TOPIC 4 Flashcards
What is human development?
The scientific study of age-related changes across physical, cognitive, social, and behavioural domains.
How is developmental psychology related to human development?
It is a subfield of human development specifically focused on changes in behaviour and mental processes over the lifespan.
What is the lifespan perspective?
A viewpoint that recognizes changes throughout the entire human lifespan, understanding that these changes are interpreted within their cultural and contextual influences. This approach emphasizes interdisciplinary research to comprehensively understand human development.
Explain the post-hoc fallacy
The erroneous assumption that because one event happened before another, the first event caused the second. This fallacy highlights the distinction between correlation and causation. For example, noticing ADHD symptoms in a child after years of playing video games doesn’t mean the games caused ADHD.
Describe bidirectional influences in development
Many developmental relationships involve reciprocal influences. Parents shape their children’s development, but children’s characteristics, like temperament and personality, also influence parenting styles.
What are critical periods in development?
Specific timeframes during development when an organism is highly sensitive to the presence or absence of particular experiences.
What are sensitive periods in development?
Spans of time, typically months or years, when a child is especially responsive to specific experiences, and their absence can have significant developmental consequences.
What is the myth of infant determinism?
The misconception that experiences in the first three years of life are always more influential than later experiences. The reality is that the impact of experiences varies depending on the developmental domain, and later childhood and adult experiences are crucial.
What is the myth of childhood fragility?
The inaccurate belief that children are easily damaged by experiences. In reality, young children possess remarkable resilience.
How do genes and environment interact in development?
The relationship is complex, with numerous genetic and environmental factors interacting in intricate ways. Genetic predispositions interact with environmental experiences, shaping development.
Explain the concept of “nature via nurture.”
Individuals’ biological predispositions can lead them to select specific environments. This can lead to the misconception that the environment alone is responsible for traits when genes play a significant role.
How does the environment influence gene expression?
Genes can be activated or deactivated based on environmental experiences, demonstrating the dynamic interplay between nature and nurture.
What is the epigenome?
It encompasses all inherited and acquired molecular modifications to the genome that alter gene regulation without changing the DNA sequence itself.
What are cohorts?
Groups of people born within a specific time range, sharing similar historical experiences at comparable stages of development.
What is a cohort effect?
An observed effect in a research sample that stems from individuals in the sample growing up in the same historical period. These effects can complicate the interpretation of age-related differences.
Describe the cross-sectional research design
It studies people of different ages at a single time point. Its advantages include convenience. However, it cannot differentiate between cohort and aging effects.
Describe the longitudinal research design.
This design examines development in the same group of people over multiple occasions. It allows researchers to observe aging directly. Disadvantages include limited generalizability to other cohorts, time and resource intensiveness, and participant attrition.
Describe the cohort-sequential research design.
It involves tracking several age cohorts longitudinally, combining elements of both cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches.
What happens during conception?
A sperm fertilizes an ovum, each carrying 23 unpaired chromosomes. This fusion forms a zygote, which divides and travels to the uterus, where it implants as a blastocyst.
Outline the three stages of prenatal development.
Germinal Stage,
Embryonic Stage,
Fetal Stage
What is the germinal stage?
From conception to implantation. Involves the zygote’s rapid division into a blastocyst, implantation, and placental development.
What the embryonic stage?
From implantation to the end of week 8. This stage involves the formation of fundamental body structures, including the neural tube, which develops into the brain and spinal cord.
What is the fetal stage?
From week 9 to birth. Marked by significant increases in size, refinement of organ systems, particularly the brain and lungs
When does brain development begin?
During the embryonic stage, with the formation of the neural tube, which gives rise to the brain and spinal cord.
What are neuronal proliferation and migration?
Neuronal proliferation refers to the generation of new neurons. Migration involves the movement of brain cells to their final destinations in the brain.
What are teratogens?
Environmental agents that can negatively impact prenatal development. Examples include viral infections, drugs, chemicals, maternal diet, age, chronic illnesses, and mental health conditions.
What the effects of teratogens?
The effects of teratogens can vary depending on the timing of exposure, with the brain being especially susceptible.
What are genetic disorders?
They arise from DNA mutations or an abnormal amount of genetic material. These disorders can be autosomal or sex-linked (e.g., sickle-cell disease, Huntington’s disease) or involve chromosomal errors (e.g., Trisomy-21).
What defines preterm infants?
Infants born alive before 37 weeks of gestation.
What is the viability point for preterm infants?
The gestational age at which preterm infants have a reasonable chance of survival, typically between 23 and 25 weeks. Infants born before 22 weeks have a very low survival rate.
List some health issues associated with preterm birth
Infants born before 32 weeks may lack adaptive reflexes, experience digestion and thermoregulation problems, and have lung/breathing, cardiovascular, and immune deficiencies. They are also at risk for neurological problems, low birth weight, and higher overall mortality.
What underlies changes in infants’ physical abilities?
Developments in the brain and nervous system drive changes in infants’ physical capabilities.
What are reflexes in infants?
Automatic motor responses to specific stimuli. Examples include sucking, rooting, and eye-blink reflexes.
What are motor behaviours?
Self-initiated bodily motions involving the movement of bones and muscles. These behaviours depend on the brain, nervous system, and physical development. Experience and cultural factors also play a role
How does physical growth change in childhood?
Compared to infancy, size changes occur more gradually between 2 and 12 years of age, with children gaining an average of 2-3 inches and 5-6 pounds per year. Growth spurts are common, and body proportions become more adult-like.
How does brain development continue in childhood?
By age 3, the brain reaches 75% of its adult weight, and by age 6, it’s at 95%. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) continues to develop, leading to improvements in self-control, attention, and reasoning.
What is puberty?
The collective term for the visible and internal changes that lead to sexual maturity.
Describe motor skill development in childhood.
Children become highly active, with significant improvements in both fine and gross motor skills.
Describe sexual development in girls
Secondary sex characteristics include pubic hair growth, breast development, and the onset of the menstrual cycle (menarche), which has shown a secular trend toward earlier onset.
Differentiate between primary and secondary sex characteristics.
Primary sex characteristics involve the growth and development of sex organs. Secondary sex characteristics are other physical changes signaling sexual maturity.
Describe sexual development in boys
It involves enlargement of the testes and penis, pubic hair emergence, and spermarche (first ejaculation).
What factors influence the timing of puberty?
Puberty timing varies considerably. Lifestyle factors contribute, and genetics may play a role.