April 23 Flashcards
(118 cards)
Life span psychologists
Study development
Developmental psychology
Takes view that development is not a process with a clear ending
WAS thought to end with the onset of adolescence
It is now viewed as a process that continues from birth to death
Child psychologist
Study development but focus on a particular earlier portion of the typical life span
Erik erikson
First to successfully champion the view that development occurs across an entire lifetime
Normative development
Typical sequence of developmental changes for a group of people
Often studied using cross sectional method
Cross sectional method
Seeks to compare groups of people of various ages on similar tasks
Tells us little about the actual development of any single individual
Longitudinal method
To research the developmental processes
Involves following a small group of people over a long portion of their lives, assessing change at set intervals
More difficult and more expensive to conduct
Benefits of longitudinal research
Study of individuals over time rules out the differences between subjects that other studies include
Also allow for the study of the temporal order of events
Zygote
Fertilized egg Three stages Germinal Embryonic Fetal
Germinal stage
Zygotes undergo cell division and implant themselves on the uterine wall
Embryonic stage
Consists of organ formation and lasts until the beginning of the third month
Fetal stage
Sexual differentiation and movement begins to develop
Growth is rapid
Teratogens: harmful environmental agents
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetuses exposed to alcohol develop this resulting in physical abnormalities and cognitive deficiencies
Assimilation
Incorporating new ideas into existing schemas
Schema
Mental representation model
Accommodation
Modifying schema to include the new information
Maturationists
Emphasize the role of genetically programmed growth and development on the body, and particularly on the nervous system
Greater preprogrammed physiological development of the brain allows for more complex conceptualization and reasoning
Maturation
Biological readiness
Environmentalists
Opposing position of maturationists
Extreme form in Locke’s Tabula Rasa idea
Locke’s tabula rasa idea
All development is the direct result of learning, infants are born with a blank slate onto which experience etches it’s lesson
The organism develops more complex behaviors and cognition because it acquires more associations through learning
Discontinuous
Evidence of growth spurts and leaps of cognition support the discontinuous approach
Continuous approach
Gradual development such as social skills
Critical period
A time during which a skill or ability must develop; if the ability does not developed during that time, it probably will never develop or at least will not develop as well
Collectivist culture
Needs of society are placed before needs of the individual