Development over the lifespan

Question 1

Developmental psychology

Answer 1

Examins biological, physical, psychological and behavioural changes that occur throughout life.

Question 2

What are the four brod issues developmental psychology is guided by

Answer 2

• Nature (heredity) vs nurture (environment)
• Sensitive vs criticah periods
• Continuity (continuous & gradual) vs discontinuity (progressing through qualitively distinct stages)
• Stability vs change

Question 3

Sensitive periods

Answer 3

Is an optimal age range for certain experiences, but if those experiences occur at another time, normal development is still possible

Question 4

Critical periods

Answer 4

Is an age range during which certain experiences must occur for development to proceed normally or along a certain path

Question 5

Cross-sectional design

Answer 5

Compare people of different ages at the same point in time.

Question 6

Benefit of Cross-sectional design

Answer 6

Data from many ages groups can be collected relatively quickly

Question 7

Limitation of cross-sectional design

Answer 7

Different age groups (cohorts) grew up in different historical periods

Question 8

Longitudinal design

Answer 8

Repeatedly tests the same cohort as it grows older

Question 9

Limitation of the longitudinal design

Answer 9

It can be time consuming and as years past the sample may shrink as people move, drop out or die

Question 10

Sequential design

Answer 10

Is a combination of both the cross-sectional and the longitudial approaches. It tests different age groups and then retests them in later years to come

Question 11

Prenatal Period

Answer 11

Is approximately 266 days in which humans are developed from a singled-cell organism to a newborn

Question 12

Germinal stage

Answer 12

Occurs approximately in the first two weeks of development which begins when a sperm fertilises a female egg (ovum). The zygote goes through repeated cell divison becoming a mass of cells attached to the mother’s uterus general 10-14 days after conception.

Question 13

Zygote

Answer 13

Is a fertilised egg

Question 14

Embroynic stage

Answer 14

The cell mass is now called an embryo develops from the end of the second week through to week 8 after conception.
The two life-support structures called the placenta and umbilical develop at the start of this stage. Supplied with nutrients the embryonic cells divide rapidly and become specialised cells forming different organs and systems. By the end of week 8 the heart of the 2.5cm long embryo is beating, the brain is forming and facial features such as eyes can be recognised

Question 15

The placenta

Answer 15

Contains membrances that allow nutrients to pass from the mother’s blood to the umbilical cord. It also prevents many dangerous substances from reaching the embryo and foetus.

Question 16

The umbilical cord

Answer 16

Contains blood vessels that carry these nutrients and oxygen to the embryo and transport waste products back from the embryo to the mother

Question 17

The foetal stage

Answer 17

Occurs from week 9 after conception until birth. In this stage muscles strengthen and other bodily systems continue their development. At about 24 weeks the eyes open and by 27 weeks the feotus attains the age of viability meaning it is likely to survive outside the womb in case of premature birth

Question 18

Teratogens

Answer 18

Are external agents that cause adnormal prenatal development

Question 19

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Answer 19

Involves physical deficits caused by prental exposure to alcohol. The amount of alcohol necessary to produce FASD is unknown. Social drinking, or a single episode of binge drinking can increase the risk of prenatal damage and long-term cognitive impairment

Question 20

Foetal alcohol syndrome

Answer 20

Involves a cluster of severe developmental abnormalities including facial abnormalities, small, malformed brains and psychological impairments such as mental retardation, attentional and preceptual deficits, impulsivity and poor social skills.

Question 21

Smoking

Answer 21

Meternal smoking can increase the risk of a miscarriage, premature birth and low birht weight. If someone such as the father is smoking causes secondhand smoke inhalation in the mother has also been linked to low infant birth weight and increased risk of respiratory infections

Question 22

Mothers who regularly use heroin or cocaine during pregency

Answer 22

Often results in their babies being born addicted to it and experience withdrawal symptoms after birth. It can also affect their cognitive functioning and ability to regualte their arousal and attention may also be impaired.

Question 23

Perception of newborn babies

Answer 23

Visual systems of newborn babies are immature. Their eye movements are not well coordinated and are very shortsighted. They see objects that are 30cm away the most clearly. Which is the distance between their eyes and their mothers’ eyes while feeding .

Question 24

Preferntial looking procedure (Robert Fantz 1961)

Answer 24

Found that infants preffered to look longer at more compex patterns such as a drawing of a human face in comparison to simple patterns and solid colours

Question 25

Accomodation

Answer 25

Is the process by which new experiences cauuse existing schemas to change

Question 26

What are the four stages of Piaget’s cognitive development model

Answer 26

Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete operational
Formal operational

Question 27

Sensoritmotor (Piaget’s Model)

Answer 27

From birth to age two infants understand the world through primarily though sensory experiences and physical (motor) interactions with objects. They achieve object permanence as well as they begin to think symbolically.

Question 28

Object permanence

Answer 28

The understanding that an object continues to exist even when it can no longer be seen

Question 29

Preoperational (Piaget’s Model)

Answer 29

From ages 2-7 they represent the world symbolically through words and mental images but do not yet understand basic mental operations or rules

Question 30

Conservation

Answer 30

The principle that basic properties of objects, such as their volume, mass or quantity stay the same even when their outward appearance changes

Question 31

Irreversibility

Answer 31

The act of reversing an action mentally

Question 32

Egocentrism

Answer 32

Difficulty in viewing the world from someone else’s perspective.

Question 33

Major characteristics of the preoperational stage of Piaget’s model

Answer 33

Child uses symbolic thinking (words and images) to represent objects and experiences
SYmbolic thinking enables children to engage in pretend play
Thinking displays egocentrism, irreversibility and centration

Question 34

Concrete operational stage (Piaget’s model)

Answer 34

Occurs from age 12 to 7 They can perform basic mental operations concerning problems if they involve tanigble (i.e. concrete) objects and situations.

Question 35

Major characteristics of the concrete operational stage of Piaget’s model

Answer 35

A child can think logically about concrete events and grasp concepts of conservation and serial ordering

Question 36

Formal operational stage

Answer 36

Occurs from ages from 12 onwards. In which individuals can think logically about concrete and abstract problems, form hypotheses and systematically test them

Question 37

Majore characteristics of the formal operational stage of Piaget’s model

Answer 37

Adolescents can think more logically, abstractly and flexibly
Can form hypotheses and systematically test them

Question 38

Theory of mind

Answer 38

Refers to a person’s belief about the ‘mind’ and the ability to understand other people’s mind state

Question 39

Erikson’s psychosocial theory

Answer 39

Erikson believed that personality develops through a series of eight psychosocial stages which each involve a different ‘crisis’ (i.e. conflict) over how we view ourselves iin relation to other people and the world

Question 40

Attachement

Answer 40

Refes to the strong emotional bond that develops between children and their primay caregivers

Question 41

Physical development biological principle (cephalocaudal principle)

Answer 41

Reflects the tendenct for development to proceed in a head-to-foot direction. The head of a foetus (and infant) is disproportionately large because physical growth concentrates first on the head

Question 42

Physical development biological principle (Proximodistal principle)

Answer 42

States that development begins along the innermost parts of the body and continues toward the outermost parts. Thus the foetus’s arms develop befor the hands and fingers

Question 43

Maturation

Answer 43

The genetically programmed biologicla processes that govern our growth

Question 44

Environmental and culutral influences in physical development

Answer 44

Physical development is driven by genes in interaction with experience

Question 45

Environmental influence on physical development

Answer 45

There is convincing evidence that human infants’ brains develop most in an environment rich in stimuli, that is, opportunities to interact with others and to manipulate This leads to thicker cortex’s, more synpatic connections and more complex dendritic arbours and more brain neurotransmitters that enhance learning.

Question 46

Authoritive style of parenting

Answer 46

Are controlling but warm. It is a restrictive style of parenting that uses warmth and acceptance to demand will also being caring. This style of parenting is associated with more-positive childhood outcomes. Children with authoritative parents tend to have higher self-esteem, to be higher achievers in school and to have fewer conduct problems

Question 47

Authoritarian Parent

Answer 47

Exert control within a cold, unresponsive or rejecting relationship. Children tend to have lower self-esteem, be less popular with peers and perform more poorly in school than children with authoritarian parents

Question 48

Indulgent Parents

Answer 48

Have warm, caring relationships with their children but do not provide the guidance and discipline that help children learn responsibility and concern for others. Their children tend to be more immature and self-centred

Question 49

Neglectful Parent

Answer 49

Provide neither warmth nor guidance. Their children are likely to be insecurely attached, to have lower achievement motivation and disturbed peer relationships, and to be impulsive and aggressive. This parenting style is associated with the most neglectful developmental outcomes

Question 50

Preconventional moral reasoning (Kohlberg)

Answer 50

Is based on anticipated punishments or rewards

Question 51

Conventional moral reasoning (Kohlberg)

Answer 51

Is based on conformity to social expectations

Question 52

Postconventional moral reasoning (Kohlberg)

Answer 52

Is based on well-thought-out, general moral principles.

Question 53

Stranger anxiety

Answer 53

Is distress over contact with unfamiliar people. It often emerges around 6 to 7 months and ends aroudn 18 months. When an infant is approached by a stranger they become afraid, cries and reaches for the caregiver

Question 54

Separation anxiety

Answer 54

Distress over being separated from a primary caregiver. It peaks arond 12 to 16 months and disappears between 2 and 3 years of age. The infant becoms anxious, cries when the caregiver is out of sight.

Question 55

Attachment development

Answer 55

Attachments form in the first few years of life (seeming to be a sensitive period) where people can most easily form the secure bond with caregivers that enhances our adjustment later in lfe.

Question 56

Attachment deprivation

Answer 56

Infancy appears to be a sensitive period during which an initial attachment to cargivers forms most easily, facilitating subsquent development. Prolong deprivation creates developmental risks (e.g. emotionally and socially retarded, cognitively and socially impaired), but when deprived children are placed into a nurturing environment at a young enough age, many become attached to their care-givers and grow into well-adjusted adults.

Question 57

Erikson’s Psychosocial stages

Answer 57

Basic trust vs mistrust (first year)
Autonomy vs shame and doubt (1-2)
Initative vs guilt (3-5)
Industry vs inferiority (6-12)
Identitiy vs role confusion (12-19)
Intimacy vs isolaion (20-39)
Generativity vs stagnation (40-64)
Integrity vs despair (65+)

Question 58

Adolescent egocentrism

Answer 58

A self-absorbed and distorted view of one’s uniqueness and importance

Question 59

Puberty

Answer 59

A period of development and gradual transition between childhood and adulthood

Question 60

Adult brain

Answer 60

Brain’s neural networks continue to become more efficiently integrated

Question 61

Identity diffusion

Answer 61

These individuals have not yet gone through an identity crisis and seem unconcerned or even cynical about identity issues and were not committedd to a coherent set of values

Question 62

Foreclosure

Answer 62

These individuals have not yet gone through an identity crisis as they have not committed to an identitty and set of values before experience a crisis,

Question 63

Moratorium

Answer 63

These people want to establish a clear identity, were currently establishing a crising but had not yet resolved it

Question 64

Identity achievement

Answer 64

These individuals had gone through an identity crisis, successfully resolved it and emerged with a coherent set of values

Question 65

Adolescence

Answer 65

Is a socially constructed transition period between childhood and adulthood