Infancy and Childhood

Schema - frameworks that help us organize and interpret info

• Ex. kid learns schema dog through picture books

Assimilation - interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas

• Ex. kid might call any four-legged animal a dog

Accommodation - adjusting current schemas to incorporate new info

• Ex. kid recognizes a cat is not the same as a dog

Stranger anxiety - common in infants starting at 8 months; traditional belief: infants would become attached to whoever provided their food

Secure vs. insecure attachment

• Secure - Infants in their mother’s presence they play comfortably, happily exploring their new environment. When she leaves, they become distressed; when she returns, they seek contact with her.

• Insecure - marked either by anxiety or avoidance of trusting relationships; infants are less likely to explore their surroundings; they may even cling to their mother. When she leaves, they either cry loudly and remain upset or seem indifferent to her departure and return

Critical period - early in life when exposure to certain stimuli and events leads to normal development

Imprinting - the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during an early-life critical period

Temperament - a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Basic trust - according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

Self-concept - all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Developmental Theories

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development:

1. Sensorimotor - birth to 2 years; babies experience the world through senses and they learn that they can do things through movement

   1. Object permanence - recognizing that something is still there even if they can’t see it doesn’t develop till ~8 months; lack concept of conservation

2. Pre-operational - 2-7 years; the child learns to use language but cannot comprehend conservation

3. Concrete operational - 7-12 years; kids can think logically about physical events and understand math transformations

4. Formal operational - 12+ years; develop abstract thinking; consider hypotheticals and estimate consequences

Harlow’s “wire and cloth mother” study

• Psychologists Harry Harlow and Margaret Harlow raised monkeys with two artificial mothers—one a bare wire cylinder with a wooden head and an attached feeding bottle, the other a cylinder with no bottle but covered with foam rubber and wrapped with terry cloth. The Harlows’ discovery surprised many psychologists: The infants much-preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing mother.

Erikson’s developmental theories (know each of the “conflicts”)

1. Trust vs mistrust - if needs are met they develop trust

2. Autonomy vs shame and doubt - toddlers will learn to do things for themselves or will doubt their own abilities

3. Initiative vs guilt - preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans or to be guilty about efforts at independence

4. Competence vs inferiority - kids will learn to enjoy applying themselves to tasks or they will feel inferior

5. Identity vs role confusion - teens work at testing roles and then forming them into an identity or they become confused about who they are

6. Intimacy vs isolation - young adults form close relationships and develop a capacity for intimacy or they feel socially isolated

7. Generativity vs stagnation - middle-aged people develop a sense of contributing to the world or feel a lack of purpose

8. Integrity vs despair - as older adults reflect on life, they feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment or a sense of failure

Gender Development / Identity

Gender role - a set of expected behaviors for males or for females

Gender identity - our sense of being male or female

Social learning theory - the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Gender typing - the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Transgender - an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex

Identity - a consistent and comfortable sense of who we are

Social identity - part of our identity that comes from group membership

Primary vs. secondary sex characteristics

• Primary - the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible

• Secondary - nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair

Sexual orientation - when during sexual attraction one feels to the opposite (heterosexual), same (homosexual), or both (bisexual) sexes

Parenting Styles

Authoritarian parents impose rules and expect obedience: “Don’t interrupt.” “Keep your room clean.” “Don’t stay out late or you’ll be grounded.” “Why? Because I said so.”

Permissive parents submit to their children’s desires. They make few demands and use little punishment.

Authoritative parents are both demanding and responsive. They exert control by setting rules and enforcing them, but they also explain the reasons for rules. And, especially with older children, they encourage open discussion when making the rules and allow exceptions.

Adulthood

Emerging adulthood - for some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood

Menopause - the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

Social clock - a social standard that says there are certain expectations about when people should get married, have kids, retire, etc (most powerful when comparing yourself to others)

Developmental Disorders