Exam 3 Major Concept Sheet Highlights from Chapters 9 11 to study Developmental Psychology o Definition of developmental psychology It is the study of changes across the lifespan It attempts to explain how humans change throughout the course of their lives from conception to death o Germinal Embryonic Fetal Stages what is developing baby called at each of these stages when do these stages happen and what are the major events that happens during these stages Germinal Conception to 2 weeks called a Zygote the cells divide very quickly and uterine wall distinct parts of baby start to form and take shape towards the end the cells attach to the Embryonic 3 to 8 weeks called an Embryo Fetus brain starts to develop grows 250 000 neurons and start to function starts moving around 16 weeks 7 months survival outside womb 8 and 9 months fetus can hear and habituate Fetal 9 weeks to Birth called a per minute organs grow chance of o Teratogens Substances that invade the placenta and can result in birth defects Alcohol Fetal alcohol syndrome motor and mental retardation malformations of the face heart defects irritability Smoking increases chance of miscarriage by 30 50 SIDS underweight births respiratory problems attention deficit difficulties later in life Illegal Drugs prematurity breathing problems abnormalities Cocaine causes restriction of blood flow and oxygen can cause blood vessels in fetus brain to burst Environmental Hazards pesticides mercury lead cat litter Maternal Disease rubella measles mumps chicken pox o Theories of Development Continuous vs Stage Continuous Development proceeds gradually and smoothly over time Stage Development changes more abruptly form one stage to another o Newborns Altricial reflexes Altricial It means requiring nourishment refers to a pattern of growth and development in organisms that are incapable of moving around on their own soon after being born Babinski Reflex touch bottom of foot the toes will curl Moro Reflex startle reflex to loud noise Rooting Reflex touch infants cheek and it will turn its head towards the stimulation Grasping Reflex will squeeze things pressed into its hand o Infant motor neural development o Cephalocaudal and proximodistal trends Cephalocaudal Development occurs in a head to foot direction Proximodistal Development occurs in a central to distant direction o Rosenzweig Krech experiment Conducted initial research on brain plasticity and how neural pathways change throughout of lives as we learn and grow o Neurogenesis When do most neurons develop When do most synapses develop Neurons The infant if born with its full quota of neurons but between neurons are still being made Synapses synapses are present at birth for vital life functions HR eating etc Development occurs at an childhood based on the child s connections breathing astounding rate during experiences o Infant visual perception o Is our visual perception good and or fully developed at birth better as they and faces Visual perception isn t fully developed at birth it progressively gets grow older As an infant they prefer high contrast images o Visual cliff experiment what were they testing how did they do it what did they find What Investigate Depth perception of infants How They placed infants of various ages on a fabric covered runway across the center of a clever device called a visual cliff The sheet of Plexiglas that covers a cloth with a high On one side the cloth is placed that ran visual cliff consists of a contrast checkerboard pattern immediately beneath the Plexiglas and on the about 4 feet below other it is dropped begun to even when Results In the Gibson and Walk study the majority of infants who had crawl refused to venture onto the seemingly unsupported surface their mothers beckoned encouragingly from the other side o Habituation technique A simple form of learning in which reactions to repeated stimuli that are unchanging and harmless This technique is used to teach infants through repetition o Piaget s theory of Cognitive Development Assumptions of the theory what are the stages and when do they occur What task must you master at each stage to move to the next one 1 Sensorimotor Stage birth to 2 years Here and now rather than past and future exploration through moving and sensing object permanence 2 Preoperational Stage 2 to 7 years language acquisition egocentrism illogical reasoning 3 Concrete Operational Stage 7 to 12 years logical reasoning mastery of conservation problems learning by doing 4 Formal Operational Stage 12 years abstract reasoning idealism improved problem solving o Object permanence schemas assimilation accommodation conservation task formal operational thinking objects that are no longer present Object Permanence the ability to form mental representations of item is gone situations schema Ex An object exists still even if it is hidden Children think an when it goes away but its really just somewhere else Schema bits of knowledge sets of expectations about objects and Assimilation the incorporation of new learning into an existing without the need to revise the schema existing Accommodation the incorporation of new learning into an schema that requires the revision of the schema Conservation Task the ability to understand that changing the form or appearance of an object does not change its quantity Ex The little boy that said the water changed amounts when it into different sixe cups even though he saw that they took and added none Formal Operational Thinking Younger children use trial and error trying things out and seeing what happens to approach tend to think through more scenarios in a was poured away none method by problems Adolescents more systemic manner o Theory of Mind TOM The understanding that others have thoughts that are different from one s own o How well has Piaget s theory withstood the test of time updating underestimates the abilities of the capabilities of adolescence Many been formulated since Many psychologists after Piaget have said that his theory needs some children and may have overestimated and revising Many psychologists think Piaget alternative approaches have o Attachment Styles Strange Situation be able to identify a child s attachment style 1 Secure 60 of US babies freely explore lab moderately upset when mom leaves comforted somewhat by stranger warm loving response when mom returns 2 Insecurely Attached Avoidant 20 unresponsive to mom not distressed when mom leaves react to stranger in same way