Selected Essays And Book Reviews

COUN 520: Personality Development

1. Important Terms In Chapters One Through Eight:

  • Development
  • (p. 5) - The changes over time in the structure, thought, behavior of a person as a result of both biological and environmental influences.

  • Maturation
  • (p. 7) - A developmental process involving preprogrammed growth changes that follow a genetic plan.

  • Growth
  • (p. 7) - The increase in size, function, or complexity toward the point of optimal maturity.

  • Aging
  • (p. 7) - Biological changes that occur beyond the point of optimal maturity.

  • Learning
  • (p. 8) - The basic developmental process of change in the individual as a result of experience or practice.

  • Critical period
  • (p. 10) - The only point in time when a particular environmental factor can have an effect.

  • Readiness
  • (p. 11) - A point in time when an individual has matured enough to benefit from a particular learning experience.

  • Ecological systems model
  • (p. 12) - A model of child development in which the growing child actively restructures aspects of the four environmental levels in which he or she lives while simultaneously being influenced by these environments and their interrelationships.

  • Microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem
  • (p. 12-13) - Developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. The microsystem is the first level, and it refers to the activities, roles, and interactions of an individual and her immediate single setting such as the home, day-care center, or school. The mesosystem (second level) is formed by the interrelationships among two or more microsystems. Thus, development is affected by the formal and informal connections between the home and school or among the home, school, and peer group. The exosystem, or third level, refers to the social settings or organizations beyond the individual's immediate experience that nevertheless affect her. The macrosystem comprises the values, laws, and customs of the culture or society in which the individual lives. A key feature of the model is the fluid back-and-forth interactions among the four systems.

  • Cohort
  • (p. 16) - An aggregate of people born during the same historical period.

  • Period of innocence
  • (p. 19) - By 1600, childhood was beginning to be considered a period of innocence, and an effort was made to protect children from the excesses and sins of the adult world. In the Middle Ages, childhood was ignored.

  • Scientific method
  • (p. 23) - The steps researchers follow in the process of scientific inquiry.

  • Experimental design
  • (p. 25) - The setting, subjects, and methods of measurement of a behavioral research study that serve to structure the type of information collected.

  • Independent variable
  • (p. 25) - The variable in an experiment that is manipulated in order to observe its effects on the dependent variable.

  • Dependent variable
  • (p. 25) - The variable in an experiment that changes as a result of manipulating the independent variable.

  • Longitudinal design
  • (p. 26) - A study in which the same subjects are observed continuously over a period of time.

  • Cross-sectional design
  • (p. 28) - A method of studying development in which a sample of individuals of one age are observed and compared with or more samples of individuals of other ages.

  • Sequential/age cohort design
  • (p. 28) - A combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs in which individuals of several different ages are observed repeatedly over an extended period of time.

  • Case studies
  • (p. 30) - It may be a combination of in-depth interviews and/or observation of an individual. Often the individuals selected for study are unusual, such as Nobel Prize winners, psychotic patients, survivors of a prison camp, and so forth.

  • Reliability
  • (p. 30) - The extent to which a measuring technique will produce the same results each time it is used.

  • Validity
  • (p. 30) - The accuracy with which a procedure measures what it is supposed to measure.

  • Causality
  • (p. 33) - A relationship between two variables in which change in one brings about an effect or result in the other.

  • Correlation
  • (p. 33) - A mathematical statement of the relationship between two variables.

  • Informed consent
  • (p. 35) - All major professional organizations hold that people should participate voluntarily, should be fully informed of the nature and possible consequences of the experiment, and should not be offered excessive inducements.

  • Behaviorists
  • (p. 43) - Early-twentieth-century psychologists who focused their research on overt, measurable, observable behavior rather than on internal biological processes.

  • Mechanistic model
  • (p. 43) - In learning theory, the view of human beings as machines that are set in motion by input (stimuli) and that produce output (responses).

  • Deterministic model
  • (p. 43) - The view that a person's values, attitudes, behaviors, and emotional responses are determined by past or present environmental factors.

  • Classical conditioning
  • (p. 43) - A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus, such as a bell, comes to elicit a response - such as salvation - by repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus, such as food.

  • Stimulus generalization
  • (p. 44) - The spread of a response from one specific stimulus to other similar stimulus.

  • Counterconditioning
  • (p. 45) - A procedure to eliminate a previously conditioned negative response by replacing it with a new conditioned response in the same stimulus situation.

  • Systematic desensitization
  • (p. 45) - In behavior therapy, a technique that gradually reduces an individual's anxiety about a specific object or situation.

  • Operant behavior
  • (p. 45) - A behavior in which the individual operates on the environment or emits an action.

  • Law of effect
  • (p. 45) - A principle of learning theory stating that a behavior's consequences determine the probability of its being repeated.

  • Operant conditioning
  • (p. 46) - A type of conditioning that occurs when an organism is reinforced for voluntarily emitting a response. What is reinforced is then learned.

  • Avoidant conditioning
  • (p. 46) - A form of operant conditioning in which the reinforcement consists of the termination of an unpleasant stimulus.

  • Shaping
  • (p. 46) - Systematically reinforcing successive approximations to a desired act.

  • Behavior modification
  • (p. 46) - A method that uses conditioning procedures, such as reinforcement, reward, and shaping, to change behavior.

  • Responsive consequences
  • (p. 47) - The observed results of one's actions that individuals use to adjust their behavior.

  • Structuralism
  • (p. 49) - A branch of psychology concerned with the structure of thought and the ways in which the mind processes information.

  • Conservation
  • (p. 50) - A cognitive ability described by Piaget as central to the concrete operational period. The child is able to judge changes in amounts based on logical thought instead of mere appearance; thus, she judges that an amount of water will remain the same even when it is poured into a glass of a different shape and size.

  • Assimilation
  • (p. 50) - In Piaget's theory, the process of making new information part of one's existing schemata.

  • Accommodation
  • (p. 50) - Piaget's term for the act of changing our thought processes when a new object or idea does not fit our concepts.

  • Scheme
  • (p. 50) - Piaget's term for a mental structure that processes information, perceptions, and experiences; individuals' schemes change as they grow.

  • Equilibrium
  • (p. 51) - Piaget's term for the basic process in human adaptation. In it, individuals seek a balance, or fit, between the environment and their own structures of thought.

  • Sensorimotor stage
  • (p. 51) - Piaget's first period of cognitive development (from birth to 2 years). Infants use action schemes - looking, grasping, and so on - to learn about their world.

  • Preoperational stage
  • (p. 51) - Piaget's second period of cognitive development (from 2 to 7 years). It begins when children are able to use symbols such as language. Their thinking tends to be overly concrete, irreversible, and egocentric, and classification is difficult for them.

  • Concrete operational stage
  • (p. 52) - Piaget's third period of cognitive development (from 7 to 11 years). Children begin to think logically. At this stage, they are able to classify things and deal with a hierarchy of classifications.

  • Formal operational stage
  • (p. 52) - The fourth, and final period, of Piaget's cognitive theory (from 12 years) is characterized by the ability to handle abstract concepts.

  • Information-processing theory
  • (p. 53) - A theory of human development that uses the computer as an analogy for the way the human mind receives, analyzes, and stores information.

  • Zone of proximal development
  • (p. 54) - The difference between the child's actual performance level alone and the child's potential level of performance when guided by adults or more experienced peers.

  • Psychoanalytic tradition
  • (p. 55) - Based on the theories of Freud, whose view of human nature was deterministic. He believed that personality is motivated by innate biological drives.

  • Psychosexual stages
  • (p. 58) - Freud's stages of personality development.

  • Erogenous zones
  • (p. 58) - Body areas that serve as the focus of pleasure and that, in Freud's view, change as one moves through the psychosexual stages.

  • Oral stage
  • (p. 58) - Freud's first psychosexual stage (from birth to about 18 months), during which central pleasure focuses around the mouth.

  • Anal stage
  • (p.58) - Freud's second psychosexual stage (from 18 months to about 3 years), during which central pleasure is through elimination.

  • Phallic stage
  • (p. 58) - Freud's third psychosexual stage (from 3 to 5 years), during which the child's sensual pleasure focuses on the genitals.

  • Identification
  • (p. 58) - Taking on the behaviors and qualities of a person whom one respects and would like to emulate.

  • Pregenital period
  • (p. 58) - The immature psychosexual development of childhood. It encompasses the oral, anal, and phallic stages.

  • Latency stage
  • (p. 58) - The fourth of Freud's psychosexual stages of development (corresponding to the elementary school years), characterized by a temporary dormancy in the interest in sexual gratification.

  • Genital stage
  • (p. 58) - In psychoanalytic theory, the period of normal adult sexual behavior that begins with the onset of puberty.

  • Psychosocial stages
  • (p. 58) - In Erikson's theory, the phases of development during which the individual's capacity for experience dictates major adjustments to the social environment and the self.

  • Humanistic psychology
  • (p. 62) - According to this theory, humans are spontaneous, self-determining, and creative; it has close ties with existentialism.

  • Existentialism
  • (p. 62) - A twentieth-century branch of philosophy that focuses on an individual's struggle to find meaning in his or her existence and to exercise freedom and responsibility in the pursuit of an ethical life.

  • Self-actualization
  • (p. 62) - Realizing one's full potential.

  • Positive regard
  • (p. 63) - A "warm, positive, acceptant" attitude toward clients that Rogers found most effective in promoting personal growth.

  • Ethology
  • (p. 65) - The study of animal behavior, often observed in natural settings and interpreted in an evolutionary framework.

  • Sociobiology
  • (p. 65) - A branch of ethology that maintains that social behavior is largely determined by an organism's biological inheritance.

  • Zygote
  • (p. 77) - The first cell of a human being that occurs as a result of fertilization.

  • Cell division
  • (p. 78-79) - In the process of mitosis, or ordinary cell division occurring in autosomes, cells divide and duplicate themselves exactly. The DNA of each gene unzips and replicates itself.

  • DNA (deoxyribonuclei acid)
  • (p. 78) - A large, complex molecule composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorous; it contains the genetic code that regulates the functioning and development of an organism.

  • Mutation
  • (p. 78) - An alteration in the strips of DNA and, consequently, in the genetic code.

  • RNA (ribonuclei acid)
  • (p. 78) - A substance formed from, and similar to, DNA. It acts as a messenger in a cell and serves as a catalyst for the formation of new tissue.

  • Karyotype
  • (p. 78) - A photograph of a cell's chromosomes arranged in pairs according to length.

  • Autosomes
  • (p. 78) - The chromosomes of a cell, excluding those that determine sex.

  • Mitosis
  • (p. 78) - The process of ordinary cell division that results in two cells identical to the parent.

  • Meiosis
  • (p. 79) - The process of cell division in reproductive cells that results in an infinite number of different chromosomal arrangements.

  • Crossover
  • (p. 79) - A process during meiosis in which individual genes on a chromosome cross over to the opposite chromosome. This process increases the random assortment of genes in offspring.

  • Alleles
  • (p.79) - A pair of genes, found on corresponding chromosomes, that affect the same trait.

  • Genotype
  • (p.79) - The genetic makeup of a given individual or group.

  • Dominant
  • (p. 80) - In genetics, one gene of a gene pair that will cause a particular trait to be expressed.

  • Recessive
  • (p. 80) - In genetics, one gene of a gene pair that determines a trait in an individual only if the other member of that pair is also recessive.

  • Phenotype
  • (p. 80) - In genetics, those traits that are expressed in the individual.

  • Polygenic system of inheritance
  • (p. 80) - A trait caused by an interaction of several genes or gene pairs.

  • Sex-linked traits
  • (p. 83) - Traits that are passed on by way of genes on the sex chromosomes.

  • Non-sex-linked autosomal trait
  • (p. 84) - Trait caused by genes on the non-sex-determining chromosomes (autosomes).

  • Chromosome disorders
  • (p. 80-96) - sex-linked abnormalities (presence of extra chromosome, an absent or inactive chromosome, chromosomal breakage, hemophilia, and color blindness) and non-sex-linked abnormalities (down syndrome, sickle-cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, tay-sachs disease, phenylketonuria, huntington's chorea).

  • Genetic counseling
  • (p. 86) - Counseling that helps potential parents evaluate their risk factors for having a baby with genetic disorders.

  • Gene therapy
  • (p. 88) - The manipulation of individual genes to correct certain defects.

  • Ethnocentrism
  • (p. 94) - The tendency to assume that one's own beliefs, perceptions, customs, and values are correct or normal and that those of others are inferior or abnormal.

  • Self-awareness in infancy
  • (p. 95) - children gradually develop an awareness of their own bodies. Self-concept is crucial in the development of an integrated personality.

  • Socialization
  • (p. 95) - The lifelong process by which an individual acquires the beliefs, attitudes, customs, roles, values, and expectations of a culture or a social group.

  • Sex-type behaviors
  • (p. 100) - In most cultures, children display clear sex-typed behavior by age five.

  • Gender-role stereotypes
  • (p. 100) - Rigid, fixed ideas of what is appropriate masculine or feminine behavior.

  • Androgynous personality
  • (p. 102) - A sex-role identity that incorporates some positive aspects of both traditional male and traditional female behavior.

  • Ovum
  • (p. 106) - The female reproductive cell (the egg or gamete).

  • Fallopian tubes
  • (p. 107) - Two passages that open out of the upper part of the uterus and carry the ova from the ovary to the uterus.

  • Ovulation
  • (p. 107) - The release of the ovum into one of the two Fallopian tubes; occurs approximately 14 days after menstruation.

  • Sperm
  • (p. 107) - The male reproductive cell (or gamete).

  • Fertilization
  • (p. 107) - The union of an ovum and a sperm.

  • Zygote
  • (p. 107) - A fertilized ovum.

  • Germinal period
  • (p. 107) - After conception, the period of very rapid cell division and initial cell differentiation, lasting for approximately 2 weeks.

  • Embryonic period
  • (p. 107) - The second prenatal period, which lasts from the end of the second week to the end of the second month after conception. All the major structures and organs of the individual are formed during this time.

  • Fetal period
  • (p. 107) - The final period of prenatal development, lasting from the beginning of the third month after conception until birth. During this period, all organs mature and become functional.

  • Monozygotic (identical) twins
  • (p. 107) - Twins resulting from the division of a single fertilized ovum.

  • Dizygotic (fraternal) twins
  • (p. 107) - Twins resulting from the fertilization of two separate ova by two separate sperm.

  • Blastula
  • (p. 107) - The hollow, fluid-filled sphere of cells that forms several days after conception.

  • Implantation
  • (p. 108) - The embedding of the prenatal organism in the uterine wall after its descent through the Fallopian tube.

  • Amniotic sac
  • (p. 108) - A fluid-filled membrane that encloses the developing embryo or fetus.

  • Placenta
  • (p. 108) - A disk-shaped mass of tissue that forms along the wall of the uterus through which the embryo receives nutrients and discharges wastes.

  • Umbilical cord
  • (p. 108) - The "rope" of tissue connecting the placenta to the embryo; this rope contains two fetal arteries and one fetal vein.

  • Ectoderm
  • (p. 109) - In embryonic development, the outer layer of cells that becomes the skin, sense organs, and nervous system.

  • Mesoderm
  • (p. 109) - In embryonic development, the middle layer of cells that becomes the muscles, blood, and excretory system.

  • Endoderm
  • (p. 109) - In embryonic development, the inner layer of cells that becomes the digestive system, lungs, thyroid, thymus, and other organs.

  • Miscarriage (spontaneous abortion)
  • (p. 109) - Expulsion of the prenatal organism before it is viable.

  • Gestation period
  • (p. 110) - The total period of time from conception to birth; in humans, this averages about 266 days.

  • Trimester
  • (p. 111) - The three equal time segments that complete the 9-month gestation period.

  • Viable
  • (p. 113) - At 23 or more weeks of development, the ability of the fetus to live outside the mother's body, provided that it receives special care.

  • Cephalocaudal developmental trend
  • (p. 115) - The sequence of growth that occurs first in the head and progresses toward the feet.

  • Proximodistal developmental trend
  • (p. 115) - The sequence of growth that occurs from the midline of the body out.

  • Gross-to-specific developmental trend
  • (p. 115) - The tendency to react to stimuli with generalized, whole-body movements at first, with these responses becoming more local and specific later.

  • Differentiation
  • (p. 115) - In embryology, the process by which undifferentiated cells become increasingly specialized.

  • Integration
  • (p. 115) - The organization of differentiated cells into organs and systems.

  • Teratology
  • (p. 116) - The study of developmental abnormalities or birth defects.

  • Teratogens
  • (p. 116) - The toxic agents that cause these disturbances.

  • Birth defects
  • (p, 116) - 150,000 or more (5%-8% of live births) are born each year with birth defects. Only a small percent of birth defects are inherited. The majority are caused by environmental circumstances.

  • Threshold
  • (p. 117) - The particular concentration level in an organ or tissue layer that a drug must reach to have an impact.

  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
  • (p. 118) - Congenital abnormalities, including small size, low birth weight, certain facial characteristics, and possible mental retardation, resulting from maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

  • Perinatology
  • (p. 125) - A branch of medicine that deals with childbirth as a span of time including conception, the prenatal period, delivery, and the first few months of life.

  • Amniocentesis
  • (p. 126) - A test for chromosomal abnormalities that is performed during the second trimester of pregnancy; it involves the withdrawal and analysis of amniotic fluid.

  • Fetoscope
  • (p. 126) - A long, hollow needle with a small lens and a light source at its end that is inserted into the amniotic sac for observation of the fetus.

  • Ultrasound
  • (p. 126) - A technique that uses sound waves to produce a picture of the fetus in the uterus.

  • Labor
  • (p. 127) - The first stage of childbirth, typically lasting for several hours and characterized by uterine contractions during which the cervix dilates to allow for passage of the baby.

  • Birth
  • (p. 127) - The second stage of childbirth, the time between full cervical dilation and freedom of the baby from the mother's body.

  • Perineum
  • (p. 127) - The region between the vagina and the rectum.

  • Episiotomy
  • (p. 127) - An incision made to enlarge the vaginal opening during childbirth.

  • Breech presentation
  • (p. 127) - The baby's position in the uterus such that the buttocks will emerge first; assistance is usually needed in such cases to prevent injury to the mother or the infant.

  • Posterior presentation
  • (p. 127) - The baby's position in the uterus facing the mother's abdomen rather than her back.

  • Afterbirth
  • (p. 127) - The third and last stage of childbirth, typically occurring within 20 minutes after delivery, during which the placenta and umbilical cord are expelled from the uterus.

  • Apgar
  • (p. 131) - All neonates are not equipped to adjust to the abrupt changes brought about by birth, and it is essential to detect any problems at the earliest possible moment.

  • Neonate
  • (p. 131) - A baby in the first month of life.

  • Birthing centers
  • (p. 132) - Birthing centers are a popular alternative to traditional hospital maternity care. The philosophy behind this is that birthing is a natural, nonpathological event and that technological intervention should be kept at a minimum.

  • Toxemia
  • (p. 134) - Poisoning of the mother's body during pregnancy due to the presence of toxins in the blood.

  • Caesarian section
  • (p. 134) - Surgical procedure used to remove the baby and the placenta from the uterus by cutting through the abdominal wall.

  • Bonding
  • (p. 137) - Forming an attachment; refers particularly to the developing relationship between parents and infant that begins immediately after birth but continues for several months.

  • Reflex
  • (p. 150) - An unlearned, automatic response to a stimulus. Most reflexes disappear after 2 to 4 months.

  • Reflexes
  • (p. 151) - Of the newborn (disappearance rate) - moro/startle (after 4 months), tonic neck (4 months), stepping/walking (2 to 3 months), placing (2 months), grasping/palmar (5 months), babkin (4 months), plantar (9 months), babinski (6 months), rooting (3 to 4 months), sucking (none given), swimming (6 months), ocular neck (none given), pupillary (permanent).

  • Self-regulation
  • (p. 153) - Training babies vary with each child. It is based on their response and adjustment to outside stimulation.

  • Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment
  • (p. 153) - An extensive evaluation performed a few days after birth. Tests include habituation, orientation, motor tone and activity, range of state, regulation of state, autonomic stability, and reflexes).

  • Habituation
  • (p. 153) - The process of becoming accustomed to certain kinds of stimuli and no longer responding to them.

  • Visually guided reach
  • (p. 156) - Achieved at about 5 months. Reflex grasp and a more voluntary grasp are required skills. The child must look, reach out, and successfully grasp.

  • Fine motor skills
  • (p. 156) - Competence in using the hands.

  • Pincer group
  • (p. 160) - The method of holding objects, developed at around the age of 12 months, in which the thumb opposes the forefinger.

  • Toddlers
  • (p. 160) - Infants in their second year of life who have begun to walk. They have a somewhat top-heavy, wide stance and walk with a gait that is not solidly balanced or smoothly coordinated.

  • Malnutrition
  • (p. 124-125, 162-166) - Two kinds of malnutrition: (1) marasmus => starvation or severe lack of food, (2) kwashiorkor => insufficient protein relative to caloric intake.

  • Perception
  • (p. 166) - The complex process by which the mind interprets and gives meaning to sensory information.

  • Sensation
  • (p. 166) - The simple registration of a stimulus by a sense organ.

  • Novelty paradigm
  • (p. 167) - A research plan that uses infants' preferences for new stimuli over familiar ones in order to investigate their ability to detect small differences in sounds, patterns, or colors.

  • Surprise paradigm
  • (p. 167) - A research technique used to test infants' memory and expectations. Infants cannot report what they remember or expect, but if their expectations are violated they respond with surprise. For example, if the ball appears to go through a solid object, they are surprised.

  • Convergence
  • (p. 167) - The ability to focus both eyes on one point.

  • Visual cliff
  • (p. 170) - An experimental apparatus that tests depth perception of infants by stimulating an abrupt drop-off.

  • Low birth weight
  • (p. 174) - Neonatal weight of less than 5 1/2 pounds.

  • Preterm
  • (p. 174) - An infant born before a gestation period of 35 weeks.

  • Small-for-date
  • (p. 174) - A full-term newborn, weighing less than 5 1/2 pounds at birth.

  • Cognition
  • (p. 182) - The process by which we know and understand our world.

  • Cognitive development
  • (p. 182) - The growth and refinement of the various aspects of our intellectual capacity.

  • Adaptation
  • (p. 183) - In Piaget's theory, the process by which infant schemes are elaborated, modified, and developed.

  • Circular response
  • (p. 183) - A particular form of adaptation in Piaget's theory in which the infant accidentally performs some action, perceives it, and then repeats the action.

  • Object permanence
  • (p. 185) - According to Piaget, the realization in infants at about 18 months that objects continue to exist when they are out of sight, touch, or some other perceptual context.

  • Symbolic representation
  • (p. 187) - The use of a word, picture, gesture, or other sign to represent past and present events, experiences, and concepts.

  • Affordances
  • (p. 189) - The different opportunities for interaction offered by a perception; for example, halls are for moving through.

  • Content
  • (p. 192) - The meaning of any written or spoken message.

  • Form
  • (p. 192) - The particular symbol used to represent content.

  • Use
  • (p. 192) - The way in which a speaker employs language to give it one meaning as opposed to another.

  • Receptive language
  • (p. 196) - The repertoire of words and commands that a child understands, even though he or she may not be able to say them.

  • Productive language
  • (p. 196) - The spoken or written communication of preschool children.

  • Iteration
  • (p. 198) - Infants' purposeful repetition, elongation, and pause in sounds that imitate speech.

  • Expressive jargon
  • (p. 198) - The babbling produced when the infant uses inflections and patterns that mimic adult speech.

  • Holophrastic speech
  • (p. 200) - In the early stages of language acquisition, the young child's use of single words, perhaps to convey full sentences.

  • Telegraphic speech
  • (p. 201) - The utterances of 1- and 2-year-olds that omit the less significant words and include the words that carry the most meaning.

  • Pivot grammar
  • (p. 202) - A two-word sentence-forming system used by 2-year-olds and involving action words, prepositions, or possessives (pivot words) in combination with x-words, which are usually nouns.

  • Case grammar
  • (p. 202) - The use of word order to express different relationships.

  • Attachment
  • (p. 215) - The bond that develops between a child and another individual as a result of a long-term relationship. The infant's first bond is usually characterized by strong interdependence, intense mutual feelings, and vital emotional ties.

  • Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
  • (p. 220) - An infant's fear of strangers or of being separated from the caregiver. Both occur in the second half of the first year and indicate, in part, a new cognitive ability to respond to differences in the environment.

  • Discrepancy hypothesis
  • (p. 221) - A theory of cognition stating that at around 7 months, infants acquire schemes for familiar objects. When a new image or object is presented that differs from the old one, the child experiences uncertainty and anxiety.

  • Social referencing
  • (p. 221) - Subtle emotional signals, usually from the parent, that influence the infant's behavior.

  • Mutuality (synchrony)
  • (p. 226) - The pattern of interchange between caregiver and infant in which each responds to and influences the other's movements and rhythms.

  • Scaffolding
  • (p. 227) - The progressive structuring by the parents of the parent-child interaction.

  • Epiphysis
  • (p. 256) - The cartilaginous growth center at the end of each bone.

  • Neurons
  • (p. 257) - The cells that make up the nervous system. They form prenatally and continue to grow and branch throughout life.

  • Glial cells
  • (p. 257) - Cells that insulate the neurons and improve the efficiency of transmission of nerve impulses.

  • Myelination
  • (p. 257) - The formation of the myelin sheath covering the fast-acting central nervous system pathways. This sheath increases the speed of transmission and the precision of the nervous system.

  • Lateralization
  • (p. 257) - The process whereby specific skills and competencies become localized in particular hemispheres of the brain.

  • Gross motor skills
  • (p. 259) - Capabilities involving large body movements.

  • Fine motor skills
  • (p. 259) - Capabilities involving small body movement.

  • Functional subordination
  • (p. 259) - The integration of a number of separate simple actions or schemes into a more complex pattern of behavior.

  • Competence motivation
  • (p. 261) - A need to achieve in order to feel effective as an individual.

  • Egocentricity
  • (p. 264) - Having a self-centered view of the world, viewing everything in relation to oneself.

  • Symbolic representation
  • (p. 264) - The use of symbols in the form of actions, images, or words to represent events and experiences.

  • Irreversibility
  • (p. 265) - The belief that events and relationships can occur in only one direction; it is characteristic of preoperational thought.

  • Centration
  • (p. 265) - The focusing or concentration on only one aspect or dimension of an object or situation; it is characteristic of preoperational thought.

  • Guided participation
  • (p. 269) - The process by which more experienced people transmit cultural information to children.

  • Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
  • (p. 269) - Vygotsky's concept of children's ability to develop through participation in activities slightly beyond their competence with the help of adults.

  • Recognition
  • (p. 271) - The ability to correctly identify items previously experienced when they appear again.

  • Recall
  • (p. 271) - The ability to retrieve information and events that are not present.

  • Organization and rehearsal
  • (p. 271) - Strategies for improving recall used mainly by adult learners.

  • Mean length of utterance (MLU)
  • (p. 273) - The average length of the sentences that a child produces.

  • Inflections
  • (p. 274) - Changes in form that words undergo to designate number, gender, tense, mood, and case.

  • Overregulation
  • (p. 274) - The generalization of complex language principles typically by preschool children who are rapidly expanding their vocabularies.

  • Sociodramatic play
  • (p. 282) - Pretend play in which children take on the persona, actions, and scripts of other persons or objects to play out a temporal drama.

    2. Be familiar with the following theorists and their theories (stages of development, etc.):

    a. Bandura (p. 47-48) - People learn from watching another person's behavior and its consequences. They also derive basic principles. This is imitation and modeling.

    b. Piaget (p. 49-52) - The mind does not simply respond to stimuli. It grows, changes, and adapts to the world. Piaget, Bruner, and Werner are called structuralists.

  • Structuralism
  • (p. 49) - A branch of psychology concerned with the structure of thought and the ways in which the mind processes information.

  • Sensorimotor stage
  • (p. 51) - Piaget's first period of cognitive development (from birth to 2 years). Infants use action schemes - looking, grasping, and so on - to learn about their world.

  • Preoperational stage
  • (p. 51) - Piaget's second period of cognitive development (from 2 to 7 years). It begins when children are able to use symbols such as language. Their thinking tends to be overly concrete, irreversible, and egocentric, and classification is difficult for them.

  • Concrete operational stage
  • (p. 52) - Piaget's third period of cognitive development (from 7 to 11 years). Children begin to think logically. At this stage, they are able to classify things and deal with a hierarchy of classifications.

  • Formal operational stage
  • (p. 52) - The fourth, and final period, of Piaget's cognitive theory (from 12 years) is characterized by the ability to handle abstract concepts.

    c. Vygotski (p. 54) - (Worker in this branch of cognitive psychology) - "How do we collectively make sense of our world?" He was interested in the development of the mind in a social context and in the historical development of the community's knowledge and understanding. Vygotski defined two levels of cognitive development: (1) child's actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving, and (2) level of potential development based on potential under best circumstances.

  • Zone of proximal development
  • (p. 54) - The difference between the child's actual performance level alone and the child's potential level of performance when guided by adults or more experienced peers.

    d. Freud (p. 56-58) - (the founder of modern psychoanalysis) - His focus was on human emotions and the unconscious mind as a determinant of behavior. He believed that biological animal drives, including sex and aggression, are primary forces behind human behavior. A child is born pure "id." The "ego" is based on rational contact with the external world. The "superego" is the internal policeman which is in conflict with the "id." The "ego" tries to achieve a sense of balance for the personality.

  • Psychosexual stages
  • (p. 58) - Freud's stages of personality development.

  • Erogenous zones
  • (p. 58) - Body areas that serve as the focus of pleasure and that, in Freud's view, change as one moves through the psychosexual stages.

  • Oral stage
  • (p. 58) - Freud's first psychosexual stage (from birth to about 18 months), during which central pleasure focuses around the mouth.

  • Anal stage
  • (p.58) - Freud's second psychosexual stage (from 18 months to about 3 years), during which central pleasure is through elimination.

  • Phallic stage
  • (p. 58) - Freud's third psychosexual stage (from 3 to 5 years), during which the child's sensual pleasure focuses on the genitals.

  • Identification
  • (p. 58) - Taking on the behaviors and qualities of a person whom one respects and would like to emulate.

  • Pregenital period
  • (p. 58) - The immature psychosexual development of childhood. It encompasses the oral, anal, and phallic stages.

  • Latency stage
  • (p. 58) - The fourth of Freud's psychosexual stages of development (corresponding to the elementary school years), characterized by a temporary dormancy in the interest in sexual gratification.

  • Genital stage
  • (p. 58) - In psychoanalytic theory, the period of normal adult sexual behavior that begins with the onset of puberty.

    e. Erickson (p. 58) - (A third generation Freudian) - 8 stages of personality development: (1) oral-sensory (birth to 1 year), (2) muscular-anal (2 to 3 years), (3) locomotive-genital (4 to 5 years), (4) latency (6 to 11 years), (5) puberty and adolescence (12 to 18 years), (6) young adulthood, (7) adulthood, and (8) maturity. The psychosocial outcomes for the eight are: trust/distrust, autonomy/doubt, initiative/guilt, industry/inferiority, identity/role confusion, intimacy/isolation, generativity/stagnation, and ego-integrity/despair.

  • Psychosocial stages
  • (p. 58) - In Erikson's theory, the phases of development during which the individual's capacity for experience dictates major adjustments to the social environment and the self.

    f. Maslow (p. 63) - (humanist) - hierarchy of needs: (1) survival needs, (2) safety needs, (3) belonging, (4) self-esteem, and (5) self-actualization.

    3. Know the significance of the following studies or experiments:

    a. Day, D.E. (p.27) - He used a naturalistic study of children's social behavior to evaluate the effects of integrating children with special needs and typical children in preschool classes. A profile was done on each child. Then, the children were observed several times during a 5 to 10 day period. Some children with severe physical disadvantages had fairly normal communication patterns with other children, but children with minor speech defects often had communication problems. Typical normal children showed more consideration for others, with no reduction in verbal interaction and learning.

    b. Lipsitt & Kaye (p. 44) - They conducted classical conditioning research on twenty 3-day old infants. Ten were designated as the experimental group and given 20 pairings of an unconditional stimulus ( a pacifier) and a conditioned stimulus (a tone). The desired response was sucking. After 20 pairings, the experimental group would suck in response to a tone, whereas the other 10 infants would not. This study showed that infants start learning when very young.

    c. Hohnan Genome Project (p. 89) - this project is designed to map all human genes and identify those genes and combinations that cause particular disorders.

    d. Twin studies (p. 91, 93) - These studies often show that personality traits are at least partially inherited. Three frequently inherited characteristics are emotionality, sociability, and activity level (sometimes called the EAS traits).

    e. Scarr & McCartney (p. 97) - Some studies confirm the interrelationship between environment and heredity. These two believe that children interact with their environment in three ways: (1) passive interaction pattern ( the parent gives and the child accepts both the genes and the environment (musical child in musical family)), (2) evocative interaction pattern (the child evokes particular responses from his parents and others based on genetically influenced behavior (active, extroverted child will demand responses from parents and teachers)), and (3) active relationship (the child may seek specific environments that are compatible with his temperament, talents, and predispositions).

    f. Gibson, E.J. ( p. 170) - The "visual cliff" tests infant's depth perception by creating a simulated visual cliff which children would not crawl beyond.

    g. Gibson, E. (p. 189) - We look at an object and then imagine our capabilities. Gibson believed that this happens at all ages.

  • Affordances
  • (p. 189) - The different opportunities for interaction offered by a perception; for example, halls are for moving through.

    h. Darcee Infant Program (p. 208) - This program focuses on assisting the parents, especially the mother. It teaches coping skills for daily living, to increase awareness of child's development, and to encourage certain behaviors in the child.

    i. Harlow (p. 218-219) - He tried to rear young monkeys without its mother. He found that that separation had disastrous effects. Some died. Others were frightened, irritable, and reluctant to eat or play. Further studies indicate that peer contact among infant monkeys at least partially makes up for the deprivation of the adult-infant attachment bond.

    j. Tronick (p. 220) - He said that "a major determinant of children's development is related to the operation of this communication system." The Stillface experiment, which he devised, focused on the mutual expectations between the parent and infant. Mothers were told to sit and play with child. When child showed fatigue, mother stop communicating but looked at child with a stillface look. After a few minutes, the child's behavior began to deteriorate, once it had failed to evoke its mother's action. He said, "A general characteristic of abnormal interactions is that the participants are stuck in affectively negative miscoordinated interaction states and their messages calling for change are discarded."

  • Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
  • (p. 220) - An infant's fear of strangers or of being separated from the caregiver. Both occur in the second half of the first year and indicate, in part, a new cognitive ability to respond to differences in the environment.
    					Tom of Spotswood
    
    "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 
    (I John 5:12)
    
    
    

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