Chapter 4 Flashcards
What is developmental psychology?
studying changes in biological, physical, behavioral, and physiological process with age
role of environment and genes (nature vs nurture)
critical and sensitive periods
What is a critical period?
age where experiences must occur
What is a sensitive period?
optimal age range (like with language)
What are research designs?
strategy or blueprint for deciding how to collect and analyze information
What is cross sectional design?
compare changes between groups in a given time period
What are the pros of cross sectional design?
rapid data collection
no practice-effect
cost-effective
What are the cons of cross sectional design?
“age-related change, not development per se”
What is longitudinal design?
compare changes within individuals over time
cohort = group born at same time
What are the pros of longitudinal design?
optimal for studying stability or change in a given cohort
What are the cons of longitudinal design?
expensive, long-term, time consuming
attrition (participant drop-out)
practice effect
cohort effect (reduce generalizability)
What is sequential design?
combination of cross-sectional (different age group) and longitudinal (groups followed over time) designs
What are pros of sequential design?
more comprehensive than other designs
examine cohort effect
time efficient
What are cons of sequential design?
might be expensive (longitudinal feature)
What are research methods?
specific tools and techniques used by researchers to collect information
What is involuntary/obligatory response?
infants, assessing behaviors which people engage without much conscious thought or effort, habituation/dishabituation
What is a voluntary response?
infants and young children
assess behaviors that a person completes by choice, recall memory/elicited information
What is psychophysiology?
infant and children
assess bidirectional relation between biology and behavior
event related potential (ERP)
What is a parent-response questionairre?
ask people who know infants and children best, commonly, their parents or guardians about various aspects of the infant’s and children’s lives
What are interview techniques?
mostly older children and adult, ask them to describe their thoughts and knowledge about the world, verbal report, vignette
What is the Germinal Stage of Prenatal Development?
first 2 weeks, starting from zygote formation
conception: sperm fertilizing ovum/egg
What is the Embryonic Stage of Prenatal Development?
end of 2nd week to 8th week after conception (embryo)
life support structures develop like placenta and umbilical cord
bodily organs and systems begin to develop
What is the Fetal Stage of Prenatal Development?
9th week from conception until birth (fetus)
by 24 weeks, eyes open
by 28 weeks fetus attains age of viability (likely to survive outside the womb)
What us maturation?
biological process that controls growth of bodies and motor skills
What is brain development?
50% by 6 months of age
cells become larger, neural networks form
brains of 5 year olds = 90% of adult size
new synapses formed, brain becomes more specialized
What is motor development?
follow stage-like sequences
age of acquiring a particular skill might vary, sequence of skills does not vary
What is Piaget’s Stage Theory?
development occurs through a sequence of discontinuous stages
sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years): object permanence
preoperational reasoning stage (2 years to 6/7 years): conservation problem
concrete operational stage (6/7 years to 11/12 years)
formal operational stage (11/12 years to the rest of life)
What is an assessment of Piaget’s Stage Theory?
general cognitive abilities occur in the same order across cultures
cognitive development might be more continuous than Piaget believed
cognitive development within each stage proceeds inconsistently
culture influences cognitive development
cognitive development could be variable, and more complex
What is adolescence?
a period that begins with puberty and ends with transition to adulthood (approximately 10-20)
What are the physical changes in adolescence?
changes include growth spurt in height, skin changes (pimples)
increase in testosterone for boys and estrogen for girls
What are the cognitive changes in adolescence?
shift from concrete to more abstract and complex thinking
improvement in attention, memory, processing speed and metacognition
early adolescence: sensation seeking and reward motivation
mid adolescence: risk taking
late adolescence: self-regulation and future orientation
What are the social changes surrounding parents during adolescence?
renegotiation of parent-child relationships
more independence and autonomy
change in parenting-distal supervision and monitoring become more important
psychological control
What are the social changes surrounding peers during adolescence?
greater importance during adolescence
important source of social support and companionship
friendship focused on intimate exchange of thoughts and feelings
What are the social changes surrounding romantic relationships during adolescence?
shift from same-sex group to mixed-sex peer group typical during adolescence
romantic relationships often form in the context of these mixed-sex peer groups
positive and negative emotions are more tied to romantic relationships than parents, friends, school, etc.
contribute to adolescent’s identity formation
centrally connected to adolescent’s emerging sexuality
What are the Four Identity Stages?
Foreclosure: commits to an identity without considering options
Identity Diffusion: don’t explore or commit to any identities
Moratorium: actively exploring options, but have not yet made commitments
Identity Achievement: explored options and have made identity commitments
What is Emerging Adulthood?
new life stage between adolescence and young adulthood, lasting roughly from ages 18 to 25
What are five features of emerging adulthood?
identity exploration: make enduring choices
instability: lives are often stable
self-focused: make independent decisions
feeling in-between: subjective feeling of being in a transitional period of life
possibilities: hopes and expectations of the possibility of different future
What is Aging?
complex and lifelong biogenetic and psychological process, traditionally people over the age of 65
What is Cognitive Aging?
systematic decline observed on cognitive tasks requiring self-initiated, effortful processing
decrease in “processing speed”
poor “recall” ability
“working memory” becomes less efficient
older adults better at navigating social and emotional problems
What is Subjective Age?
multidimensional construct that indicates how old (or young) a person feels and into which age group a person categorizes him or herself
What is Age Identity?
how old or young people feel compared to their chronological age
most people feel younger than their chronological age after early adulthood
What is self-perception of age?
individual’s perceptions of their own aging process
positive perceptions of aging associated with greater longevity and health
What is social network?
network of people with whom an individual is closely connected
provide emotional, informational and material support
opportunities for social engagement
What is the socioemotional Selectivity Theory?
explain the reduction of social partners in older adulthood
older adults focus on meeting emotional over information-gathering goals
adaptively select social partners that meet this need
What is average life expectancy?
mean number of years that 50% of people in a specific birth cohort are expected to survive
What is successful aging?
avoiding disease
maintaining high levels of cognitive and physical functioning
having an actively engaging lifestyle
What is attachment theory?
designed to explain the significance of the close, emotional bonds that children develop with their caregivers and the implications of those bonds for understanding personality development
What is an attachment figure?
someone who functions as the primary safe haven and secure base for an individual, often a parent in childhood, often a romantic partner in adulthood
What is an attachment behavioral system?
motivational system selected over the course of evolution to maintain proximity between young child and primary attachment figure (parent)
What is attachment behavior?
behaviors and signals that attract the attention of a primary attachment figure and function to prevent separation from that individual or to reestablish proximity to that individual
What is infant attachment?
three types of children: secure relationship with parent, anxious resistant, anxious avoidant
individual difference correlated with infant-parent interaction during the first year of life
sensitive and responsive caregiving is important in shaping attachment style
What is attachment in adulthood?
emotional bond between adult romantic partners, similar to attachment behavioral system
individuals gradually transfer attachment related functions from parents to close friends/romantic partners as they become adult
individual difference in attachment style exist in adulthood
early attachment experience could potentially provide the foundation for subsequent experience
What are genetics and sex determination?
sex chromosomes: 23rd pair of chromosomes
genetic females: XX, genetic males: XY
egg and sperm have 23 chromosomes, each egg has X chromosome, while sperm can have either X or Y
What is the TDF (testes determining gene)?
triggers male sexual development
6-8 weeks after conception, TDF gene initiates development of testes which in turn is responsible for secreting sex hormones known as androgens
androgens determine male pattern of organ development
absence of TDF ensures female pattern of organ development
What are teratogens?
environmental agents that may cause abnormal prenatal development
examples include mercury, lead, radiation, nicotine, and some therapeutic drugs
What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?
cognitive, behavioral, and physical defects caused due to prenatal exposure to alcohol
What does vision look like for babies?
can track objects as newborns, but are near-sighted
What does color vision look like in babies?
can see few colors as newborns, perceive full range of colors by 3 months
What is the Preferential Looking Procedure?
used to determine preference for visual stimuli is recorded, infants prefer visually complex stimuli over simpler ones and solid colors
What is newborn learning?
habituation: recognize familiar over unfamiliar faces regardless of expression
discriminate different speech patterns
classical and operant learning: acquire conditioned responses
imitation: imitate adult facial expressions
What does sound localization look like in newborns?
ability to localize sounds exists from birth until 2 months of age, then disappears, reappears at 4-5 months
What does phoneme discrimination look like in newborns?
ability to detect changes in speech sounds, even better than adults, disappears at 12 months of age
What is theory of mind?
understanding other people’s mental states
develops around 4 years of age, tested using false belief tasks
pretend play is known to be important for theory of mind to develop
lying and deception also reflect theory of mind
What do emotions and emotional regulation look like at 8 months?
sense of self, display of basic emotions, envy, embarrassment, and empathy emerge
What do emotions and emotional regulation look like at 2 years?
learn about performance standards and rules, pride, shame, guilt
What is temperament?
biologically based style of behavioral and emotional reaction
relatively stable, but predictions are difficult
research suggests extreme temperament styles can predict some behaviors in later life
What is Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory?
8 major psychosocial stages
crisis to be resolved at each stage
personality is not fixed in childhood
themes/patterns that emerge early in childhood could be important later in life
What are Authoritative Parents?
controlling but warm
most positive childhood outcome
What are Authoritarian Parents?
exert control, but cold, unresponsive or rejecting
poorer self-esteem, popularity, school performance
What are Indulgent Parents?
warm and caring
no guidance or discipline
children immature, self-centered
What are Neglectful Parents?
not warm, no rules or guidance
most negative developmental stage
What are the levels in Kohlberg’s Stage Theory?
Level 1: Preconventional Reasoning, understanding of right vs. wrong based on punishments and rewards
Level 2: Conventional Reasoning, judgements based on conformity to social groups, adopts other people’s values
Level 3: Postconventional Reasoning, judgements based on general principles, one’s conscience, person has internalized principles into own value system
What are some criticisms of Kohlberg’s Theory?
Western culture bias: justice and fairness might not be the highest morals in other cultures
Gender Bias: mixed evidence, but different values could take precedence
What is crystallized intelligence?
accumulated verbal skills and factual knowledge, peak in middle adulthood and then decline
What is fluid intelligence?
ability to perform mental operations, begins to decline in early adulthood
