Describe the classic Freudian psychoanalytic perspective on human development:
- Conflicts
- integration of id, ego, and superego
- social expectations- how parents manage their child’s sexual and aggressive drives in first few years
- Emphasis on unique life history, early parent-child relationship
- Over-emphasis on sexual feelings in development
List Erikson’s ages and corresponding stages:
Birth-1 yr - Basic Trust vs. Mistrust
1-3 yrs - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
3-6 yrs - Initiative vs. Guilt
6-12 yrs - Industry vs. Inferiority
12-20 yrs - Identity vs. Role Confusion
20-40- yrs - Intimacy vs. Isolation
40-65 yrs - Generativity vs. Stagnation
Old age - Ego Integrity vs. Despair
List Piaget’s cognitive development stages and descriptions:
- Sensorimotor stage- use of senses and movement to explore the world
- Object permanence
- Preoperational thought- preschooler’s symbolic but illogical thinking
- Concrete operational thought- more organized logical reasoning
- Equilibrium
- Formal operational thought- abstract, systematic reasoning
Fill in the following chart based on Piaget’s theory (2 points):
Define Piaget’s equilibrium and disequilibrium:
- Equilibrium
- When children do not change very much
- They assimilate more than they accommodate
- Disequilibrium
- During periods of rapid cognitive change
- They accommodate more than they assimilate
Give a descriptor for each of the following Developmental Systems theories:
- Lerner’s Developmental Contextualism
- Balte’s Life-Span Developmental Theory
- Brandstadter’s Action Theory
- Elder’s Life-Course Theory
- Thelen & Smith Dynamic Systems Theory
- Magnusson’s Holistic Person-Context Interaction Theory
Lerner’s Developmental Contextualism-
•Stresses bidirectional relationships between multiple levels of human organization (biological, psychological, social, cultural, historical, etc.)
Balte’s Life-Span Developmental Theory-
•Development extends across the entire lifespan
(•Tripartite model of integrating development and historical change)
Brandstadter’s Action Theory-
•Focus on developmental regulation (person-context relations)
Elder’s Life-Course Theory-
•Interaction of development with social context and historical time and place
Thelen & Smith Dynamic Systems Theory-
•Defining feature of development- creation of new forms
•Self-organization- processes that by their own actions change themselves
Magnusson’s Holistic Person-Context Interaction Theory-
•Emphasis on synthesis/fusion of person-environment system
Describe Bronfenbrenner’s PPCT model and how it differs from his Ecological Systems Theory.
- Bronfenbrenner self-criticism
- discounting the role the individual plays (Bronfenbrenner, 1989)
- Person
- Process
- Context
- Time
- Differed from Ecological Systems Theory in that it included more emphasis on the role of the person and the process
Describe prenatal and infant brain growth
- At birth, most neurons the brain will have are present
- approx. 100 billion neurons
- By age 2 years, brain is 80% of adult size
- What keeps growing?
- Other brain cells (glia)
- New neuron connections
- approx. 1000 trillion connections by age 3 yrs.
Define epigenetics.
The study of the factors that determine how much or whether some genes are expressed in your body. Related to methyl groups (like a switch to influence activation) and histones (influences how much it is expressed)
Describe the prenatal periods of development, including the period, length, and key events.
Zygote: (2 weeks)
- Fertilization
- Implantation
- Start of placenta
Embryo: (6 weeks)
- Groundwork laid for all body structures and internal organs
Fetus: (30 weeks)
- “Growth and finishing” phase
Describe an overview of fetal development with attention to the third month, second trimester, and third trimester.
Third month:
- organs, muscles, and nervous system start to become organized and connected
- lungs begin to expand and contract
Second trimester:
- many organs are well-developed by 20 weeks most of the brain’s neurons are in place
Third trimester:
- age of viability: 22–26 weeks
- fetus takes on beginnings of personality
What are the stages of childbirth?
- Dilation and effacement of the cervix
- Delivery of the baby
- Delivery of the placenta
What is the role of high levels of stress hormones in the labor and delivery process?
- help baby withstand oxygen deprivation
- prepare baby to breathe
- arouse infant into alertness
List the newborn reflexes and describe when applicable.
- Palmar grasp- grasping
- Babinski- toes curl when bottom of foot is stroked
- Rooting- turning head toward something touching the cheek (in preparation for nursing)
- Moro- arms out when startled
- Eye blink- n/a
- Sucking- related to nursing
- Stepping- in preparation for walking
Describe the impact of a newborn’s sense of severe pain, and interventions.
- overwhelms nervous system with stress hormones
- can be relieved with local anesthesia, sugar solution, or physical touch
Describe newborn abilities with regard to the sense of taste and smell.
- have a preference for sweet tastes at birth
- can readily learn to like new tastes
- have odor preferences at birth
- can locate odors and identify mother by smell from birth
Describe newborn abilities with regard to the sense of hearing.
- can hear a wide variety of sounds
- prefer complex sounds to pure tones
- can distinguish between a variety of sound patterns when only a few days old
- listen longer to human speech than to nonspeech sounds
- can detect the sounds of any human language
Describe the impact of a newborn on new family adjustment.
Hormones that facilitate caregiving:
- oxytocin
- prolactin
- estrogens
Hormonal effects may depend on experience
Challenges of early weeks:
- new roles
- changed schedule
At what age/weight is it safely possible for infants to sleep through the night, providing a window for sleep training?
4-6 months or 12-13 pounds
What social development generally occurs at 2 months of age?
- Arousal at sight of peers and mutual gaze
- Social smiling
- Vocalizations (cooing)
- Reaching toward peers
At what age are babies generally able to reciprocate gestures?
6-9 months
At age 4 months, what emotions can infants generally express through facial expressions?
By 4 months- mostly joy and interest
By age 12 months, what additional emotions can infants generally express through facial expressions?
By 12 months- Anger and disgust
Regarding early attachment theory, describe a main point of Bowlby’s theoretical viewpoint:
Children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others, because this will help them to survive
