What are the three domains of development?
- Physical: How your body grows (height, weight, brain, motor skills).
- Cognitive: How you think, learn, remember, and problem-solve.
- Socioemotional: How you manage emotions, relationships, and personality
What is the nature vs. nurture debate?
This asks whether people are shaped more by:
* Nature: Your genes and biology.
* Nurture: Your environment, experiences, and how you were raised.
Most psychologists think both work together.
What are the three developmental research designs?
- Cross-sectional: Study different age groups at the same time.
- Longitudinal: Study the same people for many years.
- Cross-sequential: A mix — different ages, but followed over time.
What are the major stages of prenatal development?
Answer:
- Germinal (first 2 weeks): Cells divide and form the beginning of the baby.
- Embryonic (weeks 3–8): Organs start forming; very sensitive stage.
- Fetal (week 9 to birth): Growth and development until the baby is ready to be born.
What are teratogens?
Harmful substances that can damage the developing baby. Examples: alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, certain illnesses, toxins.
What is a schema?
A mental “folder” your brain uses to organize information and experiences.
What is assimilation?
Putting new information into an existing folder (schema). Example: A child sees a zebra and calls it a “horse.”
What is accommodation
Changing a folder or making a new one when information doesn’t fit. Example: Child learns a zebra is different from a horse and creates a new “zebra” folder.
- What is object permanence?
Knowing something still exists even when you can’t see it. Example: A baby understands a toy under a blanket is still there.
What is conservation?
Understanding that amount stays the same even if the shape looks different. Example: Water in a tall glass vs. a short glass — it’s the same amount.
What are the four attachment styles?
- Secure: Feels safe with caregiver, calms down easily.
- Avoidant: Avoids closeness; acts independent.
- Ambivalent: Clingy, unsure, hard to comfort.
- Disorganized: Confused behavior; may approach but also pull away.
What are the three basic temperament types?
- Easy: Calm, predictable routines.
- Difficult: Cries more, hard to soothe.
- Slow-to-warm-up: Shy at first but adjusts slowly.
What are the stages of moral reasoning?
- Preconventional: Based on rewards and punishments (“Will I get in trouble?”).
- Conventional: Based on rules and wanting approval (“I must follow the rules”).
- Postconventional: Based on personal morals and fairness (“What is truly right?”).
What is identity formation?
Figuring out who you are, what you believe, and where you fit in the world. This is the main task of teenage years (Erikson).
What are the four parenting styles?
- Authoritative: Warm but has rules — best style.
- Authoritarian: Strict, little warmth.
- Permissive: Lots of warmth, few rules.
- Uninvolved: Little warmth and few rules.
What are life roles in social development?
The different responsibilities and identities people take on as they grow. Examples: student, friend, worker, partner, parent.
What are the stages of grief?
- Denial: Hard to believe it happened.
- Anger: Feeling upset or frustrated.
- Bargaining: “If only…” thoughts.
- Depression: Deep sadness.
- Acceptance: Understanding and coping with the loss.
. What is the difference between an emotion and a mood
- Emotion: A strong feeling that happens quickly and usually because of a specific event (ex: anger, fear, joy).
- Mood: A longer-lasting feeling that doesn’t always have a clear cause (ex: feeling “down” all day).
What are the components of an emotional experience?
When you feel an emotion, three things happen:
1. Physiological arousal: Your body changes (heart rate, breathing, sweating).
2. Behavioral expression: How you show the emotion (facial expressions, posture, tone of voice).
3. Cognitive interpretation: How you think about the situation and make sense of the emotion.
What does the James-Lange theory state?
Your body reacts first, and then you feel the emotion. Example: You see a dog running at you → heart races → then you feel fear.
What does the Cannon-Bard theory state?
Your body and your emotion happen at the same time. Example: You see the dog → at the same moment, your heart races and you feel fear.
- What does the Schachter-Singer (Two-Factor) theory say?
Emotion is created by two things:
1. Your body’s reaction (arousal)
2. The label you give it (your thoughts)
Example: Your heart is beating fast → you look around and think, “Oh, I’m excited!” or “Oh, I’m scared,” depending on the situation.
What is the Facial Feedback hypothesis?
Your face can affect your feelings. Example: Smiling can make you feel happier, even if you weren’t at first.
