Developmental Psychology Flashcards
(9 months) this is the period from conception to birth during which a fertilized cell grows into a human baby. In no other time of life is growth as rapid as it is during the prenatal period. After 5 months the developing organism is 1 inch long and wighs less than an ounce. By the end of 9 months, the baby, on average will be 18 inches long and weigh just over 7 pounds.
pre-natal period
(birth to 2 years of age) At birth babies cannot hold up their own heads, eat solic food, or sleep through the night. They do not have any social relationships. By age 2, these same babies have learned to walk, talk, eat at the table, and sleep through the night. They have formed close emotional bonds with their parents.
Infancy and toddlerhood
(2-6 years of age) during this period of life, children grow taller and stronger, and they develop conscience and much stronger self control. Thinking and language skills surge and pretend play emerges during these preschool years. Children begin to make friends outside of the family, and their relationships within the family deepen and change.
Early Childhood
Children come more and more into contact with people outside the family, and their friendships become increasingly more significant during middle childhood. Their thinking and reasoning capabilities continue to grow during this period allowing them to learn to read and write, solve new kinds of problems, and take part in games with rules. Their increased physical coordination and strength allow participation in greater array of athletic activities. Additionally, their self understanding becomes more complex.
Middle Childhood
(11 or 12 to 18 or even 20 years of age) the transitions of puberty transform children’s bodies into adult ones. As their bodies change, so do their social roles. Teenagers struggle to become more autonomous and to define their own goals, independent of their parents. … become capable of idealistic and abstract though, and schooling focuses increasingly on preparation for adulthood. Researchers do not agree about the exact age boundaries for … . Some see it as 12-18 years of age. Some see it as 10-20 years of age. All concur with its central task. By the end of … children have become adults.
Adolescence
a branch of psychology that studies physical , cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.
developmental psychology
the developmental domain that includes motor development and physical health and illness (learning to sit stand and walk)
physical growth and health
the developmental domain that includes thinking and reasoning skills and language development (such as learning to do math, reading, and science)
cognitive development
the developmental domain that includes changes in emotion (such as increased conscience, self-control, and concern for others), self concepts, and interpersonal relationships (such as those with parents, siblings, and friends)
social and emotional development
the inherited or genetic characteristics of a person
Nature
the characteristics of a person’s environment that affect development
Nurture
in child development, the idea that changes are gradual and occur little by little over time
continuity
in child development, the idea that changes are sudden and qualitative rather than gradual and quantitative. Those who see development characterized by discontinuity think that there are moments during development when children take giant leaps, followed by periods of relative stability.
discontinuity
those who advocate the … view see the sequence of development as being the same everywhere, all around the world. they are also likely to argue that development has remained the same throughout history.
Universality
Those who emphasize … are more likely to note connections between development and the contexts or cultures in which is takes place.
diversity
the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
zygote
at the beginning of … (two weeks after conception) the growing organism, now firmly implanted into the uterine wall is called an embryo. During … this round clump of cells will transform into an oblong body and eventually into an identifiably human embryo.
embryonic period
the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.
Embryo
begins at 8 weeks after conception and lasts until birth. During this period, the fetus grows from an inch-long organism weighing less than an ounce to a 20 inch-long baby weighing 7 1/2 lbs at birth
Fetal period
an animal embryo in the later stages of development.
Fetus
agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
Teratogens (literally “monster maker”)
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking, In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
a quick physical test given to every newborn at birth. Scores are given at 1 and 5 minutes after birth. If problems exists, then another tests is given at 10 minutes after birth. A score of 7-10 is considered normal. Infants scoring 4-6 might need resuscitations, whereas scores of 3 or lower require immediate resuscitation.
Apgar test
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.
habituation
biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.
maturation
the most influential of all developmental theorists, was blazing a new path by studying the way children think and solve problems at different stages in their development
- watched his kids
Jean Piaget
children are seen as active learners constructing their own understanding of the world in …
Piaget’s cognitive development theory
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
cognition
interpreting out new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
assimilation
adapting our current understanding (schemas) to incorporate new information
accomodation
in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.
sensorimotor stage
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not percieved
object permeance
in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.
preoperational stage
in Piaget’s theory, the preopertional child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view
egocenterism
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.
concrete operational stage
the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.
conservation
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally) beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
formal operational stage
people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states - about their feelings perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.
theory of mind
a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.
autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
a theory of development proposed by Vygotsky that emphasizes the interaction of persons with social and cultural aspects of their environments.
- saw children as solitary or independent learners
sociocultural theory
support provided by elders for the efforts of a child to participate in an activity that would otherwise be out of the child’s reach, as the child becomes more capable, the adult gradually withdraws support maintaining just enough to allow independent performance.
scaffolding
Largely absent early in life but merge in most babies by 7-9 months of age. Approached by a stranger while sitting in a high chair, a 6 month old may smile, but a 9 month old is more likely to frown in distress.
signs of fear
the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age
stranger anxiety
an emotional tie with another person: shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
attachment