Psychology Chapter 4 Study Guide

Psychology Chapter 4 Study Guide

Developmental Psychologists – a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

We continue to develop, from infancy to old age

Prenatal Development and the NewbornStages

1. Zygote – the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

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

3. Fetus – the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

At each prenatal stage, genetic and environmental factors affect our development

Teratogens – agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during the prenatal development and cause harm.Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) – physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial disproportions.

Rooting Reflex – a baby’s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to open the mouth and search for a nipple.Habituation – decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

We are born preferring sights and sounds that facilitate social responsiveness.

Newborns use sensory ability to learn sights, smells and sounds. Maturation – biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Schema – a concept of framework that organizes and interprets information.Assimilation – interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas. Accommodation – adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information new information.

© Cameron Phillips 2012

Cameron PhillipsPeriod 3AP Psych, February 2012

Jean Piaget – decided that children had different minds than adults, instead of small models of the adult brain.

Described cognition development in 4 stages

Cognition – all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Object Permanence – the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. Jean Piaget:

Studied cognitive development in 4 stages Spurts of change followed by stability as they move from plateau to

plateau Later proved to be more fluid

Piaget’s Stages – now proven false, or inaccurate

Criticisms of Piaget Not all people reach formal operational In favor of western culture No theory of what happens in adolescence


Typical Age Range Description of Stage PhenomenaBirth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor

Experience the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing, and grasping)

Object permanence

Stranger anxiety

About 2 to 6 years PreoperationalRepresenting things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning

Pretend play Egocentrism Language

developmentAbout 7 to 11 years Concrete Operational

Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations.

Conservation Mathematical

transformation

About 12 through adulthood

Formal OperationalAbstract reasoning

Abstract logic Potential for

mature moral reasoning

Social and cognitive development takes place within social context [Lev Vygotsky]

Conservation – the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Egocentrism – in Piaget’s theory, the inability of the preoperational child to take another’s point of view.Theory of Mind – people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states – about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict. Autism – a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind.Stranger Anxiety – the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.Attachment – an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.Critical Period – an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.Imprinting – the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.Basic Trust – according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Number one achievement of infancy is attachment Childhood achievement is a sense of self

o Positive sense of self leads to being more confident, independent, optimistic, assertive, and sociable.

Self-Concept – a sense of one’s identity and personal worth

Authoritarian – impose rules and expect obedience Children = moody, aggressive, lack good communication

Permissive – submit to children’s wishes, few rules or punishment Children = impulsive, immature, fail to respect other

Authoritative – Demanding and responsive, leaving an open table for discussion about why

Children = that are more motivated and self confident, well adjusted


Adolescence


Identity Stage (approximate age)

Issues Description of Task

Infancy (to 1 year) Trust vs. Mistrust If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust.

Toddlerhood (1 to 2 years)

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Toddlers learn to exercise will and do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilitiesWord = NO!

Preschooler (3 to 5 years)

Initiative vs. Guilt Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about efforts to be independent. <- Because their questions were responded to by being scolded.Word = Why?

Elementary School (6 years)

Competence vs. Confusion(Industry vs. Inferiority)

Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks(If they are good or average at tasks), or they feel inferior(if they are not good).

Adolescence (teen years into 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)

Generality vs. Stagnation

The middle-aged discover a sense of contribution to the world, usually through family and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose

Late adulthood (late 60s and up)

Integrity vs. Despair When reflecting on his or her life, the older adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure.

Adolescence – the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Once a brief period, now widened by earlier puberty and later independence.

Puberty – the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducingPrimary Sex Characteristics – the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.Secondary Sex Characteristics – nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.Menarche – the first menstrual periodErikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial DevelopmentLawrence Kohlberg – sought to describe the development of moral reasoning (right vs. wrong).Erik Erikson – each stage of life had its own “psychological” task, a crisis that needed a resolution

Identity – one’s sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

When people try to have different identities in different situations, when situations overlap, discomfort can be considerable

Question of ‘Who am I’ doesn’t get answered in adolescence and continues through turning points in adult life

During early-mid teens, self esteem falls; rebounds in late teen early 20sIntimacy - in Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Ready after you have a clear and comfortable sense of who you are

Menopause – the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Alzheimer’s Disease: - a progressive and irreversible disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and finally, physical functioning.

Cross-Sectional Study – a study in which people of different ages are compared with one anotherLongitudinal Study – research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period of time.Crystallized Intelligence – one’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with ageFluid Intelligence – one’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.


Social Clock: the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Albert Bandura: Developed reciprocal determinism (interaction between personality and

environmental factors) Social cognitive perspective

Erik Erikson: Developed 8 stages Every stage of life had its own psychological task, a conflict that needed

resolution The search for identity

Harry Harlow: Studied motherly love and attachment with baby monkeys. Discovered that love attachment doesn’t stem only from satisfying a need

(hunger and nourishment) Comfort. Wire monkey

Lawrence Kohlberg: Described the development of moral reasoning (right vs. wrong) Stages

Preconvention Morality: Morality or self interest To avoid punishment and gain rewards

Conventional Morality Obeying laws to maintain social order Gain social approval

Post-Conventional Morality Based on universal ethical principals Hippies.

Lev Vygotsky Discussed children thinking in words and using that to solve problems They think to themselves, internalizing their cultures language, relying on

inner speech

Mary Ainsworth Studied attachment differences by studying mother- infant pairs in different

situations Studied how different actions from mothers evoke different attachment

reactions from babies.


Secure: Well adjusted, social relationship success Insecure: insatiable need for affection, shallow relationship, appear

withdrawn.The Study

Assess attachment style Parent + infant alone Stranger enter, talks to parent, mother leaves discreetly Baby react, stranger tries to comfort Parent greets and comforts infant Both leave, infant is alone.

Styles of Attachment Secure Attachment

o Baby upset when mom leaveso Happy when she returnso MOST COMMON

Insecure Avoidant o Not distressed when mother leaveso Cool response when mother returns

Insecure Resistant o Clingy to mother, traumatized by every stage,o Distrustful of mothero Caused by overbearing, controlling mother.

Temperament: characteristic of personality, individual’s manner of behavior.


Piaget StagesStupid Piaget Creates FussSensorim

Preopera

Concrete

Formal

Erikson’s Stages

MSG IRI

[Negative Components]

Documents

Psychology Chapter 4 Study Guide