11 - Lifespan development 1-Physical and Cognitive

Question 1

Questions about cognitive abilities

Answer 1

experimental methods in which stimuli and conditions are precisely controlled.

Question 2

Questions about social development

Answer 2

observational methods where scientists – without tampering too much – leaving it ecologically valid.

Question 3

Developmental psychology

Answer 3

how our psychological abilities change with age, as well the whole Arv vs. Miljø debate.

Nature & Nurture

Critical & Sensitive Periods

Question 4

Cross-Sectional designs

Answer 4

compare different age groups at one point in time

Question 5

Longitudinal design

Answer 5

repeatedly tests the same individuals as they get older.

Question 6

Micro genetic design

Answer 6

make these comparisons at very close intervals

Question 7

Sequential design

Answer 7

tests several groups at one point in time and then again when they are older.

Question 8

Critical Period

Answer 8

age range during which certain experiences must occur for development to proceed normally or along a certain path.

Question 9

Sensitive period

Answer 9

Sensitive period: an optimal age range for certain experiences; if those experiences occur at another time, normal development may still be possible.

Question 10

Cross-Sectional design

Answer 10

compare people of different ages at the same point in time.

Question 11

Cohort

Answer 11

a group of people who have shared the same historical events by virtue of their being the same age.

Question 12

Cohort effect

Answer 12

differences in abilities or experiences of groups of people who were born at different points in history.

Question 13

Longitudinal design

Answer 13

repeatedly tests the same cohort as it grows older.

Find the causes for development. If X happens at 8 years of age, lets backtrack and find a plausible reason.

Question 14

Sequential design

Answer 14

combines the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches.

Question 15

Micro genetic design

Answer 15

a longitudinal method that measures change across short time spans.

Question 16

Prenatal development

Answer 16

Germinal stage
First 2 weeks

Embryonic stage
Week 2 – 8

Foetal stage
Week 9 -> birth

Question 17

23rd chromosome

Answer 17

gender

Mothers egg cell is always an X chromosome.

(Fathers sperm cell that decides gender)

XX = Female

XY = Male

Question 18

Gene expression

Answer 18

Genetics play an important role in development, but interact with the environment – Gene Expression.

Example of this is how you have a genetic cognitive ability, but environment (access to education, stimulating environments, and learning experiences) can influence the development of your intellectual abelites.

Genetic potential + environment = gene expression

Question 19

Teratogens

Answer 19

(maternal stress hormones, diseases, drug use, environmental toxins etc.) can cause abnormal prenatal development.

Examples:

Chemicals: alcohol, tobacco smoke, illegal drugs (cocaine, heroin, morphine etc.)

Maternal diseases: Herpes, rubella etc.

Characteristics: Age, diet, emotional state

Question 20

Zygote

Answer 20

fertilized egg

Question 21

Embryo

Answer 21

develops from the end of week 2 through to week 8 after conception.

Question 22

Foetus

Answer 22

develops from week 9 after conception until birth.

Question 23

Epigenetics

Answer 23

the study of changes in gene expression due to environmental factors and independent of the DNA.

Question 24

Teratogens

Answer 24

agents that cause abnormal prenatal development

Teratogens do not exert the same effects throughout development.

Question 25

Foetal alcohol syndrome

Answer 25

a disorder of the developing foetus caused by the ingestion of alcohol by the foetus’s mother during gestation; it is characterized by stunted growth, a number of physical and physiological abnormalities and, often, mental retardation.

Question 26

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Answer 26

a group of abnormalities that results from varying kinds of prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Question 27

Reflexes

Answer 27

automatic, inborn behaviours that occur in response to specific stimuli

Rooting reflex

Sucking reflex

Question 28

Visual Preference Technique

Answer 28

young babies preferred some some stimuli over other stimuli = perceptual discriminations. (Robert Fantz, 1961)

Question 28

Ways newborn learn:

Answer 28

Habituation – decrease response to repetitive, non-threatening stimuli

Classical conditioning – gentle puff to eye after tone = eye blink to just the tone.

Operant conditioning – suck plastic nipple to activate recording of mothers voice

Question 29

Visual Habituation Technique

Answer 29

Needs preference for one stimuli over another for VPT^. Novelty > Habituation = able to discriminate stimuli.

Question 30

Trans-natal learning studies

Answer 30

taste and olfaction (smell) function before birth. Speech sounds are also learnable during that time. Experiment with Dr. Seuss reading before through the stomach wall and after.

Question 31

Physical & Motor development are characterized as 2 directions:

Answer 31

1. Cephalocaudal trajectory: the tendency for development to proceed in a head-to-foot direction.

Learn to maintain balance with head first.

2. Proximodistal trajectory: development works inside – out.

Example: learning to control arm before fingers.

Question 32

2 key processes of cognitive development

Answer 32

1. Assimilation: new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas

A child may think a squirl is a cat until corrected because it fits the cat schematic of furry, size and 4 legs.

2. Accommodation: new experiences cause existing schemas to change.

Disequilibrium

Cat may change into a more complex schema after encountering a squirl.

Question 33

PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE

Answer 33

Conservation: the principle that basic properties of objects, such as their volume, mass or quantity, stay the same (are “conserved) even through their outward appearance may change.

Example: Thin vs. Thick Litre measurer. Thin is taller and looks “bigger”

Egocentrism: difficulty in viewing the world from someone’s elses perspective.

Irreversibility: difficulty in reversing an action.

Centration: focusing on one aspect of a situation.

Question 34

VYGOTSKY´S APPROACH

Answer 34

Vygotsky + Jerome Bruner = the most influential proponents of an approach to developmental psychology with social context at its core.

Question 35

Theory of mind

Answer 35

a person’s belief about the “mind” and the ability to understand mental states. Both others and your self’s.

(+3y) Perform better with false belief tasks if you have an older sibling

Lying and deception