Module 1 - Developmental Psychology Flashcards
An individual answers the Heinz dilemma arguing the Heinz should not steal the drug, because ‘he might get caught and go to jail’. This reasoning is most characteristic of which of Kolberg’s stages of moral develop?
Pre-conventional morality
In the strange situation experiment, a child with an ambivalent attachment style is most likely to do what?
Be very upset when the mother leaves, and act angry and rejecting while simultaneously indicating a clear desire to be close when she returns.
What is ethology?
The study of animal behaviour from a biological and evolutionary perspective
Nature is to the ___ perspective, whereas nurture is to the ___ perspective.
Evolutionary; behavioural
What is cognition?
Mental processes
- thinking
- memory
- knowledge
Creating lesions in the brain has been shown to what?
Affect behaviour in different ways depending on the location of the lesion (surgically removing parts of the brain)
What were Wilhelm Wundt’s contributions to psychology?
‘Father of psychology’
- founded first psychology lab
- wanted to uncover the basic units of human consciousness
- used introspection (process of looking inward on ones own conscious experience) to conclude that the basic elements of consciousness are sensations (colours) and feelings
What were the two prominent early schools of thought?
Structuralism - basic elements of consciousness through introspection
Functionalism - explained psychological processes in terms of the role, or function, they serve
What are the features of the evolutionary perspective?
Psychological processes reflect the evolutionary process of natural selection.
What is the cognitive perspective?
Behaviour is the product of information processing; storage, transformation and retrieval of data
What is the difference between free will and determinism?
Free will (René Descartes) - human action follows from human intention; people choose a course of action. Determinism (Democritus) - behaviour follows lawful patterns like everything else in the universe.
What are the features of the behaviourist perspective?
Behaviour is learnt and selected by its environmental consequences.
What is the psychodynamic perspective about?
Behaviour determined by the way thoughts, feelings and wishes are connected.
Many of these mental events occur outside of conscious awareness.
These mental processes may conflict with one another.
What is psychology?
Psychology is the scientific investigation of mental processes, behaviour and the interaction between them.
Mental processes - thinking, memory, feeling
Who are the key figures in each perspective of psychology?
Humanistic - Carl Rogers Behaviourist - B. F. Skinner Cognitive - René Descartes Evolutionary - Charles Darwin Psychodynamic - Sigmund Freud
What is the humanistic perspective?
Behaviour and experience are shaped by the need to self-actualise, to fulfil one’s inner potential.
During which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are children first able to readily solve rational type problems, such as; ‘if Nattie is older than Katie, and Katie is older than Kirsten, which girl is the youngest?’?
Concrete operational
The idea that changes in behaviour and body occur as a result of biologically based changes that follow an orderly sequence, is referred to as what?
Maturation - nature
What is the nature versus nurture debate in developmental psychology all about?
Maturation - nature
Experience - nurture
What are the developmental differences between the 3 foetal stages?
Zygote - moves to embryonic stage when multi-cell ball attaches to uterine wall.
Embryo - (almost human) creation of organs, limbs, genes directing the process, makes become males when testosterone added.
Fetal - clear human behaviours, focus is on growth.
What is a schema?
How we group things together;
- categorising things as the same
- an organised, repeatedly exercised pattern of thought or behaviour
How do Piaget’s theories of assimilation and accommodation link into language skills?
Assimilation = overextension - application of a newly learned word to objects that are not included in the meaning of the word. Accommodation = under extension - failure to apply new word more generally.
What are accommodation and assimilation? (Piaget)
Accommodation - modification of present schemas to fit with new experience.
Assimilation - fitting something new into something you already know.
An individual’s understanding of themselves, others, and relationships, is referred to as what?
Social cognition.
Mr and Mrs Smith think that children should be seen and not hard, they stress obedience and nature behaviour in their children. Baumrind would classify the Smiths as what kind of parents?
Authoritarian.
In Harlow’s studies of infant monkeys, contact comfort referred to what?
Perceived security from a soft object leading to attachment.
Erikson’s theory of adult development is well considered because it possess a number of important features. What are these?
- Culturally sensitive
- Integrates biology, psychological experience, and culture.
- Theory has received empirical support in cross-sectional, longitudinal, and sequential studies.
What are the key features of the sensorimotor stage? (Piaget - Cognitive development)
Learns about world through sensory and motor interactions. Lacks object permanence - knowledge that object still exists after it is out of sight.
What are the key features of the concrete operational stage? (Piaget - Cognitive development)
Conservation of liquids, numbers, matter and length (acquired later in stage). Transitivity - if A>B, B>C, then A>C. Seriation - order of stimuli along a quantitative dimension, e.g. pencil lengths.
What is telegraphic speech?
The use of 2 word sentences with mainly nouns and verbs, e.g. ‘dada eat’ - between 18-24 months
What self-awareness do infants have?
6-12 months - ‘It’s another baby’ - They display approach behaviours such as smiling and making noise.
20-24 months - ‘It’s me’ - By pointing to the spot on their face, we can understand that they are aware of the mark that is on them.
What did Piaget argue about cognitive development in children?
Children develop knowledge by constructing reality out of their own experience, i.e. assimilation (fitting) and accommodation (modifying).
What are the 7 stages of development?
Prenatal - Conception - Birth Infancy - Birth - 2 Childhood - 2-12 Adolescence - 12 - 18 Young adulthood - 18 - 40 Middle adulthood - 40 - 65 Late adulthood - 65+
What is the ecological theory of perceiving meaning in infancy?
Ecological theories argue that the nervous system is wired to recognise certain dangers, and to recognise the potential ‘value’ of some stimuli without prior learning.
What do teratogens do?
Teratogens are harmful environmental agents that damage the embryo or foetus. An example is alcohol.
What are Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development?
Sensorimotor - 0-2 years
Pre-operational - 2-7 years
Concrete operational - 7-12 years
Formal operational - 12+ years
What are the key features of the pre-operational stage? (Piaget - Cognitive development)
Egocentrism - inability to distinguish one’s own perceptions, thoughts, and feelings from those of others. Lack conservation - knowledge that the quantitative properties of an object remain the same despite changes in appearance.
What are the features of the formal-operational stage? (Piaget - Cognitive development)
Can engage in hypothetical thought and in systematic deduction and testing of hypotheses. Can evaluate the logic of verbal statements without referring to concrete situations.
‘My mother leaves me alone in an unfamiliar setting when I am 9 months old. I freak out and begin to cry. As soon as she comes back in, I crawl to get close to her. Which attachment style am I displaying?’
Secure
Gender constancy refers to a child’s what?
Realisation that a person’s gender cannot be altered by changes in appearance or activities.
Name 9 motor milestones and their ages. (Gesell)
Chin up - 2.2 m Rolls over - 2.8 m Sits with support - 2.9 m Sits alone - 5.5 m Stands with furniture - 5.8 m Walks holding on - 9.2 m Stands alone - 11.5 m Walks alone 12.1 m Walks up steps - 17.1 m
___ of the neurons in the brain develops the ability to crawl then walk.
Myelination - fatty tissue protection around nerves called myelin
What reflexes are infants born with?
Rooting - evolutionary to find food - side of cheek
Grasping - closing fingers anytime they are touched
Babinsky - touch foot and toes fan out
Sucking - allows for feeding
What is the cephalocaudal trend?
Growing from the head down. This is because our brain needs to develop first.
What is the proximodistal trend?
Motor functions from inside out - arms will grow before the hands.
What is plasticity?
The brains ability to create new pathways - manoeuvre things around. Brain is at its greatest plasticity during childhood.
What are the 3 foetal stages and their ages?
Zygote - Conception - 2 weeks
Embryo - 2 - 8 weeks
Foetus - 8 - birth
What is presbycusis in relation to?
The inability to hear high frequency sounds - makes hearing telephone ring and high-pitched voices difficult.
How far an infants see at birth?
8-12 inches - approximate distance between a nursing infant and its mothers face.
How much sensory development will occur at ages 1-2 and 2 months?
1-2 - follows moving objects with eyes.
2 - will follow objects consciously turning head 180 degrees.
What were Gesell’s thoughts of motor development?
Development is an orderly, timed and sequential process that occurs with such regularity that it is predictable.
Children develop a theory of mind at which age?
Between 2 - 4 years of age.
What are the influences on prenatal development? (6)
- Nutrition
- Drugs and alcohol
- Stress
- Infection and teratogen - any agent in the environment that can cause a defect
- Genetics
- Fecundity - fertility and the ability to reproduce; how good the womb is
Name at least 3 developmental neurological disorders.
- VCFS - lacking in a gene
- Spinal bifida - the spine not closed - need folic acid
- Down Syndrome - extra chromosomes; shorter life expectancy
- Cerebral palsy - happens during birth; exaggeration of reflexes and movements.
What behaviours indicate stranger anxiety and separation anxiety?
Wariness and fearful responses such as crying and clinging.
What is attachment?
Social and emotional bond between infant and carer that promotes; survival - feeding/protection/health, safety - secure base, competence - independence/exploring
What were some of the complications in Harlow’s study?
Attachment not sufficient for normal social development. Need interaction for proper regulatory system to develop, communicate sounds, gestures, punish or break the attachment.
Which of Piaget’s stages of moral development suggests that morals are absolute?
Morality of constraint (stiffness).
According to Piaget’s theory, during which stage can moral rules be changed with mutual consent?
Morality of cooperation.
What are the critical issues in social development?
Attachment - and its implication for adult functioning.
Emotional development.
Socialisation - by parents and peers.
Psychosexual development.
__ __ encompasses changes in feeling, interpersonal thought, and behaviour across the lifespan.
Social development
Emotional regulation is dependent on which brain region? *
Prefrontal cortex
Name a few strategies for managing emotions. *
Talking
Changing activities or goals
Restriction of sensory input
What are the self-conscious emotions and when do they start to appear? *
Pride, shame, embarrassment
Between 18-24 months
What is emotional regulation?
Strategies used to adjust our emotional state - comfortable level of intensity.
Which basic human expressions are universal?* (7)
Happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness, disgust*
What behaviours encourage attachment? (5)
Sucking, crying, eye-to-eye contact, smiling, cuddling