9 - Human Development Flashcards

1
Q

Developmental Learning

A

the study of changes over the life span in psychology, cognition, emotion, and social behaviour

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2
Q

Synaptic Pruning

A

the physiological process of preserving synaptic connections that are used, and eliminating those that are not used which allows for adaptation to the developmental environment

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3
Q

What part of brain development can malnourishment affect?

A

myelination which is the brains way of insulating it’s “wires” that allows for brain circuts to mature

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4
Q

Zygote

A

created when sperm unites with an egg

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5
Q

What is a developing human called between 2 weeks to 2 months?

A

an embryo

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6
Q

What is a developing human called after 2 months in the womb?

A

a fetus
- at the stage where many can survive outside of the womb

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7
Q

How can nutrition affect brain development?

A
  • myelination (basis of brain development, supports cognitive and behavioural functioning)
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8
Q

How can growing up in poverty affect brain development?

A
  • stress, neglect, exposure to violence, etc.
  • growing in less enriched learning environments
  • less access to learning tools
  • research shows that kids growing up in poverty had reductions in the size of brain areas associated with school readiness skills
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9
Q

Teratogens

A

Agents that harm the embryo or fetus

ex. drugs, bacteria, viruses, chemicals like caffeine, alcohol, some prescription drugs

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10
Q

What is the most common teratogen and what can it lead to?

A

alcohol, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs)

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11
Q

Dynamic Systems Theory

A

Throughout life, every new form of behaviour emerges through consistent interactions between a biological being and cultural and environmental contexts

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12
Q

Prenatal Period

A

conception -> birth

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13
Q

Infancy

A

birth -> 18-21 months

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14
Q

Childhood

A

18-24 months -> 11-14 years

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15
Q

Adolescence

A

11-14 years -> 18-21 years

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16
Q

Adulthood

A

18-21 years -> death

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17
Q

Germinal (or Zygota) stage

A

0-2 weeks
fertilization of ovum - implants in uturus

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18
Q

Embryonic Stage

A

2-8 weeks
- heartbeat, tiny brain, body structures starting
- major features start to become visible (toes, eyes, etc.)
- time when they are most susceptible to chemicals (but it’s also the time when most women don’t know they’re pregnant)
- sexual development

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19
Q

Fetal Stage

A

2 months - birth
- development of bone cells
- skeletal, organ, nervous systems

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20
Q

What are the last 2 months of the fetal stage primarily for?

A

growing - everything else is developed at this point

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21
Q

Visual Aucity

A

the ability to distinguish differences among shapes, patterns, and colours (seeing like someone who needs glasses)
- newborn’s visual aucity for distant objects is poor but reaches adult levels around 1 year

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22
Q

Habituation Technique

A
  • a way to study how infants categorize a series of objects
  • they like new things more than familiar things
  • tests visual acuity (poor at birth)
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23
Q

Sigmund Freud

Infantile Amnesia

A

the inability to remember events from early childhood
- language helps us remember things (inner dialogue)
- self recognition is needed
- hippocampus isn’t fully developed until 4 yrs.

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24
Q

Attachment

A

a strong, intimate, emotional connection between people persisting across time and across circumstances

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25
Q

Attachment

Bowlby’s Theory

A
  • infants have innate attachment behaviours that motivate adult attention (ex. smiling, crying, looking, cuddling)
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26
Q

Attachment

Imprinting

A

an instinctual tendency in some animals that produces a strong attachment to an adult
- follows around the first thing they see because they assume it must be their mom

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27
Q

Attachment

Harlow’s classic study

A
  • monkeys raised with artifical mothers
  • one was more comfortable than the other
  • observed that the relationship with the mother isn’t only about food, it’s also about comfort
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28
Q

Q: According to Bowlby’s attachment theory, how is attachment adaptive?

A

Attachment motivates infants and caregivers to stay near each other, increasing the security that infants need to survive and thrive

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29
Q

Jean Piaget

Assimilation

A

The process by which new information is placed into an existing scheme

Ex. a kid sees a great dane for the first time and asks what it is. The parents tell them it’s a dog but the kid sees that it looks nothing like the chihuahua they have at home. The kid now needs to assimilate the great dane into their existing dog scheme

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30
Q

Jean Piaget

Schemes

A

ways of thinking based on personal experience

31
Q

Jean Piaget

Accommodation

A

The process by which a new scheme is created or an existing scheme is drastically altered to include new information that otherwise would not fit into the scheme

32
Q

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Sensorimotor Stage

Birth to 2 years

A
  • children are firmly situated in the present
  • motor schemas
  • internalize schemes of action = motor control
  • object permenance (needs to have an internal representation of an object that is assimilated into schemes)
33
Q

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Preoperational Stage

2 to 7 years

A
  • children can start to think about objects not in their immediate view - begin to think symbolically
  • language development
  • pretend play
  • egocenticism (ex. idea that they’re a voodoo doll)
  • need to master conservation of quantity (ex. bigger=more)
34
Q

Object Permanence

A

The understanding that an object continues to exist even when it cannot be seen

35
Q

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Concrete Operational Stage

7 to 12 years

A
  • children begin to think about and understand logical operations - no longer fooled by appearances
  • ends egocentricism
  • understands categorization and classification
36
Q

Concrete Operational Stage

Operation

A
  • an action that can be undone
  • learning that actions can be reversed
37
Q

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Formal Operational Stage

12 years to adulthood

A
  • people can think abstractly (ex. critical thinking)
  • can formulate and test hypotheses through deductive logic (hypothetico-deductive method)
38
Q

How is the brain and spinal cord formed?

A

the neural tube
- layer of cells containing nervous system folds over

39
Q

Brain Development

Plasticity

A

growth of new neurons (neurogenesis) + new connections
- more dendrites

40
Q

Brain Development

Myelination

A
  • various regions get myelinated at different rates
  • if some can wait, priority is given to others
41
Q

Synaptogenesis

A
  • wiring of the brain
  • forming connections - cells that fire together wire together
  • connections that work -> strengthen
  • connections that don’t work -> get cut (synaptic pruning)
42
Q

What is the most important environmental influence (outside of toxins) that impacts brain development?

A

Nutrition
important = fatty acids, vitamins, minerals

43
Q

Spina Bifida

A

when the neural tube doesn’t close

44
Q

Craniorachischisis

A

when the spine is exposed (death)

45
Q

Anencephaly

A

part of the brain + skull missing

46
Q

What is a side effect of malnutrition?

A
  • underdeveloped prefrontal lobes
  • at a higher risk of ADHD, self-control issues
47
Q

Teratogens

A

substances that impair the process of development

48
Q

Theory of Mind

A

The innate ability to understand that others have minds and that those minds have desires, intentions, beliefs, and mental states.
- recognition that actions can be intentional

49
Q

Kholberg’s stage theory of moral develoment

Preconventional Level

A
  • earliest stage of moral development
  • self-interest or pleasurable outcomes determines what is moral
50
Q

Kholberg’s stage theory of moral development

Conventional Level

A
  • middle stage of moral development
  • strict adherence to societal rules and the approval of others determines what is moral
51
Q

Kholberg’s stage theory of moral development

Postconventional Level

A
  • last stage of moral development
  • abstract principles and the value of all life determines what is moral
52
Q

Inequity aversion

A

preference to avoid unfairness when making decisions about the distribution of resources

53
Q

What is a neuro-developmental reason why teenagers tend to have poor impulse control and make risky decisions?

A

the frontal cortex and frontal lobes aren’t fully myelinated until about 20 years old. Until then, they have an oversensitive reward system

54
Q

sex

A

genetic makeup
23rd chromosome

55
Q

gender

A

psychological

56
Q

What are some things that decline as people age?

A
  • slower working memory (shrinking frontal lobes)
  • sound sensitivity
  • sensitivity to visual contrast
57
Q

Does fluid intelligence peak or decline as you age? Crystallized intelligence?

A

fluid: declines
crystallized: increases throughout life

58
Q

What memory-related neurotransmitter is very low in people with Alzheimer’s?

A

acetylcholine

59
Q

Preferential looking technique

A
  • researchers show an infant two things
  • can tell that an infant can distinguish between two things if they look at the more interesting one for longer
  • they love faces
60
Q

What are innate reflexes and what are some examples?

(4)

A

Innate reflex: set up to help them survive
- rooting reflex - feeding
- moro reflex - prep to fall
- grasping reflex
- stepping reflex

61
Q

What are two forms of anxiety observed in Ainsworth’s test?

A

1) stranger anxiety
2) separation anxiety

62
Q

Romanian Orphan Studied

Disorganized attachment

A

freezing, repetitive movements, fear, inconsistency

63
Q

How is oxytocin associated with attachment?

A

hormone associated with bonding and social acceptance

64
Q

Methods for investigating developmental psychology

Cross-sectional study

A

compares groups of people at different ages to see what age something typically develops

disadvantages: only applies to normative development and not individual development. And, possibility of cohort effects
advantages: cheap, fast, easy

65
Q

Normative development

A

a pattern that is typical for most people, not all

66
Q

Individual development

A

particular pattern for one person

67
Q

studying developmental psychology

Cohort effects

A
  • people born at different times
  • people can be different simply because they were raised in a different time (ex. technology)
68
Q

Methods for investigating developmental psychology

Longitudinal study

A
  • follow the development of the same individuals over time

advantages: allows the study of normative and individual developmemt. no chance of cohort effects because they’re all part of the same cohort

disadvantages: expensive (ex. takes 40 years) and problem with attrition (losing participants over time)

69
Q

Jean Piaget

Cognitive Structures

What are the 2 types of sognitive structures?

A

mental representations/rules to think, understand, and solve problems

Schemata/schemes: define a particular category of behaviour

Concepts: a category of objects or situations

70
Q

What is the main difference between Piaget and Vygotsky’s understanding of development?

A

Piaget: focus on interation with the physical world

Vygotsky: focus on interaction with the social world (ex. scaffolding: supporting the learner)

71
Q

Why did Vygotsky put more emphasis on the role of language in cognitive development?

A
  • he believed cognitive development results from internalization of language
72
Q

Cognitive development

Critical periods

A

developmental period in which a particular ability must be acquired (otherwise it never will)

73
Q

Cognitive development

Sensitive periods

A

window of time during development in which a particular ability is most easily acquired

74
Q

Hearing

(4)

A
  • develops earlier than vision
  • fully myelinated and functional at birth
  • newborns can orient to sound (sound localization)
  • babies can cry with an accent