Chapter 9 Flashcards
Define development
The pattern of continuity and change in human capabilities that occurs throughout life, involving both growth and decline
Describe the three different levels of development
Physical: Occur in an individual’s biological nature and guided by genes inherited from parents
Cognitive: Changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence and language
Socioemotional: Changes occur in an individual’s relationships with other people through emotions and personality
Ecological systems theory views child development as
occurring within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment
Periods of prenatal development
Germinal: Begins with conception - mass of cells attach to uterine walls
Embryonic: Support systems for cells and organs develop
Fetal: Organ systems begin functioning and fetal starts showing weight and body fat
Define teratogen
Any agent that causes a birth defect
What motor and cognitive skills are seen in new born babies
Sensory capacities: Being able to see or hear an object
Motivation: Wanting to grasp the object
Attention: Being able to primarily focus on the object
Bodily control: Having the ability to control posture and the movement of arms
Learning: Getting positive reinforcement from the experience of touching object
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Children use schemas (mental concepts) to make sense of their experiences
What are the two processes responsible for schema development as stated by piaget
assimilation: An individual’s incorporation of new information into existing knowledge.
accommodation: An individual’s adjustment of their schemas to new information
Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development
sensorimotor stage: lasting from birth to about 2 years of age, during which infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motor (physical) actions.
preoperational stage: lasting from about 2 to 7 years of age, during which thought is more symbolic than sensorimotor thought
concrete operational stage: lasting from about 7 to 11 years of age, during which the individual uses operations and replaces intuitive reasoning with logical reasoning in concrete situations
formal operational stage: which begins at 11 to 15 years of age and continues through the adult years; it features thinking about things that are not concrete, making predictions, and using logic to come up with hypotheses about the future
Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory
Cognitive development is an interpersonal process that happens in a cultural context
Information processing theory
Focuses on how individuals encode, manipulate, monitor information and create strategies for handling it
Define temperament and the three basic types
An individual’s behavioural style and characteristic ways of responding.
Easy child: Generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routine and can adapt to new experiences
Difficult child: Reacts negatively, engages in irregular routine and is slow at adapting
Slow to warm up child: Has a low activity level, is somewhat negative and cautious in new experiences
infant attachment
The close emotional bond between an infant and its caregiver
secure attachment
The ways that infants use their caregiver, usually their mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment
insecure attachment
Infants do not use the caregiver as a secure base from which to explore; instead, they experience their relationship with the caregiver as unstable and unreliable. The two types of insecure attachment are avoidant and anxious/ambivalent (also called preoccupied)
