Day 1 - Intro + theories and causes Flashcards
John Locke
“Tabula Rasa” - “individuals are born without built-in mental content and that therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception”
Jean-Marc Itard
Victor the “wild boy of Aveyron”
IDEA
(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act):
- Free public education
- Children with special needs should be assessed and helped appropriately (e.g., through an IEP)
Competence
ability to adapt to one’s environment
Developmental pathways
sequences and timing of particular behaviors and possible relationships between behaviors over time
Adaptive behavior
engaging in behaviors that allow children to meet environmental demands
Equifinality
Multiple causes or risk factors may result in a single outcome
Multifinality
Single cause or risk factor may result in many outcomes
Risk factors
variable preceding a negative outcome of interest and increases the chances that outcome will occur
Protective Factors
factors that reduce the chances for a child to develop a disorder or that promote or maintain healthy development
> Mentors, Social Support, Prenatal Care, IQ, Responsive Caregiver, Social Competence
Resilience
the ability to develop competence despite being at risk for psychopathology
Sensitive Periods
periods of time during which environment influences on development are enhanced
Developmental cascades
process by which a child’s previous interactions and experiences may spread across other systems and alter his/her course of development
Gene
stretch of DNA that has code for a specific protein
Chromosome
composed of DNA and in nucleus of each cell
DNA
blueprint for protein assembly
Genome
complete DNA sequence for an organism
Passive
occur in biological families because parents provide both genes and environment for their children
> Most prominent during childhood
Evocative
occur when a person’s inherited tendencies evoke responses from others in their environment
> Stable throughout life span
Active
occur when a child seeks out environments that correspond to their inherited abilities
-Increases in prominence during adolescence
Neurotransmitters
Chemicals released by neurons to communicate with other neurons
> Neurons sensitive to a particular neurotransmitter tend to cluster together and form brain circuits
Emotion reactivity
individual differences in threshold and intensity of emotional experience
Frontal lobes
self-control, judgement, emotional regulation; restructured in teen years
Macrosystem
Cultural or subcultural contexts in which others are nested (e.g., social policies, societal values, historical changes)