Developmental Psychology 2017 Flashcards
(20 cards)
Define developmental psychology
A scientific approach which aims to explain how child and adults change over time.
List the different fields of developmental psychology
Cognitive development, physical development, social development, emotional development.
Define cognitive development
Refers to the development of perception, language, memory, problem solving, reasoning, learning, information processing, and other aspects of brain development compared to an adult’s capacities.
Define schemas
Cognitive frameworks or concepts that help people organise and interpret information.
Name Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development
Sensori-motor stage (0-2)
Pre-operational stage (2-6)
Concrete operational stage (7-11)
Formal operational stage (12-adulthood)
Explain the sensori-motor stage
An infant’s knowledge of the world is limited to their sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviours are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli.
Explain the pre-operational stage
A child learns to use language. During this stage, children do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information, and are unable to take the point of view of people.
Explain the concrete operational stage
Children gain a better understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.
Explain the formal operational stage
People develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning and systematic planning also emerge during this stage.
What is social development?
As children develop and think more about others, such as parents, friends and teachers, and try to interpret their behaviours, feelings and thoughts, and about how these influence their own behaviours, actions and thoughts, they inevitably make judgements about these people.
What does social interaction comprise of?
Assessing and evaluating others using the information available, such as the way people talk and use hand gestures.
What is physical development?
Physical development covers changes in size, proportion, appearance, motor skills and coordination.
What are some physical skills a child learns between 0-2 years of age?
Sitting, crawling, standing and walking.
What are some physical skills a child learns between 2-6 years of age?
Running, skipping, throwing, catching, hitting (tennis), swimming, balancing.
What are some physical skills a child learns between 7-10 years of age?
Combining movements and skills and higher level performance in ball games, dance, aerobics.
What are some physical skills a child learns between 11-12 years of age?
Development of specialised skills for particular sports, such as for gymnastics, athletics, football, netball.
What is emotional development?
Emotional development is a complex task that begins in infancy and continues into adulthood, as individuals learn to identify their own emotions, how they are caused and how to identify others’ emotions.
What are the first emotions that can be recognised in babies?
Joy, sadness, anger and fear. They are usually shown through facial expressions.
What complex emotions develop during childhood?
Shyness, surprise, elation, embarassment, shame, guilt, pride and empathy.
What are the four experiences of an emotion?
- physical responses (heart rate, breathing)
- feelings that children recognise and learn to name
- thoughts and judgements associated with feelings.
- action signals (a desire to approach, escape or flight)
