HDFS 129 EXAM 1 NOTES Professor Sherry Corneal factors adulthood The Jim Twins MAJOR study that tells us a lot about nature vs nurture biological and environmental Lifespan Perspective o Research at University of Minnesota study twins who are separated at birth and then reunited at o Majority of the twins score very similarly on all tests of these studies o The Jim twins went for their test and both of them Were part time sheriffs drove Chevrolets vacationed at the same beach in Florida had dogs named Toy both married a women named Betty both were married twice and their first wife s name was Linda chewed fingernails to the nub had identical drinking and smoking habits both were named Jim by adopted parents had sons named James Allen both had hemorrhoids had headaches that began at age 18 and used the same words to describe them had some differences but the similarities are overwhelming o Traditionally we thought that what we were searching for was one path of development Because we were following the footsteps of the hard sciences and their laws What are the laws that govern development We ignored any outlier something that didn t follow this path o But the lifespan perspective tells us that we are not to look for this one specific path o THE SEVEN ASSUMPTIONS OF THE LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE 1 Development is a lifelong process a Every stage of development involves particular tasks from cradle to grave b How does development at one stage of life affect development at another stage of life 2 Multi directionality 3 Plasticity a Development can take many directions contrary to the one path belief a The degree to which characteristics can or cannot change throughout the lifespan b There are 5 personality traits that seem to be stable across lifetime OCEAN i Openness ii Conscientiousness iii Extroversion iv Agreeableness v Neuroticism c Experience can change the brain at any stage d Plasticity varies greatly between individuals i Personality affects how plastic willing susceptible we are to change 4 Development must be viewed in historical context a Social movements b Technology c War 5 Contextualism a Development must be studies in various contexts b development is an ongoing interaction between a changing individual in a changing environment c Reciprocal influence his her environment 6 Multidimensionality the developing individual influences and is influenced by a Biological cognitive social and emotional factors interact to affect development b Don t confine yourself to just one area because there are many that interplay a The study of human development should involve collaboration across various 7 Multidisciplinary Nature vs Nurture Concept fields of study o Nature influence of heredity on development biologically based redisposition Whether a child is inhibited shy or uninhibited outgoing is genetically predisposed Some children are born with excitable amygdala s easily excitable emotional and others are born with one that remains calmer more relaxed An inhibited kid will almost never become an outgoing kid Characteristics of inhibited children o Reluctance to initiate conversation or smile with strangers o Reluctant to take risks o Reluctant to make firm decisions o High muscle tension o Prone to allergies o Light blue eyes not always but usually o Ectomorphic body build skinny o Nurture o How much can we change What stays the same from birth nature forces in the environment outside the individual that influence development How do nature and nurture interact to effect development o Non shared environment experience because their parents may react treat them differently from their sibling s kids grow up in the same family but do not grow up with the same o Traits that have a genetic predisposition Intelligence there is a cap limit on how intelligent we can be i e if you are deprived in the womb for whatever reason of your full IQ tests can improve it but only to whatever number that limit was Verbal ability Vocational interest Scholastic achievement Memory o OCEAN Not very susceptible to change over time stable traits Openness Conscientiousness Extroversion Agreeableness Neuroticism independent and imaginative or conforming and practical organized conscious or impulsive disorganized sociable outgoing vs Introversion reserved cooperative or uncooperative whether you get overly anxious or calm secure or insecure 2007 Study of Baby Einstein Videos Christakis and Zimmerman evidence suggested that videos may hurt language development for infants ages 8 16 months 17 drop in vocab for babies who watched the videos vs babies who engaged in face to face interaction with adults o Something about face to face interaction tone of voice facial expression that has a profound effect on how your brain is wired better than watching videos that are supposed to help infants learn don t replace face to face interaction with technology negative impact o Experience wires the brain but it is not permanent can be rewired at any stage of development The environment modifies enhances the traits that are predisposed o Our environment can either bring out enhance these traits or repress hide these traits that we are born with they are always there but the environment can change how extreme they are Stability vs Change o Is personality stable over time o To what extent do early experience set the life path of individuals o How well can we predict later development from early development Research empirical inquiry o Evidence based on observation o We can only trust that which we can see o Scientific investigation GOALS 3 Description describe average trends i e the average newborn is around 8 lbs children of divorce have more behavioral problems Explanation why do we develop as we do Explain the description i e newborns are born 8 lbs because of the foods their mother eats while pregnant children of divorce have more behavioral problems because they didn t grow up in a stable home Optimization how can we help people develop n a positive direction Reach fullest potential Science is not defined by what it studies but how it conducts investigations Theory a set of assumptions that attempt to describe predict or explain a phenomenon Cycle of science Observations Support or Modify Theory Theory Systematic observation Hypothesis Correlation research the goal is to describe the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables o A correlation coefficient ranges in value from 1 0 1 0 The closer to 1 0 or