Child Development Psychology Quiz

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Questions and Answers

What is a key characteristic of Piaget's preoperational stage?

Children can perform mental transformations.

Children understand object permanence.

Children can easily grasp the concept of conservation.

Children can create sophisticated internal representations. (correct)

Which of the following best describes conservation in children?

Understanding that different shapes can represent the same quantity. (correct)

The capacity to perform complex calculations.

The ability to perceive another person's perspective.

Recognizing that an object's worth can change its appearance.

What does egocentrism in preschool children imply?

Children can recognize different perspectives in tasks.

Children can empathize with others' feelings.

Children assume others perceive things the same way they do. (correct)

Children are highly aware of their surroundings.

At what age do children typically start developing a theory of mind?

4-5 years Signup and view all the answers

How are Autism Spectrum Disorders related to the development of theory of mind?

They are associated with difficulties in developing theory of mind. Signup and view all the answers

What is a significant effect of tobacco smoke exposure during prenatal development?

Increased risk of stillbirth Signup and view all the answers

At what point in development does the fetus start responding to external stimuli like sounds and lights?

After 6 months Signup and view all the answers

Which reflex helps a newborn locate food?

Sucking reflex Signup and view all the answers

What does maturation primarily refer to in developmental psychology?

Biologically-driven growth and development Signup and view all the answers

What percentage of the adult brain size does a newborn's brain comprise?

25% Signup and view all the answers

Which type of development is heavily influenced by both maturation and experience?

Motor development Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a newborn?

Capable of complex reasoning Signup and view all the answers

What developmental milestone typically follows crawling in infants?

Walking Signup and view all the answers

What plays an important role in childhood learning according to Piaget?

Interaction with the environment Signup and view all the answers

At what age does the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development occur?

Birth to 2 years Signup and view all the answers

What term describes the process of incorporating new information into existing schemas?

Assimilation Signup and view all the answers

What is a schema according to Piaget's theory?

A mental framework for organizing information Signup and view all the answers

During which cognitive development stage do children primarily sense and react?

Sensorimotor stage Signup and view all the answers

How does Piaget describe the differences in thinking between children and adults?

Children think in qualitatively different ways than adults Signup and view all the answers

What does the accommodation process involve?

Updating existing schemas to incorporate new experiences Signup and view all the answers

What is the implication of cognitive development being age-dependent according to Piaget?

Timing of development stages is relatively similar for healthy individuals Signup and view all the answers

What percentage of children typically experience distress when their mother leaves in a secure attachment?

60 percent Signup and view all the answers

Which attachment style is characterized by a child that is difficult to calm upon the mother's return?

Insecure ambivalent attachment Signup and view all the answers

Which temperament type is described as happy, relaxed, and calm?

Easy temperament Signup and view all the answers

What parenting approach is correlated with a secure attachment style?

Attentive and sensitive parenting Signup and view all the answers

What is the outcome for securely attached children compared to insecurely attached children?

Better academic achievement Signup and view all the answers

What allows a child with secure attachment to feel secure in relationships?

Confidence in caregiver’s responsiveness Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is not a characteristic of insecure avoidant attachment?

Distress when mother leaves Signup and view all the answers

How can training in sensitive responding for parents affect attachment styles?

It reduces the rates of insecurity. Signup and view all the answers

What is the best description of a cisgendered person?

A person whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth Signup and view all the answers

During which period do individuals typically become aware of their sexual orientation?

Puberty, ages 6-18 for males and 11-26 for females Signup and view all the answers

What role does biology play in determining sexual orientation?

It has a major role due to genetics and prenatal environment Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements regarding teen pregnancy and sexual education is accurate?

Basic knowledge about sex is often lacking even when education is provided Signup and view all the answers

What challenge exists in defining the stages of adulthood?

Changes in adulthood are complex and vary widely among individuals Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes primary sex characteristics during puberty?

Development of reproductive organs and external genitalia Signup and view all the answers

Which factor has contributed to the recent decrease in the age of puberty?

Improved diet and health Signup and view all the answers

What effect does early maturation generally have on boys compared to girls?

More positive social consequences for boys Signup and view all the answers

What does the timing of puberty for girls primarily influence?

Social relationships and emotional behavior Signup and view all the answers

How does the speed of maturation during puberty affect boys?

Slower maturation is linked to more positive outcomes Signup and view all the answers

What key developmental change occurs in the brain during puberty?

Increased connectivity between cortical regions Signup and view all the answers

What is a possible reason for impulsiveness observed in teenagers during puberty?

Underdevelopment of the frontal judgment centers of the brain Signup and view all the answers

Which cognitive ability increases as the frontal cortex develops in adolescents?

Abstract reasoning ability Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Development Overview

Prenatal Development
Infancy and Childhood: Brain Development, Motor Development, Cognitive Development, Social Development, Moral Development, Puberty, sexuality and teenage social development, Adulthood and aging

Conception

A sperm and egg unite to bring genetic material together, forming a zygote (fertilized cell)
Fertilization typically occurs 1-2 days after intercourse, but can occur up to 5 days later

Prenatal Development: Germinal Stage

~2-week period starting at conception
Zygote: Fertilized egg containing chromosomes from both parents
Cell division (2, 4, 8, 16...)
Differentiation of individual cells begins after approximately 100 cells

Prenatal Development: Embryonic Stage

Period lasting from week 2 to week 8

Prenatal Development: Fetal Stage

Period lasting from week 9 to birth
Neuron creation largely complete by 5 months
Myelination starts but not complete until adulthood
6-month-old fetuses potentially able to survive outside the womb

Prenatal Development: Teratogens

Substances (viruses, chemicals) that can damage a developing embryo or fetus

Prenatal Development: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

Cognitive, behavioral, and body/brain structure abnormalities caused by prenatal alcohol exposure
Associated physical appearance changes (e.g., short palpebral fissures, flat midface, short nose, thin upper lip, indistinct philtrum)
Lowered intelligence
Learning difficulties
Distressing prevalence, particularly in disadvantaged communities

Prenatal Development: Tobacco Smoke Exposure

Various chemicals in tobacco smoke act as teratogens
Linked to lower birth weight (health difficulties)
Increased risk of perceptual, attentional, and learning problems in children
Increased risk of stillbirth and infant death
Secondhand and third-hand smoke also dangerous
Exposure remains a danger during childhood

Prenatal Development: Fetus' Brain

The fetus' brain starts processing information long before birth
Fetus responds to sounds and bright lights after 6 months of development
Fetuses can learn even before birth
Immediately after birth, infants prefer their mother's voice

Newborn

Physical and mental abilities are limited
Newborn brain size is only 25% of an adult brain
Humans born with limited instinctual knowledge and abilities

Newborn: Reflexes

Inborn behaviors that don't need learning
Reflexes ensure infants can feed:
- Rooting reflex: infant turns toward touched cheek, opens mouth
- Sucking reflex: infant sucks on things put in mouth
- Crying when hungry: a strong motivator for caregivers

Maturation

Biologically driven growth and development enabling predictable behavioral changes
Experience can adjust the timing, but maturation sets the sequence

Motor Development

Depends on maturation processes affecting both body (e.g. muscle strength) and brain (e.g., cerebellum, cortex)
Healthy development and opportunity for exercise affect little the sequence of skills

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Most influential researcher of childhood cognitive development
Children think differently from adults
Cognitive development is driven by both brain development and interactions with the environment

Learning About the World: Schemas

Mental frameworks used to organize and hold information about topics or categories
Piaget believed schema formation and adjustment crucial for learning

Schemas: Assimilation & Accommodation

Assimilation: applying an existing schema to new information (e.g., classifying a cat as a "dog")
Accommodation: updating and adding schemas (e.g., separating cats and dogs into separate schemas)

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Describes cognitive development as a progression through age-dependent stages
Children gain new mental abilities in each stage; thinking styles differ qualitatively
Stages generally occur consistently for healthy individuals

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor (birth-2 years): experiencing world through senses and movement; developing schemas and object permanence
Preoperational (2-6 years): acquiring motor skills; egocentric thinking initially but develops understanding of others' minds
Concrete operational (6-11 years): logically thinking about physical objects and events; understanding conservation of properties
Formal operational (11+ years): logical thinking about abstract concepts; hypotheticals

Sensorimotor Stage

Babies explore the world through the senses (looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, grasping)
Piaget believed limited knowledge at this stage
Knowledge grows rapidly
8 months: objects are still present even when not visible.

Sensorimotor: Understanding of the World

Piaget: children under 6 months don't understand object permanence (objects exist regardless of sight)
Recent research indicates younger children show object permanence understanding

Preoperational Stage

Stage where children develop internal representations like schemas, words but can't perform mental operations or transformations

Conservation

Ability to understand that a quantity remains the same even when its arrangement changes

Egocentrism

Preschool children struggle to understand others' perspectives
Believing others see the world through their own eyes

Theory of Mind

Ability to understand others' mental states
Developing by ages 4-5

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Associated with difficulties in theory of mind ("mind blindness"): mental mirroring of others' thoughts and feelings
Difficulties in three areas:
- Establishing mutual social interaction
- Using language and symbolic play
- Displaying flexibility with routines, interests, and behaviors

Concrete Operational Stage

Children demonstrate ability to perform mental operations for concrete concepts (not abstract)
- Conservation
- Simple mathematical operations and reversibility (e.g., 3+7=10, 10-7=3)
- Concrete transformations

Formal Operational Stage

Children gain the ability to think abstractly and use symbols to simulate the world
Develop understanding of abstract concepts (political, religious) and symbolic math (algebra)

Reflecting on Piaget's Theory

Development is a continuous process, not a series of discrete stages
Children develop some abilities earlier than Piaget thought
Formal logic is less central to overall cognition than Piaget proposed

Culture and Cognitive Development

Lev Vygotsky: children learn in social context
Development builds on mentoring, language and cognitive support from caregivers
Children internalize language to develop thinking and inner speech
Fundamental skills for learning from others:
- Joint attention
- Imitation
- Social referencing

Stranger anxiety: developing at about 8 months of age, an early sign of attachment
Attachment: emotional bond between infant and caregiver; might involve physical closeness

Imprinting

In some species, attachment forms during a critical period after birth, with the infant becoming rigidly attached to the first moving object encountered
Humans do not imprint; familiarity is crucial

Origins of Attachment

Attachment based on physical affection and body contact, not rewards like food
Infant monkeys bonded with surrogate mothers who provide physical comfort

Attachment Differences: Separation

"Strange situations" test: to measure parent-child attachment
Observations during separation and reunion of mother and infant
Secure attachment: children show distress when the mother leaves, happily greet the mother's return.
Insecure attachment styles (ambivalent/resistant, avoidant): varying reactions to the mother's departure and return.

Attachment: Nature or Nurture?

Temperament (emotional reactivity) influences attachment
Parenting style (attentive, responsive, sensitive) strongly linked to secure attachment
Parenting training for difficult children increase secure attachment rates

Separation Anxiety: Nature or Nurture?

Children develop an internal working model of relationships that shapes their expectations about the caregiver
Childs expectations about caregivers influence behaviors during separation
Secure attachment: confident in caregiver's responsiveness
Insecure attachment: doubtful concerning caregiver's responsiveness

Effects of Environment on Attachment

Maternal sensitivity and responsiveness strongly influence attachment style
Sufficient parental time, attentiveness, and caregiving don't affect the attachment style

Attachment Later in Life

Early attachments strongly influence adult relationships and intimacy
Secure attachment linked to better relationship skills during adulthood
Parental gender has no effect on attachment

Parenting Styles

Authoritarian: parents impose rules and expect obedience
Permissive: parents submit to child's desires, not enforcing limits
Authoritative: parents enforce rules, explain, listen, and respect children's ideas

Outcomes with Parenting Styles

Authoritative parenting linked to high self-esteem, self-reliance, social competence, and low aggression
Potential confounding factors (child temperament, culture)

Moral Reasoning

Kohlberg: described moral development by posing dilemmas
Children and adolescents respond differently throughout moral development

Kohlberg's 3 Levels of Moral Reasoning

Preconventional (childhood): morality determined by consequences (avoid punishment or gain reward)
Conventional (adolescence): morality determined by conforming to social rules
Postconventional (some adults): morality based on general principles reflecting core values
Moral decisions can differ depending upon the context

Moral Intuition

Jonathan Haidt: moral decisions often driven by quick, gut-feeling intuitions, not just reasoning
Emotions (e.g., disgust, elevated feelings) also influence moral choices
Moral intuition and reasoning can be different processes, but may be intertwined

Adolescent Cognitive Development

As the frontal cortex develops, teenagers have more abstract reasoning
Using reasoning to think hypothetically about choices & consequences; understand others' minds, differentiate between reality and ideals

Peer Influences

Adolescence: shift from family relationships to peer relationships
Peer pressure forms but influence lessens with age
Forming same-sex and mixed-sex cliques, crucial for socialization and romantic relationships
Peer influence important for positive and negative ways

Teenagers' Decisions

Teens make better decisions when alone versus with peers
Peer presence strongly influences social risk-taking behavior

Is adolescence a cultural convention?

About 60% of pre-industrial societies lack a word for adolescence, meaning the period is not necessarily universal
Krobo culture: adolescents undergo rituals and seclusion during puberty
The concept of adolescence, and its characteristics, vary significantly across cultures.

Sex and Gender

Sex: a set of biological traits, often categorized as male or female
Gender: Socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions, and identities. Can vary significantly
Cisgender: gender identity matches sex assigned at birth

Sexuality

Teenagers' interest in sex often precedes their knowledge
Sexuality education often lacking/ignored
Teen pregnancy and STIs remain common despite preventative efforts

Sexual Orientation

A small percentage of individuals identify as homosexual or bisexual
Awareness of sexual orientation develops normally during or slightly before puberty
Biology, genetics, and prenatal environment plays a major role
It is important to recognize that "conversion" techniques don't work

Adulthood

Development from approximately 18-21 years to the end of life
Definition into distinct stages is difficult: ongoing change
Periods:
- Physical changes (physical decline, sensory changes, health)
- Cognitive changes (memory, processing speed)
- Emotional and social development

Adult Physical Development

Peak physical abilities in mid-20s (muscular strength, cardiovascular output, reaction time, sensory sensitivity)
Gradual decline in later years partially due to age
Lifestyle factors (diet, exercise) play a significant role

Impact of Sensory and Motor Decline

Fatal accident rate increases significantly after age 65 (especially for drivers)
This is partly explained by the natural decline in visual and motor skills.

Lifestyle Can Slow Aging Process

Good diet and exercise can contribute to:
- Stronger muscles and bones
- Extended life of cells through maintaining telomeres & stimulating neurogenesis
- Improved cognition
- Reduced risk of dementia

Cognitive Decline

Significant cognitive performance declines on some measures begin after 25 years old
Short-term memory declines more than long-term memory
Memory for specific events declines more than general knowledge
Improves through techniques such as mnemonic devices

Brain Adaptation to Aging

Older adult brains show greater bilateral activation for tasks compared to younger adult brains' unilateral activation
Older brains may compensate for specific decline by calling upon other neural networks

Older adults experience lower levels of stress, worry, and anger contrasted with younger adults
Older adults usually focus on and recall positive experiences and emotions more

Younger adults commonly focused more on future needs, interests and potential
Orientation often more future-focused

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Description

Test your knowledge on key concepts of child development psychology, including Piaget's stages, theory of mind, and prenatal influences. This quiz covers important milestones and characteristics of childhood development, providing insights into various psychological theories. Enhance your understanding of how children grow and learn through different stages.