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Developmental Psychology > Introduction > Flashcards

Introduction Flashcards

1
Q

Definition of development

A

Pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span (includes both growth and decline)

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2
Q

Importance of studying life span development

A
  1. Prepares us to take responsibility for children

2. Gives us insight about our own lives

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3
Q

Characteristics of life span perspective - development is:

A
  1. Multidisciplinary
  2. Plastic
  3. Multidimensional
  4. Lifelong
  5. Multidirectional
  6. Contextual
  7. Process involving growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss
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4
Q

3 types of influences context exert

A
  1. Normative game-graded influences
  2. Normative history-graded influences
  3. Non-normative/highly individualized life events
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5
Q

Normative age-graded influences (give examples)

A

Biological, sociocultural, or environmental events that occur at a specific age group

Examples: puberty, beginning school, retirement

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6
Q

Normative history-graded influences (give examples)

A

Historical events that occurred during a specific generation

Examples: 9/11, JFK assassination, COVID-19

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7
Q

Non-normative/highly individualized life events (give examples)

A

Unusual circumstances that have a major impact on a person’s life

Examples: loss of a parent at a young age or winning the lottery

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8
Q

Contemporary concerns in life span development

A
  1. Health and well-being
  2. Parenting and education
  3. Sociocultural contexts and diversity
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9
Q

Definition of culture

A

Behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation

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10
Q

Definition of cross-cultural studies

A

Comparison of one culture with one or more other cultures

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11
Q

Definition off ethnicity

A

Based on cultural heritage, nationality characteristics, race, religion, and language

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12
Q

Definition of socioeconomic status

A

Grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economic characteristics

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13
Q

Definition of gender

A

Characteristics of people as male or female

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14
Q

Definition of social policy

A

National government’s course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens

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15
Q

Nature of development occurs through what 3 processes

A
  1. Biological
  2. Cognitive
  3. Socioemotional
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16
Q

What are biological processes

A

Changes in an individual’s physical nature

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17
Q

What are cognitive processes

A

Changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence, and language

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18
Q

What is socioemotional processes

A

Changes in an individual’s relationships with other people, emotions, and personality

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19
Q

What are the 8 periods of development

A
  1. Prenatal
  2. Infancy
  3. Early childhood
  4. Middle/late childhood
  5. Adolescence
  6. Early adulthood
  7. Middle adulthood
  8. Late adulthood
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20
Q

What are the 4 concepts of age

A
  1. Chronological age
  2. Biological age
  3. Psychological age
  4. social age
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21
Q

What is biological age

A

Person’s age in terms of biological health

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22
Q

What is psychological age

A

Individual’s adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age

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23
Q

What is social age

A

Connectedness with others and social roles individuals adopt

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24
Q

What are the 3 development patterns of aging

A
  1. Normal aging
  2. Pathological aging
  3. Successful aging
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25
What is normal aging
Psychological functions peak in early middle age and stay stable until late 50’s
26
What is pathological aging
Greater than average decline through adult years
27
What is successful aging
Physician, psychological, and socioemotional development is maintained longer
28
Nature v. Nurture
Concerns extent to which development is influenced by nature (biological inheritance) and by nurture (environmental experiences)
29
Stability v. Change
Degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change
30
Continuity v. Discontinuity
Degree to which development involves either gradual change or distinct stages of change
31
Steps of scientific method
1. Determine problem to be studied 2. Collect data 3. Analyze data 4. Draw conclusions
32
Definition of theory
Interrelated set of ideas that help explain phenomena and facilitate predictions
33
Definition hypotheses
Specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy
34
Psychoanalytic theories emphasize
1. Developmental framework 2. Family relationships (ie: heavily colored by emotion) 3. Unconscious aspects of the mind
35
What 2 theorists are attributed to psychoanalytic theory
1. Freud | 2. Erickson
36
Freud’s 5 stages of psychosexual development
1. Oral stage/fixation (birth to 1.5 y/o) 2. Anal stage/fixation (1.5 to 3 yo) 3. Phallic stage/fixation (3 to 6 y/o) 4. Latency stage (6 to puberty) 5. Gentian stage/fixation (puberty onward)
37
Erickson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development
1. Trust v. Mistrust - learns to trust world (w/in 1st year of life) 2. Autonomy v. Shame/doubt - discover in control of own actions (1 to 3 y/o) 3. Initiative v. Guilt - social world begins to expand leading to more responsibility (preschool years) 4. Industry v. Inferiority - focus on obtaining knowledge (during elementary school years) 5. ID v. ID confusion - focus on exploring one self (adolescent years) 6. Intimacy v. Isolation - focus on forming intimate relationships (early adulthood) 7. Generativity v. Stagnation - focus on helping younger generation (middle adulthood) 8. Integrity v. Despair - evaluating past (late adulthood)
38
3 important cognitive theories that focus on development of complex thinking skills
1. Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory 2. Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory 3. Information processing theory
39
4 stages of Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory and what do they focus on
1. Sensorimotor stage - uses sensory experiences w/ physical and motor actions (birth to 2 y/o) 2. Pre-operational stage - uses words, images, drawings (2 to 7 y/o) 3. Concrete operational stage - uses logical thinking about concrete event, classify objects into different sets (7 to 11 y/o) 4. Formal operational stage - uses logical and abstract thinking (starts at 11 to 15 and persists to adulthood) The 4 stages focus on organization and adaption to understand the world
40
What is a key point of Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory
It is how the child thinks, not how much they know that determines the stage of cognitive development they are in
41
Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory
Reasoned that children actively construct their knowledge but also emphasize how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development
42
Information processing theory
emphasizes individuals manipulate, monitor, and strategize about info thus gradually increasing capacity for processing info
43
Who is a theorist associated with information processing theory? What was the method he used for research?
Robert Siegler Microgenetic method
44
Define microgenetic method
Observes what a child knows and how they acquired the info
45
What are behavior and social cognitive theories? What are the 2 known theories ?
Describes development in terms of behaviors learned through interactions with our surroundings 1. Skinner’s operant conditioning 2. Bandura’s social cognitive theory
46
Skinner’s operant conditioning
Development consists of patterned behavioral changes that are brought on by rewards and punishments
47
Bandura’s social cognitive theory
Holds that behavior, environment, and person/cognitive factors are the key to development thus allowing us to sometimes adopt other’s behaviors
48
What is Ethology? What does the theory stress that behavior is?
Study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitat 1. Strongly influenced by biology 2. Tied to evolution 3. Characterized by critical/sensitive periods
49
Who is a known researcher in ethology? What did he find from his research?
Lorenz Studied Greylag geese and found attachment to a “caregiver” occurs early in birth
50
Who besides Lorenz did research in ethology? What did he find?
John Bowlby He found attachment to a caregiver over the 1st year of life has important consequences throughout the life span
51
What is ecological theory? Who is a well known theorist?
Emphasizes behavior is strongly influenced by environmental factors Bronfenbrenner
52
What is imprinting? What is critical/sensitive point?
Rapid innate learning that involves attachment to the first moving object seen When imprinting needs to take place very early in life of an animal so optimal social relationships develop
53
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
Development reflects the influence of several environmental systems Affected most by micro and macro dimensions Theory altered at one point adding minor biologic influence
54
What are the 5 environmental systems focused on by Brofenbrenner? Give examples for each.
1. Microsystem - setting where person lives (ie: family, peers, school) 2. Macrosystem - culture in which individual lives 3. Exosystem - link b/w social setting where individual doesn’t have an active role and the individual’s immediate setting (ie: child’s experience at home may be influenced by mom having to travel more for work) 4. Mesosystem - relations b/w Microsystems (ie: b/w family and school experience, if parents reject child they might not do well at school) 5. Chronosystem - patterning of environmental events and transitions over life course as well as sociobiological circumstances (ie: divorce, more opportunity for women to have a career)
55
Eclectic theoretical orientation
Does not follow any one theoretical approach, instead takes the best features from each theory
56
Methods for collecting data
1. Observation 2. Lab - controlled setting where complex factors can be removed 3. Naturalistic observation - observing behavior in the real world 4. survey/interview 5. Standardized tests 6. Case study - in depth look at single individual 7. Physiological measures - use fMRI, HR, hormonal blood levels
57
What are the 3 research design types? Describe them.
1. Descriptive - used to observe and record 2. Correlational - describe the strength of the relationship b/w 2 or more events/characteristics (uses correlation coefficient for determination of degree of association b/w 2 variables) 3. Experimental - one or more of the factors are manipulated while all other factors are held constant to determine causality
58
Dependent v. Independent variable
Dependent = factor that can change in an experiment due to changes to independent variable Independent = manipulated experimental factor
59
Experimental group v. Control group
Experimental = group whose experience is manipulated Control = comparison group that is as like as possible to experimental group except for manipulated independent factor
60
What 2 approaches can be used for time span research? Describe them.
1. Longitudinal - same individuals are studied over a period of time (usually years) 2. Cross-sectional - individuals of different ages are compared at one time
61
What are cohort effects? What is there importance?
Due to a person’s time of birth, era, or generation but not actual age Can impact dependent measures in a study concerned w/ age; especially adult intelligence
62
APA ethic guidelines address
1. Informed consent 2. Confidentiality 3. Debriefing 4. Deception

Developmental Psychology (4 decks)

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