Chapter 5 Flashcards
Nature v. Nurture
Genes or Environment
Change and Stablility
In what ways do we change
Continuous v. Stages
How do we change
Conception
When sperm and egg unite and create a zygote (fertilized cell)
Zygote
(fertilized cell) 10-14 days, cells divide
Milestone: Cells differentiate into specialized locations and structures.
Implantation
The embryo 2-8 weeks, zygote implants into uterine wall
Milestone: Differentiated cells develop into organs and bones
The Fetus
“Offspring” Hands and Face develop, at four months many more develop
Milestone: by 6 months fetus might be able to survive outside womb
Teratogens
“Monster makers” viruses and chemicals that can damage developing embryo/fetus
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Cognitive, behavioral, body/brain structure abnormalities caused by exposure to alcohol in the fetal stage. corpus callosum (separates sections of the brain) less dense
Responding to sounds
Fetuses learn to respond and adapt to sounds previously heard in the womb; mostly 3rd trimester
Assessing Newborn
Apgar score
o bad 1 ok 2 optimal
Inborn reflexes
rooting, sucking, crying when hungry, facial recognition,
Maturation
Changes that occur primarily because of the passage of time
Nurture adjusts timings but Nature sets the sequence
Brain Development
In the middle trimester # of neurons grow by around 750,000 per minute
Neuron Development
At birth connections proliferate
In infancy growth in connections is less complex (body functions and survival skills)
Early childhood connections proliferate in association areas (controlling attention and behavior (frontal lobe) and thinking, memory, and language
Cognition
Mental Activities that help us function
Ex: understanding and using language, problem solving
Jean Pieaget
Studies errors in cognition made by children
Schemas
Mental box
mental container to hold experiences
Assimilation
Take information in and fit it into schema
Accomadation
Take information in and adjust/ create new schema
Sensorimotor
Birth-2 years
Experience world through senses
Object Permanence; Stranger Anxiety
Preoperational
2-6 or 7 years
Representing with words and images
Pretend play/ egocentrism
Concrete Operational
7-11 years
Thinking logically about concrete events
Conservation, mathematical transformation
Formal Operational
12-adulthood
Abstract reasoning
Abstract logic, mature moral reasoning
Object permanence
Ability to recognize the absence of something does not mean it no longer exists.
Conservation
Logical thinking ability that allows a person to determine that a quantity will remain the same despite container or position adjustment.
Egocentrism
Inability to see from other perspectives, selfish
Reversibility and Perceptual Centration
Things can be reversed to their original state; the tendency to focus on one aspect of a situation and ignore others.
Theory of Mind
Ability to understand that others have their own thoughts and perspective
Autism and Theory of Mind
Autistic children do not display advanced mind reading
Earlier detected more mitigated
A not B error
Change perspective; change results; squeaky duck under paper
Lev Vygotsky
Alternative to Jean Piaget
focused on learning social communication
Principle: children learn thinking skills by internalizing language from others and developing inner speech
Attachment
Emotional tie to anther person
Secure attachment
60%, ideal
distressed when mother leaves and seek contact when she returns
Insecure attachment (avoidant)
Seeming indifferent to moms departure and return
Insecure attachment (anxious)
Cling to mother, less likely to explore, reamain upset when mother returns
Daycare
Time away doesn’t reduce anxiety, interactions can result in attachment, time in daycare correlates with advances thinking skills (and increased aggression and defiance)
Self Concept
Stable and positive understanding of identity; moves from that’s me to goals and skills
Authoritarian
“too hard” because I said so
Permissive
“too soft” no repercussions for child, gives in to child’s desires
Authoritative
Parents enforce rules and listen to child
Lifespan perspective
Development is a lifelong process
Adolescence
transition from childhood to adulthood
period of development from puberty to independence
Puberty
time of sexual maturation
Brain during puberty
stops adding new connections and becomes more efficient by “rewiring”
connections being used most coated with myelin to speed nerve conduction
Frontal lobe last to rewire making adolescents risk takers
Adulthood
sensory changes, memory, commitments
Emerging adulthood
18-25
added education and later marriage delays full adult independence
immune system
declines with age but has lifetime accumulation of antibodies
exercise
stimulates neural connections, improves cognition, and reduces risk for dementia
Myelin
Enhances neural processing, peaks in teens
Brain aging
as we get older regions related to memory shrink and frontal lobes atrophy
healthy 80 y/o brain is 5% lighter than in middle adulthood
Fluid intellegence
Seen in younger population
Think and reason abstractly
Crystalized intelligence
Learn from past experience and store of facts
Seen in older population
Alziemers
loss of brain cells and neural network connections
deterioration of memory transmitter neurons
broken protein filaments at tips of neurons
Successful aging
Biological influences- genes
Psychological - optimistic and active
Social/cultural- Support, meaningful activities, respect for aging
