developmental psychology

anything that effects development from conception through death (biological and environmental)

Stages of Prenatal Development

1)  zygote - for the first two weeks after conception, the developing organism is known as a zygote. Cell division continues at a very rapid pace as the zygote travels down the mothers fallopian tube, reaching the uterus during the second week

2)  embryo - this stage lasts from week 3 to week 8 following conception, between the zygote and fetus stage

3)  fetus - describes a developing organism between the embryo stage and birth, from week 8 until week 40 following conception

during the zygote stage, cells differentiate into three types:

1)  ectoderm - is the source of cells making up the nervous system

2)  mesoderm - the cells develop into muscle and skeleton

3)  endoderm - cells form internal organs

fetal alcohol syndrome:

a condition resulting from alcohol consumption by the mother during the pregnancy that produces physical abnormalities and cognitive and behavioral problems for her child

-  impaired academic skills and mild behavioral problems

-  small stature

-  facial abnormalities

-  hyperactivity

-  during pregnancy development, growing neurons need persistent excitation to survive. Alcohol facilitates GABA which means it decreases neural activity - this leads neurons to self destruct - creates more grey matter in fetus’ brain - not good

motor development

-  a change in an individual’s ability to move and perform physical skills

-  fine motor: using fingers (ex: pinching)

-  gross motor: large movements (ex: moving legs and arms)

-  cephalocaudal - moving head, neck, and shoulders

-  proximodistal - body, hands, toes

-  maturation - the unfolding of the genetic blueprint

developmental norms

-  the average of when a behavior typically appears

-  first motor control that happens is the head-to-toe direction - controlling muscles of the neck and shoulders happens around 2 months old, followed by muscle control of the torso at 3 months, crawling happens between 6 to 9 months of age, and lastly the baby learning how to walk around 1 year old

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

-  according to Paiget’s theory, cognitive abilities develop through regular stages, making his work and example of the discontinuity approach. Cognition matures as the child increasingly uses concepts and organizing schemas to think

Stages of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

1)  sensorimotor stage - (birth to age 2) highlights “here and now” rather than past and future, exploration through moving and seeing, object permanence

2)  preoperational stage - (2 to 6 years old) highlights language acquisition, egocentrism, illogical reasoning

3)  concrete operational stage - (6 to 12 years old) highlights logical reasoning, mastery of conversation problems, “learning by doing”

4)  formal operational stage - (12 years and above) abstract reasoning, idealism, improved problem solving

schemas

a set of expectations about objects and situations

object permanence

 the ability to form mental representation of objects that are no longer present

conservation

the ability to understand changing the form or appearance of an object does not change its quantity

egocentrism

-  limitations on the ability to understand the point of view of other people

-  animism - the ability to know that objects don’t have feelings, aren’t “alive”

Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

-  development progresses through necessary stages and each stage has some sort of conflict associated with it

-  healthy development depends on resolving these conflicts

-  development continues through the life span

-  positive resolution - moves to next stage psychologically healthy

-  negative stage - negative effects can carry over to future stages with detrimental effects

  Erikson’s Ages of Human Development

Stage 1: age 0 - 1, main conflict of trust vs mistrust

-  Stage 2: ages 1 - 3, main conflict is authority vs shame of doubt - whether an     infant can do something on their own or not

-  Stage 3: ages 3 - 6, main conflict initiative vs quilt - am I a good person or a bad person? A child’s behavior may be bad but that doesn’t mean they are as a person

-  Stage 4: ages 6 - 12, main conflict is industry vs inferiority - child decides if they are successful or not, self esteem is being built

-  Stage 5: adolescence, main conflict is identity vs role confusion - child is deciding “who am I?”, teenagers begin to seek independence and want to answer the question of who they are as a person

-  Stage 6: young adult, main conflict is intimacy vs isolation - deciding whether to spend your life with someone else or live alone, young adults come to terms with the importance of companionship and connection

-  Stage 7: middle age, main conflict is generactivity vs stagnation - person asses if they have contributed to the world as a worker or parent, one wants to feel that they have contributed to society in a meaningful way

-  Stage 8: old age, main conflict is ego-integrity vs despair - one asks if they have lived a full/meaningful life or squandered their time away, the reality that time is growing short forces people to reassess their lives

a child’s temperament reflects his or her prevailing patterns of mood, activity, and emotional responsiveness

-  a warm, close bond between baby and care giver

-  a child’s connection result in a “mental mode” for all relationships, creates expectations for future relationships

-  secure attachment: a pattern of infant-care giver bonding in which children explore confidently and return to care giver for reassurance (ex: baby keeps itself preoccupied when mother is present but when mother isn’t present the baby will cry until she comes back)

-  insecure attachment: a pattern of infant-care giver bonding that can take several different forms but is generally characterized as less desirable than child’s outcomes than secure attachment (ex: allowed themselves to remain calm when mother left and be comfortable around stranger, still reacted happily when mother returned)

-  takes the form of two categories - support and behavioral regulation

-  parent support takes the form of empathy and recognition of the child’s perspective

-  behavioral regulation involves supervision of the child’s behavior accompanied by consistent discipline and clear expectations

-  high behavioral regulation and high support - authoritative

-  high behavioral regulation and low support - authoritarian

-  low behavioral regulation and high support - indulgent

low behavioral regulation and low support - uninvolved

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development

-  preconventional morality: Kohlberg’s stage at which moral choices are made according to expectations of reward or punishment

-  conventional morality: Kohlberg’s stage of moral development in which moral choices are made according to law or public opinion

-  postconventional morality: Kohlberg’s stage at which moral choices are made according to personal standards and reason

Marcia’s 4 Identities

-  Identity Diffusion – the status in which the adolescent does no have a sense of having choices; he or she has not yet made (nor is attempting/willing to make) a commitment

-  Identity Foreclosure – the status in which the adolescent seems willing to commit to some relevant roles, values, or goals for the future. Adolescents in this stage have not experienced an identity crisis. They tend to conform to the expectations of others regarding their future (e. g. allowing a parent to determine a career direction) As such, these individuals have not explored a range of options

-  Identity Moratorium – the status in which the adolescent is currently in a crisis, exploring various commitments and is ready to make choices, but has not made a commitment to these choices yet

-  Identity Achievement - the status in which adolescent has gone through a identity crisis and has made a commitment to a sense of identity (i.e. certain role or value) that he or she has chosen

empty nest syndrome

-  a period following when the last child leaves home and is usually accompanied by and improvement in marital satisfaction, parents are relieved to not have as many parenting responsibilities, negative emotions from this vary from culture to culture

perseverance effect

-  the tendency for people’s beliefs about themselves and their world to persist even when those beliefs are discredited

-  ex: you are told you are bad/good at something, then told that was a lie and you are just average- people’s judgement is off and they will be over confident if told they were good or underestimate themselves if they were told they were bad

self-fulfilling prophecy

your expectations change the way you behave, which then changes the way the other (target) behaves and leads to unexpected behavior

stereotype

-  a simplified set of traits associated with membership in a group or category

person perception

how we perceive ourself and others around us, can be biased

conformity

-  when you go along with the group, follow the social norm - can be intentional or unintentional

-  conformity is a result of group pressure

norms

-  socially learned rules that prescribe what people should or shouldn’t do in various situations

Asch’s 4 Key Determinate’s That Determine Whether a Person Will Conform:

-  informational social influence: conform because we believe that others interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than out own and will help us choose an appropriate course of action - assuming someone has more knowledge

-  normative social influence: going along with a group simply to be liked - you may disagree with the group but you still do it

-  private acceptance: when people conform to other people’s behavior because they believe that what they are doing or saying is correct

-  public compliance: you go along with a group even when you necessarily don’t want to or believe in what the group is doing or saying

-someone with power over you asks you to do something and you do it

-agreement with a request from someone with no perceived authority

-  a persuasive technique in which compliance with a target request is preceded by a large, unreasonable request

-  ex: you are asked to give a large donation to an organization followed by a “give  what you can afford”, by lowering the initial demand, the donator now feels as though they have an obligation to send a large donation

-  : a persuasive technique in which compliance with a small request is followed by compliance with a large request that might otherwise have been rejected

-  ex: “liking” a brand on Facebook can lead to more purchases and brand loyalty

low-balling strategy

-  where and initially favorable deal is revised upward once the buyer appears committed

-  ex: once you have made a commitment to buy as car, the salesperson will then go check with their boss and come back with a possible higher number, but you agree because you have publicly committed

attitude

positive or negative evaluations that predispose behavior toward an object, person, or situation

cognitive dissonance

-  the uncomfortable state that happens when behaviors and attitudes do not match and that can be resolved through attitude change

factors to consider when changing attitude

source, message, channel, receiver

effort justification

-  figuring out how you get someone to comply

Ben Franklin effect

-  getting people to like you by getting people to do things for you

-  Franklin did this when he was in office - he would ask small favors of people and then later these people would have to justify the compliance with these favors by accepting that they liked him - making it easier to comply next time after they already had the first time

-  Elaboration Likelihood Model (two paths)

-  central route: fact based, quality of the argument is carefully considered, enduring, resistant to counter argument, more predictive behavior

-  peripheral route: uses heuristics, used to make quick decisions, looks at who provides the message and how the message is conveyed (in person, through writing, etc.)

attribution

-  a judgement about the cause of a persons behavior

-  internal/personal (dispositional) attribution: a judgement assigning the cause of a persons behavior to his or her personal qualities or characteristics

-  situational/external attribution: a judgement assigning the cause of a persons behavior to his or her environment

social loafing vs social facilitation

-do less in groups when no one knows what you are doing for the group if task is easy (can increase performance when task is hard b/c of stress reduction)

-presence of others changes your behavior

-the intensifying of an attitude following discussion

-a type of flawed decision making in which a group does not question its decisions critically, logic is less important than agreeing

diffusion of responsibility

people will look to others to take action for fear of being the only one to take responsibility for something

by-stander effect

-  expecting someone else around you to take action so you don’t

Key Factors In Attraction

-  physical attractiveness

-  matching hypothesis: tend to partner with those physically like us

-  similarity: attitude alignment – over time begin to think alike on subjects

-  reciprocity – like those that like us

-  proximity & the mere exposure effect: like people more  just because we see them often, even if do not interact

Social exchange theory 

-  holds that how people feel about a relationship depends on :

1)  their perceptions of the rewards and costs of the relationship

2)  the kind of relationship they believe they deserve (comparison level),

3)  their chances for having a better relationship with someone else (comparison level for alternatives)

Equity theory

people stay when the rewards, costs, contributions of one are seen as roughly equal to the rewards, costs, and contributions of the other person - can feel under or over benefitted or feel it is equitable

-  consummate love - intimacy + passion + commitment

-  liking - intimacy

-  romantic love - intimacy + passion

-  infatuation - passion

-  foolish love - passion + commitment