Chapter 9 - Human Development Flashcards
Developmental psychology
the study of changes, over the life span, in physiology cognition, emotion, and social behavior
Attachment theory
One fundamental need infants have is to bond emotionally with those who care for them, an attachment is a strong, intimate, emotional connection between people that persists over time and across circumstances, such emotional bonds are the building blocks of a successful social life later on
The tendency to bond is an adaptive trait→ forming bonds with others provides protection for individuals, increases their chance of survival, and thus increases their chances of passing along their genes to future generations
Harlow’s study
Harlow’s research with rhesus monkeys investigated whether attachment bonds are formed when a parent provides for physical needs or provided comforting contact
Monkey’s preferred comfort mother as opposed to food mother
Secure attachment
the attachment style for a majority of infants; the infant is confident enough to play in an unfamiliar environment as long as the caregiver is present and is readily comforted by the caregiver during times of distress
Insecure attachment
the attachment style for a minority of infants; the infant may exhibit insecure attachment through various behaviors, such as avoiding contact with the caregiver, or by alternating between approach and avoidance behaviors
Sensorimotor stage
The first stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; during this stage, infants acquire information about the world through their senses and motor skills; reflexive responses develop into more deliberate actions through the development and refinement of schemes
Object permanence: the understanding that an object continues to exist even when it cannot be seen
Mother leaves the room→ mother does not exist anymore
Discover object permanence when they throw things off the chair and see if its still there→ helps them learn it still exists (comes right back from where they sent it)
Preoperational stage
The second stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; during this stage, children think symbolically about objects, but they reason based on intuitions and superficial appearance rather than logic
Children at this stage have no understanding of the law of conservation of quantity: Even if a substance’s appearance changes, its quantity may remain unchanged
Things can change appearances and stay the same thing→ don’t use logic
Rolling a ball of play-doh and the child getting upset once it is flattened→ don’t know it can be reversed
Egocentrism: the tendency for preoperational thinkers to view the world through their own experiences
Instead of viewing this egocentric thinking as a limitation, modern scholars agree with Piaget that such “immature” skills prepare children to take special note of their immediate surrounding and learn
Water in two cups are the same size but then poured in a larger container and then they think the larger container has more water
Concrete operational stage
The third stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; during this stage, children begin to think about and understand logical operations, and they are no longer fooled by appearances
A classic operation is an action that can be undone, example: turning a light on and off
According to Piaget, the ability to understand that an action is reversible enables children to begin to understand concepts such as conservation of quantity
Piaget believed that children at this stage reason only about concrete things (objects they can act on in the world). They do not yet have the ability to reason abstractly, or hypothetically, about what might be possible
With concrete information, children in this stage can think in much more logical and less egocentric ways than children in the preoperational stage
Formal operational stage
The final stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; during this stage, people can think abstractly, and they can formulate and test hypotheses through deductive logic
Piaget found that adolescents can form hypotheses and systematically test them
Adolescents are able to consider abstract notions and think about many viewpoints at once
Motivation plays a role in children’s processing→ m and m’s/marbles
Assimilation
The process by which new information is placed into an existing scheme
Seeing different sized dogs and identifying them as dogs→ four legs, tail, paws, etc.
Adding to information they already know, related everything to their prior knowledge
Accommodation
The process by which a new scheme is created or an existing scheme is drastically altered to include new information that otherwise would not fit into the scheme
Knowing a dog then seeing a horse or kitty and calling them dogs→ start defining these animals outside of the term ‘dog’
Shift their schemas to show what is actually happening
Theory of mind
In dealing with other people we try to recognize each person’s mental state, we infer what the person is feeling or thinking, and from that inference we anticipate the other person’s behavior
Predicting another person’s behavior based on that person’s mental state constitutes theory of mind
Children do not understand that somebody else has a different perspective
Understand that others do not have the same perception of us/same knowledge
Egocentric→ not negative just how all children think
Difficult for children to learn empathy/sympathize with others
What are Kohlberg’s levels of moral development
Pre-conventional level
Conventional levels
Post-conventional levels
What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
Sensorimotor Stage
Preoperational Stage
Concrete Operational Stage
Formal Operational Stage
Pre-conventional level
Earliest level, self interest, outcome determines whether it is wrong or not
Answers in terms of self-interest or pleasurable outcomes
Father steals medicine for mother when she was sick and they could not afford it
There’s no difference between what they believe and what everyone believes
Only thinking about punishment, only outcomes
