Study guide for developmental psycology

Question 1

What is developmental psychology?

Answer 1

It’s the study of changes over the life span in physiology, cognition, emotion, and social behavior.

Question 2

What are the stages of the human life span

Answer 2

• Prenatal (conception - birth )
• Infancy ( Birth-18/24 month )
• Childhood ( Infancy- 10/14 yrs )
• Adolescence ( 10/14yrs - 18/21yrs )
• adulthood ( 18/21yrs - death )

Question 3

Where does human developmental start?

Answer 3

In the womb and it extends to adulthood.

Question 3

What is the process of development starting in the womb?

Answer 3

• A sperm unites with egg to form zygote. from about 2 weeks to 2 month the developing human is known as embryo.

Question 4

What happens in the embryo or the developing human stage?

Answer 4

organs such as the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and sex organs develop. and the nervous system too.

Question 4

What stage is the embryo most vulnerable?

Answer 4

The stage where the organs are all developing

Question 5

what is the growing human called after the prenatal period

Answer 5

Fetus

Question 6

How early can a fetus survive by itself with the medical advancements?

Answer 6

Survival outside of the womb is possible as early as 22 weeks.

Births end at 38 - 42 weeks

Question 7

What are the two important aspects of early brain growth?

Answer 7

• specific areas of the brain mature and become functional
• Regions of the brain learn to communicate with one another through synaptic connections.

Question 8

What is the brain development process?

Answer 8

Myelination happens in the spinal cord in the first trimester and in the neurons in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Question 9

At what age does the human brain develop about 80 percent of its adult size

Answer 9

age 4

Question 10

What results in a size increase?

Answer 10

due to myelination and to new synaptic connections among neurons, particularly in the frontal lobe.

Question 11

How does the human brain develop

Answer 11

Genetic instruction leads the brain to grow, but the brain by itself is plastic ( the brain organizes itself to its environmental experiences, preserving connections it needs in order to function.

Question 12

What is synaptic pruning?

Answer 12

allows every brain to adapt well to any environment by the use it or lose it process.
- iT’s a physiological process of preserving synaptic connections that are used and eliminating those that are not used.

Question 13

What happens when a child’s environment doesn’t stimulate their brain as much?

Answer 13

It would undermine the development of the brain, and the child will be less likely to process complex information.

Question 14

What else can interfere with the development of the brain

Answer 14

Malnutrition, stress, neglect, and exposure to violence.

Question 15

What can help a situation where children are harmed

Answer 15

Interventions and research in the new emerging field of translational neuroscience might help identify neural systems that are vulnerable to the effects of early life stress.

Question 16

What are tetratogens ( Monster makers)

Answer 16

Agents that can harm a fetus or embryo. Drugs, bacteria, viruses, caffeine, alcohol, and certain prescription drugs.

Question 17

What are the physical effects of exposure to teratogens like opioids?

Answer 17

They might be obvious at birth, but disorders involving language, reasoning, social behavior, and emotional behavior become apparent when the child is older.

Question 18

Infants exposed to opioids can be born prematurely.

Answer 18

true and they might also experience slow growth.

Question 19

What does the extent of the damage depend on

Answer 19

The extent to which the child has been exposed and the length and the amount od exposure.

Question 20

What is the most common tetratogen?

Answer 20

Alcohol. Drinking alcohol while pregnant can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. most likely to occur in infants of heavy drinker women.

Question 21

What are the symptoms of FASD?

Answer 21

• low birth weight
• face and head abnormalities
• deficient brain growth
• behavioral/cognitive problems like low IQ

Question 22

The prevalence of FASD cases in the US

Answer 22

0.2 - 2.0 per 1000 live births

Question 23

What is unique about babies

Answer 23

They devleop survival methods such as rooting ( sucking things near their mouth ) and grasping. - which are all methods of survival instinct.

Question 24

How does the environment affect the milestones of development?

Answer 24

Children born In Uganda tend to walk way earlier than children in the us - which is a result of Both nature and nurture.

Question 25

What do developmental psychologists consider the devlopmnetal milestones to be part of

Answer 25

The dynamic system theory

Question 26

What is the dynamic system theory

Answer 26

states that development is a self organizing system in which a new forms of behavior emerges through consistent interactions between a person and cultural interactions.

Question 27

The ability to imitate in babies

Answer 27

is innate.

Question 28

What do babies prefer looking at objects or people's faces

Answer 28

people face

Question 29

How do newborns normally come into the world ?

Answer 29

With the basic perceptual skills of smelling, hearing, tasting, and responding to touch.

Question 30

Evidence of perceptual development in newborns?

Answer 30

- newborns prefer their own mothers milk instead of another random one. - newborns prefer sweets over sour - Newborns cry when they hear other babies cry but not when their own cry recording is playing.

Question 31

At what age do babies have nearly adult level of auditory function.

Answer 31

6 months

Question 32

What is the ability to distinguish colors, shapes called

Answer 32

visual acuity

Question 33

What differentiates the visual acuity of infants and newborns

Answer 33

Newborns have a poor ability to distinguish color while infants prefer looking at colors.

Question 34

What technique do reseracher use to figure what infants prefer looking at

Answer 34

The perferential looking technique

Question 35

at 3 month infants tend to show preference for their own race

Answer 35

True

Question 36

What is the method to study how infants prefer to categorize a series of objects and faces

Answer 36

Habituation technique

Question 37

What is the Habituation technique?

Answer 37

Babies are presented with a picture of familiar faces and objects, then it's switched to a new style or category, in which babies will spend look for a longer time looking at objects from a new category.

Question 38

What are the 4 attachment styles

Answer 38

secure( distressed) , insecure( upset) , anxious and disoriented/disorganized

Question 39

What is an attachment ?

Answer 39

a strong, intimate emotional connection between people that presists over time and across circumstances.

Question 41

What is the hormone that plays a major role in the social behaviors of infants/ caregivers.-

Answer 41

- oxytocin

Question 42

What is one of Piaget's deepest contributions to developmental psychology?

Answer 42

- He focused on how young minds make mistakes to make sense of their line of reasoning.

Question 43

What are the two ways learning process

Answer 43

- assimilation - accomodation

Question 44

What are the 4 stages of thinking development that children go through

Answer 44

- sensorimotor - preopertional - Concrete operational - Formal operational

Question 45

What is the sensorimotor stage( birth -2yrs)

Answer 45

-Children firmly situated in the present, they acquire information through their senses and motor exploration. - rooting, suckling, grasping finger

Question 46

What is the accomplishment of the sensorimotor period marked by*

Answer 46

Object permanence

Question 47

What is the preoperational stage ( 2 yrs - 7 yrs )

Answer 47

It's when children start to make sense of the world around them through intuition instead of logic

Question 48

What is a concrete operational stage ( 7 yrs to 12 yrs )

Answer 48

It's when children start to think logically instead of intuitively

Question 49

What is the operational stage 12 - adult?

Answer 49

People can start to think abstractly and formulate hypotheses.

Question 50

In what ways have recent research findings challenged Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

Answer 50

studies have shown that cognitive abilities of physics and mathematics develop earlier and developmental strategies are not as dicrete as piaget's mentioned.

Question 51

What is the theory of mind

Answer 51

- being able to understand how people's mental states influence their behavior. Kids with good theory of mind developed a better presocial behavior where they seek to comfort a person who is upset is for example.

Question 52

What are the three main levels of moral development?

Answer 52

- preconventional - conventional - postconventional

Question 53

preconventional

Answer 53

It is mainly centered on self-interest and event outcomes that determine what is moral.

Question 54

conventional

Answer 54

the middle stage of moral development at this level, strict adherence to social rule and the approval of others

Question 55

post conventional

Answer 55

The highest stage of moral development decisions about morality depend on abstract principles and the value of all life.

Question 56

An example of the three moral development stages

Answer 56

The man should steal the drug, then he will have it. The man shouldn't steal the drug because then everyone will think he is a bad person. Sometimes people have to break the law if the law is unjust. In this case, it's wrong to steal, but it's more wrong to charge too much for a drug that can save a life.

Question 57

sense of fairness- inequity aversion

Answer 57

increases with age

Question 58

What is inequity aversion

Answer 58

is the preference to make a fair decision when necessary

Question 59

What marks the beginning of adolescence?

Answer 59

pubrity

Question 60

What is a personality trait

Answer 60

It's a pattern of though,t emotion behavior that is relatively consistent over time and across situations

Question 61

N