Chapter-10 Human Development Flashcards
Development psychology
Is the study of how behaviour changes over the lifespan
Post hoc fallacy
False assumption that because one event occurred before another event, it must have caused that event
Cross-sectional design
Research design that examines people of different ages at a single point in time
Cohort Effect
Effect observed in a sample of participants that that results from individuals in the sample growing up at the same time
Longitudinal design
Research design that examines development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time
Two myths concerning development
- Infant determinism
- Childhood fragility
Infant determinism
The widespread assumption that extremely early experiences (especially in the first three years of life) are almost always more influential than later experiences in shaping us as adults
Childhood fragility
Holds that children are delicate little creatures who are easily damaged
Gene environment Interaction
Situation in which the effects of genes depend on the environment in which they are expressed
Nature via nurture
Children with certain genetic predispositions often seek out and create their own experiences
Gene expression
Activation or deactivation of genes by environmental experiences throughout development
Prenatal
Prior to birth
Development of a baby
- Stage 1 (germinal stage)
- Stage 2 (embryonic stage)
- Stage 3 (fetal stage)
Zygote
Fertilized egg
Blastocyst
Hall of identical cells early in pregnancy that have not yet begun to take on any specific function in a body part
Embryo
Second to eighth week of prenatal development, during which limbs, facial features and major organs of the body take form
Fetus
Period of prenatal development from ninth week until birth after all major organs are established and physical maturation is the primacy change
Three ways that fetal development can be distributed
- Exposure to hazardous environmental influences
- Biological influences resulting from genetic disorders or errors in cell duplication during cell division
- Premature birth
Teratogens
An environmental factor that can exert a negative impact on prenatal development
During pregnancy can cause harm
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Condition resulting from high levels of prenatal alcohol exposure, causing learning disabilities, physical growth, retardation, facial malformations and behavioural disorders
Genetic disorders
Genetic disorders or random errors in cell division are a second adverse influence or prenatal development
Motor behaviour
Bodily motion that occurs as a result of self-initiated force that moves the bones and muscles
Infant motor development
Infants are born with a large set of autonomic motor behaviours (reflexes), important for survival needs
- such as sucking and rooting reflexes (eating)
Adolescence
The transition between childhood and adulthood commonly associated with the teenage years
Puberty
The achievement of sexual maturation resulting in the potential to reproduce
Primary sex characteristic
A physical feature such as the reproductive organs and genitals that distinguish the sexes
Secondary sex characteristics
Includes sex differentiating characteristics that do not relate directly to reproduction, such as breast enlargement in girls, deepening voices in boys, and pubic hair in both sexes
Menarche
Start of menstruation in girls
Spermarche
First ejaculation in boys
Menopause
The termination of menstruation, marking the end of a women’s reproductive potential
Cognitive development
Study of how children acquire the ability to learn, think, reason, communicate and remember
Assimilation
Piaget process of absorbing new experiences into current knowledge structures
Accommodation
Piaget process of altering a belief to make it more compatible with experience
4 stages of Piaget’s stages of development
- Sensorimotor
- Preoperational stage
- Concrete operations
- Formal operations
- Sensorimotor stage
Is characterized by a focus on the here and now without the ability to represent experiences mentally
Object permanence
The understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view
- Preoperational stage
The ability to construct mental representations of experience but not yet perform operations on them
Egocentrism
Inability to see the world from other’s perspective
Conservation
Piagetian task requiring children to understand that despite a transformation in the physical presentation of an amount, the amount remains the same
Concrete operations stage
Characterized by the ability to perform mental operations on physical event only
Formal operations stage
Characterized by the ability to perform hypothetical reasoning beyond the here and now
Can understand logical concepts and abstract questions
Scaffolding
Vygotskian learning mechanism in which parents provide initial assistance in children’s learning but gradually remove structure as children become more independent
Zone of proximal development
Phase of learning during which children can benefit from instruction
Theory of mind
Ability to reason about what other people know or believe
Stranger anxiety
A fear of strangers, developing at 8 or 9 months of age
Temperament
Basic emotional style that appears early in development and is largely genetic in origin
Attachment
The strong emotional connection we share with those to whom we feel closest
Contact comfort
Positive emotional afforded by touch
Monooperation bias
Drawing conclusions on the basis of only a single measure
Parenting styles
- Permissive
- Authoritarian
- Authoritative
- Uninvolved
Permissive
Tend to be lenient, little discipline, very affectionate
Authoritarian
Very strict, punishing, little affection
Authoritative
Supportive but set clear and firm limits
Uninvolved
Neglectful and ignoring
Average expectable environment
Environment that provides children with basic needs for affection and discipline
Gender identity
Individuals’ sense of being male or female
Gender role
A set of behaviours that tend to be associated with being male or female
Identity
Our sense is who we are, and our life goals and priorities
Psychosocial crisis
Dilemma concerning an individual’s relations to other people
Emerging adulthood
Period of life between the ages of 18 and 25 during which many aspects of emotional development, identity and personality become solidified
Midlife crisis
Supposed phase of adulthood characterized by emotional distress about the aging process and an attempt to regain youth
Empty-nest syndrome
Alleged period of depression in mothers following the departure of their grown children from the home
Biological age
Estimate of a persons age in terms of biological functioning
Psychological age
A persons, mental attitude and agility and the capacity to deal with the stresses of an ever-changing environment
Functional age
A persons, ability to function in given role in society
Social age
Whether people behave in accord with the social behaviour appropriate for their age
