PSY210 Chapter 9

Lifespan Development

Lifespan Development

The scientific study of how humans change and remain the same from conception through death.

Physical Development Domain

Involves growth and changes in the body and brain, senses, motor skills, and health and wellness.

Cognitive Development Domain

Involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity.

Psychosocial Development Domain

Involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing behavior in its natural context with little researcher control over the environment.

Case Study

Collecting a great deal of information from one individual to understand physical and psychological changes.

Survey Method

Asking individuals to self-report important information about thoughts, experiences, and beliefs.

Experimental Research

Involves control over extraneous variables and manipulation of the independent variable to make causal statements.

Normative Approach

Studying large numbers of individuals to determine average ages for reaching specific developmental milestones.

Developmental Milestones

Approximate age-related averages for normative events such as crawling, walking, and speaking in sentences.

Continuous Development

Views development as a cumulative, gradual process improving on existing skills over a smooth slope.

Discontinuous Development

Views development as occurring in unique, sudden stages at specific times or ages.

Nature versus Nurture

The longstanding debate on whether biology and genetics or environment and culture shape our traits.

Achievement Gap

Persistent differences in grades, test scores, and graduation rates among students of different backgrounds.

Sigmund Freud

Proposed the psychosexual theory of development, emphasizing that childhood experiences shape adult personality.

Erik Erikson

Proposed the psychosocial theory of development spanning eight life stages centered on social tasks.

Trust versus Mistrust

Erikson's first psychosocial stage (0-1 year) where infants learn to see the world as safe or unpredictable.

Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt

Erikson's second stage (1-3 years) where toddlers work to establish independence and self-control.

Initiative versus Guilt

Erikson's preschool stage (3-6 years) where children learn to plan and achieve goals or risk developing guilt.

Industry versus Inferiority

Erikson's elementary school stage (7-11 years) where children develop pride in abilities or feelings of inferiority.

Identity versus Role Confusion

Erikson's adolescence stage (12-18 years) focusing on developing a strong sense of self and personal values.

Intimacy versus Isolation

Erikson's early adulthood stage (19-29 years) focused on sharing life and establishing intimate relationships.

Generativity versus Stagnation

Erikson's middle adulthood stage (30-64 years) focused on finding life's work and contributing to others.

Integrity versus Despair

Erikson's late adulthood stage (65+ years) where individuals reflect on life with a sense of satisfaction or failure.

Jean Piaget

Proposed a four-stage theory of cognitive development focusing on how children's thinking and reasoning evolve.

Schemata

Mental models or concepts used to help us categorize and interpret information.

Assimilation

The process of taking in new information or experiences that are comparable to current schemata.

Accommodation

The process of changing one's schemata based on new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's first stage (0-2 years) where the world is experienced through senses and physical actions.

Object Permanence

The understanding that an object still exists even when it is out of sight.

Stranger Anxiety

A fear of unfamiliar people developing when an infant cannot assimilate a stranger into an existing schema.

Preoperational Stage

Piaget's second stage (2-7 years) featuring symbolic representation, pretend play, and language, but lacking logical operations.

Conservation

The idea that changing the appearance of something does not change its mass, volume, or size as long as nothing is added or removed.

Egocentrism

The inability of a preoperational child to take the perspective of others.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's third stage (7-11 years) where children can think logically about real events and master conservation.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's final stage (11+ years) characterized by the ability to utilize abstract reasoning and hypothetical logic.

Lev Vygotsky

Proposed the sociocultural theory of development, emphasizing that human development is rooted in one's culture and social world.

Lawrence Kohlberg

Proposed a stage theory of moral development based on how individuals reason through moral dilemmas.

Heinz Dilemma

A moral dilemma used by Kohlberg to evaluate levels of moral reasoning regarding whether a man should steal a drug to save his wife.

Germinal Stage

The first stage of prenatal development (weeks 1-2) characterized by rapid cell division (mitosis) of the zygote.

Embryonic Stage

The second stage of prenatal development (weeks 3-8) where the placenta forms and basic organ structures begin to develop.

Fetal Stage

The final stage of prenatal development (weeks 9-40) involving extensive growth, brain development, and preparation for birth.

Teratogen

Any biological, chemical, or physical environmental agent that causes damage to the developing embryo or fetus.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)

A collection of birth defects and cognitive issues caused by heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Newborn Reflexes

Inborn automatic responses to particular forms of stimulation, such as rooting, sucking, and grasping, crucial for infant survival.

Blooming and Pruning

The rapid period of neural pathway formation in early childhood followed by a reduction of connections to increase brain efficiency.

Fine Motor Skills

Focus on muscles in fingers, toes, and eyes to enable coordination of small actions like grasping or writing.

Gross Motor Skills

Focus on large muscle groups controlling arms and legs for movements like balancing, running, and jumping.

Theory-of-Mind (TOM)

The understanding that other people have thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and perspectives different from one's own.

Attachment

A long-standing emotional connection or bond with others, considered the major social milestone of infancy.

Harry Harlow

Conducted monkey experiments showing that feelings of comfort and security are critical components of maternal-infant bonding over mere nourishment.

Mary Ainsworth

Used the Strange Situation procedure to identify different types of parent-child attachment styles.

Secure Attachment

The healthiest attachment style where a toddler uses the parent as a secure base and seeks them out in times of stress.

Avoidant Attachment

An attachment style where the child is unresponsive to the parent, does not use them as a secure base, and acts indifferent upon return.

Resistant Attachment

An attachment style characterized by clingy behavior combined with rejection of the parent's attempts to interact, often due to inconsistent parenting.

Disorganized Attachment

An attachment style where children behave oddly, freeze, or run erratically when reunited with caregivers, often seen in cases of abuse.

Self-Concept

An understanding of who one is, tested in toddlers using the mirror test and red dot self-recognition method.

Authoritative Parenting Style

Parenting style featuring reasonable demands, consistent limits, warmth, affection, and open communication.

Authoritarian Parenting Style

Parenting style placing high value on conformity, strict obedience, tight monitoring, and low warmth.

Permissive Parenting Style

Parenting style where parents make few demands, rarely use punishment, and act more like friends than authorities.

Uninvolved Parenting Style

Parenting style where parents are indifferent, neglectful, unresponsive to basic needs, and make few demands.

Temperament

Innate traits that influence how an individual thinks, behaves, and reacts emotionally with their environment.

Adolescence

The socially constructed period of development beginning at puberty and ending at emerging adulthood (typically ages 12-18).

Primary Sexual Characteristics

Organs specifically needed for reproduction, such as the uterus, ovaries, and testes, which mature during puberty.

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Physical signs of sexual maturation that do not directly involve sex organs, such as breast development or deepened voice.