Chapter 10 Flashcards
What is developmental psychology?
study of how behaviour changes over human life span
What are some issues confronting developmental psychology?
Post hoc fallacy: logical error where you assume A causes B just because B comes after A (problem because dev psych looks at effects over time)
Bidirectional Influences: human development is 2 way street, children development shapes their experiences in the same way children’s experiences influence their development, as people age they select own environments
Cohort effects: sets of people who lived during one period systematically differ from sets of people who grew up in different period (choosing b/w cross-sectional and longitudinal designs)
What is the difference between longitudinal and cross sectional research designs?
A longitudinal study may follow up on the findings of a cross-sectional study to investigate the relationship between the variables more thoroughly. The difference between these studies is the timeline and variable. In a cross-sectional study, researchers observe the same constant variable, and the study is carried out only once.
Why are infant determinism and childhood fragility flawed?
early input exerts significant impact on development but so does all other input throughout life
Children are more resilient than believed
What is infant determinism?
early experiences are profoundly influential
What is childhood fragility
children are more vulnerable to stress
What are the 3 arguments that shape the nature-nurture debate?
Nature via nurture: tendency of individuals with certain genetic predispositions to select environment that permit expression of those predispositions
Gene expression: activation of deactivation of genes by environmental experiences throughout development
Gene-environment interaction: impact of genes on behaviour depends on environment where behaviour develops
When do the most dramatic changes occur during development?
during prenatal development
What does prenatal mean
pre-birth period
What is a zygote:
formed when sperm cells fertilizes an egg
What happens before 3 stages of fetal development? What are the 3 stages of prenatal development
a zygote is formed when sperm fertilizes an egg,
Germinal, embryonic, fetal
What is the first stage of prenatal development?
Germinal stage:
zygote divides to form blastocyst
What is a blastocyst
ball of identical cells in early pregnancy that haven’t taken on specific function in a body part
What is the 2nd stage of prenatal development
Embryonic stage
middle of 2nd week, cells assume different functions and blastocyst becomes embryo where limbs, facial features, major organs and body take form
What is an embryo
unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development, in particular a human offspring during the period from approximately the second to the eighth week after fertilization
What is the final stage of prenatal development
Fetal stage
9th week, major organs are established, heart begins to beat, physical bulking occupies rest of fetal development
Describe prenatal brain development
B/w day 18 and 6th month, 250,000 neurons generated per minute (more than fetus requires post birth)
fetal brain begins as long tube, develops into variety of structures with brain stem (controls basic functions) and cortical structures later in pregnancy
List 3 obstacles to development
- Premature birth
- Exposure to environmental influences
- Biological influences from genetic disorder or mutations
Describe environmental threats to development
teratogens: environmental factors that exert negative impact on prenatal dev.
- smoking etc
Alcohol consumption can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (learning disabilities, behaviour disorders, delayed growth, facial malformations)
Describe environmental threats to development
teratogens: environmental factors that exert negative impact on prenatal dev.
- smoking etc
Alcohol consumption can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (learning disabilities, behaviour disorders, delayed growth, facial malformations)
Describe the influence of prematurity on development
Prematurity (born prior to 36 weeks)
less time in utero, greater chance of complications
Infants are born with what? Provide examples
with large set of automatic motor behaviours - reflexes), sucking and rooting reflexes are essential for feeding
What are motor behaviours
bodily motions occurring as a result of self-initiated force that moves bones and muscle