Chapter 12: Development Over The Lifespan

Front 1

-Describe the four overarching themes and special research designs often encountered in developmental research.

Back 1

1.Nature and nurture
Nature- (our development) the product of heredity
Nurture- product of environment
2.Sensitive and crucial periods
sensitive period- an optimal age range for certain experiences, but if those experiences occur at another time, normal development is still possible.
critical period- an age range during which certain experiences must occur for development to proceed normally or along a certain path
3.Continuity vs. discontinuity
continuity- development continuous/ gradual
discontinuity- progressing through qualitively distinct stages
4.Stability vs. change-whether or not our characteristics change as we age

Front 2

-Describe the stages of prenatal development. How is sex determined?

Back 2

-Germinal Stage- first two weeks after conception.
embryonic stage -2-8 weeks organs start to form
Fetal Stage- week nine to birth muscles strengthen/ body systems develop age of viability-24 weeks<-the youngest its able to survive out of the womb

-Sex is determined: the female has two X chromosomes (XX) and the male an X and Y (XY).
During the process of meiosis when the sex cell division takes place in adults (dividing to 23 chromosmes), the female cell will divide into two X sex cells. The male cell divides into an X and Y cell. A person has 46 chromosomes in total. So 23 chromosomes come from the mother, and 23 from the father.
Therefore, all ova (plural for ovum) from the female are X. In a male during meiosis, the cells are split up in two as well. So some sperm cells contain an X chromosome and others Y chromosomes.
During fertilization an X sperm cell in combination with a female X cell makes a girl (XX). If a Y sperm cell joins with an ovum, a boy is produced (XY). So 23 chromosomes from either parent, gives the child the total number of 46.

Front 3

-Explain how nature/nurture jointly influence infants' physical and motor development.

Back 3

-Nature jointly influence infants’ physical development because its dealt with maturation which is the genetically programmed biological process that governs our growth
-Nurture jointly influences infants’ physical development because it’s about how the children adapt with their environment as they grow. Ex: their vision gets more clear as they grow up

Front 4

-What is a visual cliff? Do crawling babies show fear of heights?

Back 4

-The visual cliff was designed by developmental psychologists to study whether or not an infant has depth perception. It connects a transparent glass surface to a patterned one in order to create an apparent, but not actual drop. This creates the illusion of a cliff. Crawling babies do show fear of heights and most babies won’t attempt crawling across.

Front 5

-Describe the preferential looking paradigm. What is habituation?

Back 5

-Infants prefer complex patterns to simple patterns and solid colors
habituation-habituate to repetitive, nonthreatening stimuli and can acquire classically conditioned responses

Front 6

-Discuss Piaget's concepts of assimilation and accommodation, his stage model, and
findings that help us evaluate his theory.

Back 6

-Stage model- childrens thinking changes qualitatively with age and that it differs from the way adults think. He believed that cognitive development results from an interaction of the brains biological maturation and personal experiences.

-Assimilation- process by which new experienes are incorporated into existing schemas (organized patterns of thought and action) ex:kitty has 4 legs, fur, two eyes, etc <--when a child sees those “patterns” in a skunk, they will think its a kitty

-Accommodation- the process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change
the infant will catch on a change = disequilibrium, change between existing schemas and new experiences ultimately forces those schemas to change, and they will learn that (ex) the skunk is not a kitty because it doesnt have the bad odor of a kitty

-FINDINGS- Sensorimotor stage- (birth-2 years) infants understand their world primarily through sensory experiences. but after around 8 months they understand object permanence (the understanding that an object continues to exist even if you cant see it) by age 2 theyre able to talk, solve few problems, and communicate their thoughts

-Preoperational stage-(2-7 years) The world is represented symbolically through words and mental images but don’t understand basic mental operations or rules.
understanding past and future -->better anticipate the consequences of their actions
but they dont understand conservation (principle that basic properties, such as their volume, mass, quantity, stay the same (“conserved”) even though the outter appearance changes
EX: when the juice was poured into a taller beaker (but still had the same amount of juice as the other cup) the child thought that just because appearance wise it looked like there was more, they thought it had more juice ---> irreversibility =its hard for them to reverse an action mentally
they also think egocentrically (egocentrism) = difficulty viewing the world from someone else’s perspective

-Concrete operational stage (age 7-12) -able to perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible objects and situations. They understand reversibility. They are less egocentric. But they have problems with hypothetical and abstract reasoning.
Ex: when kids asked if they had a third eye where would they place it and usually draw three eyes on the face. so their thinking is “concrete” because they know that eyes are on the face
Formal operational stage: 12+ -Can think logically and systematically about both concrete and abstract problems. Form hypotheses, and test them in a thoughtful way
Ex: kids placed the third eye in other places such as the palm of the hand so they’re able to see whats around them all the time

-General cognitive abilities associated with Piaget’s four stages occur in the same order across cultures but Children acquire many skills and concepts earlier than Piaget believed, Cognitive development within each stage seems to proceed inconsistently, Culture influences cognitive development, Cognitive development is more complex and variable than Piaget proposed

Front 7

-Explain how Vygotsky's approach and information-processing models challenge
Piaget's views.

Back 7

-Vygotsky introduced a concept called the zone of proximal development: the difference between what a child can do independently and what the child can do with assistance from adults or more advanced peers

Knowledge is constructed through social interactions
-Cooperative learning
- Scaffolding
- Development is continuous

-Basically vygotsky’s approach and information-processing models challenge piagets view because Piaget is saying that children’s cognitive intelligence improves as the child grows and learns from ones surrounding but Vygotsky is saying that we can help move a child’s cognitive development forward within limits (“zone”) dictated by the child’s biological maturation. So basically piaget= childrens brain develop and start thinking more creatively at certain ages as they age but vygotsky= children can learn as long as they’re brains are mature enough and they have adults to teach them
EX: a parent that helps a child with scientific tasks will push their understanding or having older siblings in the house may stimulate a younger childs cognitive development (as long as the childs brain is mature enough)

Front 8

-Discuss imprinting, Harlow's attachment research, and attachment in humans.

Back 8

-Attachment-a strong emotional bond between children and their primary caregivers like

-Imprinting: a sudden, biologically primed form of attachment.
Harry harlow (1958) research was that the infant monkeys chose the mother with the cloth over the mother with the food and no cloth. his study showed that contact comfort-body contact with a comforting object- is more important in fostering attachment than is the provision of nourishment

John Bowlby (1969) proposed that attachment in infancy (humans) develops in 3 phases:
1. Indiscriminate attachment behavior- newborns cry, vocalize, and smile toward everyone, and these behaviors evoke caregiving from adults
2. discriminate attachment behavior- around 3 months of age, infants direct their attachment behaviors more toward familiar caregivers than toward strangers
3. specific attachment behavior- 7-8 months yrs- infants develop a meaningful attachment to specific caregivers. the caregiver becomes a secure base from which the infant can explore the environment

Front 9

-Discuss children's emotional development, including emotional expressiveness,
emotion regulation, and temperament.

Back 9

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Front 10

-Describe Kohlberg's model of moral thinking and factors that influence the development
of moral behavior.

Back 10

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Front 11

-Identify parenting styles, their associated child outcomes and how children’s gender
beliefs develop.

Back 11

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Front 12

-Discuss major cognitive changes that occur during adolescence.

Back 12

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Front 13

-Discuss adolescents' search for identity and their relationships with parents and peers.

Back 13

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Front 14

-How do emotions change during adolescence?

Back 14

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Front 15

-Describe how physical abilities and the brain change in adulthood.

Back 15

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Front 16

-Evaluate the concept of midlife crisis and the view that dying people experience a sequence of psychological stages.

Back 16

-Midlife crisis occurs between the ages of 40-45. They begin to focus on their mortality and begin to realize that some of their life’s dreams pertaining career, family, and relationships would not come true.

Front 17

-Describe common cognitive impairments of old age.

Back 17

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