psychology chapter 3 - development over life span

universal grammar

Noam Chomsky says the human brain must contain an innate mental module-a universal module-that allows young children to develop language if they are exposed to an adequate sampling of conversation.

Strange Situation

To study the nature of the attachment between mothers and babies, Mary Ainsworth devised an experimental method called the Strange Situation. experiment with strangers and mother playing with baby.

transgender

a brand category of people who do not fit comfortably into the usual categories of male and female, masculine an feminine.

telegraphic speech

a child's first word combinations, which omit (as a telegram did) unnecessary words. (ex- where daddy?)

gender schema

a cognitive scheme (mental network) of knowledge, beliefs, metaphors, + expectations about what it means to be male or female.

induction

a method of child rearing in which the parent appeals to the child's own resources, abilities, sense of responsibility, + feelings for others in correcting the child's misbehavior.

power assertion

a method of child rearing in which the parent uses punishment and authority to correct the child's misbehavior.

theory of mind

a system of beliefs about the way one's own mind and the minds of others work, and about how individuals are affected by their beliefs and feelings.

language

a system that combines meaningless elements such as sounds or gestures to form structures utterances that convey meaning.

formal operations stage

able to reason about situations they have not experiences firsthand, and they can think about future possibilities, able to search systematically for solutions to problems. teens capable of abstract reasoning.

assimilation

absorbing new info into existing mental categories. (ex dog and canines)

fetus

after 8 weeks, the organism, now called a fetus, further develops the organs and systems that existed in rudimentary form in the embryonic stage.

motor reflexes

automatic behaviors that are necessary for survival (ex- knee jump)

parentese

baby talk

pre-operational stage

children still lack cognitive abilities necessary for understanding abstract principals + mental operations. they are egocentric. cannot grasp concept of conservation. Piaget was wrong about children being egocentric.

concrete operations stage

children's thinking is still grounded in concrete experiences + concepts, but they can now understand conservation, reversibility, cause + effect. able to see other's perspectives and make fewer logical errors.

crystallized intelligence

cognitive skills and specific knowledge acquired over a lifetime it is heavily dependent on education and tends to remain stable.

intersex conditions

conditions in which chromosomal or hormonal anomalies cause a child to be born with ambiguous genitals, or genitals that conflict with the infant's chromosomes.

fetal alcohol syndrome

due to regular consumption of alcohol, it increases the risk for children to be born with low birth weight, a smaller brain, facial deformities, lack of coordination, and mental impairments.

secondary sex characteristics

examples - deepened voice and facial and chest hair in boys and pubic hair in both sexes.

maturation

the sequential unfolding of genetically influenced behavior and physical characteristics.

conservation

the understanding that the physical properties of objects-such as the number of items in a cluster or the amount of liquid in a glass-can remain the same even when their form or appearance changes.

object permanence

the understanding, which develops throughout the first year, that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see it or touch it.

mental operations

train of thought that can be run backward or forward. (ex-multiplying 2 times 6 to get 12. reverse is 12 divided by 6 to get 2).

transsexual

usually not intersected, yet likewise feel that they are male in a female body or vice versa; their gender identity is at odds with their anatomical sex or appearance.

Kohlberg's theory - 3 stages of moral reasoning

we start by avoiding punishment, move to conforming to rules + law, then develop standards based on human rights.

emerging adulthood

when young adults say "in some ways yes, in some ways no" to becoming an adult. for ex, living at home with family.

developmental psychologists

psychologists that address issues by studying universal aspects of development across the life span, cultural variations, and differences among individuals.

gerontologists

researchers who study aging and the old.

secure, avoidant, + anxious-ambivalent attachment

securely attached - they cried/protested if parent left the room; welcomed her back and then played happily again. insecurely attached - did not care if mother came back again. anxious/ambivalent attachment - resisting contact with the mother at reunion but protesting loudly if she left.

egocentric thinking

seeing the world only from their own frame of reference and cannot imagine that others see things differently.

puberty

the age at which a person becomes capable of sexual reproduction.

fluid intelligence

the capacity to reason and use new info to solve problems; it's relatively independent of education and tends to decline in old age.

menopause

the cessation of menstruation and of the production of oval it is usually a gradual process lasting up to serval years.

separation anxiety

the distress that most children develop, at about 6-8 months of age, when their primary caregivers temporarily leave them with strangers.

gender identity

the fundamental sense of being male/female; it's independent of whether the person conforms to the social and cultural rules of gender.

menarche

the onset of menstruation during puberty.

socialization

the process by which children learn behaviors, attitudes, and expectations required of them by their society or culture.

gender typing

the process by which children learn the abilities, interests, and behaviors associated with being masculine or feminine in their culture.

sensorimotor stage

"thinking" consists of coordinating sensory info w/ bodily movements. object permanence. infant learns through concrete actions.

Jean Piaget

father of cognitive development in children. four main stages children go through: 1) sensory-motor stage/object permanence (0-2) 2) pre operational stage. ego-centric (2-7) 3) concrete operations Tom is taller than Eva problem (7-12) 4) formal operations (12+). According to Piaget, cognitive development consists of mental adaptations to new situations/experiences.

contact comfort

in primates, the innate pleasure derived from close physical contact; it is the basis of the infant's first attachment.

delay of gratification

marshmallow experiment. waiting for a better satisfaction.

accommodation

modifying existing mental categories in response to new info. (ex- dog and goats are different)