Childhood development Flashcards
Prenatal stages of development
Germinal/ Zygote (fertilised egg, conception to 2 weeks old).
Embryo (2 weeks - 2 months old).
Foetus (2 months old to birth).
Teratogens
Any substance or environmental factor that might cause birth defects (alcohol, smoking, stress, radiation).
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behaviour, relatively uninfluenced by experience.
Sequencing of development is consistent but timing varies slightly. Development is cephalocaudal and proximal to distal.
Critical periods
A period of special sensitivity to specific types of learning that shapes the capacity for future development.
Sensitive periods
Developmental period during which environmental input is especially important, but not absolutely required, for future development in a domain.
Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
Sensorimotor (approx. 0 – 2 years); Preoperational (approx. 2-7 years); Concrete operational (approx. 7-11/12 years); Formal operational (approx. 11/12+ years)
Sensorimotor stage 0-2 years old
Thought primarily takes the form of perception and action. Gradually, children acquire object permanence, recognising that objects exist in time and space independent of their actions on or observation of them. Sensorimotor children are extremely egocentric, or thoroughly embedded in their own point of view.
Preoperational stage 2-7 years old
Characterised by the emergence of symbolic thought. Operations are mental actions the individual can use to manipulate, transform and return an object of knowledge to its original state. Thought still limited by egocentrism. Another limitation is centration, the tendency to focus, or centre, on one perceptually striking feature of an object without considering other features that might be relevant.
Theory of mind is the ability to infer other person’s mental stages. Basic understanding develops around age 3-4 but impaired in autism.
Concrete operational stage 7-11/12 years old
Children can operate on, or mentally manipulate, internal representations of concrete objects in ways that are reversible. The concrete operational child understands conservation — the idea that basic properties of an object or situation remain stable even though superficial properties may change. Begin to understand arithmetic operations. Has developed Seriation- the ability to arrange items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or weight. Develops Transitive inference is the ability to seriate mentally.
Formal operational stage 11/12 years old +
Characterised by the ability of Hypothetico-deductive reasoning: Begin with a general theory of all possible factors affecting outcome, deductive specific hypothesis, test hypothesis in orderly fashion. Propositional thought: can evaluate the logic of propositions (verbal statements) without referring to real world circumstances.
Formal operational egocentrism is the inability to distinguish the abstract perspective of the self and others. Imaginary audience- they are the focus of everyone else’s attention and concern. Personal fable- they are special and unique (others cannot understand their thought and feelings).
Schema
A concept or framework to organise and interpret information and exercised patterns of thought and behaviour that changes with age.
Adaption
The process of building schemes through direct interaction with the environment. Built up of two complimentary activities: assimilation and accommodation.
Accommadation
Old schemes are adjusted and new ones created to incorporate new information.
Assimilation
Interpreting experience in terms of existing schemes
Diana Baumrind’s parenting styles
Permissive, Neglectful, Authoritarian, Authoritative
Permissive parenting style
Low control/ high warmth. Accept children’s behaviour. Make few demands. Punish them infrequently. Children will show specific competencies, will perform well when tasks interest them.
Neglectful/ Uninvolved parenting style
Low control/ low warmth. Meet basic physical needs. Minimise the amount of time they spend with their children. Avoid becoming emotionally involved. Associated with least competent children. Children show low self-esteem, low achievement and are prone to delinquency.
Authoritarian parenting style
High control/ little warmth. Lay down rules and expect them to be obeyed with no discussion. Rules are not explained. Aim to cultivate hard work, respect, and obedience. Enforceable competence, children do what they are supposed to do as long as the authority figure retains a means of enforcement. Likely to rebel when the authority figure is absent or no longer poses a threat.
Authoritative parenting style
High control/ high warmth. Exert control by setting rules and enforcing them but also explain their reasons (especially older children). Associated with high overall competence, children show high self-esteem and high achievement. Self motivated and respond appropriately to authority.
John Bolby’s theory of attachment
Pre-attachment (birth-6 weeks): Variety of signals (grasping, crying, smiling, gazing) helps bring and keep close proximity to adult. Attachment not yet formed.
Attachment in the making (6 weeks – 6-8 months): Respond differently to strangers. Expectation that caregiver will respond. Little protest when separated from parent.
Clear-cut attachment (6-8 months – 18-24 months): Separation anxiety. Understand caregiver continues to exist. Act to maintain caregiver presence.
Formation of reciprocal relationship (18-24 months +): Understand reasons for parents “coming and going”. Negotiates.
Mary Ainsworth’s attachment styles
Secure attachment: Use parents as secure base. Distress in absence but settles quickly on return. Playful, less inhibited, exploration orientated, sociable. 60% of population.
Avoidant attachment: Unresponsive to parent; avoid or are slow to greet on reunion. Maintains close proximity but avoids close contact. 10%.
Resistant/ ambivalent attachment: Seeks closeness (clingy), fails to explore. Angry, resistive (hitting/ pushing) on return. Difficult to comfort. 10%.
Disorganised/ disorientated attachment: Greatest insecurity. Confused/ contradictory behaviours regarding approach vs. avoidance. E.g. looks away while held, cry out after being calmed, depressed/flat behaviours, dazed facial expression. 15%.
Infant attachment patterns reflect a combination of temperament, parental responsiveness and the interaction of the two.
Parents tend to produce children with an attachment style similar to their own. Attachment patterns have considerable stability because internal working models tend to change slowly, but as life circumstances change, so can attachment styles.
Cross-sectional studies
Compare groups of participants of different ages at a single time to investigate differences between them. Does not account for individual differences.
Longitudinal studies
Follow the same individuals over time and thus can directly assess age changes rather than age differences. Vulnerable to cohort effects (difference among the groups e.g. cultural or era or generation differences).
Sequential studies
Minimise the confounding variable of cohort by studying multiple cohorts longitudinally. Can be expensive and difficult and can take a lot of time and resources to complete.
Twin studies
Researching twins. Effective case studies to investigate the role of nature and nurture.
Intermodal processing
The ability for infants to associate sensations of an object from different senses and match their own actions to behaviours they have observed visually.
Equilibration
The driving force behind cognitive development to balance assimilation and accommodation to adapt to the world.
Criticism of Piaget’s theory
Underestimating the capacities of younger children, assuming too much consistency across domains and downplaying the influence of culture.
Socialisation
The process by which children learn the rules, beliefs, values, skills, attitudes and behaviour patterns of their society. Is a transactional and lifelong process.
