CH 9 PSY 120 Flashcards
Paul Baltes’ Framework
Development is lifelong
Development depends on history and context
Development is multidirectional and multidimensional
Development is plastic
Pre-natal Development
Only 10-20% of fertilized eggs survive two weeks to make it to implantation
The single cell zygote develops to an embryo, then to a fetus
Embryos are vulnerable, and chromosomal disorders can lead to spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)
Pre-natal Dangers
Proper maternal nutrition is vital; malnutrition can lead to birth defects, low birth weight and stillbirth
Maternal age outside of optimal range can pose difficulties
Both for teens and over age 35
Teratogens
Teratogens are external/environmental contaminants that can penetrate the maternal protections of pregnancy and cause harm to the fetus
Many affect the same things – heart rate, oxygen, nutrition, etc.
Medical Drugs
Examples:
Medical Drugs
Thalidomide and birth defects
Environmental pollution
Lead paints can affect cognitive development
Alcohol
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Nicotine
Learning disorders, low birth weight, SIDS
Illegal drugs
Children born addicted
Capacities at Birth
sight-binocular depth perception by 4-5m, 20/20 by 6m.
Preferences on hearing, tastes and odors already present at birth
Reflexes are innate, unlearned, adaptive behaviors
Others include grasping, stepping, a basic swim reflex
Piaget’s Model of Cognitive Development
Driven by improving skills to organize information
First stage of Piaget’s Model
First stage is sensorimotor – learning and thought is centered on the senses and the motor skills
Babies develop more complex schemes (structures) for understanding the world
Lasts from birth until about 2 years old
No sense of object permanence
End goal is mental representation
Piaget’s Second Stage
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (2-6y)
Follows the onset of mental representation at end of sensorimotor stage
Marked by advances and refinements based on this
Can now manipulate information in the mind, but with limitations
Preoperational Stage Limits
Centration – a tendency to focus on only one dimension of a problem
Can’t do conservation tasks
Egocentrism – a tendency to only be able to reason about a problem from one’s own viewpoint
Three Mountain Problem
Piaget’s Concrete Operations (7-12y)
Onset of logical, but not abstract thought
Greater aptitude in using mental representations
Now able to reason better in multiple dimensions
This improves conservation
Allows ability to use maps for finding directions
Allows greater aptitude with math
Main limitation is with respect to abstract thought
Child cannot fully comprehend non-concrete concepts
Piaget’s Formal Operations
Ability to think abstractly
Can now deal with abstract concepts without concrete representation
Life, death, the self, morality, abstract math
Able to deal with hypothetical-deductive reasoning
Evolution of “what if” ability for abstractions
Why the progress?
Brain maturation – synaptic pruning
Greater experience lead to shifts in schemes
Piaget’s Criticism
Criticism: Piaget’s model essentially stops at adolescence
However, there’s still more development to take place, as adolescent thought faces many barriers
Argumentativeness
Indecisiveness
Finding fault with authority
Self-consciousness – the imaginary audience
Assumption of invulnerability
Dangers with driving, recklessness, drugs, etc.
Piaget tended to underestimate the capabilities of young children
Tasks used were too abstract
Many skills arrive earlier, but Piaget didn’t have the methodology to test earlier
Behaviorism
gender identity is based on reinforcement and punishment
Development of Gender Identity
Cognitive – children categorize or develop gender schemata
Schemata will include propositions and prototypes
These are used to define sexes and expectations
Built on input from all aspects of the local environment
Parenting Styles
One’s style of parenting is a product of many things
Upbringing
Temperament - innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts with the environment
The child’s attachment style