General Psychology PSY2012 Exam 3 Study Guide Human Development Developmental Psychology study of how behavior and mental process change over time o Ways to measure developmental change Cross sectional design design that examines people of different ages at a single point in time Problem Cohort Effects effects due to individuals growing up in the same time period Longitudinal design design that examines development in same group at multiple time points Problem Costly time consuming and selective attrition participants dropping out of the study before it s completed o Other considerations Post hoc Fallacy false assumption that because A precedes B A must have cause B Bi directional effects individuals are affected by parents peers environment but individuals also affect those around them and shape their own environment Our development is due to nature and nurture o 3 ways nature and nurture work together Gene Environment interaction effects of genes depend on environment and vice versa Nature via Nurture tendency of genetic predispositions to encourage people to seek out create certain environments Gene expression activation deactivation of genes by environment experiences throughout development Cognitive Development Jean Piaget s contributions to understanding cognitive development in children o First to present comprehensive account of cognitive development o Major contribution children are nor mini adults understanding of world is different from an adult s o Posited stages of development marked by radical reorganization of thinking Schema knowledge structures mental models of our world o Equilibration maintain a balance between our experiences of the world and our thoughts about it o Assimilation fitting new experiences into existing mental models Ex if a child who believes the earth is flat learns that the earth is round she might assimilate this knowledge into her schema by picturing a flat disk like a coin o Accommodation changing mental models to account for new experiences Ex once the child s assimilated belief no longer fits with her experience her belief undergoes accommodation Piaget s stages of development o Sensorimotor birth 2 years Learning through own actions and consequences No thought beyond immediate experience Milestone object permanence understanding that objects exists even when out of sight o Preoperational 2 7 years Able to think beyond immediate situation understand symbolic representation Egocentric inability to see the world from another s perspective Unable to perform mental transformations Fail conservation tasks o Concrete Operational 7 11 years Mental transformations but only physical objects Difficult to imagine hypothetical situations o Formal Operations 11 years Adulthood Can think abstractly Model hypothetical situations Limitations to Piaget s stages of development o Development appears to be more continuous not stage like o Some children show cognitive abilities sooner o May no be domain general Lev Vygotsky s Theory of Cognitive Development o Emphasized social and cultural learning o Caretaker facilitate learning and development by structuring o Scaffolding initial assistance by caretakers in children s learning gradually remove structure as a child becomes more competent Ex training wheels o Zone of proximal development phase of learning during which children can benefit from instruction Self Concept important cognitive milestone of understanding self as separate from others o Around 1 recognize self in mirror o Around 2 recognize pictures of self and refer to self by name Theory of Mind ability to reason about what other people think or believe o Happens around age 4 o False belief task tests children s ability to understand that someone else something they know to be wrong Social Development closest Attachment the strong emotional connection we share with those to whom we feel o First developed with our primary caregivers o Solid attachments form a secure base which an individual can explore the world and to which an individual returns to rest and restock depleted resources Imprinting observed by Konrad Lorenz young geese seemed to follow around the first large moving object they saw after hatching o Humans don t imprint the same way that geese do Human infants exhibit a softer form of imprinting in which they forge strong bonds with those that tend to them shortly after birth Harry Harlow and Rhesus monkeys experiment o Separated baby monkeys from their mothers only a few hours after birth He then placed them into a cage with two surrogate mothers both inanimate A wire mother that sported a little bottle of milk that the baby monkey could drink from And a second mother made of terry cloth had a round face and made of foam rubber and heated with a light bulb o He found that although the baby monkeys routinely went to the wire mothers for milk they spent much more of their time with the terry cloth mothers o Contact Comfort positive emotions afforded by touch Ex Harlow exposed the monkeys to a scary stimulus the monkeys were more likely to run to the terry cloth mother and cling to her for reassurance Strange Situation o In the Strange Situation both the mother and a stranger are present before the mother leaves the child with the stranger The child s response to the mother s departure and reaction when she returns are used to determine the child s attachment style o Three styles based on response to situation Secure Attachment about 60 of U S infants Upset at mother s departure but greets her return with joy Insecure Avoidant Attachment about 15 20 of U S infants The infant reacts to mom s departure with indifference and shows little reaction on her return Insecure Anxious Attachment about 15 20 of U S infants Panicked at mother s departure shows mixed reactions upon return o Infant attachment fundamentally related to child caregiver relationship But it s bidirectional Attachment Styles predicts later behavior Secure tend to be better adjusted helpful and empathetic Anxious more likely to be disliked and mistreated Adult Attachment interactions with caregiver early in life shape the beliefs and expectations about later relationships including romantic relationships o Styles of attachment fall on a continuum of pulling close and pushing away Self Control ability to inhibit an impulse to act Includes any effortful control exerted over one s own thoughts feelings or behaviors o Helps us to Change ourselves Behave in socially acceptable ways
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