Lifespan Psychology Flashcards
1
Q
Classifications of development
A
- Physical (including gross and fine motor skills)
- Cognitive (including language)
- Social and emotional
2
Q
Prenatal development
A
Weeks 1-2 germinal stage
Weeks 3-8 Embryonic stage
Weeks 9-40 Foetal stage
3
Q
Week 1-2 Germinal stage
A
From a single cell to hundreds of cells, the more a cell divides, the more it becomes specialised to form different tissues and organs.
4
Q
Week 3-8 Embryonic Stage
A
Basic structures of the embryo start to develop, organs form and begin to function. The neural tube forms along the back of the embryo, developing into the spinal cord and brain.
5
Q
Week 9-40 Foetal Stage
A
The brain and other organs continues to grow and develop. By 24 weeks the foetus can hear and respond to sounds.
6
Q
Infancy
A
- A human is born with all the brain cells it will ever have, and throughout childhood neural connections will develop.
Healthy babies are born with newborn reflexes, which help it to survive until it is capable of more complex behaviours. Reflexes disappear in the first few months (up to a year).
Although their senses are not fully developed, newborns are primed to recognise faces, human voices and their mother’s scent.
7
Q
Motor development
A
- Motor development occurs in an orderly sequence from reflex to more advanced, eg babies first learn to hold their heads up, then to sit with assistance, and then to sit unassisted, followed later by crawling and then walking.
8
Q
Fine and gross motor skills
A
- Fine motor skills focus on the muscles in our fingers, toes, and eyes, and enable coordination of small actions (e.g., grasping a toy, writing with a pencil, and using a spoon). Gross motor skills focus on large muscle groups that control our arms and legs and involve larger movements (e.g., balancing, running, and jumping).
9
Q
Cognitive development
A
- Infants gain new abilities to think, problem solve, and communicate, eg infants shake their head “no” around 6–9 months, and they respond to verbal requests to do things like “wave bye-bye” or “blow a kiss” around 9–12 months. We can expect children to grasp the concept that objects continue to exist even when they are not in sight by around 8 months old.
10
Q
Language development
A
- Human babies are primed to learn language. At birth, babies recognise their mother’s voice and can discriminate between languages. Babies coo with accents!
- Cooing is a one-syllable combination of a consonant and a vowel sound (e.g., coo or ba). After cooing, the baby starts to babble. Babbling begins with repeating a syllable, such as ma-ma, da-da, or ba-ba. When a baby is about 12 months old, we expect them to say their first word for meaning.
11
Q
Social emotional development
A
- Babies form relationships, interact with others, and understand and manage their feelings. In social and emotional development, forming healthy attachments is very important and is the major social milestone of infancy.
