Development Psychology

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development psychology

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

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continuity vs. stages

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development is a gradual, continuous process vs. a sequence of separate stages

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stability vs. change

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our early personality traits persist through life vs. becoming different persons as we age

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zygote

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

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embryo

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

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fetus

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developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

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teratogens

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agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

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fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

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physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions

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habituation

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decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner

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novelty-preference procedure

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the researchers put pictures of cats and dogs in front of infants and the one that they were exposed to the longest, they got bored with the easiest

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pruning process

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stage where brain shuts down neural pathways and strengthens others, extends into puberty

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maturation

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

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back-to-sleep position

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putting babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of a smothering crib death, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

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assimilation

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interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas

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accomodation

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adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

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sensorimotor stage

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in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

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object permanence

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the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

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preoperational stage

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in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

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conservation

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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

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egocentrism

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in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view

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curse of knowledge

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think that other's will see things from your point of view

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autism

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a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind

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concrete operational stage

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in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

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formal operational stage

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in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

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scaffold

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assistance for children to step to higher levels of thinking, ex. new words

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stranger anxiety

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

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attachment

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

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critical period

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an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

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imprinting

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the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

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secure attachment

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when an infant is in the presence of his mother, he's secure in a strange situation, explores it, when she leaves they are distressed and when she returns they seek contact, correlated with sensitive mothers

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insecure attachment

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an infant is attached to mother, but once they leave them and return, they no longer express the same attachment, indifferent, correlated with insensitive mothers

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basic trust

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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

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resilient

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are not influenced by their childhoods

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self-concept

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our understanding and evaluation of who we are

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authoritarian parenting style

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impose rules and expect obedience

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permissive parenting style

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submit to their children's desires. They make few demands and use little punishment

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authoritative parenting styles

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both demanding and responsive. They exert control by setting rules and enforcing them, but they also explain the reasons for rules. And especially with older children, they encourage open discussion when making the rules and allow exceptions

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adolescence

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

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puberty

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the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

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primary sex characteristics

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the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible

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secondary sex characteristics

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non-reproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair

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menarche

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the first menstrual period

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spermarche

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the first ejaculation for men

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pruning

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period during adolescence when neurons and connections that we do not use are lost

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myelin

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fatty tissue that forms around axons and speeds neurotransmission and enables better communication with other brain regions

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formal operations

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ability for abstract thinking

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moral reasoning

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the thinking that occurs when we consider right and wrong

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preconventional morality

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self-interest

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conventional morality

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caring for others and upholding laws and social rules, for rules sake

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postconventional morality

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actions are right because they flow from people's rights or from self-defined, basic ethical principles

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individualism

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giving priority to one's own goals rather than to group goals

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social intuitionist

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believes in gut-feelings decide morals

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psychosocial task

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a crisis that needs resolution

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identity

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our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

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social identity

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the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to the "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships

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intimacy

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in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood

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emerging adulthood

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for some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to early twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood

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free association

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in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

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psychoanalysis

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Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

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unconscious

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according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

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preconscious

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unconscious thoughts are temporarily stored here to be retrieved by the conscious

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manifest content

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remembered content of dreams believed to be censored expression of the dreamer's unconscious wishes

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latent content

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the dreamer's unconscious wishes

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id

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contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate satisfaction

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ego

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the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

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superego

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the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

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psychosexual stages

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the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

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erogenous zones

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distinct pleasure-sensitive areas of the body

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phallic stage

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stage of life when boys seek genital stimulation and develop an Oedipus complex

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Oedipus complex

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according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

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Electra complex

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Oedipus complex for girls

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identification

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the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parent's values into their developing superegos

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gender identity

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sense of being either male or female

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fixation

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according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

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menopause

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

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telomeres

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chromosome tips, when wear down, aging cells may die without being replaced

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death-deferral

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people have the will to live past a certain point and defer it until then

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dementia

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mental erosion

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Alzheimer's disease

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memory and reasoning deterioration

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cross-sectional study

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a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

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longitudinal study

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research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

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crystallized intelligence

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our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

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fluid intelligence

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our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

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terminal decline

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near-death drop in cognitive abilities

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midlife transition

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crisis, a time of great struggle, regret, or even feeling struck down by life. It is a midlife crisis

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social clock

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

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integrity

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a feeling that someone's life has been meaningful and worthwhile