exam 2 - developmental psychology Flashcards
goal of developmental psych
study individual key stages of life and how people grow/develop at/between each
developmental key themes (3)
1) nature vs nurture: how much of us is genetic vs due to our enviro
2) continuity vs stages: does development occur gradually or in clear stages?
3) stability vs change: how consistent are we when we move between stages? If we change, how can we say we’re the same person?
developmental research methods
1) cross sectional studies
2) longitudinal studies
whats a cross sectional study/when are they used? Pros/cons?
mix different ages at the same time; compare their responses; use for observing age related differences
pro: get info all info at one time
con: comparing dif people
what’s a longitudinal study? when are they used? pros/cons?
same subjects studied at dif times in their lives; use for observing age related changes
pro: studying the same people
cons: expensive, takes years, people might drop out
how to do research with infants?
eye tracking machines, measure pacifier sucking, observe head turns
what’s habituation/how is it used?
when something becomes habituated, the infant is bored with it; doesn’t look at it anymore/loses interest; use for assessing memory and perception
how did they test infant categorization? what did they conflude?
show a proper animal head/body image and let them get habituated; switch and put wrong heads on wrong bodies; babies stared at the head they didn’t see before vs the body; infants prioritize face over body
what brain cells/connections are babies born with?
all brain cells but don’t have a lot of neural connections
what allows for rational planning
frontal lobe growth spurt at 3-6 months old
what areas develop last?
association
What happens at puberty?
pruning process; neural pathways for language/agility stop surging
at what age are children’s memories processed differently?
4 yrs
Piaget’s theory
children are curious, active, intelligent, but have a dif type of logic; they intelligent but limited by cognitive development
answer to piaget’s question: how do children incorporate new info w what they already know?
1) form schemas; mental representations of the world
2) assimilate; put new info into existing schemas
3) accommodate; make new schemas if things don’t fit/make sense
assimilation vs accomodation
child knows what cows look like; sees a moose and ASSIMILATES moose into same schema as cow; parent corrects child; child ACCOMMODATES and makes separate schema for moose
piaget’s 4 cognitive development stages
1) sensorimotor
2) preoperational
3) concrete operational
4) formal operational
sensorimotor stage: age, description, 2 key aspects
- birth-2 yrs
- experience the world through sensory/motor interactions (looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, grabbing)
- key 1) lack of object permanence
- key 2) separation anxiety; after child has object permanence, they know their parent still exists but doesn’t understand time and doesn’t know when they’ll be back
preoperational stage: age, description, 2 key aspects
- 2-6 years
- too young for mental operations (math), use words/pics to symbolize objects
- key 1) don’t understand conservation; that phys properties of an object stay the same (ex. amount of juice is the same in two dif cups)
- key 2) ego centrism; can’t adopt new perspective ; self centered; what they see is what everyone
concrete operational stage: age, description, 2 key aspects
- 7-12 yrs
- logical reasoning/grasping idea of conservation; perspective taking/no longer egocentric; grouping/idea of subgroups, serialization, realize things can belong in 2 categories; add and subtract without counting
what did harry harlow study?
attachment styles with primates; thought offspring bonded w/ mother because she was a food source
what did harlow’s results show?
primates preferred cloth monkey w/o food over wire monkey w/ food; IMPORTANCE OF COMFORT AND AFFECTION
what happens when primates are deprived of social contact?
1) get anxious or angry meeting others their age
2) incapable of mating after reaching sexual maturity
3) neglectful of offspring
Who studied attachment styles in children?
john bowlby and his assistant mary ainsworth
what did john bowlby realize?
relationship w/ primary caregiver leads to infant’s expectations of themselves (how others respond to them/if they’re worthy of love)
what test did ainsworth come up with?
Strange situation test shows the quality/strength of attachment between mothers and infants (12-18 mos *DO NOT HAVE OBJECT PERMANENCE)
What are the possible attachment styles/results of the strange situation test?
1) secure: cried when mom left, calm when she returned
2) avoidant: didn’t react when mom left or returned
3) anxious ambivalent: cried when mom left, did not calm down when she returned
what 2 things cause attachment style
1) responsiveness of parental behavior (do they respond to your needs)
2) consistency of care (do they consistently give you what you need)
model of self
expectation of whether oneself is worthy of support and love
model of other
expectation of likelihood that others are reliable and will treat oneself well
when is adult attachment style apparent
only during times of stress
secure people
had responsive caregivers, trusting/feeling worthy and well liked, satisfying romantic relationships
anxious ambivalent people
had erratic caregiver, unpredictable when they feel like they deserve love/care, fall in love easily but worry of abandonment, hypervigilante for signs of rejection
avoidantpeople
had negligent caregiver, hard to trust others, independent, prefer distance > intimacy, negative emotional experiences (her friend Mark)
coping strategies for attachment styles
secure: talk to partner
anxious: rumination
avoidant: distancing
gender dif in attachment styles
men more likely to be avoidant; women more likely to be anxious
why do couples often consist of anxious ambivalent and avoidant
men more likely avoidant, women more likely anxious, chalk it up to being a man or being a woman; these are not happy relationships
whats the secure buffer idea
repeated interactions over long period can help someone change their attachment style (*only if they’re willing to change)
how does the 4 category model differ?
splits anxious ambivalent into 2 more categories
1) dismissing: (+ self, - others)
2) fearful (- self, - others)
problems w attachment styles/research
1) they’re just other personality variables (not mutually exclusive, can be high on many traits)
2) no tested or universal organization/format (are they continuous, flexible, 3 or 4 categories); hard to get bird’s eye view
why did erikson disagree w freud
disagreed that personality was fixed by age 5. believed it kept going until mid 20s-30s
What is erik erikson’s ego identity idea
- consciously experience sense of self based on interactions with social reality
- ego identity changes constantly w regards to environment
what’s erikson’s idea of competence and social adequacy
- each stage has a dif aspect of mastery
- stage managed well = feel competent
- stage managed poorly = feel inadequate
erikson’s 8 stages, psychological issue, central question
1) infancy, trust vs mistrust, how can i be secure?
2) early childhood, autonomy vs shame/doubt, how can i be independent?
3) childhood play age, initiative vs guilt, how can i be powerful?
4) childhood school age, industry vs inferiority, how can i be good?
5) adolescent/young adult, identity vs role confusion, who am i? how do i fit in the adult world?
6) young adult, intimacy vs isolation, how can i love?
7) mature adult, generativity vs stagnation, how can i be creative?
8) old age, ego identity vs despair, have i accomplished what i wanted?
adolescent moral development
how do we learn what’s good vs bad? kohlberg thought it occurred in 3 stages
how did kohlberg test moral development?
gave kids moral dilemmas; see of they say yes or no, but more interested in their reasoning
3 stages of kohlberg’s moral reasoning
1) preconventional (before 9 yrs)
2) conventional morality
3) postconventional morality
what happens in preconventional stage; what are the two substages (1 and 2)
obey to avoid punishment or gain reward
- stage 1) obedience and punishment orientation (whatever authority says is right)
- stage 2) individualism and exchange (Judge actions based on how well they serve an individual’s needs)
what happens in conventional morality; what are the two substages
people think as members of conventional society w its values, norms, expectations
- stage 3) good interpersonal relationships (emphasize helping ppl close to them)
- stage 4) maintaining social order (prioritize obeying laws)
what happens in postconventional morality; what are the 2 substages
less concerned about maintaining society for its own sake, more concerned about values of a good society
- stage 5) social contract and individual rights
- stage 6) define principles by which agreement will be most just *theoretical
criticisms of kohlberg
cultural bias, gender bias (women put others’ needs before their own but are equally moral), limited by the fact that morality consists of more than just an ability to think in sophisticated matter (actions > words)
in adulthood, what types of people do we love?
people who reward us, help satisfy our needs, that are like us, and we have profitable interactions with
adulthood; attraction
we like physically attractive people; they are treated better in real life situations; computer dance study showed physical attractiveness was the most important predictor for the desire to date someone
situational factors that affect attraction
proximity; familiarity; similarity
what’s proximity; why does it promote attraction?
we like people near us; people were closer friends with next door neighbors; it increases familiarity; proximity is rewarding and distance is costly
familiarity’s effect on attraction
the more we’re exposed to something, the more we like it (4 women sat in during classes; those who went more frequently were rated more highly); unfamiliar people are threats; familiar ones are predictable and comforting
similarity’s effect on attraction
we like people who like us, naturally want similarity on as many dimensions as possible; reassuring to meet ppl like us; less conflict
