Life span & development
Yesss π I turned your entire study guide into Quizlet-style exam questions and answers, keeping the terminology and information from your notes. I also included a mix of straight definitions and questions that make you apply the concepts.
Developmental Psychology & Theories
Q: What is developmental psychology?
A: The study of how and why people change, or remain the same, as they grow.
Q: What are the three domains of development?
A: Biological, psychosocial, and cognitive.
Q: What does biological development refer to?
A: Physical growth.
Q: What does psychosocial development refer to?
A: A person's experience of themselves and their interactions with others.
Q: What does cognitive development refer to?
A: Mental processes.
Q: How do the three domains of development relate to one another?
A: They intersect with one another all the time.
Q: What does it mean to say that life-span periods are socially constructed?
A: The categories and boundaries used to divide the life span are created by society.
Q: What is the prenatal period?
A: Conception to birth.
Q: What is infancy and toddlerhood?
A: Ages 0β3.
Q: What is early childhood?
A: Ages 3β6.
Q: What is middle childhood?
A: Ages 6β11.
Q: What is adolescence?
A: Approximately ages 11β20.
Q: What is emerging adulthood?
A: Approximately ages 18β25.
Q: What is young adulthood?
A: Approximately ages 20β40.
Q: What is middle adulthood?
A: Approximately ages 40β65.
Q: What is late adulthood?
A: Age 65 and older.
Q: What is normative development?
A: Developmental changes or milestones that are typical for people of a particular age.
Q: Why are developmental milestones useful?
A: They help determine whether someone may have a developmental delay.
Q: What are individual differences?
A: Changes or characteristics that are unique to the individual.
Q: What factors influence individual development?
A: Geography, heredity, culture/race/ethnicity, family and peers, socioeconomic factors, education, and historical context.
Developmental Controversies
Q: What is the nature vs. nurture debate?
A: The debate over the relative influence of genetics versus environment on development.
Q: What is the debate about early experiences?
A: It concerns how much early experiences affect later development, which depends on context.
Q: What is continuous development?
A: Development that occurs gradually through small increases or changes in amount; it is quantitative.
Q: Give an example of continuous development.
A: The gradual increase in the number of words a child knows.
Q: What is discontinuous development?
A: Development involving uneven or abrupt changes and distinct stages; it is qualitative.
Q: Give an example of discontinuous development.
A: The transition from crawling to walking.
Q: What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative change?
A: Quantitative change involves changes in amount or number, while qualitative change involves changes in type or kind.
Freud
Q: What is Freud's psychoanalytic theory?
A: A theory emphasizing unconscious emotions and drives.
Q: According to Freud, are people aware of all of their thoughts and emotions?
A: No. People are aware of only a small portion; other thoughts and emotions are influenced by the subconscious.
Q: What are the three components of personality according to Freud?
A: Id, ego, and superego.
Q: What is the id?
A: The pleasure-seeking part of personality that exists from birth.
Q: What is the ego?
A: The reality-oriented part of personality that develops during toddlerhood.
Q: What is the superego?
A: The morality-oriented part of personality that develops during school age.
Q: What are Freud's five psychosexual stages?
A: Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.
Q: What is the oral stage?
A: Birthβ18 months; the mouth is the primary focus.
Q: According to Freud, what could happen if a child is weaned too soon?
A: They may develop an oral fixation.
Q: What is fixation?
A: Being unable to resolve a conflict and consequently becoming stuck in a developmental stage.
Q: What is the anal stage?
A: Approximately 18 monthsβ3 years; the child must successfully resolve potty training.
Q: What is the phallic stage?
A: Approximately ages 3β6; children develop an interest in the opposite-sex parent according to Freud.
Q: What is the Oedipus complex?
A: Freud's idea that boys develop an unconscious desire for their mothers and jealousy toward their fathers.
Q: What happens during the latency stage?
A: Approximately ages 6β12; libido becomes dormant.
Q: What happens during the genital stage?
A: Beginning around age 12, libido must be controlled according to societal expectations and rules.
Q: What is libido?
A: The sex instinct.
Q: What are major contributions of psychoanalytic theories?
A: Emphasis on early experiences, the unconscious, and social issues through Erikson.
Q: What are weaknesses of Freud's theory?
A: It is difficult to test, lacks supporting evidence, and contains gender bias.
Erik Erikson
Q: What does Erikson's psychosocial theory focus on?
A: Social crises or developmental challenges, their resolution, and development across the life span.
Q: What is the first Erikson stage?
A: Trust vs. Mistrust, ages 0β1.
Q: What is the main task of Trust vs. Mistrust?
A: Establishing trust in caregivers and learning that others can take care of one's needs.
Q: What produces trust?
A: Having one's needs met by trustworthy caregivers.
Q: What produces mistrust?
A: Having one's needs not met.
Q: What is Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt?
A: Ages 1β3; children become increasingly independent.
Q: What happens when autonomy is not developed?
A: The child may experience shame and doubt about personal decisions.
Q: What is Initiative vs. Guilt?
A: Ages 3β5; children develop purpose by taking initiative and responsibilities.
Q: What is Competence vs. Inferiority?
A: Ages 6β11; children develop a sense of capability and mastery through accomplishment and trial and error.
Q: What is Identity vs. Role Confusion?
A: Adolescence; individuals question beliefs, values, attitudes, and goals while exploring different identities.
Q: What is Intimacy vs. Isolation?
A: Young adulthood; developing love, long-term relationships, and potentially starting a family.
Q: What happens if intimacy is not developed?
A: The individual may experience loneliness and isolation.
Q: What is Generativity vs. Stagnation?
A: Middle adulthood; contributing to society or younger generations through mentoring and passing on knowledge, values, and beliefs.
Q: What is Integrity vs. Despair?
A: Reflecting on one's life achievements and regrets and creating meaning and purpose from past decisions.
Learning Theories
Q: What is observational learning?
A: Learning by watching and imitating others.
Q: What is modeling?
A: Learning by observing and imitating a model.
Q: Who is most likely to be used as a model?
A: Someone who is admired, powerful, or similar to the learner.
Q: What is classical conditioning?
A: Learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with a meaningful stimulus, eventually causing the neutral stimulus to produce a similar response.
Q: What is the basic structure of classical conditioning?
A: Stimulus β Response.
Q: What is Pavlov's famous example of classical conditioning?
A: Dogs learned to drool when they heard the footsteps of the assistant bringing food.
Q: What did the Little Albert study demonstrate?
A: That an emotional response, specifically fear, could be learned through classical conditioning.
Q: What is a contribution of learning theories?
A: They explain behavioral change and contributed to behavior therapy and scientific methods.
Q: What are weaknesses of learning theories?
A: They can neglect nature and cognition and may have difficulty explaining complex behavior.
Piaget
Q: What are schemes?
A: Organized structures of thought used to understand different aspects of the world.
Q: What is equilibrium?
A: A state of mental balance in which experiences match existing schemes.
Q: What is disequilibrium?
A: Mental imbalance caused by information that does not match what a person already knows.
Q: How do children adapt when they experience disequilibrium?
A: Through assimilation and accommodation.
Q: What is assimilation?
A: Applying an existing scheme to new information.
Q: What is accommodation?
A: Modifying existing schemes to fit new information.
Q: What are Piaget's four stages of cognitive development?
A: Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
Q: What happens during the sensorimotor stage?
A: Ages 0β2; children explore the world through their senses.
Q: What happens during the preoperational stage?
A: Ages 2β6; children are pre-logical but can use symbols to communicate.
Q: What happens during the concrete operational stage?
A: Ages 7β11; children can use logical reasoning about concrete things they can touch and experience.
Q: What happens during the formal operational stage?
A: Age 12+; abstract thought and understanding develop.
Q: What was an important contribution of Piaget's theory?
A: It showed that children actively learn through exploration and was the first major theory to focus on the cognitive aspect of learning and development.
Q: What is a weakness of Piaget's theory?
A: Developmental stages do not always progress linearly or as consistently as Piaget believed.
Skinner & Operant Conditioning
Q: What is operant conditioning?
A: Learning in which behavior is associated with a consequence.
Q: What are the two major types of consequences in operant conditioning?
A: Reinforcement and punishment.
Q: What is positive reinforcement?
A: Adding a pleasant consequence to increase a behavior.
Q: What is negative reinforcement?
A: Removing an unpleasant consequence to increase a behavior.
Q: What is positive punishment?
A: Adding an unpleasant consequence to decrease a behavior.
Q: What is negative punishment?
A: Removing a pleasant consequence to decrease a behavior.
Q: What is the easiest way to remember positive vs. negative reinforcement/punishment?
A: Positive = add something; Negative = remove something. Reinforcement = increase behavior; Punishment = decrease behavior.
Bronfenbrenner
Q: What is Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory?
A: The theory that individual factors and the individual's environment affect development.
Q: What is the microsystem?
A: Immediate environments such as family, classroom, religious settings, and peer groups.
Q: What is the mesosystem?
A: Connections between microsystems, such as parents communicating with teachers.
Q: What is the exosystem?
A: Institutions and environments that do not directly involve the child but can affect development, such as medical institutions, school boards, mass media, and the community.
Q: What is the macrosystem?
A: Broad cultural values and social conditioning that can influence development.
Q: What is the correct order from most immediate to broadest?
A: Micro β Meso β Exo β Macro.
Evolutionary Theory
Q: What does evolutionary theory propose about development?
A: Humans are biologically programmed to adapt behaviors that help them survive.
Q: What is an example of an adaptive behavior in infants?
A: Infants cry when they are born and prefer foods their mother ate during the last trimester.
Developmental Research
Q: What is a cross-sectional research design?
A: Studying multiple age groups at one point in time.
Q: What is an advantage of cross-sectional research?
A: It is time-efficient and allows researchers to collect large amounts of data quickly.
Q: What is a cohort effect?
A: When different age groups have different life experiences that can affect research results.
Q: What is a longitudinal research design?
A: Studying the same age group or cohort across two or more points in time.
Q: What is an advantage of longitudinal research?
A: It allows researchers to examine patterns of stability and change without cohort effects.
Q: What is a practice effect?
A: Changes in performance that occur because participants become familiar with the test or task from repeated testing.
Q: What is attrition?
A: Losing participants over the course of a study.
Q: What are disadvantages of longitudinal research?
A: Practice effects, attrition, cost, and time.
Q: What is a sequential research design?
A: Studying multiple age groups across multiple points in time.
Q: What are disadvantages of sequential research?
A: Cost, time, and attrition.
Genetics & Heredity
Q: What is heredity?
A: The genetic transmission of traits.
Q: What are genes?
A: Segments of DNA that serve as units of heredity.
Q: How much of our genes do humans share?
A: Approximately 99.9%.
Q: Where are genes housed?
A: On chromosomes.
Q: How many pairs of chromosomes do humans normally have?
A: 23 pairs, or 46 total chromosomes.
Q: What are gametes?
A: Sperm and ova (egg cells).
Q: What is a genotype?
A: An individual's genetic code.
Q: What is a phenotype?
A: Physical traits and characteristics that result from genes interacting with one another and the environment.
Q: What is polygenic inheritance?
A: When multiple genes influence a trait.
Q: What are alleles?
A: Different variants of a gene.
Q: What is codominant inheritance?
A: Both alleles are expressed in the individual's traits.
Q: What is incomplete dominance?
A: The traits associated with both alleles blend together.
Q: What is dominant-recessive inheritance?
A: Only the dominant allele is expressed when the dominant allele is present.
Q: What is epigenesis?
A: The environment can turn genes on or off.
Q: What is a dormant genotype?
A: A genetic tendency that can be triggered by environmental factors.
Q: What is reaction range?
A: The idea that a person inherits a range of possible outcomes, while the environment helps determine where within that range the person develops.
Q: What is an example of reaction range from the notes?
A: IQ can be affected by education.
Q: What is PKU?
A: An inherited disease that can be triggered by consuming phenylalanine and can cause severe intellectual disability; it can be avoided through testing.
Twin & Adoption Studies
Q: What are monozygotic twins?
A: Identical twins who develop when one fertilized egg splits into two.
Q: What are dizygotic twins?
A: Fraternal twins who develop when two sperm fertilize two separate eggs at the same time.
Q: What is a concordance rate?
A: The percentage of twins who share a particular trait.
Q: What does it suggest if monozygotic twins have a higher concordance rate for a trait than dizygotic twins?
A: It suggests that genetics contribute to the trait.
Q: What do adoption and separated-twin studies examine?
A: Whether individuals are more similar to their biological parents/twins or their adoptive/environmental influences.
Prenatal Development
Q: What is gestation?
A: The period from fertilization to birth.
Q: How long does human gestation typically last?
A: Approximately 38β40 weeks.
Q: What are the three stages of prenatal development?
A: Germinal, embryonic, and fetal.
Q: What happens during the germinal stage?
A: During the first 2 weeks, sperm and egg form a zygote, rapid cell division occurs, cells differentiate, a blastocyst forms, and implantation occurs.
Q: What is a zygote?
A: The cell formed when sperm and egg combine.
Q: What is differentiation?
A: The process through which cells prepare for different functions.
Q: What is a blastocyst?
A: A group or ball of cells that enters the uterus.
Q: What is implantation?
A: The process in which the developing blastocyst attaches to the uterus.
Q: What happens during the embryonic stage?
A: From approximately 2β8 weeks, organs and systems begin to develop and support systems such as the placenta, amnion, and umbilical cord begin forming.
Q: What is organogenesis?
A: The development of organs and body systems.
Q: What happens during the fetal stage?
A: From about 8 weeks to birth, bones begin forming and organs and systems become more refined and establish their functions.
Q: What is the age of viability?
A: Approximately 24 weeks, when a fetus has a chance of surviving outside the womb.
Q: What is surfactant?
A: A thin film coating the lungs that helps prevent the lungs from collapsing and supports breathing outside the womb.
Maternal Characteristics & Teratogens
Q: What age range was identified in the notes as the optimal maternal age?
A: 17β35 years old.
Q: Why can pregnancy under age 17 present increased risks?
A: The body may not be fully developed and there may be environmental hazards.
Q: Why can pregnancy over age 35 present increased risks?
A: Older eggs are associated with increased chromosomal abnormalities.
Q: What is the recommended weight gain listed in the notes?
A: 25β35 pounds.
Q: What does folic acid do during pregnancy?
A: It helps reduce the risk of spina bifida.
Q: What does DHA support during prenatal development?
A: Brain development.
Q: Why should certain fish be restricted during pregnancy?
A: Because of mercury.
Q: Why should lunch meat be restricted?
A: Because of the risk of listeria.
Q: What is a teratogen?
A: A condition or substance that increases the risk of abnormalities during prenatal development.
Q: What are some examples of teratogens?
A: Viruses, alcohol, nicotine, and other harmful substances or conditions.
Q: What are possible effects of rubella during pregnancy?
A: Miscarriage, birth defects, and developmental problems.
Q: What are possible effects of Zika during pregnancy?
A: Smaller head size and delayed brain development.
Q: What are possible effects of alcohol during pregnancy?
A: It can limit oxygen and growth and is associated with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, including developmental delays, learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and facial malformations.
Q: What are possible effects of nicotine during pregnancy?
A: Limited oxygen, stunted growth, preterm birth, low birth weight, and increased risk of SIDS.
Q: What four factors determine the extent of teratogen damage?
A: Timing, amount, frequency, and genetic vulnerability.
Q: What is the critical period for teratogen exposure?
A: The embryonic period.
Q: Why does timing matter when considering teratogens?
A: Different stages of prenatal development are more vulnerable to certain effects.
Q: Why does genetic vulnerability matter?
A: Some children are more susceptible to certain effects than others.
Q: Why is prenatal care important?
A: It helps monitor the mother's and baby's health, provides nutrition and vitamins, includes routine medical appointments, and educates mothers.
Labor & Delivery
Q: How long does labor typically last?
A: Approximately 8β16 hours; first births tend to be longer, around 10β20 hours.
Q: What is the first stage of labor?
A: Cervical dilation.
Q: When does cervical dilation end?
A: When the cervix reaches 10 cm.
Q: What is the longest stage of labor?
A: Cervical dilation, approximately 12β14 hours.
Q: What happens during the second stage of labor?
A: Active pushing and emergence/delivery of the baby.
Q: What is crowning?
A: When the baby's head emerges during delivery.
Q: What happens during the third stage of labor?
A: The placenta is delivered.
Q: What is the Apgar test?
A: A newborn assessment performed at 1 and 5 minutes after birth.
Q: What does APGAR stand for?
A: Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance, Respiration.
Q: What does an Apgar score of 7β10 indicate?
A: The newborn is generally healthy.
Q: What does an Apgar score of 4β7 indicate?
A: The airway may need to be established.
Q: What does an Apgar score below 4 indicate?
A: Medical attention is needed.
Q: What is anoxia?
A: Oxygen starvation.
Q: What can prolonged anoxia cause?
A: Brain damage, death, or cerebral palsy.
Q: What is a breech birth?
A: A birth in which the baby is positioned feet-first.
Q: Why can breech birth be dangerous?
A: It has higher chances of anoxia, death, and the baby becoming stuck.
Q: What are epidural and Pitocin?
A: Medications/interventions used during labor and delivery.
Q: What is a cesarean section?
A: A surgical procedure in which the abdominal wall is cut to deliver the baby.
Birth Weight & SIDS
Q: What is low birth weight according to the notes?
A: Less than 5 pounds.
Q: What are some complications associated with low birth weight?
A: Respiratory distress syndrome, SIDS, developmental delays, and greater risk for abuse and neglect.
Q: What is preterm birth?
A: Birth that occurs before the expected time of development.
Q: What is a small-for-date baby?
A: A baby who is smaller than expected for their developmental age.
Q: Why are small-for-date babies particularly concerning?
A: The notes identify them as more concerning than premature children.
Q: What is SIDS?
A: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; an unclear cause of death that typically occurs during the first year of life and while the child is sleeping.
Q: What possible causes of SIDS are listed in the notes?
A: Brain defects involving a lack of a wake-up signal and breathing obstruction.
Physical Development in Infancy
Q: When do children grow the fastest?
A: During their first year.
Q: What happens to an infant's size during the first year?
A: They approximately triple in size.
Q: What is the cephalocaudal principle?
A: Development occurs from the head toward the feet.
Q: What is the typical progression under the cephalocaudal principle?
A: Holding the head β pushing up on shoulders β crawling β walking.
Q: What is the proximodistal principle?
A: Development occurs from the center of the body outward.
Q: What is the typical progression under the proximodistal principle?
A: Control of the trunk develops before control of the fingers.
Q: What does canalized development mean?
A: Development is highly controlled by genes, although the environment can influence successful development.
Brain Development
Q: What is a neuron?
A: A nerve cell in the central nervous system.
Q: What is an axon?
A: The part of a neuron that extends and sends signals.
Q: What are dendrites?
A: Parts of neurons that extend and receive signals.
Q: What is a synapse?
A: The gap between an axon and dendrites where neurotransmitters carry messages.
Q: How many neurons does a baby's brain contain at birth according to the notes?
A: Approximately 100 billion.
Q: What is proliferation?
A: An increase in the density of dendrites as neurons grow new dendrites.
Q: What is pruning?
A: The brain's removal of unnecessary neurons when they do not receive environmental stimulation.
Q: Approximately what proportion of neurons from birth survive to adulthood according to the notes?
A: About half.
Q: What is myelination?
A: Coating axons with myelin, a fatty substance, which speeds neural signal transmission.
Q: How do experiences affect brain development?
A: Experiences influence neural wiring; frequently used neurons and synapses become strengthened while unused connections may be removed.
Q: What did the lemur study demonstrate?
A: Six-month-old children could distinguish between similar lemurs, but without continued experience seeing lemurs, this ability decreased.
Infant Motor Skills & Senses
Q: What are reflexes?
A: Automatic responses that are present at birth and can be adaptive.
Q: What are examples of infant reflexes?
A: Sucking, swallowing, rooting, palmar/grasping, Babinski, stepping, and swimming.
Q: What is the rooting reflex?
A: Turning toward an object to prepare for feeding.
Q: What is the palmar reflex?
A: The grasping reflex.
Q: What happens in the Babinski reflex?
A: The toes fan out when the bottom of the foot is stroked.
Q: What are gross motor skills?
A: Large body movements such as crawling, walking, and climbing.
Q: What are fine motor skills?
A: Small body movements such as grabbing and holding.
Q: Which sense is least developed at birth?
A: Vision.
Q: How developed is infant vision at birth according to the notes?
A: Poor acuity, approximately 20/400.
Q: How far can babies see best?
A: Approximately 8β12 feet.
Q: Can babies see color?
A: Yes, although they have difficulty distinguishing some closely related colors.
Q: What do babies prefer to look at?
A: Faces.
Q: Why is an infant's preference for faces adaptive?
A: It prepares the baby for living and functioning in a social world.
Q: When does depth perception develop?
A: Around 4β5 months.
Q: When can babies hear?
A: During the third trimester, with acute hearing at birth.
Q: What did the Cat in the Hat study demonstrate?
A: Babies exposed to the story during the third trimester showed recognition of it after birth, demonstrated by sucking faster while hearing it during feeding.
Q: What voice do babies prefer?
A: Their mother's voice.
Q: When does smell develop?
A: It is believed to develop during pregnancy.
Q: How soon can newborns recognize their mother's scent?
A: Up to two days after birth.
Q: Can babies taste before birth?
A: Yes. Taste is present through the amniotic fluid.
Q: What tastes can babies differentiate?
A: Sweet, sour, and bitter.
Q: Is touch present at birth?
A: Yes.
π₯ SUPER IMPORTANT βDON'T MIX THESE UPβ QUESTIONS
Q: Assimilation vs. accommodation?
A: Assimilation = use an existing scheme. Accommodation = change the scheme.
Q: Continuous vs. discontinuous development?
A: Continuous = gradual/quantitative. Discontinuous = stages/qualitative.
Q: Genotype vs. phenotype?
A: Genotype = genetic code. Phenotype = observable physical traits/characteristics.
Q: Monozygotic vs. dizygotic twins?
A: Monozygotic = identical/one fertilized egg splits. Dizygotic = fraternal/two eggs fertilized by two sperm.
Q: Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal?
A: Cross-sectional = multiple ages, one time. Longitudinal = same cohort, multiple times.
Q: Gross vs. fine motor skills?
A: Gross = large movements. Fine = small movements.
Q: Cephalocaudal vs. proximodistal?
A: Cephalocaudal = head β feet. Proximodistal = center β outside.
Q: Positive vs. negative reinforcement?
A: Positive = add something pleasant. Negative = remove something unpleasant. Both increase behavior.
Q: Positive vs. negative punishment?
A: Positive = add something unpleasant. Negative = remove something pleasant. Both decrease behavior.
Q: Micro vs. meso vs. exo vs. macro?
A: Micro = immediate surroundings. Meso = connections between immediate surroundings. Exo = indirect environmental influences. Macro = broad cultural/social influences.