Human development Final Chapters

• Humans, like other animal species, have a typical life course that consists of successive phases of growth, each of which is characterized by a distinct set of physical, physiological, and behavioral features
• Human development

  A field of study that attempts to describe and explain the changes in human cognitive, emotional, and behavioral capabilities and functioning over the entire life span, from the fetus to old age

  
• Development

  The pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the life span
• Child development

  The growth of perceptual, emotional, intellectual, and behavioral capabilities and functioning during childhood
• Nature-Nurture Issue


  The degree to which genetic or hereditary influences (nature) and experiential or environmental influences (nurture) determine the kind of person you are
• Nature (heredity)

  The passing of genetic characteristics from parent to child
• Nurture (environment)

  The external conditions that surround children and affect the way they develop
• Human growth

  Biological and physical changes
• Growth


  Quantitative changes
• Development


  Quantitative and qualitative changes
• Basic forces in human development

  • Biological forces
  • Psychological forces
  • Sociocultural forces
  • Life-cycle forces
• Neuroscience

  The study of the brain and nervous system, especially in terms of brain–behavior relationships
• Periods of development

  • Prenatal period
  • Infancy
  • Early childhood
  • Middle and late childhood
  • Adolescence
• Studying child development is critical in child health and well-being
• By studying children, we can learn more about why they develop the way they do and also the most effective ways to help them to develop as responsible citizens with positive contributions to make
• By studying children, we can also understand environmental factors that influence how a child grows physically, emotionally and psychologically
• Inheritance can be defined as the process of how a child receives genetic information from the parent
• Gregor Mendel formulated certain laws to understand inheritance known as Mendel's laws of inheritance
• Inheritance

  The process of how a child receives genetic information from the parent
• Mendel's Laws of Inheritance


  Laws formulated by Gregor Mendel to understand inheritance
• Mendel's Laws of Heredity

  1. Law of Segregation

  2. Law of Independent Assortment

  3. Law of Dominance
• Mendel's work and his Laws of Inheritance were not appreciated in his time until 1900 when they were rediscovered
• Genotype


  The genetic makeup of the plant
• Phenotype


  The physical appearance of the plant
• Alleles

  The genes transferred from parents to the offspring in pairs
• Homozygous alleles


  When the alleles are the same
• Heterozygous alleles


  When the alleles are different
• Phenotypes depend both on genotypes and on the environment in which individuals develop
• Mitosis


  The cell's nucleus—including the chromosomes— duplicates itself and the cell divides
• Meiosis


  Forms eggs and sperm (or gametes) by dividing the cell's chromosomes in half
• Chromosomes


  Threadlike structures in the nuclei of cells that contain genetic material
• Zygote


  A new organism that incorporates some characteristics of each parent
• DNA

  The molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms
• Gene


  A segment of DNA that provides a specific set of biochemical instructions
• Alleles


  Different forms or variations of a gene
• Homozygous


  When the alleles in the pair of chromosomes are the same
• Heterozygous


  When the alleles in the pair of chromosomes differ
• Incomplete dominance


  When one allele does not dominate another completely
• Genotype


  The complete set of genes that make up a person's heredity
• Phenotype


  Physical, behavioural, and psychological features that result from the interaction between one's genes and the environment