Infancy and Childhood Flashcards
What is Developmental Psychology?
Scientific study of patterns of change and stability in humans
what is development?
the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span
what are reflexes?
unlearned responses that are triggered by a specific form of stimulation
what are some examples of primitive reflexes?
sucking, rooting, moro, grasping, Babinski
what is the sucking primitive reflex?
when babies suck on i.e. baby bottle, mothers nipple, etc
what is the rooting primitive reflex?
stroking baby’s cheek and their head turning in that direction
what is the moro primitive reflex?
the “startled” reflex. babies arms flail out in response to them being startled.
what is the grasping primitive reflex?
when babies grasp objects i.e. their mother’s fingers
what is the Babinski primitive reflex?
when the baby’s toes fan out in response to a stroke on the bottom of the foot
what are the early sensory capacities?
touch, pain, taste, smell, hearing, vision, depth perception
describe the touch and pain early sensory capacity
kangaroo care - done with preemies (for the most part) and is a skin-to-skin contact method for growth.
describe the taste early sensory capacity
- begins to develop in womb
- innate and learned
- we’re born like sweet things and disliking bitter, salty, and savoring
describe the smell early sensory capacity
- keen sense of smell
- breastfed babies particularly sensitive to mothers’ body odors
describe the hearing early sensory capacity
- Auditory discrimination – develops rapidly after birth
- Particularly sensitive to language sounds
describe the vision early sensory capacity
- Least developed sense at birth
- Facial perception
what is depth perception?
visual cliff - more experienced crawlers have depth perception since they fall often and have a better sense of deception.
what did Jean Piaget call kids?
Little Scientists
what are schemes/schema?
aka, mental categories, psychological structures that organize experience
what is assimilation?
fitting new information into present system of knowledge and beliefs (schema)
- doesn’t matter if they’re right or wrong
what is accommodation?
as a result of undeniable new information, change existing schema
what are adaptations?
mental thoughts to new observations and experiences
What was Piaget’s approach to cognitive development?
theory of cognitive stages
What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
- sensorimotor stage
- preoperational stge
- concrete operations stage
- formal operations stage
describe the sensorimotor stage
- birth to 2 years
- looking, sucking, touching
- develop object permanence
object permanence
something continues to exist even when it cannot be seen (i.e. peek-a-boo)
preoperational stage
- age 2 to 7
- egocentric
- animistic thinking
- cannot grasp the concept of conservation
egocentric
only use own frame of reference
animistic thinking
attribute life to objects (i.e leaving a doll at school and thinking its scared)
conservation
understanding that physical properties do not change when appearance changes (i.e. having two glasses of the same with the same amount of water. ask child if they have the same amount of water. take a glass of different size, but pour the same amount of water in it. ask them if both glasses still have the same amount of water)
concrete operations stage
- age 7 to 11
- can understand conservation
- can understand transitivity
transitivity
necessary relations among elements in a series (if A>B and B>C, then A>C)
formal operations stage
- age 11 to adulthood
- abstract reasoning
- thinking about future possibilities
what did Vygotsky call kids?
Little apprentices
What is Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development?
aka, Vygotsky’s theory of sociocultural influences, Cognitive development results from guidance
what is the Zone of proximal development ?
- level at which a child can almost, but not fully, perform a task independently
- Improvement results from assistance
scaffolding
teacher adjusts amount of support to child’s level of development (i.e. teaching a child how to swim. first float, then add arms … )
what is attachment in social development?
enduring, emotional bond between infant and another person
What were the results of Harlow’s studies of infant attachment?
Harlow found that soft contact is important. Rhesus baby monkeys preferred cloth mothers over wire mothers, even though the wire mothers had food.
How did Mary Ainsworth study attachment?
With the strange situation. (Secure base) Had a mother, her child, and stranger in the room. The stranger interacted with the baby more and more. The mother left temporarily. Observe baby’s actions. securely attached babies would cry until comforted by mothers
explain secure attachment style
when mom leaves, baby cries
explain Insecure-anxious/ambivalent style
not sure whether or not they could trust mom
explain insecure-avoidant style
doesn’t care if mom leaves comes back
What causes/affects attachment styles?
- Attachment security affects emotional, social, and cognitive competence
- size of vocabulary
- interpersonal interaction
- emotions
What was Langlois et al.’s (1995) study?
- infants were rated for attractiveness
- mothers were observed interacting with infants and behavior rated
- results: attractiveness -> affection/attention
What are Baumrind’s 2 dimensions of parenting?
uninvolved
- low warmth, low control
- least effective, most detrimental
authoritative
- high warmth, high control
- not overly demanding or hostile
- child-centered
What are the resulting 4 parenting styles and How do parenting styles predict later outcomes?
- Authoritarian-lower grades, lower self esteem
- Authoritative-most optimal, higher grades, cooperative
- Permissive- easily fustrated, low self-control
- Uninvolved - low self esteem, emotionally detached
BUT … VARIES BY CULTURE
- How sensitive are newborns’ senses (e.g., taste)?
Taste (begins to develop in womb, innate and learned), Smell (keen sense of smell, breastfed babies particularly sensitive to mother’s body odors) and Hearing (auditory discrimination – develops rapidly after birth, particularly sensitive to language sounds)
- What is the visual cliff?
More experienced crawlers have better depth perception
