Developmental 4.1 Flashcards
Why should we study developmental psychology? (2 points)
- To understand what children are capable of
- To inform social policy (mental functioning/healthy development)
What are the 6 areas of developmental psychology? (P, C, M, S, A, E)
Perceptual
Cognitive
Moral
Social
Action
Emotional
What are the 6 periods of development?
Prenatal - conception until birth
Infancy - 0-18 months
Preschool - 18 months - 4 years
School-age - young (5-7 years) / old (8-12 years)
Adolescence - 13 - 20 years
Adulthood - young (21-30 years) / middle (31-60) / late (60-death)
What two types of measurable differences occur between stages?
Quantitative - numerically different
Qualitative - structurally different
What ar the 6 perspectives on developmental psychology?
- Comparative/evolutionary
- Cross-cultural
- Neuroscience
- Behaviourist
- Psychoanalytic
- Cognitive science
How does the evolutionary/comparative perspective look at developmental psychology? (3 points)
The theory of evolution is applied to the development of certain behaviours
The role it plays in shaping individual development
How much of our development is innate
How does the neuroscience perspective look at developmental psychology? (3 points)
Focuses on the brain structures
How changes to brain structures are related to development
How experiences change the brain
How does the behaviourist perspective look at developmental psychology? (2 points)
Focuses on behaviour while largely ignoring mental processes
Useful in clinical settings
How does the cognitive science perspective look at developmental psychology? (2 points)
Interdisciplinary approach - integrates multiple fields of study
Aims at studying mental processes while integrating other methods e.g. behavioural/neuroscience techniques
What are the 4 main study designs used in developmental psychology?
Observational studies
Experimental Studies
Longitudinal studies
Cross-sectional studies
What are pros and cons of observational studies? (2 each)
Natural settings = rich data - allow for unanticipated insights
More ecological validity - allows for generalization of data
Correlational arguments but cannot determine causal relationships
Might require experimenter intervention to achieve behaviours of interest
What are pros and cons of experimental studies? (2 each)
Allow exploration of cause-and-effect relationships
Focused assessments of specific variables - manipulate single independent variable to assess affect on dependent variable
Limited to lab settings - difficult to generalize data (ecologically invalid measures)
Difficult to control confounding factors
What are pros and cons of longitudinal studies? (2 each)
Uncover long-term patterns of change
Can control for more factors and test development as it occurs
Require long-time commitment from researchers
Higher dropout rate + more expensive
What are pros and cons of cross-sectional studies? (4 pros, 2 cons)
Easier to ensure same number of participants at different ages
Quick assessment of hypothesized differences between ages
Reveal distinctive patterns per age group
Easier to recruit participants
Cannot track developmental trajectories / population differences
May miss key transitions / patterns
What is the microgenetic method and what are its 3 critical principals?
Examine change as it occurs to identify underlying mechanisms
Repeated measures taken in same participants during transition
Critical principals:
Observations for known period of change
Observation density high compared to rate of change
Observations analysed intensively to establish underlying processes
What are three important considerations when designing any study?
Validity
- measuring the intended variable properly
Replicability
Within- versus between-subject design
- within a person or across people
Why is biology important in studying developmental psychology? (3 points)
Provides biological plausibility to models of behaviour
Sheds light on underling mechanisms of behaviour processes
Allows holistic view of development (genes/brain/behaviour)
Between what ages is the brain most flexible and why? (2 points)
0-3 years
Bombarded with experiences = brain increases 100% in first year
What is plasticity? (1 sentence)
How experiences mold our brain communication
What is the window of opportunity? (4 points)
Age 10 - brain prunes connections (brain connections not used die away)
Pruning occurs for about 12 years
New synapses grow throughout life
Adults continue to learn, but not as quickly
How is experience influential in molding our brain connections over time? (4 points)
Early sensory experiences create new synapses
Repetition of experiences strengthen them
Enrichment of environment impacts connections by up to 25%
Unused synapses are pruned
What are genes? (6 points)
Inherited
Made of DNA (inside chromosomes)
Instructions for building proteins
Variations to genes = alleles
Dominant vs recessive
Homozygous versus heterozygous
What environmental inputs impact prenatal development? (5 points)
Hormones - stress, mental health of mother
Substances consumed by mother
Mother’s illnesses
In late gestation (effect of sounds and light)
How do genes/environment interact? (2 points)
Environment influences how genetic info is expressed
Environment can influence whether genetic info is expressed
What is the process of fertilization? (5 points)
Millions of sperm
50-100 reach egg
Egg penetration
Chemical process stops other sperm penetrating
Egg becomes zygote
Monozygotic twins come from one zygote
Dizygotic twins come from two zygotes
When does implantation occur? (3 points)
6 days post fertilization
2 weeks = fully implanted
Fully implanted egg = embyro
When and what occurs in the embryonic period? (4 points)
Weeks 4-8
Change in body structure
Change in size
Cells differentiating
When and what occurs in the fetal period? (4 points)
Weeks 9-birth
Heartbeat + facial features
22 weeks - some can survive with neonatal intensive care
28 weeks - fully developed lungs
What are pre-term babies and the potential issues? (5 points)
Before 37 weeks
May not be fully developed - cerebral palsy, asthma, longer time at hospital
Consequences later in life - present more developmental problems e.g. ADHD, anxiety, depression
Externalising behaviours - delinquency
What are the 8 stages of pre-natal brain structure development and what occurs in these stages?
week 3 - neural tube stars to form
week 4 - three brain regions distinct: forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain. neural tube nearly closed
week 5 - cerebral vesicles present
week 10 - major CNS now visible
week 20 - brain weighs 100g. cortical surface = smooth
week 24 - apoptosis (cell death) begins
week 28 - cortical surface = clear folds
week 38 to birth - brain weighs 350-400g
What are the 6 main structures of the brain and their main functions?
Frontal lobe (planning, emotion and thought regulation, problem-solving)
Parietal lobe
Cerebrum
Temporal lobe
Occipital lobe
Cerebellum
Brain stem (breathing, controlling hear rate)
What three main structures are inside the frontal lobe?
Motor cortex
Prefrontal cortex
Olfactory bulb
What main structure is in the cerebrum?
Basal ganglia
What two main structures are in the parietal lobe?
Somatosensory cortex
Corpus callosum
What two main structures are in the temporal lobe?
Auditory vortex
Hippocampus
What main structure is in the occipital lobe?
Visual cortex
What two main structures are in the brain stem?
Medulla
Spinal cord
What are ‘critical periods’ of development? (1 sentence)
Time periods in which specific experiences are necessary for typical development to occur
What happens to the speed of within-brain communication over development? (1 sentence)
Between birth and adulthood, some elements can increase 100x in speed
(Overall communication becomes quicker)
