What does human development study across a person's lifespan?
How a person changes physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially from conception to death.
What factors shape human development?
Genes, environment, and personal experience.
How does a longitudinal design study development?
By repeatedly testing the same people over time.
How does a cross-sectional design study development?
By comparing different age groups at one point in time.
What causes a cohort effect?
Differences from growing up in different historical periods or conditions, not ageing itself.
How does a cross-sequential design help separate effects?
By first comparing age groups and then retesting them later to separate age, cohort, and time-of-measurement effects.
What does nature refer to in human development?
Inherited biological influences.
What does nurture refer to in human development?
Environmental influences like caregiving and culture.
What is behavioural genetics?
The scientific study of how genes and environments affect human traits.
What is a gene?
A DNA stretch carrying instructions for a protein or cell process.
How many chromosomes does almost every human body cell contain?
46 chromosomes.
How are the 46 chromosomes in human cells arranged?
In 23 pairs.
How is each chromosome pair inherited in humans?
One chromosome from each parent.
How is a dominant allele expressed compared to a recessive allele?
A dominant allele is expressed when present, unlike a recessive allele.
What defines polygenic inheritance in traits like height or skin tone?
Many genes act together with the environment to influence one trait.
What characterizes a carrier of a recessive disease variant?
Having one copy of the variant, usually no symptoms, can pass it on.
What causes brain damage in PKU if untreated early?
Failure to break down phenylalanine causes brain damage and disability.
What is nondisjunction in egg or sperm formation?
An error producing gametes with too many or too few chromosomes.
What chromosomal abnormalities cause Down, Klinefelter, and Turner syndromes?
Extra chromosome 21 causes Down; XXY causes Klinefelter; XO causes Turner.
What is a zygote in prenatal development?
The single cell formed when sperm and egg join with 46 chromosomes.
How do monozygotic twins develop and what is their genetic similarity?
They develop from one fertilised egg that splits and are genetically identical and always the same sex.
How do dizygotic twins develop and can they be different sexes?
They develop from two eggs fertilised by two sperm and may be different sexes.
What are the three periods of prenatal development and their time frames?
Germinal (conception to 2 weeks), embryonic (2 to 8 weeks), fetal (8 weeks to birth).
What defines a teratogen in prenatal development?
A substance or infection that can harm a developing embryo or fetus.
Which factors influence the effects of teratogens?
Timing, dose, duration, and genetic vulnerability.
What does fetal programming link during the fetal period?
Poor prenatal conditions to increased adult risks of high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease.
What bodily functions begin independently after birth?
Breathing, circulation, temperature regulation, and digestion begin independently.
Which reflexes are typical in a newborn?
Rooting, sucking, Moro or startle, grasping, and stepping reflexes.
What can abnormal newborn reflexes indicate?
A nervous system problem.
In which direction does motor development generally proceed?
From head to foot and from the body center outward toward the fingers.
What process creates many new neural connections after birth?
Synaptogenesis.
What process removes unused neural connections after birth?
Synaptic pruning.
Which process speeds nerve-signal transmission after birth?
Myelination.
Which sense is least developed at birth in infants?
Vision
Which infant senses are functional to important degrees at birth?
Touch, smell, taste, and hearing
How does placing a newborn on the back on a firm surface affect sudden infant death syndrome risk?
It reduces the risk
What can severe early neglect impair in infants?
Growth, emotional regulation, attachment, and thinking
What can enriched care or later adoption do after severe early neglect?
Reverse many effects, but not always all
What is assimilation in Piaget's theory?
Fitting a new experience into an existing mental scheme.
What does accommodation mean in Piaget's theory?
Changing an existing mental scheme to fit new information.
What are Piaget's four stages of cognitive development?
Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages.
What age range corresponds to Piaget's sensorimotor stage?
From birth to about two years.
What is the zone of proximal development according to Vygotsky?
The gap between what a child can do alone and with guidance.
What difficulties define Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Lasting difficulties in social communication and interaction.
What behaviours characterize Autism Spectrum Disorder besides social difficulties?
Restricted or repetitive behaviours or interests.
Which common features affect social interaction in Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Difficulty with reciprocal conversation, reduced eye contact or gestures, and trouble forming friendships.
What are some repetitive or sensory features common in Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Repetitive movements, a strong need for sameness, and unusual sensory responses.
What has high-quality research concluded about vaccines and autism?
There is no causal link between vaccines and autism.
What happened to the original 1998 study linking vaccines to autism?
It was fraudulent and retracted.
What is temperament in a baby?
A baby's naturally occurring and fairly stable emotional reaction and self-regulation style.
Which three broad temperament styles differ in predictability and reactivity?
Easy, difficult, and slow to warm up.
How is secure attachment shown in a child?
By using a caregiver as a safe base, upset at separation, calming quickly at reunion, and returning to exploration.
What is the first stage in Erikson's early psychosocial sequence?
Trust versus mistrust in infancy.
What psychosocial conflict occurs in toddlerhood according to Erikson?
Autonomy versus shame and doubt.
Which psychosocial conflict does Erikson identify for preschool children?
Initiative versus guilt.
What is the psychosocial conflict in middle childhood in Erikson's sequence?
Industry versus inferiority.
What percentage of babies refused the deep side in Gibson and Walk's visual cliff study?
About 81% of babies aged six to fourteen months.
What do visual-cliff findings suggest about babies' depth perception and behavior?
Babies perceive depth early, but crawling experience and social referencing influence their actions.
Which surrogate did monkeys prefer to cling to in Harlow's study?
The soft cloth surrogate.
What major basis of attachment did Harlow's monkey study support?
Contact comfort.
What did Harlow's surrogate-mother experiment distinguish?
Food provision from contact comfort.
Who conducted the surrogate-mother experiments on rhesus monkeys?
Harry Harlow.
How did baby monkeys use the soft cloth surrogate when frightened?
They sought her and used her as a safe base.
What does Harlow's research support about attachment?
Contact comfort is an important contributor to attachment.
What additional factors does later research show are needed for healthy attachment?
Sensitivity, consistent caregiving, and normal social interaction.
What age range does India's National Youth Policy 2014 define as youth?
Fifteen to twenty-nine years old.
What age range does the United Nations define as adolescence?
Ten to nineteen years old.
What percentage of India's population are adolescents?
Close to twenty-one percent.
How do adolescent experiences in India vary by social factors?
They vary by class, caste, region, religion, and education.
What kind of self do Indian adolescents often develop?
A related-autonomous self combining independence with family bonds.
What is nurturant authority in Indian adolescent parenting?
Guidance, discipline, and unconditional support in a respectful hierarchy.
What is a key advantage of longitudinal designs?
They show individual change accurately.
What are two challenges of longitudinal designs?
They require substantial time and money, and participant dropout can bias results.
What is DNA?
A molecule of two twisted strands with chemical sequences for proteins and cell control.
Which recessive disorders were named in the course?
Cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia, Tay-Sachs disease, and PKU.
When does walking typically emerge in infants?
Between about nine to eighteen months.
When are solid foods typically introduced to infants?
Around six months
Which nutrients become especially important when solid foods are introduced?
Iron and zinc
What is scaffolding in cognitive development?
Support gradually removed as the child becomes more capable.
When is paediatric screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder recommended?
Around eighteen and twenty-four months of age.
Why is early screening for Autism Spectrum Disorder recommended?
Because signs often appear during the first two or three years of life.
What does the Strange Situation assess?
Attachment through brief separations and reunions between child and caregiver.
What surrogates were infant rhesus monkeys raised with in Harlow's experiment?
A wire surrogate and a soft cloth surrogate.
What behaviors did researchers measure in Harlow's infant monkey study?
Clinging and responses to fear or separation.
How does kangaroo care apply the contact-comfort principle?
By holding a premature baby skin to skin against a parent's chest.
How did Harlow vary the surrogate mothers in his experiment?
By changing which surrogate provided milk and their coverings.
What does the Ashramadharma framework call the adolescent stage?
Brahmacharya, the student stage.
What issues commonly cause conflicts between Indian parents and adolescents?
Chores, academics, behaviour, academic streams, careers, friendships, and social activities.
Test your knowledge with 52 questions on Human Development Across the Lifespan.
1. What does the study of human development examine?
2. Which research design repeatedly tests the same participants over time?
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