Page 27 - Demo

157Learning Goals 10-1 Describe how humans grow from single cells into newborns. 10-2 Explain how genes and early experiences affect infant and child development. 10-3 Describe Jean Piaget%u2019s theory of cognitive development, and explain how children think at specific cognitive stages. 10-4 Identify the probable effects of attachment types and parenting styles. 10-5 Explain the three major issues developmental psychologists debate regarding infant and child development. You are a genetic and environmental marvel. It took you only about 9 months to grow from the size of the dot on this letter i to a full-size (more or less) newborn baby. From the moment one particular egg and one particular sperm cell merged until the minute you were born, the cells that became you progressed through a delicate, predictable, and fantastic sequence of events. This sequence is virtually the same for all of us. You are physically different than you were 5 or 6 years ago. If you compare your sixth-grade photo to a current one, you might even find the differences startling. These physical changes are obvious because you can see them, but you also differ in ways that are not so obvious. You think differently than you did in elementary school, and your emotions are more developed. Psychologists interested in these kinds of changes research developmental psychology , which studies physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes from womb to tomb. In this module (and in the next two as well), we will explore three fundamental issues in developmental psychology: 1. Continuity and stages. Is development a gradual, continuous process, like an elevator going up? Or is it a series of distinctly different stages, like the steps of a staircase? 2. Stability and change. Will the person you think of as the real you still be there in 2060, or will that person change dramatically as you move through adulthood? 3. Nature and nurture. How much of our development is a result of genetics (our nature), and how much is a result of environment (the nurturing we receive)? Let%u2019s search for answers to these questions as we take a look at prenatal and childhood development. Prenatal and Childhood Module 10 Development Hispanolistic/E+/Getty Images We all start out as babies, but how we develop depends on lots of different factors. %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.