Lifespan Development

Question 1

Developmental Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of the
change and stability across the
lifespan.

Question 2

Lifespan perspective

Answer 2

• Important changes take place
  at each stage of the lifespan.
• Lifespan perspective
  challenges the developmental
  myth of infantile determinism.

Question 3

Infantile determinism

Answer 3

• The most important stage of
  development is infancy (0 to 2
  years).

Question 4

Studying Development Over the
Life Span.

Answer 4

Two common research methods
used to capture
differences/change across the
lifespan.

1. Cross-sectional research
2. Longitudinal design.

Question 5

Cross-sectional research.

Answer 5

Captures differences across
the lifespan. People of different
ages are compared at a single
point in time
.
Cross-sectional research designs
are vulnerable to potential
cohort effects.

Question 6

Cohort.

Answer 6

A group of people born at
approx. the same time who
share the same historical
experiences (i.e., experienced
the same cultural, economic,
and social conditions).

Question 7

Cohort Effect.

Answer 7

When differences on a variable
(e.g., happiness) between
different age groups is not the
result of age but the result of
differences in historical
experiences. Cohort effects can
be controlled for using a
longitudinal design.

Question 8

Longitudinal design.

Answer 8

• Captures change across the
  lifespan. A single group of
  people are compared at
  multiple points in time.

Question 9

Issues with Longitudinal
designs.

Answer 9

Can take a long time to
complete.
- Risk participant attrition (i.e.,
over time participants leave the
study). This is especially
problematic when the attrition
is selective (i.e., the people who
leave the study are
fundamentally different than
the people who remain). The
selective attrition example we
talked about in class was what if
the people who left our
happiness study were
unhappier than the people who
remained.
- The findings of a longitudinal
design can only be applied to
the specific cohort that was
studied. The findings may not
be relevant to other cohorts.

Question 10

Cognitive Development.

Answer 10

refers to
changes in mental processes
over time.

Question 11

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

Answer 11

Some theories of cognitive development focus on continuous changes. These are
gradual changes in the degree
of a preexisting cognitive skill.
Other theories of cognitive
development focus on
discontinuous change. These
are sudden changes in the types
of cognitive skills a person can
use.
Discontinuous theories of
cognitive development are
considered stage theories (i.e.,
people enter distinct stages of
cognition that are distinguished
by the emergence new
cognitive skills).

Question 12

• Domain-specific changes vs.
  Domain-general changes.

Answer 12

Some
theories of cognitive
development focus on domainspecific changes. This is the idea
that cognitive skills develop
separately from each other at
different times. For example, a
child may experience dramatic
changes in her language skills
but not dramatic changes in her
ability to reason at the same
time. Some theories of cognitive
development focus on domaingeneral changes. This is the idea
that when a person experiences
a developmental shift in
cognition, all their cognitive
skills are changed at approx. the
same time. For example, when
a child experiences a dramatic
change in her language skills,
she also experiences a dramatic
change in her ability to reason.

Question 13

Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980)
Theory of Cognitive
Development.

Answer 13

Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development is stage theory.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development is a domaingeneral theory.

General ideas of Piaget’s
theory of cognitive
development.

Question 14

cognitive
schemas

Answer 14

Cognitive schemas are
preexisting knowledge
structures for how the world
works. Children are motivated
to maintain a balance (i.e., equilibrium) between their schemas and their experiences.
There are two ways that they
can achieve this balance:
assimilation and
accommodation.

Question 15

Assimilation

Answer 15

• A preexisting schema is used
  to make sense of a new
  experience without changing
  the schema. In other words,
  new information is assimilated
  into a preexisting schema.

Question 16

Accommodation.

Answer 16

• A preexisting schema is altered
  to make sense of a new
  experience. In other words, new
  information is accommodated
  by changing a preexisting
  schema.

Question 17

The four major stages of
Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development.

Answer 17

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to
   age 2).
2. Preoperational stage (age 2
   to age 7).
3. Concrete operational (age 7
   to age 11).
4. Formal operational (final
   stage beginning at approx. age
   11).

Question 18

Sensorimotor stage (birth to
age 2).

Answer 18

Children in this stage are
not capable of mental
representations, symbolic
thought, object permanence,
and deferred imitation.
- Object permanence is the
ability to recognize that objects
continue to exist even when
they are no longer visible.
- Deferred imitation is the
ability to imitate an action later.

Question 19

Preoperational stage (age 2
to age 7)

Answer 19

. Children in this stage
are now capable of mental
representations, symbolic
thought, object permanence,
and deferred imitation.
However, they are still limited
by egocentrism, irreversibility, and centration. Because of their
limitations they are not capable
of conservation.
- Egocentrism refers to the
limited ability to take another
person’s point of view.
- Conservation is the awareness
that physical quantities can
remain the same despite
changes in appearance.
- Irreversibility is the inability to
mentally reverse an action.
- Centration is the tendency to
only focus on one aspect of a
problem or only consider one
variable.

Question 20

Concrete operational (age 7
to age 11)

Answer 20

Children in this stage
demonstrate reversibility and
decentration. Children in this
stage can think logically about
concrete objects and events
that they have experienced but
are unable to think logically
about abstract ideas or
hypothetical situations.

Question 21

. Formal operational (final
stage beginning at approx. age
11).

Answer 21

Adolescence can now begin
to think logically about abstract
ideas and hypothetical
situations. In other words,
ideas, and possibilities. They
have now graduated to an adult
mode of thinking. Piaget
believed that cognitive
development continues after
this stage, but it is highlighted
by more continuous growth
rather than discontinuity.
Formal operations:
- Systematic problem solving
(i.e., manipulation of a single
variable at a time to determine
cause and effect).
- Figurative language.

Question 22

Vygotsky: Sociocultural Theory

Answer 22

• Scaffolding

-The Zone of Proximal
Development

• domain-specific

Question 23

The Zone of Proximal
Development

Answer 23

is the point at
which a child is ready to benefit
from scaffolding for a specific
skill. In other words, the point
at which they are ready to learn
a new skill with the help from
someone else.

Question 24

Self-concept

Answer 24

• the totality of the beliefs that
  you have about who you are as
  a person.

Question 25

Subjective self

Answer 25

• A precursor to the
  development of a self-concept.
• The recognition that we are
  distinct from other people and
  other objects.

Question 26

Self-recognition.

Answer 26

• Self-recognition is related to
  the development of a selfconcept.
• The ability to recognize
  oneself.

Question 27

Mirror/Rouge test. (Self Recognition)

Answer 27

A small
mark of rouge is secretly placed
on a child’s face. The child is
then placed in front of a mirror.
If the child touches the red
mark on their own face, this is a demonstration of selfrecognition. The ability to pass
the Mirror/Rouge test typically
emerges around 18 months.

Question 28

Theory of Mind.

Answer 28

• The ability for children to
  recognize that other people can
  hold perspectives that differ
  from their own
• Measured using false-belief
  tasks. False-belief tasks vary,
  but typically test if a child will
  recognize that just because they
  know something (e.g., crayons
  are inside a box with a picture
  of candy on the front of it), this
  does not mean that other
  people will know it (e.g.,
  recognize that other people will
  likely assume that there is
  candy in the box because of the
  picture on the front). Children
  typically do not pass false belief
  tasks until age 4 or 5.

Question 29

prenatal period

Answer 29

refers to
the period beginning at
conception and ending at birth.

Question 30

Conception.

Answer 30

• The joining of a sperm cell
  with an egg cell.
• Sperm cells and egg cells are
  collectively referred to as
  gametes.

Question 31

Zygote.

Answer 31

When a
sperm cell fertilizes an egg cell,
the 23 chromosomes of the
sperm cell pair with the 23
chromosomes of the egg cell.
This pairing creates a single cell
with 23 pairs of chromosomes
(46 chromosomes in total)

Question 32

The Germinal Stage.

Answer 32

• Last from conception to
  implantation (approx. 2 weeks).
• During this stage, the one-cell
  zygote begins to divide. The
  dividing cells of the zygote are
  initially undifferentiated (i.e.,
  stem cells). They have the
  potential to be any type of cell
  in the human body. However,
  shortly after the zygote begins
  dividing, the cells quickly begin
  to differentiate and turn into
  specific types of cells (e.g.,
  some cells differentiate into
  neurons, cells of the nervous
  system).
• By approx. day 5, the zygote
  has become a multicellular ball
  called a blastocyst.
• The blastocyst travels down
  the fallopian tube to the uterus
  and by day 7 begins implanting
  itself in the uterine wall (i.e.,
  implantation).
• The process of implantation
  can take several days, and by
  approx. day 14 the blastocyst is
  fully implanted in the uterus.
• The outer cells of the
  blastocyst combine with the cells of the uterine wall to form
  the placenta. The placenta will
  allow nutrients and oxygen to
  pass from the mother to the
  child.

Question 33

The Embryonic Stage.

Answer 33

• Successful implantation begins
  the embryonic stage of prenatal
  development.
• The embryonic stage lasts until
  approx. the end of the 8th week.
• Organogenesis (i.e., the
  development of the vital
  organs) occurs during the
  embryonic stage. By the end of
  the 8th week, the embryo has all
  its vital organs and body parts
  formed. For example, the
  neural tube develops by day 22
  and will eventually form the
  brain and spinal cord.

Question 34

The Fetal Stage

Answer 34

• the Fetal stage lasts from the
  9
  th week till birth.
• The fetal stage involves the
  growth and refinement of the
  organs that were formed during
  the embryonic stage.
• A fetus goes from weighing 2
  grams at 9 weeks to approx.
  3400 grams at birth.
• Sex organs are formed during
  the fetal stage, and the sex of
  the fetus can be identified by
  week 12.

Question 35

• Neuronal proliferation (fetal stage)

Answer 35

(the production of new neurons).

Question 36

Neuronal migration (fetal stage)

Answer 36

(the new
neurons migrate to the different
areas of the brain).

Question 37

• Synaptogenesis (fetal)

Answer 37

(the migrated
neurons form connections between each other. This allows
for communication between
different brain areas).

Question 38

• Myelination

Answer 38

(myelin sheath is
formed around the axons of
some neurons. This fatty
coating regulates and speeds up
the communication between
neurons).

Question 39

Birth.

Answer 39

• At approx. 38 weeks since
  conception, the fetal brain
  triggers the release of
  hormones (e.g., oxytocin) which
  prepares the fetus and the
  mother for labor

Question 40

Teratogens

Answer 40

• Any external factor that can
  have a negative impact on a
  developing embryo or fetus.
  The impact a teratogen has
  depends on (a) the type of
  teratogen and (b) the point of
  time during pregnancy the
  embryo or fetus was exposed to
  it.

Question 41

Examples of teratogens.

Answer 41

• Diet. Certain nutrients are
  essential to proper
  development. The example we
  discussed in class was Folic Acid
  (a B vitamin). Low amounts of
  folic acid have been linked to
  neural tube defects including
  Spina Bifida (a neural tube
  defect that results in a lower
  portion of the spine not being
  enclosed properly).

Drugs
-Thalidomide, no limbs

Question 42

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD).

Answer 42

This disorder
includes a range of symptoms
that can be experienced when
an embryo or fetus is exposed
to alcohol. Symptoms discussed
in class include impaired
physical growth, smaller than
typical brains, heart problems,
hearing loss, distinct facial features, intellectual
impairments, learning
disabilities, and behavioral
problems.

Question 43

Attention-Deficit/
Hyperactivity Disorder

Answer 43

“a persistent pattern of
inattention and/or
hyperactivity-impulsivity that
interferes with functioning or
development” (DSM-5, 2013,
p. 59).
Neurodevelopmental
Disorder.

Question 44

Characteristics of
inattention.

Answer 44

• Inability to attend to details
  resulting in careless mistakes
  on tasks and schoolwork.
• Difficulty maintaining
  attention during tasks,
  activities, or schoolwork.
• Failure to respond when
  spoken to.
• Unable to complete tasks,
  activities, or schoolwork.
• Often forgetting things.
• Unable to block out external
  stimuli or unrelated thoughts.
• Often losing things that are
  necessary for a task, activity,
  or schoolwork.
• Difficulty with organization
  and time management.
• Avoidance and dislike of
  tasks, activities, and
  schoolwork that require the
  maintenance of mental focus.

Question 45

Characteristics of
Hyperactivity and
Impulsivity

Answer 45

• Always squirming and
  fidgeting.
• Unable to remain seated
  when required to do so.
• Running and climbing in situations where it is not
  appropriate.
• Unable to remain quiet
  during work or play.
• Constant talking.
• Unable to wait turn for
  things.
• Impulsive.
• Interrupting and intruding
  on others.

Question 46

Specifiers of ADHD.

Answer 46

• Combined presentation.
• Predominantly inattentive
  presentation.
• Predominantly
  hyperactivity-impulsivity.

Question 47

Outcomes associated with
ADHD.

Answer 47

• Decreased school
  performance and academic
  attainment in children.
• Social rejection.
• Increased risk of conduct
  disorder in adolescence.
• Decreased work
  performance and
  occupational attainment in
  adults.
• Increased risk of
  unemployment.
• Increased risk of antisocial
  personality disorder in
  adulthood.
• Increased risk of substance
  abuse disorder.
• Increased risk of jail.
• Increased risk of accidental
  injury.
• Increased risk of
  interpersonal conflict
  including family conflict.

Question 48

Conduct Disorder

Answer 48

Defined in the DSM-5 as, “a repetitive and persistent
pattern of behavior in which
the basic rights of others or
major age-appropriate
societal norms or rules are
violated” (DSM-5, p. 460).
- 2% to 10% of children and
adolescence are diagnosed
with Conduct Disorder.

Four symptom categories of
Conduct Disorder.
1. Aggression to people and
animals.
2. Destruction of Property.
3. Deceitfulness or theft.
4. Serious violations of ageappropriate rules.

Question 49

The specifier, With Limited
Prosocial Emotions, can be
added to a diagnosis of
conduct disorder if an
individual displays at least
two of the following
symptoms.

Answer 49

1. Lack of remorse or guilt.
2. Callous lack of empathy.
3. Unconcerned about
   performance.
4. Shallow or deficient affect.
   The above traits have been
   referred to as callous and
   unemotional traits.

Children with Conduct
Disorder, With Limited
Prosocial Emotions.
- More likely to engage in
proactive aggression.
- Risk for psychopathy in
adulthood.
- More likely to engage in
severe antisocial behavior
earlier in life.
- May be less responsive to
punishment and nurturing.
- More resistant to
treatment.
- Perhaps more genetically
influenced.