DSST Lifespan Developmental Psychology study plan

Sequence the stages of prenatal development (zygote, embryo, fetus) and list one teratogen risk and one protective factor for each trimester

Diagram the major milestones of brain development (neurogenesis, synaptic pruning, myelination, frontal-lobe maturation) and state the approximate age range for each

Distinguish sensitive periods from critical periods and give two examples of each drawn from sensory and language development

Explain how habituation and preferential-looking methods are used to infer infant perceptual abilities, and describe what each method can and cannot show

Compare visual acuity, color vision, and depth perception (visual cliff) development across the first year

Contrast classical and operant conditioning with one developmental example of each (e.g., infant feeding, toddler compliance)

Explain observational learning and describe how reinforcement schedules affect persistence of a learned behavior

Differentiate Piaget's four stages by the cognitive operation gained in each, and identify one classic task that marks each transition

Summarize Vygotsky's zone of proximal development and scaffolding, and apply them to a teaching scenario

Trace language milestones from cooing through two-word utterances and explain the nativist versus interactionist debate

Describe how working memory, attention span, and strategy use change from childhood to adulthood

Map attachment theory: describe Ainsworth's strange-situation classifications and what each pattern predicts about later adjustment

Explain temperament (Thomas and Chess categories) and distinguish temperament from personality

Trace Erikson's psychosocial stages from trust versus mistrust through identity versus role confusion, naming the crisis and virtue of each

Describe peer sociometric status categories and identify two factors that predict peer acceptance or rejection

Explain prosocial behavior and aggression development, including how relational aggression differs from physical aggression

Summarize moral development (Kohlberg's levels, and one critique of the stage model)

Outline the family life cycle stages and name the developmental task and typical stressor of each transition point

Describe how family structure (single-parent, blended, multigenerational, same-sex-parent) relates to child outcomes, emphasizing process over structure

Apply the core ethical principles (beneficence, respect for autonomy, justice, integrity, responsibility) to two research or practice dilemmas

Explain informed consent and assent requirements when research participants are minors or cognitively impaired

Identify confidentiality limits and mandated-reporting obligations relevant to work with families

Distinguish normative from non-normative life stresses and give two examples of each

Explain coping models (problem-focused versus emotion-focused; appraisal theory) and apply one to a caregiving stressor

Describe the grief responses of children at different developmental levels and how understanding of death changes with age

Differentiate anticipatory grief, complicated or prolonged grief, and disenfranchised grief

Identify protective factors and risk factors for poor adjustment after bereavement, including social support and meaning-making

Apply a stage or task model of dying and grief while noting its limitations as a prescriptive framework

Re-test the weakest 20 items from weeks 1-5 and record the reason for each miss (content gap, misread, or guess)

Re-derive the prenatal and brain-development timelines from memory without notes

List three ethical pitfalls common in developmental research with infants and children and how to avoid each

Explain how perceptual narrowing and experience-dependent tuning illustrate the interaction of biology and environment

Re-test the weakest 20 items from weeks 2-3 and update the error log

Build a one-page summary sheet linking each major theorist (Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson, Kohlberg, Bowlby, Ainsworth) to key terms and one criticism

Practice distinguishing similarly named concepts (assimilation versus accommodation, temperament versus attachment, moral reasoning versus moral behavior)

Write out the attachment and parenting-style comparison table from memory

Re-test the weakest items from weeks 4-5 and confirm each error is resolved

Complete two timed 60-question mixed practice exams covering all ten domains and record per-domain accuracy

Identify the two lowest-accuracy domains and review only those notes for 90 minutes

Rehearse a five-minute verbal summary of the family life cycle and bereavement material as if teaching it