Chapter 5: Development – Flashcards
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Teratogen
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- literally, "monster maker" - Any disease, drug, or other environmental agent that can harm a developing fetus • Effects are worse during the critical period • The greater and longer exposure, the more likely serious damage will occur • Susceptibility to harm influenced by genetic makeup • Effects depend on the quality of the prenatal and postnatal environments
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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
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- small eye openings - flat mid face - short nose - indistinct groove between nose and mouth - Epicanthal folds - Low nasal bridge - Minor ear abnormalities - Thin upper lip
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What are the characteristics of a competent newborn?
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- arrives with automatic reflex responses that support survival: sucking, tonguing, swallowing, and breathing - cries to elicit help and comfort - searches for sights and sounds linked to other humans, especially mother - smells and sees well and uses sensory equipment to learn - biologically rooted temperament
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developmental psychology
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a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
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What three issues have engaged developmental psychologists?
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1. Nature and nurture 2. Continuity and stages 3. Stability and change
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Developmental researchers who emphasize learning are supporting _______________; those who emphasize biological maturation are supporting ______________.
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continuity; stages
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What is the course of prenatal development, and how do teratogens affect that development?
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The lifecycle begins at conception, when one sperm cell unites with an egg to form a zygote. The zygote's inner cells become the embryo, and the outer cells become the placenta. In the next 6 weeks, body organs begin to form and function, and by 9 weeks, the fetus is recognizably human. Teratogens are potentially harmful agents that can pass through the placental screen and harm the developing embryo or fetus, as happens with fetal alcohol syndrome.
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zygote
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the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
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embryo
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the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
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fetus
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the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
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The first 2 weeks of prenatal development is the period of the _________. The period of the _________ lasts from 9 weeks after conception until birth. The time between those two prenatal periods is considered the period of the __________.
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zygote; fetus; embryo
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What are some newborn abilities, and how do researchers explore infants' mental abilities?
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Babies are born with sensory equipment and reflexes that facilitate their survival and their social interactions with adults. For example, they quickly learn to discriminate their mother's smell and sound. Researchers use techniques that test habituation, such as the novelty-preference procedure, to explore infants' abilities.
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habituation
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decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation - as infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
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Developmental psychologists use repeated stimulation to test an infant's ___________________ to a stimulus.
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habituation
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During infancy and childhood, how do the brain and motor skills develop?
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The brain's nerve cells are sculpted by heredity and experience. As a child's brain develops, neural connections grow more numerous and complex. Experiences then trigger a pruning process, in which unused connections weaken and heavily used ones strengthen. This process continues until puberty. Early childhood is an important period for shaping the brain, but our brain modifies itself in response to our learning throughout life. In childhood, complex motor skills (sitting, standing, walking) develop in a predictable sequence, though the timing of that sequence is a function of individual maturation and culture. We have no conscious memories of events occurring before about age 3 1/2. This infantile amnesia occurs in part because major brain areas have not yet matured.
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maturation
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biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
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The biological growth process, called _____________, explains why most children begin walking by about 12-15 months.
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maturation
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cognition
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all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating
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From the perspectives of Piaget, Vygotsky, and today's researchers, how does a child's mind develop?
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In his theory of cognitive development, Jean Piaget proposed that children actively construct and modify their understanding of the world through the processes of assimilation and accommodation. They form schemas that help them organize their experiences. Progressing from the simplicity of the sensorimotor stage of the first two years, in which they develop object permanence, children move to more complex ways of thinking. In the preoperational stage (age 2-7), they develop a theory of mind. In the preoperational stage, children are egocentric and unable to perform simple logical operations. At about age 7, they enter the concrete operational stage and are able to comprehend the principle of conversation. By about age 12, children enter the formal operational stage and can reason systematically. Research supports the sequence Piaget proposed, but it also shows that younger children are more capable, and their development more continuous than he believed. Lev Vygotsky's studies of child development focused on the ways a child's mind grows by interacting with the social environment. In his view, parents and caretakers provide temporary scaffolds enabling children to step to higher levels of learning.
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schema
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a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
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assimilation
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interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
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accommodation
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adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
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sensorimotor stage
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in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
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object permanence
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the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
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preoperational stage
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in Piaget's theory, the stage (From about 2 to about 6 or 7 years old) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
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conservation
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the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
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egocentrism
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in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
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theory of mind
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people's ideas about their own and others' mental states - about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
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concrete operational stage
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in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7-11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
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formal operational stage
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in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
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autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
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a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors - By age 8, 1 in 68 US children now get diagnosed with ASD, though the reported rates vary by place. The increase in ASD diagnoses has been offset by a decrease in the number of children with a "cognitive disability" or "learning disability", suggesting a relabeling of children's disorders.
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stranger anxiety
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the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age
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attachment
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an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
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critical period
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an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
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imprinting
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the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life
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basic trust
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according to Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
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self-concept
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all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question "Who am I?"
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adolescence
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the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
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puberty
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the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
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identity
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our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's talk is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles
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social identity
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the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships
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intimacy
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in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood
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emerging adulthood
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a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults
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menopause
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the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines
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cross-sectional study
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a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
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longitudinal study
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research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
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neurocognitive disorders (NCDs)
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acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer's disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. In older adults neurocognitive disorders were formerly called dementia
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Alzheimer's disease
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a neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques, often with an onset after age 80 and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities
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social clock
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the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
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What does theory of mind have to do with autism spectrum disorder?
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Theory of mind focuses on our ability to understand our own and other's mental states. Those with autism spectrum disorder struggles with this ability.
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How do parent-infant attachment bonds form?
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At about 8 months, soon after object permanence develops, children separated from their caregivers display stranger anxiety. Infants form attachments not simply because parents gratify biological needs, but more importantly, because they are comfortable, familiar and responsive. Many birds and other animals have a more rigid attachment process, called imprinting, that occurs during a critical period.
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How have psychologists studied attachment differences, and what have they learned?
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Attachment has been studied in strange situation experiments, which show that some children are securely attached and other are insecurely attached. Infants; differing attachment styles reflect both their individual temperament and the responsiveness of their parents and child-care providers. Adult relationships seem to reflect the attachment styles of early childhood, lending support to Erik Erikson's idea that basic trust is formed in infancy by our experiences with responsive caregivers.
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How does childhood neglect or abuse affect children's attachments?
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Children are very resilient, but those who are severely neglected by their parents or otherwise prevented from forming attachments at an early age, may be at risk for attachment problems.
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How do children's self-concepts develop?
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Self-concept, an understanding and evaluation of who we are, emerges gradually. By 15-18 months, children recognize themselves in a mirror. By school age, they can describe many of their own traits, and by age 8 or 10 their self-image is stable.
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What are three parenting styles, and how do children's traits relate to them?
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Parenting styles - authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative - reflect varying degrees of control. Children with high self-esteem tend to have authoritative parents and to be self-reliant and socially competent, but the direction of cause and effect in this relationship is not clear. Child-raising practices reflect both individual and cultural values.
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How is adolescence defined, and how do physical changes affect developing teens?
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Adolescence is the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to social independence. Boys seem to benefit (though with risks) from "early maturation" and girls from "late maturation." The brain's frontal lobes mature and myelin growth increases during adolescence and the early twenties, enabling improved judgment, impulse control, and long-term planning.
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How did Piaget, Kohlberg, and later researchers describe adolescent cognitive and moral development?
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Piaget theorized that adolescents develop a capacity for formal operations and that this development is the foundation for moral judgement. Kohlberg proposed a stage theory of moral reasoning, from a preconventional morality of self-interest, to a conventional morality concerned with upholding laws and social rules, to (in some people) a postconventional morality of universal ethical principles. Other researchers believe that morality lies in moral intuition and moral action as well as thinking. Some critics argue that Kohlberg's postconventional level represents morality from the perspective of individualist, middle-class people.
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What are the social tasks and challenges of adolescence?
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Erikson theorized that each life stage has its own psychosocial task, and that a chief task of adolescence is solidifying one's sense of self - one's identity. This often means trying out a number of different roles. Social identity is the part of the self-concept that comes from a person's group memberships.
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How do parents and peers influence adolescents?
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During adolescence, parental influence diminishes and peer influence increases, in part because of the selection effect - the tendency to choose similar others. But adolescents also do adopt their peers' ways of dressing, acting and communicating. Parents have more influence in religion, politics, and college and career choices.
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What is emerging adulthood?
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The transition from adolescence to adulthood is now taking longer. Emerging adulthood is the period from age 18 to the mid 20s, when many young people are not yet fully independent. But observers note that this stage is found mostly in today's Western cultures.
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What physical changes occur during middle and late adulthood?
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Muscular strength, reaction time, sensory abilities, and cardiac output begin to decline in the late 20s and continue to decline throughout middle adulthood (40-65) and late adulthood (after 65). Women's period of fertility ends with menopause around age 50; men have no similar age-related sharp drop in hormone levels or fertility. In late adulthood, the immune system weakens, increasing susceptibility to life-threatening illnesses. Chromosome tips (telomeres) wear down, reducing the chances of normal genetic replication. But for some, longevity-supporting genes, low stress, and good health enable better health in later life.
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How does memory change with age?
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As the years pass, RECALL begins to DECLINE, especially for meaningless information, but RECOGNITION memory remains STRONG. Older adults rely more on time management and memory cues to remember time-based and habitual tasks. Developmental researchers study age-related changes such as in memory with cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies. "Terminal decline" describes the cognitive decline in the final few years of life.
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How do neurocognitive disorders and Alzheimer's disease affect cognitive ability?
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Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) are acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits, which are often related to Alzheimer's disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. This damage to brain cells results in the erosion of mental abilities that is not typical of normal aging. Alzheimer's disease is marked by neural plaques, often with an onset after age 80, entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities.
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What themes and influences mark our social journey from early adulthood to death?
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Adults do not progress through an orderly sequence of age-related social stages. Chance events can determine life choices. The social clock is a culture's preferred timing for social events, such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. Adulthood's dominant themes are LOVE and WORK, which Erikson called intimacy and generativity.
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Freud defined the healthy adult as one who is able to _____________ and to ____________.
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love; work
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A loved one's death triggers what range of reactions?
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People do not grieve in predictable stages, as was once supposed. Strong expressions of emotion do not purge grief, and bereavement therapy is not significantly more effective than grieving without such aid. Erikson viewed the late-adulthood psychosocial task as developing a sense of integrity (vs despair).
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What is unique about infant brain growth?
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It is head-sparing: a biological mechanism that protects the brain when malnutrition disrupts body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition. Ex. Girl in the closet
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Activity-Passivity
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extent to which human beings are active in producing their own development or are passively shaped
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Continuity-Discontinuity
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- focuses on whether the changes people undergo over the life span are gradual or abrupt and quantitative or qualitative - continuity theorists developmental changes are GRADUAL and QUANTITATIVE - discontinuity theorists changes are ABRUPT and QUALITATIVE (ex. developmental stages)
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Universality-Context Specificity
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- extent to which developmental changes are universal or context specific - stage theorists believe stages are UNIVERSAL - other theorists pathways of development vary depending on social context
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Freud Psychoanalytic Theory
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- focused on the development and dynamics of the personality - people are driven by motives and emotional conflicts (unaware of these motives and conflicts; shaped by their earliest experiences in the family) - first person interested in personality development - development of what makes us specific
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Id
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all unconscious, basic urges (representation of hypothalamus - basic animal instincts)
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Ego
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balance the desires of the Id with the thoughts of the superego (balance what the Id wants in a socially acceptable way) - personality/self that balances
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Superego
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focuses more on social feelings and morals (conscience) - value neutral meaning that there is no kind of innate morality, but interalized from our parents (those who are important during our development)
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What are the psychosexual stages?
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oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital
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Oral stage
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if you aren't breastfed, may become orally fixated (if deprived too early or kept on too long)
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Anal stage
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pleasure from learning to control bowls (potty training)
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Phallic stage
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masturbation - learning how to resolve feelings
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Latent stage
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no sexual motivation
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Genital stage
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sexual intercourse
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What are some examples of oral fixation?
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chewing fingernails, smoking, being overly dependent on other people
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What are some examples of anal fixation?
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people are incredibly neat, people who are sloppy/messy, people who are stingy/cheap or very generous (caused from harsh toilet training)
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What are some examples of phallic fixation?
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depressed, bipolar - never resolved feelings toward opposite sex parent and never fully identified with same sex parent
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What are the strengths and weaknesses of Freud's theories?
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- Strengths: attention to unconscious processes, highlighted early experiences, emphasized importance of emotions - Weaknesses: wrong, not testable or falsifiable
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Erikson's psychosocial stages
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- Unlike frued, did not put as much emphasis on sexual influence, but more about forming relationships with other people - Strong influence on future developmentalists
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What is the 1st year of life conflict of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: trust vs mistrust (if the world around you is a reliable and predictable place, are there people to meet your needs - attatchment theory) - Favorable outcome: faith in the environment and future events - Unfavorable outcome: suspicion, fear of future events
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What is the 2nd year of life conflict of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: learn that you're capable of controlling the world around you or not - Favorable outcome: a sense of self-control and adequacy - Unfavorable outcome: feelings of shame and self-doubt
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What is the 3rd-5th years of life conflict of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: initiative vs guilt - Favorable outcome: ability to be a "self-starter", to initiate one's own activities - Unfavorable outcome: a sense of guilt and inadequacy to be on one's own
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What is the 6th year-puberty conflict of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: industry vs inferiority - Favorable outcome: ability to learn how things work, to understand and organize - Unfavorable outcome: a sense of inferiority at understanding and organizing
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What is the adolescence conflict during the transition years of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: identity vs confusion (trying to get a sense of self and where you fit into the world around you - finding who you are and your identity) - Favorable outcome: seeing oneself as a unique and integrated person - Unfavorable outcome: confusion over who and what one really is
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What is the early adulthood conflict of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: intimacy vs isolation (learning to form and maintain relationships) - Favorable outcome: ability to make commitment to others, to love - Unfavorable outcome: inability to form affectionate relationship
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What is the middle age conflict of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: generatively vs. self-absorption (are you doing something worthwhile with your life that will help people of the future?) - Favorable outcome: concern for family and society in general - Unfavorable outcome: concern only for self - one's own well-being and prosperity
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What is the aging years conflict of Erickson's psychosocial stages?
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- Crisis: integrity vs despair (have you lived a life that you are proud of?) - Favorable outcome: a sense of integrity and fulfillment; willingness to face death - Unfavorable outcome: dissatisfaction with life; despair over prospect of death
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Watson and the Behaviorists
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- viewed the brain as a black box: don't actually know what's happening, all week know is the output vs input - if you gave him a kid, he could make him whatever he wanted, just had to give Watson complete control of the kid's environment (don't need to care about unconscious, just control the conscious)
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Skinner: Operant Conditioning
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- changed how childhood developmentalists thought - physical punishment effects - operant conditioning does NOT have a positive effect on child's development (increases aggression, increase mental health problems, impair children's intellectual and moral functioning) - all about positive reinformcement - "catch them being good, and reinforce that"
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Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment
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- all about social learning - kid watched adults beat up doll, then they gave kid doll and see how they treated the doll - kids are capable of observational learning (learn by watching other people) - kids will model the behavior of the world around him - affect of violence in movies and video games on kids growing up?
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Piaget
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- interested in cognitive development - believed we are ACTIVE learners! - did not think that children were blank slates to be manipulated by adults - believed children actually participate in their own development - believed childrens shaped their ideas of reality by doing - develop intelligence in the same way - intelligence: a process that helps an organism adapt to its environment - ideas had a strong impact on childhood's education - can be tested and are largely supported - first person to think that children's minds worked in qualitatively different ways - Underestimated the development of younger children - Did not really consider social or cultural influences (did not place emphasis on nurturing being a factor)
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Constructivism
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children construct their own understandings of the world based on experiences (- Experiment on objects they encounter (baby flailing limbs around to figure out how limbs work)) (- Learning when ideas about reality aren't adequate)
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Theory of Assimilation
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children organize information into mental categories - get new information that fits into their existing categories
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Theory of Accommodation
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change their schemas with new information they receive and put them into new categories
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Theory of Mind
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- Involves ability to read mental state of others - Between 31⁄2 and 41⁄2, children worldwide use theory of mind to realize others may hold false beliefs - By 4 to 5, children anticipate false beliefs of friends
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What are the 4 stages of cognitive development?
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1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years) 2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) 3. Concrete Operations Stage (7-11 years) 4. Formal Operations Stage (12 and older)
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Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)
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- acquire tools for solving problems through their sensory motor experiences - lack object permanence - experimenting on the world around you, scale errors
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Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)
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- developed the capacity for symbolic thought; can mentally imagine doing something - EGOCENTRIC - lack THEORY OF MIND: cannot read mental state of others (cannot take mental perspective of others)
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Egocentric
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cannot take any perspective other than their own - cannot understand that someone can think differently from them
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Concrete Operations Stage (7-11 years)
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- logical; can use trial and error - can't use abstract thought (late elementary but before puberty - don't like hypothetical problems, can mentally categorize (add and subtract) objects - good at problems the involve real things)
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Formal Operations Stage (12 and older)
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- can think abstractly - can imagine results of actions (puberty time in life; can define a word like "justice" abstractly, can come up with hypotheses, can figure out how to systematically test ideas experimentally - capable of adult thoughts)
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What are the strengths of the theory of cognitive development?
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- most developmentalists accept Piaget's beliefs - ideas have been tested and largely supported - influenced education and child-rearing
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What are the weaknesses of the theory of cognitive development?
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- stages are questionable (more continuous?) - underestimates development of young children - too little emphasis on social and cultural influences
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What is the infant attachment theory in social development?
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- form emotional attachment in 1st year in life - emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to caregiver, and showing distress on separation - should be distressed when primary caregiver leaves - at about 8 months, soon after object permanence develops, children separated from their caregivers display stranger anxiety - stranger anxiety: when someone who isn't primary cargiver holds you (when securely attached, will respond more severly) - attachments aren't just about biological means, but person who regularly takes care of you and shows you affection - humans are not ducks - ducks imprint on first person you see, then convinced that that person is your mom - humans do not just become attached to the first person you see when you're born - attachment forms over the 1st year of life - humans form attachments over longer period of time than other animals
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How can we study attachment?
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- strange situation: put kids in a new environment - securely attached kid will explore environment with parents, but be distressed when parent leaves - Infants' differing attachment styles reflect both their individual temperament and the responsiveness of their parents and child-care providers - early attachment has impact on later adult relationships and comfort with affection and intimacy - attachment will reflect individual temperment, but a lot more dependent on caregiver's responsiveness to your needs - this is what shapes our relationships later in life (attatchment theory) - easier time forming relationships as adults
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What are the three types of attachment relationships?
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Avoidant Type A, Secure Type B and Resistant Type C
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Type A Attachment
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- avoidant (less common insecure attachment) - children have a working model of themselves as unacceptable and unworthy - carer who is rejecting
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Type B Attachment
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- secure (children given a positive working model) - carer who is emotionally available, sensitive and supportive
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Type C Attachment
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- resistant (least common insecure attachment) - caregiver alternates between being smothering and beling neglectful - exaggerated emotional response to get attention
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Authoritarian Parenting Style
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dictators, controlling, inflexible, high on control spectrum, low on support/affection spectrum - kids are low in social skills, low in self-esteem, low in self-reliability
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Permissive Parenting Style
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high support/affection, low in control - can include helicopter parents - kids entitled and spoiled - indulgent/lenient parents
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Authoritative Parenting Style
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high support, high control - flexible, democratic, respectful, allow kids to earn responsibility, explain reasoning to their kids, allow to have more and more freedom as they get older, kids high in self esteem, social skills, independence and self-reliance, and good at navigating the world around them
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Neglectful Parenting Styles
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low support, low control - kids poor on most outcomes, parents uninvolved and disinterested, don't care what happens to their kids
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What do we know about the growth spurt?
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- fastest period between ages 0-2 - girls grow before boys do
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What do girls experience in sexual maturation?
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- girls that go through puberty later do better in school - girls who go through puberty earlier are more likely to engage in sexual behavior - early-maturing girls have a greater likelihood of experiencing long-term adjustment problems including anxiety and depression
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What do boys experience in sexual maturation?
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- later-developing boys perform poorly on school achievement tests
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Developing Reasoning Power Theory
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[Piaget] - develop new abstract thinking tools (formal operations) - reason logically and develop moral judgement
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Developing Moral Reasoning Theory
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[Kohlberg] - use moral reasoning that develops in universal sequence to guide moral actions
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Preconventional Morality
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(before age 9) - looking at what helps you, avoiding punishment and getting rewards - decides to do something based on whether or not they will get in trouble - ex. "If you save your dying wife, you'll be a hero."
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Conventional Morality
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(age 10) - early adolescent - all about following rules - ex. "If you steal the drug for her, everyone will think you're a criminal."
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Postconventional Morality
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(age 14) - late adolescents (some people reach this stage later) - you develop your own morality and principles of how to live - come up with own ethical code - ex. "People have a right to live."
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What were some criticisms of Kohlberg's levels of moral thinking?
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Had western perspective on this, some people cannot reach the final stage of morality because have adapted to society/community rules as being ultimate
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What is a parent relationship?
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Important when it comes to education, discipline, charitableness, responsibility, orderliness, and ways of interacting with authority figures (AFFECT OUTCOME OF KID)
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What is a peer relationship?
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Important for learning cooperation, for finding the road to popularity, for inventing styles of interaction among people of the same age (LEARNING SOCIAL COMPETENCE)
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Menopause
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lack of hormones - hot spells, sweating, decreased bone density - estrogen levels go down like 30%
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Andropause
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lack of hormones - fewer symptoms though because such a gradual decline of testosterone levels
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Theories of Aging
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living to be really old seems to be mostly genetic (ex. living to 110 years old)
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Early Adulthood
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muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness and cardiac output peak in mid-20s
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Middle Adulthood
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- physical vigor more closely linked to health and exercise than age - physical decline is gradual; gradual decline in fertility - female: menopause - male: gradual decline in sperm count, testosterone level, erection, and ejaculation speed
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Late Adulthood
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- visual sharpness, distance perception, stamina diminish; pupils shrink and become less transparent - immune system weakens and susceptibility to life-threatening disease increases - neural processing lag occurs; brain regions related to memory begin to atrophy; speech slows - exercise slows aging and stimulates brain cell development and neural connections
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Maximum Life Span
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a ceiling on the number of years that anyone lives
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Hayflick Limit
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maximum life span of a species is related to the Hayflick limit for that species