Lifespan

Question 1

What is fetal programming?

Answer 1

environmental events in utero during sensitive windows of development can have long-lasting effects

undernutrition in utero is predictive of increased risk of heart disease and diabetes in adulthood

in utero experiences permanently program organs in ways that predisposes kids for future health problems

Question 2

What are reaction range and canalization according to gottesman?

Answer 2

reaction range for certain traits that determines how people respond to environmental influences

genetic make up determines if reaction range for a certain characteristic is broad or narrow

child born with mild ID, has broader range of positive outcomes from an enriched environment than does a child with severe ID

canalization- tendency for genetic makeup to restrict developmental outcomes regardless of environmental circumstances

Question 3

What is the dynamic systems theory of development?

Answer 3

development is a complex interaction of nature and nurture

simple repetitive behaviors emerge before voluntary complex behaviors

motor milestones dont suddenly emerge with maturation, simple behaviors of kicking reaching etc come togetehr to be crawling when supported by the situation

milestones generally emerge in the same order but the way they emerge depends on characteristics on the kid

Question 4

Describe Scarr’s theory of genotype-environment correlations

Answer 4

person’s genetic makeup affects their characteristics directly and indirectly by influencing the environment the person is exposed to. 3 different genotype-environment correlations:

passive genotype-environment- child inherits genes from parents that predisposes them to have certain characteristics and they are exposed to environments by their parents that support those characteristics (inherits sociability and put in social situations by parents)

evocative genotype-environment- child’s genetic make up evokes certain reactions from other people that reinforces their genetic makeup. (social kid interacts with others in a way that is socially reinforcing)

active genotype-environment- aka “niche-picking” kid actively seeks experiences that fit their genetic predispositions (social kids seek out opportunities for social interaction)

passive and evocative more important at younger ages, active because more important during adolescence

Question 5

Describe Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of development

Answer 5

development is the result of interactions between a person and their environment. there are 5 environmental systems:

microsystem- child’s immediate environment, parents, siblings, friends, school, etc.

mesosystem- interactions between elements of the microsystem

exosystem- elements that affect the immediate environment, such as parents place of work, extended family

macrosystem- social and cultural environment

chronosystem- environmental events that occur over the lifespan- parental divorce, birth of sibling, natural disasters

Question 6

Define sensitive periods and critical periods

Answer 6

critical period- limited period of time when exposure to certain environmental events is necessary for development to occur

sensitive period- longer than a critical period, optimal but not necessary for the environmental event to occur

Question 7

What is epigenetics?

Answer 7

changes in phenotype (expression of genes) caused by changing the function of expression of genes without causing changes in genotype

caused by environmental factors like diet, pollution, child abuse

Question 8

What causes Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes?

Answer 8

both are caused by chromosomal deletion on chromosome 15, on the paternal chromosome 15 for prader-willi and the maternal chromosome 15 for angelman syndrome

Question 9

What causes Rett syndrome (also called RTT)?

Answer 9

mutation of MECP2 gene, it is an x-linked dominant disorder, mostly affects girls

Question 10

What causes phenylketonuria (PKU)?

Answer 10

autosomal recessive trait, to inherit PKU both parents but have the recessive gene

Question 11

What is the age of viability for a fetus?

Answer 11

between 22-26 weeks

Question 12

Which type of down syndrome can be caused by an error during cell division or heredity?

Answer 12

translocation trisomy 21

mosaic trisomy 21 and traditional trisomy 21 are both only caused by error during cell division

Question 13

What race has highest rate of preterm births?

Answer 13

non-hispanic blacks

non-hispanic asians have the lowest rate

Question 14

What are the 3 stages of development of depth perception?

Answer 14

kinetic (motion), binocular (stereoscopic), pictorial (static-monocular) cues (such as size, shadows, linear perspective that can be perceived with only 1 eye)

Question 15

Which sense is the least developed at birth?

Answer 15

sight

Question 16

define holophrastic

Answer 16

using a single word to express an entire thought with meaning of the word depending on context and tone

e.g. “juice” to mean i want juice or i spilled my juice

Question 17

What are the 3 types of theories regarding language development

Answer 17

learning, nativist, and social interactionist

learning- language development is result of imitation and reinforcement

nativist- humans are biologically programmed to acquire language

social interactionist- language acquisition depends on combo of biological and social factors

Question 18

Describe Chomsky’s version of nativist theory and the evidence for this

Answer 18

Chomsky believes we have a language acquisition device which is an inborn linguistic processor that enables children to understand language and speak in rule-governed ways

evidence for this theory is that all languages have the same basic underlying grammatical structure and all children pass through same stages of language acquisition at similar ages

Question 19

What are overextension and under extension? what is overregularization?

Answer 19

overextension-child uses word too broadly, ex. doggie to refer to all furry animals

underextension- child uses a word too narrowly, uses doggie to only refer to family pet

overregularization- misaplies rules for plurals and past tense, ex. foots instead of feet, goed instead of went

Question 20

What are free morphemes and bound morphemes?

Answer 20

free morphemes are the smallest units of language that have meaning (words)

bound morphemes must be combined with at least one other morpheme (ex. pre in pretest)

Question 21

What are the developmental milestones of language?

Answer 21

cooing- 6-8 weeks
babbling- 3-6 months
echolalia- 9 months (repeating sounds and words without knowing meaning)
first words- 10-15 months (began to understand words at 8-9 months)
vocabulary spurt- rapid increase in vocab around 18 months
holophrastic- 12-15 months, using one word to express entire thought
telegraphic speech- 18-24 months, 2 content words, “doggie gone”

Question 22

Describe Piaget’s theory of moral development

Answer 22

-cognitive development is necessary for moral development
-simlar to understanding game rules, used violation of game rules to study this

Three stages:
1. premoral- birth to 5 yo, limited understanding of rules/moral behaviors
2.heteronomous- begins at 5-6 yo, rules are made by authorities and cannot be changed, judge behaviors by their consequences, worse consequences, worse behavior (breaking 9 dishes worse than breaking 3 dishes)
3. autonomous- begins around 10/11 yo, rules are determined by agreement between people, can be changed, judge behaviors based on the person’s intentions

Question 23

name 2 criticisms of Piaget’s theory of moral devlopment

Answer 23

1. underestimates cognitive abilities and moral understanding of kids
2. erroneously states that moral development stops in late childhood/early adolescence

Question 24

Describe Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

Answer 24

studied moral devleopment using moral dilemmas, the Heinz dilemma is the most famous

moral development is related to cognitive development and social perspective-taking

3 levels, with 2 stages each:
1. Preconventional morality:
a. pubishment and obedience= acceptability of behavior depends on if it leads to pubishment or not
b. instrumental hedonism stage- acceptability of behavior depends if it leads to reward or fulfilling a need
2. Conventional morality:
a. good girl/boy stage- acceptability of behavior depends on if it is socially approved
b. law and order orientation- acceptability depends on whether the behavior violates laws
3. postconventional morality:
a. morality of contract- behavior is acceptable if consistent with democratically chosen laws
b. morality of individual principles of conscience- behavior is acceptable if it is consistent with universal general principles (justice, fairncess, etc.)

Question 25

What criticism’s of Kohlberg’s moral development theory

Answer 25

1.underestimates moral reasoning of kids
2.too rigid and linear, doesnt take into account that judgments may vary by motivation and context
3.androcentric- only used male research participants
4. culturally biased, Western cultures focused

Question 26

Describe Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive development

Answer 26

cognitive development relies on a combination of bioloigcal maturation and experience, it is an active process by which kid constructs knowledge through interacting with their environment

-source of motivation for cognitive development is equilibration- innate drive toward a state of equilibrium between one’s current ways of thinking and the environment

when in disequilibrium, child strives to reequalize through adaptation by:
assimilation- attempt to understand a new object or situation by using existing cognitive schemas
accommodation- modifying an existing cognitive schema or creating a new cognitive scheme to fit the new object/situation

Question 27

What are the 4 universal stages of cognitive development according to Piaget’s constructivist theory?

Answer 27

1. sensorimotor stage (birth to ~2)
2. preoperational stage (2-7 yo)
3. concrete operational stage (7-12)
4. formal operational stage (12-adulthood)

Question 28

What are the 6 substages of the sensorimotor stage of piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive development?

Answer 28

1. reflexive reactions (0-1 mo)-innate reflexes
2. primary circular reactions (1-4 mo)- actions involving own body
3. secondary circular reactions (4-8 mo)- actions involving objects, imitation of familiar actions of others
4. Coordination of secondary circular reactions (8-12 mo)- combine secondary actions to achieve goals, imitate novel actions of others
5. tertiary circular reactions (12-18 mo)- experiments to discover consequences
6. Internalization of schemas (18-24 mo)- mental representations of morality, mentally solve problems

Question 29

Define object permanence and representational thought. When are these accomplished?

Answer 29

accomplished through the sensorimotor stage

object permanence- understanding that a person/object still exists even when you can see/hear it (begins to develop in 4th substage)

representational thought- use of mental images to represent people/objects and engage in make believe play and deferred imitation (ability to remember actions of others and imitate at a later time)

Question 30

What is the preoperational stage of Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive development?

Answer 30

2-7 yo
representational thought increases and allows kid to think about past and future, more sophisticated make believe play

preoperational thought is limited by:
transductive reasoning: leads preoperational kids to think that unrelated events that occur at the same time are causally related
egocentrism- limits ability to understand others don’t experience things in the same way

2 outcomes of limitations of this stage are:
magical thinking- belief that just thinking something can make it happen
animism- belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities

children also cant conserve in this stage because of centration (tendency to focus on one aspect of a object/situation) and irreversibility (inability to understand a process can be reversed)

Question 31

What is the concrete operational stage of Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive development?

Answer 31

7-12 yo

kids can use mental activities to think about concrete situations, can now conserve (first can conserve numbers, then length, liquid, etc.)

the sequential emergence of being able to conserve different things is an example of horizontal decalage = gradual development of a skill within a single stage of development

conservation relies on decentration and reversability

Question 32

What is the formal operational stage of Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive development?

Answer 32

12-adulthood

ability to think abstractly, engage in:
hypothetical deductive reasoning-derive and test alternative hypotheses to determine solution to a problem
propositional thought- ability to evaluate the logic of verbal statements without concrete examples

renewed egocentrism- inability to separate one’s own abstract thoughts from those of others, 2 characteristics of this are:
1. imaginary audience belief that always the subject of other peoples attention and concern
2. personal fable- belief that self is special and unique, omnipotent, invulnerable to harm

Question 33

Describe Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development

Answer 33

views cognitive development as being influenced by social and cultural factors

cognitive development occurs first on an interpersonal level and then intrapersonal level

ex. teacher helps kid learn to solve a math problem by providing verbal prompts, then later alone the kid verbalizes the teachers prompts to guide their own behavior.

private speech- kid talking outloud to guide their behaviors, associated with more effective problem solving

by about 7, private speech is replaced by inner silent speech

Question 34

What are the zone of proximal development and scaffolding according to Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development?

Answer 34

zone of proximal development: learning precedes and facilitates cognitive development, and learning is most rapid when within this zone, which is the gap between what a kid can currently do independently and what they can do with assistance

scaffolding- the assitance provided by another person, more effective when uses prompts, questions, feedback

make-believe play gives gives a proximal zone to practice new social roles and behaviors in

Question 35

What are the explanations for childhood amnesia?

Answer 35

most adults cant remember things before 3/4 yo, suggested this because
1. language allows memories to be encoded and young kids have limited language skills
2. sense of self is necessary for developing personal memories and this hasnt been developed yet

6mo infants can remember things up to 24 hours, 20 mo infants can remember info up to 12 months

Question 36

What is the reminiscence bump?

Answer 36

older adults recall events more from the 10 years prior and from the ages of 15-25

suggested this is because when identity formation occurs and many memorable events occur during this time

Question 37

What memory is most effected by age related decline

Answer 37

Recent long-term (secondary) memory, followed by the working memory aspect of short-term memory

storage aspect of short-term memory and remote long-term memory relatively unaffected by age

older adults may be less likely to use effective encoding strategies

episodic memory declines with age, semantic memory has little or no age-related decline

Question 38

What is Freud’s theory os psychosexual development (personality development)?

Answer 38

libido is focused in different area of the body in each stage, excessive gratification/frustration can lead to fixation at that stage and affect outcomes

5 stages beginning at birth:
0-1: oral
1-3: anal
3-6: phallic
6-12: latency
adolescence: genital

Question 39

What is erikson’s theory of psychosocial development

Answer 39

epmhasizes social and cultural influences on personality, views personality as continuing to develop throughout the life, 8 stages with different conflicts and succesful outcomes associated (virtues)

0-1: trust vs. mistrust (hope)
1-3: autonomy vs. shame/doubt (will)
3-6: initative vs. guilt (purpose)
6-12: industry vs. inferiority (competence)
adolescence: identity vs. role confusion (fidelity)
young adulthood: intimacy vs isolation (love)
Middle adulthood: generativity vs. stagnation (care)
late adulthood: integrity vs. despair (wisdom)

Question 40

What are the 4 parenting styles and how do they effect children

Answer 40

combinations of demandingness(control) and responsiveness (warmth)

authoritative: high in both, clear rules but also affectionate and encouraging independence, the best outcomes for kids

authoritarian: high on demandginess, low on responsiveness, many rules, little nurturance, kids become insecure and moody, greater risk to bully others

permissive- low in demand, high in responsiveness, no attempt to control kids, extremely accepting and supportive of all behaviors, kids become self centered, poor impluse control, greater risk of being bullied

uninvolved parents- low on both, uninvovled, unaware of kids needs, more concerned with their own needs, these kids have the worst outcomes, prone to drug use, antisocial behavior

Question 41

Process of development of self-understanding

Answer 41

-2-6 identify self by age and gender first, followed by concrete characteristics, common behaviors and activities

7-11: self description becomes more general, includes personality traits and involves social comparisons

adolescents- describe self in terms of abstract qualities, beliefs nad values, understand characteristics can be different in different settings

Question 42

Kohlberg’s cognitive developmental theory of gender identity

Answer 42

based on assumption that gender identity development depends on cognitive development. occurs in 3 stages:

1. gender identity- emerges between 2-3 yo, child identifies self and others as male or female
2. gender stability- ~4yo, kid realizes gender identity is consistent over time
3. gender constancy- emerges with conservation skills at 6/7, realize gender is stable across time and situations

Question 43

Social Learning Theory of gender identity

Answer 43

focused on role of social factors, acquisition of gendered preferences and behaviors preceds gender related beliefs

Bussey and Bandura’s version of this theory = gender identity development is a combo of observation and imitation of same-gendered adults, differential reinforcement occurs when they only receive praise for gender appropriate behaviors

Question 44

Bem’s gender schema theory

Answer 44

combines cognitive developmental theory and social learning theory

children organize gender-typed experiences and info into gender schemas that they use to interpret info about themselves and others

people differ in how much they rely on gender schemas:
gender-schematic= gender is very salient, more likely to use gender norms to guide their own behaviors and judge others
gender-aschematic= gender less salient for them

this is determined by extent to which exposed to gender norms as a child and reinforced for sticking to these norms

Question 45

Egan and Perry’s multidimensional model of the components of gender identity

Answer 45

5 components: mebership knowledge, gender typicality, gender contentedness, felt pressure, intergroup bias

person’s status on these 5 components relates to their adjustment