Physical & Cognitive Development Flashcards

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1
Q

What is maturation?

A

Biologically based changes that follow an orderly sequence

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2
Q

What does the critical period concept suggest?

A

The brain is set to acquire functions during a limited period of time

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3
Q

What are sensitive periods?

A

Times that are particularly important but not definitive for subsequent development

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4
Q

What is the concept of developmental stages characterised by?

A

Relatively discrete steps through which everyone progresses in the same sequence

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5
Q

What is the concept of continuous development characterised by?

A

Steady and gradual change, rather than major transformations

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6
Q

What are the features of developmental stages?

A

Discontinuity, homogenous thinking, invariant sequences, no skipping, no regression

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7
Q

What do cross-sectional studies compare?

A

Groups of different ages at a single time (i.e. age differences)

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8
Q

What are cross-sectional studies not useful for examining?

A

Age changes (i.e. changes within the same individuals that occur with age)

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9
Q

What are cohort effects?

A

Differences among age groups associated with differences in the culture

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10
Q

What do longitudinal studies assess?

A

The same group at multiple time points (i.e. age changes)

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11
Q

What do sequential studies assess?

A

Different age groups longitudinally (i.e. combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal; minimise cohort effects)

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12
Q

What are the three stages of the prenatal period?

A

Germinal, embryonic and foetal periods

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13
Q

What occurs during the germinal period?

A

Fertilised egg becomes implanted in the uterus; rapid cell division (first 2 weeks after conception)

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14
Q

What occurs during the embryonic period?

A

Development of the CNS and organs (2 - 9 weeks)

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15
Q

What occurs during the foetal period?

A

Muscular development (9 weeks - birth)

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16
Q

What are the two ways in which foetal development can be disrupted?

A

Exposure to hazardous environmental influences & biological influences resulting from genetic disorders

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17
Q

What are teratogens?

A

Environmental agents that can harm an embryo/foetus, particularly during specific critical periods

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18
Q

What are the major motor milestones in infancy?

A

Lifting chin, sitting alone, standing with support, crawling, walking with support, standing alone and walking alone

19
Q

What is puberty?

A

The developmental stage during which individuals become physically capable of reproduction

20
Q

What is intermodal processing?

A

The ability of infants to associate sensations of an object from different senses and match their own actions to behaviours they have observed visually

21
Q

What is equilibration?

A

Balancing assimilation and accommodation to adapt to the world

22
Q

What is assimilation?

A

The interpretation of actions or events in terms of one’s own schemas

23
Q

What is accommodation?

A

The modification of schemas to fit reality

24
Q

What are the four stages of cognitive development?

A

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational

25
Q

What occurs during the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development?

A

Coordination of sensory input and motor responses; development of object permanence (birth - 2yrs)

26
Q

What occurs during the preoperational stage of cognitive development?

A

Development of symbolic thought marked by irreversibility; cent ration and egocentricim (2-7yrs)

27
Q

What is egocentrism?

A

The ability of infants to only see the world from their own perspective

28
Q

What is centration?

A

The tendency of infants to focus on one perceptually striking feature of an object without considering the other features that might be relevant

29
Q

What are operations?

A

Internalised actions an individual uses to manipulate, transform and then return an object to its original state

30
Q

What occurs during the concrete operational stage of cognitive development?

A

Ability to mentally manipulate representations of concrete evens in ways that are reversible; mastery of conservation; hierarchical classification (7-11yrs)

31
Q

What is conservation?

A

The concept that basic properties of an object or situation remain stable even though superficial properties may be changed

32
Q

What occurs during the formal operational stage of cognitive development?

A

Mental operations applied to abstract ideas; logical, systematic thinking (11yrs - adulthood)

33
Q

What are two limitations of Piaget’s theory of cognitive stages of development?

A

He underestimated the capacities of infants/preschool children and he rarely considered the role of culture in cognitive development

34
Q

What does Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development emphasise?

A

The role of social interaction as a motivation for cognitive gains and learning

35
Q

What is the concept of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?

A

The ZPD stretches from sole performance to collaborative cooperation, i.e. children collaborate and strive together to enhance their levels of understanding & children learn through observation/imitation of significant others

36
Q

What does the information-processing approach focus on?

A

Information processes that develop processing speed, automatisation, knowledge base, cognitive strategies and metacognition

37
Q

What is automatisation?

A

The ability to perform some tasks automatically

38
Q

What is metacognition?

A

Thinking about thinking

39
Q

What is psychomotor slowing?

A

An increase in processing/response time

40
Q

What is fluid intelligence and how is it affected by ageing?

A

Basic reasoning ability, memory capacity, speed of information processing; decreases with age

41
Q

What is crystallised intelligence and how is it affected by ageing?

A

The ability to apply acquired knowledge/skills in problem solving; remains stable or increases with age

42
Q

What is dementia?

A

A progressive and incurable disorder marked by global disturbances of higher mental functions

43
Q

What are three key features of dementia?

A

Acquired, persistent, involves multiple impairments of intellectual functioning