500 - DEENA'S VERSION Human Growth and Development Flashcards
Accommodation
WHO: Jean Piaget
WHAT: Occurs when people alter/adjust their schemas
- done to incorporate new information + experiences into old schemas
WHY: Accommodation is important to keep one’s understanding and interpretation of their environment up-to-date and accurate. It allows a person to develop their own perspective and sense of the world
EXAMPLE: Amy is a therapy client, and she tells that her father abused her as a child. As a result, she has grown up with a strong distrust of adult men. As Amy grows up and moves away, she meets adults men that are kind and completely unlike her father. The schema she previously had, of men being scary and abusive, is accommodated/changed to fit the new information she’s encountered.
Assimilation
WHERE: Taught in Human Growth & Development
WHO: Jean Piaget
WHAT: Occurs when children use existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences
- form of adjustment modification
WHY: This is important as it helps clinicians understand how people process new information and integrate it with already encoded knowledge.
EXAMPLE:
Example: A parent brings their child into therapy who is quite young and unsure of what to expect or what will be expected of him by the therapist. Due to assimilation, the child viewed the therapist as an authority figure. This new relationship was assimilated to fit the child’s existing schema that children are expected to follow instructions and guidance from adult figures.
Attachment
Who: Freud
What: A close emotional bond between two people.
- Based on security, safety, and love needs
- The tendency to form such bonds with other individuals in infancy and adulthood
- indication of future bonds with other individuals
- The four types are: secure, avoidant, anxious, disorganized
Attachment is formed in phases and specific attachments developed by 7-24 months and there are 4 types. The four types are: secure, avoidant, anxious, disorganized.
Why: Important as early attachment can foreshadow later social bx and relationships in adulthood. Things that affect attachment include genetics, temperament, cultural differences.
Example: A client comes into therapy reporting complications in their marriage. They claim that their spouse is distant and they are afraid of being abandoned. After some exploring, the therapist determines that the client had developed an anxious attachment style as an infant, which is affecting their marriage.
Androgyny
Who: Sara Bem created the Bem Sex Role Inventory that can determine how masculine, feminine, or androgynous an individual is.
What: Having both feminine and masculine attributes such as appearance, traits, attitudes, or behavior. Person does not fit into gender stereotypes. Sandra Bem argues that it is psychologically healthier to have blended traits rather than be only stereotypically male/female.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development
Why: Important for healthy development and helps to understand client’s culture and perspective.
Example: You are counseling a child that does not fit into typical gender stereotypes or roles. This is something that is causing the parent a lot of distress. After performing your initial clinical interview and testing the child using the Bem Sex Role Inventory, you bring the parent in and explain to her that her daughter is simply psychologically androgynous. She scores highly in masculinity and femininity psychologically.
Child Abuse
Who: Involves children and caregivers.
What: The physical, emotional, sexual, and/or neglectful maltreatment of a child
- usually by a parent, guardian, or caretaker.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: Therapists are mandated reporters meaning they are required to report any suspicion of abuse to the relevant authorities, and it is important to pay attention to any sign of abuse. Also, cycle of abuse.
Can cause pathology or developmental problems such as attachment problems, social problems, poor emotion regulation, attachment problems, or depression.
Example: The therapist noticed bruises on his client that remained over the course of several weeks. She also noticed the child appearing more withdrawn. The child eventually admitted that his parents would hit him if he made a mistake and would threaten to put him up for adoption. The therapist decided report this as child abuse.
Continuity vs. Non-continuity
Who: Developmentalists believe it is a mix of both. Piaget - stages of change (discontinuous), Erikson- continuous, environment and culture shape development through age stages
What: The debate about whether development is continuous (a process of gradual, cumulative change) or discontinuous (a set of distinct stages). Normative development considers the cumulative change and looks at a child developing speech, thinking or talking, much the same way they grow taller. The discontinuity view sees children as going through abrupt changes, that produce different behaviors, at different stages of their life
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: When evaluating developmental issues, most developmentalists acknowledge that development is not all-or-nothing. Understanding this will help with how you conceptualize treatment.
Example: A parent brings her 2-year-old into therapy because they are worried about their toddler’s speech delay, The therapist explains that speech is a continuous process, meaning it will come gradually and not just appear at a specific age.
Critical Period
Who: Konrad Lorenz Imprinting theory. (I THINK??)
What: Part of lifespan development; a fixed time period during which certain experiences or events can have a long-lasting effect on development. A maturational stage during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to environmental stimuli
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: If, during this period, the person does not receive the appropriate stimuli required to develop a given function, it may be difficult or even impossible to develop that function later in life Helps with understanding clients who may be lacking certain skills or abilities due to a missed critical period and how it affects their life. Treatment planning could be influenced by what skills need to be learned.
Example: A parent brings their adopted child to therapy because the parent is worried about the child’s development. The child is struggling in kindergarten to engage and learn things the other children are learning. After speaking to the parent, the therapist finds out that the child was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The therapist explains to the parent that the child may be struggling to engage and learn things because the child’s birth mother drank alcohol during a critical period of fetal development.
Developmental Level
Who: Piaget, Bandura (learning; bobo doll), Erikson. All examined throughout the development of kids
What: Part of developmental psychology. A stage in human development where one generally achieves certain milestones or growth markers within a certain time frame, indicating normal progression or growth. These markers allow one to know if the individual is progressing at a normal rate or if there might be potential problems that need to be addressed.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: Gives clinicians a guideline of what should be happening & when. Can indicate lack in cognitive development or potential neurological problems.
Example: Charlie brings his 4-year-old daughter Joan into therapy because she is not yet talking. After a physical examination, her family practitioner was unable to find a physical reason for this. The therapist concluded that speech should have typically occurred at this developmental level and the lack of speech may reflect a developmental delay.
Egocentrism
Who: Part of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Preoperational stage is stage 2 of Piaget’s cognitive development theory, consists of children 2 to 7 years of age
What: An inability on the part of a child in the preoperational stage of development to see any point of view other than their own. Egocentric children think their view is the only view, that everyone thinks the same way they do, and that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as they do.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: This helps us determine whether a child has moved into the concrete operational stage or not. It also help us determine whether or not someone is aware of those around them
Example: A mother brings her 5-year-old daughter, Kim, to therapy with concerns about her daughter’s stealing habits. The mother tells the therapist that Kim is always bringing home toys from kindergarten and is refusing to return them. The mother always tells Kim that she needs to return the toys because she is making the other kids sad since they can’t play with the toys anymore. Kim doesn’t understand why the other kids are sad because she is happy when she plays with the toys. The therapist explains to the mother that Kim is displaying egocentrism, which is normal for her age. Kim is not able to understand the feelings of other people because she believes that everyone is feeling the same as her.
Genotype vs. Phenotype
What: Genotype refers to the complete genetic makeup of an individual with contribution of dominant and/or recessive
genes from both parents. The genotype represents the individual’s exact genetic makeup and full hereditary information. Phenotype represents an organism’s actual physical properties. What is outwardly expressed may or may not match
the organism’s genotype or what is expressed in the genetic material
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: Understanding the difference between genotype and phenotype is important to counseling because it helps to understand the interaction between DNA and how it is physically expressed through phenotypes. In counseling it is important to understand how certain disorders get inherited and the physical traits that are expressed either via environment or genetics.
Example: Alex has come to therapy because he is convinced his wife is cheating on him, even though she vehemently denies it. He says he has suspected her ever since their child was born. Fred explains that he and his wife both have brown hair, but their child is now 5 years old and he has blonde hair. The therapist explains that both parents may have the genotype that includes the recessive gene for light hair which is not expressed in the phenotype of either parent but was passed down to their child
Genotype-environment Relationship
Who: Sandra Scarr studied relationship between genes and development
What: The relationship between what one’s genetic material and genetic potential are and how environment factors influence whether one reaches that genetic potential. A rich, encouraging environment will facilitate reaching one’s genetic potential while a poor, discouraging. environment will hinder it.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: This is useful to understand how the environment may elicit some symptoms/traits in a person with a certain disorder versus only their genetic predispositions.
Example: A young client comes into therapy and tells the therapist that a lot of other classmates had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer after smoking. The client is glad that they are not sick, but they feel guilty as well. The therapist finds that due to the client’s genotype they were less susceptible to the cancer than their classmates. The therapist uses this information to reassure their client to not feel guilty.
Habituation
Who: Fantz, infant perception research. Research with infants and novel stimuli = they would stop sucking to look at new stimulus but after it was presented multiple times they stopped looking
What: Part of learning theory; a decrease in responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations; the simplest form of learning. Subject becomes desensitized to stimuli in a sense. Commonly studied in infants because their attention is strongly governed by it.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: Some therapy approaches rely on habituation such as the treatment of phobias. Can also help in understanding how clients respond to things as it is a form of learning.
Example: Harry and his mother come to therapy, because his mother is having difficulty controlling his behavior. She claims that in the past, she has yelled at Harry quite frequently, which seemed to stop him misbehaving. Lately, however, Harry seems unaffected by his mother’s reprimands. The therapist suspects the Harry has become habituated to his mother’s form of punishment and suggests she try to use healthier and more constructive methods in order to discourage his negative behavior.
Heterozygous vs Homozygous
What: Heterozygous is part of genetics; a type of genotype that includes two different alleles (forms of a gene) for a trait—e.g., Bb, one dominant and one recessive. The dominant trait is expressed as a phenotype. Homozygous is part of genetics; a type of genotype that includes only one type of allele - either both dominant or both recessive. Phenotype depends on which allele is present, recessive trait expressed if recessive alleles present, otherwise dominant.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: This is important to the study of gene-environment interactions in the etiology of disorders. Specifically schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as they have a heavy genetic component. It helps determine how the genetics of a parent influence and are passed down to children
Example: Heterozygous -> Couple comes to counseling because they discovered that someone in their family has a history of a genetic disorder. The client and her husband were tested and found out that they are both heterozygous (carriers) of the disorder. The couple is having problems coping with there being a chance that their offspring may be affected.
Homozygous -> Couple comes to counseling because they discovered that someone in their family has a Huntington’s disease which is caused by a dominant allele. The client and her husband were tested and found out that they are both homozygous for that disorder meaning they cannot possibly be carriers. You support them throughout the process.
Identity Achievement
Who: a term coined by James Marcia for adolescents who have undergone a crisis and have made a commitment.one of Marcia’s four stages of Identity Development. 3 other phases: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, and identity moratorium.
What: Identity achievement occurs when an individual has gone through an exploration of different identities and made a commitment to one
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: It shows us what stage in life a client might be in, how that affects their mentality, and potential treatment options
Example: A teenage client is in their last few sessions with their therapist. They originally came to therapy because they were struggling with their parents over their career choice. The client’s family are all doctors and were pressuring the client to become a doctor as well. The client, however, wanted to be an art teacher. Over the course of therapy, the client had come to terms with their parent’s wishes, but they made the final decision to pursue art and were confident in their decision.
Intergenerational Trauma/Abuse
What: The transmission of traumatic events from one generation to another. The descendants of a trauma or abuse can experience unresolved adverse emotional and behavioral reactions to the traumatic event that are similar to those of the victim themselves. It’s impacted by epigenetic factors and parenting styles.
Where: Taught in Human Growth & Development.
Why: Helps us conceptualize the patient, their history, and how they have gotten to where they are today that has brought them to therapy; predict attachment styles and later social behavior. It can help with case conceptualization and help to stop the cycle of trauma/abuse within a family.
Example: Alex is the child of holocaust survivors, and he experiences fear and mistrust just like his parents did. His parents are both diagnosed with PTSD and Alex is showing signs of it as well.
