exam 2

Question 1

Describe the normative growth in height and weight between ages 2 and 6

Answer 1

around 3 inches in height and 4 to 5 pounds in weight a year; growth happens in spurts rather than continuously

Question 2

Understand the idea of developmental plasticity

Answer 2

plasticity in development refers to traits being mallable

Question 3

Identify and explain changes in brain development occurring in early childhood, at including myelination, the corpus callosum and lateralization, prefrontal cortex maturation

Answer 3

Mylination: develop of dendrites continue to occur, and as they develop we see a change in what a child is capable of doing;

Corpus callosum: a dense band of fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain (L & R). This part of the brain undergoes a growth spurt between the ages of 3 & 6, which results in improved coordination between the L & R hemispheres.

Lateralization: Brain lateralization refers to the L & R side of the brain serve different functions.

Prefrontal cortex: : Responsible for “executive control”: impulse control, problem solving, regulation

Question 4

Describe the role of the limbic system and its three major structures

Answer 4

Limbic system - its a group of subcortical structures that lead to increased emotional processing/reactions

3 major structures -
1. amygdala - emotional stimuli processing
2. hippocampus - new memory formation
3. hypothalamus - hormone production and regulation (that activates other parts of the brain and body)

Question 5

Understand the many implications of brain development for young children (i.e., what happens because of particular aspects of brain development?)

Answer 5

• myelination leads to quicker reaction times
• prefrontal cortex development increases quality sleep, decreases tantrums, and increases regulation
• corpus callosum growth leads to lateralized functioning (communication between hemispheres)

Question 6

Understand the development of gross and fine motor skills during early childhood and how they are linked to expression and injuries

Answer 6

Gross motor skills: skills that use the entire body (jumping, running, skipping)

Fine motor skills: skills that use only part of a body (typing, writing, drawing)

These are linked to injuries because kids are more prone to falling due to lack of coordination.

Question 7

Explain why young children are especially vulnerable to accidents

Answer 7

Children tend to get hurt more often due to lack of coordination among gross and fine motor skills. Younger children may fall of a tricycle, a tree, or drop something on their foot.

Question 8

Describe Piaget’s stage of preoperational intelligence in young children, including new abilities relative to earlier years

Answer 8

• language and imagination (in addition to infancy), but logical operational thought isn’t possible yet.
• goes from symbolic functioning to intuitive thought

Question 9

Understand and explain tasks used to assess logical thinking in the preoperational stage

Answer 9

egocentrism - mountain task

conservation concept - water in 2 different shaped glasses (asking which has more after pouring one into the other)

centration - focusing on one idea and excluding others

focus on appearance - putting different clothes on a person/doll and asking if theyre the same person/toy

perceptual salience - asking if they want to grow up and become an adult (if they have the ability to understand that logical development is applicable to everyone)

irreversibility - pouring beads from one preferred container into another and seeing their reaction

Question 10

Describe contributions of Vygotsky to understanding of early childhood

Answer 10

Zone of Proximal development: upper limit and lower limit
Upper limit: working with assisstance
Lower limit: working without assisstance
Scaffolding: The temporary support that parents or teachers give a child to do a task

Private speech: children will work through problems with thinking out loud
Private speech becomes inner speech

Question 11

Define several aspects of information processing that develop during early childhood (note most of these improve, but are still considerably less developed than they will be later); including attention (divided, selective, sustained), executive functioning, and kinds of memory

Answer 11

divided attention - the ability to focus on multiple things at once (though still limited in young children)

selective attention - focusing on specific information while ignoring distractions (improves with age)

sustained attention - maintaining focus over time (increases gradually during early childhood)

executive functioning - skills like planning, impulse control, and problem-solving (gradually improves but is still developing in early childhood)

working memory - the ability to hold and manipulate information for short periods (improves as children grow)

long-term memory - storing information for extended periods ( young children may struggle with retrieval)

episodic memory - memory of specific events (ex. narratives)

semantic memory - memory of specific facts/info (ex. math, names)

Question 12

Describe the concept of theory of mind, as well as how it can be assessed, what it’s related to, and who may have deficits in ToM

Answer 12

theory of mind - the ability to accurately represent other’s mental states

how it’s assessed - Sally-Anne task (Sally places a marble in a basket and leaves the room. Anne moves the marble to a box while Sally is away. When asked where Sally will look for the marble, children with a developed theory of mind (4-5 y.o.) will say “the basket”. Younger children, who may not yet understand false beliefs, will often answer “the box”.)

what it’s related to - lying

who may have deficits - deficits related to autism, deafness and language delays

Question 13

Describe the current state of our understanding of the evidence for the benefits of preschool education

Answer 13

Benefits for preschool education include:
* interactions
* engaging in the physical enviroment
* developmentally appropriate cirriculum that is followed

Question 14

Explain the stage of Erikson’s theory relevant to the psychosocial development of young children

Answer 14

Ages 3-6: Initiative vs. Guilt.
- children are eager to explore their environment, make decisions, and try new activities, demonstrating a sense of initiative.
- successful experiences encourage confidence and skills, while strict criticism or failure can lead to feelings of GUILT about their abilities and choices.

Question 15

Describe the developing sense of self in early childhood – including terms of self-esteem, self-concept, and self control

Answer 15

• Self-esteem: how we evaluate ourselves Generally high
• Self-concept: self-description
  Becomes fairly stable (like curt being gay)
• self-control: ability to regulatate initiation and inhabitation of behaviors/ responses, and delay grafification

Question 16

Describe Piaget’s observations regarding moral development in early childhood

Answer 16

Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding rules and conventions about how people should treat other people

Piaget: Young children see wrongdoings based on outcome rather than the intention of behavior

Question 17

Explain several of the reasons why play is so important, and describe forms of play evident in early childhood

Answer 17

Play facilitates cognitive, social, emotional, and skill development

Question 18

Describe Baumrind’s two dimensions and four classifications of parenting styles, including problems/ criticisms of her classifications, and correlates/outcomes associated with each form

Answer 18

Dimension #1 - RESPONSIVENESS (degree to which parent responds to child’s needs in accepting, supportive manner; readily shows warmth and love)
Dimension #2 - DEMANDINGNESS (degree to which parent expects/demands mature, responsible behavior from the child; active control)

Classification 1 (high demand, low responsiveness) - Authoritarian
Classification 2 (high demand, high responsiveness) - Authoritative
Classification 3 (low demand, low responsiveness) - Indifferent
Classification 4 (low demand, high reponsiveness) - Indigent

Question 19

Define discipline, provide examples of frequently used disciplinary techniques, and the definition and role of internalization in discipline.

Answer 19

Discipline: strategies used to teach children appropriate behavior
* Ideal strategies promote idealization, or the process of learning and accepting the desired behavior
* Induction: most useful to achieve internalization and reduce problem behaviors
* Punishment can undermine internalization

Question 20

Describe the current state of the evidence for the effectiveness and potential harm of physical punishment

Answer 20

• Common, but decreasing
• ineffective in reducing problem behavior (and can increase it)
• Increases risk of emotional, social, and cognitive problems (like aggression)
• Negative effects found across cultural groups
• Illegal in many countries, discouraged by medical and research organizations in us.

Question 21

Describe the process of gender socialization, and articulate the views of social cognitive theory and gender schema theory in explaining gendered behaviors

Answer 21

The process through which individuals learn and internalize the behaviors, attitudes, and roles that society considers appropriate for their gender.
(think of social gender norms)

Question 22

Explain the terms gender dysphoria, transgender, and intersex, and differentiate between sex and gender

Answer 22

• Gender Dysphoria: Psychological condition where a person experiences significant distress or discomfort due to a mismatch between their gender identity (how they identify) and their assigned sex at birth.
• Transgender: The term for individuals whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

A term used to describe a variety of conditions in which a person’s reproductive or sexual anatomy doesn’t fit typical definitions of male or female. This can involve variations in chromosomes, gonads, hormones, or external genitalia.

Sex: biological and physiological characteristics that define humans as male, female, or intersex.

Gender: This refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, and expectations that a society considers appropriate for men, women, and non-binary individuals.

Question 23

Describe basic characteristics of middle childhood (physical characteristics, age, schooling, disease prevalence)

Answer 23

• between early childhood and early adolescence
• approx. age 7-11
• “safer” age - most fatal disease and accidents occur before age 7
• weight more likely to become issue for some
• “school age” - new challenges
• 1 in 5 children are obese

Question 24

Describe the difference between achievement and aptitude, what IQ tests measure, and how IQ scores are distributed

Answer 24

• Amplitude: the potential to master a particular skill or a particular body of knowledge
• Achievement: proficiency or mastery in a given subject
• IQ tests measure intellectual amplitude/ learning potential

Question 25

Describe criticisms for intelligence testing

Answer 25

• Executive functioning is more predictive of achievement!
• Does aptitude = achievement?
• Test scores reflect the culture of the test writers and takers
• Intellectual potential can change over the lifespan
• Diffirent between individuals
• Over time across the population (Flynn effect)

Question 26

Describe advances in brain development during this period (focus on where myelination is occurring and what these regions impact)

Answer 26

• Continued mylenationm especially in:
• Frontal lobe, association areas ( connecting sesory, motor, and other parts) and hippocampus

The hippocampus is responsible for memory and is crucial for learning

Question 27

Define and identify examples of the information-processing constructs of reaction time, selective attention, automatization, working memory (and its forms), executive functioning, transitive inference, spatial reasoning, and metacognition

Answer 27

Information processing advances
* Reaction time: time it takes to respond physically or cognitively to a stimulus
* Selective attention: the ability to concentrate on one stimulus while ignoring others
* Automatization: repetition of series of throughs and actions makes the sequence routine and automatic- allowing for faster processing and more completely

Improved memory processing
* Meta-cognition: awareness of one’s own mental processes

Implications of better meta-cognition?
* Spatial reasoning: the ability to understand objects’ locations in space
* Transitive interference: the ability to understand implied (not stated) relationships

Question 28

Explain the role of physical activity and active play in brain development

Answer 28

Physical activity and active play can help with:

• higher levels of satisfaction with family and overall quality of life in children
• improved physical and emotional development
• better academic preformance

Question 29

Understand the broad aims of the field of developmental psychopathology, and describe the principles of psychopathology

Answer 29

Psychopathology is the knowlage of non-typical development and disorders using knowlege of typical development.

The 4 principles of developmetal psycopathology are:
* kids do werid things
* problems change, including comorbidity
* outcomes are uncertian
* individuals interact with the envrioment to affect psychopathology

Question 30

Describe the basic characteristics/definitions of learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and ADHD

Answer 30

A learning disability is difficulty in learning; understanding, using language- can appera in listening, reading, writing, thinking and spelling that is primarly NOT a result of other issues

Autism sepecturm disorders: Neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by challenges in social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors, varying widely in severity and symptoms across individuals.

ADHD: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; characterized by inattention, hyperactivity or both

Question 31

Describe Piaget’s theory of cognitive development as it applies to middle childhood, including what stage children are in, how they perform on Piagetian tasks, and newly developed abilities

Answer 31

Concrete operational thinking:
* children are able to reason logically about direction experinces and perceptions
* preform better on egocentrism and conservation tasks
* the primary limitation of this is abstract reasoning

more advanced skills:
* serration or arraging items systematically
* decentration (focus on multiple dimentions of objects

example: bob has lots of hair, bob is a dog, and other dogs have hair, therefore all dogs have hair.

Question 32

Explain Piaget’s and Kohlberg’s theories of moral development and observations of differences based on age

Answer 32

PIAGET
Concrete Operational Thinking
- children able to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions
- perform better on egocentrism and conservation tasks (primary limitation: abstract reasoning)

KOHLBERG
- preconventional: rewards & punishments
- conventional: societal rules and norms
- postconventional: greater principles of justice and fairness

Question 33

Describe Selman’s 5 stages of friendship (that is, differences in perceptions of “what a friend is” based on age

Answer 33

Selmans 5 stages of freindhsip are:
1. Momentary instances
2. Someone who does nice things
3.) Fair-weather cooperation
4.) Mutual sharing (and intimacy)
5.) Autonomous interdependence

Question 34

Describe the principle of homophily & selection/socialization effects

Answer 34

• The principle of homophily: the tendency to assoiate with simular others
• Selection effects: choose friends based on shared characteristics
• Socialization effects: characeristics become more simular between friends

Question 35

Explain the sociometric approach to understanding peer status, in terms of measurement and the outcomes/categories it produces

Answer 35

captures relative standing/status in peer groups based on like/not-liked nominations

1. HIGH liked - low disliked … Accepted
2. HIGH liked - HIGH disliked … Controversial
3. avg. liked - avg. disliked … Average
4. low liked - low disliked … Neglected
5. low liked - high disliked … Rejected

think of cliques

Question 36

Describe the two forms of popularity and two forms of rejection depicted in the text

Answer 36

Popularity
* Pro-social- tend to do well in school and are cooperative and friendly
* Anti- Social- may gain popularity through an acting tough or spreading rumors about others
Rejection
* Withdrawn- these children are shy and withdrawn
* agressive- these children are agressive, loud and confrontational

Question 37

Define bullying, its forms, and its consequences

Answer 37

Bullying is defined as repeated systematic efforts to inflict harm through physical, verbal, or social attack on a weaker person

Consequences include:

For Victims
* Emotional Distress
* Academic Impact:
* Social Isolation:
* Physical Health Issues
* Long-term Effects

For Bullies
* Emotional and Behavioral Problems
* Academic Issues
* Social Relationships
* Long-term Consequences
* Emotional Impact
* Social Dynamics
* Behavioral Outcomes

Question 38

Identify the differences between concepts of family structure and family function, and explain which seems to be more important in adjustment outcomes

Answer 38

Family structure refers to the type of family
* two parent families (nuclear, adoptive, foster, stepfamilies)
* single parent famlies
* extended family

Family function refers to the degree to which a family fullfills the needs of it’s members, especially children
* basic needs (shelter, food, water, clothing)
* education
* self- development
* stability and comfort

Question 39

Describe the potential impacts of divorce – including factors that explain these impacts and why its important to not to overgeneralize these effects

Answer 39

• Divorce can lead to impacts on children like emotional distress, behavioral problems, and academic challenges.
• Factors influencing these impacts include the age of the child, the level of conflict between parents, and the quality of parenting post-divorce.
• overgeneralizing these effects, vary and some children may adapt well

Question 40

Describe changes associated with puberty during adolescence, including physical milestones, hormonal activity and timing (especially estradiol, testosterone, and melatonin), and how these aspects of puberty differ between men and women

Answer 40

Puberty refers to the an increase in hormone production, spurring phyisical growth and sexual maturity
Primary: reproductive organs
Secondary: other physical characteristics
Boys:
Key milestones: first ejaculation
Key hormones: tesosterone
Gonads: testes

Girls:
Key milestones: first period/ menstration
Key hormones: estrogen
Gonads: ovaries

In adolescents, melatonion is released more than two hour

There is a large variation in timing. Can occur as soon as 7 or 8 and as late as 16 or 17

Question 41

Define the secular trend of puberty

Answer 41

Secular trend refers to a socitey wide or worlwide trend. In puberty, the secular trend refers to the observable pattern of children reaching puberty at earlier ages over successive generations.

Question 42

Explain the delayed phase preference and its implications

Answer 42

Delayed phase preference refers to the tendency of some individuals, especially adolescents, to prefer later sleep and wake times due to shifts in their circadian rhythms.

Question 43

Describe the key aspects of brain development during adolescence- what is changing, at what pace, and what are the implications of brain development (focusing especially on the prefrontal cortex and limbic system)

Answer 43

adolescence is a time of developmental plasticity, with imbalances in brain development

the limbic system and prefrontal cortex are being developed via synaptic pruning and myelination HOWEVER, the limbic system is developing faster, meaning adolescents have decreased emotional regulation and increased emotional reactions/risk-taking

Question 44

Explain the role of the three major structures in the limbic system

Answer 44

The limbic system is a group of subcorital structures
* amygdala: procressing emotional stimuli
* hippocampus: formation of new memories
* hypothalmus: hormone production and regulation that avtivate other parts of the brain and body

Question 45

Explain consequences for early arrival to puberty

Answer 45

Early maturation can be a risk factor for depression, self esteem and anxiety

This is higher for girls

Question 46

Define body image and describe related cultural differences and implications for adolescent adjustment

Answer 46

Body image refers to how someone sees their body

Body image concerns are common and much higher for girls

body dissattification can cause mental illness

Question 47

Describe problems surrounding sexual activity in youth, the trend in teenage births (say, since 1990), and the effectiveness of abstinence-only education programs

Answer 47

Problems surrounding adol. pregnancy is a challagening life for the mother, can lead to poverty and unemployment. academics may delcline as well

Abstinence-only education promotes refraining from sexual activity until marriage as the sole method to prevent (STIs) and unintended pregnancies. There is limited effectiveness, often failing to significantly reduce sexual activity among adolescents. It typically lacks comprehensive information about contraception and safe sex, which can lead to higher rates of STIs and unintended pregnancies.

Question 48

Describe formal operational thought in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Answer 48

Formal operational thought includes egocentrism and dual processing.

Egocentrism: adolesents tend to focus on themselves at the exclusion of others

Dual processing: two models of thinking; inutive (automatic, fast, more experienced/ emotional) or analyic (delibrate, conscious, rational)

Question 49

Understand the idea of hypothetical thought and forms of reasoning

Answer 49

Hypothetical thought is the cognitive ability to imagine and consider scenarios that are not currently real, allowing individuals to explore possibilities and evaluate outcomes.

delusion

Question 50

Explain adolescent egocentrism and its components (for instance, invincibility fables), as well as how it differs from the concept of egocentrism in preoperational children

Answer 50

Adolescents tend to focus on themselves at the exclusion of others, so adolescents have the ability to take others’ perspective, but just don’t, whereas children do not have the ability.

personal fable - belief of uniqueness of thoughts and experiences

invincibility fable - tendency to not acknowledge potential for harm or defeat

imaginary audience - tendency to believe that others are focused on individual as much as they are

Question 51

Understand G. Stanley Hall’s perspective on adolescence as a developmental stage, and more recent ideas surrounding his perspective

Answer 51

Described adol. as a time of inherent and unavoidable turmoil, or “storm and stress”

Challanges with this are:
* conflict with parents
* mood disruptions and risk behaviors

Question 52

Describe Erikson’s and Marcia’s theories of identity development

Answer 52

Erikson: idenity vs confusion/ crisis
* Psychological mortorium: the act of a crisis
* resolved by any idenity achievement
* the term “idenity crisis” came from erikson

Marcia: 4 stages of development
1. achievement (commitment, following crisis)
2. foreclosure (commitment without exploration
3. Moratorium (in active exploration with no commitment yet)
4. diffusion (no commitment, no explortation)

Question 53

Explain how identity status relates to depression and delinquency

Answer 53

Identity diffusion:
may feel lost and engage in delinquent behavior

Foreclosure:
often experience anxiety and internal conflict, which can lead to depression.

Identity moratorium:
involves exploration that can cause stress, potentially resulting in risky behaviors.

In contrast, identity achievement fosters stability and self-esteem, typically associated with lower levels of depression and delinquency.

Question 54

Describe individuation in adolescence, including factors related to parents

Answer 54

Indivduation: the process of gaining autonomy and diffrentation

In relation to parents:
* emotional well-being
* lower depression, deviancy and substance use
* higher self esteem and achievements

Question 55

Explain the importance and distinctive challenges of parenting in adolescence

Answer 55

Parenting during adolescence is important for:
* supporting teens as they navigate identity formation
* emotional challenges,
* social relationships.

challenges:
* balancing oversight with freedom, communication barriers,
* influence of peers.

Question 56

Describe how romantic relationships change in nature from early to late adolescence

Answer 56

Frist relationships typically occur during highschool and last less than a year

• they increase in intensity acorss adol.
• early on, they are mostly thought about in terms of peer status, then later to fulfull personal needs and desries

Question 57

Describe the nature of the self (self-concepts and self-esteem) in adolescence, including the trajectory of self-esteem in development

Answer 57

Self-concept becomes more complex and multifaceted as individuals begin to explore their identities, values, and roles in society

Self-Concept: Adolescents start to see themselves in more varied and nuanced ways, often distinguishing between different aspects of their identities, such as social, academic, and personal attributes. They may experiment with different roles and self-representations, leading to both exploration and confusion.

Self-Esteem: Self-esteem during adolescence tends to fluctuate, influenced by factors like peer relationships, academic performance, and physical changes. Generally, self-esteem may decline in early adolescence due to increased self-consciousness and social comparison but can improve as individuals navigate these challenges and develop a stronger sense of identity.