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Topic 3 - Developmental Psychology - Coggle Diagram
Topic 3 - Developmental Psychology
Plasticity
The ability of the brain's synapses to be modified
Developmental plasticity
The development and consolidation of neural pathways in babies, children and adolescents
Adaptive plasticity
The ability of the brain to change, adapt and grow throughout a lifetime
Occurs when the connections between the synapses are altered to best suit the environmental conditions when learning something new or when relearning something after brain injury or surgery
Developmental plasticity
Stages (infancy)
Proliferation
Unborn baby's cells that will become neurons divide and multiply creating 250 000 cells a minute marking the beginning of the development of the nervous system
Migration
The newly formed neurons move outwards to their specified destination in the brain
Circuit formation
Axons of the neurons branch out and target cells and form synapses with them
Synaptic pruning
The loss of excess neurons and synapses usually formed in infancy and childhood
Myelination
The axons of however many neurons remain are myelinated (insulated with a white fatty substance/myelin) and this helps to not only increase neural transmission but also stop electrical interference between neurons
In adolescents
Brain development, particularly the prefrontal cortex continues into mid twenties
Physical development
Gross motor skills
Movement and coordination of the arms, legs and other large body part and movements
Holding head up, rolling, siting, crawling, running, skipping, swimming
Fine motor skills
Smaller movements that occur in the wrists, hands, fingers and the feet and toes
Writing, tying hsowlaces, threading a needle
Language development
12 months
Children babble and copy sounds, respond to their name and understand about 10 words
18 months
Speaks 6 to 10 words, understand 50 words and short phrases, follows simple instructions
2 years
Follows simple 2 part instructions, speak up to 50 words in two word combinations, inflects voice when asking a question
3 years
Constructs 4 to 5 word sentences and follows more complex 2 part instructions
4 years
Uses joining words to make complex sentences(and, but, because), asks a lot of questions, develops use of pronouns, counts to 5 and can name colours
Lifespan development
Age related changes that occur from birth to death
Stages
Prenatal, before birth
Infancy 0-2 years
Childhood 2-10 years
Adolescence 10-20 years
Early adulthood 20-40 years
Middle age 40-65 years
Old age 65+ years
Key areas
Physical
Changes in the body
Social and emotional
Changes in perception, understanding and use of emotions and the establishment of relationships with others
Cognition
Changes in thinking, analyzing, language, perceiving and remembering
Development during adolescents
Cerebellum
Increase in the number of neurons and synapses
As it is responsible for balance, muscle tone and performance of motor skills, an underdeveloped cerebellum and growth spurt in puberty may account for the 'clumsy teenager' observation
Amygdala
Becomes more active in teenagers
As it is associated with the fear response and emotional responses, the hyper emotional states of teenagers and bad decision making may be due to relying on the amygdala to process information rather than the still developing prefrontal cortex
Corpus callosum
Thickens and there is an increase in the number of neurons and synapses in the cerebellum between the two hemispheres.
Frontal lobe
Frontal lobe of the left hemisphere is the last part of the brain to undergo the process of myelination
The last part of the brain to develop is the frontal cortex responsible for higher level problem solving, complex planning, impulse control, risk management and critical thinking