Bipedalism And Human Birth: Article Analysis

Feldman, R. S. (2014). Development across the life span (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

The field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire lifespan is called lifespan development. Lifespan development takes a scientific approach in its study of growth, change, and stability. This development emphases on human development. Developmentalists study the course of development in nonhuman species, the most popular examine growth and change in people. In contrast I will focus on the ways people and myself change and grow during our lives, with the consideration of stability in our live span. Together, these findings suggest that we will go through

Feldman, R. S. (2014). Development across the life span (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

Animal meat has all necessary nutrients, especially protein that is necessary for the human body to grow and function properly. Besides, it plays a vital role in brain development. As suggested by Smil (2013), “Killing animals and eating meat have been significant components of human evolution…have inevitably contributed to the evolution of human intelligence…” (p.1). According to the findings of the University of Colorado (2012), anthropologists have excavated a toddler’s “skull fragment” in Tanzania that is the abnormally tiny size of skull, due to a protein deficiency in the diet and led to youth mortality; this condition was very rare in 1.8 million years ago. This indicates that animal meat is a paramount in the human body, without the essential amino acids that exists in animal meats; human evolution cannot happen (p.1).

Feldman, R. S. (2014). Development across the life span (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

The lifespan development theories analyze development from different perspectives including, behavioral perspective, psychoanalytical perspective, Piaget's-cognitive developmental theory, ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology, information processing, ecology systems theory, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and lifespan perspective theory (Newman & Newman, 2014). Each of these theories have been supported and proven by major theorist, and they help in providing the reasons behind some reactions and behaviors as observed in both the continuous and discontinuous processes of growth.

Despite the evolutionary many benefits and gradient expenses with human intelligence, increased brain size did not occur because it was able to expand by itself. Environmental factors are what led to the evolutionary changes. A fundamental principle of evolutionary theory is that evolution is the balanced outcome between costs and benefits. Since the price of maintaining a large brain is greater, it is inherently improbably that expansion of the brain will evolve without a selection factor being adequate to overcome the high expenses. (Dunbar, 2007) There has been a strong correlation between increased temperatures in the global climate and increased endocranial volume. Over the past three million years, the average global temperature has been steadily increasing, as well as the braincase of human ancestors. Strong evidence of this is seen between the period approximately 200,000 to 800,000 years ago where the Earth’s climate experienced the greatest temperature fluctuations which

The body size grows from 4 inches to 6 inches. Being one of the smallest primates, they comparatively have large hands and feet that

That meant that there were more calories available for larger brains, which of course was an evolutionary advantage. It also took much much less time to eat, leaving time to hunt, socialize and form tribes and communities, and procreate.

Approximately 4 million years ago a wonderful evolutionary phenomenon was happening in Africa. Early hominids, man’s ancestors, were beginning a giant leap in their evolution. These hominids were moving out of the forest and beginning to walk upright, out on the open plains (Fagan, 98). This change from quadrupedalism was the most significant adaptation that ever happened to these early hominids. It caused many adaptations that make man what he is today. This process occurred in early hominids for many different reasons, each reason helping to perfect the upright walking posture. Bipedalism is thought to have occurred because of changes in environment, feeding habits, thermal regulation, and

Life span developmental psychology takes a scientific approach to human growth and change, focusing on change during the life span. There are three main aspects to life span development: cognitive, social, and physical development. This class is not simply a discussion of nature vs. nurture, it explores the interaction between genetic and environmental factors that orient us towards specific behaviors. Initially, my views on life span development were limited to more sociological factors, and did not take into consideration physical developments of the brain. In relation to my personal and professional identity this course has made me realize that development occurs on a spectrum and that not everyone develops at the same time, in the same ways, making me more understanding and compassionate towards those who developed differently than me. The three most important lessons I have learned from this class are that development occurs throughout the entire life span, infants begin learning at a very young age, and that senescence begins as early as young adulthood.

According to Bergmann’s (1847) rule and Allen’s (1877) rule, animals that live in warmer climates are likely to be smaller than their counterparts in colder climates and those that live in colder climates will have a low surface area to volume ration in order to retain heat, respectively. Similarly, Allen’s rule is often used in respect to latitude rather than mean annual temperature. This is the most basic form of the rules of evolution in relation to climate; a colder climate leads to a stockier build, and a warm climate leads to a more slender one. In general, this is true of Homo sapiens, as people living in colder climates tend to have shorter lengths and stockier builds. A 1953 study carried out by Derek Frank Roberts (1953), the Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics at Newcastle University, found a clear correlation between body mass and mean annual temperature in human beings. A more recent study carried out by Peter T. Katzmarzyk and William R. Leonard (1998) illustrates a similar trend, although the results were less apparent than those of Roberts (1953). Both studies used bivariate regression and correlation analyses to determine the link betwixt mass (specifically BMI) and mean annual temperature. When compared, it is apparent that humans in tropical climates have relatively long limbs and slender frames in comparison to humans in cold climates. The most interesting find of the study, however, were the changes that had taken place in the span of time between the

There has been much debate concerning the origins of bipedalism. Bipedalism, or the ability to move on two legs (eLucy, 2007) was said to have emerged due to climate change in East Africa, for sexual display purpose, to reduce exposure to sunlight, the need to use weapons and tools and many more (NOVA, 2013). There are numerous arguments associated with bipedalism as no one can be entirely sure as to what constituted to the emergence of this trait, which was first present in hominins Australopithecus Afarensis. Anthropologists claim that there is a missing link in the evolutionary lineage that makes it hard to confirm the real cause of bipedalism emergence. However, there are some models which are widely accepted by scientific world, such

There are three known major areas of study in Lifespan Development which are the Physical, Cognitive, and personal and social development. These groups have to do with age and range of Lifespan Psychology. Lifespan literally connotes from cradle to grave, in other words from conception to death. Lifespan is divided into these following age periods; prenatal, infancy, toddlerhood, middle childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood and death.

An Oxford University research team looked at how 500 species, both living and fossilized, have evolved over about 60 million years. The ones that lived in social groups had much larger brains, relative to body size, than those species that tend to be self-sufficient.