friend of theirs? What were they most concerned about for you?

•

What does your family want you to be like? To do in your life?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 12-3 Raising Parents 1. A major longitudinal study followed the children of divorced couples for 15 years. Although the researchers used no control group, they concluded that divorce contributes to early promiscuity in teenage girls, aggressiveness in teenage boys, and lowered academic motivation in both sexes. What are some problems with this conclusion?

2. Popular parenting magazines portray the United States as a child-oriented society, generous and devoted to its children. Do you agree with this portrayal? Give at least two arguments (and preferably more) to support your opinion.

3. Suppose that you are the parent in the two scenarios below. What are some questions you might ask yourself about each situation, and how might you effectively handle each situation? a. At the playground, your 5-year-old shoves another kid and takes away a toy.

b. You discover that your 10-year-old has taken $3 in coins from the jar where you keep spare change and hidden the money in her bureau drawer.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 12-4 Reflective Journal Exercise 12 Think back to your adolescence and identify the groups and individual people that had the most effect on your sense of identity and self. Using James Marcia’s identity statuses (Identity Achievement, Moratorium, Identity Foreclosure, and Identity Diffusion), identify which categories you experienced in high school and the order in which you went through them.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 13 PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY ADULTHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

8

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

16

Revel Multimedia

17

Handouts

18

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Revel Resources Multimedia

Chapter Outline

Learning Objectives 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4

Physical Development Physical Development, Fitness, and Health Eating, Nutrition, and Obesity: A Weighty Concern Physical Disabilities: Coping with Physical Challenges Stress and Coping: Dealing with Life’s Challenges

Stress and Your Health

Lecture Launchers 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5 Student Activities 13.1, 13.2, 13.3 Learning Objectives 13.5, 13.6, 13.7

Cognitive Development Intellectual Growth in Early Adulthood Approaches to Postformal Thinking Intelligence: What Matters in Early Adulthood?

Lecture Launcher 13.6 Student Activities 13.4, 13.5 College: Pursuing Higher Education The Demographics of Higher Education College Adjustment: Reacting to the Demands of College Life Gender and College Performance

Learning Objectives 13.8, 13.9, 13.10 Lecture Launcher 13.7 Student Activities 13.6, 13.7

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Creativity and Intelligence

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 13.1

Describe how the body develops and stays healthy during early adulthood.

LO 13.2

Explain why a healthy diet is particularly important in early adulthood.

LO 13.3

Describe the challenges people with physical disabilities face in early adulthood.

LO 13.4

Summarize the effects of stress and what can be done about it.

LO 13.5

Describe how cognitive development continues in young adulthood.

LO 13.6

Compare and contrast Perry’s and Schaie’s approaches to cognitive development in young adulthood.

LO 13.7

Explain how intelligence is defined today and how life events cause cognitive growth in young adults.

LO 13.8

Describe who attends college today and how the college population is changing.

LO 13.9

Summarize the difficulties students face as they enter college.

LO 13.10 Describe how gender affects the treatment of college students.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: A Tale of Two Students II. Physical Development A. Physical Development, Fitness, and Health a) In most respects, physical development and maturation are complete by early adulthood. b) Most people are at the peak of their physical capabilities. c) Although SENESCENCE, the natural physical decline brought about by aging, has begun, these changes are not very obvious until later. d) Gray matter of the brain continues to be pruned back, and myelination continues to increase. e) Certain parts of the body do not fully mature until early adulthood. f) Brain wave patterns change in early adulthood. g) The senses are as sharp as they will ever be.

1. Physical Fitness a) Most professional athletes are at their peak during early adulthood. b) No more than 10 percent of Americans exercise enough to keep themselves in good physical shape. c) Exercise is largely an upper- and middle-class phenomenon. d) There are many advantages to regular exercise.

(1) Increases cardiovascular fitness (2) Lung capacity increases (3) Muscles become stronger (4) Body becomes more flexible and maneuverable (5) Reduces osteoporosis, the thinning of bones, in later life (6) Optimizes the immune response (7) Decreases stress, anxiety, and depression (8) Increases sense of control and feelings of accomplishment (9) Increases longevity 2. Health a) Young adults are less susceptible to colds and illnesses. b) The leading causes of death among young adults are: (1) Accidents (2) AIDS (3) Cancer (4) Heart disease (5) Suicide (6) Lifestyle choices: use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, or engaging in unprotected sex, can hasten secondary aging, physical declines brought about by environmental factors or individual choices.

(7) Accidents: Men are more apt to die from accidents than women, and African Americans have twice the death rate of Caucasians.

(8) Violence: The murder rate in the U.S. is significantly higher than in any other developed country. (a) Homicide is the third most frequent cause of death for young white Americans between the ages of 20 to 34. (b) The most frequent cause of death for black males (c) The second most frequent death of Hispanic males in that same age range (9) Homicide is the most frequent cause of death for African Americans.

B. Eating, Nutrition, and Obesity: A Weighty Concern 1. Good Nutrition a) Young adults will put on weight if they do not eat sensibly.

2. Obesity 4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) Seventy percent of the adult population is classified as overweight.

C. Physical Disabilities: Coping with Physical Challenges 1. Over 50 million Americans are physically or mentally challenged—or disabled—a condition that substantially limits a major life activity.

2. Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), many older buildings are inaccessible to wheelchairs.

3. Prejudice and discrimination affect the way disabled people think of themselves.

D. Stress and Coping: Dealing with Life’s Challenges 1. STRESS is the response to events that threaten or challenge an individual.

2. Our lives are filled with events and circumstances known as stressors that cause threats to our wellbeing. a) Stressors can be both pleasant events and unpleasant events. b) Long-term, continuous exposure to stressors may result in a reduction of the body’s ability to deal with stress.

3. Researchers in the new field of PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY (PNI), the study of the relationship among the brain, the immune system, and psychological factors, have found that stress produces several outcomes. a) Hormones from the adrenal glands cause a rise in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and sweating. b) People become more susceptible to diseases as their ability to fight off germs declines. c) Both acute stressors and chronic stressors have the potential to produce significant physiological consequences.

4. The Origins of Stress a) According to Lazarus and Folkman, people move through a series of stages that determine whether they will experience stress. b) PRIMARY APPRAISAL is the assessment of an event to determine whether its implications are positive, negative, or neutral. c) SECONDARY APPRAISAL is the assessment of whether one’s coping abilities and resources are adequate to overcome the harm, threat, or challenge posed by the potential stressor.

5. The Consequences of Stress a) Events and circumstances that produce negative emotions are more likely to produce stress. b) Situations that are uncontrollable or unpredictable are more likely to produce stress. c) Events and circumstances that are ambiguous and confusing produce more stress. d) People who must accomplish simultaneously many tasks are more likely to experience stress. e) Stress may lead to PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS, medical problems caused by the interaction of psychological, emotional, and physical difficulties.

6. Coping with Stress a) Some young adults are better than others at COPING, the effort to reduce or tolerate the threats that lead to stress.

(1) Problem-focused coping is the attempt to manage a stressful problem or situation by directly changing the situation to make it less stressful.

(2) Emotion-focused coping involves the conscious regulation of emotion.

(3) Coping is also aided by the presence of social support, assistance and comfort supplied by others.

(4) Defense coping involves unconscious strategies that distort or deny the true nature of the situation.

(5) Coping is aided by the presence of social support, assistance, and comfort supplied by others.

7. Hardiness, Resilience, and Coping a) Hardiness is a personality characteristic associated with a lower rate of stress-related illness.

5 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Resilient young adults tend to be easygoing, good-natured, and have good social and communication skills.

III. Cognitive Development A. Intellectual Growth in Early Adulthood 1. Postformal Thought a) Developmentalist Gisela Labouvie-Vief suggests that the nature of thinking changes qualitatively during early adulthood. b) Adults exhibit POSTFORMAL THOUGHT, thinking that goes beyond Piaget’s formal operations. c) Adult predicaments are sometimes solved by relativistic thinking rather than pure logic. d) Postformal thought also encompasses dialectical thinking, an interest in and appreciation for argument, counterargument, and debate. e) Postformal thought acknowledges that the world sometimes lacks purely right and wrong solutions and adults must draw upon prior experiences to solve problems.

B. Approaches to Postformal Thinking 1. Perry’s Relativistic Thinking a) William Perry examined the way students grew intellectually and morally during college.

(1) Students entering college tended to use dualistic thinking—something is right or wrong, good or bad, others are for them or against them.

(2) As they encountered new ideas and points of view, they began to hold multiple perspectives on an issue—multiple thinking.

(3) Finally, they began to show relativistic thinking, rather than believing that there are absolute standards and values, they begin to see that different cultures, societies, and individuals can have different standards and values, all of them equally valid.

C. Schaie’s Stages of Development 1. K. Warner Schaie suggests that adults’ thinking follows a set pattern of stages. a) The ACQUISITIVE STAGE encompasses all of childhood and adolescence, and the main developmental task is to acquire information. b) The ACHIEVING STAGE is the point reached by young adults in which intelligence is applied to specific situations involving the attainment of long-term goals regarding careers, family, and societal contributions. c) The RESPONSIBLE STAGE is the stage where the major concerns of middle-aged adults relate to their personal situations, including protecting and nourishing their spouses, families, and careers. d) The EXECUTIVE STAGE is the period in middle adulthood when people take a broader perspective than they did earlier, including concerns about the world. e) The REINTEGRATIVE STAGE is the period of late adulthood during which the focus is on tasks that have personal meaning.

D. Intelligence: What Matters in Early Adulthood 1. Robert Sternberg in his TRIARCHIC THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE suggests that intelligence is made up of three major components. a) Componential intelligence relates to the mental components involved in analyzing data and solving problems, especially problems involving rational behavior. b) Experiential intelligence refers to the relationships among intelligence, people’s prior experience, and their ability to cope with new situations. c) Contextual intelligence involves the degree of success people demonstrate in facing the demands of their everyday, real-world environments.

2. Practical and Emotional Intelligence a) Sternberg contends that success in a career necessitates this type of intelligence, also called PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE, intelligence that is learned primarily by observing others and modeling their behavior.

6 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Another type of intelligence involves EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, the set of skills that underlie the accurate assessment, evaluation, expression, and regulation of emotions.

(1) Emotional intelligence allows us to get along well with others, to understand what others are feeling and experiencing, and to respond appropriately.

3. Creativity: Novel Thought a) CREATIVITY, combining responses or ideas in creative ways, is at its peak for many individuals during early adulthood. b) People in early adulthood may be at the peak of their creativity because many of the problems they encounter on a professional level are novel.

(1) Creative people are willing to take risks.

(2) Creative people develop and endorse ideas that are unfashionable or regarded as “wrong.”

(3) Not all people reach their creative peak in early adulthood.

4. Life Events and Cognitive Development a) Some research suggests that major life events, such as marriage, birth of a child, starting a first job, or buying a house, may lead to cognitive growth. b) The ups and downs of life events may lead young adults to think about the world in novel, more complex, sophisticated, and often less rigid ways. c) Applying postformal thought allows them to deal more effectively with the complex social world.

IV. College: Pursuing Higher Education A. The Demographics of Higher Education 1. College students are primarily white and middle class.

2. Minority students are an increasingly larger proportion of the college population.

3. The Gender Gap in College Attendance 4. The Changing College Student: Never Too Late to Go to College?

B. College Adjustment: Reacting to the Demands of College Life 1. Many students experience difficulties adjusting to their first year of college—FIRST-YEAR ADJUSTMENT REACTION is a cluster of psychological symptoms, including loneliness, anxiety, withdrawal, and depression.

2. First generation college students, who are the first in their families to attend college, are particularly susceptible to difficulties during their first year in college.

C. Gender and College Performance 1. Prejudice and discrimination directed at women are still a part of college life. a) Classes in education and the social sciences have larger proportions of women than men. b) Classes in engineering, the physical sciences, and mathematics tend to have more men than women. c) The attrition rate for women in mathematics, engineering, and the physical sciences is two-anda-half times greater than the rate for men. d) Gender differences reflect the powerful effect of gender stereotypes.

(1) Women expect to earn less than men and, in fact, earn 76 cents for every dollar that men earn.

(2) Minority women earn 64 cents for every dollar men make, and Hispanic women earn 52 cents to a male’s dollar.

(3) Men, compared to women, are more apt to view themselves as above average on several spheres relevant to academic success.

(4) Teachers call on men more often and make more eye contact with them.

(5) Males receive more extra help and more positive reinforcement for their comments than women do.

(6) Benevolent sexism—where women are placed in stereotyped and restrictive roles—is just as harmful as hostile sexism, overtly harmful behavior toward women.

LECTURE LAUNCHERS 7 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Lecture Launcher 13.1: Weight and Well-Being Americans are obsessed with their weight. They spend untold billions on weight clinics, diets, health spas, and exercise clubs. From 1959 to 1978, the average Playboy centerfold and Miss America contestant dropped almost one-third of a pound a year (although, curiously, their waist-to-hip ratio remained the same, about 0.71). At the same time, the average American is getting heavier. Doctors and insurance companies warn us that being overweight is bad for our health.

There is substantial evidence that weight control, in addition to good health habits, is associated with longevity.

Most of what we know comes from major longitudinal studies. For example, one study begun in 1965 involved all the residents (nearly 7,000) of Alameda County, California. Five health practices predicted rates of death over the years of the study: • • • • • •

sleep 7 to 8 hours a night (too much sleep is just as bad for longevity as not enough) for men, weight between 5 percent under and 20 percent over desirable weight for height for women, weight not more than 10 percent over desirable weight for height often or sometimes engage in active sports, swimming, long walks, or gardening have no more than four drinks at a time never smoke cigarettes

Another long-term investigation, the Duke Longitudinal Study, showed that adults who exercised less, smoked more, and were overweight died at an earlier age and had more frequent illnesses. And the Framingham Longitudinal study (begun in 1948 with a sample of 5,209 subjects aged 30 to 59) assessed adults and their children every two years. Various habits, such as being overweight and smoking, were significant factors in heart disease and cancer rates.

Martin Seligman disagrees with the notion that we need to be thin to be healthy. In an interesting chapter in his book What You Can Change and What You Can’t, Seligman claims that, after watching his weight for over 30 years and reading everything he could on the subject, the only thing to conclude is that: • • • •

dieting doesn’t work dieting may make being overweight worse, not better dieting may be bad for health dieting may cause eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia

Against this backdrop, ask students to list on a sheet of paper three things about their body they dislike and three things about their body they like. Ask them to omit their names but to put their age and sex at the top. Ask students if they think they are overweight, underweight, or just about right. Ask them to indicate the number of pounds they believe they need to gain or lose to look like their ideal. Tally the responses by sex and have the class analyze the responses with respect to gender differences. You can use Handout 13-1 to guide the discussion.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1994). What you can change and what you can’t: The complete guide to successful self-improvement. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Lecture Launcher 13.2: More to Love The text points out that overweight and obesity are problems that have reached crisis proportions in the United States, and rightly indicates that proactive measures aimed at maintaining a healthy weight and diet are desirable. However, not all cultures necessarily subscribe to this view. Some residents of Africa, for example, see overweight in a slightly different light.

8 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Mayok Mayen force-fed himself cow’s milk blended with cow urine at a rate of 5 gallons a day for 12 weeks.

Lying on a mat for most of the day, in an effort to avoid burning calories, he eventually became weak from inactivity and found it difficult to even speak. His heart became overworked by the huge weight gain, and he stopped counting the number of chins he’d developed. Some strange suicide ritual? A brain tumor gone haywire? Actually, these deliberate acts were in the service of Mayen’s finding a mate.

In the cow culture of Payiir, Sudan, bigger is better when it comes to mate selection. Eligible young bachelors intentionally gorge themselves to obesity in an effort to attract women. The significance is that an obese man is thought to come from a very well-off family, one that can afford to spare the extra cow’s milk to fatten a relative. (Big herds are an embarrassment of riches in this culture, as is singing of one’s loved one as “a beautiful bull.”) Judges look at both the girth and firmness of each bachelor’s body, and the winner of this contest is held in high esteem by all concerned.

Mayen, by the way, was not victorious. Deng Wauor turned out to be taller, fatter, bulkier, and, ultimately, more attractive.

In a related development, Margaret Bassey Ene is gorging herself in a “fattening room” in her Nigerian village.

Ene, like Mayen, is in a quest to find a partner, and in her southeastern Nigerian community a woman’s rotundity is taken as a sign of good health, prosperity, and desirability. Although some teenage girls do a stint in the fattening room for purely ceremonial purposes, many marriage-bound girls follow the coming-of-age tradition enthusiastically. No word yet on whether Margaret has found a partner, although Mayok may be interested.

Lecture Launcher 13.3: What Is the Purpose of Stress?

By asking your students this titular question, you can explore not only their thoughts on the topic, but also explain to them why stress exists. Strictly speaking, the stress response exists for the purpose of survival. When we experience stress, our sympathetic nervous systems activate, blood pressure and heart rate increase, and often we begin to sweat. These physiological reactions prepare us for “fight or flight.” Our bodies are at optimal physical performance and alertness levels, and we are therefore optimized for survival in a physically challenging situation. Sometimes we use this physiological activation to our advantage: Consider a champion weightlifter who, prior to lifting an extremely heavy weight, “pumps herself up.” By doing this, the weightlifter is attempting behaviorally to elicit a stress response from her brain and body in order to achieve the highest level of physical performance possible. With regard to the stress response, most of us are not faced with challenging, potentially life-threatening situations on a daily basis. However, we are capable of generating large amounts of psychological stress (that don’t require physical action), and the physiological response is the same. So the dilemma with psychological stress is that we create it with our minds, our bodies produce the necessary fuel to react physically, but we don’t (or can’t) react physically. The health consequences of this cycle are potentially hazardous, as the materials (e.g., glucocorticoids) generated by the body during the stress response lead to many cardiovascular maladies, including atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis. Additionally, chronic stress can lead to insomnia, weight gain, and overall suppression of immune function. A discussion of these points should lead students to consider critically the somewhat paradoxical existence of stress in modern times.

Lecture Launcher 13.4: Environmental Stressors Stressors in the environment, both physical and social, impact people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When our ears are assaulted by jackhammers, jet airplanes, motorcycles, lawn mowers, chain saws, snowmobiles, and blaring radios, what effect does this noise have on our psychological state?

Loud noise impairs the ability to think and work, even when people think they have adjusted to it. In one classic study, children in elementary schools that were beneath the flight path for Los Angeles International Airport 9 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e were compared with children in quieter classrooms. The two groups were matched on age, ethnicity, race, and social class. Children in the noisy schools had higher blood pressure, were more distractible, and had more difficulty with puzzles and math problems than children in quieter schools. Children raised in noisy environments also have trouble learning how to discriminate between irrelevant noise and a relevant task. They either tune out too much in the environment or cannot tune out enough.

Studies also show that noise contributes to cardiovascular problems, ulcers, irritability, fatigue, and aggressiveness, probably due to overstimulation of the autonomic nervous system. Continuous noise can even have an effect on hearing. Many college students have already suffered significant hearing loss in the highfrequency range; their hearing resembles that of people more than twice their age. You might ask students to describe how the noise they experience on a day-to-day basis affects them. They may mention things such as the frustration and stress they feel when trying to study while a dorm neighbor throws a wild party.

Black, D. A., Black, J. A., Issarayangyun, T., & Samuels, S. E. (2007). Aircraft noise exposure and resident's stress and hypertension: A public health perspective for airport environmental management. Journal of Air Transport Management, 13(5), 264-276.

Halonen, J. I., Hansell, A. L., Gulliver, J., Morley, D., Blangiardo, M., Fecht, D., ... & Tonne, C. (2015). Road traffic noise is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and all-cause mortality in London. European Heart Journal, 36(39), 2653-2661.

Lane, S. R. & Meecham, W. C. (1974). Jet noise at schools near Los Angeles International Airport. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 56(1), 127-131.

Matheson, M. P., Stansfeld, S. A., & Haines, M. M. (2003). The effects of chronic aircraft noise exposure on children's cognition and health: 3 field studies. Noise and Health, 5(19), 31.

Pearson, T., Campbell, M. J., & Maheswaran, R. (2016). Acute effects of aircraft noise on cardiovascular admissions–an interrupted time-series analysis of a six-day closure of London Heathrow Airport caused by volcanic ash. Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology.

Stansfeld, S. & Clark, C. (2015). Health effects of noise exposure in children. Current Environmental Health Reports, 2(2), 171-178.

Walker, E. D., Brammer, A., Cherniack, M. G., Laden, F., & Cavallari, J. M. (2016). Cardiovascular and stress responses to short-term noise exposures: A panel study in healthy males. Environmental Research, 150, 391-397.

Lecture Launcher 13.5: Health and Hassles A group of psychologists at the University of California at Berkeley reasoned that perhaps it is not only major life changes or seismic shifts in well-being that affect us adversely; rather, the multitude of hassles that irritate and frustrate us every day can produce similar effects on our health and contentment. For example, a negative event such as divorce results in numerous hassles for both parties. Each member of the divorced couple may now have to do everyday activities that the other member used to take care of. Positive events can cause hassles too. Holidays are a busy time for many people: You need a new dress or shirt for a party, stores are crowded, traffic moves more slowly than usual and you are in more of a hurry than usual, relatives try your patience, and you eat and drink too much.

The hassles that come with special events or major life changes are not isolated; they are added to the burden of hassles we already have, and our autonomic nervous system can keep us in a state of high arousal, exhausting the body’s resources. We get a headache, a cold, the flu, our skin erupts, or our digestive system gets nervous and confused.

Hassles are a fact of life, and even without major life events they can accumulate and threaten our health. But some people can handle life’s big and little problems better than others. Research has suggested that the following factors affect our ability to deal with both major life events and hassles: 1. How we perceive events. What is a petty annoyance for one person can be a crisis for another. You have written a term paper. Another user of the computer inadvertently erases it. One person will take the attitude that “crying over spilled milk” will not help, and rewrite the paper with a minimum of stress. Another person’s first reaction is anger: Find out who did it and get even. This person will have to redo the paper too, but as she sits at the computer, her lingering anger causes her to make mistakes, and making mistakes adds to her frustration.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 2. Our style of coping. If you spilled raspberry jam on your new white sweater, then a problem-solving approach is to look for ways to remove the stain. Reappraisal might involve telling yourself that it is only a sweater and that worse things can happen. If the stain cannot be removed, then you accept the fact that the sweater will never be the same again and go on with your life. You can also get angry at yourself, the raspberry jam, or the manufacturer of the sweater. You can exaggerate your fondness for the sweater and its importance to your wardrobe. You can brood about it and grieve over your stained sweater for days.

3. Our personality. Research suggests that there are several personality traits that help us cope with hassles and the stress that can accompany them. One of these is having an internal locus of control; feeling that we can deal with life’s problems. Another is to see life as a challenge to be mastered rather than a conspiracy to defeat us.

Lecture Launcher 13.6: Mood Awareness Emotional intelligence (a broad collection of abilities related to understanding and utilizing affect) and alexithymia (a stunted awareness of one’s emotional states) share a common component, that awareness of one’s moods and emotions can contribute to successful social interaction. This idea has been pursued in a set of empirical studies.

Mood awareness refers to individual differences in attention directed toward one’s mood states. It is measured by the Mood Awareness Scale (MAS; Swinkels & Giuliano, 1995), a reliable 10-item measure composed of two related but distinct dimensions: mood labeling and mood monitoring. Mood labeling refers to the ability to identify and categorize one’s mood states, whereas mood monitoring refers to the tendency to focus on, evaluate, or scrutinize one’s mood.

The processes of mood labeling and mood monitoring may be better understood by an analogy. There is a marked difference in the approaches used by a physician and by a hypochondriac when trying to assess states of health. The physician, because of training, experience, or insight, is usually successful in making an accurate diagnosis of an illness and recommending some course of treatment. In other words, the medical condition is diagnosed or categorized fairly readily, and steps are then taken to remedy the complaint (e.g., “take two aspirin and call me in the morning”) or maintain the state of health (e.g., “keep jogging to work every day”). In contrast, hypochondriacs are quite concerned about the state of their physical health, and in fact may become preoccupied with keeping track of their health status. A process of monitoring physical symptoms and checking for the onset of illness may become an ongoing ritual. The problem, of course, is that although hypochondriacs may be vigilant in checking their health, they are apt to be misled many times about their condition. In other words, they check on their physical states often, but may not reach a satisfactory or final judgment about their health, concluding instead that they are suffering from some vague bodily complaint.

Several studies have demonstrated that labeling and monitoring exert different influences on other moodrelevant variables. For example, in comparison with low mood labelers, high mood labelers tend to seek and be satisfied with social support, experience positive affect, have higher levels of self-esteem, be extraverted, be less socially anxious or neurotic, and express greater global life satisfaction. High (as compared with low) mood monitors, by contrast, tend to experience more intense affective states, experience greater negative affect, have lower self-esteem, and report neurotic tendencies. Various other studies have investigated the role of mood awareness in depression, self-views, reactions to life stress, self-reported physical symptoms, intelligence and cognitive abilities, and numerous other personality dimensions.

More importantly, mood monitoring and mood labeling play a role in the process of mood regulation. Most people are motivated to sustain a positive mood (mood maintenance) or change a negative one (mood repair), although monitors and labelers might be more or less successful at this task. One study (Swinkels & Giuliano, 1995, Study 4), for example, found that although high mood monitors agreed that their moods influenced their behavior and were important to them, they reported less success at regulating their negative mood states.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Another study (Giuliano, 1995) found that the ability of mood labelers and mood monitors to repair their negative moods over time differed. High labelers were able to take relatively quick action to alter their mood states, whereas high monitors tended to wallow in their negative moods for a longer period of time.

The reason for these differences can be understood by returning to the medical analogy. The act of labeling something implies that it becomes identified or categorized for further use. The physician who has made an accurate diagnosis now knows the likely course and duration of the illness, the available treatments, and the number of subsequent office visits for which the patient can be billed. In this sense, mood labeling should generally promote constructive thought and behavior in regard to one’s feelings. A mood that is readily labeled is a mood that does not need to be dwelt upon in order to be understood: the mood state has been identified and the stage presumably is set for acting on that mood in some way.

In contrast, monitoring implies a certain degree of vigilance by an individual, which may or may not be productive. Like the hypochondriac who is nervously attuned to each twitch and tremor of her or his body, mood monitoring would imply a similar type of examination of or dwelling upon one’s mood; for some, perhaps, to the point of unhealthfulness, but for most out of a simple concern with tracking the progress of one’s feelings.

The difficulty with mood monitoring, then, is that it may contribute to becoming absorbed in one’s mood state, much like the overconcern with physical health experienced by the hypochondriac. The high mood monitor may check on her or his moods often, and be quite vigilant in doing so, yet may still remain a bit confused about the nature of the mood state. Just as the accuracy of the hypochondriac’s diagnoses may be clouded by numerous false alarms or uncertainty about the nature of the discomfort, so too may the high mood monitor’s judgments of her or his mood be clouded by too great an absorption in the mood state itself. In the case of bad moods, this absorption may produce prolonged negative affect.

Boden, M. T. & Thompson, R. J. (2017). Meta-analysis of the association between emotional clarity and attention to emotions. Emotion Review, 9(1), 79-85.

Giuliano, T. A. (1995, August). Mood awareness predicts mood change over time. Presented at the 103rd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, New York.

Swinkels, A. (1993, August). Exploring the role of mood awareness in mood regulation. In D. Tice (Chair), Self regulation of mood and emotion. Symposium conducted at the 101st Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.

Swinkels, A. (2001). Research using the Mood Awareness Scale, 1991–2000. Technical Report 1, St. Edward’s University Psychology Laboratory.

Swinkels, A. & Giuliano, T. A. (1995). The measurement and conceptualization of mood awareness: Monitoring and labeling one’s mood states. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 934-949.

Swinkels, A., Giuliano, T. A., & Helweg-Larsen, M. (1996, August). Assessing mood awareness in diverse groups. Presented at the 104th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto.

Swinkels, A. & Giuliano, T. A. (1992a). Mood awareness and self-regulation. Presented at the Fourth Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society, San Diego, California.

Swinkels, A. & Giuliano, T. A. (1992b). [Mood clash: Negotiating interpersonal affect]. Unpublished research data.

Lecture Launcher 13.7: How Do You Know When You’re an Adult?

It used to be that the timing of becoming an adult was fairly clear: In late adolescence, boys and girls got married and assumed an adult role. However, today’s youth are faced with the dilemma of not knowing when they have officially become an adult because we have no clear-cut initiation rites into adulthood.

Ask your students to tell you what they consider to be characteristics of adults. Some suggestions are: Religious Bar or bat mitzvah Confirmation Sexual Menarche Nocturnal emissions 12 Copyright @ 2017, 2014, 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Losing one’s virginity Social “Sweet sixteen” or debutante parties Quinceañera Going to the senior prom Joining a gang, fraternity, sorority Beginning to shave Moving away from family Joining the Armed Forces Getting married Legal Becoming a parent Voting Getting a driver’s license Being able to drink legally Being able to buy cigarettes legally Educational Graduating from high school Going to college Graduating from college Economic Getting a checking account or credit card Buying one’s first car Getting one’s first full-time job Economic independence from parents and family

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 13.1: Guest Lecturer: Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle The health psychology chapter provides the perfect opportunity to give your students practical information about important and timely health-related topics. Listed below are several potential topics on which a health expert might comment, any of which should make for an excellent, engaging, and beneficial presentation.

Diet and Nutrition. Invite a registered dietitian or other nutrition expert to your class to discuss the role of diet and nutrition in health. Although more and more adults are taking an interest in their diets as part of an overall trend toward health consciousness, myths and misconceptions abound. As part of his or her presentation, ask your guest lecturer to address student concerns and help them separate fact from fiction when it comes to nutrition. Relevant issues for discussion include the role of fat and cholesterol in diet, the relationship between alcohol and heart disease, the risks and benefits of taking vitamin supplements, the relationship between fresh vegetable consumption and cancer risk, vegetarianism, food additives, the problems of yo-yo dieting, and how to read ingredient labels. Your expert might also address the proper place in the diet for salt, caffeine, fiber, water, and carbohydrates.

Stress Management. Arrange for a representative from the counseling center or health center to discuss stress management with the class. Your students may not be aware of the counseling services that your college or university provides. A guest speaker can teach students a variety of useful techniques (e.g., relaxation, time management, social support) that will help them successfully manage and cope with stress, especially near the end of the semester when they need it most.

AIDS and STIs. Alternatively, a health counselor might talk frankly with students about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Although college students like to think they’re not vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, the evidence is to the contrary. Again, student myths and misconceptions should be addressed, and ways to prevent the spread of these diseases (such as safer sex practices and increased communication between sexual partners) can be explored.

Student Activity 13.2: Defining Stress The perception of an event as stressful varies across individuals, and not all events perceived as stressful are negative. This exercise is designed to assist students in exploring their own definition of stress and comparing their perspectives to those of their classmates. After you have briefly introduced the topic of stress, ask students to take out two sheets of paper. Tell students that you want them to list specific situations or hassles that they have experienced as being stressful in a negative way. After about 5 minutes, ask them to stop and tell them that you now want them to list events or situations that they would categorize as examples of positive stress. After completing the second list, ask students to share items from each list. You may find that some items listed as an example of positive stress for one student were listed as an example of negative stress for another student. The items listed by students can serve as the basis for a discussion concerning the variability in individual perceptions of whether an event is stressful. You may also want to have students compare their responses to the top 10 hassles obtained by Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer, and Lazarus (1981) when they administered the Hassles Scale. In descending order, the top 10 hassles were: weight concerns; family health problems; rising prices of common necessities; home maintenance; too many things to do; lost or misplaced items; yard work or outside home maintenance; money management issues related to investments, property, or taxes; crime; and one's physical appearance.

Aldwin, C. M., Jeong, Y. J., Igarashi, H., & Spiro III, A. (2014). Do hassles and uplifts change with age? Longitudinal findings from the VA normative aging study. Psychology and Aging, 29i, 57-71.

Jeong, Y. J., Aldwin, C. M., Igarashi, H., & Spiro III, A. (2016). Do hassles and uplifts trajectories predict mortality? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 39iii, 408-419.

Kanner, A. D., Coyne, J. C., Schaefer, C., & Lazarus, R. S. (1981). Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e uplifts versus major life events. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4, 1-39.

Totenhagen, C. J., Serido, J., Curran, M. A., & Butler, E. A. (2012). Daily hassles and uplifts: A diary study on understanding relationship quality. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(5), 719.

Student Activity 13.3: What’s Your Coping Style?

Students identify the style of coping used by a group of captives being held by terrorists. The student handout for this exercise is included as Handout 13-2. Suggested answers are given below.

1. Margaret: After rethinking the issue, she is using denial as a coping strategy.

2. Frank: The situation is being directly attacked with a problem-focused strategy.

3. Joe: Social comparison following reappraisal (rethinking) of the situation.

4. Gary: The problem is being attacked with an emotion-focused strategy.

5. Joan: A healthy response is being employed to live with the problem (acceptance).

Student Activity 13.4: Defining Intelligent Behaviors Divide your class into discussion groups, and ask them to elect one person as the recorder. The recorder should have three sheets of paper. Label one page “Intelligence,” the second “Wisdom,” and the third “Creativity.” The groups should list as many behaviors or defining characteristics as they can think of for each term.

After a period of time bring the entire class together and ask for volunteers from each group to tell you and the class what their definitions and behaviors were as you list them on the board. Then, distribute Handout 13-3, which lists the results of Robert Sternberg’s research, asking laypersons and college students to define each term. Discuss the extent to which students’ perceptions of the three categories match the research findings.

Student Activity 13.5: Bringing It All Together Using the chart on Handout 13-4, have students make up their own suggestions on how to maximize learning by using all three components of intelligence.

Student Activity 13.6: Role Models and Mentors Role models and mentors are important resources for young adults either contemplating career goals or starting out in their first job. A great deal of attention is given to the notion of role models in the popular media. Social learning theory supports the idea that many of our behaviors are learned through observation and imitation. Ask students to identify the characteristics of individuals likely to serve as role models. Tell them to be specific about a developmental situation; seeking career advice, modeling sexual practices, choosing a college major, finding a dating partner. Why are particular individuals more likely to become role models? What characterizes the relationship between the learner and the role model? Next, consider the imitative behavior that is often observed between “best friends” who share expressions, gestures, and other behaviors. Can peers be role models for one another? Ask your students to describe the differences between a role model and a mentor; can (or should) one person be both? After discussing these issues, ask your students to complete Handout 13-5.

Giuliano, T. A., Knight, J. L., Turner, K. L., & Lundquist, J.C. (2007). Gender and the selection of public athletic role models. Journal of Sport Behavior, 30, 161-198.

Student Activity 13.7: Reflective Journal Students can reflect on their college experience, their career goals, and any problems or successes they have experienced. See Handout 13-6.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

SUPPLEMENTAL READING Bjerregaard, L. G., Jensen, B. W., Ängquist, L., Osler, M., Sørensen, T. I., & Baker, J. L. (2018). Change in overweight from childhood to early adulthood and risk of type 2 diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine, 378(14), 1302-1312.

Breitenstein, C. J., Milek, A., Nussbeck, F. W., Davila, J., & Bodenmann, G. (2018). Stress, dyadic coping, and relationship satisfaction in late adolescent couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35(5), 770790.

Bruffaerts, R., Mortier, P., Kiekens, G., Auerbach, R. P., Cuijpers, P., Demyttenaere, K., ... & Kessler, R. C. (2018). Mental health problems in college freshmen: Prevalence and academic functioning. Journal of Affective Disorders, 225, 97-103.

Cruz, F., Ramos, E., Lopes, C., & Araújo, J. (2018). Tracking of food and nutrient intake from adolescence into early adulthood. Nutrition, 55/56, 84-90.

Cundiff, J. M. & Matthews, K. A. (2018). Friends with health benefits: The long-term benefits of early peer social integration for blood pressure and obesity in midlife. Psychological Science, 29(5), 814-823.

Farias, S. T., Giovannetti, T., Payne, B. R., Marsiske, M., Rebok, G. W., Schaie, K. W., ... & Gross, A. L. (2018). Self-perceived Difficulties in Everyday Function Precede Cognitive Decline among Older Adults in the ACTIVE Study. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 24(1), 104-112.

Hoare, E., Dash, S. R., Jennings, G. L., & Kingwell, B. A. (2018). Sex-specific associations in nutrition and activity-related risk factors for chronic disease: Australian evidence from childhood to emerging adulthood. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(2), 214.

Hopkins-Doyle, A., Sutton, R. M., Douglas, K. M., & Calogero, R. M. (2018). Flattering to deceive: Why people misunderstand Benevolent Sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. doi: 10.1037/pspa0000135 Hülür, G., Willis, S. L., Hertzog, C., Schaie, K. W., & Gerstorf, D. (2018). Is subjective memory specific for memory performance or general across cognitive domains? Findings from the Seattle Longitudinal Study. Psychology and Aging, 33(3), 448.

Kahn, N. F. & Halpern, C. T. (2018). Associations between patterns of sexual initiation, sexual partnering, and sexual health outcomes from adolescence to early adulthood. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47, 1791-1810.

Lee Tracy, E., Berg, C. A., Baker, A. C., Mello, D., Litchman, M. L., & Wiebe, D. J. (2018). Health-risk behaviors and type 1 diabetes outcomes in the transition from late adolescence to early emerging adulthood. Children's Health Care, 47, 1-16.

Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (2018). The nature of human intelligence. Cambridge University Press.

Yu, H., McCoach, D. B., Gottfried, A. W., & Gottfried, A. E. (2018). Stability of intelligence from infancy through adolescence: An autoregressive latent variable model. Intelligence, 69, 8-15.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA Stress and Your Health

Nicole Weeks discusses brain and body changes during stress

1. Outline the process by which the fight-or-flight bodily systems activate and deactivate.

2. What role does evolution play in our modern reactions to stressors (and what we currently find stressful in our lives)?

Creativity and Intelligence

Creativity, intelligence, and their relationship are discussed

1. “Creativity” and “guts” are linked in this video; having a willingness to oppose a norm can be a hallmark of a creative person. Do you agree with this perspective? Can a norm-abiding, meek, unprepossessing person be truly creative?

2. Can a general rule linking intelligence and creativity be developed? Three experts offered three rather different interpretations of how these attributes are linked. What do you think? Can you generate historic examples of really smart people leading uncreative lives, or people of average intelligence who’ve done really creative things?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 13-1 Calculating Overweight Health professionals and researchers use the Body Mass Index (BMI) to assess whether individuals are overweight or not. There is a clear association between obesity and increased morbidity (disease) and mortality (death). Overweight adults are at risk for such conditions as hypertension, gallbladder disease, hypercholesterolemia, degenerative joint disease, respiratory problems, certain forms of cancer, and diabetes.

Mortality rates double rapidly at BMI greater than 29. Follow these directions to get your BMI: Take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 0.0254 to get your weight in kilograms. Take your height in inches and divide it by 2.2 to get your height in meters. Square the height in meters (multiply the number by itself). Now divide your weight in kilograms by your squared height in meters.

Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) classification system, obesity is defined by the following grades: BMI 25–29 30–39 40+

WHO Classification Grades “Moderate Overweight” Grade 1 “Severe Overweight” Grade 2 “Morbidly Obese” Grade 3

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 13-2 Coping Styles The active, constructive efforts employed to manage stress are called coping strategies. People can manage stress by attacking its source, by rethinking their initial evaluation, or by accepting events and trying to reduce their consequences.

Assume the group of people below has been held captive by terrorists for several months. For each description, indicate whether acceptance, rethinking, or attack is being used as a coping strategy. Identify the strategies used, such as appraising the situation, focusing on solving a problem, dealing with one’s emotions, accepting the situation, or actively fighting a stressor.

1. Over time, Margaret has decided her captors have no bad intentions and just need to make a basic philosophic point.

2. Frank believes escape would be difficult but not impossible. He keeps formulating escape plans and explaining them to the others, hoping for one that is reasonable.

3. Joe believes this disaster has a bright side. Had another terrorist group taken them, they would be tortured as well as held captive.

4. Like Frank, Gary believes escape is possible, but only if the terrorists unexpectedly slip up. His goal is to remain as calm as possible and look for an opportunity. He refuses to waste energy and lose hope by developing or considering unrealistic escape plans.

5. Joan believes the group will remain in captivity virtually forever. Her goal is to eat as regularly as possible, combat inactivity through exercise, and converse about what they might do when freedom finally comes.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 13-3 Six Basic Categories in People’s Conceptions of Intelligence 1. Practical problem-solving ability Tends to see attainable goals and accomplish them; has the ability to change directions and use another procedure; is able to apply knowledge to particular problems.

2. Verbal ability Can converse on almost any topic; has demonstrated a good vocabulary; has a good command of language.

3. Intellectual balance and integration Has the ability to recognize similarities and differences; listens to all sides of an issue; is able to grasp abstract ideas and focus attention on those ideas.

4. Goal orientation and attainment Tends to obtain and use information for specific purposes; possesses ability for high achievement; is motivated by goals.

5. Contextual intelligence Learns and remembers, and gains information from past mistakes and successes; has the ability to understand and interpret his environment; knows what’s going on in the world.

6. Rapid thinking Has a thorough grasp of mathematics and has good spatial ability, and hence can mentally manipulate images; has a high IQ level; thinks quickly.

Six Basic Elements in People’s Conceptions of Wisdom 1. Reasoning ability Has good problem-solving ability; has a logical mind.

2. Sagacity Considers advice; understands people through dealing with a variety of people; feels he or she can always learn from other people; is fair.

3. Learning from ideas and environment Attaches importance to ideas; is perceptive; learns from other people’s mistakes.

4. Judgment Acts within one’s physical and intellectual limitations; is sensible; has good judgment at all times; thinks before acting or making decisions.

5. Expeditious use of information Is experienced; seeks out information, especially details; learns and remembers and gains information from past mistakes or successes.

6. Perspicacity Can offer solutions that are on the side of right and truth; is able to see through things, read between the lines; has the ability to understand and interpret his/her environment.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 13-3, (continued) Six Major Elements of People’s Conceptions of Creativity 1. Lack of conventionality Makes up rules as he/she goes along; has a free spirit; is unorthodox.

2. Integration and intellectuality Has the ability to recognize similarities and differences; is able to put old information, theories, etc., together in a new way.

3. Aesthetic taste and imagination Appreciates the arts; can write, draw, or compose music; has good taste.

4. Decisional skill and flexibility Follows gut feelings in making decisions after weighing the pros and cons; has the ability to change directions and use another approach.

5. Questioning spirit Questions societal norms, truisms, assumptions; is willing to take a stand.

6. Drive for accomplishment and recognition Is motivated by goals; likes to be complimented on work; is energetic.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 13-4 Maximizing Domains of Intelligence Robert Sternberg theorizes that students can maximize their learning by using all three components of their intelligence. Below, using Sternberg’s suggestions as examples, devise your own way to maximize your learning in each subject area.

ANALYTIC

CREATIVE

PRACTICAL

PSYCHOLOGY

ex.: Compare Freud’s theory of dreaming with Hobson’s.

ex.: Design an experiment to test a theory of dreaming.

ex.: What are the implications of Freud’s theory of dreaming in your life?

LITERATURE

ex.: In what ways were Catherine Earnshaw and Daisy Miller similar?

ex.: Write an alternative ending to Wuthering Heights.

ex.: Why are lovers sometimes cruel to each other and what can we do about it?

ART

ex.: Compare and contrast how Rembrandt and Van Gogh used light.

ex.: Draw a beam of light.

ex.: How could we reproduce the lighting in a painting of this room?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 13-5 Role Models and Mentors People describe a role model as someone who has some characteristics that are admirable. You may want to be as kind, smart, or as funny as that person is.

Who is the first person that comes to mind when you think of a role model?

What is this person’s relationship to you?

List three characteristics of this person that you would like to emulate.

1.

2.

3.

A mentor is an individual with whom you work closely. A mentor is someone who promotes your skills and assists you with your career goals. Think of a mentor in your life.

Do you believe this person considers him- or herself important to your career development?

Will you ask this person for help in making decisions about your future? Why or why not?

Do you believe this person’s gender is an important characteristic to you? Why?

List three characteristics of this person that you like.

1.

2.

3.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 13-6 Reflective Journal Exercise 13 In your journal, reflect on your college experience to date.

What are your goals?

When did you decide to go to college?

Why did you choose this college?

Who is paying for your education?

Is this your first time in college?

If you are older than 20, why did you delay going to college?

What difficulties are you experiencing?

How is college life what you expected it to be; how is it different?

What conditions would make college a better experience for you?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 14 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY ADULTHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

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Learning Objectives

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Chapter Outline

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Lecture Launchers

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Student Activities

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Supplemental Reading

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Revel Multimedia

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Handouts

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Revel Resources Multimedia

Chapter Outline Forging Relationships: Intimacy, Liking, and Loving During Early Adulthood The Components of Happiness: Fulfilling Psychological Needs Intimacy, Friendship, and Love Defining the Indefinable: What Is Love?

Choosing a Partner: Recognizing Mr. or Ms. Right Attachment Styles and Romantic Relationships: Do Adult Loving Styles Reflect Attachment in Infancy?

Learning Objectives 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.5 Lecture Launchers 14.1, 14.2, 14.3

Young Adulthood: Happiness Triangular Theory of Love Arranged Marriage

Student Activities 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 The Course of Relationships Cohabitation, Marriage, and Other Relationship Choices: Sorting Out the Options of Early Adulthood Parenthood: Choosing to Have Children Gay and Lesbian Parents Staying Single: I Want to Be Alone

Learning Objectives 14.6, 14.7, 14.8, 14.9

Love and Marriage

Lecture Launcher 14.4 Student Activities 14.4, 14.5

Work: Choosing and Embarking on a Career Identity During Young Adulthood: The Role of Work Picking an Occupation: Choosing Life’s Work Gender and Career Choices: Women’s Work Why Do People Work? More Than Earning a Living

Learning Objectives 14.10, 14.11, 14.12, 14.13 Lecture Launchers 14.5, 14.6, 14.7 Student Activity 14.6

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Young Adulthood: Work

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 14.1

Describe what makes young adults happy, what is meant by the social clock, and the concept of emerging adulthood.

LO 14.2

Explain how young adults respond to the need for intimacy and friendship and how liking turns to loving.

LO 14.3

Differentiate the different kinds of love.

LO 14.4

Describe how young adults choose spouses.

LO 14.5

Explain how infant attachment styles are related to romantic relationships as adults.

LO 14.6

Describe the sorts of relationships people enter into in early adulthood and what makes these relationships work or cease to work.

LO 14.7

Describe how the arrival of children affects a relationship in early adulthood.

LO 14.8

Compare gay and lesbian parents to heterosexual parents.

LO 14.9

Explain why some people choose to remain single in early adulthood.

LO 14.10 Explain the role of careers in the lives of young adults.

LO 14.11 List factors that influence the choice of a career in early adulthood.

LO 14.12 Describe how gender affects work choices and the work environment.

LO 14.13 Explain why people work and what elements of a job bring satisfaction.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Paul and Mario II. Forging Relationships: Intimacy, Liking and Loving During Early Adulthood A. The Components of Happiness: Fulfillment of Psychological Needs 1. For young adults, happiness usually is derived from feelings of independence, competence, self-esteem, or relatedness.

2. Culture influences which psychological needs are most important in determining happiness.

3. The Social Clock of Adulthood a) The SOCIAL CLOCK, the psychological timepiece that records the major milestones in people’s lives, was fairly uniform until the middle of the 20th century.

(1) Most people moved through a series of developmental stages closely aligned with particular ages.

(2) Today, the timing at which major life events occur has changed considerably, especially for women. (a) Ravennna Helson examined women whose social clocks were focused on either families, on careers, or on a more individual target. (b) Helson found that traditional feminine behavior changed over time. (i) Although this behavior increased from age 21 to 27, it showed a decrease between the ages of 27 and 43. (ii) This is likely a result of sex-role specialization and the role of mothering, which decreases as children age. (iii) Helson found that women who chose a family and those who chose a career both tended to show positive changes. (iv) By contrast, women who had no strong focus on either family or career tended to show either little change or more negative shifts in personality development. (c) Helson believes that it isn’t the particular social clock a woman chooses so much as that the clock is acceptable and justifiable.

4. Emerging Adulthood: A Time of Self-Examination a) A period between adolescence and “real” adulthood b) Five features: (1) Identity exploration (2) Instability (3) Self-focus (4) Feeling in-between (5) Optimism B. Intimacy, Friendship, and Love 1. Seeking Intimacy: Erikson’s View of Young Adulthood a) Erikson regards young adulthood as the time of the INTIMACY-VERSUSISOLATION STAGE, which is the period of postadolescence into the early 30s that focuses on developing close relationships with others. b) To Erikson, intimacy comprises several aspects.

(1) A degree of selflessness (2) Sacrificing one’s own needs to those of another (3) Joint pleasure from focusing not just on one’s own gratification but also on that of one’s partner (4) Deep devotion, marked by efforts to fuse one’s identity with the identity of the partner 4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Erikson suggests that those who experience difficulties during this stage are often lonely, isolated, and fearful of relationships with others. d) Their failure may stem from an earlier failure to develop a strong identity. e) Erikson’s theory was limited to heterosexuals and focused more on men’s development than women’s.

2. Friendship a) There is a need for belongingness that leads people in early adulthood to establish and maintain at least a minimum number of relationships with others. b) Most people form friendships with others who live nearby—proximity. c) Similarity also plays an important role because we are attracted to people who hold attitudes and values similar to ours. d) The number of cross-race friendships dwindles by adolescence and continues through adulthood.

C. Defining the Indefinable: What Is Love?

1. Most relationships develop in a surprisingly regular progression. a) Two people interact with each other more often and for longer periods of time. b) Two people increasingly seek out each other’s company. c) They open up more and more and begin to share physical intimacies. d) The couple is more willing to share positive and negative feelings, criticism and praise. e) They begin to agree on the goals they hold for the relationship. f) Their reactions to situations become more similar. g) They begin to feel their psychological well-being is tied to the success of the relationship, viewing it as unique, irreplaceable, and cherished. h) They begin to see themselves as a couple rather than separate individuals.

2. Passionate and Companionate Love: The Two Faces of Love a) Love differs qualitatively from liking.

(1) It involves intense physical arousal.

(2) It involves an all-encompassing interest in another person.

(3) It involves recurrent fantasies about the other individual.

(4) It involves rapid swings of emotion.

(5) It includes elements of closeness, passion, and exclusivity. b) Not all love is the same.

(1) PASSIONATE (OR ROMANTIC) LOVE is a state of powerful absorption in someone.

(2) COMPANIONATE LOVE is the strong affection we have for those with whom our lives are deeply involved.

(3) According to Elaine Hatfield and Ellen Berscheid’s LABELING THEORY OF PASSIONATE LOVE, individuals experience romantic love when two events occur together: intense physical arousal and situational cues that indicate that “love” is the appropriate label for the feelings being experienced.

(4) In many cultures, passionate, romantic love is a foreign concept.

3. Sternberg’s Triangular Theory: The Three Faces of Love a) Robert Sternberg’s triangular theory of love hypothesizes that love is made up of three components.

(1) The INTIMACY COMPONENT encompasses feelings of closeness, affection, and connectedness.

(2) The PASSION COMPONENT comprises the motivational drives relating to sex, physical closeness, and romance.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (3) The DECISION/COMMITMENT COMPONENT embodies both the initial cognition that one loves another person and the longer-term determination to maintain that love. b) Eight unique combinations of love can be formed.

(1) Nonlove occurs in the absence of all three components.

(2) Liking develops when only intimacy is present.

(3) Infatuated love exists for those who only feel passion.

(4) Empty love is when only decision/commitment is present.

(5) Romantic love occurs when both intimacy and passion are present.

(6) Companionate love is when intimacy and decision/commitment are present.

(7) Fatuous love exists when passion and decision/commitment are present.

(8) In consummate love, all three components are present. c) Decision/commitment and intimacy can continue to grow over time; however, passion tends to peak early, decline, and level off.

D. Choosing a Partner: Recognizing Mr. or Ms. Right 1. Although love and mutual attraction are relatively highly desired characteristics across cultures, some preferred characteristics are similar across cultures. a) Men, more than women, prefer a marriage partner who is physically attractive. b) Women prefer a marriage partner who is ambitious and industrious. c) Evolutionary theorists believe we are programmed to seek out mates who will maximize the availability of beneficial genes.

2. Filtering Models: Sifting Out a Spouse a) Assumes people filter for factors relating to broad determinants of attractiveness b) People often marry according to the principle of HOMOGAMY, or the tendency to marry someone who is similar in age, race, education, religion, and other basic demographic characteristics. c) The MARRIAGE GRADIENT is the tendency for men to marry women who are slightly younger, smaller, and lower in status, and for women to marry men who are slightly older, larger, and higher in status. d) Well-educated African American women find it difficult to find a spouse according to the marriage gradient. e) Men have a larger pool to choose from.

E. Attachment Styles and Romantic Relationships: Do Adult Loving Styles Reflect Attachment in Infancy?

1. According to Phillip Shaver, the influence of infants’ attachment styles continues into adulthood and affects the nature of their romantic relationships. a) Adults with secure attachment readily enter into relationships and feel happy and confident about the future of the relationship (half of all adults). b) Adults who have avoidant attachment tend to be less invested in relationships, have higher break-up rates, and often feel lonely (one quarter of all adults). c) Adults who have anxious-avoidant attachment tend to become overly invested in relationships, have repeated break-ups with the same partner, and have relatively low self-esteem (20 percent of adults).

III. The Course of Relationships A. Cohabitation, Marriage, and Other Relationship Choices: Sorting Out the Options of Early Adulthood 1. The past three decades have seen a dramatic rise in couples living together without being married, a status known as COHABITATION. 2. Marriage remains the preferred alternative for most people during early adulthood. a) It’s the “right” thing to do.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) A spouse provides security and financial well-being. c) A spouse fills a sexual role. d) A spouse can provide a sounding board and act as a partner for activities. e) Marriage offers the only totally acceptable way to have children. f) Marriage offers legal benefits and protections.

3. What Makes Marriage Work? a) Partners in successful marriages display several characteristics.

1) They visibly show affection to one another.

2) They communicate relatively little negativity.

3) They see themselves as part of an interdependent couple rather than two individuals.

4) They experience social homogamy, a similarity in leisure activity and role references. b) Only about half of all marriages remain intact. c) Most divorces occur within the first 10 years of marriage. d) Nearly half of newly married couples experience a significant degree of marital conflict.

1) Difficulty transitioning from being children to adults 2) Difficulty developing an identity apart from their spouse 3) Struggle to find time with spouse e) However, for many, the newlywed period is the happiest time of their entire married life.

B. Parenthood: Choosing to Have Children 1. Childbearing is decidedly not economically advantageous. a) A middle-class family with two children spends around $235,000 for each child by the time the child reaches the age of 18. b) Add in college costs and the figure comes to over $300,000.

2. Young adults typically cite psychological reasons for having children. a) Pleasure watching them grow b) Fulfillment from children’s accomplishments c) Satisfaction from seeing them become successful d) Enjoyment of forging a close bond e) Someone to take care of them in their old age f) Someone to maintain the family business g) Companionship h) A strong societal norm; 90 percent of all married couples have a child 3. Unwanted pregnancies occur most frequently in younger, poorer, and less-educated couples. a) Happily, there is a dramatic rise in the use and effectiveness of contraceptives. b) The incidence of unwanted pregnancies has declined in the last several decades.

4. Family size: The use of contraceptives has dramatically decreased the number of children in the average American family. a) In the 1930s, families desired three or more children. b) Today, most families seek to have no more than two children. c) The fertility rate has declined from its all-time high post-WWII level of 3.7 children per woman to below 2.0, which is less than the replacement level.

(1) More women are using contraceptives.

(2) More women are working.

(3) Women are delaying having children until their 30s.

(4) The cost of raising children is high.

5. Dual-Earner Couples a) Close to three-quarters of married women with school-aged children are employed outside the home, a significant historical shift in the 20th century. b) Even with husbands helping, wives spend more time with their children and housework and feel more stress and anxiety.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 6. The Transition to Parenthood: Two’s a Couple, Three’s a Crowd? a) The arrival of a child alters virtually every aspect of family life, in positive and sometimes negative ways. b) The birth of a child brings about a dramatic shift in the roles spouses play. c) According to John Gottman and colleagues, marital satisfaction can stay steady and actually rise with the birth of a child. d) Realistic expectations are important. e) Non-Western cultures see child-rearing as a community task, while Western culture’s “individualism” sees child-rearing as a private enterprise. f) Coparenting teams are parents who work together, adopting common child-rearing goals and strategies.

C. Gay and Lesbian Parents 1. About 20 percent of same-sex couples are parents. a) Pre-child same-sex couples tend to split housework equally. b) After a child, one person tends to take over the majority of the child-rearing tasks and the other the majority of the paid work outside the home. c) Research shows that children raised in homosexual homes show no differences in eventual adjustment than those raised in heterosexual homes. d) Singlehood, living alone without an intimate partner, has increased significantly in the last several decades.

D. Staying Single: I Want to Be Alone 1. Twenty percent of women and 30 percent of men live single.

2. Several reasons for this decision: a) Negative view of marriage b) Marriage is too restrictive c) Do not encounter someone with whom they wish to spend their lives d) Value independence, autonomy, and freedom IV. Work: Choosing and Embarking on a Career A. Identity During Young Adulthood: The Role of Work 1. George Vaillant considers career consolidation a developmental stage on a par with Erikson’s intimacy-versus-isolation stage.

B. Picking an Occupation: Choosing Life’s Work 1. Ginzberg’s Career Choice Theory a) According to Eli Ginzberg, people typically move through a series of stages in choosing a career.

(1) The first stage is the FANTASY PERIOD, which lasts until age 11 and is the period when career choices are made and discarded without regard to skills, abilities, or available job opportunities.

(2) During the TENTATIVE PERIOD, which spans adolescence, people begin to think in pragmatic terms about the requirements of various jobs and how their own abilities might fit with them.

(3) Finally, in early adulthood, people enter the REALISTIC PERIOD, during which people explore specific career options.

(4) Critics argue that Ginzberg’s theory is too simplistic.

2. Holland’s Personality Type Theory a) According to John Holland, certain personality types match particularly well with certain careers.

(1) Realistic. These people are down-to-earth, practical problem solvers, and physically strong, but their social skills are mediocre. They make good farmers, laborers, and truck drivers.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (2) Intellectual. Intellectual types are oriented toward the theoretical and abstract.

Although not particularly good with people, they are well-suited to careers in math and science.

(3) Social. The traits associated with the social personality type are related to verbal skills and interpersonal relations. Social types are good at working with people and consequently make good salespersons, teachers, and counselors.

(4) Conventional. Conventional individuals prefer highly structured tasks. They make good clerks, secretaries, and bank tellers.

(5) Enterprising. These individuals are risk-takers and take-charge types. They are good leaders and may be particularly effective as managers or politicians.

(6) Artistic. Artistic types use art to express themselves, and they often prefer the world of art to interactions with people. They are best suited to occupations involving art. b) A major problem with Holland’s theory is that not everyone fits neatly into a particular personality type.

B. Gender and Career Choices: Women’s Work 1. Although it is now illegal to advertise a position for a man or a woman, remnants of traditional gender-role prejudice persist.

2. Traditionally, women were considered most appropriate for COMMUNAL PROFESSIONS, occupations associated with relationships.

3. In contrast, men were perceived as best suited for AGENTIC PROFESSIONS, occupations associated with getting things accomplished.

4. Women today are underrepresented in male-dominated professions such as engineering and computer programming.

5. Women in many professions earn less than men in identical jobs.

6. Between 1950 and 2003, women in the U.S. labor force increased from 35 percent to over 60 percent.

7. Women and minorities in high-status, visible professional roles may hit the glass ceiling, an invisible barrier within an organization that, because of discrimination, prevents individuals from being promoted beyond a certain level.

C. Why Do People Work? More Than Earning a Living 1. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation a) Some people work out of EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION, motivation that drives people to obtain tangible rewards, such as money or prestige. b) Some people work out of INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, motivation that causes people to work for their own enjoyment, not for the rewards work may bring. c) In many Western societies, people tend to subscribe to the Puritan work ethic, the notion that work is important in and of itself. d) Work also brings a sense of personal identity. e) Work may also be a central element in people’s social lives. f) The kind of work people do is a factor in determining STATUS, which is the evaluation by society of the role a person plays.

2. Satisfaction on the Job a) Job satisfaction depends on a number of factors: (1) Status (2) The nature of the job itself (3) Job satisfaction increases when workers have input into the nature of their jobs.

(4) Variety (5) Supervisors have more influence and hence more job satisfaction.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 14.1: Developmental Issues in Young Adulthood When Sigmund Freud was asked what conditions contributed to a healthy and well-adjusted adulthood, he responded, “Lieben und arbeiten.” Love and work. Most developmentalists agree that being able to find something and someone to love, and an interesting and challenging career, are two major developmental tasks of adulthood. Ask your students to explain how Erik Erikson’s adult stages (intimacy-versusisolation and generativity-versus-stagnation) are built on these prominent adult life tasks. Discuss with your students the various developmental tasks of young adulthood. You might ask if any of them think they have completed all the tasks, or ask them to prioritize the tasks. Which ones are the most difficult and why? How is the accomplishment of these tasks related to the cognitive changes in adulthood (postformal thought and practical intelligence)?

Lecture Launcher 14.2: Physiognomic Measure of Attractiveness Michael Cunningham and his colleagues offer some evolutionary suggestions as to what the sexes find attractive in one another. Cunningham assembled a collection of photographs of women taken from college yearbooks and Miss Universe contests, and asked college men to rate the women’s attractiveness.

The experimenters also took physiognomic measurements of the women’s faces, assessing such dimensions as midface length, nostril width, pupil width, facial length, separation of eyes, width of smile, width of face at cheekbones, width of face at mouth, height of forehead, width of cheeks, thickness of upper lip, and so on. Women who possessed certain features usually associated with children (e.g., small chin, small nose, relatively large eyes widely spaced) were rated as highly attractive. Also attractive were prominent cheekbones and narrow cheeks, as well as high eyebrows and a wide smile. There was also some cross-cultural generality, given that the Miss Universe contestants came from a range of countries and in fact had been selected for their attractiveness by a multinational panel.

Cunningham explains these preferences for features using an evolutionary approach. Indicators of neoteny (i.e., relatively childlike features) may signal that the bearer is friendly, fertile, and healthy, as well as elicit responses for caregiving and affection. (The Smurfs, Bambi, E.T., Snuggles the Fabric Softener Bear, and paintings and figurines of children with large, dewy eyes have all capitalized on this effect.) Indicators of maturity (such as high cheekbones), when combined with neonate features, may signal that the woman is at an optimal age for mating. Indicators of expressiveness (such as large eyes and wide smiles) may cue sociability and receptiveness. Although all three sets of indicators were present in the judgments made by the college men, neonate features predominated.

A subsequent study examined the attractiveness choices of women judging men. Following the same strategy, Cunningham and his colleagues asked college women to rate the attractiveness of photographs of men taken from college yearbooks. When later compared to physiognomic measurements, it seemed women followed a multiple-motive strategy. Although women found the neotenous feature of large eyes to be attractive, they were also drawn by maturity cues (such as prominent cheekbones and a large chin) and expressive features (such as a big smile and high-status clothing). These multiple motives suggest that women seek an optimal combination of features, altogether signaling fitness for reproduction and capacity to provide for needs.

Abend, P., Pflüger, L. S., Koppensteiner, M., Coquerelle, M., & Grammer, K. (2015). The sound of female shape: A redundant signal of vocal and facial attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(3), 174-181.

Butler, E. E., Saville, C. W., Ward, R., & Ramsey, R. (2017). Physical attraction to reliable, low variability nervous systems: Reaction time variability predicts attractiveness. Cognition, 158, 81-89.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Cunningham, M. R. (1986). Measuring the physical in physical attractiveness: Quasi-experiments on the sociobiology of female facial beauty, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 925-935.

Cunningham, M. R., Barbee, A. P., & Pike, C. L. (1990). What do women want? Facialmetric assessment of multiple motives in the perception of male facial physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 6172.

Jang, K. S., Bayome, M., Park, J. H., Park, K. H., Moon, H. B., & Kook, Y. A. (2017). A three-dimensional photogrammetric analysis of the facial esthetics of the Miss Korea pageant contestants. The Korean Journal of Orthodontics, 47(2), 87-99.

Osborn, D. R. (2016). Renaissance beauty= Today’s ugly: What appearance factors determine attractiveness judgments?. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(5), 437-446.

Puts, D. A., Jones, B. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2012). Sexual selection on human faces and voices. Journal of Sex Research, 49(2-3), 227-243.

Lecture Launcher 14.3: Similarity and Attraction Revisited Similarity—of attitudes, background, goals, beliefs, interests, values—has been shown to be a powerful predictor of interpersonal attraction, both for romantic relationships and friendships. The late Robert Zajonc and his colleagues investigated similarity and relationships from a slightly different perspective, with fascinating results.

Zajonc and his coworkers solicited photographs from couples in Michigan and Wisconsin who had lived together for at least 25 years. These couples were asked to supply photos taken when they were first involved with one another and more recently, after this long period of time together; many couples provided shots from their wedding and from their 25th anniversary. The photographs were cropped so that only the faces of the men and women were visible. This was done so that other cues such as clothing styles or background scenes were not visible. The shots of these men and women were then presented to groups of judges, whose task was a relatively simple one. Presented with the photo of a young woman, for example, and an array of six photographs of young men, participants were asked to simply match “who went with whom,” or to identify the woman’s spouse from the array of men. (The other combinations— male targets and female options, photos of the older partners, and so on—were also represented in the experimental design.)

As an antecedent of interpersonal attraction, the similarity thesis might predict that couples resembled one another early in their relationship, thereby drawing them together. This is not what Zajonc found, however. Raters were no better than chance at matching couples based on their young photographs. They were quite accurate, however, in matching the older photographs. At levels better than chance, participants could tell who resembled whom after 25 years of marriage. This couldn’t be due to artifactual cues (scenes in the background, quality of the images) or methods of presentation, as these elements were carefully controlled. The conclusion is inescapable; these couples grew to look like one another in facial resemblance after years of togetherness.

Zajonc offered some suggestions as to why this might occur. First, diet could reasonably be implicated.

Couples tend to adopt the same dietary habits, so it is possible that years of eating high- or low-fat diets could lead to similar fatty deposits in the face, in turn producing greater physical resemblance. However, a rank correlation between weight and age failed to support this notion. Another possibility is that environmental factors could have played a role. Twenty-five years of living in Texas, for example, could produce the leathery skin cues that distinguish one couple from another hailing from the Minnesota tundra. However, all participants came from the same Midwestern background, limiting the impact of environmental as well as income, cohort, or socioeconomic factors.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e The explanation preferred by Zajonc and his colleagues is based on empathic responding and its effects on facial musculature. Most couples share some modicum of empathy for one another. The joys and sorrows of one partner typically are matched in the expression of the other partner, such that when one spouse beams with news of a pleasant event the other spouse responds in kind, grinning from ear to ear.

This matching of facial actions—expressions of happiness at another’s happiness, sadness at a partner’s sorrow, and all points in between—multiplied by 25 years, may indeed etch the kinds of muscular and skin tone changes that produce greater resemblance. Bolstering this explanation, Zajonc found that when the original partners who supplied the photographs were surveyed, those who bore the greatest resemblance (and hence, who were likely to have experienced greater empathic responding) rated themselves as more satisfied with their relationships.

Besides being a novel take on the similarity thesis, Zajonc’s study has important implications for your students. Ask them to conjure an image of the person they’re currently dating or interested in. Concentrate on it ... mull it over ... take a good, long look: Do they really want to look like that person 25 years from now?!

Cacioppo, S. & Cacioppo, J. T. (2015). Decoding the invisible forces of social connections. Current Research and Emerging Directions in Emotion-Cognition Interactions, 354-360.

Kulesza, W. M., Cisłak, A., Vallacher, R. R., Nowak, A., Czekiel, M., & Bedynska, S. (2015). The face of the chameleon: The experience of facial mimicry for the mimicker and the mimickee. The Journal of Social Psychology, 155(6), 590-604.

Re, D. E., Tskhay, K. O., Tong, M. O., Wilson, J. P., Zhong, C. B., & Rule, N. O. (2015). Facing fate: Estimates of longevity from facial appearance and their underlying cues. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 3(1), 30.

Zajonc, R. B., Adelmann, P. K., Murphy, S. T., & Niedenthal, P. M. (1987). Convergence in the physical appearance of spouses.

Motivation and Emotion, 11, 335-346.

Lecture Launcher 14.4: Is It Better to Have Children When You Are Young or When You Are Older?

Women today are having fewer children and delaying their first child until later. Many women now safely have children up until menopause. Are there any advantages to having children earlier? Or does the wisdom that seems associated with being an older mom (in addition to enjoying a satisfying career) encourage women to put off having children until later? What’s better for the children? Which is better for the parents? Consider the following: ADVANTAGES TO HAVING CHILDREN EARLY • You have more energy • Young mothers have fewer medical problems associated with their pregnancies • You are younger when kids are grown • You can concentrate on work when the kids are grown • You have a cushion of time to conceive • You have fewer years to engage in risky behaviors • You have fewer unrealistically high expectations ADVANTAGES TO HAVING CHILDREN LATE • You have more time to plan family and career goals • You are more mature • You have time to advance your career • You can relax and enjoy your children because you’ve already accomplished many goals • You have more money for labor-saving devices and child care • You have more seniority at work and may be able to work from home 12 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e •

You have a keener appreciation for your children because you’ve waited longer for them

Lecture Launcher 14.5: Gender and Careers Ask your students to tell you their career goals. Write them on the board under the headings “Women” and “Men”. Until relatively recently, the study of career development was limited to what choices men made with little attention paid to women, except to note that women had temporary employment or jobs that took second place to family. In fact, women are more likely to hold part-time jobs than men.

Career differences between women and men are often explained by four components: 1. Motivation: Both men and women are motivated 2. Expectations: Differ due to gender socialization and lead to differences in schooling 3. Gender-role socialization: Women are expected to pair-bond and have children. Men are expected to work to support a family 4. Opportunity: Both differences in career choice and gender discrimination in hiring create differences in career opportunities Although several factors contribute to the gender gap in career choice and wages, gender stereotypes are a major consideration. Try this thought exercise with your class.

A lawyer stood in front of the judge, strongly arguing that the defendant be allowed to post bail. Describe the lawyer. Describe the judge. Describe the defendant.

Despite the fact that almost equal numbers of men and women are now entering medical school and law school, we still hold stereotypes about the “typical” lawyer, doctor, judge, or even criminal. Statistics that show women catching up to men in certain occupations can be misleading. For example, if you count teachers as professionals, then the gap appears very small. However, if you look at the percentage of female university professors or male kindergarten teachers, it’s another story: men predominate in the higher-paid world of academia and women are overrepresented in the lower-paid kindergarten jobs.

Lecture Launcher 14.6: The World of Work The task of choosing and entering a career is a very serious one, and one that many young adults have difficulty accomplishing. A college student may change majors more than once during the first few years of college, and even after obtaining a bachelor’s degree many may either get a job in an unrelated field or go on to a different type of career choice in graduate school.

Older theories of career development, such as that of Donald Super (1957), include stages that begin with a young adult building career skills and end with retirement at age 65. This focus on age-related stages may not be as relevant to the working person of today, who may change careers several times (perhaps as many as five to seven times) and who may experience periods of unemployment between jobs. A more recent theory of career stages (that doesn’t have age as a central focus) suggests six stages of modern career development: Assessment: A stage in which the person is unsure of identity and career goals, as well as strengths and weaknesses. Career counseling and assessment testing are common.

Investigation: A stage of researching the possible job opportunities and career fields. Interviews with 13 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e people already in certain careers may be helpful.

Preparation: Getting ready to enter a career. May include education and other forms of job training.

Commitment: Making a decision, searching for a job, and accepting a job offer.

Retention: Level of comfort is achieved in the chosen career. Building skills in the job and network of relationships.

Transition: Feelings of discomfort, making conscious career changes, becoming more adaptable in one’s choices.

Savickas, M. L. (1997). Career adaptability: An integrative construct for life‐span, life‐space theory. The Career Development Quarterly, 45(3), 247-259.

Savickas, M. L., Porfeli, E. J., Hilton, T. L., & Savickas, S. (2018). The Student Career Construction Inventory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 106, 138-152.

Super, D. E. (1957) The psychology of careers. New York: Harper and Row. Super, D. E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 16(3), 282-298.

Lecture Launcher 14.7: Extrinsic Rewards and Work If a child freely chooses a task because of its intrinsic value to the child (“I just love to draw”), and an authority figure then imposes an extrinsic reward on the task (“If you draw me a picture, I’ll give you this red balloon”), then subsequent motivation to engage in that activity may decrease. The greatest loss of intrinsic motivation comes when the child perceives his or her behavior to be under surveillance and extrinsic rewards are expected. There are similar findings in studies with adults. What are the implications of these findings for the effects of reward on adults at work?

Work satisfaction is not just a matter of finding a job that “fits” your personality or your abilities, as vocational interest tests often lead you to think. It is also a matter of finding a job in which the conditions of work foster the kinds of personality traits you would like to have. Although personality traits will affect how you do your job, your job also affects your personality.

Here are some suggestions when considering the best job for you: 1. Do not judge a job only by the paycheck. Money is great, but if it is the only yardstick of success, your motivation is likely to wane along with your performance.

2. Identify the intrinsic rewards of the work. As noted in the text, people are more creative and productive when their rewards are intrinsic. Examples of intrinsic rewards are a sense of accomplishment, intellectual fulfillment, the satisfaction of curiosity, and the sheer love of the activity. Here are three key questions to help you identify those all-important intrinsic rewards: Will I have some degree of independence? People tend to be most creative when (1) they have control over how to perform a task or solve a problem, (2) they are evaluated unobtrusively, (3) they work alone, and (4) they are allowed to take risks by supervisors or colleagues who welcome innovative ideas.

Are the requirements demanding without being impossible for me? The pleasure of competence and actual achievement are highest when the difficulty of a task is not too easy and not too hard.

14 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Mastering an easy task offers no challenge, and the satisfaction of mastering a task that is too difficult is lessened by the extraordinary effort and time required to complete the task.

Will there be an opportunity to contribute to others? Compared to those who are self-involved, people who are involved with others cope better with life’s problems, have higher self-esteem, and are less likely to become overwhelmed with anxiety, depression, or hostility.

3. Consider the extrinsic rewards of the work. Although you will no doubt enjoy some aspects of a job, you can expect some aspects to be boring, tedious, or difficult. Work cannot be fun all the time, and in those moments, extrinsic rewards—pay, awards, etc.—can be very helpful. Extrinsic rewards are especially effective when they are tied to competence and not to the mere performance of a task. The best arrangement for both employees and employers is a secure base pay with merit pay for exemplary work.

The luckiest people in the world are those who manage to be paid for doing things they love doing. These are the people the dramatist Noel Coward was referring to when he said, “Work is more fun than fun.”

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 14.1: Desirable Qualities in a Dating Partner Distribute 3x5 cards to your class. Ask students not to write their names on the cards but to put their age and sex. Tell them to list the five most important qualities they look for in a dating partner. Collect the cards. On the board write “Males’ Qualities” and “Females’ Qualities”. List the qualities your students wrote on their cards with their age listed after the quality. Discuss with the entire class whether there are gender differences or age differences in the results.

Student Activity 14.2: Lookin’ for Love There are many antecedents of interpersonal attraction, such as similarity and physical attractiveness. This assignment gives your students experience at spotting these and other antecedents at work in real life.

Have your students scan the personal ads of your local newspaper or weekly circular (or online resources) for evidence that everyday laypeople use the antecedents psychologists have identified as being predictors of interpersonal attraction. The procedure for this brief written assignment can be as informal or elaborate as you’d like to make it. For example, you might simply ask students to scan the ads and identify the most common antecedents used (similarity tends to be far and away most common: “I’m X,Y, and Z, looking for same;” “I like this-n-that, hope you do too;” “Are you just like me? Let’s meet.”). From there, students can discuss any patterns that they see, such as gender differences in the qualities advertised by the seeker and/or looked for in a partner, or differences in heterosexual versus same-sex ads, or simply examples of the different antecedents and what makes them effective. A more elaborate project might involve taking a random sample of ads and content analyzing them for common themes. Students have voluntarily computed statistics on an entire page of ads, giving frequencies for the number of times similarity, proximity, or physical characteristics were mentioned, by whom, for whom, and in what context. Personal ads are essentially archival data, and as such, they can be analyzed with as much or as little sophistication as your students can handle. Regardless of the approach you adopt, have your students look at the BIG PICTURE. Rather than merely listing examples of cute or clever ads, ask them to focus on what these ads reveal about lay conceptions of what works and what doesn’t when pooeple are looking for love.

Student Activity 14.3: Behavioral Indicators of Love This activity can be completed individually or in groups. Distribute copies of Handout Master 14-1.

Instruct students to think about how the intimacy, passion, and commitment components of love are expressed both similarly and differently in relationships characterized by each of Robert Sternberg’s love types. For example, intimacy might be expressed as secret-sharing in both liking and consummate love, but would be expressed sexually only in the latter. When they finish completing the cells on the worksheets, students should have constructed a behavioral definition of each of type of love.

Student Activity 14.4: Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah Ask your students two simple questions: “What does it mean to father a child?” and “What does it mean to mother a child?” Chances are that responses to the first question will focus on biological aspects of reproduction; “being a sperm donor,” “impregnating a woman,” or “having sex.” Responses to the second question typically emphasize nurturance or prolonged commitment; “raising a child,” “showing attention,” or “being supportive” are likely offerings. Discuss with your students why they hold these views and why they responded to the questions differently. This is an opportunity to discuss sex role 16 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e stereotypes, gender roles, and some issues of early adulthood. If your students are a particularly enlightened bunch, there may be no difference in their responses to the two questions. In that case, discuss what led to their egalitarian outlooks, or why other people might respond differently.

Student Activity 14.5: Hello Daughter, Hello Son Ellen Junn describes an innovative exercise from her course on parenting and family relations that can be readily adapted and simplified for a developmental psychology course. For this assignment, Junn suggests having students write semi-autobiographical letters as a way of exploring developmental issues from a more concrete and personal perspective. Tell your students that you want them to write a letter to a future (or if they already have one, actual) child on his or her 18th birthday. You should assure students that their letters are confidential and are not meant to elicit overly private or emotional events in their lives.

According to Junn, students should give the following questions careful consideration in their letter: (a) When or why did you decide to have the child? (b) What are the most important qualities for a parent to have and why? (c) What personal qualities do you possess that might facilitate or interfere with your ability to be a good parent? (d) What qualities do you hope your child will possess and why?

Students should also mention specific strategies that they can use as a parent to foster growth in terms of physical, motor, cognitive, moral, social, personality, and sex-role development, relying on concepts presented in the text and lecture. Junn notes that this assignment increases the sensitivity of students to their own attitudes and beliefs about child development and parenting. In addition, it promotes understanding and application of course material to a personally relevant task. Junn also described a similar assignment asking students to write a letter to their parents.

Junn, E. N. (1989). “Dear Mom and Dad”: Using personal letters to enhance students’ understanding of developmental issues.

Teaching of Psychology, 16, 135-138.

Student Activity 14.6: Reflective Journal Bo Diddley asked the question: “Who Do You Love?” Sleepy LaBeef posed it a few years later. The Band featured the riddle in The Last Waltz. George Thorogood made the question a staple of radio airplay. But it turns out psychologists have been asking that question for quite some time, along with the related question, “How do you love them?” Poll your students on this matter, using Handout 14-2 as a guide.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Arthur, M., Earle, A., Raub, A., Vincent, I., Atabay, E., Latz, I., ... & Heymann, J. (2018). Child marriage laws around the world: Minimum marriage age, legal exceptions, and gender disparities. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 39(1), 51-74.

Diamond, R. M., Brimhall, A. S., & Elliott, M. (2018). Attachment and relationship satisfaction among first married, remarried, and post‐divorce relationships. Journal of Family Therapy, 40, S111-S127.

Jackson, J. B. (2018). The ambiguous loss of singlehood: Conceptualizing and treating singlehood ambiguous loss among never-married adults. Contemporary Family Therapy, 40(2), 210-222.

Lanctot, J. & Poulin, F. (2018). Emerging adulthood features and adjustment: A person-centered approach. Emerging Adulthood, 6(2), 91-103.

Luk, J. W., Sita, K. R., Gilman, S. E., Goldstein, R. B., Haynie, D. L., & Simons-Morton, B. G. (2018).

Adolescent sexual orientation and developmental transition in emerging adulthood: Disparities in school, work, residence, and transportation. Journal of Adolescent Health, 63(5), 649-651.

Nie, M., Yang, L., Sun, J., Su, H., Xia, H., Lian, D., & Yan, K. (2018). Advanced forecasting of career choices for college students based on campus big data. Frontiers of Computer Science, 12(3), 494-503.

Pepping, C. A., MacDonald, G., & Davis, P. J. (2018). Toward a psychology of singlehood: An attachment-theory perspective on long-term singlehood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(5), 324-331.

Perelli‐Harris, B. & Styrc, M. (2018). Mental well‐being differences in cohabitation and marriage: The role of childhood selection. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(1), 239-255.

Pessin, L. (2018). Changing gender norms and marriage dynamics in the United States. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(1), 25-41.

Sternberg, R. J. (2018). The scientific work we love: A duplex theory of scientific impact and its application to the top-cited articles in the first 30 years of APS journals. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 260-267.

Sternberg, R. J. & Sternberg, K. (Eds.). (2018). The new psychology of love. Cambridge University Press.

Vasilenko, S. A. & Lefkowitz, E. S. (2018). Sexual behavior and daily affect in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 6(3), 191-199.

Webster, J. D., Weststrate, N. M., Ferrari, M., Munroe, M., & Pierce, T. W. (2018). Wisdom and meaning in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 6(2), 118-136.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Young Adulthood: Happiness

Gabi shares her thoughts on what makes her happy

1. To what extent do Gabi’s views of relationships, work, and life in general match your expectations of someone whose age and sex are the same as hers?

2. Gabi is female and in her early 30s, and reports feeling “on track” in her life. Do you think this realization came early, late, or at about the “right” time for someone her age? Why?

Triangular Theory of Love

The assemblies of love are considered

1. Think about Sternberg’s three components of love. In your own close relationships, do you find that you weight one or two of these components more than others?

2. Three components of love yield many possible combinations. “Complete love” is “complete” because it combines all three components. But think of the definition of “complete.” Even apart from the mathematics of the theory, would you agree that there’s a “completeness” to this kind of love? Why or why not?

“What’s love got to do, got to do with it?”

Arranged Marriage

1. Arranged marriages are fairly unusual in the United States, but take place in other cultures. What do you think are the main cultural factors that account for this difference?

2. To what extent do you think people in an arranged marriage conform to traditional sex-role stereotypes? Which stereotypes might those be, and which cultural values would they reflect? Is your perception of stereotypical behavior itself the product of stereotypes you might hold?

Love and Marriage

“This, I tell you, brother; you can’t have one without the other”

1. “Marrying for love” is a romantic notion, but romance doesn’t always pay the bills. What strengths and weaknesses do you see associated with love marriages and arranged marriages?

2. Is it realistic to expect that love will grow and deepen over time? What evidence can you point to support your conclusions?

Young Adulthood: Work

“Having a job” and “pursuing a career” can be different enterprises

1. Does Jessica seem happy in her occupation? Having watched the video, why or why not do you think that is?

2. Take a moment to think of your ideal job. What characteristics of the work make it ideal? Which aspects of your personality motivate you to pursue that kind of work?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 14-1 Behavioral Indicators of Love Sternberg’s types of love

What kinds of behaviors indicate the presence of intimacy in each type of love?

What kinds of behaviors indicate the presence of passion in each type of love?

Liking

Infatuated

Empty

Romantic

Fatuous

Companionate

Consummate

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What kinds of behaviors indicate the presence of commitment in each type of love?

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Handout 14-2 Reflective Journal Exercise 14 According to Sternberg’s triangular theory of love, there are eight types of love possible, depending on the combinations of the three elements: Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment. Reflect on your life as a child, as an adolescent, and as an adult. Have you experienced all eight types of love in your life?

Describe these relationships. Do you consider all of them “love”—in other words, do you or did you say about that person, “I love { }”?

1. Nonlove (all three missing)

2. Liking (intimacy)

3. Infatuated love (passion)

4. Empty love (commitment)

5. Romantic love (intimacy and passion)

6. Companionate love (intimacy and commitment)

7. Fatuous love (passion and commitment)

8. Consummate love (intimacy, passion, and commitment)

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Chapter 15 PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

17

Revel Multimedia

18

Handouts

19

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CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Resources

Chapter Outline Physical Development Physical Transitions: The Gradual Change in the Body’s Capabilities The Senses: The Sights and Sounds of Middle Age Reaction Time: Not-So-Slowing Down Sex in Middle Adulthood: The Ongoing Sexuality of Middle Age

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4 Lecture Launcher 15.1 Student Activity 15.1

Health Wellness and Illness: The Ups and Downs of Middle Adulthood The A’s and B’s of Coronary Heart Disease: Linking Health and Personality The Threat of Cancer

Learning Objectives 15.5, 15.6, 15.7 Lecture Launchers 15.2, 15.3, 15.4, 15.5 Student Activities 15.2, 15.3, 15.4

Cognitive Development Does Intelligence Decline in Adulthood?

The Development of Expertise: Separating Experts from Novices Memory: You Must Remember This

Learning Objectives 15.8, 15.9, 15.10 Lecture Launchers 15.6, 15.7, 15.8 Student Activities 15.5, 15.6, 15.7

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How Your Memory Can Be Tricked

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 15.1

Describe the physical changes that affect people in middle adulthood.

LO 15.2

Explain how the senses change in middle adulthood.

LO 15.3

Explain how reaction time changes during middle adulthood.

LO 15.4

Compare how middle-aged men and middle-aged women experience changes in sexuality.

LO 15.5

Describe changes in health that occur in middle adulthood.

LO 15.6

Describe the risk factors related to coronary heart disease.

LO 15.7

Summarize what causes cancer and what tools are available to diagnose and treat it.

LO 15.8

Describe what happens to a person’s intelligence in middle adulthood.

LO 15.9

Explain the role of expertise in middle adulthood.

LO 15.10 Describe how aging affects memory and how memory can be improved.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Faster, Higher, Older II. Physical Development A. Physical Transitions: The Gradual Change in the Body’s Capabilities 1. Middle adulthood is the time when most people first become aware of the gradual changes in their bodies that mark the aging process. People’s reactions to the physical changes of middle adulthood depend in part on their self-concept.

2. Society applies a double standard to men and women in terms of appearance. a) Older women tend to be viewed in unflattering terms. b) Aging men are more frequently perceived as displaying a maturity that enhances their status.

3. Height, Weight, and Strength: The Benchmarks of Change a) After age 55, bones become less dense and ultimately women lose 2 inches and men lose 1 inch in height.

(1) Women are more prone to declining height due to OSTEOPOROSIS, a condition in which the bones become brittle, fragile, and thin.

(2) Osteoporosis is brought about by a lack of calcium in the body.

(3) Diet (high in calcium) and exercise can reduce the risk of osteoporosis. b) Both men and women continue to gain weight in middle adulthood.

(1) The amount of body fat increases.

(2) Exercise and weight control can ameliorate the weight gain. c) Throughout middle adulthood, strength gradually decreases.

(1) This is particularly so in the back and leg muscles.

(2) By age 60, people have lost about 10 percent of their maximum strength.

B. The Senses: The Sights and Sounds of Middle Age 1. Starting at age 40, visual acuity—the ability to discern fine spatial detail in both close and distant objects—begins to decline. a) The eye’s lenses change shape and elasticity. b) The lenses become less transparent, which reduces the amount of light entering. c) A nearly universal change in eyesight during middle adulthood is the loss of near vision, called PRESBYOPIA. d) Declines also occur in depth perception, distance perception, the ability to view the world in three dimensions, and night vision. e) Sometimes changes in vision are brought on by a disease called GLAUCOMA, a condition where pressure in the fluid of the eye increases, either because the fluid cannot drain properly or because too much fluid is produced.

(1) About 1 percent to 2 percent of those over 40 are affected.

(2) African Americans are particularly susceptible.

(3) It can be treated if caught early enough, but if left untreated, it can cause blindness.

2. Hearing undergoes a gradual decline beginning in middle adulthood. a) The primary sort of loss is for sounds of high frequency, a problem called PRESBYCUSIS. (1) About 12 percent of people between 45 and 65 suffer from presbycusis.

(2) Men are more prone to hearing loss than women.

(3) Because the two ears are not always equally affected by hearing loss, sound localization, the ability to detect the origin of a sound, is diminished. b) Some hearing loss results from environmental factors, such as loud noises. c) The rest are caused by aging, which brings a loss of hair cells in the inner ear. d) Also, the eardrum becomes less elastic with age.

C. Reaction Time: Not-So-Slowing Down 1. Reaction time increases slightly in middle adulthood.

2. Due to a gradual loss of muscle in the body and nervous system processing due to aging.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 3. People can compensate by being more careful and practicing the skill.

4. Exercise can slow this loss.

D. Sex in Middle Adulthood: The Ongoing Sexuality of Middle Age 1. Although the frequency of sexual intercourse decreases with age, sexual activities remain a vital part of most middle-aged adults’ lives. a) With children grown and away from home, middle-aged adults have more freedom. b) With menopause, women no longer need to practice birth control. c) Men typically need more time to get an erection. d) The volume of fluid in ejaculation declines. e) The production of testosterone also declines. f) In women, the walls of the vagina become less elastic and thinner and the vagina shrinks, potentially making intercourse painful.

2. FEMALE CLIMACTERIC starts at about age 45; women enter a period of transition from being able to bear children to being unable to do so. a) This period lasts about 15 to 20 years. b) The most notable sign is MENOPAUSE, the cessation of menstruation. c) The process may begin as early as age 40 or as late as age 60.

(1) The production of estrogen and progesterone drop.

(2) Symptoms such as “hot flashes,” headaches, feeling dizzy, heart palpitations, and aching joints are common during menopause.

(3) Half of women report no symptoms at all.

(4) Symptoms of menopause differ by race. d) Perimenopause is the period beginning around 10 years prior to menopause when hormone production begins to change. e) After a year goes by without a menstrual period, menopause is said to have occurred. f) Hormone replacement therapy is controversial.

3. Men experience some changes during middle age that are collectively referred to as the MALE CLIMACTERIC, the period of physical and psychological change relating to the male reproductive system that occurs during late middle age. a) The most common change is the enlargement of the prostate gland.

(1) By age 40, 10 percent of men have enlarged prostates.

(2) Symptoms are problems with urination, including difficulty starting to urinate, and frequent need to urinate during the night.

(3) Men still produce sperm and can father children through middle age.

III. Health A. Wellness and Illness: The Ups and Downs of Middle Adulthood 1. The vast majority of people in middle age face no chronic health difficulties and have fewer accidents and infections because they are more careful and have built up immunities over their life.

2. Some adults, however, are particularly susceptible to chronic diseases in middle adulthood. a) Arthritis typically begins after age 40. b) Diabetes is most likely to occur in people between the ages of 50 and 60, particularly if they are overweight. c) Hypertension (high blood pressure) is one of the most frequent chronic disorders found in middle age. d) The death rate for people between 40 and 60 has declined dramatically; it is less than half of what it was in the 1940s. e) Some people are genetically susceptible to chronic diseases, such as hypertension.

3. Stress in Middle Adulthood a) Stress continues to have a significant impact on health in middle age. b) According to psychoneuroimmunologists, who study the relationship between the brain, the immune system, and psychological factors, stress produces three main consequences.

(1) Direct physiological outcomes (increased blood pressure and hormonal activity) 5 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (2) Leads to unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, cutting back on sleep, drinking, or taking other drugs (3) People under a lot of stress are less likely to seek medical care.

B. The A’s and B’s of Coronary Heart Disease: Linking Health and Personality 1. More men die in middle age of diseases of the heart and circulatory system than any other cause.

2. Both genetic and experiential characteristics are involved. a) Heart disease runs in families. b) Men are more likely to suffer than women, and risks increase with age.

3. There are several environmental and behavioral factors. a) Cigarette smoking b) High fat and cholesterol in diet c) Lack of physical exercise 4. Evidence suggests that some psychological factors are also related to heart disease. a) People with TYPE A BEHAVIOR PATTERN, which is characterized by competitiveness, impatience, and a tendency toward frustration and hostility, are more susceptible to heart disease.

(1) They engage in polyphasic activities—multiple activities carried out simultaneously.

(2) They are easily angered and become verbally and nonverbally hostile if prevented from reaching their goals.

(3) Heart rate and blood pressure rise, epinephrine and norepinephrine increase.

(4) Wear and tear on the heart produces disease.

(5) Evidence is only correlational so we cannot say Type A behavior causes heart disease.

(6) Most experts now say it is the negative emotion and hostility that are the major links to heart disease.

(7) Most research has been done on men; we need to research women to see if Type A women are equally susceptible.

(8) The key component that links Type A behavior and heart disease is hostility. b) People with TYPE B BEHAVIOR PATTERN, which is characterized by noncompetitiveness, patience, and a lack of aggression, have less than half the risk of coronary disease that Type A people have. c) TYPE D BEHAVIOR, D for “distressed,” is linked to coronary heart disease. Factors such as insecurity, anxiety, and having a negative outlook put people at risk.

C. The Threat of Cancer 1. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in middle age.

2. Many forms of cancer respond well to treatment.

3. Cancer is unchecked cell growth.

4. Cancer is associated with several risk factors. a) Genetics (family history of cancer) raises the risk. b) Poor nutrition, smoking, alcohol use, exposure to sunlight, exposure to radiation, and exposure to occupational hazards such as certain chemicals raise the risk.

5. Treatment of cancer can take a variety of forms. a) Radiation therapy involves the use of radiation to destroy a tumor. b) Chemotherapy involves the controlled ingestion of toxic substances meant to poison the tumor. c) Surgery may be used to remove the tumor. d) Early diagnosis is crucial.

(1) Mammography, a weak X-ray, is used to detect breast cancer.

(2) Women over 40 should routinely have one.

(3) Younger women have denser breasts and the problem of false positives increases.

(4) Mammograms are expensive.

6. Increasing evidence suggests that cancer is also related to psychological factors. a) The death rate of women with breast cancer was much lower for those who had a “fighting spirit” or those who denied they had the disease. b) People with close family ties are less likely to develop cancer.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Cancer patients who are habitually optimistic report less physical and psychological distress. d) A positive psychological outlook may be related to a tendency to adhere to a strict treatment regimen.

IV. Cognitive Development A. Does Intelligence Decline in Adulthood?

1. Cross-sectional studies—which test people of different ages at the same point in time—clearly showed that older subjects scored less well than younger subjects on traditional IQ tests. a) Intelligence peaks at 18, stays steady until mid-20s, and declines till end of life. b) These studies suffer from the cohort effect—influences associated with growing up at a particular historical time that affect people of a particular age.

(1) May be less educated (2) May have less stimulation on job (3) May have poorer health c) Cross-sectional studies may underestimate intelligence in older subjects.

2. Longitudinal studies revealed different developmental patterns in intelligence. a) Adults showed stable and even increasing IQ scores until mid-30s and some to mid-50s, then a decline.

(1) Because of repeated testing, some people remember some of the test items, called the practice effect.

(2) People become more comfortable and relaxed after repeated testings.

(3) Subjects leave or die during time span; those who remain may be healthier, more stable, and psychologically more positive than the people who dropped out. b) Longitudinal studies may overestimate the intelligence of older people.

3. Results are complicated by the fact that many IQ tests include a physical performance portion. a) These are timed. b) Reaction time slows with age. c) Results may be due to physical changes, not cognitive changes.

4. Many researchers believe there are two kinds of intelligence. a) FLUID INTELLIGENCE is the ability to deal with new problems and situations.

(1) Fluid intelligence is inductive reasoning, spatial orientation, perceptual speed, and verbal memory.

(2) Fluid intelligence does decline with age. b) CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE is the store of information, skills, and strategies that people have acquired through education and prior experiences, and through their previous use of fluid intelligence.

(1) Crystallized intelligence includes numerical and verbal abilities, such as solving a crossword puzzle or a mathematical problem.

(2) Crystallized intelligence holds steady or increases with age.

5. Even though scores on IQ tests decline with age, middle-aged people show no decline in general cognitive competence. a) Traditional tests may not tap into practical intelligence. b) Highly successful middle-aged people may not be representative of all middle-aged people. c) Professional success may not rely exclusively on cognitive ability. d) Older, successful people may have developed expertise in their particular occupational area or SELECTIVE OPTIMIZATION, the process by which people concentrate on particular skill areas to compensate for losses in other areas.

B. The Development of Expertise: Separating Experts from Novices 1. EXPERTISE, the acquisition of skill or knowledge in a particular area, develops as people devote attention and practice.

2. Beginners use formal procedures and rules, whereas experts rely on experience and intuition, and often bend the rules.

3. Because experts have so much experience, their behavior is often automatic, performed without much thought.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 4. Experts develop better strategies than nonexperts.

C. Memory: You Must Remember This 1. According to research on memory changes in adulthood, most people show only minimal losses, and many exhibit no memory loss in middle adulthood.

2. Memory is viewed in terms of three sequential components. a) Sensory memory is an initial, momentary storage of information that lasts only an instant.

(1) No decline in middle age b) Short-term memory holds information for 15 to 25 seconds.

(1) No decline in middle age c) Long-term memory holds information that is rehearsed for a relatively permanent time.

(1) Some decline in middle age (a) Storage is less efficient. (b) A reduction in efficiency of memory retrieval 3. We recall information through use of SCHEMAS, organized bodies of information stored in memory. a) Schemas allow people to organize, categorize, and interpret new information. b) Schemas allow people to organize their life into coherent wholes and interpret social events. c) Material that is consistent with existing schemas is more likely to be recalled than material that is inconsistent.

4. MNEMONICS are formal strategies for organizing material in ways that make it more likely to be remembered. a) Get organized. b) Pay attention. c) Use the encoding specificity phenomenon: the principle that people are most likely to recall information in environments that are similar to those in which the information was initially learned. d) Visualize: the keyword technique is when the learner forms a mental picture of something and connects it to something to be remembered. e) Rehearsal is the idea that practice makes perfect.

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LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 15.1: What Is Middle Age and When Does It Begin?

The concept of “middle age” has changed drastically since the baby boomers began to approach their 50s.

Exactly how does one define “middle age”? Statistically, the average American can expect to live to age 74, so middle age can be 37, but not many 37-year-olds consider themselves middle-aged. Dysmorphophobia, better identified as body dysmorphic disorder (the intense but unfounded fear of looking ugly), is, by some accounts, on the rise, particularly in Western societies. With all the methods available to stave off the “middle-age uglies”—diet, exercise, Botox, melatonin, hair dye, and plastic surgery—people are actually pushing back the concept of middle age to after 50. Thus, many developmentalists believe that middle age can begin anywhere from 40 to 70.

Middle adulthood used to be thought of as being worse than youth and better than old age. Now, however, researchers are finding that middle age has a developmental process of its own. Although the midlife crisis is a popular perception of middle adulthood, statistics show that most people consider middle age the best period in their lives. For the most part, middle-aged persons don’t have the angst of youth, the aches and pains of the elderly, and their careers, checkbooks, and bodies are all pretty healthy.

Johnson, S., Williamson, P., & Wade, T. D. (2018). A systematic review and meta-analysis of cognitive processing deficits associated with body dysmorphic disorder. Behaviour research and therapy, 107, 83-94.

Gruber, M., Jahn, R., Stolba, K., & Ossege, M. (2018). 'Barbie Doll Syndrome'. A case report of body dysmorphic disorder. Neuropsychiatrie: Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation: Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater, 32(1), 44-49.

Lecture Launcher 15.2: Osteoporosis According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation and the U.S. Administration on Aging, over 25 million Americans have a bone thinning disease called osteoporosis. This “silent thief” progresses without symptoms or pain until a fracture occurs, generally in the hip, spine, or wrist. Most victims are women, and over half of all women over 65 have it. One out of five is male.

It is important to be aware of this disease, whose cause is uncertain, because some factors make a person susceptible to the disease and it is preventable if bone loss is detected early (middle age or sooner). See Handout 15-1 for a quiz to see if your students are at risk for developing osteoporosis.

You can learn more by visiting the National Osteoporosis Foundation website: http://www.nof.org.

Lecture Launcher 15.3: The Type A Personality? Or Is It Type H? “Anger kills,” says Duke University researcher Redford Williams. His work is based on a study conducted in 1959 by Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman. Friedman, a cardiologist, noticed that the upholstery in his office was being worn away sooner than normal by his heart disease patients who, he speculated, were impatiently awaiting their office visits and literally “sitting on the edge of their seats.” He and Rosenman decided to test the notion that people who suffered from heart disease had a variety of psychological and behavioral traits in common. These included chronic stress from their excessive drive to perform, pressures to meet deadlines, an abnormally competitive spirit, and a tendency to become easily frustrated. They found the following characteristics to be related to significantly more heart attacks and disease: • • •

Frequently doing more than one thing at a time Urging others to hurry up and finish what they are saying Becoming very irritated when traffic is blocked or when waiting in line 9 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e • • • • •

Gesturing a lot while talking Having a hard time sitting with nothing to do Speaking explosively and using obscenities often Playing to win all the time, even with children Becoming impatient when watching others carry out a task

The reason these behavior patterns increase the risk of coronary heart disease is that Type A persons become too physically aroused. This causes the body to overproduce hormones such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, and increases blood pressure and heart rate. Over time, this wears down the body and produces heart disease.

For years afterward, studies supported Friedman and Rosenman’s conclusions. However, by the 1980s some studies began to emerge which showed that heart disease was, in fact, no more frequent in competitive and agitated people compared to others. Sometimes these folks fared even better than more laid-back individuals.

The part of Friedman and Rosenman’s findings that seemed to predict future heart trouble was excessive and frequent hostility and anger. This twist has been dubbed the Type H personality or AHA syndrome: anger, hostility, and aggression. Friedman and Rosenman’s initial studies focused on men; the newer studies of anger and hostility included women. Both men and women who express frequent anger and hostility through clenched teeth, swearing, and raised voices increase their odds of having heart disease.

Not every medical authority agrees with either theory totally and the central question remains: Can you change your personality to save your life? The answer appears to be yes. Studies show that consciously learning to relax, lowering one’s voice, and making an effort to smile and laugh (even if it’s acting) increases blood flow, reduces levels of hormones that create stress, reduces pain perception, and diffuses anger. This is not the same as suppressing anger—which is bad for you—but a conscious effort to control your reaction to life.

Lecture Launcher 15.4: What Vexes a Baboon?

Husband-and-wife researchers Robert Seyfarth and the late Dorothy Cheney have studied groups of wild baboons in Africa for years. One focus of their research has been how social and nonsocial stressors affect individual baboons and what coping mechanisms baboons use to reduce stress.

Because Seyfarth and Cheney perform their research in the field, accurately measuring stress levels from wild baboons can be challenging. Noninvasive techniques, such as observation, tend to be subjective and imprecise.

On the other hand, capturing baboons for closer analysis would be very stressful in its own right. Luckily, glucocorticoids (GC)—chemicals released during times of stress—can be detected in fecal material. This means that researchers can collect the feces left behind by specific baboons and then measure their GC levels: Increases in GC levels indicate an increase in stress and vice versa.

Careful analysis of GC levels in wild baboons reveals a lot about what causes and reduces stress levels. For example, during months when predator attacks on the group are frequent, all the baboons in the group have higher stress levels. Interestingly, when one of the group is killed by a predator, the stress levels are highest in the victim’s closest relatives (e.g., sisters, mothers, etc.), indicating that baboons are emotionally connected to their family members.

The researchers also found that when a new baboon takes over the alpha male position in the troop, GC levels increase drastically in lactating females with young infants, but not as dramatically in other females. This is likely because new alpha male baboons tend to kill the young offspring of the previous alpha male in order to make their mothers sexually receptive again. One way lactating females can lower their stress level in this situation is to befriend another male in the group who might help protect her infants from the new alpha male.

Finally, researchers have observed that GC levels are related to social grooming; specifically, GC levels tend to 10 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e be lowest in females when their grooming is limited to a small group of partners. Taken together, much of Seyfarth and Cheney’s research indicates the importance of close social bonds between baboons for reducing stress. Although scientists try not to anthropomorphize the animals they study, it is difficult to avoid drawing connections between the importance of social support for baboons and a similar role for social support for humans.

Crockford, C., Wittig, R., Whitten, P., Seyfarth, R., & Cheney, D. (2008). Social stressors and coping mechanisms in wild female baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus). Hormones and Behavior, 53, 254-265.

Gross, T. (2008, December 5). The secret life of baboons. http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=97852832.

Seyfarth, R. M., & Cheney, D. L. (2012). The evolutionary origins of friendship. Annual Review Of Psychology, 63, 153-177.

Snyder-Mackler, N., Kohn, J. N., Barreiro, L. B., Johnson, Z. P., Wilson, M. E., & Tung, J. (2016). Social status drives social relationships in groups of unrelated female rhesus macaques. Animal Behaviour, 111, 307-317.

Sonnweber, R. S., Ravignani, A., Stobbe, N., Schiestl, G., Wallner, B., & Fitch, W. (2015). Rank‐dependent grooming patterns and cortisol alleviation in Barbary macaques. American Journal of Primatology, 77(6), 688-700.

Wittig, R., et al. (2008). Focused grooming networks and stress alleviation in wild female baboons. Hormones and Behavior, 54(1), 170177.

Lecture Launcher 15.5: Adhering to Medical Advice One factor that positively influences health is locating a doctor with whom you are able to communicate.

Communication, however, is only the first step. Assuming that the doctor’s advice is accurate, you must also follow that advice. The rate of adherence to medical advice averages only about 50 percent, with somewhat higher rates associated with treatments that are designed to cure as opposed to prevent an illness. These rates are relatively consistent regardless of whether the situation involves keeping an appointment with a doctor, taking medication, or staying on a dietary or exercise regimen.

Three general factors influence adherence to medical advice: characteristics of the disease and treatment, the person, and the relationship with medical personnel. Low-adherence rates are often associated with treatments of long duration, more complex treatments (e.g., requiring a number of different medications), and negative interactions with medical personnel (e.g., poor communication, delays in getting an appointment, and delays in the waiting room). Increased rates of adherence are often related to a personal perception of the severity of the illness, strong social support, a personal belief in the efficacy of the treatment, clear, specific information from medical personnel about the illness and the reasons for a particular treatment regimen, and personal characteristics of medical personnel such as friendliness, warmth, and a caring attitude. Finally, adherence does not seem to be related to disease severity as defined solely by medical personnel, severity of treatment side effects, personality traits, and demographic characteristics (at least when measured independently) such as age, gender, race, or educational level.

Cognitive-behavioral techniques seem to be the most effective in increasing adherence. For example, strategies such as prompts to remind patients, tailoring the regimen to the individual’s daily habits and activities, a graduated implementation of the regimen, and a contingency contract between the patient and medical personnel help to boost adherence.

Lecture Launcher 15.6: Hormones and Thinking Skills Uriel Halbreich, a University at Buffalo, The State University of New York professor of psychiatry and gynecology and obstetrics, has reported that the performance of postmenopausal women on certain tests measuring the ability to integrate several cognitive functions improved significantly after a course of estrogenreplacement therapy (ERT).

It was found that low levels of estrogen may impair some cognitive functions, whereas estrogen-replacement therapy may help improve certain thinking and biological brain processes, and also may play a role in elevating mood. Postmenopausal women and women of childbearing age were given a wide variety of tests that measured different areas of cognitive functions. The women were then given estrogen for 60 days, and there appeared to 11 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e be a significant improvement. This increase in cognitive ability was correlated with the plasma levels of estrogen. The results indicated that integrative abilities, reaction times and short-term verbal memory of many of the postmenopausal women improved after estrogen therapy. Halbreich believes that estrogen may help maintain some functions that typically decline with age or the onset of menopause.

Baskaran, C., Cunningham, B., Plessow, F., Singhal, V., Woolley, R., Ackerman, K. E., ... & Misra, M. (2017). Estrogen replacement improves verbal memory and executive control in oligomenorrheic/amenorrheic athletes in a randomized controlled trial. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 78(5), e490.

Edwin, T., & Halbreich, U. (2005). The effects of estrogens on cognition and Alzheimer's dementia. In Estrogen Effects in Psychiatric Disorders (pp. 223-237). Springer Vienna.

Hamson, D. K., Roes, M. M., & Galea, L. A. (2016). Sex hormones and cognition: neuroendocrine influences on memory and learning. Comprehensive Physiology. DOI: 10.1002/cphy.c150031.

Kahn L. S., & Halbreich, U. (1999). Menopause and psychopharmacology: signs, symptoms, and treatment. In Crosignani P. G., Kenemans, K., Wenger, N. K., & Jackson, A. S. (Eds), Women's health and menopause: risk reduction strategies — improved quality of health, (pp. 131-136). Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Maille, A. & Schradin, C. (2017). Ecophysiology of cognition: How do environmentally induced changes in physiology affect cognitive performance? Biological Reviews, 92(2), 1101-1112.

Wen, K. X., Zaciragic, A., Kavousi, M., Ikram, M. A., & Franco, O. H. (2017). The role of estrogen on cognitive health in postmenopausal women. Maturitas, 100, 108.

Lecture Launcher 15.7: The Inner Workings of Working Memory Area 46 could be anywhere; a loading dock, part of a busy airport, or a sector of a computer chip manufacturing plant. But Area 46 of the frontal lobe refers to a specific location that’s revealed a specific function. Scientists are heralding Area 46 as the “scratch pad of the brain,” and it plays an important role in adult memory.

Most models of memory posit a “working memory” or holding area where information is stored before being consolidated (or lost). Two research teams used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to pinpoint where that activity takes place. Susan Courtney, working at the National Institutes of Mental Health, led a research project that had volunteers view a face on a computer monitor for 3 seconds. The participants kept the image in mind during an 8-second pause, and then saw another face on the screen. If the second face matched the first, the participants pressed a button. The fMRI scans taken during this task showed that areas in the back of the brain were active when the faces first appeared, whereas Area 46 of the frontal lobe became and stayed active during the pause. (The distinction wasn’t perfect; some rear areas were slightly active during the pause, and some frontal areas were active when the faces were shown.) In a second study, a research team led by Jonathan D. Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh asked participants to recall increasingly long strings of consonants flashed on a screen. As the sequence of letters increased, activity in the frontal lobe increased. Like the other study, other areas of the brain were also active during these tasks.

Taken together, these results suggest that there is a coordinated effort in brain activity when working memory is activated. The frontal lobe “scratch pad” of Area 46 works in concert with other brain regions to process information and distribute it effectively. Further research, using millisecond-to-millisecond fMRI recording, may reveal with greater accuracy how different types of information get processed.

Bower, B. (1997, April 26). Where in the brain is working memory? Science News, 151, 258.

Boyd, R. S. (1997, November 30). Scientists find “scratch pad” where brain sorts memory. Austin American-Statesman, A22.

Green, S., Blackmon, K., Thesen, T., DuBois, J., Wang, X., Halgren, E., & Devinsky, O. (2017). Parieto-frontal gyrification and working memory in healthy adults. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 1-6. doi:10.1007/s11682-017-9696-9 Montojo, C. A., & Courtney, S. M. (2008). Differential neural activation for updating rule versus stimulus information in working memory. Neuron, 59, 173-182.

O'Reilly, R. C., Braver, T. S., & Cohen, J. D. (1999). A biologically-based neural network model of working memory. In P. Shah & A. Miyake (Eds.), Models of working memory. Cambridge University Press.

Peverill, M., McLaughlin, K. A., Finn, A. S., & Sheridan, M. A. (2016). Working memory filtering continues to develop into late adolescence. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 18, 78-88.

Walsh, M. K., Montojo, C. A., Sheu, Y.-S., Marchetti, S. A., Harrison, D. M., Newsome, S. D., Zhou, F., Shelton, A. L., & Courtney, S. M. (2011). Object working memory performance depends on microstructure of the frontal-occipital fasciculus. Brain Connectivity, 1, 317-329.

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Lecture Launcher 15.8: Mnemonics in Mind The text mentions the use of mnemonic strategies as memory aids, and provides some examples of how they can be useful in middle adulthood. Here is a collection of mnemonics, divided into naive strategies (i.e., those used regularly and easily by most people, without needing formal instruction) and technical mnemonics (i.e., those requiring some training).

Naive Mnemonics • • • • • – –

Rehearsal: Simple rote repetition Rhyme: Constructing a little ditty to keep track of information Chunking: Restructuring a list into meaningful units Images: Visualizing a cereal box full of money to remember “Bank and Groceries” First-letter mnemonics Acronyms: Roy G. Biv for the visible spectrum; HOMES for the Great Lakes Acrostics: Arithmetic: “A Real Idiot Thinks He Might Eat Turkey In Church”

Technical Mnemonics • • • • •

Method of Loci: A physical setting is first memorized, then filled in Peg-Word: Construct a rhyme, then “hang” the information on the rhyme’s peg Number-Letter: A translation scheme matching letters to numbers and vice versa Link: A visual image of each item is linked to the following one, forming a chain Story: Like the link system, but with stories using the to-be-remembered information

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 15.1: In My Time of Dying Here is a group project that bridges Chapters 15, 17, and 19. It’s a good idea to begin this project early to give your student groups time to read and put together their presentations, which can be scheduled when you begin the last chapter, “Death and Dying.” This project is based on Sherwin Nuland’s bestselling and award-winning book How We Die. Nuland proposes six categories into which all deaths in middle and late adulthood can be classified: cardiovascular disease, diseases of old age, Alzheimer’s disease, accidents and suicide, AIDS, and cancer.

Divide your class into groups. Assign each group a type of death. They should read the chapter (some involve two chapters) on their topic and other information they can compile. Schedule their presentations for the end of the semester when you will be teaching about death and dying.

Doka, K. J. (2014). Living with grief: After sudden loss suicide, homicide, accident, heart attack, stroke. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Neuberger, R. J. (2016). Dying well: a guide to enabling a good death. CRC Press.

Nuland, S. B. (1993). How we die. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Student Activity 15.2: Culture and Health Culture plays an important role in health behavior. Differences in life expectancy, which can range from 40 to 50 years in underdeveloped or poor countries to 70 to 80 years in developed or wealthy countries, can be traced to cultural differences in diet, levels of stress, access to health care, and relationships with others. Interestingly, not all health outcomes favor prosperous or industrialized countries. Many poorer countries have better diets (and lower rates of heart disease) than wealthier countries, because affluence is related to the consumption of meat and other fatty foods. Even among industrialized countries there are important differences. For example, life expectancy is higher in Scandinavian countries than in the United States (because of greater access to health care), and rates of alcoholism and stress are both lower in collectivist countries (e.g., Japan), in which people depend on others and have a large family support network, than they are in individualistic countries (e.g., the United States), which emphasize individualism and self-reliance over dependence on others.

Ask your students to share their experiences as travelers or as members of another culture regarding the diversity of health attitudes and health practices. Use examples of smoking, alcohol, regular exercise, consumption of high cholesterol or fatty foods, preventive health care, attitudes toward leisure time and vacation, and relationships with others. What types of cultural norms might be driving these various practices?

What role does the media play in shaping general health attitudes?

Student Activity 15.3: Politics of the World Health Organization Ask students to visit the webpage for the World Health Organization. On the homepage, refer students to the section entitled Regions. Assign small groups of students to one of the six regions: Africa, Americas, South-East Asia, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific. Ask students to explore their global region and during a later class meeting, report to their classmates what the major health concerns are for their area of the world. You should tell students that each group should role-play as a formal delegation from that global region, and their goals are to report their current situation and to provide ideas for meeting the health concerns of the region.

Use this exercise as an opportunity to point out health disparities across regions. For example, heart disease (a major concern in the United States) is probably less of a health scare in a region where civil unrest and infant mortality claim lives. Cancer, exacerbated by a diet high in fatty fried foods and syrupy sweet sodas, probably has little impact on people routinely exposed to famine. And the hostility that results from sitting in traffic, not meeting deadlines, and having an obnoxious boss likely means little to a goatherd simply trying to make it to 14 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e tomorrow.

World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/en/

Student Activity 15.4: Just My Type You can assign these questions to different groups of students.

1. Would you classify yourself as having a “Type A” personality? In which ways do you match the pattern and in which ways do you not? How easy do you think it would be to modify your behavior to be less Type A? What obstacles are there to such a change?

2. How about “Type H?” “Type B?” 3. Students can interview three women who have gone through menopause and describe these women’s experiences. What do their findings say about the assumption that menopause is connected with many uncomfortable symptoms and is psychologically distressing?

Student Activity 15.5: Going with the Flow Students can design a test to measure fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence and give it to a sample of young adults, middle-aged adults, and elderly adults. Have them compare what they find to the established results in the literature.

Student Activity 15.6: Schemas and Memory Schemas (i.e., organized mental frameworks that we rely on to interpret and filter incoming information) greatly influence the retrieval of information stored in long-term memory. To demonstrate this effect in your classroom, replicate an exercise suggested by Drew Appleby. Tell students that you are going to show them a list of 12 words and that they should try to remember them. Then, slowly display the following words one at a time as you read them aloud: REST, TIRED, AWAKE, DREAM, SNORE, BED, EAT, SLUMBER, SOUND, COMFORT, WAKE, NIGHT After you've completed the list, distract your class for 30 seconds or so (to ensure that the words are no longer held in short-term memory) and then give them 2 minutes to write down as many words as they can recall. Ask for a show of hands from all those who recalled the word AARDVARK. Your students, none of whom will have mistakenly recalled AARDVARK, will look at you as if you're crazy. Then ask for a show of hands for those who remembered SLEEP. Drew Appleby reports that 80 to 95 percent of the students typically recall the word SLEEP, and are astonished to discover that SLEEP was not on the list (prove it to them). Asked to explain the effect, most students will intuitively understand that schemas influenced their recall. That is, because all of the words were associated with each other and related to the topic of sleep, their schema for “sleep” was invoked and it seemed only natural that it would be on the list. Thus, this demonstration suggests that schemas can cause us to fabricate false memories that happen to be consistent with our schemas. You might also want to discuss with students the following interesting implication: If people sometimes mistakenly remember information because it is consistent with their schemas, is it possible that they can mistakenly forget information that is inconsistent with their schemas? Ask students to provide examples from their own lives or from cases they’ve heard about in the media.

Appleby, D. (1987). Producing a deja vu experience. In V. P. Makosky, L. G. Whittemore, & A. M. Rogers (Eds.), Activities handbook for the teaching of psychology: Vol. 2 (pp. 78-79). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

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Student Activity 15.7: Reflective Journal Use Handout 15-2 to help students reflect on the relationship between good health habits and long life.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Aljied, R., Aubin, M. J., Buhrmann, R., Sabeti, S., & Freeman, E. E. (2018). Prevalence and determinants of visual impairment in Canada: Cross-sectional data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology, 53(3), 291-297.

Estill, A., Mock, S. E., Schryer, E., & Eibach, R. P. (2018). The effects of subjective age and aging attitudes on mid- to late-life sexuality. The Journal of Sex Research, 55(2), 146-151.

Gewirtz-Meydan, A., Hafford-Letchfield, T., Ayalon, L., Benyamini, Y., Biermann, V., Coffey, A. ... & Zeman, Z. (2018). How do older people discuss their own sexuality? A systematic review of qualitative research studies. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1-16.

Howden, E. J., Sarma, S., Lawley, J. S., Opondo, M., Cornwell, W., Stoller, D., ... & Levine, B. D. (2018).

Reversing the cardiac effects of sedentary aging in middle age—a randomized controlled trial: Implications for heart failure prevention. Circulation, 137(15), 1549-1560.

Hwang, J., Kim, K., Brothers, R. M., Castelli, D. M., & Gonzalez-Lima, F. (2018). Association between aerobic fitness and cerebrovascular function with neurocognitive functions in healthy, young adults. Experimental Brain Research, 236(5), 1421-1430.

Kshithi, K., Shenoy, S. V., Kamath, M. P., Sreedharan, S., Manisha, N., Khadilkar, M. N., ... & Bhat, J. S. (2018). Audiological profiling in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. American Journal of Otolaryngology, 39(3), 271-276.

Kunzmann, U., Wieck, C., & Dietzel, C. (2018). Empathic accuracy: Age differences from adolescence into middle adulthood. Cognition and Emotion, 32, 1611-1624.

Lachman, M. E., Lipsitz, L., Lubben, J., Castaneda-Sceppa, C., & Jette, A. M. (2018). When adults don’t exercise: Behavioral strategies to increase physical activity in sedentary middle-aged and older adults. Innovation in Aging, 2(1), igy007.

Levin, V. A., Jiang, X., & Kagan, R. (2018). Estrogen therapy for osteoporosis in the modern era. Osteoporosis International, 29(5), 1049-1055.

Montemurro, B. & Chewning, L. V. (2018). Aging “hot”: Images and narratives of sexual desirability on television. Sexuality & Culture, 22(2), 462-478.

Smith, R. A., Andrews, K. S., Brooks, D., Fedewa, S. A., Manassaram‐Baptiste, D., Saslow, D., ... & Wender, R. C. (2018). Cancer screening in the United States, 2018: A review of current American Cancer Society guidelines and current issues in cancer screening. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 68(4), 297-316.

Varadaraj, V., Kahook, M. Y., Ramulu, P. Y., & Pitha, I. F. (2018). Patient acceptance of sustained glaucoma treatment strategies. Journal of Glaucoma, 27(4), 328-335.

Yuan, P., Voelkle, M. C., & Raz, N. (2018). Fluid intelligence and gross structural properties of the cerebral cortex in middle-aged and older adults: A multi-occasion longitudinal study. NeuroImage, 172, 21-30.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA How Your Memory Can Be Tricked

The foibles of memory are explored

1. For many people, the passing years bring with them greater memory disruptions. For example, it’s difficult to remember one’s childhood experiences the further away those experiences become; an adolescent remembering childhood probably has a better shot at it than a senior citizen doing so. Knowing that, how do the memory disruptions highlighted in the video interact with typical memory decrements experienced over the course of aging?

2. “Tricked” doesn’t seem like quite the right word for the phenomena discussed in this video. To trick something implies that it works correctly and flawlessly, but that somehow that accurate system can be duped. Is memory accurate, correct, and flawless to begin with? Assuming that it’s not, could you propose a better title for this presentation, something along the lines of “Memory is Kind of Sloppy to Begin With, and Here Are Some Reasons Why?”

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 15-1 Can Osteoporosis Happen To You? Answer the following questions to estimate if you are at risk for developing osteoporosis. The more times you answer “YES,” the greater your risk.

YES 1. Do you have a small, thin frame?

2. Are you Caucasian or Asian?

3. Are you a postmenopausal woman?

4. Do you have a family history of osteoporosis?

5. Have you had an early or surgically induced menopause?

6. Have you been taking excessive thyroid medication?

7. Have you been taking high doses of cortisone-like drugs for asthma, arthritis, or cancer?

8. Is your diet low in dairy products and other sources of calcium?

9. Are you physically inactive?

10. Do you smoke cigarettes?

11. Do you drink alcohol in excess?

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NO

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 15-2 Reflective Journal Exercise 15 Think of your current lifestyle. What health habits do you follow that will enhance the quality of your life and your longevity? What health habits do you need to acquire to live longer and healthier? Why do you and other adults find it so difficult to follow good health habits? What can you do to help yourself change these poor habits? Do you have any family history of disease or early death that would encourage you to do so?

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Chapter 16 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN MIDDLE ADULTHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

8

Student Activities

12

Supplemental Reading

13

Revel Multimedia

14

Handouts

15

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CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Chapter Outline Personality Development Two Perspectives on Adult Personality Development: Normative Crisis Versus Life Events Erikson’s Stage of Generativity Versus Stagnation Stability Versus Change in Personality

Instructor’s Resources

Revel Multimedia

Learning Objectives 16.1, 16.2, 16.3

Midlife Celebrations

Lecture Launchers 16.1, 16.2 Student Activities 16.1, 16.2 Learning Objectives 16.4, 16.5, 16.6, 16.7

Relationships: Family in Middle Age Marriage and Divorce Family Evolutions: From Full House to Empty Nest Becoming a Grandparent: Who, Me? Family Violence: The Hidden Epidemic

Lecture Launcher 16.3 Learning Objectives 16.8, 16.9, 16.10, 16.11

Work and Leisure Work and Careers: Jobs at Midlife Unemployment: The Dashing of the Dream Switching—and Starting—Careers at Midlife Leisure Time: Life Beyond Work

Lecture Launchers 16.4, 16.5 Student Activities 16.3, 16.4

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 16.1

Describe ways in which personality develops during middle adulthood.

LO 16.2

Summarize Erikson’s view of development during middle adulthood and how others have expanded on his ideas.

LO 16.3

Discuss the nature of continuity in personality development during middle adulthood.

LO 16.4

Describe typical patterns of marriage and divorce in middle adulthood.

LO 16.5

Differentiate the changing family situations middle-aged adults face.

LO 16.6

Describe how people in middle adulthood react to becoming grandparents.

LO 16.7

List the causes and characteristics of family violence in the United States.

LO 16.8

Summarize characteristics of work and career in middle adulthood.

LO 16.9

Describe the effect losing one’s job has on a person in middle adulthood.

LO 16.10 Explain how and why people change careers in middle adulthood.

LO 16.11 Describe how people experience leisure time in middle adulthood.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: From Clothes to Rock to Talk II. Personality Development A. Two Perspectives on Adult Personality Development: Normative Crisis Versus Life Events 1. The traditional approach to adult personality development is the NORMATIVE-CRISIS MODEL, which views personality development in terms of fairly universal stages, tied to a sequence of agerelated crises. a) Erikson, Gould, and Levinson models are stage models. b) Critics argue that normative-crisis models are outdated. c) They came from a time when gender roles were more rigid.

2. Theorists such as Ravenna Helson focus more on LIFE EVENTS MODELS, which suggest that the timing of particular events in an adult’s life, rather than age per se, determine the course of personality development. a) According to this model, a woman having her first baby at 21 would experience the same psychological forces as a woman having her first baby at 39. b) Both models agree that adulthood is not a time of passivity and stagnation but of continued psychological growth.

B. Erikson’s Stage of Generativity Versus Stagnation 1. Erik Erikson suggests that middle adulthood encompasses the period of GENERATIVITY VERSUS STAGNATION, where people consider their contributions to family, community, work, and society. a) Generativity is guiding and encouraging future generations. b) Generativity may be leaving a lasting contribution to the world through creative or artistic output. c) Generativity means looking beyond oneself to the continuation of one’s life through others. d) Stagnation means people focus on the triviality of their life, and feel they have made only a limited contribution to the world, that their presence has counted for little.

2. Building on Erikson’s Views: Vaillant and Gould a) George Vaillant suggests that middle adulthood is keeping the meaning versus rigidity.

(1) Occurs between the ages of 45 and 55 (2) Adults seek to extract the meaning from their lives by accepting the strengths and weaknesses of others.

(3) Those who are rigid become increasingly isolated from others. b) Psychiatrist Roger Gould suggests that adults pass through a series of seven stages associated with specific age periods.

(1) People in their late 30s and early 40s begin to feel a sense of urgency in terms of attaining life’s goals—this reality propels them to adulthood.

(2) Little research supports his descriptions.

3. Building on Erikson’s Views: Levinson’s Season of Life Theory a) According to Daniel Levinson, the early 40s are a period of transition and crisis. b) Studying 40 men (no women), Levinson suggests that adult men pass through a series of stages beginning with early adulthood at age 20 and continuing into middle adulthood. c) Early adulthood is leaving the family and having “the dream” where men have goals and aspirations and make long-term decisions about career and family. d) In their late 30s, men settle down and establish themselves in their chosen roles moving toward “the dream.” e) Between 40 and 45, people move into a period Levinson calls the midlife transition, or a time of questioning.

(1) They focus on the finite nature of life.

(2) They question their assumptions.

(3) They experience their first signs of aging.

(4) They begin to doubt the value of their accomplishments.

4 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (5) They confront the knowledge that they will be unable to accomplish all their aims before they die.

4. The Midlife Crisis: Reality or Myth? a) This period of assessment may lead to a MIDLIFE CRISIS, a stage of uncertainty and indecision brought about by the realization that life is finite. b) Facing signs of physical aging, men may also discover that even the accomplishments they are proudest of brought them less satisfaction than expected.

(1) Looking toward the past, they may seek to define what went wrong and look for ways to correct their past mistakes. c) Levinson claims women go through similar stages but have a more difficult time with “the dream” because of inner conflicts over career versus family. d) Despite widespread acceptance, the evidence for a midlife crisis does not exist. e) For the majority of people, the transition is smooth and rewarding. f) Many middle-aged people find their careers have blossomed. g) They feel younger than they actually are. h) We may just pay more attention to the few who exhibit a midlife crisis.

C. Stability versus Change in Personality 1. Psychologists argue whether personality changes or remains stable over the course of development.

2. Erikson and Levinson suggest that personality changes substantially over the life span.

3. Paul Costa and Robert McCrae find remarkable stability in particular traits across the life span. a) Even-tempered 20-year-olds are even-tempered at age 75. b) Affectionate 25-year-olds become affectionate 50-year-olds. c) Self-concept at age 30 is a good indication of self-concept at age 80.

4. Developmentalists feel that personality is both stable (on some traits) and changeable on others.

III. Relationships: Family in Middle Age A. Marriage and Divorce 1. Ups and downs of marriage a) The most frequent pattern of marital satisfaction is U-shaped.

(1) Marital satisfaction begins to decline after marriage and falls to its lowest point following the birth of children.

(2) Marital satisfaction begins to grow after the children leave adolescence and reaches its highest point when the kids have left home.

(3) Many couples state that their spouse is their “best friend.”

(4) They also view marriage as a long-term commitment.

2. Divorce: For some, the satisfaction keeps falling and they experience their marriage ending in divorce. a) About one woman in eight will get divorced after 40. b) Divorce can be especially hard for traditional women over 40 who stayed home with the kids and never worked. c) A major reason many remarry is that being divorced carries a stigma.

3. Remarriage: Second marriages are different than first marriages. a) Older couples are more mature and realistic. b) Roles are more flexible. c) The couple looks at marriage less romantically and is more cautious. d) The divorce rate is slightly higher for second marriages.

(1) More stress, especially with blended families (2) Once you have experienced divorce, it is easier to walk away a second time.

B. Family Evolutions: From Full House to Empty Nest 1. For many couples, a major transition is the EMPTY NEST SYNDROME when parents experience feelings of unhappiness, worry, loneliness, and depression resulting from their children’s departure from home. a) Although this challenge is harder for many stay-at-home moms to face than for working moms, the empty nest syndrome is more myth than reality.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Helicopter parents represent a trend toward intrusively being present but not being present in a child’s life.

2. There has been a significant increase in the U.S. in the number of young adults who come back to live in the homes of their middle-aged parents, a phenomenon called BOOMERANG CHILDREN. 3. Another new trend is that middle-aged couples become the SANDWICH GENERATION, because they must fulfill the needs of both their children and their aging parents.

C. Becoming a Grandparent: Who, Me? 1. Middle adulthood often brings one of the unmistakable symbols of aging: becoming a grandparent. a) Involved grandparents are actively engaged in grandparenting and have influence over their grandchildren’s lives. b) Companionate grandparents are more relaxed and act as supporters and buddies to their grandchildren. c) Remote grandparents are detached and distant and show little interest in their grandchildren. d) Grandmothers tend to be more involved than grandfathers. e) African American grandparents are more involved with their grandchildren than white grandparents.

D. Family Violence: The Hidden Epidemic 1. The Prevalence of Spousal Abuse a) Domestic violence is one of the ugly truths about marriage and is occurring at epidemic levels. b) Some form of violence happens in one-fourth of all marriages. c) More than half of all women murdered are murdered by a partner. d) Violence occurs across social strata, ethnic groups, and religions. e) Mostly it is men abusing women, but 8 percent of the cases involve the wife physically abusing the husband. f) Certain factors increase the likelihood of abuse: (1) Low SES (2) Growing up in a violent home (3) Families with more children have more violence.

(4) Single parent families with lots of stress (5) Incest is more likely to occur in affluent families. g) One in three women throughout the globe experience some form of violent victimization during their lives.

2. The Stages of Spousal Abuse a) According to Lenore Walker, marital abuse by a husband occurs in three stages.

(1) The first is the tension-building stage where a batterer becomes upset and shows dissatisfaction initially through verbal abuse.

(2) The next is the acute battering incident when the physical abuse actually occurs.

(3) Finally, some, but not all, cases move into the loving contrition stage where the husband feels remorse and apologizes for his actions. (a) The wife feels somewhat at fault. (b) This explains why women stay in abusive relationships. (c) Some stay out of fear. (d) Many women have grown up in a violent home and think that violence is a way of life.

3. The Cycle of Violence a) According to the CYCLE OF VIOLENCE HYPOTHESIS, abuse and neglect of children leads them to be predisposed to abusiveness as adults.

(1) However, only about one-third of people who were abused or neglected as children abuse their own children.

(2) Two-thirds of abusers were not abused as children.

4. Spousal Abuse and Society: The Cultural Roots of Violence a) Wife battering is particularly prevalent in cultures in which women are viewed as inferior to men.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Original English law allowed husbands to beat their wives. c) This law was amended to permit beating only with a stick that was no thicker than his thumb (where the phrase “rule of thumb” comes from). d) Wife beating was not removed from law until the late 19th century. e) When women have low status they become easy targets; when they have high status they are threatening to their husbands.

IV. Work and Leisure A. Work and Careers: Jobs at Midlife 1. For many, middle age is the time of greatest productivity, success, and earning power. a) The factors that make work satisfying undergo a transformation during middle age.

(1) Middle-aged workers care more about the here-and-now qualities of work.

2. The older workers are, the more overall job satisfaction they experience.

B. Challenges of Work: On-the-Job Dissatisfaction 1. Job satisfaction is not universal in middle adulthood. a) Some experience BURNOUT, which occurs when highly trained professionals experience dissatisfaction, disillusionment, frustration, and weariness from their jobs.

C. Unemployment: The Dashing of the Dream 1. For many workers, unemployment is a hard reality of life and the implications are more psychological than economic.

2. Unemployment can leave people feeling anxious, depressed, and irritable.

3. Middle-aged adults tend to stay unemployed longer than young workers.

D. Switching—and Starting—Careers at Midlife 1. Some people change their jobs voluntarily in middle adulthood.

2. Their old job gave little satisfaction.

3. They achieved mastery of the old job’s challenges.

4. They no longer enjoy what they do.

5. Many women return to the job market after raising children.

E. Leisure Time: Life Beyond work 1. The average middle-aged person watches 15 hours of TV per week.

2. Adults spend about 6 hours a week socializing.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 16.1: When Is the Right Time to Do Something in Adulthood?

Middle-aged people were asked when they thought was the right time to accomplish certain life events, such as marriage, leaving home, getting a job, retiring, and having grandchildren. Results showed a marked difference between the opinions of men and women in the 1950s and opinions in the 1970s. Distribute Handout 16-1 to your students and discover how their opinions compare to those of people 40 or so years ago.

Lecture Launcher 16.2: Generativity Erik Erikson’s stage of middle adulthood, generativity versus stagnation, is somewhat confusing because the word “generativity” covers a broad area. For example, generativity can be broken down into specific areas, all of which contribute, according to Erikson, to a sense of “concern in establishing and guiding the next generation.”

The desire to help the next generation is an age-graded and normative demand, expected of people in their 40s and 50s by our society. There are four paths generally recognized to contribute to acts of generativity: biological generativity, such as giving birth; parental generativity, such as taking care of children; work generativity, such as teaching someone a new skill or mentoring a new employee; and cultural generativity, such as adding something to society in the form of volunteer work, cleaning up the environment, or conservation of culture.

Unfortunately, little empirical research has been conducted on the exact nature of generativity. Dan McAdams conceived of generativity in terms of seven interrelated features: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

A cultural demand with developmental expectations and societal opportunities An inner desire for symbolic immortality and a need to be needed A concern for the next generation A belief in the species A commitment to goals and decisions The action of creating, maintaining, and offering A narrative, the adult’s story about how they have been generative in their life

The Loyola Generativity Scale (LGS) is based on these features and was validated on a variety of adults. Some items from the scale include: • • • •

“I try to pass along the knowledge I have gained through my experiences.”

“I think I will be remembered for a long time after I die.”

“People come to me for advice.”

“If I were unable to have children of my own, I would like to adopt children.”

Respondents were also asked to describe five autobiographical incidents; for example, a recent peak experience, a low point, an experience of commitment, and so on. Eleven acts taken from these narratives correlated highly with the LGS. Some examples are: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Drew upon my past experiences to help a person adjust to a situation Taught somebody a skill Served as a role model for a young person Told somebody about my childhood Provided constructive criticism about somebody’s performance

Ask your students to volunteer acts of generativity they have performed and classify them as (a) biological generativity, (b) parental generativity, (c) work generativity, or (d) cultural generativity. Discuss with your students why they think Erikson thought generativity was such a major crisis to be resolved in middle adulthood.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Erikson, E. H. (1978). Adulthood. New York: W. W. Norton.

McAdams, D. P. & de St. Aubin, E. (1992). A theory of generativity and its assessment through self-report, behavioral acts, and narrative themes in autobiography. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62(6), 1003-1015.

Lecture Launcher 16.3: Is the Potential for Divorce Genetic?

Matt McGue and David Lykken noted that one of the strongest predictors of divorce is a family background that includes parental divorce. Although most researchers have attributed this effect to environmental factors such as social modeling, McGue and Lykken investigated potential genetic factors. Using subjects from the Minnesota Twin Registry, they obtained survey information on marital history from 722 same-sex monozygotic twins, 794 same-sex dizygotic twins, their parents, and their spouse’s parents. They reported that the concordance rate for divorce was significantly higher for monozygotic twins than for dizygotic twins. Based upon their results, they estimated that the predicted divorce rate for a hypothetical marriage between two monozygotic twins with divorced parents and a divorced co-twin would be 77.5 percent, whereas the predicted divorce rate for a marriage between two monozygotic twins with a background of no familial divorce would be 5.3 percent. The researchers concluded that their “data suggest that cultural factors influence the threshold for divorce while, within a given culture, variations in underlying aggregate risk are strongly influenced by genetic factors” (p.

372). They do, however, emphasize that genetic factors may be mediated by personality factors such as personal values and the individual's capacity for happiness.

Hatemi, P. K., McDermott, R., & Eaves, L. (2015). Genetic and environmental contributions to relationships and divorce attitudes.

Personality and Individual Differences, 72, 135-140.

Jerskey, B. A., et al. (2010). Marriage and divorce: A genetic perspective. Personality and Individual Differences, 49(5), 473-478.

McGue, M., & Lykken, D. T. (1992). Genetic influence on risk of divorce. Psychological Science, 3, 368-373.

Salvatore, J. E., Larsson Lönn, S., Sundquist, J., Sundquist, K., & Kendler, K. S. (2018). Genetics, the rearing environment, and the intergenerational transmission of divorce: A Swedish national adoption study. Psychological Science, 29(3), 370-378.

Lecture Launcher 16.4: Women and Work A few clicks on the keyboard can send you to a wealth of lecture material regarding women in the workforce.

The United States Department of Labor (DoL) maintains a “women’s bureau” specifically for reporting data and trends related to working women. The charts, tables, and averages are most informative. (In most cases it’s possible to toggle between data tables and figures, so choose what’s best for your presentation. For example: Here’s a graph of women’s and men’s earnings from 1960 to 2014: https://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/earnings_2014.htm#Ratios

Here you can graphically illustrate the wage gap between men’s and women’s salaries: https://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/Women-to-men-earnings-ratio-wage_gap_2014-txt.htm

And here you can see the wage gap in comparison: https://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/Women-to-men-earnings-ratios-1960-2014_2-txt.htm

If you’d like to compare women’s and men’s employment in various sectors, visit here: https://www.dol.gov/wb/occupations_interactive.htm

The highlights are here: https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2015/home.htm

And basically everything else you’d want is here: https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-databook/2016/home.htm

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Lecture Launcher 16.5: Stress Due to Work Overload...and Underload Tales of burnout due to unrealistic and unrelenting work expectations abound. Many times those are foisted upon an employee by a supervisor, but often burnout occurs because the work itself is taxing, demanding, and soul-sucking. Share these stories of overload and underload with your students, and discuss how each leads to feelings of burnout, dissatisfaction, and job fatigue.

A Case of Job Overload Stan was a counselor in a community mental health center in the Midwest for three years. When he started working there, he was a 23-year-old who described himself as an “eager, open-minded, caring person.” He chose this job in order to serve others who were unable to make it on their own without a little help from a friendly therapist. At first, the job was challenging and rewarding. Stan was intervening in crisis situations to give advice, guidance, and emotional support to many clients in distress. There were rape victims, abused spouses, suicidal callers, depressed elderly people, alienated youth, and a host of others who just could not cope any longer with life’s demands.

But the initial glow of his job dimmed as the clients began to overwhelm Stan with their seemingly endless complaints, hurts, and fears. They were getting to him. He was too personally involved, unable to detach his emotional concern from his professional obligation.

He began drinking heavily after work and taking tranquilizers to relax enough to go to sleep each night.

Headaches became frequent, his blood pressure shot up, and his sick-leave time was used to its limit. Stan developed an ulcer that required medication and a change in diet. His formerly outgoing personality became marked by its somber, cynical, and easily irritated nature. He was no longer any fun for his family or friends to be with, so they avoided him.

Stan had underestimated the emotional strain of caring for others day in and day out. His case load was more than he could handle adequately. The paperwork, red tape, and lack of support from the staff added frustration to his escalating emotional overload. When he was successful, the clients never returned to say “thanks”; other problematic persons just filled their vacant folders.

Stan reacted to this stressful situation at many levels. His body rebelled with assorted symptoms of distress, including headaches, high blood pressure, and ulcers. He tried to suppress his agitation, anxiety, and anger by abusing drugs and alcohol. His outlook on life and his self-esteem spiraled downward. He gave too much at the office and so had little left to share with loved ones at home. In turn, they withdrew some of the social support Stan needed. He did not have enough energy and resources to try to change the structure of the job, so he went back to school, completed his MA, and now is happily working as a consultant on problems of job stress and constructive ways of overcoming it.

Job Underload and Stress If overload does not get you, underload might. People are not ever bored to death by their jobs, but there is good evidence that they can be “bored to sickness.” Researchers at the Institute for Social Research of the University of Michigan found that boring jobs are hardest on health.

In a study of over 2,000 men in 23 different occupations, the researchers found that general working conditions (hours worked, quantitative workload) had less effect on job dissatisfaction than personal factors such as opportunities to use one’s skills and to participate in decision-making. As job dissatisfaction increases, so do anxiety, depression, irritation, and psychosomatic illnesses. Assembly-line workers have boring jobs, but ones that do not involve long hours, unwanted overtime, much concentration, or responsibility. They report the most dissatisfaction with their job and show the greatest stress-related disorders. By contrast, family physicians who work the most hours per week (an average of 55), with much demand for their free time, mental concentration, 10 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e and personal responsibility are most satisfied with their jobs. They also have the fewest somatic complaints or other stress effects of any occupation studied. The ratings of the boredom levels of 15 of these occupations are given in the table below, with a rating of 100 indicating “average boredom.”

Boredom Ratings Assembler (work paced by machine) Forklift truck driver Assembler (working at own pace) Monitor of continuous flow goods Accountant Engineer Computer programmer Electronic technician White-collar supervisor Scientist Administrator Police officer Air-traffic controller (large airport) Professor Physician

207 170 160 122 107 100 96 87 72 66 66 63 59 49 48

But perhaps not having a job when you want one is worse than having a stress-producing one. When health statistics are related to economic cycles over a 127-year period in the United States, it can be shown that increased deaths follow periods of economic depression two to four years later. This research points to the importance of the political, economic, and social context of behavior.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 16.1: The Right Time?

Using Handout 16-2, survey your students about the “right time” to pursue various activities, such as leaving home, getting married, having children, and so on.

Student Activity 16.2: Reeling In the Years If you asked many middle-aged adults whether they would like to be 20 again, the great majority would reply with a resounding “NO!” In light of what they now know about the different periods of adult life, do your students think many people would respond this way? Engage the class in a discussion of the pros and cons of this “time travel” back to an earlier stage of development.

Student Activity 16.3: The Times, They Are A-Changing Ask your students to find one person who has experienced one or more of the following: • • • • • • •

early retirement (40s to 50s) job burnout empty nest syndrome boomerang children being a member of the “sandwich generation” being a grandparent for the first time at age 40 to 50 starting a new career in middle age

Your students should find out what the experience is like, whether there are more pros than cons, if the experience is similar or different than the person anticipated, and how it has changed the person’s life.

Student Activity 16.4: Reflective Journal Use Handout 16-3 to help students reflect on their personality as they enter adulthood.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Bleidorn, W., Hopwood, C. J., & Lucas, R. E. (2018). Life events and personality trait change. Journal of Personality, 86(1), 83-96.

Böger, A. & Huxhold, O. (2018). Do the antecedents and consequences of loneliness change from middle adulthood into old age? Developmental Psychology, 54(1), 181.

Del Boca, D., Piazzalunga, D., & Pronzato, C. (2018). The role of grandparenting in early childcare and child outcomes. Review of Economics of the Household, 16(2), 477-512.

Evans, K. L., Millsteed, J., Richmond, J. E., Falkmer, M., Falkmer, T., & Girdler, S. J. (2018). The impact of within and between role experiences on role balance outcomes for working Sandwich Generation women. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1-10.

Garcia, P. R. J. M., Bordia, P., Restubog, S. L. D., & Caines, V. (2018). Sleeping with a broken promise: The moderating role of generativity concerns in the relationship between psychological contract breach and insomnia among older workers. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(3), 326-338.

Hoff, K. A., Briley, D. A., Wee, C. J., & Rounds, J. (2018). Normative changes in interests from adolescence to adulthood: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 144(4), 426.

McAdams, D. P. (2018). “I am what survives me”: Generativity and the self. In Frey, J. A., & Vogler, C. (Eds.), Self-transcendence and virtue: Perspectives from philosophy, psychology, and theology (pp. 251-273). New York: Routledge.

McLean, K. C., Lilgendahl, J. P., Fordham, C., Alpert, E., Marsden, E., Szymanowski, K., & McAdams, D. P. (2018). Identity development in cultural context: The role of deviating from master narratives. Journal of Personality, 86(4), 631-651.

Otterbach, S., Sousa-Poza, A., & Møller, V. (2018). A cohort analysis of subjective wellbeing and ageing: heading towards a midlife crisis? Longitudinal and Life Course Studies, 9(4), 382-411.

Saint-Maurice, P. F., Coughlan, D., Keadle, S. K., Troiano, R. P., & Matthews, C. E. (2018). Leisure-time physical activity throughout adulthood: Implications for all-cause, and cause-specific mortality. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 50(5S), 76.

Schmidt, S. (2018). The anti‐feminist reconstruction of the midlife crisis: Popular psychology, journalism and social science in 1970s USA. Gender & History, 30(1), 153-176.

Serrat, R., Villar, F., Pratt, M. W., & Stukas, A. A. (2018). On the quality of adjustment to retirement: The longitudinal role of personality traits and generativity. Journal of Personality, 86(3), 435-449.

Steinbach, A., & Hank, K. (2018). Full-, half-, and step-sibling relations in young and middle adulthood. Journal of Family Issues, 39(9), 2639-2658.

Tosi, M., & Grundy, E. (2018). Returns home by children and changes in parents’ well-being in Europe. Social Science & Medicine, 200, 99-106.

Wu, Z., & Penning, M. J. (2018). Marital and cohabiting union dissolution in middle and later life. Research on Aging, 40(4), 340-364.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA Midlfe Celebrations

Cameron Diaz tells us how we should think and behave

1. People consider themselves “middle aged” at various points in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s. If that were literally true, a middle-aged 55-year-old would live to be, on average, 110. Why does the definition of “middle age” or “midlife” seem to have this amorphous quality? Might there be cultural, social, or psychological reasons why the definition of this period should be fairly broad?

2. To what extent would you endorse Cameron Diaz’s advice as an expert on human development? Do you think her recommendations resonate with the factual basis of developmental psychology?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 16-1 What Is the Right Time?

Appropriate Age Range EVENT

1950s

1950s

1970s

1970s

Men

Women

Men

Women

Best age for a man to marry

20–25

80%

90%

42%

42%

Best age for a woman to marry

19–24

85

90

44

36

45–50

84

79

64

57

20–22

86

82

36

38

24–26

74

64

24

26

45–50

71

58

38

31

60–65

83

86

66

41

35–50

79

75

49

50

When a man accomplishes most

40–50

82

71

46

41

The prime of life for a man

35–50

86

80

59

66

When a woman has the most responsibilities

25–40

93

91

59

53

When a woman accomplishes the most

30–45

94

92

57

48

When most people should become grandparents Best age for most people to finish school and go to work When most men should be settled on a career When most men hold their top jobs When most people should be ready to retire When a man has the most responsibilities

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 16-2 When Is the Right Time?

What is your sex?

_____________

What is your age?

_____________

Write down the age range (e.g., 20–25, 30–50, 60–80, etc.) you think is appropriate for most people to engage in the following activities: 1. What is the best age for a man to marry?

2. What is the best age for a woman to marry?

3. What is the best age to have children?

4. When should most people become grandparents?

5. What is the best age for most people to finish school and go to work?

6. When should most men be settled on a career?

7. When should most men hold their top jobs?

8. When should most people be ready to retire?

9. When does a man have the most responsibilities?

10. When does a man accomplish the most?

11. When is the prime of life for a man?

12. When should a woman be settled on a career?

13. When is the prime of life for a woman?

14. When does a woman have the most responsibilities?

15. When does a woman accomplish the most?

16 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 16-3 Reflective Journal Exercise 16 The Big Five personality dimensions do not change much over the life span: FACTOR Neuroticism

LOW SCORE calm, relaxed, satisfied with self, clear-cut personality, prides self on objectivity

HIGH SCORE thin-skinned, basically anxious, irritable, guilt-prone

Extraversion

emotionally bland, avoids close relationships, overcontrol of impulses, submissive favors conservative values, judges in conventional terms, uncomfortable with complexities, moralistic critical, skeptical, shows condescending behavior, tries to push limits, expresses hostility directly eroticizes situations, unable to delay gratification, self-indulgent, engages in fantasy, daydreams

talkative, gregarious, socially poised, behaves assertively

Openness

Agreeableness

Conscientiousness

values intellectual matters, rebellious, nonconforming, unusual thought processes, introspective sympathetic, considerate, warm, compassionate, arouses liking, behaves in a giving way behaves ethically, dependable, responsible, productive, has high aspiration levels

Describe your personality. Do you think it has been this way since you were young?

Do you believe you will stay this way the rest of your life? Explain why you agree or disagree.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 17 PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN LATE ADULTHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

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Learning Objectives

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Chapter Outline

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Lecture Launchers

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Student Activities

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Supplemental Reading

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Revel Multimedia

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Handouts

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Instructor’s Revel Resources Multimedia

Chapter Outline

Learning Objectives 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4

Physical Development in Late Adulthood Aging: Myth and Reality Physical Transitions in Older People Slowing Reaction Time The Senses: Sight, Sound, Taste, and Smell

Lecture Launcher 17.1 Student Activities 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4 Health and Wellness in Late Adulthood Health Problems in Older People: Physical and Psychological Disorders Wellness in Late Adulthood: The Relationship Between Aging and Illness Sexuality in Old Age: Use It or Lose It Approaches to Aging: Why Is Death Inevitable?

Postponing Aging: Can Scientists Find the Fountain of Youth?

Learning Objectives 17.5, 17.6, 17.7, 17.8, 17.9 Lecture Launchers 17.2, 17.3, 17.4

Late Adulthood: Sandra’s Health Late Adulthood: Chris’ Health

Student Activities 17.5, 17.6 Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood Intelligence in Older People Memory: Remembrance of Things Past—and Present Never Too Late

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Learning Objectives 17.10, 17.11, 17.12

Successful Aging, Independent Lifestyle

Student Activity 17.7

Alvin: Dementia

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 17.1

Describe what it is like to grow old in the United States today.

LO 17.2

Summarize the physical changes that occur in old age.

LO 17.3

Explain the extent to which people slow down as they age and the consequences of this slowing.

LO 17.4

Describe how the senses are affected by aging.

LO 17.5

Describe the general state of health of older people and the disorders to which they are susceptible.

LO 17.6

Summarize how wellness can be maintained in old age.

LO 17.7

Describe how sexuality is affected by aging.

LO 17.8

Identify the factors involved with the life span and the causes of death.

LO 17.9

Discuss the possible extension of the life span through scientific advances and the implications of this extension.

LO 17.10 Describe how well older adults function cognitively.

LO 17.11 Discuss the ways memory does and does not decline in late adulthood.

LO 17.12 Describe how learning and education continue in late adulthood.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: A Better Way to Shell a Nut II. Physical Development in Late Adulthood A. Aging: Myth and Reality 1. Because people are living longer, late adulthood is increasing in length. a) The young old are those 65 to 74 years old. b) The old old are those between 75 and 84. c) The oldest old are people 85 and older.

2. The Demographics of Late Adulthood a) One out of every eight people in the United States is 65 years of age or older. b) Projections into the year 2060 estimate that almost 25 percent of the population will be over 65. c) The fastest growing segment of the population is what is termed the oldest old, people who are 85 or older. This group’s size has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. d) This trend is occurring in every developed country in the world.

3. AGEISM, prejudice and discrimination directed at older people, is manifested in several ways. a) Negative attitudes about older people, especially about competence and attractiveness b) Job discrimination c) Asians and Native Americans revere older people. d) Identical behavior by an older person and a younger person is interpreted differently. e) People talk baby talk to persons in nursing homes. f) Most negative views are based on misinformation.

B. Physical Transitions in Older People 1. PRIMARY AGING, or senescence, is aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, due to genetic programming, occur as people get older.

2. SECONDARY AGING is changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are due to illness, health habits, and other individual differences, but which are not due to increased age itself and are not inevitable.

3. One of the most obvious outward signs of aging is the hair.

4. The face and other parts of the body become wrinkled as the skin loses elasticity and collagen, the protein that forms the basic fibers of body tissue.

5. People may shrink as much as 4 inches. a) Cartilage in backbone becomes thinner b) Women are most susceptible if they have OSTEOPOROSIS, a condition in which the bones become brittle, fragile, and thin, often brought about by a reduction in production of estrogen.

(1) Twenty-five percent of women over 60 have osteoporosis.

(2) Osteoporosis is the primary cause of broken bones.

(3) Osteoporosis is largely preventable with sufficient calcium and exercise.

6. Significant changes also occur in the internal functioning of the organ systems. a) The brain becomes smaller and lighter with age.

(1) There is a reduction of blood flow to the brain.

(2) The space between the skull and the brain doubles from age 20 to 70.

(3) The number of neurons, or brain cells, declines in some parts of the brain, though not as much as was once thought. b) Because of hardening of the arteries and shrinking of blood vessels, a 75 year-old’s heart pumps less than three-quarters of the blood it pumped during early adulthood. c) The efficiency of the respiratory system declines with age.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e d) The digestive system produces less digestive juice and is less efficient in pushing food through the system (result = more constipation). e) Lifestyle factors can slow the changes associated with aging. f) Certain types of neuronal growth may continue throughout the life span. g) Physical fitness is related to better performance on mental tests.

(1) May prevent loss of brain tissue (2) May aid in the development of new neurons C. Slowing Reaction Time 1. Older adults’ reaction time slows significantly. a) The PERIPHERAL SLOWING HYPOTHESIS suggests that overall processing speed declines in the peripheral nervous system (spinal cord and brain). b) The GENERALIZED SLOWING HYPOTHESIS is the theory that processing in all parts of the nervous system, including the brain, is less efficient. c) Older people have more accidents. d) Decision process is slowed down. e) Perception of time seems to increase with age.

D. The Senses: Sight, Sound, Taste, and Smell 1. Old age brings a distinct decline in the sense organs of the body.

2. Vision a) Lens becomes less transparent and the pupils shrink. b) The optic nerve becomes less efficient. c) Distant objects become less acute. d) More light is needed to see and it takes longer to adjust to a change from light to darkness and vice versa. e) Driving at night becomes more challenging. f) Reading becomes more of a strain, and eye strain occurs more easily. g) Cataracts, cloudy or opaque areas of the lens of the eye that interfere with passing light, frequently develop.

(1) Cataracts can be surgically removed.

(2) Intraocular lens implants can replace old lenses. h) Glaucoma occurs when pressure in the fluid of the eye increases, either because the fluid cannot drain properly or because too much fluid is produced.

(1) Glaucoma can be corrected with drugs or surgery.

(2) It must be detected early enough. i) Macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness in people over the age of 60; age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects the macula, a yellowish area of the eye located near the retina at which visual perception is most acute.

(1) Diet rich in antioxidant vitamins (C, E, and A) can reduce the risk of this disease.

3. Hearing a) Thirty percent of adults between 65 and 74 have some hearing loss. b) Fifty percent of adults over 75 have hearing loss. c) High frequencies are the hardest to hear. d) Hearing aids would be helpful 75 percent of the time but only 20 percent of people wear them.

(1) They are imperfect and amplify all sounds so it is difficult to discern conversations.

(2) There is a stigma attached to wearing a hearing aid. e) Because they cannot hear, some people withdraw from society because they feel left out and lonely. f) Hearing loss may hasten cognitive declines in the elderly, using considerable mental resources simply trying to understand what is being said.

4. Taste and smell 5 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) Both senses become less discriminating in old age. b) This is due to the decline in taste buds on the tongue. c) Olfactory bulbs in the brain shrink and reduce the ability to smell.

(1) People eat less and get poor nutrition.

(2) Older people may oversalt food and develop hypertension, or high blood pressure.

III. Health and Wellness in Late Adulthood A. Health Problems in Older People: Physical and Psychological Disorders 1. The leading causes of death in elderly people are heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

2. Most older people have at least one chronic, long-term condition. a) Arthritis, an inflammation of one or more joints, is common, striking around half of older people. b) Approximately one-third of older people have hypertension, or high blood pressure.

3. Fifteen to 25 percent of those over age 65 show some symptoms of psychological malady. a) Depression is characterized by intense sadness, pessimism, and hopelessness.

(1) May be a result of cumulative losses in life.

(2) Declining health may contribute. b) Some psychological problems such as anxiety may be caused by inappropriate drug doses or drug interactions. c) The most common mental disorder of old people is DEMENTIA, a broad category covering several diseases, each of which includes serious memory loss accompanied by declines in other mental functioning.

(1) Signs include declining memory, lessened intellectual abilities, and impaired judgment.

(2) The most common form of dementia is ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE, which is a progressive brain disorder that produces loss of memory and confusion. (a) Alzheimer’s leads to the death of 100,000 people a year. (b) Nineteen percent of people 75 to 84 have Alzheimer’s and almost 50 percent of people over 85 are affected. (c) If current trends continue, by the year 2050, almost 14 million Americans over 85 will be victims. (d) The symptoms appear gradually. (i) Unusual forgetfulness (ii) Trouble recalling particular words during conversation (iii) First recent memory goes, then older memories (iv) Eventually, total confusion, inability to speak intelligibly or to recognize family and friends (v) Toward the end, loss of muscle control and confinement to bed (e) Alzheimer’s occurs when production of beta amyloid precursor protein, a protein that normally helps the production and growth of neurons, goes awry. (f) The brain shrinks, several areas of the hippocampus and frontal and temporal lobes deteriorate, and certain neurons die, creating a lack of acetylcholine. (g) No known triggers are understood to cause Alzheimer’s; it runs in families. (h) Diet and high blood pressure may increase susceptibility. (i) Viruses, dysfunctions of the immune system, and hormone imbalances, as well as low cognitive ability may also be implicated. (j) There is no cure for Alzheimer’s. (k) Several drug treatments appear promising: Aricept and Exelon are forms of acetylcholine, in addition to anti-inflammatory drugs and the chemical in vitamins C and E. (i) Only helps about 50 percent. (ii) No drug treatment is totally effective.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e B. Wellness in Late Adulthood: The Relationship Between Aging and Illness 1. Genetic predisposition, lifestyle, economic well-being, and psychological factors play important roles in people’s susceptibility to illness.

2. People can do specific things to enhance their physical and psychological well-being and their longevity—their active life spans—during old age. a) Eat a proper diet. b) Exercise. c) Avoid threats to health, such as smoking.

3. Many elderly individuals face grave financial burdens in obtaining affordable health care resulting in fewer regular check-ups and inadequate care.

4. Psychological factors play a role in susceptibility to illness.

C. Sexuality in Old Age: Use It or Lose It 1. Evidence suggests that people are sexually active well into their 80s and 90s.

2. Good physical and mental health care are necessary.

3. Previous sexual activity increases the desire for sex: “Use it or lose it.”

4. Studies show that 43 percent of men and 33 percent of women over age 70 masturbate.

5. Two-thirds of men and women over age 70 had sex with their spouses an average of once a week.

6. It takes men longer to get an erection and women’s vaginas become thin and inelastic, producing less lubrication.

D. Approaches to Aging: Why Is Death Inevitable?

1. GENETIC PREPROGRAMMING THEORIES OF AGING suggest that our body’s DNA genetic code contains a built-in time limit for the reproduction of human cells. a) One theory is that genetic material has a “death gene” that is programmed to direct the body to deteriorate and die. b) Another theory is that genetic instructions for running the body can be read only a certain number of times before they become illegible.

(1) Evidence: When human cells divide, telomeres (tiny, protective areas of DNA at the tips of the chromosomes) grow shorter.

2. WEAR-AND-TEAR THEORIES OF AGING argue that the mechanical functions of the body simply wear out with age. a) Some theories say that the body’s constant manufacture of energy to fuel its activities creates byproducts, which eventually reach such high levels that they impair the body’s normal functioning. b) Free radicals, electrically charged atoms, are produced in the cells and may cause negative effects on other cells. c) This is a more optimistic theory, which suggests that longevity can be extended by eliminating the toxins produced by the body.

3. LIFE EXPECTANCY, the average age of death for members of a population, has been steadily increasing. a) In 1776, the average life expectancy was 35. b) In 1900, the average life expectancy was 47. c) For a person born in 1980, life expectancy is 74. d) By 2050, the average life expectancy is predicted to be 80.

(1) Health conditions are better.

(2) Many diseases are wiped out or better controlled through medicine.

(3) People’s working conditions are better.

(4) Better lifestyles choices are being made. e) The maximum human life span is believed to hover around 120 years.

(1) To extend the maximum life span would probably take genetic alterations.

E. Postponing Aging: Can Scientists Find the Fountain of Youth 7 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 1. Researchers have made significant strides in identifying potential ways that aging may be held off. a) Telomere therapy b) Unlocking the longevity genes: sirtuins c) Reducing free radicals d) Restricting calories e) Replacing worn-out organs IV. Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood A. Intelligence in Older People 1. The notion that older people become less cognitively adept arose from misinterpretations of research evidence. a) Intellectual ability and specific cognitive skills, such as memory and problem solving, are more likely to remain strong. b) In certain situations, cognitive skills can actually improve.

2. Intelligence in Older People a) Cross-sectional research does not take into account cohort effects, influences attributable to growing up in a particular era. b) Longitudinal studies suffer from practice effects and sample attribution.

3. Recent Findings about Intelligence in Older People a) Recent research (by K. W. Schaie) uses sequential methods, which combine crosssectional and longitudinal methods.

(1) Included 500 subjects (ages 20 to 70 in five year intervals) (2) Tested every seven years (3) More subjects added to create a total of 5,000 (4) Results show no uniform pattern of adulthood age-related changes across all intellectual abilities. (a) Some abilities (fluid intelligence) decline, starting at age 25. (b) Other abilities (crystallized intelligence) stay steady or increase.

(5) For some, there were cognitive declines in all abilities by age 67. (a) These declines were minimal until age 80. (b) At age 81, less than half showed consistent declines.

(6) There were individual differences in the patterns of changes.

(7) For some, intellectual skills begin to decline in their 30s.

(8) Others show no decline until their 70s.

(9) One-third of those in their 70s score higher than the average young adult. b) Certain environmental and cultural factors are related to greater or lesser degrees of intellectual decline. c) Lesser declines are associated with good health, high SES, involvement in an intellectually stimulating environment, a flexible personality, being married to a bright spouse, maintenance of good perceptual processing speed, and feeling self-satisfied with one’s accomplishments in middle and early old age. d) Schaie and Willis taught people whose reasoning and spatial skills had declined a variety of skills. More than half showed significant improvement. e) Such PLASTICITY, or modifiability of behavior, suggests that there is nothing fixed about the changes that may occur in intellectual abilities during late adulthood (“Use it or lose it”).

B. Memory: Remembrance of Things Past—and Present 1. Memory losses occur primarily due to episodic memory, which relates to specific life experiences.

2. Semantic memories (general knowledge and facts) and implicit memories (memories about which people are not consciously aware) are largely unaffected by age.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e 3. Short-term memory declines gradually until age 70, when it becomes more pronounced. a) Information presented quickly and verbally is forgotten sooner. b) New information is more difficult to recall, perhaps because it is not processed as efficiently.

4. People’s AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY, memories of information about one’s own life, frequently follows the Pollyanna principle, in which pleasant memories are more likely to be recalled than unpleasant memories. a) People recall material that “fits” their current self-view. b) Particular periods of life are remembered more easily than others.

(1) 70 year-olds recall their 20s and 30s best.

(2) 50 year-olds recall their teenage years and their 20s best. c) People in late adulthood process information more slowly when they make decisions. d) They make poorer judgments when complex rules are involved. e) They focus on emotional content more than younger people.

5. Explaining Memory Changes in Old Age a) Changes in memory focus on three categories.

(1) Environmental factors (a) Drugs (b) Retirement (c) Lower motivation (2) Information processing deficits (a) Inability to inhibit irrelevant information and thoughts declines (b) Speed of processing declines (c) Difficulty paying attention and organizing information (d) Less efficient retrieval methods (3) Biological factors (a) Brain and body deterioration (b) Especially frontal lobes C. Never Too Late To Learn 1. Continuation of education in old age can improve cognitive skills.

2. Technology and Learning in Late Adulthood a) People 65 and older are less likely to use technology than younger individuals. b) As technology becomes more widespread in the general society, maybe the generational divide in technology will close.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 17.1: Why We Age Growing old, it’s been said, sure beats the alternative. The process of aging may be inevitable, but at least the mechanisms of aging can be understood with some degree of certainty.

Wear and Tear Theories This general class of theories proposes that the human body is analogous to a machine in that our parts begin to wear down and malfunction as they age. Although this seems to make sense and may apply to some body systems (e.g., elbow or knee problems experienced by athletes), it fails to account for the fact that the body’s systems are continuously engaged in repairing and replacing damaged tissue. In addition, it does not explain why continued use or exertion of body systems, such as that associated with routine exercise, actually improves functioning.

Accumulation Theories This group of theories focuses on explanations of aging that are the result of problems at the cellular level. One theory attributes aging to an accumulation of cellular reproduction errors. For example, the aging of the skin may be the result of increasing errors in cellular reproduction due to damage in cellular DNA from exposure to the sun and other toxic substances. Another accumulation theory is the metabolic waste theory. This theory suggests that aging results from the accumulation of undisposed waste products in the cells. Waste accumulation, however, seems to result from changes in the body’s ability to remove waste, and thus may be more of a symptom of aging than a cause. A third accumulation theory attributes aging to the buildup of fibrous proteins (collagen and elastin) in the body. The buildup of these proteins is associated with external aspects of aging such as wrinkles and sagging skin.

Immune System Malfunction Another theory focuses on the potential contribution of declines in immune system functioning with age.

For example, research has demonstrated that the ability of the immune system to produce antibodies begins to decline after adolescence. Some studies also have suggested that the immune system may lose its ability to detect and destroy slightly mutated cells, allowing them to reproduce and accumulate in the body. The autoimmune theory of aging, however, suggests that the immune system loses its ability to differentiate between normal and abnormal cells, resulting in the destruction of healthy cells.

Genetic Clock This approach suggests that cells are preprogrammed to survive and reproduce for a specific period, after which they begin to degenerate and die. Based upon studies of human cell regeneration limits, researchers estimate that the maximum human life span would be between 110 and 120 years.

Golubev, A., Hanson, A. D., & Gladyshev, V. N. (2018). A tale of two concepts: Harmonizing the free radical and antagonistic pleiotropy theories of aging. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, 29(10), 1003-1017.

Reiter, R., Tan, D., Rosales-Corral, S., Galano, A., Zhou, X., & Xu, B. (2018). Mitochondria: Central organelles for melatonin′s antioxidant and anti-aging actions. Molecules, 23(2), 509.

Van Raamsdonk, J. M. (2018). Mechanisms underlying longevity: A genetic switch model of aging. Experimental Gerontology, 107, 136-139.

Lecture Launcher 17.2: Predicting Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease tragically afflicts many elderly people each year, resulting in a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning ability, and personality. Even more disturbing is that the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s can only be made conclusively upon autopsy, when the plaques and tangles in the brain, characteristic of 10 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e the disorder, can be confirmed. Recently, however, the results of an archival study have suggested that linguistic markers may predict Alzheimer’s with some degree of accuracy.

David Snowdon, an epidemiologist at the University of Kentucky, led a research team that examined the writings of 93 nuns. In the 1930s, when these women entered a Milwaukee convent, they composed brief autobiographical essays, which subsequently were scored by Snowdon’s team for linguistic markers such as the density of ideas or grammatical complexity. For example, a nun who might have written “I plan to give my all to God” probably would score low on such measures, whereas a nun who composed the beatitude “I long to linger in the sweet garden of Christ, rejoicing in the splendor that He is and thanking Him daily for His abundances” might not win a literature contest, but certainly shows a greater degree of complexity in her writing. All of the nuns lived under highly similar conditions. Sixty years later, however, those nuns who scored low on the psycholinguistic markers were more prone to develop Alzheimer’s. Of the 14 nuns who had died, in fact, five had low idea density scores, and all five had Alzheimer’s disease.

What this reveals about the course of Alzheimer’s is still something of a mystery. It may be, for example, that as young women these nuns were already showing signs of the disorder, suggesting that Alzheimer’s develops slowly and insidiously over a prolonged period of time. Studies showing that some forms of Alzheimer’s can afflict people in their 20s complement this idea. An alternative, however, is that linguistic skills may offer some “immunity” to the development of Alzheimer’s, much as the adage “use it or lose it” suggests. Perhaps those nuns with more highly developed linguistic ability were better able to stave off the effects of this disorder. As with most studies of this nature, the causality of events remains murky. Other archival data, or other markers of ability (such as mathematics scores, or measures of reasoning or memory), may shed more light on this encouraging line of research.

Indeed, Snowdon and his associates have imposed on the generous nuns of the School Sisters of Notre Dame one more time. The research team discovered an important link between strokes and declines in mental abilities seen in Alzheimer’s patients. Among 61 deceased nuns whose brains all clearly showed signs of Alzheimer’s, 19 seemed to have escaped the confusion, dementia, and mental deterioration so characteristic of the disease. In one case, a 101-year-old nun remained, by all accounts, as sharp as a tack, even though her brain was a battlefield of plagues, tangles, and gaping holes. The key was that she, like 18 of the others, had not suffered from strokes during old age. In fact, only 57 percent of stroke-free nuns developed Alzheimer’s, compared to 93 percent of nuns who had a history of ministrokes. In an additional comparison, Snowdon looked at the brains of 41 nuns who did not have Alzheimer’s-like brains but who had suffered strokes; these women had no significant decrease in their overall mental competence.

An avenue for treatment suggests itself. By preventing strokes, it may be possible to delay the onset of symptoms in Alzheimer’s patients. The “double-whammy” of dealing with two brain diseases in a single individual may be halved, providing substantial comfort to those dealing with Alzheimer’s.

Danner, D. D., Snowdon, D. A., & Friesen, W. V. (2001). Positive emotions in early life and longevity: Findings from the nun study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(5), 804-83.

Nash, J. M. (March 24, 1997). Medicine. Time, 80-82.

Mortimer, J. A. (2012). The Nun Study: Risk factors for pathology and clinical-pathologic correlations. Current Alzheimer Research, 9(6), 621-627.

Mortimer, J. A., Snowdon, D. A., & Markesbery, W. R. (2007). Brain reserve and risk of dementia: Findings from the nun study.

In Stern, Y. (Ed.), Cognitive reserve: Theory and applications (pp. 237-249). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.: Taylor & Francis.

Mortimer, J. A., Snowdon, D. A., & Markesbery, W. R. (2009). The effect of APOE-ε4 on dementia is mediated by Alzheimer neuropathology. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 23(2), 152-157.

Rönnemaa, E., Zethelius, B., Lannfelt, L., & Kilander, L. (2011). Vascular risk factors and dementia: 40-year follow-up of a population-based cohort. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 31(6), 460-466.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Wang, H. X., Gustafson, D. R., Kivipelto, M., Pedersen, N. L., Skoog, I., Windblad, B., & Fratiglioni, L. (2012). Education halves the risk of dementia due to apolipoprotein ε4 allele: a collaborative study from the Swedish Brain Power initiative. Neurobiology of Aging, 33(5), 1007-e1.

Weinstein, N., Legate, N., Ryan, W. S., & Hemmy, L. (2018). Autonomous orientation predicts longevity: New findings from the Nun Study. Journal of Personality, 86(6), 1-13.

Lecture Launcher 17.3: A Unique Sexual History Wardell Pomeroy was an associate of Alfred Kinsey, and along with Clyde Martin they published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, a landmark study of human sexuality. Kinsey of course went on to publish other collections of his research on sexuality, but Pomeroy relates one episode that stands out from the rest of the research. In his book Dr. Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research, Pomeroy relates a tale of the longest interview they ever conducted. Given that the text advocates a “use it or lose it” philosophy for sexuality in later adulthood, this tale certainly falls under the “used it…a lot!” category.

When we got the record after a long drive to take his history, it astounded even us, who had heard everything. This man had had homosexual relations with 600 preadolescent males, heterosexual relations with 200 preadolescent females, intercourse with countless adults of both sexes, with animals of many species, and besides had employed elaborate techniques of masturbation. He had set down a family tree going back to his grandparents, and of thirty-three family members he had sexual contacts with seventeen. His grandmother introduced him to sexual intercourse, and his first homosexual experience was with his father. If this sounds like Tobacco Road or God’s Little Acre, I will add that he was a college graduate who held a responsible government job. ...

At the time we saw him, this man was sixty-three years old, quiet, soft-spoken, selfeffacing—a rather unobtrusive fellow. It took us seventeen hours to get his history. ...

At one point in his history taking he said he was able to masturbate to ejaculation in ten seconds from a flaccid start. Kinsey and I, knowing how long it took everyone else, expressed our disbelief, whereupon our subject calmly demonstrated it to us. ... It was the only sexual demonstration among the 18,000 subjects who gave their histories (pp. 122123).

Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., & Martin, C. E. (1948). Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia: Saunders.

Pomeroy, W. B. (1972). Dr. Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons.

Lecture Launcher 17.4: Good Carbs, Bad Carbs, You Know I’ve Had My Share Unless they’ve been living in a cave somewhere, chances are good that most of your students have heard about diet plans based on eating far less of the type of food the body uses for fuel—carbohydrates.

Although humans ate carbohydrates (in the form of roots, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, as well as proteins such as meat and fish) across their evolutionary history, it is relatively recently that people started highly processing a lot of those carbohydrate foods. Rice was stripped of its husk and bran, as was wheat and other grains, leaving them tasty but of far less nutritive value. As people began to eat more and more of these highly processed starches, the fat started to pile on. As the years start to pile on in older adulthood, fat + age = problems.

In the 1960s, Dr. Robert Atkins first proposed what was then a revolutionary idea: instead of eating the low-fat American Heart Association-approved diet that emphasized eating more foods from the

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e carbohydrate family of breads, grains, and other starches, he recommended that people wishing to lose weight should eat a diet high in protein and fat, and low in carbohydrates. Several decades later, the Atkins diet has become so popular that major chain restaurants now offer special “Atkins Approved” sections on their menus.

Researchers have found that the Atkins diet does work, at least in the short run. People lose weight rapidly at first for two reasons. First, a lot of water weight is lost in the first few weeks of any diet, as well as some muscle mass when carbohydrates are severely restricted. Second, this diet theoretically causes the body, deprived of its normal carbohydrate fuel, to turn to burning fat as fuel. This is actually a condition called ketosis, and is something that can happen in diabetes, a condition in which the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to counteract blood sugar levels.

Although the normal body fuel is glucose (sugar), when there isn’t enough glucose in the bloodstream, fat will be burned instead. When fats are used as fuel excessively, they convert to ketones, highly acidic substances that can, in excess amounts, make the blood highly acidic. This can lead to kidney damage and a host of other undesirable side effects. (Although a diabetic has higher than normal glucose levels, the lack of insulin prevents this glucose from being burned as fuel.) Ketosis is very likely to happen with high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets, a principle that the Atkins diet relies upon.

Is the Atkins diet unhealthy? The jury is still out. Although researchers have found no short-term ill effects (such as raised cholesterol), the long-term effects have yet to be determined. One study found that although the Atkins diet did produce more initial weight loss than a traditional low-fat diet, after one year there were no differences between subjects in total weight loss. There are many other versions of lowcarbohydrate diets on the market, but the more recent ones, such as the South Beach Diet, advocate knowing the difference between “good” fats (olive oil and canola oil, for example) and “bad” fats (butter and margarine), “good” carbohydrates (whole grain breads, brown rice, vegetables, and most fruits) and “bad” carbohydrates (highly refined and processed foods such as white bread, white rice, and white potatoes). The body needs fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, but there are healthy choices that can be made within those categories.

In most of the newer diets, rather than eating a high-fat, high-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet, people are supposed to eat moderate fats of the good kind, lean meats and fish, and carbohydrates that are processed by the body more slowly and therefore are less likely to trigger the pancreas into releasing a lot of insulin at once. When a person eats the more processed carbohydrates such as pasta and white bread, the sugar from that starch is released quickly into the bloodstream, triggering the insulin response. The insulin “overreacts” by reducing the level of sugar in the bloodstream to below-normal levels, which causes a low-blood sugar signal to the brain that says, “I’m starving, let’s eat!” even though dinner might have been only an hour ago. Known as the “glycemic reaction,” this fast-rising insulin reaction is at the heart of many of the newer diets. The “good” carbs, as they are commonly called, are less refined and produce a much slower rise in blood sugar, causing insulin levels to react much more slowly. With slower insulin reaction, there is no low blood sugar hunger reaction, and overeating becomes less likely.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 17.1: Myths of Aging Quiz If you gave this quiz on Handout 17-1 during the first week of the semester, trot it back out to discuss in class. If not, ask your students to take the quiz before you begin the chapters on late adulthood. All oddnumbered statements are false; all even-numbered statements are true. Most college students miss about six, high school students miss about nine, and even college instructors miss an average of three! Discuss with your students why they think the answers are true or false.

Student Activity 17.2: Calculating Longevity Reproduce Handout 17-2 and Handout 17-3 so your students can calculate their longevity. Discuss the factors of heredity, health history, current health habits, and current life experiences that either contribute to a longer life or subtract from a person’s life expectancy.

Be sure to stress that this exercise is only a rough prediction of longevity. Two important points are worth mentioning: (a) some factors are beyond our control, and (b) some are controllable. Have your students list which factors are and are not controllable.

Divide your students into discussion groups. Using Handout 17-3, ask your students to guess as many reasons as they can why the average life expectancy goes up. Remind them to look at race and gender also.

(A major reason you will statistically live longer after you reach an older age is simply that you’ve made it this far without anything killing you!)

Student Activity 17.3: Growing Old in a Youth-Oriented Culture What does it mean to be old? The popular image is of a person who is forgetful, somewhat senile, and physically and mentally feeble. On television and in the movies, old people are usually portrayed as objects of amusement, sympathy, or scorn.

Researchers in the field of gerontology have been challenging these cultural stereotypes of old age. The very fact that such a research specialty exists reflects a major change in Western culture: increasing numbers of people are living into very old age, and living well. Indeed, the fastest-growing age group in the United States and Canada consists of people over the age of 85. One result of this trend is that researchers have been able to separate the processes that are part of normal aging from those that are a result of preventable conditions.

Distribute copies of Handout Master 17-4 to students. This handout asks students to answer specific questions regarding aging. You can then present the findings from gerontology that shatter many of the myths and misconceptions people often have about aging.

Here are the discoveries from gerontological research: 1. The definition of “old” got older.

Not long ago you would have been considered old in your 60s. Today, “old age” is not just a matter of chronological years. Researchers divide the elderly into two groups: those who have their health, 14 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e strength, and mental capacities, and those who are infirm, weak, and incapacitated.

2. Aging was separated from illness.

People used to think that all bodily functions declined with age. Some conditions, such as osteoporosis (having extremely brittle bones) or senility (the loss of mental abilities), were assumed to be inevitable. Today, gerontologists have found that many of the conditions thought characteristic of old age are really a result of cellular damage, malnutrition, overmedication, or disease. For example, only 15 percent of people over age 65 suffer serious mental impairment, and half of those cases are due to Alzheimer’s disease, a neurological disorder. Moreover, a tragically high number of older people are overmedicated, given too many drugs for different problems, the results of which can appear as confusion, senility, or even psychosis.

3. The biology of aging was separated from its psychology.

Imagine that you are taken from your home, your friends, and your work. You are put in a residence where you know no one and have nothing to do. Your relatives live too far away to visit. You aren’t allowed to make decisions, decorate your room, keep a pet, have a lover, or choose your food. “Just relax and have a good time,” your caretakers tell you. What would happen to you? Most likely, you would become depressed and bored. You would become forgetful and apathetic. You would become, in a word, “old.”

4. Aging has its benefits.

Researchers are also discovering that aging often brings wisdom, tolerance, and old-fashioned maturity. As people age, they tend to feel less angry, less lonely, happier, and more content with themselves and their limitations. In a society that values youth and the new, it is easy to overlook the values of experience and the old.

Many researchers who study cognition and aging are optimistic; they believe that when people live in stimulating, interesting environments, their brain function does not “naturally” decay. But other researchers are skeptical about the “use it or lose it” philosophy, pointing out that if you have lost it, you can’t use it. One thing is certain; we can continue to learn throughout our lives.

Student Activity 17.4: “Wearing the Shoes” of the Elderly Students often have difficulty understanding or appreciating the sensory losses that sometimes accompany aging. Herbert Shore (1976), who designed a training program to help people who work with the elderly better understand sensory losses, suggests several simple and effective simulations, some of which can be experienced in class, and some of which might best be done out of class.

Hearing. According to Shore, hearing loss is one of the most problematic sensory impairments for the elderly because the lack of clarity and understanding can lead to suspiciousness and paranoia. Hearing losses can be simulated by having students wear ear plugs, ear muffs, or by simply putting their fingers in their ears when trying to understand what is being said. Shore also recommends the “Unfair Hearing Test,” in which students try to comprehend a list of words that have been tape-recorded with slight decibel distortions and with frequencies filtered out.

Vision. Changes in the lenses can be simulated by having students wear underwater goggles. In addition, taping yellow cellophane on the goggles can help simulate changes in color perception. Blindness can be simulated by having the student wear a blindfold while trying to perform a simple task, such as tying their 15 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e shoelace. In addition, you may want to take the blindfolded student on a “blind walk” so that they can experience dependency on a companion. Finally, losses in peripheral vision can be simulated by taping pieces of paper on the sides of glasses.

Taste. Taste loss commonly experienced by the elderly can be simulated by camouflaging the texture of food by chopping, pureeing, or liquefying it (or by using commercial baby foods) and then having a volunteer eat it while blindfolded and wearing a nose clip.

Kinesthesia. Difficulty in mobility can be simulated by wrapping an ace bandage around the student’s knee or elbow to simulate stiffness in joints. Other physical disabilities, such as those brought about by a stroke or other injury, can be simulated by writing with the opposite hand, walking on crutches, using a cane, or relying a wheelchair for a day.

Touch. Losses in tactile sensitivity can be simulated by applying rubber cement or paraffin to a finger.

You can also have students try to identify common objects (that are out of view) while wearing mittens or plastic baggies on their hands.

Shore, H. (1976). Designing a training program for understanding sensory losses in aging. The Gerontologist, 16, 157-165.

Student Activity 17.5: I’m Going to Live Forever Scientists are trying to isolate a “longevity gene” that might extend human life spans to 150 years and raise the average life expectancy to 120. This research may lead to the discovery of genes responsible for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, osteoporosis, heart disease, and stroke. Could gene transplants cure these diseases and extend human life? What would be the possible consequences of such manipulations? What ethical considerations will need to be addressed? Gather your students’ thoughts and opinions on these issues.

Student Activity 17.6: You Say It’s Your Birthday Ask students to visit a local variety store (Target, Walmart) or specialty shop (Hallmark) and record the themes they find on greeting cards. For example, some will no doubt fall into the “you’re getting older and closer to death—ha ha ha” variety, others will fall into the “older people have a lot of frailties and suffering” category, and some will fall into the “you’re getting wiser and venerable” group. Ask students to note the approximate age ranges the cards seem appropriate for (some cards, in fact, are targeted at the “You’re Turning 50!” or “Happy Centennial!” market) and other distinguishing characteristics, such as whether they are more suited to women or men, have sexual connotations, are humorous, and so on. If you’d like to make this activity more elaborate (and expensive), ask students to purchase a selection of cards and bring them to class for discussion. You might also consider making this the basis for an assignment or reflection on how society views the aging process.

Student Activity 17.7: Reflective Journal Use Handout 17-4 to help students reflect on their own longevity.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

SUPPLEMENTAL READING Ayalon, L., Levkovich, I., Gewirtz-Meydan, A., & Karkabi, K. (2018). A life course perspective on the ways older men and women discuss sexual issues. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 69, 1-9.

Biss, R. K., Rowe, G., Weeks, J. C., Hasher, L., & Murphy, K. J. (2018). Leveraging older adults’ susceptibility to distraction to improve memory for face-name associations. Psychology and Aging, 33(1), 158.

Courtney, S. (2018). Why adults learn: Towards a theory of participation in adult education. New York: Routledge.

Epel, E. S., & Prather, A. A. (2018). Stress, telomeres, and psychopathology: Toward a deeper understanding of a triad of early aging. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 14, 371-397.

Estill, A., Mock, S. E., Schryer, E., & Eibach, R. P. (2018). The effects of subjective age and aging attitudes on mid-to late-life sexuality. The Journal of Sex Research, 55(2), 146-151.

Grilli, M. D., Woolverton, C. B., Crawford, M. S., & Glisky, E. L. (2018). Self-reference and emotional memory effects in older adults at increased genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 25(2), 186-199.

Joynt, M. H., Martin, P., & Poon, L. (2018). Gender differences and similarities among oldest old adults: A study of personality, social support and disablement. Innovation in Aging, 2(Suppl 1), 285.

Kassem, A. M., Ganguli, M., Yaffe, K., Hanlon, J. T., Lopez, O. L., Wilson, J. W., ... & Study of Osteoporotic Fractures (SOF) Research Group. (2018). Anxiety symptoms and risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the oldest old women. Aging & Mental Health, 22(4), 474-482.

Luu, J., & Palczewski, K. (2018). Human aging and disease: Lessons from age-related macular degeneration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(12), 2866-2872.

Messerli, F. H., Streit, S., & Grodzicki, T. (2018). The oldest old: Does hypertension become essential again? European Heart Journal, 39(33), 3144-3146.

Morrissey Stahl, K. A., Gale, J., Lewis, D. C., & Kleiber, D. (2018). Sex after divorce: Older adult women’s reflections. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 61, 659-674.

Schensul, J. J., Radda, K. E., & Corbeil, C. (2018). Sexual culture in low-income older adult housing: Norms, behaviours and risks. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 20, 1130-1144.

Scott, D., Duque, G., & Ebeling, P. R. (2018). Does obesity reduce risk for osteoporosis and fractures in older adults? Internal Medicine Journal, 48(1), 104-105.

Shay, J. W. (2018). Telomeres and aging. Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 52, 1-7.

Syme, M. L., Cohn, T. J., Stoffregen, S., Kaempfe, H., & Schippers, D. (2018). “At my age…”: Defining sexual wellness in mid- and later life. The Journal of Sex Research, 55, 1-11.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA Late Adulthood: Sandra’s Health

Sandra discusses her present state of well-being

1. Sandra’s mental and physical health seem to, frankly, be a mess. To what extent do you think these unfortunate outcomes represent the influence of genetics versus life circumstances? Do you think there’s an interactive effect of both forces?

2. Sandra seems proactive in wanting to change her health status. How successful do you predict she will be in this regard?

Late Adulthood: Chris’ Health

Chris “Quiet Bear” speaks up about life and health

1. To what extent do Chris’ views of health and life in general match your expectations of someone whose age and sex are the same as theirs?

2. Chris is a male in his mid-80s, leading a generally active lifestyle. It’s reasonable to assume that he led that same life up to this point. How reasonable is it to assume he will continue to do so? Is there a point at which time, wear, and tear will simply make that impossible? What do you predict?

Successful Aging, Independent Lifestyle

Thelma shares some insights into her daily life

1. Thelma is rockin’ the good times. To what extent do you think her background in nursing contributed to her understanding of health issues and/or focus on maintaining her wellness?

2. To what extent do you currently follow Thelma’s recommendations for a healthy, active lifestyle?

Alvin: Dementia

Alvin shares some thoughts on life, health, and relationships

1. Alvin is quite lucid for someone with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Why is that not remarkable?

What do you know about the progression of dementia that would indicate relatively high cognitive functioning at some stages?

2. Alvin is undoubtedly feeling a lot of stress due to his diagnosis. What about the stress levels of his caregivers? What recommendations would you have for them, to help them cope with these difficult circumstances?

18 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 17-1 The Myths of Aging Quiz Circle T for true or F for false.

T

F

1.

The majority of old people (age 65 and older) are senile (have defective memory, are disoriented, or demented).

T

F

2.

The five senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch) all tend to weaken in old age.

T

F

3.

The majority of old people have no interest in, nor capacity for, sexual relations.

T

F

4.

Lung vital capacity tends to decline in old age.

T

F

5.

The majority of old people feel miserable most of the time.

T

F

6.

Physical strength tends to decline in old age.

T

F

7.

At least one-tenth of the aged are living in long-stay institutions (such as nursing homes, mental hospitals, and homes for the aged).

T

F

8.

Aged drivers have fewer accidents per driver than those under age 65.

T

F

9.

Older workers usually cannot work as effectively as younger workers.

T

F

10.

Over three-fourths of the aged are healthy enough to carry out their normal activities.

T

F

11.

The majority of old people are unable to adapt to change.

T

F

12.

Old people usually take longer to learn something new.

T

F

13.

It is almost impossible for the average old person to learn something new.

T

F

14.

Older people tend to react more slowly than do younger people.

T

F

15.

In general, old people tend to be pretty much alike.

T

F

16.

The majority of old people say they are seldom bored.

T

F

17.

The majority of old people are socially isolated.

T

F

18.

Older workers have fewer accidents than younger workers.

19 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 17-2 Calculating Your Longevity Respond to each item honestly, and sum the various positive and negative factors to arrive at the approximate number of years more (or less) than average you are likely to live.

PUT YOUR BEGINNING LIFE EXPECTANCY HERE (from Handout 17-3) For each grandparent who lived past 80, add 1 year.

For each grandparent who lived to 70 but not 80, add 1/2 year.

If your mother lived past 80, add 4 years.

If your father lived past 80, add 2 years.

For each grandparent, parent, or sibling who died of any type of heart disease before age 50, subtract 4 years.

For each such relative dying of heart disease between age 50 and 60, subtract 2 years.

For each such relative who died of diabetes or ulcers before age 60, subtract 3 years.

Women: For each sister or mother who died of breast cancer before age 60, subtract 1 year.

If your intelligence is superior, add 2 years.

HEALTH HISTORY If your mother was younger than 18 or older than 35 at your birth, subtract 1 year.

If you are the first born in your family, add 1 year.

Women: If you have had no children (or plan no children) subtract 1/2 year.

If you have an annual physical exam, add 2 years.

20 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 17-2 Calculating Your Longevity (continued) CURRENT HEALTH If your weight is 10 to 30 percent above ideal weight shown in standard tables, the amount you must subtract depends on your age and gender. For women, subtract 5 years if you are between 20 and 30; 4 years if you are between 30 and 50, and 2 years if you are over 50. For men, subtract 10 years if you are between 20 and 30, 4 years if you are between 30 and 45, and 2 years for any age over that.

If your weight is more than 30 percent above standard tables: Women, subtract 61/2 years if you are between 20 and 30, 5 years if you are between 30 and 50, and 4 years thereafter. Men, subtract 13 years if you are between 20 and 30, 6 years if you are between 30 and 40, and 4 years thereafter.

If your diet is generally low in fat and sugar, and you never eat past the feeling of fullness, add 1 year.

If you smoke 2 or more packs a day, subtract 12 years; if you smoke 1 to2 packs a day, subtract 7 years; if you smoke less than 1 pack a day, subtract 2 years.

If you never drink, neither add nor subtract; if you are a heavy drinker, subtract 8 years; if you are a moderate drinker, add 3 years; if you are a light drinker, add 11/2 years.

If you do some aerobic exercise at least 3 times a week, add 3 years.

If you sleep more than 10 or less than 6 hours per night, subtract 2 years.

If you have intimate sexual relations once or twice a week, add 2 years.

If you have a chronic health condition (e.g., high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcer, cancer) or are frequently ill, subtract 5 years.

21 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 17-2 Calculating Your Longevity (continued) YOUR CURRENT LIFE If your occupation is at a professional, technical, or managerial level, add 1 year; if you work at unskilled work, subtract 4.

If your family income is above average for your education and occupation, add 1 year; if it is below average, subtract 1.

If your job is a physically active one, add 2; if it is sedentary, subtract 2.

If you now live in an urban area and have lived in urban areas most of your life, subtract 1; if you have spent most of your life in a rural area, add 1.

If you are married and living with your spouse, add 1.

If you are separated or divorced, subtract 9 if you are a man, 4 if you are a woman.

If you are widowed, subtract 7 if you are a man, 4 if you are a woman.

If you are a never-married woman, subtract 1 year for each decade unmarried past age 25.

If you are a never-married man and living with family, subtract 1 year for each decade unmarried past 25; if you live alone, subtract 2 years for each decade unmarried past 25.

If you have at least two close friends in whom you can confide, add 1.

If your personality is noticeably aggressive and hostile and you feel regularly under time pressure, subtract 2 to 5 depending on how much the description fits.

If you are a calm, relaxed, easygoing person who adapts well to whatever happens, add 1 to 3 depending on how well the description fits.

If you are a basically happy person and have a lot of fun, add 2.

If you have had an episode of being depressed or very tense, guilty, or worried that lasted as long as a year or more, subtract 1 to 3 depending on how severe the depression was.

If you take a lot of risks, subtract 2; if you generally avoid risks, add 1.

22 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 17-3 Life Expectancy Table

23 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 17-4 Growing Old in a Youth-Oriented Culture Please answer the following questions to the best of your abilities. The point of this exercise is to demonstrate the myths and misconceptions we have about aging.

1. What do you mean by “old?”

2. Does being old mean being ill? Explain your answer.

3. Why do you think so many elderly people are passive and apathetic? Is it due to their deteriorating physical and mental condition?

4. Can you name any benefits of getting older?

24 .

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 17-5 Reflective Journal Exercise 17 Complete the Longevity Calculator discussed elsewhere in this chapter. Discuss what you learned. Will you live to be 100? Do you agree with all the areas purported to be associated with living long? Why or why not?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Chapter 18 SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT IN LATE ADULTHOOD CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

9

Student Activities

14

Supplemental Reading

15

Revel Multimedia

16

Handouts

17

1 Copyright 2020, 2017, 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Chapter Outline Personality Development and Successful Aging Continuity and Change in Personality During Late Adulthood Age Stratification Approaches to Late Adulthood Does Age Bring Wisdom?

Successful Aging: What Is the Secret?

Instructor’s Revel Resources Multimedia Learning Objectives 18.1, 18.2, 18.3, 18.4 Lecture Launchers 18.1, 18.2 Student Activities 18.1, 18.2

The Daily Life of Late Adulthood Living Arrangements: The Places and Spaces of Their Lives Financial Issues: The Economics of Late Adulthood Work and Retirement in Late Adulthood

Learning Objectives 18.5, 18.6, 18.7

Transitioning to Retirement

Lecture Launcher 18.3 Student Activities 18.3, 18.4 Relationships: Old and New Marriage in the Later Years: In Sickness and in Health The Death of a Spouse: Becoming Widowed The Social Networks of Late Adulthood Family Relationships: The Ties That Bind Elder Abuse: Relationships Gone Wrong

Learning Objectives 18.8, 18.9, 18.10, 18.11, 18.12

Grieving a Loss Late Adulthood: Happiness

Lecture Launchers 18.4, 18.5 Student Activity 18.5

2 Copyright 2020, 2017, 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 18.1

Describe ways in which personality develops during late adulthood.

LO 18.2 Explain how age relates to the distribution of resources, power, and privilege.

LO 18.3

Define wisdom and describe how it is correlated with age.

LO 18.4

Differentiate the theories of aging.

LO 18.5

Describe the circumstances in which older people live and the difficulties they face.

LO 18.6

Discuss how financially secure older people are in the United States today.

LO 18.7

Summarize the positives and negatives of retiring as well as typical stages retired people pass through.

LO 18.8

Describe how marriages fare in late adulthood.

LO 18.9

Describe the typical reactions to the death of a spouse during late adulthood.

LO 18.10 Discuss the nature of relationships in late adulthood.

LO 18.11 Explain how aging affects family relationships.

LO 18.12 Discuss what causes elder abuse and how it can be prevented.

3 Copyright 2020, 2017, 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: Late Love II. Personality Development and Successful Aging A. Continuity and Change in Personality During Late Adulthood 1. Whether personality changes or stays stable in late adulthood depends on which facets of personality are considered.

2. According to Costa and McCrae, basic personality traits remain stable.

3. Some changes in personality occur as a result of new challenges that appear in later adulthood.

4. Erikson labeled the last stage of personality development EGO-INTEGRITY-VERSUSDESPAIR, which is characterized by a process of looking back over one’s life, evaluating it, and coming to terms with it. a) Integrity comes when people feel they have realized and fulfilled the possibilities that have come their way. b) Despair occurs when people feel dissatisfied with their life, and experience gloom, unhappiness, depression, anger, or the feeling that they have failed.

5. Peck’s Developmental Tasks: Robert Peck suggests that personality development in elderly people is occupied by three major developmental tasks or challenges. a) The first is REDEFINITION OF SELF VERSUS PREOCCUPATION WITH WORKROLE, which means that those in old age must redefine themselves in ways that do not relate to their work-roles or occupations. b) The second major task is BODY TRANSCENDENCE VERSUS BODY PREOCCUPATION, a period in which people must learn to cope with and move beyond changes in physical capabilities as a result of aging. c) The third developmental task is EGO TRANSCENDENCE VERSUS EGO PREOCCUPATION, in which elderly people must come to grips with their coming death.

6. According to Daniel Levinson, people enter late adulthood after passing through a transition stage that typically occurs at about age 60 to 65. a) During this transition time, people begin to view themselves as entering late adulthood. b) People struggle with being “old,” and often must face the illnesses and deaths of one’s friends and loved ones. c) People must struggle with the loss of power, respect, and authority. d) People can serve as resources for younger people and be in a position to give advice. e) Old age brings freedom to do things for fun and entertainment.

7. Bernice Neugarten studied the different ways people cope with aging. a) Disintegrated and disorganized personalities are unable to accept aging and experience despair as they get older, often ending up in nursing homes or hospitalized. b) Passive-dependent personalities lead lives filled with fear of falling ill, fear of the future, fear of their own inability to cope. c) Defended personalities seek to ward off aging and attempt to act young, exercising vigorously and engaging in youthful activities that could lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment. d) Integrated personalities cope comfortably with aging and accept becoming older with a sense of dignity.

8. Erikson, Peck, Neugarten, and Levinson all suggest that a major characteristic of personality development in old age is looking backward, called a LIFE REVIEW, where people examine and evaluate their lives. a) According to Robert Butler, the life review is triggered by the increasing awareness that one will die. b) There are benefits to a life review.

(1) A better understanding of one’s life (2) Resolution of lingering problems 4 Copyright 2020, 2017, 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (3) A sense of sharing and mutuality with others like them (4) May improve memory c) A life review is not always positive.

(1) People may become obsessed with the past.

(2) This may cause psychological dysfunction.

B. Age Stratification Approaches to Late Adulthood 1. AGE STRATIFICATION THEORIES suggest that an unequal distribution of economic resources, power, and privilege exists among people at different stages of the life course. a) Power and prestige for the elderly have eroded, making them seen as lacking and not productive members of society. b) In less industrialized countries, older individuals continue to be involved in daily life.

C. Does Age Bring Wisdom?

1. WISDOM, expert knowledge in the practical aspects of life, has received little attention from gerontologists until recently. a) Developmentalists disagree on whether we should expect a relationship between wisdom and aging. b) Another challenge is to distinguish wisdom from intelligence.

(1) Knowledge derived from intelligence is the here-and-now.

(2) Wisdom is more timeless.

(3) Wisdom provides understanding of human nature, while intelligence permits logical thinking.

(4) Measuring wisdom is difficult.

(5) According to studies, older adults’ abilities with respect to theory of mind are superior to those of younger adults.

D. Successful Aging: What is the Secret?

1. Successful aging depends on personality factors and circumstances. a) According to DISENGAGEMENT THEORY, the period in late adulthood that marks a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels, people withdraw from the world and the world compels the elderly to withdraw (e.g., retirement).

(1) People can become more reflective about their lives.

(2) People can become less constrained by social roles.

(3) People become more discerning about relationships, which can help them adjust to the increasing frequency of serious illness and death among their peers.

(4) Disengagement is not an automatic, universal process for all people in late adulthood.

2. According to ACTIVITY THEORY, successful aging occurs when people maintain the interests, activities, and social interactions with which they were involved during middle age. a) Happiness and satisfaction with life are assumed to spring from a high level of involvement with the world. b) When it is no longer possible to work, successful aging according to activity theory suggests that replacement activities be found.

(1) Being involved in any activity just to remain active may not always contribute to happiness and satisfaction.

(2) Some people are happier when they can slow down and only do those things that bring them the greatest satisfaction.

3. Continuity Theory: A Compromise Position a) CONTINUITY THEORY suggests that people simply need to maintain their desired level of involvement in society to maximize their sense of well-being and self-esteem. b) Which theory best explains successful aging may depend on one’s behavior prior to late adulthood. c) Good physical and mental health are important in determining an elderly person’s sense of wellbeing.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e d) Financial security and a sense of autonomy and independence also give one’s later life a significant advantage. e) A positive outlook on life helps people view their old age more favorably.

4. Selective Optimization a) Baltes and Baltes suggest older people overcome changes and losses in old age according to the principle of SELECTIVE OPTIMIZATION, where people concentrate on particular skill areas to compensate for losses in other areas.

III. The Daily Life of Late Adulthood A. Living Arrangements: The Places and Spaces of Their Lives 1. Contrary to the stereotype, only 5 percent of elderly people end their lives in a nursing home. a) Two-thirds of people over the age of 65 live with other members of the family.

(1) Most live with a partner.

(2) The adjustment to living with children can be difficult.

(3) African Americans are more likely to live in multigenerational families than whites. b) Ten percent live in a CONTINUING-CARE FACILITY, which typically offers an environment in which all the residents are of retirement age or older and need various levels of care.

(1) As their needs increase, residents move into assisted living, with support by medical providers as needed.

2. Several types of nursing homes exist. a) ADULT DAY-CARE FACILITIES are where elderly individuals receive care only during the day, but spend nights and weekends in their own homes.

(1) Some adult facilities are combined with infant and child-care programs, allowing for interaction between old and young. b) SKILLED-NURSING FACILITIES provide full-time nursing care for people who have chronic illnesses or who are recovering from a temporary medical condition.

(1) Only 1 percent of those aged 64 to 74 are in nursing homes.

(2) Twenty-five percent of those over 85 are in nursing homes.

(3) Fear of nursing homes can lead to INSTITUTIONALISM, a psychological state in which people develop apathy, indifference, and a lack of caring about themselves. (a) Often brought about by a sense of learned hopelessness, the belief that one has no control over one’s environment. (b) Langer and Rodin found that when given simple choices over their lives, only 15 percent of the choice groups died within 18 months, compared to 30 percent of the comparison group.

B. Financial Issues: The Economics of Late Adulthood 1. People who were well-off in young adulthood tend to remain so in late adulthood; those who were poor remain poor in late adulthood. a) Elderly must often live on a fixed income that rarely keeps up with inflation.

(1) Social Security (2) Pensions (3) Savings b) The elderly face rising health costs.

C. Work and Retirement in Late Adulthood 1. When to retire is a major decision faced by the majority of people in late adulthood.

2. The typical retirement age is moving downward to age 55 or 60.

3. Many people continue to work full- or part-time for some part of late adulthood.

4. Age discrimination remains a reality despite laws making it illegal.

5. Mandatory retirement is illegal (since the 1970s) with the exception of certain public safety jobs such as police, firefighters, prison guards, and pilots.

6. The retirement decision is based on a number of factors. a) Workers may be burned out after working all their lives.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) Jobs can be frustrating and tension-filled. c) Health may decline. d) Incentives are offered by their company to retire early. e) Desire to travel and see more of family 7. People pass through stages in the process of retirement. a) At first there is a honeymoon period, in which former workers engage in a variety of activities, such as travel, that were previously hindered by full-time work. b) Disenchantment may occur when retirees conclude that retirement is not all they thought it would be. c) Reorientation is the stage where retirees reconsider their options and become engaged in new, more fulfilling activities. d) A retirement routine stage occurs when retirees come to grips with the realities of retirement and feel fulfilled in this new phase of life. e) The final stage is the process of termination, where the retiree either goes back to work or health deteriorates so badly that the person can no longer function independently. f) Not everyone passes through each stage and the sequence is not universal.

IV. Relationships: Old and New A. Marriage in the Later Years: In Sickness and In Health 1. The proportion of men who are married over the age of 65 is far greater than that of women. a) Seventy percent of women outlive their husbands. b) The marriage gradient makes remarriage easier for elderly men than for women.

2. The vast majority of those still married report they are satisfied with their partner.

3. For some, the stress of retirement or old age changes the relationship.

4. For many couples, retirement means that relationships have to be refashioned. a) Couples spend more time together. b) Provides an opportunity for sharing household chores c) Men become more affiliative and less competitive and women become more assertive and autonomous.

5. Shifts in health mean that in late adulthood men and women may have to care for an ill partner. a) May provide closeness and a sense of fulfillment b) The caregiver may not be in good health, either. c) In three-quarters of cases, the caregiver is the wife.

B. The Death of a Spouse: Becoming Widowed 1. Few events are more painful than the death of a partner. a) No longer part of a couple b) Must deal with profound grief c) No one to share life with d) Social life often changes e) Economic changes often occur f) The process of adjusting to widowhood occurs in three stages.

(1) In the first stage, preparation, partners prepare for the eventual death of the partner.

(2) The second stage, grief and mourning, is an immediate reaction to the death of a partner. (a) May last years or months (b) Length depends on the degree of support and personality factors.

(3) The last stage is adaptation, where the widowed individual starts a new life.

(4) Some people experience complicated grief, a form of unrelenting mourning that continues sometimes for months and even years. (a) People find it difficult to let go of a loved one. (b) Intrusive memories of the deceased impede normal functioning.

(5) These stages do not apply to everyone.

C. The Social Networks of Late Adulthood 1. Friendships play an important role in the lives of those in late adulthood.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e a) Friendships are often more valued than family because of the element of control: we choose our friends. b) Friendships are more flexible than family. c) When a partner dies, friends help fill the gap. d) When a friend is defined as irreplaceable, the death of that friend may be quite difficult.

2. Friends provide SOCIAL SUPPORT, assistance and comfort supplied by another person or a network of caring, interested people. a) Social support is important for successful aging. b) Provides an ear c) Can sympathize when they have been through the same crises d) Can help furnish material support such as help solving problems, giving a ride, or fixing broken things e) Reciprocity is important; however, with increasing age this may become more difficult.

D. Family Relationships: The Ties That Bind 1. Connections with siblings, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren may provide an important source of comfort to adults in the last years of their lives. a) Siblings are important because they have shared a large portion of life together.

2. Children a) Often provide support and care b) Parents often have a greater developmental stake in close ties because they see their children as perpetuating their beliefs, values, and standards. c) Most parents and children remain close.

(1) Seventy-five percent of children live within a 30-mile drive to their parents.

(2) Daughters tend to be in more frequent contact than sons.

(3) Mothers tend to be the recipient of communication more than fathers.

(4) Children may turn to their elderly parents for advice, information, and monetary help. d) Grandchildren and Great-Grandchildren (1) Grandmothers are more involved than grandfathers.

(2) Many grandchildren express a greater preference for their maternal grandmother than for their paternal grandmother.

(3) African American grandparents are more involved with their grandchildren than are whites.

(4) African American grandfathers play a larger role in their grandchildren’s lives than do white grandfathers.

(5) Most great-grandparents do not have close relationships with their great-grandchildren, although they enjoy their great-grandparent status. (a) May relate to the fact that great-grandparents are very old (b) May have so many great-grandchildren that it is hard to keep track of them E. Elder Abuse: Relationships Gone Wrong 1. According to some estimates, the incidence of ELDER ABUSE, the physical or psychological mistreatment or neglect of elderly individuals, may affect at least 11 percent of the elderly population.

2. Elder abuse is most frequently committed by a family member.

3. People with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are particularly likely to be targets.

4. The best prevention is for family members to take breaks and ask for assistance from social support agencies.

5. Anyone suspecting abuse should contact local authorities.

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LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 18.1: Some (Older) Research on the Benefits of Control A sad reality of aging in the United States is that the elderly are sometimes demoted to the status of “secondclass citizens.” Consigned to nursing homes due to frailty, hardship, or the indifference of family members, the elderly often find themselves in an environment not of their choosing and inconsistent with their previous lifestyles. Consequently, they may feel unable to control, predict, or determine their outcomes, even on a day-today basis. A classic study by Ellen Langer and Judith Rodin did much to illustrate the benefits to the elderly of being in control.

Langer and Rodin enlisted the cooperation of the Arden House nursing home in Connecticut to perform an intervention using its residents. Those who lived on the four floors of the Arden House were all from similar backgrounds, of similar states of health, and generally assigned to floors and rooms on a random basis. Langer and Rodin therefore randomly chose the residents of one floor to receive an increased responsibility treatment, leaving the residents of another floor as a comparison group.

Both groups attended information meetings led by the director of the facility, who worked in cooperation with the researchers. However, the increased responsibility residents were told that they should take charge of arranging their room as they wished, making their complaints known to the director, and scheduling the activities they wished to participate in. For example, these residents were told of upcoming movies to be shown on a Thursday and Friday night, and were asked to indicate their preference for attending. Similarly, these residents each selected a small houseplant to care for and were told that it would be their responsibility to tend to its needs. In contrast, the residents of the comparison group were given slightly different information. They were also told that their comfort and happiness were of primary importance, although the director stated that it was the staff’s responsibility to make sure that happened. As an example, the houseplants given to this group would be watered and tended to by the nurses. And although they too heard about the upcoming “nights at the movies,” they were informed that they would be told which night they could attend. In short, Langer and Rodin manipulated the amount of responsibility the two groups had for their own outcomes.

All the residents had completed a questionnaire on their satisfaction with the living arrangements a week prior to the director’s presentation. A similar questionnaire was completed three weeks after the talk. The increased responsibility residents reported being happier and more active (compared to the control group) on the second questionnaire, which was complemented by interviewer’s ratings of increased alertness for this same group.

Furthermore, nurses (who remained uninformed about each resident’s experimental status) rated the increased responsibility residents as showing greater general improvement and as spending more time visiting other residents, talking to staff, and visiting with guests, and significantly less time simply sitting and watching the staff. Interestingly, more members of the responsibility group attended the film that was shown, and although 10 “responsibility residents” entered a jelly bean guessing contest that night, only one member of the comparison group did.

Finally, the most provocative difference was in the mortality rate of the two groups of residents: Thirty percent of the comparison group had died during the 18-month interval between the original study and a subsequent follow-up visit, compared to only 15 percent of the increased responsibility participants. Although other factors surely played a role, this “ultimate DV” provides startling evidence of the importance of control in our daily lives.

Chipperfield, J. G., Perry, R. P., Pekrun, R., Barchfeld, P., Lang, F. R., & Hamm, J. M. (2016). The paradoxical role of perceived control in late life health behavior. PloS One, 11(3), e0148921.

Botros, F., Perin, C., Aseniero, B. A., & Carpendale, S. (2016, June). Go and grow: Mapping personal data to a living plant.

In Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces (pp. 112-119). ACM. Fox, J., Close, S. R., Rose, J. P., & Geers, A. L. (2016). Identifying when choice helps: Clarifying the relationships between choice making, self-construal, and pain. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 39(3), 527-536.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Langer, E. J., & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 191-198.

Pagnini, F., Bercovitz, K., & Langer, E. (2016). Perceived control and mindfulness: Implications for clinical practice. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 26(2), 91.

Lecture Launcher 18.2: The Control Process One distressing aspect of growing older is losing control. Apart from really distressing loss of control, such as one’s bladder, bowels, or mind, the day-to-day inability to determine if one drives, where one goes, or what one eats can be a source of considerable frustration for the elderly. A hallmark of psychology is that people like, want, and seek predictability in their lives, and when that predictability is reduced through a loss of autonomy, the consequences can be significant indeed.

Here are some specific control strategies and their effects on adjustment to stressful events, as outlined by Susan Fiske and Shelley Taylor.

•

Behavior control. This strategy involves taking concrete steps to reduce the unpleasantness of a negative event. For example, if your next- door neighbor insists on playing his Wayne Newton albums at maximum volume, you might shut the doors and windows or forcibly turn down the volume knob on his stereo. This kind of very direct control will typically alleviate the stress associated with the aversive event. However, actual (or perceived) behavior control can also help reduce stress prior to the anxietyprovoking event, or at least increase tolerance of the event when it occurs.

•

Cognitive control. Cognitive control means thinking about the unpleasant event differently or reevaluating the nonaversive aspects of the event. This strategy seems to help adjustment at all levels of the event; prior, during, and after.

•

Decision control. Being able to make decisions about the onset, timing, or type of aversive event can be helpful if the outcomes of the decision are favorable. If the results of the decision are unfavorable, the effects on adjustment are unclear. For example, someone who is able to select between two types of root canals may enjoy improved adjustment after the success of the procedure (and, presumably, the decision to elect that procedure).

•

Information control. The goal here is to gather information about a potentially stressful event, such as the sensations likely to be experienced, the duration or timing of the event, or its cause. For example, a debtor preparing for a tax audit might seek as much information as possible about the procedures, questions asked, documents required, and so forth. Information about sensations (“Will it hurt?”) and procedures (“What comes next?”) reliably reduce stress, although information about causes has equivocal effects.

•

Retrospective control. This strategy involves believing that one could have controlled an aversive event that has already happened. For example, a robbery victim may replay the events of the crime to identify what went wrong (“I shouldn’t have been there”) or what could have prevented it (“I should know better than to flash my $100 bills in public”). Presumably this reflection confers a sense of control to the individual that should work against the event’s recurrence; however, the few experiments examining this strategy have been equivocal.

•

Secondary control. This technique involves aligning one’s behavior with the environment, rather than trying to bring the environment under one’s control. “Riding it out,” “Going with the flow,” “Joining rather than beating,” or placing oneself in the hands of experts typify this approach. When direct control is not possible, this strategy may help to improve adjustment.

Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (2017). Social cognition: From brains to culture (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.

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Lecture Launcher 18.3: A Burdened Heart Older adulthood can be a stressful time. Nests stay empty, health problems seem to be a daily struggle, and divorce, death, and financial insolvency are real possibilities for a substantial portion of the population. All of this turmoil—real or perceived—can exact a toll on one’s heart, health, and happiness.

An example relevant to these concerns can illuminate the problem of inferring causality from correlation. For quite some time it’s been known in the medical community that a link exists between depression and heart disease. For example, large epidemiological surveys typically find that 1½ to 3 percent of the population is depressed at any given time. Among patients with heart disease, however, the rate is closer to 18 percent.

Similarly, about 1 in 6 people in the general population has an episode of major depression during their lifetimes, compared to about 50 percent of people with heart disease. Finally, a Canadian study revealed that of 222 patients who had suffered heart attacks, those who were depressed were four times as likely to die within the next six months.

Amassing this evidence is one thing, but explaining it is quite another. One possibility is that heart disease is the result of biochemical changes that take place in depressed people, such as the secretion of stress hormones. An alternative explanation is that people who are depressed lack the cognitive, motivational, or emotional wherewithal to look after their health or take medications, leaving them more vulnerable to heart diseases such as arrhythmias or heart attacks.

A large-scale study by William Eaton at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests that the causal arrow points from depression to heart disease, but with a few stops along the way. Eaton and his colleagues studied 1,551 people in the Baltimore area who were free from heart disease in 1981. Those who were depressed were four times as likely to have a heart attack in the next 14 years, compared to those who were not depressed. In fact, depression was as strong a predictor of heart disease as was elevated levels of blood cholesterol. The physiological changes that take place in depressed people seem to be the culprits. For example, depressed people’s hearts beat faster, their heart rate does not adjust well to changes in activities, and they tend to have elevated blood pressure; these factors in combination produce stress on the heart. Moreover, many depressed people are in a state of hyperarousal due to the secretion of cortisol; they sleep less, eat less, and although they feel mopey and lethargic their fight-or-flight system is set on HIGH. Cortisol also prompts the accumulation of abdominal fat, which in turn elevates the risk of heart disease. In sum, the well-known biochemical changes that take place in depression can increase a person’s vulnerability to heart disease.

What’s called for is a study demonstrating that therapeutic interventions can reduce the risk of heart disease among depressed people. Such a study has begun, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Its results could help make sense of this potentially deadly correlation.

Addington, A. M., Gallo, J. J., Ford, D. E., & Eaton, W. W. (2001). Epidemiology of unexplained fatigue and major depression in the community: The Baltimore ECA follow-up, 1981-1994. Psychological Medicine, 31(6), 1037-1044.

Alexandre, P. K., Hwang, S., Roth, K. B., Gallo, J. J., & Eaton, W. W. (2016). Costs of depression from claims data for Medicare recipients in a population-based sample. Journal of Health and Human Services Administration, 39(1), 72.

Badawi, M. A., Eaton, W. W., Myllyluoma, J., Weimer, L. G., & Gallo, J. (1999). Psychopathology and attrition in the Baltimore ECA 15-year follow-up 1981–1996. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 34(2), 91-98.

Eaton, W. W., Kalaydjian, A., Scharfstein, D. O., Mezuk, B., & Ding, Y. (2007). Prevalence and incidence of depressive disorder: the Baltimore ECA follow‐up, 1981–2004. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 116(3), 182-188.

Lee, H. B., Bienvenu, O. J., Cho, S. J., Ramsey, C. M., Bandeen-Roche, K., Eaton, W. W., & Nestadt, G. (2010). Personality disorders and traits as predictors of incident cardiovascular disease: Findings from the 23-year follow-up of the Baltimore ECA study. Psychosomatics, 51(4), 289-296.

Takayanagi, Y., Spira, A. P., Bienvenu, O. J., Hock, R. S., Carras, M. C., Eaton, W. W., & Mojtabai, R. (2014). Antidepressant use and lifetime history of mental disorders in a community sample: Results from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 76(1), 40-44.

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Lecture Launcher 18.4: Grandparent Education The role of grandparents today is clouded by several facts of modern life: • •

•

Because technology is rapidly changing the world, grandparents aren’t the experts they were in past generations when the pace of change was slower.

Children today look to their peers to teach them “important” things such as the best TV shows to watch, the newest fashions to wear, information about sex and drugs, and so on. This has the potential to undermine society because it divides it into special-interest groups who feel they have little in common with one another.

A mobile society and large segregated “adult” communities keep grandparents and grandchildren apart for much of their lives.

One way to improve intergenerational relationships is to educate grandparents with the following goals in mind: • • • • • •

Increase the satisfaction of being a grandparent.

Improve how well grandparents perform their role.

Enlarge the scope of guidance expected of grandparents.

Decrease the difficulties of being a grandparent.

Reduce the frustrations experienced by grandparents.

Reduce the family information needs of grandparents.

Robert and Shirley Strom have devised a “Becoming a Better Grandparent” course involving discussions, brainstorming, problem-solving, self-evaluation and observation, and intergenerational conversations.

Your students might want to discuss how much their grandparents were or are involved in their lives.

MaloneBeach, E. E., Hakoyama, M., & Arnold, S. (2018). The good grandparent: Perspectives of young adults. Marriage & Family Review, 54(6), 582-597.

Strom, R., & Strom, S. (1991). Becoming a better grandparent: A guidebook for strengthening the family. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Strom, R., & Strom, S. (1993). Grandparent development and influence. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 20(1/2), 3-16.

Strom, R. D., & Strom, P. S. (2017a). Grandparent learning and cultural differences. Educational Gerontology, 43(8), 417-427.

Strom, R. D., & Strom, P. S. (2017b). Grandparent education for assisted living facilities. Educational Gerontology, 43(1), 11-20.

Lecture Launcher 18.5: Talk to Me James Pennebaker, of the University of Texas at Austin, has published numerous studies exploring the benefits of confiding in others. A clear picture has emerged: Confession is good for mind, body, and probably, soul. As people age and seek the companionship of close friends, sharing, talking, and confiding in those friends may hold the promise of great personal benefits.

For example, Pennebaker and his colleagues Janice Kiecolt-Glaser and Ronald Glaser (1988) asked people to write about either traumatic events in their lives (preferably stressors that they had not previously discussed with others) or trivial topics for four consecutive days. Prior to the experiment the research participants provided selfreports of their mood, and blood pressure, heart rate, and immunological assays were also collected. These same dependent measures were collected after the writing project, and the assays were also collected six weeks after the experiment. The researchers found that the experimental group indeed wrote about consequential topics, although they did not enjoy immediate benefits of confession; after writing, these participants reported feeling worse than did the control group. However, longer-term benefits were noted. Although measures of autonomic arousal did not distinguish the two groups, those who had confided made fewer subsequent visits to the campus health center and had better immunological functioning than did members of the control group. Moreover, greater improvement in immunological functioning was found for those participants who wrote about previously undisclosed events rather than stressful events that had previously been discussed with others.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Similar benefits were enjoyed by spouses of suicide and accidental-death victims. Pennebaker and Robin O’Heeron (1984) asked 19 spouses to complete surveys regarding their health and coping one year after their partners’ deaths. Results showed that the more these volunteers had discussed their spouse’s death with friends and loved ones, and the less they had ruminated on the tragic events, the fewer health problems they reported.

Importantly, this effect did not depend on the number of friends the spouses reported having. Rather than being a function of the availability of social support, these benefits seem to be a function of confession.

What produces these benefits? Inhibition is hard work. The act of not confiding or ruminating on an aversive event is physiologically taxing. Over time, the cumulative stress placed on the body increases the long-term probability of stress-related illness. Confiding, talking, and writing about an event, on the other hand, provides meaning and a new understanding. By organizing and assimilating the experience, a person may become habituated to the event and gradually dull the sharp edges of the experience; over time, the information can be cognitively consolidated much like other, less traumatic memories. Language itself may help in this regard.

When called upon to summarize a traumatic event in words, language forces a certain structure; the relatively slow process of writing, sequencing, and temporal organization. What were previously harrowing images are often reduced to a comparatively small set of words. Finally, confession helps to externalize an event. By writing in a diary or confiding to a friend, we are able to distance ourselves somewhat from a traumatic event.

After the memory of an event has been committed to paper, there is less need to mentally rehearse the event, and thus it is robbed of some of its power to torment us.

Pavlacic, J. M., Buchanan, E. M., Maxwell, N., Hopke, T. G., & Schulenberg, S. E. (2018, November 5). A meta-analysis of expressive writing on positive psychology variables and traumatic stress. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/u98cw.

Pennebaker, J. W. (1990). Opening up: The healing power of confiding in others. New York: Morrow.

Pennebaker, J. W. (2018). Expressive writing in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 226-229.

Pennebaker, J. W., & O’Heeron, R. C. (1984). Confiding in others and illness rate among spouses of suicide and accidental-death victims. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 93, 473–476.

Pennebaker, J. W., Hughes, C. F., & O’Heeron, R. C. (1987). The psychophysiology of confession: Linking inhibitory and psychosomatic processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 781–793.

Pennebaker, J. W., Kiecolt-Glaser, J., & Glaser, R. (1988). Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 239–245.

Reinhold, M., Bürkner, P. C., & Holling, H. (2018). Effects of expressive writing on depressive symptoms: A meta‐analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 25(1), e12224.

Schroder, H. S., Moran, T. P., & Moser, J. S. (2018). The effect of expressive writing on the error‐related negativity among individuals with chronic worry. Psychophysiology, 55(2), e12990.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 18.1: Positive Aging Divide your class into discussion groups. Have each group brainstorm all the possible ways that elderly people can increase their life satisfaction and enjoy successful aging. Afterward, have a representative from each group list their ideas on the board or orally present them. You can use Handout 18-1 to get this activity started.

Student Activity 18.2: Observational Activity—Life Review Handout 18-2 provides guidelines for an interview and short written assignment that you can share with your students. Encourage them to complete this exercise not just to gain information about an older individual, but as a way of thinking about their own future life, and how their current actions and attitudes might shape it.

Student Activity 18.3: Think About It Pose the following thought questions, individually or collectively, to your students: “Statistics show that being married increases your longevity.” Why do your students think that might be? What benefits does being in a long-term committed relationship confer? What possible hindrances to health and happiness do they see in this arrangement? Guide the discussion.

“Your father is nearing retirement and seems to be dreading it. His coworkers have told him that he will hate being retired.” What can you tell him to reassure him, based on what you have learned in the current and previous chapters?

“Why are postretirement-age women worse off economically than older men?” Give as many explanations as you can think of.

Your students’ responses can form the basis of an in-class discussion, a reflection paper, a journal entry, or other short written assignment.

Student Activity 18.4: Observational Activity—Adjustments to Retirement Handout 18-3 provides guidelines for an interview and short written assignment that you can share with your students. After they have interviewed these people, ask your students to reflect on what factors seem to be most important in the degree of satisfaction associated with retirement. How does retirement affect family relations?

On the basis on their interviews, what suggestions do they have for how a person might better prepare for retirement?

Student Activity 18.5: Reflective Journal Use Handout 18-4 to help students reflect on how they imagine they will handle successful aging.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Ardelt, M., Gerlach, K. R., & Vaillant, G. E. (2018). Early and midlife predictors of wisdom and subjective well-being in old age. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73(8), 1514-1525.

Böger, A., & Huxhold, O. (2018). Do the antecedents and consequences of loneliness change from middle adulthood into old age? Developmental Psychology, 54(1), 181.

Fullen, M. C., & Granello, D. H. (2018). Holistic wellness in older adulthood: Group differences based on age and mental health. Journal of Holistic Nursing, doi: 0898010118754665.

Fullen, M. C., Granello, D. H., Richardson, V. E., & Granello, P. F. (2018). Using wellness and resilience to predict age perception in older adulthood. Journal of Counseling & Development, 96(4), 424-435.

Hargittai, E., Piper, A. M., & Morris, M. R. (2018). From internet access to internet skills: Digital inequality among older adults. Universal Access in the Information Society, doi.org/10.1007/s1020.

Hawkley, L. C., & Kocherginsky, M. (2018). Transitions in loneliness among older adults: A 5-year follow-up in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. Research on Aging, 40(4), 365-387.

Hoeger, W. W., Hoeger, S. A., Hoeger, C. I., & Fawson, A. L. (2018). Lifetime of physical fitness and wellness.

New Jersey: Cengage Learning.

Kornadt, A. E., Hagemeyer, B., Neyer, F. J., & Kandler, C. (2018). Sound body, sound mind? The interrelation between health change and personality change in old age. European Journal of Personality, 32(1), 30-45.

Lachs, M. S. (2018). The history and epidemiology of elder abuse. Pathology, 50, S23.

Neville, S., Adams, J., Montayre, J., Larmer, P., Garrett, N., Stephens, C., & Alpass, F. (2018). Loneliness in men 60 years and over: The association with purpose in life. American Journal of Men's Health, doi: 1557988318758807.

Peacock, S., Bayly, M., Gibson, K., Holtslander, L., Thompson, G., & O’Connell, M. (2018). The bereavement experience of spousal caregivers to persons with dementia: Reclaiming self. Dementia, 17(1), 78-95.

Pérez, H. C. S., Ikram, M. A., Direk, N., & Tiemeier, H. (2018). Prolonged grief and cognitive decline: A prospective population-based study in middle-aged and older persons. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(4), 451-460.

Ratovohery, S., Baudouin, A., Gachet, A., Palisson, J., & Narme, P. (2018). Is music a memory booster in normal aging? The influence of emotion. Memory, 26, 1-11.

Wilson, R. S., Capuano, A. W., James, B. D., Amofa, P., Arvanitakis, Z., Shah, R., ... & Boyle, P. A. (2018).

Purpose in life and hospitalization for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions in old age. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(3), 364-374.

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REVEL MULTIMEDIA Transitioning to Retirement: Mary and George

Older adults face the prospect of retirement

1. Mary sounds like she enjoyed the world of work, while she was working. It also sounds like she enjoys the world of retirement. What factors do you think contribute to her general levels of satisfaction, both pre- and post-retirement?

2. On the face of it, George’s and Mary’s personality styles seem quite different, yet they seem quite happy with one another. To what extent do you think being in a similar life stage—retirement—contributes to this compatibility?

Grieving a Loss: Bob

Bob shares his feelings and the trajectory of his grief

1. Death comes to us all; no escaping it, no alternatives. Yet when death comes to some of us before others, it can be difficult for those left behind. What successful coping strategies do you see Bob and his family using? What seems to be less successful in dealing with their loss?

2. Bob may have many more years of life ahead of him. What recommendations would you make for him to enjoy his life and lifestyle?

Late Adulthood: Happiness

The secret to happiness? The secret to late-life happiness? Maybe

1. ¡Viva Molly! Eighty-two and going strong. What are the main themes you take from her description of her happy lifestyle?

2. Molly seems to have transitioned from being a quiet introvert to being an outgoing extravert. Which personality factors and external factors might have contributed to this transformation?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 18-1 What Contributes to Life Satisfaction and Successful Aging?

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Adequate income

•

Good health

•

Active lifestyle

•

Extended social network

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Choices: Ability to reduce the demands of life

•

Optimization: Practice what you’re good at

•

Compensation: Making up for slowing down

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 18-2 A Life in Review For the following activity you will conduct an interview/observation of a person in late adulthood. After completing your interview, write a two- to three-page summary of your findings. Be sure to address all areas outlined in the activity.

As people enter the later years of life, they usually engage in a process called life review. This involves organizing one’s memories and reflecting on the significant actions and developmental milestones that have shaped one’s life. It is through the life review that people attempt to gain a final understanding of themselves and the world around them. Choose an older adult for an in-depth, life-review interview. Ask the person the following questions: 1. Who were the most important people that contributed to your development, both as a child and as an adult?

In what ways were they important to you?

2. What events or developmental milestones were particularly significant in your life? Why? 3. How has aging affected you—physically, psychologically, and socially?

4. How do you feel about your life? Has it been satisfactory? In what areas have you been most satisfied?

Least satisfied?

5. How often do you think about your eventual death? What thoughts go through your mind when you think about death?

Based on developmental stages and theories discussed in your textbook, summarize your findings and assess the interviewee’s current life stage.

What did you learn by completing this activity? How will you use this information in your career or personally?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 18-3 Adjustment to Retirement Between the ages of 60 and 70, most people retire from the jobs they have held for many years. Retirement is a major life event for men and women in their late-adult years. The ease and impact of leaving jobs and adjusting to a new life at home vary from person to person. The degree of personal satisfaction during retirement is also influenced by many factors, including the extent of pre-retirement planning, financial resources, hobbies and meaningful activities available, and the degree of involvement with people.

In order to understand the impact of retirement on people, choose at least two retired individuals who are willing to be interviewed. Ask them the following questions: 1. How old are you and how long have you been retired? What kind of work did you do before retirement? Do you work part-time now?

2. At what point in your life did you make plans for your retirement? What sort of plans did you make? Were these pre-retirement plans helpful to you?

3. What do you like about your life now that you are retired? Are there things you do now that you couldn’t do before retirement? Give examples.

4. What changes have you had to make in your life as a result of retirement? What has been the most difficult part of retirement for you?

5. If you are married, how has being at home affected your relationship with your partner? Are you more involved in household tasks? Give examples.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 18-4 Reflective Journal Exercise 18 How do you imagine you will handle your own successful aging after age 65? Will you gradually withdraw from the world to enjoy peace and solitude to do the things you want to do, like read or relax, according to the disengagement theory of successful aging? Or do you imagine you will want to continue an active life full of socializing, volunteer work, being with family, going on trips, etc., according to the activity theory of successful aging? Tie your speculations into how you view your personality today. For example, do you prefer peace-andquiet leisure activities like reading or watching television? Or are you an extrovert who only finds real happiness when out with friends and doing some activity like dancing or taking exercise classes? Try to paint a picture of your life at 65 or older.

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Chapter 19 DEATH AND DYING CONTENTS Chapter-at-a-Glance

2

Learning Objectives

3

Chapter Outline

4

Lecture Launchers

8

Student Activities

10

Supplemental Reading

12

Revel Multimedia

13

Handouts

14

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

CHAPTER-AT-A-GLANCE Chapter Outline Dying and Death Across the Life Span Defining Death: Determining the Point at Which Life Ends Death Across the Life Span: Causes and Reactions Cultural Responses to Death Can Death Education Prepare Us for the Inevitable?

Instructor’s Revel Resources Multimedia Learning Objectives 19.1, 19.2, 19.3, 19.4

Children’s Perception of Death

Lecture Launcher 19.1 Student Activities 19.1, 19.2 Confronting Death Understanding the Process of Dying: Are There Steps Toward Death?

Choosing the Nature of Death: Is DNR the Way to Go? Caring for the Terminally Ill: The Place of Death

Learning Objectives 19.5, 19.6, 19.7

Planning for the End

Lecture Launcher 19.2 Student Activities 19.3, 19.4 Grief and Bereavement Mourning and Funerals: Final Rites Bereavement and Grief: Adjusting to the Death of a Loved One

Learning Objectives 19.8, 19.9 Lecture Launcher 19.3 Student Activities 19.5, 19.6, 19.7

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES LO 19.1

Review the difficulties in defining death.

LO 19.2

Describe what death means at different stages of the life span.

LO 19.3

Describe how dying is affected by culture.

LO 19.4

Summarize how we can prepare for death.

LO 19.5

Describe ways in which people face the prospect of their own death.

LO 19.6

Describe ways in which people exercise control over the death decision.

LO 19.7

Compare and contrast the advantages of hospice and home care for the end of life.

LO 19.8

Describe how survivors react to and cope with death.

LO 19.9

Describe ways in which people experience grief and the functions it serves.

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CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Prologue: A Good Death II. Dying and Death Across the Life Span 1. Terri Schiavo’s case pointed to difficult and complex questions regarding the matters of life and death.

2. Death as a biological event involves psychological aspects.

A. Defining Death: Determining the Point at Which Life Ends 1. FUNCTIONAL DEATH is the absence of a heartbeat and breathing. a) People can be resuscitated after they have stopped breathing. b) People can be kept alive by a machine.

2. BRAIN DEATH, where brain activity is measured, has become the medical measure of death. a) There is still some question about using only brain waves as the death definition. b) It emphasizes only biology, not the qualities that make people human (thinking, feeling, etc.).

B. Death Across the Life Span: Causes and Reactions 1. Death in Infancy and Childhood a) The U.S. has a relatively high infant mortality rate. b) Parents dealing with infant death have a very hard time, and depression is a common reaction. c) Prenatal death (miscarriage) is also difficult, especially since others do not attribute much meaning to a miscarriage, so parents feel isolated. d) In SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS), a seemingly healthy baby stops breathing and dies.

(1) SIDS usually strikes suddenly between 2 and 4 months.

(2) There is no known cause for SIDS, so parents often feel intense guilt (and acquaintances may be suspicious). e) Accidents are the most frequent cause of death in childhood but there are a substantial number of homicides (fourth leading cause of death between ages 1 and 9). f) For parents, the loss of a child is profound.

2. Childhood Conceptions of Death a) Children do not have a realistic view of death. Before age 5, children see death as temporary, like sleeping. b) Young children may leap to the erroneous conclusion that they are responsible for a person’s death. c) By age 5, children have begun to accept death as universal and final. d) For children who are themselves dying, death can be a very real concept.

(1) Some children were able to articulate they were dying.

(2) Others were indirect, noting that they would not be going back to school.

(3) Children may be aware that adults don’t like to talk about their illness or the possibility of dying.

3. Death in Adolescence a) Adolescents’ view of death is also unrealistic and often highly romantic. b) The most frequent cause of adolescent death is accidents. c) People tend to think it can’t happen to them (personal fable). d) Adolescents tend to feel invulnerable, so confronting a terminal illness can be difficult; they often feel angry and cheated.

4. Death in Young Adulthood a) Is particularly difficult because it is the time in life when people feel most ready to begin their own lives. b) Young adults facing death have several concerns.

(1) Developing intimate relationships and one’s sexuality (2) Future planning (e.g., marry or not? have children?)

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e c) Like adolescents, young adults are outraged at impending death and may direct anger toward their care providers.

5. Death in Middle Adulthood a) Life-threatening disease is the most common cause of death in middle-aged adults. b) These adults are more aware and accepting of death but also have a lot of fears (more than any other time in life span). c) Most frequent causes are heart attack or stroke—both of which are sudden.

6. Death in Late Adulthood a) The prevalence of death and losses around older adults makes them less anxious about dying than at any other time of life. b) The most likely causes of death are cancer, stroke, and heart disease. c) Impending death is sometimes accompanied by the acceleration of declines in cognitive functioning—the terminal decline. d) Suicide rate increases with age for men. e) Caucasian men over age 85 have the highest rate of suicide. f) A major issue for seniors with a terminal disease is whether their lives still have value and how much of a burden they are.

7. Most people know when they are dying; it is caretakers who tend to have more difficulties communicating about it.

C. Cultural Responses to Death D. Can Death Education Prepare Us for the Inevitable?

1. THANATOLOGISTS, people who study death and dying, suggest that death education be part of everyone’s schooling since we are all affected. a) Crisis intervention education b) Routine death education c) Death education for members of the helping professions III. Confronting Death A. Understanding the Process of Dying: Are There Steps Toward Death?

1. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross identified five stages of coping with death. a) Denial (1) Denial is resisting the whole idea of death (“No I’m not!” or “She’s not!”).

(2) Denial is a form of defense mechanism to allow one to absorb difficult information at one’s own pace. b) Anger (1) “Why me?” “Why not you?”

(2) In this stage, people may be very difficult to be around. c) Bargaining (1) At this stage, individuals are trying to negotiate their way out of death.

(2) Typically, people try to make deals with God. (3) Sometimes the bargain creates an event or date until which the person can hold on (such as a grandchild’s wedding, or a 100th birthday). d) Depression (1) The individual at this stage is overwhelmed by a deep sense of loss.

(2) Reactive depression is a type of depression based on what has already occurred, such as loss of dignity, health, etc.

(3) Preparatory depression is the anticipation of future losses, such as the loss of a relationship. e) Acceptance (1) In this stage, individuals near death make peace with death and may want to be left alone.

(2) Persons in this stage are often unemotional and uncommunicative. f) Evaluating Kübler-Ross’s theory 5 Copyright 2020, 2017, 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e (1) The theory does not apply to people who are not sure they are going to die—when the prognosis is ambiguous.

(2) The stages are not universal, nor do people go through them in progression.

(3) Anxiety, especially about pain, is omitted in her stages and this is an important concern for cancer patients.

(4) There are still a lot of differences in peoples’ reactions to death related to family, culture, finances, personality, etc.

(5) However, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross is still influential and is credited with being the first person to bring the phenomenon of death into public awareness.

B. Choosing the Nature of Death: Is DNR the Way to Go? 1. The letters “DNR” (Do Not Resuscitate) mean that medical personnel should not go to extraordinary or extreme efforts to save the terminally ill patient. a) The terms “extraordinary” or “extreme” are difficult to define. b) No one likes to make this decision. c) It is sometimes difficult to get medical personnel to follow these directives.

2. LIVING WILLS, legal documents designating what medical treatments people want or do not want if they cannot express their wishes, are a method of letting people gain control over their deaths. a) Often comas are not covered, since they may be considered “nonterminal.” b) Some living wills specify a health-care proxy to act as a person’s representative in making health-care decisions. c) Living wills are ineffective unless people take steps to make sure their health-care proxies and doctors know their wishes.

3. Assisted suicide is a death in which a person provides the means for a terminally ill patient to commit suicide. a) Dr. Jack Kevorkian is best known for this role and has been prosecuted in the U.S. b) Laws are more accepting in other countries (e.g., Netherlands). c) Assisted suicide is one form of EUTHANASIA, the practice of assisting terminally ill people to die more quickly.

(1) Passive euthanasia involves removing respirators or other medical equipment that may be sustaining life.

(2) Voluntary active euthanasia is where caregivers or medical staff act to end a person’s life before death would normally occur.

(3) No one knows how widespread euthanasia is.

(4) Euthanasia is highly controversial since it centers on decisions about who should control life.

(5) Assisted suicide is illegal in most states, except the state of Oregon.

C. Caring for the Terminally Ill: The Place of Death 1. For the terminally ill, hospitals may not be the best places to die.

2. Hospitals are impersonal, expensive, and designed to make people better, and many people die alone.

3. In HOME CARE, an alternative to the hospital, people stay in their homes and receive comfort and treatment from their families and visiting medical staff. a) Many people prefer to die in familiar surroundings with the people and things they have loved around them. b) Home care can be very difficult for the family.

4. HOSPICE CARE is care provided for the dying in institutions devoted to those who are terminally ill. a) The term “hospice” comes from the Middle Ages, where hospices were places that provided comfort and hospitality to travelers.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e b) The focus of hospice care is not to try and cure the patient, but to make their final days pleasant, meaningful, and pain-free. c) Research shows that hospice patients seem to be more satisfied with their care than hospital patients.

IV. Grief and Bereavement A. Mourning and Funerals: Final Rites 1. Funerals are a big business; the average funeral and burial costs $7,000.

2. Death represents an important passage for the individual and the society, so the associated rite is important.

3. Funerals are also recognition of everyone’s ultimate mortality and an acceptance of the cycle of life. a) Funeral patterns are different in different cultures but all have the same function: to mark the endpoint of the life of the person who has died and the starting point for the survivors, from which they can resume their lives.

4. Cultural Differences in Grieving a) Non-Western cultures include varying funeral rites (1) Shave head as a sign of grief (2) Hiring mourners to cry and wail b) Emotional displays such as crying are determined culturally (1) Little emotion—Balinese funerals (Indonesia) (2) Encouraged emotion—African American funerals B. Bereavement and Grief: Adjusting to the Death of a Loved One 1. BEREAVEMENT is the acknowledgment of the objective fact that one has experienced a death.

2. GRIEF is the emotional response to that loss.

3. There are some general stages people go through in adjusting to loss. a) Shock, denial, and numbness allow a person to function in coping with death (funeral, etc.) without being overwhelmed. b) In the second stage, people begin to confront the death and fully realize the extent of their loss.

(1) They fully experience their grief and yearn for the individual.

(2) Eventually the person moves through the pain and depression to a realistic review of the relationship and starts to let go. c) Finally, people reach an accommodation stage where they pick up the pieces of their lives and move on. d) People find that coping with death helps them grow as individuals, becoming more self-reliant and more appreciative of life. e) George Bonanno rejects the notion that there are fixed stages of mourning; people are prepared to move on in an evolutionary sense.

4. Differentiating unhealthy grief from healthy grief is difficult and many of the common assumptions are wrong. a) There is no timetable; many people take longer than one year. b) Only 15 to 30 percent show relatively deep depression. c) Some 15 percent of individuals experience complicated grief. d) People who do not show deep, initial grief do not necessarily have problems later.

5. Studies show that people experiencing bereavement and grief increase their chances of death as much as seven times during the first year following the death of a spouse. a) At risk are men, but remarriage helps lower the risk. b) Some factors affecting survivor difficulties are: (1) Anxious, lonely, dependent people don’t cope as well.

(2) If the relationship was ambivalent or dependent, there is poorer adjustment.

(3) A lack of social support from family and friends (4) Sudden, unprepared-for deaths are more difficult to recover from.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

LECTURE LAUNCHERS Lecture Launcher 19.1: Denial of Death in America It used to be common for births and deaths to occur at home where a number of generations of a family usually lived together. It was highly unusual for someone to grow up without having gone through the experience of seeing a family member die. Death was a more familiar presence then. Although the average person sees tens of thousands of deaths on television, real illness and dying are usually relegated to hospitals. It is rare now for someone to have seen anyone die. Family members tend to die alone in hospitals, and the “unpleasant” work is taken care of for us.

Why are we so afraid of dying? Is this separation of ourselves from the reality of death the cause or the symptom of our denial of death? The United States values youth—and many of the symbols of youth are positive (progress, learning, risk-taking). Another important aspect of the American denial of death is the lessening of the hold of traditional religion. Most religions promise believers the reward of a good life after death. Is this “reward” another way we deny the reality, messiness, and sadness that accompany death? Most importantly, what does this denial and subsequent fear of death do to us when a loved one or we, ourselves, are facing death? What are some other ways we deny death?

Lecture Launcher 19.2: Hospice: What Is It? The term “hospice” comes from the Middle Ages where, especially during the Holy Wars, hospices were places set up to provide hospitality to travelers. In reality, a hospice is no longer a place, but a system of care; a way to provide physical and psychological comfort for dying people and their families. Hospice care differs from traditional hospital care in that the emphasis is on support and caring through the dying process, not on attempting a cure. Most hospice care takes place in a patient’s own home, although there are some hospices and hospice units within hospitals or nursing care centers. Hospice is not a process of pushing people into death, it is a process for allowing the natural dying process to occur in as warm and comforting a setting as possible.

The objective of hospice care is to assist the patient and his or her family in: (a) living as pain-free and meaningful a life as possible until one’s death; and (b) providing the patient and his or her family greater control in making decisions about care. Patients and their families are deeply involved in all care decisions, which can be a very different situation than found in traditional hospitals. Hospices also provide specialized services to families with support throughout the process, providing short respite times, volunteer visits, and, finally, grief counseling. Patients can only be admitted to a hospice program if the family physician has certified the patient to be in the last stages of an incurable illness.

Hospice workers are experienced in giving comfort to dying people. They generally avoid heroic (and usually painful) attempts at resuscitation. In fact, a key factor in hospice care is pain management: hospice nurses try to keep the patient as pain-free as possible and often give much larger doses of pain medication than is traditional in hospitals. This is called palliative care. Hospice nurses are specially trained to deal with the special physical difficulties of terminal patients.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) certifies hospices. In addition, there are specific medical criteria that certified hospices must meet. In order to provide care for patients from all economic levels, certified hospices usually accept Medicare payments for their services (with no additional payments for the patient).

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https://www.nhpco.org/

Lecture Launcher 19.3: Understanding Grief Grief is an individual’s emotional response to great loss. Although everyone responds to grief individually, there is a general cycle of grief, similar to Kübler-Ross’ stages of death and dying. The first stage of grief is usually shock and numbness, even for deaths that were expected. In approximately a week or so, the grieving individual tends to enter the protest stage: the pain comes full-blown, and the realization of the loss is clear. This protest stage tends to quickly move into despair: the realization of the finality of the death and loss. It is at this point that the survivor is most susceptible to illness. The emotional state of despair is when the survivor “hits the wall” psychologically and physically, with the result that the person has little strength and resistance to disease.

Finally, after despair, the individual gradually begins to take control and reorganize her or his life.

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STUDENT ACTIVITIES Student Activity 19.1: Understanding Loss Exercise Ask students to anonymously complete Handout 19.1 by identifying the losses they have experienced and their reactions to those losses. Encourage students to add any experiences they have had that are not on the list. In addition, they can identify those experiences they have not yet lived through but expect to face eventually. Use this as a point of departure for discussing the inevitability of loss—physical, emotional, psychological, and otherwise—that is a part of living.

Student Activity 19.2: Views of Death Kalish (1987) and Kastenbaum (1985) remind us that we use metaphors, analogies, symbols, statistics, and euphemisms to describe death and avoid thinking about it. Make a copy of (or write on the board) the following categories for thinking about death. Include an example of each and then ask your students to suggest others.

Death as a Symbol hearse

Death as a Metaphor deader than a doornail

Death as a Statistic mortality rates

Death as a Ritual funeral

Death as a Reward heaven

Death as Fear “Will it hurt?”

Death as a Robber “He was taken too soon.”

Death as a Puzzle “What happens after death?”

Death as a Place hereafter

Death as a Euphemism kicked the bucket

Death as Punishment “If you take that I’ll kill you.”

Death as a Passage passed on

Chau, L. Y., Cheung, W. S., & Ho, S. M. (2018). Change in death metaphors among university students in Hong Kong from 2004 to 2016. Death studies. doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1432720 Hui, D., Zhukovsky, D. S., & Bruera, E. (2018). Serious illness conversations: Paving the road with metaphors. The Oncologist, 23(6), 730-733.

Kalish, R. A. (1987). Death and dying. In P. Silverman (Ed.), The elderly as modern pioneers. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.

Kastenbaum, R. (1985). Death and dying: A life-span approach. In J. E. Birren & K. W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (2nd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Student Activity 19.3: Death Is What You Make of It Ask class members to share the rites and rituals of death in their own cultural and/or religious backgrounds.

Look for commonalties and differences as the discussion develops. Even if your students are relatively homogeneous in their backgrounds, you should nonetheless be able to identify some points of departure (“We have a wake and celebrate!” “We’re very solemn and somber”) and some points of commonality (“We’re all quite sad”).

Student Activity 19.4: Confronting Our Own Death Divide students into groups of about six. Then introduce this exercise thusly:

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e We all know on one level that we are going to die someday. It may be later or sooner, but it will happen. When we think about death, and in particular our own death, various thoughts come to mind on many different levels—some negative, some positive.

What I would like you to do in your groups is to take around 5 minutes for thinking about your own death. Each of you will write down some of the points surrounding death that are negative to you, from your own particular point of view. These could be fears, disappointments, feelings, or thoughts.

They may seem realistic to you, or silly, but consider them “worthy” because you may be surprised to find that others have the same “weird” fears you do.

After taking this time to yourself to write down the various things that come to you, I’d like you to share your list with your group for 15 minutes or so.

After sharing in the smaller groups, call the whole class back together to discuss what points seemed to be common to people in all of the groups, and what it was like to share those fears and thoughts with others.

Student Activity 19.5: The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living Use Handout 19-2 for this critical thinking exercise on life values. Focus any class discussions more on students’ reactions to answering the questions than on specific answers to the questions.

Student Activity 19.6: The Examined Life May Not Be Worth Living Use Handout 19-3 for this exercise about euthanasia. Give students the following directions: Imagine you are the physician-in-chief of a large hospital. Each day you are handed a list of case histories that represent questions about euthanasia, now that euthanasia has been legalized and its legality upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. You are in no danger of lawsuits from any source because the American Medical Association inserted as part of the bill an amendment stating that the physicianin-chief is always correct in her or his decisions in such cases, and no one else has any legal say in the matter. You will take no part in the actual euthanasia.

Indicate your decision for each patient by signing your name (or initials) in the appropriate place to signify active euthanasia, passive euthanasia, or continuation of life.

Sometimes dying can be what you make of it; what do your students make of this exercise?

Student Activity 19.7: Reflective Journal Use Handout 9-4 to ask students to wrap up this semester and their life, abstractly, that is.

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SUPPLEMENTAL READING Aksoz-Efe, I., Erdur-Baker, O., & Servaty-Seib, H. (2018). Death rituals, religious beliefs, and grief of Turkish women. Death Studies, 42(9), 579-592.

Andrade, M. L. D., Mishima-Gomes, F. K. T., & Barbieri, V. (2018). Children’s grief and creativity: The experience of losing a sibling. Psico-USF, 23(1), 25-36.

Bluck, S., & Mroz, E. L. (2018). The end: Death as part of the life story. The International Journal of Reminiscence and Life Review, 5(1), 6-14 Brouwer, M., Kaczor, C., Battin, M. P., Maeckelberghe, E., Lantos, J. D., & Verhagen, E. (2018). Should pediatric euthanasia be legalized? Pediatrics, e20171343.

Cohen, J., Dierickx, S., Penders, Y. W., Deliens, L., & Chambaere, K. (2018). How accurately is euthanasia reported on death certificates in a country with legal euthanasia? A population-based study. European Journal of Epidemiology, 33, 689-693.

Connor, S. R., & Gwyther, E. (2018). The worldwide hospice palliative care alliance. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 55(2), S112-S116.

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Egerod, I., Kaldan, G., Coombs, M., & Mitchell, M. (2018). Family-centered bereavement practices in Danish intensive care units: A cross-sectional national survey. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 45, 52-57.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

REVEL MULTIMEDIA Children’s Perception of Death

The concept of death, like most concepts, develops over time

1. It can be tough to be a kid: You’ve got to learn a lot of stuff, you have to figure out whom to trust, and you’re not very tall. On top of all that, you have to understand “alive” versus “not-alive.” What techniques do you think would help children master this last concept—that “people and animals go away, forever”?

2. Pick a favorite theorist you’ve read about all semester long; Piaget, for example. What would that theorist say about the cognitive capacity a child must have in order to fully grasp an abstraction like “death”?

Planning for the End

We must all face the inevitable…

1. What strategy would you recommend for someone contemplating creating an advanced directive? Given that we can’t predict the future state of medical technology, what options seem like “safe bets” when predicting future care?

2. Many people will plan most of their lives to a fine point; where to live, when to retire, when to marry, and so on. Yet planning for their own demise is something few people add to that list. Why? Why might “planners” avoid this particular topic, despite being so organized in so many other areas of life?

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Handout 19-1 Awareness of Losses

LOSS

AGE

MEMORY/REACTIONS

Death in the family Death of a friend Death of a pet Breakup of an affair Separation Divorce Loss of a job Loss of money Moving (loss of roots) Change of schools Illness (loss of health) Leaving home Robbery Loss of a friend Loss of an ideal Loss of a dream Loss of a goal Loss of sense of self Other losses:

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 19-2 Life Values and Goals As you think about your death, and as you see your life now, try to answer the following: 1. What three things would be said about you and your life if you died today? a. b. c.

2. Given the likelihood that you will not die today, and have time left to change some things in your life, what three things would you most like to have said about you and your life? a. b. c.

3. If someone were to witness a week of your life, what assumptions would that person make about your values…what matters to you? a. b. c.

4. What values do you hold that are not evident from the way you live your life? a. b. c.

5. What three goals are important to you as you plan your life? a. b. c.

6. What keeps you from achieving what you want for your life? a. b. c.

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e

Handout 19-3 Euthanasia Exercise Case Number 55036 Infant male, born of 23-year-old mother; questionably desired pregnancy. Severe anomalies noted at birth; cleft face extending up through frontal bone, with no nasal bone and no medial orbits; eyes on stalks; microcranium; webbing of hands and feet. Child cannot survive without nasogastric tube-feeding, gastrostomy (incision into the stomach), or intravenous fluids. The parents have not yet seen the child.

Active ____________________ Passive __________________ Life _________________

Case Number 55037 Infant female, born of 29-year-old mother; unwanted pregnancy. Patient born with inoperable spina bifida (a congenital spinal deformation). Child will never walk, may be able to live seven or eight years in a wheelchair.

Parents cannot afford expensive drugs and treatment for the child; have three other children at home. Child’s reflexes normal; intelligence appears normal.

Active ____________________ Passive __________________ Life _________________

Case Number 55038 Infant female, born of 22-year-old mother; desired pregnancy. Initial neonatal life normal. Child discovered in crib at home not breathing and blue at seven days of life. Rushed to hospital, which was near the home.

Immediate action taken to resuscitate child in emergency room; successful. Parents are now in the emergency room awaiting news. Child will be profoundly mentally incapacitated, never exceed intelligence level of an infant; will probably die at age 10 to 20 from infections. What is your decision before parents are informed?

They can be told the resuscitation was successful or not.

Active ____________________ Passive __________________ Life _________________

Case Number 55039 Female, age 24, in a coma since March 2001. She can periodically breathe without a respirator but is usually dependent on one. She can take in nourishment only through nasogastric tubes or intravenously. She apparently has no consciousness and is in essentially a vegetative state. Her family begs for the respirator to be turned off and given to another patient somewhere. If she continues to live without the respirator, the family asks for her to be killed mercifully, for her sake and for their peace of mind.

Active ____________________ Passive __________________ Life _________________

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 19-3, continued Case Number 55040 Female, age 30, suffering from acute leukemia. She is presently in a sterile bubble, medically doing well but subjectively experiencing acute nausea, vomiting, and mental distress. There is no cure for the disease at present, but the patient’s chances for a remission are high. She may live up to three more years. The last few days she has been asking for the treatments to stop, and occasionally for death, because her agony is so great.

Her family agrees with any decision she makes. Hospital personnel enjoy her as a patient because she is so friendly and so helpful with the other patients when she feels good.

Active ____________________ Passive __________________ Life _________________

Case Number 55041 Male, age 55, conscious and communicative, dependent upon a heart-lung machine for life, after below-the-arm paralysis from an auto accident. He is a famous folksinger of a past generation. He requests repeatedly that the machine be turned off. His family, he said, is well provided for, his relatives have all had time with him, he has discussed his euthanasia with all of them and they all see it as the best action for his life. They have all grieved and are finished with grief, including him. He is confident of a happy afterlife with his God. He feels ready.

Active ____________________ Passive __________________ Life _________________

Case Number 55042 Male, age 64, in intensive care unit with liver shutdown as a result of chronic cirrhosis of the liver. Patient has a history of being in jail for petty crimes, vagrancy, and alcoholism. This is his eighth admission for an alcoholrelated bodily dysfunction. The patient wants to live. If he does, however, he will have nowhere to go. He will probably hang around the hospital waiting room, as he often has in the last few weeks, begging money for alcohol or food and harassing women. The hospital staff resents him, he was disowned by his parents, deserted by his wife and children, and neither welfare nor the social service agencies wish to work with him any longer.

Certain community workers and citizens are asking for him to be euthanized as he has an expected life span of only three years in the best of cases.

Active ____________________ Passive __________________ Life _________________

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Feldman, Development Across the Life Span, 9e Handout 19-4 Reflective Journal Exercise 19 Imagine you were called upon to design your own funeral services. What would you specifically want and specifically not want? Is there a favorite song you’d like played? Someone in particular to say a few words about you; a relative, friend, celebrity? What should your obituary say? Do you want a party? Something solemn? Your life savings tucked into your pockets as you’re lowered in the ground, or everything given to charity? Or, no lowering into the ground, but something else; ashes at sea, a tree sprouting from your remains, that sort of thing?

Use this reflection as an opportunity to be as thoughtful, extravagant, realistic, fearful, as you’d like. The sky’s the limit.

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