Developmental Psychology (Psychology Subject)

Question 1

Developmental psychology

Answer 1

The study of changes and transitions that accompany physical growth or maturation

Question 2

Stages of gestation

Answer 2

• Zygote goes through three stages of gestation, or prenatal development
• Germinal stage (2 weeks)
• Embyronic stage (end of 2nd month)
• Fetal stage (3rd month - birth)

Question 3

Neonate

Answer 3

*a newborn
- Behavior is reflexive
— Sucking reflex
— Head turning reflex
— Moro reflex
— Babinski reflex
— Palmar reflex

Question 4

Adolescence

Answer 4

• Spans teen years (13-19)
• Begins with onset of puberty
• Hormones (androgen and estrogen) secreted

Question 5

Nature vs. nurture

Answer 5

• If personality and behavior are the result of genetics or environment
• Twin studies used to examine nature and nurture combinations

Question 6

Jean Piaget

Answer 6

• Child development, theory of child cognitive development
• Humans experience interaction between internal maturation and external experience that creates qualitative change
• This adaptation happens through assimilation (fitting new info into existing ideas) and accommodation (modification of cognitive schemata to incorporate new info)

Question 7

Stages of cognitive development

Answer 7

• Sensorimotor (0-2); circular reactions, object permanence, representation
• Preoperational (2-7); egocentric understanding, acquiring words as symbols for things, inability to perform mental operations
• Concrete Operational (7-12); Conservation, understanding of concrete relationships
• Formal Operational (12+); Understanding abstract relationships

Question 8

Moral development in children

Answer 8

• 4-7; imitates rule-following behavior; doesn’t question acceptance of rules
• 7-11; understands rules and follows
• 12+; applies abstract thinking to rules; can change rules if all parties agree

Question 9

Freud’s personality development

Answer 9

• Oral (birth-18 mos)
• Anal (18 mos-3 yrs)
• Phallic (3-6)
  — Oedipus complex (jealous of father, in love with mother)
  — Electra complex (angry with mother, in love with father because of penis envy)
  — Castration anxiety (fear of castration)
• Latency (adolescence)
• Genital (adolescence-adulthood)

Question 10

Lawrence Kohlberg

Answer 10

• Best-known theory of moral development through analyzing responses of children to nine hypothetical moral dilemmas
  — Heinz dilemma
• Preconventional/Premoral
  — Level 1: should avoid punishment
  — Level 2: should gain rewards
• Conventional/Morality of Conformity
  — Level 3: should gain approval
  — Level 4: should follow lay and authority
• Postconventional/Morality of Self-Accepted Principles
  — Level 5: beyond black and white of laws, attentive to rights and social warfare
  — Level 6: makes decisions based on abstract ethical principles

Question 11

Erik Erikson

Answer 11

*best known for a development scheme that addresses the entire life span
- Viewed each stage of life as having its own unique psychosocial conflict to solve

Question 12

Life span development stages

Answer 12

Age; stage crisis; resolution
- Birth-18 mos; trust vs. mistrust; trust
- 18 mos-3; autonomy vs. shame and doubt; independence
- 3-6 initiative vs. guilt; purpose
- 6-puberty; industry vs. inferiority; competency
- Teen years; identity vs. role confusion; sense of self
- Young adult; intimacy vs. isolation; love
- Middle age; productivity vs. stagnation; productivity and caring
- Old age; ego integrity vs. despair; wisdom and integrity

Question 13

John Bowlby

Answer 13

• suggested infants are motivated to attach to their mothers for positive reasons (closeness) and for negative reasons (avoiding fear)

Question 14

Mary Ainsworth

Answer 14

• studied attachment through the use of the strange situation (mother and infant playing together in lab)
• stranger anxiety, separation anxiety
• securely attached, avoidant, ambivalent

Question 15

Diana Baumrind

Answer 15

• studied the relationship between parenting style and personality development
• authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative parents

Question 16

John Watson’s behavioristic approach

Answer 16

Children were passively molded by environment and behavior emerges through imitation of their parents

Question 17

Motor development in first two years

Answer 17

• largely controlled by internal, maturational factors
• interacting through attention and affection fosters physical, emotional, and intellectual development

Question 18

Arnold Gessell

Answer 18

• an early child developmentalist
• believed nature provided only a “blueprint for development” through maturation
• environment or nurture filled in the details

Question 19

Aggression in children

Answer 19

• if identified as aggressive at an early age, have moderate tendency to remain aggressive later in life

Question 20

Sex-typed behavior

Answer 20

*behavior that seems typical for gender
- low during prepubescence
- highest in young adulthood
- lower again later in life

Question 21

Boys and puberty

Answer 21

Those who reached puberty sooner rather than later shown to be psychologically and socially advantaged

Question 22

Adolescents and aspirations

Answer 22

Most often have educational/career aspirations like their parents

Question 23

Hermaphrodite/intersex

Answer 23

*an individual born with both male and female genitals
- most likely resulting from female fetus being exposed to a higher than normal level of testosterone

Question 24

Symbolic play

Answer 24

• begins when children are 1-2 years old
• pretend roles, imagination, using objects to represent other things
• understands concept of having one object stand for another

Question 25

Parallel play

Answer 25

• occurs when children are 2-3 years old
• 2 children standing next to each other and playing in similar styles, but not together