Human Growth and Development CLEP prep (Modern States)

Learning methods

positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment

Social cognitive development

development by observing and imitating

Psychodynamic development

- development by unconscious urges

- emphasizes impact and guidance of unconscious mind

- childhood experiences (forgotten)

- innate motives and urges triggered at certain ages

independent variable

what gets manipulated

dependent variable

what gets measured for change

+1 correlation

perfect positive correlation

0 correlation

no correlation

-1 correlation

perfect negative correlation

monozygotic twins

identical twins

dizygotic twins

fraternal twins

observational studies

- observing ow people behave under certain situations

- note behaviors or traits in a group

- group might be sample of larger population

ex: verbal behaviors of children playing unsupervised

cross-sectional studies

- "snapshot"

- collect data on group @ one point in time

longitudinal studies

- multiple "snapshots" over a period of time then throw them together to see what you've learned

- study cohort (same age group) through time

cross-sequential studies

- combining longitudinal and cross-sectional

- ex: interview cohorts born in 1990, 2000, and 2010 at intervals of 5 years

case study studies

- observe one individual or group

- subject has unusual traits or in an unusual circumstance

- reported as a narrative with analysis supported by a theory rather than a statistical narrative

Two ways to study human development

- #1 study by attribute/domain: physical, cognitive, social (study three different groups for each but base on attribute instead of age)

- #2 study by age/stage: infant, toddler, young child (study three different age groups but base on age instead of attribute)

genetic code found on

chromosome pairs

sex-determining chromosome pair

xx=female

xy=male

sperm determines

sex

x chromes has

female traits

Y chromosome has

male traits

on other chromosome pairs, traits are determined by

dominant gene

allosomal

on sex chromosome

autosomal

on all other chromosomes

amniocentesis

process to fine genetic anomalies on chromosomes

- during weeks 14-16 of pregnancy

- amniotic fluid drawn to analyze genetic codes on chromosomes

- test can determine range of genetic flaws and known abnormalities (ex: down syndrome)

prenatal stages

- zygote

- blastocyst

- embryo

- spinal cord and brain emerge weeks 4-5

- neurons migrate to specific brain areas

zygote

single cell

blastocyst

cell cluster

embryo

differentiated endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm (weeks 3-12)- 3 layers developing

hormones

chemicals that trigger body reactions

hormones in pregnancy

- in the brain of pregnant woman, hormones get released and influence something about pregnancy (surrounding infant, fetus, directly or indirectly)

- preparation of womb

- sex determination

- preparation of mother's milk

- whatever is being released into the bloodstream of the mother will get in bloodstream of developing child

prenatal influences

- environmental

- infested/injected

- mother's health

- emotional/attitudinal

teratogens

negative influences from the environment

examples of teratogens

- environmental toxins (pollutants in air, water)

- consumed substances (alcohol, nicotine)

- diseases (rubella, HIV)

- embryonic stage most vulnerable to teratogens because women may not know of pregnancy

teratogen effects

- death, malformation, growth retardation, or functional defect

- effects influenced by (timing of exposure, amount of exposure, genetics- some genetic makeups can withstand teratogens better than others, males more susceptible to teratogens than females

pregnancy and drugs

- prescribed: may give more benefit than risk

- alcohol: fetal alcohol syndrome

- nicotine: low birth weight, preterm delivery, sudden infant death

- cocaine: low birth weight, still birth, spontaneous abortion

- marijuana (heavy use): brain damage

- heroin: addiction passed to child

extra nutrients for pregnant moms

- mom's need extra nutrients for mother's tissue and to avoid low birth weight

- folic acid, iodine for neural support

- vitamin D for bones

- increased iron for blood

perinatal

from 6th month of pregnancy to first week after birth

newborn reflexes

- moro: when the infant is startled

- walking reflex

- rooting (turn to stroke)

- palmer (grasp)

- plantar (child's ankle flex down)

- babinski (flex up)

proximodistal development

gross and close (leg/arm) develops first and fine/far (toes/fingers) develop later

movements during first year

scooting, standing, crawling, hand/mouth manipulating

developments at first year mark

walk and first words

physical growth and maturation: first two years

- rapid growth and weight gain

- change in body proportion (body starts "catching up" with head size

failure to thrive

if a child is not growing and gaining weight rapidly with good nutrition

physical growth and maturation: early childhood

- control of large motor movements (walk, run, hop)

- start controlling small motor (drawing)

physical growth and maturation: middle childhood

- gain muscle strength

- large/small motor mastery (draw more precisely)

physical growth and maturation: adolescence and young adulthood

- gain to full height

- muscle maturity -> peak

- sexual maturity -> peak

physical growth and maturation: middle adulthood

- weight gain

- joint deterioration

- presbyopia

- hearing loss

- sexual changes

- menopause in women (hormonal)

- andropause in men (hormonal)

presbyopia

lens hardening -> near-sighted

physical growth and maturation: late adulthood

- primary aging

- graying/thinning hair

- thinning of skin

- loss of height

- muscle loss

- secondary aging

- arthritis

- diabetes

- hypertension

menarche

first mensuration

female sexual development

estrogen and progesterone -> develop ovaries, uterus, vagina

male sexual development

testosterone-> enlarged penis/testicles

female secondary sex features

breasts and hips

male secondary sex features

Adam's apple, voice change, facial hair

male and female secondary sex features

pubic/underarm hair, change in sweat glands

infants perceive with

hands, mouth, eyes, and ears

intermodal perception

perception of things through different senses (info from mouth/hands recognizes by eyes

by babies, objects are not recognized as unified (one object) until:

parts are seen as moving together

"visual cliff" experiment

- apparent but not actual drop from one surface to another

- created to test depth perception

- babies refused to cross the "cliff" even if they patted the glass

- proves depth perception

object permanence

- occurs after 8 months

- describes a child's ability to know that objects continue to exist even though they can no longer be seen or heard

sensitive period

time when certain experiences are ideal for development (related to sensory deprivation)

2 sources of sensory malnutrition

- visual/auditory problems

- lack of tactile sensation

HARLOW's surrogate mother experiment

- monkey infants taken away from their mothers and given non-living dolls as mothers to see how monkeys were impacted by not having touching, closeness from mother

- monkey infants ended up being socially maladjusted and depressed, unable to make friends with other monkeys

Eastern European infant orphanages in the 1990's

- untouched infants that did not get attention

- grew up with social and mental deficits

habituation

- self program our brains to ignore certain events or stimuli

- helps us cope in the setting we are in

- makes us adaptable in new setting

sensory novelty

when there is stimuli that we are not used to

sensory acuity

- visual perception is at its best @8-18 years

- auditory perception is at its best @10-15 years

- acuity declines after that

- training and/or necessity can enhance acuity

PIAGET's cognitive development theory

- stages/ages with distinct thinking traits

- should show up in all cultures

first model:

- schema=concept of category of info

- disequilibrium=new facts dont match schema

- adaptation (reorganize)

- accomodate (modify)

- assimilate (incorporate)

--> new equilibrium

Piagets cognitive developmental theory: sensorimotor stage

- (0-2)

- senses and manipulation

- focus and intention

- object permanence

- imitation

- "random" explorations ad experimentation

Piagets cognitive developmental theory: preoperational stage

- (2-7)

- centration

- egocentric point of view

- can only see things from their perspective

- dont realize that other people see things from a different point of view

- animism

-"play" as primary learning mode

- language acquisition

- also time of mastering gender identity/stability

centration (Piaget)

can filter only one attribute out of many (so not able to understand conservation of quantity and reversable operations)

Piagets cognitive developmental theory: concrete operational stage

- (7-11)

- mastery of previous challenges

- less egocentric

- logical reasoning

- classification by attribute

-seriation (sequencing)

Piagets cognitive developmental theory: formal operations stage

- (11-)

- abstract reasoning

- literary symbols

- ideological implications

- quantitative concepts (higher math/geometry)

- hypothetical reasoning

- generate hypothesis

VYGOTSKY's sociocultural theory

- vygotsky: social learning

- internalization

- observation and imitation

- scaffolded learning

- parent/sibling/teacher assesses zone of proximal development

- "teacher" sets up mediated learning experiences

- sets environment to fill in gap

internalization

soaking up environment (learning) through interaction with others

zone of proximal development

gap in skills or knowledge

Play: child's work

- fits PIAGET and VYGOTSKY

- stages of play:

- solitary- alone

- parallel play- two children engage in the same activity but not playing together

- cooperative play- playing together

- types of play:

- constructive- build something

- symbolic/pretend- imitate

executive function

all brain processes that affect learning/behavior

early childhood executive function

- (2-5)

- inhibitory control (block impulses)

- working (temporary) memory

middle childhood executive function

- (6-12)

- verbal working memory (rehearse something in mind long enough for it to become a memory

- ability to plan/organize

- cognitive flexibility (flexibility to rearrange thinking)