Chapter 5 - Developing through the life span Flashcards
What does development psychology examine, and what three major issues does it focus on?
Development psychology examines the physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan, and the three major issues it focuses on are nature and nurture, continuity and stages, and stability and change.
Define a Zygote.
A zygote is a fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period developing into an embryo.
Define an embryo.
the developing human organism after the two-week to the second month - it’s when the heartbeat starts and when limbs and body parts begin to form.
When does a fetus begin to form?
A fetus begins to form at around nine-weeks to being born.
Developmental researchers who emphasize learning and experience are supporting ______ ; those who emphasize biological maturation are supporting ______.
Continuity and stages
The first two weeks of prenatal development is the period of the _____. The period of the _____ lasts from 9 weeks after conception until birth. The time between those two prenatal periods is considered the period of the ______.
Zygote, fetus, and embryo.
What is a teratogen? and what does it do?
A teratogen is a chemical or virus that can cause harm to the embryo or fetus during prenatal development.
What is fetal alcohol syndrome, and what are the side affects?
Fetal alcohol syndrome is an abnormality in children’s physical and cognitive traits. It is caused when a mother drinks heavily during her pregnancy. Signs in severe cases include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.
What is Habituation, and what is an example?
Habituation is a decrease in responding to repeated stimulation. For example, when children receive a continuous stimulus, their interest begins to fade.
Infants’ ____ to repeated stimulation helps developmental psychologists study what they can learn and remember.
Habituation
Chemicals that the placenta isn’t able to screen out that can harm an embryo or fetus are called ____.
teratogen
The biological growth process, called ____ , explains why most children begin walking by about 12 to 15 months.
Maturation
Define cognition.
Cognition is all the mental processes: thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
What is a schema, and give an example.
A schema is a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information. For example, people had a schema for marriages as a male and female uniting with one another, now same-sex marriage is normal. ( a mental mold of how we view things from our experiences)
Define assimilation and how it relates to schemas.
Assimilation is how we interpret our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas. An example would be when a child sees a baseball for the first time and associates it with other balls.
Define accommodation. Give an example.
Accommodation is the adaptation of our current schemas to incorporate new information. E.g. A child that understands a four-legged creature is a dog.
What’re Piaget’s four major stages in cognitive development?
Stage 1 - The sensorimotor stage
Stage 2 - The preoperational stage
Stage 3 - The concrete operational stage
Stage 4 - The formal operational stage
What is the sensorimotor stage?
The sensorimotor stage is from birth to nearly two; babies take in information through their senses and actions: looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping.
What is object permanence, and what is an example?
Object permanence is the awareness that things exist, even when they aren’t visible. For example, if you hide a toy in front of a baby, it will search for it for a few seconds because the baby “knows” it’s there - object permanence forms at around eight months old.
What is the preoperational stage in cognitive development?
The preoperational stage occurs around 2 to seven years old; children can represent things with words and images; however, they are still too young to perform mental operations.
What is an example of a children’s conservation?
Conservation is the principle that quantity and volume remain the same, even if there are changes in shape and form.
What is egocentrism?
Looking at things a particular way and having difficulties viewing them another way - preschool children are egocentric.
What is the concrete operation stage?
At around seven to eleven years old, children enter the concrete operation stage, where they can solve problems and think about ideas logically.
What is the formal operational stage in cognitive development.
By age twelve, kids/teens can reasonably think about abstract concepts and have the potential for mature moral reasoning.
What is Vygotsky’s theory of scaffolding?
By giving your child the steps to achieve higher levels of thinking.
What does theory of mind have to do with autism spectrum disorder?
Theory of mind focuses on our ability to understand our own and other persons mind; whereas an autistic person has a hard time with this ability.
What’s the difference of attachment and imprinting?
Attachment is the normal process of creating emotional ties with families. In an inflexible matter, imprinting happens (only for some animals) at an early stage of their development.
What is the critical period? What’s an example?
The critical period is the optimal period early in life when an organism is exposed to certain stimuli or experiences that produces normal development. A duckling would be the best example; after hatching, it is more attracted to the first thing it sees because it’s in the critical period.
What’re the four main parenting styles?
Authoritarian, permissive, negligent, authoritative.
What type of parenting is authoritarian?
imposing rules and expecting obedience
What type of parenting is permissive?
The parenting is laid back; they make few demands, set few limits, and use little punishment.
What type of parenting is negligent parenting?
The parents are uninvolved, neither demanding nor responsive.
What type of parenting is authoritative parenting?
The parents are confronting; they set rules, are demanding and responsive, but are open to discussions and allow exceptions.
An eight-month baby clinging to its parent and showing restraint toward a new person is a perfect example of ______ _______.
Stranger anxiety
As teens mature, which part of their brains continues to develop?
frontal lobes
What happens to the teenage brain as it develops?
The frontal lobes grow, brain cells increase their connections, selective pruning removes unused neurons and connections, and the myelin growth enables better communication with other brain regions.
What happens to the teenage brain as it develops?
The frontal lobes grow, brain cells increase their connections, selective pruning removes unused neurons and connections, and the myelin growth enables better communication with other brain regions.
According to Kohlberg, _______ morality focuses on self-interest, _______ morality focuses on self-defined ethical principles, and ______ morality focuses on upholding laws and social rules.
preconventional; postconventional; conventional.
What is an example of identity, and social identity?
Identity is the sense of one’s self; Social identity is a self-concept that comes from group memberships.
Healthy ____ _____ is followed by a capacity to build close relationships
identity formation
What ages in life do westernized cultures emerge into adulthood?
From 18 to the mid-twenties, this is the stage in life when adolescence is no longer in the picture, but they are not yet at the stage of being a full adult.
Adolescence is marked by the onset of _____.
puberty
In Erikson’s stages, the primary task during adolescence is _______.
forming an identity
Some developmental psychologists refer to the period that occurs in some western cultures from age 18 to the mid-20s and beyond as ______ _______.
emerging adulthood
According to Piaget, a person who can think logically about abstractions is in the ____ _____ stage.
formal operations stage
What type of physical developments does the early adulthood offer?
Muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, and cardiac output peak is in the mid twenties.
What happens to the physical development during middle adulthood?
Physical decline is a gradual, gradual decline in fertility. Menopause begins at around age 50, and for males, many things start to decline: sperm count, testosterone levels, erections, and ejaculation speed.
What is the life expectancy worldwide?
age 71
What can slow aging?
Exercise - it can slow aging and improve brain cell development and neural connections.
What are some physical changes in late adulthood?
Telomere tips shorten, leading to aging, the immune system weakens, neural lag occurs, and stimulus traits diminish.
Early adulthood is peak time for ______ and ______.
learning and memory
What effects does aging have on memory in middle adulthood?
Greater decline in the ability to recall rather than recognize the memory.
What are some causes of neurocognitive disorders? and what is it related to?
Alcohol abuse, a series of strokes, basically any damage to the brain. It is related to Alzheimer’s disease, and neurocognitive disorders were formerly called dementia for older adults.
What is alzheimer’s disease? and when is it often onset?
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques. It often occurs after age 80.
What’re some of adulthood’s commitments?
Love - bonding, commitment, intimacy, and having a job that fits our interests.
Freud defined the healthy adult as one who is able to ______ and to _______.
love, and work.
