Exam 1

Chapter 1

Life-span development - Systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occur between conception and death 

Periods of development - Prenatal period, infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood

Emerging adult - College years, unstable life and trying to find identity 

SES - Socioeconomic status - tanding in society based on occupational prestige, education, and income 

Rites of passage - Ritual that marks a person’s passage from one status to another ex. Bat mitzvahs

Major theories of development 

Evolutionary theories - Look to the evolution of the human species for explanations of why humans are as they are and develop as they do

Psychoanalytic theories - Focus on the development and dynamics of the personality 

Bioecological Systems theories - Ongoing interactions between a changing person and a   changing environment 

Cognitive theories - Active processing of information plays a critical role in learning, behavior and development 

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Themes of lifespan development – nature/nurture 

Nature: Development is primarily due to the product of genes, biology, and maturation

Nurture: Development is primarily due to experience, learning, and social influences

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Primary Methods used to study development - Case study, correlational method, experimental method, meta-analysis

Case study - In depth examination of an individual or a small number of individuals

Correlational method - Determine whether two or more variables are related in a systematic way

Experimental method - Investigator manipulates some aspect of the environment to see how this affects the behavior of the sample of individuals studied

Meta-analysis - Results of multiple studies addressing the same question are combined to produce overall conclusions

Major Designs used to study development - Cross-Sectional Design, Longitudinal Design, Sequential Design

Ethical considerations when designing developmental designs - Informed consent, debriefing, protection from harm, confidentiality 

Chapter 2

Chromosomes - Threadlike structures made up of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) 

Fertilization - 23 chromosomes from each parent 

Conception - When an egg is fertilized by a sperm

Genotype - Actual genetic material

Phenotype - Outward expression of the genotype

Dominant transmission – Only need one dominant allele for expression 

Recessive transmission – Need both alleles to be recessive for expression 

Heterozygous is considered a carrier but does not express 

Partial expression – Sometimes both alleles express 

Single-gene genetic transmission -  These genotypes are associated with specific expression 

Dominant - C

Recessive - c

Sex-Linked characteristics - Traits determined by genes located on the sex chromosomes (X and Y)

Polygenic inheritance - When multiple genes contribute to a trait

Issues in genetics -  mutations, copy number variations, wrong number/ shape of chromosomes 

Mutations - A change in the structure or arrangement of one or more genes that produces a new phenotype

Copy number variations - Part of the genome is either deleted or duplicated 

Twin studies - Compare similarity of identical twins with fraternal twins

Concordance rates - the % of cases where both in a pair has the attribute

Gene X Environment Interaction - effects of genes depends on what kind of environment we experience

Diathesis-stress model - Psychological disorder results from an interaction of a person's predisposition to problems and the experience of stressful events

Differential susceptibility hypothesis - Some peoples games make them more reactive than other people to environmental influences

What is the Gene X-environment Correlations - Ways that a person's genes and their environment are systematically interrelated 

Three types of gene-environment correlations - passive, active, evocative

Chapter 3

What are the three Periods of Prenatal Development - germinal, embryonic, fetal

Germinal period - Conception to 2 weeks, considered a zygote

Embryonic period - Implantation to 8 weeks, considered a embryo

Fetal period - 8 weeks to birth, considered a fetus

Heart beat starts at _ weeks - 8

Sex differentiation at to weeks - 7,8

Fetus can be viable outside of the womb at __ weeks - 23

Fetal programming - Environmental events during pregnancy that may alter the expected genetic unfolding of the embryo

Teratogens - Any disease, drug, or other environmental agent that can harm a developing fetus

Examples of teratogens - Opioids and cocaine

When is the organism most vulnerable - During the first 2 months

Examples of other maternal factors that can affect prenatal development - Age, malnutrition, obesity, stress,  mutations in genes of sperm due to smoking

What are the 3 stages of labor/delivery 

• 1st stage: Uterine contractions

• 2nd stage: Delivery

• 3rd stage: Afterbirth

1st stage of birth: Uterine contractions - Longest stage, lasts 6-12 hours, ends when fully dilated at 10cm

2nd stage of birth: Delivery - Begins when babies head moves through cervix and birth canal, ends when baby has completely emerged

3rd stage of birth: Afterbirth - PLacenta and umbilical cord are detached

APGAR - Identifying at risk newborns

Factors of APGAR and scoring - Heart rate, respiratory effort, reflex ability, muscle tone, color. Scores from 0-2, 0 being the worst and 2 being the best 

Massage and kangaroo care - Both ways to promote health and weight in a preemie baby

Chapter 4

Endocrine system responsibility - Plays a role in female and male hormones

Major structures of the endocrine system - Adrenal glands, pituitary gland, hypothalamus, pancreas, ovaries, thyroid

4 lobes of the brain - Frontal, occipital, parietal, temporal

Major function of frontal lobe - Movement/problem solving

Major function of occipital lobe - Vision/perception

Major function of parietal lobe - Sensations/body awareness

Major function of temporal lobe - Hearing/language

Parts of the neuron - Dendrites, cell body, axon hillock, nucleus, myelin sheath, axon, terminals, muscle fiber

3 Principles of Growth - Cephalocaudal principle, proximodistal principle, orthogenetic principle

Cephalocaudal principle- Growth occurs in a head-to-tail direction

Proximodistal principle - Growth and development of muscles from the center outward to the extremities

Orthogenetic principle - Development starts globally and undifferentiated, moves towards increasing differentiation

Size of brain at birth and 2 years - Babies brain is 25% the size it will be when its an adult, and at 2 yrs old 80% the size it will be when its an adult

Growth of early brain: “blooming and pruning” - Forming connections with neurons and then eliminating unused connections

Myelination - When axons are wrapped in a fatty insulating layer

Plasticity - The ability of an organism to adapt to environmental factors during development

Early experience on brain development - The brain is much more sensitive to experience in the first few years of life 

Early reflexes - Allows infants to respond adaptively before they have the chance to learn

The adolescent brain - Volume of gray matter increases, puberty is happening, more stimulation needed for satisfaction, greater need for rewards

Risk taking - The % chance of an adolescent being involved in poor decision making rises 

Limbic system develops prior to the maturation of the _________ _______. prefrontal cortex

Andrenarche - Circulation of adrenal hormones between 6-8 years

Menarche - Female's first menstruation between 11-15 years

Semenarche - Mens first ejaculation around 13 years

Secular trend - The historical trend toward earlier menstruation and greater body size.mUsed to happen around 14-17 years it is now 12.5 years.

Centenarians – 100+ years old, healthy lifestyle

Chapter 5

Sensation - When outside environmental info enters our sense organs and move through sensory pathway 

Perception - The interpretation of what has been sensed

Perspectives of perception: Constructivists - Perception is constructed through learning (nurture)

Perspectives of perception: Nativists - Innate capabilities and maturational programs drive perceptual development (nature)

Gibson’s Ecological theory of perception - Nature and nurture are inseparable, perception drives action

Ways of assessing perception in the newborn - Habituation, preferential looking, evoked potentials, operant conditioning 

Sensory capabilities of the newborn: Vision - Newborn is able to detect changes in brightness and visually track a slow moving picture/object

Sensory capabilities of the newborn: Hearing - Infants prefer speech over non-speech sounds, prepared to learn language

Visual cliff/ depth perception - Most infants of crawling age clearly perceive depth

Sensitive periods - Periods of development where experience may be critical to developing sensory-perceptual system 

Fine motor skills - Involves peruse movements of the hands feet fingers and toes

Gross motor skills - Involves large muscles and whole body movements

Attention - Focusing of perception and cognition on something

Orienting system - Reacts to events in the environment

Focusing system - Actively seeks out and maintains attention to events

Aging senses: Vision - Visual acuity declines form 40-59 yrs, depth perception declines

Aging senses: Hearing - Difficulty in hearing high pitches in middle adulthood