AP Psychology - Unit 9: Section 1

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

Fetus

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Teratogen

An agent (ex. chemicals, viruses) that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

Literally means “monster makers”

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking

In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation

As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner

Infant reflexes

Involuntary movements present at birth that are crucial for survival and development

Includes rooting, sucking, startle, grasping, Babinski

Rooting reflex

Infant turns their head and opens mouth when their cheek is touched, helping find the breast/bottle

Lasts ~4 months

Sucking reflex

Infant starts sucking when the roof of their mouth is touched

Developed by 36 weeks gestation

Startle/moro reflex

Infant throws arms out and arches back when startled, then brings arms in

Gone by ~2 months

Grasping reflex

Infant closes fingers tightly around anything placed in their palm

Gone by ~5-6 months

Maturation

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

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Assimilation

Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accommodation

Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Piaget’s theory and stages of cognitive development

States that children progress through 4 distinct cognitive stages: Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

Sensorimotor stage

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 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 perceived

Infants younger than 6 months lack this (“out of sight, out of mind”)

Preoperational stage

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

In this stage, children have one-dimensional thinking (the inability to understand conservation)

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

One-dimensional thinking: Unable to understand conservation

Pretend play

The acting out of stories which involve multiple perspectives, the playful manipulation of ideas and emotions, and the use of symbols

When children use their imagination to create scenarios, act out roles, or use objects to represent other things, demonstrating symbolic thinking crucial for cognitive and social development

A key feature of Piaget’s preoperational stage, showing a child’s grasp of representation beyond the literal

Egocentrism

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

Ex. A child “shows” her aunt her new toys over a telephone call, thinking her aunt can see them too

Theory of mind

People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, as well as the behaviors these might predict

Concrete operational stage

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 and scientifically 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

Reasoning expands from purely concrete (involving actual experience) to encompass abstract thinking (involving imagined realities and symbols)

According to Piaget, as they approach adolescence, they can ponder hypothetical propositions and deduce consequences—Piaget said systematic reasoning was this operational stage and was now within their grasp

Scaffold

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

This concept originates from psychologists Leo Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

According to Vygotsky, the zone between what a child can and can’t do—it’s what a child can do with help

Ex. When learning to ride a bike, it’s the developmental zone in which a child can ride with training wheels or a steadying parental hand

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

Stability and change

Stability provides our identity, enabling us to depend on others and ourselves

Our potential for change gives us our hope for a brighter future, allowing us to adapt and grow with experience

Abstract thinking

Thinking characterized by the use of general ideas or concepts rather than immediate experiences and specific objects/events

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects have feelings and humanlike qualities

Personal fable

A belief in one’s uniqueness and invulnerability, which is an expression of adolescent egocentrism and may extend further into their lifespan

Contact comfort

The positive effects experienced by infants or young animals when in close proximity to soft materials

Continuous vs. discontinuous development

An issue in developmental psychology concerning whether development occurs gradually or in distinct stages

Reversibility

In Piaget’s theory, a mental operation that reverses a sequence of events or restores a changed state of affairs to the original condition

Ex. Understanding that a glass of milk poured into a bottle can be poured back into the glass and remain unchanged

Hypothetical thinking

Imagining possibilities and exploring their consequences through a process of mental stimulation

Mental symbols

A stage when a child is able to mentally represent an object that is not present, and a dependence on a perception in problem solving

Fine motor coordination

Activities or skills that require coordination of small muscles to control small, precise movements, particularly in the hands and the face

Ex. Handwriting, drawing, cutting, manipulating small objects

Gross motor coordination

Activities or skills that use large muscles to move the trunk or limbs and control posture or maintain balance

Ex. Waving an arm, walking, running, hopping

Artificialism

The belief that anything that exists must have been made by a conscious entity

Centration

The act of focusing only on one aspect of a problem when more aspects are relevant

Essentially the lack of conservation