Theories of Development Flashcards
This is the specific period during which development is especially responsive to influence; a time during which a developing system is especially vulnerable to injury and is thought to correspond to periods of rapid growth.
Critical period
This is a time during which a developing system is more amenable to the acquisition of certain abilities (e.g., language input during the first year of life), more sensitive to certain stimuli (e.g., parental smell), and more readily influenced by certain environmental factors (e.g., relationship with parents in the early years) that have a long-term impact on development; a time during which exposure to things suffices in teaching rather than expending conscious effort to learn (e.g., foreign languages).
Sensitive Period
Name, in order from birth to adulthood, Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development.
oral - anal - phallic - latency - genital
What is Repression? Give an example.
a defense mechanism
hiding away wishes in the unconscious (involuntary)
ex: not remembering a conflictual or traumatic experience
What is Displacement?
a defense mechanism
symptoms (wishes/impulses) that are hidden in one
area appear in another - transferring feelings to another person or object
ex: mother yells at child because her husband yelled at her
What is Sublimation? Give an example.
a defense mechanism
using energy from unfulfilled wishes/impulses in a constructive way (does not conflict with one's value system)
ex: teen’s aggression towards his father is redirected to perform well in sports
What is Denial? Give an example.
a defense mechanism
failure to acknowledge a truth that produces anxiety (avoiding a painful reality)
Ex: reaction to newly diagnosed cancer or AIDS
What is Rationalization? Give an example.
a defense mechanism
actions based on one motive justified by a more acceptable motive (giving logical reasons for actions to avoid self-blame)
ex: after getting fired, claiming that the job wasn’t important anyway
What is Reaction formation? Give an example.
a defense mechanism
displaying a trait that is the opposite of a repressed one
ex: an overly horny person enters a monastery
What is Projection? Give an example.
a defense mechanism
Attributing your own unacceptable impulses to another external source
Ex: man who wants another woman thinks his wife is cheating on him
What is Regression? Give an example.
a defense mechanism
reverting to behaviors seen in earlier stages of
development to obtain care/resources that alleviate anxiety
Ex: child that was already potty trained wets the bed after birth of sibling
What is Assimilation?
integration of new experience with past experiences and problem-solving based on past experiences
What is Accommodation?
reorganization of mind based on discordance between new experience and past experiences in order to
understand new experiences
What is Decalage?
unevenness in developmental progress across different cognitive abilities
Name, in order from birth to adulthood, Piaget’s Stages of Development.
sensorimotor - pre-operational - concrete operations - formal operations
