Human Development The Nature VS Nurture Debate o The arguments concerning whether psychological characteristics are biologically innate or acquired through education experience and culture Why was the Genie case study important o Witness and record potential consequences of extreme social isolation o Advantages and disadvantages of a case study Advantages Disadvantages in depth examination for an unusual situation something that unfortunately occurred because we cannot conduct an experiment to mimic it NO CAUSAL STATEMENTS cannot be clear of cause would she have had developmental issues regardless Cannot generalize for everyone Periods of prenatal development o Which period is most susceptible to teratogens Early brain development o Neurogenesis formation of new neurons in the brain neurons New neurons are specialized to a specific of function Most neurons we need are already formed at birth Brain grows because of increased synaptic connections not new neurons o Myelination the process of encasing nerve fibers with a fatty sheath hard wired process biologically driven but one environmental effect is malnutrition begins around birth and is most rapid between 2 3 yrs o Synaptogenesis overproduction of synaptic connections between this is in first 2 3 yrs of life Overproduction but weak and loosely connected twice as many are produced than used lay groundwork for brain to be prepared to adapt to environment you are born into Certain things connections are strengthened based on what you use o Synaptic pruning death of cells and elimination of synapses The brain reorganizes itself based on activity of the synapses The ones we use we keep The ones we do not die or prune Allows for streamlining of neural communication Tie together the idea of critical periods and perceptual narrowing o Critical Periods a certain window when certain experiences need to occur in order for development to continue typically Thought to map onto the periods of synaptogenesis and o Perceptual Narrowing a developmental process during which the brain uses environmental experiences to shape perceptual abilities When younger you can tell apart all faces lemur face 1 from When older you can only tell faces apart that matter in your pruning lemur face 2 ethnic group white people for me look different but Asians may all look the same Language development o Vygotsky vs Chomsky Chomsky native perspective Native perspective o Biological influences ONLY that bring about language development Innate born with LAD language acquisition device o Universal grammar Babbling always starts to more fluent Vygotsky Interactionist Perspective Primarily due to our collaborations with other o Social and cultural context o ONLY occurs between people o Language development makes us think the way we do types of word have a positive or negative meaning o How does the development of language map onto the understanding of sensitive periods and early brain development o Perceptual narrowing in the context of the language When babies are taking statistics they discriminate against what sounds they will not need Depending on the language and environment they are in o English babies get rid of the rolling of the r s that Spanish babies will keep o Patricia Kuhl TED talk research findings PK says grammar is not universal but there are innate capabilities that together with environmental exposure to language alters perception of phonemes sounds There is not one grammar present in the brain regardless of where you from We have the ability to discriminate against sounds Babies take statistics they realize what sounds they will be using and what sounds the won t Since we cannot ask infants to provide us information what types of techniques do we rely on Attachment a strong emotional connection that persists over time and across circumstances o Harlow s Monkey 2 wire mothers one has no contact comfort but provides milk One has contact comfort but no milk provided Only went to milk mother when hungry Went right back to cloth mother for security and comfort Main reasons why Harlow s findings were important Originally only thought babies were only bonded to primary caregiver because they were a food source Touch and skin to skin contact was what was comforting In times of threat when needed security and comfort they went to Because the monkeys had no real mother and no other monkeys around them severely lacked in any basic social skills o Social skills are NOT born in us o When the female monkeys grew up and had babies they didn t know what to do with them and were actually violent and abusive towards them Motherly instincts are not innate in women Key Points of Bowlby s theory of attachment o Attachment close bond between caregiver and infant has a critical period in the first year of life Depends on how responsive the caregiver is to the cues and needs of baby System of infant signals and parental responses Foundation of all social relationships o Attachment to the mother ensure care and survival you will live long enough to reproduce The Strange Situation developed by Ainsworth The research paradigm to categorize babies into one of the attachment categories o What are the categories that the babies can be classified into How do babies in each type of category react What kind of interaction history between child and caregiver is associated with each type of attachment category Secure Attachment 65 Sensitive available responsive comforting Cries when mother leaves but easily consoled when she comes back Insecure avoidant 20 comforting Emotionally unavailable depressed rejecting not Cries when mother leaves and looks down the whole time and avoids her when she comes back Could also have no reaction She is no source of comfort Insecure ambivalent 10 Unpredictable inconsistent sometimes comforting Cries when mother leaves and continues to cry when she comes back because she is still mad EXTRA Disorganized less than 5 extreme neglect physical abuse babies will freeze Cognitive Development o Vygotsky VS Piaget Piaget s Theory Children are individually actively constructing their own knowledge o Own active involvement in their world Development occurs in stages o Once you become a certain stage you develop a new way of thinking This is not believed Vygotsky s Theory Knowledge is constructed through language and social interaction Development is incremental no stages o You grow gradually This is believed Language develops because of our interactions with