Child Development Flashcards
What are the 4 domains of developmental psychology?
- Cognitive
- Social and emotional
- Language
- Physical
What 3 methods can be used to study developmental psychology?
- Cross-cultural studies
- Longitudinal studies
- Sequential studies (combines 1 and 2)
What are the 3 main stages of pre-natal development?
- Zygote/blastocyst (fertilised egg up to 2 weeks)
- Embryo (2 weeks-2 months)
- Foetus (2 months-birth)
What are teratogens?
Any substance or environmental factor that might cause birth defects.
What birth defects did Thalidomide cause?
Limb development issues, sensory impairment, facial disfiguration, stillbirth.
What is operant conditioning?
A learning method that employs rewards and punishments for behaviour.
What is Melzoff’s theory of Habituation & Dis-habituation?
Learning by copying others behaviour. Modelling occurs even after delays.
When does a baby learn to sit unsupported?
6 months
When does a baby typically begin to crawl?
8-9 months
When does a baby typically begin to walk?
12 months
When does a baby typically begin to walk indepenently?
15 months
What is the top-down concept of learning?
Cephalocaudal Trend
What is the bottom-up concept of learning?
Proximodistal
What are the 3 dominant theories of cognitive development?
- Cognitive-developmental stage theory (Piaget)
- Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky)
- Informational processing theory
What are the 4 stages of Piaget’s cognitive development theory?
- Sensorimotor (0-2 years)
- Preoperational (2-7 years)
- Concrete operational (7-11 years)
- Formal operational (11+ years)
What are the 2 components of adaption in Piaget’s cognitive-developmental stages theory?
- Assimilation: interpreting experience in terms of existing schemes
- Accommodation: old schemes are adjusted and new ones created to incorporate new information
What occurs during the sensorimotor stage?
Experience the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, grasping).
Phenomena: object permanence and stranger anxiety.
What occurs during the pre-operational stage?
Represents things with words and images but lacks logical reasoning.
Phenomena: Pretend play, egocentrism.
What occurs during the concrete operational stage?
Logical thinking about concrete events.
Phenomena: Conversation, maths transformations.
What occurs during the formal operational stage?
Abstract reasoning.
Phenomena: Abstract logic, potential for mature moral reasoning.
What are the 5 principles of the pre-operational stage?
- Conservation
- Centration
- Irreversibility
- Egocentrism
- Theory of mind
Which principle of the pre-operational stage is impaired in autistic children?
Theory of mind: ability to infer others’ mental stages
What are the 3 components of the concrete operational stage?
- Seriation: arrange items along a quantitative dimension
- Transitive inference: seriate mentally
- Cognitive maps: mental representations of large scale environments
What is propositional thought within the formal operational stage?
Ability to evaluate the logic of propositions (verbal statements) without referring to real world circumstances (compare to concrete operational).
What 2 types of egocentrism occur during the formal operational stage?
- Imagery audience: they are the focus of everyone’s attention
- Personal fable: they are special and unique
What maximises cognitive development?
An enriched environment
At what age do children become more capable of verbal thinking?
6 or 7 years - no longer think aloud.
What does Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory describe learning as?
A social process - impact of social interactions and culture.
The concept that refers to the gap between what a learner can do on their own and what they can achieve with help is called…
Zone of Proximal Development
What is the informational processing theory?
Describes how people process, store, and retrieve information.
What are the two basic emotions in babies?
- Attraction to pleasant stimulation
- Withdrawal from unpleasant stimulation
What is the emotion understanding present between birth and 6 months?
Detects emotions by matching caregiver’s feeling tone in face-to-face communication.
What is the emotion understanding present between 7-12 months?
- Detects meaning of emotional signals
- Engages in social referencing.
What is the emotion understanding present between 1-2 years?
- Appreciates other’s emotional reactions may differ
- Emotional vocabulary
- Displays empathy
What is the emotion understanding present between 3-6 years?
- Greater understanding of causes and consequences and behavioural signals
- Empathy becomes more reflective
What is the emotion understanding present between 7-11 years?
- Can reconcile conflicting cues/mixed feelings in others
- Empathy increases
At what age range does self-conscious emotions emerge?
1-2 years
At what age are self-conscious emotions integrated into inner standards of good behaviour?
7-11 years
At what age does a child begin to conform to emotional display rules?
3-6 years
At what age does a child regulate emotions by approach/retreat?
7-12 months
What are the 4 ‘types’ of children?
- Easy child (40%)
- Difficult child (10%)
- Slow-to-warm-up child (15%)
- Blended (35%)
By what age does a close emotional bond form between child and caregiver?
6-8 months
What is the Harlow’s experiment?
Monkeys were separated from their mother and given a blanket for comfort - became distressed when the blankets were removed.
Which 2 tactics were used in Harlow’s experiment?
- Partial isolation
- Total social isolation
According to Bowlby, what are the 4 phases of the development of affection?
- Pre-attachment (birth-6 weeks)
- Attachment in the making (6 weeks-6-8 months)
- Clear-cut attachment (6-8 months-18-24 months)
- Formation of reciprocal relationship 18-24 months+)
What occurs during phase one of affection development?
Variety of signals (grasping, crying, smiling) helps to bring and keep close proximity to adults - attachment not yet formed.
What occurs during phase two of affection development?
- Respond differently to strangers
- Expectation that caregiver will respond
- Little protest when separated from parent
What occurs during phase three of affection development?
- Separation anxiety
- Understand caregiver continues to exist
- Act to maintain caregiver presence
What occurs during phase four of affection development?
- Understand reasons for parents ‘coming and going’
- Negotiate
According to Ainsworth, what are the 4 attachment patterns?
- Secure attachment (60%)
- Avoidant attachment (15%)
- Resistant attachment (10%)
- Disorganised/disorientated attachment (15%)
According to Ainsworth, which attachment pattern has the greatest insecurity?
Disorganised/disorientated attachment
What are the 4 types of parenting styles?
- Authoritarian
- Permissive
- Authoritative
- Unresponsive
Which parenting style is the most effective?
Authoritative: both demanding and responsive
What is the major social achievement in infancy?
Attachment
What is the major achievement in childhood?
Positive sense of self
What is a child’s self-concept based on?
Gender, group membership, and comparative strengths and weaknesses.
Positive self-concept is correlated with…
Confidence, independence, optimism, assertiveness, and sociability.
High self-esteem =
Realistic evaluation coupled with an attitude of acceptance and respect.
What are the 4 aspects of the self-esteem structure?
- Academic
- Social
- Athletic
- Appearance
In the development of self-esteem, what are the milestones of a child aged 1-2 years?
- Expressions of pleasure in mastery
- Sensitivity to adult evaluations
In the development of self-esteem, what are the milestones of a child aged 3-5 years?
- Self-esteem is high based on several self-evaluations
- Achievement-related evaluations appear but are undifferentiated
In the development of self-esteem, what are the milestones of a child aged 6-10 years?
- Self-esteem hierarchically organised and integrated in overall self-image
- Self-esteem declines with increased social comparisons
In the development of self-esteem, at what age does achievement-related evaluations begin to differentiate into ability, effort, and external factors?
6-10 years
In the development of self-esteem, what are the milestones of a child aged 11+ years?
- New dimensions added (friendship, romantic appeal)
- Full differentiation of ability and effort
What is argued in Erikson’s stage theory of psychosocial development?
Each stage is characterised by a psychosocial crisis involving a struggle between two opposing tendencies. Personality is shaped by how an individual deals with each crisis.
What is stage 1 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Trust vs mistrust (0-1 years)
What is stage 2 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Autonomy vs shame & doubt (1-3 years)
What is stage 3 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Initiative vs guilt (3-6 years)
What is stage 4 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Industry vs inferiority (6 years-puberty)
What is stage 5 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Identity vs role confusion (teens-20s)
What is stage 6 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Intimacy vs isolation (20s-early 40s)
What is stage 7 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Generativity vs stagnation (40s-60s)
What is stage 8 of Erikson’s stage theory?
Integrity vs despair (late 60s+)
