Development Flashcards
human development
the scientific study of the changes that occur in people as they age from conception until death
longitudinal design
research design in which one participant or group of participants is studied over a long period of time (see table 7.1 pg 231)
cross-sectional design
research design in which several different age groups of participants are studied at one particular point in time (see table 7.1 pg 231)
cross-sequential design
research design in which participants are first studied by means of a cross-sectional design but are also followed and assessed for a period of no more than six years (see table 7.1 pg 231)
nature
the influence of our inherited characteristics on our personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions
nurture
the influence of the environment on personality, physical growth, intellectual growth, and social interactions
dominant
referring to a gene that actively controls the expression of a trait
recessive
referring to a gene that influences the expression of a trait only when paired with an identical gene
the building blocks of life
DNA molecules
chromosomes
rod-shaped structures found in the nucleus of each cell, are nothing more than tightly wound strands of genes
In the analogy of the twisted ladder, the sequence of amines would be represented by the _________ of the ladder.
rungs
cognitive development
the development of thinking, problem solving, and memory
scheme
in this case, a mental concept formed through experiences with objects and events
sesorimotor stage
Piaget’s first stage of cognitive development in which the infant uses its senses and motor abilities to interact with objects in the environment
object permanence
the knowledge that an object exists even when it is not in sight
preoperational stage
Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development in which the preschool child learns to use language as a means of exploring the world
egocentrism
the inability to see the world through anyone else’s eyes
centration
in Piaget’s theory, the tendency of a young child to focus only on one feature of an object while ignoring other relevant features
conservation
in Piaget’s theory, the ability to understand that simply changing the appearance of an object does not change the object’s nature
irreversibility
in Piaget’s theory, the inability of the young child to mentally reverse an action
concrete operations stage
Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development in which the school-age child becomes capable of logical thought processes but is not yet capable of abstract thinking
formal operations stage
Piaget’s last stage of cognitive development, in which the adolescent becomes capable of abstract thinking
scaffolding
process in which a more skilled learner gives help to a less skilled learner, reducing the amount of help as the less skilled learner becomes more capable
zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Vygotsky’s concept of the difference between what a child can do alone versus what that child can do with the help of a teacher
In developmental psychology, there are two different approaches that have been taken over the years. What are they?
- The traditional approach: focuses on children and their changes until they hit puberty (Piaget’s theory)
- The lifespan approach: focuses on people throughout their entire lifespan (Erikson’s theory)
What are some of the basic questions of developmental psychology?
- Nature vs Nurture
- Stability vs Change: as we develop, how stable are our characteristics vs. how much do we change (ex. personality)
- Continuous vs Discontinuous: continuous is when you stay in the same state except for improvements but there are no set “stages” and discontinuous is when you actually moe from one stage into another stage
What developments do scientists study?
biological, cognitive, social, emotional, personality
What is Jean Piaget’s background?
from Switzerland, he originally got his PhD in zoology, he became interested in the development of children after giving intelligence tests to children, he became interested in the questions that they were getting wrong, he eventually developed one of the first theories on childhood development, he discovered that children aren’t just small adults who know less things but they don’t have the abilities for certain kinds of reasoning or abstract thought like adults so the way they make sense of the world is different from adults, Piaget also believed that children are active learners
What is the first stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
Sensorimotor Stage: lasts from birth until age 2, it is called the sensorimotor stage because it’s the stage where we learn to link up the observations we make with our senses and our motor control (or the interactions we make on the environment), Piaget believed that at this stage children aren’t able to have abstract thoughts, object permanence occurs during this stage
What is object permanence?
object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even if they’re not sensed, this develops during this sensorimotor stage of Piaget’s theory at around 8 months old
What is the second stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
Preoperational Stage: occurs from ages 2-7, children develop mental representation as well as the ability for symbolic thought and play (like pretending a box is a car), children also develop centration and are unable to master conservation tasks, they don’t understand that when something changes shape it can still be the same amount of material (picture in textbook), children in this stage have egocentrism as well
mental representation
the ability to represent things mentally and talk about things that are not physically present, example: talking about playing on the swings at the park while in the basement of their house
centration
focusing on one feature while neglecting other aspects, using appearance instead of logical thinking
egocentrism
understanding the world only from your own viewpoint, being unable to see the world from another person’s viewpoint
What is the third stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
occurs from ages 7-11, children have the ability to apply mental concepts for concrete objects, they still have an inability to reason about abstract events, they are able to understand the concept of classification (sorting objects by common feature into different categories, ex. sorting all the red toys apart from blue ones), children in this stage are able to master conservation tasks (number develops first and then volume and mass)
What is the fourth stage of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
Formal Operational Stage: from ages 12-adulthood, they finally develop the ability for abstract reasoning and being able to think about non-concrete concepts such as freedom, they are able to engage in logical and systematic thinking
What are the criticisms of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
children are able to do some of the things earlier in age than Piaget originally thought, so, the stages aren’t as rigid age-wise, Piaget also never explained why we experience these stages, but we now know that the brain develops at different stages, also, researcher have found that if you alter the instructions from what Piaget used, children can actually complete the task sometimes, researchers also found that if you allow a child to practice/experience the tasks that the children can complete the task sometimes
What is the background of Erik Erikson and his theory of personality development?
he started out as a Neo-Freudian theorist, he was one of the 1st theorists to develop a theory across the whole lifespan, his theory focuses on how we develop our sense of identity and each stage he proposed had a type of crisis or turning point that we deal with throughout our whole lives, even though each crisis/issue is dominant at certain stages, each of his stages have positive and negative outcomes and the ages for each stage are approximations because each person moves at their own rate
What is the first stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Trust vs Mistrust: occurs from early infancy through one year old, the infant has to rely on adults for all their needs, this is the stage where we learn whether or not our needs will be met, ignored, or overindulged, there should be an appropriate ratio of satisfaction and frustration
What is the second stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt: occurs from ages 1-2, the child starts to take responsibility for their actions by learning how to dress themselves, make food, go to the bathroom, and learn how to interact with other people appropriately, if you allow children enough independence they’ll develop a sense of self-control and adaquecy
What is the third stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Initiative vs Guilt: occurs from ages 3-5, builds on previous stage, deals with exerting influence or imposing your will on your surroundings, initiating behaviors and realizing you can go do the things you want to do, if initiative is encouraged the child will develop a sense of purpose and direction
What is the fourth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Industry vs Inferiority: occurs from ages 6-12, having to learn (in elementary school usually) to focus your energy into completing tasks, if kids are able to master these tasks they’ll feel competent and like they can do things, if they feel their performance is wrong they’ll feel inferior
What is the fifth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Identity vs Role Confusion: occurs from ages 13-early 20’s, in this stage you figure out your values, goals, and what’s important to you, there are many roles that we take on in life, the favorable outcome is seeing yourself as a person and knowing who you are while juggling roles
What is the sixth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Intimacy vs Isolation: occurs during a person’s 20’s-40’s, being able to open yourself up to other people, the favorable outcome is being able to form meaningful relationships with other people in life
What is the seventh stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Generativity vs Stagnation: occurs during a person’s 40’s-60’s, whether or not you’re generating something to leave behind once you’re gone such as children, an invention, or your life’s work, acquiring a general concern for future generations and wanting to leave the world a better place
What is the eighth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of personality development?
Integrity vs Despair: occurs during a person’s late 60’s and older, in this stage people reflect back on their life and whether or not they feel they did something meaningful and if they have satisfaction with their life
attachment
a close fundamental emotional tie or bond between an infant and caregiver
separation anxiety
distress in infants when separated from those with whom they have formed attachments, usually first seen between 6-8 months old and it peaks around 14-18 months old and declines after that, many researchers believed this bond developed because of mothers providing food, but a researcher named Harlow proved that wasn’t the case using monkeys and “robot mothers” one covered with soft cloth and the other with a bottle, the monkeys spent more time with the soft mother
John Bowlby and his theory
John Bowlby is a researcher who developed and pioneered the idea of the attachment theory in human infants, his idea was based upon the idea that we’re born with an innate fear of being alone and that fear motivates us to form attachments, first with our primary caregiver-we learn about relationships from this first attachment and this relationship provides a basis for the rest of your relationships
Mary Ainsworth and her strange situation procedure
Ainsworth conducted a lab experiment with one year olds and their mothers, they conducted a series of steps where they watched and observed what the children do in certain situations such as when their mother left, when strangers were in the room, etc, Ainsworth noted 3 different childhood patterns of attachment but researchers now identify 4 patterns
What are the 4 different childhood patterns of attachment?
- Secure Attachment: children that explore the room when the mother is present and occasionally go back to her to “touch base”, they cry when the mother leaves, but quickly calm down when she returns, 55% of infants fall into this category, mothers are loving, warm, sensitive to their infant’s needs, and responsive to infant’s attempts at communication
- Anxious Ambivalent: children are anxious even when the mother is in the room, the protest excessively when she leaves but aren’t comforted when she returns either, they seem to seek contact with her but angrily resist her when she tries to comfort them, these mothers tried to be responsive but were inconsistent and insensitive to the baby’s actions
- Avoidant- the children who seek little contact with the mother, they aren’t distressed when she leaves and they don’t seek her out when she comes back, these mothers are distant, unresponsive, insensitive and coldly rejecting, 20% of infants fall into this category,
- Disorganized/Disoriented: the newest category, wasn’t one of Ainsworth’s original 3, these kid’s behaviors are all over the place, kids that show this show different behaviors between two parents, these mothers were found to be abusive or neglectful in interactions with infants
temperament
the behavioral characteristics that are fairly well established at birth, such as a baby being easy, difficult, and slow to warm up
easy babies
easy babies are regular in their schedules of waking, sleeping, and eating and are adaptable to change, easy babies are happy babies and when they are distressed are easily soothed
difficult babies
difficult babies are almost the opposite of easy one, difficult babies tend to be irregular in their schedules and are very unhappy about change of any kind, they are loud, active, and tend to be crabby rather than happy
“slow to warm up” babies
this kind of temperament is associated with infants who are less grumpy, quieter, and more regular than difficult babies, but who are slow to adapt to change, if change is introduced gradually, these babies will “warm up” to new people and new situations
adolescence
the period of life from about age 13 to the early twenties, during which a young person is no longer physically a child but is not yet an independent, self-supporting adult
puberty
the physical changes that occur in the body as sexual development reaches its peak
personal fable
type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe themselves to be unique and protected from harm
imaginary audience
type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe that other people are just as concerned about the adolescent’s thoughts and characteristics as they themselves are
What are Kohlberg’s three levels of morality?
1) Preconventional morality: typically in very young children, the consequences determine morality, behavior that is rewarded is right, that which is punished is wrong, ex. a child who steals a toy from another child and does not get caught does not see that action as wrong
2) Conventional morality: usually in older children, adolescents, and most adults, conformity to the social norms is right, and nonconformity is wrong, ex. a child criticizes their parent for speeding because speeding is against the posted laws
3) Postconventional morality: occurs in about 20% of the adult population, moral principles determined by the person are used to determine right and wrong and may disagree with societal norms, ex. a reporter who wrote a controversial story goes to jail rather than reveal the source’s identity
intimacy
an emotional and psychological closeness that is based on the ability to trust, share, and care, while still maintaining a sense of self
generativity
providing guidance to one’s children or the next generation, or contributing to the well-being of the next generation through career or volunteer work
authoritarian parenting
style of parenting in which parent is rigid and overly strict, showing little warmth to the child
permissive parenting
style of parenting in which parent makes few, if any, demands on a child’s behavior
permissive neglectful
permissive parenting in which parents are uninvolved with a child or child’s behavior
permissive indulgent
permissive parenting in which parents are so involved that children are allowed to behave without set limits
authoritative parenting
style of parenting in which parents combine warmth and affection with firm limits on a child’s behavior
integrity
sense of wholeness that comes from having lived a full life and the ability to let go of regrets
activity theory
theory of adjustment to aging that assumes older people are happier if they remain active in some way, such as volunteering or developing a hobby
cellular clock theory
theory of how we age, in this theory, cells are limited in the number of times they can reproduce to repair damage, evidence for this theory is the existence of telomeres, structures on the ends of chromosomes that shorten each time a cell reproduces, when telomeres are too short, cells cannot reproduce, damage accumulates, resulting in the effects of aging
free radical theory
theory of how we age, in this theory, the body’s organs and cell tissues simply wear out with repeated use and abuse, free radicals are oxygen molecules that have an unstable electron (negative particle), they bounce around the cell, stealing electrons from other molecules and increasing the damage to structures inside the cell, as people get older, more and more free radicals do more and more damage, producing the effects of aging
