Psychology Chapter 9
developmental milestones
(crawling, walking, writing, dressing, naming colors, speaking in sentences, and starting puberty).
Lawrence Kohlberg
extended upon the foundation that Piaget built regarding cognitive development. Kohlberg believed that moral development, like cognitive development, follows a series of stages.
gross motor skills
focus on large muscle groups that control our arms and legs and involve larger movements (e.g., balancing, running, and jumping).
fine motor skills
focus on the muscles in our fingers, toes, and eyes, and enable coordination of small actions (e.g., grasping a toy, writing with a pencil, and using a spoon)
sexual response cycle
four phases that are fairly similar in men and women: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution
Psychosocial development
involves emotions, personality, and social relationships
Physical development
involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness.
Cognitive development
involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity
Gender dysphoria
is a diagnostic category in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) that describes individuals who do not identify as the gender that most people would assume they are.
attachment
is a long-standing connection or bond with others
secure base
is a parental presence that gives the child a sense of safety as he explores his surroundings.
refractory period
is a period of time that follows an orgasm during which an individual is incapable of experiencing another orgasm. In men, the duration of the refractory period can vary dramatically from individual to individual with some refractory periods as short as several minutes and others as long as a day. As men age, their refractory periods tend to span longer periods of time.
placenta
is a structure connected to the uterus that provides nourishment and oxygen from the mother to the developing embryo via the umbilical cord.
socioemotional selectivity theory
suggests that our social support and friendships dwindle in number, but remain as close, if not more close than in our earlier years
menarche
the beginning of menstrual periods, usually around 12-13 years old
avoidant attachment
the child is unresponsive to the parent, does not use the parent as a secure base, and does not care if the parent leaves.
spermarche
the first ejaculation, around 13-14 years old.
adrenarche and gonadarche
the maturing of the adrenal glands and sex glands
psychosocial development
theory emphasizes the social nature of our development rather than its sexual nature. While Freud believed that personality is shaped only in childhood, Erikson proposed that personality development takes place all through the lifespan. Erikson suggested that how we interact with others is what affects our sense of self, or what he called the ego identity.
Continuous development
views development as a cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills
critical or sensitive period
Each organ of the fetus develops during a specific period in the pregnancy
secure attachment
In this type of attachment, the toddler prefers his parent over a stranger. The attachment figure is used as a secure base to explore the environment and is sought out in times of stress.
prenatal care
The developing fetus is completely dependent on the mother for life. It is important that the mother takes good care of herself and receives
prenatal development
There are three stages of prenatal development: germinal, embryonic, and fetal.
disorganized attachment
They freeze, run around the room in an erratic manner, or try to run away when the caregiver returns; his type of attachment is seen most often in kids who have been abused. Research has shown that abuse disrupts a child's ability to regulate their emotions.
emerging adulthood
This is a relatively newly defined period of lifespan development spanning from 18 years old to the mid-20s, characterized as an in-between time where identity exploration is focused on work and love.
Stage 1
Trust vs. mistrust Trust (or mistrust) that basic needs, such as nourishment and affection, will be met
Erik Erikson
another stage theorist, took Freud's theory and modified it as psychosocial theory.
Schemata
are concepts (mental models) that are used to help us categorize and interpret information.
Primary sexual characteristics
are organs specifically needed for reproduction, like the uterus and ovaries in females and testes in males
Secondary sexual characteristics
are physical signs of sexual maturation that do not directly involve sex organs, such as development of breasts and hips in girls, and development of facial hair and a deepened voice in boys.
transgender hormone therapy
attempt to make their bodies look more like the opposite sex, and in some cases, they elect to have surgeries to alter the appearance of their external genitalia to resemble that of their gender identity
zygote
begins as a one-cell structure that is created when a sperm and egg merge.
discontinuous development
believe that development takes place in unique stages: It occurs at specific times or ages. With this type of development, the change is more sudden, such as an infant's ability to conceive object permanence.
Sigmund Freud
believed that personality develops during early childhood. For Freud, childhood experiences shape our personalities and behavior as adults. Freud viewed development as discontinuous; he believed that each of us must pass through a series of stages during childhood, and that if we lack proper nurturance and parenting during a stage, we may become stuck, or fixated, in that stage. Freud's stages are called the stages of psychosexual development.
resistant attachment
children tend to show clingy behavior, but then they reject the attachment figure's attempts to interact with them
Stage 2
1-3 Autonomy vs. shame/doubt Develop a sense of independence in many tasks
Stage 5
12-18 Identity vs. confusion Experiment with and develop identity and roles
Stage 6
19-29 Intimacy vs. isolation Establish intimacy and relationships with others
Stage 3
3-6 Initiative vs. guilt Take initiative on some activities—may develop guilt when unsuccessful or boundaries overstepped
Stage 7
30-64 Generativity vs. stagnation Contribute to society and be part of a family
Stage 8
65- Integrity vs. despair Assess and make sense of life and meaning of contributions
Stage 4
7-11 Industry vs. inferiority Develop self-confidence in abilities when competent or sense of inferiority when not
stages of moral reasoning
According to Kohlberg, an individual progresses from the capacity for pre-conventional morality (before age 9) to the capacity for conventional morality (early adolescence), and toward attaining post-conventional morality (once formal operational thought is attained), which only a few fully achieve
embryo
After the zygote divides for about 7-10 days and has 150 cells, it travels down the fallopian tubes and implants itself in the lining of the uterus. Upon implantation, this multi-cellular organism is called an
psychosexual development.
according to Freud, children's pleasure-seeking urges are focused on a different area of the body, called an erogenous zone, at each of the five stages of development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.
Accommodation
describes when they change their schemata based on new information. This process continues as children interact with their environment.
Jean Piaget
is another stage theorist who studied childhood development (Figure). Instead of approaching development from a psychoanalytical or psychosocial perspective, Piaget focused on children's cognitive growth. He believed that thinking is a central aspect of development and that children are naturally inquisitive. However, he said that children do not think and reason like adults (Piaget, 1930, 1932). His theory of cognitive development holds that our cognitive abilities develop through specific stages, which exemplifies the discontinuity approach to development. As we progress to a new stage, there is a distinct shift in how we think and reason.
teratogen
is any environmental agent—biological, chemical, or physical—that causes damage to the developing embryo or fetus.
Orgasm
is marked in women by rhythmic contractions of the pelvis and uterus along with increased muscle tension. In men, pelvic contractions are accompanied by a buildup of seminal fluid near the urethra that is ultimately forced out by contractions of genital muscles,
Adolescence
is the period of development that begins at puberty and ends at emerging adulthood
Resolution
is the relatively rapid return to an unaroused state accompanied by a decrease in blood pressure and muscular relaxation.
assimilation
is when they take in information that is comparable to what they already know.
conception
occurs when sperm fertilizes an egg and forms a zygote
excitement
phase is the arousal phase of the sexual response cycle, and it is marked by erection of the penis or clitoris and lubrication and expansion of the vaginal canal
William Masters and Virginia Johnson
published a book detailing the results of their observations of nearly 700 people who agreed to participate in their study of physiological responses during sexual behavior
motor skills
refer to our ability to move our bodies and manipulate objects
Temperament
refers to innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts with the environment. Children with easy temperaments demonstrate positive emotions, adapt well to change, and are capable of regulating their emotions.
Gender identity
refers to one's sense of being male or female. Generally, our gender identities correspond to our chromosomal and phenotypic sex, but this is not always the case.
Sexual orientation
s an individual's emotional and erotic attractions to same-sexed individuals (homosexual), opposite-sexed individuals (heterosexual), or both (bisexual).
formal operational stage
which is from about age 11 to adulthood. Whereas children in the concrete operational stage are able to think logically only about concrete events, children in the formal operational stage can also deal with abstract ideas and hypothetical situations. Children in this stage can use abstract thinking to problem solve, look at alternative solutions, and test these solutions. In adolescence, a renewed egocentrism occurs.
preoperational stage
which is from approximately 2 to 7 years old. In this stage, children can use symbols to represent words, images, and ideas, which is why children in this stage engage in pretend play. A child's arms might become airplane wings as he zooms around the room, or a child with a stick might become a brave knight with a sword. Children also begin to use language in the preoperational stage, but they cannot understand adult logic or mentally manipulate information. During this stage, we also expect children to display egocentrism, which means that the child is not able to take the perspective of others.
conservation
which is the idea that even if you change the appearance of something, it is still equal in size as long as nothing has been removed or added.
object permanence
which is the understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists
sensorimotor stage
which lasts from birth to about 2 years old. During this stage, children learn about the world through their senses and motor behavior. Young children put objects in their mouths to see if the items are edible, and once they can grasp objects, they may shake or bang them to see if they make sounds. Between 5 and 8 months old, the child develops object permanence. In Piaget's view, around the same time children develop object permanence, they also begin to exhibit stranger anxiety, which is a fear of unfamiliar people
reversibility
which means that objects can be changed and then returned back to their original form or condition
egocentrism
which means that the child is not able to take the perspective of others.
concrete operational stage
which occurs from about 7 to 11 years old. In this stage, children can think logically about real (concrete) events; they have a firm grasp on the use of numbers and start to employ memory strategies. They can perform mathematical operations and understand transformations, such as addition is the opposite of subtraction, and multiplication is the opposite of division. In this stage, children also master the concept of conservation. Children in the concrete operational stage also understand the principle of reversibility
plateau
women experience further swelling of the vagina and increased blood flow to the labia minora, and men experience full erection and often exhibit pre-ejaculatory fluid
mitosis
zygote divides and multiplies, going from a one-cell structure to two cells, then four cells, then eight cells, and so on. This process of cell division is called