Mid-Tri Flashcards
What is development
Lifespan development: the study of factors that influence consistency and transformation from conception to death. Bi-directional.
List major influences on development
Normative age-graded influences: similar biological influence’s (puberty)
Normative history-graded influences: why generations seem to be similar
Non-normative life events: unique occurrences that impact on the individual
List the major developmental theories
Psychoanalytic theories (freud and Erikson)
Learning (behaviourist) theories (pavlov, skinner and bandura)
Cognitive developmental theories (Piaget, vygotsky)
Ethological and evolutionary theories (Lorenz, bowlby)
Ecological theories (bronfenbrenner)
Describe the psychoanalytic theory
People move through a series of stages where they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations (id, ego and super-ego). Parent-child relationship. Psychosocial theory
Describe learning (behaviourist)
Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning theory
Describe cognitive theory
Piaget, rather than reinforcement, children develop through brain maturation and exploration of the environment
Describe developmental theories
ethological and evolutionary theories (adaptive value of behaviour - imprinting -
Describe bronfenbrenner ecological systems theory
Microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem
What is heritability
The extent to which individual differences in complex traits are due to genetic factors
Development is:
Multi-directional (losses and gains)
Plastic (within person variability)
Fetal (foetal - brain is a dynamic structure)
List the timing and sensitive periods for fatal development
Period of dividing zygote, implantation (1-2 weeks), not susceptible to teratogens. Prenatal death.
Embryonic period (3-8 weeks), CNS starts development along with heart, limbs, ears and eyes. Major structural abnormalities happen here.
Fetal Period (9-38 weeks), Eyes, teeth, palate, external genitals. Physiological defects and minor structural abnormalities.
Genes and environment
Genes don’t work alone. We respond differently to the same environments.
What are teratogens
Harmful environmental agents/conditions that impair prenatal development
Teratogen risk factors
Dose, heredity, interaction effects, timing (sensitive periods), environmental interactions
List examples of teratogens
Prescription drugs, illegal drugs (weed, cocaine, alcohol, tobacco, environmental hazards (x-rays, pollution disease: Aids, Stds), Parental factors (maternal malnutrition, stress, age, smoking)
