Lecture Notes 1-5 Flashcards
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Field of study that deals with behavior, thoughts, and emotions of individuals as they go through various parts of the lifespan
What is Developmental Psychology?
Scientific studies of observable events that are measured and evaluated objectively
Empirical research
A process or record of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time.
What are case studies?
3 facts about case studies:
1.Observable in nature
2.Not a test or an experiment
3.Documented cases of individuals
___________ is heavily influenced by Biology
Developmental Psychology
A specialized nerve cell that transmits information throughout the nervous system known as the building block of the brain.
Neuron
How much does the brain weight
3-3.5 lbs
How many neurons are in the brain ?
100 billion
What are the 4 main parts of the neuron ?
1.Dendrites
2.Cell Body
3.Axon
4.Synapse/ Presynaptic terminals
A chemical message that acts on the membrane of the dendrites of the receiving neuron.
What are neurotransmitters?
The brain is composed of two halves. What are they?
The right and left hemisphere.
What are the 4 sections of cerebral cortex?
- Frontal Lobe
2.Parietal Lobe
3.Occipital Lobe
4.Temporal Lobe
thin gray moist material densely packed with cell bodies of neurons. This is where human thought, sensation, language processes, and other cognitive functions take place.
Cerebral Cortex
What is the first layer of the hemispheres ?
Cerebral Cortex
Frontal Lobe is responsible for :
- Impulse control
- Judgment
- Problem solving
- Controlling and executing behavior
- Complex organization.
Temporal Lobe is responsible for
1.Auditory signals such as hearing
2. High level auditory processing such as speech
3. Face recognition
___________Integrates sensory information from various senses, is responsible for manipulation of objects and visual-spatial processing
Parietal Lobes
Occipital Lobe is involved in
- Visual processing
- Receives information originating from the retina.
- Processes information and passes it to relevant areas
Cell body contains
Nucleus and organelles
_______ receive impulses as signals
Dendrites
________ carries impulses as signals.
Axons
What does the axon terminal do?
converts electrical impulses to chemical signals
A genetic or biologically determined process of growth that unfolds over a period of time.
What is maturations?
Changes that take place within individuals as we progress from birth to emerging adulthood (18 years).
Child development
Why would it be important to study child development?
1.Protect and advance the well being of children
2.Research findings lead to helpful advice in our interaction with children
3.Understanding the influence of poverty
4.Understand how violent programs impact children
5.Better determine if child is having a developmental difficulty and able to treat that child.
6.Better understand the process of maturation
7. Creating effective day care programs
- The regular age related changes in children’s cognition over time.
- Individual differences each child experiences in such cognition
- This is also called developmental function.
Cognitive Development
the process or faculties by which knowledge is acquired and manipulated
Cognition
What are some cognition functions?
1.Acquisition and manipulation of knowledge
2. Conscious, effortful processes such as those involved in making decisions
3.Automatic processes such as those involved in recognizing a familiar face, word, or object
4.Mental activity of all types such as acquiring, understanding, and modifying information
What are some automatic processes?
1.Reading and understanding words in your native language.
2.Recognizing the faces of familiar people.
3.Performing routine motor tasks like walking or tying shoelaces.
A type of thinking or cognition that does not involve any effort or deliberation
Automatic processing
Developing a plan for solving a problem —Executing that plan—understanding that plan—make changes if needed are all _____________ functions
Cognitive
Changes in structure and function over time
Development
- Because it has it roots in biology
- Consistent physical and mental changes that happen to most humans in all cultures.
- Development is progressive Development is relatively …
Predictable
Part of the person that develops.
Structure
What are some examples of structure?
Muscle , nervous tissue and mental knowledge
When we discuss ________ we must also discuss ___________
1.Structure
2.Function
What is functions as it relates to structure ?
Function is the action related to a structure
Movement of a muscle, firing of a nerve or activation of mental representation are examples of __________
Function
As a child develops what might be some risks to healthy child development?
- Serious Illness
2.Living with a psychotic parent
3.Family Income
4.Substance Abuse
5.Abuse
6.Child’s experience at school
Various issues and problems that may show up later in development.
What are sleeper effects?
The sleeper effect was discovered by _________ , ____________ and ___________ in 1949
1.Carl Hovland,
2.Arthur Lumsdaine
3. Fred Sheffield
Thomas Hobbes followed the concept of ___________.
Materialism
The concept that all human behavior can be understood by physical processes.
What is materialism?
Thomas Hobbes published a book called _________________.
Leviathan
Specific parts of the brain serve specific functions in the production of mental experience and behavior
What is localization of function in the brain?
Empiricism says that human knowledge and thought derive ultimately from
sensory experience
(vision, hearing, touch, and so forth)
- We are like machines that learn and our senses provide the input .
- Our senses allow us to acquire knowledge about the world around us
Empiricism
- If a person experiences two or more environmental events (stimuli or sensations) at the same time or one right after the other (contiguously)
- these 2 or more events will become associated (bound together) in the person’s mind.
Law of Association by Continuity
- It says that knowledge and rules are native to the human mind, inborn and do not have to be acquired through experience
- A “Priori Knowledge” it is called. It is a term that describe it
- It is used to describe knowledge that is built into the human brain and does not have to be learned
What is nativism?
In terms of _________________- the idea translate into behavior and that living things have acquired tendencies to behave in ways that promote their survival and reproduction
Evolutionary Psychology
1.Tries to explain mental experiences and behavior
2. Identify the causes for behavior
Scope of Psychology
What are some questions that psychologist must answer?
- What causes us to do what we do?
- What causes us to feel what we feel ?
- What causes us to perceive what we perceive ?
- What causes us to believe what we believe ?
Neural level
Brain as the cause
Give an example of neural level
A traumatic brain injury as the reason why someone loses their memory
Genetic level
Genes as the cause
Give an example of genetic level
A genetic difference that causes a change in behavior that is different than the norm
Refers to the level or type of causal process that is studied.
Define levels of analysis