Chapter 4
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- Explain the five key issues in developmental psychology and understand how they operate to frame the questions developmental psychologists ask.
- Compare and contrast cross-sectional and longitudinal research designs and outline the strengths and weaknesses of each.
- Describe prenatal development as it proceeds through the zygote, embryonic, and fetal stages.
- Identify some of the environmental factors that might negatively impact prenatal development and the role of critical periods in determining the type of potential impact.
- Discuss the infant’s ability to perceive and interact with the world, paying particular attention to the research that informs our knowledge about this interaction.
- Describe the central concepts of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, list each of the key stages in this theory, and summarize the changes that are evident at each stage.
- Summarize some of the criticisms of Piaget’s cognitive development theory.
- Describe Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and differentiate it from Piaget’s theory.
- Explain the theory of mind.
- Define attachment, discuss some of the classic work on attachment theory, and explain modern theories of attachment style and its impact on childcare.
- Define temperament, list the different categories of temperament, and discuss the impact of temperament on the child’s developmental environment.
- Explain Kohlberg’s levels and stages of moral development.
- Summarize Gilligan’s criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development.
- Describe some of the influences on early social development.
- Understand gender roles and the influence of these roles on development and socialization.
- List and describe Erikson’s first 4 stages of psychosocial development.
