AP Psychology Unit 9: Developmental Psychology Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout a lifespan
Nature vs. Nurture
How does our genetic inheritance (nature) interact with our experiences (nurture) to influence our development?
Continuity vs. Stages
What parts of development are gradual and continuous, like riding an escalator? What parts change abruptly in separate stages, like climbing rungs on a ladder?
Stability vs. Change
Which of our traits persist through life? How do we change as we age?
Stage Theories
State that we develop in a set sequence. They suggest how people think and act differently when they arrive at a later age.
Zygote
The fertilized egg; It enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo. Its inner cells become the embryo while its outer cells become the placenta
Germinal Stage
Starts at the time of conception, when the sperm and the egg combine to form a zygote. During the germinal stage, the zygote begins to divide in order to implant into the uterine wall. Once implantation is complete, the embryonic stage begins. Lasts roughly 10 days
Embryo
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.
Embryonic Stage
Runs from the 5th to the 10th week of pregnancy. Organs begin to form and function and the heart begins to beat
Fetus
The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth. An embryo becomes a fetus about 9 weeks after conception.
Placenta
A disc of tissue that connects a mother’s uterus to the umbilical cord, and is ultimately responsible for delivering nutrients and oxygen to a fetus
Teratogens
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Fetal Alchohol Syndrome
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features. Alcohol has an epigenetic effect, switching genes abnormally on or off
Baby’s Reflexes
- Rooting reflex (searching for a nipple)
- Sucking reflex (drinking breast milk)
- Startle reflex (when arms and legs spring out, followed by fist-clenching and crying)
- Grasping reflex (helps babies stay close to their caregivers)
- Babinski reflex (when the sole of the foot is stroked, the big toe moved upward while the rest of the toes fan out)
Habituation
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Pruning
Our developing brain’s tendency to shut down unused neural links under the influence of adrenal hormones during puberty
Association Areas
Brain areas that are associated with thinking, memory, and language. They are the last brain areas to develop in the process of maturation
Nature vs Nurture in Motor Development
Genes (nature) guide motor development (children walk at different ages)
Nurture may speed up the process of walking (some cultural groups massage their babies’ legs, speeding up the process of learning to walk)
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Schemas
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Assimilation
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Accommodation
Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
Sensorimotor Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
Object Permanence
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. Develops at about 8 months of age
Preoperational Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
Conservation
The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Egocentrism
In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another person’s point of view
Pretend Play
The preoperational child’s acting out of stories which involve multiple perspectives, the playful manipulation of ideas and emotions, and the use of symbols
Theory of Mind
People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states; about their feelings, perceptions, thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict. Develops during the preoperational stage, although preoperational children are still egocentric
Concrete Operational Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events. Reversibility is developed.
Formal Operational Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts. Reasoning can be applied to imagined realities and symbols
Scaffold
A framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking
Zone of Proximal Development
Vygotsky’s concept of a zone between what a child can do and can’t do, or what they can do with help. Children learn best when their social environment presents them with something that is between too easy and too difficult
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixed interests and repetitive behaviors. This occurs due to poor communication among brain areas that normally work together to help us understand another person’s viewpoint
Animism
A preoperational child’s tendency to give life to an inanimate object
Hierarchial Classification
The ability to simultaneously sort things into general and more specific groups using different types of comparisons. Develops during the concrete operational stage.
Reversibility
A mental operation that reverses a sequence of events or restores a changed state of affairs to its original condition
Centration
A preoperational child’s tendency to focus on one salient aspect of a situation and neglect other, possibly relevant aspects
Stranger Anxiety
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning about 8 months of age
Attachment
An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to their caregiver and showing distress on separation
Critical Period
An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
Imprinting
The process by which certain animals form strong attachments early in life
Strange Situation
A procedure for studying child-caregiver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and then returns, and the child’s reactions are observed
Secure Attachment
Demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregiver’s return
Insecure Attachment
Demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness
Temperament
A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Anxious Attachment
An attachment style where people constantly crave acceptance but remain vigilant to signs of possible rejection
Avoidant Attachment
An attachment style where people experience discomfort getting close to others and use avoidant strategies to maintain distance from others
Basic Trust
According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers