11 - Lifespan development 1-Physical and Cognitive Flashcards
Questions about cognitive abilities
experimental methods in which stimuli and conditions are precisely controlled.
Questions about social development
observational methods where scientists – without tampering too much – leaving it ecologically valid.
Developmental psychology
how our psychological abilities change with age, as well the whole Arv vs. Miljø debate.
Nature & Nurture
Critical & Sensitive Periods
Cross-Sectional designs
compare different age groups at one point in time
Longitudinal design
repeatedly tests the same individuals as they get older.
Micro genetic design
make these comparisons at very close intervals
Sequential design
tests several groups at one point in time and then again when they are older.
Critical Period
age range during which certain experiences must occur for development to proceed normally or along a certain path.
Sensitive period
Sensitive period: an optimal age range for certain experiences; if those experiences occur at another time, normal development may still be possible.
Cross-Sectional design
compare people of different ages at the same point in time.
Cohort
a group of people who have shared the same historical events by virtue of their being the same age.
Cohort effect
differences in abilities or experiences of groups of people who were born at different points in history.
Longitudinal design
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.
Sequential design
combines the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches.
Micro genetic design
a longitudinal method that measures change across short time spans.
Prenatal development
Germinal stage
First 2 weeks
Embryonic stage
Week 2 – 8
Foetal stage
Week 9 -> birth
23rd chromosome
gender
Mothers egg cell is always an X chromosome.
(Fathers sperm cell that decides gender)
XX = Female
XY = Male
Gene expression
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
Teratogens
(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
Zygote
fertilized egg
Embryo
develops from the end of week 2 through to week 8 after conception.
Foetus
develops from week 9 after conception until birth.
Epigenetics
the study of changes in gene expression due to environmental factors and independent of the DNA.
Teratogens
agents that cause abnormal prenatal development
Teratogens do not exert the same effects throughout development.
Foetal alcohol syndrome
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.
Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
a group of abnormalities that results from varying kinds of prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Reflexes
automatic, inborn behaviours that occur in response to specific stimuli
Rooting reflex
Sucking reflex
Visual Preference Technique
young babies preferred some some stimuli over other stimuli = perceptual discriminations. (Robert Fantz, 1961)
Ways newborn learn:
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
Visual Habituation Technique
Needs preference for one stimuli over another for VPT^. Novelty > Habituation = able to discriminate stimuli.
Trans-natal learning studies
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.
Physical & Motor development are characterized as 2 directions:
- Cephalocaudal trajectory: the tendency for development to proceed in a head-to-foot direction.
Learn to maintain balance with head first.
- Proximodistal trajectory: development works inside – out.
Example: learning to control arm before fingers.
2 key processes of cognitive development
- 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.
- Accommodation: new experiences cause existing schemas to change.
Disequilibrium
Cat may change into a more complex schema after encountering a squirl.
PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE
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.
VYGOTSKY´S APPROACH
Vygotsky + Jerome Bruner = the most influential proponents of an approach to developmental psychology with social context at its core.
Theory of mind
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
