teratogens anything that hurts the organism prenatally
TRANSCRIPT
Teratogens
Anything that hurts the organism prenatally
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Fetuses result in physical abnormalities and cognitive deficiencies; children have distinctive facial features (wider than normal set of eyes), behavioral
impairment, and serious mental retardation
Maturation
Development that largely unfolds on its own, as if according to a biological program, as long as individual is in
reasonably supportive environment
Window of opportunity
Period of time during which certain skills and abilities are more easily learned,
such as language before age 10
Plasticity
Ability of one area of the brain to take over ability of another damaged
area
Sensorimotor stage
Birth to 2 years old; cognitive task of child is to explore and learn about environment through use of senses and
one’s developing motor abilities; child grasps the concept of object permanence (understanding that a ball that rolls
out of sight still exists, even though it is unseen)
Pre-operational stage
2 to 7 years old; children pretend to play, demonstrates that they are beginning to think symbolically—one thing can
represent something else; something no longer needs to be physically present in order for child to know about it and think
about it; highly egocentric, cognitively unable to take perspective of another
Concrete operational stage
7-11 years old; child becomes capable of logical thinking (but many say preoperational children think logically); not yet able to
think abstractly although they are comfortable with use of mental representations; mastery of conservation: amount of
something doesn’t change with changes in appearance or arrangement
Formal operational stage
11 years onward; people think abstractly and hypothetically, able to consider future
possibilities and imaginary scenarios
Assimilation
Child attempts to fit new experiences into the cognitive frameworks they
already possess
Accommodation
Children actually change their schemas or behaviors to fit the new
information
Schemas
Cognitive framework based on previous experiences; set of expectations that can
help us fill in gaps in our memories
Object permanence
Knowledge that objects continue to exist when they are outside the field of view;
understanding that a ball that rolls out of sight still exists, even though it is unseen
Egocentrism
Seeing the world only from one’s own point of view
Conservation
Amount of something doesn’t change with changes in appearance or
arrangement
Animism
Believing that all things are living
Reversibility
Characteristic of Piaget’s concrete operational stage; child recognizes
transformations
Cognitive maps
A mental picture of the layout of one’s environment; rats learned a
maze through this map
Abstract thinking
Learning in which the relationship between and among stimuli is more
important than the physical features of the stimuli
Preconventional morality (punishment and obedience)
Level 1 of Kohlberg’s moral development; ages 7-10; first stage is based on avoiding punishment and receiving rewards; fear of
punishment is the reason not to break rules; second stage focused on individualism and exchange; children work with own
interests; primary interest is selfish; evaluate benefits for themselves
Conventional morality (“good boy/bad girl” orientation; social order)
Level 2 of Kohlberg’s moral development; ages 10-16; internalizing of society’s rules/morals; motivation by knowing it is “right”; stage
3: child trying to live up to what others (authoritative figures) expect of him; rules set forth by society are important, conforms
to these rules; stage 4: development of consciousness, obey rules, feel moral, societal obligations
Postconventional morality (individual principles of conscience)
Level 3 of Kohlberg’s moral development; ages 16+; societal rules important but internal set of values developed may generate occasional conflict with societal values; stage 5: belief in individual rights/social contracts; balance
maintained between individual interests and societal rules; stage 6: highest moral development, belief in universal principles of justice, typically agree
with rules of society; justice outweighs rules and acts accordingly, few people reach this level
Oral-sensory (trust vs. mistrust)
Trust vs. mistrust (birth-18 months); child learns to trust; trust and hopefulness are outcomes of positive resolutions of this
stage
Muscular-anal (autonomy vs. shame/doubt)
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (about 18 months-3 years old); child seeks a sense of
internal control and independence; mastery of toilet training, walking, etc.
Locomotor-genital (initiative vs. guilt)
Initiative vs. guilt (3-7 years old): child seeks a balance between what s/he wants to do and a sense of what is right and wrong, good and bad; must take initiative and
learn to assert himself socially, without overstepping bounds; development of a sense of purpose
Latency (industry vs. inferiority)
Industry vs. inferiority (7-10 years old): child seeks to master the basic skills required for successful
participation in society, which will give the child a sense of basic competence; gain a sense of
accomplishment and pride in work
Puberty-adolescence (identity vs. role confusion)
Identity vs. role confusion (adolescence): teenager seeks to answer questions “Who am
I?” and “What do I want to do and be?”; resolution is fidelity (truthfulness to one’s self)
Young-adult (intimacy vs. isolation)
Intimacy vs. isolation (early adulthood): young adult either successfully establishes strong,
committed relationships or faces the task of dealing with some level of isolation or lack of intimacy
Adulthood (generativity vs. stagnation)
Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood): adults, now in their 40’s or 50’s either engage in sharing of wisdom or are
antagonistic toward young people; struggle to be productive in home and career and contribute to next generation with ideas
and children; leave “mark” on world; failure results in stagnation or isolation
Old age (integrity vs. despair)
Integrity vs. despair: older adult reflects back on his/her life, feeling either a sense of accomplishment
and pride or a sense of missed opportunities and sadness; positive outcome is wisdom, whereas failure
to resolve can lead to bitterness and despair
Attachment theory
Close emotional bond or relationship between infant and caregiver
Stranger anxiety
Distress upon encountering new, unfamiliar people
Imprinting
Refers to a newborn’s response to a stimulus in its environment, specifically to
respond to that stimulus as if it is the mother
Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Studies
Young children separated from mothers, monitored when mother
returned
Avoidant
Ignores mother when returns, little distress
Secure
Somewhat distressed when mother leaves, greets mother warmly upon
return
Resistant/ambivalent
Mixed messages to mother upon return, wants to be held but resists
attempts
Disorganized
Children confused, disoriented, and fearful; correlation between this and
abusive environment
Secure attachment
After absence, baby is happy to see mother, receptive to her contact; tend to
become socially competent children
Insecure attachment
After absence baby is angry and rejecting of mother, avoids her,
ignores her, or behaves inconsistently
Harry Harlow & contact comfort
Monkeys separated from their mothers sought comfort from a soft cloth-covered substitute
(surrogate) rather than a bare wire substitute with a feeding bottle, showing attachment is not based on
feeding; importance of “contact comfort”
Kagan (infant temperament)
Kagan showed shy, inhibited babies can become more relaxed and less fearful with responsive parenting.
Easy babies
Cheerful, relaxed, predictable patterns of eating and sleeping, tend
to become social children
Difficult babies
Irritable, intense, unpredictable, tend to become less sociable children
Temperament
Natural disposition to show a particular mood at a particular intensity for a
specific period, affects behavior
Gender identity
Sense of being a boy or a girl
Gender typing
Process of learning the roles associated with the distinctions between males and
females in a culture
Social learning theory
Bandura’s idea that we can learn behaviors from others by first
observing it and then imitating it
Gender schema theory
Mental set of what society considers appropriate behavior for each of the
sexes
Nature/nurture
“False dichotomy”: isn’t an either/or question; impossible to completely separate influences of biology and
environment on human development
Authoritarian parenting style
Top-down parenting approach in which the parents establish the rules, expect
obedience and strictly punish transgressions
Authoritative parenting style
Parents are authority figures but willing to listen to input from children, respect basic rights and
explain their rules and decisions, “most successful” in long term of social functioning of children
Permissive parenting style
Parents give children considerable freedom to make their own decisions, either because they are more tolerant and trusting of their children’s abilities or
because they are less engaged in upbringing in children
Rejecting-neglecting parenting style
Parents have essentially abrogated responsibility for raising and control
of children
Imaginary audience
Notion that others are monitoring the adolescent, watching for mistakes, moments of embarrassment, etc.
Personal fable
Adolescents create a story of “specialness” about themselves; teenager feels a sense of invulnerability (“rules” of safety don’t really apply to them); this is
why teenagers are more likely to engage in high risk, potentially destructive behavior
Puberty
Point at which individuals are sexually mature and can reproduce; acquire primary sex characteristics
(directly involved with reproduction) and secondary sex characteristics (deepening of voice, pubic hair,
breasts)
Menarchy
First menstrual period at about age 12.5—marks female futility; ejaculation with viable sperm at age 14—marks male
fertility
Alzheimer’s Disease
Organic disorder caused by damage to brain tissue
Crystallized vs. fluid intelligence
Crystallized: specific knowledge of facts and information; fluid: ability to think in terms of abstract concepts and symbolic
relationships
Kübler-Ross’ 5 stages of dying
Formulated a stage theory addressing our encounters with grief; 5 stages in dealing
with loss: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance
Jean Piaget
Studied thinking of youngsters, paying special attention to errors; developed stage theory of
cognitive development that is still embraced today; some argue that he underestimated abilities of
children at many points in growth
Lawrence Kohlberg
Advanced the most influential theory of moral development; theory has 3 levels each divided into 2
distinct stages; used a fictional story called “The Heinz Dilemma” to evaluate levels of moral reasoning in
children; “Would you steal a drug in order to save a life?”
Erik Erikson
Postulated a stage theory of psychosocial development across the life span; contended that
people face various crises in their lives that they must resolve in order to continue healthy development; 8
stages of crisis
Vygotsky and sociocultural development
Emphasized the role of the environment (nurture) and gradual growth (continuity) in intellectual functioning; development
proceeds from the outside in by the process of internalization—absorbing information from a specified social environmental
context; children learn from observing interactions and through their own interactions; significant role to mentors
Carol Gilligan
Developed a revised version of Kohlberg’s theory; places development of caring
relationships as central to moral progress (not justice) in women