Development Test

Cross-sectional studies vs. longitudinal studies

Cross sectional studies is research that compares people of different ages at the same point while longitudinal studies follows and retests the same people over time

Major debates: nature vs. nurture, stability vs. change, continuity vs. stages

Its a mix of nature and nuturture. Humans go through stages but it can be very difficult to actually idenitfy them. Life requires both stability and change stability provides our idenity and change gives us hope for a brigter future.

maturation

The process of physical growth and psychological development that occurs over time, influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

temperament

The characteristic way in which an individual responds to the environment, often evident in early childhood and shaped by both genetic and environmental influences.

zygote, embryo, fetus

The stages of prenatal development, where a zygote is formed after fertilization, which then develops into an embryo and eventually becomes a fetus before birth.

zygote: fertilized egg

Embroyo: time between zygote and fetus

Fetus: post 9 weeks

teratogens and fetal alcohol syndrome

Teratogens: agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development this is why pregnant women should not drink

fetal alcohol syndrome: a condition resulting from alcohol exposure during pregnancy, leading to physical, behavioral, and learning problems. Alcohol has epigenetic effects it leaves chemical marks on DNA that swithc genes abnormallyu on or off

infant reflexes - rooting, sucking, grasping, swallowing, startle (Moro) and Babinsky( foot)

Definition: Infant reflexes are instinctual movements that newborns exhibit in response to specific stimuli, which are essential for their survival and development. These include the rooting reflex that helps them find food, the sucking reflex for feeding, and the grasping reflex which allows them to hold onto objects. these things babies are born being able to do

habituation

when your brain learns to ignore something after seeing or experiencing it enough times — like how you stop noticing background noise after a while.

sequence of gross motor development – universal (but not ages)

babies grasp before they build towers of small blocks, they roll over beofre they sit unsupported . in the US 25% of all babies walk by 11 months, 50% by their first bday, and 90% by 15 months.

infant memory – age 3.5 hippocampus is ready

Infants have basic implicit memory from birth, but true explicit (conscious) memory doesn't develop until around age 3.5 when the hippocampus becomes mature enough to store and retrieve specific experiences — which is why most people have no memories from early childhood, a phenomenon known as infantile amnesia

infantile amnesia

is the inability to recall memories from early childhood, because the hippocampus isn't fully developed yet to store explicit memories.

Age 3-6 frontal lobe development, 6-12 pruning, teens frontal lobe again

The frontal lobe develops rapidly between ages 3–6 (explaining why young children struggle with impulse control and planning), slows during ages 6–12 as the brain prunes unused neural connections to become more efficient, then undergoes another major growth surge in adolescence — which is why teens can still be impulsive and poor decision-makers despite seeming mature.

Adolescence

the years spent morphing from child to adult starts with sexual maturity

Puberty

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

Experience and brain development

During teenage years, experiences actively shape brain development because the brain is still highly plastic — meaning the neural connections you use get strengthened while unused ones get pruned, so the environments, relationships, and choices a teen is exposed to literally wire their brain for adulthood.

Pruning

the process by which unused neural connections are eliminated

Influence of parents and peers

Parents and peers significantly impact a teen's decision-making, self-esteem, and social behavior during development, shaping their identity and experiences.

menopause - estrogen decline

Menopause refers to the time in a woman's life when menstrual cycles cease, typically resulting from a decline in estrogen levels. This hormonal change can lead to various physical and emotional symptoms.

weakening immune system

a gradual reduction in the body's ability to defend against infections and diseases. as u grow older

Diminished sensory abilities

refers to a decline in the function of the senses, such as vision, hearing, taste, and smell, which often occurs with aging or certain medical conditions.

schema - assimilation and accommodation

Piaget proposed that people could build schemas a concept or framework that organizes and interprets inforrmation adn they could assimilate new experiences into terms of existing schemas or accomadte by adpating their current understanding of them

*sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operation

Sensorimotor: from 0-2. live life in the present so out of sight is out of mind they lack object permanence.

preoperational stage: until about 6-7. able to represent things with words or images but to young to perfrom mental operations like imagining an actio. They think a taller glass of milk has more milk then a wider glass because it goes higher. Lack concept of conservation

Concrete Operational stage: by about age 7 they begin to grasp more complex operations such as spatial and mathematical relationships.

Formal operational stage: by about age 12. Abstract logic and potenial for mature moral reasoning.

object permanence, animism, egocentrism, irreversibility, centration, theory of mind,conservation, pretend/parallel play

Object permanence — understanding that things still exist even when you can't see them.

Animism — believing that inanimate objects (like toys or the sun) are alive and have feelings.

Egocentrism — being unable to see the world from anyone's perspective but your own.

Irreversibility — not understanding that actions can be undone or reversed.

Centration — only being able to focus on one feature of something at a time.

Theory of mind — understanding that other people have thoughts, feelings, and perspectives different from your own.

Conservation — understanding that quantity stays the same even when the shape or appearance changes.

Pretend/Parallel play — pretend play is using imagination in play, while parallel play is playing next to other children without actually playing with them.

Lev Vygotsky - "zone of proximal development" - need for social interaction/mentors to

is the gap between what a child can do alone and what they can do with help — Vygotsky argued that learning happens best in that gap, when a more skilled person (parent, teacher, peer) guides them just beyond their current ability. training wheels

Theory of mind and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Children with ASD often struggle to develop theory of mind, making it difficult to understand that others have different thoughts, feelings, and perspectives — which helps explain challenges with social interaction and communication.

Cognitive development in adolescence: reasoning and morality

During adolescence, the developing frontal lobe enables abstract reasoning — teens can think hypothetically and about big ideas like justice and ethics — which is why moral thinking also deepens, shifting from just following rules to questioning whether rules are actually fair.

neurocognitive disorder (dementia) and Alzheimer's Disease (acetylcholine)

Neurocognitive disorders involve a decline in cognitive function, affecting memory, thinking, and social abilities. Alzheimer's Disease, a common type of neurocognitive disorder, is characterized by the loss of cholinergic neurons, impacting the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Recognition skills better than recall

Refers to the ability to identify previously encountered information or stimuli more easily than the ability to retrieve it from memory without cues. This indicates a distinction in memory processes, where recognition involves cues, while recall requires direct retrieval.

Crystallized intelligence vs Fluid intelligence in the elderly

Fluid intelligence (thinking quickly and solving new problems) declines with age, while crystallized intelligence (accumulated knowledge and wisdom from experience) actually continues to grow — which is why elderly people may think slower but often make wiser decisions.

Phonemes/ morphemes

Phonemes: the smallest distinctive sound units in a language in english th, a, t.Morphemes are the smallest language units that carry meaning s,er

Grammar – syntax and semantics

Grammar:b is a set of rules that enables people to communicate. The help us desrive meaning from sounds(semantics) and in ordering words(syntax)

Stages – babbling, one-word stage, two-word stage (telegraphic) , phrases

Stages of language development are sequential phases in which infants progress from making simple sounds (babbling) to forming single words, then combining two words (telegraphic speech), and finally constructing more complex phrases. 4 months to babble, 10months to say Mama, 12 months to say one word like kitty, 24 months to say things like “get ball” 24+ to create complete sentences

Nurture (Skinner)– learning by imitation and reinforcement

argued language is learned through imitation and reinforcement — children repeat what they hear and are rewarded for correct speech.

Nature (Chomsky) –“ inborn universal grammar” –structure in the left brain

argued we are born with a built-in "language acquisition device" — a natural brain structure that makes learning language instinctive, which explains why children worldwide pick up grammar naturally without being explicitly taught.

Critical Period for language? - EVIDENCE seen in feral children who do not acquire language

The critical period for language is early childhood, when the brain is most receptive to acquiring language — and feral children (those raised without human interaction) provide tragic evidence for this, as they are almost never able to fully develop language if they miss this window, no matter how much instruction they receive later.

Deafness and language development

Deaf children who are exposed to sign language early follow the same developmental milestones as hearing children, proving that language acquisition is about brain development rather than sound — but deaf children without early exposure suffer the same lasting deficits as feral children, reinforcing the critical period.

Benjamin Whorf- “linguistic determinism”

argued that the language you speak shapes and limits how you think — for example, if your language has no word for a concept, it's harder to think about it.

Linguistic relativism

is the softer version, suggesting language doesn't fully determine thought but does influence how we perceive and categorize the world.

Positive effects of mental imaging and rehearsal

Mentally visualizing and rehearsing a skill or performance — like an athlete imagining a perfect race — activates many of the same neural pathways as actually doing it, which strengthens those connections and improves real-world performance.

Ecological systems theory

A person is shaped by everything around them — their family, school, culture, and society all influence who they become, like layers of an onion surrounding them.

Stranger anxiety

The fear of strangers that infants comonly display beginning around age 8

Attachment

an emotional tie with others; shwon in young children by their seeking closeness to caregivers and distress during seperation

Imprinting (Lorenz) (critical period)

Baby animals (and humans) are hardwired to instantly bond with whoever/whatever they first see or experience right after birth — and this has to happen within a specific time window, or the bonding won't develop properly.

Harlow's monkey studies on touch/attachments / Results of touch deprivation in monkeys

Harlow gave baby monkeys two "mothers" — a wire one that had food, and a soft cloth one that had nothing. The babies always ran to the cloth mother for comfort, proving that love and touch matter more than just being fed.

Mary Ainsworth - "strange situation" studies on parenting and secure vs insecure attachments

Ainsworth put toddlers in a room with their mom, then had the mom briefly leave and return, watching how the child reacted.

• Secure — upset when mom leaves, happy when she returns ✅

• Anxious/Ambivalent — extremely upset, hard to comfort even when mom returns 😟

• Avoidant — acts unbothered by both the leaving and returning, emotionally detached 😐

The takeaway: how parents respond to their kids shapes how kids learn to trust and form relationships.

Temperament

Basically, the personality you're born with — some babies are naturally chill and easy-going, others are fussy and sensitive, and some are shy and slow to warm up. It's your inborn emotional style that you carry throughout life.

Self-concept

Simply how you see yourself — your beliefs, traits, and ideas about who you are as a person. ("I'm funny, I'm bad at math, I'm a good friend.")

Diana Baumrind ‘s Parenting styles – authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, neglectful– styles & outcomes

Authoritarian: parents who are strict have strict demands on their children keep your room clean, dont talk back,etc. Usually leads to children with less social skills and self-esteem and a brain that overreacts when they make mistakes

Permissive Parents: are unrestraining they make few demands set few limits and are chill. Usually leads to children who are more agressive and immature

Neglectful parents: parents who are not strict or responsive they don’t want any role in thier childs life. Usually leads to children with poor academics and social outcomes\

Authoritative parents: they are both demanding and responsive. Set rules but are open to discussion and allow exception. usually leads to kids with the high self-esteem, self-reliance, self-regulation, and helpfulness

Correlatioon does NOT equal Causation

Culture and child raising

Different cultures have different ideas about the "right" way to raise kids — for example, Western cultures tend to push independence, while many Eastern cultures emphasize family and group harmony.

Identity

Our sense of self according to Erikson the adolescents task is to solidfy a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

Social Identity

The part of an individual's self-concept derived from their group memberships, such as nationality, ethnicity, or social affiliations. It influences behavior and interactions with others.

Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Personality Development

Stage	Age	Conflict	Healthy outcome
1	Infant	Trust vs. Mistrust	Can I trust the world?
2	Toddler	Autonomy vs. Shame	Can I do things myself?
3	Preschool	Initiative vs. Guilt	Is it okay to try new things?
4	School age	Industry vs. Inferiority	Am I capable?
5	Teen	Identity vs. Role Confusion	Who am I?
6	Young adult	Intimacy vs. Isolation	Can I love?
7	Middle age	Generativity vs. Stagnation	Am I contributing to the world?
8	Old age	Integrity vs. Despair	Was my life meaningful?

intimacy (Erikson’s definition)

The ability to form close, loving relationships with others, marked by a commitment to share personal feelings and experiences. primarily a developmental task in young adulthood

James Marcia's 4 Identity Stages - Foreclosure, Identity Diffuse, Moratorium, Achieved

Marcia expanded on Erikson's "Who am I?" stage and said there are 4 ways teens/young adults handle forming an identity, based on whether they've explored options and committed to them.

• Foreclosure — committed without exploring. Just adopted whatever their parents/culture handed them. ("I'll be a doctor because my dad is one.")

• Identity Diffusion — no exploration, no commitment. Just drifting with no real sense of self. ("I don't know and I don't really care.")

• Moratorium — actively exploring but haven't committed yet. In the middle of figuring it out. ("I'm trying different things to see what fits.")

• Achievement — explored AND committed. Arrived at their own identity through their own process. ("I figured out who I am and I own it.")

The healthy goal is to reach Achievement — but many people get stuck in the others.

Ecological Systems Theory: Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem,Chronosystem

• Microsystem — your immediate daily environment (family, friends, school)

• Mesosystem — how your microsystems connect (your parents talking to your teacher)

• Exosystem — things that affect you indirectly (your parent's workplace stress)

• Macrosystem — the big picture culture and society you live in (laws, cultural values)

• Chronosystem — how time and change affect you (divorce, growing up during a war)

Changing relationships with parents

As kids grow into teens, they naturally pull away from parents and lean more on peers for support and identity. The relationship shifts from dependence → independence, which is healthy and normal

Emerging adulthood

The in-between stage (roughly ages 18-25) where you're no longer a teenager but don't fully feel like an adult yet. You're exploring identity, career, and relationships without being fully settled — it's a modern phenomenon largely because education and financial independence take longer now than in previous generations.

Social clock

Society's unofficial timeline for when you "should" do things — graduate, get a job, get married, have kids, etc. People who feel "behind" this clock often experience stress and self-doubt, even though the timeline is culturally constructed and varies widely.

Social issues - divorce, empty nest syndrome, retirement, loss of mate

• Divorce — beyond the legal split, it's a major identity crisis. People lose their routine, role, and future plans all at once.

• Empty Nest Syndrome — when kids leave home and parents (especially moms traditionally) feel a sudden loss of purpose and identity.

• Retirement — losing your work identity can be jarring. Without structure and purpose, some people struggle deeply, others thrive.

• Loss of mate — often considered the most stressful life event possible. Especially hard for those whose entire daily life and identity was built around the relationship.

Kubler-Ross - Stages of Death and Dying

The 5 stages people go through when facing death (or any major loss):

• Denial — "This can't be happening."

• Anger — "Why me? This isn't fair."

• Bargaining — "I'll do anything to change this."

• Depression — "There's no hope."

• Acceptance — "I'm at peace with it."