development Flashcards
developmental psychology
the study of age-related changes in behavioural and cognitive process
4 issues in developmental psych
- nature vs nurture
- critical and sensitive period
- stability vs change
- continuous vs stage changes
3 research designs
- cross sectional: different age groups at one time (cheaper, one-shot method, cohort efect)
- longitudinal : same participants studied over time - difference over time, control for upbringing. lot of time and resources and increased drop out.
- sequential: cross sectional but follow same groups longitudinally. helps with cohort differences, more costly, complicated & increased drop-out.
define maturation
the programmed biological process that governs our growth.
cephalocaudal principle
head grows first, then the body
proximodistal principles
grow from inside to outside
three stages of prenatal development
- germinal -zygote attaches to uterus wall
- embryonic - placenta and umbilical cord develop.
3 fetal - 28 weeks = age of viability. rapid weight gain and detailing body organs and systems.
sex determination
46 chromosomes, 23 pairs.
Y androgen with TDF initiates development of testis.
prenatal development - risk factors
- maternal factors: malnutrition, stress
- teratogens: alcohol, smoke aspirin.
- disease - STI
FASD
fetal alcohol syndrome - mild to severe cognitive, behavioural and physical deficits caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol.
childhood - the brain development.
- birth weight of brain, 6 month weight of brain
- continued development of synapses
- order of brain development
birth = 25% of adult brain, 6 months = 50% of adult brain.
- synapse formation (more neurons) - infancy to early childhood. synapse pruning (less neurons, more efficient) - childhood to adolescence.
- starts with areas related to body function - brainstem; later more complex cognition - association cortexes.
Newborn sensation and perception
very near sighted - only see 20-4- cm away. – develops continually.
preferential looking procedure: infants prefer novel complex patterns over familiar simple ones.
hearing - phenome discrimination exceeds that of adult, disappears by 1 year of age.
environmental and cultural influences
consistent breastfeeding assoc with improved cognitive development
more interaction with people and objects = thrive. physical touch affects growth positively.
adolescence - physical development
puberty
brain
puberty - the brains hypothalamus signal pituitary to increase hormonal secretions. mature/produce primary sex characteristic (organs) and secondary sex characteristic (features)
the adolescent brain
new neural connections while pruning massive number of synaptic connections. prefrontal and limbic system = role in planning, coordinating behaviour behaviours that satisfy motivational goals.
adulthood - physical developments
- young adults (20-40) peak functioning.
- mid -adulthood -(40-60) visual acuity declines; physical status declines at mid-life.
- menopause - stop menstruation between 45-55, lose estrogen, and fertility, bones may be brittle, slow to heal. men’s fertility decreases after middle age also.
adulthood - brain
lose brain tissue 5-10% lost every 10 years from 40 years old. - frontal and parietal lobes mostly.
- memory, declines in late 30’s. stronger declines in recall than recognition.
use it or lose it? maintaining cognitive functioning
70% of participants maintained level of functioning btw 67-74
retain fxn = engage in more cognitively stimulating jobs and personal activities, marry spouse with greater intellectual ability, maintain high level of perceptual processing speed.
piagets stage theory of cognitive growth
sensorimotor: achieve object permanence by 8 months.
pre-operational: world represented symbolically (shoe - real & pic); pretend play, egocentrism (fails to see someone else’s perspective
concrete operational: basic mental operations, learn conservation. failr hypothetical problems
formal operational: form hypotheses and systematically test or them .