Chapter 10.2 + 10.3 Flashcards
What is a sensitive period?
A window of time during which exposure to a specific type of environmental stimulation is needed for normal development of a specific ability.
Example: Language fluency during early childhood.
What are the two forms of cognitive adaptation according to Piaget?
- Assimilation: Fitting new information into current belief system
- Accommodation: Modifying belief structures based on experience
What are the stages of Piaget’s cognitive development in chronological order?
- Sensorimotor
- Preoperational
- Concrete operational
- Formal operations
What is the major cognitive milestone in the sensorimotor stage?
Object permanence: Understanding that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it.
What does conservation mean in Piaget’s theory?
Understanding that certain properties of objects (e.g., volume, number) remain the same despite changes in form or arrangement.
Define habituation and dishabituation.
- Habituation: Decrease in response to repeated stimuli
- Dishabituation: Renewed interest in a novel stimulus
What is the zone of proximal development (ZPD)?
The range between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with guidance.
What is scaffolding in education?
Breaking down tasks into manageable steps and providing support as needed.
What was the key finding from Harlow’s attachment study?
Monkeys preferred soft cloth surrogate mothers over wire ones, demonstrating the importance of comfort in attachment.
What are the three categories of attachment identified in the Strange Situation Test?
Secure Attachment: Babies cry if their parents leaves the room, but welcome her back and play
happily again. Better able to handle conflict with romantic partner
Insecure attachment:
Avoidant: Not caring if mother leaves, little effort to seek contact when she returns
Anxious or Ambivalent: resisting contact with the mother at reunion but protesting loudly when she leaves
What is egocentrism?
Difficulty in seeing things from another person’s perspective.
What are primary and secondary sex traits?
- Primary: Changes in the body that are part of reproduction (e.g., genitals)
- Secondary: Changes not part of reproduction (e.g., facial hair)
What are the stages of moral development according to Kohlberg?
Preconventional morality
Characterized by self-interest “I would not flip the trolley track in seeking reward or avoiding switch because I would get in punishment.
trouble.”
Conventional morality
Regards social conventions and rules as guides for appropriate moral behaviour.
“I would not flip the switch. It is illegal to kill, and if I willfully intervened I would probably violate the law.”
Postconventional morality
Considers rules and laws as relative.
“I would flip the switch. The value of five lives exceeds that of one, so saving them is the right thing to do even if it means I am killing one person who would otherwise
What is socioemotional selectivity theory?
Describes how older people prioritize emotionally meaningful goals and relationships.
What are the two problems typically found in Alzheimer’s brains?
- Amyloid plaques
- Neurofibrillary tangles
What is fluid intelligence and how does it change with age?
Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve new problems and think logically without relying on past knowledge. It peaks in early adulthood and declines with age. Fluid intelligence declines with age.
What is crystallized intelligence and how is it affected by aging?
Crystallized intelligence is the knowledge and skills gained through experience and education, such as vocabulary and facts. It tends to improve or remain stable with age.
Crystallized intelligence is less affected by aging.
What are the four horsemen of the relationship apocalypse?
- Criticism
- Contempt
- Defensiveness
- Stonewalling The Four Horsemen of the Relationship Apocalypse are:
- Criticism – Attacking a partner’s character.
- Contempt – Showing disrespect or superiority.
- Defensiveness – Avoiding responsibility by making excuses.
- Stonewalling – Withdrawing or shutting down during conflict.
What is cognitive reframing?
Learning to look at experiences through a different ‘frame’.
What is the psychosocial stage of intimacy vs isolation?
The Intimacy vs. Isolation stage is one of Erik Erikson’s eight psychosocial stages of development.
• When: It occurs during early adulthood (typically ages 20-40).
• Focus: Building deep, meaningful relationships and forming close bonds.
• Success: Leads to intimacy, love, and strong connections.
• Failure: Results in loneliness, isolation, and difficulty maintaining relationships.
What is the psychosocial stage of generativity vs stagnation?
• When: It occurs during middle adulthood (typically ages 40-65).
• Focus: Contributing to society and the next generation through work, family, or community involvement.
• Success: Leads to a sense of purpose and legacy (generativity).
• Failure: Results in feelings of unproductiveness and stagnation.
What is the psychosocial stage of ego integrity vs despair?
It occurs at ages 65+, reflecting on life of fulfillment or not.
Sensorimotor Stage (birth to age two)
- Sensorimotor Stage (birth to age two)
- Learning through concrete actions
- Major accomplishment is Object permanence
- The understanding that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see or touch it
- Universal
- Peek-a-boo, almost as if you don’t even exi
Preoperational Stages (ages 2-7)
Focused on limitations in children’s thinking
- Engage in egocentric thinking
- Cannot grasp concept of conservation
. Concrete Operations Stage (ages 7-12)
- Earlier limitations overcome but primarily with concrete information
- Continue to make errors in reasoning about abstract concepts
- Understand principles of conservation, reversibility, cause and effect
Formal Operations Stage (age 12-adult)
Teenagers become capable of abstract reasoning
- Are able to reason about situations they have not experienced
- Can search for solutions to problems and draw logical conclusions
