unit 9 Flashcards
developmental psychology
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social
zygote
the fertilized egg; it 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 second month
fetus
the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
teratogens
literally, “monster maker”) agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
fetal alcohol syndrome
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.
habituation
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner. For example, a new sound in your environment, such as a new ringtone, may initially draw your attention or even be distracting. Over time, as you become accustomed to this sound, you pay less attention to it and your response will diminish.
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. For example, your schema for your friend might include information about her appearance, her behaviors, her personality, and her preferences. Social schemas include general knowledge about how people behave in certain social situations.
assimilation
interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas. When a child learns the word for dog, they start to call all four-legged animals dogs
accommodation
adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information. When the child encounters a horse, they might assimilate this information and immediately call the animal a dog. The process of accommodation then allows the child to adapt the existing schema to incorporate the knowledge that some four-legged animals are horses
sensorimotor stage
in Piaget’s theory, 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. .During this stage, the child would experience the world through its actions and senses, which included: grasping, touching, looking, and the like.
object permanence
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
preoperational stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 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.
conservation
the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.
egocentrism
in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view. For example, if someone breaks the child’s toy, the child would not forgive the other and the child would not be able to understand that the person who broke the toy did not intend to break it.
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.
autism spectrum disorder
disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.
concrete operational stage
in Piaget’s theory, 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. A child who is in the concrete operational stage will understand that both candy bars are still the same amount, whereas a younger child will believe that the candy bar that has more pieces is larger than the one with only two pieces.
formal operational stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.The formal operational stage is characterized by the ability to formulate hypotheses and systematically test them to arrive at an answer to a problem
stranger anxiety
the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by 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 early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
imprinting
the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during an early-life critical period.
temperament
a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.
basic trust
according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.
self-concept
all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?
gender
the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female.
aggression
any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.
gender role
a set of expected behaviors for males or for females
role
a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.
gender identity
our sense of being male or female
social learning theory
the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished. In the Bobo doll experiment, children who observed an adult acting aggressively towards a blow up “Bobo doll” toy would emulate and mimic that behavior
gender typing
the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role. For example, a male child may attribute himself to the male gender by growing up and wanting to be the stereotypical man. Because of society, the child may play with trucks and avoid societally dictated “girly” toys when growing up.
transgender
an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex
adolescence
the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
identity
our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.
social identity
the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships
intimacy
in Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood
emerging adulthood
for some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood
X chromosome
the sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two X chromosomes; males have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.
Y chromosome
the sex chromosome found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.
testosterone
the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty
puberty
the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
primary sex characteristics
the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
secondary sex characteristices
nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.
menarche
the first menstrual period
AIDS
a life-threatening, sexually transmitted infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS depletes the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infections
sexual orientation
an enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one’s own sex (homosexual orientation), the other sex (heterosexual orientation), or both sexes (bisexual orientation).
menopause
the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
cross-sectional study
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
jean piaget
Piaget is known for his stages of cognitive development. These stages include: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Piaget studied the intellectual development of his own three children and created a theory that described the stages that children pass through in the development of intelligence and formal thought processes.
lev vygotsky
Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky saw cognitive development as much more fluid. Instead of occurring naturally and in fixed stages, Vygotsky theorized that cognitive development occurred gradually and is furthered by language and social interaction.
konrad lorzenz
researcher who focused on critical attachment periods in baby birds, a concept he called imprinting
harry harlow
Field: development; Contributions: realized that touch is preferred in development; Studies: Rhesus monkeys, studied attachment of infant monkeys (wire mothers v. cloth mothers)
Margaret Harlow
Who conducted the Harlow monkey experiment, Harlow removed young monkeys from their natural mothers a few hours after birth and left them to be “raised” by these mother surrogates. The experiment demonstrated that the baby monkeys spent significantly more time with their cloth mother than with their wire mother.
mary ainsworth
Ainsworth’s maternal sensitivity hypothesis argues that a child’s attachment style is dependent on the behavior their mother shows towards them. ‘Sensitive’ mothers are responsive to the child’s needs and respond to their moods and feelings correctly. After the study, Ainsworth scored each of the responses and grouped them into four interaction behaviours: closeness and contact seeking, maintaining contact, avoidance of closeness and contact, resistance to contact and proximity.
diana baumrind
Diana Baumrind identified 4 main styles of parenting: authoritarian, authoritative, uninvolved and permissive. Baumrind theorized that children’s behavior can be attributed to the specific parenting style they experienced in their homes. She developed was she called the Pillar Theory to describe the important aspects of parenting that shape the way they interact with their children.
carol gilligan
Gilligan argued that girls exhibit distinct patterns of moral development based on relationships and on feelings of care and responsibility for others. Her work soon inspired and informed a feminist-oriented movement in philosophical ethics known as the ethics of care.
albert bandura
creator of the social learning theory. This theory states that people can learn simply by observing others in a social context. His most famous social learning experiment was the Bobo Doll experiment.
Lawrence Kohlberg
arguably the most influential psychologist in the field of moral development, particularly in children. He posits that humans can fall into three different stages of morality: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional morality.
erik erikson
Erik Erikson developed the idea behind identity vs. role confusion, which comes from his theory of psychosocial development. Erikson’s theory proposed eight stages: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, competence vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair.
sigmund freud
founded the idea of psychoanalysis, which has evolved into the psychoanalytical/psychodynamic perspective. He believed that unconscious thoughts or motivations of an individual would directly correlate with the way they behaved in their conscious actions
