Chapter 8: Development

Development

The continuous change that goes on through the course of life.

Cross sectional design

A type of study where participants are measured at one point.

Longitudinal design

A type of study where participants are measured multiple times over a lengthy period.

Nature

One’s biological inheritance.

Nurture

One’s social and environmental experiences.

Resilience

The ability to recover and adapt from difficult times.

Study of physical development

How people grow and change physically.

Prenatal development and its 3 stages.

The development that happens before birth; germinal period (conception and cell multiplication), embryonic period (faster cell multiplication, beginnings of organs), and fetal period (organ functioning, movement, increases in weight).

Teratogens

Any agent that causes problems in prenatal development

The study of cognitive development.

How thought, intelligence, and language processes change over time.

The 4 stages of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor (0-2): when infants build an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motor actions. Preoperational (2-7): when children begin to represent the world in words and images. Concrete operations (7-11): a time for logical reasoning in concrete situations. Formal operational (11-adulthood): a time for more abstract, hypothetical thinking.

A toddler has a golden retriever. When they see a chihuahua, they say “doggy” since it fits into the schema. But when the toddler sees a cat, it realizes it does not fit in the “doggy” category and they learn a new “kity” category to put the cat into. These are examples of _____.

Assimilation: to incorporate new information in pre-existing schemas. Accommodation: to change or create new schemas in response to new experiences.

A caregiver is playing peek-a-boo with a baby. When the caregiver hides, the baby thinks they have vanished. The baby has yet to develop ______.

Object permanence: the understanding that objects continue to exist when they they cannot be detected by the senses.

Conservation

The understanding that objects have the same physical quantity (mass, volume, etc) despite changes in its shape or appearance.

Baby Jean does not understand why no one will play with her. She does not realize that sometimes, people have things they need to do. This is an example of ______.

Egocentrism: the inability to take another perspective.

On Helena’s way to work, she sees that the road for her usual route is closed. She quickly works around this and plans to travel a different route. Helena used _____.

Executive function: complex processes like thinking, problem solving, and planning.

The study of socioemotional development

The study of changes in one’s social relationships, emotional life, and personality.

Temperament

One’s behavioral style and characteristic ways of responding.

Infant attachment

The close emotional bond between an infant and their caregiver.

At the park, Baby Mia stays close to her mother. When her mother leaves for a moment, Baby Mia feels unsafe and starts crying. This exhibits _____.

Secure infant attachment: the way infants use their caregiver as a safe base.

Erikson’s 8 stages of Psychosocial Development

Trust vs. mistrust: developing a sense of trust in the social world

Autonomy vs. shame and guilt: assert a sense of independence

Initiative vs. guilt: taking initiative of their own interests and responsibilities

Industry vs. inferiority: mastering knowledge, learning and work

Identity vs. identity confusion: finding out who they are, careers, exploration

Intimacy vs. isolation: forming intimate relationships

Generativity vs. stagnation: assist others in developing useful lives

Integrity vs. despair: reflection on the past

Baumrind’s 4 Basic Parenting Styles

Authorian: strict, limitng

Authorative: encourages independency, still has limits

Neglectful: low involvement

Permissive: few limits

Emerging adulthood

The transitional period from adolescence to adulthood (18-25).

Gender identity

One’s sense of being male, female, both, neither or changing.

Sexual orientation

One’s pattern of sexual attraction toward others.

Gender roles

Expectations about how different genders should behave, feel, and think.

Gender similarities hypothesis

Males and females are more psychologically alike than they are different.

3 levels of Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Reasoning

Preconventional: reasoning based on the consequences of a behavior.

Conventional: reasoning based on the standards learned from parents or society.

Postconventional: reasoning based on exploration on alternative moral courses, then creation their own.

Silva goes out of her way every weekend to volunteer at the homeless shelter. This behavior is a ______.

Prosocial behavior: behaviors intended to help others.

Ruth Winifred Howad

One of the first African-American women to earn a Ph.D. in psychology, an advocate for women of color, the uneducated, and troubled youth.