Child Psychology 560 Biological Foundations 2 01 23 2014 The Newborn s World Fetal Learning Salk 1973 heartbeat study newborns o o o o o Group 1 heard normal maternal heart beat Group 2 heard fast heart beat Group 3 no heart beat control group Hypothesis If they remember anything about how the mother s heart beat sounded they would react to a not normal heart beat Results Group 1 Group 3 Group 2 Group 2 studies were too stressed had to stop Group 1 grew faster DeCasper Spence 1986 Pregnant moms read The Cat in the Hat rhythmic o Newborns tested o o 2 times a day for 6 weeks Changes in sucking rate turned on familiar or novel story If they started sucking harder they would hear the familiar story started sucking less hard when they would hear another novel story in mother s voice still Results Infants sucked to hear familiar story learning specific rhythmic patter in the womb More fetal learning pg 56 58 Mom s voice Mom s native language rhythm Food flavors Smell amniotic fluid Music Fetal Capabilities complicate the nature nurture problem Because experiences matter before birth Birth Neonatal viability Apgar score Score of 0 1 or 2 for 5 categories color heart rate muscle reflexivity etc Score again in 5 minutes Score of 7 is about average not typical for one to score a 10 Neonatal reflexes Clear adaptive value biological timing o o o o o o Reflexes are obvious but don t think to look breathing eye blink Sucking reflex takes over involuntary neonate reflex swallowing reflex Takes a year to coordinate reflexes after 6 weeks tend to become strong Pubinski reflex when bottom of baby s foot is stroked toes curl Grasping reflex grasp hand Critical during an earlier stage of human evolution probably when they had to cling to mothers Complication Low birth weight 5 5 lbs Premature born 35 weeks o 8 in USA Small for gestational age slow fetal growth Possible causes o o o Teratogens Malnutrition Multiple births Consequences Depend on birth weight Short term o o Immature lungs digestive immune systems Positive effects of touch Long term o IQ birth weight less risk Twin data on HS completion o Twin larger at birth were more likely to complete high school than their twin risk of child abuse educate support parents The baby s appearance Lorenz same guy with the duckling o Babies cross species BIG head and cheeks compared to body size BIG forehead o Large eyes below midline Appeals to adults adaptive attractive interaction Studying brain development It s Tricky MRI fMRI you can t move when you take these tests can t tell a baby not too move PET EEG ERP Postmortem Animal models Post natal Brain Maturation E g hippocampus fully mature structurally not functionally at 1 5 years Last to develop frontal lobes responsible for controlling behaviors executive functions grey matter decreases axons o More mature part of the brain has less grey matter and more white matter Myelinization transfer information more quickly Fatty sheath covering axons white matter From glial cells information transmission 10 to 100 times faster Little kids need fat o They don t have myelin yet Some diseases cause damage or inhibit myelin formation need good fat Postnatal experience the brain All neurons formed by end of 2nd trimester 100 billion o Or not Continued presence of stem cells Adult neurogenesis We are always creating new neurons only in relatively constrained parts of the brain Modes of neural change o o Synaptogenesis Synaptic pruning 40 eliminated o Use it or loose it idea pg 109 figure Reflects plasticity o Experience dependent neural change changes in our brain that reflect experience Plasticity examples Kitten visual cortex Hubel Wiesel o Shut one eye other eye takes over o Amblyopia in humans brain ignores lazy eye patch treatment o If you wait too long to do the patching treatment it would be too late Sensitive period Brain areas custom their activity brain writes off the eye that is covered No effect on cat in adulthood Rat environmental enrichment Greenough o Some reared in impoverished environment and some in a rich o Results in every measure you can take in brain measurement the rats reared in richer environment showed better outcomes than Also in learning studies rich rats did better cognitive abilities better in enriched environments Plasticity in human brains Musicians o o Trumpet part of your brain that represents lips is larger than a non trumpet player Violin in your left hand you use fingers independently and your right hand operates increased representations of individual fingers in the brain from the left hand than the right Braille o Typically read with a specific hand Cerebral lateralization Hemispheres control different functions o o More complicated e g speech music o o Left language processing production Right spatial processes Pitch RH Timing LH Newborn brains o o 3 month olds LH speech fMRI Innate Some scientists believe it is set innately some scientists believe it is a function of experience Lateralization plasticity Language after LH damage o o Moves to RH won t be perfect but RH can take over Recovery younger Limitations of plasticity as a function of age Motor Development Maturational Hx Nature Hx o o Same sequence of milestones cross culturally Myrtle McGraw Identical twins study Experiential hypothesis Nurture Hx o Lack of experience motor delay o Children adopted from E European orphanages 5 year olds Poor standing balance after 3 4 years in USA Self generated experience o o o Strapped into crib you can t try out motor development In the bouncer something that she is doing is producing an effect just enjoying the effect of what she discovers that she does with her legs Practice NYC 1 year olds 2 368 steps and 17 falls per hour Adolph et al 2012 Extra Experience Enhancement Moms in Mali o o Massages babies and stretches limbs Engage in motor behaviors that westerners could Cultural effects NYC 2012 o Babies walk down pressure sensitive mat took same infant and tested them 3 different ways naked cloth diaper disposable diapers More mature walking behavior when they were wearing nothing then disposable because not as large then cloth 01 23 2014 01 23 2014