PRENATAL PERIOD

THE STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Germinal Period - (First 2 weeks after conception)

a) creation of the zygote 

b) continued cell division 

c) the attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall. 

The following are the details of development during this period:

a. 24 to 30 hours after fertilization the male (sperm) and female (egg) chromosome unite

b. 36 hours the fertilized ovum, zygote, divides into two (2) cells;

c. 48 hours (2 days)-2 cells become 4 cells

d. 72 hours (3 days) - 4 cells become small compact ball of 16-32 cells

e. 96 hours (4 days) - hollow ball of 64-128 cells

f. 4-5 days - inner cell mass (blastocyst) still free in the uterus

g. 67 days - blastocyst attaches to the wall of uterus

h. 11-15 days - blastocyst invades into urine wall and becomes in it (implantation)

• Blastocyst- the inner layer of cells that develops during later into the embryo

• Trophoblast-  the outer layer of cells that develops also during the germinal period later provides nutrition and support for embryo.

2.  Embryonic Period (2-8 weeks after conception)

Cell differentiation

a. Embryo's endoderm - inner layer of cells, develops into the digestive and respiratory systems

b. Embryo's ectoderm - the outermost layer which becomes the nervous system, sensory receptors (eyes, ears, nose) and skin parts (nails, hair)

c. Embryo's mesoderm - the middle layer which becomes the circulatory, skeletal, muscular

excretory and reproductive systems.

    Life-support systems for the embryo develop

a. Placenta - consist of disk-shape group of tissues in which small blood vessels from the mother and the offspring intertwine but do not join.

b. Umbilical cord - contains two arteries and one vein that connects the baby to the placenta.

c. Amnion - is a bag or an envelope that contains clear fluid in which the developing embryo floats.

c. Organs appear (organogenesis - process of organ formation)

3. Fetal Period (2 months to 7 months after conception) 

   - growth and development continue dramatically during this period.

Teratology and Hazards to Prenatal Development

          Teratology is the field that investigates the causes of congenital (birth) defects. A teratogen is that   which cause birth effects. It comes from Greek word "tera" which means "monster".

Below are the clusters of hazards to prenatal development:

1. Prescription and nonprescription drugs - one of the examples of prescriptive drugs is Antibiotic

because it can be harmful.

2. Psychoactive drugs - these include nicotine, caffeine and illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin.

3. Environmental hazards - these include radiation in jobsites and X-rays, environmental pollutants, toxic wastes, and prolonged exposure to heat in saunas and bath tubs.

4. Other maternal factors such as Rubella (German measles), syphilis, gentile herpes, AIDS, nutrition, high anxiety and stress, age (too early or too late, beyond 30). 

INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD

CEPHALOCAUDAL AND PROXIMODISTAL PATTERNS

1. Cephalocaudal - sequence in which the earliest growth always occurs at the top, beginning with the head

2. Proximodistal -- sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the

extremities.

    The Brain

• Cerebral cortex covers the forebrain like a wrinkled cap

• Two halves, or hemispheres, based on ridges and valleys in the cortex

• Four main areas, lobes, in each hemisphere

• frontal lobes, occipital lobes, temporal lobes, parietal lobes

• Lateralization specialization of function in one hemisphere or the other

    Parts of the neuron

• Axon carries signals away from the cell body

• Dendrites carry signals toward it

• Myelin sheath -- a layer of fat cells -- provides insulation and helps electrical signals travel faster down the axon

• At the end of the axon are terminal buttons, which release chemicals called neurotransmitters into synapses

• Synapses - tiny gaps between neurons' fibers

   Changes in Neurons

• Chemical interactions in synapses connect axons and dendrites, allowing information to pass from neuron to neuron

• The pace of myelination also varies in different areas of the brain

• The infant's brain is waiting for experiences to determine how connections are made

   Changes in Regions of the Brain

• Both heredity and environment influence synaptic overproduction and subsequent retraction

• "Blooming (development) and pruning" vary considerably by brain region

• Pruning -- unused connections are replaced by other pathways or disappear

• Prefrontal cortex -- the area of the brain where higher-level thinking and self- regulation occur

    Sleep

• Considerable individual variation in how much infants sleep

• Typical newborn sleeps 16 to 17 hours a day

SIDS

• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) -- condition that occurs when infants stop breathing, usually during the night, and die suddenly without an apparent cause

• SIDS is the highest cause of infant death in the United States

• Risk of SIDS is highest at 2 to 4 months of age

Risk Factors for SIDS

• SIDS decreases when infants sleep on their backs

• More common in low birth weight infants

• Infants who are passively exposed to cigarette smoke are at higher risk

• More frequent in infants who sleep in soft bedding

• Less likely in infants who use a pacifier when they go to sleep

    When Mother Should Not Breast Feed

• • • If she is infected with AIDS or any other infectious disease that can be transmitted through her milk

    •  If she has active tuberculosis

    • If she is taking any drug that may not be safe for the infant

   Nutritional Needs

• • • Nutritionists recommend that infants consume approximately 50 calories per day for each pound they weigh

    • This is more than twice an adult's requirement per pound

    Dynamic  systems theory 

• Infants assemble motor skills for perceiving and acting, which are coupled together

• When infants are motivated to do something, they might create a new motor behavior

• Mastering a motor skill requires the infant's active efforts to coordinate several components of the skill

•  Mastering a New Skill

• The infant is motivated by a new challenge

• Partially accomplishes the task

• "Fine tunes" movements to make them smoother and more effective

• "Tuning" is achieved through repeated cycles of action and perception of the consequences of that action

Reflexes

• Reflexes -- built-in reactions to stimuli

• Genetically carried survival mechanisms

• automatic

• Involuntary

• Allow infants to respond adaptively to their environment

Gross Motor Skills

• Skills that involve large-muscle activities

• Sitting with support-2 months

• Sitting upright without support - 6 to 7 months of age Pull themselves up and hold on to a chair -- 8 months

• Stand alone - 10 to 12 months

• With experience, babies learn to avoid risky situations, integrating perceptual information with the development of a new motor behavior

• Toddlers become more mobile

13-18 months

• can pull a toy attached to a string

• use their hands and legs to climb up a number of steps

18-24 months

• toddlers can walk quickly or run stiffly

• walk backwards without losing their balance

• stand and kick a ball without falling and stand and throw a ball

• jump in place

Fine Motor Skills

• Finely tuned movements

• At birth, infants have very little control over fine motor skills

• During the first two years of life, infants refine how they reach and grasp

• Perceptual-motor coupling is necessary for the infant to coordinate grasping

• Experience plays a role in reaching and grasping

Sensory and Perceptual Development

• Sensation occurs when information interacts with sensory receptors -- the eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, and skin

•  Perception is the interpretation of what is sensed

• Our perceptual system can select from the rich information that the environment provides

• We directly perceive information that exists in the world around us

Studying the Infant's Perception

• Perception brings us into contact with the environment in order to interact with and adapt to it

• Visual Preference Method -- Infants look at different things for different lengths of time

•  Orienting response to determine if an infant can see or hear a stimulus 

• Habituation-decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus

• Dishabituation -- is the recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulation

Visual Acuity and Color

• Newborn's vision is estimated to be 20/600 on the well-known Snellan eye examination chart

• By 6 months of age -- vision is 20/40 or better

• By about the first birthday, the infant's vision approximates that of an adult

• By 8 weeks, possibly even by 4 weeks, infants can discriminate among some colors

Perception of Pattern and Depth

• Infants prefer to look at a normal human face rather than one with scrambled features

• Depth perception -- visual cliff

• Infants develop the ability to use binocular (two-eyed) cues to depth by about 3 to 4 months of age

Hearing, Touch, and Pain

• Prenatally at 7 months, infants can hear sounds such as mother's voice and music

• Immediately after birth, infants cannot hear soft sounds or pitch as well as adults do

• Newborns respond to touch and feel pain

Smell and Taste

• Newborns can differentiate among odors

• Sensitivity to taste might be present even before birth

• At only 2 hours of age, babies made different facial expressions when they tasted sweet, sour, and bitter solutions

Language Development

• Language a form of communication-whether spoken, written, or signed- that is based on a system of symbols

• All human languages have some common characteristics 

• Rules describe the way the language works

• Infinite generativity- the ability to produce an endless number of meaningful sentences using a finite set of words and rules

Key Milestones in Language Development

• Babies' sounds and gestures go through this sequence during the first year

• Crying: can signal distress, but there are different types of cries that signal different things

• Cooing: about 1 to 2 months, gurgling sounds that are made in the back of the throat and usually express pleasure during interaction with the caregive

•  Babbling: In the middle of the first year, babies babble -- strings of  consonant-vowel combinations, such as "ba, ba, ba, ba"

• Gestures: Infants start using gestures, such as showing and pointing, at about 8 to 12 months of age

Recognizing Language Sounds

• Phonemes the basic sound units of a language

•  First words occur between 10 to 15 months (average is 13 months)

Two-Word Utterances

• Occurs by the time children are 18 to 24 months of age

• Telegraphic speech is the use of short, precise words without grammatical markers such as articles, auxiliary verbs, and other connectives

Biological Influences

• The ability to use language requires vocal apparatus as well as nervous system capabilities

• Brain regions predisposed for language

•  Broca's area an area in the left frontal lobe of the brain involved in producing words

• Wernicke's area- a region of the brain's left hemisphere involved in language comprehension

• Aphasia a loss or impairment of language processing as a result of damage to brain

• Language Acquisition Device (LAD) -- Humans are biologically prewired to learn language at a certain time and in a certain way and to detect the various features and rules of language

Environmental Influences

• Behaviorists opposed Chomsky's LAD hypothesis

• Stated that language was nothing more than chains of responses acquired through reinforcement

• The behavioral view is no longer considered a viable explanation of how children acquire language

• Language is not learned in a social vacuum

• Most children learn at a very early age

• Vocabulary development is linked to the family's socioeconomic status and the type of talk that parents direct to the child

• Child-directed speech is language spoken in a higher pitch than normal, using simple words and sentences

• Other strategies include recasting, expanding, labeling 

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

• Piaget thought we build mental structures that help us to adapt to the world

• Adaptation involves adjusting to new environmental demands

Processes of Development

• Developing brain creates schemes, which are actions or mental representations that organize knowledge

• Assimilation children use their existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences

• Accommodation -- children adjust their schemes to take new information and experiences into account

• • Equilibrium and Disequilibrium

• • Cognitive conflict -- disequilibrium

• the child is constantly faced with inconsistencies and counterexamples to existing schemes

• An internal search for equilibrium creates motivation for change

• the child assimilates and accommodates, develops new schemes, and organizes and reorganizes old and new schemes

• Cognition is qualitatively different in one stage compared with another

Sensorimotor Stage

• Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences (such as seeing and hearing) with physical actions

• Lasts from birth to 2 years

• At the end of this stage, 2-year-olds can produce complex sensorimotor patterns and use primitive symbols

• Object Permanence

• Object permanence understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched

• One of the infant's most important accomplishments

• Watch an infant's reaction when an interesting object disappears. If the infant searches for the object, it is inferred that the baby knows it continues to exist

Evaluating and Modifying Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage

• The infant's cognitive world is not as neatly packaged as Piaget portrayed it

• Some of Piaget's explanations for the cause of change are debated

Piaget's view of sensorimotor development needs to be modified

• Some researchers conclude that infants' perceptual abilities are highly developed very early in development

Learning, Remembering, and Conceptualizing

• Infants can learn through operant conditioning

• Attention is the focusing of mental resources on select information and improves cognitive processing on many tasks

•  Joint attention involves individuals focusing on the same object or event and involves:

• The ability to track another's behavior

• One person directing another's attention

• Reciprocal interaction

EARLY CHILDHOOD (THE PRESCHOOLER)

BIG IDEAS ABOUT THE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PRESCHOOLERS

1. There are significant changes in physical growth of preschoolers.

2. The preschoolers" physical development is marked by the acquisition of gross and fine motor skills.

3. Preschoolers can express themselves artistically at a very early age.

4. Proper nutrition and the right amount of sleep are very important for the preschoolers.

5. Caregivers and teachers can do a lot in maximizing the growth and development of preschoolers.

6. Preschoolers with special needs in inclusive classroom can thrive well with the appropriate adaptations made in the classroom, materials and activities.

Gross and Fine Motor Development

- Gross motor development refers to acquiring skills that involve the large muscles. 

1. Locomotor skills - involve going from one place to another like walking, running, climbing, skipping, hopping, creeping, galloping and dodging.

2. Non-locomotor skills - those where the child stays in place like bending, stretching, turning and swaying

3. Manipulative skills - involve projecting and receiving objects, like throwing, striking, bouncing, catching and dribbling.

Fine motor development 

refers to acquiring the ability to use the smaller muscles in the arm, hands and fingers purposefully. Some of the skills included here are picking, squeezing, pounding and opening things, holding and using a writing implement. It also involves self-help skills like using the spoon and fork when pating, buttoning, zipping, combing and brushing. 

Brain Connections in the Preschool Years 

From science lessons you had in highschooler or even in elementary, you will remember that our brain is composed of numerous cells called neurons that connect to each other to function. Cell connections are what we call synapses, sometimes also referred to as synaptic connections. 

Big Ideas about Preschoolers' Cognitive Development

1. Preschoolers engage in symbolic and intuitive thinking.

2. Brain connections are made when preschoolers interact with the environment.

3. Preschoolers' language development occurs in four areas: phonology semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.

4. Vygotsky believed that language and social interaction are very important to cognitive development.

5. Preschoolers' cognitive development is marked by the emergence of a theory of mind.

Big Ideas about Preschoolers' Socioemotional Development

1. The development of initiative is crucial to the preschooler.

2. A healthy self-concept is needed for preschoolers to interact with others.

3. Environmental factors influence gender identity in younger children.

4. Preschooler's social development is shown through the stage of play.

5. The care-giving styles of parents and teachers affect the preschoolers' socioemotional development.

6. Preschoolers are interested in building friendships.

PARTEN'S SIX STAGES OF PLAY

1. Unoccupied Play - Children are relatively still and their play appears scattered. This type of play builds the foundation for the other five stages of play.. This stage allows children to practice manipulating materials, mastering their self-control and learning about how the world works.

2. Solitary Play - This type of play occurs when children entertain themselves without any other social involvement. 

3. Onlooker Play - Children who sit back and engagingly watch other children playing, but do not join in are onlookers. 

4. Parallel Play - This occurs when children play next to each other, but are not really interacting together. 

5. Associative Play - This type of play signifies a shift in the child. Instead of being more focused on the activity or object involved in play, children begin to be more interested in the other players. 

6. Cooperative Play - This is play categorized by cooperative efforts between players.

• Caregiving Styles - Caregiving styles affect socio emotional development of the children. 

• Responsiveness refers to caregiver behaviors that pertain to expression of affection and communication. 

• Demandingness refers to the level of control and expectations. This involves disciplines and confrontation strategies.

1. Authoritative - High demandingness / high responsiveness.

2. Authoritarian - High demandingness / low responsiveness

3. Permissiveness - low demandingness / high responsiveness

4. Negligent - low demandingness

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD (THE PRIMARY SCHOOLER ) 

Physical growth during the primary school years is slow but steady. 

Physical development involves:

1. Having good muscle control and coordination

2. Developing eye-hand coordination

3. Having good personal hygiene

4. Being aware of good safety habits 

Jean Piaget' Concrete Operational Stage

Concrete operation is the third stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development. It spans from age 7 to approximately 11 years old. During this time, children have better understanding of their thinking skills, children to think logically about concrete events, particularly their own experiences, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts, thus most of them still have a hard time at problem solving.

Erik Erikson's Fourth Stage of Psychosocial Development

Industry vs. inferiority is the psychosocial crisis that children will have to resolve in this stge. Industry refers to a child's involvement in situations where long, patient work is demanded of them, while inferiority is the feeling created when a child gets a feeling of failure when they cannot finish or master their school work. 

LATE CHILDHOOD (THE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLER) 

Intermediate schoolers have more control over their bodies than they have when they were in primary school. They become more active and have greater liberty to choose the hobbies or sports that they want to get involved in.

These are the factors of physical development during this stage:

a. Early puberty

b. Height, weight and muscle development

c. Motor skills

d. Physical insecurities 

IMPLICATIONS TO CHILD-CARE, EDUCATION AND PARENTING (PHYSICAL)

a. Provide ample opportunities at home and in school for physical exercise and sports

b. Encourage children to participate in varied worthwhile activities until they are able to discover the ones they are interested in

c. Develop a strong emotional attachment with your children so as to address any insecurities and social concerns

d. Since children in this stage have more control over their eating habits, provide them with healthier food choices.

These are the factors of Cognitive Development during this stage:

a. Reading

b. Attention

c. Creativity

d. Impact of media

Emotional Intelligence has four main areas:

1. Developing emotional self-awareness

2. Managing emotions (self-control)

3. Reading emotions (perspective taking)

4. Handling emotions (resolve problems) 

These are the factors of socioemotional development during this stage:

a. Building friendships (peers)

b. Family 

c. School

ADOLESCENTS ( THE HIGH SCHOOL LEARNERS) 

Adolescence is a stage of human development that coincides with puberty, a biological development occurring at the average age of 11 for girls and 12 for boys. There are factors, however, which contribute the early puberty and delayed puberty. These factors include heredity, diet, exercise and socio-environmental influence.

Adolescence is a period of transition in terms of physical, cognitive and socioemotional changes. The period of adolescence begins with the biological changes of puberty. The specific ages for this period vary from person to person but (i) early adolescence characterized by puberty may come to the ages of 11 and 12 (ii) middle adolescence may meet identity issues Within the ages of 14 and 16, and (iii) late adolescence marks the transition into adulthood ages 17 and 20.

Physical Development

a. Physical appearance

b. Rapid rate of growth (next to the speed of growth of the fetus in the uterus) known as growth spurts

c. Resultant feeling of awkwardness and unfamiliarity with bodily changes

d. Alterations in sleeping habits and parent-adolescent relationship possibly accompanying puberty.

Cognitive Development

a. There is a decrease in egocentric thoughts

b. Piaget's Formal Operational thinker which means an adolescent go beyond the sensible and concrete in order to dwell on what is abstract, hypothetical, and possible.

d. Metacognition - ability to identify one's own thinking processes and strategies inclusive of perception, memory, understanding, application, analysis. assessment and innovation.

e. Overachievement - can achieve very high academic grades

f. Underachievement - adolescent may perform below the standards set

Propositional Thinking- making assertions outside visual evidence, and stating that may be possible in things not seen by the eyes

Relativistic Thinking - subjectively making an opinion on facts involving one's own bias, prejudice of distortion of facts - which may be either right or wrong 

Real Versus Possible - examining a situation and exploring the possible in terms of situations or solutions 

SIEGLER'S INFORMATION PROCESSING SKILLS

i. Increased thinking speed

ii. Increased complexity

iii. Increased volume

Implications for child care, education and parenting (Cognitive):

a. Activities at home 

b. Allowing more independence 

c. Activities in school that allow participation

d. Develop reading skills

Socioemotional Development - Generally, emotions are commonly known as human feelings that are manifested by varied conscious or unconscious moods. 

The unique patterns of emotions are:

a. Event that is strong or important

b. Physiological shanges in heart pulse rate, brain activity, hormone

levels and body temperature

c. Readiness for action often described as "fight or flight"

d. Dependence of the emotion on how the stimulus is appraised

Positive emotion - like interest and joy motivate the individual to continue his/ her behavior

Negative emotion - may cause withdrawal from what may be perceived as bad or dangerous.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CHILD CARE, EDUCATION AND PARENTING (SOCIOEMOTIONAL):

a. Emotional skills influence the adolescent learner's success in class work.

b. Learners who are able to regulate their emotions tend to be happier, better liked and better able to pay attention and learn.

c. Interventions by the teacher and the school can reduce learner's emotional distress, while raising test scores and grades

d. The teacher plays a most important role in promoting positive changes for the adolescent.

e. As the teen is susceptible to peer pressure, the negative influence of social media, drug use and addiction, early romantic sexual adventurism, the teacher and the school can conduct interventions to assist the youths with focus on risky and inappropriate behavior while promoting positive development among adolescents.