PSY 350 Final (Total Lecture Notes)

Interpretive

According to Galinsky, the stage of parenthood involving helping children understand the world.

Image making

According to Galinsky, the stage of parenthood involving preparation (e.g., designing an nursery, planning for childcare)

Authority

According to Galinsky, the stage of parenthood involving rule setting.

postconventional morality

According to Kohlberg, the morality level during adulthood. Includes stage 5 (social contract and individual rights) and stage 6 (universal ethics).

conventional morality

According to Kohlberg, the morality level during late adolescence. Includes stage 3 (relationships) and stage 4 (social system).

preconventional morality

According to Kohlberg, the morality level during middle child. Includes stage 1 (Heteronomous) and stage 2 (Individualism).

Identity diffusion (role confusion)

According to Marcia, a situation in which an adolescent does not seem to know or care what his or her identity is.

Moratorium

According to Marcia, a socially acceptable way to postpone making identity-achievement decisions.

Foreclosure

According to Marcia, premature identity formation, which occurs when an adolescent adopts parents' or society's roles and values wholesale, without questioning or analysis.

circular reactions

According to Piaget, habits, or action-oriented schemas, the child repeats again and again. Primary, secondary, and tertiary

Metacognition

An additional cognitive development during childhood. "Thinking about thinking"; the ability to evaluate a cognitive task in order to determine how to best accomplish it, and then to monitor and adjust one's performance on that task. Important in school.

continuing education (late adulthood)

An activity in late adulthood. 1/5 of older adults pursue educational activities.

religious activities (late adulthood)

An activity in late adulthood. Attend fewer services, but increase in other practices.

Metamemory

An additional cognitive development during childhood. The ability to understand how memory works in order to use it well. This is an essential element of metacognition.

Executive functions

An additional cognitive development. These encompass skills like rehearsal, selective attention, and inhibition ability.

Information Processing Approaches to Child Cognition

An approach to child cognition that involves sensory stores, working memory and long-term memory.

Calling a truce

An approach to teaching reading. Phonics approaches help children get a good start; whole-language approaches help advance reading comprehension.

Parental monitoring

An aspect of an adolescent's relationship with their parents. Has mixed outcomes. If done for control, creates better liars. If done out of interest and safety, this is better.

Bickering

An aspect of an adolescent's relationship with their parents. Petty, peevish arguing, usually repeated and ongoing.

Body image changes

An element of physical development in adolescence. Girls worry about being too fat or too tall. Boys worry about not being muscular enough.

Growth spurt

An element of physical development in adolescence. Male-type bodies usually later than female type bodies.

Expectations for maturity

An important dimension in Baumrind's parenting styles. Parents vary the standards they set for their children regarding responsibility and self-control.

Expressions of warmth

An important dimension in Baumrind's parenting styles. Ranges from very affectionate to cold and critical.

Communication

An important dimension in Baumrind's parenting styles. Some parents listen patiently to their children and engage in back and forth discussion; others demand silence.

Strategies for discipline

An important dimension in Baumrind's parenting styles. Variation in whether and how parents explain, criticize, persuade, ignore, and punish.

Reactive aggression

An impulsive retaliation for another person's intentional or accidental action, verbal or physical (direct).

non-shared experiences

An influence of developmental context of families. Different experiences of siblings in the same family (even twins).

Shared experiences

An influence of developmental context of families. Siblings may share family experience.

Teenage parenthood

Associated with difficult economic circumstances, personal challenges in the U.S. High rates of school drop-out, low economic achievement. Deal with own development while caring for baby. If married, high rates of problems and divorce. Difficult pregnancies, problems at birth. Parent is stressed, frustrated, economically challenged, and inexperienced.

Parenting styles

Diana Baumrind believed parents differ on 4 important dimensions: expressions of warmth, strategies for discipline, communication, and expectations for maturity.

Industry vs. Inferiority

Erikson's psychosocial stage around school children age. Industrious children actively master culturally valued skills and abilities (e.g., reading, math, collecting, categorizing). Children work on regulating their temper internally, using effortful control.

Trust vs. Mistrust

Erikson's psychosocial stage during the first year of life. Infants learn basic trust and the world is a secure place when their basic needs are met. Feeding and comforting behaviors are key to development of trust. Infants develop trust when they expect their basic needs will be met. Babies cried less at the end of one year when caregivers consistently responded.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Erikson's psychosocial stage during the second year of life. Toddlers either succeed or fail in gaining a sense of self-rule over their actions and their bodies. Early problems can create an adult who is suspicious and pessimistic (mistrusting) or who is easily shamed (insufficient autonomy). Balance between early learning about moral behavior with exploration.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Erikson's psychosocial task that occurs during middle-adulthood.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Erikson's psychosocial task that occurs during young adulthood

intimacy vs. isolation

Erikson's stage during emerging adulthood that emphasizes that humans are social creatures. Intimacy progresses from attraction to close connection to ongoing commitment. Marriage and parenthood are only two of several paths to intimacy.

Identity achievement

Erikson's term for the attainment of identity, or the point at which a person understands who he or she is a unique individual, in accord with past experiences and future plans.

Grandparents (or other family members as caregivers)

Especially important for single parent families. Offer more approval and sympathy, but less discipline.

Rite of passage

Event marking entrance to adulthood. In the U.S., characterized by age-segregation/marginal group, economic dependence and pressure, mass media pressure, instability, uncertainty, and challenge.

child neglect

Failure to meet a child's basic physical, educational, or emotional needs (most common form of maltreatment).

Developmental research methods

Descriptive methods, studies using time, correlational studies, experimental designs. All based in the scientific method.

Self-concept

Developed during childhood due to social comparison. Helps gain realistic understanding of one's own strength; less extreme overconfidence. Inhibition rises from 18 months - 9 years. Materialism rises across middle childhood (valuing thing peers value).

Amniotic sac and fluid

Developed during the embryonic stage. Source of oxygen and crucial for protection.

Descriptive methods

Developmental research methods including case studies, questionnaires/surveys/interviews, psychological tests, and systematic observation.

Observational methods

Developmental research methods that involve scientific observation. Requires a researcher to record behavior systematically and objectively. This may be done in a naturalistic setting, such as a home, school or other public place, or in a laboratory.

Transition to parenthood

First child changes direction of family life irrevocably. Fathers and mothers may display different reactions to their children. Social support, marital happiness, and parental self-esteem are factors in a couple's adjustments. Do not have a baby to "save" a marriage.

romantic relationships in adolescence

First romances usually appear in highschool. Heterosexual girls claim a steady partner more often than heterosexual boys do. Breakups, unreciprocated crushes are common. Teens crushed by rejection, may contemplate revenge or suicide. LGBTQ teens may experience cultural or family rejection.

expert knowledge system (in adulthood)

Focuses on important, broad issues. Requires superior levels of knowledge, judgement, and ability to advise. Based on depth and breadth of knowledge: peak of human cognitive achievement. Wisdom combines mind and virtue for personal and broader benefit. Wisdom is equally recognized by most people.

Piaget's sensorimotor period

From birth to age 2. The baby manipulates objects to pin down the basics of physical reality, learning about the world through senses and bodies. This stage ends with the development of language. Adaptation to the environment and adjustment of schemas by assimilation and accommodation. Development of object permanence.

Plasticity

Functions can be reassigned to other brain areas.

Gender differences in friendships

Girls talk more and share secrets. Boys play more active games.

Cognitive output (late adulthood)

Gradual decline in output of primary mental abilities (e.g., verbal meaning, spatial orientation, inductive reasoning, number ability, word fluency) is normal. Health is a better predictor than age. terminal decline: faster loss of cognitive ability in last 12-24 months of life.

Alzheimer Disease

Gradual deterioration of memory and personality, marked by plagues of beta-amyloid protein and tangles of tau protein.

Intimacy

In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, knowing someone well, sharing secrets as well as sex.

Companionate Love

In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, love that involves commitment and intimacy, but not passion.

Romantic love

In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, love that involves intimacy and passion, but not commitment.

Fatuous love

In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, love that involves passion and commitment, but not intimacy.

Consummate love

In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, love that involves passion, commitment, and intimacy.

Passion

In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, the intense physical, cognitive, and emotional onslaught characterized by excitement, ecstasy, and euphoria.

working model

In cognitive theory, a set of assumptions that the individual uses to organize perceptions and experiences.

Relationships with younger generations (late adulthood)

In past centuries, most adults died before their grandchildren were born, but today, some families span 5 generations.

Aging sense

Senescence is pervasive and inevitable. Obvious in appearance (skin gets wrinkled, bodies change shape), and the senses. Only 10% f people over age 65 see well without glasses. taste, smell, touch, and hearing are also impaired. Technology can compensate for much sensory loss.

sensitive periods

Periods in the developmental sequence that are the best time for something to develop.

critical periods

Periods in the developmental sequence when something has to develop, or it never will.

Physical changes during childhood

Physical growth comes in spurts (3 inches, 4 lbs per year). Bodies become longer, more slender, and less top-heavy. Ossification occurs (bones harden). Child gains better control of large and small muscle groups through practice (best way to practice = play!)

Preoperational thought

Piaget's stage of cognition during early childhood. Builds on schemas developed in sensorimotor stage. Lasts from age 2-7. Builds on symbolic representation abilities. Uses language to leave sensorimotor exploration. Shows typical limitations on understanding the world, children are unable to step back from their immediate perceptions.

Concrete operational thought

Piaget's stage of cognition during middle childhood. Defined by the ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions. Characterized by classification, transitive inference, seriation, and a reduction in egocentrism

object permanence

Piaget's term for the ability to have a mental conception of an object when it is not present. Involves the understanding of impossible events (ie. peek-a-boo). Current cognitive science suggests this skill comes online between 4 and 7 months.

Moral realism

Piaget's term for the stage of moral development where all rules must be obeyed.

Moral relativism

Piaget's term for the stage of moral development where rules can be changed, depending on intentions.

Active play

Play that mimics aggression through wrestling, chasing, or hitting, but in which there is no intent to harm. Expressions and gestures signifying that the child is "just pretending." Particularly common among young males. Ample space, distant adults, and presence of friends increases likelihood. Advances children's social understanding but increases likelihood of injury. May positively affect prefrontal cortex development.

Parkinson's Disease Dementia

Possible consequence of the neurological disorder.

Testing sensation and perception

Preferential looking paradigm and habituation/dishabituation paradigm

adult attachment styles

Preoccupied/ambivalent, avoidant/dismissive, secure

Morality

Sense of what is right and wrong and of fairness and justice.

Attachment Types (Ainsworth)

Secure (Type B) Insecure : Resistant (Type C), Avoidant (Type A), and Disorganized/disoriented (Type D)

Social referencing

Seeking information about how to react to an unfamiliar or ambiguous object or event by observing someone else's expressions and reactions. That other person becomes a social reference. Parent use a variety of expressions, vocalizations and gestures to convey social information to their infants.

stagnation

Selfish, focused on our own needs, desires, no further development, rigidity.

Happiness patterns by age (midlife and beyond)

Strongly happier with age. Max happiness in 60's worldwide. Positive moods outweigh negative ones. Emotions more stable with age.

Decision making (in adolescence)

Supported (or not) by brain development, experience.

Whole-language approach

Teaching reading by encouraging early use of all language skills - talking and listening, reading and writing.

phonics approach

Teaching reading by first teaching the sounds of each letter and of various letter combinations.

selection

Teenagers select friends whose values and interests they share, abandoning friends who follow other paths. This is an active process.

Childhood Cognition - Vygotsky

This theorist put emphasis on social learning, and its accompanying ideas of apprentice in thinking, zone of proximal development and scaffolding.

fluid intelligence

Those types of basic intelligence that make learning of all sorts quick and thorough. Abilities such as working memory, abstract thought, and speed of thinking are all usually considered part of this.

crystallized intelligence

Those types of intellectual ability that reflect accumulated learning. Vocabulary and general information are examples (heavily influenced by culture).

Puberty

Time between hormonal onset and full adult fertility. Usually takes around 3-5 years, but there is significant range. Psychosocial maturity lags behind physical.

(Other) sensory and perceptual development of infants

Touch, taste and smell fully operational at birth. Discriminate among sweet, sour, and bitter at birth (salty by the end of 4 months). Distinguish the smell of their mothers by 4 months, perhaps as easy as the 1st week. Touch well developed, even in newborns, even in newborns, thus they also feel pain. Gradual integration of sensory perception skills across domains (can match a film soundtrack by 4-6 months). Sensory integration refined over time; problems with sensory integration linked to long-lasting neurological problems, need early intervention.

Critiques of Baumrind's Model

-Original sample had little economic, ethnic, or cultural diversity -What "counts" as successful parenting changes across time and place -Focused more on attitudes than on daily interactions, possible disagreements between parents or across situations -Parenting involves more than providing love and discipline (e.g., scaffold learning, coaching children about relationships)

Critiques of Kohlberg

-Attitudes not always tied to behavior -Culturally biased -Gender differences: Gilligan's care perspective -Difficulty scoring: is the measurement approach valid? -Overlooked role of families, especially those practicing inductive reasoning

Causes of maltreatment

-Parents suffering from psychological disorders and/or lack of understanding of normative development (hold unrealistic expectations of children) -Stress and isolation (parents don't have support) -Child's vulnerabilities: difficult temperament, colic, challenging, premature, insecure attachment, aggression

Impact of drug use

-Progressive and the first use usually occurs as part of a social gathering. -Possible addiction -Occasional drug use excites limbic system and interferes with prefrontal cortex -> drug users are more emotional, less reflective (dual-processing). -Long term damage to growth, nutrition, memory and self-control centers.

Relationships with parents during adolescence

-Push for autonomy and new closeness -Conflict: peaks in early adolescence; sign of attachment -bickering -parental monitoring

Problems for development in classrooms

-School erodes intrinsic motivation by providing external reinforcement (e.g., praise, good grades, food treats, stickers). -School lessons do not tap into a child's creativity (lessons often rote and boring). -Students do not set their own learning goals -Performance measured by fixed standard (grades)

Consequences of sexual behavior

-Sexually transmitted diseases: about 20% of sexually active teens have an STD. Potential long-term, permanent impact on female fertility. -Teenage pregnancy: about 81% of teens (both male and female) used contraception the first time they had sex. Rates of teen pregnancy have fallen 30-40% since peak in 1990: now about 8% overall (of all pregnancies in the U.S.)

Habituation

A basic environmental process. Becoming used to an experience, able to filter it out.

Conditioning

A basic environmental process. Behavior modification - learning through these techniques.

Social learning

A basic environmental process. Direct learning or modeling influenced by culture or families. Transition of understanding what is normal.

Spermarche

A boy's first ejaculation of sperm, signaling sperm production. Making a woman pregnant is biologically possible.

Reduction in egocentrism

A characteristic of concrete operational thought. A child is less bound by their own preferences or assumptions, and can apply logic to others. Allows for the possibility of lying.

Transitive inference

A characteristic of concrete operational thought. The ability to figure out the unspoken link between one fact and another.

Seriation

A characteristic of concrete operational thought. The idea that things can be arranged in a series. Crucial for understanding the number sequence.

Classification

A characteristic of concrete operational thought. The logical principle that things can be organized into groups (or categories/classes) according to some characteristic they have in common.

appreciation of multiple perspectives

A characteristic of post-formal operational thought associated with a decline in egocentrism and solving problems better with others.

dialectical thinking

A characteristic of post-formal operational thought. Allows a person to create synthesis.

cognitive flexibility

A characteristic of post-formal operational thought. Allows a person to overcome stereotypes, change mind.

Centration

A characteristic of preoperational thought. Focusing on one idea, excluding all others.

Lack of conservation

A characteristic of preoperational thought. Lacking understanding of the principle that the amount of a substance remains the same when its appearance changes.

Identity constancy

A characteristic of preoperational thought. The belief that appearance changes = actual changes. Can threaten attachment.

Egocentrism

A characteristic of preoperational thought. Young children's tendency to think about the world entirely from their own perspective.

Personal fable

A characterization of Elkind's adolescent egocentrism. The belief that his or her thoughts, feelings, or experiences are unique, more wonderful or awful than anyone else's.

Invincibility fable

A characterization of Elkind's adolescent egocentrism. The egocentric conviction that he or she cannot be harmed by anything that might defeat a normal mortal (e.g., unprotected sex, drug abuse, skydiving).

Imaginary audience

A characterization of Elkind's adolescent egocentrism. The feeling that everyone is watching and judging, always on center stage.

Secure attachment

A child who exhibits this type of attachment will use the parent a secure base, explore, protest when left alone, have a happy reunion, and will then resume play.

Identity

A consistent definition of one's self as a unique individual, in terms of races, attitudes, beliefs, and aspirations.

Synchrony

A coordinated, rapid, and smooth exchange of responses between a caregiver and an infant. In the first few months: becomes more frequent and more elaborate, helps infants learn to read others' emotions and to develop the skills of social interaction. Usually begins with parents imitating infants. The importance of this can be seen in the still-face experiment.

Seattle Longitudinal Study

A cross-sequential study of adult cognition that showed an overall downward trendline in intellectual and cognitive performance. The most decrease was found in perceptual speed. Numerical ability had a large drop-off after 60. Verbal ability was fairly preserved. No one in the data set had dementia.

Theory of mind

A crucial part of social cognition during childhood. A person's theory of what other people might be thinking. Can influence the ability to lie. Demonstrated by false belief tasks (M and M's in crayon box ex.) and instruction tasks (Going for green game ex.).

Cross-sectional research

A developmental research design in which groups of people of one age are compared with people of another age.

Longitudinal research

A developmental research design that involves collecting data repeatedly on the same individuals as they age.

Cross-sequential research

A developmental research design that studies several groups of people of different ages (cross-sectional) and follows them over the years (longitudinal).

Correlational studies

A developmental research method that is a special type of descriptive methods. Describes the relationship between two variable, if it measures the variables well. CANNOT describe cause and effect.

the social clock

A developmental timetable based on social norms. Set behaviors considered appropriate for different life stages. Some ages are legislated, some are optional (e.g., you don't HAVE to get married). Social norms change over time (e.g., marriage used to be common at a younger age than today). Social norms are culturally variable.

Blastula

A fluid-filled ball of undifferentiated cells formed after the fertilized egg has undergone several rounds of cell division.

Baby/Toddler sign language

A form of non-verbal language production. Physical development works to support speech that is slower than coordination of hands. Can be ASL based or not. Does not delay spoken language production.

time-out

A form of punishment. A disciplinary technique in which a child is separated from other people and activities for a specified time.

Power assertion

A form of punishment. A disciplinary technique that involves threatening to withdraw love and support and that relies on a child's feelings of guilt and gratitude to the parents.

Menarche

A girl's first menstrual period, signaling that she has begun ovulation. Becoming pregnant is biologically possible.

Involved

A grandparenthood style in which the grandparents are active in grandchildren's day-to-day lives.

Remote

A grandparenthood style in which the grandparents are emotionally distant from grandchildren.

Companionate

A grandparenthood style in which the grandparents entertain and "spoil" grandchildren.

Surrogate

A grandparenthood style in which the grandparents raise their grandchildren.

Strange situation

A laboratory procedure for measuring attachment by evoking infants' reactions to the stress of various adults' comings and goings in an unfamiliar playroom. Key behaviors to observe: Exploration of toys - a secure toddler plays happily Reaction to the caregiver's departure - a secure toddler misses the caregiver Reaction to the caregiver's return - a secure toddler welcomes the caregiver's reappearance

Achievement test

A measure of mastery or proficiency in reading, mathematics, writing, science or some other subject.

Information Processing Theory

A perspective of cognition modeled on computer functioning. These theorists believe that a step-by-step description of the mechanisms of thought adds insight to our understanding of cognition at every age. Research in this theory has contradicted the timing of some Piagetian milestones.

Teratogens

A prenatal environmental influence. Any substance that crosses the placenta to harm the fetus. May be an infectious disease; a medication; a recreational drug; an environmental hazard, such as radiation or pollution, or the hormones produced by a pregnant woman who is under extreme stress.

maternal age

A prenatal environmental influence. Teens and those over 35 are at higher risk, compared to mothers in their 20s.

cliques

A small cluster of friends (6ish). Unisex, then mixed sex.

Developmental Theory

A systematic statement of principles and generalizations that provides a framework for understanding how/why people change as the grow older.

IQ test (intelligence quotient)

A test designed to measure intellectual aptitude, or ability to learn in school. Originally defined as mental age divided by chronological age X 100

Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory

A theory focusing on how a child's development is influenced by their surrounding environment. The theory features 5 different levels of influence: 1) the child 2) immediate family 3) kinship and informal networks 4) local environment, formal networks and services 5) broader economic policy, social and wider environment

Attachment Theory (Bowlby)

A theory of human development centering on the crucial importance to our species' survival of being closely connected with a caregiver during early childhood and being attached to a significant other during all of life.

Social learning (Bandura)

A theory of human development that emphasizes that people learn by watching others and that our thoughts about the reinforcers determine our behavior. Also referred to as cognitive behaviorism, these theorists focus on charting and modifying people's thoughts. Also emphasizes the importance of self-efficacy.

Ecological, developmental systems approach (Bronfenbrenner)

A theory of human development that stresses the need to embrace a variety of approaches, and emphasizes the reality that many influences affect development.

Cognitive developmental theory (Piaget)

A theory of human development that suggest that from infancy to adolescence, children progress through four qualitatively different stages of intellectual growth (thinking about the world in completely different ways). Also suggests that at every life stage human beings share a hunger to learn and mentally grow, and they will do so through assimilation and accommodation.

Psychoanalytic Theory (Erikson)

A theory of human development that suggests that our basic motivations center on becoming an independent self and relating to others (psychosocial). Development occurs throughout life. Focuses on psychosocial tasks.

Social convoy theory

A theory of intimacy that suggests that collectively, family members, friends, and acquaintances move through life with an individual.

Social impulse toward communication

A theory of language. Infants communicate in every way they can because humans are social beings, dependent on one another for survival, well-being and joy.

Language is learned

A theory of language. Infants need to be taught. Spontaneous babbling is usually enforced. Parents are expert teachers, and other caregivers help them teach children to speak. Frequent repetition of words is instructive, especially when the words are linked to the pleasures of daily life. Well-taught infants become well-spoken adults.

Language is innate

A theory of language. Language acquisition device (LAD): hypothesized mental structure that enables humans to learn language, including basic grammar, vocab and intonation. Emphasized by the unique use of syntax and vocab. Deaf babies babble at the same time hearing babies do.

Disorganized/disoriented attachment

A type of insecure attachment in which the child shows confusion, fear or disorientation.

Resistant attachment

A type of insecure attachment in which their is little to no secure base behavior, clinging, but also push away at reunion.

Avoidant attachment

A type of insecure attachment in which there is little interaction before or after separation, no protest when the child is left alone, and little reunion behavior

original sin

A view of development around Puritan times. Babies are born with the capacity for ________________, and are believed to have potential for uncontrollable danger that must be punished.

tabula rasa

A view of development during the European Enlightenment. Babies are born ________________. They have infinite potential but start with nothing.

Irrationality

A way emerging adults can attempt to find love. Picking people who aren't good for us, or picking someone similar to us who we see as better than they are (if this is honest and authentic, could lead to a good relationship).

departure

According to Galinsky, the stage of parenthood evaluating what has my parenting been? What's next?

Nurturing

According to Galinsky, the stage of parenthood involving comparing the actual to the imagined, and adjusting.

Interdependence

According to Galinsky, the stage of parenthood involving forming a new relationship with your "almost adult"

Antisocial behavior

Actions that are deliberately hurtful or destructive to another person. Related to antipathy (dislike). Declines beginning at age 2.

Prosocial behavior

Actions that are helpful and kind but that are of no obvious benefit to the person doing them. Builds on empathy and sympathy (increases from age 3-6).

Auditory perception of infants

Acuity of hearing improves - at 6 months have well developed _______________. Can localize the sources of sounds even within the first days of life, but localization improves over 6 months. Especially attentive to human speech, preferring their mother's voice compared to strangers.

Social regulation

Adhering to customs/conventions about social interactions.

still-face experiment

Adult keeps face unmoving, and expressionless in face-to-face interaction with an infant. The infant shows distress in response, shows the importance of synchrony.

Intimacy and generativity with committed partners (during adulthood)

Adults seek committed sexual partnerships to help meet needs for intimacy, raise children, share resources, provide care when needed. Married people are a little happier, healthier and richer than never-married ones, but not by much.

Discipline based in authoritative concepts

Age appropriate communication (understand theory of mind, Piagetian limitations of thinking), clear communication of boundaries or expectations, redirection/distraction rather than punishment, offering choices when possible to help build autonomy, follow through (meaningful consequences).

Brain usage (Late Adulthood)

Age differences in areas used to solve problems.

Usual cognitive aging

Age related difficulty in sensory detection. Memory storage impaired by anxiety, differential changes. Working memory slows, more difficulty with multitasking (helped with more time to solve problems). Semantic memory remains strong. Age related decline in episodic memory. Control processes lose efficiency, more difficult to regulate and analyze streams of information.

Dementia types

Alzheimer Disease, vascular dementia, frontal lobe dementia, Parkinson's disease dementia.

Work and volunteerism (late adulthood)

An activity in late adulthood that is variable (based on personal interest and past experience), and related to health (dependent on physical and cognitive abilities.

Behaviorism and Infancy/Toddlerhood

Bandura's view that parents mold an infant's emotions and personality through reinforcement and punishment. Involves social learning.

Goleman

Believed the idea of emotional intelligence.

Gardener

Believed there are 9 types of intelligence.

Sternberg

Believed there were three types of intelligence: academic, creative, and practical.

Executive functioning (in adolescence)

Better strategies for memory, planning, reasoning. Integrated cognitive functioning.

Visual perception of infants

Born with blurry vision, improves over first month. Focusing ability develops by 3-4 months, including binocular vision. Improved ability to discriminate between colors by 6 months. Engage in selective visual attention, especially drawn to pictures of their mothers, other human faces. Develop depth perception by about 6 months (visual cliff paradigm)

Sexuality

Both adults and teens hold variable opinions about what is acceptable. Wide recognition that many teens will be sexually active before marriage (~28% of 15-17 yr olds; ~58% of 18 yr olds). Ideas about _________ must be integrated into adolescent self-concept (gender double standards?). Adolescents experience competing perspectives about role of sexuality in their lives (few differences by sexual orientation).

Cognition in late adulthood

Brain slowing, brain usage and brain shrinkage

Gilligan's care perspective

Calls gender differences in Kohlberg's Moral Development ideas into question. Why is caring for others a type of moral reasoning the is less sophisticated? Would women say something different?

Non-normative chromosome development

Can lead to down syndrome: cell division error resulting an extra chromosome, Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis, or hemophilia.

Caregiving as generativity

Caring for a spouse's physical and psychological needs.

Prenatal Growth Sequences/Principles

Cephalocaudal, Proximodistal, and mass-to-specific.

Chromosomes

Chains of genes formed from DNA during cell division. Human cells have 46 or 23 pairs (22 of which are autosomes, and 1 pair of sex _______________.

Cognitive Development of Toddlers

Children begin to imitate complex behavior by 6 or 7 months. By 11-12 months, children can begin to engage in symbolic representation - thinking about something not present; pretending. At 18 months Piaget showed children could engage in deferred imitation.

Secondary circular reactions (stages 3 & 4)

Circular reactions that focus on making interesting events last, and repeating them. New adaptation and anticipation, goal directed.

Primary circular reactions (stages 1 & 2)

Circular reactions that focus on reflexes/coordination of reflexes and first acquired adaptations (ex: nursing).

Tertiary circular reactions (stages 5 & 6)

Circular reactions where the ideas of the "little scientist" step up (trial and error). Involves mental combinations and deferred imitation.

Cognition and employment (in emerging adulthood)

Cognition allows for major advances in learning in a variety of environments (college, on-the-job training, mentorship opportunities). Surveys indicate that young adults have unrealistic (high) expectations of college and later success. Lack of experience leads to mismatch in a variety of ideas: self esteem may take a blow in the face of disappointment; conscientiousness protective against disappointment; gendered expectations about work and family life.

child abuse

Deliberate action that is harmful to a child's physical, emotional, or sexual well-being.

Keys to successful relationships

Commitment, communication, realistic understanding of natural "ups and downs", not abusing or controlling a partner.

Divorce (adulthood)

Communication problems are the most cited reason for this. Most people considering this weigh the costs vs. the benefits (finances, children). Separation can cause an overload of changes: Positive: relief, possible new growth Negative: financial stress, disengagement While other problems can exist, an extra-marital affair may push couples toward this.

Receptive language

Comprehending what the speaker is saying.

cognition in adulthood

Continued expansion of post-formal cognition and expert knowledge system involving excellent judgment about critical, practical life issues.

Brain development of an infant/toddler

Contributes to the fastest 2 year period of learning. Consists of proliferation and pruning, myelination, lateralization and characterized by plasticity.

generativity

Contributing in worthwhile ways to others and community. Creativity, caregiving (i.e., raising children, spousal care, aging parents), work/achievement. Important link between ____________ and meaningful transition to mid-life and older ages.

Leaving the "nest"

Culturally variable (e.g, leaving home only after getting married). Economically variable even when culturally normative. Can be a "boomerang" process. Highly relevant to continuing or changing identity status first begun in adolescence. Big shift in balance of dependence/independence between young adults and parents. Relationships often strengthen/remain close.

Consequences of maltreatment

Death. Suffering in all domains: physical most obvious, but has consequences for cognitive and emotional development. Children learn to consider other people to be hostile and exploitative, and that belief makes them fearful, aggressive, and lonely. Early onset and chronic _____________ leads to worst outcomes.

Benefits of uneven brain development (in adolescence)

Decreased reaction time (myelination), enhanced dopamine activity, synaptic growth enhances moral development and openness to new experiences and ideas, continued plasticity and potential for learning.

andropause

Drop in testosterone levels in men, which may result in a reduction in sexual desire, erections, and muscle mass.

Studies of cognition in adulthood

Early cross-sectional studies showed gradual decline after 18-21 (didn't control for education level). Early longitudinal studies showed increases in vocabulary, comprehension, and knowledge. Cross-sequential studies (Seattle Longitudinal Study) showed different patterns depending on type of skill tested.

Early Childhood Cognition (Piaget)

Emphasis on preoperational thought and it's characteristics: egocentrism, centration, identity constancy, and lack of conservation.

Breastfeeding

Encouraged for an infant's nutrition. Provides a proper blend of nutrients, customized to that child. Is a sterile process (unlike contaminated water mixed into costly formula). Provides better immunity for the child. Culture determines when children are weaned from this process: world-wide range of 2 months - 5 years.

peer pressure

Encouragement to conform to one's friends or contemporaries in behavior, dress, and attitude; usually considered a negative force, as when adolescent peers encourage one another to defy adult authority.

Integrity vs. Despair

Erikson's final psychosocial task that occurs during late adulthood.

Cognitive development of infants

Growth and refinement of the intellectual processes of thinking, learning, perceiving, remembering, and understanding. Infants may be born with the ability to perceive the world in categories. Piaget: infants construct their world through schemas (building associations between things).

Proactive aggression

Hurtful behavior that is intended to get something that another person has and to keep it (direct).

Brain shrinkage (late adulthood)

Hypothalamus (memory) and the prefrontal cortex (planning, inhibiting unwanted responses, and coordinating thoughts) shrink faster than some other brain areas. Slowed by education, good health.

Role confusion (Erikson)

Identity has not settled yet.

Stages of parenthood (Galinsky)

Image making, nurturing, authority, interpretive, interdependence, departure.

mnemonic training

Improved deficits in memory self-efficacy, numerical span, vocabulary, daily activities.

Psychosocial tasks

In Erik Erikson's theory, each challenge that we face as we travel through the eight stages of the lifespan.

Formal Operations

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development associated with hypothesis (scientific) reasoning. In this stage, the adolescent will acquire more knowledge, use abstract thought, complex process, mature use of metacognition, ability to use more efficient, complex storage and retrieval strategies for memory, concern with social, political, and moral issues.

Commitment (Sternberg)

In Sternberg's triangular theory of love, grows gradually through decisions to be together, mutual care giving, kept secrets, shared possessions, forgiveness.

Phenotype

Observable characteristics through which genotype is expressed (or not).

Divorce

In this context, children feel a sense of loss and worry about what will happen to them. Reaction to this depend on: level of hostility, actual amount of change in child's life, long-term commitment and engagement from both parents, and developmental stage (Understand logic? Cause and effect? How egocentric?)

Critical thinking (in adolescence)

Integration, heavily dependent on experience, mature hypothesis testing.

Child maltreatment

Intentional harm to or avoidable endangerment of anyone under 18 years of age.

Emotional Development in Infancy/Toddlerhood

Involves smiling/laughing, anger, sadness, pride and shame, fear, emotional self-regulation, stranger wariness, separation anxiety, and self-awareness.

Dementia

Irreversible loss of intellectual functioning caused by organic brain damage or disease. More common with age. Abnormal and pathological even in oldest-old.

cultivation of expertise

Is selective (domain specific). A person is not more intelligent, but more experienced. Automatic and flexible, relies less on stereotypes. Better strategies, especially for the unexpected.

Social contract and individual rights

Kohlberg's fifth stage of moral development. Person in this stage values principles that transcend the law.

Heteronomous morality

Kohlberg's first stage of moral development. Person in this stage bases their morality on the fear of punishment.

Social systems

Kohlberg's fourth stage of moral development. Person in this stage values justice, laws, and social order.

Individualism

Kohlberg's second stage of moral development. Person in this stage pursues their own interests, and let's others do so also ("golden rule" reasoning).

Universal ethics

Kohlberg's sixth stage of moral development. Person in this stage has a universal understanding of human rights; individual conscience is followed.

Relationships

Kohlberg's third stage of moral development. Person in this stage values trust, caring, and loyalty.

crowds

Larger group who share common interests, not all friends (e.g., jocks).

Attachment

Lasting emotional bond that one person has with another. A bidirectional process. Begin to form in early infancy and influence a person's close relationships throughout life. Based on intersection of cog. and social development through the formation of a "working model" of relationships based on experience with the social world.

Intimacy and Generativity with adult children (during adulthood)

Launching of adolescents and/or emerging adults into adulthood. "Boomerang" vs. "empty nest" patterns. Developing mutually satisfying and reciprocal relationships, involves a reduction in conflict (except for boomerang situations), an increase in mutual appreciation, and cognitive maturity "matching."

Language development

Learning to speak/produce oral language, meaning of words, the rules of language, and reading and writing. Involves both receptive and productive language.

cohabitation

Living with an unrelated person—typically a romantic partner—to whom one is not married. Marriage longevity after ________ depends on reasons for cohabitating and plans for the future.

selective optimization with compensation

Maintain a balance by looking for best way to compensate for physical and cognitive losses, become more proficient in activities hey can already do well.

Frontal lobe dementia

Major personality changes due to the deterioration of frontal lobes, amygdala.

oldest-old

Make up 10% of older people. Older adults (over age 85) who may be increasingly dependent on others, requiring supportive services such as nursing-home care and hospital stays.

old-old

Make up 20% of older people. Older adults (age 75-85) who suffer some physical, mental, or societal deficits.

young-old

Make up 70% of older people. Healthy, vigorous, financially secure older adults (age 60-75) who are well integrated into the lives of their families and communities.

Proliferation

Making connection between neurons and synapses.

Friends in Late Adulthood

Many friendships in late life very long-term; spanning decades. Important buffers against other social losses of aging. Common providers of emotional support, moderate providers of caregiving or financial support.

Prenatal periods

Periods describing what's happening physically in prenatal development. Germinal, embryonic, and fetal

Prenatal environmental influences

Maternal age, paternal age, maternal health and nutrition, prenatal healthcare, teratogens, critical periods, sensitive periods

Drug Use and Abuse

Most adolescents in the U.S. experiment with drug use; say that they could find illegal drugs if they tried. Most U.S. adolescents are not regular drug users and about 20% never use any drugs. Patchwork of state laws about marijuana in particular. Age differences: drug use increases from age 10-25, then decreases. Cohort differences: drug use decreased in the U.S. since 1976. Gender differences: adolescent boys generally use more drugs and more frequently compared to teen girls.

expansion of post-formal operations (in adulthood)

Multiple perspectives (more regular choice than formal cognition). In touch with inner lives as well as pure reason (integration of emotional and cognitive processing). Question-driven as opposed to solution/task orientation.

Physical punishment (Spanking)

No evidence that this is associated with any element of improvement in child behavior, but is associated with increased aggression, increased antisocial behavior, later mental health problems. Other outcomes: attachment, parent-child communication, power dynamic.

Secondary sex characteristics

Non-reproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair. Focused more on appearance.

relational aggression

Nonphysical acts, such as insults or social rejection, aimed at harming the social connection between the victim and other people (indirect/devious). Boys are just likely to use this type of aggression as girls.

Filial responsibility

Obligation of adult children to care for their aging parents. Major goal among adults in the U.S. is to be self-sufficient

Spouses and Partners (late adulthood)

Older ____________ accept each other's frailties, assisting with partner's physical and psychological needs. Couples must adjust to retirement. Survivor must adjust to widowhood (which has gender differences)

Neuroticism

One of the "Big Five" personality characteristics in adulthood. Anxious, hostile, self-punishing, critical, possible mental instability.

Openness

One of the "Big Five" personality characteristics in adulthood. Imaginative, curious, creative, open to new experiences.

Agreeableness

One of the "Big Five" personality characteristics in adulthood. Kind, helpful, empathy, generous.

Conscientiousness

One of the "Big Five" personality characteristics in adulthood. Organized, deliberate, conforming, self-disciplined, reliable.

Extroversion

One of the "Big Five" personality characteristics in adulthood. Outgoing, assertive, active, warm.

Commitment

One of the keys to a successful relationship. Dedication to partner, including forgiveness when necessary. Joyful for the partner. Shared and reciprocal sacrifices.

Communication

One of the keys to a successful relationship. Higher ratio of positive-negative speech. Don't personalize arguments. Don't descend into disgust with the other person.

Life review

One of the optimal cognitive changes. Examination of one's own part in life, often takes the form of stories by elders who want to share them with younger ones.

Creativity

One of the optimal cognitive changes. New/re-emerging interest in arts, volunteering.

Wisdom

One of the optimal cognitive changes. Unusual expert knowledge system.

Day care

Outcomes of this care are usually positive, but can depend on child gender and SES, quality of the care, quality of parental relationship, hours spent in care. Attachment styles do not differ depending on day care vs. home care experience.

Dementia treatment

Overall health evaluation. Specific neuropsychological evaluation. Medications (can slow progression, but can't prevent). Rehabilitation to prevent further loss. Safe environment: don't wait.

Rejecting-neglecting parenting

Parenting style in which parents are indifferent toward their children and unaware of what is going on in their children's lives.

Authoritative parenting

Parenting style in which parents set limits and enforce rules but are flexible and listen to their children.

Authoritarian parenting

Parenting style in which there are high behavioral standards, strict punishment of misconduct, and little communication; lack flexibility.

Permissive parenting

Parenting style in which there is high nurturance and communication but little discipline, guidance, or control.

Adolescence

Period of transition, planning for adulthood.

Intimacy and generativity with parents (during adulthood)

Parents and adult children typically increase in closeness, forgiveness, and pride as both generations gain maturity. Only 1 in 20 children experience the death of a parent before age 15, compared to 1 in 4 in 1900. 10% of U.S. parents live with their children, 10% institutionalized.

Concordance

Part of behavioral genetics. Level of similarity biological relatives have on measurable traits.

Heritability

Part of behavioral genetics. Proportion of a trait thought to result from inherited factors. Measure how similar genetic relatives are to each other, compared to those not related. Also measured through adoption or twin studies.

Perseveration

Part of brain development during childhood. The inability to switch gears or attention to something else. May lead to conflict with adults.

self-awareness

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. 1st four months: infants have no sense of self and may see themselves as part of their mothers. 5 months: infants begin to develop an awareness of themselves as separate from their mothers. 15-18 months: emergence of the Me-self (sense of self as the "object of one's knowledge." Tested through the mirror recognition test.

Separation anxiety

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. Between age 2-3. Tears, dismay, or anger when a family caregiver leaves. If it remains strong after age 3, it may be considered an emotional disorder. Will show wave pattern of increase and decrease throughout childhood, even adulthood (just not as strong as in the first 2 years).

Pride and shame

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. Emerge late in the 1st year of life, related to advances in understanding both self and others.

Fear

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. Emerges at about 9 months in response to people, things, or situations.

Anger

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. First expressions are around 6 months. A healthy response to frustration.

Sadness

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. Indicates withdrawal and is accompanied by increases production of cortisol. A stressful experience for infants.

Smiling and Laughing

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. Social smile appears at 6 weeks and is evoked by viewing human faces. Laughter appears between 3 and 4 months - is often associated with curiosity or surprise.

Stranger wariness

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. The infant no longer smiles at friendly face but cries or looks frightened when an unfamiliar person moves too close. Between 18 months and 2 years. An emotional and cognitive milestone.

Emotional self-regulation

Part of emotional development in infancy/toddlerhood. The key to socialization. Particular people begin to arouse specific emotions: Toddlers get angry when a teasing older sibling approaches them or react with fear when entering the doctor's office. Memory triggers specific emotions based on previous experiences.

Fast-mapping

Part of language development during childhood. Fast yet sometimes imprecise way children learn new words by tentatively placing them in mental categories according to their perceived meaning.

Private speech

Part of language development during childhood. Talking to oneself that allows the child to practice, build memory, and build cognition

Overregulation

Part of language development during childhood. The application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur (e.g. "runned").

Collective monologues

Part of learning to talk with other children during language development in childhood. Not true conversations, but can pause for a response.

Pragmatics

Part of learning to talk with other children during language development in childhood. Social and cultural aspects of language. In English, this can include saying "please and thank you."

molecular genetics

Part of the emphasis on heredity and environment in development that deals with DNA, genes, and chromosomes.

Behavioral genetics

Part of the emphasis on heredity and environment on development that deals with concordance and heritability.

Basic environmental processes

Part of the emphasis on heredity and environment on development that deals with conditioning, habituation, and social learning.

DNA

Part of the nucleus of cells, contains genetic instructions that direct growth and development. Includes the nucleotide bases adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine.

Fitness and health in emerging adulthood

Peak performance in physical abilities. Accidents leading cause of death in emerging adulthood. Men 3X more likely as women to die from accidents. Other diseases that may cause later problems (e.g., heart disease) may begin.

Strength and stamina in emerging adulthood

Peak time for vitality, strength, good health, Muscle growth. Fat distribution.

facilitation

Peers ________ both destructive and constructive behaviors in each other. Makes it easier to do both the wrong thing ("let's all skip school") and the right thing ("let's study together). Helps individuals do things that they would be unlikely to do on their own.

Sociodramatic play

Pretend play in which children act out various roles and themes in stories that they create. Collaborative pretend play starts around age 4. Enables children to explore/rehearse the social roles enacted around them (esp. adult roles), test their ability to explain and to convince playmates of their ideas, practice regulating their emotions by pretending to be afraid, angry, brave, and so on, develop self-concept in a nonthreatening context, increase understanding of social norms

Friendship during childhood

Progression from geographical location to activity based on similarities to abstract concept. Lead to psychosocial growth and provide buffer against psychopathology (ex: stress responses). Older children demand more of their friends, change friends less often, become more upset when a friendship ends, find it harder to make new friends, and seek friends who share their interests and values.

Theories of Human Development

Psychoanalytic, Behaviorist, Social Learning, Cognitive Theories, Systems Theories, and Attachment Theories

prevention study

Reasoning training and booster session cause less difficulty in activities of daily living up to 5 years later (14 sessions total)

Brain slowing (late adulthood)

Reduction in neurotransmitter production. Reduction in neural fluid, myelination. Cerebral blood circulates more slowly.

U-shaped curve of marital satisfaction

Reflects high initial expectations, followed by more mundane realities. Happiness peaks during honeymoon, then satisfaction rapidly slopes downward, and then tends to decline more slowly/ level out around year 4. Patterns for gay and lesbian partners are similar (even without official marriage). Satisfaction heavily impacted by demands. Satisfaction rises at empty nest.

Dementia prevention

Regular physical exercise reduces the incidence of all forms of dementia by half. Avoiding pathogens, polypharmacy (having at least 2 poorly interacting meds that cause dementia symptoms; can be reversed). Regular sleep.

Grandparenthood styles

Remote, companionate, involved, surrogate

Kwashiorkor

Results from protein insufficiency; wrong type of food

Language Development during Childhood

Sentences become more elaborate. Naming explosion generalizes (verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions and many more nouns). Fast mapping occurs. Difficulty with passive voice emerges (who is the actor?). Overregulation and private speech also occur. Children learn to talk to other children.

Sexual responsiveness (in adulthood)

Sexual arousal occurs more slowly, orgasm takes longer to reach. Distress at slower responsiveness is more associated with anxiety, interpersonal relationships, expectations. Adults of all ages and orientations report very high levels of emotional satisfaction, physical pleasure from sex within their relationships. Men and women were most likely to be "extremely satisfied" with sex if they were in a committed, monogamous relationship.

Sex and reproduction in emerging adulthood

Sexual-reproductive system vigorous: peak production of sex hormones. Sex drive powerful, infertility rare, orgasm frequent, birth relatively easy and with fewer complications. Sex in relationships: fertility - controlling or thinking about pregnancy; STI's.

Mental retardation

Slow or late thinking. Based on scores below 70 on an IQ test and being markedly behind their peers in the ability to meet the basic requirements of daily life. Often placed in segregated classrooms.

Mild cognitive impairment

Some cognitive problems, but major functioning and personality is still preserved.

Productive language

Speaking. Lags behind receptive language for 1st 12 years of life. Dependent on fine motor skills and dental development. Children can understand 50 words by 12 months, and can say 50 words by 18 months.

Brain development during childhood

Speed of thought - myelination continues. Growth of corpus callosum makes communication between the 2 brain hemispheres more efficient. Lateralization continues. Some maturation of the pre-frontal cortex. Impulsivity, lack of focus. Perseveration. More regular sleep. Emotional organization (some, not full).

Vascular dementia

Sporadic and progressive loss of intellectual functioning cause by repeated infarcts.

Post-formal operational thought

Stage of cognitive development in emerging adulthood that is characterized by the role of experience - practical intelligence. Further characterized by appreciation of multiple perspectives, cognitive flexibility, dialectical thinking, and reflective and expansive thinking.

Decline in biological systems in emerging adulthood

Straight decline from 20s-80. Nerve conduction and kidney function don't decrease as much. Continued or late adopting of exercise will move cardiovascular function and muscle strength up relative to age. Useful lung volume and maximum breathing capacity decline the most.

Cephalocaudal

The prenatal growth sequence/principle that means from top down.

Successful aging

The ability to maintain functioning, valued activities and meet challenges of aging. Majority of older Americans perceive themselves to be healthy, engaged. Social comparison is crucial. Life satisfaction influenced by health, money, social class, marital status, adequacy of housing, and amount of social interaction.

Social cognition (awareness) during middle childhood

The ability to understand social interactions, including the causes and consequences of human behavior. Knowledge of the social world, including social inference, social responsibility, and social regulation

Gene

The basic unit of heredity, a segment of DNA, varying in length, builds proteins that serve many different purposes in the body.

Primary sex characteristics

The body structures that make sexual reproduction possible. Mature during physical development in adolescence.

Cognitive Theory and Infancy/Toddlerhood

The child's interpretation of early experiences is more important than the experiences themselves. New working models can be developed base on new experiences or reinterpretation of previous experiences.

Sensory store

The component of the information processing system in which incoming stimulus information is stored for a split second to allow it to be processed.

long-term memory

The component of the information-processing system in which virtually limitless amounts of information can be stored indefinitely.

age of viability

The earliest date a normatively developing fetus could possibly survive outside the womb without major medical intervention; now seen at 22-23 weeks. At 25 weeks, there is a 50% chance of survival. If born this premature, the baby could experience major risks compared to those carried full term.

Heredity and Environment

The idea that nature and nurture work hand in hand. Involves molecular genetics, behavioral genetics, basic environmental processes, and prenatal development.

Endoderm

The layer of the embryo formed during the embryonic stage that will develop into digestive tissue, lungs, and other organs.

Mesoderm

The layer of the embryo formed during the embryonic stage that will develop into muscular tissue, blood and waste elimination systems.

Ectoderm

The layer of the embryo formed during the embryonic stage that will develop into the skin, nervous tissue and brain tissue.

conscientiousness

The most important trait in the workforce.

Play

The most productive and enjoyable activity that children undertake. Is universal. The amount of this has declined over time (in the U.S.). Its form changes with age and culture. Increasingly complex social _____ is due to brain maturation coupled with many hours of social _________. Children must learn how to make and keep friends.

Culture of children

The particular habits, styles, and values that reflect the set of rules and rituals that characterize children as distinct from adult society. Includes fashion, language (slang, swear words, codes, texting), and peer culture.

Aptitude

The potential to master a specific skill or to learn a certain body of knowledge.

mass-to-specific

The prenatal growth sequence/principle that means from large, simple structures to the details.

Proximodistal

The prenatal growth sequence/principle that means from middle outward.

Germinal stage

The prenatal period that lasts from conception - 2 weeks. Ovulation -> fertilization -> zygote -> blastula -> differentiation -> implantation (50-70% blastulas do not implant)

Fetal stage

The prenatal period that lasts from week 9 - birth. The fetus experiences continued growth and maturation of all physical systems. The baby is born.

Embryonic stage

The prenatal period that lasts from weeks 2 - 8. There is major structural development in this stage. The placenta, umbilical cord, amniotic sac and fluid, are developed. And the embryo develops three layers.

Pruning

The process by which unused connections between synapses and neurons in the brain atrophy and die.

Flynn effect

The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations (can be explained by better nutrition).

Lateralization

The specialization of brain areas according to function

secondary aging

The specific physical illnesses or conditions that become more common with aging but result from poor health habits, genetic variability, and other influences that vary from person to person.

positivity effect

The tendency for elderly people to perceive, prefer, and remember positive images and experiences more than negative ones. Selective memory compensates for troubles. Unpleasant experiences are reinterpreted or inconsequential.

Social comparison

The tendency to assess one's abilities, achievements, social status, and other attributes by measuring them against those of other people, especially one's peers.

menopause

The time in middle age (~51, 48-50 yrs) when a women's menstrual periods cease completely and the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone drops considerably.

Infant directed speech

The type of speech that young children respond to and prefer. More like a conversation, pauses that will eventually be filled with speech. Higher pitch is better, as is a slower pace. The speaker must have sensitivity to the needs of the baby.

Developmental niche

The unique world of each individual, with overlapping spheres of environmental context.

Murstein's Three-Phase Mate Selection Theory

Theory for how emerging adults find love. Based on homogamy, but doesn't look for clones. Involves three phases: stimulus, value comparison, and role phase.

Behaviorism (Skinner, Watson)

Theory of human development that we can not study feelings and thoughts because inner experiences cannot be observed. It is vital to chart only measurable, observable responses. Additionally, a few general laws of learning explain behavior in every situation at every time of life (operant conditioning, reinforcement).

Intimacy

These needs are lifelong. Adults meet their needs for social connection through their relationships with relatives, friends, coworkers and romantic partners.

Intimacy and Generativity with friends (during adulthood)

Typically the most crucial members of convoy (chosen vs. ascribed friendship). Provide practical help and useful advice when serious problems arise. Fingerman et. al. found that friendships tend to improve with age.

Genotype

Underlying genetic makeup, potential for behavior. Unique, except for monozygotic twins.

Habituation (and dishabituation) Paradigm

Used to test sensation and perception in infants/toddlers. Draws on the fact that we naturally lose interest in a new object after some time. Uses infant reflexes or looking behaviors.

Preferential looking paradigm

Used to test sensation and perception in infants/toddlers. The principle that human beings are attracted to novelty and look selectively at new things. Uses observation an eye tracking.

Gifted learners

Usually based on IQ scores above 50. Might be placed in segregated classrooms.

Scaffolding

Vygotsky's term for temporary support tailored to learner's needs and abilities; aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a learning process.

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Vygotsky's term for the skills— cognitive or physical—that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently.

Apprentice in thinking

Vygotsky's term for when children rely on cognitive stimulation from more advanced members of their social group.

Marasmus

Wasting away of muscles and fat stores caused by starvation

Cognitive changes in adolescence

White matter (myelinated) increases until ~40. Uneven neurological development: limbic system before prefrontal cortex; from the inside out to cortex, from back to front; hormones effect amygdala more directly than cortex.

Activities in late adulthood

Work and volunteerism, continuing education, religious activities, political activism

Friendships in emerging adulthood

_________________ move to highest level of abstract understanding and duration. Lasting adult ____________ involve reciprocity, mutuality, stress relief, and emotional support.

kinkeeper

a caregiver who takes responsibility for maintaining communication among family members (likely female in their 40s/50s)

Headsparing

biological mechanism that protects the brain against malnutrition (the brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition)

deviancy training

destructive peer support in which one person shows another how to rebel against authority or social norms

beanpole family

multiple generations but only a few members in each one

effortful control

the ability to regulate one's emotions and actions through effort, not simply through natural inclination

Working memory

the component of the information-processing system in which current conscious mental activity occurs (also called short-term memory).

primary aging

the universal and irreversible physical changes that occur in all living creatures as they grow older