c5 psych Flashcards
Developmental Psychology: Universal aspects of lifespan development from conception through death
Explores physical, cognitive, social and emotional development
Looks at elements of continuity and change over time
What is prenatal development
Germinal Phase (conception-2 weeks)
Zygote: fertilized egg; divides and implants itself in the wall of the uterus
Placenta: structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into fetus from mother’s bloodstream; allows waste to pass out
Embryonic Stage: (2-8 weeks)
Head, face and neck develop
Buds for limbs form and grow
Major organs/digestive system differentiating
Heartbeat begins
Fetal Stage: (8th week-birth)
3rd month: digestive organs begin to function
buds for teeth form
sex organs develop rapidly
arms/fingers move
4th month: face looks human
lower body outgrows head
bones are defined
5th month: fingernails and toenails appear
Lanugo: fine, wooly hair over body
Vernix: waxy coating collects
6th month: eyebrows/lashes well defined
eyes completely formed
7th month: fetus capable of life outside uterus, age (threshold) of viability has changed and now considered to be 23-26 weeks (used to be 27-28)
8th/9th month: fat is deposited for later use
fingernails beyond fingertips
lanugo is shed
vernix covers body
Myelination of brain takes place in the fetal stage
Teratogens
harmful exposure to situations/substances that affect development resulting in defect, damage or anomaly
Important concepts with teratogens:
Dose
Genetics/Heredity
Age of organism at exposure
Interaction with environmental influences: stress, nutrition, lack of medical care
-Increased understanding of the role of prenatal exposure to drugs on the developing child, with Thalidomide, helped identify how certain drugs could alter development
Smoking:
mild stimulant; increases fetal activity; associated with low birth weight, increased rates of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome)
Alcohol:
Leading teratogen in the United States causing intellectual disabilities.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS):
Physical Symptoms: growth retardation, head and facial abnormalities, microcephaly, skeletal, brain and heart damage
Behavioral Symptoms: Poor impulse control, poor attention, hyperactivity and cognitive deficits.
Paternal age
may be a factor in birth defects and/or certain developmental disabilities
Sensory abilities
Vision:
poor fixation ability
limited ability to discriminate color
estimated visual acuity of between 20/200 and 20/400
preference for human faces
sensory abilities
Hearing: fetus can hear sounds around 6 months in utero
Recognize mother’s voice
Taste and Smell: both present at birth, preference for sweet
Touch: heat, cold, pressure and pain all present at birth
Physical and motor devpt
Cephalocaudal: “top to bottom” motor skills emerge from the head to feet
Proximodistal: “inside-to-outside rule” motor skills emerge in a sequence of center moving outward
Reflexes
Inborn, automatic responses to a particular form of stimulation.
Rooting reflex: survival value, stroke cheek and baby will turn head toward the stimulation
Stepping reflex: basis for complex motor skills, with bare feet touching floor infant will mimic a stepping response (disappears around 2 months)
Moro reflex: if simulate falling or dropping the head the baby shows a startle or alarm reflex; arches back, extends arms, fingers and legs
Sucking reflex: place a finger in mouth and baby will suck; permits feeding
Eyeblink reflex: shine a bright light or clap, they will close eyelids. Protects from strong stimulation
Babinski Reflex: stroke the heel to see reactions of the toes which flex/fan out; normal in infants, if persists can indicate neurological problems
Babinski reflex
: stroke the heel to see reactions of the toes which flex/fan out; normal in infants, if persists can indicate neurological problems
Eyeblink reflex
: shine a bright light or clap, they will close eyelids. Protects from strong stimulation
Sucking reflex
place a finger in mouth and baby will suck; permits feeding
Moro reflex
if simulate falling or dropping the head the baby shows a startle or alarm reflex; arches back, extends arms, fingers and legs
Stepping reflex
basis for complex motor skills, with bare feet touching floor infant will mimic a stepping response (disappears around 2 months)
Rooting reflex
: survival value, stroke cheek and baby will turn head toward the stimulation
Gross and Fine Motor Development:
Individual differences exist, normative expectations for these skills and abilities often called milestones.
There is some data supporting environmental influences either accelerating or impeding the acquisition of developmental milestones.
Gender Differences:
: boys ahead of girls in force and power; girls ahead in fine motor and gross motor skills which involve good balance
Cognitive Difference:
see some gender effects in verbal and mathematical abilities, as well as visual-spatial ability
Temperament
three basic temperaments for infants; difficult, slow to warm and easy
3 types of temperament
Difficult (10%) Often wail, cry and are negative in new situations, eat and sleep irregularly
Slow-to-Warm-Up (15%) Often inactive, adapt slowly and can be withdrawn and show a negative mood
Easy (40%) Cheerful, adpatable, easily establish routines
Mixture (35%)
Goodness of fit
the match between the characteristics of the infant and his/her family is critical to development. Some are better matches than others!
Attachment
: the affectional bond between an infant and its caretaker
separation anxiety:
Infants express their wish to be attached by wishing to be close to their caretaker and showing signs of distress when their caretaker departs. This emotional upset is called separation anxiety.
Stranger Anxiety:
Stranger Anxiety: develops when infants are around 6-7 months ending around 18 months. If a stranger approaches, the infant becomes afraid and reaches for the caregiver for comfort and reassurance
4 types of attachment patterns.
Securely Attached: child uses the parent as a safe base to explore, when separated the child may not cry during absence, seek contact when parent returns, decrease crying if present (~60% of U.S. infants)
Avoidant attachment: unresponsive to parent when present, no distress when she leaves, react to stranger similar as to parent, slow to greet parent when she returns, ~20% show this pattern in the U.S.
Ambivalent/Resistant Attachment: Seek closeness with their parents, fail to explore, upon return display angry, resistant behavior, cannot be comforted, -15% U.S.
Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment: greatest amount of insecurity, In reunion show disorganized, confused behaviors. Seem confused, glazed and spacey. Mothers are more avoidant and inconsistent with a lack of sensitivity to infant’s needs.
~ 5% of infants in the U.S.
Some cultural variations identified in attachment patterns that are challenged
Attachment Deprivation: Harlow Monkey Studies
Attachment and Contact Comfort: hypothesized that animals/humans need warmth, comfort as a primary need
Parenting styles?
Authoritarian: restrictive parenting; insist on obedience, rigid rules; no explanations and insensitivity. Preschoolers were moody; easily annoyed, unfriendly, less motivated
Authoritative: assume control with flexibility; reasonable demands; provide reasons for rules/decisions. Preschoolers were cheerful, socially responsible; achievement oriented and cooperative
Permissive: accepting and lax with few demands; little monitoring; few controls. Preschoolers were impulsive, aggressive, bossy self centered, low in independence and achievement
Uninvolved (Maccoby): removed or hostile parenting; overwhelmed with own stressors have little time or energy to parent. Children high in aggression, temper tantrums, perform poorly in classroom
Stage theories?
stages build on each other
Progress is strongly related to age
Development is marked by discontinuities that result in dramatic transitions
Cognitive development
How a child thinks, including reasoning, remembering and problem solving
Schemas: models about how the world works
Development 2 processes are?
Assimilation: how to fit new information into the present system of knowledge
Accommodation: existing structures don’t fit so a child must develop new schemas
Piaget stage of cognitive development
Sensorimotor (birth-2 years)
Infants learn through concrete motor actions; by touching, tasting and smelling
Accomplish object permanance (6 months)
Develop capacity for mental imagery
Organize information into categories
Increasingly able to use purposeful activity
Preoperational 2-7y
Gradually improve in mental images
Can pretend
Action Oriented
Develop representational thought
Have NOT mastered conservation: basic properties of an object remain stable even if superficial properties change
Flaws of thinking in Preoperational Children
Centration: focus on one aspect of a problem and neglect other aspects
Irreversibility: inability to envision reversing an action
Egocentrism: thinking characterized by a limited ability to share another person’s point of view
Concrete Operations: (7-11)
The child performs operations on tangible objects and events
Show increased flexibility in thinking
Can begin to see cause and effect
Masters reversibility and decentration
Can retrace thoughts
Understands hierarchies
Formal Operations (12>
Begin to see abstract reasoning
Understand metaphor and deductive reasoning
Become more systematic in thinking
Can discuss moral values
Piaget criticized for underestimating children’s abilities, not focusing enough on individual differences; much research still supports his theories/beliefs
Adolescence
Adolescent growth spurt: rapid growth in height and weight as the body is preparing for hormonal shifts/ maturation
Asynchrony: certain body parts grow at different speeds leading to a lack of proportion
Prefrontal Cortex: final maturation of the prefrontal cortex takes place in late adolescence and young adulthood. This area is responsible for organization, planning, emotional regulation and impulse control.
Prefrontal cortex
final maturation of the prefrontal cortex takes place in late adolescence and young adulthood. This area is responsible for organization, planning, emotional regulation and impulse control.
Puberty:
sexual functions reach maturity; impacts social and emotional development
Menarche:
first occurrence of menstruation
Spermarche:
first occurrence of ejaculation
Early maturing males/females?
Early maturing males have positive self-concepts
Early maturing females: greater chance of depression, anxiety, eating disorders
Impact of early puberty—associated with obesity, higher BMI
Elkind( AIPI?)
Adolescent Egocentrism: way of thinking the world is focused on themselves
Imaginary Audience: belief that everyone in the environment is concerned with the behavior/appearance of him/herself
Personal Fable: View him/herself as somehow unique or heroic
Invincibility Fable: false sense that h/she can’t be harmed
Theory of lifespan development. Believes each stage involves a psychosocial crisis:
a transition which is organized around social relationships and that personality is determined by these stages
Intellectual Functioning and Age:
Fluid Intelligence: (basic information processing skills) is more likely to decline with age
Crystallized Intelligence: application of accumulated knowledge remains more stable
Maintaining a sense of control? ON WHAT>
Maintaining a sense of control over one’s life leads to greater psychological well-being in the elderly
Ways to promote Healthy Aging
Increase healthy behaviors
Promote companionship
Take vitamin supplements (some question this)
Stay active physically and intellectually
Volunteer or work
Maintain positive relationships with family/friends
wAYS TO SUPPORT DATOK AND NENEK
Have a positive attitude
Decrease sun exposure
Decrease smoking, drinking
Be a health care consumer; ask questions
Find faith
Recent programs supporting the elderly and children in daycare
SECURELY ATTACHED:
child uses the parent as a safe base to explore, when separated the child may not cry during absence, seek contact when parent returns, decrease crying if present (~60% of U.S. infants)
Avoidant attachment:
Avoidant attachment: unresponsive to parent when present, no distress when she leaves, react to stranger similar as to parent, slow to greet parent when she returns,
Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment
greatest amount of insecurity, In reunion show disorganized, confused behaviors. Seem confused, glazed and spacey. Mothers are more avoidant and inconsistent with a lack of sensitivity to infant’s needs.
Ambivalent/Resistant Attachment:
Seek closeness with their parents, fail to explore, upon return display angry, resistant behavior, cannot be comforted, -15% U.S.
