Lifespan (Pt. 1) - Who am I and how did I get to be this way?

study of physical, cognitive, and social development throughout lifespan

What is the definition of lifespan of development?

prenatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood

What are the periods of the lifespan?

connections/wiring between cells is incomplete at birth

What does the infant brain look like?

humans are born wired to connect with others

How does the social world shape the brain’s connections?

1. caregivers regulate infant’s physical environment

2. caregivers guide infant’s attention

3. caregivers provide sensory information

What three things does the Still Face Experiment (Tronick, 1970s) prove about how humans are born wired to connect with others?

brains develop smaller and fewer neural connections

What happens when human interactions are missing from the environment?

25

The adolescent brain develops until what age?

schemas, assimilate, accommodate

What are the three parts to Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development?

schemas

(Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development) Concept that organizes information.

assimilate

(Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development) We try to fit the new object into existing schemas.

accommodate

(Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development) We modify our schema to fit the characteristics of the new object/idea.

sensorimotor stage

• Birth - 2 years

• Understand world through basic sensory and motor skills

• Object performance (about 8 months)

• Develops understanding that objects still exist even if not seen or heard

preoperational stage

• 2-7 years old

• Understand world through language and symbolic thinking, but lack logical thinking

• Pretend play

• Lack conservation

conservation

The idea that the amount of a substance remains the same despite changes in its appearance.

concrete operational stage

• 7-11 years

• Logical reasoning

• Development of conservation

• Unable to think abstractly

formal operational stage

• 12 years and older

• Abstract reasoning

• Can reason about hypothetical situations