Chapter 4: Physical Growth and Development Across the Lifespan - PSY 110 - Lifespan Development - Textbook - LibGuides at Hostos Community College Library

Why it Matters: Infancy

Why It Matters - Infancy
What you'll learn: Why understand human development during infancy?

Welcome to the story of development from infancy through toddlerhood; from birth until about two years of age. Did you ever wonder how babies grow from tiny, helpless infants into well-developed and independent adults? It doesn’t happen overnight, but the process begins right from day one. Infancy is a time when tremendous growth, coordination, and mental development occur. Most infants learn to walk, manipulate objects and can form basic words by the end of infancy. By 5 months a baby will have doubled its birth weight and tripled its birth weight by the first year. By the age of 2, a baby’s weight will have quadrupled!

Physical Growth and Development in Newborns and Toddlers

Physical Growth and Development in Newborns and Toddlers
What you’ll learn to do: describe physical growth and development in infants and toddlers.

We’ll begin this section by reviewing the physical development that occurs during infancy, a period that starts at birth and continues until the second birthday. We’ll see how this time involves rapid growth, not only in observable changes like height and weight, but also in brain development.

Next we will explore reflexes. At birth, infants are equipped with a number of reflexes, which are involuntary movements in response to stimulation. We will explore these innate reflexes and then consider how these involuntary reflexes are eventually modified through experiences to become voluntary movements and the basis for motor development as skills emerge that allow an infant to grasp food, roll over, and take the first step.

Third, we will explore the baby’s senses. Every sense functions at birth—newborns use all of their senses to attend to everything and every person. We will explore how infants’ senses develop and how sensory systems like hearing and vision operate, and how infants take in information through their senses and transform it into meaningful information.

Finally, since growth during infancy is so rapid and the consequence of neglect can be severe, we will consider some of the influences on early physical growth, particularly the importance of nutrition.

Here are the videos included in the Word document readings:

Click the image to watch How Baby Brains Develop. A new window will open.

Click the image to watch Babies are Surprisingly Smart. A new window will open.

Click the image to watch Reflexes in newborn babies. A new window will open.

Click the image to watch Child Malnutrition - What? How? And when to Refer. A new window will open.

Click the image to watch FRONTLINE | The Vaccine War. A new window will open.

Physical Growth and Development in Middle Childhood

Physical Development in Middle Childhood
What you’ll learn to do: describe physical development during middle childhood.

Children enter middle childhood still looking very young, and end the stage on the cusp of adolescence. Most children have gone through a growth spurt that makes them look rather grown-up. The obvious physical changes are accompanied by changes in the brain. While we don’t see the actual brain changing, we can see the effects of the brain changes in the way that children in middle childhood play sports, write, and play games.

Physical Growth and Development in Adolescence

Physical Growth and Development in Adolescence
What you’ll learn to do: describe the physical changes that occur during puberty and adolescence.

Physical changes of puberty mark the onset of adolescence (Lerner & Steinberg, 2009). For both boys and girls, these changes include a growth spurt in height, growth of pubic and underarm hair, and skin changes (e.g., pimples). Boys also experience growth in facial hair and a deepening of their voice. Girls experience breast development and begin menstruating. These pubertal changes are driven by hormones, particularly an increase in testosterone for boys and estrogen for girls. The physical changes that occur during adolescence are greater than those of any other time of life, with the exception of infancy. In some ways, however, the changes in adolescence are more dramatic than those that occur in infancy—unlike infants, adolescents are aware of the changes that are taking place and of what the changes mean. In this section, you will learn about the pubertal changes in body size, proportions, and sexual maturity, the social and emotional attitudes and reactions toward puberty, and some of the health concerns during adolescence, including eating disorders.

Here are the videos included in the Word document readings:

Click the image to watch The Teenage Brain Explained. A new window will open.

Physical Development in Late Adulthood

Physical Development in Late Adulthood
What you’ll learn to do: describe physical changes in late adulthood.

In this section, you’ll learn more about physical changes in late adulthood. While late adulthood is generally a time of physical decline, there are no set rules as to when and how it happens. We are continually learning more about how to promote greater health during the aging process.

Here are the videos included in the Word document readings:

Click the image to watch Study proves physical activity helps maintain mobility in older adults. A new window will open.

Click the image to watch Aging Successfully: The Psychological Aspects of Growing Old. A new window will open.

Licenses & Attributions

CC Licensed Content, Shared Previously

Lifespan Development. Provided by: Lumen Learning. Located at: courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-lifespandevelopment/. License: CC BY 4.0, except where otherwise noted.
Physical development in adolescence | Behavior | MCAT. Provided by: Khan Academy. Located at: https://youtu.be/DWKWjpVsGng. License: CC BY-NC-SA
Brain changes during adolescence | Behavior | MCAT. Provided by: Khan Academy. Located at: https://youtu.be/5Fa8U6BkhNo. License: CC BY-NC-SA
Caloric Restriction vs. Animal Protein Restriction. Authored by: NutritionFacts.org. Located at: https://youtu.be/dwJASNFy9XQ. License: CC BY-NC
The Science of Cells that Never Get Old. Provided by: TED. Located at: https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_blackburn_the_science_of_cells_that_never_get_old?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare. License: CC BY-NC-ND

How Baby Brains Develop. Provided by: CNN. Located at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0fiu2S0_3M. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
Babies are surprisingly smart. Authored by: SciShow Psych. Located at: https://youtu.be/nM-GhFzX8yQ. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
Reflexes in newborn babies. Authored by: Bernadette Bos. Located at: https://youtu.be/Sv5SsLH70mY. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
Child Malnutrition - What? How? And when to Refer. Authored by: iheed. Located at: https://youtu.be/bqEIcMMmj5M. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
FRONTLINE | The Vaccine War | PBS. Provided by: PBS. Located at: https://youtu.be/VPOrnU3ImxI. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
The Teenage Brain Explained. Provided by: SciShow. Located at: https://youtu.be/hiduiTq1ei8. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
Study proves physical activity helps maintain mobility in older adults. Provided by: UFHealth. Located at: https://youtu.be/b6Q_KvvM_o4. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License
Aging Successfully: The Psychological Aspects of Growing Old. Provided by: Davidson Films, Inc. Located at: https://youtu.be/g2JXyl-gek4. License: Other. License Terms: Standard YouTube License

PSY 110 - Lifespan Development - Textbook

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PSY 110 Lifespan Development

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Why it Matters: Infancy

Physical Growth and Development in Newborns and Toddlers

Physical Growth and Development in Middle Childhood

Physical Growth and Development in Adolescence

Physical Development in Late Adulthood

Licenses & Attributions

CC Licensed Content, Shared Previously

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