Chapter 5 - Development
Sensorimotor
- 0-2 yrs - Infants explore and learn about the world primarily through their sensors and motor (movement) activities. - Before Object Permanence is understood, hence why peek-a-boo is so much fun. - Goal directed behaviour, to perform and a sequence of actions with a particular purpose in mind.
Formal Operational
- 12yrs + - More complex thought processes are evident - thinking becomes increasingly sophisticated through the combined effects of brain maturation and life experience - Abstract Thinking - Logical Thinking - Deductive reasoning - Idealistic thinking
Pre-operational
- 2-7 yrs - increased language acquisition - Symbolic thinking, to think and imagine something in their own mind, i.e pretend - egocentrism towards the end of pre-operational stage - animism - reversibility
Concrete Operational
- 7-12yrs - Now capable of the logical thought - can perform mental 'operations' - ability to accurately imagine the consequences of something happening without actually needing to happen. - Conservation (of volume, mass and number) - Classification
Compare and contrast sensitive and critical periods in development with reference to two key differences.
- A sensitive period is a period of time during development when an individual is more responsive to particular types of environmental experiences or learning. On the other hand, a critical period is a specific period in development during which an organism is most vulnerable to the deprivation or absence of certain environmental stimuli or experiences - Critical periods have identifiable start and end times, in contrast to sensitive periods where physical development has shorter and more clearly defined parameters for physical attribute development than psychological attribute development - If an environmental input is absent during a critical period, it will affect the development of that characteristic or skill permanently. In contrast, if the environmental influences are absent during the optimal sensitive period of development, skills and characteristics can still have a chance to develop but generally with more difficulty and less success
Give an example of abstract thinking.
- Consequences - Ethical and Moral Issues - Understanding freedom and fairness - understanding something in 200BC or 4000km away.
Idealistic Thinking
- Thinking about the most desirable characteristics of themselves and others - Compare themselves and strive towards their ideal person - Ability to envisage alternatives to current issues - Make plans and achieve goals
Reversibility
A cognitive accomplishment. The ability to mentally follow a sequence of events or line of reasoning back to its starting point
Conservation
A cognitive accomplishment. Refers to the understanding that certain properties of an object can remain the same even when its appearance changes. - volume - mass - numbers
Schema
A mental idea of what something is and how to act on it 'The basic building blocks of intelligent behaviour'.
Sensitive Period
A period of time when an individual's development is more responsive (sensitive) to certain types of environmental experiences or learning. This is when the brain development goes through specific periods during which some synaptic connections are most easily made and some neural pathways are most easily formed. - begin and end gradually - windows of opportunity for learning - learning native language - up to 12yrs - window starts to close at 7yrs
Critical Period
A specific period in development during which an organism is most vulnerable to the deprivation or absence of certain environmental stimuli or experiences. When imprinting can occur.
Classification
Ability to organise objects or events into categories based on common features that set them apart from other categories.
Environment
All the Experiences, objects and events to which we are exposed to throughout our entire lifetime. e.g. siblings, religion, friends, relationships, schooling, media, occupation, illness, life events, income level.
Assimilation & Accommodation
Assimilation we take the new information and try to fit it into what we already know (change everything about it) Accommodation involves changing an already existing mental idea in order to fit in new information (change idea)
When is a persons genetic make-up determined?
At Conception
Attachment
Attachment is a relationship between two people in which each person feels strongly about the other. We develop attachments throughout our lives but in infancy, attachment refers to the development of a close relationship between the infant and their caregiver. It is the first relationship we form
Cognitive development
Changes in an individual's mental abilities, such as reasoning, problem solving, decision making, perception learning, memory and use of languages.
Social Development
Changes in an individual's relationships with other people and their skills in interacting with others.
Emotional Development
Changes in how an individual experiences different feelings are expressed, interpreted and dealt with.
Physical Development
Changes in the Body: Development of the brain and its nervous system, bones and muscles, hormonal changes e.g. puberty
A child is unable to classify correctly. Explain this inability with reference to centration.
Classification is a skill developed during the concrete operational stage, where children can think of objects or events in terms of characteristics they share that set them apart from other objects or events. Preoperational children have trouble with this ability. Centration still dominates their thinking about groups and they will tend to focus on one characteristic only and not see that groups can be categorised (or classified) in many different ways. A preoperational child shown a group of 20 wooden beads altogether where 18 are brown and 2 are white, when posed the question, 'Are there more brown beads or more beads?' will quite likely answer that there are more brown beads. The preoperational child demonstrates centration by only focussing on the quality of colour, not considering number or umbrella terms where all brown beads and white beads belong to the general group 'beads'. A preoperational child does not yet possess the ability to classify based on more than one attribute.
Describe two common criticisms of Piaget's theory.
Common criticisms include: −Stage and age models can be limiting — some children can develop skills outlined by Piaget earlier than he proposed when taught how to. Some researchers believe that Piaget has underestimated the cognitive ability of children. Researchers have adjusted the wording of tests Piaget used and found that children have a clearer picture of the task they need to perform when the problem is reworded for them and are able to use cognitive skills outside the stage/age model. −His research was limited in that small samples were used to draw his conclusions and to form his theories and no statistical analysis was performed in collating results. His research is said to lack scientific rigor.
Differences within Individuals
Confident when adult, shy when child. or the other way around.
Continuous Development
Development as in involving gradual and on going change without sudden shifts, like walking up a hill
Discontinuous Development
Development as involving distinct and seperate, step-like stages, with different abilities in each, like walking up stairs
Explain what a psychosocial crisis is with reference to one of the crises identified by Erikson.
Explanation should refer to a psychosocial crisis as a social dilemma or problem an individual faces in adjusting to society involving two opposing tendencies — one positive and one negative. One of the following psychosocial crises should be named and described: − trust vs mistrust − autonomy vs shame/doubt − initiative vs guilt − industry vs inferiority − identity vs identity confusion − intimacy vs isolation − generativity vs stagnation − integrity vs despair.
What are infants who form a secure attachment likely to do?
Feel safe and able to depend on their caregiver
Nature vs. Nurture
How hereditary and environmental factors combine or interact in influencing our thoughts, feelings and behaviour.
What are the Stages of a Lifespan?
Infancy - birth to 2 Childhood - 2 to 10yrs Adolescences - 10 to 20yrs Early Adulthood - 20 to 40yrs Middle Age - 40 to 65yrs Older Age - 65yrs +
Adaption
Involves taking in, processing, organising, and using new information in ways which enable us to adjust to changes in our environment
What is abstract thinking?
Key Cognitive accomplishment A way of thinking that does not reply on being able to see, visualise, experience or manipulate in order to understand something.
What will an infant who demonstrates an insecure resistant attachment pattern of behaviour do?
Not seek to be close to their caregiver
Who do infants form the strongest attachment to?
People most closely involved with them
Development
Psychological or physical change that occurs over time.
Twin Studies
Research using identical and/or non-identical twins as participants.
How do psychosocial crises shape personality development?
Satisfactory resolution of psychosocial crises leads to the development of a healthy personality and a productive lifestyle according to Erikson.
Sequence of the Stages of Cognitive Development from Piaget's Theory?
Sensorimotor Pre-operational Concrete Operational Formal Operational
Adoption Studies
Similarities between children and biological parents would indicated genetics have played a role Similarities between children and adoptive parents would indicate environment has played a role
Differences between Individuals
Speak, walk, learn at different times.
Logical Thinking
The ability to solve problems systematically, e.g. considering a job - weigh up what clashes with homework and training, work to be done, pay, location, transport, etc.
Animism
The belief that everything which exist has some kind of consciousness (awareness). e.g. a tall tree may be described as old, or a table they bumped into may be naughty
Centration
The cognitive ability to focus on only one quality or feature of an object or event at the time
In which stage of Piaget's theory is it accomplished?
The formal operational stage of cognitive development
Maturation
The orderly and sequential development changes which occur in the nervous system and other bodily structures controlled by your genes.
Egocentrism
The tendency to perceive the world solely from their point of view. e.g. a kid who stands in front of the TV and blocks everyones view
Object Permanence
The understanding that objects still exist even if they can not be seen, heart or touched.
Qualitative Changes
Those that vary in 'qualitative', 'kind' or 'type'. They are changes that make the individual different from the way they were before. eg, 3-year-old won't be able to describe honesty or justice as we can
Heredity
Transmission of characteristics from biological parents to their offspring via genes at the time of conception. Also referred to as nature. e.g intelligence, personality, psychological disorders.
Monozygotic (identical) Twins
Two genetically identical individuals who develop when a single fertilised egg splits into two in the first few days after conception.
Dizygotic (faternal) Twins
Two genetically non-identical individuals who develop when the female produces two seperate ova which are independently fertilised by two different sperm cells
Transformation
Understanding that something can change from one state to another
Principle of Readiness
Unless the necessary bodily structures and processes like muscles, bones, the brain, nerves, neurones or neurotransmitters are sufficient then no amount of practice will produce the particular mental process of behaviour.
Deductive Reasoning
Using logical rules to draw a conclusion from two or more piece of information which are believed to be true. e.g. if Sam sleeps in she will be late for school. Sam was late for school, therefore Sam slept in
Quantitive Changes
Variations in the quantity, or 'amount' of a thought, feeling or behaviour. These changes are usually expressed as numbers eg. age, height
Action Schemata
We are born with basic schemata for survival purposes, which are ready for use and interaction with the world at birth.
Genetic Predisposition
When the environment affects whether the genes become active, i.e if you have genetic predisposition to depression, but won't develop it until a stressful life event.
What decreases with age?
health, learning, height, sporting ability, creativity
What stops increasing with age?
intelligence, height
Explain why the results of adoption studies may be compared with those of twin studies to understand how nature and nurture can influence psychological development.
•Adoption studies occur where children share no genetic background with their adoptive parents. If environment was to have the stronger influence on psychological development of specific characteristics then scores on those tests between children and adoptive parents should be similar, so nurture has a stronger influence. If adopted children have similar results to their biological parents, nature could be said to be the stronger influence on the psychological development of the specific characteristic investigated. •Twin studies, on the other hand, allow psychologists to have access to two people with identical genetic backgrounds (monozygotic twins) and compare their psychological development across specific characteristics. If genetics have a strong influence on these characteristics, we would expect the scores also to be virtually identical, so nature has a stronger influence. Using monozygotic twins who have been raised apart in studies is also extremely useful in determining whether heredity or environment has the greater effect on psychological development when abilities are compared and contrasted.
Distinguish between Piaget's processes of assimilation and accommodation with reference to an example.
•Assimilation: the process of taking in new information and fitting it into an existing mental idea we have about objects or the world. •Accommodation: the process by which we modify the way in which existing information is mentally organised so new information may be incorporated. •Example: An infant looking at a picture book sees a photo of a cat and calls it a 'woff woff'. The child has assimilated the cat into their existing mental idea of animals. As the infant has more experience with cats over time, they will develop a separate mental category for cats that is different from dogs and in so doing they will have accommodated the concept of a cat.
Describe two factors which influence the development of attachment and how each relationship factor can influence that type and quality of an attachment
− Temperament: Seen as the basis of personality development and characterises infant's behaviour from birth. If infants are easy babies, they are generally content and adaptable to change in their world; difficult babies are active and irritable and resistant to change in their environment; and 'slow-to-warm-up' babies are less active, dislike change, can be moody but will adapt to new people and situations over time. The temperament of babies affects how their caregivers interact with them, and so will influence the attachment process. − Sensitive responsiveness of the caregiver: Studies building on Ainsworth's proposed types of attachment show securely attached infants had caregivers who were responsive to their feeding and comfort needs (and were faster at determining which needs needed to be addressed) than insecurely attached infants who had caregivers that were less responsive and less sensitive to their infants' needs for either food or comfort.
