Developmental Psychology Flashcards
Developmental psychology examines:
Developmental psychology examines biological, physical, psychological and behavioural changes that occur throughout life.
- Developmental psychology is about how humans change and stay the same across the lifespan.
- We recognise that humans are actively engaged in shaping their own environments and develop through interaction with others and the environment.
What are the three domains of development?
Physical (including neural); Cognitive (including intellectual); Social (including emotional). These are INTERDEPENDENT domains - changes in one likely to cause changes in others.
Developmental Issues/Methods? (5)
Nature vs. nurture; Sensitive and critical periods; Stability vs. change; Continuity vs. discontinuity; Normative vs. non-normative events.
Explain: Nature vs. Nurture
To what extent is our development the product of heredity (nature) and of environment (nurture)? How do nature and nurture interact?
Explain/define: Sensitive / critical periods
A sensitive period is an optimal age range for certain experiences, but if those experiences occur at another time, normal development is still possible.
A critical period is an age range during which certain experiences must occur for development to proceed normally or along a certain path
Explain: Continuity vs. discontinuity
Is development continuous and gradual - as when a sapling grows into a tree, or is it discontinuous - progressing through qualitatively distinct stages, like a caterpillar > cocoon > butterfly?
Explain: Stability vs. change
How consistent are our characteristics as we age? Do extremely inhibited infants develop into extremely inhibited adults or do they become less shy over time?
Change can refer to the acquisition or the loss of a behaviour or function.
Change can occur as:
- Continuous - refers to a gradual alteration of behaviour; or
- Discontinuous - refers to stages of growth that are qualitatively differend and that are usually ordered in a fixed sequence.
Explain: Normative versus non-normative events. Esp: Age-related normative events
Age-related normative events are those that most people experience at particular ages in the life span. Non-normative events are atypical or unexpected, such as a natural disaster or the death of a parent. They potentially alter a person’s developmental trajectory.
What is a cross-sectional research design?
Cross-sectional designs compare people of different ages at the same point in time. AKA ‘snapshot’ design. Widely used - data from many age groups can be collected relatively quickly - however information can be skewed, as the (age-group) cohorts have grown up in different historical periods, ultimately affecting data relating to developmental psych.
What is a longitudinal research design?
A longitudinal design repeatedly tests the same cohort as it grows older. Can be time-consuming and unreliable (participants leaving study, passing away, etc).
What is a sequential design?
A combination of the cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs. Used to gain more comprehensive data, but can be costly and time-consuming.
Explain: Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory; name the 5 interconnected systems
Relationships between and individual and their environment are bi-directional (meaning: your world shapes who you become but you also shape the world around you).
Name/define: Bronfenbrenner’s 5 interconnected systems (ecological systems theory)
Microsystem: the most immediate surroundings, for example, family, friends and teachers. Mesosystem: reflects relations between microsystems, for example, the connection between home and workplace. Exosystem: comprises social settings that affect the individual without them playing an active role, for example, workplace policies. Macrosystem: operates at the outer level of ecology, for example, laws and cultural values. Chronosystem: environmental changes that occur over an individual’s lifetime (i.e. time).
Explain: Critical periods of development;
Define: Maturation
The critical period concept suggest that the brain is set to acquire a function during a limit period of time. If key experiences do not ocur during a critical period, the function may not develop or may not be fully developed.
Maturation refers to biologically based changes that follow an orderly sequence.
Differences in developmental trajectories - define Quantitative and Qualitative differences (give examples)
Quantitative differences - ex: individuals with a developmental delay or intellectual disability usually go through same stages of development [as other children], but at a slower pace.
Qualititative differences - ex: individuals with autism spectrum disorders develop social and emotional skills quite differently than normally-developing peers.
Name: the periods of developement and their time frames (years)
Explain/define: Active Thinking: Piaget’s stage model
What is: Contructivism
Schemas - organised patterns of thoughts and action. We aquire new schemas and our existing schemas become more complex.
Assimilation - the process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas
Accommodation - the process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change
Disequilibrium - an imbalance between existing schemas and new exper
Constructivism: Through engaging with the world and things in it, children come to construct schema - mental representations that help us understand how the world works. (Jean Piaget).
Cognition refers to:
…to mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating.
What are the four stages (names) of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development? Describe stage, typical age range and developmental phenomena
Sensorimotor (birth to nearly 2 years) - experiencing the world through sense and actions (looking, touching, mouthing). Developmental Phenomena: Object permanence; stranger anxiety.
Preoperational (about 2 to 6 years) - representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning. DP: Pretend play; egocentrism; language development.
Concrete operational (about 7 to 11 years) - thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arthmetical operations. DP: Conservation; mathematical transformations.
Formal operational (about 12 through adulthood) - abstract reasoning. DP: Abstract logic; potential for moral reasoning.
What is object permanence?
The awareness that hings continue to exist even when not perceived.
Stage 1 (sensorimotor) of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
What is egocentrism?
- The inability of the preoperational child to take another’s point of view.
- The pre-school child cannot assume the role of another person or recognise that other view points exist.
Stage 2 (preoperational) of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
What is: Theory of Mind?
- People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states.
- About their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict.
Usually develops around age 4-5 years.
What is conservation? (Piaget) What stage of cognitive development theory?
A ‘mental operation’: Conservation is the ability to recognise that a given quantity, weight or volume remains the same despite changes in shape, length, or position.
Stage 3: Concrete operational
What is: Temperament?
What are the classifications of infant temperament?
Individual style and frequenct of expressing needs and emotions. [Biologically and genetically based; Influenced by parental expectations and interactions; Cultural differences and influences]
Classifications:
“Easy” - regular routines (eating, sleeping, etc); mild emotional reactions; easily soothed; readily adaptable to new people/situations
“Difficult” - does not easily settle into biological routines; intense emotional reactions; not easily soothed’ less adaptable
“Slow to warm up” - wary in new situations; requires time and support to settle and adapt.
Define (Bowlby): Attachment
“Enduring and selective emotional bond between two individuals, characterised by mutual affection and desire to maintain proximity”
- Bowlby, 2012
Explain the three influential views of infant attatchment -
- Freud
- Erikson
- Bowlby
Freud: emphasised that infants became attached to the person or object that provides oral satisfaction
Erikson: first year of life represents the stage of trust v’s mistrust - senstive care and comfort are key to establishing basic trust in infants
Bowlby: infants and parents are biologically predisposed to form attachments. Attachment is based on parent responsiveness and interaction between infant and parent
Explain: Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
John Bowlby - drawing on work on imprinting (ducks) and on the seperation of children from parents during the blitz of London in WWII
Bowlby (1950) propsed an in-build readiness to use soft, warm caregivers as a secure base.
Explain: the biological importance of a ‘secure base’
Lack of a secure realtionship with a caregiver in the early months of life can impact on brain development and result in long term emotional and cognitive problems.
What are the four classifications of attachment [styles]?
- According to Mary Ainsworth’s ‘Strange Situation’
A. Avoidant
B. Secure
C. Anxious/Ambivalent
D. Disorganised
Label/explain: the four parenting styles
Authoriatarian: Parents impose rules and expect obedience; “Don’t interrupt” “Why? Because I said so”
Authoritative: Parents are both demanding and responsive; set rules, but explain reasons; encourage discussion
Permissive: submit to children’s desires; make few demands; use little punishment
Rejecting-neglecting: Disengaged; expect little; invest little.
What are the age ranges and stages (names) in Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development?
Infancy (birth-1) - Trust vs. mistrust
Toddler (age 1-3) - Autonomy vs. shame and douby
Preschooler (3-6 years) - Initiative vs. guilt
Primary (6 years-puberty) - Industry vs. inferiority
Adolescence (teens into 20’s) - Identity vs. role confusion
Young Adult (20’s to early 40’s) - Intimacy vs. isolation
Middle Adult (40’s - 60’s) - Generativity vs. stagnation
Late Adult (late 60’s and up) - Integrity vs. despair
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Trust vs. Mistrust
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Initiative vs. guilt
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Industry vs. inferiority
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Identity vs. role confusion
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Intimacy vs. isolation
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Generativity vs. stagnation
Explain: [Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development] -
Integrity vs. despair
What are the three stages of prenatal development?
Germinal stage - approx. the first 2 weeks of development, beginning when a sperm fertilises a female egg (ovum). This fertilised ovum is called a zygote - through repeated cell division it becomes a mass of cells that attaches to the mother’s uterus 10 to 14 days after conception.
Embryonic stage - the cell mass, now called an embryo, develops from the end of week 2 through to week 8 after conception. The placenta and umbilical cord develop at the start of this stage - placenta contains membranes that allows nutrients to pass from mother’s blood into umbilical cord; umbilical cord contains blood vessels that carry these nutrients and oxygen to the embryo and transport waste products back from the embryo to the mother - cells rapidly divide and become specialised - forming the different organs and systems. By week 8, the heart of the 2.5 cm-long embryo is beating, the brain is forming and facial features such as eyes can be recognised.
Foetal stage - lasts from week 9 after conception until birth. Muscles strengthen and other bodily systems continue their development. At about 24 weeks the eyes open and by 27 weeks (or several weeks younger, with top medical care) the foetus attains the age of viability: it is likely to survive outside the womb in case of premature birth
What are teratogens?
Give examples -
…are external agents that cause abnormal prenatal development (aka: negative influences on development during the gesational period).
The placenta prevents many dangerous substances from reaching the embryo and foetus, but some harmful chemicals and diseases can pass through.
Examples: smoking, drinking, drug-use, maternal malnutrition, mercury, lead, radiation, STD’s.
Explain genetics and sex determination -
- How many chromosomes do ova and sperm cells have?
- What is a TDF?
- What are androgens?
Ova and sperm cells each have only 23 chromosomes; At conception, an ovum and a sperm cell unite to form the zygote, which contains the 23 pairs of chromosomes found in other human cells. The 23rd pair determines the baby’s sex.
TDF: (testis determining factor) is a gene that triggers male sexual development. The union of an ovum with a sperm cell having a Y chromosome results in an XY combination and therefore a boy. A sperm containing an X chromosome produces an XX combination and therefore a girl. Approximately 6 to 8 weeks after conception, the TDF gene initiates the development of testes. Once formed, the testes secrete sex hormones called androgens that continue to direct a male pattern of organ development. If the TDF gene is absent, as with an XX combination in the 23rd pair, testes do not form and—in the absence of sufficient androgen activity during this prenatal critical period—an inherent female pattern of organ development ensues.
What are reflexes?
Explain: - the rooting reflex
-the sucking reflex
…automatic, inborn behaviours that occur in response to specific stimuli.
the rooting reflex: …stroke a baby’s cheek and she will turn her head in the direction of the touch and open her mouth
the sucking reflex: …Place something in the infant’s mouth and he will suck on it [these reflexes help the infant to feed; in geneal, healthy reflexs indicate typical neurological maturtiy at birth]
Explain:
- Classical condition responses
- Operant conditioning responses
[give examples to define]
CC: When a tone (conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly paired with a gentle puff of air to the eye (unconditioned stimulus), infants develop a conditioned eyeblink response to the tone
OC: newborns learn that they can make things happen. Thus, 3-day-old infants can learn to produce a specific pattern of bursts of sucking on a plastic nipple in order to activate a recording of their mothers’ voices
What is maturation?
…“the genetically programmed biological processes that govern our growth”.
What is epigenetics?
… are changes in gene expression that are independent of the DNA itself and are caused instead by environmental factors.
Piaget - elaborate
Jean Piaget - 1926-1977
- Swiss psychologist
- Piaget worked for French psychologist Alfred Binet, a pioneer of intelligence testing.
- Created Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
Why is it important to study and understand normal child development?
- So parents/health professionals/educators can understand how to work with someone of a particular developmental stage.
- So we can understandf when things go wrong with development.
- To understand what factors impact development in order to promote and assist development.
The optimal time frame for a certain experience is a ____ period
Sensitive
Piaget’s stage theory of development support the view that developmental change is _____.
Discontinuous
Experiencing a loss of a parent can be considered a _________
non-normative event
____ is an age range which certain experiences MUST occur for development to proceed normally or along a certain path
critical period
An individual’s IQ is best understood as being a result of…
environmental factors as well as genetic factors.
_______ creates predispositions, _______ influences how they develop.
Heridity; environment
