WEEK 10

• Nature and nurture both contribute to development, and their roles are not easily separated because environmental events often turn genes on and off.
• Human development is characterised by critical periods - central to specific types of learning that modify future development.
• A contentious issue is whether development occurs in stages (relatively discrete steps through which everyone progresses in the same sequence) or is continuous (involving steady and gradual change).
• Cross-sectional studies compare groups of participants of different ages at a single time to provide a picture of age differences.
• Longitudinal studies assess the same individuals over time, providing the opportunity to assess age changes.
• Sequential studies minimise cohort effects by studying multiple cohorts longitudinally.
• The prenatal period is divided into three stages: the germinal, embryonic, and fetal periods.
• At birth, infants possess many adaptive reflexes, such as rooting and sucking, which help ensure that the infant will get nourishment; motor development follows a universal sequence.
• Growth rates for females and males are roughly equal until age 10. At that point, females begin a growth spurt that usually peaks at age 12, and males typically follow suit about two or three years later. Physical growth is virtually complete by the end of adolescence.
• Gradual and less dramatic growth changes occur during adulthood. A gradual decline in physical abilities, including muscular strength and sensory functioning, occurs with ageing.
• In later life, cognitive declines are shown in the following facilities: processing speed, working memory capacity, explicit memory retrieval, problem-solving strategies, and fluid intelligence. Other functions show little or no noticeable decline, including many encoding processes, implicit memory, aspects of everyday memory, and crystallised intelligence.
• A small proportion of the population suffers incurable progressive dementia (for example, Alzheimer’s disease).
• The majority of people maintain sharp mental functioning across the life span.
• Biological age refers to age in terms of biological health.
• Psychological age refers to one’s adaptive and mental capacities compared with others of the same chronological age.
• Functional age refers to the ability to function in society.
• Social age refers to one’s connectedness with others and the social roles that individuals adopt.
• Chronological age refers to the number of years since birth.