PSY2012 Ch.9 - Human Development

development

the pattern of continuity and change in human capabilities that occurs throughout the course of life; involves 3 processes (physical, cognitive, socioemotional)

nature

an organism’s biological inheritance (genetic makeup)

nurture

an organism’s environmental experiences (parenting, schools, peers)

teratogen

any agent that causes a birth defect (e.g. alcohol, cigarettes, drugs)

fetal alcohol syndrome

cluster of abnormalities that occurs in children born to mothers who are heavy drinkers (e.g. small head, wide-spaced eyes, flat nose, lower intelligence)

preferential looking

a test of perception that gives an infant a choice of what to look at; if the infant shows a reliable preference for one stimulus over another when they are repeatedly presented, we can infer that the infant can distinguish between the two

habituation

decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations

cognitive development

how thought, intelligence, and language processes change as people mature

schema

a concept or mental framework that exists at any given moment in a person’s mind that helps them organize information

assimilation

an individual’s incorporation of new information into existing knowledge

accommodation

an individual’s adjustment of a schema to new information

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

development can be divided into 4 stages: sensorimotor (birth - 2 yrs), preoperational (2 - 7 yrs), concrete operational (7 - 11 yrs), formal operational (11 - adulthood)

sensorimotor stage

coordination of sensory input and motor responses; development of object permanence

object permanence

understanding that objects exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard, or touched

preoperational stage

development of symbolic thought marked by irreversibility, centration, and egocentrism

conservation

a belief in the permanence of certain attributes of objects or situations despite superficial changes

egocentrism

the inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and the perspective of someone else

concrete operational stage

mental operations applied to concrete events; mastery of conservation, hierarchical classification

formal operational stage

mental operations applied to abstract ideas; logical, systematic thinking

Erikson’s theory of socioemotional development

8 stages from infancy through old age; each stage has a crisis that one must negotiate; the more successful the negotiation, the more competent the individual becomes