Lifespan Psych

Cards (51)

  • 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