PSY 105 midterm Flashcards
Development
systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occur between conception and death
3 categories of development
1) Biological/physical
2) cognitive
3) psychosocial
Age norms
society’s way of telling people how to act their age
Social clock
person’s sense of when things should be done and when they are ahead or behind schedule dictated by age norms
John Locke
claims kids are born as a blank slate, morally neutral. And that they will become different based on their experiences
Jean-Jacques Rousseaeu
believed children were born innately good
Darwin
studies his own children via extensive notes called “baby biographies”
G Stanley Hall
“Father of Developmental Psychology”
creator of the questionnaire
said that adolescence is a time of storm and stress
Nature vs Nurture
nature = genetics, nurture = environment
all developmental changes are the products of a complex interplay between nature and nurture
Active vs Passive
How humans shape their own development or what is bound to happen
Universality vs context specificity
what parts of development happen to everyone and what is individualistic or across cultures?
Continuity vs discontinuity
continuous = quantitative
discontinuous = qualitative
4 goals of developmental psychology
1) description - describe what is happening
2) explanation - why is that happening
3) prediction - can we predict when this will occur and who is involved
4) optimizing development - can I change parameters to help people develop into their best selves
Stage Theory
development theory that suggests people go through distinct stages with brief to no transitions
3 Ways of collecting data
1) verbal reports - interviews, questionnaires, personality scales
2) behavioral observation - naturalistic (observe people in their natural surroundings) or structured (observes people in controlled environment)
3) Physiological measurements - fMRI, heartrate, etc.
Cross-sectional research design
children/ individuals of different ages are compared on a given behavior or characteristic over a short period of time
Longitudinal research design
same individuals are studies twice or more over a substantial period of time and changes and similarities in their development are observed
(Cohort) Sequential Designs
combines cross-section and longitudinal; two or more age groups are initially examined and then each group is measured over time
Case Study
In depth examination of an individual or small number of individuals
Experimental Method
a group of approaches that allow inferences about cause and effects to be drawn (experiment)
3 elements of a true experiment
1) random assignment
2) manipulation of independent variable
3) experimental control (all other factors besides IV are held constant)
Correlational methods
determines whether two or more variables are related in systematic way (positive vs negative correlation)
cons: 3rd variable problems, direction of causality
Prenatal development
conception to birth
Germinal period
conception - 2 weeks
begins with conception and lasts until zygote becomes fully implanted in the uterine wall
rapid cell division takes place
Blastocyst
4th day of conception, zygote arranges itself into hollow sphere (blastocyst) with a bulge of cells on one side
* inner cell mass forms into embryo
* twins are formed in this stage
Embryonic Period
3rd week - 8th week
major development occurs in all the organs and systems of the body
* inner cell mass becomes embryo
Neural tube
U shaped groove formed from the top layer of differentiated cells which eventually becomes the brain and spinal cord
Spina Bifida
part of the spinal cord is not fully encased in protective covering of the spinal column
Anencephaly
failure to close at the top of neural tube, fatal due to main portion of brain not developing
Placenta
permits exchange of materials between the bloodstream of the fetus and mother
placental membrane = barrier against some toxins and infectious agents
Umbilical cord
tube that contains the blood vessels that travel from the placenta to the developing organism and back again
amniotic sac
membrane filled with fluid to protect fetus
Cephalocaudal development
areas near the head develop earlier than those farther away
Fetal period
9th week - birth
continuing development of physical structures
critical process for brain development
Age of viability
survival outside of the uterus may be possible
week 26
When are movements developed
12 weeks
When are sensory structures developed
sound = 6th month
Tactile stimulation
activity within the womb (touching face and body)
When can fetuses learn
32 weeks
Habituation
simple form of learning, fetus gets used to sounds and stimuli and doesn’t react to them anymore
Evidence of learning:
newborns prefer sounds, tastes and smells that they experienced prenatally
newborns recognize rhymes and stories that were present before birth
What percent of conceptions and pregnancies end in miscarriage
45% of conceptions, 15-20% of pregnancies
Teratogens
disease, drug, or environmental agent that can harm a fetus
Sensitive/ critical period
period of time where teratogens effect fetus the most (20-35 days)
found due to thalidomide
DES
medication used to prevent miscarriages and premature babies
1971 -> was found that utero exposure to DES was linked to greater risk for cervical and testicular cancers
Thalidomide
drug used to relieve morning sickness
< 20 days: no effect
20-22 days: no ears
22-27 days: missing thumbs
27-33: stunted legs
>35 days: no effect
this is how critical period was found out
Cigarette smoking effect
delayed growth, low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome
alcohol effects
fetal alcohol syndrome, intellectual disability, facial deformity
Marijuana effects
negatively affects memory, learning, and visual skills
cocaine effects
delayed growth & premature birth, impaired ability to regulate arousal (some lethargic and some highly excited)
Gene- environment interactions
effects of genes depend on what kind of environment we experience
ex: MAOA gene -> in environments of abuse & low MAOA = more likely to engage in antisocial behavior
Diathesis stress model
psychological disorder results from interaction of a person’s predisposition and the experience of stressful events
Differential susceptibility hypothesis
some people’s genes make them more reactive than other people to environmental influences
Parts of neuron
cell body - basic biological material to keep neuron functioning
dendrites - receives input from other cells and conducts it towards cell body
axon - conducts electrical signals to connection with other neurons (synapses)
proximodistal principle
growth and development of muscles from center outward to extremities
orthogenetic principle
development starts globally and undifferentiated
neurogenesis
formation of neurons via cell division
* 18 weeks after conception
axons elongate, dendrites form spines to increase capacity, formation of myelin sheath around axons
Synaptogenesis (and synaptic pruning)
growth of synapsis
pruning: removal of unnecessary synapses
occipital lobe
very back of brain; processes visual information
temporal lobe
on sides of brain; processes hearing and emotions
parietal lobe
top of brain; processes and integrates sensory input with information in memory
frontal lobe
organizes behavior, responsible for planning
Adolescent brain
gray matter increases (increased synaptogenesis right before puberty)
dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex is the last to mature (responsible for impulses and priority setting)
Adult brain
brain weight and volume decrease over adult years
dendrites continue to grow
degeneration and plasticity (unable to learn things as easily as an adult)
Neurocognitive maintenance
regular upkeep of the brain
neurocognitive reserve
stockpile of neural resources that we saved up during our lifetime, overusing leads to burnout
Compensation
ability to enlist the help or neural resources when faced with challenging task
experience expectant plasticity
normal wiring of the brain based on experience almost ALL humans have
experience dependent plasticity
neural connected are created as a function to the specific experiences of an individual (example: learning to play an instrument)
Theory
set of ideas to describe and explain certain phenomena
* falsifiable and supported by data
Evolutionary theory of development
evolution of human species as explanation of why humans are as they are and develop as they do
Dawrin, Tomasello
Psychoanalytical theory of development
people are driven by motives and emotional conflicts; shaped by earliest family experiences
Freud, Jung, Erikson
Learning theory of development
learning is the major contributor to human development; classical and operant conditioning
Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura
Cognitive developmental theory of development
children construct knowledge and ways of thinking using their experiences and proceed through universal stages
Piaget
Bioecological systems theory
changes over the lifespan arise from ongoing interactions in which a changing person and changing environment affect one another
Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological model
1) microsystem: immediate environment (interactions with family, friends, etc)
2) mesosystem: connections across microsystems (friend to family, without individual)
3) exosystem: environmental setting the person does not experience directly but may affect them indirectly (parents’ workplace)
4) macrosystem: larger cultural context
5) chronosystem: time/ historical changes that influence systems
Piaget’s 4 stages of development
1) sensorimotor
2) preoperational
3) concrete operational
4) formal operational
Sensorimotor stage
birth - 2 years
infants know the world through their senses and their actions
develop object permanence
object permanence
knowledge that objects have permanent existence without our perceptual contact with them
A-not-B error
8-12 month olds search for an object in place where they last found it
Path to object permanence
0-4 months: infant wont search for object hidden from view
4-8 months: infants will retrieve toys partially covered or beneath transparent cover but not completely hidden
12-18 months: search for object completely hidden, but struggle with invisible displacement (figuring out where something is hidden if they didn’t see it being hidden)
18-24 months: capable of mentally representing invisible displacements
Preoperational stage
2-7 years old
acquire ability to internally represent the world through language and mental imagery
begin to see the world from other people’s perspective
symbolic representation
the use of one object to stand for another (pretend play)
egocentrism
tendency to perceive the world solely from one’s own point of view
centration
tendency to focus on single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event
conservation tasks
children in pre-operational stage fail
two cups hold same volume but different shapes, children will prefer the tall cup because it looks like it has more liquid
concrete operational stage
7-11 years
children begin to think logically
can classify objects into categories
understand events are influences by multiple factors
pass conservation tasks
fail to think systematically
pendulum problem
children below 12 perform unsystematic experiments to draw incorrect conclusions
Will take different length rope and different weight to test. Doesn’t show you which is the determining thing that causes the swing of pendulum
class inclusion
understanding that parts are included in a whole category (dog is part of the grouping of animals)
Transivity
necessary relations among elements in a series
A>B>C so A>C
Formal Operational stage
12 years - onward
adolescents can think systematically and reason about what might be as well as what is
understand politics, ethics, science fiction
Piaget believes attainment of this stage is not universal
major achievement: ability to think hypothetically
adolescent egocentrism
difficulty differentiating one’s own thoughts and feelings from those of other people
imaginary audience
confusing your own thoughts with those of a hypothesized audience for your behavior (think everyone is looking at you or talking about you)
Personal fable
tendency to think that you and your thoughts and feelings are unique
Postformal thought
more complex than formal-operational stage
Relativistic thinking
knowledge depends on its context and the subjective perspective of the knower
Dialectical thinking
detecting paradoxes and inconsistencies among ideas and trying to reconcile them
Piagets theory pros
asked important questions
showed us infants and children are active in their own development
taught us that young people think differently than older people do
largely accurate
Piagets theory cons
stage model depicts children’s thinking as being more consistent than it is
infants and young children are more cognitively competent than Piaget recognized
understates the contribution of the social world
vague about cognitive processes
Lev Vygotsky
father of sociocultural approach to child development
view children as social beings
children intertwined with other people who are eager to help them gain skills and understanding
zone of proximal development
gap between what a learner can accomplish independently and what he or she can accomplish with the guidance and encouragement of a more skilled partner
implication of the zone of proximal development
knowledge is not fixed
no single test or score can reflect the range of a persons knowledge
development consists of moving towards the upper range of zone
Vygotsky argued:
language shapes thought
thought changes fundamentally once we begin to think in words
language comprehension
understanding of language
language production
actually speaking language
phonological development
knowledge about phonemes (elementary units of sound)
semantic development
learn system of expressing meaning in a language
starts with morphemes (smallest unit of language)
pragmatic development
acquiring knowledge of how language is used
brain damage to Broca’s area
near motor cortex; associated with difficulties in producing speech
brain damage to wernicke’s area
near auditory cortex; linked to difficulties with meaning (produce words but no meaning)
infant directed talk
mode of speech adults develop to talk to infants
prosody
rhythm, tempo, cadence in which language is spoken
cooing
6-8 weeks, start to understand that certain sounds bring their parents/what they want
babbling
6-10 months
consonant followed by a vowel
holophrases
one word utterances
overextension
single word, used in a lot of scenarios where it may not even apply
underextension
using a word to represent only a small portion of the category (ex: doggie only for their own dog or type of dog)
whole object assumption
learn a new word, that word applies to the entire object not just an element (ex: key on laptop is part of whole computer not just one key)
mutual exclusivity assumption
leads to children to expect that a given entity will only have one name (ex: know word computer, refer to it as laptop, they will not understand)
pragmatic cues
aspects of social situation/context to learn words
theory of mind
understanding that people have mental states such as desires, beliefs, and intentions and that these mental stages guide their behavior
2 year old theory of mind
understand the connection between other people’s desires and their specific actions, but show little understanding that beliefs are also influential
3 year old theory of mind
understand that desires and beliefs affect behavior but have difficulty with false belief problems (tasks that test child’s understanding that other people will act in accord with their own beliefs even when the child knows that these beliefs are incorrect)
