Chapter 12 Psychology 175.102 Flashcards
Maturation
Biologically based changes that following an orderly sequence, each step setting the stage for the next step according to an age-related timetable.
Developmental psychology
Studies the way humans develop and change over time
Critical periods
Periods of special sensitivity to specific types of learning and sensory stimulation that shape the capacity for future development
Sensitive periods
Times that are more important to subsequent development than others
Stages
Relatively discrete steps through which everyone progresses in the same sequence
Cross sectional studies
Compare groups of participants of different ages at a single time to see whether differences exist among them
Cohort effects
Differences among age groups associated with differences in the culture
Longitudinal studies
Assess the same individuals over time, providing the opportunity to assist age changes rather than age differences
Sequential studies
Minimise the cohort effect by studying multiple cohorts longitudinally
Teratogens
Environmental agents that harm the embryo or foetus.
Foetal alcohol syndrome
A serious condition affecting up to half the babies born to alcoholic mothers
Puberty
The time at which individuals become capable of reproduction
Presbycusis
The inability to hear high-frequency sounds
Ageism
Prejudice against old people
Intermodal processing
The ability to associate sensations of an object from different senses or to match their own actions to behaviours they have observed visually
Infantile amnesia
Completely lacking explicit memory for events before age 3 or 4
Stages of prenatal development
Germinal period. (First two weeks)
Embryonic period. (Third week till eighth week)
Foetal period. (Nine weeks till birth)
Alcohol effect on foetus
Numerous physical deformities, a wide range of mental abnormalities, learning disabilities, behavioural problems and attention difficulties
Cocaine effects on foetus
Premature birth, malformed internal organs, withdrawal symptoms, respiratory problems, delayed motor development and death
Maternal stress effects on foetus
Problems with attention and motor development
Menopause
The sensation of the menstrual cycle. Can result in low estrogen levels. Usually begins in the 40s or 50s and my last several years
Orienting reflex
The tendency of humans, even from birth, to pay more attention to novel stimuli than to stimuli to which they have become habituated or grown accustomed.
Assimilation
Involves interpreting actions or events in terms of one presents schemas
Schema
An organised, repeatedly exercised pattern of thought or behaviour
Accommodation
The modification of schemas to fit reality
Equilibrium
Balancing assimilation and accommodation to adapt to the world
Structure of thought
The distinct underlying logic that children use at each stage of development
Sensorimotor stage
The stage in which infants think with your hands, mouth and senses, last from birth to about two years of age
Object permanence
The recognition that objects exist in time and space independent of the child actions on, or observation of, them.
Egocentric
Thoroughly embedded in their own point of view
Pre-operational stage
Character rise by the emergence of symbolic thought: the ability to use arbitrary symbols, such as words, to represent concepts. Begins around age 2 and last until ages 5 to 7
Centration
The tendency to focus, or centre, on one perceptually striking feature of an object without considering other features that might be relevant.
Operations
Internalised actions the individual can use to manipulate, transform and then return object which original state.
Concrete operational stage
Children are capable of operating on, or mentally manipulating, internal representations of concrete objects in ways that are reversible. Ages 7 to 12.
Conservation
The basic properties of an object or situation remains stable (are conserved) even though superficial properties may be changed.
Formal operational stage
Characterised by the ability to manipulate abstract as well as concrete objects, events and ideas mentally. Begins about ages 12 to 15
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
A continuum of cognitive development, ranging from a child’s individual capacity for problem solving to a more advanced and collaboratively based level of cognitive development.
Automatisation
The process of executing mental processes with increasing efficiency so they require less and less attention.
Knowledgebase
Accumulated knowledge
Metacognition
Thinking about thinking
Metamemory
Knowledge about one’s own memory and about strategies that can be used to help remember.
Neo-Piagetian theorists
They attempt to integrate Piagetian and information processing theories
Psychomotor slowing
And increase the time required for processing and acting on information
Dementia
A disorder marked by a global disturbance of higher mental functions
Alzheimer’s disease
A progressive and incurable illness that destroys neurons in the brain, severely impairing memory, reasoning, perception, language and behaviour.
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
Emphasises the role of social interaction for the child as motivation for cognitive gains and learning
Criticisms of Piaget’s theory
- Focus too heavily on the kind of rational thinking typical of scientific pursuits
- The assumption that a child’s thinking tends to be at one stage or another
- Underestimated the capacities of infants and preschool children
- Failed to pay enough attention to the role of culture in development
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
He argued that children develop knowledge by constructing reality out of their own experience, mixing what they observed with their own ideas about how the world works.
Transitivity
That is A < B and B < C, then A < C
