Development Flashcards
What is maturation?
stable changes in childhood that are due to aging, not experience
What are critical periods?
Periods in which certain experiences must occur if the child is to develop normally
In Piaget’s Cognitive Theory, what changes over time, and how?
Schemas
Adaption:Assimilation and Accommodation
What is a schema?
A mental representation of how the world works
What is assimilation?
Interpret external world in terms of our current schemas
What is accomodation?
Current schemas do not capture environment
Adjusting existing schemas
Create new schemas
What is the role of disequilibrium in adaption?
Balance between assimilation and accommodation
When child not changing much
-assimilate more than accommodate
When child changing rapidly
-accommodate more than assimilate
What is a stage of Piaget’s Stages of Development
Grouping of similar changes in schemas during the same time period of development
What are the characteristics of stages within Piaget’s Stages of Development
Invariant
-Emerge in a fixed order
Universal
-Describe development of all children
What are the four stages of Piaget’s Development?
-Sensorimotor
-Preoperational
-Concrete operational
-Formal operations
What are the characteristics of the Sensorimotor stage
-Birth to 2 years
-Understand the world by physically interacting with it
-Learning via circular reactions: repetition of events
-Object permanence develops throughout this period
What is object permanence
Understanding that objects exist when out of sight
What are the characteristics of the Preoperational stage?
-Ages 2-7
-Representation in terms of language
-Some development of symbolic thought
-Behaviors demonstrating preoperational thought: Egocentrism(less apparent with time), Hierarchical classification(develops with time), Ability to Conserve (develop with time)
What is egocentrism?
The inability to differentiate between one’s own perspective and that of others
What is Hierarchical Classification?
Organizing things into distinct categories, ranked by importance, power, or superiority
What is conservation?
Understanding that certain physical characteristics of an object remain the same, even when outward appearance changes:
size, number, volume, mass
In the Preoperational Stage, why do children have trouble?
Thinking is perception-bound
-distracted by concrete, perceptual aspects of objects
Centration
-focus on one aspect of the problem, ignore all others
What are the characteristics of the Concrete Operational stage?
-Ages 7-11
-Can perform “operations”: manipulate an object in ones mind: mental math, imagine senes
-Characteristic behavior: master problems of preoperational stage, think in terms of concrete information
What is concrete reasoning
size of lines example
literal style of reasoning, focus on what is immediately present
What are the characteristics of the Formal Operations stage
-Ages 11 and older
Behaviors:
-Hypothetico-deductive reasoning: can do concrete stimuli tasks in head
-Thinking becomes increasingly abstract, child can imagine what it would be like: ex. going to the moon
What is Propositional Throught?
Ability to evaluate the logic of abstract statements
What is Attachment Theory (from Cognition to Emotion)
Strong, affectionate bond we feel for special people in our lives
What is Drive Reduction Theory
Primary drive: hunger
Secondary learned drive: Tension relief
What was Harlow’s monkeys?
Maternal bonding study
cloth vs wire w/food mother
monkeys chose cloth mother for comfort and security, preferred to wire mesh mother: attachment is not solely based on feeding, but physical contact and comfort
What are the two major forms of attachment and developmental anxiety?
Stranger anxiety
-presence of stranger
-age 6-12 months
-male, female, child
Separation anxiety
-Anxiety when separated from caregiver
-Peaks at 15 months
Aspects of the Strange Situation experiment?
Gauge how child reacts to:
-Strange environment
-unfamiliar adult
-Separation from parent
-Reunion with parent
Secure
Insecure: avoidant, resistant
Explain the Secure type of Attachment (strange situation)
-Parent as a base from which to explore room
-Cries when parent leaves
-Strong preference for parent over stranger
-Seeks contact and stops crying when parent returns
Explain Insecure type of Attachment (strange situation)
Avoidant
-not responsive to present parent
-Not distressed when parent leaves
-Reacts similarly to stranger and parent
-Slow to greet parent upon return, if at all
Resistant(Anxious)
-Before separation, seeks closeness to parent
-Does not explore much
-Angry when parent returns
-Not easily comforted by parent’s return
Why do different attachments occur?
Influence of parental vs. child factors
Opportunity for a close relationship
Parenting styles
What are the parental influences of mother-child attachment
mental illness and child maltreatment
What are the infant influences of mother-child attachment
Premature, developmental delays, physical or psychological disorder
What happens to institutionalized infants?
high turnover staff rate and other factors lead to insecure attachments and are overly friendly to unfamiliar adults and peers
What factors of parenting style lead to secure attachment?
-responding promptly to infant signals
-expresses positive emotions toward infant
-handles infant tenderly and carefully
What factors of parenting style lead to avoidant attachment?
-parent insensitive to baby’s needs
-little modulation in parental response
What factors of parenting style lead to resistant attachment?
-more sensitive to own needs
-parent interferes when baby begins to explore
-parent impatient with child
What are Erickson’s Eight stages: childhood?
Trust vs Mistrust
Autonomy vs Self Doubt
Initiative vs Guilt
Competence vs Inferiority
What are Erickson’s Eight stages: adolescence?
Identity vs Role Confusion
What are Erickson’s Eight stages: adulthood?
Intimacy vs Isolation
Generativity vs Stagnation
Integrity vs Despair
What happens to intelligence over time?
-Crystallized Intelligence is maintained throughout life
-Fluid intelligence declines slightly
-Mental and psychomotor speed tends to slow
-Remaining mentally active is important
-Happiness may increase with aging
