9- Developmental Psychology Flashcards
Fertilized egg; enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
Zygote
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
Developmental psychology
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks to the 2nd month
Embryo
The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
Fetus
Formed by the outer cells of the zygote; attaches to the uterine wall, and transfers nutrients and oxygen from mother to fetus
Placenta
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Teratogen
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant women’s heavy drinking; in severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial mis proportions.
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation; getting used to something
Habituation
Prefer sights and sounds that facilitate social responsiveness
Child’s preferences/novelties
At birth, we have most of the brain cells we will have
Brain development in infancy
Shuts down excess connections and strengthens others
Pruning process
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Maturation
Learning to walk is a part of …
Motor development in infancy
No clear memories prior to age three; immature hippocampus and frontal lobes
Infantile amnesia
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Cognition
Interested in children’s cognitive abilities in the 1920s
Piaget
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Schema
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Assimilation
Adapting our current understandings to incorporate new information
Accommodation
Sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, formal operational stage
Piaget’s theory and current thinking
The stage (from birth to 2 years) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities; involves object permanence and stranger anxiety
Sensorimotor stage
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Object permanence
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning about 8 months
Stranger anxiety
Stage (from 2 years to about 6 or 7 years) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic; involves pretend play, egocentrism, and the inability to comprehend conservation
Preoperational stage
The principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Conservation
The preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view
Egocentrism
The stage (from 6 or 7 years to 11 years) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events; involves conservation and mathematical transformations
Concrete operational stage
Stage (normally begins around 12 years) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts; involves abstract logic and potential for mature moral reasoning
Formal operational stage
People’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts- and behaviors these might predict
Theory of mind
Studied how a child’s mind feeds on the language of social interaction
Lev Vygotsky
- Development is more continuous
- influential theory
- larger emphasis on social factors
Piaget’s theory
The zone between what they could learn with and without help
Zone of proximal development
A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of other’s states of mind
Autism
An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress upon separation
Attachment
Body contact
Harlow’s studies
An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development
Critical period
The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life; studied by Konrad Lorenz with birds
Imprinting
A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Temperament
A
Secure attachment
A
Insecure attachment
A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
Basic trust
Our understanding and evaluation of who we are
Self-concept
How we feel about who we are
Self-esteem
Begins when we recognize ourselves in a mirror; how our behavior affects others
Self-awareness
Parents who impose rules and expect obedience; children have less social skills and low self-esteem
Authoritarian parents
Parents who submit to their child’s desires; children are more aggressive and immature
Permissive parents
Parents who are both demanding and responsive; children have high self-esteem, social competence, and self-reliance
Authoritative parents
Studied parenting styles and their child’s behavior
Baumrind
The biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female
Gender
- More socially dominant
- more directive
- over represented in government
- professions pay more
- play in large groups and competitively
Male social development
- more democratic
- professions pay less
- not as much represented in government
- bond the family together
- turn for help in times of stress
Female social development
Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone
Aggression
- Physical aggression
- relational aggression- intentionally excluding someone
- verbal aggression
Types of aggression
X and Y chromosomes
Sex chromosomes
Found in both men and women; females- 2; males- 1
X-chromosome
Found only in males; produces a male child when paired with an X from the mother
Y-Chromosome
Most important of the male sex hormones; additional levels of this hormone in males stimulates the growth of male sex organs
Testosterone
A set of expected behaviors for males or for females
Gender role
A set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
Role
Our sense of being male or female
Gender identity
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
Gender typing
Theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded
Social learning theory
Developed set of rules for being male or female and putting people into groups based on your rules
Gender schema
Impoverished environment–>impoverished brain cells
Enriched environment–>enriched brain cell
Experience and brain development
Influence our peer group, religious faith, college and career choices, and political views
Parental influences
Influence the way we talk, act, and dress
Peer influences
The transition period childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence; longer today than before; now 12-25
Adolescence
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Puberty
Required for reproduction; ovaries, testes, and external genitalia
Primary sex characteristics
Nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
Secondary sex characteristics
The first menstral period
Menarche
Studied Morality in humans
Kohlberg
Before age 9, morality focuses on self-interest (avoiding punishment and gaining rewards)
Pre-conventional morality
By early adolescence, morality focuses on caring for others and on upholding laws and social rules
Conventional morality
Reach upon the gaining the abstract reasoning of formal operational thoughts; not everyone reaches this level; actions are judged “right” because they flow from people’s agreed upon rights; example: civil disobedience; seen more in western cultures
Post conventional morality
Moral feeling precedes moral reasoning
Social intuitionism account of morality
Studied psychosocial development
Erikson
Trust vs mistrust
Infancy
Autonomy vs shame and doubt
Toddlerhood
Initiative vs guilt
Preschool
Industry vs inferiority
Elementary school
Identity vs role confusion
Adolescene
Intimacy vs isolation
Young adulthood
Generatively/work vs stagnation
Middle adulthood
Integrity vs despair
Late adulthood
Our sense of self
Identity
The “we” aspect of our self-concept
Social identity
The ability to form close, loving relationships
Intimacy
In modern culture, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood
Emerging adulthood
Crest during the mid-twenties
Physical abilities
The time of natural cessation of menstraution; biological changes a women experiences as her ability to reproduce declines
Menstraution
- males more prone to dying
- women outlive men by 4-5 years
- anger and depression increase the risk of ill health and premature death
Life expectancy
- visual sharpness decreases
- distance perception and adaptation to changes in light level are less acute
- muscles strength, reaction time, and stamina diminish as well as vision, smell, and hearing
Sensory abilities
- disease fighting immune system weakens
- often suffer fewer short-term ailments
- brain functions important to memory begin to diminish during aging
- exercise promotes neurogenesis
Health changes later in life
Mental erosion
Dementia
Strikes 3% of the world’s population by age 75; first memory deteriorates then reasoning; deterioration of neurons that produce acetylcholine
Alzheimer’s
- Remember more important events from teens and early twenties than events later in life
- recall more names when introduced at least 3 times
- prospective emory remains strong when events trigger memory
- more likely to remember meaningful information
- learning and verbal skills decline less than verbal skills
Aging and memory
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Cross-sectional study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Longitudinal study
Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Crystallized intelligence
Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
Fluid intelligence
Cognitive decline typically accelerates the last 3-4 years of life
Terminal decline
Around forty, when we realize our life is mostly behind us instead of in front of us
Midlife crisis/transition
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Social clock
