Developmental Psychology

Nature/Nurture

Genetics vs environment

Continuity vs stages

Erikson, Kohlberg, Piaget, and Freud all agreed that development happens in stages

Stability vs change

Measure of how much a person remains the same or changes

Teratogens

Agents (like chemicals or viruses) that get past the placenta, reaching the embryo/fetus, causing harm

Examples of teratogens

Alcohol and thalidomide

Thalidomide

Drug that caused malformation of limbs

Fetal alcohol syndrome

Ingestion of alcohol can cause physical defects like small head size, heart defects, and slow growth, brain and central nervous system problems like poor coordination, memory problems, learning disorders, and hyperactivity, and social issues like not behaving appropriately or according to context

Reflexes of babies

Rooting and sucking to help them feed

How can infant cognition be studied?

Baby’s memory can be observed by seeing how long babies look at an image or object they’ve seen before (the quicker they look away, the faster their information processing is)

How did Piaget think children develop cognitively?

In stages, spurts of change and then stabilize

What are the four stages, in order, of Piaget’s theory of childrens’ cognitive development?

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

What age group is sensorimotor - Piaget?

0-2 yrs

What happens in the sensorimotor stage?

Babies discover they are different from their environment, object permanence, and stranger anxiety

What is object permance - sensorimotor?

Awareness that objects still exist even when not sensed

What age group is preoperational - Piaget?

2-7 years old

What happens in the preoperational stage - Piaget?

Pretend play, egocentricism, theory of mind

What is egocentrism - preoperational?

A person cannot understand other life perspectives

What is theory of mind - preoperational?

Person can recognize that someone else will think differently than them (pencil box)

What age group is concrete operational - Piaget?

7-11 years old

What happens in concrete operational - Piaget?

Logical way of thinking or operating, systematic reasoning (understanding logic, conservation, reversibility), struggle with abstract ideas, more logical + sophisticated thinking

What is conservation - concrete operational?

Same amount of a material to start and end with

What is reversibility?

Knowing how parts make a whole, but not knowing how the whole separates into those parts

What ages is formal operational - Piaget?

11/12 - adulthood

What happens in formal operational - Piaget?

Abstract thinking, deductive reasoning, moral reasoning, systematic reasoning

What was Lev Vygotsky’s social development theory?

Children’s cognitive development and learning can be guided and influenced by their social interactions

What is the zone of proximal development - Vygotsky?

The difference between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with the help of someone more skilled

Someone outside the zone of proximal development may not be able to _________ - Vygotsky

Learn new things

How does language help with learning - Vygotsky?

Language passes down cultural knowledge, language developed from social interactions with the intent of communicating

What is attachment?

Emotional tie with another person, shown in young children seeking closeness to their caregiver and showing distress when separated

What was the monkey experiment of attachment?

Monkeys became attached to softer, no-milk “mothers,” the poles, rather than hard poles with milk

What is the critical period of development?

Optimal period early in an organism’s early life when exposure to a certain stimuli or experience produces normal development

What was the Ainsworth parenting style experiment?

Kids with secure attachment from responsive mothers played comfortably in new environments when the mother was present and became distressed when she left, seeking contact when she returned

Kids with insecure attachment from neglectful or inconsistent mothers showed anxiety in the new environment and were insecure (avoidant or resistant)

What is temperament?

Characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

What are easy babies?

Cheerful, relaxed, and predictable habits

What are difficult babies?

Irritable, intense, unpredictable habits

What are slow-to-warm-up babies?

Withdraw from new people and situations

What increases secure attachment of parents?

Sensitivity training

Who were the children of the Romanian orphanages?

Children who were placed into orphanages after not being able to be taken care of by their families because of increased birth rates and stricter contraception laws

What is disinhibited attachment - children in romanian orphanages?

Little to no fear of unfamiliar adults because the children weren’t taken care of by a singular caregiver for enough time to form secure attachment

What were some problems of the children in the Romanian orphanages?

Inattention, overactivity, cognitive impairment

What is the internal working model theory by John Bowlby?

Attachment can create the foundation for friendships, romantic relationships, parenting styles

What were the results of children being in daycare? What was the aggression linked to?

Slightly advanced language and thinking, slightly more aggressive and defiant

What is self-concept?

How a person views themself

What is the basis of biological characteristics of sex?

Chromosomes

What is the Trivers parental investment theory?

Females have a large minimum investment, can only have one offspring per year, so they are very picky about choosing a mate

What are some examples of sex differences?

Empathy, math ability, gender roles and characteristics

How is self concept tested with babies and around what age do they developed self concept?

A dot of paint is placed on the baby’s nose, and if they touch their nose when looking in a mirror, they are aware of themselves as a person

What was the window test for object permanence?

Babies were shown an object passing in front of a window and those who acted surprised when they didn’t see the object in the window had object permanence

What is one possible explanation for individuals being transgender that has to do with hormone exposure?

Male infants are exposed to estrogen soon before birth which makes their brains more masculine, but male to female individuals may not have been exposed to the estrogen

What is the first stage of moral development - Kohlberg?

Preconventional (3-7 years old)

What happens in the first stage of moral development - Kohlberg?

Avoiding punishment, having self-interest

What is the second stage of moral development - Kohlberg?

Conventional (8-13 years old)

What happens in the second stage of moral development - Kohlberg?

Moral reasoning based on external ethics and influences

What is the third stage of moral development - Kohlberg?

Post-conventional (adulthood)

What happens in the third stage of moral development - Kohlberg?

Moral reasoning based on personal ethics

What is Carol Gilligan’s morality of care theory?

Women’s morality is centered around relationships and context while men adhere to the rules and norms of society

What are the levels of Gilligan’s morality of care?

1. Individual survival

2. Goodness as self-sacrifice

3. Morality of nonviolence - no harm to yourself or others

What situation did Jonathan Haidt create to explore moral intuition?

Trolley problem - do we act on moral emotion and justify through moral reasoning?

What is Erikson’s first psychosocial stage of development?

Trust/mistrust - consistent feeding and care (0-18 months)

What is Erikson’s second psychosocial stage of development?

Autonomy/shame - potty training, personal control like dressing oneself (2-3 yrs)

What is Erikson’s third psychosocial stage of development?

Initiative/guilt - exploration, initiating things, making up stories (3-5 yrs)

What is Erikson’s fourth psychosocial stage of development?

Industry/inferiority - developing confidence, influence of parents/teachers/peers (6-11 yrs)

What is Erikson’s fifth psychosocial stage of development?

Identity/loss - parents want kid to do one thing, kid wants to do another, sense of self, trying to be different (12-18 yrs)

What is Erikson’s sixth psychosocial stage of development?

Intimacy/isolation - lasting relationships and connections (19-40 yrs)

What is Erikson’s seventh psychosocial stage of development?

Generativity/stagnation - fulfillment from work, meaningful purpose (40-65 yrs)

What is Erikson’s eigth psychosocial stage of development?

Inegrity/despair - looking back on one’s life with satisfaction or despair (65+ yrs)

Identity achievement - individual has committed to identity, individual has explored identity options

Yes, committed to identify, but has not explored other options

Foreclosure - individual has committed to identity, individual has explored identity options

Yes, committed to identify, but has not explored all options

Moratorium - individual has committed to identity, individual has explored identity options

No, not committed to identify, but has explored options

Identity diffusion - individual has committed to identity, individual has explored identity options

No, not committed to identify and has not explored other options

Percentages of men and woman that are homosexual

3% of men and 2% of women, but more same-sex sexual contact in women higher

Wrong theories about sexual orientation

Domineering mother and weak father, hatred or fear of opposite sex, levels of sex hormones in blood, abuse

What is a brain difference that could be related to sexuality?

Cell cluster in hypothalamus is larger in heterosexual men

Male homosexuality evolutionary theory

Transmitted from mother’s side, maternal relative shave more kids, gay uncle to take care of kids

Ways the homosexual genes are carried on

Homosexual members of a family marry into heterosexual relationships and have children, or gay uncles help the offspring survive and they’ll eventually reproduce and carry on the genes

What is the prenatal influence of sexuality?

Female fetuses typically exposed to testosterone around 2.5-5 months after conception which may cause attraction to males, aging more older brothers makes a man more likely to be gay