Psych exam 3

Developmental psychology

The study of progressive changes in behavior and abilities from conception to death

Heredity

the transmission of physical and psychological characteristics from parents to their children through genes

DNA

Molecular structure, shaped like a double helix, that contains coded genetic information

Infant reflexes

Grasping reflex• Rooting reflex• Sucking reflex • Moro reflex

Cephalocaudal

From head to toe

Proximodistal

From center of the body to the extremities

Readiness

infants have a minimum level of maturation that must occur for the infant to move to the next stage of developmentv

Prenatal Influences

Congenital problems (birth defects): can occur is the mother was under significant stress during the pregnancy, had poor nutrition, or became significantly ill.

Genetic disorders

inherited from the parents

Teratogens

Ex. Drugs, FAS, babies who areborn addicted, etc.

Sensitive periods

Susceptibility to environmental influences

Basic emotions

Excitement & interest Anger, fear, and joy:

Excitement & interest

appears early and seems innate

Anger, fear, and joy

many experts believe this is learned

Social smile

Smiling elicited by social stimuli• 2-3 months

Social Development

Development of self-awareness, attachment to parents or caregivers, and relationships with other children and adults

Affectional needs

The innate need for love and affection

Emotional attachment

Close emotional bonds that babies form with their caregivers

Harry Harlow

Infant rhesus monkeys raised by "surrogate mothers

Separation anxiety

Crying and signs of fear when a child is left alone or is with a stranger. Generally appears around 8-12 months. Mild separation anxiety is completely normal.

Separation anxiety disorder

These children are miserable when they are separated from their parents, whom they cling to or constantly follow. Some fear that they will get lost and never see their parents again. Usually seen in later stages of development.

Secure

Stable and positive emotional bond

Insecure Avoidant

Tendency to avoid reunion with parent or caregiver; anxious bond

Insecure Ambivalent

Desire to be with parent or caregiver and some resistance to being reunited; also anxious emotional bond

Lasting effects

Infants who are securely attached at the age of 1 year show resiliency, curiosity, problem-solving ability, and social skill in preschool.• Attachment failures can be quite damaging. Consider, for example, the plight of children raised in severely overcrowded Romanian orphanages

Parenting Styles

authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, uninvolved

Authoritarian parents

Demand obedience to authority & cold emotionally• Children: withdrawn, apprehensive, no curiosity, dependent on adults for approval

Overly permissive parents

Warm/ affectionate with no rules. Give little guidance, allow too much freedom, or don't hold children accountable for their actions.• Children: "spoiled brats", self-indulgent, lack self-control

Authoritative parents

Provide firm and consistent guidance, love & affection• Children: competent, self-controlled, independent, & assertive

Types of child discipline

power assertion, withdrawal of love, management techniques

Power assertion

Using physical punishment or a show of force

Withdrawal of love

Withholding affection

Management techniques

Combine praise, recognition, approval, rules, and reasoning

Side effects: Power assertion

Children tend to be aggressive, violent, defiant, not spontaneous, and hate their parents

Side effects: withdrawal of affection

Children tend to be self-disciplined, anxious, insecure, and dependent on adults

Side effects: management Techniques

Children tend to have high self-esteem

Maternal influences

Do most of the nurturing & caretaking

Paternal influences

Play with children & read stories

How do children acquire language?

Crying• Cooing• Babbling• Single-word stage• Telegraphic speech - 2 word speech (mostly nouns and verbs)

Biological disposition: Noam Chomsky

Presumed hereditary readiness of ALL humans to learn certain skills such as how to use language

Criticism of Chomsky's theory

Underestimates importance of learning and social context

Early Communication

Parents work hard to get babies to smile and talk & quickly learn to change their actions to keep the infant's attention and activity at optimal levels.

Mental processes

Jean Piaget proposed that intellect grows through assimilation and accommodation

Assimilation

Application of existing mental patterns to new situations

Accommodation

Existing ideas are changed to accommodate new information or experiences

Sensorimotor (0-2 years)

All sensory input and motor responses are coordinated• Most intellectual development here is nonverbal

Object permanence

Concept that objects still exist when they are out of sight

Preoperational stage (2-7 years)

Children begin to use language and think symbolically, BUT their thinking is still intuitive and egocentric

Concrete operational stage (7-11 years)

Children become able to use concepts of time, space, volume, and number BUT in ways that remain simplified and concrete, not abstract

Formal operations stage (11 years and up)

Thinking now includes abstract, theoretical, and hypothetical ideas

Abstract ideas

Concepts and examples removed from specific examples and concrete situations

Hypothetical possibilities

Suppositions, guesses, or projections

Deductive

reasoning happens when a researcher works from the more general information to the more specific. Sometimes this is called the "top-down" approach

Inductive

reasoning works the opposite way, moving from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. This is sometimes called a "bottom up" approach

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Cognitive development

Cognitive development

Influenced by social and cultural factors• Thinking develops through dialogues with more capable people

Zone of proximal development

Range of tasks a child cannot master alone even though they are close to having the necessary mental skills. They need guidance from a more capable partner in order to complete the task

Scaffolding

Adjusting instruction so it is responsive to a beginner's behavior and so it supports the beginner's efforts to understand a problem or gain a mental skill

Motivation

Dynamics of behavior• The ways in which actions are initiated, sustained, directed, and terminated

A model of motivation

Activities begin with a Need (Internal deficiency)• Which causes a Drive (energized motivational state)• Which activates Responses (action) • To attain a Goal (target of motivated behavior)

Incentive value

The ways in which actions are initiated, sustained, directed, and terminated

Types of Motives

Biological motives Stimulus motives Learned motives

Biological motives

Based on biological needs that must be met for survival

Stimulus motives

Express our needs for stimulation and information

Learned motives

Based on learned needs, drives, and goals

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs

An Ordering of "needs" based on presumed strength or potency Prepotent needs are more powerful than others and thus will influence your behavior to a greater degree

Basic needs

first four levels of the hierarchy are deficiency motives

Growth needs

Self-Actualization: full use of personal potential

Meta-needs

are an expression of tendencies to fully develop your personal potentials

Intrinsic motivation

Motivation coming from within, not from external rewards

Extrinsic motivation

Based on obvious external rewards, obligations, or similar factors

Physiological arousal

State characterized by physiological arousal and changes in facial expressions, gestures, posture, and subjective feelings

Adaptive Behaviors

Actions that aid our attempts to survive and adjust to changing conditions

Physiological Changes (in emotions)

Include heart rate, blood pressure, perspiration, and other involuntary responses

Adrenaline & Noradrenaline

Hormone produced by adrenal glands that arouses the body

Hypothalamus

Brain structure that regulates many aspects of motivation and emotion, including hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior

feeding system

The lateral hypothalamus, when stimulated, initiates eating

Satiety System

The ventromedial hypothalamus terminates eating

Paraventricular Nucleus

Area of the hypothalamus that controls levels of blood sugar

Taste aversion

Active dislike for a particular food

Emotional eating

People with weight problems tend to overeat when they are stressed, angry, or sad

Cultural factors

Factors that affect the incentive value of food

Anorexia nervosa

Active self-starvation or sustained loss of appetite that seems to have psychological origins

Bulimia nervosa

Excessive eating (bingeing) usually followed by self-induced vomiting and/or taking laxatives

Men and eating disorders

On the rise• Muscle dysmorphia

Muscle dysmorphia

a disorder generally seen in young men involving an obsessive concern with muscle size

An episodic drive

Pain avoidance that occurs in distinct episodes when bodily damage takes place or is about to occur

Stimulus Drives

Reflect needs for information, exploration, manipulation, and sensory input

Arousal theory

We try to maintain arousal at an optimal level

Arousal

Activation of the body and nervous system

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The relationship between arousal and performance forms an inverted U function. If a task is simple, it is best for arousal to be high. If it is complex, lower levels of arousal provide for the best performance

Social motives

Acquired by growing up in a particular society or culture

Need for achievement (nAch)

Desire to meet or exceed some internal standard of excellence

Need for power

Desire to have impact or control over others

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

Neural system that connects brain with internal organs and glands

Sympathetic Branch

Part of ANS that activates body for emergency action

Parasympathetic Branch

Part of ANS that quiets body and conserves energy

Parasympathetic rebound

overreaction to intense emotion

Amygdala

specializes in producing fearin an involuntary fashion

Polygraph

Device that records changes in heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and galvanic skin response (GSR)