AP Psych Unit 3A- Development and Learning

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.