PSYC 500 Human Growth & Development

Question 1

Accommodation

Answer 1

developmental psychology; a Piagetian concept of modifying schemas in order to take new information and experience into account.
Happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work for new info or experiences

EXAMPLE: A client comes in after her first semester of college because she is struggling with feelings of loneliness, and she does not think she fits in. The client is caucasian, and she says that there is a large population of hispanic students at her college. The client grew up with a father who was prejudiced against hispanic people and would often spout racist comments about them to his daughter. This created in the client a mental representation or schema of hispanic people that has negatively impacted her view of this culture for her entire life up to this point. Upon entering college, the client meets many Hispanic students who are friendly and do not fit into her preconceived negative schema of hispanic individuals. The client is now forced to alter/reorganize this racist schema to accommodate these new encounters and to be able to make friends and feel less lonely.

Question 2

Androgyny

Answer 2

developmental psychology; having both feminine and masculine attributes such as appearance, traits, attitudes, or behavior.
Person does not fit into gender stereotypes
Sandra Bem argues that it is psychologically healthier to have blended traits rather than be only stereotypically male/female.
Bem created the Bem Sex Role Inventory that can determine how masculine, feminine, or androgynous an individual is.

EXAMPLE: You are counseling a child that does not fit into typical gender stereotypes or roles. This is something that is causing the parent a lot of distress. After performing your intial clinical interview and testing the child using the Bem Sex Role Inventory, you bring the parent in and explain to her that her daughter is simply psychologically androgynous. She scores highly in masculinity and femininity psychologically.

Question 3

APGAR Test

Answer 3

developmental psychology; a widely used method of assessing the health of newborns at one and five minutes after birth; developed by Virginia Apgar [ APGAR stands for appearance, pulse, grimace, activity, and respiration ]
It evaluates an infant’s heart rate, body color, muscle tone, respiratory effort, and reflex irritability
A score of 0,1, or 2 is given for each category. a total score of 7-10 is good, 5 indicates possible developmental difficulties, and 3 or below signals an emergency and means the baby may not survive.
Purpose is to determine quickly whether a newborn needs immediate medical care.

EXAMPLE: The client is in grade school and is struggling in class compared to other children his age. The child’s parents bring the child in to a counselor, who then retrieves the child’s medical records since birth, with the consent of the parents. A cognitive assessment on the child showed that when he was born, he had a low APGAR score due to difficulty breathing and other signs of distress. The doctor said he may have obtained mild brain damage during birth. The therapist gave the child an IQ test and then explained to the child’s parent that the low APGAR score could have contributed to the low IQ score and poor performance in school.

Question 4

Assimilation

Answer 4

developmental psychology; a Piagetian term describing when children use their existing schemas to deal with new information or experiences; when an event fits their schema

EXAMPLE: A parent brings their child into therapy who is quite young and unsure of what to expect or what will be expected of him by the therapist. Due to assimilation, the child viewed the therapist as an authority figure. This new relationship was assimilated to fit the child’s existing schema that children are expected to follow instructions and guidance from adult figures.

Question 5

Attachment

Answer 5

developmental psychology; a close emotional bond between two people.
Many theories of attachment in found psychology: Freud: infants become attached to the person that provides oral satisfaction; Harlow: contact comfort preferred over food; Erikson: trust arises from physical comfort and sensitive care; Bowlby: newborns are biologically equipped to elicit attachment behavior from caregivers
Attachment is formed in phases and specific attachments developed by 7-24 mos
Early attachment can foreshadow later social bx
Things that affect attachment include genetics, temperament, cultural differences
Strange situation is an observational measure of infant attachment; infant experiences a few introductions, separations, and reunions with caregiver and adult stranger.

EXAMPLE: A mother comes into therapy complaining of depression, and she explains to the therapist that she did not feel connected to her baby when she was born as a result of postpartum depression. The mother said it was difficult for her to get out of bed at times when the baby cried. Now the mother no longer suffers from postpartum depression; however, the mother says that every time the now toddler cries, the mom is responsive and attempts to fulfill the baby’s needs. In return, though, the toddler cries and does not make eye contact with the mother. It was apparent to the therapist that the baby formed an insecure avoidant attachment during the mom’s postpartum depression.

Question 6

Child abuse

Answer 6

developmental psychology and ethics; an act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caregiver which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation
Includes neglect which is the most common, about 46% of cases
Can cause a myriad of developmental consequences such as attachment issues, poor emotion regulation, depression and delinquency, etc
Young children, special needs children, and ill children are most at risk.
Abusers tend to be previous victims of abuse– cycle of abuse
Therapists are mandated reporters and it is important to pay attention to any signs.

EXAMPLE: The therapist noticed bruises on his client that remained over the course of several weeks. She also noticed the child appearing more withdrawn. The child eventually admitted that his parents would hit him if he made a mistake and would threaten to put him up for adoption. The therapist decided report this as child abuse

Question 7

Cohort

Answer 7

part of developmental psychology; a group of people who are born at a similar point in history and share similar experiences as a result.
Can produce cohort effects or differences due to a person’s time of birth, era, or generation, but not to actual age
Cross-sectional studies can show how different cohorts respond, but they may confuse age effects and cohort effects
Longitudinal research can study age changes, but only within one cohort

EXAMPLE: A client comes into therapy presenting the problem of feelings of frustration over his son’s seemingly frivolous spending. Cohen grew up during the Great Depression, and has different feelings around spending money than his son, a result of belonging to two different cohorts.

Question 8

Continuity vs non continuity

Answer 8

regarding development psychology; the debate about whether development is continuous (a process of gradual, cumulative change) or discontinuous (a set of distinct stages).
When evaluating developmental issues, most developmentalists acknowledge that development is not all-or-nothing

EXAMPLE: Sharon has a patient who reports feeling depressed and anxious. After several sessions, Sharon discovers that her patient is struggling with his sexual and gender identity. Believing development to be non-continuous, she believes he may have been under or overstimulated during adolescence. According to Freud and Erikson, adolescence is a key time for gender and identity development.

Question 9

Control group

Answer 9

art of research methods; in an experimental study this group is composed of participants who do not receive the experimental treatment or drug- everything else remains the same
People are randomly selected to be in this group.
Experimenters compare the experimental group to the control group to determine if the treatment had an effect. This allows researchers to isolate the independent variable

EXAMPLE: In an experiment investigating the effects of caffeine on test scores, the control group was told not to consume any caffeine and then asked to take a math test. The experimental group consumed 3 cups of coffee and then took the same math test. Experimenters compared the scores from the control group to the scores of the experimental group to see if caffeine had any effect on the test score.

Question 10

Correlational research

Answer 10

describes the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics.
Yields a correlation coefficient that describes the degree of association between the two variables; ranges from -1 to +1. negative indicates inverse relationship.
The closer the coefficient is to +/- 1, the stronger the relationship is.
CANNOT prove causation
Very common in psychological research; usually cost-effective

EXAMPLE: A client is concerned that her child will become a violent person if she keeps playing videogames. The therapist explains that most of the research related to this phenomenon is correlational. It is true a relationship exists concerning violence on television and in video games and violent children and adolescents. While a correlation exists between the two,it is not necessarily a cause and effect relationship.

Question 11

Critical period

Answer 11

part of lifespan development; a fixed time period during which certain experiences or events can have a long-lasting effect on development
a maturational stage during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to environmental stimuli.
If, during this period, the person does not receive the appropriate stimuli required to develop a given function, it may be difficult or even impossible to develop that function later in life
Most commonly associated with language development
There is a critical period of development for fetuses in which the fetus is vulnerable to teratogens and other environmental factors that can interfere with normal development of certain features and behaviors.

EXAMPLE: A parent brings their adopted child to therapy because the parent is worried about the child’s development. The child is struggling in kindergarten to engage and learn things the other children are learning. After speaking to the parent, the therapist finds out that the child was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The therapist explains to the parent that the child may be struggling to engage and learn things because the child’s birth mother drank alcohol during a critical period of fetal development.

Question 12

Cross sectional design

Answer 12

a type of research that simultaneously compares individuals of different ages
Groups can be compared across a variety of dependent variables.
Advantages include collection of large amounts of data in a short amount of time & low cost
Drawbacks include not providing info about the aging process, and inability to infer causation (because it is just a snapshot); considered quasi-experimental design (participants are not selected randomly - selected based on age)

EXAMPLE: George was looking to study the difference in peer relations and self-esteem in various age groups. He decided to use a cross-sectional design comparing 6 year-olds, 12 year olds, 18 year olds, and 25 year olds.

Question 13

Developmental level

Answer 13

part of developmental psychology; a stage in human development; span of time when changes occur
gives clinicians a guideline of what should be happening & when
can indicate lack in cognitive development or potential neurological problems

EXAMPLE: Charlie brings his 4 year old daughter Joan into therapy because she is not yet talking. After a physical examination, her family practitioner was unable to find a physical reason for this. The therapist concluded that speech should have typically occurred at this developmental level and the lack of speech may reflect a developmental delay

Question 14

Egocentrism

Answer 14

an inability on the part of a child in the preoperational stage of development to see any point of view other than their own
Preoperational stage is stage 2 of Piaget’s cognitive development theory
consists of children 2 to 7 years of age
Egocentric children think their view is the only view, that everyone thinks the same way they do, and that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as they do
Egocentrism disappears in the next stage of development - concrete operational stage

EXAMPLE: A preoperational child talking on phone automatically assumes person on the other end knows their train of thought and can see what they are seeing and doing because of their egocentrism. The child might even hold up the phone to the TV to show them something.

Question 15

Extinction

Answer 15

discovered by Skinner & Pavlov; part of Behaviorism; the process of withdrawing or withholding reinforcers that maintain a behavior (operant conditioning)
Can be effective as the sole treatment for decreasing a behavior but generally more effective when combined with other therapies
It has four potential problems:
Can work relatively slowly
In ¼ cases, extinction results in an extinction burst. Bursts reduced when combined with other procedures
Its effects do not always transfer to other environments or circumstances
Chance of spontaneous recovery
Also considered a stage of classical conditioning - when the CS does not elicit the CR as a result of repeated presentations without the US

EXAMPLE: You’re seeing a child for behavioral problems. One of the parent’s complaints is that the child is always throwing tantrums at the store. He always asks the parent to buy candy. At first the parent refuses and when the child starts crying the parent gives him and buys him candy. You explain to the parent that she is unknowingly reinforcing the tantrums. You ask her to engage in extinction by saying no and sticking to it (removing reinforcement for tantrum). You warn her that extinction bursts may result in an initial increase of tantrums before a decrease.

Question 16

Genotype

Answer 16

part of biology/genetics; refers to a person’s genetic makeup or particular set of genes
a range of phenotypes (observable characteristics/traits) can be expressed for each genotype
Three types of genotypes: AA (homozygous dominant), Aa (heterozygous recessive), and aa (homozygous recessive) - based on alleles
Genoyes can only be discovered through biological testing

EXAMPLE: A married couple presents to therapy because of distress and disagreement about whether to have a child. The wife understands that her family has a history of a debilitating disease but the husband believes that since his wife doesn’t have the disease, then their children won’t either. The therapist offers genetic counseling for the couple in order to explain that there would be a potential for their offspring to have or be a carrier of the disease since the wife is a carrier and it is part of her genotype.

Question 17

Genotype environment relationship

Answer 17

the complex interaction between a person’s genetics and the environment around them
environmental factors can influence the potential trait expression by genes
3 types:
Passive: Parents create a home environment that is influenced by their own genetics
Evocative: child’s heritable characteristics elicit certain responses from the environment
Active/Niche-picking: child actively seeks out certain environments or activities as a result of their genotype

EXAMPLE: Someone may have the genotype for schizophrenia without ever expressing the phenotype of actually having schizophrenia. This is due to the interaction between genotype and the environment

One of the concerns that has brought Gina to therapy is her children. Her daughter Jane is very social, out-going, and active in the community. Her other daughter Yolanda, however, is far less social and seems to spend more time at home alone. Gina fears that there may be something wrong with Yolanda. The therapist suspects that this is an active genotype-environment interaction where the two children with different genotypes have sought different environments.

Question 18

Habituation

Answer 18

part of learning theory; a decrease in responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations; the simplest form of learning
Subject becomes desensitized to stimuli in a sense
commonly studied in infants because their attention is strongly governed by it
Typically used to determine if young children and babies who cannot yet communicate verbally can distinguish between two stimuli

EXAMPLE: Harry and his mother come to therapy, because his mother is having difficulty controlling his behavior. She claims that in the past, she has yelled at Harry quite frequently, which seemed to stop him misbehaving. Lately, however, Harry seems unaffected by his mother’s reprimands. The therapist suspects the Harry has become habituated to his mother’s form of punishment and suggests she try to use healthier and more constructive methods in order to discourage his negative behavior.

Question 19

Heterozygous

Answer 19

part of genetics; a type of genotype that includes one type of each allele- one dominant, one recessive. The dominant trait is expressed as phenotype.

EXAMPLE: Couple comes to counseling because they discovered that someone in their family has a history of a genetic disorder. The client and her husband were tested and found out that they are both heterozygous (carriers) of the disorder. The couple is having problems coping with there being a chance that their offspring may be affected. (An individual who is heterozygous for a genetic disease caused by a dominant allele, such as Huntington’s disease, manifests the disorder.)

Question 20

Homozygous

Answer 20

part of genetics; a type of genotype that includes only one type of allele - either both dominant or both recessive. Phenotype depends on which allele is present, recessive trait expressed if recessive alleles present, otherwise dominant.

EXAMPLE: Couple comes to counseling because they discovered that someone in their family has a Huntington’s disease which is caused by a dominant allele. The client and her husband were tested and found out that they are both homozygous for that disorder meaning they cannot possibly be carriers. You support them throughout the process.

Question 21

Identity Achievement

Answer 21

part of James Marcia’s four statuses of identity embedded in Erikson’s identity vs identity confusion stage; the status of an individual that has undergone a crisis and made a commitment.
Classification based on existence or extent of a person’s crisis and commitment.
Crisis: a period of identity development when individual is exploring alternatives
Commitment: personal investment in identity
One of four statuses, other are identity diffusion (no crisis no commitment), identity foreclosure (no crisis, but commitment), and identity moratorium (yes crisis, but no commitment)
Identity does not remain stable; typically a person has repeated MAMA cycling.
Key changes in identity are more likely to take place in emerging adulthood (18 to 25 years old) than in adolescence

EXAMPLE: A person who is in identity achievement with regard to occupation would have first tried out various career routes via internships, online research and informational interviews before identifying the best fit and sticking to that choice.

Question 22

Invincibility Fable

Answer 22

term first coined by Elkind, stemmed from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; a type of thought pattern that is noted most frequently in teenagers.
It is an egocentric way of thinking that is characterized by a belief of indestructibility
Helps explain why teenagers do things that older people consider foolishly dangerous
Believed to be partially caused by the incomplete development of the frontal lobe

EXAMPLE: Your 16-year-old patient David has been drinking and driving a lot lately. He has not gotten caught by the police nor has he harmed anyone (yet). His parents are understandably furious with him. Your first reaction is to be angry as well but then you remember what it is like being a teenager and having an invincity fable guiding your behavior. This allows you to be more empathetic towards.

Question 23

Knowledge base

Answer 23

part of developmental psychology an education psychology; a repository of factual and heuristic information that guides an organization’s approach to specific problems or challenges;
an individual’s general background knowledge/existing base of knowledge;
facilitates the mastering of new info; “the more someone knows the more someone will learn”

EXAMPLE: Ellie has recently started counseling a 24 year old Muslim woman from Egypt. Before beginning therapy, Ellie does extensive background research on the culture and country of her new patient. Because she is aware of her limitations, Ellie knows she must expand her knowledge base in order to provide proper care for her patient.

Question 24

Lateralization

Answer 24

part of neurodevelopment and developmental psychology; specialization of a function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other; in general more complex functions involve communication between both hemispheres

EXAMPLE: The Broca area is concerned with speech production and the Wernicke area is concerned with language comprehension. Both areas are located in the left hemisphere. Taken together, we postulate that speech is a lateralized function- controlled by the left hemisphere.

Question 25

Longitudinal design

Answer 25

a type of research study that looks at the same individuals over a period of time, usually several years or more.
Can study age changes but only within one cohort; provides a welath of info
Drawbacks include being expensive, labor intensive, and time consuming, and subject drop out (move, get sick, lost interest, etc.) these drop outs could cause biasing in the outcome of the study. Can be hard to separate developmental changes and historical influences

EXAMPLE: Terry is conducting a study of the long term effects of a new ADHD medication. He selects a group of 300 participants currently taking the medicine, age 8-10. Over the next several years, Terry will interview the same subjects every 6 months and collect data to investigate the long-term effects of the drug.

Question 26

Metacognition

Answer 26

cognition about cognition, or knowing about knowing
Can take many forms such as knowing about knowing or knowing when and where to use certain strategies for learning or solving problems.
Consists of several dimensions of executive function
Most metacognition studies focus on metamemory or knowledge about memory.
In general young children have some knowledge about memory and some knowledge about their own memory; Most have inflated sense of their memory abilities

EXAMPLE: Although he was bright, he had not learned the best strategies for learning. By implementing metagognitive strategies training, the counselor was able to help Bobby understand the best ways for him to study

Question 27

Mid life crisis

Answer 27

part of the human lifespan; a supposed period of unusual anxiety, radical self-examination, and sudden transformation that was once widely associated with middle age
represents a time of crisis for individuals - struggle to reconcile what they hoped life would be vs. what their lives currently are
Research indicates this is an exaggeration and many adults complete the transition into middle and later adulthood quite happily
sensationalized by the media.
Research suggests only a minority of adults experience a midlife crisis.
In ⅓ of cases where individuals report experiencing a midlife crisis, the crisis was triggered by life events such as job loss, financial problems, or illness

EXAMPLE: Your client is tormented by the idea that her husband will go through a midlife crisis and leave her, as her father had done to her mother. You reassure the client her with information about the many adults who successfully move into midlife without experiencing crises.

Question 28

Myelination

Answer 28

part of neurodevelopment and neurobiology; the process of encasing axons (of neurons) with fat cells, which increases the speed and efficiency at which information travels through the nervous system.
Important in the development of many abilities (e.g. hand eye coordination)
Process begins prenatally and continues into adolescence
Speed of neural transmission is an important factor and lack of myelination around the axon could contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders

EXAMPLE: MAYA, age 3 is brought to a developmental psychologist by her mother because she is worried about her daughter’s poor hand-eye coordination. The therapist comforts the mother by explaining that all kids don’t develop at the same pace and that research has shown that myelination in the area of the brain that controls hand-eye coordination isn’t complete until around 4 years of age

Question 29

Observaional learning

Answer 29

part of Bandura’s social learning theory; learning through observation;
Social cognitive theorists stress that people acquire a wide range of behaviors, thoughts and feelings through observing others behavior and that these observations are an important part of life span development.
Children pay attention to individuals they observe (models) and encode their behavior; at a later time they may imitate (i.e. copy) the behavior they have observed

EXAMPLE: In Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment, children observed an individual punching and hitting (violent/aggressive behavior) a blow up doll without repercussion. The children then emulated the punching and hitting. This is demonstrative of observational learning

Question 30

Phenotype

Answer 30

part of genetics/biology; the way an individual’s genotype is expressed in observable characteristics
Includes physical characteristics (height, hair color, etc) and psychological characteristics (intelligence, personality, etc).
A range of phenotypes can be expressed for each genotype

EXAMPLE: Fred has come to therapy because he is convinced his wife is cheating on him, even though she vehemently denies it. He says he has suspected her ever since their child was born. Fred explains that he and his wife both have brown hair, but their child is now 5 years old and he has blonde hair. The therapist explains that both parents may have the recessive gene for light hair which is not expressed in the phenotype of either parent but was passed down to their child.

Question 31

Proximodistal development

Answer 31

part of developmental psychology; the sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the extremities; pattern of near to far development observed in children; parts of the body closest to the trunk develop motor skills before parts of the body further away

EXAMPLE: A child will develop gross motor skills like waving an arm before developing fine motor skills like writing legibly.

Question 32

Schema

Answer 32

part of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; the basic building blocks of knowledge or a way of organizing information; shapes how one sees and responds to the world; become more numerous and elaborator with age; sometimes accommodation is needed if the existing schema does not work and needs to be changed to take on new info; when new objects or info do fit into existing schema it is called assimilation

EXAMPLE: A parent brings their child into therapy who is young and unsure of what to expect or what will be expected of him by the therapist. Due to assimilation, the child viewed the therapist as an authority figure. That is, the child used his/her existing schema or knowledge to understand what the therapist is.

Question 33

Rationalization

Answer 33

developed in psychodynamic theory by Sigmund Freud as ego defenses and later expanded upon by Anna Freud as a defense mechanism; making an excuse or dealing with conflict by concealing the true motivations for thoughts, actions, or feelings and clinging to self serving but incorrect explanations. “Explaining away”
used to defend against feelings of guilt, to maintain self-respect, and to protect from criticisms.
In psychotherapy, rationalizations are considered to be counter-productive to deep exploration and confrontation of the client’s thoughts and feelings and how those thoughts and feelings affect behavior

EXAMPLE: Shane is in therapy, because he has been abusing cocaine. When confronted with his drug use, Shane replies, “Well at least I am not using heroin or something like that.” The therapist recognizes that Shane is rationalizing his cocaine use in order to make it not seem as bad as it is.

Question 34

Separation anxiety

Answer 34

part of developmental psychology; also known as separation protest; characterized by crying when the caregiver leaves
Caused by anxiety about being separated from caregiver; reflects attachment
It is most common in infants (Piaget’s sensorimotor stage) and small children, typically between the ages of 8-14 months.
Peaks at 15 mos for US infants - cultural variations
Generally a natural part of the developmental process

EXAMPLE: Harriet is a new mother and fears she is far too inexperienced to handle the task. She feels she cannot leave her 7 month old daughter with anyone, because as soon as she leaves, the infant cries. The therapist explains that this level of separation anxiety is normal after about 6 months and should peak around 15 months.

Question 35

Sex linked traits

Answer 35

part of genetics/biology; a trait genetically determined by an allele located on the sex chromosome.
Termed X-linked or Y-linked
The outcome expression of particular genes in the sex chromosome is referred to as sex linkage

EXAMPLE: Kim enters into therapy after receiving genetic test results that she was a carrier of fragile-x syndrome.This was a concern because she knew that if she had a male child, she would have a 50% chance of passing the syndrome on to him. The therapist was aware of this type of sex-linked trait and was able to help Kim develop coping strategies and explore her options.

Question 36

Social referencing

Answer 36

part of social and cognitive development; ‘reading’ emotional cues in others to determine how to act in a particular situation
Emerges by the end of the first year; improves during 2nd year
Helps infants to interpret ambiguous situations more accurately as when they encounter a stranger and need to know whether to fear the person.
By the end of the first year, social referencing will affect whether the baby will explore an unfamiliar environment based on mother’s facial expression.

EXAMPLE: Ursula has a one year old son named Freddy. She asks her therapist why Freddy always seems to know what she is feeling and wants him to do. The therapist explains that as babies develop they use social referencing to decide what to do in particular situations. By reading his mother’s face, Freddy seems to know what she wants.

Question 37

Social clock

Answer 37

term coined by Neugarten; timetable according to which individuals are expected to accomplish life’s tasks, such as getting married, having children, etc.
All societies have their own social clock
Provide guides for our lives
Those out of sync find life to be more stressful
Nowadays much less agreement than in the past on the right age or sequence for the occurrences of major life events such as marriage, children, retirement.

EXAMPLE: You’re seeing a client named Sarah. Sarah got pregnant as a teenager. You speculate that her teenage pregnancy was stressful due to its unsynchronization with society’s social clock.

Question 38

Stranger anxiety

Answer 38

part development; occurs when an infant shows fear and wariness of strangers
Symptoms may include: getting quiet and staring at the stranger, verbally protesting by cries or other vocalizations, and hiding behind a parent
emerges gradually; first appears around 6 months in the form of wary reactions. increases in intensity until around 1 year of age, then begins to decrease.
Infants show less stranger anxiety in familiar settings, and tend to be less fearful of child strangers than adult stranger.
a typical part of the development that most children experience but can become a problem as child gets older if it doesn’g go away

EXAMPLE: Fiona is concerned because her new daughter Abigail seems to be scared of everything. She says every time they go anywhere and someone approaches them, Abigail gets scared and clings to her mother. The therapist explains that a certain level of stranger anxiety is normal and healthy in infants.

Question 39

Temperament

Answer 39

part of personality; an individual’s behavioral style and characteristic way of responding
an enduring characteristic of the infant related to the overall activity level exhibited by the infant.
Chess & Thomas classified 4 temperament types in children- Easy, Difficult, Slow-to-warm-up, and Unclassified
Kagan classified children based on inhibition to the unfamiliar - stable infancy to early childhood
Children inherit a physiology that biases them towards a type of temperament
Biological influences:
Physiological characteristics have been linked with different temperaments
Heredity has a moderate influence on temperament differences
Contemporary view: temperament is a biologically based but evolving aspect of behavior
Gender and Cultural influences:
Parents may react differently to an infant’s temperament depending on gender
Different cultures value different temperaments

EXAMPLE: Fiona has come to therapy complaining of depression and anxiety. The therapist learns that Fiona has a 2 month old baby who seems to cry all the time, will not sleep at night, and does not seem to be bonding with his mother. The therapist suspects that Fiona’s depression may be directly linked with her new infant’s difficult temperament.

Question 40

Zone of Proximal development

Answer 40

(ZPD) - term coined by Vygotsky; range of tasks that are too difficult for the child alone but that can be learned with guidance
Lower limit can be achieved by child working independently
Upper limit can be achieved by child with adult guidance
Captures skills that are in the process of maturing
Research has found that the following factors can enhance the ZPD’s effectiveness: better emotion regulation, secure attachment, absence of maternal depression, and child compliance.

EXAMPLE: Dean enters therapy with thoughts about how no one cares about him. The therapist, having a knowledge base in CBT, teaches Dean to use Socratic questioning to disprove his maladaptive thoughts. Dean eventually terminates therapy because he is able to use Socratic questioning on his own. The progress that Dean has made, shows that he is now at a higher zone of proximal development because he no longer needs the therapist help with the Socratic questioning.