Exam 3

Development

Refers to the pattern of continuity and charge in human characteristics that occurs throughout the course of life.

Nature vs. Nurture

Nature refers to a person’s biological inheritance, especially genes. Nurture refers to the person’s environmental and social experiences.

Stability (continuity) vs Change

Describes the developmental psychology discussion about whether personality traits that are present in an individual at birth remain constant or change throughout the life span.

Resilience

A person’s ability to recover from or adapt to difficult times

Domains of Development (3 processes)

Physical processes involve changes in an individual’s biological nature. Cognitive processes involve changes in a person’s thought, intelligence, and language. Socioemotional processes involve changes in a person’s relationships with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality.

Prenatal Development (1st period)

A time of astonishing change, beginning with conception. 1. Germinal period - weeks 1 and 2: the germinal period begins with conception. The fertilized egg is called a zygote. By the end of two weeks, the mass of cells has attached to the uterine wall. Embryonic period - weeks 3 through 8: at this point, the zygote has become an embryo. By the end of the period, the heart begins to beat, the arms and legs become more differentiated, the face starts to form, and the intestinal tract appears. Fetal period - months 2-9. At two months, the fetus is the size of a kidney bean and has begun to move around. The last three months of pregnancy are the time when organ functioning increases, and the fetus puts on considerable weight and size, adding baby fat.

Prenatal Development (2nd period)

Embryonic period - weeks 3 through 8: at this point, the zygote has become an embryo. By the end of the period, the heart begins to beat, the arms and legs become more differentiated, the face starts to form, and the intestinal tract appears.

Prenatal Development (3rd period)

Fetal period - months 2-9. At two months, the fetus is the size of a kidney bean and has begun to move around. The last three months of pregnancy are the time when organ functioning increases, and the fetus puts on considerable weight and size, adding baby fat.

Teratogens

Any agent that causes a problem in prenatal development, includes chemical substances ingested by a pregnant person (such as nicotine or alcohol) and certain illnesses (such as rubella and German measles).

Puberty

A period of rapid skeletal and sexual maturation that occurs mainly in early adolescence.

Adolescent Brain

A rapidly maturing, highly plastic organ (typically ages 10-25) undergoing significant restructuring.

Cognitive Development

Refers to how thought, intelligence, and language processes change as people mature.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (1st stage)

Sensorimotor stage, lasts from birth to about 2 years of age. The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions. An Infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage. A key component of this stage is object permanence.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (2nd stage)

Preoperational stage, 2 to 7 years of age. The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of sensory information and physical action. Thinking is egocentric, meaning the child cannot take another’s perspective.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (3rd stage)

Concrete operational stage, 7 to 11 years. The child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets. Hallmarks of this stage are the capacities to reverse operations and appreciate the concept of conversation.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (4th stage)

Formal Operational stage, 11 years through adulthood, the adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways. A characteristic of this stage is hypothetical deductive reasoning.

Schema

A preexisting mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information.

Assimilation

People incorporate new information into preexisting schemas.

Accommodation

People change their schemas in response to new experience.

Executive Function

Refers to complex cognitive processes, include thinking, planning, and problem solving.

Socioemotional Development

Involve changes in person’s social relationships, emotional life, and personality

Temperament

Refers to an individual’s behavioral style and characteristic ways of responding.

Infant Attachment

The close emotional bond between infant and caregiver.

Secure Attachment

Describe how infants use the caregiver, usually the mother, as a secure base from which to explore the environment.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (1 stage)

Trust vs Mistrust, birth to 1.5 years, a sense of trust requires a feeling of physical comfort and minimal amount of fear about the future. Infants’ basic needs are met by responsive, sensitive caregivers.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (2nd stage)

Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt, 1.5 to 3 years, after gaining trust in their caregivers, infants start to discover that they have a will of their own. They assert their sense of autonomy, or independence. They realize their will. If infants are restrained too much or punished too harshly, they are likely to develop a sense of shame and doubt.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (3rd stage)

Initiative vs Guilt, 3 to 5 years, as preschool children encounter a widening social world, they are challenged more and need to develop more purposeful behavior to cope with these challenges. Children are now asked to assume more responsibility. Uncomfortable guilt feelings may arise, though, if the children are irresponsible and are made to feel too anxious.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (4th stage)

Industry vs Inferiority, ages 6 to puberty, at no other time are children more enthusiastic than at the end of early childhood’s period of expansive imagination. As children move into the elementary school years, they direct their energy toward mastering knowledge and intellectual skills. The danger at this stage involves feeling incompetent and unproductive.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (5th stage)

Identity vs Identity confusion, 10-20 years, individuals are faced with finding out who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life, An important dimension is the exploration of alternative solutions to roles. Career exploration is important.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (6th stage)

Intimacy vs Isolation, 20s and 30s, individuals face the development task of forming intimate relationships with others. Erikson described intimacy as finding oneself yet losing oneself in another person

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (7th stage)

Generativity vs Stagnation, 40s and 50s, a chief concern is to assist the younger generation in developing and leading useful lives.

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development (8th stage)

Integrity vs Despair, 60s and on, individuals look back and evaluate what they have done with their lives. The retrospective glances can be either positive (integrity) or negative (despair)

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles (1)

Authoritarian parenting is a strict punitive style. The authoritarian parent firmly limits and controls the child with little verbal exchange.

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles (2)

Authoritative parenting encourages the child to be independent but still places limits and control on behavior. The parenting style is more collaborative. Extensive verbal give-and-take is allowed, and parents are warm and nuturing toward the child.

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles (3)

Neglectful parenting is distinguished by a lack of parental involvement in the child’s life. Children of neglectful parents might develop a sense that other aspects of parents’ lives are more important are more important than they are.

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles (4)

Permissive parenting places few limits on the child’s behavior. Permissive parents let children do what they want. Some parent deliberately rear their children this way because they believe that the combination of warm involvement and few limits will produce a creative, confident child.

Gender Development

The process by which individuals construct their internal sense of self.

Gender

Refers to social and cultural beliefs and expectations about what it means to be a boy/man or girl/woman and what kinds of behaviors and roles indicate masculinity and femininity.

Gender Identity

A person’s deeply held sense of being a boy/man, girl/woman, both, neither, or fluid (meaning the person experiences gender as changing).

Sexual Orientation

A multifaced, complex concept that includes the direction of their erotic interests but also their behaviors and identity.

Gender Role

Expectations of how people of different genders ought to be behave, feel, and think.

Moral Development

Involves changes that occur with age in people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding the principles and values that guide them as they interact with others.

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development (level 1)

Preconventional: the person’s moral reasoning is based primarily on the consequences of a behavior and on punishments and rewards from the external world.

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development (level 2)

Conventional: the person abides by standards learned from parents or society’s laws. At this level a person might reason that Heinz should follow the law no matter what.

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development (level 3)

Postconventional: the person recognizes alternative moral courses, explores the options, and then develops an increasingly personal moral code. At this level, the person might reason that Heinz’s wife life is more important than a law.

Motivation

The force that moves people to behave, think, and feel the way they do.

Instinct Theory

Human and animal behavior is motivate by innate, unlearned, and genetically programmed tendencies that are universal to a species.

Drive-reduction Theory

Another way to about motivation is through the constructs of need and drive.

Need

A physical or biological deprivation that energizes the drive to eliminate or reduce the deprivation.

Drive

An aroused state that occurs because of a physiological need.

Homeostasis

The body’s tendency to maintain an equilibrium, or steady state

Incentives

The study of how external stimuli—rewards or penalties—drive human behavior and decision making.

Optimum Arousal theory

When psychologists talk about arousal, they are generally referring to a person’s feelings of being alert and engaged. When we are very excited, our arousal levels are high. When we are bored, they are low.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The psychological principles stating that performance is best under conditions of moderate arousal rather than either low or high arousal.

Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Self-Actualization, Esteem, Love and Belongingness, Safety, and Physiological Needs.

Self-Determination theory

Deci and Ryan’s theory asserting all human have three basic, innate organismic needs: competence, relatedness, and autonomy

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation based on internal factors such as organismic needs (competence, relatedness, and autonomy), as well curiosity, challenge, and fun

Extrinsic Motivation

Motivation that involves external incentives such as rewards and punishments

Emotion

A feeling, or affect, that c

Universal Facial Expressions

Self-Regulation

Display Rules

Circumplex Model

Arousal

Valence

Sexual Orientation

Pansexual

Asexual

LGBT

Personality

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Theories (Freud)

Psychoanalysis

Iceberg Theory

Preconscious

Conscious

Unconscious

Self-concept

Freud’s View of Personality

Id