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Flashcards in Introduction to psychological development Deck (20)
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1
Q

What is development?

What does it encompass?

A

The processes that drive the origins and course of individual behaviour and adaptation throughout the life course

Encompasses:

change at cellular and neurobiological level

physical skills

cognitive and language functions

social and emotional processes

personality and attitudes

behavioural repetoire

2
Q

Why is understanding development important in practicing medicine?

A

Provides a context for understanding patients

Need to understand normal in order to understand abnormal

3
Q

Describe how development has altered in an historical context?

A

Views about what is appropriate/normative have changed

4
Q

Describe how culture influences development?

A

All development takes place in a cultural context

What is normative for one culture may be different for another

Culture influences strucutures that socialise (eg. family, school, religious groups)

5
Q

Describe general idea behind the stages theory of development?

A

Life composed of stages that we progress through

Old age is time of decline

6
Q

Describe Erikson’s theory?

A

Stages of development that we prgress through

Critical time periods

Psychosocial crises are driving forces

7
Q

Describe the strengths of Erikson’s theory?

A

STRENGTHS:

Groundbreaking and creative

Makes intuitive sense

High level of abstraction > broad ways for further stud and application

WEAKNESSES:

Hard to test empirically

Abstract, broad terms

Refects 1950s norms

lack of clarity regarding time limits for stages

Insufficient attention to maladaptive development

Implied linear progression through stages

8
Q

Describe the idea of tasks and development?

A

Humans move through stages, and each stage is associated with tasks

Developmental task: one which arises at or about a certain period in life, successful achievement of which leads to happiness and to success with later tasks, while failure leads to unhappiness and difficulty with later tasks

9
Q

Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the tasks approach to development?

A

STRENGTHS:

Integrates challenges from different domains

Stresses the individual’s active role in negotiating tasks

WEAKNESSES:

Timeframes no longer appropriate

Sociocultursl changes have transformed expectations of what is normative

Recent research stresses importance of other constructs, such as self-esteem, in future happiness

10
Q

What are trajectories and turning points?

A

Trajectory: continuation of a direction that propels us towards a destination

Turning point: disruption to a trajectory that has the long-term impact of altering the probability of life destinations

11
Q

Describe the influences on life trajectories?

A

Importance of early experience

12
Q

Give an example of how a turning point may alter a trajectory?

A
13
Q

Describe the transcational model?

A

Development takes place through transacting factors that operate together dynamically and bi-directionally:

Genetic

Constitutional

Biological/biochemical

Psychological

Environmental

14
Q

What are risk factors?

A

Those factors that may contribute to development in an adverse way

15
Q

Describe multifinality and equifinality?

A

Multifinality: one risk factor can be associated with a number of different outcomes

Equifinality: multiple possible pathways to the same outcome

16
Q

What are protective factors?

A

Factors that protect and individual from adverse outcomes

‘Moderators’ of trajectories

17
Q

What are the four dimensions of temperament?

A

Harm avoidance

Reward dependance

Novelty seeking

Persistence

18
Q

What is resilience?

A

Dynamic process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity

Not evasion of risk, but successful engagement with it

19
Q

How does resilience occur in later life?

A

Through processes of assimilation (adjusting the environment to fit with changes) and accommodation (adjusting self and attitudes)

20
Q
A