Developmental Psychology

  1. Schemas are: mental frameworks to organize and interpret information 

  2. Assimilation is: using pre-existing information to interpret new information

  3. Accommodation is: adapting existing schemas to incorporate new information 

  4. Stages of cognitive development 

    1. Sensorimotor stage (0-2)

    2. Preoperational stage (2-7)

    3. Concrete operational stage (7-12)

    4. Formal operational stage (12+)

  5. The sensorimotor stage is characterized by:

    1. Object permanence: things exist even when not perceived

    2. A not B error: looking for an object where they last found it even if they saw it moved 

  6. The preoperational stage is characterized by:

    1. Egocentrism: an ability to view the world only through one POV

    2. Conservation: objects retain their properties despite changes in form

    3. Theory of mind: ability to take another’s perspective 

  7. The concrete operational stage is characterized by:

    1. Inductive reasoning: making broad generalizations about specific observations

  8. The formal operational stage includes:

    1. Deductive reasoning: putting together general observations to make specific conclusions

    2. If then thinking: if A occurs then B will happen

  9. Physical development order:

    1. Genome

    2. Zygote

    3. Embryo

    4. Fetus 

  10. Tetratogens: harmful chemicals and viruses that can reach the fetus during development 

  11. Tetratogens are mostly screened out by the: placenta

  12. Newborn reflexes:

    1. Rooting reflex

    2. Sucking reflex

    3. Moro reflex

    4. Grasp reflex

    5. Stepping reflex

    6. Tonic neck reflex

  13. Rooting reflex is: check stimulus, head orientation, latch

  14. Moro reflex is: startled, arms extended, arms come back in

  15. Stepping reflex is: if held upright, will mimic walking 

  16. Tonic neck reflex is: fencing 

  17. Habituation: decreased response to familiar stimuli 

  18. Visual cliff illusion: depth perception and understanding social emotions

  19. Infantile amnesia: forgetting everything that occurred before 4 years of age

  20. Attachment styles

    1. Secure

    2. Anxious avoidant

    3. Avoidant

    4. Disorganized

  21. Secure attachment is: using the caregiver as a secure base, can explore and come back

  22. Anxious avoidants are: reluctance to explore due to fear of abandonment

  23. Avoidants are: disinterested in the environment and those around them

  24. Disorganized are: wanting love and support but also fear and distrust others, leading to inconsistent behavior 

  25. Critical periods are: optimal periods early in life for learning (a time when a person's behavior is especially sensitive to environmental influences)

  26. Delay of gratification (being able to wait for a bigger prize): children able to do this have higher academic success, social success, and lower risk of delinquency 

  27. Parenting styles: 

    1. Authoritarian

    2. Authoritative

    3. Rejecting-Neglecting

    4. Permissive

  28. Authoritarian parents: are demanding, and unresponsive, use punishment and threats, and give children little autonomy

  29. Authoritative parents:  are demanding but warm, responsive, set limits, but give some autonomy 

  30. Rejecting Neglecting parents: are disorganized, unresponsive, have no limits, and no consideration for the child’s needs

  31. Permissive parents: are lenient, and responsive, have no limits, and let children act inappropriately 

  32. Primary sex characteristics: related to reproductive organs

  33. Secondary sex characteristics: biological consequences of primary sex characteristics

  34. Telomeres: small caps at the ends of DNA that protect them from degradation, they shorten as we age so we slowly lose genetic information

  35. Terminal Decline: we are driven to learn less and spend time fostering connections over time