Exam 1 Flashcards
life expectancy vs lifespan
life-span: emphasized developmental change throughout adulthood as well as during childhood
life expectancy: the average number of years that a person born in a particular year can expect to live
multidimensional
doesn’t occur in a linear manner
multidirectional
you will gain some and lose some
plastic
able to change
contextual
there is socio cultural influences
characteristics of the life-span perspective?
- multidimensional
- multidirectional
- plastic
- contextual
culture- why is this important to consider in development?
the brain shapes culture but culture also shapes the brain
- encompasses the behavior patters, beliefs, and al other products from a particular group
why should we consider biological processes in development?
genes, brain development, height/wieght, nutrition, puberty, etc are all biological processes that can affect development
why should we consider cognitive processes in development?
thinking, intelligence, and language also effect development (falling behind or ahead)
why should we consider socio-emotional processes in development?
relationships, emotional regulation, and personality affect their development in how they function in society
how do we know that both nature and nurture are at play in development
adoption studies, twin studies
stability vs change
do early traits and characteristic persist through life or change
continuity vs discontinuity
continuity: grow until you reach the end point (like trees)
discontinuity: growth in stages (like butterflies)
the active child
- attentional patterns
- use of language
- play
- all contribute to their own development at early life
socio-cultural context
physical, historical economic, cultural, and social all affect the development of a child
why was wakefield’s study so bad?
- only had 12 participants, no generalization
- he only took participants who already had immunization records to measure the correlation to autism
clinical interview
in-depth information about an individual child
questionnaire
uniform set of questions presented to participants
generalization
apply results to the wider population
cross-sectional design
changes seen between children at different ages
longitudinal design
changes within the individual child
Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development
- eight stages of development, at each stage there was a unique developmental task that must be resolved
1. trust vs mistrust
2. autonomy versus shame and doubt: independency
3. initiative versus guilt: in the social world are they active or anxious
4. industry vs guilt: improve skills or feel inferior
5. identity vs identity confusion: who they are
6. intimacy vs isolation: form healthy relationships
7. generativity vs stagnation: help younger generations or don’t
8. integrity vs despair: spent your life well or felt like you waste it
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
- children go through four stages of cognitive development as they actively construct their understanding of the world
1. sensorimotor stage (brith - 2): understand by snesory experiences, physical or motor actions
2. preoperational (2-7 years): use images, words, and drawings
3. concrete operational stage (7-11): reason logically about specific or concrete examples
4. formal operational stage (11-15): think abstract and logical terms
key principles of Vygotsky’s theory
- emphasizes how cultural and social interaction guide cognitive development
basic principles of information-processing theory
individuals manipulate, monitor, and strategize about it.
* individuals develop gradually increasing capacity for processing information
behavioral and social cognitive theories of development
development can be described in terms of behaviors learned through interactions with our surrounding
skinner’s operant conditioning
behavior followed by a rewarding stimulus is more likely to recur
bandura’s social cognitive theory
cognitive processes have important links with the environment and behavior
- banduras doll
bronfrenbrenner’s ecological theory
development reflects the influence of several environmental systems
- microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem
gamete and zygote
- reproductive cell (sperm and egg); 23 chromosomes
- sperm and egg combined; 46 chromosomes
germinal period
- conception to 2 weeks
- begins in the fallopian tube
- zygote migrates to the uterus through mitosis
- zygote implants into the uterine wall
embryonic period
- 3rd to 8th week
- major development occurs in all the organs and systems of the body
fetal period
- 9th week to birth
- continue development of physical structures
- rapid growth of body
- increase levels of behavior, sensory experience, and learning
processes that occur during differentiation
cells begin to specialize in structure and function
- nerve cells, stomach cells, etc
processes that occur during migration
cells move away from origin
- lung cells go to the lungs
processes that occur during pruning
death of unnecessary/required cells
what periods of prenatal development are we more influenced by teratogens?
greatest is early in the embryonic period when organs are being formed
placenta
exchange of materials carried in bloodstream of the fetus and mother
amniotic sac
fluid-filled membrane that surrounds and protects the fetus
what is normal, uncomplicated birth?
- initiated by the release of oxytocin
- labor- involuntary uterine contractions
teratogen
a potentially harmful agent
factors that affect the severity and type of damage caused by a teratogen
dose: greater the dose greater the effect
genetic susceptibility: teratogen could be linked to the genotype of the fetus or the pregnant women
time of exposure: greater during the embryonic period
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
- brain is smaller and malformed
- cortical neurons do not migrate correctly
- behavioral and cognitive difficulties
critical period
when a particular type of development must happen if it is to happen
sensitive period
when a certain type of development is most likely, although it may still happen later
why is critical or sensitive period so important when the developing embryo/fetus is exposed to a teratogen?
it represents the specific window of time where the fetus is most vulnerable to damage from teratogens
what maternal factors are associated with issues during pregnancy?
age: teen pregnancies have higher chance of infant mortality, older women have linked with dow syndrome
nutrition: obesity can cause obesity/diabetes in the child, still birth, preterm birth, or NICU
stress: sleep problems, gross/fine motor difficulties, lower cognitive functioning, difficult temperament, behavior problems
disease: can be carried into the placenta and affect the child (rubella, syphilis, herpes)
folic acid
b-complex vitamin that can reduce the risk of delivering a preterm baby
8 also reduces the risk of spina bifida
what puts an infant at risk for premature birth?
pregnancy and medical conditions: infections, had prior preterm brith, carrying more than 1 baby
social, personal, economics: teens/older women, women with low income, black race
behavioral: substance use (tobacco), and stress
what complications are present for premature infants?
- underdeveloped lungs
- damage hearing or vision
- learning disabilities
- low IQ
- ADHD
- neurological deficits
- behavioral difficulties
why may and underdeveloped sensory system be problematic for an infant?
- can cause abnormal growth of blood in the eyes which lead to blindness
- NICU is noisy can damage ears
role of DNA in human development
DNA carries our traits and characteristics that code for proteins for our development
effects of the environment on genetic expression
hormones can turn genes on and off and the flow of hormones are effected by environmental conditions like light, day length, nutrition, and behavior
how genes are passed through generations
through meiosis
epigenetic view
development is the result of an ongoing, bidirectional interchange between heredity and the environment
cephalocaudal and proximodistal
- from head to tail (vision before locomotion)
- from center to periphery (torso muscles before finger muscles)
what areas of the brain develop first during infancy?
the brainstem and midbrain
how does experience play a role in our brain growth?
unstimulating environment there is depressed brain activity
how do brain (neural) connections grow and prune?
through synaptogenesis (creating new neural connections), and synaptic pruning to remove excess connections
myelinations (whats the purupose)
formation of myelin around neurons that increase infromation-processing abilities
neuroconstructivist view
- brain development = biological + environmental conditions
- brain has plasticity and is context dependent
- brain + cognitive development are closely linked
which reflexes are critical to survival?
rooting: stroke a baby’s cheek and they turn their head that way, helps for nursing
sucking: sucks anything that touches the roof of the mouth
what happens to reflexes as the infant develops
most disappear by 2-6 months
- voluntary motor skills take over
gross motor (what is the role of experience in learning how to walk)
involve large-muscle activities, such as walking
fine motor
involve more finely tunes movements, finger dexterity
What is the dynamic systems view of motor development?
- maturation of the nervous system
- environment support
- childs motivation
- bodys physical abilities
What is the process of language acquisition?
- exposure
- comprehension
- production
Which comes first: receptive or expressive language?
receptive language (understand the language that is heard)
Infant-directed speech & signs
- warm and affectionate tone
- high pitch
- slower speech
- extreme intonation
-simplified speech
phonemes
smallest unit of sound in speech
perceptual narrowing
reduce sensitivity to things not encountered in the environment
joint attention
share focus on same object
- both (caregiver and child) pointing at something
what are the stages of infant speech production>
- cooing: 6-8 weeks
- babbling: 6-10 months
- first words: 10-15 months; nouns
- simple sentences: end of second year
prosody
the intonations we use in language that tell us something
- asking a question versus saying a statement
typical sleep patterns of newborns and infants
- newborns sleep 16-17 hours a day
- infants sleep 14-17 hours
sensation and perception
- information interacts with sensory receptors: eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin
- the interpretation of what is sense
Recognize faces as important visual stimuli in children’s social environment
they extract key information from looking at faces
assimilation and accommodation
- children use their existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences
- children adjust their schemes to account for new information and experiences
paiget’s sensorimotor stage
- birth till about 2 years old
- infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motor actions
object permanence
the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched
attention vs joint attention
- focusing of mental resources on select information
- two or more individuals focus on the same object or event
deferred imitation
occurs after a time delay of hours or days
* infants could imitate actions that they had seen preformed 24 hours earlier
infantile or childhood amnesia
most adults do not remember much from their first three years of life
temperament
behavior styles, emotions, and typical ways of responding to the environment
easy, difficult, and slow-to-warm-up child
easy: child is generally positive mood, quickly established regular routines, adapts easily to new experiences
difficult: reacts negatively and cries frequently, engages in irregular daily routines, slow to accept change
slow-to-warm-up: low activity level, somewhat negative, low intensity of mood
why is it important to consider the goodness of fit?
compatibility of the child’s temperament to surrounding environment
personality development
- emotions and temperament are key aspects of personality
- trust, the development of sense of self, independence
Erikson’s stage of trust vs mistrust
learn trust when they are cared for in a consistent manner
learn mistrust when they are not cared for on a consistent basis
* arises again at each successive stage of development
attachment theory
an emotional bond with a special person that is enduring
* children are biologically predisposed to develop attachment to caregivers
secure base
children use a secure base to go explore the world and when they have fear/anxiety they reach for reassurance from the secure base
secure attachment
caregiver is present: child plays happily
caregiver leaves: pauses and is not happy
caregiver returns: welcomes them, returns to play
insecure avoidant attachment
caregiver present: child plays happily
caregiver leaves: child continues to play
caregiver returns: child ignores them
insecure resistant attachment
caregiver present: child clings/preoccupied with caregiver
caregiver leaves: child is unhappy, may stop playing
caregiver returns: child is angry, may cry, hit, or cling
disorganized attachment
caregiver present: child is cautious
caregiver leaves: child may stare or yell, looks scared, confused
caregiver returns: child acts oddly- may scream, hit self, throw things
how does caregiving relate to attachment?
secure -> respond to infant needs
insecure resistant -> tend not to be very affectionate
disorganized -> neglect or physically abuse them
insecure avoidant -> unavailable and rejecting
role of emotions in infancy
- communication with others
- behavioral organization
the influence of social relationships on infants’ emotional development
social relationships provide the setting for the development of a rich variety of emotions
cultural influences on emotional development
emotion-linked interchanges provide the foundation for the infant’s attachment to the parent
stranger anxiety
infant shows fear and wariness of strangers
social referencing
“reading” emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation
locomotion to development
ability to crawl, walk, and run they are able to explore and expand their social world making the develop independently
