, Table of Contents
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Child Development ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Nature vs Nurture .............................................................................................................................................. 1
Prenatal Development .................................................................................................................................. 1
Postnatal Life ................................................................................................................................................ 2
Piaget’s vs Vygotsky........................................................................................................................................... 3
Social Development ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Attachment ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Self-Recognition and Control ........................................................................................................................ 6
Moral Development ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Child Development
Nature vs Nurture
• The argument about whether development is genetically determined or dependent on the
environment
Nature: genetically determined
Nurture: environment/experiences
Epigenetics – the interaction of genes and the environment
Genes that influence development also depend on the environment to determine how they are
expressed
What are the two primary forces that control development?
• Contained within the genetic instructions encoded in our DNA which tells molecules how to
form and organize themselves to build our bodies
• Instructions unfold within an environment that is constantly changing and so all
development also has some external component
Prenatal Development
• The fertilized egg is called a zygote
• A sperm and an egg cell contain 23 chromosomes that contain genes
What are the three stages of prenatal development?
1. Germinal Stage: one-celled zygote begins to divide. The zygote migrates down a
fallopian tube and implants on the uterine wall
2. Embryonic Stage: the zygote continues to divide, and its cells begin to differentiate into
blastocysts (a cluster of embryonic cells) that then become embryonic disks (three-
layered flattened structure that emerges)
§ Endoderm (organs), Mesoderm (skeleton), Ectoderm (nervous)
3. Foetal Stage: skeleton and muscles, digestive, and respiratory systems
Bea Lume Nunes | PSYU911/01 ‘20-‘21 1
Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Child Development ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Nature vs Nurture .............................................................................................................................................. 1
Prenatal Development .................................................................................................................................. 1
Postnatal Life ................................................................................................................................................ 2
Piaget’s vs Vygotsky........................................................................................................................................... 3
Social Development ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Attachment ................................................................................................................................................... 5
Self-Recognition and Control ........................................................................................................................ 6
Moral Development ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Child Development
Nature vs Nurture
• The argument about whether development is genetically determined or dependent on the
environment
Nature: genetically determined
Nurture: environment/experiences
Epigenetics – the interaction of genes and the environment
Genes that influence development also depend on the environment to determine how they are
expressed
What are the two primary forces that control development?
• Contained within the genetic instructions encoded in our DNA which tells molecules how to
form and organize themselves to build our bodies
• Instructions unfold within an environment that is constantly changing and so all
development also has some external component
Prenatal Development
• The fertilized egg is called a zygote
• A sperm and an egg cell contain 23 chromosomes that contain genes
What are the three stages of prenatal development?
1. Germinal Stage: one-celled zygote begins to divide. The zygote migrates down a
fallopian tube and implants on the uterine wall
2. Embryonic Stage: the zygote continues to divide, and its cells begin to differentiate into
blastocysts (a cluster of embryonic cells) that then become embryonic disks (three-
layered flattened structure that emerges)
§ Endoderm (organs), Mesoderm (skeleton), Ectoderm (nervous)
3. Foetal Stage: skeleton and muscles, digestive, and respiratory systems
Bea Lume Nunes | PSYU911/01 ‘20-‘21 1
