PSYC20008 Lecture 23: PSYC20008 Lecture 23 + 24
10 May 2018
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Lecture 23
- Nature and nurture interact at all stages of a person’s life, starting before birth to
end of life
- When we see change in development of child: nature or nurture when thinking about
genetics, biology, cognition, behaviour → How we measure concepts and constructs
in development
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- Critical periods during prenatal development: period of ovum → period of embryo →
period of foetus → weeks 1 to 38 in pregnancy
- Many genetic disorders + environmental toxins that can affect developing foetus,
embryo and zygote within prenatal period → impact development of child and post-
birth as well
- Teratogen affects period of embryo most (when major organs are being developed,
highly susceptible to mutations and toxin, major structural anomalies)
- Depending on timing of exposure to that toxin or environmental impact → determines
which part of the development of body is affected and to what degree [timing and
dose]
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find more resources at oneclass.com
- Nature and nurture (before birth): although there is a clear timetable set out for the
development of the blastocyst, embryo and foetus, reflecting the influence of nature,
the nurturing of the organism during these stages is extremely important
- E.g. Nature: genetic code of fetus specifies when each cell should be formed and
where and when the cell should move and differentiate
- E.g. Nurture: environment provided by the mother impacts on the development of
each of these cells:
- → Toxins in the general environment (e.g. mercury, air pollution) can impact
negatively on fetal development depending on the dose and timing of administration
- → Beneficial effects in the general environment (e.g. sunshine, fresh air, good diet, no
alcohol) can have positive effects on fetal development
- Infant cuteness equipment: babies are equipped to elicit the appropriate nurture
from their caregivers; timing and type of interaction between caregivers and the infant
is very important [in terms of development of a lot of different skills such as eye-
tracking, being able to perceive and focus attention on things; if child left alone →
hard to develop these key skills that child needs for healthy life]; for normal
development to occur children must encounter relevant experiences during [specific]
windows of time
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find more resources at oneclass.com
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- Percent of infants able to discriminate foreign-language speech sounds
- Infants being able to perceive or discriminate foreign-language speech sounds
- Until about 8 months of age, infants can discriminate between phonemes regardless
of whether they appear in the language the infants hear daily
- Infants’ ability to discriminate between speech sounds not in their native language
declines between 6 and 12 months of age
- Babies from English-speaking backgrounds were tested on their ability to
discriminate between syllables in Hindi (blue bars) and Nthlakapmx (green bars,
language spoken by North American Indians in the Pacific Northwest)
- Infant ability to discriminate phonemes of these 2 languages is high at 6-8 months →
slowly decrease at 10-12 months of age; role of nurture in infants being able to
discriminate language
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
