Developmental

• What is developmental psychology?

  Concerned with exploring relatively permanent changes in thoughts, feelings and behaviours across the Lifespan
• which is the most important part of life?

  early childhood. 0-3
• continuity vs. stages (continuous vs discontinuous)


  is development a gradual, continuous process…like riding an escalator… or does it occur in stages like climbing the rungs of a ladder?
• nature vs. nurture

  • heredity vs. the environment: how do they each influence our development
  • environment: within and out of the womb
• research design

  • what are the strengths and limitations of longitudinal and cross sectional research designs?
  • longitudinal and cross sectional
  • cohort effect: extraneous variable due to people of the same group sharing features that differ from other cohorts
  • rather than maturation, this is the cause of differences between groups in a cross sectional study.
• Development in utero (pre-natal stage)

  Physical inside womb
• What are gross motor skills?

  Skills involving the large muscle movements of the body e.g. walking. Uses the legs
• what are fine motor skills?

  Skills using minor muscle movements e.g. using a pen. Uses small finger muscles
• Verbal fluency 


  The ability to produce words retrieved from the memory
• tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon

  An individual knows what they would like to say but are unable to recall the specific word required
• Self awareness definition

  The ability for an individual to observe their thoughts, emotions and behaviours
• Self-concept definition

  The view an individual has about their beliefs, likes and dislikes, and strengths and weaknesses
• What is brain plasticity?

  The brains capacity to reorganise its structure and function
• why does brain plasticity occur?

  it occurs due to a range of factors including learning, experiences, memory formation or damage to the brain.
• what are some positive impact of brain plasticity?

  • it allows humans to learn new information
  • it allows the enhancement of existing cognitive capabilities
  • helps the brain recover (either partially or fully) from injury
  • helps adaptivity to unfolding situations or unpredictable environments.
• what are some negative impacts of brain plasticity?

  • it facilitates the emergence and maintenance of bad habits over time
  • plays a role in the development of major illnesses/disorders like anxiety, schizophrenia, bi-polar and phobias
  • contributes to brain decline in old age
• why does brain plasticity contribute to decline in old age?

  the process of synaptic pruning eliminates some neural connections in parts of the brain that are no longer used e.g. a decline in mental engagement or involvement in socially stimulating activities leads to weakening and subsequent pruning of neural connections in parts of the brain linked with these behaviours
• developmental plasticity definition


  changes in neural connections as a result interactions with the environment; in response to initial processing of sensory stimuli by immature brain
• what is a predetermined process?

  developmental plasticity as it is determines by generic makeup
• when does developmental plasticity occur?

  over a persons life span but it diminishes with age
• Developmental plasticity steps

  • Birth: human brain already has about all of the reunions it will ever have. It doubles in size by the first year and by 3 it has reached 80% of its adult volume
  • synapses form fastest during these years and the brain creates more than needed
  • aged 2 or 3 means twice as many synapses that adulthood
  • these surplus connections are gradually eliminated through adulthood and adolescence
• What are the 5 stages of plasticity?

  • Proliferation
  • migration
  • circuit formation
  • synaptic pruning
  • myelination
• what is proliferation?


  the division and multiplication of the unborn baby’s cells that will become neurons
• what happens during migration?


  newly formed neurons move outwards to their destined locations. The role of that particular neuron may be determined by its location during the time of formation
• when does circuit formation occur?

  when the axons of new neurons grow out to target cells and from synapses with them. known also as synaptogenesis
• what is an example of circuit formation?

  axons for motor neurons growing out to the spinal chords where the neurons form synapses with other neurons in this location
• what is synaptic pruning?

  Process of eliminating unused or unnecessary connections between neurons in the brain.
• what is the myelination process

  the axons of the neurons in a child’s brain becomes insulated my myelin
• what is Myelin?


  myelin is a white, fatty, waxy substance that coats some axons and protects them from electrical interference from other neurons.
• what does Myelin do?

  myelin speeds up the rate of transmission of signals within a neuron
• What are some examples of developmental plasticity?

  Language acquisition, social and emotional development, visual development
• What is language acquisition?

  Exposure to linguistic input from caregivers leads to the development of specialised brain regions for language processing, such as Broca's area and Wernicke's area.
• What is social and emotional development?

  Early experiences with caregivers and peers shape the development of social and emotional skills. Neuroplastic changes in areas such as the prefrontal cortex and amygdala contribute to the maturation of emotional regulation, empathy, and social cognition. 
• Adaptive plasticity 


  The brains ability to compensate for loss of ability due to brain damage as well as interactions with the environment
• when does adaptive plasticity occur?

  through the lifespan but is more efficient/evident in early childhood
• What does adaption involve?

  Taking in, processing, organising and using new information in ways which enable us to adjust to changes in our environment
• how does adaption happen?

  through assimilation and accommodation
• what is assimilation?


  the process of taking in new information and fitting it into and making it part of a pre-existing mental idea about objects or experiences
• what’s an example of assimilation?

  if a child is given a hammer for the first time whilst using a wooden spoon for stirring in a pot, the hammer may also be used to stir the pot because the child has assimilated the hammer into a pre-existing mental idea.
• can pre-existing mental ideas change?

  yes, through experience and by the pre-existing mental ideas changing there is evidence of adaption