Comp. Of All Chapt. Summaries Flashcards
Developmental science
An interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding human constancy and change throughout the lifespan
3 issues theories of human development take a stand on
- Is development continuous or discontinuous?
- One course of development for all or many possible courses, depending on different contexts?
- Is development based on nurture or nature?
Lifespan perspective
A balanced view that envisions development as a dynamic system. It is based on assumptions that development is lifelong, multidimensional (affected by biological, psychological, and social forces), multidirectional (a joint expression of growth and decline), and plastic (open to change through new experiences)
Life course influenced by:
- Age graded influences— predictable in timing and duration.
- History grades influences— unique to a particular par historical era.
- Non normative influences— unique to one or a few individuals
Major early influences on the scientific study of development
Darwin’s theory of evolution influenced important developmental theories and inspired scientific child study. In early twentieth century.
Normative approach:
Which produced a large body of descriptive facts about development.
First successful intelligence test– sparked interest in individual differences in development and led to a heated controversy over nature versus nurture.
What theories influenced human development research in the mid-twentieth century?
Psychoanalytic perspective— help in treating people’s emotional problems.
Psychosexual theory— individual moves through 5 stages during which 3 portions of personality (id, ego, superego) become integrated.
Psychosocial theory— expands on freuds theory by emphasizing the development of culturally relevant attitudes and skills and the lifespan nature of development.
Behaviorism & Social learning theory— emerged emphasizing the study of directly observable events (stimuli and responses) and the principles of conditioning and modeling.
Behavior modification— to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses.
Cognitive developmental theory (paiget’s) — emphasizes children’s active role in constructing knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. Children move through 4 stages, from the baby’s sensorimotor action patterns to the adolescent’s capacity for abstract, systematic thinking.
Recent theories on human development
Information processing— views the mind as a complex symbol-manipulating system, much like a computer. How children and adults tackle cognitive fasts.
Developmental cognitive neuroscience— the relationship between changes in the brain and the development of cognitive processing and behavior patterns. Identifying the types of experiences to which the brain is sensitive at various ages and in clarifying the brain is sensitive at various ages and in clarifying the brain based of many learning and behavior disorders
What are genes, and how are they transmitted from one generation to the next?
Phenotype: directly observable characteristics, is a product of both genotype and environment.
Chromosomes: rodlike structures within the cell nucleus, contain our hereditary endowment. Along their length are genes, segments of DNA that send instructions for making a rich assortment of proteins to the cell’s cytoplasm.
Gametes- sex cells, result from a cell division process called meiosis, in which each individual revives a unique set of genes from each parent. Once sperm and ovum unite, the resulting zygote starts to develop into a complex human being through cell duplication, or mitosis.
If the fertilizing sperm carried an X-chromosome, the child will be a girl; if it contains a Y chromosome, a boy. Fraternal, or dizygotic, twins result when two ova are released from the mother’s ovaries and each is fertilized. Identical, or monozygotic, twins develop when a zygote divides in two during the early stages of cell duplication.
Patterns of genetic inheritance
Homozygous individuals have two identical alleles, or forms of a gene. If the alleles differ, the individual is heterozygous, and relationships between the alleles determine the phenotype.
In dominant-recessive inheritance, only individuals with two recessive alleles display the recessive trait. Heterozygous individuals display only the dominant trait and carriers of the recessive trait. In incomplete dominance, both alleles are expressed in the phenotype.
In X-linked inheritance, a handful allele is carried on the X chromosome and, therefore, is more likely to affect males. In genomic imprinting, one parents allele is activated, regardless of its makeup.
Harmful genes arise from mutation, which can occur spontaneously or be caused by hazardous environmental agents. Germline mutation affects the cells that give rise to gametes; somatic mutation can occur in body cells at any time of life.
Human traits that vary on a continuum, such as intelligence and personality, result from polygenic inheritance, the effects of many genes.
