Unit 6: Developmental Psychology

Question 1

Describe the development of twins.

Answer 1

Identical Twins: develop from a single fertilized egg, creating two genetically identical organisms (100% shared genes). Share the same set of genes, a similar prenatal environment, and usually the same family and culture after birth.

Fraternal Twins: develop from two separate fertilized eggs. Genetically no closer than brothers and sisters (50% shared genes), but they share the same prenatal environment and usually the same family and social-cultural environment after birth.

Question 2

What is epigenetics?

Answer 2

Epigenetics: the environment acts on the surface of genes to alter their activity/

Question 3

What is pruning?

Answer 3

After brain maturation provides us with an abundance of neural connections, experience preserves our activated connections while allowing our unused connections to degenerate in a process known as pruning. Though this pruning process is most evident in the brains of young children, growth and pruning of synapses continues throughout life.

Question 4

What is gender and sex?

Answer 4

Gender in psychology, refers to the socially influenced characteristics by which people define MEN and WOMEN. Sex in psychology, refers to the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male and female.

Question 5

What makes us male or female?

Answer 5

It begins with whether our 23rd pair of chromosomes looks like XX (female) or Xy (male). Testes develop, and at seven weeks, the testes produce a flood of testosterone. Hormones then guide the development of external sex organs.

Question 6

What is social learning theory?

Answer 6

Social Learning Theory: Theory proposed by Albert Bandura, which assumes that children learn gender roles through observation and imitation, as well as through reinforcement and punishment.

Question 7

List some biological influences on personal development.

Answer 7

• Shared human genome
• Individual genetic variations
• Prenatal environment
• Sex-related genes, hormones, and physiology

Question 8

List some psychological influences on personal development.

Answer 8

• Gene-environment interaction
• Neurological effect of early experiences
• Responses evoked by our own temperament, gender, etc.
• Beliefs, feelings, and expectations

Question 9

What is gene-environment interaction

Answer 9

Genes and environment interact in that genes can influence traits, which affect environmental responses, and environment can affect gene activity.

Example: A genetic predisposition that makes a child restless and hyperactive can evoke an angry response from his parents. A stressful environment can trigger genes to manufacture neurotransmitters leading to depression.

Question 10

List some social-cultural influences on personal development.

Answer 10

• Parental influences
• Peer influences
• Cultural individualism or collectivism
• Cultural gender norms

Question 11

What is conception?

Answer 11

Sperm and egg unite to bring genetic material together and form one organism: the zygote (fertilized cell).

Question 12

What is an embryo?

Answer 12

The Embyro, 2 to 8 weeks:

• This stage begins with the multicellular cluster that implants in the uterine wall.
• Milestone of the implantation stage: differentiated cells develop into organs and bones

Question 13

What is a fetus?

Answer 13

At nine weeks (about 2 months), hands and face have developed; the embryo is now called a fetus (“offspring”). At four months, many more features develop. Milestone of the fetal stage: by six months, the fetus might be able to survive outside the womb.

Question 14

What are teratogens?

Answer 14

Teratogens (“monster makers”) are substances such as viruses and chemicals that can damage the developing embryo or fetus (Heroin, AIDS, Smoking).

Question 15

What is fetal alcohol syndrome?

Answer 15

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) refers to cognitive, behavioral, and body/brain structure abnormalities caused by exposure to alcohol in the fetal stage. FAS is the leading cause of mental abnormalities.

Question 16

What is the reflexes that (competent) newborns are born with?

Answer 16

Rooting reflex: when touched on the cheek, infants turn toward touch, open mouth, and search for the nipple

Sucking reflex: infants can suck, breathe air, and swallow twice in one second

Crying reflex: important signals for parents to provide nourishment and attention

Question 17

What is habituation?

Answer 17

A simple form of infant learning in which responsiveness decreases with repeated stimulation to a visual stimulus. For instance, when infants are repeatedly exposed to a visual or auditory stimulus, such as colors, shapes, and sounds, the stimulus becomes familiar, they lose interest, and they begin to look away sooner.

Question 18

What is the sequence of motor development?

Answer 18

Roll-Sit-Crawl-Walk-Run

6mts - Sitting unsupported
8-9mts - Crawling
12mts - Beginning to walk
15mts - Walking independently

Question 19

What are schemas?

Answer 19

Mental molds or conceptual frameworks for understanding our experiences. Example: Our schema for a chair is a four-legged object usually with a back that we can sit in.

Question 20

What is assimilation (in psychology)?

Answer 20

The process of incorporating new experiences into our current understanding (schema). Example: An infant constructs a schema for a dog as a four-legged animal. The infant assimilates her new experiences with other four-legged animals and calls all four-legged animals “doggies”.

Question 21

What is accommodation?

Answer 21

The process of adjusting or adapting a schema and modifying it. Example: The infant then learns from experience that her original schema for “dog” was too broad and she accommodates the category for dogs by distinguishing between the heads of four-legged animals.

Question 22

What are Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?

Answer 22

Sensorimotor - Birth to nearly 2 yrs
Preoperational - 2 to about 6 or 7 yrs
Concrete operational - About 7 to 11 yrs
Formal operational - About 12 through adulthood

Question 23

What is the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development?

Answer 23

Sensorimotor Stage: (birth - 2) children experience the world through their senses and actions

a. Object permanence- (8 mo.) when an object is out of sight, it still exists
b. Stranger anxiety- (8 mo.) fear of strangers

Question 24

What is the preoperational stage of cognitive development?

Answer 24

Preoperational Stage: (age 2 - 6) children use words and pretend play, as well as intuitive reasoning rather than logical reasoning to understand the world

a. No concept of conservation- properties (mass, volume, etc.) stay the same despite changes in the form of the object
b. Exhibit Egocentrism- children perceive things from one’s own and not another’s point of view
c. Begin to develop Theory of Mind- inferring one’s or others’ mental states (feelings, perceptions, thoughts)

Question 25

What is Autism?

Answer 25

Autism is a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by difficulties in communication, social interaction, and understanding others’ and their own states of mind.

Question 26

What is Asperger’s Syndrome?

Answer 26

Asperger’s Syndrome is a “high functioning” form of autism, which is characterized by normal intelligence, often accompanied by an exceptional skill/talent in a particular area, as and difficulties in social and communication skills.

Question 27

What is the concrete operational stage of cognitive development?

Answer 27

Concrete Operational Stage: (age 7 – 11) children in this stage can use logical reasoning, perform mental operations, take others’ perspectives, and understand…

a. Conservation
b. Mathematical computations (basic)

Question 28

What is the formal operational stage of cognitive development?

Answer 28

Formal Operational Stage: (age 12 – adulthood) children use abstract reasoning (symbols and imagined realities), logic, and show potential for moral reasoning.

Question 29

What is insecure attachment?

Answer 29

When placed in a strange situation (where moms and strangers enter and leave the room), 30% of children express insecure attachment (anxious). These children cling to their mothers or caregivers, are less likely to explore the environment, and cry loudly when their mothers leave. Another 10% of children show insecure attachment (avoidant). These children seem indifferent to their mother’s departure and return.

Question 30

What is secure attachment?

Answer 30

When placed in a strange situation (where moms and strangers enter and leave the room), 60% of children express secure attachment. This means that they explore their environment happily in the presence of their mothers. When their mother leaves, they show a normal level of distress.

Question 31

What happens when children struggle with attachment deprivation?

Answer 31

If parental or caregiving support is deprived for an extended period of time, children are at risk for physical, psychological, and social problems, including alterations in brain serotonin levels.

However, some children are tremendously resilient (able to bounce back) in the face of adverse conditions. If placed in a more positive and stable environment, infants can recover from the distress of separation.

Question 32

When does self-concept or self-identity emerge?

Answer 32

6 months

Question 33

What are the three parenting styles?

Answer 33

Authoritarian “too hard”, Permissive “too soft”, Authoritative “just right”

Question 34

How does the frontal cortex change during adolescence?

Answer 34

During adolescence, neurons in the frontal cortex grow myelin, which speeds up nerve conduction. The frontal cortex lags behind the limbic system’s development. Hormonal surges and development of the limbic system may explain occasional teen impulsiveness.

Question 35

What are Kohlberg’s stages of moral thinking?

Answer 35

Preconventional Morality: Before age 9, children show morality to avoid punishment or gain reward.

Conventional Morality: By early adolescence, social rules and laws are upheld for their own sake.

Postconventional Morality: Affirms people’s agreed-upon rights or follows personally perceived ethical principles. (Not everyone attains this final stage, especially in non-Western communal societies.)

Question 36

What are Erik Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development?

Answer 36

Trust vs. Mistrust - Infancy (Monsters Inc)
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt - Toddlerhood (Nemo)
Initiative vs. Guilt - Preschooler (Lion King)
Competence vs. Inferiority - Elementary school (Inside Out)
Identity vs. Role Confusion - Adolescence (Moana)
Intimacy vs. Isolation - Young Adulthood (Frozen)
Generativity vs. Stagnation - Middle Adulthood (Aladdin)
Integrity vs. Despair - Late Adulthood (Up)

Question 37

How does the brain change with age?

Answer 37

• Myelin-enhanced neural processing speed peaks in the teen years, and declines thereafter.
• Regions of the brain related to memory begin to shrink with age, making it harder to form new memories.
• The frontal lobes atrophy, leading eventually to decreased inhibition and self-control.
• By age 80, a healthy brain is 5 percent lighter than a brain in middle adulthood.

Question 38

What is Dementia?

Answer 38

Dementia: the progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the body beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Some symptoms of dementia include loss of higher mental functions (including memory, attention, language, problem-solving, etc.) and disorientation.

**Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia where neurons that produce acetylcholine deteriorate and the brain shrinks in size. Risk for this disease, which is a gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning, increases with age.

Question 39

What biopsychosocial factors affect aging?

Answer 39

Biological Influences:

• No genes predisposing dementia or other diseases
• Appropriate nutrition

Psychological Influences:

• Optimistic outlook
• Physically and mentally active life style

Social-cultural Influences:

• Support from family and friends
• Meaningful activities
• Cultural respect for aging
• Safe living conditions

Question 40

What is the Kubler-Ross model for grieving?

Answer 40

1. Denial
2. Rage and Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance