Developmental Psychology Flashcards
Epigenetic view
development is the result of an ongoing, bidirectional exchange between heredity and the environment
Critical period
limited period of time during which an organism is biologically prepared to acquire certain behaviors but requires the presence of appropriate environmental stimuli to occur (ie imprinting)
Sensitive period
human critical period; there are optimal times for the development of certain capacities during which the individual is particularly sensitive to environmental influences, but those capacities can develop earlier or later to some degree; the boundaries of sensitive periods are more flexible
Genotype v phenotype
genotype: genes
phenotype: observable characteristics affected by both genes and environment (ie intelligence, personality)
Canalization
traits that are highly influenced by genotype and relatively resistant to environmental forces (ie motor milestones)
Range of reaction
traits that exhibit a range of reaction; genotype sets boundaries on the range of possible phenotypes, and environmental factors determine where in that range the phenotype falls (average intelligence in poverty vs enriched environments)
Secular trends
generational differences in physical growth and development (ie declining age of menarche in industrialized countries)
Gene-environment correlation
associations that are often found between people’s genetic makeup and the environmental circumstances exposed to; niche-picking is the tendency of people to seek out environments compatible with genetic makeup (ie musical talent)
Heritability index
used to estimate the degree which a particular trait can be attributed to genetic factors
Polygenic inheritance
traits determined by multiple gene pairs rather than a single gene pain (ie skin color, eye color, temperament, intelligence, susceptibility to cancer)
Gene-linked abnormalities
- Huntington’s disease: single, autosomal dominant gene, so a child of an afflicted parent has a 50% chance of inheriting the disorder
- Phenylketonuria (PKU): recessive gene disorder
- Tay Sachs, sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis
Chromosomal abnormalities
Down syndrome: extra number 21 chromosome (trisomy 21)
- Prader-Willi syndrome: deletion on the paternal chromosome 15
- Klinefelter syndrome: extra X
- Turner syndrome: part of an X chromosome is missing
- Fragile X syndrome: weak site on the X
Teratogens
- substances and conditions that interfere with normal prenatal development, such as drugs, toxins, malnutrition, maternal infections, and maternal stress
- most common: alcohol (FAS), nicotine, cocaine, rubella (German measles), herpes simplex, cytomegalovirus (type of herpes), HIV, prenatal malnutrition, maternal stress
Prenatal development periods
Germinal period: conception fo implantation (8-10 days following conception)
Embryonic period: end of week 2 to end of week 8, most susceptible to structural defects
Fetal period: week 9 to birth, less affected by teratogens, but still can cause impaired organ functioning, delayed growth, and intellectual/emotional functioning
Birth complications
Prematurity (before 37 week), small for gestational age (<10th %ile), fetal distress
Brofenbrenner’s ecological model
microsystem, mesosystem (interaction between components of microsystem), exosystem (aspects the person is not in direct contact with), macrosystem (sociocultural), chronosystem (time, history)
6 characteristics that contribute to likelihood child will develop psychiatric disorder
severe marital discord, low SES, large family size, parental crime, maternal psych disorder, placement of child outside home
Brain development
- most neurons are present at birth
- post-birth: synaptogenesis, myelination
- brain begins to decrease in weight/neuron loss around age 30
- decline accelerates after age 60
Infant reflexes
- palmar grasp reflex
- Babinski reflex: infant extends big toe and fans out small toe when sole is stroked
- Moro/startle reflex: when in horizontal position, infant arches back, extends legs outward, and brings them back to body in response to head being allowed to drop or to sudden loud noise
- Rooting: infant turns head toward stimulation when cheek is stoked near corner of mouth
- reflexes are typically done within first 6 months as infants have gradual increase in voluntary control
Motor Skills: 1 month
Gross MS: turns head side to side when prone
Fine MS: strong grasp reflex
Motor Skills: 3 months
Gross MS: holds head erect when sitting, but head bobs; regards own hand
Fine MS: holds rattle, pulls at clothes, brings objects in hand to mouth
Motor Skills: 5 months
Gross MS: when sitting, holds head erect and steady, reaches and grasps, puts foot to mouth when supine
Fine MS: plays with toes, takes objects to mouth, grasps objects voluntarily
Motor Skills: 7 months
Gross MS: sits, leaning forward on both hands, stands with help
Fine MS: transfers objects from one hand to other
Motor Skills: 9-10 months
Gross MS: creeps, pulls to standing position when holding on to furniture
Fine MS: uses thumb and index finger to grasp
Motor Skills: 11-15 months
Gross: walks holding on to furniture, stands alone, walks without help (12-14 mos)
Fine: removes object from tight enclosure, turns pages in book, uses cup, builds a tower of 3-4 blocks
Motor Skills: 18-24 months
Gross: runs clumsily, walks up stairs with hand held (18 mos), walks up stairs alone (24 mos), kicks and throws ball, uses toilet
Fine: uses a spoon, turns doorknobs, builds a tower or 6-7 blocks
Motor Skills: gender differences
- first few years: boys and girls do not differ significantly
- Early childhood: boys better on motor tasks requiring power and strength
- by 5, boys run faster and throw ball farther; girls better at tasks that require fine MS, flexibility, balance, foot movement
- gender differences increase throughout childhood and adolescence
- unclear if gender differences are biological or environmental
Ferberizing
- progressive waiting period help infants develop a stable sleep pattern
- when child cries, parent reassures the child verbally and pats child on back but does not pick them up
- if child cries again, parents wait for period and repeats - each subsequent night, wait period is increased
Vision in infancy
- of senses, vision is least developed
- newborns: see at 20 ft what adults see at 400 ft, prefer facial to non-facial images
- can discriminate mother from stranger by 1 month
- basic colors 2-3 mos
- depth perception 6 mos
- 20/20 1 year
Hearing in infancy
- newborn hearing is only slightly less sensitive than adult, prefer human voice, recognize mother’s voice
- auditory localization soon after birth, disappears between 2-4 mos, reemerges at 12 mos
Taste and Smell in infancy
- newborns distinguish between 4 tastes at birth, and show preferences for sweet
- respond to pleasant/unpleasant odors following birth
Pain in infancy
- sensitive to pain at birth
- early exposure to pain affects future responses to pain
Senses in adulthood
- vision and hearing are the first senses to show age-related declines
- age 40: presbyopia - loss of near vision that makes it difficult to focus on close objects; decreased vision in low light, sensitivity to glare, reduced depth perception
- age 65: visual impairments affect reading, driving, daily life
- some hearing problems, although most do not have problems until age 75
- presbycusis: decrease in ability to hear high-frequency sounds, ie human speech
Physical maturation
- Early has positive consequences for boys: better overall adjustment, positive self-image, popularity with peers, superior athletic skills; also linked to drug use, antisocial behavior
- Late in boys: attention-seeking behaviors, lower self-confidence and population, poorer academic achievement
- Early for girls primarily negative: poor self-concept, poor academics, higher risk for depression, ED, SUD
- Late for girls: higher sociability, popularity, higher academic achievement
- overall: negative effects occur when adolescents see themselves as different from peers; effects largely dissipate by adulthood
Chronic illness in children
- conditions that affect the brain have poorer outcomes
- family functioning/parental adjustment correlated with adjustment for sick child
- maternal depression associated with poor adjustment
- chronically ill boys more likely to have behavioral problems, girls more likely to self-report distress
- adolescents at risk of noncompliance
- children better off when told about their disorder early and directly, developmentally appropriate way
Risk factors for adolescent drug use
- male, low SES, history of abuse, low parental warmth/involvement
- gateway hypothesis: tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, meth, etc.
Piaget’s constructivist theory
- equilibrium drives cog development
- adaptation = assimilation + accommodation
- 4 stages of cognitive development:
- sensorimotor (birth-2)
- preoperational (2-7)
- concrete operational (7-12)
- formal operational (12+)
Vygostsky’s sociocultural theory
- cognition is dependent on social, cultural, and historical context
- learning is between the child and another person (interpersonal), and then within the child (intrapersonal)
- zone of proximal development: the gap between what a child can currently do alone and what she can accomplish with help from others (scaffolding)
Memory over the lifespan
- infants have recognition memory after birth and recall memory by 2-3 mos
- children have episodic memory at 2-3 yrs; infantile memory is inability to recall anything prior to age 3-4 (incomplete development of the brain and lack of language to encode)
- memory improves throughout childhood due to increase STM and metamemory
- age-related declines in older adults greatest in recent LTM (secondary)
Theories of intelligence
Horn and Cattell: crystallized v fluid intelligence
Sternberg’s triarchic model: componential/analytical, experiential/creative, practical/contextual
Piaget: Sensorimotor
- birth to 2 yrs
- learns about objects through sensory info and motor activity
- early reflexive reactions, primary reflexive reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of secondary circular reactions (object permanence), tertiary circular reactions, emergence of representational thought
Piaget: Preoperational
- 2 - 7 yrs
- symbolic function, transductive reasoning (two unrelated things are related), egocentrism, magical thinking, animism, centration, irreversibility
Piaget: Concrete Operational
- 7 - 12 yrs
- decentration, reversibility, conservation, transitivity (sorting), hierarchical classification
Piaget: Formal Operational
- 12 + yrs
- hypothetical-deductive reasoning, propositional thought (evaluate verbal assertions), adolescent egocentrism (imaginary audience, personal fable)
Spearman’s Two-Factor Theory
all mental tasks require two kinds of ability - general ability “g” and specific ability “s”
Guilford’s Structure of Intellect Theory
- rejected one/g facto and derived 120 intellectual abilities
- convergent vs. divergent thinking
Carroll’s Three-Stratum Theory
Stratum III: g
Stratum II: 8 abilities - fluid, crystallized, general memory, learning, etc
Stratum I: specific abilities of each stratum II category
Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory of cognitive ability
- combined Cattell-Horn and Carroll
- 10 broad cognitive abilities, 70 narrow abilities
- framework for KABC and Woodcock-Johnson
Gardner’s multiple intelligences
8 abilities: linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist
Genetic influences/relative correlations of IQ
identical twin reared together: .85
biological siblings: .45
bio parent and child: .39
adoptive parent and child: .18
Confluence model
first-born children tend to have higher IQs than later-born children; as the number of children in a family increase, the amount of intellectual stimulation and resources decreases, giving first-borns an advantage in intellectual development
Flynn Effect
IQ scores have consistently increased over the last century, cannot be explained by heredity, attributed to nutrition, better education, and other environmental factors
Group differences in intelligence
- white females and males do not differ overall , but differ on specific abilities - females better in verbal, males better in spatial and math
- whites outperform African Americans
Age and intelligence
- scores stabilize after age 7, remain stable until middle adult years
- only perceptual speed declines significantly prior to 60
- numeric ability declined after 60
- other abilities stable until 70 or 75
Behavioral theory of language
language acquisition in the result of reinforcement and imitate; motherse - talking in simple sentences at slow pace and high-pitched voice; recasting - rephrasing a child’s sentence in a different way