Development Flashcards
(169 cards)
1
Q
What is development?
A
The sequence of age related changes that occur as a person progresses from conception to death.
2
Q
What four broad categories is our lifespan divided into?
A
Prenatal, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
3
Q
Prenatal development is further broken up into phases, what are the phases and how long do they last?
A
Germinal (the first 2 weeks). Embryonic (from 2 weeks to 2 months). Fetal (2 months until birth).
4
Q
When does the germinal phase begin?
A
At fertilization, when the sperm and the egg make a zygote.
5
Q
How long does it take for cell division to begin?
A
36 hours.
6
Q
At what point does the mass of cells implant in the uterine wall?
A
Around the 7th day.
7
Q
What happens in the embryonic phase?
A
The vital organs and most bodily systems begin to form in what is now referred to as an embryo.
8
Q
When does the embryo begin to look human?
A
In the end of the embryonic stage, it has arms, hands, fingers, feet, toes, and eyes that are all discernible.
9
Q
When do most miscarriages and structural birth defects occur?
A
The embryonic stage.
10
Q
When does the fetus reach the age of viability?
A
Some time between 22 and 26 weeks.
11
Q
What are teratogens?
A
Any external agents that can harm an embryo or fetus.
12
Q
When is the most vulnerable stage for an embryo?
A
The three week mark.
13
Q
How do effects of substances such as tobacco, recreational, and prescription drugs reach the fetus?
A
Through the placenta.
14
Q
What are some examples of diseases that are particularly deadly to fetuses if the mother has it?
A
Genital herpes and AIDS.
15
Q
AIDS contraction between mother and fetus has gone down substantially over the past couple decades, what is this mostly attributed to?
A
Medical advances.
16
Q
What can prevent transmission of genital herpes to a baby during birth?
A
A C-section.
17
Q
What has recent research indicated about maternal emotions as they relate to prenatal development?
A
Research indicates that anxiety and depression in pregnant women are associated with an increased prevalence of various behavioural problems int heir offspring.
18
Q
What psychological disorder is indicated to be more prevalent as a result of prenatal malnutrition?
A
Schizophrenia.
19
Q
What prenatal deficiency has been linked with heart disease later in life?
A
Low birth weight.
20
Q
What does motor development refer to?
A
The progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities.
21
Q
What are the two trends in motor development?
A
The cephalocaudal trend and the proximodistal trend.
22
Q
What is the cephalocaudal trend?
A
The trend where motor development progresses from the head to the feet - in that order.
23
Q
What is the proximodistal trend?
A
The trend where children gain control of their torso before their extremities.
24
Q
What is progress in motor development in infants attributed to?
A
Their experimentation and memory of the consequences of their activities.
25
What are developmental norms?
Norms that indicate the median age at which individuals display various behaviours and abilities.
26
When should developmental norms become a cause of concern for parents?
When their children start to fall very far behind the norms (when they are in the lower 10%)
27
Does the amount of special practice/training in motor skills after birth speed up development of these skills?
Yes, but only to an extent.
E.g., the Kipsigis people train their babies hard, and they can only make their children develop a month before North American children.
28
Is it also possible to delay motor development?
Yes.
E.g., the Ache, nomadic people, don't let their children venture far from their mothers. This delays walking by about a year from North Americans.
29
What are the two types of studies involved in researching development?
Longitudinal and cross-sectional.
30
What are longitudinal studies?
In these, researchers observe a group of participants repeatedly over a period of time.
i.e., comparing the same people at different stages in life.
31
What are cross-sectional studies?
In these, researchers compare groups of participants of differing age at a single point in time.
e.g., comparing 50 six year olds, 50 eight year olds, etc.
32
Which are the advantages of cross-sectional studies?
Cheaper, faster to conduct.
33
What is the main disadvantage of cross-sectional studies?
Changes that appear to be relict are actually just the cohort effect.
34
What is the cohort effect?
When differences between age groups are due to the groups growing up in different time periods.
35
What is temperament?
Characteristic mood, activity level, and emotion reactivity.
36
What did Thomas and Chess (1977) observe in a major longitudinal study?
They found evidence suggesting that temperamental individuality is fixed by the time an infant is 2 or 3 months old.
37
What are Thomas and Chess' three types of temperament?
Easy children, slow-to-warm-up children, and difficult children.
38
Is it possible to change temperament?
It is not impossible, but it is very rare.
39
Which type of temperament tend to be the most well-rounded? Which have the highest rate of emotional problems?
Easy children are most well-rounded, difficult children have the highest rate of emotional problems.
40
What did Kagan et al. find about infants that displayed inhibited vs. uninhibited temperaments?
Around 15-20% of children were inhibited, and around 25-30% were uninhibited. Inhibited children were found to be more likely to develop anxiety disorders.
41
What is a major indicator of temperament?
Heredity and genes.
42
Are temperaments universally distributed?
No. The proportion of children with inhibited temperaments may be higher in some parts of the world than others.
E.g., Chinese babies are more inhibited than NA babies.
43
What is attachment?
Refers to close, emotional bonds of affection that develop between infants and their caregivers.
44
What is the first attachment that an infant makes?
Normally it is their mother.
45
How long does it take for infants to begin showing preferences for either parent?
About 6 - 8 weeks, and it is normally for the mother.
46
What is separation anxiety?
Emotional distress seen in many infants when they are separated from people with whom they have formed an attachment.
47
When does separation anxiety tend to emerge, peak, and decline?
Around 6 - 8 months of age, and it peaks around 14 - 18 months old. Then it declines.
48
What is the trend of separation anxiety across cultures?
It seems to be culturally universal.
49
What did behaviourists believe about attachment between mother and child?
Mothers were associated with the power positive reinforcement of being fed.
50
Harlow tested the behaviourist theory of attachment, what did his studies involve?
Giving a baby rhesus monkey a choice between a cold wireframe "mother" that provided food, and a soft cloth "mother" that provided no food.
51
What did Harlow find about rhesus monkey's preference for mother figure?
They much preferred the cloth mother that provided comfort than they preferred the food giving mother.
52
What is Bowlby's attachment theory?
His view is that infants are biologically programmed to emit behaviour that triggers an affectionate, protective response from adults - who are also programmed to be captivated by the behaviour.
E.g., cute factors such as smiling, cooing, clinging, etc.
53
What was Ainsworth's patterns of attachment theory?
That attachment emerges out of a complex interplay between infant and mother, and that attachment can be divided into four categories.
54
What are Ainsworth's four categories?
Secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, avoidant attachment, and disorganized-disoriented attachment.
55
What is secure attachment?
When children play and explore comfortably when the mother is present, and become visibly upset when she leaves.
56
What is anxious-ambivalent attachment?
When children appear constantly anxious, even when their mother is near. When the mother leaves, they protest excessively. They are not particularly comforted when she returns.
57
What is avoidant attachment?
When children seek little to no contact with their mother, and don't give a rat's ass when she leaves.
58
What is disorganized-disoriented attachment?
Children appear confused about whether they should approach or avoid their mother, and are especially insecure.
59
Who is responsible for the nature of the attachment between mother and infant?
Both the mother and the child play important roles.
60
What traits tend to express themselves in securely attached infants?
Resilience, competence as toddlers, and high self-esteem. Persistence, curiosity, self reliance, leadership in preschool. Positive moods, healthier coping, fewer hostility problems in mid-childhood.
61
Which trait is dominant throughout the world?
Secure attachment.
62
Who put forward the first psychological theory of personality?
Freud.
63
What was Freud's theory of personality?
That it was set in stone by age 5.
64
What was Erik Erikson's major change to Freud's theory of personality?
He agreed that childhood played a large role, but Erikson believed that personality was dynamic over time.
65
What is a stage theory?
A theory that assumes that individuals must progress through specified stages in a particular oder because each stage builds upon the previous stage.
66
What is Erikson's stage theory?
The theory that the lifespan is made up of 8 stages, each of which brings a psychosocial crisis that involves transitions in important social relationships.
67
How does Erikson's stage theory suppose people's personalities are formed.
How people resolve struggles between opposing tendencies determines their personality.
68
What are Erikson's first four stages?
1. Trust vs. Mistrust (1 year old)
2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (2 - 3)
3. Initiative vs. Guilt (4 - 6)
4. Industry vs. Inferiority (6 - puberty)
69
What are Erikson's last four stages?
5. Identity vs. Confusion (Adolescence)
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (Early adulthood)
7. Generatively vs. Self Absorption (Mid-adulthood)
8. Integrity vs. Despair (Late adulthood)
70
Where does feedback on activities come from in the autonomy vs. shame and doubt stage?
Feedback comes from parents, if the child is adequate, parents will approve and the child will develop autonomy. If the child is bad, parents' disapproval will lead to doubt and shame.
71
What is most characteristic of the initiative vs. guilt stage?
When children clash with their parents' values.
72
What is good about Erikson's stage theory?
- There has been a huge amount of research
| - It accounts for continuity and transition in personal development
73
What is continuity as it pertains to personality?
Drawing connections between early childhood experiences and adult personality.
74
What is transition as it pertains to personality?
Shows how new challenges in social relationships stimulate personality development.
75
What are the problems with Erikson's stage theory?
- It was developed based on case studies.
| - It only shows an idealized description of typical development patterns.
76
What is cognitive development?
Refers to transitions in youngster's patterns of thinking, including reasoning, remembering, and problem solving.
77
What are Piaget's stages?
1. Sensorimotor Period
2. Pre-operational Period
3. Concrete Operational Period
4. Formal Operational Period
78
Were Piaget's ages for his stages accurate?
No, they were regarded as norms.
79
What did Piaget assert about maturation and interaction with the environment?
Piaget believed that the environment gradually alters the way children think through two complementary and interactive processes.
80
What were Piaget's two processes of development?
Assimilation and accommodation.
81
What is assimilation?
Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing mental structures without changing them.
82
What is accommodation?
Changing existing mental structures to explain new experiences.
83
In what order do assimilation and accommodation normally occur?
People go through assimilation, then accommodation.
E.g., a boy knows what a puppy is, then he is introduced to a cat. Initially, he will call it a puppy (assimilation), then he will see the difference sand create a new mental category and call the cat a cat (accommodation).
84
What happens in Piaget's sensorimotor period?
Infants develop the ability to coordinate their sensory input with their motor actions.
85
What is a major development in the sensorimotor period?
The gradual appearance of symbolic thought. Behaviour begins as dominated by reflex, then at the end of sensorimotor, the child can use mental symbols to represent objects.
86
What is key to transition from the sensorimotor stage?
The concept of object permanence.
87
What happens in Piaget's pre-operational stage?
Children improve their use of mental images.
88
What are some problems that children have in the pre-operational stage?
Conservation, centration, irreversibility, and egocentrism.
89
What is the issue of conservation?
The awareness that physical quantities remain constant in spite of changes in their shape or appearance.
90
What is the issue of centration?
The tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem, neglecting other important aspects.
91
What is the issue of irreversibility?
The inability to envision reversing an action.
92
What is the issue of egocentrism?
Thinking is characterized by a limited ability to share another person's viewpoint.
93
What is a notable feature of the pre-operational period?
Animism, the belief that all things are living.
94
What happens in Piaget's concrete operational stage?
The development of mental operations, where children can perform operations on images of tangible objects and actual events.
95
What are some of the skills that children master in the concrete operational stage?
Reversibility, decentration, decline in egocentrism, and the gradual mastery of conservation.
96
What happens in Piaget's formal operations period?
Children begin to apply their operations to abstract concepts, their thinking becomes more systematic.
97
What distinguishes the formal operations model from the earlier stages?
In earlier stages, children usually attack problems quickly with trial and error. In the formal operations stage, children are more likely to think things through and use logic to reason out the consequences.
98
What did Piaget believe about development after the formal operations stage?
That changes continue, but only in degrees, not the total type of thinking.
99
What are two of the biggest criticisms of Piaget?
- He underestimated cognitive abilities.
| - His age predictions for the stages were inaccurate.
100
What is habituation?
A gradual reduction in the strength of a response when a stimulus is presented repeatedly.
101
What is dishabituation?
When a new stimulus elicits an increase in the strength of a habituated response.
102
What was discovered about children and their knowledge of basic properties?
At 3 to 4 months of age, infants can understand basic properties of objects, as well as some of the rules that govern them.
103
Where did the idea of critically sensitive periods in our development come from?
Animal imprinting.
104
What are critical periods?
A limited time span in the development of an organism where it is optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the organism is especially responsive to certain experiences.
105
Why are critical periods sometimes referred to as sensitive periods?
Because it is not always impossible to acquire an ability after the period has passed, it is only much more difficult.
106
What did the Kreppner et al. study involve?
Following a group of Romanian and British children. The Romanian children were brought up in harsh conditions, but British children had no such experience. The children were assessed between ages 6 and 11.
107
What did Kreppner et al. discover?
There was a 6 month threshold. If children were in the Romanian system for more than 6 months, there was a significant impact on their development.
108
What is morality?
The ability to discern right from wrong, and behave accordingly.
109
What does Kohlberg's stage theory focus on?
The development of moral reasoning, instead of overt behaviour.
110
What is the Heinz dilemma?
If a doctor was charging way too much money for a drug, and a man steals the drug because he doesn't have the money, then is that morally wrong if it's done to save his wife?
111
What are the main stages of Kohlberg's moral stage theory?
1. Pre-conventional level
2. Conventional level
3. Post-conventional level
112
What is the pre-conventional level?
Thinking in terms of external authority, things are only wrong because they are punished.
113
What is the conventional level?
Acceptance of social rules as their own; internalizing them to be virtuous, and to avoid punishment.
114
What is the post-conventional level?
Where one devises their own personal code of ethics, acceptance of the rules is less rigid, and moral thinking shows some flexibility.
115
What is the prevalence rate for autism?
If affects 7 in 800 children.
116
What links all the disorders on the autism spectrum?
Difficulties in social relationships.
117
When does autism generally develop?
Between the ages of 1 and 2.
118
What is the most telling diagnostic tool for detecting autism?
The lack of normal eye contact.
119
What is adolescence?
The transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.
120
What is adolescence a critical time for?
The development of physical and psychological attributes, as well as a sense of identity.
121
What is pubescence?
A term describing the two year spans preceding puberty, during which the changes leading to physical and sexual maturity take place.
122
What is puberty?
The stage where sexual functions reach maturity, marking the beginning of adolescence.
123
What is white matter?
Parts of the brain that facilitate communication through linkages between regions of the brain (myelination).
124
What is grey matter?
The "thinking" part of the brain; consists of neurons and dendrites.
125
What is general trend for white matter throughout a person's life?
Growth steadily increases from childhood to puberty, after which it slows. Reflective of increased myelination of neural connection.
126
What is the general trend for grey matter throughout a person's life?
It seems to decreases in volume as a person ages. Reflective of synaptic pruning.
127
Where is the largest increase/decrease of white/grey matter in the brain?
The pre-frontal cortex, which also appears to be the last part of the brain to fully mature.
128
What does research indicate about adolescence and personal turmoil?
Research indicates that adolescents are more prone to turbulent times, but it is not guaranteed. Teen suicide and depression rates support this.
129
According to Erikson, what is the trend for the development of identity?
The struggle for identity is lifelong, but it is most intense during adolescence, and occurs most around the 5th stage of Erikson's theory.
130
What are Marcia's four identity statuses?
Identity achievement, identity moratorium, identity foreclosure, and identity diffusion.
131
What is identity achievement?
Successful achievement of a sense of identity. Committed to personality and in a crisis.
132
What is identity moratorium?
Struggling for a sense of identity. Not committed to any personality and having a crisis.
133
What is identity foreclosure?
Unquestioning adoption of parental societal values. Committed to a personality, not in a crisis.
134
What is identity diffusion?
The absence of a struggle for identity; with no obvious concerns about it. No commitment to any identity, no crisis.
135
What is the idea of emerging adulthood?
A new stage due in part to the findings that the search for identity extends into adulthood in modern societies.
136
What are some potential reasons for emerging adulthood?
Delay of marriages and parenthood, lengthier participation in schools, and increased barriers to financial independence.
137
What is emerging adulthood characterized by?
Subjective feeling that one is between adolescence and adulthood, a period of great optimism about one's personal future, self focused time of life, still a period of identity formation.
138
What was Erikson's view of adulthood?
That is was split into three stages: Early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood.
139
What are the key components of Erikson's early adulthood stage?
There is a key concern as to whether one can develop the capacity to share intimacy with others. Getting out of this stage should result in empathy and openness.
140
What are the key components of Erikson's middle adulthood stage?
There is a key challenge that is acquiring a genuine concern for the welfare of future generations, which results in providing unselfish guidance to younger people and concern for one's legacy.
141
What are the key components of Erikson's late adulthood stage?
The challenge is to avoid the tendency to dwell on past mistakes and one's imminent death.
142
What is the family life cycle?
A sequence of stages that families tend to progress through.
143
Do those who cohabit before marriage show any increased rate of divorce?
No, data does not support this claim anymore.
144
What are three major stats on marital happiness and parenthood, as supplied by Statistics Canada?
1. Parents exhibit lower marital satisfaction than non-parents.
2. Mothers of infants report the steepest decline in marital satisfaction.
3. The more children there are, the lower the marital satisfaction tends to be.
145
What does recent research show in relation to marital satisfaction and the empty nest?
Research shows that marital satisfaction has actually been shown to increase after children leave the house.
146
What are boomerang children?
Children that leave the house, then move back.
147
In the sensory domain, what happens to people as they become elderly?
Farsightedness and difficulty seeing in low light becomes more common, as well, sensitivity to colour and contrast declining. Hearing also gradually declines in early adulthood, usually becoming noticeable after 50.
148
What is menopause?
The end of menstrual periods, accompanied by a loss of fertility, typically occurring around age 50.
149
What symptoms are experienced by women in menopause?
Hot flashes, headaches, night sweats, and mood changes.
150
What is mental disorder commonly accompanies menopause?
Depression.
151
What is andropause?
The idea of the male version of menopause, where symptoms mimic those of women in menopause.
152
What is dementia?
An abnormal condition marked by multiple cognitive deficits that include memory impairment.
153
What can cause dementia?
Other diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and AIDS.
154
What is senility (to be senile)?
A common word for dementia not recognized by health professionals.
155
What is the affect of Alzheimer's on the brain?
Patients exhibit profound and widespread loss of neurons and brain tissue. There is also an accumulation of neural abnormalities such as neurotic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.
156
What is the prevalence rate for Alzheimer's?
1% for ages 65-74.
8% for ages 80-85.
20% for those over age 90.
157
What is neurofibrillary tangling?
The twisting and breaking of the "railroad track" strips of proteins between neurons.
158
What are neural plaques?
When beta amaloids accumulate, clump, and attach to the outside of a neuron. The body will attempt to fight the plaque, but will end up killing the neuron.
159
What does research suggest about how to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's?
There is a hypothesis that lowering levels of beta amaloids in the blood may reduce the likelihood.
160
What characterizes the early stage of Alzheimer's?
Forming new memories becomes harder. Long term memories are still intact. Inhibition is also lowered.
161
What characterizes the middle stage of Alzheimer's?
Confusion, and forgetting how to do simple tasks.
162
What is the pattern of deterioration for areas of the brain with Alzheimer's?
The hippocampus first, then areas such as emotion and reasoning, finally the basic functions such as sight and hearing go.
163
How long does it take for Alzheimer's to fully progress?
Around 8 - 10 years, ending in death.
164
What are some preventative factors against Alzheimer's?
Regular exercise, lower cardiovascular risk factors, frequent participation in stimulative cognitive tasks, maintaining active social engagement.
165
What proportion of those over 80 show a decline in intelligence?
Only around 1/3.
166
What types of memory are most likely to decline with age?
Episodic and working memory. With less consistent losses observed in procedural and semantic memory.
167
What is the reasoning for a decline in speed of cognitive abilities as one ages?
Demyelination.
168
What is the "use it or lose it" idea?
That if you keep up a high level of mental activity in late adulthood, you can delay typical age-related declines.
169
What evidence is there to support the "use it or lose it idea"?
Bilingualism has been shown to provide a buffer, engaging in intellectually challenging tasks in late adulthood seems to provide a buffer, as well as those who work later into adulthood in a mentally demanding job.
