12.1 Issues in developmental psychology

Question 1

Maturation

Answer 1

refers to biologically based changes that follow an orderly sequence, each step setting the stage for the next step according to an age-related timetable

Question 2

development occurs in..

Answer 2

Stages - relatively discrete steps through which everyone progresses in the same sequence.

Question 3

Factors affecting the impact of recurrent neglect/abuse include

Answer 3

the child’s age and stage of development; the type, severity, frequency and duration of abuse/neglect; and the relationship between child and abuser

Question 4

Equally important is the pruning of neurons

Answer 4

infants are born with an abundance of neural connections, and those that are not used or activated by the environment are gradually lost

Question 5

critical periods in human development

Answer 5

periods of special sensitivity to specific types of learning and sensory stimulation that shape the capacity for future development

Question 6

Gene– environment correlations occur when

Answer 6

genes influence the environments people choose or the experiences to which they are exposed.

Question 7

Most psychologists believe that

Answer 7

development, like intelligence or personality, reflects the action and mutual influence of genes and environment

Question 8

The interaction of heredity and environment occurs when

Answer 8

the effect of having both genetic and environmental vulnerabilities is different from that which would be predicted by simply adding up their independent effects.

Question 9

genetic propensity towards antisocial behaviour can lead a teenager to choose

Answer 9

‘bad company’, which in turn encourages further antisocial behaviour.

Question 10

research on 151 Australian children born prematurely, before the 37th week of pregnancy, has indicated that…

Answer 10

preterm children are more likely to suffer from a reduction in corticomotor excitability, resulting in poorer motor skill development that continues into late childhood

Question 11

abnormalities in synaptic pruning during adolescence may lead to ..

Answer 11

the onset of autism or schizophrenia.

Question 12

humans have sensitive periods, this means that…

Answer 12

there are times that are more important to subsequent development than others