Unit 6: Developmental Psychology

Question 1

Developmental psychology

Answer 1

a branch of psychology that studied physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Question 2

How do women and men differ concerning egg/sperm production?

Answer 2

Women are born with all the immature eggs they will ever have, whereas men produce sperm cells nonstop from puberty

Question 3

Zygote

Answer 3

a fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

Question 4

Embryo

Answer 4

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

Question 5

Fetus

Answer 5

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Question 6

Teratogens

Answer 6

• “monster makers”

agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm (why women are asked to avoid smoking/alcohol when pregnant)

Question 7

FAS

Answer 7

• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. in severe causes, it can produce small/disproportionate head and abnormal facial features

Question 8

Habituation

Answer 8

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

** children lose interest in repeated exposure to the same toys/actions/sounds

Question 9

Maturation

Answer 9

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Question 10

Infant brain development/memory

Answer 10

• we consciously recall little from before the age of four; despite this, our brain was still processing and storing information
• the brain areas underlying memory (hippocampus, frontal lobes) continue to mature through/during adolescence, and we lose the infantile amnesia that comes with being young

Question 11

Schema

Answer 11

• a concept or framework that organizes/interprets information
• maturing builds schemas which we use in later experiences

Question 12

Assimilation

Answer 12

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Question 13

Accommodation

Answer 13

adapting our current understanding/schemas to incorporate new information

Question 14

Lev Vygotsky

Answer 14

• child development researcher
• emphasized how the child’s mind grows through interaction with the social environment
• focused on scaffolding and zone of proximal development

Question 15

Scaffolding

Answer 15

a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking

Question 16

Zone of proximal development

Answer 16

the zone between what a child can and cannot do (what they can do with help)

Question 17

Autism spectrum disorder

Answer 17

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors

Question 18

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Answer 18

SENSORIMOTOR
- birth to nearly 2 years old
- experiencing the world through senses and actions
** object permanence, stranger anxiety

PREOPERATIONAL
- 2 to about 6-7 years old
- representing things with words and images: using intuitive reasoning rather than logical
** pretend play, egocentricism

CONCRETE OPERATIONAL
- around 7-11 years old
- thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies, and performing arithmetical operations
** conservation, mathematical transformations

FORMAL OPERATIONAL
- around 12 through adulthood
- abstract reasoning
** abstract logic, potential for mature moral reasoning

Question 19

Stranger anxiety

Answer 19

a fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

Question 20

Attachment

Answer 20

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to their caregiver and showing distress upon separation

Question 21

Harry Harlow’s attachment study

Answer 21

separating a monkey from it’s mother at birth and observing it’s attachment to a cloth shaped like a mother

• study recognized that intense attachment is not always associated with nourishment
• human attachment is similar; consists of one person providing a secure base from which to explore and a safe haven when stressed that changes with age/development

Question 22

Critical period

Answer 22

the optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli/experiences produces normal development

Question 23

Imprinting

Answer 23

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life

Question 24

Secure attachment

Answer 24

demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves, and find comfort in their return

Question 25

Anxious attachment

Answer 25

demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness

Question 26

Mary Ainsworth’s attachment study

Answer 26

“strange situation” study: studying child-caregiver attachment. A child is places in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and then returns, and the child’s reactions are observed

Question 27

Erikson’s idea of basic trust

Answer 27

A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy

• formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers; mistrust is formed when this is lacking

Question 28

Self-concept

Answer 28

our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, “who am I?”

Question 29

Four main parenting styles

Answer 29

Authoritarian: parents are coercive, imposing rules and expecting obedience

Permissive: parents are unrestraining. they are not heavily responsive, set few limits/punishments, and lack demands

Authoritative: (recognized as the most effective parenting style) parents are confrontive, both demanding and responsive

Negligent: parents are uninvolved, entirely disconnected unresponsive and undemanding

Question 30

Gender vs. sex

Answer 30

gender is the socially influences characteristics by which people identify a man, woman, or something else, and sex is the biologically influenced characteristics by which people are defined as male or female

Question 31

Aggression vs. relational aggression

Answer 31

Aggression is any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally, and relational aggression is aggression used to intentionally harm someone’s relationship or social standing

Question 32

Roles/gender roles

Answer 32

a role is a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

gender roles are a set of expected behaviors, attitudes and traits for males or females

Question 33

Gender-typing

Answer 33

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Question 34

Social learning theory on gender-linked behavior

Answer 34

suggests that we learn by observing/imitating other’s gender-based behaviors and link the rewards/punishments that come from that

Question 35

Gender schema theory on gender-linked behavior

Answer 35

we organize information early in childhood into gender-schemas that influence how we gender-type ourself and grasp/confuse our gender identities

Question 36

Adolescence

Answer 36

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

Question 37

Moral reasoning

Answer 37

the thinking that occurs as we consider right and wrong

Question 38

Kholbergs moral development

Answer 38

preconventional level (before age 9): self interest - obey rules to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards

conventional level (early adolescence): uphold laws and rules to gain social approval or maintain social order

postconventional level (adolescence and beyond): actions reflect belief in basic rights and self-defined ethical principles

Question 39

Criticisms of Kholbergs moral development

Answer 39

his post-conventional stage is culturally limited, appearing mostly among people from large societies that prize individualism

Question 40

Intimacy

Answer 40

the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood

Question 41

How do peers influence one’s personality?

Answer 41

taste and style, accents and slang, and substance use

Question 42

How do parents influence one’s personality

Answer 42

quality of life, achievements, and exposure to peer culture

Question 43

Emerging adulthood

Answer 43

a period from about the age of 18-mid twenties when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults

Question 44

Erikson’s stages of Psychosocial development

Answer 44

INFANCY (>1)
- trust vs. mistrust; if needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust

TODDLERHOOD (1-3 years)
- autonomy vs. shame and doubt; toddlers learn to exercise their will and do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities

PRESCHOOL (3-6)
- initiative vs. guilt; preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about their efforts to be independent

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (6-puberty)
- competence vs. inferiority; children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inferior

ADOLESCENCE (teen-20s)
- identity vs. role confusion; teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are

YOUNG ADULTHOOD (20s to early 40s)
- intimacy vs. isolation; young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate love, or they feel socially isolated

MIDDLE ADULTHOOD (40s to 60s)
- generativity vs. stagnation; in middle age, people discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose

LATE ADULTHOOD (late 60s and up)
- integrity vs. dispair; reflecting on his or her life, an older adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure

Question 45

Two ways biology influences our gender psychology

Answer 45

• genetically (males and females have differing sex chromosomes)
• physiologically (males and females have differing concentrations of sex hormones, triggering other anatomical differences)

Question 46

Primary sex characteristics

Answer 46

body structures that make sexual reproduction possible

Question 47

Secondary sex characteristics

Answer 47

nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair

Question 48

X and Y chromosomes in prenatal sexual development

Answer 48

• X X = female
• XY = male

Question 49

How do our health, neural processing, and memory change as we age?

Answer 49

Health: immune system weakens, accumulation of antibodies throughout lifetime = less short term ailments

Neural processing: our processing speed/reaction time decreases

Memory: brain regions important to memory begin to atrophy, and the blood-brain barrier in the hippocampus breaks down

Question 50

Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs)

Answer 50

Acquired disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse.

• once known as dementia in older adults

Question 51

Cross-sectional study

Answer 51

research that compares people from different ages at the same point in time

Question 52

Longitudinal study

Answer 52

research that follows and retests the same people over time

Question 53

“Social clock”

Answer 53

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement