Introduction Flashcards
what is developmental psychology?
From conception to death
- Life-span developmental
Developmental psychology = discipline that aims to understand changes that happen over time in cog, emotional and behav functioning of indv due to genetic and env influences
what do developmental psychologists aim to examine?
human behav across lifespan and adopt range of perspectives
adult expectations about having children
Cultures, subcultures, indv fam heritage
Need for economic help
Primary ties and affection
Stim and fun
Expression of self
Adult status/social identity
developmental framework
Biology (e.g. genes, brain, neuropsych functioning)
Indv context (e.g. personality chars, thoughts, emotions, temperament)
Fam (e.g. parent-child r’ships, siblings) – one of most imp factors
Society (e.g. per r’ships, friendship v rejection)
Culture (e.g. poverty, ethnicity, immigration)
developmental framework - biology
Tissue maturation in the foetal brain
Maturation alters development of the child – at different ages children can think in different ways
developmental framework - the indv context - temperament
surgency
neg affectivity
effortful control
surgency
Activity level
Approach towards others, pos anticipation
High intensity pleasure
Impulsivity
Lack of shyness
Smiling and laughter
neg affectivity
Anger/frustration
Discomfort in reaction to sensory stim (e.g. bothered by light)
Slow rate of recovery from distress/arousal , difficult to soothe
Fearfulness, unease, worry, nervousness
Sadness in response to disappointment
effortful control
Ability to maintain attentional focus
Able to inhibit or supress responses
Pleasure of enjoyment in response to low-intensity stim (e.g. enjoys sitting on parent’s lap)
Perceptual sensitivity to low-intensity stim (e.g. notices even little specks of dirt on objects)
developmental framework - the indv context - cog and emotional development
Cog development (e.g. Piaget, Vygotsky, theory of mind)
Moral development (e.g. Kohlberg)
Emotional development (e.g. attachment)
Self-reg (e.g. emotion reg, cog control)
developmental framework - family
Baumrind’s typology of parenting styles
- Warmth – how affectionate parent is
- Level of expectations, maturity demands – e.g. expect children to do well at school
- Clarity and consistency of rules, control
- Communication between parent and child
styles of parenting
authoritative
permissive
authoritarian
neglecting
authoritative
most optimal style of parenting
High in all 4
permissive
Low in maturity demands, control and communication but high in affection
Found to be linked to anx and depression
authoritarian
Low in affection and communication and high in the rest
neglecting
Links with antisocial behaviour, early sexual activity, less achievement at school
Monitoring is very critical
developmental framework - society
Can have pos and neg experiences
How friendships develop
stages of friendship
reward-cost stage (7-9) years
Normative stage (10-11 years)
Empathetic stage (12-13 years)
types of people
popular
controversial
neglected
rejected
popular
High on ‘liked most’
Low on ‘liked least’
controversial
High on ‘liked most’
High on ‘liked least’