AP Psychology - Unit 3: Development And Learning

Life Span Approach + Developmental Issues

Developmental Psychology

Discovered by Erik Erikson

  • Developmental Psychology = Development never ends, therefore this form of psychology studies one from their birth to death

  • Child Psychologists = people who study one’s development from the ages 0 - 18

  • Life-Span Psychologists = people who study one’s development from birth - death

  • Nature vs Nurture = How much genetics play a role on development versus how much the environment one is in plays a role on development

  • Environmentalists = people who believe that nurture is the only factor in development (‘tabula rasa’)

  • Maturationists = people who believe that nature is the only factor in development (DNA, neurons, etc.)

  • Continuous learning = the idea that humans are always learning constantly

  • Discontinuous Learning = the idea that humans learn in stages

  • Critical Period = the time or age a skill should develop by. (Ex: ‘learning a language by age 12”)

  • Culture = a factor derived from subjective backgrounds that influences developmental psychology

  • Individualist Culture = personal needs > societal needs (influenced by the environment)

  • Collectivist Culture = societal needs > personal needs (influenced by the environment)

Research Methods

  • Research Methods = how we research a certain topic (in this case, development and learning)

  • Longitudinal Method = (Ex: ‘I’ll research group A over X number of years”) — usually a small group of people

  • Normative Development = (Ex: ‘based on research, puberty typically happens between ages 11 - 17)

  • Individual Development = (Ex: ‘this guy is an outlier to research based on puberty. He seems to be a late bloomer, at age 17’)

  • Cross-Sectional Method = A form of normative development — (Ex: growth at age 8 vs growth at age 13 or push ups at age 5 vs push ups at age 15)

Physical Development

  • Physical Development = how one grows from a little humanoid to a grown ass man in terms of their body

  • Zygote = a fertilized egg cell

  • 3 Phases of Zygote Gestation = the phases in which a zygote goes through in the womb

  • 1st phase of Zygote Gestation = germinal stage: cell multiplies (first 2 weeks)

  • 2nd phase of Zygote Gestation = embryonic stage: ‘organ formation’ (till month 3)

  • 3rd phase of Zygote Gestation = fetal stage: rapid growth

  • Teratogens = harmful ages that affect the zygote in the fetal stage

  • FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) = brain damage to the fetus due to alcohol being used as a teratogen

  • Rudimentary Movements = the first voluntary movements humans make (from birth to age 2. Ex: crawling, walking, etc.)

  • Gross-Motor Movements = running, jumping, etc.

  • Fine Motor Movements = drawing, writing, typing, etc.