Developmental Psychology Exam I (Chapters 1-5)

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Lifespan Development

The changes that happen to someone from birth to death.

Developmental Science

The systematic study of how humans grow and the underlying processes that create change over time.

Plasticity

A person's ability to stretch and adapt to changes in response to new experiences, learning, or injury.

Developmental Niche

The cultural and physical environment that surrounds a growing child, including daily surroundings, family customs, and parental beliefs.

Epigenetics

How your behavior and environment can change how your genes work without altering your DNA.

Nature/Nurture Debate

Nature refers to genetics, while nurture refers to the environment; it discusses which is more dominant in shaping individuals.

Continuous Development

A slow, gradual cumulative process, such as learning new words as an infant or growing in height.

Discontinuous Development

Distinct qualitative stages, such as object permanence or puberty.

Bronfenbrenner’s Chronosystem

Environmental changes over time, including historical events.

Bronfenbrenner’s Macrosystem

Social and cultural values that influence a person.

Bronfenbrenner’s Exosystem

The environment that includes extended family, neighbors, school boards, and parents' economic circumstances.

Bronfenbrenner’s Mesosystem

The interactions between the microsystem and exosystem.

Bronfenbrenner’s Microsystem

The immediate environment, including family, peers, school, and neighborhood.

Birth Cohort

The specific time period in which a person is born, such as Generation Z or Millennials.

Influence of Money on Development

Children in lower-income families experience worse cognitive, social-behavioral, and health outcomes.

Race vs. Ethnicity

Race categorizes people based on physical differences, while ethnicity groups people from the same geographical regions.

Community Cultural Wealth

A model that includes various forms of capital such as aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, and resistant capital.

Cultural Humility

A lifelong commitment to self-evaluation and self-critique, while recognizing power dynamics and aiming for equal partnerships.

Cultural Competence

The ability to understand and effectively interact with people from different cultures.

Intersectionality

The overlapping of different social identities creating unique combinations of discrimination and privilege.

Collectivist Cultures

Cultures that prioritize closeness, relationships, harmony, and family obligations.

Individualistic Cultures

Cultures that prioritize self-reliance, personal freedom, and individual achievement.

Scientific Method

A systematic process involving observation, questioning, research, hypothesizing, experimenting, testing hypotheses, conclusions, and reporting.

Validity vs. Reliability

Validity refers to the accuracy of an assessment, while reliability refers to the consistency of results over time.

Experimental Study

A scientific test where researchers change one variable to observe its effect on another variable under controlled conditions.

Correlational Research

A non-experimental method used to measure the relationship between variables without manipulation.

Longitudinal Research

The study of the same group of people over a period of time.

Biological Perspective Theories

Focus on how psychological and behavioral development roots in brain, genes, and innate instincts.

Psychodynamic Perspective Theories

Consider how behaviors arise from satisfying innate biological needs for connection, protection, and love.

Behavioral Perspective Theories

Emphasize observable actions rather than thoughts or feelings.

Cognitive Perspective Theories

Explore how learning shapes development and changes in thinking over the lifespan.

Genotype vs. Phenotype

Genotype refers to the genetic potential, while phenotype is the physical expression of those genes.

Stages of Prenatal Development

Includes the germinal stage, embryonic stage, and fetal stage.

Meiosis vs. Mitosis

Meiosis is a special form of cell division for gametes, while mitosis creates two identical cells.

Genetic Carriers

Individuals who inherit one allele for a trait without expressing it, potentially passing it to offspring.

Dominant vs. Recessive Inheritance

Dominant patterns appear if one parent carries the gene; recessive patterns appear only if both parents carry the gene.

Apgar Scores

A test to evaluate a newborn's health, with scores of 7 as average and 5 or lower indicating higher risk.

Teratogens

Environmental factors that can harm a fetus, including diseases, substances, and parental influences.

The Placenta

The organ that supports the fetus during pregnancy.

Prenatal Vulnerabilities

Includes premature birth, low birthweight, and being small for gestational age.

Differential Susceptibility

The variation in how much a child's development is influenced by their environment.

Vision Development in Infants

Newborns prefer faces and can recognize them from a short distance, with vision maturing by age two.

Hearing Development in Infants

Newborns prefer voices and recognize familiar sounds, specialization in language occurs around 6-9 months.

Gross Motor Skills Development

Includes milestones from lifting head to walking and running, typically progressing in specific age ranges.

Fine Motor Skills Development

Includes the development of grasping and building skills in specific age ranges.

Crying/Cooing

A baby's first form of communication.

Cephalocaudal Principle

Growth and motor control develop in a top-down pattern.

Proximodistal Principle

Growth and motor control progress from the center outwards.

Visual Cliff Experiment Findings

Babies recognize depth changes and hesitate to cross if they perceive a drop.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Divided into stages: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational.

Fast-Mapping

The ability to quickly learn and remember new words.

Habituation

Reduced response to a repeated stimulus over time.

Implicit vs. Explicit Memory

Explicit memory involves conscious recall, while implicit memory involves automatic recall of skills and habits.

Nativist Approach

The theory that humans are born with built-in capacities for knowledge and language.

Synaptic Pruning

The brain's process of eliminating unnecessary neural connections to enhance cognitive efficiency.

Myelination

The process of forming a myelin sheath around neurons to speed up neural communication.

Neuron Functions

Synapses communicate between neurons, dendrites receive information, and axons transmit information.

Baby’s Cognitive Skills Development

Built through everyday interactions, sensory exploration, and responsive relationships.