Chapter 9: Human Development Flashcards
Lecture
What is development defined as?
-series of changes (for the better and for the worse)
What is chronological age?
-normal biological age
What is developmental age? Use an example to explain. (2)
-the chronological age at which MOST children show a particular level of physical or mental development
-the developmental age for walking without assistance is 1 year old so a 10-month old child that can walk is considered at a developmental age of 1 year
What are normative investigations? What is an example? (2)
-research aimed at establishing standards or norms for a specific population.
-Example: research aimed at understanding what is developmentally normal for a 1 year old baby
Define a longitudinal design
-The same participants are observed repeatedly sometimes over many years
What are advantages of longitudinal design? What are disadvantages? (2)
Advantages:
-Researchers can identify individual differences
-Researchers can examine relationships between early and later events and behavior.
Disadvantages
-Time consuming and costly
-Data are easily lost
-Data might be contaminated by biased sampling, practice effects or cohort effects
What is a cross-sectional design?
-Groups of participants of different chronological ages are observed and compared at a given time.
What is the cohort effect that affects both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies? Give an example. (2)
-it is a generational effect which may bias your study
-maybe one decade of individuals lived through a war or a famine
What are advantages of a cross-sectional study? What are disadvantages? (2)
Advantages
-takes less time to complete
-less costly
-not subject to practice effects
Disadvantages
-cannot tell if important individual differences exist
-cannot tell if an early event has an impact on a later event
-cohort effects
What is crystallized intelligence? What is the general trend for this over the time for individuals? (2)
-knowledge and skills you have learned through experience and education
-increases over the lifespan and starts to decrease slightly in old age
What is fluid intelligence? What is the trend for this over the lifespan? (2)
-capacity to reason and solve novel problems independent of any knowledge from the past
-increases from birth onwards and then begins decreasing around age 20ish
What types of memory does aging not seem to effect? (2)
-memory of general knowledge (semantic memory) that occurred long ago
-memory of personal events (episodic memory) that occurred long ago
When we compare remote (older) memory to new memory, which do older adults struggle more with?
-new memory
What four memory deficits do older people tend to show? (4)
-transience
-absent mindedness
-misattribution
-suggestibility
What is transience?
-tendency to lose access to information across time
What is absent-mindedness?
-failure to remember information because of insufficient attention
What is misattribution?
-remembering a fact correctly but attributing it to an incorrect source or context
What is suggestibility?
-tendency to incorporate information provided by others into your own recollection and memory representation
While the mechanisms that underlie memory impairment in older adults are unknown, what are some possible explanations? (3)
-neurobiological change in the brain
-lack of organization
-reduced ability to pay attention
What is infantile/childhood amnesia? Why does it occur? (2)
-inability to remember events and experiences that occurred during the first 2-3 years of life
-not enough synapses/connections
During infancy, the brain experiences synaptogenesis. What is this? What does it play a vital role in? (2)
-an explosion of synapse formation between neurons during early brain development
-learning, memory formation and adaptation
At about 2 to 3 years of age, the number of synapses hit a peak level and the brain engages in a process called synaptic pruning. Define this:
-the brain starts to remove synapses that it no longer needs
What did Piaget believe in general marked the difference in cognitive development from a child to an adult? Compare child to adult. (2)
-children are only able to conceptualize the here and now of the immediate, concrete present
-adults conceptualize the world in symbolic and abstract terms
Describe Piaget’s sensorimotor stage from age 0-2 years. What actions reflect this? (3)
-neither real objects nor any conception of self (because they have no long-term memory) meaning they live only in the present
-an infant cannot both grasp and suck an object simultaneously because the coordination of these senses is not developed and we have not developed sensory interneurons
-object permanence
What are Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development? (4)
-sensorimotor (0-2 years)
-preoperational (2-7 years)
-concrete operations (7-11 years)
-formal operations (11 years and on)
Describe Piaget’s pre operational stage from age 2-7 years. What actions reflect this? (3)
-child lacks the ability to take the perspective of another person (egocentric)
-the concept of conservation (quantity of a substance is conserved despite changes in its shape)
-three mountain experiment and water in the glass experiment
Describe Piaget’s concrete operations stage from age 7-11 years. (3)
-they can see from other’s perspectives
-understand the concept of conservation now
-capable of mental operations, actions performed in the mind that give rise to logical thinking
Describe Piaget’s formal operations stage from age 11 onwards. What actions reflect this? (2)
-able to think in abstract terms
-can see reality from multiple vantage points when the subject of observation is abstract (moral judgement)
What are Erikson’s 8 psychosocial stages? (8)
- infancy (0-1) trust vs. mistrust
-toddler (1-3) autonomy vs. self-doubt
-preschool (3-6) initiative vs. guilt
-child (6-12) industry vs.inferiority
-adolescent (12-18) identity vs. role confusion
-early adult (18-29) intimacy vs. isolation
-middle adulthood (30-50) generatively vs. stagnation
-late adulthood (60s and older) ego integrity vs. despair
Describe Erikson’s first stage of development: infancy (0-1) trust vs. mistrust. What does it relate to? (2)
-infants must develop a sense of trust when their caregivers provide reliable care and affection
-relates to attachment and separation anxiety
What is a widely used procedure to assess attachment and separation anxiety? Describe it. (2)
-the strange situation test
-child is brought into unfamiliar room filled with toys and the mother is present, after several minutes a stranger comes in and talks to the mother. The mother then leaves the room and the child is observed. The mother returns and the stranger leaves. Researchers look at childs behaviour during separation and reunion
What are the three test results for the strange situation test?
-securely attached
-insecurely attached - avoidant
-insecurely attached - ambivalent/resistant
Describe the Childs reaction during separation and reunion with the mother for securely attached children. (2)
-separation: show some distress
-reunion: seek proximity, comfort and contact
Describe the Childs reaction during separation and reunion with the mother for insecurely attached - avoidant children. Also describe how the child is while the mother is present. (3)
-present: child ignores mom
-separation: minimum distress
-reunion: child may actively avoid and ignore the parent, seems aloof
Describe the Childs reaction during separation and reunion with the mother for insecurely attached - ambivalent/resistant children. (2)
-separation: children become very upset and anxious
-reunion: may seek contact, but when contact is achieved they cannot be comforted and may show anger and resistance to the parent
What are the two domains that the attachment style is put against? (2)
-low anxiety (positive on self) to high anxiety (negative on self)
-low avoidance (positive on others) to high avoidance (negative on others)
What is the correlation between the parent-infant attachment style and the later relationship style developed in adulthood?
-positive correlation
Describe Erikson’s adolescence stage of development: (12-18) identity vs. role confusion. Who is the child influenced by? (2)
-needs to develop a sense of self and personal identity to avoid role confusion and the sense of self as fragmented
-attempts to achieve independence from parents while peers appear to compete with parents to shape individual
As it relates to Erikson’s adolescent stage, what is Marcia’s identity status model? What are the two axis and the four types? (5)
-exploration and commitment
-identity diffusion (low x low)
-foreclosure (low x high)
-moratorium (high x low)
-achievement (high x high)
Explain diffusion. What are the levels of exploration and commitment? What does it mean? Give an example (3)
-exploration and commitment are low
-Individuals have not yet experienced an identity crisis or exploration and have not made any commitments. They may lack direction, have few goals, and are often not actively seeking to develop a strong sense of identity.
-an individual who drifts from job to job without considering long-term career goals or their own interests
Explain foreclosure. What are the levels of exploration and commitment? What does it mean? Give an example. (3)
-low exploration and high commitment
-Individuals have made a commitment without undergoing a crisis or exploration. They often adopt the values, beliefs, and expectations of their parents or authority figures without question.
-a teen decides to become a doctor because their parents have always told them they should, without exploring other career options
Explain moratorium. What are the levels of exploration and commitment? What does it mean? Give an example. (3)
-high exploration and low commitment
-Individuals are actively exploring different options and experiencing an identity crisis but have not yet made a commitment. They are in the process of trying out different roles, beliefs, and careers to find what fits them best.
-a college major who switches majors multiple time while trying to figure out which field they are passionate about
Explain achievement. What are the levels of exploration and commitment? What does it mean? Give an example. (3)
-exploration is high and so is commitment
-Individuals have undergone a crisis, explored various options, and made a commitment to a particular identity. They have a clear sense of who they are and what they want to achieve in life.
-An adult who has explored different career paths, values, and beliefs, and has settled into a career and lifestyle that aligns with their true self and long-term goals.
Describe Erikson’s early adulthood stage of development: (18-29) intimacy vs. isolation.
-adults need to form intimate loving relationships with other people, success leads to strong relationships and failure leads to loneliness and isolation
Describe Erikson’s middle adulthood stage (30-50s): generatively vs stagnation. What is generativity? Compare this with stagnation. (2)
-generativity is the ability to generate something than an individual cares about in life usually in the form of career and family
-stagnation is exclusion and rejection and closed to experience
Describe Erikson’s late adulthood stage (60s and up): ego integrity vs. despair. Compare a resolution vs not. (3)
-as people grow older and reflect on their lives, they may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure.
-resolution of the ego integrity crisis results in a sense of wholeness and basic satisfaction with life
-inadequate resolution of ego integrity crisis results in feelings of futility and disappointment
