Chapter 2 - Psychological development

Question 1

Psychological Development

Answer 1

an individual’s changes in functioning across multiple domains, including the lifelong growth across emotional, cognitive, and social domains

Question 2

Hereditary factors

Answer 2

factors that influence development and are genetically passed down from biological parents to their offspring

Question 3

Environmental factors

Answer 3

factors that influence development and arise from an individual’s physical and social surroundings

Question 4

Genetic predisposition

Answer 4

the increased likelihood to develop certain traits, including diseases, if certain conditions are met

Question 5

Biopsychosocial model

Answer 5

a holistic, interdisciplinary framework for understanding the human experience in terms of the influence of biological, psychological, and
social factors

Question 6

Biological factors

Answer 6

internal genetic and/ or physiologically based factors

Question 7

Psychological factors

Answer 7

internal factors pertaining to an individual’s mental processes, including their cognition, affect, thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes

Question 8

Social factors

Answer 8

external factors relating to an individual’s interactions with others and their external environment, including their relationships and community involvement

Question 9

Mental wellbeing

Answer 9

an individual’s current psychological state, involving their ability to think, process information, and regulate emotions

Question 10

Emotional development

Answer 10

the continuous, lifelong development of skills that allow individuals
to control, express, and recognise emotions in an appropriate way

Question 11

Attachment

Answer 11

a long– lasting emotional bond between two individuals

Question 12

Attachment theory

Answer 12

Secure attachment = infants needs being consistently met by primary caregiver, allowing infant to feel calmed by the presence of the caregiver when stressed.

Insecure attachment (avoidant and anxious) = infants needs inconsistently or not met by primary caregiver leading to infants not seeking comfort or overly desperate for comfort

Question 13

Cognitive development

Answer 13

the continuous, lifelong development of the ability to think, comprehend, and organise information from the internal and external environment

Question 14

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Answer 14

S.P.C.F
Sensorimotor stage (0-2yrs) = object permanence, goal oriented behaviour

Preoperational stage (2-7yrs) = overcome egocentrism, understand reversability

Concrete operational stage (7-12yrs) = conservation despite physical changes, classification, simple mental operations like maths

Formal operational stage (12+yrs) = produce abstract thought, use logic and reason

Question 15

Social development

Answer 15

the continuous, lifelong development of certain skills, attitudes, relationships, and behaviours that enable an individual to interact with others and to function as a member of society

Question 16

Maturation

Answer 16

the biologically programmed process of growth that
has a fixed sequence and facilitates all aspects of our development as we grow

Question 17

Plasticity

Answer 17

the brain’s ability to physically change shape in response to experience and learning

Question 18

Critical periods

Answer 18

the narrow, rigid developmental period in which a specific function or skill must be learnt

Question 19

Sensitive periods

Answer 19

the optimal developmental period for a specific function or skill to be learnt in the fastest and easiest way