Development

Question 1

What is habituation?

Answer 1

Habituation is a decreased response to a repeated stimulus.

Question 2

What is dishabituation?

Answer 2

Dishabituation is when a change in stimulus increases a previously habituated response.

Question 3

What are the four major stages of intellectual development, according to Piaget?

Answer 3

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth - 2 y/o)
2. Preoperational stage (2 - 7)
3. Concrete operations stage (7 -11)
4. Formal operations stage (>11)

Question 4

What’s the difference between assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration?

Answer 4

Assimilation is applying an old schema to new objects or problems.

Accommodation is modifying an old schema to fit a new object or problem.

Equilibration is the establishment of harmony or balance between the two.

Question 5

What type of behaviour is seen at the sensorimotor stage?

Answer 5

The sensorimotor stage is mostly simple motor responses to sensory stimuli.

Question 6

What is object permanence?

Answer 6

Object permanence is the idea that objects continue to exist even when we do not see or hear them.

Question 7

At the preoperational stage, what are four weaknesses in a child’s thought process?

Answer 7

1. Egocentric - a child sees the world as centered around himself and cannot easily take another person’s perspective.
2. Lacks theory of mind - an understanding that other people have a mind and that each person knows some things that other people don’t know
3. Unable to distinguish between appearance and reality
4. Lack the concept of conservation - fail to understand that objects conserve properties after changes in their shape or arrangement.

Question 8

What is a child able and not able to accomplish at the stage of concrete operations?

Answer 8

At the concrete operations stage, the child is able to perform mental operations on concrete objects but still has trouble with abstract or hypothetical ideas.

Question 9

What is a child able to accomplish at the stage of formal operations?

Answer 9

At the formal operations stage, adolescents develop logical, deductive reasoning and systematic planning.

Question 10

What is the zone of proximal development?

Answer 10

The zone of proximal development is distance between what a child can do alone and what is possible with help.

Question 11

What are the four attachment styles as measured in the Strange Situation?

Answer 11

Secured, anxious, avoidant, disorganised

Question 12

What are the factors that affect a child’s attachment style?

Answer 12

1. The child’s temperament - tendency to be active or inactive, and to respond vigorously or quietly to new stimuli
2. Responsiveness of parents to the infants’ needs
3. Cultural differences

Question 13

Distinguish identity diffusion, identity moratorium, identity foreclosure, and identity achievement.

Answer 13

Identity diffusion - not actively exploring and have not made any decisions about the future

Identity moratorium - exploring but have not made any decisions

Identity foreclosure - have not fully explored but has made a decision

Identity achievement - has fully explored and has made decisions

Question 14

What is the terror-management theory?

Answer 14

The terror-management theory suggests that we we cope with our fear of death by avoiding thoughts about death and by affirming a worldview that provides self-esteem, hope, and value in life.

Question 15

What are the different types of parenting styles?

Answer 15

1. Authoritative - set high standards and impose controls, but they are also warm and responsive to the child’s communications
2. Authoritarian - set rules without explaining the reasons behind them, are more emotionally distant from the child
3. Permissive - warm and loving but undemanding
4. Indifferent/ uninvolved - spend little time with their children and do little more than provide them the basic necessities