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Stability and Change
Stability refers to traits and behaviors that remain more or less constant throughout a person’s life while change refers to traits and behaviors that are more fluid and flexible throughout a person’s life
Discontinuous Stages of Development
Refers to the view that development occurs in a series of distinct stages.
Continuous Stages of Development
Refers to the view that development is a gradual, continuous process.
Nature
What we think of as pre-wiring and is influenced by genetic inheritance and other biological factors.
Nurture
Generally taken as the influence of external factors after conception, e.g., the product of exposure, life experiences and learning on an individual
Longitudinal Study
Change over time
Study that follows the same grpoup of people over an extended period of time
Cross-sectional Study
Study in which people of different ages are examinded at one point in time
Environment
Mothers voice, other sounds, air quality, pollution, toxic chemicals, and nutrition
Teratogens
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
Ex. Mother consuming alcohol or drugs or catching the flu while pregnant
Factors that Influence Prenatal Development
Malnourishment, maternal illness, and genetic mutations can put the child at risk for health problems and psychiatric disorders. If a pregnant woman experiences extreme stress, the stress hormones flooding her body may indicate a survival threat to the fetus and produce an earlier delivery.
Developmental Norms
The normal timeline of mental and physical growth and changes that occur as an entity ages
Rooting Reflex
Baby automatically turning it’s head when it’s cheek is touched to help with feeding
Visual Cliff
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals. Happens because biology prepares us to be cautious of heights.
Critical Period
“Sensitive period”
An optimal period, early in childhood, when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produce normal development.
Language aquisition, attachment, and cognitive development: if these don’t occur during this period, it can have life long irreversible effects on development
Imprinting
The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.
Social bonding with a caregiver-like figure.
Once formed, this attachment is difficult to reverse
Usually happens immediately after birth
Ex. Follow the leader
What are the 4 main infant developmental milestones and what order do they occur in?
1) Sitting up (alone)
2) Crawling
3) Walking (alone)
4) Running
Labratory Apparatus
Tests depth perception in young infants and animals.
Ex. Visual cliff
Adolescence
A transitional period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Puberty
The physical beginnings of sexual maturity, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.
Surge of Hormones
Side effect of puberty
May intensify moods and some changes in behavior
What is the typical age occurrence of puberty?
9-16 years old
Primary Sex Characteristics
The organs needed for reproduction (ovaries in the female, testes in the male, and external genetalia)
Secondary Sex Charateristics
Non-reproductive sexual traits such as female breasts and hips, male voice changes and body hair, and the development of pubic and underarm hair in both males and females.
Menarche
A girl’s first menstrual period, is often viewed as the biological marker indicating the beginning of adolescence
Spermarche
The first time a biological male ejaculates semen
What physical abilities change in your 20s?
Muscle strength, reaction time, mobility, flexibility, and cardiac output all decline
What physical abilities change in your 40s?
Decline in fertility, mobility, flexibility and reaction time
Menopause
The time in a woman’s life when her menstrual cycle ends. Also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
Typically occurs at age 52
Which type of intelligence declines with age?
Fluid intelligence
Crystallized Intelligence
Accumulated intelligence over time and ability to use skills, knowledge, and experience.
Increases with age
Dementia
A generalized, pervasive deterioration or memory and at least one other cognitive function such as language. Thinking, memory, and behavior begin to deteriorate.
What impact does exercise have on age?
It can slow aging. It stimulated neurogenesis , enhances memory, sharpens judgement and reduces the risk of severe cognitive decline.
Sex
The biological category as male of female defined by physical differences in genetic composition and reproductive organs
Gender
What you learn or do in order to be masculine or feminine and it can be through your own cognitive processes, but it’s often times through the observation of others
Jean Piaget
Developmental psychologist responsible for helping us realize children and adults have different ways of thinking. Created the theory of cognitive development and the 4 stages (sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational, and formal operational).
Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology about children was what?
That children were merely less competent thinkers
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Ex. All different chairs but they’re all used for sitting
Assimilation
Fitting new knowledge into an exisisting schema
Accomodation
Adjusting old schemas or developing new ones to incorporate new information
Sensorimotor Stage
Age: Birth- age 2
Infants use their senses and motor skills to explore the world around them.
Object permanence develops during this stage
Ex. Looking, hearing, touching, etc.
Object Permanence
A childs ability to understand that objects still exist after they’re no longer in sight
Develops in the sensorimotor stage
Ex. Peekaboo
Preoperational Stage
Age: 2- 6/7
A child represents things using words and images; use intuitive rather than logical reasoning
A child uses symbols, language, and imagination. Children in this stage engage in pretend play.
Identified more by cognitive tasks children cannot perform such as conservation, reversibility, or by those they exhibit, such as animism and egocentrism.
Pretend Play
“Make-believe” play. Use objects symbolically.
Occurs during the Preoperational Stage
Ex. A stick representing a sword
Parallel Play
When a child plays alongside or near others but doesn’t play with them
Occurs during the Preoperational Stage
Egocentrism
The inability on the part of the child to consider or see any point of view other than their own.
Occurs during the Preoperational Stage
Ex. A preschooler who is blocking your view of the TV assumes you see what they see
Theory of Mind
The understanding that others have intentions, desires, beliefs, perceptions, and emotions that might be different from your own
Animism
The belief that objects that are inanimate have feelings, thoughts, and have mental characteristics and qualities of living things.
Concrete Operational Stage
Age: 7-11
Children can perform the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete (actual, physical) events.
Children in this stage can generally correct the cognitive errors made in the preoperational stage and understand the world in logical, realistic, and straightforward ways but struggle to think systematically.
Conservation
The understanding that two equal quantities remain equal even though their form or appearance is rearranged.
Ex. Understanding that your sandwich is still the same size if it is cut into halves or squares
Reversibility
The ability to recognize that objects can be changed and returned to their original state.
Ex. A child learning that water can be frozen and then thawed back into liquid
Formal Operational Stage
Age: 12- adulthood
Begin to think logically about abstract concepts. Problem-solving, moral reasoning, scientific reasoning, critical analysis, and perspective-taking.
People in this stage gain the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically.
Piaget proposed that not all people achieve formal operational thinking
Abstract Thinking
The ability to understand and think about complex concepts that, while real, are not tied to concrete experiences, objects, people, or situations. Considered a type of high-order thinking, usually about ideas and principles that are often symbolic or hypothetical
Hypothetical Thinking
Involves imagining possibilities and exploring their consequences through a process of mental simulation
Lev Vgotsky
Developed a theory of how the child’s mind grows through interaction with the environment vs gradually and in fixed stages.
Believed that children learn best by interacting with others and according to their own schedule.
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
The skills and knowledge that are just beyond the learners current abilities, but can be reached with appropriate support.
Gap between what a child can do with and without support
Facilitates effective learning
What a child can do with help
Scaffolding
A more skilled learner gives help to a less skilled learner, reducing the amount of helo as the less skilled learner becomes more capable.
Supporting or coaching students as they work toward more complex tasks children can develop higher-level cognitive abilities.
Phoneme
In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit that can distinguish meaning between words
Ex. “P” in “pat” differentiates it from “bat”
Morpheme
In a language, the smallest unit that carried meaning; may be a word or part of a word
Ex. The word “dogs” is composed of two morphemes- “dog” and “s” with the latter conveying the plural number
Syntax
Determines the rules for combining or arranging words into grammatically sensible sentences.
Ex. If you want to tell someone that you ran to the store, you know to put the verb "ran" before the noun "store" to form the sentence "I ran to the store" as opposed to saying "I store ran".
Semantics
Set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences.
Ex. When someone says they bought a new car but it's actually used, but they still feel like it's new
Cooing Stage
Vowel-like sounds produced by young infants when they’re seemingly happy and content usually when they’re 2 months old
Babbling Stage
Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language
Ex. “ba-ba-ba”
One-word Stage
The stage in speech development, from about ages 1-2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words. Children learn that sounds carry meaning.
Ex. “Go!” “Car” “Kitty”
Overgeneralization
Using grammar rules without proper use and exceptions
Ex. Saying "foots" instead of "feet,"
Telegraphic Speech
Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram- “go car”- using mostly nouns and verbs
Ecological Systems Theory
A theory of the social environment’s influence on human development using 5 systems (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem) ranging from direct to indirect influences.
Microsystem
The immediate environment in which an individual directly interacts with
Ex. Family and friends
Mesosystem
Relationships between microsystems groups
Ex. How school experiences may impact family dynamics
Ecosystem
External environments that indirectly affect a person
Ex. A parents workplace
Macrosystem
Cultural influences
Ex. Values beliefs, economic and political systems
Chronosystem
Life stage and related events
The role that time plays in influencing individual development
Ex. The individuals current stage in life
Attachment
An emotional tie with others exhibited in young children by seeking closeness to caregivers and showing distress upon separation
Caregiver-Infant Attachment
Survival impulse, attached to people who they’re comfortable and familiar with
Prior to Harlow’s research, most psychologists believed that a strong attachment bond formed because of what?
Because Mothers provided food
Harry Harlow’s Monkey Study
The need for tactile or contact comfort explains how attachment develops. Demonstrated this by giving monkeys two surrogate mothers: a wire mother, who provided nourishment, and a cloth mother, who provided contact comfort. The monkeys always preferred the cloth mother.
What did Harlow’s Monkey Experiments reveal?
1) Demonstrated that love, affection, and tactile/contact comfort are needed for healthy development.
2) Caregivers greatly affect development. Contact and touch are vital to attachment, learning, emotional well-being, and psychological development
3) Infants become attached to caregivers that provide warmth and love, and that love isn’t simply based on providing nourishment
What factors caused Harlow’s research to be highly unethical?
Isolated the monkeys from their mother and others.
Contact Comfort
The positive effects experienced by infants or young animals when in close contact with soft materials
Deprevation of Attachment
Isolated individuals withdrew, turned inward, and rocked back and forth when frightened. Lashed out in aggression towards other individuals when given opportunities to socialize
Mary Ainsworth’s Stange Situation Summary
1960’s
Differences in an infant’s attachment styles are dependent on the mother’s behavior during a critical period of development. Focused on the child’s level of distress and anxiety and exploration behavior- did they explore the room? Play with toys? Did they seek comfort? Were they easily soothed?
Secure Attachment
Children who show some distress when their caregiver leaves but are able to compose themselves knowing that their caregiver will return.
When the parent is present the child displays confidence.
When the parent returns the child quickly reestablishes contact.
70% of children displayed this style
Anxious/ Ambivalent Attachment
As a young child, they may cling to caregivers or become inconsolable when a caregiver leaves. The child will most likely have a hard time feeling secure in relationships
Show distress when separated from mother. Significant fear of the stranger. Approach mother but reject contact after separation. The mother is preoccupied with her own needs and gives attention to the child once her own needs are met.
Positive Parent-Child Relationship Mother Characteristics
Sensitive and responsive to their child’s needs. They noticed what their babies were doing and how they were acting and responded appropriately.
Insecure Attachment
Child is unable to be comforted or is violent or distant upon caregivers return.
When the parent is present the child fails to display confidence
When the parent leaves, the child displays indifference or extreme stress
When the parent returns, the child displays anxiousness or ambivalence or avoidance.
Avoidant Attachment
Formed in babies and children when parents or caregivers are largely emotionally unavailable or unresponsive most of the time. The child will most likely have trouble trusting people in the future
Show no interest when separated from mother. Play happily with the stranger. Ignore mother after serparation. Insensitive and unresponsive
Mothers characteristics- Attend to their babies when they feel like doing so but ignore them at other times/
Disorganized Attachment
The attachment pattern reflecting the greatest insecurity, characterizing infants who show confused, contradictory responses when reunited with their parent after separation.
When the mother leaves they begin rocking, hitting, or crying.
When the mother returns, they act strangely with the caregiver and do not know how to attach
Mother characteristics- Mother with severe depression/ suffered some traumatic loss in life
Separation Anxiety
When a child expresses heightened anxiety or fear when away from caregiver or in the presence of a stranger
Temperment
A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity (Easy- Good-natured, easy to care fore, adoptable, Difficult- Moody and intense, react to new situations and people negatively and strongly. Slow-to-warm-up - Inactive and slow to responnd to new things and when they do react its mild)
Stranger Anxiety
Characterized by distress and apprehension when around unfamiliar people
Secure Attachment Style Effect in Adults
Feel safe, stable, and more satisfied in their close relationships.
Set boundaries: They are able to set appropriate boundaries, and thrive in relationships: they don’t fear being on their own but they usually thrive in close, meaningful relationships.
Anxious Attachment Style Effect in Adults
Clingy, relationship anxiety, hypervigilance to rejection, distress when others’ responsiveness seems insufficient, and overdependence on partners
Avoidant Attachment Style Effect in Adults
Distrust others, close themselves off or leave relationships when things get serious, appear aloof, indecisive, or not fully invested in a relationship, and use defensive strategies to avoid connection.
Disorganized Attachment Style Effect in Adults
Inconsistent behavior. Their behavior can be difficult to predict, and they may lack coherence
Difficulty trusting others: they may feel insecure in relationships and have a hard time forming close bonds
Emotional regulation issues: They may have extreme mood swings, dissociate, or feel numb
Unhealthy coping strategies: They may use self-destructive behaviors or unhealthy coping strategies such as risky sexual behavior
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
A stressful or traumatic event or events that occur during childhood or adolescence that can impact a persons health other than well-being. These negative experiences affect a child’s brain and health as they grow into adults. ACEs lead to mental health problems oe chronic health conditions. Lifelong treatment and management of ACEs can help a person lead a fulfilling life.
Types of ACEs: Abuse
Emotional, sexual or physical
Types of ACEs: Neglect
Emotional or physical
Types of ACEs: Household Dysfunction
Substance misuse, mental illness, suicidal thoughts and behavior, divorce or separation, incarceration, or domestic violence
Types of ACEs: Other Challenges
Bullying, community violence, natural disasters, refugee or wartime experiences, or witnessing or experiencing acts of terrorism
Parenting Styles: Authoritarian
Dictorial parenting style. Characterized by high demandingness with low responsiveness. Parents are rigid, harsh, and demanding. Children who are obedient and proficient, but they rank lower in happiness, social competence, and self-esteem
Parenting Styles: Permissive
Leniant. Characterized by low demandingness with high responsiveness. Children who rank low in happiness and self-regulation and are more likely to experience problems with authority and tend to perform poorly in school.
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