Lifespan Development (Ch. 9)

psychosocial development

domain of lifespan development that examines emotions, personality, and social relationships; process proposed by Erikson in which social tasks are mastered as humans move through eights stages of life from infancy to adulthood

cognitive development

domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity

physical development

domain of lifespan development that the examines growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness

nurture

environment and culture

formal operational stage

final stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development; from age 11 and up, children are able to deal with abstract ideas and hypothetical situations

sensorimotor stage

first stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development; from birth through age 2, a child learns about the world through senses and motor behavior

nature

genes and biology

object permanence

idea that even if something is out of sight, it still exists

conservation

idea that even if you change the appearance of something, it is still equal in size, volume, or number as long as nothing is added or removed

egocentrism

preoperational child's difficulty in taking the perspective of others

reversibility

principle that objects can be changed, but then returned back to their original form or condition

psychosexual development

process proposed by Freud in which pleasure-seeking urges focus on different erogenous zones of the body as humans move through five stages of life

stage of moral reasoning

process proposed by Kohlberg; humans move through three stages of moral development

preoperational stage

second stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development; from ages 2 to 7, children learn to use symbols and language but do not understand mental operations and often think illogically

assimilation

adjustment of a schema by adding information similar to what is already known

accomodation

adjustment of a schema by changing a scheme to accommodate new information different from what was already known

development milestone

approximate ages at which children reach specific normative events

schema

(plural = schemata) concept (mental model) that is used to help us categorize and interpret information

Carol Gilligan (1936- )

Former research assistant to Lawrence Kohlberg who criticized Kohlberg for his conclusion that women are morally deficient. She argued that female moral reasoning is not deficient, just different.

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987)

Psychologist who extended upon Piaget's cognitive development model by developing stages of moral reasoning.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Stage theorist who focused on children's cognitive growth and believed that cognitive abilities develop through specific stages. He also said that children develop schematic to help them understand the world.

Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

Stage theorist who modified Freud's psychosexual development theory into a psychosocial development theory. Believed that personality development takes places all through life and that we are motivated by the need to achieve competence in certain areas.

normative approach

study of development using norms, or average ages, when most children reach specific developmental milestones

concrete operational stage

third stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development; from about 7 to 11 years old, children can think logically about real (concrete) events

continuous development

view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills

discontinuous development

view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages