Psychology (Ch.3)

What is the focus of developmental psychology?

Studies the changes in behavior and mental processes throughout the human life span, from womb to tomb.

What are the three stages of prenatal development?

The germinal stage (conception to 2 weeks), embryonic stage (2 weeks to 8 weeks), and fetal stage (9 weeks to birth).

What does the cephalocaudal pattern of development refer to?

Refers to the progression of development from head to tail.

What are teratogens?

Substances that can cross the placenta and potentially harm the developing fetus, such as alcohol and tobacco.

What reflexes are displayed by a competent newborn?

Rooting, grasping, sucking, and Moro.

What does Piaget's concept of schemas refer to?

'‘File folders'‘ that organize information and help us recognize and interpret new experiences.

Define assimilation in cognitive development.

Integrating new information into existing schemas or knowledge.

What is object permanence, and in which stage does it develop?

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, and it develops during the sensorimotor stage.

What is egocentrism in the preoperational stage of cognitive development?

The inability to see things from perspectives other than one's own.

What significant finding came from Harry Harlow’s experiment with rhesus monkeys?

Demonstrated that comfort (contact comfort) is more important than feeding in forming attachments.

What is the main conflict in Erik Erikson's first stage of psychosocial development?

Trust vs. mistrust, determining the quality of the developmental relationship between the infant and caregiver.

What characterizes the formal operational stage of cognitive development?

Characterized by creative thinking and the ability to think hypothetically.

What does accommodation mean in the context of cognitive development?

Creating new schemas to incorporate new information that does not fit into existing schemas.

What is the concrete operational stage's limitation regarding thought?

“Here and Now” thinking, a lack of abstract reasoning.