Exam 9: Section 3: Lifespan Development

As identical twins develop, differences in physical and psychological characteristics become evident. These differences are due to each twin's individual and unique genetic blueprint.

The neural tube eventually thickens into three bulges that will form the three main regions of the brain: the hindbrain, the midbrain, and the forebrain.

According to research by Renée Baillargeon infants display an understanding of object permanence almost six months earlier than the age Piaget believed they did.

Piaget failed to recognize that heredity and environmental differences could influence the rate at which a given child progressed through the stages of cognitive development.

Older parents tend to experience a more difficult adjustment to parenthood than do younger parents, because they lack the energy to care for a newborn and are often less flexible.

Between the ages of 5 and 8 months, infants are able to stand alone without holding on.

On the average, the human brain does not reach full maturity until age 30.

The children of parents who practice the permissive-indulgent parenting style tend to develop effective self-control strategies early in life and are more achievement-oriented than the children of authoritarian or authoritative parents.

Lawrence Kohlberg is best known for his research with infants, showing that they develop event-specific expectations rather than general principles, and that object permanence emerges at an earlier age than believed.

Between the ages of 15 and 20 there is a surge of cortical gray matter production as the adolescent brain reaches full maturity.

Piaget's concept of egocentrism refers to the fact that preoperational children often lack the ability to consider events from another person's point of view.

Permissive parenting may have benefits in some cultures, including countries in South America and Southern Europe.

Susceptibility to peer influence peaks during early adolescence.

According to Erik Erikson, achieving a sense of generativity during middle adulthood involves expressing concern for the welfare of future generations through community involvement, caring for others, and productive work.

Researchers Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess found that about two-thirds of infants can be classified as having either an easy, difficult, or slow-to-warm-up temperament.

A newborn child is able to distinguish between her mother's voice and that of a stranger.

Lila likes helping her teacher with classroom chores and enjoys the praise she gets for being a good student and for following the rules. Kohlberg would say that Lila is operating at the conventional level of moral reasoning.

According to the Science Versus Pseudoscience box, "Can a DVD Program Your Baby to Be a Genius?" the best predictor of infant language is the amount of time children watch educational DVDs.

Parents in all cultures tend to use a style of speech called "infant-directed speech" (also called motherese) when they address infants and toddlers.

Rather than distinct stages of cognitive development, some developmental psychologists argue that the information-processing model is a better way of describing cognitive development over the lifespan.