Stages Of Development, Cross Sectional Design, And Human Development

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Human development is the way a person grows and how they change throughout each stage of life. There are many stages of development starting at the point of conception and continuing until death. A crucial stage of development begins at fertilization throughout the prenatal development. Understanding the way in which we grow is interesting and important to know what influences determine the way we develop. (Ciccarelli & White, 2015). In order to study the development, researchers have to experiment using three different designs known as cross sectional design, longitudinal design, and cross sequential design. These designs are focused to research age-related changes among humans. Each design is slightly different. When using the longitudinal design, the research is a long process in which the same participant is studied throughout their growth. (Ciccarelli & White, 2015). This design is used more than once on the same person, studied over a lifetime. Longitudinal …show more content…

When an egg and sperm meet this process is known as fertilization. The zygote will begin the process of dividing into cells, eventually becoming a baby. When the zygote process of dividing does not work, “twins and multiples are sometimes the result.” There are identical twins and fraternal twins. When one egg is fertilized the babies will be identical. However, when two eggs are fertilized the babies will be fraternal. When the cells do not split apart the twins will be conjoined. (Ciccarelli & White, 2015). Prenatal development has three different stages during the pregnancy. The first period is known as the Germinal Period. This period lasts for two weeks in which the zygote moves down to the uterus, the mass of cells attach to the walls of the uterus, the placenta begins to develop, and the umbilical cord begins to develop. During this period the cells begin to develop into various cells that make up the human body. (Ciccarelli & White,

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