Human Development 2004-2005

UNIT 1. Genetic and Prenatal Influences on Development Part A. Genetic Influences 1. The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives, Leon R. Kass, The American Spectator, November/December 2002 The 30,000 human genes have been mapped and biotech businesses are booming. Will genetic engineering result in every baby being born without any mental or physical disabilities? Will we eliminate tumors and infections, enhance immunity, and make disease extinct? How much more memory, or years of life, will we add? Will we be fulfilled, or dehumanized? Leon Kass addresses these ethical issues. 2. The First Human Cloned Embryo, Jose B. Cibelli, Robert P. Lanza, and Michael D. West, with Carol Ezzell, Scientific American, January 2002 Will human cloning represent the dawn of a new age in biology and medicine? What are the moral and ethical concerns of making genetic materials from cloned humans? Will researchers stop with therapeutic cloning for treatment of diseases or move on to reproductive cloning to make new humans? Three researchers very involved in cloning discuss these issues. Part B. Prenatal Influences 3. Inside the Womb, J. Madeleine Nash, Time, November 11, 2002 Embryonic cells, also known as stem cells, generate most of the human organ systems in the earliest weeks of prenatal development. Not only aberrant genes, but also health, stress, nutrition, and toxins (e.g., drugs) can alter the precision of stem cell transformations. Concern for embryonic development is not yet, but should become, a political priority, argues Nash. 4. The Mystery of Fetal Life: Secrets of the Womb, John Pekkanen, Current, September 2001 Environment affects prenatal development. This article reviews known dangers (e.g., alcohol and drug use, viral infections) and recently discovered endocrine disrupters (e.g., chemicals in our air, food, and water). The author gives advice on exercise, nutrition, and health maintenance to optimize the physical and cognitive status of the offspring. 5. The War Over Fetal Rights, Debra Rosenberg, Newsweek, June 9, 2003 What is the moral and legal status of a fetus? The politics of the womb are complicated. Prenatal development, once private, is now monitored with high-tech ultrasound. A 12-week-old fetus can be seen with beating heart, eyes, ears, fingers, and toes. Has life begun? Can abuse of a pregnant mother murder a fetus? Some states have made fetal harm a crime. UNIT 2. Development During Infancy and Early Childhood Part A. Infancy 6. Four Things You Need to Know About Raising Baby, Joanna Lipari, Psychology Today, July/August 2000 In this article, Joanna Lipari explains the synthesis of important aspects of areas of infant development genetic inheritance, physical development, cognitive skills, and emotional attachment into a new view that equates parenting behaviors to software that promotes the growth of the baby's brain (hardware). Lipari discusses attachment theory and compares "old thinking" about raising baby with research-guided "new thinking." 7. Who's Raising Baby?, Anne R. Pierce, The World & I, February 2002 What happens to self-esteem and emotional/personality development when babies are rushed to do everything sooner and better than others? The author contends that parenting and infancy should be more about love of learning. Through play, babies discover their individuality and genetically driven interests. Pressuring them to conform to gender-appropriate activities (e.g., sports, ballet) or academic pursuits is miseducation. 8. Vaccines and Autism, Beyond the Fear Factors, Jane E. Brody, New York Times, March 25, 2003 Brain development is not threatened by infant immunizations, but rather by a failure to vaccinate against the severe infant illnesses that affect neurons. Anxiety over autism is misplaced. Autism's rise may reflect better diagnoses or other environmental or genetic factors. Part B. Early Childhood 9. Wired for Thought, Sharon Begley, Newsweek, Special Issue, Fall/Winter 2000 The "Mozart effect" suggests that playing classical music in early childhood stimulates cognition. New research supports the idea that genetically pre-programmed children's brains learn early and quickly. Education should emphasize language and playful interactions with emotionally attached caregivers as well as music. 10. Guilt Free TV, Daniel McGinn, Newsweek, November 11, 2002 A new generation of parents uses television as an aid to early childhood socialization. New high-quality programs improve cognitive skills, language, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence. Some families still have anxiety about sex and violence and too many commercials may give youngsters "I-WANT-itis." However, kids' TV is improving. 11. Raising a Moral Child, Karen Springen, Newsweek, Special Issue, Fall/Winter 2000 Parents are held responsible for ethics and morality training during early childhood. Our culture has fewer moral role models than before and more and more aggression and violence, increasing the urgency for moral lessons. Karen Springen relays the advice of several experts on how to help preschoolers learn right from wrong. UNIT 3. Development During Childhood: Cognition and Schooling Part A. Cognition 12. Implicit Learning, Peter A. Frensch and Dennis Runger, Current Directions in Psychological Science, February 2003 Implicit learning learning without awareness is an active area of cognition research. This article discusses the problems of trying to prove its existence. It is believed to be very important to critical thinking and problem solving despite its elusiveness. Understanding implicit learning can elucidate brain development issues and aid in educational planning. 13. Child Psychologist: Jean Piaget, Seymour Papert, Time, March 29, 1999 Jean Piaget, named one of the top 100 people of the twentieth century, was neither an education nor a psychology expert, yet he founded the field of cognitive science. His creative genius took children's thoughts and language seriously. Children, he correctly states, are creative. They test theories like scientists do. Their ways of learning require that they be given time to do so. 14. Metacognitive Development, Deanna Kuhn, Current Directions in Psychological Science, October 2000 Cognitive development that reflects on itself is called metacognition. Understanding intellectual performance will allow parents, teachers, and others to help children develop effective metacognitive awareness. Deanna Kuhn suggests that knowledge of metastrategies will help us to understand how education occurs or fails to occur. Part B. Schooling 15. Trick Question, Michael Fumento, The New Republic, February 3, 2003 Our culture has been critical of calling attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) a real disorder. We blame parenting, stress, and educational settings for inattention and impulsivity. We claim the drug Ritalin reduces creativity and makes boys more like girls. This article gives the facts about ADHD and its treatments, including Ritalin use. 16. The Future of Computer Technology in K--12 Education, Frederick Bennett, Phi Delta Kappan, April 2002 The author argues that the computer culture will benefit education. Creative individuals can develop software with many cognitive advantages. However, the improvements will not happen until teaching undergoes a major alteration. Parents, politicians, and citizens must want this to happen. 17. The New Gender Gap, Michelle Conlin, Business Week, May 26, 2003 There are gender differences in brain development; boys do more spatial thinking and learn better from action than from talk. Schools in Great Britain focus on teaching the genders differently; we do not. American boys are motivated to bulk up muscles and are socialized to be stoic. Television models this boy code. As a result, females are now outperforming males academically. 18. The Trauma of Terrorism: Helping Children Cope, Ilene R. Berson and Michael J. Berson, Social Education, October 2001 The violence in New York and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, touched the lives of school children in a profound way. A culture of terrorism fed their imaginations and rocked their self-esteem. Ilene and Michael Berson suggest the importance of education about diversity in peers and others. Adults help when they understand students' vulnerabilities, hopelessness, powerlessness, and impaired performance. Students need to discuss feelings and regain a sense of safety. 19. "High Stakes Are for Tomatoes", Peter Schrag, The Atlantic Monthly, August 2000 This article raises questions about the widespread use of assessment tests to judge the performance of students and schools. The frenzy for higher performance and accountability is shackling creative teaching, driving out good teachers, and creating undue student stress. Are tests culturally biased? Will a testing backlash lower educational standards? UNIT 4. Development During Childhood: Family and Culture Part A. Family 20. Raising Happy Achieving Children in the New Millennium, Alice Sterling Honig, Early Child Development and Care, Volume 163, 2000 This article is packed with excellent advice on care that creates self-esteem and emotionally happy and cognitively achieving children. Alice Honig stresses the need to educate parents early, even before the birth of their child, especially if the parents have experienced depression, drug abuse, or family violence. Family aides must be sensitive to different cultures. 21. Generation XXL, Geoffrey Cowley, Newsweek, July 3, 2000 Obese children suffer physically and emotionally. In the United States, one in three children is overweight or at risk of becoming so. Health problems due to obesity affect 6 million American children. Physical education classes have vanished in a majority of schools. Family/parenting recommendations include more exercise and better nutrition, including portion control, for children to achieve vigor and self-esteem benefits. 22. The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, Discover, October 2002 The author argues that family socialization and cultural constructs interact with genetics (talents, temperament) to create unique humans. It is hypocrisy to blame parenting, or schools, or peers, or television for all behaviors. Children have some inherited traits; they are not blank slates. Social progress can be made by reinforcing good traits and teaching control of bad ones. Part B. Culture 23. Parents or Pop Culture? Children's Heroes and Role Models, Kristin J. Anderson and Donna Cavallaro, Childhood Education, Spring 2002 Women and minority cultures are underrepresented by prime time television. Men are portrayed as important, angry, and often violent. Likewise, comic books show exaggerated male aggression and underrepresent women and minorities as heroes. Research demonstrates that children's play mimics these stereotypes. Parents' impact is more important, but families need to limit exposure to some stereotypes. 24. Understanding Street Culture: A Prevention Perspective, Jerry Fest, The Prevention Researcher, September 2001 Divorce; brutal (or bizarre) family demands; drug abuse; poverty: these create runaways. Youth street cultures are similar around the world. Runaways choose the streets, more than they are victimized by them. The street culture gives them control and a sense of belonging. Prevention needs to provide better options for achievement and support that youth can freely choose and in which they can participate. UNIT 5. Development During Adolescence and Young Adulthood Part A. Adolescence 25. The 100 Best High Schools in America, Jay Mathews, Newsweek, June 2, 2003 Advanced placement (AP) tests are motivating both teachers and adolescents to more challenging education. High expectations plus creative use of resources can stimulate success and improve self-esteem. Twice as many AP tests are taken now than 7 years ago; 77 percent more by cultural minorities and 10 percent more by low-income students. This is turning schooling around. 26. Choosing Virginity, Lorraine Ali and Julie Scelfo, Newsweek, December 9, 2002 Adolescents are increasingly saving sex for marriage. Despite the "everyone is doing it" message from television and peers, many teens feel that they are not emotionally ready and/or focus on education and career choices instead. Their control of their sexuality can improve their self-esteem. Family and friendships fulfill their needs for love and belonging. 27. Young and Depressed, Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz, Newsweek, October 7, 2002 Emotional problems like anxiety and depression need not wreck adolescent lives. Talk therapy and new medications improve both coping skills and moods. Stressors like divorce, sexuality, schooling, and drug abuse, plus brain changes, may make teens more vulnerable to mood disorders. While teens with depression are not normal, they respond well to treatment. Part B. Young Adulthood 28. She Works, He Doesn't, Peg Tyre and Daniel McGinn, Newsweek, May 12, 2003 Gender roles in marriage are changing for some young adults. More women than men have college degrees. "Mr. Mom's" may care for the home front while wives have careers. The stress of unemployment and the anxiety over womanhood and manhood may lead to divorce unless couples can relate and adapt to these cultural changes. 29. We're Not in the Mood, Kathleen Deveny, Newsweek, June 30, 2003 This article suggests that married men and women dodge sex due to stress, career tensions, child-rearing anxieties, and depression. Male and female sexual response may need help from drugs like Viagra and Avlimil. No sex often leads to divorce. DINS (Double Income No Sex) couples need to communicate more and schedule time alone together. 30. The War Over Gay Marriage, Evan Thomas, Newsweek, July 7, 2003 Lawrence v. Texas may become one of the United States' most important legal opinions, on a par with the Brown desegregation decision of 1954. The Supreme Court has ruled that gays are entitled to privacy in their sex lives. Will this lead to gay marriage, gay couple adoption, and other cultural sea changes? Battle lines already exist about federal and state rights to legislate morality in the workplace, schools, and the military. UNIT 6. Development During Middle and Late Adulthood Part A. Middle Adulthood 31. Emotions and the Brain: Laughter, Steven Johnson, Discover, April 2003 A primitive part of the human brain, the brainstem, prompts laugher. Tickling in sexually private or guarded regions (e.g., groin, waist, throat) is registered in another ancient region, the somatosensory cortex. We laugh as a form of instinctive social attachment, especially in childhood. We're often not aware that we're laughing, but our laughter is contagious and helps bond friendships and improve health. 32. The End of the Age of Estrogen, Geoffrey Cowley and Karen Springen, Newsweek, July 22, 2002 Women's health may be threatened by hormone replacement therapy (HRT) at menopause. While HRT reduces osteoporosis and colon cancer, it increases the risk of breast cancer, blood clots, heart attacks, and strokes. Women with menopausal symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression, memory loss, emotional swings, reduced enjoyment of sex, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia) may require short-term use of HRT at minimal doses or some alternative therapies. 33. An American Epidemic: Diabetes, Jerry Adler and Claudia Kalb, Newsweek, September 4, 2000 Middle-aged adults are experiencing a galloping rate of physical decline due to Type 2 diabetes. Nutrition (especially sugar consumption) and lack of exercise as well as genetics affect this health threat. Many people are unaware that they have it. This article gives warning signs to look for and discusses many new treatment options. 34. 12 Things You Must Know to Survive and Thrive in America, Ellis Cose, Newsweek, January 28, 2002 The author lays out rules for defeating depression and soul-crushing emotions at work and in life and emerging a survivor. Ellis Cose's prescription can contribute to better physical and mental health, improved stress management, and happier marriages and parenting. Part B. Late Adulthood 35. Sleep Waves: Sleep and Aging, Helen M. Sorenson, American Association for Respiratory Care Times, October 2001 Sleep efficiency and slow sleep waves decrease with old age. Sleep time, nocturnal awakenings, and insomnia increase. This article differentiates between transient, short-term, and chronic insomnia. Depression and/or health conditions may be associated with sleep problems. Medication for sleep should be used only for a short period at the lowest effective dose. Education about sleep, psychotherapy, and behavior modification are better interventions. 36. The Disappearing Mind, Geoffrey Cowley, Newsweek, June 24, 2002 Geoffrey Cowley discusses new brain scans that may be able to provide early warning that the brain is beginning to experience dementia. More important, it reviews possible ways to prevent cognitive decline in late adulthood. A vaccination may reduce amyloid deposits. New drugs may prevent neurofibrillary tangles. Physical and emotional decline may be delayed in the future. 37. The Nun Study: Alzheimer's, Michael D. Lemonick and Alice Park, Time, May 14, 2001 Almost 700 late adulthood nuns have been part of an innovative study on Alzheimer's disease since 1986. The results are surprising. Use of complex language, education, and positive emotions are correlated with cognitive maintenance. Mental exercise keeps neurons in better health. Genetic factors, cardiovascular disease, nutritional deficiencies, and lack of exercise may predict or contribute to dementia. 38. Start the Conversation, AARP Modern Maturity, September/October 2000 This compilation of data about death and dying was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It includes information about late adulthood, medical and emotional care, and legal and financial assistance. Descriptions of types of end-of-life care (e.g., hospices) and advance directives about such choices are included. The ethics and legality of assisted suicide is also presented.