Lifespan Development

telomeres - breaks down (apart of dna) when we get older & mututations more likely to occur

teratogens - any environmental agent that causes damage to the devolping embryo/fetus

FAS - fetal alcohol syndrome because mama was drinking baby experuences adverse effects

rooting reflex - response to anything that touches their teeth

sucking - motions infants do with their mouth

moro - babys are morons and response to the sensation of falling spread arms and pull back & cry

socioemotional selective theory - social supports/friendships dwindle in # but remain close if not more close than in earlier years

sandwich generation - takes care of children and their aging parents

Jean Piaget - founder of social development psychology

assimilation - take in info and bring into the schema

accommodation - change schema because of new info acquired

Konrad Lorenz - K-onvention of ethics

critical period - animals once past, too late to bond

sensitive period - humans comes when young (1st year) to bond not as strict time deoendent like anomals

Mary Ainsworth - secure attachments are worth it

the strange situation - take the kid and leave it to evaluate attachment style

secure attachment - happy w/ mom, distressed when leaves, happy upon return

Lev Vygotsky - thinks you can achieve more things with leverage from others

zone of proximal development - things you can do w/ a little bit of help

scaffolds - supports people give you to achieve the next thing (ex model essays)

Physical development - growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness

Cognitive development - learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity

Psychosocial development - emotions, personality, and social relationships

continuous development - development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills

discontinuous development - view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages

normative approach - study of development using norms, or average ages, when most children reach specific developmental milestones

however not all normative events are universal because they are influenced by culture, environment/context

developmental milestone - approximate ages at which children reach specific normative events (ex walking, writing, naming colors, puberty)

nurture - environment & culture

nature - biology & genetics

psychosexual development - process proposed by Freud in which pleasure-seeking urges focus on different erogenous zones (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) of the body as humans move through five stages of life

psychosocial development - process by Erikson in which social tasks are mastered as humans move through eight stages of life from infancy to adulthood