Psychology midterm review

what is the study of human development?

It is the examination of continuity and changes across the lifespan

4 main periods of human development are?

1. Prenatal period & infancy (conception 2-3 years)

2. Childhood ( 2-3, 11 years)

3. Adolescence (12 - ?? years)

4. Adulthood (?? years - death)

Ovulation is?

when an egg is released from an ovary 

Fertilization occurs when?

a sperm meets an egg, In the fallopian tube, during ovulation. AND once the egg is fertilized, the germinal stage begins.

Once the egg is fertilized what stage occurs?

gestation 0-2 weeks. Period of rapid cell division. The blastocyst implants into the wall of the uterus  

After The blastocyst implants into the wall of the uterus , what occurs?

The embryonic stage begins when the blastocyst implants into the wall of the uterus .Time period: 3-8 weeks of gestation. It’s a period of growth for major bodily strucutures

what happens by the ends of the embryonic stage?

all major bodily structures are formed, but the embryo cannot yet survive outside of the uterine environment.

what is the final stage of prenatal development?

the fetal stage. Time period : 9 weeks gestation to birth. Period of refinement and finishing touches; period of significant growth. Significant advances also occur in brain development. Sensory abilities start to come online in the fetal stage and this is when learning starts to take off. Significant brain development occurs between week 22 and birth. Much experience and learning occurs during the fetal period because of: neurogensis,myelination,synaptogensis, synaptic pruning  

what do fetuses experiences in the utero?

tastes and smells, tactile sensation, sounds

what do newborn babies recognize?

their mother's language and their mother's voice

what are teratogens?

external agents that cause damage or death during development prenatal development. Teratogens affect fetuses the most during a series of critical and sensitive periods. Examples of teratogens : alcohol, thalidomide, zika virus (microcephaly

what are some research methods?

Longitudinal Research Design, Cross-Sectional Research Design 

what can research paradigms be used for?

to study infants: high amplitude sucking paradigm (uses sucking frequency to measure preferences) 

what are habituation paradigms?

are used to examine whether infants can discriminate between two stimuli.

perceptual development begins when?

in the utero. But the perceptual experiences beginning after birth are much richer 

sensation meaning?

sensory organs' detection of physical signals in the environment 

perception meaning?

organization and interpretation of the sensory information into coherent understanding of objects, individuals, events 

what does preferential looking do?

measuring infants’ perception

what is the grating visual acuity test?

it is used to measure visual acuity in infants

In the first months after birth, infants' visual acuity increases from?

approximately 20/400 to approximately 20/120. adult-like acuity by 6 months

color perception and depth perception develop in the first?

6 months

Reflexes of newborns motor skills consist predominantly of?

grasping, rooting, sucking, tonic neck reflex. Some of which last for the entire lifespan: swallowing, coughing, sneezing, blinking, withdrawal from pain. 

the development of sophisticated motor behaviors follow what rules?

cephalocaudal rule: top -to-bottom rule that describe the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet. Proximodistal rule: inside to outside rule that describe the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery.  

Motor development has a clear effect on?

visual development. Walking is more visual information than crawling. more visual information → enhanced motivation for walking

holistic nature of development is?

development in one domain influences development in another domain 

The emergence of the ability to think about and understand the world is referred to as

cognitive development

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who pioneered the understanding of?

Children’s cognitive development

Piaget's theory of cognitive development includes 4 stages

Sensorimotor stage (0-2) years, Pre-operational stage (2-6) years, Concrete Operational Stage (6-11 years), Formal Operational Stage (11 years-adulthood) 

Piaget believed that children are constructivists and that they move from one stage to the next as they gain knowledge about the world

1. children acquire knowledge. 2 children organize this knowledge into a schema. 3 children acquire new knowledge. 4. children add this new knowledge to their existing schema ( assimilation). 5. children acquire new knowledge that  does not fit within their existing schema this causes cognitive disequilibrium. 6. children modify their schema to fit this new knowledge (accommodation) and to achieve cognitive equilibrium  

Two of Piaget's stages occur during infancy and early childhood:

1. sensorimotor stage (0-2 years): infants rely predominantly on their movements and senses to learn about the world. 2. Pre-operational stage (2-6 years): children move from egocentric to sociocentrism  

children develop a working theory of mind which is?

the understanding that human behavior is guided by mental representations, and that these mental representations differ across individual

how to measure theory of mind?

a way is via false belief tasks (unexpected contents task)

Piaget described infants are indeed more egocentric than

Older children

Humans form bonds with their caregivers this emotional bond is called

attachment , its an essential part of healthy human development .Significant bonds are formed between caregivers and their young. 1 imprinting. 2. biological needs. All infants require an attachment figure for normal development  

the extent to which an infant uses their caregiver is

as a secure base

Mary Ainsworth developed

the strange situation procedure to operationalize and measures these variable.

securely attached infants may become what when left with a stranger or alone?

Upset. infant attachment styles: secure attachment(adjusts calmly to the parent leaving and returning), insecure-resistant attachment (holds onto parent to prevent separation), insecure-avoidant attachment (shows little interest when the parent leaves or reappears), disorganized attachment (wants to be close to but also away from parent

Mary Ainsworth proposed that infants can be securely or insecurely attached to their?

Caregivers

An infant’s attachment style predicts what?

Outcomes in adulthood: academic achievement, emotional health, relationship quality, and self-esteem

what is self esteem?

what do individuals think about themselves

how do young people describe themselves?

In physical terms, almost always positively  

why does positivity bias decline quickly at school age?

social comparison begins, cognitive skills increase, perspective-taking increases, schools begin objective evaluations 

young children have

high self-esteem, adolescents have relatively lower self-esteem (particularly women) 

adults gain self-esteem gradually throughout?

development, whereas individual self-esteem is relatively consist across the lifespan

what is rank-order stability?

children with lower self-esteem tend to have lower self-esteem as adults, much variability in self-esteem is due to heredity. Identical twins' self-esteem correlates to a greater degree than non-twin sibling's self-esteem

adolescence is the period of?

development between childhood and adulthood. 2 major physiological changes during adolescence: puberty, an increase and refinement of connections in the prefrontal cortex. At the same time, major psychological changes also occur: self-esteem, identity, sexuality, morality   

Erike Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development is?

developed a theory of conflicts and resolutions that occur throughout the lifespan.  Believed that identity formation was the chief task of adolescence. Conflict: identity versus role confusion. Resolution: identity achievement  

Identity diffusion is?

Unable to make any decisions about identity. 2 Identity foreclosure: prematurely deciding on identity. 3. psychosocial moratorium: identity crisis; unable to make a choice regarding identity. 4. identity achievement: high exploration and commitment to identity. Stable sense of identity. 

what are some challenges and achievements in adolescence?

Emergence of abstract thinking (personality traits become more important). Emergence of self-socialization (friends and social groups become of paramount importance). Adolescent egocentrism. Personal fable. Imaginary audience.  

Life milestones can be influenced by?

A social clock.1. marriage. Secure or autonomous attachment : enjoys emotional closeness and independence, anxious or preoccupied attachments: wants constant intimacy and avoids independence. Dismissive or avoidant attachment: prefers independence and avoids relationships . Parenthood - may affect marriage but also related to positive emotion and meaning in life 

• Retirement - successful adjustment impacted by financial resources and keeping an active lifestyle 

• Adults experience widespread changes to their physiology for the remainder of their lives, including: changes in sensory systems, changes to brain structure. These physical changes may cause psychological changes: changes in memory storage and retrieval. Slowing of cognitive processes 

• But because of their vast experience, adults employ better cognitive strategies. These strategies help make-up for cognitive decline. 

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are not

part of normal aging

Dementia is?

Deterioration of brain function

Alzheimer’s disease is?

one form of dementia, which includes impairments in memory, language, and cognitive function. Memory declines in adulthood, but different types of memory decline at different rates. 

Episodic memory is?

ability to remember past events (how did you spend your 16th birthday) 

Semantic memory is?

the ability to remember general information (what is the capital city of Ontario) 

Older adults pay attention to what differently more than children and younger adults?

Stimuli. Older adults tend to remember positive stimuli better than negative stimuli

Older adult’s amygdalae are more?

activated by positive emotions than by negative one

Socioemotional selectivity theory is?

enhanced emotional well-being, focus on building close relationships, focus on emotion-related goals, increased capacity for emotion regulation and well-being, avoid negatively arousing stimuli and focus on maintain satisfying relationships  

Adolescents and young adults vs. older adults

Older adults tend to value having close social groups, decline in the number of social partners, increase in the quality of social relationships  

This difference may be related to adults' shorter futures, the same patterns are seen in young individuals with terminal medical conditions 

Erikson’s psychosocial theory, there are 3 life ‘crises’ that individuals are faced with in adulthood

• 1. Intimacy vs. isolation 2. Generativity vs. Stagnation 3. Ego Integrity vs. Despair  

 

what is intelligence?

the ability to distinguish true or important information from false or unimportant information 

what is formal intelligence?

the ability to learn or understand or deal with new challenging situations 

what is the flynn effect?

IQ scores have consistently risen around the world 

what is the main purpose of measuring intelligence?

The main purpose of measuring intelligence was to predict how an individual would perform in school and in the workplace 

Francis Galton’s theory of intelligence was not well supported

True

Galton’s theory resulted in the discovery that intelligence is normally disturbed

True

Measures of Central tendency is?

Normal distribution of scores around a mean of 100. 

Mean: average  

Median: middle score 

Mode: most common score 

Alferd Binet and Theodore created?

created the first standardized IQ test using trial and error. Used behavioral measures to create test: Puzzles, Object Naming, Counting, Tests Reflected Three Basic Abilities: Direction, Adaption, Criticism  

Mental age means?

indicates the set of problems that children of a particular age can perform  

Lewis Terman and David Weschsler did what?

mediated to reflect Binet Simon culture and language IQ=mental age/chronological age x 100 

Mean score on IQ tests is designed to be 100 

Standard deviation is designed to be 15 

IQ scores follow a normal distribution 

Performance tests on the WAIS are designed to measure?

the ability to detect non-obvious patterns 

spearmen proposed what?

that an individual's specific ability to learn specialized content is driven by more overarching general abilities  

what are the 2 components of intelligence?

g - higher-order, general intelligence, generalizes to many contexts. S - lower-order, specific intelligence, contextually sensitive. 

Modern IQ tests are consistent with

Caroll's Three-Stratum Framework 

• Carroll's Three-Tiered Model: 1. Stratum III: General Intelligence (g). 2. Stratum II: Broad Intelligence: fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, general memory and learning . 3. Stratum I: Narrow- A set of specific abilities 

IQ tests don’t capture what?

all forms of intelligence (emotional intelligence)

individuals have different levels of emotional intelligence

True

Individuals with high emotional intelligence show less?

brain activation when solving emotional problems

what are Gardner’s Alternative Theory of Multiple Intelligence?

• people have 8 types of intelligence necessary for functioning and survival. Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, verbal-linguistics, Logical-Mathematical, Naturalistic, Intrapersonal, Visual-spatial  

why is intelligence important?

self-enhancement bias?

intelligence is

fixed trait; personal failure due to lower intelligence

Intelligence is a malleable trait meaning?

personal failure can be overcome with more effort or different strategies 

IQ is constant in?

adulthood

Stereotype threat and mindset are likely?

intervening variables between intelligence and behavior

Do mindfulness practices improve intelligence scores and prevent age-related decline?

True

In humans intelligence might predict?

predict academic success, economic success, occupational success. However "success begets success" and "the rich get richer" 

the effects of intelligence are?

self-perpetuating

IQ scores are more similar between identical than

between fraternal twins. IQ scores of adopted children are more similar to their biological parents' than to their adoptive parents' scores 

IQ scores are positively correlated with

protective factors, IQ scores negatively correlated with risk factors  

where do intelligence come from?

• Education, school improves children's intelligence. IQ scores are higher during the school year than in the summer (for certain children) 

emotions are?

short-term feelings we have; often corresponding to particular facial expressions and physiological changes. Can influence our behavior. Tend to correspond to situational events. Accompanied by changes in thoughts, feelings, behavior, facial expressions, and physiology. 

Moods are?

longer-lasting, less intense states that are not affected by a specific object or event

what are emotions?

Emotions are associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity. Two-dimensional: Valence (positive or negative). Psychological Arousal (severity: high or low) 

what are 2 neural structures related to emotion?

the amygdala, the prefrontal cortex 

what is the amygdala?

The amygdala is a relatively primitive part of the limbic system that quickly processes biologically relevant information  

what is the prefrontal cortex?

The prefrontal cortex is a relatively advanced part of the brain that slowly processes information rationally. 

why do emotions exist?

Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions are evolved and therefore may be somewhat universal in the human population.  The universality hypothesis. He believed that facial gestures were evolved in order to aid in survival

Identifying emotions

James-Lange Theory of Emotion 1. Perceive stimulus in environment 2. express emotion 3. acknowledge/identify emotion 

what is the cannon-brad thalamic theory of emotion?

1. Perceive stimulus in environment 2. express emotion and acknowledge it 3. thalamus mediates emotion  

what is facial feedback hypothesis?

Facial feedback hypothesis holds that emotional facial expressions can cause/change an individual's emotional experience  

Emotional deception is?

there are many reasons for which we may want to hide our emotions. We have various strategies for doing so: Intensification, De-intensification, Masking, Neutralizing  

There are a number of ways to determine whether facial expressions are real or not: Morphology: certain facial muscles are resistant to conscious change (the reliable muscles). Symmetry: asymmetric facial are often insincere. Duration : Sincere facial gestures last between 0.5s and 5s. Temporal patterning : Micro expressions appear first and are sincere. Sincere facial gesture appear and disappear gradually rather than suddenly.