Chapter 9 Flashcards
Defined as the pattern of continuity and change to human capabilities that occur throughout the course of life, involving growth and decline. Most development involves growth, although it also is concerned with decline.
Human Development
Three different levels of change.
- Physical processes
- Cognitive processes
- Socioemotional processes
Changes in an individual’s biological nature including genes inherited from parents, hormonal changes of puberty and menopause, brain changes throughout life, height, and weight, and motor skills.
Physical Processes
Changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence, and language.
Cognitive Processes
Changes in social relationships with other people, in emotions, and in personality.
Socioemotional Processes
Physical, cognitive, and socioemotional processes are what?
Inter-related and inter-dependent.
Refers to the biological changes that occur throughout life.
Maturation
Relates to different aspects of one’s physical, cognitive, and socioemotional characteristics.
Age
Is a variable that cannot be experimentally manipulated, studies on the relationship between age and other characteristics are by definition correlational in nature.
Age
Refers to an individual’s biological inheritance, especially their genes.
Nature
Refers to the person’s environment and social experiences.
Nurture
To the behaviorist, including ____ _ ______, all behavior is due to the environment.
John B Watson
(the individual’s genetic blueprint)-his or her actual genetic material.
Genotype
(the person’s observable characteristics). Shows the contributions of both nature (genetic heritage) and nurture (environment).
Phenotype
Phenotype is the outward expression of the
Genotype
We learned that the heritability of intelligence is approximately
75%
Therefore we can that ___ of intelligence is inherited and ___ is due to environmental influences.
75%
25%
The conclusion that development is the product of nature, nurture, and the
Complex interaction of the two.
The first stage in human development is the prenatal period beginning with
Conception and ending with the birth process
Occurs when a single sperm cell fertilizes the female’s ovum to produce a zygote.
Conception
A single cell with 23 chromosomes from the mother and 23 chromosomes from the father.
Zygote
What are the 3 periods that are divided into the development from zygote to fetus?
- Germinal Period
- Embryonic Period
- Fetal Period
(1-2 weeks) Begins with conception. Consisting of rapid cell growth and finally attaching itself to the wall of the uterus.
Germinal Period
(3-8 weeks) Cell differentiation intensifies and around the 8th week organs begin to develop. By the end of the 3rd week the neural tube starts to take shape. By the end the ________ ______, the heart begins to beat, the arms and legs become more differentiated, the face starts to form and the intestinal track appears.
Embryonic Period
(2 months-9 months)- At 2 months, the fetus is the size of a kidney bean and has started to move around. At 4 months, the fetus is 5 inches long and weighs about 5 ounces. At 6 months, the fetus has grown to a pound and a half. The last 3 months of pregnancy are the time when organ functioning increases and the fetus puts on considerable weight and size, adding baby fat.
Fetal Period
Are biological, chemical and physical agents that can cause birth defects.
Teratogens
Chemical agents include
Alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs.
Biological agents include
Viruses such as HIV and STIs.
Physical agents include
Physical trauma
The physical development of childhood include
reflexes, motor and perceptual skills, and the Brain
Are automatic behaviors and that are crucial for survival.
Reflexes
Common reflexes demonstrated by an infant include:
Rooting reflex
Gripping reflex
Moro or startle reflex
Galant reflex
In which the head turns in the direction of the touch, and the infant opens his/her mouth for feeding.
Rooting Reflex
The infant grasps the item and can hold on very well.
Gripping Reflex
In which the inner sole is stroked, the infant curls his/her toes upward.
Toe curling
In which the infant throws his/her head back and arms and legs out (and then cries)
Moro or Startle Reflex
In which the infant curves toward the side that was stroked and looks like a fencer when doing so.
Galant Reflex
After about 12 months, the infant becomes capable of
Sitting upright, standing, stooping, climbing, and often walking.
In the second year growth slows somewhat but other activities such as
Running and climbing increase.
Emerging between 3 and 5 months of age, the ability to reach for an object involves a wide array of processes:
Sensory capacities
Motivation
Attention
Bodily Control
Learning
Being able to see or hear the object
Sensory capacities
Wanting to grasp the object
Motivation
Being able to focus on a particular thing
Attention
Having the ability to control posture, manage head movement, and calibrate the movement of one’s arms.
Bodily Control
Getting positive reinforcement from the experience of attaining the object of their desire.
Learning
The ________ of the _______ branch out, and the _______ become far mire interconnected.
Dendrites
Neurons
Neurons
The process of building the myelin sheath begins prenatally and continues after birth well into adolescence and young adulthood.
Myelination
During childhood, _______ connections increase dramatically.
Synaptic
Is a gap between neurons that is bridged by chemical neurotransmitters.
Synapse
The connections that are made become ________ and will _______.
Stronger
Survive
The unused ones will be replaced by other _____ ________ or ________.
Neural pathways
Disappear
In the language of neuroscience, these unused connections will be “pruned.” This is often referred to as
Synaptic Pruning
Spent his career studying the cognitive development of young children.
Jean Piaget
Piaget proposed that children proceed through a series of qualitative stages of
Cognitive Development
According to Piaget, children and thus individuals learn through the process of
Assimilation and
Accommodation
Is the process of incorporating information into existing schemas
Assimilation
The process of altering our ways of thinking (_______) so that we can include new information into our accustomed way of thinking.
Accommodation
(Schemas)
Piaget’s four periods of cognitive development
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete Operational
Formal