Developmental Review: IB Psychology HL

4 Stages of Development

Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational (Piaget)

Joint Attention

Shared focus of two individuals on an object or event; crucial for early communication and learning.

Inhibitory Control

The ability to suppress automatic or impulsive responses.

Critical Period

A specific time in development when certain skills or abilities are most easily learned.

Deprivation

Lack of necessary emotional, social, or physical care and stimulation.

Resilience

The ability to recover from adversity or adapt to challenges.

Poverty

Lack of material resources necessary for basic living.

Thresholds and Degrees of Poverty

Classifications such as absolute, relative, episodic, and persistent poverty based on severity and duration.

Family Stress Theory

Explains how financial and emotional stress affects parenting and child development.

Investment Model

Suggests parental resources (time, money, stimulation) are investments that impact child outcomes.

Episodic Poverty

Temporary poverty due to short-term setbacks.

Persistent Poverty

Long-term or chronic lack of resources.

Secure Attachment

A stable and trusting bond formed between child and caregiver.

Insecure Attachment

An unstable emotional bond that may cause anxiety or withdrawal in the child.

Anxious Attachment

A form of insecure attachment marked by clinginess and fear of abandonment.

Avoidant Attachment

A form of insecure attachment where the child avoids closeness or emotional expression.

Piaget Theory of Mind

Piaget implied perspective-taking develops in stages but did not formally define Theory of Mind.

Theory of Mind

Understanding that others have thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives different from one's own.

Empathy

The ability to recognize, understand, and share another person's emotions.

Sensorimotor

Stage (0-2 years); learning through physical interaction and developing object permanence.

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of sight.

Preoperational

Stage (2-7 years); symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and difficulty with conservation.

Conservation

Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Egocentrism

Difficulty seeing the world from another's perspective.

Concrete Operational

Stage (7-11 years); logical reasoning about concrete events, mastering conservation.

Formal Operational

Stage (12+ years); abstract, hypothetical, and systematic thinking develops.

Piaget's Stages

Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational.

Neurogenesis

The creation of new neurons in the brain.

Migration

The movement of neurons to their proper positions during brain development.

Differentiation

The process by which neurons develop specialized functions.

Pruning

Elimination of unused neural connections to strengthen important ones.

Csikszentmihalyi and Larson (Adolescents' Experiences)

Studied adolescents' use of time and the experience of 'flow' — relevant to influences on cognitive and social development because it shows how engagement in meaningful activities shapes identity, motivation, and emotional well-being.

Howes (1992)

Investigated how early peer interactions affect social and emotional development — relevant to influences on cognitive and social development by showing peers as crucial agents beyond parents in shaping emotional competence.

Genie Case Study

Examined a child isolated until age 13, who missed the critical period for language — relevant to brain development and influences on cognitive development, demonstrating the importance of early stimulation and the irreversible effects of deprivation on cognitive growth.

Feldman and Vengrober

Studied Israeli children exposed to war trauma, finding that maternal support promoted resilience — relevant to resilience, poverty, and attachment, showing how protective relationships buffer cognitive and emotional harm from extreme stress.

Brooks-Gunn and Duncan

Researched how poverty affects child cognitive outcomes, linking low income to worse school achievement and health — relevant to poverty and family stress theory, showing how material deprivation and stress impair cognitive and social development.

Mary Ainsworth

Identified secure vs. insecure attachment patterns between infants and caregivers — relevant to developing an identity and attachment theory, demonstrating how early bonds shape later social and emotional functioning.

Harlow (Monkey Attachment Studies)

Showed that infant monkeys preferred soft, comforting surrogates over wire 'mothers' providing food — relevant to attachment theory by highlighting the importance of comfort and emotional security, not just basic needs.

Meltzoff (Infant Imitation)

Found infants can imitate adult facial expressions as early as 42 minutes old — relevant to theory of mind and developing as a learner, suggesting early social learning mechanisms that support empathy and perspective-taking.

Baron-Cohen, Leslie, and Frith

Found that children with autism struggle with false-belief tasks — relevant to theory of mind and cognitive development, providing insight into developmental differences in social cognition.

Piaget and Inhelder

Studied how children understand space and objects across developmental stages — relevant to developing as a learner and cognitive development, supporting Piaget's stage theory with experimental evidence.

Borke (1975)

Modified Piaget's tasks and showed that even young children could take others' perspectives — relevant to theory of mind and cognitive development, challenging earlier views of children's egocentrism.

Chugani (1999)

Used PET scans to show high brain activity in newborns' limbic systems — relevant to brain development, providing biological evidence for the early neural basis of emotion and attachment.

Werker and Tees

Found infants can initially hear all language sounds but lose non-native discrimination by 10-12 months — relevant to brain development and critical periods, showing how neural pruning and environmental exposure shape language acquisition.