500 - DEENA' VERSION Human Growth and Development Flashcards
Accommodation
WHO: Derived from Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Infant Development
WHERE: Taught in Human Growth & Development
WHAT: When people alter/adjust their schemas to take new information and experiences into account. –old schemas may be changed AND/OR new schemas may be formed.
**alter understandings based on new info
ex: kid thinks all 4 legged animals are dogs, sees a cat, changes schemas of 4 legged animals
WHY: This is imporant as it’s essential for keeping one’s understanding of the world up-to-date and accurate. Also helps them develop their own sense of the world.
EXAMPLE: A client comes to therapy and reports that she was abused by her father as a child. As a result, she grows up with a strong distrust of adult men. As the client grows up and moves out, she encounters other men who are kind and gentle. The schema that she previously held, that adult men are scary and aggressive changes to accept that not all men are intimidating.
Assimilation
WHO: Jean Piaget
WHERE: Taught in Human Growth & Development
WHAT: Assimilation occurs when children use existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences
- form of adjustment modification
*adding info
**kid sees a new breed of dog, adds this new breed of dog to their established schema of what dogs are
WHY: Helps us to understand how people process new information and learn using already encoded knowledge
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.
- formed in phases beginning at infancy
- based on security, safety, and love needs
- indication of future bonds with other individuals in childhood + adulthood
4 types =
1) secure (confident, accepts support, good boundaries)
2) avoidant (distant, unemotional, avoids closeness, fear of abandonment, lacks boundaries)
3) anxious (clingly, emotional, seeks reassurance)
4) disorganized (craves closeness but rejects/is fearful of it, emotional volatility)
WHY: Important as early attatchment may forshadow later relationship/social behavior. Identifying one’s dysfunctio attatchment style could be a target for treatment.
EXAMPLE: A women comes to therapy due to troubles in her marriage. She claims her husband is clingy, very emotional, and often seeks reassurance that she’s not cheating on her. After further conversation, the therapist suspects her husband developed an anxious attatchment style as an infant.
Androgyny
WHAT: Having both feminine and masculine attributes (appearance, traits, attitudes, or behavior)
- person does not fit into gender stereotypes
- psychologically healthier to have blended traits (promotes competency, flexibility, and mental well-being)
WHY: Important part of a client’s identity to understand (using correct pronouns, etc.). It hints at the client’s culture and perspective (possibily LGBT aligned).
EXAMPLE: A family brings their teenage child into therapy. The parents are worried as their child does not fit into typical gender stereotypes. This is causing conflict and distress at home. After further investigation, the therapist explains that the child is androgynous.
Child Abuse
WHAT: The physical, emotion, sexual, and/or neglectful maltreatment of a child
- usually by a parent, guardian, or caretaker
WHY: Therapists are mandated to report any suspicion of abuse of minors to the authories. It is important to be aware of any potentional signs of abuse. Additionally, abuse tends to occur withi a cycle that often results in pathology within victims. Breaking the cycle of abuse can be a target of treatment.
EXAMPLE: A therapist noticed bruises on one of their child clients. The child was appeared more withdrawn and fearful. After further investigation, the child admitted that his parents would hit him after minor mistakes. The therapist was required to report this to authorities for the child’s well-being.
Continuity vs. Non-continuity
WHO: Piaget, Erikson
WHAT: Debate of whether development is…
Continuous (Erikson)
- gradual
- cumulative changes
- ex: child developing speech, child growing taller
Discontinuous (Piaget)
- distinct steps or stages
- sudden changes
- produce different changes are different points in life
- ex: Erikson, Piaget
WHY: Important to be aware what stage of development a client may be in. This aids in case conception and treatment planning. Identifying in a theory of development may help to chose a therapeutic perspective.
EXAMPLE: Parents bring their two year old child to therapy because they are worried that the child’s speech is delayed since the books they’ve read say children will begin speaking at 1.5-2 years old. The therapist explains speech acquisition is a continuous process and that it will come gradually, rather that suddely appearing at a specific age
Critical Period
WHAT: A fixed time period in which certain experiences or events (or lack of them) may have long lasting effects on development.
- from birth to ~5 years old
- a stage during maturation where the nervous system is especially sensitive to environmental stimuli
WHY: Important to know that the reason a client is lacking certain skills or abilities may be due to them not receiving the appropriate stimuli during their critical perioid needed to deveoped a givien skill. It may make it difficult or maybe impossible to try to develop the skill later in life. This understanding may aid in case conceptualization and treatment planning (i.e. skills training).
EXAMPLE: Parents bring their adopted 6 year old child to therapy because they are worried about the child’s development. They say the child struggles at school to socialize, make friends, and regulate their emotions. After further conversation, the therapist learns that the child was grossly neglected and isolated in their first few years old life. The therapist explains that the child was not given opportunities to socialize and faced lots of stress during a critical period of their development.
Developmental Level
WHO: Piaget, Bandura, Erikson
WHAT: Part of developmental psychology.
A stage in development in which a person achieves milestones within a certain time frame
- provides of frame of references for normal progression or growth
WHY: This is important as it allows parents/guardians/clinicians to know if the child is developing normally, or if there are potentially problems that may need to be addressed in treatment. It differentiates between minute, individual differences and more serious cognitive or neurological differences.
EXAMPLE: A mother brings her four year old daughter to treatment because she has not began speaking yet. The doctor was unable to find a physical reason that could be preventing speech. The therapist explains that speech typically should have occured by this developmental stage and suspects that the lack of speech may be due to a developmental delay, possibily caused by cognitive or neurological problems.
Egocentrism
WHAT: The inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective from someone else’s. Occurs during the preoperatioinal stage of Piget’s theory of cognitive development (2-7 years old)
An egocentric person…
- believes their perspective is the only one
- believes others see thing from the same point of view
- believes others think, feel, and act the same way they do
WHY: This is important as it helps to determine if tthe child as moved into the next stage of developmment, the concrete operational stage. It helps to determine whether or not a child is aware of those around them (sympathy/empathy). It aids in case conceptualization, treatment planning, and psychoeducation of the parents/guardians.
EXAMPLE: A mother brings her 5 year old daughter to therapy due to the child’s habit of stealing toys from school. The mother says she tries to tell her child that she needs to return the toys because other children may be sad they don’t get to play with that toy. She says her child doesn’t seem to care or understand that concept. The therapist explains that the child is displaying egocentrism, which is normal for her age. She tells the mother her child is not able to understand the feelings of others because she believes eveyone’s thoughts and feelings align with her own.
Genotype vs. Phenotype
WHAT:
Genotype =
- genetic makeup of a person
- made up of dominant + recessive genes from parents
Phenotype =
- physical expression of genes
- observable and measurable characteristics
WHY: This is important to understand as certain disorders can be genetically inherited. It helps to explain the relationship between DNA and observable attributes. Knowing about one’s genetic makeup and well as their observable characteristic may aid in case conceptualization, treatment planning, and psychoeducation of the parents/guardians or client themselves
EXAMPLE: A man comes to therapy because he has been extremely distressed due to his suspicion of his wife’s infidelity following the birth of their child. The man says that the child has blonde hair, even though both parents have brown hair. The therapist explains that him and his wife may have recessive genes (genotypes) for light hair, even though neither of them express that gene physically (phenotype), and that two recessive genes resulted in the child having light hair.
Genotype-environment Relationship
WHAT: The interaction between one’s genetics and their environment.
- environment influences whether one reaches their genetic potential (i.e. rich and encouraging environment vs poor and discouraging one)
3 types =
1) passive: parents create home environment around child
2) evocative: child’s inherited characteristics elicit responses from their environment
3) active/niche-picking: child seeks out actives or environments because of their genotype
WHY: This is important to understand how one’s environment may have elicited certain traits or symptoms from them. It also may help to explain why a person continuous engages in harmful activities (i.e. addiction due to genetics).
EXAMPLE: A man is telling his therapist he is concerned about his youngest daughter. He says the oldest is very social and outgoing, but the younger one has much fewer friends and prefers to spend a lot of time alone. The therapist suspects this is an active genotype-environment relationship, in which each child’s traits have led them to seek out different environments.
Habituation
WHO: Fantz
WHAT: Part of learning theory.
A decrease in responsiveness to a stimuli after repeated presentations
- subject becomes desensitized to stimulus
WHY: Important to understand habituation, as many treatment approaches rely on habituation, such as exposure therapy for phobias. Could help to explain certain client behaviors. It is also used to determine if infants who cannot speak yet are able to differentiate between stimuli.
EXAMPLE: A mother brings her young son to therapy due to her having trouble controlling the child’s behavior. She says in the past, each time the child would misbehave, she would yell and he would stop. However, recently he seems to be unaffected by her yelling. The therapist suspects the child has become habituated to this form of punishment and suggests the mother uses a different and more purposeful method to discourage bad behavior.
Heterozygous vs Homozygous
WHAT:
Heterozygous =
- type of genotype that includes two different alleles for a trait
- one dominant allele and one recessive
Homozygous =
- type of genotype that includes only one type of allele
- alleles may be both dominant or recessive
WHY: This is important to understand how parents’ genetics are passed down to/influence their children’s genotypes and phenotypes. It is relevant to the genotype-environment interaction. Could aid in case conceptualization, treatment planning, and psychoeducation of the parents/guardians or client themselves
EXAMPLE: A man comes to therapy because he has been extremely distressed due to his suspicion of his wife’s infidelity following the birth of their child. The man says that the child has blonde hair, even though both parents have brown hair. The therapist explains that him and his wife may have heterozygous genes for hair color (dark = dominant, light = recessive), and that the child inherited a homozygous allele of two recessive genes resulting in the child having light hair.
Identity Achievement
WHAT: Occurs when a person has undergo a crisis (explored several different identities) and has made a commitment (investment in an identity) to one.
- crisis and commitment are present during identity achievement
- begins when an adolescent reaches a crisis and decides how to confront it
- related to stable self esteem + healthy psychological functioning
WHY: This is important as it may reveal what stage in life a client may be in and how that stage is affecting their state of mind/cognitions and behavior. Knowing what stage of life a client is in may help in treatment planning.
EXAMPLE: Mia is a therapy client who is in her last couple sessions. She initially came to therapy due to conflicts with her parents at home over Mia’s career choice. Both of her parents are doctors and they had been pressuring Mia to become a doctor too. During treatment, the therapist helped Mia reach identity achievement and she had decided medicine was not a career that aligned with her values, interests, and passions. Even though it conflicts with her parents’ identity and wishes, she decided to pursue teaching and feels confident in her decision.
Intergenerational Trauma/Abuse
WHAT: The transmission of traumatic events from one generation to another
- children of victims of trauma or abuse can experience the unresolved adverse emotional and behavioral reactions to the traumatic event, similar to those of the OG trauma victim
- impacted by parenting styles + epigenetic factors
WHY: Having a complete family history helps to better understand the client. It may help to explain current behavioral or emotional problems and predict future behavior. It may also influence treatment planning– stopping the cycle of trauma/of abuse within a family.
EXAMPLE: Jane’s parents were holocaust survivors. Their trauma impacted their parenting style: strict and emotionally unavailable. Because of this, Jane has grown up with anxiety and difficulty expressing/regulating emotions. She has come to therapy to work on this, and so when she has children she can use healthier parenting styles.
