Lifespan Development

Question 1

Piagets Constructivism (stages of development)

Answer 1

Sensorimotor (0-2)- Object Permanence
Pre-operational (2-7)- Precausal Reasoning, semiotic/symbolic function
Concrete Operational (7-11)- Conservation and Horizontal Decalage
Formal Operational (11-adult)- adolescent egocentrism

Question 2

Semiotic Function

Answer 2

the ability to make representations of symbols, objects, or words to stand for something, which occurs in the preoperational stage and extends from ages 2 to 7.

Question 3

Purpose of play according to Erikson

Answer 3

master social and emotional experiences- Erikson (1977) describes play as a function of the ego that allows children to master and control social and emotional experiences. Through play, children learn about themselves and their social environments.

Question 4

Contact comfort

Answer 4

Harlow and Harlow (1969) found that contact (tactile) comfort was more important than feeding for the development of attachment. Their research was subsequently applied to attachment in human infants.

Question 5

Piagets Moral Development Model

Answer 5

0-6- Premolar stage: exhibit little if any concern for rules
7-10- Heteronomous (morality of constraint): rules are set by authority figures and cannot be amended
11+- Autonomous (morality of cooperation): rules as arbitrary and as being alterable when the people who are governed by them agree to change them, judgement based on intention.

Question 6

Maternal malnutrition has the most severe consequences for the developing brain of the fetus when it occurs:

Answer 6

during the later stages of prenatal development. The brain grows most rapidly during the final trimester, and prenatal malnutrition during this period is associated with a low brain weight and abnormalities in the organization of the brain’s neurons.

Question 7

Habituation-dishabituation research has demonstrated that infants begin to exhibit recognition memory for a visual stimulus for up to 24 hours following presentation of the stimulus at about ____ months of age.

Answer 7

3 months- Researchers use several techniques to study memory in infants including habituation-dishabituation. By three months of age, infants habituate to visual stimuli: they show a decreased response to the second presentation of a stimulus for periods up to 24 hours. This is interpreted as recognition of the stimulus.

Question 8

Marcia’s Identity Statuses (1987)

Answer 8

Identity Diffusion: not yet experienced an identity crisis or explored alternatives and are not committed to an identity.
* Identity Foreclosure: not experienced a crisis but have adopted an identity (occupation, ideology, etc.) that has been imposed by the same-sex parent or other person.
* Identity Moratorium: experiences an identity crisis and actively explores alternative identities. It is during this period that teens exhibit a high degree of confusion, discontent, and rebelliousness.
* Identity Achievement: Adolescents who have resolved the identity crisis by evaluating alternatives and committing to an identity are “identity achieved.”

Question 9

To reduce aggressive behavior in a highly aggressive preschooler, the best approach is to:

Answer 9

help the child recognize the consequences of his/her behavior and identify alternative behaviors

Question 10

Patterns of criticism by teachers

Answer 10

Patterns of criticism and praise by teachers are usually gender-related: Boys are praised more by teachers for their ability, while girls are more likely to receive praise for their effort.

Question 11

Erikson’s Stages

Answer 11

• Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust (infancy): A positive relationship with one’s primary caregiver during infancy results in a sense of trust and optimism.
• Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (toddlerhood): A sense of self (autonomy) develops out of positive interactions with one’s parents or other caregivers.
• Initiative vs. Guilt (early childhood): Favorable relationships with family members result in an ability to set goals and devise and carry out plans without infringing on the rights of others.
• Industry vs. Inferiority (school age): The most important influences at this stage are people in the neighborhood and the school. To avoid feelings of inferiority, the school-age child must master certain social and academic skills.
• Identity vs. Role Confusion (adolescence): Peers are the dominant social influence in adolescence. A positive outcome is reflected in a sense of personal identity and a direction for the future.
• Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood): The main task during early adulthood is the establishment of intimate bonds of love and friendship. If such bonds are not achieved, self-absorption and isolation result.
• Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood): The people one lives and works with are most important during this stage. A generative person exhibits commitment to the well-being of future generations.
• Ego Integrity vs. Despair (maturation/old age): In this final stage, social influence broadens to include all of “humankind.” The development of wisdom (an informed, detached concern with life in the face of death) and a sense of integrity require coming to terms with one’s limitations and mortality

Question 12

Kohlberg’s stages of Moral Development

Answer 12

1. Preconventional- (0-10)
   Punishment and Obedience Orientation
   Instrumental Hedonism
2. Conventional- (11-late adolescence)
   Good boy/girl
   Law and order
3. Postconventional (adulthood)
   Morality of Contract, Individual Rights, and Democratically Accepted Laws
   Morality of Individual Principles of Conscience:

Question 13

Piaget Circular reactions

Answer 13

Primary (1-4 months) simple motor movements centered around baby’s own body
Secondary (4-8 months) involve other people or objects
Tertiary (12-18 months) involve varying a usual or original use of an object to see what happens

Question 14

Overextension

Answer 14

occurs when a child uses a word to describe a wider range of objects or events than is appropriate.

Question 15

Overgeneralization

Answer 15

occurs when the child extends grammatical rules to words that are an exception to the rule (e.g., adds “ed” to “go” to form the past tense).

Question 16

According to Erikson, the successful outcome of the final stage of psychosocial development is:

Answer 16

Wisdom and integrity are the outcomes of successful resolution of the psychosocial crises of the final ego integrity vs. despair stage in Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development.

Question 17

Montessori Method

Answer 17

The Montessori Method was originally developed for children with an intellectual disability. Maria Montessori believed that learning is accomplished primarily through the senses and, therefore, advocated incorporating instructional techniques that make use of multiple sensory modalities

Question 18

Studies comparing children who are actively rejected or neglected by their peers have found that:

Answer 18

Children who are actively rejected by peers exhibit a number of negative social behaviors and overall have worse social outcomes.

Question 19

Social referencing

Answer 19

refers to relying on the emotional response of another person (e.g., caregiver) to decide how to respond in an ambiguous situation.

Question 20

To study social referencing, a developmental psychologist would most likely use:

Answer 20

the visual cliff situation, in which a baby’s willingness to cross the visual cliff depends on his/her mother’s facial expression.

Question 21

Research investigating the deficits in recent long-term memory associated with increasing age indicates that these deficits are most often attributable to:

Answer 21

Reduced use of effective encoding strategies is the primary cause of age-related deficits in recent long-term memory. Older adults benefit from training in the use of memory strategies, which improve encoding

Question 22

The most common symptoms of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) are:

Answer 22

intellectual disabilities and hearing and visual impairments

Question 23

signs of HIV infection in childhood.

Answer 23

immunologic abnormalities and delayed physical and cognitive development

Question 24

symptoms associated with prenatal malnutrition

Answer 24

hyperactivity, irritability, and irregular sleep and feeding habits

Question 25

symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Answer 25

retarded physical growth, facial deformities, and hyperactivity

Question 26

Niche-picking

Answer 26

Tendency of children to seek experiences that are consistent with their genetic predispositions (Scarr 1992)

Question 27

passive genotype-environment correlation

Answer 27

parents provide their child with experiences that encourage the development of the child’s genetic predispositions

Question 28

evocative genotype-environment correlation

Answer 28

child’s genetic predispositions evoke certain reactions from parents and others

Question 29

Canalization

Answer 29

child’s genotype to restrict his or her phenotype to a small number of possible outcomes

Question 30

Research on headstart programs

Answer 30

The research findings of short- and long-term effects of Head Start and similar programs differ. While children in the early research on Head Start showed positive effects on IQ, in subsequent longitudinal studies, IQ gains usually declined over time. Beneficial effects on academic achievement and success, however, persist into adolescence and early adulthood.

Question 31

Syntactic bootstrapping

Answer 31

In the context of language acquisition, bootstrapping refers to mechanisms that children use to facilitate language acquisition. Syntactic bootstrapping refers to a child’s use of syntactical knowledge to learn the meaning of new words.

Question 32

The brain is only about 25% of its adult weight at birth. By about _______ months of age, it has reached 80% of its adult weight.

Answer 32

By two years of age, the brain has achieved about 80% of its adult weight. The growth of the brain during the first two years of life is due less to the addition of new neurons than to an increase in their size and interconnections and the formation of glial cells.