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Nurture
empiricism: Locke, babies come into this world not knowing anything & learn through experiences; not specific to development but to learning principles; development is SLOW, to see change need lots of experiences PROBLEMS: babies have at least rudimentary knowledge when born (not naive),…
Nature
-nativism; babies come into world with knowledge systems special to just humans, not about experiences but by biology (everything is predetermined), can only study babies PROBLEM: predetermined not true, a lot of evidence of interaction between biology and environment,
Continuity
a process of gradually adding more of the same types of skills that were there to begin with; knowledge gets bigger and bigger -development is a smooth, continuous process - adults are just bigger version of babies! tree analogy
Discontinuity
a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times -children change rapidly as they step up to a new level of development and change very little for awhile; with each step, the child interprets and responds to the world in a qualitatively …
Stage theories
qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development; development is like climbing a staircase, with each step corresponding to a more mature, reorganized way of functioning - change is sudden as they step up from one stage to the n…
Context
unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change personal: heredity, biological makeup environmental: home, child-care, school, community resources, historical time period
reliability
degree to which independent measures of behaviors are consistent (i.e. observers must agree on what they see)
inter-rater reliability
in observational research, observers are asked to evaluate the same behaviors, and agreement between them is obtained
test-retest reliability
reliability of self-report and neurobiological data can be demonstrated by comparing children's responses to the same measures on separate occassions
validity
degree to which a test or an experiment measures what it is intended to measure
internal validity vs. external validity
- conditions internal to the design of the study permit an accurate test of the researcher's hypothesis or question - findings generalize to settings and participants outside the original study
what are 3 contexts for gathering data
interviews, naturalistic observation, structured observation
interviews: clinical
clinical: (unstructured) questions adjusted in accord with the answers the interviewee provides; researchers use a flexible, conversational style to probe the participants point of view PROBLEM: accuracy with which people report thoughts, feelings, etc. (want to please interviewer, troub…
interviews: structured
all participants get same questions, STRENGTHS: more efficient, answers are briefer, researchers can obtain written responses form an entire group at the same time PROBLEMS: dont yield same depth of information as a clinical interview, inaccurate reporting
Interviews: case studies
-brings together wide range of information on one child; aim is to complete best picture possible of child STRENGTHS: yields richly detailed case narratives that offer valuable insights into development PROBLEMS: researcher's bias can get in way, researchers can't assume conclusions can…
Naturalistic observation
observation of behavior in natural contexts STRENGTHS: reflects participants' everyday behaviors PROBLEMS: cannot control conditions under which participants are observed (not all children have the same opportunity to display a particular behavior in everyday life); accuracy of observat…
structured observation
-observation of behavior in a lab, where conditions are same for everyone STRENGTHS: grants each participant an equal opportunity to display the behavior of interest; permits study of behaviors rarely seen in everyday life PROBLEMS: can't yield observations typical of everyday life
ethnography
like case study, ethnographic research is a descriptive, qualitative technique; directed at aiming to understand a culture of social group through participant observation
Correlational design
- look at relationships between participants characteristics and behavior or development association between two variables PROBLEMS: correlation doesn't equal causation, third variable problem,
experimental design
-Controlled setting -experimental group receives an experience of interest, the independent variable -Those in the control group do not receive this experience -The dependent variable is a behavior that is hypothesized to be affected by the independent variable Random assignment- prot…
Natural experiments
- investigator compares already existing treatments in real world ; studies differ from correlational research only in that groups of participants are carefully chosen to ensure that their characteristics are as much alike as possible PROS: permit researchers to examine impact of conditi…
longitudinal design
- people are studied repeatedly at different ages, and changes are noted as they get older PROS: tracks performance of each person over time so researchers can identify common patterns and individual differences in development; permits investigator to examine relationships between early …
cross-sectional design
-investigator studies groups of participants differing in age at the same time PROS: more efficient, avoids all cons of long. CONS: doesn't permit study of individual developmental trends; age differences may be distorted b/c of cohort effect
sequential design
- investigator conduct several cross-sectional or longitudinal investigations (sequences); they might study people over same ages but in different years or study people over different ages but during same years PROS: reveals cohort effects!
microgenetic
investigator presents children with a novel task and follows their mastery over series of closely spaced sessions
mutations, crossing over, random assortment
- all mechanisms contributing to genetic diversity - a sudden but permanent change in segment of DNA - chromosome next to each other break at one or more points along their length and exchange segments, so that genes from one are replaced by genes from another - random way of sperm/ovu…
X-linked characteristics seen more in boys or girls?
boys, b/c sex chromosomes do not match (XY)
Name 4 disorders that are included under sex chromosome abnormalities
males: XYY syndrome, Klinfelter syndrome: XXY females: turner syndrome: XO, XXX syndrome
males: klienfelter's syndrome, XYY syndrome
- extra X chromosome; incomplete development of sex characteristics at puberty, sterile, look like females - extra Y chromosome; phenotypically normal, typical males, but have accelerated growth & height is above average for racial ethnic group
females: turner syndrome, XXX syndrome
- missing X chromosome, have ovaries, look like peers but don't develop 2ndary sex characteristics (can be sterile) - extra X chromosome, sexual development and fertility normal
canalization
- gene-environment interaction - tendency of heredity to restrict the development of some characteristics to just one or a few outcomes; a behavior that is strongly canalized develops similarly in a wide range of environments; only strong environmental forces can change it
Gene-enviornment correlation: passive, evocative, and active
- child has no control over it, parents provide environments influenced by own heredity - responses children evoke from others are influenced by child's heredity and these responses strengthen child's original style - actively seek environments that fit with their genetic tendencies
niche picking
- tendency to actively choose environments that complement our heredity
grey matter vs. white matter
- cell bodies and dendrites -neuronal axons and myelin sheaths
6 developmental events of brain maturation
1) Neurogenesis 2) Migration of cells 3) Cell differentiation 4) Synaptogenesis 5) Myelination 6) Synaptic pruning
Experience-expectant brain growth
-refers to young brain's rapidly developing organization, which depends on ordinary experiences-opportunities to interact with people, hear language, etc.; as a result of evolution, brains of young children expect to encounter these experiences - occurs naturally
experience-dependent brain growth
- consists of additional growth and refinement of established brain structures as a result of specific learning experiences that very widely across individuals and cultures
3 periods of prenatal development
1) germinal: conception-2 wks 2) embryonic: 2- 8 wks 3) fetal: 8wks-9 months
Major events in germinal
-zygote->blastocyst-> implantation into uterine lining
major events in embryonic
-major development of organ and organ systems (i.e. 3 layers form -support systems develop (umbilical cord, amnion, placenta) - sense of touch, embryo can move at 4-8 wks!!
major events in fetal
-most vital organs have formed -rapid increase in size - sex evident at 3rd month
teratogens
any environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period

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