Lifespan Psych

• Gross motor skills


  Involves bigger movements using larger muscles, e.g. crawling
• Fine motor skills


  Involves smaller movements using smaller muscles, e.g. picking up small objects
• Social cognition


  Noticing, noting, remembering information about social environments
• Basic reactive emotions


  Include joy, fear, sadness, etc. experienced early in development
• Complex emotions


  Include shyness, surprise, guilt, embarrassment, etc. experienced after initial developmental stages
• Assimilation


  Applying existing mental processes to new experiences
• Accommodation


  Modifying existing processes to adapt to new information/experiences
• Schema


  Mental structures helping organize and interpret information
• Concrete thinking


  Thought processes relying on real-world experiences
• Symbolic thinking


  Thinking involving mentally representing people, events, and objects
• Abstract thinking


  Thinking in general concepts rather than specific objects or events
• Sensori-motor stage


  0-2 years old, understanding via sensory and motor interactions
• Pre-operational stage


  2-7 years old, inability to think logically, egocentric behavior
• Concrete operational stage


  7-11 years old, logical thinking with concrete materials
• Formal operational stage


  11+ years old, capable of logical and abstract thinking
• Brain Plasticity


  Brain's ability to modify connections and rewire itself
• Adaptive Plasticity


  Ability to learn new information and skills, most efficient in infancy
• Developmental Plasticity


  Processes changing neurons and synaptic connections, established by genes
• Neurogenesis


  Unborn baby's cells divide and multiply to become neurons
• Neural migration


  New neurons migrate to specified brain locations
• Neural maturation


  Neurons settle into destination, dendrites grow and extend
• Circuit formation


  Axons form synapses with target cells, especially during early brain development
• Circuit pruning


  Weak/unused neural connections are pruned, strengthening remaining pathways
• Myelination


  Axons are myelinated, increasing neural transmission speed and preventing electrical interference between neurons
• Attachment


  Close emotional bond between infant and primary caregiver
• Sensitive/critical period


  Critical time for attachment to occur for optimal development
• Monotropy


  Attachment with only one attachment figure
• Critical period


  A lifespan stage during which individuals are more sensitive to environmental influences. Normal development relies on these life experiences occurring
• Maternal deprivation


  The consequences an individual experiences when they are separated from their mother (or main attachment figure) as a child, preventing attachment from occurring
• Internal working model of others


  By the age of five, children have learned about their caregivers likes, dislikes, and personality characteristics
• Positive internal working model of self


  Child believes they are worthy of love and comfort because of their caregiver's sensitivity to their needs and their loving responses of comfort and protection
• Negative internal working model of self


  Caregivers have consistently rejected the child and ignore their needs; the child will feel unworthy of love and care
• Internal working model between self and others


  Child will base future relationships with other people on their first relationships with primary caregivers
• Bowbly's monotropic theory


  Children have a biological need to form a bond with one main attachment figure, this bond the most important, usually with the mother.
• Evolutionary perspective


  The purpose of attachment is to enhance the infants chances of survival
• Criticisms of Bowbly's theory

  • Focus on mother only, though there can be other attachment figures
  • Contradicting evidence regarding the "critical" period should be called "sensitive" instead - normal development still possible even if required life experiences do not occur in first 2 years
• "Critical" period vs "sensitive" period

  "Critical" = specific life experiences NEED to occur for normal development

  "Sensitive" = effects of experiences on the brain are stronger than usual
• Proximity seeking 


  Whether or not an infant stays in close proximity to their mother
• Exploration and secure base behaviour


  How confident the baby feels to explore their environment, while using their mother as a secure base to return to
• Stranger anxiety


  How anxious the baby becomes when around a stranger