Prenatal Development, Birth, and Lifespan Development Concepts

Comprehensive flashcards covering developmental psychology contexts, historical life stages, major theoretical frameworks, research methodologies, prenatal development, genetic and chromosomal disorders, pregnancy trimesters, teratogens, and the birth process.

What are developmental scientists, and what is lifespan development?

Developmental scientists are researchers who study the human lifespan. Lifespan development is the scientific study of human growth throughout life, encompassing child development, adult development, and gerontology.

What four main aspects characterize the study of lifespan development?

Lifespan development includes a multidisciplinary approach, focuses on predictable developmental milestones, incorporates individual differences, and explores the impact of normative and non-normative life transitions and practices.

What are the main context categories that influence human development?

Development is influenced by cohort, socioeconomic status (SES), culture and ethnicity, and gender.

How did historical views of childhood evolve from pre-17th century to the 20th century?

Pre-17th century childhood involved mistreatment, abandonment, high mortality, and child labor. In the 17th-18th centuries, philosophers like Locke and Rousseau introduced new visions. By the late 19th century, childhood became a protected, dependent stage with mandatory primary education. In the 20th century, G. Stanley Hall identified adolescence as a distinct life stage with mandatory schooling.

What is emerging adulthood, and what age range does it cover?

Emerging adulthood is the newest in-between life stage spanning from age $18$ to the late $20\text{s}$, characterized by personal exploration.

What were the key developments in life expectancy during the 20th century?

The 20th-century life expectancy revolution reduced or eliminated infectious diseases, shifting primary health challenges to chronic diseases (heart disease, cancer, diabetes) and creating new stages of later life: the young-old ($60\text{s}$ and $70\text{s}$) and the old-old ($80\text{s}$ and beyond).

What defines the Millennial cohort, and how did the Great Recession of 2008 impact young adults?

Born between $1981$ and $1996$, Millennials experienced the rise of the internet, 9/11, and the 2008 Great Recession. During the Recession, $39\%$ of households experienced unemployment, negative home equity, or mortgage arrears, with young adults ($23\%$ of those aged $18\text{--}34$) facing high financial distress.

How do collectivist and individualistic cultures differ in their developmental values?

Collectivist cultures place a premium on social harmony, whereas individualistic cultures emphasize independence, competition, and personal success.

What is traditional behaviorism, and who was its key founder?

Founded by John B. Watson, traditional behaviorism is a nurture-centered theory asserting that inner feelings and thoughts cannot be observed scientifically, and that all human development can be explained through general laws of learning.

How does B.F. Skinner define operant conditioning and reinforcement?

Operant conditioning is a law of learning for voluntary responses where rewarded behaviors are reinforced (learned) and unreinforced responses undergo extinction.

What is cognitive behaviorism, and what term did Albert Bandura use for an individual's belief in their competence?

Cognitive behaviorism (social learning theory) posits that people learn by watching others (modeling). Albert Bandura coined 'self-efficacy' to describe an internal belief in one's competence to successfully execute a given task.

What are the three personality structures in Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory?

Freud defined personality by the Id (instincts, needs, and feelings present at birth), Ego (conscious, rational part), and Superego (moral aspect of personality).

What are Freud's five age-linked psychosexual stages?

1. Oral stage (birth to $1$ year): focus on the mouth. 2. Anal stage ($1\text{--}3$ years): focus on toilet training. 3. Phallic stage ($3\text{--}6$ years): focus on genitals. 4. Latency stage ($6\text{--}11$ years): focus on conventional activities/academics. 5. Genital stage (adolescence+): focus on seeking sexual satisfaction.

According to John Bowlby's attachment theory, why does the attachment response exist?

Bowlby asserted that early caregiver attachments shape adult personality and that the attachment response is biologically/genetically programmed into the human species to promote survival.

What is the core premise of evolutionary psychology?

Evolutionary psychology focuses on nature by proposing that inborn, species-specific behaviors influence development and that organisms are fundamentally motivated to perpetuate their genetic pool.

What is behavioral genetics, and what does a heritability score indicate?

Behavioral genetics explores the role of heredity in individual differences using twin and adoption studies. Heritability summarizes the extent to which a behavior is shaped by genetics, ranging from $1$ (totally genetic) to $0$ (no genetic contribution).

How do evocative forces and active forces illustrate that nature shapes nurture?

Evocative forces occur when inborn genetic talents or temperaments naturally evoke specific responses from others. Active forces occur when individuals actively choose their environments based on their genetic tendencies.

What is person-environment fit, and what does epigenetics study?

Person-environment fit refers to tailoring the environment to an individual's biological tendencies and talents. Epigenetics studies how early life events (such as maternal stress or famine) alter the outer cover of DNA, leading to lifelong changes in health and behavior.

What are Erik Erikson's eight psychosocial stages and their corresponding tasks?

1. Infancy (birth to $1$ year): Basic trust vs. mistrust. 2. Toddlerhood ($1\text{--}2$ years): Autonomy vs. shame and doubt. 3. Early childhood ($3\text{--}6$ years): Initiative vs. guilt. 4. Middle childhood ($6$ to puberty): Industry vs. inferiority. 5. Adolescence (teens to $20\text{s}$): Identity vs. role confusion. 6. Young adulthood ($20\text{s}\text{--}40\text{s}$): Intimacy vs. isolation. 7. Middle adulthood ($40\text{s}\text{--}60\text{s}$): Generativity vs. stagnation. 8. Late adulthood ($60\text{s}+$): Integrity vs. despair.

According to Jean Piaget, what is the difference between assimilation and accommodation?

Assimilation is the first step in mental growth, fitting new environmental input into existing mental capacities. Accommodation is enlarging or modifying mental structures to fit new input from the wider world.

What are Jean Piaget's four cognitive developmental stages?

1. Sensorimotor ($0\text{--}2$ years): exploring the world through senses, ending with language development. 2. Preoperations ($2\text{--}7$ years): children believe what they see. 3. Concrete operations ($8\text{--}12$ years): realistic understanding develops without abstract thought. 4. Formal operations ($12+$): full cognitive abilities mastered.

What environmental systems are depicted in Urie Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model?

Bronfenbrenner's model includes inner direct environments (family, classroom, peer group, religious class), surrounding community and institutional systems (school system, mass media, medical institutions, community), and broad societal structures (cultural values, economic patterns, social conditions).

How do correlational studies and true experiments differ in establishing cause and effect?

Correlational studies chart relationships between variables but cannot prove causation. True experiments use random assignment to experimental and control groups with different treatments to isolate variables and determine cause-and-effect relationships.

What are the main advantages and drawbacks of cross-sectional versus longitudinal developmental studies?

Cross-sectional studies compare different age groups at one time; they are fast and inexpensive but reflect cohort differences rather than individual age changes. Longitudinal studies test one group repeatedly over years; they show true age changes but are expensive, time-consuming, and subject to participant attrition.

What are the main structures of the female reproductive system shown in this diagram?

The female reproductive system consists of the ovaries (where ova reside), fallopian tubes, uterus, endometrium, and cervix (neck of the uterus).

What happens during the process of fertilization?

Ovulation occurs when an ovum is expelled from the ovary and suctioned into the fallopian tube. Millions of sperm travel up the fallopian tube, one sperm penetrates the ovum, and the male and female cell nuclei combine their genetic material.

What occurs during the germinal stage of prenatal development?

The germinal stage lasts during the first two weeks from fertilization to full implantation. The single cell becomes a zygote, transforms into a blastocyst, implants into the uterine wall, and begins forming the placenta.

What key milestones occur during the embryonic stage (weeks 3 to 9)?

All major organs are constructed: the circulatory system forms in week 3, the neural tube forms at 20 to 24 days, arm buds appear at day 26, leg buds appear at day 27, and by week 8 the embryo is 1.5 inches long.

What are the three principles of prenatal development?

1. Proximodistal sequence: growth from core/interior outward. 2. Cephalocaudal sequence: growth from head to feet. 3. Mass-to-specific sequence: large structures precede refined, detailed developments.

How does fetal brain growth progress across 4 months, 7 months, and 9 months?

From week 9 to birth (~7 months), body structures are refined and brain building blocks assemble, featuring significant brain expansion and cortical folding visible across 4 months, 7 months, and 9 months.

What is the age of viability, and how does weight gain change in the last two months of pregnancy?

The age of viability is 22 to 23 weeks, with viability rising above $50\%$ by the 25th week under acute care. During the last two months in the womb, the fetus gains almost $5$ pounds.

What anatomical structures support the fetus inside the womb during late pregnancy?

Late in pregnancy, the fetus is positioned in the uterus surrounded by the amniotic sac, connected to the mother via the placenta and umbilical cord, positioned above the cervix and vagina.

What physical symptoms and risks occur during the first trimester of pregnancy?

First trimester changes are driven by hormones, including morning sickness and a miscarriage risk (naturally occurring pregnancy loss) affecting roughly $1$ in $10$ pregnancies.

What is quickening, and during which trimester does it occur?

Quickening is the first feeling of fetal movement, occurring during the second trimester (around week 14 as the uterus expands), which often initiates feelings of emotional attachment.

What is a teratogen, and when do teratogens cause the most structural damage?

A teratogen is any substance (medications like Thalidomide, diseases like Rubella, drugs like alcohol and nicotine, or environmental hazards like pesticides) that crosses the placenta to harm the developing embryo/fetus. Major structural damage occurs primarily during the embryonic period (sensitive period).

How do nicotine and alcohol specifically affect fetal development?

Smoking nicotine constricts blood vessels, increasing the risk of a smaller and less healthy newborn. Alcohol consumption can cause Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).

What causes Down syndrome, and what are its risk factors and primary features?

Down syndrome (Trisomy 21) is caused by nondisjunction (a cell division error resulting in 47 total chromosomes). Risk increases with maternal age ($1$ in $100$ over age $40$; $1$ in $25$ over age $45$). Symptoms include a flat facial profile, upward eye slant, stocky build, enlarged tongue, risk for heart defects and leukemia, mild-to-moderate intellectual disability, and an average life expectancy of $58$ years.

How do dominant, recessive, and sex-linked single-gene inheritance patterns differ?

In dominant disorders, inheriting one faulty gene copy causes the illness ($50\%$ chance per child if one parent is affected). In recessive disorders, inheriting two faulty gene copies causes illness ($1$ in $4$ chance if both parents are carriers). In sex-linked disorders, the gene is carried on the mother's X chromosome, leaving female offspring unaffected but giving each male child a $50\%$ chance of inheriting the illness.

What are the primary differences between chorionic villus sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis?

CVS is performed in the 1st trimester by sampling placental tissue (carries a $5\%$ miscarriage risk and risk of limb impairment). Amniocentesis is performed in the 2nd trimester (around week 14) by sampling cells from amniotic fluid to test for chromosomal and genetic conditions (carries a lower miscarriage risk).

What potential physical causes of female infertility are shown in this diagram?

Female infertility can be caused by blocked fallopian tubes, lack of ovulation, uterine scarring making implantation difficult, or pregnancy hormone levels that are too low to maintain implantation.

What are the three stages of the birth process?

The birth process consists of Stage 1: Dilation and Effacement; Stage 2: Birth (including crowning and delivery); and Stage 3: Expulsion of the Placenta.

What is the Apgar Scale, and how are scores evaluated?

The Apgar Scale evaluates newborns at $1$ minute and $5$ minutes after birth across five categories: Color, Muscle Tone, Respiration, Heart Rate, and Reflex Response (each rated $0\text{--}2$). A total score of $7$ or higher indicates a healthy newborn; scores below $7$ require monitoring, resuscitation, or NICU admission.

What defines Low Birth Weight (LBW) and Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW)?

Low Birth Weight is defined as a body weight of less than $5.5\,\text{lbs}$ ($5\frac{1}{2}\,\text{lbs}$). Very Low Birth Weight is defined as less than $3.25\,\text{lbs}$ ($3\frac{1}{4}\,\text{lbs}$).

How does the U.S. infant mortality rate compare to countries like Norway and Japan?

Infant mortality rate measures deaths of infants under one year per $1,000$ live births. The United States has more than twice the infant mortality rate of Norway and Japan.