Lifespan Development Flashcards
Based on empirical research, the best conclusion that can be drawn about the effects of maternal depression on infant development is that children of depressed mothers:
Are at a higher risk for psychopathology and may show symptoms of disturbance as early as three months of age
How is colorblindness passed to children?
On the X chromosome, passed by the mother.
The most prominent risk factor for drug use in adolescence is:
Prior use of gateway drugs
Based on the results of the longitudinal study of married women by Gorchoff and Hebson, the transition to “empty nest” is usually accompanied by:
An increase in marital satisfaction that’s related to quality (but not quantity) of time spent with their partners.
Research investigating the effectiveness of training first-graders in the use of rehearsal strategies has found that:
These children learn to apply rehearsal to the current task, but do not generalize the knowledge
According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, emergence of the ability to create mental representations of reality occurs between the ages of:
18 to 24 months
As described by Piaget, the ability of a child to see someone else perform a behavior and subsequently perform that behaviors themselves depends on the development of which ability?
Mental Representation
As described by _____, internalization involved internal reconstruction of an external operation.
Vygotsky
What is a tertiary circular reaction in an infant?
When an infant deliberately varies an action to discover or observe the consequences of that action.
Parents of aggressive children rely on power assertion to enforce their standards. In addition, the discipline of these parents
Is inconsistent and often not clearly linked to the child’s behavior
A child in the preoperational stage of development
Treats objects as symbols of things (e.g., dolls as babies)
When using the Adult Attachment Interview, a mother will be classified as ____ if she describes her parents in positive terms, but either reports negative interactions with her parents or can’t remember any
Dismissing
Soon after birth, infants express the following through facial expressions
Distress, interest, and disgust
How do female and male skeletal growth compare in childhood?
Girls are ahead of boys in terms of skeletal age from birth, which is why girls reach full height before boys.
Children’s understanding of race as a physical, social, and biological category is first evident by what age?
10
In the most famous moral dilemma story presented by Kohlberg, the “_____ dilemma,” participants were presented with a choice between the value of obeying the law and the value of human life.
Heinz
In Ainsworth’s “strange situation,” a one year old shows little distress when her mother leaves the room and ignores her when she returns. Most likely, the mother is
Impatient or overstimulating
Metcalfe and Mischel use a “hot/cool” system to explain which of the following?
Delay of gratification
The NICHD has found a positive relationship between the number of hours a young child spends in daycare and the rates of
Disobedience and other behavioral problems
According to Erikson, successful resolution of the final stage of psychosocial development involves what?
Wisdom
According to Kohlberg’s cognitive theory, gender identity development involves three stages that occur in the following order:
Identity, stability, and constancy
Research by Diana Baumrind found that children and adolescents whose parents were _______ in control and _______ in warmth were most likely to be antisocial, use drugs and alcohol, and achieve low scores on cognitive tests.
Low in control and low in warmth
Language and social interactions are the key element in whose theory of cognitive development?
L. Vygotsky
What is the chromosomal makeup of someone with Klinefelter syndrome?
It occurs in males with two or more X chromosomes and a single Y chromosome
What is Turner Syndrome?
It occurs in females and is caused by the presence of only one X chromosome
Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder
Cognitive deficits and behavioral problems without other prominent symptoms (e.g., physical defects).
The brain is ___% of its adult weight at birth.
25%
What age does the brain begin to shrink due to atrophy of neurons?
30
What impact does rate of maturation have on boys?
Early maturing boys have more self-confidence and greater popularity but are at higher risk for drug and alcohol use and depression. Late maturing boys have less self-confidence and are also more susceptible to depression.
What impact does rate of maturation have on girls?
Early maturing girls are more likely to exhibit emotional instability or depression, have low self-esteem, use drugs and alcohol, and have academic problems. Late-maturing girls may experience dissatisfaction with their physical appearance but tend to outperform peers in academic achievement.
Piaget’s Constructivist Approach
Piaget’s theory proposes that cognitive development involves a process of adaptation, which consists of assimilation and accommodation
What is assimilation according to Piaget?
When a child applies an existing schema to a new object.
What is accommodation according to Piaget?
Occurs when a child modifies an existing schema to fit a new object
Piaget’s Stages of Development
Sensorimotor (birth - 2years)
Preoperational (2-7 years)
Concrete Operational (7-12 years)
Formal Operational (12-adulthood)
Sensorimotor
Birth to 2 years. Cognition consists of sensory perceptions and motor actions. Representational (symbolic) thought, deferred imitation, and object permanence are the primary accomplishments.
Preoperational
2-7 years. The use of symbols increases but cognition is limited by egocentrism, centration, irreversibility, and precausal (transductive) reasoning. Magical thinking and animism are manifestations of precausal reasoning.
Concrete Operational
7-12 years. Conservation and other concrete operations that depend on reversibility and decentration emerge. Metacognitive abilities begin to develop.
Formal Operational
12+. The key accomplishment is abstract and hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Early formal operational thought involves adolescent egocentrism, which is manifested as the “personal fable” and “imaginary audience”
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
All learning occurs on two levels –first between the child and another person and then within the child. Teaching is optimal when it occurs within the learner’s zone of proximal development (ZPD). The assistance provided by another person within the ZPD is referred to as scaffolding. Symbolic play provides children with a ZPD that enables them to practice behaviors in a situation that requires less accuracy than would be required in reality.
At what age do children begin deliberately using memory strategies regularly?
By age 9 or 10, children use memory strategies regularly, beginning with rehearsal and then organization and elaboration.
Prior to what age to children not deliberately use memory strategies?
Age 5-6 years.
Which type of long term memory is most impacted by increasing age?
Recent long-term memory. Remote long-term memory (i.e., memories from the distant past) is less impacted by age.
What is episodic memory?
They usually include details of an event, the context in which the event took place, and emotions associated with the event. It is also the most impacted by increasing age.
What is semantic memory?
The recollection of words and their meanings, concepts, and numbers.
Chomsky’s Nativist Theory
Proposes an innate language acquisition device (LAD) that enables children to understand and speak in rule-governed ways once they have acquired sufficient vocabulary.
What are phonemes?
Smallest units of sound understood as part of language
What are morphemes?
Smallest units of sound that convey meaning
What age do babies begin babbling?
3-6 months
What age do babies begin saying first words?
10-15 months
What age do babies start using holophrases (single words to express an entire idea)?
12 months
What age to babies begin to use telegraphic speech (two word sentences)?
18-24 months
What is underextension?
A word is applied too narrowly to objects or events
What is overextension?
A word is applied to a wider range of objects or events than is appropriate.
What is over-regularization?
It involves extending grammatical rules to words that are exceptions (e.g., “foots”).
Thomas and Chess categorized infants as easy, difficult, or slow to warm up based on which 9 traits?
Activity, rhythmicity , approach/withdrawal, adaptability, intensity of reaction, threshold of responsiveness, mood quality, distractibility, and attention.
According to the Thomas and Chess goodness-of-fit model, what is maladjustment in children due to?
Lack of fit between the child’s basic temperament and their parents’ behavior.
What are Freud’s psychosexual stages of development and at what age do they occur?
Age 0-1: Oral
Age 1-3: Anal
Age 3-6: Phallic
Age 6-12: Latency
Adolescence: Genital
What are Erikson’s psychosocial stages and at what ages dot hey occur?
Age 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
Age 1-3: Autonomy vs. Shame
Age 3-6: Initiative vs. Guilt
Age 6-12: Industry vs. Inferiority
Adolescence: Identity vs. Identity Confusion
Young Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Middle Adulthood: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Late Adulthood: Ego Integrity vs. Despair
What does Bem’s gender schema theory propose?
As the result of social learning and cognitive development, children develop schemas of masculinity and femininity that organize how they think about gender.
What are the four identity statuses proposed by Marcia?
- Identity Diffusion: no crisis, no commitment
- Identity Foreclosure: commitment with no crisis. An adopted an identity that has been suggested by a parent or other influential person.
- Identity Moratorium: crisis, but no commitment.
- Identity Achievement: crisis leads to commitment.
The most consistent evidence of neurogenesis in the adult human brain has been obtained from what?
Hippocampus
Horizontal Decalage
The progressive acquisition of related skills within the same stage of development
Ethological Theory (Bowlby)
Internal working models of relationships develop out of early attachment experiences. The four stages are preattachment (first 2 years), attachment-in-the-making, clearcut attachment, and formation of reciprocal relationships.
Anxious (Insecure)/Ambivalent Attachment
These infants are very upset when mom leaves but are ambivalent when she returns and may hit or push her away. They are not easily comforted by mom or a stranger. Mothers of resistant infants are moody and inconsistent in their caregiving.
Separation Anxiety
At about 6 to 8 months, infants become very distressed when separated from a primary caregiver. Separation anxiety peaks in intensity at 14 to 18 months.
Stranger Anxiety
Beginning at 8 to 10 months, infants have a strong negative reaction to strangers
Social-Cognitive Theory
Aggressive children are likely to (a) believe that it’s easy to perform aggressive acts but difficult to inhibit them, (b) expect aggression to have positive outcomes, and (c) misinterpret the behaviors of others as intentionally hostile.
Piaget’s 3 Stages of Moral Development
- Premoral Stage (<7): Children exhibit little awareness of rules.
- Heteronomous Morality (7-10): Children consider rules to be absolute and unchangeable and believe a violation of rules leads to punishment. When judging an act, its consequences are more important than the actor’s intentions.
- Autonomous Morality (11+): Individuals recognize that rules and laws can be changed by consensus. When making judgments, the actor’s intentions are more important than the act’s consequences.
Kohlberg’s 6 stages of Moral Development
Level 1: Preconventional
Stage 1: Obeys rules to avoid punishment.
Stage 2: Conforms to rules to obtain rewards.
Level 2: Conventional
Stage 3: Conforms to rules to avoid social disapproval.
Stage 4: Obeys laws and rules to maintain social order.
Level 3: Postconventional
Stage 5: Acts in accord with democratically-chosen laws.
Stage 6: Acts in accord with universal ethical principles.
Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development
Gilligan argues that Kohlberg’s theory is more applicable to males than to females. Her “ethics of care” stage model was based on research with females and emphasizes concerns about care, compassion, and responsibility.
Impact of age on outcomes for children after parental divorce
The immediate negative effects are worse for children who are in preschool at the time of the divorce; however, long-term consequences may be worse for children who were in elementary school when their parents divorced.
Outcomes for children after remarriage
Younger adolescents have more trouble adapting to remarriage than do younger children or older adolescents. Girls may have trouble adjusting to a stepfather, while having a stepfather may be beneficial for preadolescent boys.
Three Stages of Identity Development by Stipek
- physical self-recognition is evident by 18 months of age when infants begin to recognize themselves in pictures and mirrors
- self-description and evaluation emerges between 19 and 30 months when children use both neutral and evaluative terms to describe themselves
- children subsequently exhibit emotional responses to wrongdoing and have negative reactions to a caregiver’s disapproval
Gilligan’s Rational Crisis
At about 11 to 12 years of age, girls experience a relational crisis in response to increasing pressure to fit cultural norms and stereotypes about women. For example, adolescent girls often experience a “loss of voice” when they realize women’s opinions are not highly valued
Popular Children
Have good social skills, are sensitive to the needs and wants of others, and regularly engage in prosocial behaviors
Neglected Children
Have fewer-than-average interactions with peers, are relatively quiet and rarely engage in disruptive behaviors
Rejected-Aggressive Children
Hostile, hyperactive, and impulsive and have trouble regulating negative emotions and taking the perspective of others
Rejected-Withdrawn Children
High level of social anxiety, are submissive, have negative expectations about how others will treat them, and are often the victims of bullies
Which peer status is indicative of worse outcomes?
Outcomes tend to be worse for rejected children than for neglected children
A sudden loud noise would elicit which reflex from a one-month old infant?
Moro Refelx
Semiotic Function
Refers to the ability to use a symbol, object, or word to stand for something
According to Erikson, the purpose of play is to:
Master social and emotional experiences
Research investigating the effects of maternal employment has found that, when compared to children of non-working mothers, children of working mothers:
A consistent finding of the research is that children with working mothers have more egalitarian views about gender roles and less traditional stereotypes of male and female activities than do children with mothers who are full-time homemakers.
Maternal malnutrition has the most severe consequences for the developing brain of the fetus when it occurs:
From the sixth month to ninth month of prenatal development
Children begin to intentionally lie (make false statements) at about ___ years of age in Piaget’s theory.
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.
3
Adults aged 70 and older usually report the largest number of memories for events that occurred in the 10-year period prior to being evaluated. The next largest number of memories reported will likely be for events that occurred when they were between the ages of:
10 and 30
Who coined the term “identity crisis”?
Erikson
Presbyopia refers to loss of:
Near vision
The most common symptoms of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) are:
Intellectual disabilities and hearing and visual impairments
Niche-picking is the tendency:
Of children to seek experiences that are consistent with their genetic predispositions
Syntactic bootstrapping is useful for understanding how children
Narrow the possible meanings of new words
Exposure to painful medical procedures during infancy _______________, according to research by Taddio and Katz (2005).
Increased subsequent responsivity to pain for full-term infants but not for preterm infants
A child who has just progressed into Kohlberg’s conventional level of moral development has been caught stealing from other children at school. The child’s parents would be best advised to do which of the following to discourage the child’s stealing?
Help her understand how the children she steals from feel about having their things taken.
Research investigating the outcomes of parenting style for adolescents has found that the strength of the relationship between authoritative parenting and adolescent scholastic achievement is moderated most by what?
Ethnicity
