Psychology midterm exam

study guide

Life-span perspective definition:

The perspective that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual

Characteristics of life-span perspective:

• lifelong

• multidimensional

• multidirectional

• plastic

• multidisciplinary

• contextual

• involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss

• it is a co-construction of biological, sociocultural, and individual factors

Biological processes definition:

Changes in an individual’s physical nature

• science now allows for the study of an individuals genetic makeup

Cognitive processes definition

Changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence, and language

Socioemotional processes definiton:

Changes in an individual’s relationships, emotions, and personality

Developmental period refers to…

A time frame in a person’s life characterized by certain features

Periods of development: Prenatal period…

Conception to birth

Periods of development: Infancy…

Birth to 18 or 24 months

Periods of development: Toddler…

18 months to 3 years of age

Periods of development: Early childhood…

3 to 5 years of age

Periods of development: Middle and late childhood…

About 6 to 10 or 11 years old

Periods of development: Adolescence…

10 to 12 years old, to 18 to 21 years old

Periods of development: Emerging adulthood…

18 to 25 years of age

Periods of development: Early adulthood…

Early 20’s through 30’s

Periods of development: Middle adulthood…

40’s and 50’s

Periods of development: Late adulthood…

60’s or 70’, until death

Life-span developmentalists who focus on adult development and aging typically describe development in terms of four “ages”

• first age: childhood and adolescence’

• second age: prime adulthood, ages 20 to 59

• third age: approx. 60 to 79 years of age

• fourth age: approx. 80 years and older

Three developmental patterns of aging:

• Normal aging

• Pathological aging

• Successful aging

Normal aging:

Describes most individuals, with psychological functioning peaking early middle age

Pathological aging:

Describes individuals with above-average decline as they age, developing a condition leading to mild cognitive impairment or chronic disease that impairs daily functioning

Successful aging:

Describes individuals maintaining positive physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development longer in life

Conceptions of age:

A full evaluation of age requires consideration of chronological, biological, psychological, and social age

Chronological age:

The # of years that elapsed since birth

Psychological age:

The individuals’ adaptive capacities compared with people of the same chronological age

Social age:

Connectedness with others and the social roles people adopt

Nature-nurture issue:

The debate about whether development is primarily influences by nature or nurture

Nature, in nature v nurture debate refers to…

An organism biological inheritance

Nurture, in nature v nurture debate refers to…

An organisms environmental experiences

Continuity-discontinuity issue…

The debate about the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change (continuity), or distinct stages (discontinuity)

Stability-change issue…

The debate about the degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change

Scientific method:

A four-step approach that can be used to obtain accurate information

Steps in scientific method:

1) Conceptualized a process or problem

2) Collect data

3) Analyze the data

4) Draw conclusions

Psychoanalytic theories:

Describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion

According to Erik Erikson, the primary motivations for behavior is…

Social in nature

Eriksons theory includes eight stages of human development, each representing a crisis that must be resolved:

• Trust v mistrust: first year of infancy

• Autonomy v shame and doubt: 1 to 3 years

• Initiative v guilt: 3 to 5 years

• Industry v inferiority: 6 years to puberty

• Identity v identity confusion: 10 to 20 years

• Intimacy v isolations: 20’s to 30’s

• Generativity v stagnation: 40’s to 50’s

• Integrity v despair: 60’s to death

Piagets cognitive development theory:

Children go through four stages of cognitive development as they actively construct their understanding of the world

Piagets 4 stages of cognitive development are:

• Sensorimotor stage (birth to years of age)

• Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years of age)

• Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years of age)

• Formal operational stage (11 years of age through adulthood)

Vygotskys sociocultural cognitive theory:

Emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide and are inseparable from cognitive development

The information-processing theory:

Emphasizes that individual manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it.

• central to this theory are the processes of memory and thinking.

Skinners operant conditioning:

Development consists of the pattern of behavioral changes brought about by rewards and punishments

Banduras social cognitive theory:

Emphasizes behavior, environment, and cognition as the key factors in development

• relations between behavior, person/cognitive, and environmental factors are reciprocal

• using forethought, individuals guide and motivate themselves by creating actions plans, formulating goals, and visualizing positive outcomes of their actions

Ethology theory:

Stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied by evolution, and is characterized by experiences during critical or sensitive periods

Konrad Lorenz helped bring…

Ethology to prominence by showing the developmental importantance of the imprinting behavior of geese

John Bowlby determined that attachment to a caregiver over the first year of life has important consequences for…

Optimal social relationship development throughout the life span

Critical period is a…

Certain, very early point at which imprinting must take place

Sensitive period is…

The time attachment should optimally occur

An eclectic theoretical orientation does not follow any…

One theoretical approach

Methods for collecting data:

• Laboratory

• Naturalistic observation

• survey

• interview

Laboratory is a…

Controlled setting where many of the complex factors of the real world are absent…

Naturalistic observation is when…

Observing behavior in real-world settings, making no effort to manipulate or controll the situation

Survey is…

A standard set of clear and unbiased questions used to obtain peoples reported attitudes or beliefs about a particular topic; sometimes referred to as a questionnaire

Interview is when…

individuals are directly asked to self-report

Standardized test is…

A test administered and scored unitizing uniform procedures to compare performance across individuals

Case study is…

An in-depth look at a single individual

Physiological measures include…

• Measure of hormones such as cortisol

• Neuroimaging or fMRI

• Electroencephalography (EEG)

• Heart rate

• Eye tracking

• Gene testing

Descriptive research is…

A research method designed to observe and record behavior

Correlational research is:

Attempts to determine the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics

Correlation coefficient is…

A # based on statistical analysis that is used to describe the degree of association between two variables

• ranges from -1.00 to +1.00

• the higher the correlation coefficient (whether positive or negative), the stronger the association between the two variables

Experimental research is designed to study…

Causality

Experiment is…

A carefully regulated procedure in which one or more of the factors believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other factors are held constant

Cross-sectional approach is…

A research strategy that compares individuals of different ages simultaneously

Longitudinal approach is…

A research strategy where the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years or more

Cohort effects are…

Characteristics determined by a person’s time of birth, era, or generation rather than the person’s actual age

The American Psychological Association (APA) has developed ethics guidelines to address four issues:

• Informed consent

• Confidentiality

• Debriefing

• Deception

Informed consent is when…

Participants must know what their participation will involve and must be able to withdraw at will

Confidentiality is…

Data that must be kept confidential and, when possible, anonymous

Debriefing is when…

After the study, participants should be informed of its purpose and methods

Deception is when…

Necessary, deception may be used, but the psychologist must ensure it will not harm the participants and that the participants will be debriefed

The germinal period of prenatal development occurs in the first…

2 weeks after conception

The germinal period includes:

• Creation of the zygote

• Continued cell division

• Attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall

Blastocyst is the…

Inner layer of cells that develop into the embryo

Trophblast is the…

Outer layer of cells that provide nutrition and support for the embryo

The embryonic period of prenatal development occurs…

2-8 weeks after conception

The rate of cell differentiation intensifies, and the mass of cells is now called…

Embryo

Three layers of cells:

• endoderm (jnner)

• mesoderm (middle)

• ectoderm (outer layers)

Amnion is a…

Sac that contains a clear fluid in which the developing embryo floats

Umbilical cord contains…

Two arteries and one vein and connects the baby to the placenta

Placenta is a…

Disk-shaped group of tissues in which small blood vessels from the mother and the fetus intertwine but do not join

Organogenesis is…

Organ formation that takes place during the first two months of prenatal development

The fetal period lasts about…

7 months, from between 2 months after conception and birth

At birth, the avg american baby weighs…

8 pounds and is about 20 inches long

Prenatal development is also commonly divided into 3 equal periods of three months, called…

Trimesters

First trimester of prenatal development:

• is less than 1/10 inch long

• beginning development of spinal cord, nervous system, gastrointestinal system heart, and lungs

• amniotic sac envelops the preliminary tissues of entire body

• is called a “zygote”

At 8 weeks of the first trimester of prenatal development:

• is just over 1 inch long

• face is forming with rudimentary eyes, ears, mouth, and tooth buds

• arms and legs are moving

• brain is forming

• fetal heartbeat is detectable with ultrasound

• is called an “embryo”

At 12 weeks of the first trimester of prenatal development:

• is about 3 inches long and weighs about 1 ounce

• can move arms, legs, fingers, and toes

• fingerprints are present

• can smile, frown, suck, and swallow

• sex is distinguishable

• can urinate

• is called a “fetus”

At 16 weeks of the second trimester of prenatal development:

• is about 6 inches long and weighs about 4 to 7 ounces

• heartbeat is strong

• skin is thin, transparent

• downy hair (lanugo) covers body

• fingernails and toenails are forming

• has coordinated movements; is able to roll over in amniotic fluid

At 20 weeks of the second trimester of prenatal development:

• is about 12 inches long and weighs close to 1 pound

• heartbeat is audible with ordinary stethoscope

• sucks thumb

• hiccups

• hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows are present

At 24 weeks of the second trimester of prenatal development:

• is about 14 inches long and weighs 1 to 1 ½ pounds

• skin is wrinkled and covered with protective coating (vemix caseosa)

• eyes are open

• waste matter is collected in bowel

• has strong grip

At 28 weeks of the third trimester of prenatal development:

• is about 16 inches long and weighs about 3 pounds

• is adding body fat

• is very active

• rudimentary breathing movements are present

At 32 weeks of the third trimester of prenatal development:

• is 16 ½ to 18 inches long and weighs 4 to 5 pounds

• has periods of sleep and wakefulness

• responds to sounds

• may assume the birth position

• bones of head are soft and flexible

• iron is being stored in liver

At 36 to 38 weeks of the third trimester of prenatal development:

• is 19 to 20 inches long and weighs 6 to 7 ½ pounds

• skin is less wrinkled

• vernix caseosa is thick

• lanugo is mostly gone

• is less active

• is gaining immunities from mother

Babies are born with 20 to 100 billion…

Neurons - the nerve cells in the brain that handle info processing at the cellular level

Four important phases of the brains development in the prenatal period involve:

• the neural tube

• neurogenesis

• neuronal migration

• neural connectivity

The pear-shaped neural tube develops out of the ectoderm at about…

18 to 24 days after conception

Two birth defects related to a failure of the neural tube to close are…

Anencephaly and spina bifida

Neurogenesis is the…

Massive proliferation of new immature neurons, beginning at about week 5 and continuing through the remainder of the prenatal period

Neuronal migration is the process of…

Cells moving outward from their point of origin to their appropriate locations takes place between 6 and 24 weeks

Neural connectivity, at about the 23rd week, is when…

Connections between neurons begin to occur

Teratogen is when…

Any agent that can cause a birth defect or negatively alter cognitive and behavioral developmental outcomes

Teratology is the study of…

The cause of birth defects