Prenatal Period

The process of prenatal development occurs in three main stages. The first two weeks after conception are
known as the germinal stage; the third through the eighth week are known as the embryonic period; and
the time from the ninth week until birth is known as the fetal period.
The Germinal Stage
The germinal stage begins with conception, when the sperm and egg cell unite in one of the two fallopian
tubes. The fertilized egg, known as a zygote, then moves toward the uterus, a journey that can take up to
a week to complete. Cell division begins approximately 24 to 36 hours after conception.
Within just a few hours after conception, the singe-celled zygote begins making a journey down the
fallopian tube to the uterus where it will begin the process of cell division and growth. The zygote first
divides into two cells, then into four, eight, sixteen, and so on. Once the eight cell point has been reached,
the cells begin to differentiate and take on certain characteristics that will determine the type of cells they
will eventually become. As the cells multiply, they will also separate into two distinctive masses: the outer
cells will eventually become the placenta while the inner cells will form the embryo.
Cell division continues at a rapid rate and the cells then develop into what is known as a blastocyst. The
blastocyst is made up of three laters:
The ectoderm (which will become the skin and nervous system)
The endoderm (which will become the digestive and respiratory systems)
The mesoderm (which will become the muscle and skeletal systems).
Finally, the blastocyst arrives at the uterus and attached to the uterine wall, a process known as
implantation.
Implantation occurs when the cells nestle into the uterine lining and rupture tiny blood vessels. The
connective web of blood vessels and membranes that forms between them will provide nourishment for
the developing being for the next nine months. Implantation is not always an automatic and sure-fire
process. Researchers estimate that approximately 58 percent of all natural conceptions never become
properly implanted in the uterus, which results in the new life ending before the mother is ever aware she
is pregnant.
When implantation is successful, hormonal changes halt a womans normal menstrual cycle and cause a
whole host of physical changes. For some women, activities they previously enjoyed such as smoking and
drinking alcohol or coffee may become less palatable, possibly part of natures way of protecting the
growing life inside her.
The Embryonic Stage
The mass of cells is now know as and embryo. The beginning of the third week after conception marks the
start of the embryonic period, a time when the mass of cells becomes a distinct human being. The embryo
begins to divide into three layers each of which will become an important body system. Approximately 22
days after conception, the neural tube forms. This tube will later develop into the central nervous system
including the spinal cord and brain.
Around the fourth week, the head begins to form quickly followed by the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. The
cardiovascular system is where the earliest activity begins as the blood vessel that will become the heart
start to pulse. During the fifth week, buds that will form the arms and legs appear.
By the time the eight week of development has been reached, the embryo has all of the basic organs and
parts except those of the sex organs. It even has knees and elbows! At this point, the embryo weight just
one gram and is about one inch in length.
The Fetal Stage
Once cell differentiation is mostly complete, the embryo enters the next stage and becomes known as a
fetus. This period of develop begins during the ninth week and lasts until birth. The early body systems
and structures established in the embryonic stage continue to develop. The neural tube develops into the
brain and spinal cord and neurons form. Sex organs begin to appear during the third month of gestation.

The fetus continues to grow in both weight and length, although the majority of the physical growth occurs
in the later stages of pregnancy.
This stage of prenatal development lasts the longest and is marked by amazing change and growth. During
the third month of gestation, the sex organs begin to differentiate and by the end of the month all parts of
the body will be formed. At this point, the fetus weight around three ounces.
The end of the third month also marks the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. During the second
trimester, or months four through six, the heartbeat grows stronger and other body systems become
further developed. Fingernails, hair, eyelashes and toenails form. Perhaps most noticeably, the fetus
increases quite dramatically in size, increasing about six times in size. The brain and central nervous
system also become responsive during the second trimester. Around 28 weeks, the brain starts to mature
much faster with activity that greatly resembles that of a sleeping newborn.
During period from seven months until birth, the fetus continues to develop, put on weight, and prepare for
life outside the womb. The lungs begin to expand and contract, preparing the muscles for breathing.
While prenatal development usually follows this normal pattern, there are times when problems or
deviations occur. Learn more about some of the problems with prenatal development.

EARLY CHILDHOOD
Early childhood is a time of remarkable physical, cognitive, social and emotional development. Infants
enter the world with a limited range of skills and abilities. Watching a child develop new motor, cognitive,
language and social skills is a source of wonder for parents and caregivers.
The study of human development is a rich and varied subject. We all have personal experience with
development, but it is sometimes difficult to understand exactly how and why people grow, learn and
change. Developmental psychology seeks to understand and explain how people grow and change through
the entire lifespan. Researchers study the enormous range of influences including how genetics shape a
child's development as well as how experiences play a role.
Let's take a closer look at early childhood development including the basics of physical development and
psychological growth.
As a child matures, parents eagerly await important milestones such as learning how to roll over and crawl.
Each of these represents a part of physical development. The maturation process happens in an orderly
manner; that is, certain skills and abilities generally occur before other milestones are reached. For
example, most infants learn to crawl before they learn to walk. However, it is also important to realize that
the rate at which these milestones are reached can vary. Some children learn to walk earlier than their
same-age peers, while others may take a bit longer.
Motor Skill Development
As a child grows, his or her nervous system becomes more mature. As this happens, the child becomes
more and more capable of performing increasingly complex actions. The rate at which these motor skills
emerge is sometimes a worry for parents. Caregivers frequently fret about whether or not their children
are developing these skills at a normal rate. As mentioned above, rates may vary somewhat. However,
nearly all children begin to exhibit these motor skills at a fairly consistent rate unless some type of
disability is present.
There are two types of motor skills:
Gross (or large) motor skills involve the larger muscles including the arms and legs. Actions requiring gross
motor skills include walking, running, balance and coordination. When evaluating gross motor skills, the
factors that experts look at include strength, muscle tone, movement quality and the range of movement.
Fine (or small) motor skills involve the smaller muscles in the fingers, toes, eyes and other areas. The
actions that require fine motor skills tend to be more intricate, such as drawing, writing, grasping objects,
throwing, waving and catching.
Physical Growth
Physical development in children follows a directional pattern:
Large muscles develop before small muscles. Muscles in the body's core, legs and arms develop before
those in the fingers and hands. Children learn how to perform gross (or large) motor skills such as walking
before they learn to perform fine (or small) motor skills such as drawing.
The center of the body develops before the outer regions. Muscles located at the core of the body become
stronger and develop sooner than those in the feet and hands.
Development goes from the top down, from the head to the toes. This is why babies learn to hold their
heads up before they learn how to crawl.
Early childhood is not only a period of amazing physical growth, it is also a time of remarkable mental
development. Cognitive abilities associated with memory, reasoning, problem-solving and thinking
continue to emerge throughout childhood. When it comes to childhood cognitive development, it would be
impossible to avoid mentioning the work of psychologist Jean Piaget.
After receiving his doctoral degree at age 22, Jean Piaget began a career that would have a profound
impact on both psychology and education. Through his work with Alfred Binet, Piaget developed an interest
in the intellectual development of children. Based upon his observations, he concluded that children are
not less intelligent than adults, they simply think differently. Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery "so
simple only a genius could have thought of it."Piaget created a theory of cognitive development that

described the basic stages that children go through as they mentally mature. He believed that children are
like "little scientists," actively trying to make sense of the world rather than simply soaking up information
passively.
Schemas
One of the key concepts in Piaget's theory is the use of schemas. According to Piaget, schemas are
cognitive frameworks or concepts that help people organize and interpret information. As experiences
happen, this new information is used to modify, add to or completely change previously existing schemas.
For example, a young girl may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a cat. According to her
schema, cat's are furry and have four legs. When she first encounters a dog, she might initially believe that
the animal is a cat. Once the she learns that this is actually a dog, she will revise her schema for cats and
create a new category for dogs.
Stages of Cognitive Development
The Sensorimotor Stage: A period of time between birth and age two during which an infant's knowledge of
the world is limited to his or her sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to simple
motor responses caused by sensory stimuli.
The Preoperational Stage: A period between ages two and six during which a child learns to use language.
During this stage, children do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information
and are unable to take the point of view of other people.
The Concrete Operational Stage: A period between ages seven and eleven during which children gain a
better understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events, but
have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.
The Formal Operational Stage: A period between age twelve to adulthood when people develop the ability
to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning and systematic
planning also emerge during this stage.
There is perhaps nothing more remarkable than the emergence of language in children. Have you ever
marveled at how a child can go from saying just a few words to suddenly producing full sentences in just a
short matter of time? Researchers have found that language development begins before a child is even
born, as a fetus is able to identify the speech and sound patterns of the mother's voice. By the age of four
months, infants are able to discriminate sounds and even read lips.
Researchers have actually found that infants are able to distinguish between speech sounds from all
languages, not just the native language spoken in their homes. However, this ability disappears around the
age of 10 months and children begin to only recognize the speech sounds of their native language. By the
time a child reaches age three, he or she will have a vocabulary of approximately 3,000 words.
Theories of Language Development
So how exactly does language development happen? Researchers have proposed several different theories
to explain how and why language development occurs. For example, the behaviorist theory of B.F. Skinner
suggests that the emergence of language is the result of imitation and reinforcement. The nativist theory
of Noam Chomsky suggests that language in an inherent human quality and that children are born with a
language acquisition device that allows them to produce language once they have learned the necessary
vocabulary.
How Parents Facilitate Language Development
Researchers have found that in all languages, parents utilize a style of speech with infants known as
infant-directed speech, or motherese (aka "baby talk"). If you've every heard someone speak to a baby,
you'll probably immediately recognize this style of speech. It is characterized by a higher-pitched
intonation, shortened or simplified vocabulary, shortened sentences and exaggerated vocalizations or
expressions. Instead of saying "Let's go home," a parent might instead say "Go bye-bye."
Infant-directed speech has been shown to be more effective in getting an infant's attention as well as
aiding in language development. Researchers believe that the use of motherese helps babies learn words

faster and easier. As children continue to grow, parents naturally adapt their speaking patterns to suit their
child's growing linguistic skills.
Babbling: The first stage of language development is known as the prelinguistic, babbling or cooing stage.
During this period, which typically lasts from the age of three to nine months, babies begin to make vowel
sounds such as oooooo and aaaaaaa. By five months, infants typically begin to babble and add consonant
sounds to their sounds such as ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma or da-da-da.
Single Words: The second stage is known as the one-word or holophase stage of language development.
Around the age of 10 to 13 months, children will begin to produce their first real words. While children are
only capable of producing a few, single words at this point, it is important to realize that they are able to
understand considerably more. Infants begin to comprehend language about twice as fast as they are able
to produce it.
Two Words: The third stage begins around the age of 18 months, when children begin to use two word
sentences. These sentences usually consist of just nouns and verbs, such as "Where daddy?" and "Puppy
big!"
Multi-word Sentences: Around the age of two, children begin to produce short, multi-word sentences that
have a subject and predicate. For example, a child might say "Mommy is nice" or "Want more candy."
As children age, they continue to learn more new words every day. By the time they enter school around
the age of five, children typically have a vocabulary of 10,000 words or more.

Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence

ADOLESCENCE: A DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITION
Guidepost 1: What is adolescence, when does it begin and end, and what opportunities and risks does it
entail?
Adolescence, in modern industrial societies, is the transition from childhood to adulthood. It lasts from age
11 or 12 until the late teens or early twenties.
Legal, sociological, and psychological definitions of entrance into adulthood vary.
Adolescence is full of opportunities for physical, cognitive, and psychosocial growth, but also of risks to
healthy development. Risky behavior patterns, such as drinking alcohol, drug abuse, sexual and gang
activity, and use of firearms, tend to be established early in adolescence. About 4 out of 5 young people
experience no major problems.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENTPUBERTY: THE END OF CHILDHOOD
Guidepost 2: What physical changes do adolescents experience, and how do these changes affect them
psychologically?
Puberty is triggered by hormonal changes, which may affect moods and behavior. Puberty takes about four
years, typically begins earlier in girls than in boys, and ends when a person can reproduce. A secular trend
toward earlier attainment of adult height and sexual maturity began about 100 years ago, probably
because of improvements in living standards.
During puberty, both boys and girls undergo an adolescent growth spurt. Primary sex characteristics (the
reproductive organs) enlarge and mature, and secondary sex characteristics appear.
The principal signs of sexual maturity are production of sperm (for males) and menstruation (for females).
Spermarche typically occurs at age 13. Menarche occurs, on average, between the ages of 12 and 13 in
the United States.
Psychological effects of early or late maturation depend on how adolescents and others interpret the
accompanying changes.
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
Guidepost 3: What are some common health problems in adolescence, and how can they be prevented?
For the most part, the adolescent years are relatively healthy. Health problems often are associated with
poverty or a risk-taking lifestyle. Adolescents are less likely than younger children to get regular medical
care.
Many adolescents, especially girls, do not engage in regular, vigorous physical activity.
Many adolescents do not get enough sleep, in part because the high school schedule is out of sync with
their natural body rhythms.
Concern with body image often leads to obsessive dieting.
Three common eating disorders in adolescence are obesity, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa. All can
have serious long-term effects. Anorexia and bulimia affect mostly girls. Outcomes for bulimia tend to be
better than for anorexia.
Adolescent substance abuse and dependence have lessened in recent years; still, drug use often begins as
children move into middle school.
Marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco are the most popular drugs with adolescents and can lead to the use of
hard drugs.
The prevalence of depression increases in adolescence, especially among girls.
Leading causes of death among adolescents include motor vehicle accidents, firearm use, and suicide.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

ASPECTS OF COGNITIVE MATURATION

Guidepost 4: How do adolescents' thinking and use of language differ from younger children's?
People in Piaget's stage of formal operations can engage in hypothetical-deductive reasoning. They can
think in terms of possibilities, deal flexibly with problems, and test hypotheses.
Brain maturation and environmental stimulation play important parts in attaining this stage. Schooling and
culture also play a role.
Not all people become capable of formal operations; and those who are capable do not always use it.
Piaget's theory does not take into account accumulation of knowledge and expertise and the growth of
metacognition. Piaget also paid little attention to individual differences, between-task variations, and the
role of the situation.
Vocabulary and other aspects of language development, especially those related to abstract thought,
Adolescents enjoy wordplay and create their own "dialect."
According to Elkind, immature thought patterns can result from adolescents' inexperience with formal
thinking. These thought patterns include idealism and criticalness, argumentativeness, indecisiveness,
apparent hypocrisy, self-consciousness, and an assumption of specialness and invulnerability. Research has
cast doubt on the special prevalence of the latter two patterns during adolescence.
Guidepost 5: On what basis do adolescents make moral judgments?
According to Kohlberg, moral reasoning is based on a developing sense of justice and growing cognitive
abilities. Kohlberg proposed that moral development progresses from external control to internalized
societal standards to personal, principled moral codes.
Kohlberg's theory has been criticized on several grounds, including failure to credit the roles of emotion,
socialization, and parental guidance. The applicability of Kohlberg's system to women and girls and to
people in nonwestern cultures has been questioned.
EDUCATIONAL AND VOCATIONAL ISSUES
Guidepost 6: What influences affect school success, and why do some students drop out?
Self-efficacy beliefs, academic motivation, socioeconomic status, parental involvement, parenting styles,
ethnicity, peer influences, and quality of schooling affect adolescents' educational achievement. Poor
families whose children do well in school tend to have more social capital than poor families whose
children do not do well.
Although most Americans graduate from high school, the dropout rate is higher among poor, Hispanic, and
African American students and among those not living with both parents. Active engagement in studies is
an important factor in keeping adolescents in school.
Guidepost 7: What factors affect educational and vocational planning and preparation?
Educational and vocational aspirations are influenced by several factors, including students' and parents'
self-efficacy beliefs and parents' values and aspirations. Gender stereotypes still have an influence, but
less so than in the past.
About 37 percent of high school graduates do not immediately go on to college. These students can
benefit from vocational training.
Part-time work seems to have both positive and negative effects on educational, social, and occupational
development.
Social changes
You might notice that your child is:
searching for identity. Young people are busy working out who they are and where they fit in the world.
This search can be influenced by gender, peer group, cultural background and family expectations
seeking more independence. This is likely to influence the decisions your child makes and the relationships
your child has with family and friends
seeking more responsibility, both at home and at school
looking for new experiences. The nature of teenage brain development means that teenagers are likely to
seek out new experiences and engage in more risk-taking behaviour. But they are still developing control
over their impulses
thinking more about right and wrong. Your teenager will start developing a stronger individual set of
values and morals. Teenagers also learn that theyre responsible for their own actions, decisions and
consequences. They question more things. Your words and actions shape your childs sense of right and
wrong

influenced more by friends, especially when it comes to behaviour, sense of self and self-esteem
starting to develop and explore a sexual identity. Your child might start to have romantic relationships or
go on dates. These are not necessarily intimate relationships, though. For some young people, intimate or
sexual relationships dont occur until later on in life
communicating in different ways. The internet, mobile phones and social media can significantly influence
communication with peers and learning about the world.
Emotional changes
You might notice that your child:
shows strong feelings and intense emotions at different times. Moods might seem unpredictable. These
emotional ups and downs can lead to increased conflict. Your childs brain is still learning how to control
and express emotions in a grown-up way
is more sensitive to your emotions. Young people get better at reading and processing other peoples
emotions as they get older. While theyre developing these skills, they can sometimes misread facial
expressions or body language
is more self-conscious, especially about physical appearance and changes. Teenage self-esteem is often
affected by appearance or by how teenagers think they look. As they develop, children might compare
their bodies with those of friends and peers
goes through a bulletproof stage of thinking and acting. Your childs decision-making skills are still
developing, and your child is still learning about the consequences of actions.
Changes in relationships
You might notice that your child:
wants to spend less time with family and more time with friends and peers
has more arguments with you. Some conflict between parents and children during the teenage years is
normal, as children seek more independence. It actually shows that your child is maturing. Conflict tends
to peak in early adolescence. If you feel like youre arguing with your child all the time, it might help to
know that this isnt likely to affect your relationship with your child in the longer term
sees things differently from you. This isnt because your child wants to upset you. Its because your child is
beginning to think more abstractly and to question different points of view. At the same time, some
teenagers find it difficult to understand the effects of their behaviour and comments on other people.
These skills will develop with time.

Adulthood to Old Age

Psychosocial Stage 6 - Intimacy vs. Isolation
This stage covers the period of early adulthood when people are exploring personal relationships.
Erikson believed it was vital that people develop close, committed relationships with other people. Those
who are successful at this step will form relationships that are committed and secure.
Remember that each step builds on skills learned in previous steps. Erikson believed that a strong sense of
personal identity was important for developing intimate relationships. Studies have demonstrated that
those with a poor sense of self tend to have less committed relationships and are more likely to suffer
emotional isolation, loneliness, and depression.
Psychosocial Stage 7 - Generativity vs. Stagnation
During adulthood, we continue to build our lives, focusing on our career and family.
Those who are successful during this phase will feel that they are contributing to the world by being active
in their home and community. Those who fail to attain this skill will feel u