CH4: Human Development

Question 1

What is developmental psychology?

Answer 1

the study of how behaviour and mental processes change over time and their factors that influence behaviour.

Question 2

Factors that influence behaviour

Answer 2

Social emotional
cognitive
moral
physical

Question 3

Habituation Paradigm

Answer 3

getting bored of looking at the same thing

Question 4

Longitudinal Studies

Answer 4

the observation of a group of people over time with repeated measurements, asking questions or tasks to see if there is a difference in response.

Question 5

Cross-Sectional Studies

Answer 5

Comparing different groups of people of different ages in a single point in time

Question 6

Cohort-Segmential Studies

Answer 6

Combines both longitudinal and cross-sectional by observing several age groups and following them over time.

Question 7

Attachment

Answer 7

Strong emotional connection persisting over time.

Question 8

Leonrad Corenz

Answer 8

Taught birds to think he’s their mother, imprinting onto them

Question 9

Imprinting and Familiarity

Answer 9

Imprinting doesn’t happen to humans, but familiarity is important such as prefering the sound of their mother’s voice.

Question 10

Harry Harlow

Answer 10

Performed the “mother” experiment, taking a monkey away from it’s mother and giving it two mothers, one carrying food, another carrying warmth. The monkey preferred the warmth mother, and only went to the food mother when it was necessary with the least amount of time possible.

Question 11

Mary Ainsworth

Answer 11

Created the “strange situation” test, putting a child with their mother and a stranger and running multiple scenarios to see how the baby would respond. This developed attachment theory.

Question 12

Genetic Predisposition

Answer 12

Serotonin transporter gene, creating secure attachments regardless of parental responses.

Question 13

Social Development

Answer 13

Social bonds are important to one’s development (familiarity). Individual differences in attachment style (genes).

Question 14

Cognitive Development

Answer 14

Changes in our thinking that happen over time. Mistakes inform us which stage the child is in.

Question 15

Moral Development

Answer 15

There are 3 levels of development, each with 2 sub levels. Pre-conventional, conventional, pos-conventional.

Question 16

Schema

Answer 16

Mental molds where we store our experiences.

Question 17

Assimilation

Answer 17

Fitting new experiences into our current understanding.

Question 18

Accommodation

Answer 18

Adjusting and expanding schema in response to new information.

Question 19

Pre-conventional

Answer 19

External authority, centres on what you can get away with. This is usually before 9 years old.

Question 20

Conventional

Answer 20

Focused on rules, centres on avoiding disapproval. This is usually in early adolescence.

Question 21

Pos-conventional

Answer 21

One’s personal code of ethics, determined by abstract ethical principles. This is usually in adolescence and beyond.

Question 22

Nature vs. Nurture

Answer 22

Traits and behaviours are almost always influenced by environmental conditions and genes.

Question 23

Maturation

Answer 23

The unfolding of development in a particular sequence and time frame.

Question 24

Epigenetic

Answer 24

Changes in gene expression that are independent of the DNA of the gene.

Question 25

Stage

Answer 25

A phase where organisms think, behave, or respond, in a particular way that is different from how they responded beofre.

Question 26

Quantitative Change

Answer 26

Gradual increase in some element such as height or weight.

Question 27

Qualitative Change

Answer 27

A drastically big change in one’s behaviour or response. An example being a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Qualitative could be the results of gradual accumulation of small changes, making it much more difficult to determine if it is qualitative.

Question 28

Preoperational Stage

Answer 28

Children are able to build on object permanence, and develop abstract thoughts. They are able to think about things from the past beyond the physical world. Around 2 - 7 years old.

Question 29

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 29

Time where child is capable of understanding the difference between them and their environment, and use their senses to discover more about themselves and environment. This happens within the first 2 years.

Question 30

Concrete-Operational Stage

Answer 30

Where a child is now capable of using logic in their thought processes, and develop the classification of objects based off of their similarities and differences. Happens from 7 to 12 years old.

Question 31

Formal-Operational Stage

Answer 31

Stage where children are capable of formulating hypothesises and testing them out to come to a conclusion. They are able to think abstractly and form their own problems. Happens from 12 years and older.