Session 1 Flashcards
What is health psychology?
Clinical health psychology is the treatment and research of the role of psychological variables and stress in the etiology and maintenance of medical disorders
Explain/Motivate ‘substitute skills for pills’
Dramatic advances in medical knowledge and high technology medicine heighten the need to return to an approach which recognises that people function as part of a system and that both patient and system should be treated accordingly. This brings forth the necessity to substitute skills for pills. As a result, the realisation that when dealing with complex humans i.e. patients, diagnosis and treatment depend upon far more than a sound knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc.
How does the body and mind interact?
All diseases result from a combination of environmental, social, psychological and biological factors. How these different factors interact accounts for differences in symptom manifestation. From this, we note that it is important that a comprehensive healthcare approach should involve both physical and psychological care as they are inseparable.
What is developmental psychology?
The study of human development over the entire life span, from conception to death.
What is needed to study developmental psychology?
A clear and concise understanding of what development entails and what its underlying processes are and a framework to systematise and interpret development so that you can distinguish the various areas of development and divide the entire lifespan into meaningful stages of development.
What is the aim of developmental psychology?
To systematise and interpret developmental changes and to explain them and the various factors that influence development.
What does development refer to?
The changes human beings undergo during their lifetime, HOWEVER not every change should necessarily be seen as development e.g. changes in behaviour due to loss.
Name the domains of development.
Physical
Cognitive
Personality
Social
Briefly explain the domain of physical development.
It includes:
growth of the body and organs - growth
Changes in the internal structure and functioning of the body - physiological development
Which developments should be noted under the domain of physical development and why?
Development of the nervous system, the senses, endocrine glands and sex glands as they have important psychological implications.
The central nervous system and the senses are closed connected to the individual’s perceptions and all aspects of cognitive functioning.
The thyroid gland, for example, affects a person’s energy levels.
Briefly explain the domain of cognitive development.
Cognition refers to how we acquire information about the world, how we represent and transform such information into knowledge, and how we store, retrieve and use that knowledge to direct our behaviour. It is therefore processes and products of our minds so cognitive development refers to changes of them.
Briefly explain the domain of personality development
Changes to the attributes that determine a person’s behaviour in interactions with the environment.
Development of people’s view and evaluation of themselves and the way they identify themselves with other individuals and social groups.
What is personality?
The most comprehensive concept for the psychological description of human beings.
It refers to all the attributes that determine a person’s behaviour in interactions with the environment.
Briefly explain the domain of social development.
Changes in people’s interactions and relationships with other people.
The influence of society and specific other persons on the individual.
List the developmental stages
Prenatal (germinal, embryonic and foetal periods)
Neonatal and infancy
Early childhood
Middle childhood
Adolescence
Early and middle adulthood
Late adulthood
Give the determinants of development
Genetic - characteristics inherited from the parents by means of genes
Constitutional - refers to the condition and nature of the organism and the state of development
Environmental - development primarily due to the environment
Personality - refers to the ability of humans to influence their own development. Personal factors influence the individual’s further development because they can co-determine what effects new physical and social environmental influences will have.
What is the role of theory in developmental psychology?
the role of theory is an attempt to describe and explain the human development based on a particular view of mankind. Theories emphasise different processes and factors determining developments. Some theories emphasise genetics and biological factors, some emphasise that development is a natural process, some emphasise environmental factors, some emphasise self-determination while some emphasise the integration of all factors.
According to Sigmund Freud, what are the determinants of all behaviour?
Drives (urges) and moral rules in the psyche (personality)
What is the structure of the personality according to Freud?
It consists of three parts, the id, ego and superego.
Briefly expand on the id.
The id is already present at birth and it contains all the psychic energy a person needs for psychological or psychic functioning.
What are the drives linked to psychic energy according to Freud?
Life drive - Eros
Death drive - Thanatos
According to the Psychosexual theory, when does the oral stage occur?
Birth - 12 months
According to the Psychosexual theory, when does the anal stage occur?
12 months - 3 years
According to the Psychosexual theory, when does the phallic stage occur?
3 - 6 years
According to the Psychosexual theory, when does the latent stage occur?
6 - 11 years
According to the Psychosexual theory, when does the genital stage occur?
Adolescence
Name the stages of the psychosexual theory.
Oral stage
Anal stage
Phallic stage
Latent stage
Genital stage
Name the stages of Piaget’s cognitive development theory.
Sensory motor phase
Pre-operational
Concrete operational
Formal operational
According to the Cognitive Development Theory, when does the sensory motor phase occur?
0 - 2 years
According to the Cognitive Development Theory, when does the pre-operational phase occur?
2 - 6 years
According to the Cognitive Development Theory, when does the concrete operational phase occur?
7 - 11 years
According to the Cognitive Development Theory, when does the formal operational phase occur?
12 years and onwards
According to Erikson’s Developmental Theory, what is the name of stage 1?
Basic trust vs Mistrust
According to Erikson’s Developmental Theory, what is the name of stage 2?
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
According to Erikson’s Developmental Theory, what is the name of stage 3?
Initiative vs Guilt