psych 4 - developmental psychology

Question 1

what are some of the things children need to learn?

Answer 1

children need to learn to

walk, talk, engage in higher reasoning, empathy, develop peer relationships, prosocial behaviour, how to behave in a variety of different contexts.

Question 2

what makes developmental psychologists so interested in childhood?

Answer 2

childhood is a period of rapid development

what happens in childhood affects adult life - ability to design and provide interventions where necessary

insight into complex adult behaviours

this focus is now extended to a life span development approach - consistency and change, gains and losses.

Question 3

what makes developmental psychologists so interested in childhood?

Answer 3

childhood is a period of rapid development

what happens in childhood affects adult life - ability to design and provide interventions where necessary

insight into complex adult behaviours

this focus is now extended to a life span development approach - consistency and change, gains and losses.

Question 4

what is developmental psychology and what do developmental psychologist study.

Answer 4

developmental psychology studies the way in whcih humans develop and change over time.

Question 5

explain what is meant by nature vs nurture

Answer 5

nature are things that are genetically programmed maturation hence the term nature

nurture are learning and experiences from the environment and other influences like pre school for example (nurture)

most psychologists believe that development reflects on an interaction of both environment and genes

so we question how these interact with each other over which is more important

Question 6

describe the difference between critical and sensitive periods

Answer 6

critical periods are periods of sensitivity in to specific types of learning, language especially sensitive to timing and quality of early experiences

this leads to the concept of sensitive periods which are times that are more important to subsequent development than others.

Question 7

explain what is meant by continuous versus stage development

Answer 7

continuous change - change occurs gradually and steadily, what may look like a sudden change has actually been slowly developing over time

stage development - discrete steps through which everyone progresses in the same order, steps differ from each other.

Question 8

describe the difference between cross sectional, longitudinal and cross sequential studies

Answer 8

cross sectional - compare groups of participants at different ages at a single time. (+provides snapshot of people at diff ages) (-vulnerable to cohort effects)

longitudinal studies - assess the same individuals over time (+able to assess age related changes) (- also vulnerable to cohort effects, cos only one cohort)

cross sequential studies - study multiple cohorts longitudinally

Question 9

Which senses are well-developed in babies? Give at least 2 examples.

Answer 9

hearing

touch

smell

taste

and body position (being moved)

Question 10

Which sense is not well developed? How fast does it develop and when does it reach the level of an adult?

Answer 10

Vision is not well developed

develops to an adults stage at about 8 months old

Question 11

Describe the visual cliff and why it is used in developmental psychology research. What has it taught us?

Answer 11

the visual cliff is a false “cliff” in which babies crawl over or not. It is important because babies from about 6 months old can perceive depth. Also the development of fear of heights.

Question 12

What are schemas?

Answer 12

schemas are an organised, repeatedly existing pattern of thought or behaviour (eg schema for a chair or doctor)

short cuts on what to expect

Question 13

Define assimilation and accommodation.

Answer 13

assimilation - interpreting actions or events in terms of ones present schemes. That is assimilating information into existing knowledge - child calls the cat a dog (4 legs and fur)

Accommodation - modifying schemas to fit reality - actually a cat and learns its a cat

Question 14

Name each of Piaget’s stages of development, the ages at which they occur, and the defining features of each stage.

Answer 14

1st: sensorimotor 0-2 years, experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking touching mouthing grasping)

2nd: pre-operational 2-6 years
concept of mental representation
language representing an object with a symbol
lessens the need to explore the world with hands and senses
development of make believe play.
inability to take another persons perspective
belief that inanimate objects have life like qualities (animism)
centration - focusing on one aspect of a situation and neglecting the other

3rd: concrete operational 7-11 years
children are capable of some abstract thought and of performing “operations”

4th: formal operational from about 12 years
hypothetic deductive reasoning
systematic problem solving
propositional thought
abstract reasoning
eg which form of government is best as well as more concrete events

Question 15

Explain some of the critiques of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

Answer 15

• children can develop more quickly
• heavy focus on the development of rational thought
• inflexible - child at one stage or another
• children may implicitly know information (as expressed in their behaviour) but may not be able to explicitly state their knowledge

Question 16

What is Vgotsky’s zone of proximal development and how does if differ from Piaget’s theory?

Answer 16

a continuum ranging from a childs individual capactiy to problem solve through to a more advanced level of collaborative learning

Piaget believed learning follows development
vgotsky believed learning precedes development

Question 17

describe the information processing approach

Answer 17

focuses on continuous development rather than staged development such as that proposed by piaget

specific processes that account for or underpin cognitive development

• processing speed
• information search strategies
• working memory and long term memory

Question 18

what is theory of mind and why is it important

Answer 18

a persons belief about the mind and the ability to understand other peoples mental states

provides more support that children may develop faster than piaget suggested

Question 19

Give an example of how infant perception is used to form relationships with primary caregivers.

Answer 19

we are born preffering sights and sounds that facilitiate social responsiveness, infants visually track faces over blank or scrambled faces.

infants can discriminate the smell of their own mothers breast milk from age of 1 week

look toward location of humans voices

Question 20

Describe mutual regulation in relation to parent-infant communication.

Answer 20

mutual regulation- from birth parents and newborns interact in ways that will draw them into a close emotional relationship
-infants who cant do this may be at a disadvantage

to develop a relationship there must be effective communication

• babies must be able to communicate needs
• parents must be responsive to abbies efforts to communicate and able to meet their babies needs.

Question 21

Define temperament and explain the concept of inhibition and its importance.

Answer 21

an individuals behavioural style and characteristic way of responding

• inhibition - shyness, timidity, fearfulness, especially in new situations
• may predispose people to anxiety and other mental problems later in life.

Question 22

Name and describe the 4 key stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development relevant to first year psychology.

Answer 22

trust vs mistrust - depending on how well their needs are met and how much love they recieve during the first year of life - children develop a basic trust or mistrust of the world

autonomy vs shame and doubt - during the next 2 years kids begin to exercise there individuality, if they are restricted they may doubt there own abilities

initiative vs guilt -from age 3 to 5 children display great curiosity about the world, if they are allowed to explore, they develop a sense of initiative if they are held back hey may develop guilt about their desires

industry vs inferiority - from age 6 to puberty children lives expand to include school and peer activities. their efforts to master new skills are encouraged and praised, they develop industry (a striving to achieve) repeated failure or lack of praise may lead to sense of inferiority

Question 23

what is attachment?

Answer 23

deined as a close emotional bond between the infant and caregiver

Question 24

what are bowlblys stages of early attachment development and when do they occur?

Answer 24

indiscriminate attachment (newborns) in response ot people who respond to an infants needs

Discriminate attachment (around 3 months)direct attachment towards familiar caregivers

specific attachment (around 7 months) meaningful attachment with specific caregivers.

Question 25

describe different patterns of attachment - secure, avoidant, ambivalent, disorganised. What are they and how do children behave towards their primary caregiver for each style?

Answer 25

secure attachment - infants are relaxed with their primary caregiver, and use them as a “safe base” for exploring the world

avoidant - infants are usually not distressed by parental separation and tend to avoid the parent when she/he returns

ambivalent (sometimes called resistant) infants tend to be clingy with parents before they leave and show angry resistant behaviour when they return

Question 26

describe two determinants that impact the ability to develop secure attachment

Answer 26

temperament - negative affect and infants with more inhibited or difficult temperaments are less likely to secure attachment relationships with there caregivers

maternal primary carer responsiveness - infants with primary caregivers who are more tuned in to their baby’s needs tend to develop more secure attachment

Question 27

why is attachment important?

Answer 27

securely attached infants generally display more

-cognitive competence: they are better problem solvers

social competence: from stringer and better peer relationships

report more satisfying relationships and interaction

attachment in childhood remains influential throughout adulthood

Question 28

Describe Kohlberg’s 3 stages of moral development including the sub-stages at each level and the ages at which they occur.

Answer 28

preconventional morality - before age 9

stage 1 punishment and obedience

stage 2 self interest reward

convential morality - after age 9

stage 3 - good boy good girl interpersonal cooperation (conformity)

stage 4 - social order maintaining orientation (law and order)

preconventional morality - some of us

stage 5 - rules are social construct, individual rights

stage - universal ethical principle

Question 29

What have been some of the criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

Answer 29

ages and stages

does moral thought correspond with moral actions?

does the model adequately reflect issues of culture and gender?

Question 30

describe the stages of Kohlbergs theory of gender role development

Answer 30

Self identity - children need to be able tor ecognise themselves as unique individuals before they begin to develop ideas about their gender (18 months)

• gender identity - by around 30 months children learn that they belong to a gender category and label themselves as a boy or girl
• gender stability - at about 3 or 4 years of age children start to realize that their gender is something that will remain the same, but still believe gender is associated with superficial appearance

Question 31

describe gender schema theory

Answer 31

proposes that childrens intrinsic motivation to acquire gender consistent interests values and behaviour emerges as soon as children can identify there own gender (around 3 years)

children construct gender schemas - mental representations of ecerything they know about gender

Question 32

describe gender schema theory

Answer 32

proposes that childrens intrinsic motivation to acquire gender consistent interests values and behaviour emerges as soon as children can identify there own gender (around 3 years)

children construct gender schemas - mental representations of everything they know about gender

motivation for cognitive consistency leads children to prefer and remember more about others of their own sex