psych 4 - developmental psychology Flashcards
what are some of the things children need to learn?
children need to learn to
walk, talk, engage in higher reasoning, empathy, develop peer relationships, prosocial behaviour, how to behave in a variety of different contexts.
what makes developmental psychologists so interested in childhood?
childhood is a period of rapid development
what happens in childhood affects adult life - ability to design and provide interventions where necessary
insight into complex adult behaviours
this focus is now extended to a life span development approach - consistency and change, gains and losses.
what makes developmental psychologists so interested in childhood?
childhood is a period of rapid development
what happens in childhood affects adult life - ability to design and provide interventions where necessary
insight into complex adult behaviours
this focus is now extended to a life span development approach - consistency and change, gains and losses.
what is developmental psychology and what do developmental psychologist study.
developmental psychology studies the way in whcih humans develop and change over time.
explain what is meant by nature vs nurture
nature are things that are genetically programmed maturation hence the term nature
nurture are learning and experiences from the environment and other influences like pre school for example (nurture)
most psychologists believe that development reflects on an interaction of both environment and genes
so we question how these interact with each other over which is more important
describe the difference between critical and sensitive periods
critical periods are periods of sensitivity in to specific types of learning, language especially sensitive to timing and quality of early experiences
this leads to the concept of sensitive periods which are times that are more important to subsequent development than others.
explain what is meant by continuous versus stage development
continuous change - change occurs gradually and steadily, what may look like a sudden change has actually been slowly developing over time
stage development - discrete steps through which everyone progresses in the same order, steps differ from each other.
describe the difference between cross sectional, longitudinal and cross sequential studies
cross sectional - compare groups of participants at different ages at a single time. (+provides snapshot of people at diff ages) (-vulnerable to cohort effects)
longitudinal studies - assess the same individuals over time (+able to assess age related changes) (- also vulnerable to cohort effects, cos only one cohort)
cross sequential studies - study multiple cohorts longitudinally
Which senses are well-developed in babies? Give at least 2 examples.
hearing
touch
smell
taste
and body position (being moved)
Which sense is not well developed? How fast does it develop and when does it reach the level of an adult?
Vision is not well developed
develops to an adults stage at about 8 months old
Describe the visual cliff and why it is used in developmental psychology research. What has it taught us?
the visual cliff is a false “cliff” in which babies crawl over or not. It is important because babies from about 6 months old can perceive depth. Also the development of fear of heights.
What are schemas?
schemas are an organised, repeatedly existing pattern of thought or behaviour (eg schema for a chair or doctor)
short cuts on what to expect
Define assimilation and accommodation.
assimilation - interpreting actions or events in terms of ones present schemes. That is assimilating information into existing knowledge - child calls the cat a dog (4 legs and fur)
Accommodation - modifying schemas to fit reality - actually a cat and learns its a cat
Name each of Piaget’s stages of development, the ages at which they occur, and the defining features of each stage.
1st: sensorimotor 0-2 years, experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking touching mouthing grasping)
2nd: pre-operational 2-6 years
concept of mental representation
language representing an object with a symbol
lessens the need to explore the world with hands and senses
development of make believe play.
inability to take another persons perspective
belief that inanimate objects have life like qualities (animism)
centration - focusing on one aspect of a situation and neglecting the other
3rd: concrete operational 7-11 years
children are capable of some abstract thought and of performing “operations”
4th: formal operational from about 12 years
hypothetic deductive reasoning
systematic problem solving
propositional thought
abstract reasoning
eg which form of government is best as well as more concrete events
Explain some of the critiques of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
- children can develop more quickly
- heavy focus on the development of rational thought
- inflexible - child at one stage or another
- children may implicitly know information (as expressed in their behaviour) but may not be able to explicitly state their knowledge
What is Vgotsky’s zone of proximal development and how does if differ from Piaget’s theory?
a continuum ranging from a childs individual capactiy to problem solve through to a more advanced level of collaborative learning
Piaget believed learning follows development
vgotsky believed learning precedes development
describe the information processing approach
focuses on continuous development rather than staged development such as that proposed by piaget
specific processes that account for or underpin cognitive development
- processing speed
- information search strategies
- working memory and long term memory
what is theory of mind and why is it important
a persons belief about the mind and the ability to understand other peoples mental states
provides more support that children may develop faster than piaget suggested
Give an example of how infant perception is used to form relationships with primary caregivers.
we are born preffering sights and sounds that facilitiate social responsiveness, infants visually track faces over blank or scrambled faces.
infants can discriminate the smell of their own mothers breast milk from age of 1 week
look toward location of humans voices
Describe mutual regulation in relation to parent-infant communication.
mutual regulation- from birth parents and newborns interact in ways that will draw them into a close emotional relationship
-infants who cant do this may be at a disadvantage
to develop a relationship there must be effective communication
- babies must be able to communicate needs
- parents must be responsive to abbies efforts to communicate and able to meet their babies needs.
Define temperament and explain the concept of inhibition and its importance.
an individuals behavioural style and characteristic way of responding
- inhibition - shyness, timidity, fearfulness, especially in new situations
- may predispose people to anxiety and other mental problems later in life.
Name and describe the 4 key stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development relevant to first year psychology.
trust vs mistrust - depending on how well their needs are met and how much love they recieve during the first year of life - children develop a basic trust or mistrust of the world
autonomy vs shame and doubt - during the next 2 years kids begin to exercise there individuality, if they are restricted they may doubt there own abilities
initiative vs guilt -from age 3 to 5 children display great curiosity about the world, if they are allowed to explore, they develop a sense of initiative if they are held back hey may develop guilt about their desires
industry vs inferiority - from age 6 to puberty children lives expand to include school and peer activities. their efforts to master new skills are encouraged and praised, they develop industry (a striving to achieve) repeated failure or lack of praise may lead to sense of inferiority
what is attachment?
deined as a close emotional bond between the infant and caregiver
what are bowlblys stages of early attachment development and when do they occur?
indiscriminate attachment (newborns) in response ot people who respond to an infants needs
Discriminate attachment (around 3 months)direct attachment towards familiar caregivers
specific attachment (around 7 months) meaningful attachment with specific caregivers.
