Unit 2 Developmental Psychology Study Guide

Cephalocaudal development

measured from the head downward

Proximodistal development

measured from the middle of the body outwards

Independence of systems

the theory that different body systems develop at different rates

Heirarchial integration

the theory that simple skills develop first and then are combined into/with complex motor skills

Plasticity

the ability for the brain to change form and function (it is greatest during sensitive periods of development)

Experience expectant development

a type of brain organization that depends on ordinary (daily) experiences

ex. language development

Experiment dependent development

brain organization/refinement that results from specific learning

ex. what language you learn

Synaptic pruning

the loss of synapses by neurons that are rarely stimulated

Visual cliff study

assessed if infants had depth perception

infants without crawling experience: did go over the edge

infants with crawling experience: did not go over the edge

Infant directed speech

slow, high pitched and highly intonated speech that allows babies to learn language more quickly

Fine motor

precise coordination of small muscles in the hands, wrists, fingers, and eyes to perform detailed tasks like writing, buttoning, and using utensils

Gross motor

movement of large muscle groups of the body

developed by ages 10-12

Palmar grasp reflex

baby will involuntarily wrap their fingers around an adults when their palm is touched

Rooting grasp reflex

when the babies mouth is stroked, the babies mouth will open

Tonic neck reflex

when an infant turns their head to one side, they will ALSO extend their arms and legs on one side while the others will flex

Sucking reflex

a baby will begin to suck when an object touches the top of its mouth

Babinski reflex

when the bottom of the babies foot is stroked, their big toe bends backward and the other toes fan out

Moro reflex

when a sudden noise happens the baby will extend its arms and palms up

Piagets sensorimotor stage of development

birth - 2 years

infants understand the world through their own actions

Piagets pre-operational stage of development

2 - 7 years

drastic increase in representational activity

• language development

• fantasy play and dual representation

reasoning influence by their own perceptions

fantasy play

strengthens representational schemas

contributes to cognitive and social skills

egocentrism

the inability to distinguish viewpoints of others from ones own viewpoint

Piagets concrete operational stage of cognitive development

7 - 11 years

major turning point in cognitive development

throught is flexible, logical, and organized when applied to concrete information

Piagets formal operational stage of cognitive development

11 years +

develop capacity for abstract, systematic, scientific thinking

can operate on questions

Adolescent egocentrism (david elkind)

there is a resurgence of egocentrism in adolescence

imaginary audience

describes an adolescent's belief that everyone else is constantly watching, listening to, and judging their appearance, behavior, or flaws

personal fable

adolescents think their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and lives are completely unique, special, and exempt from normal rules or consequences

core knowledge theory

infants are born with special knowledge in a small number of core domains (innate abilities)

violation of expectation

a research method in developmental psychology used to test what preverbal infants and young children understand about the world

preservation errors

when told something is incorrect and you repeat the behavior

failure to maintain set

when told a strategy works and you change it anyways

rehearsal memory encoding strategy

repeating information

• typically verbally

• effective by 7-8 years

organization memory encoding strategy

forming meaningful chunks of information

elaboration memory encoding strategy

development of script (gist) memories

recognition memory retrieval strategy

noticing a stimulus is identical to one previously experienced

recall memory retrieval strategy

generating details about an absent stimulus

• emerges around 6 months

reconstruction memory retrieval strategy

recoding details while remembering

Spearman’s Two-Factor Theory of Intelligence

There is general intelligence (g) and specific abilities (s)

Suggested that the g best represents overall intelligence

Cattell’s Theory of Intelligence

Argued that the g can be divided into two types of intelligences

Fluid Intelligence

basic information processing skills

Crystallized intelligence

knowledge and skills based on accumulated knowledge, experiences, and social customs

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

stated there are three braod interacting intelligences

Creative intelligence

imaginative and innovative problem solving

analytical intelligence

academic problem solving and computation

practical intelligence

street smarts and common sense

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

stated that intelligence is comprised of many distinct domains

Genetics infulence on intelligence

• Identical twins more similar than fraternal twins

• Biological parents more similar than adoptive parents

Home environment and community influence on intelligence

• Parenting

• Family attitudes toward intellectual success

• Available opportunities and schools

• Adequate nutrition

Test bias

unfair disadvantages for certain groups of people

• culture

• socioeconomic status

Stereotype threat

knowledge of stereotypes leads to anxiety and reduced performance

• gender

• race

• first-generation students

development quotient

Score on an infant intelligence test

Includes different dimensions than IQ test

• Most infant tests are poor predictors of childhood intelligence

three-ring model of giftedness

giftedness is based on being above average in three intersecting areas

1. intellectual ability

2. creativity

3. task commitment

phonemes

the smallest distinct unit of sound

• helps distinguish the meaning of words

morphemes

the smallest MEANINGFUL language units

• can be a base word, prefix, or suffix

syntax

reles for how words can be combined into a sentence

• english is a subject-verb-object language

semantics

the meaning of words varies with age

pragmatics

understanding of how language is used in social settings

• intonation

• sarcasm

• implied meaning

• conversational rules

• audience

cooing

2 months

vowel sounds without consonant paring

“oooh” or “aaah”

protoconversation

3 months

pattern of infant and caregiver taking turns “talking”

babbling

6-8 months

repetitive consonant-vowel combonations

“dada” or “mama”

recasts

correcting and restructuring inaccurate speech

expansions

elaborating speech to increase complexity

joint attention

when an adult and child attend to the same object

discourse skills (middle childhood)

ability to understand whether information makes logical sense

metalinguistic abilities (middle childhood)

ability to think about language and how to use it

media use in infancy

More than half of children under 3 use media for ~1 hour a day

• Recommendation is no media for those under 2

Media is not educational for young children

• Lack of interaction and understanding

Children under 3 struggle with dual representation

• Cannot connect media to real life

Background TV is related to lower cognitive functioning

educational media

Can be beneficial for older children

However, most apps/media lack evidence for their efficacy

• For benefits, adults must be involved

Video games that use scaffolding can be beneficial

media literacy

Ability to understand the purpose and messages of media

• Child/teen-targeted advertisements

Can prevent harmful effects of media

organized sports

Supports physical and mental health

Fosters discipline and academic achievement

Should be age-appropriate

• Refined control and coordination of gross motor skills does not happen until ages 5 or 6

Can be detrimental

• Intense focus on one sport

• Injuries and competitiveness

• 70% of children drop out by age 13

entertainment media

Primarily detrimental to child development

• Especially when children are learning to read

displacement hypothesis

using media replaces time spent doing more healthy or productive activities

Can impact attention span and increases distractibility