Intro to Dev Psy Flashcards
the branch of psychology that studies the changes–physical, cognitive, and psychosocial–that occur from conception to old age and investigate various factors that affect development throughout the lifespan
developmental psychology
the average number of years that a person born in a
particular year can expect to live.
life expectancy
early adulthood is not the endpoint of development; no age period dominates development
development is lifelong
your body, mind, emotions, and relationships are changing and affecting each other
development is multidimensional
some dimensions or components of a dimension expand and others shrink
development is multi-directional
capacity for change
development is plastic
psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, neuroscientists, and medical researchers all share an interest in unlocking the mysteries of development through the life span
development is multidisciplinary
all development occurs within a context or setting
development is contextual
context exerts 3 types of influences
normative age-graded influences, normative history-graded influences, non-normative life events
are similar for individuals in a particular age group
normative age-graded influences
common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances
normative history-graded influences
unusual occurrences that have a major impact on the lives of individual people
non-normative life events
the mastery of life often involves ______ and _____among three goals of human development:______
conflict, competition; growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
development is a co-construction of _______,_______, _______ factors working together
biology, culture, and the individual
In terms of individual factors, we can go beyond what our _______ and our ______ give us
genetic inheritance, environment
changes in an individual’s physical nature
biological processes
refers to changes in the individuals’ thought, intelligence, and language
cognitive processes
involves changes in the individual’s relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality
socioemotional processes
four “ages” of lifespan development
first age: childhood and adolescence
second: prime adulthood; ages 20-59
third: approximately 60-79
fourth age: approximately 80 and >
3 development patterns of aging
normal aging, pathological aging, successful aging
psychological functioning often peaks in early middle age, remains stable until the late 50s to early 60s, and decline through the early 80s
normal aging
individuals who show greater than average decline as they age through adult years
pathological aging
individuals whose positive physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development is maintained longer
successful aging
An increasing number of studies indicate that in the US ____ are ____ as they age
adults; happier
____% were very happy at age _____ compared with only about _____% in their _________
33%, 88; 24, late teens and early twenties
some studies indicate that the lowest levels of life satisfaction occur in the ________
middle age (45-54 years old)
conceptions of age
chronological age, psychological age, biological age, social age
number of years that have elapsed since birth
chronological age
individual’s adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age
psychological age
person’s age in terms of biological health
biological age
connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adopt
social age
developmental issues
nature and nurture
stability and change
continuity and discontinuity
what does the nature-nurture issue discuss?
the extent to which development is influenced by nature and by nurture
what does the stability-change issue discuss?
the degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change
what does the continuity-discontinuity issue discuss?
the degree to which development involves either gradual cumulative change (continuity) or distinct changes (discontinuity)
what are psychoanalytic theories?
describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion
psychoanalytic theorists emphasize that behavior is merely a _______ and that a true understanding of development requires analyzing the ________of ______
surface characteristic; symbolic meaning; behavior
what composes the psychodynamic theories?
sigmund freud’s psychoanalytic theory and erik erikson’s psychosocial theory
how does the psychosexual stages of development work?
focus of pleasure and sexual impulses shift from the mouth to the anus and eventually to the genitals
relation of the psychosexual stages of development to adult personality
adult personality is determined by the way we resolve conflicts between sources of pleasure at each stage and the demands of reality
the five psychosexual stages of development
oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
primary motivation for human behavior is social in nature and reflects a desire to affiliate with people
erikson’s psychosocial stages of development
what happens at each stage in erikson’s theory
a unique developmental task confronts the individual with a crisis must be resolved
what is crisis according to erikson?
crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point
what are cognitive theories?
emphasize conscious thoughts
what are the three cognitive theories?
jean piaget’s theory of cognitive development
lev vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory
george-miller’s information processing theory
what happenss at piaget’s cognitive development theory?
children go through four stages of cognitive development as they actively construct their understanding of the world
two processes underlie this cognitive construction of the world
organization and adaptation
coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions
sensorimotor stage
represent the world with words and images; increased symbolic thinking
pre-operational stage
the child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets
concrete operational stage
the adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways
formal operational stage
social interaction and culture have far more important roles in cognitive development
vgostsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory
the area of knowledge just beyond the child’s abilities
zone of proximal development
the kind of support adults and teachers present when children are asked to explain their reasoning for learning
scaffolding
individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it
information-processing theory
proposes that children develop their cognitive abilities in an _____ manner
incremental
children become better at solving problems, they develop more conscious awareness of their cognitive activities and use them to strategize
metacognition
behavioral and social cognitive theories
b.f. skinner’s operant conditioning
albert bandura’s social cognitive theory
the consequences of behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence
skinner’s operant conditioning
skinner emphasized that development consists of the _____ of _______changes that are brought about by rewards and punishment
patterns; behavioral
holds that behavior, environment, and cognition are the key factors in development
bandura’s social cognitive theory
people acquire a wide range of _____, _______, ______through ______ others’ behavior and these observations play a central role in lifespan development
behaviors, thoughts, feelings; observing
what composes ethological theories?
john bowlby’s attachment theory
konrad lorenz’s imprinting theory
in bowlby’s theory, _____ to a caregiver over the _____ year of life has important consequences throughout the lifespan
attachment; first
in lorenz’s theory, ______needs to take place at a certain, very early time in the life of the animal, or else it will not take place. This point in time is called a ________
imprinting; critical period
holds that development reflects the influence of several environmental systems
urie bronfenbrenner’s ecological theories
setting in which the individual lives
microsystem
involves relations between microsystems
mesosystem
consists of links between a social setting in which the individual does not have an active role and the individual’s immediate context
exosystem
involves the culture in which individuals live
macrosystem
consists of the patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course
chronosystem
an orientation that does not follow any one theoretical approach but rather selects from each theory whatever is considered the best in it
eclectic theoretical approach theory
