Developmental Psychology: Early Childhood exam questions and answers

Science of human development - seeks to understand how and why people change over tie Growth is... - multidirectional, multi-contextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plastic Scientific Method - question - hypothesis - experiment - draw conclusion - results Nature vs. Nurture - heredity vs. environment - maturation vs. learning " how much of any characteristic, behavior, or emotion is the result of genes and how much is the result of experience?" Nature - general traits term, capacities, limitations each individual inherits genetically from conception Nurture - general term for all environmental influences that affect development after conception Sudden Infant Death (SIDS) death of healthy baby between 2-6 months old when sleeping Age Rages for Stages Infancy 0-2 yrs Early childhood 2-6 yrs Middle childhood 6-11 yrs Adolescence 11-18 yrs Emerging adulthood 18-25 yrs Adulthood 25-65 yrs Late adulthood 65+ yrs Multidirectional critical period- a time where a particular type of developmental growth must happen or it won't sensitive period- time when a development is most likely to happen Multi- contextual ecological systems approach - view that in developmental study of humans must be considered in all contexts and interactions in life ( Uri Bronfenbrenner) Macrosystem culture patterns, politics, social conditions Mesosystem interaction of systems Microsystem immediate and direct influences Chronosystem dimension of time Cohort group defined by a shared age Socioeconomic status (SES) a person's position in society determined by income, wealth, occupation, and education Culture system of shared beliefs, conventions, norms, behaviors, expectations that persist over time Social construction shared perceptions Difference- equals- deficit error assumption that people unlike us are inferior Lev Vygotsky ( ) - Russian developmentalist who was a leader in describing the interaction between culture and education... believed in guided participation - died of tb - sociocultural theorist - educational based Ethnic group - share certain attributes, almost always includes an ancestral heritage - share culture, but not required - ethnicity has been formed from society not biologically race - group regarded as distinct from others based on appearance Epigenetic effects of environmental forces on the expression of an individual's or species genetic inheritance - epi = with/around/before/after GDNF glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor - product of one gene that makes neurons grow 12 factors linked to depression - low seretoninin brain (neuroscience) - childhood caregiver depression (psychopathology) - low daylight exposure (bio) - malnutrition (nutrition) - lack of close friends (anthro) - diseases (medicine) - disruptive event (sociology) - death of mother before age 10 (psychology) - absence of father in childhood (family studies) - family eating disorder history (genetics) - poverty (economics) - low cognitive skills (education) Dynamic systems human development is an ongoing, ever-changing interaction between mind, body, and individual Developmental theory group of ideas, assumptions and generalizations that interpret and illuminate observations of human growth Psychoanalytic theory theory of human development that holds that irrational, unconsciousness drives and motivates underlie human behavior Sigmund Freud () - developed psychoanalytic theory - believed development in the first 6 yrs ocured in 3 stages based on sexual pleasure Erik Erikson () - 8 developmental stages based on challenging developmental crisis - used ______ vs. ___________ - emphasis on family and culture Behaviorism study of observable behavior (learning theory) Conditioning process where responses link with stimuli - classical and operant - Ivan Pavlov () B.F. Skinner () - most influential behaviorist Social learning emphasizes that others influence each person's behavior Cognitive theory how people's thinking change over time Independent variable imposed treatment or condition Dependent variable the variable in question Comparison group control group Case study study of 1 person in depth throughout years Cross-sectional research groups of people compared with age difference but similar characteristics Longitudinal research same individuals followed over time Cross sequential research many groups followed over many years Correlation exists between 2 variables if one is more or less likely to occur when the other does Ethics - IRB: institutional review board - upholds rights and privacy of participants - what to study - what will help Biopsychosocial Framework - biological, psychological, sociocultural - factors that will affect the stage of life at the time ECLS (late 1990's) U.S. department of education surveyed 1000 schools, samples of 20 children from each - determined that the things parents do are not as influential as the things the parents are or can't change Tabula rasa blank state Biological theory neuroscience/brain, genetic, species, predisposed, hormonal, chromosomes, medical, natural, evolution