Ch1. Orientation to Lifespan Development Flashcards
Goal of Developmental Psych
study development across the lifespan (conception to death)
Prenatal period?
Conception to birth
Infancy and toddlerhood period?
birth to 3 years
Early childhood period?
3-6 years
Middle childhood period?
6-12 years
Adolescence period?
12-20 years
Young adulthood period?
20-40
Middle adulthood period?
40-65
Late adulthood period?
65- death
Quantitative vs qualitative
a little at a time vs drastic changes (Vygotsky vs Piaget)
Critical period
Important stage where normally acquire trait and impossible later
Sensitive period
Stage where normally acquire trait, difficult but possible later
A theory does what?
1) Organize and give meaning to facts
2) Guides future research
3) Directs policy and decision making
Cognitive Development
Interpret changes in behavior over time
Maturation
The predetermined unfolding of genetic information
Psychodynamic perspective
behavior is monitored by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond peoples awareness/control
Psychoanalytic theory
unconscious forces act to determine personality and behavior
Pleasure principle
goal is to maximize satisfaction and reduce tension
Superego
Persons conscience, incorporating distinctions between right and wrong
Classical conditioning
links 2 or more stimuli and anticipate events (bell paired with meat for dog)
Operant conditioning
reward vs punish theory, depending on behavior
Social cognitive theory
observing others (children observe other children)
Cognitive stage theory
the processes that allow people to know, understand, and think about the world
Information processing theory
how people take in, use, and store info
Fixation
behavior reflecting and earlier stage of development due to an unresolved conflict
Psychosexual development
stages that children pass through in which pleasure or gratification focuses on a particular biological function/bodypart
psychosocial development
encompasses changes in our interactions with and understandings of one another
behavioral perspective
approach suggesting that the keys to understanding development are observable behavior and outside stimuli in enviorment
Rogers self actualization
a fully functioning person
Maslow hierarchy of needs
5 tier model of needs, bottom must be completed first
sociocultural theory
based of social interactions
Theory definition?
organized belief about behavior
hypothesis definition?
testable prediction about behavior
Test
systematic way of testing hypothesis
specimen record
all behaviors in given time period
event sampling
all instances of a specific behavior in a given time period
time sampling
record whether certain behaviors occur during a sample of short time intervals (limited to list, no # of instances)
Naturalistic observations Pros and cons
Pros: -everyday behavior
-illuminates social interaction process
Cons: -not all children have same opportunity to exhibit behavior
-difficult to determine what is most influential
Structured observations Pros and cons
Pros: -all children observed in same context -greater control of childs behavior -more convenient to setup Cons: - less natural -may behave differently
Interviews Pros and cons
Pros: -express in own words -comfortable setting Cons: -could be inaccurate -difficult comparing data
Questionnaires Pros and Cons
Pros: -gather a lot of info -easier to compare across children Cons: -can be inaccurate -more info = less accurate results
Case Studies Pros and cons
Pros: -detailed, descriptive analysis -Large body of rich data Cons: -not generalizable to the populationa
Psychophysiology (Heart rate) slows/speeds when?
Slows when infant is interested, speeds when infant is distressed
Other methods of Psychophysiology
EEG (states of arousal)
fMRI ( specialized brain regions)
What are experimental designs
- Only experiment thats cause and effect.
- Randomly assign to conditions
- Manipulate variables
What are Correlational designs
- Explores relations between two factors
- Takes advantage of natural setting/groups
- No manipulations
Operational definition is?
Exactly how to measure or manipulate the variables in a study. Ex. (Happiness measured by frequency of smiles, self report, physiologically -HR-
Independent variable is?
What is being manipulated
Dependent variable is?
What is measured
Confounding variable is?
Other variables that may produce effect
Random assignment is?
Children put into 2 groups by chance
Matching is?
Children put into 2 groups by pre-existing characteristic
Positive correlation example?
The more you study the better your grade
Negative correlation example?
Miles driven vs gas level
Correlation coefficient is?
A number between −1 and +1 calculated so as to represent the linear dependence of two variables or sets of data. ( 0 means no relationship)
Longitudinal designs, Pros and cons
Pros: see average difference and individual differences
Cons: time/money and attrition and cohort effects
Cross sectional designs, Pros and cons
Pros: time/money, all testing done once (no attrition)
Cons: cannot examine change or stability over time
Cannot examine individual differences
Sequential designs, Pros and cons
Pros: - Can examine cohort effects
- Examine several group studies over period of time
- Can examine time of testing effects
Cons: COST
Cohort effects means?
Possible biases that occur
Group that has something in common
Possible cohort effects?
History graded, age graded, sociocultural graded
Ethnography is?
researcher lives amongst members of a society
Cross-cultural comparisons is ?
children in the same culture from same background have similar experiences
Theoretical research?
Research designed to test some developmental explanation and expand scientific knowledge
Applied research?
Research mean to provide practical solutions to immediate problems
Describe some ethical issues that affect psychological research
- Protecting participants from harm
- Informed content of participants
- limits on the use of deception
- Maintenance of privacy
