Unit 6: Developmental Psychology Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical cognitive and social change throughout the life span
Issues of Developmental Psychology
Nature v. nurture
Continuity + stages
Stability + change
Zygote
The fertilized egg; enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
Embryo
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the 2nd month
What stage is pregnancy signified by?
Embryo
Teratogens
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking
Habituation
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation; the more you’re exposed to something, the less interested you’re into it
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Schema was developed by?
Jean Piaget
Schema’s are limited by?
Experience
Assimilation
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Accommodation
Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
Sensorimotor stage
The stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
Who created the sensorimotor stage theory?
Jean Piaget
Object Permanence
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived (out of sight, out of mind)
Object permanence is not shown in..?
young infants, which is why they LOVE peek-a-boo!
Preoperational stage
The stage (from 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
Who created the preoperational stage theory?
Jean Piaget
How do kids demonstrate preoperational stage theory?
Kids use pretend play to understand logic
Conservation
The principal that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Conservation is a principle created by?
Jean Piaget, which he believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning
Egocentrism
The preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view (egotistical)
What stage is egocentrism presented in?
Preoperational stage
Egocentrism is a principle created by?
Jean Piaget
Theory of mind
People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
Why do young kids lack theory of mind?
Egocentrism
Concrete operational stage
The stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
Who created the concrete stage theory?
Jean Piaget
What is now understood in the concrete stage theory?
Conservation
Scaffold
Helps children step to higher levels of thinking - builds on previous knowledge and adds onto it
Autism (ASD)
A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind
What does Autism impair?
Theory of mind
Stranger anxiety
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning at about 8 months of age
Attachment
An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
Critical period
An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development
Imprinting
The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life
Strange situation
An experiment that showed that infants experience insecure or secure attachment
Secure attachment
Infants show curiosity and are comfortable in mother’s presence
Insecure attachment
Anxiety/avoidance of trusting relationships
Temperament
Person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Is temperament learned or innate?
Innate characteristic
Basic trust
A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; creates securely attached children
Who created the basic trust theory?
Erik Erikson
Self-concept
Our understanding and evaluation of who we are; developed by 12 years old
Sex
Biological status; XX or XY
Gender
The socially influences characteristics by which people define male and female
Aggression
Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone
Relational aggression
Ostracism or spreading rumors; aggression intended to harm a person’s relationship or social standing (emotional aggression)
Role
A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
Gender role
A set of expected behaviors for males and females
Gender identity
Our sense of being male or female
Gender typing
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
Social learning theory
The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Androgyny
Combination of feminine and masculine characteristics in one person (balance between gender roles)
Transgender
People whose gender identity differs from their birth sex
Adolescence
The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Puberty
Period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Identity
Our sense of self
Social identity
The ‘we’ aspect of our self-concept
Intimacy
Ability to form close, loving relationships; high quality close relationships
Who created the term ‘Intimacy’?
Erik Erikson
Emerging Adulthood
A period from the late teens to mid twenties (no longer adolescence but lack full independence)
X chromosome
Sex chromosome in both men and women
Y chromosome
Sex chromosome in men
Testosterone
The most important of male sex hormones
Primary sex characteristics
The body structures that make sexual reproduction (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia)
Secondary sex characteristics
Nonreproductive sexual characteristics (female: breasts, hips male: deep voice, body hair)
Menarche & spermarche
The first menstrual period or ejaculation
Who created the term ‘identity’?
Erik Erikson
Intersex
Physical combinations of male and female physical features
AIDS
Sexually transmitted infection caused by HIV
Cross-sectional study
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Longitudinal study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Social clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Authoritarian
Parents impose rules and expect obedience
No choices
Demanding, but not responsive
Leads to an inability to make decisions, because you’ve never been allowed to
Tends to be damaging to self-confidence, lead to rebellion, not fully understand the consequences of their actions/decisions, because they aren’t making them themselves
Permissive/Indulgent
Submit to children’s desires, makes few demands, use little punishment
Responsive, but not demanding
Children do not learn limits, because they’ve never had any
Authoritative
Both demanding and responsive, allow choices
Set rules, but explain reasons and encourage open discussion
Leads to more well-rounded children and adults, who can confidently make their own decisions
Who created the theory of mind?
Lev Vygotsky
Who developed the term ‘scaffold’?
Lev Vygotsky
What did Harry & Margaret Harlow do?
Researched attachment in children and animals
Who developed the concept of imprinting?
Konrad Lorenz
Who created the strange situation experiment?
Mary Ainsworth
What did Diana Baumrind do?
Researched parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, permissive)
What did Carol Gilligan do?
Studied gender and social connectedness
Lawrence Kohlberg
Moral ‘ladder’, moral development (Preconventional, conventional, post conventional)
