Developmental Psych Flashcards
In Utero
Language development is happening but not to the extent that we think about language
For example: they have a preference for their mother’s voice
Placenta
Screens/filters harmful substances coming in from mother
Why does the placenta have a problem?
Placenta can’t do it all; things slip through and can harm the baby
These are called TERATOGENS
For example: constant use of alcohol/drugs
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- learning difficulty
- low IQ/intellectually disabled
- facial dysmorphology
Examples of facial dysmorphology?
Bridge of nose super wide and thick; lips disformed, teeth with massive gaps, etc.
~ Not just in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome but other genetic conditions as well
Utero Reflexes
can come back as adults; they are innate/automatic survival mechanisms
4 survival reflexes in babies
1.) Rooting reflex
2.) Sucking reflex
3.) Startle reflex
4.) Grasp reflex
Rooting reflex
If you touch the corner of a newborn’s mouth, they will automatically turn their head and root for food/nipple so they can survive
Sucking reflex (coupled with rooting)
If you put a nipple in their mouth, they innately know how to suck out the milk
Startle reflex
If you startle a newborn, they put their hands up in the air for attention
- Attention grabber and then coupled with crying to protect themselves and get help
Grasp reflex
Automatically latches your finger/something if you put near their hand
- Physical/grasping mechanism to prepare themselves and learn motor skills when they get older
What happens to baby reflexes when you age?
They get buried when you no longer need them, but they do disappear entirely
- For some people in adulthood, like those with dementia, these reflexes can reappear (leading you to be dependent on someone else again)
It is a last ditch survival mechanism
What do you remember about the frontal lobe?
Takes up 40% of cortex
Terms of development:
- last part of the brain to develop in utero; doesn’t stop maturing until 25
- AGE 3-6 MOST RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF FRONTAL LOBE OCCURS (explosion of development)
What is happening in the frontal lobe during ages 3-6?
*Language development rapidly increases
*Brain is especially plastic at this time, which is why 3-6!
*Motor skills developing (walking)
** Pruning
Why is it hard to learn a new language when you are older?
Ages 3-6 is the best time to teach a child a new language since the brain is so plastic at this time; the brain is solidified and done growing as an adult, making it much more difficult to learn a new language
What is pruning again?
Links and connection in brain that are not used, so the brain trims away the ones you don’t need in a process called PRUNING
- removing synaptic connections that are unused
What is special about motor development?
It is UNIVERSAL in children and does not vary by region, culture, etc.
Different pace but same order sequence
Universal motor development
1.) Sit
2.) Crawl
3.) Walk
4.) Run
Who was a major player in cognition?
John Piaget
Criticism surrounding John Piaget’s work
The participants of his research were his own kids, so his theories are biased to his children and not on diverse population
- HOWEVER, his stage model tends to hold up though
Piaget’s Schema
1.) Assimilation
2.) Accommodation
- based on knowledge, experience, and exposure
What is a Schema?
Way for us to organize concepts
Assimilation
Integration of new information into existing schema
Accommodation
Introduction of something new and slightly different that changes/broadens a person’s schema
Piaget’s 4 stages of how children learn through adolescence (cognitive)
1.) “Sensorimotor”
2.) “Preoperational”
3.) “Concrete Operational”
4.) “Formal Operational”.
“Sensorimotor” stage
- Age 0-2 roughly
- Learn through interacting with the world (putting everything in their mouth to see what it is; walking and getting into everything, etc.)
- Object permanence
What is object permanence?
Understanding that something exists even if out of sight or hearing (develops during stage 1)
“Preoperational” stage
Higher order functioning (cognitive, etc.)
- Don’t have the necessary ability to perform higher order functioning or mental operations
- Age 2-7
- Language is starting to develop more rapidly
- Conservation (same amount in different vessels…)
- Significant egocentrism rapid in this stage
Conservation
Idea that amounts of things can be the same despite different vessels/sizes
Kids do NOT have this
- Kids think other kids are getting more than them
Egocentrism
You can’t take the point of view of someone else (you can only think about yourself)
“Concrete Operational” stage
- Age 7-11
- Can do “basic” higher order functions/operations
- Conservation at this point
- General math concepts, etc.
What does “Concrete” mean?
Basic; limited
“Formal Operational” stage
- Age 12+
- Imagined symbols/symbolic thinking
- This will continue to progress
What does “Formal” mean?
Abstract/hypotheticals
Social development in early childhood and adolescence
Attachment
- Harlow studies
- Erik Erikson
Harlow studies
Took baby monkeys and had two conditions to see what monkeys would do in the absence or presence of food and attachment/warmth of mom
Two groups/conditions of the Harlow studies?
1.) Pure metal gives food
- Wire monkey mom gave food
- no cloth for warmth of mother
2.) Warmth of cloth, no food
- Wire monkey that gave NO food
- Cloth for warmth of mother
Results of Harlow studies?
- The baby monkeys don’t care about the food, they crave the warmth of their mother
~ This led to explosion of attachment research
Erik Erikson
Proposed 8 psychosocial stages
- Throughout linear development, we all go through challenges and if you successfully conquer that challenge, you are good to go to next stage
Erik psychological stage 1
- Age 0-1
- “Trust vs. Mistrust”
~Connected to attachment
Trust
=Success to move forward
Mistrust
=You get stuck and have mental health issues
- Abuse, neglect, not interacting or paying attention to child
(ex. pushing babysitting on others)
Parenting Styles
Developed by Bam Rind
- 4 main styles in quadrants
~ Guardians are supportive or unsupportive and demanding or underdemanding
What are the 4 parenting styles?
1.) Authoritative
2.) Authoritarian
3.) Permissive
4.) Neglectful
Authoritative Parenting Style
- demanding and supportive
- relationship is more reciprocal
- give and take
- solves problems together with child
- sets clear rules and expectations
- open communication and natural consequences
Authoritarian Parenting Style
- demanding and unsupportive
- relationship more controlling
- parent-driven
- sets strict rules and punishment
- one-way communication, with little consideration of child’s social-emotional and behavioral needs
Permissive Parenting Style
- understanding and supportive
- permit you to do what you want
- low in control
- child-driven
- rarely gives or enforces rules
- overindulges child to avoid conflict
Neglectful Parenting Style
- unsupportive and not understanding
- uninvolved/absent
- provides little nurturance or guidance
- indifferent to child’s social-emotional and behavioral needs
What is the best parenting style?
Authoritative
- demanding but supportive shows the best outcomes in performance of their children in all aspects of life
Adolescence
- Physical development
- Brain changes
- Surge of hormones
Physical development in adolescence is caused by what?
Puberty
Brain standpoint of adolescence?
- increased connection in brain until puberty and then things fade out a bit
- pruning again (getting rid of unused neurons and connections)
- myelin continues to develop (speeding up axon transport of signal)
Surge of hormones in adolescence?
- lagging limbic system (hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus)
- leads to more impulsive behaviors and risk-taking since limbic system can’t process it yet
- spike in egocentrism (world revolves around them)
- Piaget’s emergence of the “Formal Operational” stage (think abstractly, critically)
- Morality
- **Seeking of identity socially and trying to figure out who they are (peaks)
Early/Mid Adulthood
- Physical decline in mid 20s, but not massively significant
- Sexual fertility
Physical decline in mid adulthood
- Muscular strength goes down
- Cardiac output declines (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.)
- Sensory processing declines
- Reaction time decreases
- fertility
Late adulthood
- more massive changes in strength, stamina, and reaction time
- big dips in sensory ability
- Immune system overall weakens
Why are individuals in late adulthood more susceptible to larger issues but not short term illnesses such as colds?
The overall immune system declines so it can’t fight off illnesses very well unless they were already exposed to them in the past… built up immunity for a cold during this time since body has been exposed to it longer
Aging and the brain
- memory overall declines
- Processing speed in the brain declines
- cognitive reserve theory
Cognitive reserve theory example
Curious why if we took two brains with dementia with similar morphology, why one is confined to a nursing home and the other is not (and is still able to function almost normally)
Cognitive Reserve Theory
Differences in symptoms people display in behavior and cognition based on life experiences
- your life experiences can help prevent cognitive decline
How can your life experiences help ward off cognitive decline?
1.) Intelligence (some genetics involved)
2.) Academic and occupational attainment
3.) Lifestyle variables that directly affect brain health
What are the lifestyle variables that directly affect brain health?
1.) Physical activity/exercise
2.) Sleep patterns
3.) Diet
4.) *Socialization (good quality relationships)
5.) *Stress management (cortisol stress hormone beats up brain)
6.) Cognitive stimulation through reading, doing puzzles, word games, etc.
Outcome of filling cogntitive reserve bank?
Less cognitive decline; less dementia
If there has been injury or insult to brain, you can bounce back better and faster
Is there a guarantee against dementia?
No
ex. Strokes and never knew she had them
- evidence on of brain on MRI
- all neuro testing fine but atrophy noted on brain
- scientist for NASA
- good reserve
but healthy 30 year olds can also have strokes….
Adulthood social perspective
Midlife crisis
Midlife crisis?
Examples include:
Divorce
Loss of loved one
Job issues/loss
Well-being
65+ individuals are often examined
- Stable
What can drop well being?
Loss
Physical decline
Loss of freedom (not being able to drive anymore or care for yourself without help
Death and dying
Trust vs. mistrust based on interactions with parents
- but Eriksonian stage 1st and last stage in this age
People reflect on whether they had a good life or not
This is known as “reconcile” and you ask yourself this: “Did I live a good life”
- Erikson says this is good and passed this stage; if you did not have a good life, you failed this stage
Terminally ill patients
Stages of grief: people do not go through the stages predictably (not in same order, same method, or same time
** stages are not consistent for all
