- •Key Terms
- •2.0 The Life-Span Perspective
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 2 The Science of Life-Span Development
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section II Beginnings Chapter 3 Biological Beginnings Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 4 Prenatal Development and Birth Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section III Infancy Chapter 5 Physical Development in Infancy Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 6 Cognitive Development in Infancy Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Chapter 7 Socioemotional Development in Infancy Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section IV Chapter 8 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 9 Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section V Middle and Late Childhood Chapter 10 Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle and Late Childhood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 11 Socioemotional Development in Middle and Late Childhood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section VI Adolescence Chapter 12 Physical and Cognitive Development in Adolescence Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 13 Socioemotional Development in Adolescence Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section VII Early Adulthood Chapter 14 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Adulthood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Сhapter 15 Socioemotional Development in Early Adulthood Summary
- •Key terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section VIII Middle Adulthood Chapter 16 Physical and Cognitive Development in Middle Adulthood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 17 Socioemotional Development in Middle Adulthood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Section IX Late Adulthood Chapter 18 Physical Development in Late Adulthood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 19 Cognitive Development in Late Adulthood Summary
- •Key terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 20 Socioemotional Development in Late Adulthood Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Chapter 21 Death and Dying Summary
- •Key Terms
- •Essay and Critical Thinking Questions
- •Research Project 2 Journal Article Critique
- •Research Project 2 Genetic Counseling Available to You
- •Research Project 1 Why Do Some Pregnant Women Drink, Smoke, or Use Drugs?
- •Research Project 2 Fatherhood
- •Research Project 1 Cross Motor Activity
- •Research Project 1 Object Permanence
- •Research Project 2 Mother-Infant Language
- •Research Project 1 Attachment Behaviors
- •Research Project 2 Development of Self in Infants
- •Project 1 Memory Span
- •Research Project 2 Language Errors
- •Research Project 1 Parten's Play Styles
- •Research Project 2 Altruism-Empathy Observations
- •Research Project 1 Current Exercise Levels
- •Research Project 2 Conservation Tasks
- •Research Project 1 Children Attitudes Towards School
- •Research Project 2 Gender Roles and Television
- •Research Project 2 Piaget’s Pendulum Problem
- •Research project 1 Interviewing Friends about Dating
- •Research Project 2 Marcia’s Statuses of Identity
- •Research Project 1 College Students and the Use of Alcohol
- •Research Project 2 Motivation – The Values of Adolescents
- •Research Project 1 The Marriage Quiz
- •Research Project 2 Gender and Age Roles in Magazine Advertisements
- •Research Project 1 Song Lyric Values
- •Research Project 2 Archival Research
- •Research Project 1 Adult Stage Theories in Biographies
- •Research Project 2 Your Life Review
- •Research Project 1 Variations in Life-Expectancy
- •Research Project 2 Knowledge of Older Adults
- •Research Project 1 Free Recall among College Students and Older Adults
- •Research Project 2 Physical and Mental Health Care of the Elderly
- •Research Project 1 Collecting a Life Story
- •Research Project 2 Old People at College
- •Research Project 1 Experiencing Others’ Deaths
- •Research Project 2 Hospices in Your Community
Research Project 2 Genetic Counseling Available to You
The Life-Span Health and Well-Being focus at the end of Chapter 3 tells about how genetic counseling can help expectant couples learn about the possibility that their infants will inherit defects or suffer other genetically-based problems. While the focus sketches the process of counseling, it does not say much about how this service is delivered from community to community.
For this project you will find out and report whether and how genetic counseling services are made available in your community. Form groups of up to four individuals, and divide the following, tasks between individuals or pairs. Contact hospitals to learn whether they disseminate information about genetic counseling, and if they do, obtain the pamphlets or handouts that they provide. If there are other services or organizations for expectant couples (e.g., Planned Parenthood, or divisions of social service agencies), find out what they offer. If you can identify individuals in the community who provide such information, contact them to see if they will allow you to interview them about their services. Go to the public library and look up books or other reference materials about genetic counseling.
Once you have determined what information is publically available, write a report that summarizes (a) how up-to-date the information appears to be; (b) what source of information is most easily and cheaply available; (c) what attitude the materials seem to take toward genetic counseling. For example, Santrock indicates that what couples do about what they find out concerning their infants' chances of suffering a genetic defect is largely their own decision. Does this seem to be true in your community? What range of decisions is available? Are any alternatives discouraged? Finally, can you determine whether these services are uniformly available to all community members? Would anyone be able to use them? Are there significant controversies about their use? What political/ethical/legal issues did you discover? Relate what you find to the claims Santrock makes in Life-Span Development about the quality of prenatal and postnatal care in the United States.
Chapter 4
Research Project 1 Why Do Some Pregnant Women Drink, Smoke, or Use Drugs?
Despite the fact that the dangers of drinking alcohol smoking, and other drug use to fetal development are now well known and widely publicized, women continue to use these substances while they are pregnant. This research activity (suggested in Salkind, S. S. [1990]. Child development. Fort Worth: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston) attempts to find out why.
Have students invite a group of female friends who smoke or drink to talk to you about whether they will do these things when they are pregnant. Then have them ask their friends whether they know that smoking and drinking endanger prenatal development and about what they know in detail. Have them talk about the dangers (they may need to do some teaching!), and then ask again whether their friends will drink and smoke. You may want to suggest to students that they tape record the answers, but make sure they prepare an interview schedule no matter how they choose to record answers.