unit 6 Flashcards
what is the course of prenatal development and how do teratogens affect that development?
the life cycle begins at conception, when one sperm cell unites with an egg to form a zygote. the zygote’s inner cells become the embryo, and in the next 6 weeks, body organs organs begin to form and function. by 9 weeks, the fetus is recognizably human. teratogens are potentially harmful agents that can pass through the placental screen and harm the developing embryo or fetus, as happens with fetal alcohol syndrome.
from the perspectives of piaget, vygotsky, and today’s researchers, how does a child’s mind develop?
in his theory of cognitive development, jean piaget proposed that children actively contrsuct and modify their understanding of the world through the processees of assimilation and accomodation. they form schemas thsat help them organize their experiences. progressing from the simplicity of the sensorimotor stage of the first two years, in which they develop object permanence, children move to more complex ways of thinking. in the preoperational stage (about 2 years to 6/7 years), they develop theory of mind, but they are egocentric and unable to perform simple logical operations. at age 6/7, they enter the concrete operational stage and are able to comprehend principles of conservation. by about age 12, children enter the formal operational stage and can reason systematically. research supports the sequence that piaget proposed, but it also shows that young children are more capable and their development is more continuous than he believed. lev vygotsky’s swtudies of child development focused on the ways a child’s mind grows by interacting with the social environment. in his view, parents and caretakers provide temporary scaffolds enabling children to step to higher levels of learning.
how have psychologists studied attachment differences and what have they learned about the effects of temperament and parenting?
attachment has been studied in strang situation experiments , which show that some children are securely attached and others are insecurely attached. sensitive, responsive parents tend to have securely attached children. adult relationships seem to reflect the attachment styles of early childhood, lending support to erik erikson’s idea that basic trust is formed during infancy by our experiences with responsive caregivers. it’s becoming clear that temperament - our characterstic emotion relativity and intensity - also plays a huge role in how our attachment patterns form.
erikson’s social development
1st year: trust vs mistrust 2nd year: autonomy vs shame/doubt 3-5: initiative vs guilt 6-puberty: competency vs inferiority teens: identity vs role confusion 20-40: intimacy vs isolation 40-60: generativity vs stagnation 65+: integrity vs despair
kohlberg’s moral development
preconventional: right/wrong determined by rewards and punishments
conventional: avoiding blame and seeking approval
postconventional: rights of others > law
* only applies to men because women are more focused on interpersonal relationships than logic
james marcia - four stages to finding your identity
foreclosure: low exploration, high commitment
achievement: high exploration, high commitment
moratorium: high exploration, low commitment
diffusion: low exploration, low commitment
imaginary audience
the belief that others are watching/judging you
personal fable
belief that you are special and none of life’s problems will affect you, regardless of your behavior
gender schema theory
children form mental categories for men and women, recognize their own gender role, and then pick activities that match that role
