psych unit 7 -- development

continuity development

gradual and continuous development of biological changes, not clear-cut

stage development

biological changes that occur separately into clear-cut stages

stable development

as we develop, do we remain the same at 4 as at 50? some things like temperament do remain stable, but others changes.

change development

development where aspects of yourself change over time, like social attitudes. learning from your environment can lead to change

zygote

first stage of prenatal development — the fertilized egg

embryo

after the zygote enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division, it enters this second stage of prenatal development and remains here for the first two months of pregnancy

fetus

third stage of prenatal development from 2 months to birth

teratogens

agents such as chemicals that can reach the embryo or fetus and cause harm, like alcohol or caffeine. leaves epigenetic markings

babinski reflex

projection of big toe and fanning of other toes when a baby’s foot sole is touched, disappears after time

maturation

biological growth processes enabling orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience. for example, you have to develop talking, walking, etc

infantile amnesia

our earliest memories rarely precede our 3rd birthday.

schema

concept/prototype that organized and interprets information. if activated before learning, it can help remember better

assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in the terms of our existing schemas, meaning we don’t yet have the knowledge to determine differences, since our existing schema doesn’t include the new experience — a child thinking a horse is a dog

accomodation

adapting our current understanding of schemas to incorporate new information after a new experience — a child learns some four legged animals are horses, some are dogs

Jean Piaget

developmental psychologist who studied children’s cognitive development. he believed in stages of development through interaction with your physical environment

Piaget’s stages

sensorimotor - 0-2, learning thru touch, senses, lacks object permanence

preoperational - 2-7, learning words by writing and talking, symbolism, and lacks conservation and develops theory of mind + loses egocentrism by the end

concrete operational - 6-11, kids gain the mental operations to think about logical events that are directly in front of them

formal operational - 12-on, people can think logically about abstract ideas

theory of mind

in piaget’s theory a preoperational child has difficulty taking another’s POV, resulting in egocentrism. this means these children lack theory of mind, or one’s ideas about their own mind and others. egocentric preschoolers begin developing a sense of other’s state of mind at the end of the preop stage.

lev vygotsky

he emphasized how a child’s mind grows through their interaction with the social environment, as opposed to piaget’s belief in physical environment

scaffold

in vygotsky’s development, he believed there are temporary places or stepping stones provided by parents that can be used by the child to step to higher levels of thinking. this often comes in the form of help that a mentor gives a child, similar to a sentence stem

zone of proximal development

in vygotsky’s development, the zone of actions that a child can do on their own and what they can only do with help, like riding a bike with training wheels - they can’t ride a bike by themselves but they can ride a tricycle with help.

ASD

autism spectrum disorder, characterized by problems with communication and social interactions. can result in prodigal children or savants, and many with this disorder will lack a theory of mind. often these characteristics appear in childhood

stranger anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display beginning by 8 months, which biologically helps form attachment to caregivers (survival instinct)

margaret and henry harlow

raised monkeys with artificial mothers, found that the mother with cloth and no food was preferred to the mother with bare wire and food, revealing that parent-infant connection comes primarily from touch and comfort.

secure base

important part of our development, a safe haven that babies need to develop, often is our mother.

critical period

an optimal period early in an organism’s life when exposure to certain stimulating experiences produce normal development — if you miss these, then you will have a hard time adapting and many children will never learn the skills they missed (what neurons you don’t use in adolescence, you lose)

imprinting

certain animals form strong attachments during early critical periods, associated with Konrad Lorenz

temperament

characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity that stays relatively similar from birth to death. some babies are more fussy, others calm, etc. stable development

mary ainsworth strange situation

in 1979, she found in this experiment that babies who display a secure attachment style when their mother is in the room will be playing, happy, and when their mother leaves they become distressed and seek contact. insecure attachment babies will cling to their mother while she’s in the room or not explore, then cry or act indifferent when she leaves. unresponsive caregiving will result in insecure attachment styles while responsive caregiving will result in secure attachment

lawrence kohlberg’s moral reasoning theory

preconventional, conventional, postconventional. carol gilligan worked with him + criticized that his study was limited to white male’s reasoning.

preconventional: before 9, child will obey rules to avoid punishment or gain rewards (self-interest)

conventional: in early adolescence, one will uphold laws to gain social approval

postconventional: from adolescence forwards, rules will be dictated by a person’s individual belief in basic rights and ethical values regardless of social standards

jonathan haidt + moral intuition

in a more recent study on morals, he found that morality is based in automatic gut feelings, showing us that our emotions regarding a situation may be more in control than our moral reasoning skills. he says the mind makes moral judgements automatically and sometimes we reason to override our initial impulse, like when sentencing a criminal our desire to punish wrongdoing may not be reasonable (belief that punishment will deter further crime) but defined by moral outrage at the situation.

also applies to good deeds, since when we see a good situation elevation can be triggered, where our emotions are affected and we feel more compassionate/warm overall.

self-concept

our thoughts and feelings about ourselves when asked “who am I?”

self esteem

how you feel about who you are; satisfied, unhappy

Diana Baumrind + parenting styles

authoritarian - impose rules, expect unquestioning obedience

permissive - submit to their children’s desires, making few demands and little punishment

authoritative - both demanding and responsive, setting rules and enforcing them while giving reasons for those rules. more likely to have a discussion with their kid about rules and allow exceptions (authoritat - give)

uninvolved - provide little to guidance for their children, uninterested

social learning

albert bandura’s study of the bobo doll found children will model what they see adults doing

gender

the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male/female gender differences.

definable differences - women are doubly likely to develop depression/anxiety and men are more likely to kill themselves. men are more physically aggressive and women are more verbally/relationally aggressive

gender roles

the cultural norms and expected behaviors that men and women have. women are usually more submissive socially while men are seen as more forceful and independent.

social learning theory

theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating adults as children and by being rewarded for fitting in but punished for being different. connects to modeling and observational learning and shows us how children learn gender roles

carol gilligan

she developed feminist theories regarding moral reasoning differences. she suggested that females are more interdependent (rely on other people) partly due to biology of oxytocin and mothering, and therefore are less concerned than men about viewing themselves as “separate” individuals and more concerned with social connection. she criticized kohlberg’s moral reasoning theory by including women’s moral development

gender identity

our sense of being male or female, which can be different than our sexual orientation.

gender typing

acquisition of traditional masculine/feminine roles by leaning into societal values as children. when children organize things into boy/girl things, like long hair = girl

mark rosenzweig + enrichment

he raised rats alone in an environment with no playthings or multiple rats with playthings and found that rats in the enriched environment developed a thicker cerebral cortex than those in the impoverished environment, revealing that nature and nuture develops synapses

howard gardner

he found that as we develop, we look towards peers to fit in and learn our accents, slang, culture from them by seeking out what we find interesting or for popularity. we look towards parents for education, responsibility, interacting with authority, and about our future

adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood extending from puberty to independence. it begins physically with sexual maturity and ends with adult independence. during this stage, unused neurons are lost, the frontal lobe is developing, and myelin sheath is increasing to enable better communication between brain regions

puberty

when we mature sexually following a surge of hormones that intensifies moods and brings physical changes

boy’s early maturation

more popular, self assured, but more likely to engage in risky behaviors

girl’s early maturation

difference between physical appearance and brain development/emotional maturity can lead to teasing or sexual harassment

erik erikson’s stages of psychosocial development

1. infancy: trust vs mistrust 0-1

2. toddlerhood: autonomy vs shame/doubt

3. preschool: initiative vs guilt

4. elementary: competence vs inferiority

5. adolescence: identity vs role confusion

6. young adult: intimacy vs isolation

7. middle adulthood: generativity vs stagnation

8. late adulthood: integrity vs despair

   *identity theory of adolescence: defined identity as our self concept and said through different stages and ages of life, our identity changes.

social identity

the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “who am I” that comes from group memberships and our sense of belonging within them

intimacy

erik erikson’s theory of the ability to form close, loving relationships, a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood that affects one’s psychosocial development

emerging adulthood

a period from late teens to mid twenties that has grown in span of years in today’s society due to later independence and earlier sexual maturity that is common. it lasts from 18-mid 20s and represents adults who haven’t yet assumed full adult responsibilities.