psyc1030 quiz 3

Flashcards on developmental psychology, infancy, sensory systems, motor programs, temperament, studying babies, social development, theory of mind, attachment, cognitive development, moral development, language development, later life development and adolescence.

Developmental Psychology

The study of how people grow, change, and adapt throughout their lifespan, from infancy to late adulthood. It integrates scientific research, psychological theory, and observational methods to understand transformations in behavior and emotions over time.

Physical Development

Aspect of developmental psychology that focuses on growth patterns, motor skills, puberty, and aging processes.

Cognitive Development

Aspect of developmental psychology that studies changes in thinking, problem-solving, language acquisition, and memory from infancy to older adulthood.

Social and Emotional Development

Aspect of developmental psychology that examines attachment and relationships, self-concept, emotional regulation, moral reasoning, and personality formation across different life stages.

Nature vs. Nurture

A central question in developmental psychology concerning how genetic factors and the environment interact to shape development.

Infancy

The first 2 years of life, characterized by rapid development and transformation.

Kangaroo Mother Care

Continuous skin-to-skin contact begun immediately after birth that reduces mortality and accelerates neurodevelopment in pre-term and low-birth-weight infants.

Plasticity

The brain's ability to change and adapt throughout life.

Gene-Environment Interactions

The impact of genes on behavior depends on the environment in which the behavior develops.

Nature via Nurture

Genetic predispositions drive individuals to seek or create particular environments that then enhance the behavior.

Gene Expression

Genes turn on in response to specific environmental events.

Epigenetics

Genes dynamically respond moment to moment to environmental conditions.

Newborn Acuity

20/500; vision least developed sensory system at birth

Fixed Focal Distance

20cm; stiff lens

Touch

Significant development before birth

Early Motor Programs - Reflexes:

Built-in motor circuits present at or within days of birth that solve immediate survival problems while the cortex is immature (e.g., rooting, sucking, Moro reflex, Palmer grasp).

Early Motor Programs - Voluntary

Head control at 6 weeks, goal-directed reach emerges at 3-4 months, and rolling, crawling, and cruising occur between 4-10 months.

Temperament

Biologically-based individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation, capturing early-life individuality observable long before personality traits can be measured.

Preferential Looking

A method used to study infants where they look longer at face-like, high-contrast patterns.

Social Development

Newborns have perferences that drive their learning. They learn things important to them.

Goren et al. (1975)

Infants prefer face-like stimuli.

Field et al. (1982)

Infants as young as 36 hours old could differentiate positive (happy) from negative (sad) emotions.

Social Smile

Around three months: infants smile in response to social cues

Still Face Experiment

Classic experiment by Edward Tronick examining babies interacting with their mother through emotional responses

Joint attention

Infants seek information through joint attention, using gaze and pointing to share focus and learn object names, starting around 6-18 months.

Social Referencing

Infants look at their mothers to see how she is reacting at around 10 to 12 months of age.

Mental States

Desires, thoughts, beliefs, knowledge

Mirror of self-recognition test

Used to assess the infant’s concept of ‘self’. Occurs around 18 months.

Helping Behaviour

First prosocial behaviour, and emerges around 14 months of age.

Sharing Behaviour

Starts to develop around 18 months

Comforting Behaviour

One of the hardest prosocial behaviours for children to demonstrate. Emerges around 24 months of age.

Theory of Mind

The ability to understand that others have mental states that may differ from our own, typically developing around age 4.

False Belief Test

A key assessment to show children that behaviours and knowledge can vary among individuals

Attachment

Lifelong affectionate bond that develops between two individuals.

Dependency Theory

Babies love their mothers because she satisfies their needs.

Konrad Lorenz

Father of Modern Ethology

Imprinting

Parent-infant bond with no basis in food

Harry Harlow's Isolation Studies

Studies on monkeys showed babies prefer to cling as opposed to feed, going against Dependency Theory.

Attachment Theory

Baby loves mother not because of physical needs, but for security and safety.

John Bowlby

Created attachment theory. Thought that if a child failed to form an attachment with a single caregiver in their early years, it would lead to lifelong problems.

Attachment Behavioural System

Evolutionary theory; designed to maintain a steady state. Set goal is proximity to the caregiver.

Mary Ainsworth

Added to attachment, that you have to have a balance in dual motivations.

Dual motivations in children

Exploration, which serves the purpose of learning and equipping them for independent survival; and security.

Strange Situation Test

Test developed to standardize comparisons and activate the baby's Attachment Behavioural System in a lab setting.

Secure (“B” pattern)

Infants use the mother as a secure base to explore the environment.

Anxious Avoidant (“A” pattern)

Infants remain cool and detached throughout the Strange Situation.

Anxious Ambivalent (“C” pattern)

Infants are clingy and hyper-hysterical.

Cognitive Development

How children and infants develop the logical ability to think through and reason about things.

Genetic Epistemology

The study of how we develop knowledge

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world.

Schema

The basic skill, knowledge, or concept that we all have that guides our learning

Assimilation

We fit the new experience into our existing skill, knowledge or concept

Accommodation

We create a new skill, knowledge or concept from the new experience

Disequilibrium

When we experience something new that doesn’t fit the skill, knowledge or concept that we already have

Sensorimotor stage

For Piaget, the first stage that goes from birth to two years of age.During this stage, infants are exploring the world through their senses and motor abilities.

Object Permanence

understanding that objects continue to exist even when they aren't visible.

Deferred Imitation Task

Used to assess mental representations

Pre-operational stage

Children enter this stage from around two to seven years of age. At this stage, children develop their ability to engage in representational or symbolic activity.

Egocentrism

Children are quite egocentric, especially at the beginning of the pre-operational stage.

Centration

Children fixate on one single aspect of a situation, making it difficult to consider other perspectives.

Concrete Operational Stage

Children develop logical thinking between 7 to 11 years of age

Formal Operational Stage

Abstract Logical Thinking: Children develop a more abstract sense of logical thinking between 11+ years.

Moral Development

Organised system of values, rules and feelings guiding behaviour

Bandura's Bobo-doll experiment

Modelling can inhibit aggression just as powerfully/Observation alone created generalised aggression -Flexibility recombined observed elements into new acts

Heteronomous Morality

Moral realism, occurs at 4-8 years old. Young children have limited perspective-taking, so rules are fixed properties of the world, handed down by authority.

Autonomous Morality

Moral relativism, occurs at >8-adult years. Schooling & peer interaction leads to perspective-taking with rewards that shouls fit motive.

Authoritative(Parenting Style)

Combines high control with high warmth (the Gold standard)

Language

Specific to human beings; Human groups have a language; Regular developmental progression.

Critical Period

A critical period is when specific developments must occur. Language development appears to have a critical period.

Sound Sensitivity

Babies are more sensitive to language sounds

Infant-directed speech (motherese)

Helps babies learn language because we talk slowly, repetitively, with high and low intonations.

Joint Attention

Babies turn to look at speaker.

Overextension Error

A word is used too broadly

Under extension Error

A common noun is treated like a proper name.

Naming Explosion

Rapid vocabulary growth. Nurture View: Child learns how language works and then learns the words, or Biology View: Brain development turns the mind into sponge for language.

Late Life Development (Old age)

Generally considered 65+ (transition to retirement)

Aging Population Consequences

Health and Aged Care System Impact, Economic and Workforce Impacts, Urban Planning and Infrastructure, Social and Cultural Implications, Policy and Planning and Global Inequities.

Gerontology

Scientific study of aging and the issues that affect older individuals.

Geropsychologist

Psychologist who specializes in the mental health and wellbeing of older adults

Fluid Intelligence

Solve novel problems and process new information

Crystallized intelligence

Accumulated knowledge, vocabulary, and expertise remains stable or increases.

Neuroplasticity

The aging brain remains plastic - it can form new connections

SOC (Successful aging)

Selection, optimisation and compensation - Focuses more explicitly on adaptive processes - how people adjust to gains and losses as they age.

Adolescence

From the Chronological Definition (Based on age, typically the teenage years between 13 and 19)

Adolescence Development Task

Coming to grips with physical changes

Identity Formation in Contemporary socities

The average age of first marriage is going up.In Australia the average age of first marriage for women was around 21 and for men 23 in 1974 etc.

James Marcia

Was Interested in identity formation ideas, building on Erikson's work. Focused on the concept of an identity crisis. Not fixed; you can move between them.

Survival during Adolescence

One of the tasks of adolescents is to survive, which is surprisingly difficult

Mortality Rates

Mortality rates spike due to issues with control of their own behaviours or emotions because adolescents act impulsively as though they know everything

Development of the Adolescence Brain

Key brain parts: Nucleus accumbens (Develops first), Prefrontal cortex (Develops last)/ The adolescent brain undergoes synaptic pruning