Exam One Flashcards
what are the aspects of development?
physical, cognitive, social and economic
what are the periods of development?
prenatal, infancy to toddler (~2), early childhood (2 to 6 years), middle childhood (6 to 11 years), adolesence (11 - 20)
what are three reasons its important to study child development?
Knowledge of child development can help parents meet the challenges of raising children, related to later development and outcomes, permits informed decisions about social-policy questions that affect children.
what are the 7 enduring themes in child development?
nature and nurture, shaping personal development, continuity vs discontinuity, mechanisms of change, sociocultural influence, difference between children, research and childrens welfare.
what is epigenetics?
changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in underlying DNA sequence
how do children shape their own development?
gravitate towards activites that they want, attentional patterns, use of language, play
what is continuous development?
age related changes that gradually occur
what is discontinuous development?
age-related changes include occasional large shifts so that children of different ages seem qualitatively different
what is the mechanism of change in child development?
interaction of genes and environment determine both what changes occur and hen those changes occur
what is sociocultural context?
refers to the physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical crcumstances that make up any child’s environment
why are children different?
children’s genes, their treatment by others, subjective reactions, and choice of environment all contribute to individual difference among children
how are appropriate measurments attained?
focus on observable, measurable, and quantifiable measurements
what are ways to measure in child development?
interviews, naturalistic observation, structured observation
what are correlational studies?
take two unmanipulated variables and determine the degree of relation by a corelation coefficient. Measures strength and direction.
what are the problems with correlational studies?
directionality and third variable
what are the problems with experimental studies?
behaviour or actions is not studied in a natural setting.
what is a crossectional design?
compare groups across different ages at the same time, problem is cohort effect
what is a longitudinal design?
compare same individuals at different points in time, problems expense, attrition, practice effects
what is cross sequential research?
combination of cross sectional and longitudinal,
what are the three periods of prenatal development?
germinal (~2 weeks), embryonic (3 to 8 weeks), fetal (9 week to birth)
what is apoptosis?
programmed cell death
when does the fetus move?
by week 12 the fetus is moving as much as it will at birth.
what sensory inputs does a fetus experience?
tactile as result of own activity, taste and smell of amniotic fluid, responds to sound by 6th month gestation
when does prenatal learning occur?
habituation happens at 32 weeks gestation,
what is nonnutriative sucking procedure?
learns that sucking pacifier will result in hearing noise that it likes, like mothers voice, show post natal preference to sounds heard in utero, mothers voice, language
what were the findings of DeCasper and Spence?
women read aloud a story, using a control group that heard mother read the story or another woman read the story and a preference control to infants who had not heard the story, they found that previously recited stories by mother had greater response
what is the placental membrane?
barrier against some, but not all toxins and infectious agents
what is the amniotic sac?
a membrane filled with fluid in which the fetus floats, provides a protective buffer for the fetus
what are three hazards to fetal development?
nicotine (constricts blood vessels in placenta, sudden infant death syndrome), alcohol (cannot metabolize quickly, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder), maternal health (stress, nutrition, age)
what is a low birth weight baby?
less than 2500g, medical complications, developmental difficulties
what are the 6 states of arousal?
quiet sleep, active sleep, drowsiness, alert inactivity, alert activity, crying.
what is quiet sleep?
baby is still and unmoving, breathing is slow and irregular, 8-9 hrs
what is active sleep?
REM, breathing may be irregular, 8-9 hrs
what is drowsiness?
falling asleep or waking up, 1/2-3 hrs
what is alert inactivity?
eyes wide open, exploring environment, 2-3 hrs
what is alert activity?
eyes open, irregular breathing, fussy or irratic motor activity, 1-3hrs