Developmental Psychology

Question 1

What are the three phases of prenatal development?

Answer 1

Germinal, Embryonic, Fetal

Question 2

When is the Germinal Stage and what happens during it?

Answer 2

Conception to two weeks

Rapid cell division; Mass of cells migrates to the uterus wall

The placenta is a structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into the fetus from the mother’s bloodstream and bodily wastes to pass out to the mother.

Question 3

When is the Embryonic Stage and what happens during it?

Answer 3

Two weeks - two months

—Formation of vital organs and systems; Great vulnerability, interference devastating; Genetic abnormalities risk up to 3 mons & 90% expelled

Question 4

When is the Fetal Stage and what happens during it?

Answer 4

2 months - birth

—Bodily growth continues (muscles & bones form), movement capability begins, sex organs develop, brain cells multiply,

—Viability (22-23 wks); 26-28 wks, survival rate: 85 %

Question 5

How is sex determined?

Answer 5

Egg cell (form mother) contains an X chromosome

Sperm cell contains either X or Y chromosome

Up to week 6, still sexless

Question 6

What is intersex?

Answer 6

XY but missing SRY

Question 7

Maternal drug use (alcohol) can have what effect on the child? How does the impact them?

Answer 7

Fetal alcohol syndrome

During heel lance, HR and parts of autonomic nervous system were blunted or dampened, compared to little/no exposure (less reactivity to pain/ stressful situation)

Also found that the stress hormone, cortisol, decreased in infants with more exposure vs. little/no exposure (decreased levels of stress hormone, cortisol)

Appear to be less behaviourally aroused more generally
—
Altered stress reactions early in life can set up risk/vulnerability for poor mental and physical health later on (because they need more stimulation because of less reactivity)

Question 8

What impact does maternal nutrition have on pregnancy?

Answer 8

—Too much/too little gain is related to birth complications

—Guidelines for weight gain are based on pre-pregnancy body mass

—Severe malnutrition linked to increased risk of birth complications and neurological problems

Question 9

When do babies develop immune systems?

Answer 9

*Babies develop immune systems later in development. Antibodies from the mom don’t transfer to the baby until about the last 3 months (before that, the baby is practically defenseless)

Question 10

When does the baby have a sex determined?

Answer 10

second half of week 6

Question 11

Which stress hormone is decreased in kids with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome? What does this cause?

Answer 11

cortisol is decreased

Appear to be less behaviourally aroused more generally

Question 12

Motor Development: What is the cephalocaudal Trend?

Answer 12

Head to Toe Trend - Gain control of upper before lower (e.g., crawling)

Question 13

Motor Development: What is the Proximodistal Trend?

Answer 13

Centre-Outward Trend - turn torso before use hands example

Question 14

What are the two contributors to motor skill development?

Answer 14

Physical Growth + Maturation (gradual unfolding of genetic blueprint; genetically programmed changes that come with age)

Process – also active agents; ongoing exploration; experimentation, learning and remembering consequences

Question 15

What are Developmental Norms?

Answer 15

Median age at which individuals display various behaviours and abilities

Varies by culture

Question 16

What are longitudinal designs vs cross-sectional designs?

Answer 16

Longitudinal designs: study the SAME people over time

Cross-sectional designs: study different AGE GROUPS at same time point

Question 17

—Thomas, Chess, and Birch (1977) used longitudinal designs and discovered 3 basic temperament styles. What are they? Is child temperament generally stable over time?

Answer 17

—easy (40%) – happy, regular in sleeping/eating, adaptable, and not readily upset
—
—slow-to-warm-up (15%) – less cheery, less regular in sleep/eat, slower in adapting to change, moderate emotional reactivity
—
—difficult (10%) – glum, erratic in sleep/eat, resistant to change, irritable
—
—mixed – 35%

*Child’s temperament at 3 months was fair predictor of that when they are 10 years!

Question 18

—Kagan and colleagues (1990s) studied temperament by direct observation. What two types of temperament did they find and which one is a risk factor for anxiety in teens/adulthood?

Answer 18

—Inhibited temperament (15-20%) – shyness, timidity, wariness of unfamiliar people/events/objects
—
—Uninhibited temperament (25-30%) – less restrained, approaching unfamiliar people/events/objects
—
—*inhibited temperament risk factor for anxiety disorder in teens/adulthood

Question 19

what did Bowlby say following Harlow?

Answer 19

infants are biologically programmed to emit behaviour that triggers an affectionate response from parents. Parents then respond with warmth, love, and protection. These characteristics promoted children’s survival.

Question 20

Ainsworth (1979) – studied quality/types of attachment. What is the strange situation?

Answer 20

infants exposed to a series of 8 separation and reunion episodes to assess the quality of their attachment

Question 21

What are the four patterns of attachment found from the strange situation experiment?

Answer 21

Secure ( 65 %) – play and explore comfortably when mom is there; distressed when she leaves; calmed when returns

Anxious-ambivalent (passive/resistant) 10 %) – anxious even when near, highly distressed when leaves, not comforted when returns (helpless or angry)

Avoidant (20 %) – seek little contact with mom and not distressed when she leaves

Disorganized/disoriented 5-10 %) – appear confused about whether they should approach or avoid mom

Question 22

—Moms who are sensitive and responsive to children’s needs, are more likely to promote which attachment?

Answer 22

Secure attachment

Question 23

Give an example as to how —Childhood attachment has important consequences for adult attachment.

Answer 23

(anxiously attached kids more likely to become anxiously attached dating partners)

Question 24

What are Internal Working Models?

Answer 24

we develop this when we’re young, this idea whether other people will be reliable for us, able to meet our needs, won’t abandon us, care for us. We carry this model with us throughout life

Question 25

How does being securely attached infant influence their life in the future?

Answer 25

—Securely attached to mom (infant) -> resilient, competent w/ high self esteem (toddler)-> persistence, curiosity, self-reliance, leadership (preschool) -> social skills, richer friendships (middle childhood)

Question 26

What are the three components in stage theories?

Answer 26

progress through stages in order bc each stage BUILDS on the previous stage (have to
master the one below it first)

progress through stages related to AGE

major DISCONTINUITIES in development bring about dramatic and distinct changes in behaviour

Question 27

Each of Erik Erikson’s 8 stages brings a _________. What does this mean? How is personality shaped through this?

Answer 27

Psychosocial crisis

we have to overcome something psychologically or socially to progress

Includes a STRUGGLE between two opposing tendencies

Personality is SHAPED by how individuals deal with these psychosocial crises

Question 28

What are Erik Erikon’s 8 stages?

Answer 28

Trust vs. mistrust (1st year) - if needs met, then should develop optimistic & trusting outlook

Autonomy vs. shame (2-3 year) – child must take responsibility (toilet, feeding, bathing), if success = confidence, if failure = self-doubt

Initiative vs. guilt (3-6 years) – experiment & take initiative & again independence; retain initiative while respecting rights of parents

—Industry vs. inferiority (6-puberty) – function socially in broader social realm; if function effectively & achieve, then pride and sense of accomplishment

Adolescence = Identity vs Confusion (who am I and where am I going)

Intimacy vs. Isolation: capacity to share intimacy with others
—
Generativity vs. Self-absorption: general concern for future generations, providing guidance
—
—Integrity vs. Despair: Avoiding dwelling on the past & instead find satisfaction

Question 29

What is Assimilation?

Answer 29

interpreting new experiences in terms of EXISTING mental structures w/out changing

(seeing a cat and thinking dog example because it has four legs, fluffy, and makes noise, assimilating cat under the same category)

Question 30

What is Accommodation?

Answer 30

changing existing mental structures to explain new experiences (our brain has to accommodate, come up with a whole other category for a cat). As we get older, we create mental structures for everything.

Question 31

What is the first stage of Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory? What age do children progress through this stage?

Answer 31

—Sensorimotor (0-2 yrs):

Gradual appearance of symbolic thought

Object permanence – recognize that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible

Question 32

What is the second stage of Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory? What age do children progress through this stage?

Answer 32

—Preoperational (2-7) *what they CANNOT do:

Progressing in symbolic thought, but shortcomings

Have not mastered “conservation” - physical quantities remain constant despite changes in appearance (juice in glass thinking there’s more juice of the glass is taller)

Question 33

What are the flaws seen in the Preoperational Stage?

Answer 33

Centration (focus on one feature; e.g., height, and ignoring width),

Irreversibility (inability to envision reversing an action; e.g., undo the water pour),

Animism (the belief that all things are living)

Egocentrism (failure to adopt another’s viewpoint);

Question 34

What is the third stage of Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory? What age do children progress through this stage?

Answer 34

—Concrete Operational (7-11 yrs) *what they now CAN do:

Can perform operations on images of tangible objects and actual events

Reversibility – mentally undo an action

Decentration – focus on more than one feature of a problem simultaneously

Question 35

What is the fourth stage of Jean Piaget’s Stage Theory? What age do children progress through this stage?

Answer 35

—Formal Operational (11-adulthood):

Abstraction

Systematic problem solving, logical, reflective

Later changes in degree, rather than nature of thinking

Question 36

After Piaget: Pascual-Leone & Mental Capacity

Answer 36

—Increase in information processing capacity is one attribute that forms the basis of cognitive development
—
Successful if possess the required mental power

*It seems that over time, our brains are like these processing systems (we only have so much ram) and that as we get older, we just have more and more processing ability and greater ram (greater processing ability) can handle more and more elements (such as decentration and understanding others’ point of view).

Question 37

After Piaget: Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and the Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 37

—Cog. develop is fuelled by social interactions

—Zone of Proximal Development (learner can do with guidance)

—Scaffolding (guider can show us then once we get the hang of it, the scaffold is taken away) (textbook: scaffolding occurs when the assistance provided to a child is adjusted as learning progresses)

Question 38

What is a critical period?

Answer 38

suggests that if abilities or knowledge are not developed by a certain point, it WILL NOT be possible to acquire later

Question 39

What is a sensitive period?

Answer 39

suggests an optimal period for acquisition, but does not obviate acquisition at a later point

Question 40

What is the False Belief Method?

Answer 40

Most children under the age of four do not yet understand that people can hold false beliefs that do not accurately reflect reality

Question 41

Romanian and British adopted children
Romanian severe deprivation, neglect and abuse up to the age of ___ months. Examined at ___ and ____ years. Suggests _____ period. Which children were able to have moral functioning?

Answer 41

43 months

6 and 11

sensitive period

Adopted < 6 months of life = ⅔ were able to have normal functioning
Adopted >6 months of life = ⅓ were able to have normal functioning & 50% multiple impairments

Question 42

What are Kohlberg’s 3 levels of Moral Reasoning?

Answer 42

Preconventional

Conventional

Postconventional

Question 43

What is the first level of Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Reasoning?

Answer 43

—Preconventional:
think in terms of external authority (mom and dad for example)
acts are wrong bc they are punished or right bc they lead to positive consequences

Question 44

What is the second level of Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Reasoning?

Answer 44

—Conventional:
see rules as NECESSARY for maintaining social order

accept these rules are THEIR OWN in order to be virtuous and win approval from others

rules are viewed as absolute that should be enforced rigidly

Question 45

What is the third level of Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Reasoning?

Answer 45

—Postconventional:
involves working out a personal code of ethics (going against the rules can be right, too)

acceptance of rules is less rigid; moral thinking shows some flexibility

allows for the possibility that someone might not comply with some of society’s rules if they conflict with personal ethics

Question 46

What are James Marcia’s 4 identity statuses? (Crisis vs Commitment)

Answer 46

Foreclosure

Moratorium (pause)

Identity Diffusion

Identity Achievement (Goal)

Question 47

What is first of James Marcia’s 4 identity statuses? (Crisis vs Commitment)

Answer 47

—Foreclosure:
premature commitment to visions, values and roles – typically those prescribed by parents (ex: I’m going to be a lawyer because my parents are)

associated with conformity and not being very open to new experiences

Question 48

What is second of James Marcia’s 4 identity statuses? (Crisis vs Commitment)

Answer 48

—Moratorium (pause):

delaying commitment for a while to experiment with alternative ideologies and careers (ACTIVELY THINKING about it)

Question 49

What is third of James Marcia’s 4 identity statuses? (Crisis vs Commitment)

Answer 49

—Identity Diffusion:

state of rudderless apathy, with no commitment to an ideology (NO SEARCH, more of resignation)

Question 50

What is fourth of James Marcia’s 4 identity statuses? (Crisis vs Commitment)

Answer 50

—Identity Achievement (Goal):
arriving at a sense of self and direction after some consideration of alternative possibilities

associated with higher self esteem, conscientiousness, security, achievement, and capacity for intimacy

Question 51

Emerging Adulthood (Arnett): 18-25yrs - distinct new transitional stage of life is
—characterized by which prominent features?

Answer 51

Subjective feeling - that one is in between adolescence and adulthood

Age of possibilities – it tends to be a time of great optimism about one’s personal future

Self-focused time – people tend to be unfettered by duties, commitments and social obligations, which gives them unusual autonomy and freedom to explore new options

Identity formation – continues to be a crucial issue