AP Psychology - Unit 6 - Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Zygote

The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Embryo

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

Teratogens

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during parental development and cause harm.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.

Alzheimer's Disease

A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning.

Temperament

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Maturation

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Schema

A concept of framework that organizes and interprets information.

Assimilation

Interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas. (Similar to overgeneralization)

Accommodation

Adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Object Permanence

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not in sight.

Preoperational Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Conservation

The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Egocentrism

In Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.

Concrete Operational Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Formal Operational Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Attachment

An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.

Critical Period

An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life.

Adolescence

The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Puberty

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

Menarche

The first menstrual period.

Menopause

The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

APGAR

Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration (to check baby’s health)

Harry Harlow

Tested on monkeys, contact comfort, if a baby is not held it will not develop an attachment

Mary Ainsworth

"Strange situation," stranger enters/mom leaves, secure, avoidant, anxious/ambivalent

Secure Attachment

Cries without mom, can be distracted, reunion is happy, successful relationships

Avoidant Attachment

Doesn't notice mom's gone, reunion is indifferent, can't commit in relationships

Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment

Freaks out without mom, wants nothing to do with mom at the reunion, clingy in relationships

Authoritarian

This style of parenting allows for little discussion or explanation of the firm controls placed on the child. Dictator, "because I said so"

Permissive

a relaxed attitude to parenting that is more like a friend than a parent

Authoritative

Parenting style that is child-centered, in that parents closely interact with their children, while maintaining high expectations for behavior and performance.

Parenting styles

Authoritarian, Permissive, Authoritative

Pretend Play, Language Development

Two key events of the preoperational stage

Concrete Operational

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Conservation, Math Transformations

Key event of concrete operational stage

Abstract Logic

Key event of formal operational stage

Lawrence Kohlberg

Moral development, lifespan development, studied men, describe the development of moral reasoning, the thinking that occurs as we consider right and wrong, primarily concerned with justice

Carol Gilligan

Studied women, same results as Kohlberg

Preconventional Mortality

Uses rewards & punishments as reasons to do (or not to do) something

Conventional

Uses other people's expectations as a reason to do (or not to do) something

Postconventional

Uses their own ethics and bases responses on human rights

Marcia

Came up with the idea of identity states

Identity Achievement

Has gone through an identity crisis and came out with a well-defined sense of self. Committed to a set of personal values and goals, well-prepared to make meaningful lives for themselves

Identity Diffusion

No clear idea of their own identity and they are not trying to find a new one

Identity Foreclosure

Accept the identity and values that were given in childhood.

Parents not give a chance to explore other alternatives for kid

Identity Moratorium

Trying to achieve identity through experimentation and trial-and-error. State of adolescents who are in the midst of an identity crisis, not made clear commitment to an identity

Denial (Illness)

Looking for a second opinion, ignorance, "I'll get through this, there's no way this is true"

Denial (Grievance)

Making themselves busy, leaving child's room as it is

Anger (Illness)

Blaming themselves, god, illness, objects

Anger (Grievance)

Blaming those diagnosed, others, god

Bargaining (Illness)

Asking doctors, god for a second chance, "just let me see my child one more time and I can die happy"

Bargaining (Grievance)

"Take me instead," "if I only had one more day..."

Depression

Doesn't want to do anything

Acceptance (Illness)

Bucket list, able to talk about illness, satisfaction

Acceptance (Grievance)

"They're in a better place," packing child's things away

Trust vs. Mistrust

If needs are dependably met, infants (0-1yr) develop a sense of basic trust

Erik Erickson

Social development

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Stages of social development

Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

Toddlers (1yr-3yrs) learn to exercise will and do things for themselves, or they will doubt their abilities

Initiative vs. Guilt

Preschoolers (3-5 yrs) learn to start tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about efforts to be independent

Competence/Industry vs. Inferiority

Children (6-12 yrs) learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inadequate

Identity vs. Role/Identity Confusion

Adolescence (12-18) main task is developing a sense of self.

Deciding who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Young Adulthood (20s-early 40s) Develop and maintain successful relationships with others, or feel alone

Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Late adulthood (65+ yrs) when reflecting on his or her life, the older adult may feel a sense of accomplishment or regret.

Cross-Sectional

Type of study in which people of different ages are examined at the same time(s)

Cohort Effects

Systematic difference between age groups that are due to cultural changes over time

Longitudinal

Study follows the same group of people over a period of time from months to many years in order to evaluate changes in those individuals

Cross-Sequential

Individuals in a cross-sectional sample are tested more than once over a specified period of time

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Middle-aged adults (35-65) begin contributing to the next generation/society or little connection to others, or have mid-life crisis’s

Prenatal Development

Begins with conception and ends at birth. A full-term pregnancy is typically 38 weeks. 3 Stages: Germinal, Embryonic, Fetal

Germinal Period

“Finding A Place To Live,” The stage of development that occurs from conception until 2 weeks

Placenta

Specialized organ, sustains the life of the embryo by transferring oxygen and nutrients, removing waste products, and after the initial months of gestation, secreting hormones that sustain the pregnancy

Embryonic Period

“Organizing Space,” The development period from implantation to 8 weeks of pregnancy, which the major organ and structures of the organism develop

Fetal Period

“Finishing Touches,” The development time period from nine weeks after conception until the birth of the child

Fetus

Name for the developing organism from eight weeks after fertilization to the birth of the baby

Birth Defects

Can result from a malfunctioning gene or an environmental stimulus

Teratogenic Agent

Stress, Alcohol, Smoking, Drugs

Neonates

(Infant less than 4 weeks) are born preferring sights and sounds that facilitate social responsiveness

Blooming

Period of rapid neural growth

Infantile Amnesia

The difficulty or inability that adults have in remembering detailed or episodic memories (memories were time, place and events can be identified) from early childhood, generally prior to age 3 or 4

John Bowlby

Children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments to caregivers as the result of genetics

Lorenz

Theorized that if attachment was important in human survival it may be important in other species

Disorganized Attachment

Crying/Hitting without mom, reunion no attachment

Jean Piaget

developed children’s intelligence tests, focus on differences in thinking between adults and children

Centration

Refers to the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation, problem or object

Animism

The belief that objects that are inanimate (not living) have feelings, thoughts, and have the mental characteristics and qualities of living things

Insecure Attachment

demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness.

Scaffold

a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking

Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.st

Basic Trust

according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Self-Concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question "Who am I?"

Sex

in psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male and female. Male testosterone & female estrogen

Reversibility

The ability to recognize that numbers or objects can be changed and returned to their original condition

Lev Vygotsky

Russian developmental psychologist, developed a theory of how the child’s mind grows through interaction with the social environment

Gender

in psychology, the socially influenced characteristics by which people define boy, girl, man, and woman

Gender Identity

our sense of being male, female, or some combination of the two.

Human Sexuality

Refers to people’s sexual interest in and attraction to others