Lecture 3 Flashcards
What is Developmental Psychology?
Branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
What is Prenatal Development?
Zygote: fertilized egg; conception to 2 weeks; rapid cell division occurring
Embryo: developing organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization to about 9 weeks
Fetus: developing organism from about 9 weeks after conception to birth
What is Habituation?
Measuring decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation.
Newborns become bored with a repeated stimulus, but renew their attention to a slightly different stimulus
What is Cognitive Development?
Cognitive Abilities – thinking, reasoning, making decisions
Who is Jean Piaget?
Swiss developmental psychologist
Became interested in children’s errors
What are some of Piaget’s Core ideas?
Children are not “little adults”
Stages of development in reasoning, trying to make sense of their experience in new ways
Child learns through interacting with the world
Schema: a flexible concept or framework to make sense of information by organizing and interpreting it
Modifying Schemas
Assimilation: interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas
Accommodation: adapting current schemas to incorporate new information
What is Assimilation?
Assimilation: interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas
What is Accommodation?
Accommodation: adapting current schemas to incorporate new information
Sensorimotor Stage
Aged 0-2 years
World taken in through sensations
Object permanence: awareness that objects continue to exist when out of sight
Piaget: Not developed until after 6 months
Sensorimotor stage: What do more recent work suggest?
In fact, children do have an:
Understanding of physical objects: Look longer at unexpected scene, physical impossibilities
Look longer at unexpected number of toys, objects, etc (understanding of numbers)
Preoperational Stage
Ages 2 to 7
Can use language but not logic
Conservation: the principle that quantity remains the same despite changing shape
Why?
Centration: focusing on one feature of a problem
Irreversibility: inability to envision reversing an action
What is Centration?
Centration: focusing on one feature of a problem
What is Irreversibility?
Irreversibility: inability to envision reversing an action
Theory of Mind
Theory of Mind: ability to infer the mental states of others
Egocentrism: inability to take the perspective of another person
E.g., Band-aid box experiment: 4.5 year olds pass test
What is Egocentrism?
Egocentrism: inability to take the perspective of another person
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism: brain development disorder marked by social deficiencies, repetitive behaviours, and lack of understanding others’ states of mind.
Prevalence of one to two cases per 1,000 people for autism
More common in boys than girls (> 4 : 1)
How can you characterize Asperger’s?
Normal intelligence and language development
But lack of social awareness and deficiencies in communication skills
Reflecting on Piaget’s Theory
Piaget’s stage theory has been influential globally. However, today’s researchers believe:
Development is a continuous process
Children express their mental abilities and operations at earlier ages
Implications for teaching and parenting
Understanding development is key to good caregiving
Social Development
Stranger anxiety: fear of strangers shown by infants; begins around 8 months (cannot assimilate new faces into existing schema)
Attachment: an emotional tie to another person—seek to be close to parent and distressed when separated
Body contact & familiarity
Who came up with the Attachment Theory?
Harlow
What about the Attachment Theory?
Harlow’s monkeys
Conclusion: it’s comfort and security that creates attachment, not just association with feeding.
Ethical concerns
But are all babies attached to their caregivers the same way?
Individual differences in quality of attachment?
i.e., do some babies feel securely attached but others feel insecurely attached?
Mary Ainsworth (1970’s) “strange situation task”
What did Mary Ainsworth come up with?
Strange situation (Mary Ainsworth)
Examines reaction of child to three situations
Exploration
Mom leaves
Mom returns
Attachment styles
Based on history with caregiver, we develop a tendency to relate to others in a certain manner
Can I count on my attachment figure to be available and responsive when I need them?
Types of Primary Attachment Styles (Not in Text)
Can I count on my attachment figure to be available and responsive when I need them?
Secure
Yes: Infants feel comfortable to explore, trust a responsive caregiver
Avoidant
No: Infants appear detached from unresponsive or rejecting caregiver
Anxious-ambivalent
Maybe: Infants cling to inconsistent caregiver and protest extremely when needs aren’t met
