Chapter 3: Developmental Psychology

Question 1

Developmental Psychology

Answer 1

Study of progressive changes in behavior and abilities; involves
every stage of life from conception to death (“the womb to the
tomb”)

Question 2

Nature (Heredity)

Answer 2

Think “inherit” – from somewhere/from someone

• Biological genetic transmission, via genes, of physical and psychological characteristics from parents to their children

Question 3

Nurture (Environment)

Answer 3

Sum of all external conditions that affect a person, especially the effects of learning, a product of experience and exposure

Question 4

childhood experience

Answer 4

Our childhood experience (fears & likings), how we were raised (parenting styles), surrounding culture

• Deprivation – Lack of a certain stimulation
• Enrichment – Environment is complex, stimulating and developmentally supportive

Question 5

Developmental Level/Stages

Answer 5

Neonates (newborns)
motor development (physical)
* Toddler
* Pre-school
* School
* Teenager
* Young Adult
* Adult
* Old-Age

Question 6

Social Development

Answer 6

rooted in emotional attachment to primary caregivers and need for physical contact

Question 7

Emotional attachment

Answer 7

the close emotional bond that infants form with parents, caregivers, or others

Question 8

sign of emotional attachment

Answer 8

is separation anxiety: crying and signs of fear when a child is left alone or is with a stranger

Question 9

Separation anxiety disorder

Answer 9

severe and prolonged distress displayed by some children when separated from parents/caregivers; children usually grow out of this

Question 10

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Answer 10

Eight developmental stages confront a person with new developmental tasks or psychosocial dilemma

Question 11

Psychosocial dilemma

Answer 11

conflict between personal impulses and the social world

Question 12

Developmental tasks

Answer 12

any skill that must be mastered, or personal change that must take place, for optimal development (e.g., learning to read and
adjusting to sexual maturity)

Question 13

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory stages

Answer 13

Stage One: Trust vs. Mistrust (Birth–1)
Stage Two: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1–3)
Stage Three: Initiative vs. Guilt (3–5)
Stage Four: Industry vs. Inferiority (6–12)
Stage Five: Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence)
Stage Six: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood)
Stage Six: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood)
Stage Seven: Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood)
Stage Eight: Integrity vs. Despair (Late Adulthood)

Question 14

Cognitive Development

Answer 14

Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist – a pioneer in cognitive development Believed that all children passed through a set series of four stages during their cognitive
development, and devised his theory as such

Question 15

Cognitive Development theory stages

Answer 15

The Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years)
The Preoperational Stage (2-7 Years)
The Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 Years)
The Formal Operational Stage (11 Years and Up)

Question 16

Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Answer 16

• Moral development: period starting in childhood and continuing into adulthood during which we acquire values, beliefs, and thinking abilities that guide responsible behavior

Question 17

Kohlberg’s Three Levels of Moral Development: level one

Answer 17

Preconventional moral reasoning: moral thinking based on consequences of one’s actions (punishment, reward,
exchange of favors) or choices

Question 18

Kohlberg’s Three Levels of Moral Development

Answer 18

Conventional moral reasoning: reasoning based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules and values

Question 19

Kohlberg’s Three Levels of Moral Development

Answer 19

Postconventional moral reasoning: follows self-chosen moral
principles, not those supplied by outside authorities

Question 20

Entering Middle to Later Adulthood

Question 21

Five Basic Reactions to Death: reaction o

Answer 21

Denial and isolation: denying death’s reality and isolating oneself
from information confirming that death will occur

• Anger: asking, “Why me?”; anger may then be projected onto the
  living
• Bargaining: terminally ill will bargain with God or with themselves
• Depression: feelings of futility, exhaustion, and deep sadness
• Acceptance: if death is not sudden, many will finally accept death
  calml

Question 22

Developmental Psychology

Answer 22

is the study of human development and the changes that occur within-person life span