Follow

• 

  Divorce, Effect on Development

  Vijay Bajnath, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Childhood experiences of divorce affect multiple domains of development. Cognitive, emotional and physical areas of a child’s development may be impacted by the separation. Models of development which take into account both biological and environmental influences suggest that problems of divorce impact the parental practices towards the children which lead to difficulties in emotional regulation and insecurity. These arenas impact health in both explicit health risk behaviors as well as biological responses within the body. The combination of these seen and unseen processes contribute to an overall impact on health.

• 

  Newborn Reflexes

  Ryan Bennett, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Reflexes are characterized as involuntary movements or actions and are a key indicator of a healthy brain and nervous system in newborn babies. There are five primitive reflexes that are common for infants who do not experience central nervous system (CNS) deficits. Furthermore, newborn reflexes are also considered to add adaptive value by increasing their chances of survival.

• 

  Newborn Senses

  Ryan Bennett, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  When babies are born, they possess all five senses-taste, hearing, sight, touch and smell; however, some senses are more developed than others. Newborns had previously been an enigma to scientists and little was known about their intelligence, motives, and capabilities. Neuroscientists are now able to map out a timeline of when senses are developed during and after gestation; this has given the scientific community and parents everywhere a better understanding of newborns and their ability to process their environment.

• 

  Prosocial Reasoning

  Ryan Bennett, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Prosocial behavior is best described as a general range of actions that are intended to benefit individuals other than one’s self. Some of these prosocial actions include helping, comforting, and sharing with others (Batson & Powell, 2003). More specifically, prosocial behavior is better understood as one’s voluntary action that is solely meant to benefit others. Prosocial reasoning is the motivating influences for an individual to engage in a prosocial behavior. Some research suggests that reasoning behind prosocial behavior is a motivation toward altruism, a principle in which one individual is selfless and engages in behaviors that help others, despite personal gain. Therefore, a potential reason for someone to engage in prosocial behavior may be to become more altruistic.

• 

  Reasons for Divorce

  Ryan Bennett, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Today, divorce is a common result for many couples regarding marital conflict and discord. The impacts of divorce have been linked to increased psychological distress, increased risk of substance abuse, depression, and poorer overall health when compared to non-divorced individuals (Amato, 2000; Hughes and Waite, 2009). Per Shelby Scott and colleagues, there are ten likely reasons for a couple to get divorced (Scott et al., 2013). By understanding these ten reasons, one may better conceptualize the overall factors that contribute to divorce.

• 

  Divorce, Effects on Relationships

  Nicholas Boston, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Divorce has been seen to have significant impacts on relationships both within and outside of families. In terms of friendships, the divorced couple is often seen to withdraw from other couples prior to the divorce in order to avoid sharing uncomfortable details. With more attention instead focused on friendships with individuals, divorced couples lose some, if not all, of their couple friends, whom may take sides either individually or as a couple. As well, fellow couples may not wish to be pulled into conflict. However, individual friendships tend to strengthen as the divorcees turn their freed-up time for attention towards friends.

• 

  Bio-Physiological Development During Adulthood

  Maria Boix Braga, Charles J. Golden, and Lisa K. Lashley

  Excerpt

  Defining adulthood, and what the criteria truly is to be able to consider oneself an adult, varies from culture to culture. Biologically, adulthood can also be defined as the period in which full physical and intellectual maturity has been attained. It is a period that is defined slightly differently depending on the source, but it is agreed that it tends to be considered the life period between ages 18 and 60. However, the definition of adulthood can have varying legal and sociocultural factors as well. For example, the legal definition of an adult is a person who has reached the age at which they are considered responsible for their own actions, and therefore legally accountable for them. This is referred to as the age of majority, which is 18 for most cultures, although they can vary from the age of 16 to 21. Sociocultural definitions are based on what a culture normatively views as the criteria for adulthood, which may or may not coincide with the legal definition.

• 

  Gifted Children

  Justn Burgess, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Children can be gifted in a variety of different areas, including musical talent, athleticism, and artistic ability among others. The focus of this entry will be solely on those children who are gifted in intellectual ability and academic achievement. Identification of intellectual giftedness usually requires an individually administered intelligence test, achieving a Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) of 130 or higher, which is a threshold that dates back to Lewis Terman’s research at Stanford in the early to mid 20th century. Although this seems like an arbitrary score, an IQ score of 130 and above is where an individual scores two standard deviations above the population average score, thus falling in the upper 2% of the population. This level of cognitive ability is correlated with many positive life outcomes such as increased level of education, higher income, and longer life expectancy, although results may vary widely across this high intelligence group.

• 

  Parental Influence

  Justn Burgess, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  An adequate level of parenting—providing enough nutrition, shelter, exposure to language and peers, or not harshly punishing children (punching, kicking, striking with a weapon)—seems to not have a long-term effect on cognitive development in children. Twin and adoption studies have found that intelligence is accounted for almost entirely by genes and nonshared environment, which includes peers, teachers, and unique experiences. However, there are parenting styles and types of home environments that are correlated with better school performance, stronger school engagement, and more words spoken at certain ages.

• 

  Birth Complications

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Complications during childbirth can pose a serious threat to both infant and maternal health. Birth complications can lead to a variety of different health risks, ranging from minor to severe in nature. The following common labor complications can happen even after a standard pregnancy with no difficulties or high risk variables.

• 

  Generativity

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  In psychology, the term generativity refers to concern for the future and the need to offer positive contributions to future generations. The term first appeared in stage seven of Erik Erikson’s model of psychosocial development (generativity vs. stagnation). Erikson’s model postulates that generativity occurs explicitly in middle adulthood, but a more recent model of generativity created by Dan McAdams proposes that generativity occurs as a function of increasing cultural demand and concern for future generations, rather than a function of personality change (McAdams, 2001).

• 

  Heredity

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Heredity is the sum of biological processes that result in the transmission of genetic traits from parents to their offspring, making each individual unique. Through the transmission of genetic traits, heredity is responsible for each individual’s genotype, as well as his or her phenotype. The genes that are passed down from generation to generation have a considerable influence on psychological characteristics including intelligence, personality, mental health, and patterns of behavior. However, when considering psychological characteristics passed down through heredity, it is vital that environmental aspects are also considered.

• 

  Life Review

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  In traditional societies, storytelling was an art used to help understand the meaning of life. Storytellers typically included older adults who had experienced challenges in their lives and were aiming to help the young learn from them. This tradition of storytelling not only facilitated the transmission of valuable information between generations, but it also improved the elderly’s social status. One of the many changes associated with modernized society has been placing a larger focus on youth, allowing the elderly to be marginalized within society. As a byproduct of the focus on youth in modern society, older adults have collectively experienced a loss of purpose, which leads to lower self-esteem. Life review serves as a mechanism through which older adults can maintain high levels of perceived purpose and self-esteem throughout old age.

• 

  Metabolic Theories of Aging

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles j. Golden

  Excerpt

  Metabolic theories of aging postulate that aging is due to energy expenditure, which ultimately results in the breakdown and eventual death of cells. Historically, within the realm of metabolic theories of aging, there have been three models: The Rate-of-Living theory, The Oxidative Damage/Free Radical theory, and the Metabolic Stability theory. All three theories maintain that aging is directly related to metabolic rate, but the theories differ in how they arrive at that conclusion.

• 

  Nutrition and Growth

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  From a child’s embryonic development in the womb to adulthood, nutrition plays a key role in physical, mental, and social growth and development. Throughout the lifespan, proper nutrition and growth are essential to living a long, healthy life. Nutrition is particularly important in the developmental period.

• 

  Perception

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Perception is the process through which humans are able to select, organize, and interpret sensory input from the external environment. This process of selection, organization, and interpretation of external sensory stimulation results in our internal representation of the outside world, as well as our conscious experience. Through the process of perception, we are able to gain information and knowledge about our environment, allowing us to safely and effectively navigate in the world.

• 

  Possible Selves

  Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  Self-concept is an individual’s idea of who the individual was in the past, who the individual is at present, and who that individual has the potential to become in the future. When considering self-concept, group memberships and other social roles typically shape how an individual thinks about him- or herself. A strong self-concept helps an individual to make sense of his or her present situation, maintains positive feelings through difficult situations, make sensible predictions about the future, as well as helps to sustain motivation.

• 

  Attachment Theory: John Dollard and Neal Miller

  Carla J. Cabrera, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  John Dollard and Neal Miller collaborated to develop the learning theory of attachment that connects theories from Sigmund Freud and Clark Hull to reconcile psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Their combined interests helped with the efforts to develop a unified theory incorporating psychodynamic theory, learning theory, and influence of sociocultural factors.

• 

  Complex Emotions

  Jessica Choe, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles Golden

  Excerpt

  Complex emotions are ways in which an individual reacts and respond to complex social situations when encountering people and situations in the social world. Thus, complex emotions are ways of coping and adapting to complex social situations. Complex emotions are mental representations that have been studied on a three-level analysis surrounding the body, mind, and society, which translates to the biological and the evolutionary, the mental and the psychological, and the social and the cultural. This approach has been referred to as the neurocognitive sociology of emotions.

• 

  Representative Sampling

  Jessica Choe, Lisa K. Lashley, and Charles J. Golden

  Excerpt

  The research process begins with an initial observation that scientists or researchers of various backgrounds want to engage in and understand, which prompts them to formulate theories and hypotheses, collect data, and use statistical procedures to organize, summarize, and interpret gathered data. Research conducted through questionnaires or surveys are often utilized to determine the nature of a population or the interests of members in a particular group.