INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
(MIDTERMS)
Chapter 5: Human development
THE DEVELOPING FETUS
 The brain is the first major organ to form.
 The heart develops about a week later.
 A little more than 8 months later, when we are
born, the brain has more than 100 billion cells.
 Personality and cognitive traits are already
being shaped before we are born.
Stages of Prenatal Development
 Life before birth is commonly divided into three
distinct stages: germinal, embryonic, and fetal.
1. Germinal stage
- begins at conception, lasts for 2 weeks.
- At conception, the fertilized egg is a single-
celled zygote which starts dividing rapidly
around 36 hours after conception.
- By day 7, the multi-celled organism—now
called a blastocyst—travels down the
mother’s fallopian tube and attaches to the
uterine wall.
- This process is far from risk-free: Between
30% and 50% of blastocysts do not implant
properly, and the pregnancy ends without
the woman’s having known she was
pregnant.
- Genetically, sex is determined at
conception; girls have two X chromosomes
(XX) and boys an X and a Y (XY).
2. Embryonic stage
- begins at about 2 weeks after conception.
- lasts 8 weeks after conception
- marked by the formation of the major
organs: the nervous system, heart, eyes,
ears, arms, legs, teeth, palate, and external
genitalia.
- the central nervous system (brain and
spinal cord) takes the longest amount of
time to develop.
- Most major abnormalities occur only in
the early stages of development, when
exposure to environmental hazards, such as
drugs or illness, can cause serious defects.
3. Fetal Stage
- the formation of bone cells at 8 weeks
after conception.
- By this time, all the major organs have
already begun to form.
- Between 8 and 12 weeks into
development, the heartbeat can be
detected with a stethoscope.
Brain and Sensory Development before Birth
 the brain is the first major organ to develop, and
it is still growing rapidly at birth.
 By the time an infant is born, its head has grown
to 25% of its adult weight, whereas its body is
only 5% of its adult weight.
 From months 3 through 5 of pregnancy, neurons
move from one part of the brain to their more
permanent home in a process known as neural
migration.
 After conception, the neurons connecting the
ear to the brain are complete around 18 weeks,
and the fetus begins to respond to sound
around 26 weeks
Nature and Nurture Influences on Fetal Development
 To a fetus, the mother’s womb is its only
“environment.” Thus, what a pregnant mother
eats, drinks, smokes, feels, and experiences play
an important role in fetal development.
 Prenatal programming is the process by which
events in the womb alter the development of
physical and psychological health.
 Teratogens - Substances from the external
environment impact fetal and infant
development.
 Both schizophrenia and antisocial personality
disorder are more likely to occur if the mother is
malnourished during pregnancy (Neugebauer,
Hoek, & Susser, 1999; Wahlbeck et al., 2001).
 Similarly, if pregnant women smoke, the risk of
the child developing bipolar disorder later in life
doubles (Talati et al., 2013).
 fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) - A
consequence of prenatal alcohol exposure that
causes multiple problems, notably brain
damage.
 The most serious effect of prenatal alcohol
exposure is fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
(FASD), which causes damage to the brain and
central nervous system; intellectual disability;
low birth weight; physical abnormalities in the
face, head, heart, and joints; and behavioral
problems (Burd et al., 2007; May & Gossage, 2001;
Medina & Krahe, 2008; Moore et al., 2007; Sen &
Swaminathan, 2007; Uylings, 2006).
  Recent evidence points to musical training
Prenatal Personality Development enhancing neural activity in the hippocampus,

 Temperament- The biologically based tendency

to behave in particular ways from very early in
life (begins before birth).
 Personality- The unique and relatively enduring
set of behaviors, feelings, thoughts, and motives
that characterize an individual.
 personality develops out of temperament
differences.

THE DEVELOPING INFANT AND CHILD

 Hearing is almost fully developed at birth.

 Visual sharpness, or acuity, continues to
improve during infancy; newborns do not see
colors very well and are best able to see black
and-white edges and patterns.
 Unused synapses are left to die. Neural Pruning
is nature’s way of making the brain function
more efficiently.
 Neglect exists when caregivers fail to provide
basic sensory experience and stimulation to a
child during key periods of development (Perry,
2002).

Early Cognitive Development

 Infants look at things longer when they are

interested in them, and such looking can
indicate preference.
 Researchers who study infants have come to
rely on visual preference as their primary means
of studying infant thought and attention
(Richards, Reynolds, & Courage, 2010).

Musical Training Changes the Brain

 Musical training appears to shape the structure

of the brain.
 People who have had intensive musical training
have a thicker corpus callosum and more brain
growth in regions associated with music-related
skills than do non-musicians, and the difference
is even greater if they started their training
before age 7.
 A thicker corpus callosum makes for greater
communication between the two sides of the
brain.
 Musicians have larger cerebellums (an area
involved in motor coordination) than do non-
musicians (Hutchinson et al.,2003).
which is the brain region most involved in
learning and memory (Herdener et al., 2010).