Developmental Psyc Flashcards
Define psychology.
“…the study of mind, behaviour, and the
relationship between them…”
4 key characteristics of psychology.
- Scientific study of behaviour
- Strong theoretical underpinnings
- Strong research basis
- Emphasis on empirical evidence
What are the 4 goals of psychology?
- Describe behaviour
- Explain behaviour
- Predict behaviour
- Change behaviour
What are the 3 interdependent domains of developmental psychology?
- Physical development (including neural dev)
- Cognitive dev (including intellectual dev)
- Social dev (including emotional dev)
What are the typical age range for sensorimotor stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
Birth to nearly 2 years
What are the typical age range for preoperational stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
About 2 to 6 years
What are the typical age range for concrete operational stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
About 7 to 11 years
What are the typical age range for formal operational stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
About 12 through adulthood
Describe the sensorimotor stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing).
Schemas: simple reflexes (sucking, grasping), interactions with people and objects
What is the developmental phenomena at the sensorimotor stage in Piaget’s theory?
- Object permanence
- Stranger anxiety
Describe the preoperational stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
Representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning.
Employ mental symbols (symbolic, fantasy play, deferred imitation, drawing)
What is the developmental phenomena at the preoperational stage in Piaget’s theory?
- Pretend play
- Egocentrism
- Language development
Describe the concrete operational stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations
What is the developmental phenomena at the concrete operational stage in Piaget’s theory?
- Conservation
- Mathematical transformations
Describe the formal operational stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
Abstract reasoning, deductive reasoning
What is the developmental phenomena at the formal operational stage in Piaget’s theory?
- abstract logic
- potential for moral reasoning
Examples of newborn primitive reflexes.
- Tonic neck reflex
- Grasp reflex
- Step reflex
- Crawl reflex
What does object permanence mean?
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
What does egocentrism mean in Piaget’s developmental psyc theory?
- The inability of the preoperational child to take another’s point of view
What does theory of mind mean in psychology? When does it normally develop in human-being?
Capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them.
Usually develops around 4-5 years.
Autism is a condition that is marked by impaired ______________ (an ability in thinking)
Theory of mind
What does conservation mean in Piaget’s developmental psyc theory?
Ability to recognise thata given quantity, weight or volume remains the same despite changes in shape, length, or position
What are the key criticisms of Piaget’s theory?
- Development thought to be more continuous than stage-like
- Abilities were underestimated
- Did not explain cultural differences in abilities
- Neglected the role of emotion
What is an “information processing approach” in dev psyc?
It assumes gradual changes in mental capacity rather than stages