Developmental Psychology, Developmental psychology

developmental psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

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.

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.

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.

preoperational stage

in Piaget's theory, 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.

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.

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.

formal operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normal beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.

imprinting

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.

temperament

a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

identity v. role confusion

teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become lost in their perception of self

pre-conventional stage of morality

"I hope I'm doing this right. I don't want to disappoint my teacher"

conventional stage of morality

"I just want to get through this speech without having anyone ask me questions."

post-conventional stage of morality

"My new approach to distributing food could end world hunger."

Lawrence Kohlberg

moral development; presented boys moral dilemmas and studied their responses and reasoning processes in making moral decisions. Most famous moral dilemma is "Heinz" who has an ill wife and cannot afford the medication. Should he steal the medication and why?

Jean Piaget

1896-1980; Field: cognition; Contributions: created a 4-stage theory of cognitive development, said that two basic processes work in tandem to achieve cognitive growth (assimilation and accommodation)

identity crisis

distress and disorientation (especially in adolescence) resulting from conflicting pressures and uncertainty about and one's self and one's role in society

Diane Baumrind

Found that parents who use consistent parenting styles are most likely to have children who have the best social skills in elementary school.

Harry Harlow

1905-1981; Field: development; Contributions: realized that touch is preferred in development; Studies: Rhesus monkeys, studied attachment of infant monkeys (wire mothers v. cloth mothers)

secure attachment

Infants use the mother as a home base from which to explore when all is well, but seek physical comfort and consolation from her if frightened or threatened

insecure attachment

Infants are wary of exploring the environment and resist or avoid the mother when she attempts to offer comfort or consolation

babbling

alternating vowel and consonant sounds that babies repeat with variations of intonation and pitch
precede first words

telegraphic speech

1st stage of combining words
pares down to essential words

Strange Situation

a behavioral test developed by Mary Ainsworth that is used to determine a child's attachment style

conservation tasks

Piaget
changing the shape of a substance to see if the child can go beyond the way the substance visually appears to understand that the amount is still the same

authoritative parents

parenting style
best
high nurturing and discipline
love
clear family rules

authoritarian parents

parenting style
parents provide plenty of rules but rank low on child-centeredness
stress unquestionable obedience

neglecting parents

parenting style
worst
parents provide little discipline
little nurturing or love

growth spurt

dramatic increase in height and weight that occurs during puberty

anorexia nervosa

life-threatening eating disorder
pathological dieting (severe weight loss)
distorted body image

bulimia nervosa

eating disorder
at least biweekly cycles of binging and purging
obsessive attempt to lose weight

clique

small peer group (6 people)
similar attitudes and activities

crowd

relatively large teenage peer group

identity statuses

Marcia's 4 categories of identity formation: diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement

identity diffusion

status where person feels aimless or totally blocked, no adult path

identity foreclosure

decides adult life path without any thought or active search

identity moratorium

identity status
person actively searches various possibilities to find a truly solid adult life path
mature style of constructing an identity

identity achievement

decides adult life path after searching out various options

crystallized intelligence

basic facet of intelligence
knowledge base
storehouse of accumulated information

ego integrity

Erikson: 8th stage
elderly persons decide that their life missions have been fulfilled and therefore accept impending death

age discrimination

illegally laying off workers or failing to hire or promote them on the basis of age

dementia

general term for any illness that produces serious, progressive, usually irreversible cognitive decline

Alzheimer's disease

age-related dementia characterized by neural atrophy and abnormal by-products of that atrophy (senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles)

Ivan Pavlov

discovered classical conditioning; trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell

classical conditioning

a type of automatic learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.

conditioned stimulus (CS)

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.

B.F. Skinner

Behaviorist that developed the theory of operant conditioning by training pigeons and rats

positive punishment

The application of an aversive stimulus after a behavior to stop that behavior

negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

primary reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need