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developmental psychology- a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and

social change throughout the life span

woman born with all the immature eggs she’ll ever have, but 1 in 5000 will
mature+release. Men begin producing sperm at puberty, 24 hours a day, 1000 a second.
sperm approaches a cell 85000 times its own size

Sperm moves to cell, and release digestive enzymes that eat the cells protective coating
and penetrate- as soon as one enters the cells blocks out others. in half a day the
sperm nucleus and egg nucleus fuse and become one

zygote- the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops
into an embryo. Cells reproduce until at 100 cells they differentiate to identify their
structure and function. Ten days post conception the cells attach to moms uterus wall

6 weeks- organs begin to form and function

embryo- (off-spring or young one) the developing human organisms from about 2 weeks
after fertilization through the second month.

genetic and environmental factors affect our development. Placenta transfers nutrients
and oxygen from the mom to fetus, while screening out harmful substances

fetus- the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth. Looks
human. Responsive to sound (if it hears moms muffled voice before born it’ll prefer its
moms voice over any other)

teratogens- agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus
during prenatal development and cause harm. Smokers babies may be born
underweight and have few nutrients

fetal alcohol syndrome- physical and cognitive abnormalities in kids caused by a


pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial
deformations

alcohol enters babies blood stream and depresses activity in both their central nervous
systems. 1 in 750 FAS- 4 in 10 with alcoholic moms

tested only on rats and monkeys stress leads to kids with delayed motor developments,
increased emotionally, learning deficits, and alterations in neurotransmitter systems
associated with human psychological disorders (i.e depression
rooting reflex- a baby’s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch,
open the mouth and search for the nipple.

as newborns we come equipped with reflexes ideally suited for survival (i.e withdrawing
our limbs to escape pain, also born preferring sights and sounds that facilitate social
responses

habituation- decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain


familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus their interest wanes and they look
away sooner, turn heads towards people speaking

face>bullseye>desk in interest to a baby objects 8-12 inches away (newborn and


mothers eye) infants looks at faces first

within days of birth our neural networks were stamped with the smell of our mothers’s
body. Suck more vigorously when moms voice is heard

William James- thought new borns experienced “blooming, bussing confusion” -proves
wrong

maturation- biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior,


relatively uninfluenced by experience (standing before walking, nouns before adjectives)
sets the basic course for development, experience adjusts it

while in the womb our nerve endings were forming at a quarter million per minute

brain cortex overproduces neurons (28 billion only needs 23) so you have most brain
cells then you’ll ever have on the day you were born, however the nervous system was
immature. After birth the neural networks that eventually enabled you to walk, talk and
remember had a growth spurt.

3-6 mostly frontal lobe (rational planning)


last brain area to develop- association areas of the cortex (thinking memory language)
when this happens mental abilities surge, fiber pathways supporting language and
agility proliferate into puberty, then a pruning process shuts down excess connections
and strengthens others

developing brain enables physical coordination, as infants muscles and nervous system
mature more complicates skills emerge.

Sequence of motor development is universal - crawl before walk, sit up before crawl
etc(few exceptions) but there are individual differences in timing of this sequences
25% walk by 11 months, 50% within a week after 1st bday, 90% by 15 months
identical twins on the same timeline

infant “back to sleep” position= later crawling but walk right on time

biological maturation (including the rapid development of the cerebellum at the back of
the brain) creates our readiness to learn to walk around age 1. Experiences before t that
times has a limits effect. True for other physical skills like bowel and bladder control.

Before necessary muscular and neural maturation, no pleading harassment or


punishment can toilet train your child

schema- a concept or framework that organizes and interprets info

earliest memories seldom predate our 3rd bdays - usually 3.5 we remember

fire alarm when you were younger, if you were 4 or 5 you can remember what caused it,
younger you might think you were already outside when the fire happened and don’t
know what caused it

at 4-5 we have remembered experiences. When kids turn 3 or 4 they develop a sense of
self and their long- term storage increases--> infants preverbal memories don’t translate
into language

however some memories exist during those early years (i.e babies moving mobiles by
moving leg- they’ll remember for 3 months

10 year olds shown pics of preschool classmates will recognize 1 in 5 but their
physiological responses are greater even if they arrant recognized. What our conscience
mind doesn’t remember our nervous system seems to

Jean Piaget (1920) became intrigued by kids wrong answered, certain ages gave
certain wrong answers --> kids mind is not a mini-version of the adults. “kids reason in
wildly illogical ways about problems whose solutions are self-evident to adults”
-kids mins develop through a series of stages 8 year olds might get analogies and size
differences that 3 year olds can’t.
- “kids are active thinkers, constantly trying to construct more advanced undertakings of
the world (SCHEMAS- adults have countless
- kids experiences spurts of change followed by greater stability as they move from one
cognitive development plateau to the nest
- Piaget identifies significant cognitive m and stimulates worldwide interest of how the
mind develops. Cared less about age, more about order of the sequence
- kids learn based on interactions with the world- kids should learn building on what they
already know

assimilation- interpreting one’s new experience int terms of one’s existing schemas
(dog-- all 4 legged animals become doggies)

accommodation- adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new


info

cognition- all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and
communicating.

sensorimotor stage- in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years do age)
during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impression and
motor activates (looking hearing touching mouthing and grasping)

object permanence- the awareness that things continue to exists even when not
perceived - earlier than 8 months, after that they’ll look for the toy

now researchers think development is more continuous. Piaget thought kids before 2
cannot think, they can just recognize, smile, crawl to and manipulate - no concepts or
ideas

that can’t be true because kids are still amazed by a ball floating (understand physics)
and they recognized numbers and changes in pattern

preoperational stage- in Piaget’s theory, the stage (about 2-6 or 7) during which a child
learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete
logic.volume of milk in tall thin glass looks like too much
-abilities to perform mental operations, think symbolically and take others perspectives
aren’t absent and then appear, they develop.

conservation- the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational


reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume and number remain the same despite
changes in the forms of objects

Judy DeLoache- kids shown a model of a toy behind a couch, couldn’t find it in life-size
room- no sense of sizing

egocentrism- in Paiget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point
of view (cover your eyes=no one can see you) reflects a cognitive limitation, never fully
grow out of this, overestimate people sharing our beliefs
theory of mind- people’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states- about their
feelings, perceptions and thoughts and the behavior these might predict (Permack and
Woodruff) enables us to infer others’ feelings

between 3.5-4.5 kids start to realize that others may hold false beliefs

Jenkins and Astington- 3 year old kids shown a bandaid box with pencils in it thought
other kids would think there were pencils, 4 year olds knew they’d be tricked and think it
was bandaids

between 5-8 kids realize that spontaneous self- produces thoughts can also create
feelings, mood suddenly changes 8 year olds will realize it was probs a change in
thought

Sally leaves ball in red cupboard. ANne moves the ball to blue cupboard. When asked
where Sally will look for the ball autistic kids will say the red cupboard, not
understanding that Sally doesn’t know its been moves.

Autistic kids are less likely to use the pronounce I and Me. Deaf kids with hearing
parents and minimal opportunities for communication have similar difficulties

By age 7 kids can think in words and use words to solve problems

Lev Vygotsky- kids then internalize their culture’s language and use inner speech

kids who mutter to themselves during 2nd grade math will do better in 3rd grade math
kids talking to themselves gives them self-control tools (scaffold upon which kids can
step to higher levels of thinking

autism- a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficiency


communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind

concrete operational stage- in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (6 or


7-11) during which kids gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically
about concrete events. (pour milk in different glasses, get that volume is the same)
- kids gain ability to comprehend math transformations and conservation

formal operational stage- in Piaget’s theory the stage of cognitive development


(beginning around the age of 12) during which people begin to think logically about
abstract concepts. Though this may be earlier- kids 7 years old can understand some
parts of this
scientists nowadays see formal logic as a smaller part of cognition than Piaget did

stranger anxiety- the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning around
8 months of age

attachment- an emotional tie with another person; shown in young kids by their seeking
closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on the separation. Seems to be more
so to those who satisfied their need for nourishment

Harlow’s- monkeys separated from moms preferred the cloth fake monkey because it
was soft and comforting

critical period- an optimal period shortly after when an organism’s expose to certain
stimuli or experiences produces proper development
imprinting- the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical
period very early in life

basic trust- according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and
trustworthy said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive
caregivers

self-concept- a sense of one’s identity and personal worth

adolescence- the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty
to independence

puberty- the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of
reproducing

primary sex characteristics- the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitally,
that makes sexual reproduction possible

secondary sex characteristics- non reproductive sex characteristics like boobs and hips
and male low voices and body hair

menarche- the 1st menstrual period

identity- one’s sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a
sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

intimacy- in Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships, a primary
developmental take in late adolescence and early adulthood
menopause- the time of natural cessation of menstrual also refers to the biological
changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

Alzheimer’s disease- a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by


gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language and finally physical functioning

cross- sectional study- a study in which people of different ages are compares with one
another

longitudinal study- research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a
long period

crystalized intelligence- one’s accumulative knowledge and verbal skills, tends to


increase with age

fluid intelligence- one’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease
during late adulthood

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