CPSY exam 1

LESSSS GET IT cpsy 3000 exam 1

What is developmental psychology?

The study of how people grow and change over time.

What do developmental scientists study?

How bodies, thinking, feelings, and relationships change.

Nature vs. nurture

How genes and life experiences work together.

Continuity vs. discontinuity

Continuity means gradual change. Discontinuity means change in stages.

Stability vs. change

Stability means staying similar. Change means becoming different over time.

What is a developmental cascade?

A change in one area affects other areas later.

Why are theories important?

Theories help explain why development happens.

What makes a good theory?

It explains evidence and makes testable predictions.

Freud's theory

Early experiences and unconscious feelings shape personality.

Erikson's theory

People face different social and emotional challenges as they grow.

Watson's behaviorism

People learn behaviors through experience and conditioning.

Piaget's theory

Children build knowledge by exploring the world.

Vygotsky's theory

Children learn through other people, language, and culture.

Bandura's social learning theory

People learn by watching others.

Evolutionary theory

Some behaviors developed because they helped our ancestors survive and reproduce.

Information-processing theory

How the mind takes in, stores, and uses information.

Bronfenbrenner's ecological model

Family, school, community, and society all affect development.

Dynamic systems theory

Development comes from many factors working together.

What is culture?

A group's shared beliefs, values, language, and customs.

Objectivity

Being fair and not letting personal opinions affect results.

Reliability

Getting consistent results.

Validity

Measuring what you meant to measure.

Replicability

Being able to repeat a study and check its results.

Why is research transparency important?

It lets others see how a study was done and repeat it.

What is an experiment?

A study that tests whether one thing causes a change in another.

Experimental group vs. control group

The experimental group gets the treatment. The control group is compared with it.

Why use random assignment?

To give participants a fair chance of being in either group.

Positive correlation

Two things tend to go up or down together.

Negative correlation

One thing goes up while the other goes down.

Zero correlation

Two things show no clear relationship.

Why doesn't correlation prove causation?

Two things may be linked without one causing the other.

Longitudinal study

Studies the same people over a long period.

Cross-sectional study

Compares different age groups at one point in time.

Longitudinal study: strength and weakness

Shows change over time, but takes a long time.

Cross-sectional study: strength and weakness

Faster to do, but does not show how each person changes.

UNIT 2: PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT AND BIRTH

What should be considered before conception?

Health, medicines, age, genetics, and harmful substances.

What are the three prenatal stages?

Germinal, embryonic, and fetal.

Germinal period

The fertilized egg divides and attaches to the uterus.

Embryonic period

The major body parts and organs begin to form.

Fetal period

The body grows and organs continue to develop.

Cephalocaudal development

Growth happens from the head downward.

Proximodistal development

Growth happens from the center of the body outward.

Why is fetal movement important?

It helps the body and muscles develop.

What are teratogens?

Things that can harm a developing baby during pregnancy.

Examples of teratogens

Alcohol, nicotine, some drugs, infections, and toxic chemicals.

When can teratogens cause the most harm?

When important organs are first forming.

Why does timing matter before birth?

The same exposure can have different effects at different stages.

How does fetal hearing develop?

A fetus starts hearing sounds before birth.

How does fetal vision develop?

Vision is limited before birth and improves after birth.

How do fetal taste and smell develop?

Fetuses experience flavors and smells through the amniotic fluid.

What did the Cat in the Hat study investigate?

Whether babies recognize sounds they heard before birth. Check lecture for exact findings.

What are in-utero reflexes?

Automatic movements that happen before birth.

What is the best predictor of a healthy birth?

Check your lecture notes for the specific predictor your class emphasizes.

What triggers childbirth?

Hormonal and body signals start labor.

What is the stress hormone rush during birth?

A hormone surge that helps the baby adjust to life outside the womb.

What are common childbirth interventions?

Inducing labor, pain medicine, assisted delivery, and C-section.

What is the Apgar test?

A quick check of a newborn's breathing, heartbeat, movement, reflexes, and color.

What causes low birth weight?

High blood pressure, preeclampsia, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, CMV, rubella, syphilis, cervical abnormalities, and uterine abnormalities.

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What are possible risks of high birth weight?

It can make delivery harder and raise some health risks.

UNIT 3: THE NEWBORN

Neurogenesis

Making new brain cells.

Synaptogenesis

Making connections between brain cells.

Synaptic pruning

The brain removes connections it uses less often.

Myelination

Adding a protective coating to nerve fibers so messages travel faster.

Brain plasticity

The brain's ability to change through learning and experience.

Experience-expectant plasticity

Brain development that needs common experiences, like hearing language.

Experience-dependent plasticity

Brain changes caused by a person's own experiences, like learning piano.

Sensitive period

A time when the brain is especially ready to learn something.

How do researchers study newborns?

They watch looking, sucking, heart rate, and brain activity.

Habituation

Paying less attention to something after seeing it repeatedly.

What did Eimas's research show?

Young babies can tell apart some speech sounds.

What are newborns' vision limits?

Newborns see blurry images and see best up close.

Perceptual narrowing

The brain gets better at noticing familiar sounds or faces and less tuned to unfamiliar ones.

Intermodal perception

Using more than one sense together, like matching a voice to a face.

How does infant categorization change?

Babies get better at grouping similar things together.

Does more practice always make babies reach milestones sooner?

No. Development also depends on growth and individual differences.

How do reaching and grasping develop?

Babies practice controlling their hands and learn about objects.

What is the visual cliff?

A test that makes a surface look like it has a steep drop.

Social referencing

Looking at another person's reaction to decide what to do.

Visual proprioception

Using sight to help understand where your body is.

Why might the stepping reflex disappear?

Body growth and changes in movement control may make it harder to see.

What are newborn states of arousal?

Different levels of sleep and wakefulness, from deep sleep to crying.

Why do newborns spend lots of time in REM sleep?

because it serves as a crucial fuel for early brain development and neural growth

What is SIDS?

An unexplained death of an infant during sleep.

How can sleep-related infant death risk be lowered?

placing babies to sleep on their backs, using a flat and firm sleep surface, keeping soft objects out of the crib, room-sharing without bed-sharing, and avoiding smoke exposure.

Why do babies cry?

Crying signals that they need help or care.

How can culture affect infant crying?

Culture changes a baby's cry by altering its sound, how long it lasts, how parents stop it, and how the baby feels when left alone.

UNIT 4: INFANT COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

What is Piaget's sensorimotor stage?

Birth to about age two, when babies learn by sensing and doing.

Object permanence

Knowing something still exists when you cannot see it.

What is a problem with Piaget's object permanence tests?

Babies might know an object exists but struggle to show it by reaching.