CHAPTER 5

formal operational phase

12+ yrs (adolescence- early adulthood) You will be able to do abstract reasoning (having an understanding of principles and ideals. ex: moral codes, religious beliefs) development of the ability to reason about abstract concepts and problems -formal logic becomes possible -"if maria is a woman, and all women are mortal, then Maria is mortal" -develop scientific reasoning and hypothesis- testing skills Results in the development of the following core cognitive capacities: -abstract reasoning- having an understanding of principles and ideals (ex: religious beliefs) systematic problem solving (no longer relying on trial and error) ability to think about and reflect upon one's thinking (metacognition) capable of scientific reasoning (ex: form hypotheses)

the 3 stages of fetal development

Germinal, embryonic, and fetal

early cognitive development- attention

Infants attend to things that interest them. Brain becomes more organized and efficient during the first 6 months of life. their attention span gets better Increased brain organization leads to increasing ability to pay attention and focus on one thing. the ability to focus on things and pay attention is an important skill

Piaget's (1954) principles of cognitive development

Piaget's (1954) principles of cognitive development occur in four phases. Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and the formal operational phase.

EGOCENTRISM

Viewing the world from one's own perspective and not being capable of seeing things from another person's perspective.. Literally- not necessarily putting themselves in another person's situation...LITERALLY, can't visualize someone else's viewpoint Illustrated with the THRESS MOUNTAIN TASK: child chooses the perspective they see, not that the doll sees http://www.simplypsychology.org/preoperational.html

when does color vision systems kick in?

by 4 months. their focus improves around this time as well.

early motor development

early motor development consists of changes in physical movement and body control. It's marked by major milestones of motor development that happen during the first 15 months or so

developmental psychology

examines any and all influences that change over the lifespan. including genetic, epigenetic, neurological, cognitive, social, emotional, and personality

fine motor skills

fine motor skills involve coordination of many smaller muscles, and visual and other sensory inputs. newborns can't lift their heads by themselves or roll over... not for at least a month or so. it's difficult for very young children to be able to turn knobs or pick up tiny objects. Training in fine motor skills aids in Kindergarteners' attention. playing games such as paddy cake help with their motor skills

what happens if a mother is to get zika while carrying a fetus?

child may end up with an underdeveloped brain

plasticity

children's brains are more "plastic" than adults. the brain continues to grow new neurons after birth, but the process slows as we age. the number of neurons (gray matter) begins to decline in adolescence (this is the pruning process). but white matter (axons and connectivity) continues to grow into one's 40's

white brain matter

myleinated

radiation

radiation exposure causes significant deformations

CDC recommends what about women of child bearing age consuming alcohol?

recommends that women do not consume alcohol unless they're on the pill.. bc you could have a 6 week old embryo by the time you find out and a lot of development happens in that time period

teratogens

substances that can disrupt normal prenatal development and cause lifelong deficits (alcohol, drugs) even prescription drugs

fetal stage

the third stage of prenatal development. It begins with the formation of bone cells (abt 8 weeks after conception). All the major organs have begun to form. By 8-12 weeks a heartbeat can be detected. The organs continue to grow and fetus matures (rapidly increasing in size). The fetal stage ends at birth. A lot of development happens during this time and it is very important that the mother is getting the proper nutrients

what happens if a mother is taking a dopamine or antidepressants while carrying a fetus?

these drugs affect the neurotransmitters, so they may also affect the fetus. And affect their development. Bc infants usually don't have a dopamine deficiency even if the mom does, so when the extra dopamine gets to the fetus- they're getting more than they need. this is referred to as a teratogen

what can a 2-4 month old baby do?

they can do a half push up. push up on their arms and push their chest up

what can a 5 month old baby do?

they can sit without support.

LACK OF CONSERVATION

they don't have the ability to see that when some properties change that the other properties remain the same. EX- shape of an object may change, but its volume remains unchanged. (assuming the taller glass of water has more water even though the other one is wider and they actually contain the same amount of water).. They assume the bigger one is more

known teratogens

viruses (ex: german measles (rubella) , and influenza), alcohol, nicotine, some prescription drugs (ex: antidepressants), radiation if you have these while you're pregnant, it increases the risk of deafness, and possibly result in a stillbirth

taste and smell

taste and odor related chemicals from the mother's diet are found in the amniotic fluid. the fetuses are going to be experiecning these odor and taste related chemicals ex: anise flavored foods preferred in infants with prior exposure (Schaal et al) at 13 to 15 weeks after conception, taste buds of a fetus are similar to that of an adult's.

temperament

temperament may be determined before birth. Temperament is the biologically based tendency to behave in particular ways from early in life. (difficult or fussy children often have mothers who were stressed, depressed, or anxious during the pregnancy) ex: if the mother is very calm during pregnancy, the baby may have a very calm temperament. So, *temperament and sensitivity to stress are influenced by genes and maternal experiences.*

Gibson and Walk (1960) visual cliff experiment

tested DEPTH PERCEPTION in babies who had learned to crawl. babies stopped crawling when they reached the visual cliff. this means that by the time a child is able to crawl, they have also developed depth perception.

what happens if a mother is to get german measles while carrying a fetus?

the exposure to the german measles often leads to deafness because it interferes with the development of the connections in the ear

brain development

the first major organ to develop. It grows rapidly. The brain starts out as a long tube of neural cells Neural migration- months 3-5 of pregnancy. the neurons move to their "more permanent destination". (ex: sensory neurons need to be connected to limbs, spinal neurons, brain neurons) Factors that interfere with normal neural migration increase the risk of psychological disorders or a neurological defect. Exposures to toxins or viruses (german measles, Zika, ...) is one of the more common interferences.

vision

vision is the least well developed sense at birth fetuses don't open their eyes in utero. normal visual system development requires specific stimuli. newborns don't see clearly unless objects are close to their face in utero, fetuses do respond to presence or absence of light. they can notice bright lights

sensory development

the major sensory systems develop at different times and at different rates. hearing, taste, sense of smell- all of these develop pretty fully while in the womb vision is the least developed

How old are babies when they begin to use objects for support to pick themselves up?

6 months

sensorimotor phase

0-2 yrs. sensation and motor development happening. infants are learning about their world through their senses and their own movements. they grab at things, they chew things... this is them using their senses to try to understand the world. Infants understand the world through sensing and manipulating objects. THEY WILL ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE THROUGH THEIR SENSES during the first 8 or 9 months infants have no concept of "object permanence". results in the development of the following core cognitive capacities: knowledge is acquired through senses

How old are babies when they are able to stand by themselves easily?

10 months

How old are babies when they are able to walk alone easily?

11-14 months

preoperational phase

2-5 yrs. the emergence of symbolic thought. Symbolic thinking involves using symbols, such as words or letters to represent ideas or objects. ex: saying "ba-ba" if they want their bottle... whereas, prior to that they would have had to point

embryonic stage

The second stage of prenatal development. it is marked by the formation of the major organs (including the nervous system, heart, eyes and ears, arms, legs, teeth, palate, and external genitalia). This stage of development lasts up until about 8 weeks after conception. THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IS DEVELOPING. if you don't have the proper nutrition (iron, vitamin B, folate) during this time- problems may occur FROM ABOUT 3-8 WEEKS you start off as a neural tube and if you don't get enough folate and vitamin B-12 you can have problems with the tube (ex: it may not close properly and the baby ends up with spinal bifida) WEEK 4- arm and leg buds form WEEK 5- brain is starting to form WEEK 6- ear begins forming, palate forming WEEKS 8-9- external genitalia begins forming and you can sometimes tell the sex of the child at this time DURING THIS PHASE, pretty much all of the organs are developing and if anything goes wrong it can result in a structural abnormality. LASTS UNTIL ABOUT 8 WEEKS AFTER CONCEPTION

FASD fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

a result of exposure to alcohol via maternal consumption. Results in damage to the developing nervous system and brain... and often result in mental retardation, low birth weight (failure to thrive), physical abnormalities of the face head heart and joints (birth defects), behavioral problems (most common... the reason that this is not just nature-nurture is bc their frontal lobe is not fully developed. the frontal lobe is what allows us to control our behavior). the development of the brain is not as well defined, they don't have as large of a cerebral mass, the hemispheres aren't symmetric, they don't have as many folds of brain matter (less neurons... meaning the alcohol killed off neurons... meaning the child will have difficulty with behavior)

PROPERATIONAL STAGE

cognitive limitations of the preoperational stage include: animistic thinking, egocentricism, lack of conservation. Occurs from 2-5 years of age. Results in the development of the following core cognitive capacities: -verbal and egocentric thinking develop -can do mentally what once could only do physically -but not conservation yet (conservation of shape, number, and liquid)

prenatal development

development happening in the womb

maternal nutrition

malnourishment is associated with some psychological illnesses (schizophrenia) mother's diets high in FOLIC ACID and VITAMIN B12 may protect their infants against obesity folic acid and vitamin B12 are also very important for neurological development diets high in fats are associated with obesity.

hearing

neurons connecting the ear to the brain are complete by 18 weeks. If you were to have german measles just before this period, the baby may end up deaf. fetus responds to sound by 26 weeks. (fetuses prefer mother's voice bc they get used to hearing it) sounds that are heard in the womb can be remembered for at least 4 months after birth (ex: able recognize songs) hearing is basically fully developed once the baby is born, the only thing they need to learn is how to localize sound

are new neurons being formed after birth? what does this have to do with learning and experience?

new neurons are forming even after birth. the brain is still developing neural connections and new synapses. as we age, some of the synapses die off and some of the neurons that aren't used often die off. Learning and experience strengthen synaptic connections. ex: learning a language early is more efficient

vision

newborns have 20-600 vision (can't see anything unless it's right in front of their nose). Visual acuity improves during infancy. by 6 months acuity is usually about 20-100. newborns don't see color well, but do see black and white edges and patterns. Color vision develops during the first months of life.

nicotine exposure

nicotine exposure from maternal smoking or use of nicotine interferes with the supply of oxygen to the fetus resulting in: premature birth, low birth weight (associated with failure to thrive), increased risk of still-birth.

concrete operational phase

occurs from 6-11 years of age. Results in the development of the following core cognitive capacities: -conservation of shape, number, and liquid are now possible -logic and reasoning develop, but are limited to appearance and what are concretely observed -master "reversing"- the ability to reverse events as a mental operation (before that happened, this must have happened...) -logic is concrete- only for objects the child directly observes -able to understand conservation -that the shape of an object may change but other properties such as volume remain unchanged -still unable to perform abstract reasoning (they CAN apply logic, but can't understand things like algebra)

pruning can also result in some neurological disorders

results in promotion of more efficitent pathways. problems with pruning may result in neurological disorders like autism or scizophrenia

baby reflex responses

some motor movements are reflexive responses to stimuli: GRASPING (newborns will grasp your finger with their hand). ROOTING (brush their cheek and they will turn head and open mouth to nurse). These are involuntary responses present at birth.

what can a baby do between 5-9 and a half months?

stand with support.

germinal stage

starts with the ovum leaving the ovary and meeting the sperm and traveling down to the Fallopian tube until it embeds in the uterine wall and a baby starts to form. begins at conception & lasts for approximately two weeks. An ovum is fertilized and the single cell that develops is called the ZYGOTE. The zygote then travels down the fallopian tube and implants in the uterine wall and then hormonal changes occur which begin the pregnancy symptoms. FROM CONCEPTION- 2 WEEKS (a lot of the fertilized ovum don't actually implant and result in a pregnancy)

object permanence

the ability to realize that objects still exist when they aren't being sensed. Around 9 months, children will move a cloth to uncover a hidden object as they are beginning to understand that objects continue to exist even when not directly sensed. baillargeon's experiment proved that object permanence may be occurring earlier that Piaget thought.. (toy mouse on railroad tracks... surprised)

ANIMISTIC THINKING

the belief that inanimate objects are alive... ex: ask "is the sun alive?" answer: "yes, when one walks, it follows" it influences their understanding of the world (so you obviously wouldn't be able to talk about scientific principles with them)

pruning

the degradation of synapses and dying-off of neurons that aren't strengthened by experience. Learning and experience strengthen synaptic connections. Synaptic connections which are infrequently activated are weakened or "pruned" results in promotion of more efficient pathways. problems with pruning may result in neurological disorders like autism or scizophrenia

prenatal programming

the process by which events in the womb can alter the development of physical and psychological health stress to the mother, poor nutrition to the mother, medications, drug abuse, smoking- all of these impact the fetus. the concern is that there are things that interrupt prenatal development (TERATOGENS)

why does it matter if a child cannot sit without support at 5 months, or stand at 10 months, etc?

your doctor will think they have a developmental problem