Theories of Development

Question 1

What is a critical period?

Answer 1

A specific stage in animal and human development during which certain types of behaviour normally are shaped and molded for life.

A time during which a developing system is especially vulnerable to injury and is thought to correspond to periods of rapid growth

Question 2

What is a sensitive period

Answer 2

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).

Question 3

Sigmund Freud

Answer 3

Father/founder of psychoanalysis

Id/ego/superego

The unconscious

Stages of Psychosexual Development

Defense Mechanisms

Dream interpretation

Question 4

Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

Answer 4

Oral (birth to 18 – 24 months): sensuality seeking
through oral exploration

Anal (18 – 24 months to 3 years): parental control over
toileting and masturbation; “anal traits” – compulsive,
neat, retentive, stubborn

Phallic (3 to 6 years): Oedipal complex; castration
anxiety or penis envy

Latency (5 years to puberty): temporary freedom from
sexual instincts and anxieties through repression

Genital (puberty to adulthood): sexual impulses no
longer repressed; urges change to acceptable
fulfillment of desires through loving another person

Question 5

Repression

Answer 5

hiding away wishes in the unconscious

Question 6

Displacement

Answer 6

symptoms (wishes/impulses) that are hidden in one

area appear in another

Question 7

Sublimation

Answer 7

Sublimation: using energy from unfulfilled wishes/impulses in a constructive way

Question 8

Denial

Answer 8

failure to acknowledge a truth that produces anxiety

Question 9

Rationalization

Answer 9

actions based on one motive justified by a more

acceptable motive

Question 10

Reaction formation

Answer 10

displaying a trait that is the opposite of a repressed one

Question 11

Projection

Answer 11

Attributing your own unacceptable impulses to another

Question 12

Sublimation

Answer 12

channeling instincts/wishes/impulses into socially

accepted and valuable activity (e.g., painting)

Question 13

Regression

Answer 13

reverting to behaviors seen in earlier stages of

development to obtain care/resources that alleviate anxiety

Question 14

Jean Piaget

Answer 14

Cognitive development through interactions with the environment

Key terms:
– Assimilation
– Accommodation
– Decalage

Stages of Development

Question 15

Assimilation

Answer 15

integration of new experience with past experiences and problem-solving based on past experiences

Question 16

Accommodation

Answer 16

reorganization of mind based on discordance between new

experience and past experiences in order to understand new experience

Question 17

Decalage

Answer 17

unevenness in developmental progress across different cognitive abilities

Question 18

Stages of Development

Answer 18

Sensorimotor (birth to 18 – 24 months): dependence on
exploration of perceptual stimuli through sensory
modalities; development of object permanence

Pre-operational (18 – 24 months to 7 years): language
development and symbolic capacities; magical
explanations; single perceptual attribute at focus; causality
based on temporal or spatial nearness; limited attention
span and memory; imaginary friends; egocentrism;

Concrete Operations (7 to 12 years): ability to conserve
volume and quantity; reversibility of events; perspectivetaking; logical dialogue; complex causal sequences

Formal Operations (12 years – adulthood): manipulation
of ideas and concepts; expansion of formal fund of
knowledge; abstract reasoning and hypothetical evaluation
of problems and solutions; metacognition that allows
understanding of divergent perspectives

Question 19

John Bowlby

Answer 19

Attachment theory
• Babies are evolutionarily programmed to
have relationships with primary caregivers

Key terms:
Secure base, “Strange Situation”

Question 20

Secure base

Answer 20

Relationship with a person who provides comfort and

safety and enables the infant/young child to explore the environment

Question 21

“Strange Situation”

Answer 21

Experimental paradigm developed by Mary Ainsworth to determine attachment status

Question 22

Attachment: 2 to 7 Months

Answer 22

Discrimination/Limited Preference

Differentiates among interactive partners

May seem more comfortable with primary caregiver

Social with everyone and preferences not strongly
expressed

Question 23

Attachment: 7-12 Months

Answer 23

preferred attachment becomes evident:
– stranger anxiety
– separation anxiety
– development of “felt security”
– development of trust (versus mistrust)
– hierarchy of preferred caregivers

Question 24

Attachment: 12-20 Months

Answer 24

Use of attachment figure as a secure base from
which to venture out and explore

Use of attachment figure as a safe haven to which to
return if distressed or frightened

Proximity to caregiver promotes an internal feeling of
security in infant

Question 25

Effects of alcohol use during pregnancy

Answer 25

Exposure during the embryonic period (2 – 8 weeks) causes greatest damage

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE): low birth weight, physical defects, mental retardation,
hyperactivity, poor impulse control

Question 26

Effects of cocaine use during pregnancy

Answer 26

May lead to premature birth, low birth weight, physical defects, seizures, irritability, later learning disabilities and peer problems

Question 27

Effects of maternal malnutrition on fetus

Answer 27

May result in prematurity, low birthweight, infant death,
reduction in brain cells, dendritic branching and mylenization

3rd trimester: damage is most critical because of rapid neuronal development, leads to decreased brain volume

Question 28

What is the definition of a preterm and very premature baby?

Answer 28

Preterm infant = less than 37 weeks gestational age

Very premature = less than 32 weeks

Question 29

APGAR scores

Answer 29

heart rate, respiratory effort,nmuscle tone, reflex irritability, color

Question 30

Milestones (0 – 6 months)

Answer 30

Motor:
– Primary reflexes (moro, babinski, rooting, sucking)
resolve and become increasingly purposeful
– Habituation after repeated exposure
– Reaching (3m), rolling (4m), sitting up (6m)

Cognitive:
– Visual and auditory tracking
– Imitation
– Object/action patterns
– Means-ends association

Social/emotional:
– Social smile (6w)
– From unintentional babbling and cooing to purposeful vocalization
– Stranger anxiety (6m)
– Surprise, sadness, fear, distress

Question 31

Milestones for Older babies (6-12 months)

Answer 31

Cognitive and motor development are
facilitated by maturation of the motor areas of
the brain
• Can remember things (people, where objects
are placed) and anticipate future events
• Experience the world through their senses
(Piaget’s sensory-motor stage)
• Express different moods

Motor:
– Banging/shaking (6-7m), crawling (8m), pulling up
(9 – 11m), standing (11m)
– Walking (12m)
– Complex action patterns with objects
– Increasing fine motor manipulation/exploration of
objects

Cognitive:
– Play games (peek-a-boo)
– Cause and effect
– Object permanence (9m)
– Imitation of action sequences
-- Language development: early language skills
(sound imitation, babbling, intentional
communication; first words (9 – 12m)

Social/emotional:
– Stranger anxiety peaks, separation anxiety (8m)

Question 32

Milestones (12 – 36 months)

Answer 32

Motor:
– Walking (12m), climbing, running
– Undesirable social behaviors (hitting, biting)
– Fine motor skills increase as does tool (crayons,
scissors) use

Cognitive:
– “No” emerges
– Increased symbolic capacity
– Imitate novel events; delayed imitation
– Communication/language: single words & brief
phrases (12 – 18m); follow 1-step commands
(12m); at 24m between 30 – 300 words
– Number concepts (2 – 3y)
– When/then logic

Social/emotional:
– Separation anxiety peaks at 13m
– Tantrums and passions
– Low frustration tolerance
– Increasing independence in routines of daily living
– Emotions felt one at a time (all mad)
– From parallel to peer play and friendships
– Increasing ability to follow rules
– Empathy and theory of mind

Potty training (2 – 3 years)

Question 33

Milestones (Years 3 - 6)

Answer 33

Motor:
– Gross: Jump, walk up stairs alternating feet,
climb a jungle gym, ride a bike, team and
individual sports, skip, balance on a beam
– Fine: draw a circle, string beads, appropriate
grasp of writing tools, unbutton and button, tie
shoes (6y), scissors, draw a person, 10 – 30
piece puzzles, print name

Cognitive:
– Vocabulary increases from 1,000 to 8,000 words
– Fluently expression, retelling/inventing stories
– School readiness skills: number and letter
recognition, time telling
– Preoperational thinking

Social/emotional:
– Peer relationships, turn taking and negotiation
– Play: elaborate pretend play and role adoption; gender
segregated play begins at 5 – 6 years
– Imaginary friends
– Fears are very common
– Self-help skills: dressing and undressing, hygiene including
toileting, chores, clean up
– Gender identity solidifies
– Sense of self as constant
– Ability to participate in groups and understand and follow
rules increases