Lifespan Development: Cognitive and Social Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards based on lecture notes covering cognitive peak, memory types, attachment styles, parenting, and stages of development from birth to late adulthood.

Postformal Thought

A stage of adult cognitive development characterized by the realization that problems don't always have one right answer, reality is complicated, and different viewpoints can all contain truth.

Dialectical Thought

A type of postformal thought involving the ability to accept contradictions, opposing ideas, and multiple truths.

Dichotomous Thinking

A way of thinking where everything is viewed as black and white, right or wrong, or success or failure, with no gray area.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to solve new problems, think quickly, and learn unfamiliar information; this type of intelligence typically declines with age.

Crystallized Intelligence

Knowledge gained from experience, including vocabulary, facts, wisdom, and skills; it usually stays stable or improves with age.

Seattle Longitudinal Study

One of the largest studies in adult cognitive aging, which found that most adults do not experience sudden cognitive decline and many abilities stay stable for years.

Central Executive

The component of working memory that acts as 'the boss' by directing attention.

Phonological Loop

A component of working memory responsible for storing sounds and words.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

A component of working memory that stores images, maps, and locations.

Episodic Memory

Memory of personal experiences, such as your wedding or yesterday's dinner; it often declines in late adulthood.

Semantic Memory

Memory of facts and meanings, such as the capital of France; it often stays relatively stable in late adulthood.

Procedural Memory

Memory of how to perform skills, like riding a bike or tying shoes; it is usually well preserved in late adulthood.

Prospective Memory

Remembering to perform a task in the future, such as taking medicine or attending an appointment; it often becomes harder with age.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious memory and automatic behaviors that usually remain strong in late adulthood.

Inhibition Theory

The idea that older adults have a harder time ignoring irrelevant information, such as studying while a TV is on.

Beta-amyloid plaques

Proteins that build up between neurons (outside the cells) in the brains of those with Alzheimer's Disease.

Tau tangles

Twisted proteins that form inside neurons in the brains of those with Alzheimer's Disease.

Hippocampus

One of the first brain areas affected by Alzheimer's Disease, responsible for forming new memories.

Bilateralization

A compensatory mechanism where older adults use both sides of the brain for tasks that younger adults perform using only one side.

Scaffolding Theory

The theory that the aging brain recruits additional brain circuits to maintain performance, essentially building 'extra supports.'

Cognitive Reserve

A buffer against cognitive decline built through education, reading, exercise, and social engagement.

Sociometric Status

A measurement of how classmates view a child, categorized into popular, rejected, neglected, controversial, or average.

Relational (Social) Bullying

A form of bullying that involves excluding someone, spreading rumors, or damaging friendships; it is often the hardest to recognize.

Authoritative Parenting

A style characterized by high warmth and high control, where parents set rules and explain them while remaining supportive.

Authoritarian Parenting

A style characterized by high control and low warmth, often summarized by the phrase 'My way.'

Permissive Parenting

A style characterized by high warmth but low control, with few rules and potential for poor child self-control.

Uninvolved Parenting

A style characterized by low warmth and low control, where parents provide basic needs but little emotional involvement.

Individualistic Culture

A culture that values independence, personal success, and self-expression, such as the United States or Canada.

Collectivist Culture

A culture that values family, the group, cooperation, and respect, found in many Asian, African, and Latin American cultures.

Industry vs Inferiority

Erikson’s stage for middle childhood where children want to feel competent through school and social success.

Response Initiation

The skill of starting an appropriate behavior when prompted, such as cleaning up when a teacher asks.

Response Inhibition

The skill of stopping an inappropriate behavior, such as choosing not to yell even when wanting to.

Delayed Gratification

Waiting for a larger reward instead of taking an immediate smaller one, exemplified by the 'marshmallow test.'

Gender Identity

An individual's personal sense of being male, female, or nonbinary.

Gender Roles

Societal expectations regarding behaviors, appearance, and roles based on gender.

Gender Dysphoria

The emotional distress caused by a mismatch between one's gender identity and assigned sex.

Theory of Mind

The realization that other people can have different thoughts, beliefs, and feelings than oneself.

Trust vs. Mistrust

Erikson’s first stage (0-12 months) where infants learn if the world is safe based on the consistency and responsiveness of caregivers.

Secure Attachment

An attachment style where the child explores freely, is upset when the caregiver leaves, and is easily comforted upon their return.

Strange Situation

A research procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth to identify children's attachment styles by observing reunion behavior.

Goodness of Fit

The degree to which a child’s temperament matches their environment.

Self-Conscious Emotions

Emotions that require self-awareness and appear later in development, such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, pride, and jealousy.

Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

Erikson’s stage for toddlers (1-3 years) focused on developing independence in tasks like dressing or feeding themselves.

Initiative vs. Guilt

Erikson’s stage for preschoolers (3-6 years) where children take initiative by exploring, imagining, and asking questions.

Parallel Play

A stage of play where children play next to each other but not together.

Associative Play

A stage of play where children interact and share toys but do not have a common goal.

Cooperative Play

A stage of play common in preschool where children work together toward a single common goal.

Sandwich Generation

Middle-aged adults who are simultaneously caring for their children and their aging parents.

Kinkeeping

The act of keeping the family connected by organizing holidays, birthdays, and reunions; often performed by one family member.

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory

The theory that as people perceive their time as limited, they become more selective and choose relationships and activities that are more meaningful.

Bereavement

The objective fact that someone has died.

Anticipatory Grief

Grief that occurs before a death actually happens, often seen in caregivers of the terminally ill.

Disenfranchised Grief

Grief for a loss that society does not fully recognize, such as the loss of a pet, a coworker, or an ex-partner.

Dual Process Model

A model of grieving where people move back and forth between loss-oriented thinking (sadness, memories) and restoration-oriented thinking (learning to live life again).

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget’s stage (ages 7-11) where children begin thinking logically and realistically about concrete situations.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity remains the same even if the appearance (such as the shape of a glass) changes.

Metacognition

The process of 'thinking about thinking' and understanding how one learns best.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's stage beginning around age 12 characterized by abstract thinking, hypothetical reasoning, and scientific reasoning.

Imaginary Audience

The belief common in adolescence that everyone is watching and noticing them.

Personal Fable

The adolescent belief that they are special, unique, and invincible, often contributing to risk-taking behavior.

Pseudostupidity

A phenomenon where adolescent reasoning becomes so complex that they may appear less logical even as their cognitive abilities advance.