Study Guide for Developmental
DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES, PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE NEWBORN
Briefly describe the work of developmental psychologists.
State current views of psychologists on the continuity vs. stages issue.
State current views of psychologists on the stability vs. change issue.
Discuss the possible effects of teratogens on the developing embryo and fetus.
Describe the capacities of the newborn.
Explain how psychologists are able to study infant thinking.
Provide a brief definition of the following KEY TERMS:
Developmental psychology
Teratogens
Rooting Reflex
Habituation
Who proposed the following stage theories?
Cognitive development
Moral development
Psychosocial development
What are the stages within each of the stage theories listed above?
INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
Describe the brain development that occurs from infancy through childhood, including
its impact on memory.
Discuss Piaget’s view of how the mind develops and describe his cognitive stages.
Discuss the development of theory of mind.
Discuss current views of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
Discuss the origins and effect of early attachment and the roles of familiarity and
parenting in the development of attachment.
Discuss how disruptions in attachment affect child development.
Discuss the possible effect of different parenting styles on children.
Provide a brief definition of the following KEY TERMS:
Maturation
Schema
Assimilation
Accommodation
Cognition
Sensorimotor stage
Object permanence
Preoperational stage
Conservation
Egocentrism
Theory of mind
Concrete operational stage
Formal operational stage
Stranger anxiety
Attachment
Critical period
Imprinting
Basic trust
ADOLESCENCE
Describe developments in cognitive reasoning during adolescence.
Describe developments in moral reasoning during adolescence, focusing on Kohlberg’s
theory and its criticisms.
Summarize the criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.
Describe how Erikson viewed adolescence and the nature of social relationships during
adolescence.
Explain adolescents’ changing relationships with parents and peers.
Match the age group with Erikson’s Psychosocial stages of development.
Provide a brief definition of the following KEY TERMS:
Adolescence (especially when it begins and when it ends)
Puberty
Identity
Intimacy