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AU PSYC 323 Developmental Psychology
study guide exam solution key words 2024
Athabasca University
Development - --the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span Context - --the settings, influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors, in which development occurs Culture - --the behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation Cross-cultural studies - --comparisons of one culture with one or more cultures Ethnicity - --a characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality characteristics, race, religion, and language Socio-economic status (SES) - --categorization based on a person's occupational, educational, and economic characteristics Social policy - --a government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens Research about social policy - --- In 2011, 21.9% of U.S. children and adolescents were living in families with household incomes beneath the poverty line.
- Minnesota Family Investment Program was designed in the 1990s primarily to influence the behavior of adults. Biological processes - --Produce changes in an individual's body Cognitive processes - --Refer to changes in an individual's thought, intelligence, and language. Socioemotional processes - --Involve changes in an individual's relationships with other people, changes in emotions and changes in personality.
3 connections between biological, cognitive and socioemotional processes - --- Inextricably intertwined
- Two emerging fields connect to it (developmental cognitive neuroscience & developmental social neuroscience).
- Bidirectional Periods of development - --- Prenatal period.
- Infancy.
- Early childhood.
- Middle and late childhood.
- Adolescence. Prenatal period - --- Conception to birth.
- A single cell grows into an organism. Early childhood - --- 5 to 6 years old.
- Called the preschool years.
- Become more self-sufficient.
- Develop school readiness skills.
- Many hours of play with peers. Middle and late childhood - --- Elementary school years.
- Fundamental skills: reading, writing, arithmetic.
- Exposed to the larger world and its culture.
- Achievement becomes a central theme Adolescence - --- Starts at 10-12 and ends around 18-19.
- Begins with rapid physical changes.
- Pursuit of independence and identity.
- More time spent outside the family.
- Thoughts more abstract, idealistic, and logical. Cohort - --Group of people who are born at a similar point in history and share similar experiences. Cohort effects - --Due to a person's time of birth, era, or generations but not to actual age. Millenials - --- Generation born after 1980.
- Ethnic diversity.
- Connection to technology, "always connected". Nature and Nurture Issue - --- Debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture.
- "Nature" proponents claim biological inheritance is the most important influence on development. --> Extreme environments that are psychologically barren or hostile might be influential factors.
- Nurture proponents claim that environmental experiences are the most influential factors. --> Biological environment to the social environment. Continuity-discontinuity issue - --- Question about whether development involves gradual cumulative change or distinct changes.
- Nature is often distinct changes and nurture is usually a gradual, continuous process.
- Continuity: a child's first word is actually the result of weeks and months of growth and practice.
- Discontinuity: each person is described as passing through a sequence of stages in which change is qualitatively rather than quantitatively different. Early-later experience issue - --- Contorversy concerning which degree early experiences or later experiences have on children's development.
- Early experiences consider life an unbroken trail.
- Later experiences consider development as a river, continually ebbing and flowing. Scientific method - --- Used to obtain accurate information.
- Conceptualize the problem.
- Collect data.
- Draw conclusions.
- Revise research conclusions and theory. Psychanalytic theories - --- Describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion.
- Freud's Theory, Erikson's Psychosocial Theory.
- Contributions: include an emphasis on developmental framework, family relationships, and unconscious aspects of the mind.
- Criticisms: lack of scientific support, too much emphasis on sexual underpinnings, too much credit given to the unconscious minds. Freud's Theory - --5 stages:
- Oral: pleasure centers the mouth (birth to 1.5 years)
- Anal: pleasure focuses on the anus (1.5-3 years)
- Phallic: pleasure focuses on the genitals (3-6 years)
- Latency: represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skills (6 to puberty).
- Genital: time of sexual reawakening, source of pleasure becomes someone outside of the family. Erikson's Psychosocial Theory - --1. Trust vs. mistrust: expectation that the world will be a good and pleasant place to live.
- Autonomy vs. shame & doubt: infants begin to discover that their behavior is their own, realize their will (1-3 years).
- Initiative vs. guilt: widening social world, face new challenges, feelings of guilt may arise because child is irresponsible and anxious (preschool years).
- Industry vs. inferiority: need to direct their energy toward mastering knowledge and intellectual skills (elementary school years).
- Identity vs identity confusion: confront the tasks of finding out who they are, what they are about, where they are going in life (adolescent years).
- Intimacy vs isolation: face the developmental task of forming relationships (early adulthood).
- Generativity vs. stagnation: concern for helping younger generation to develop and lead useful lives. (middle adulthood).
- Integrity vs. despair: reflects on the past (late adulthood). Cognitive theories - --- Emphasize conscious thoughts.
- Piaget's Theory, Vygotsky's Theory, Information-Processing Theory.
- Contributions: positive view of development and an emphasis on the active construction of understanding.
- Criticisms: skepticism about the pureness of stages and assertions that too little attention is paid to
individual variations. Piaget's Theory - --- Sensorimotor stage: 0-2 years old, construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motor actions.
- Preoperational stage: 2-7 years, begin to go beyond simply connecting sensory information with physical action and represent the world, with words, images and drawings. Still lack the ability to perform operation.
- Concrete operational stage: 7-11 years, can perform operations that involve objects, can reason logo calls as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples.
- Formal operational stage: 11-15 and goes through adulthood, individuals move beyond concrete experiences and think in abstract and more logical terms, develop images of ideal circumstances. Vygotsky's Sociocultural Cognitive Theory - --- Emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide development. -Argues that the development of memory, attention, and reasoning involves learning to use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical systems, and memory strategies.
- Children's interaction with more-skilled adultsand peers is indispensable. Information-Processing Theory - --- Emphasizes that individuals manipulate information, monitor it and strategize about it.
- Individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing information which allows them to acquire increasingly complex knowledge.
- Siegler states that thinking is information processing. Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories - --- Development is observable behavior that can be learned through experience with the environment.
- Skinner, Pavlov, Bandura.
- Contributions: emphasis on scientific research and environmental determinants of behavior.
- Criticisms: too little emphasis on cognition and giving inadequate attention to developmental changes and biological foundation. Pavlov's Classical Conditioning - --- Principle of classical conditioning: a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a response originally produced by another stimulus.
- Albert experiment: showed Albert a white rat and he was not afraid, showed it to him with a sound that made Albert cry... after many pairings together, he was scared by the white rat alone = classical conditioning. Skinner's Operant Conditioning - --- Allows the consequences of a behavior to produce changes in the probability of the behavior's occurrence.
- Behavior followed by a reward is more likely to recur, whereas a behavior followed by a punishment is less likely.
- Rewards and punishments shape development.
- Key aspect of development is behavior, not thoughts and feelings; development consists of the pattern of behavioral changes brought by rewards vs punishments. Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory - --- Psychologists emphasize behavior, environment, and cognition as the key factors in development.
- Emphasizes that cognitive processes have important links with environment and behavior. -Focuses on observational learning; people can represent the behavior of others and sometimes adopt it.
Ethology - --stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive period. Konrad Lorenz - --- Best-known experiment is when he studied the behavior of graylag geese as soon as they would hatch; put one group with the mom and the other in an incubator, the first following the mom, but the second following Lorenz.
- Showed "imprinting": rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the first moving object they see. Ethological theory - --- Contributions: focus on the biological and evolutionary basis of development, and the use of careful observations in naturalistic settings.
- Criticisms: assert too much emphasis on biological foundations. Brofenbrenner's Ecological Theory - --- Microsystem: setting in which the individual lives --> person's family, peers, school, neighborhood, and work.
- Mesosystem: connections between contexts --> relationships between family and school experiences, church and school experiences, family and peer experiences.
- Exosystem: links between a social setting in which an individual does not have an active role and the individual's immediate context.
- Macrosystem: culture in which individuals live.
- Chronosystem: the patterning. of environmental events and transitions over the life course. Research methods - --- Observation
- Survey and interviews
- Standardized test
- Case study
- Physiological measures Observation - --- Laboratory: controlled setting, need to control certain factors that determine behavior. -->. Drawbacks: impossible to conduct research without letting participants know they are being studied, setting is unnatural, some a aspects are impossible to study in a laboratory.
- Naturalistic observation: takes place in real-world settings, can be conducted in homes, child-care centers, schools, neighborhoods, malls and other contexts. Survey & interview - --- Sometimes best and quickest way to get information.
- Survey is useful when information from many people is needed.
- Can be used in a wide range of topics.
- Can be conducted in person, over the telephone and on the Internet.
- Tendency for participants to answer questions in a way that they think is socially acceptable rather than telling what they truly think or feel. Standardized test - --- Uniform procedures for administration and scoring.
- Allow performance to be compared with others.
- Ex: Stanford-Binet intelligence test.
- Weaknesses: do not always predict behavior in non-test situations, based on the belief that a person's behavior is consistent and stable, many tests developed in Western culture may not be appropriate in other cultures.
Case study - --- In-depth look at a single individual.
- Mainly by mental health professionals.
- Provides information about one's fears, hopes, fantasies, traumatic experiences, upbringing, family relationships, health, or anything that helps the psychologist understand you.
- Provides dramatic, in-depth portrayals of people's loves. Physiological measures - --- Researchers are increasingly using these.
- Blood samples.
- fMRI: electromagnetic waves are used to construct images of an individual's brain tissue and biochemical activity. Descriptive research - --- Involves observing and recording behavior.
- Cannot prove what causes a specific phenomenon, but it can yield important information about people's behavior. Correlational research - --- Goal is to describe the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics.
- Correlation coefficient: -1.00 to +1.00 (negative means an inverse relation, does not mean equal causation). Experimental research - --- carefully regulated procedure in which one or more of the factors believed to influence are manipulated while all others are constant. Independent & dependent variables - --- Independent variable is manipulated, influential, experimental factor (potential cause, can be manipulated independently to. determine its effect).
- Dependent variable can change is an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable. Experimental and control group - --- Experimental group is a group whose experience is manipulated.
- Control group is a comparison group that is as much like the experimental group as possible and that is treated in every way like the experimental except the manipulated factor, serves as baseline.
- Random assignment is important. Time-span of research - --- Cross-sectional approach: --> Groups can be compared with respect to a variety of dependent variables. --> Data collection does not usually take longer than a few months, even in bigger studies. --> Drawbacks: gives no information about how individual children change or about the stability of their characteristics, can obscure the increases and decreases of development.
- Longitudinal approach: research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years. --> Provide a wealth of information about important issues. --> Expensive and time-consuming. --> Cohort effects are important, the longer takes, the more participants drop out. Conducting Ethical Research - --- Researchers have a responsibility to anticipate the personal problems research might cause and to at least inform the participants the possible fallout.
- At universities, research must go through an ethics committee before initiating. Informed consent - --All participants must know what their participation will involve and what risks
might develop. Confidentiality - --Researchers are responsible for keeping all of the d at a they gathered individuals completely confidential and completely anonymous. Debriefing - --After the study is done, participants should be informed of its purpose and the methods that were used. Deception - --Ethical issue that researchers debate. Gender bias - --Preconceived notion that the abilities of males and females that prevented individuals from pursuing their own interests and achieving their full potential. Cultural and ethnic bias - --Research on children's development needs to include more children from diverse ethnic groups. Ethnic gloss - --Use of an ethnic label such as African American or Latino in a superficial way that portrays an ethnic groups as being more homogeneous than it really is. Natural selection - --evolutionary process by which those individuals of a species that are best adapted are the ones that survive and reproduce. Adaptive behavior - --behavior that promotes an organism's survival in the natural habitat Evolutionary psychology - --branch that emphasizes the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and "survival of the fittest" in shaping behavior". Chromosomes - --threadlike structures that come in 23 pairs, with one member of each pair coming from each parent. DNA - --complex molecule that contains genetic information Genes - --- units of hereditary information composed of DNA
- help cells to reproduce themselves and manufacture the proteins that maintain life Genome-wide association method - --- used to identify genetic variations linked to a particular disorder.
- to be conducted, researchers obtain DNA from individuals who have the disorder and from some who don't ... if genetic variations occur more frequently in people with the disorder, the variations point to the region in the human genome causing it exists. Linkage analysis - --- goal is to discover the location of a gene in relation to a marker gene.
- often used in the search for a disease gene --> genes in proximity to each other so that the gene involved in the disease are. usually located near the marker gene. Next-generation sequencing - --- vast increase in genetic data generated at a much reduced cost and in a much shorter period of time. 1,000 Genomes Project - --- began in 2008
- most detailed study of human genetic variation to date.
- biggest surprise: early report saying that humans have only about 30,000 genes. Mitosis - --cellular reproduction in which the cell's nucleus duplicates itself with 2 new cells being formed, each containing the same DNA as the parent cell, arranged in the same 23 pairs of chromosomes. Meiosis - --- specialized form of cell division that forms eggs. and sperm.
- cell of the testes or ovaries duplicates its chromosomes but then divides twice, forming 4 cells. Fertilization - --stage in reproduction during which an egg and a sperm fuse to create a single cell, called a zygote. Important sources of variability - --- Chromosomes in the zygote are not exact copies of those in the mother's ovaries and the father's testes (members of each pair are separated and which one goes to the gamete is up to chance).
- Identical twins (monozygotic), which form from a single zygote splitting into 2 genetically identical replicas vs. fraternal twins (dizygotic), which develop when 2 eggs. are fertilized by a different sperm, creating 2 zygotes that are genetically no more similar than ordinary siblings.
- DNA: chance events, mistake by cellular machinery, damage by environmental agency, genotype vs. phenotype. Genotype - --a person's genetic heritage, actual material in each cell. Phenotype - --the way an individual's genotype is expressed in observed and measurable characteristics Dominant-Recessive Genes Principle - --- one gene of a pair always exerts its effects, overriding the potential influence of the other gene
- recessive gene only exerts its influence if the two genes of a pair are both recessive (ex: brown hair, farsightedness, dimples OVER blond hair, nearsightedness, freckles). Sex-Linked Genes - --- when a mutated gene is carried on the X chromosome, called X-linked inheritance.
- most individuals who have X-linked diseases are males, females are usually carriers, but don't show it.
- hemophilia and fragile X syndrome Genetic Imprinting - --- occurs when genes have differing e effects depending on whether they are inherited from the mother or father.
- small percentage of humans undergo imprinting.
- Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, Wilms tumor. Polygenic Inheritance - --- Influence of only a single gene or pair of genes. Down Syndrome - --- presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21.
- individual with Down syndrome has a round face, flattened skull, extra fold of skin, protruding tongue, short limbs, disabilities involving motor and intellectual development.
- appears approx. 1/700 birthS Klinfelter syndrome - --- males have an extra X chromosome, making them XXY instead of XY.
- underdeveloped testes, enlarged breasts, and become tall.
- impairment in language, academic, attentional and motor abilities.
- 1/800 births. Fragile X syndrome - --- abnormality in the X chromosome, becomes constricted and often breaks.
- physical appears normal, but typically have prominent ears, long face, high-arched palate and soft skin.
- intellectual or learning disability.
- boys were characterized with cognitive deficits in inhibition, memory and planning.
- more frequent in males than females. Turner syndrome - --- chromosomal disorder in females in which either an X chromosome is missing, making the person XO instead of XX.
- females can be short in stature and have a webbed neck. -1/2500 female live births. XXY syndrome - --- chromosomal disorder where males have an extra Y chromosome.
- can contribute to aggression and violence. Phenylketonuria (PKU) - --- genetic disorder in which an individual cannot properly metabolize an amino acid.
- easily detected, but if untreated --> intellectual disability and hyperactivity.
- approx. 1% of institutionalized individuals who are intellectually disabled. Sickle-cell anemia - --- genetic disorder that affects the red blood cells.
- body's cells do not receive. adequate oxygen, causing anemia and dies quickly. -occurs most often in African American (1/400 babies) Ultrasound sonography - --- often conducted 7 weeks into a pregnancy.
- high-frequency sound waves are directed into the abdomen.
- can detect structural abnormalities such as microencephaly.
- poses no risk. Fetal MRI - --- uses a powerful magnet and radio images to generate images of the body's organs and structure.
- more detailed than ultrasound.
- can detect abnormalities in the central nervous system, chest, gastrointestinal tract, genital/urinary system, and placenta. Chorionic Villus Sampling - --- prenatal procedure where a small sample of the placenta is deformed.
- between 9.5-12.5 weeks of pregnancy to detect genetic defects. Amniocentesis - --- a sample of amniotic fluid is withdrawn by syringe and tested for chromosomal metabolic disorders.
- between 14th and 20th weeks of pregnancy.
- small chance of miscarriage, 1 in every 200 to 300 women. Maternal Blood Screening - --- identifies pregnancies that have high risk for birth defects such as spina bifida and Down syndrome.
- during 16-18 weeks of pregnancy.
- called triple screen because measures 3 substances in mother's blood. Infertility - --inability to conceive a child after 12 months of regular intercourse without contraception In vitro fertilization (IVF) - --Eggs and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish Fertilized egg is transferred into the woman's uterus Behavior genetics - --- field that seeks to discover the influence of heredity and the environment on individual differences in human traits and development.
- often use twin studies or adoption situations. Twin studies - --study where behavioral similarities between identical twins is compared to the one between fraternal twins Adoption studies - --study where investigators week to discover whether adopted children are more like their adoptive parents or their biological parents. Sandra Scarr's 3 correlations between heredity and environment - --1. Passive genotype- environment correlations: occur because biological parents provide a rearing environment for the child.
- Evocative genotype-environment correlations: occur because a child's genetically influenced characteristics elicit certain types of environments.
- Active genotype-environment correlations: occur when children seek out environments that they find compatible and. stimulating to their abilities. Shared vs non shared environmental experiences - --- Shared experiences are siblings' common environmental experiences such as their parents' personalities and intellectual orientation, family's SES, and the neighborhood in which they live.
- Nonshared experiences: child's own unique experiences, both in the family and outside it. Epigenetic view - --theory that development is the result of asa ongoing bidirectional exchange between heredity and environment. Gene X Environment Interaction - --the interaction of a specific measured variation in the DNA and a specific measured aspect of the environment Germinal period - --- takes place in the first two weeks after conception.
- includes creation of the zygote.
- rapid cell division.
- blastocyst (inner layer of cells) & trophoblast (outer layer of cells). Embryonic period - --- period of prenatal development that occurs from 2-8 weeks after conception.
- support systems for cells form, and organs appear.
- 3 layers of cells form: --> endoderm: inner layer, digestive and respiratory systems. --> mesoderm: middle layer, becomes the circulatory, excretory & reproductive systems, bones, muscles --> ectoderm: outermost layer which becomes the nervous system, brain, sensory receptors, and skin
parts.
- life support systems: --> amnion: bag or envelope containing clear fluid where embryo floats. --> umbilical cord: contains two arteries and one vein and connects baby to the placenta --> placenta: consists a disk-shaped group of tissues in which small blood vessels from the mother and offspring intertwine. Organogenesis - --organ formation that takes place during the first 2 months of prenatal development Fetal period - --- 2 months - 7 months of pregnancies.
- 6 months is when fetus is viable, has a chance of surviving outside the womb.
- last 2 months, fatty tissues develop and organ systems step up. Brain - --- neurons: handle information processing at the cellular level.
- two birth defects related to a failure of the neural tube: --> anencephaly: head end of the neural tube fails to close. --> spina bifida: results in varying degrees of paralysis of the lower limbs Teratogens - --refers to any agent that causes a birth defect Factors that influence teratogens and the type of defect - --- dose: the bigger the dose, the greater the effect.
- genetic susceptibility: linked to the genotype of the pregnant woman and the genotype of the embryo or fetus.
- time of exposure: teratogen exposure does more damage when it occurs at some points in development than at others. Prescription vs nonprescription drugs - --- prescription: can function as teratogens, anti depressants, certain hormones and Accutane.
- non-prescription: diet pills, and high dosages of aspirin can be harmful. Caffeine - --- pregnant women are recommended not to consume it at all or sparingly.
- high amounts do not increase the risk of miscarriage, congenital malformations or growth retardation. Alcohol - --- FASD: can cause facial deformities, and defective face, limbs and heart, most have learning problems.
- Have deficiencies in therein pathways involved in working memory. Nicotine - --- can adversely influence prenatal and postnatal development, as well as birth.
- risk for the development of ADHD.
- linked to a modest increase for childhood non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Cocaine - --- quickly crosses the placenta to reach the fetus.
- exposure is associated with reduced birth weight, length, and head circumference.
- lower arousal, less effective self-regulation, and high excitability and lower quality of reflexes. Metamphetamine - --- at risk of high infant mortality, low birthweight, developmental and dehavioral problems.
- associated with smaller head circumference, increased rates of NICU admission, and referral to child protective services.
- linked to less brain activation. Marijuana - --- related to lower intelligence in children.
- prenatal exposure was linked to use as of 14 years old. Heroin - --- withdrawal symptoms at birth (tremors, irritability, abnormal crying, disturbed sleep, impaired motor control) Incompatible blood types - --- created by differences in the surface structure of red blood cells.
- Rh positive vs Rh negative blood: if fetus is Rh positive but mother's is Rh negative, mother's immune system may produce antibodies that will attack the fetus. Environmental hazards - --- x-ray. radiation. especially during the first several weeks after conception.
- environmental pollutants and toxic wastes (mercury, carbon monoxide, lead). Maternal diseases - --- Rubella
- Syphilis (includes eye lesions)
- Genital herpes
- AIDS (during offspring across placenta, during delivery through contact with blood or fluids, through breastfeeding).
- Diabetes Other parental factors - --- Maternal diet and nutrition
- Maternal age
- Emotional state and stress
- Paternal factors (smoking, exposure to lead, radiation, when 40 years or older --> increased risk of spontaneous abortion, autism, and schizophrenic disorders). Prenatal care - --- Defined schedule of visits for medical care.
- Exercise. increasingly.
- Valuable for first-time mothers.
- Links women in poverty and immigrant women with social services.
- Certain programs focus on home visitation. Stages of birth - --1. Uterine contractions
- longest stage
- woman's cervix stretches and opens.
- lasts about 6-12 hours for a woman having her first child, much shorter afterwards.
- Begins when head moves through the cervix and birth canal.
- pushes to push the. baby out.
- lasts about 45 minutes.
- afterbirth
- placenta, umbilical cord, and other membranes are detached and expelled.
- usually only a few minutes. Childbirth setting - --99 % of births in the US are in hospitals.
- Midwives: practiced in most countries around the world, low-risk for women.
- Doulas: in most countries, doula attends a pregnant woman, provides continuous physical, emotional and educational support for the mother. Medicated Childbirth - --1. Analgesia: used to relieve the pain, includes tranquilizers, barbiturates, and narcotics. 2.Anesthesia: used in late first stage to block sensation in an area or block consciousness.
- Oxytocin/Pitocin Natural and prepared childbirth - --- Natural: attempts to reduce mother's pain by decreasing her fear through education and relaxation techniques.
- Prepared: developed by Ferdinand Lamaze, includes a special breathing technique in the final stages of labor, partner usually helps. C-section - --- baby is found in breach position, causing the butt to be the first part out of the vagina.
- removal of the baby through a cut in the mother's abdomen Apgar Scale - --- assesses the health of newborns at 1 and 5 minutes after birth.
- evaluates heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, body color and reflex irritability NBAS (Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale) - --- measure. used in the first month to assess neurological development, reflexes and reactions to people and objects
- 16 reflexes and reactions to animate stimuli NNNS (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale) - --- assessment of the "at- risk" newborn's behavior, neurological and stress responses, and regulatory capacities. Birth weights - --- low: less than 5.5 lbs
- very low: under 3.
- extremely low: under 2 Preterm infants - --- those born before 37 weeks of gestations
- due to rates of multiple births, increased management of maternal and fetal conditions, substance abuse, increased stress. Kangaroo care - --- skin to skin contact
- typically practiced 2-3 hours per day
- good for preterm infants. Postpartum depression: - --- women who have strong feelings of sadness, anxiety, or despair that they have trouble coping daily during postpartum period.
- involves a major depressive episode that typically occurs about 4 weeks after delivery Bonding - --the formation of a close connection, especially physical, between parents and their newborn in short period after birth. Cephalocaudal pattern - --the sequence in which the fastest growth occurs at the top of the body with physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually working from top to bottom. Proximodial pattern - --sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves to its
extremities Puberty - --a period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that take place primarily in early adolescence Determinants of puberty - --- menarche: a girl's first menstruation (around the age of 13 now)
- age is very wide range
- precocious puberty: very early onset and rapid progression of puberty Heredity and environmental influences - --- environmental factors can influence earlier pubertal onset and duration.
- adoption
- father absence
- lower SES
- family conflict
- maternal harshness
- child maltreatment Hormones - --- powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the bloodstream. Controlled by interactions between:
- hypothalamus: monitors eating, drinking, and sex.
- pituitary land: controls growth and regulates other glands.
- gonads: sex glands, testes in males and ovaries in females Key hormonal changes - --1. Androgens:
- main class of male sex hormones.
- testosterone: levels rise, external genitals enlarge, height increases, and voice changes.
- Estrogens:
- main class of female sex hormones.
- estradiol: levels rise, breast development, uterine development, skeletal changes occur. Body image - --- preoccupation with body image is strong throughout adolescence, bu especially early on.
- girls are less happy with their bodies than boys throughout puberty.
- boys' muscle mass increases so :) Neuroconstructivist view - --theory of brain development emphasizing the following 3 points:
- biological processes and environmental conditions influence the brain's development.
- brain has plasticity and is context dependent.
- development of the brain and child's cognitive development closely linked. Brain physiology - --1. 2 hemispheres:
- forebrain: top portion, furthest from spinal cord.
- cerebral cortex: outer layer, responsible for 80% of volume, responsible for perception, thinking. language and others.
- Each hemisphere has 4 lobes:
- Frontal lobes: voluntary movement, thinking, personality, intentionality or purpose.
- Occipital lobes: function in vision.
- Temporal lobes: facilitate hearing, language processing, and memory.
- Parietal lobes: registers spatial location, direct a attention, and maintain motor control.
- other structures:
- hypothalamus
- pituitary gland
- amygdala: plays an important role in emotion
- hippocampus: especially active in memory and emotion. Neurons - --- Axons: sends electrical signals away from the central part of the neuron, terminal buttons that send neurotransmitters into synapses. --> covered by a myelin sheath, helps impulses travel faster through the axon. Right vs left hemisphere - --- right: humor and use of metaphors.
- left: speech and grammar Lateralization - --specialization of function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other Myelination - --process of encasing axons with a myelin sheath that increases the speed of processing information REM Sleep - --Rapid eye movement sleep, a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) - --condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing, usually during the night, and suddenly its without an apparent cause. Recommended to improve sleep - --- bedroom that is cool, dark, and comfortable.
- consistent bed and wake times.
- positive family relationships.
- helping the child slow down before bedtime often contributes to less resistance in going to bed. Cancer - --- second leading cause of death in children 5-
- in children, mainly attack white blood cells, brain, bones, lymphatic system, muscles, kidneys and nervous system.
- most common is leukemia Marasmus - --severe malnutrition caused by an insufficient protein-calorie intake, resulting in a shrunken, elderly appearance Kwashiorkor - --severe malnutrition caused by a protein-deficient diet, causing the feet and abdomen to swell with water Dynamic systems theory - --- proposed by Esther Thelen
- seeks to explain how. motor behaviors are assembled for perceiving and acting.
- according to this theory, motor skills are developed when infants are motivated to do something. Reflexes - --- built-in reactions to stimuli
- govern the newborn's movements, which are automatic and beyond its control.
- genetically carried survival mechanisms Rooting reflex - --A newborn's built-in reaction that occurs when the infant's cheek is stroked or the
side of the mouth is touched. In response, the infant turns its head toward the side that was touched, in an apparent effort to find something to suck. Sucking. reflex - --A newborn's built-in reaction of automatically sucking an object placed in its mouth. The sucking reflex enables the infant to get nourishment before it has associated a nipple with food. Moro reflex - --A neonatal startle response that occurs in reaction to a sudden, intense noise or movement. When startled, the newborn arches its back, throws its head back, and flings out its arms and legs. Then the newborn rapidly pulls its arms and legs close to the center of the body. Grasping reflex - --A neonatal reflex that occurs when something touches the infant's palms. The infant responds by grasping tightly. Gross motor skills - --motor skills that involve large-muscle activities, such as walking Sports positive vs negative - --- positive: opportunities to learn how to compete, self-esteem, persistence, and a setting for developing peer relations and friendships.
- negative: pressure to achieve and win, physical injuries, a distraction from academic work, and unrealistic for success as an athlete. infants' 2 types of grasp - --- palmer grasp: whole hand
- pincer grasp: small objects with their thumb and forefinger sensation - --reaction that occurs when information contacts sensory receptors. perception - --the interpretation of sensation Ecological view of perception - --we directly perceive information that exists in the world around us:
- brings people in contact with the environment
- designed for action
- gives people information to move their bodies Affordances - --opportunities for interaction offered by objects that fit within our capabilities to perform functional activities Perceptual constancy - --- sensory stimulation is changing but perception of the physical world remains constant 2 types:
- size constancy: recognition that an object remains the same even though the retinal image of the object changes.
- shape constancy: recognition that an object remains the same even though its orientation to the viewer changes 3 aspects of hearing - --1. Loudness: after birth, infants, cannot hear soft sounds as well as adults.
- Pitch: infants are less sensitive to the pitch a sound then adults are (perception of the frequency a sound).
- Localization: even infants know the general localization of a sound, but after 6 months, very good Otitis media - --middle-ear infection that can impair hearing temporarily
Nativist view - --the ability to perceive the world in a competent, organized way is inborn or innate Empiricist position - --much of early perception develops from nature foundations and the basic foundation of many perceptual abilities. Schemes - --actions or mental representations that organize knowledge Assimilation - --incorporations of. new information into existing knowledge Accommodation - --adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences Organization - --grouping of isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order system Equilibration - --A mechanism that Piaget proposed to explain how children shift from one stage of thought to the next. Object permanence - --the understanding that an object continues to exist even when it cannot be seen A-not-B error - --Occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting the familiar hiding place (A) rather than the new hiding place (B) Operations - --Internalized actions that allow children to do mentally what before they had done only physically. Operations also are reversible mental actions. Egocentrism - --inability to distinguish one's own perspective from someone else's Animism - --belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action Centration - --focusing attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others Horizontal decalage - --Piaget's concept that similar abilities do not appear at the same time within a stage of development Seriation - --the concrete operation that involves ordering stimuli along a quantitative dimension (such as length) Transitivity - --principle that says if a relation holds between a first object and a second object, and holds between the second object and a third object, then it holds between the first object and the third object, argued a characteristic of concrete operational thought. Adolescent egocentrism - --- the heightened self-consciousness of adolescents
- Elkind says it governs how adolescents think about social matters:
- imaginary audience: involves attention-getting behavior motivated by a desire to be noticed, visible and "onstage".
- personal. fable: aspect of adolescent egocentrism that involves an adolescent's sense of uniqueness and invincibility Invulnerability - --2 dimensions:
- Danger invulnerability: adolescents' sense of indestructibility and tendency to take on physical risks.
- Psychological invulnerability: related to personal or psychological distress. Contributions of Piaget - --- assimilation
- accommodation
- object permanence
- egocentrism
- conservation Criticisms of Piaget - --- cognitive abilities can also emerge later than Piaget thought
- some emerge earlier Neo-Piagetians - --Developmentalists who argue that Piaget got some things right but that his theory needs considerable revision. They have elaborated on Piaget's theory, giving more emphasis to information processing, strategies, and precise cognitive steps. Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Development - --- children are more of social creatures.
- develop ways of thinking and understanding through social interaction.
- ZPD
- use language to solve tasks.
- children who use a lot of private speech are more socially competent ZPD (zone of proximal development) - --- tasks that are too difficult for the child to master alone can do it with the assistance of adults or more-skilled children. Scaffolding - --the practice of changing the level of support provided over the course of a teaching session, with the more-skilled person adjusting guidance to fit the child's current performance level. Information-rpcoessing approach - --focuses on the ways children process information about the world Processing speed - --determines how quickly children can process information Robert. Siegler's 3 mechanisms - --1. Encoding: information gets into the memory.
- Automacity: ability to process information with little or no effort.
- Strategy construction: creation of new procedures for processing information. 4 types of attention - --- Selective: focusing on a specific aspect of one experience while ignoring the others.
- Divided: concentrating on more than one activity at a time.
- Sustained: ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for along time.
- Executive attention: planning actions, allocating atteniton to goals, detecting errors, etc. Habituation - --decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentation of the stimulus Dishabituation - --recovery of a habituated response after a change. in stimulation. Joint attention - --when individuals focus on the same object or event, requires the ability to track another's behavior, one person directing another's attention and reciprocal interaction.
Memory - --retention of information over time Processes of memory - --1. Encoding: getting information into memory.
- Storage: retaining information over time.
- Retrieval: taking information out of storage. Short-term memory - --limited capacity in which information is usually retained for 15-30 seconds. Long-term memory - --relatively permanent and unlimited type of memory Working memory - --Kind of mental workbench where individuals manipulate and assemble information when they make decisions, solve problems, and understand language Alan Baddeley's model of working memory - --- Includes speech and visual and spatial information
- Includes a central executive that monitors and controls the system, and determines where the information is stored. Schema Theory - --- states that when people reconstruct information, they fit it into information that already exists in their minds
- influence the way we encode and retrieve information Fuzzy Trace Theory - --- states that memory improves in children as they move from verbatim to gist processing
- proposed by Charles Brainerd and Valerie Reyna Implicit memory - --memory without conscious recollection Explicit memory - --conscious memory of facts and experiences Infantile amnesia - --the inability to retrieve memories from much before age 3 Strategies for memory - --1. organization
- elaboration (engaging in extensive processing)
- Imagery (creating mental images) Executive function - --an umbrella-like concept that involves higher-order, complex cognitive processes that include exercising cognitive control, making decisions, reasoning, thinking critically, thinking creatively, and metacognition Adele Diamond and Kathleen Lee highlighted... - --1. Self-control/inhibition
- Working memory
- Flexibility Metacognition - --- thinking about and knowing when and where to use particular strategies for learning.
- includes knowledge about when and where house particular strategies for learning or for solving problems.
- contains. planning, evaluation, and self-regulation
Metamemory - --individual's knowledge about memory Theory of mind - --awareness of one's own mental processes and the mental processes of others 3 mental states are understood - --1. Perceptions
- Emotions (negative vs positive)
- Desires Intelligence - --the ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and use knowledge to adapt to new situations Binet Tests - --- first developed in 1905.
- now the Stanford-Binet test.
- 4th edition published in 1985: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, abstract visual reasoning, short-term memory Mental Age - --an individual's level of mental development relative to that of others IQ - --mental age/chronological age x 100 (developed by William Stern) Wescher Scales - --- provides an overall IQ and scores on a number of subtests, as well as several composite indexes.
- given on an individual basis. Sterberg's Triarchic Theory - --3 forms:
- Analytical intelligence: involves the ability to analyze, judge, evaluate, compare and contrast.
- Creative intelligence: consists of the ability to create, design, invent, originate, and imagine.
- Practical intelligence: focuses on the ability to use, apply, implement, and put into practice. Gardner's Eight Frames of Mind - --1. verbal (ability to thinking's words and to use language to express meaning)
- mathematical (ability to carry out mathematical operations)
- spatial (ability to think three dimensionally)
- bodily-kinesthetic (ability to manipulate objects and by physically adept)
- musical (sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm and tone)
- interpersonal ( ability to understand oneself and effectively direct one's life)
- intrapersonal (ability to understand and effectively interact with others)
- naturalist (ability to observe patterns in nature and understand natural and human-made systems) Emotional Intelligence (EI) - --the ability to detect and to manage emotional cues and information Heritability - --fraction of population variation that is attributed to genetics Heritability index - --- computed using correlational techniques.
- highest degree is 1.00 and above 0.7 means a strong genetic influence. Culture-fair tests - --intelligence tests that are intended to be culturally unbiased, two types:
- Includes questions that are familiar to people from all SES and ethnic backgrounds.
- contains no verbal questions
Gesell Test - --4 categories of behavior: motor, language, adaptive, and personal-social Bayley Scales of Infant Development - --Scales developed by Nancy Bayley that are widely used to assess infant development. The current version has five scales: cognitive, language, motor, socioemotional, adaptive Intellectual disability - --condition of limited mental ability in which:
- lowIQ, below 70 on traditional test
- has difficulty adapting to everyday life
- first exhibits these characteristics by age 18 Giftedness - --the possession of either a high IQ or special talents or aptitudes Ellen Winner's 3 criteria of giftedness - --1. Precocity
- begin to master an area earlier than their peers.
- learning in their domain is more effortless for them than others.
- Marching to their own drummer
- learn in a qualitatively different w ay from ordinary children.
- need minimal help, or scaffolding.
- resist any kind of explicit instruction
- A passion to master
- driven to understand the dominion which they have high ability.
- display an intense, obsessive interest and an ability to focus.
- motivate themselves Language - --a form of communication, whether spoken, written, or signed, that is based on a system of symbols Phonology - --the study of speech sounds in language phoneme - --basic sound unit of a given language Morphology - --sound system of a language, that includes the sounds used and rules about how they may be combined. Morpheme - --minimal unit of meaning Syntax - --the way words are combined to form acceptable phrases and sentences Semantics - --meaning of words and sentences Pragmatics - --appropriate use of language in different contexts Baby sounds during first year - --1. Crying: can signal distress.
- Cooing: first at about 1-2months, express pleasure.
- Babbling: in the first year, produce strings of consonant-vowel combinations Fastmapping - --Process by which children quickly learn new words, often after a single exposure
Kathy Hirsch-Park and Roberta Golinkoff's 6 principles - --- Learn the words they hear most often.
- Learn words for things and events that interest them
- Learn words best in responsive and interactive contexts rather than in passive contexts
- Learn words best in contexts that are meaningful
- Learn words best when. they access clear information about word meaning.
- Learn words best when grammar and vocabulary are considered. Two regions involved in language development - --1. Broca's area: involved in speech production, and grammatical processing.
- Wernicke's area: involved in language comprehension Aphasia - --disorder resulting forebrain damage to Broca's or Wernicke's that involves a loss or impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words Chomsky's LAD - --describes biological endowment enabling children to detect the features and rules of language, including phonology, syntax, and semantics. Recasting - --Rephrasing a statement that a child has said, perhaps turning it into a question, or restating a child's immature utterance in the form of a fully grammatical sentence. Expanding - --restating, in a linguistically sophisticated form, what a child has said Labeling - --Identifying the names of objects Emotion - --feeling, or affect, that can involve physiological arousal, conscious experience, and behavioral expression (positive: enthusiasm, joy, love vs negative: anxiety, anger, guilt, sadness) Michael Lewis "primary emotions vs self-conscious emotions" - --- Primary emotions: appear in the first 6 months, include surprise, interest, joy, anger, sadness, fear, and disgust.
- Self-conscious requires self-awareness and a sense of "me", includes jealousy, empathy, embarrassment, pride, shame, and guilt. Crying - --most important mechanism newborns have for communicating with their world 3 types of crying - --1. Basic cry: rhythmic pattern that usually consists of a cry, silence, then a shorter whistle that is somewhat higher in pitch than the main cry.
- Anger cry: a variation the basic cry in which more excess air is forced through the vocal cords.
- Pain cry: a sudden, long initial cry, followed by breath holding, no preliminary moaning is present. Smiling - --Critical as a means of developing new social skilled is a key social signal. 2 types of smiling - --1. Reflexive: does not occur in response to external stimuli and appears during the 1st month, usually during sleep.
- Social: occurs response to external stimulus, typically face in the case of the young infant. Emotion-coaching parents - --Monitor child's emotions, view negative emotions as a teaching opportunity, assist them in labeling emotions, and coach on how to effectively deal with emotions emotion-dismissing parents - --view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions
Temperament - --involves individual differences in behavioral styles, emotions, and characteristic ways of responding Chess and Thomas' temperament classification - --1. easy child: generally in a positive mood, quickly establishes regular routines in infancy, adapts easily to new experiences.
- difficult child: reacts negatively and cries frequently, engages in irregular daily routines and is slow to accept change.
- slow-to-warm-up child: low activity level, somewhat negative, and displays low intensity of mood. Rothbart and Bates' Classification - --1. Extraversion/surgency: positive anticipation, impulsivity, activity level and sensation seeking.
- Negative affectivity: fear sadness, discomfort, easily distressed.
- Effortful control (self-regulation): attentional focusing and shifting, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity. Goodness of fit - --the match between a child's temperament and the environmental demands the child must cope with. Social referencing - --"Reading" emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation Attachment - --a close emotional bond between two people Freud's theory of attachment - --- reasoned that infants become attached to the person or object that provides oral satisfaction.
- for most infants, this is the mother. Harlow's theory of attachment - --Experiment where one surrogate mother was made. of wire, theater of cloth, the infant spent more time with the cloth mother Erikson's theory of attachment - --physical comfort and sensitive care are key to establishing basic trust in infants. Bowlby's theory of attachment - --4 stages:
- birth-2 months: instinctively orient to human figures.
- 2-7 months: attachment focused on one figure.
- 7-24 months: specific attachments develop with increased. locomotorskills.
- 24 months and on: deserving of nurturant care Mary Ainsworth's strange situation - --1. Securely attached:
- caregiver as a secure base to explore the environment
- they explore the room and. examines oystering that have been placed in it.
- Insecure avoidant:
- show insecurity by avoiding the mother.
- little interaction with the caregiver, not distressed when she leaves.
- Insecure resistant:
- often cling to the caregiver and then resist her by fighting.
- Insecure disorganized
- appear dazed, confused, and fearful, show strong patterns of avoidance and resistance or display
certain specified behavior. 2 hormones in attachment - --Oxytocin: released during breastfeeding and by contact and warmth. Vasopressin: likely candidate in the formation of infant-mother attachment Self-understanding - --a child's cognitive representation of the self Self-understanding in infancy - --- confusion of self, mind, and body
- concrete descriptions
- physical descriptions
- active descriptions
- unrealistic positive overestimations Self-understanding in middle and late childhood - --5 key. changes:
- psychological characteristics and traits
- social description
- social comparison
- real self and ideal self
- realistic Self-understanding in adolescence - --Abstract and idealistic Self-conscious; preoccupied with self Contradictions within the self: has multiple roles Fluctuating self over time and situations Real and ideal selves: constructed, compared Thoughts of "possible selves" Self-integration in sense of identity Self-esteem - --the global evaluative dimension of the self; also referred to as self-worth or self-image self-concept - --domain-specific evaluations of the self Susan Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children - --5 dimensions: scholastic competence, athletic competence, social competence, physical appearance, behavioral conduct. Identity - --our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles Psychosocial moratorium - --Erikson's term for the gap between childhood security and adult autonomy that adolescents experience as part of their identity exploration 4 statuses of identity - --1. identity diffusion (individuals who have not yet experienced a crisis or made any commitments)
- identity foreclosure (individuals who have made a commitment, button experienced a crisis)
- identity moratorium (individuals in the midst of a crisis, but whose commitments are either absent or are only vaguely defined)
- identity achievement (individuals who have undergone a crisis and made a commitment) Individuality - --1. Self-assertion:ability to have and communicate a point of view.
- Separateness: the use of communication patterns to express how one is different from others.
Connectedness - --1. Mutuality: involves sensitivity to and respect for other's views.
- Permeability: involves openness to others' views. Evolutionary psychology view of gender - --- emphasizes that adaptation during the evolution of humans produced psychological differences between males and females.
- argue that because of their differing roles in reproduction, they face different pressures. Social role theory - --- a theory that gender differences result from the contrasting roles of men and women
- developed by Alice Eagly
- social hierarchy and division of labor strongly influence gender differences in power, assertiveness and nurture. Psychoanalytic theory of gender - --A theory deriving from Freud's view that the preschool child develops a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent, by approximately 5 or 6 years of age renounces this attraction because of anxious feelings, and subsequently identifies with the same-sex parent, unconsciously adopting the same-sex parent's characteristics. Cognitive theory of gender - --emphasizes that children's gender development occurs through observation and imitation of gender behavior, through rewards and punishments. Phyllis Bronstein's conclusions - --- Mother's socialization strategies: for daughters to be more obedient and responsible than their sons.
- Father's socialization strategies: more attention to sons than daughters Social cognitive theory of gender - --a theory emphasizing that children's gender development occurs through the observation and imitation of gender behavior and through the rewards and punishments children experience for gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate behavior Gender schema theory - --The theory that gender-role development is influenced by the formation of schemas, or mental representations, of masculinity and femininity. Gender stereotyping - --generalizations based on oversimplified or outmoded assumptions about gender roles Deborah Tannen - ---Rapport talk (language of conversation and a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships) -Report talk (talk that gives information, ushc as public speaking) Gender-role classification - --Individuals can have both masculine and feminine traits Androgyny - --presence of masculine and feminine characteristics in the same person Gender-role transcendence - --The view that when an individual's competence is at issue, it should be conceptualized on a personal basis rather than on the basis of masculinity, femininity, or androgyny. Moral development - --changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong