View
- Term
- Definition
- Both Sides
Study
- All (67)
Shortcut Show
Next
Prev
Flip
PSYCH 350: Exam 1
Aristotle |
Interested in the proper raising of children
Emphasized firring technique to the individual
Interested in influences of nature and nurture
Emphasized experience |
Plato |
Interested in the proper raising of children
Emphasized disapline
Interested in influences of nature and nurture
Emphasized innate knowledge |
Locke 1632- 1704 |
Tabula rasa—“a blank slate”
Emphasized nurture, importance of early strict parenting—progressive freedom |
Rouseau 1712- 1778 |
Children are innately good
Emphasis on Nature, children learn through spontaneous interactions with objects and people NOT instruction; formal education should begin at ‘age of reason’ (12 years)
|
Darwin |
Theory of Evolution
Examination of human species
A Biological Sketch of an Infant (1877 diary of his own child’s development) |
Controlled-rearing studies aka Deprivation Studies |
behaviotal studies with animals (active vs passive cats & visual cliff)
behavioral studies with human infants(no symbols/toys)
“naturalistic” studies (cataract patients) |
Piaget 1896-1980 |
Founded the field of Cognitive Development and provided one of the broadest theories ever to account for changes in children’s thinking.
1907 Publishes first paper at age 10
1918 Obtains doctorate in zoology, studies psychoanalysis
1920 Studies children’s intelligence in Paris
1923 First of nearly 60 scholarly books published (before 30)
1929 Appointed director, International Bureau of Education |
Freud & Social Development 1856- 1939- Our unconscious biological drives influence development |
Psycho Sexual stages
Oral(birth to one year)
Anal (1 -3 years)
Phallic (3-6 years)
Latency (6-11 years)
Genital (Adolescence)
Critcism- over emphasis on sexuality |
John Watson 1878-1958 |
Attempt to move away from the subjectivity of Freudian psychoanalysis
all behavior can be explained by responses to external stimuli—particularly rewards and punishments. Internal (mental) concepts need not be posited. **Child development can be controlled by rewards and punishments= associative learning
Nurture can overcome nature |
Scientific Method |
Choose a question to be answered.
Formulate a hypothesis or prediction about the answer
Develop a method for testing the hypothesis
Interpret the obtained data and draw a conclusion |
Reliability |
The Degree to which independent measurements of a give behavior are consistent
Interrater reliability: The amoung of agreement in the observations of different raters who witness the sam behavior
Test-retest reliability: Attained when measures of performance are similar on two or more occasions |
Validity |
Refers to the degree to which a test or experiment measures what it is intended to measure
Researchers strive for two types of validity:
Internal: the degree to which effects observed within experiments can be attributed to the variables that the researcher intentionally manipulated
External validity: is the degree to which results can be generalized beyond the particulars of the research |
Interviews |
Structured Interview: A research procedure in which all participants are asked to answer the same questions
Clinical Interview: A procedure in which questions are adjusted in accord with the answers in the interviewee provides
caveat: interview questions can be biased |
Naturalistic Observation |
Used when the primary goal of research is to describe how children behave in their usual environments
Limitations- What Caused What? , Target behavior may not be observed during session |
Structured Observation |
present identical situation to all children and record each child’s behavior
enables direct comparisons of different children’s behavior and making it possible to establish the generality of behavior across different tasks
Limitation- Does not provide as much information about children’s subjective experiences (as interviews do) and does not provide as natural situation (as naturalistic observ does) |
Experimental Designs |
Allow inferences about causes and effects rely on random assignment
Experimental Control: refers to the ability of the researcher to determine the specific experiences that children have during the course of an experiment
Children in the experimental group receive 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 |
Cross-sectional vs. Longitudinal |
Cross-sectional designs: Children of different ages are compared on a given behavior or characteristic over a short period of time
Longitudinal designs: Used when the same children are studied twice or more over a substantial period of time |
Microgenetic Designs |
Used to provide an in-depth depiction of processes that produce change
children on the verge of an important developmental change are provided with heightened exposure to the type of experience that is believed to produce the change and are studied intensely while their behavior is in transition |
Physiological Methods |
fMRI- measures blood flow to different parts of the brain
PET- inject radioactive substance in blood stream, gets to brain and see how fast substance is consumed when involved in though process.
EEG- good at telling timing and how often electrical actions are happening
NIRS- shines light though infant brain and see how fast light bounces back. How fast it bounces back=amount of oxygen in points of the brain |
Naturalistic Experiments |
Lab experiments can have questionable external validity
The problem can be overcome by conducting naturalistic experiments, in which data are collected in everyday settings rather than in laboratories |
Correlational Designs |
The Primary goal is to determine how variables are related to one another
A correlation is the association between to variables |
Correlations DOES NOT EQUAL Causation |
Direction-of-causation problem- It is not possible to tell a correlation which variable is the cause and which is the effect
Third Variable Problem- A correlation between two variables may arise form both being influenced by some third variable |
Correlations |
Positive Correlation- Changes in one variable accompanied by systematic changes in another variable in the same direction
Negative Correlation- Changes in one variable accompanied by systematic changes in another variable in the opposite direction
Correlation Coefficient (r)- summarizes strength and direction of the relationship between two variables |
Cell Development |
Cell Division
Cell migration
Cell differentiation: stem cells ~350 types
Apoptosis: the selective death of certain cells |
The Blastocyst |
-Day 4: the zygote arranges itself into a hollow sphere of cells with a bulge of cells the inner cell mass, on one side
-identical twins= split inner cell mass
|
The Embryo |
inner cell mass embyo
neural tube- U shaped groove top layer--- becomes spinal chord
Placenta- permits the exchange of materials b/w the bloodstream & mother
Umbilical chord- the tube that contains the blood vessels that travel from the placenta to the developing organism and back again |
Protecting the Fetus |
Placental membrane- barrier against some but not all toxins and infectious agents
Amniotic sack- a membrane filled with fluid in which the fetus floats, provides a protective buffer for the fetus |
**Cephalocaudal Development- 4th week on*** |
areas near the head develop earlier than those far away |
The Fetus: An active contributor to its own development |
~12 weeks after gestation, most movements present at birth have appeared
Swallowing amniotic fluid promotes development of the palate and aids maturation of the digestive system
‘Fetal Breathing’ = 50% of the time |
The Role of Hormones |
all human fetuses can develop either male or female genitalia depending on the presence or absence of testosterone
‘active child’ ex: They themselves generate the Testosterone |
Prenatal Sensation |
-sight
-touch
-sound
-taste |
A Taste Test |
Mothers with Polyhydramnios (too much amniotic fluid)
Inject sac w/ saccharin & colored dye (blue sugar water)
Measure amount of die in mother’s urine…**if they see a lot of die =successful! ** |
Smell |
Comparative studies with Rats: how do animals know where to find the mothers’ nipples?
Scent of amniotic fluid- similar results with human infants
Carrots- 5 mo olds prefer carrot water |
Hearing |
Some sound does permeate the womb
By 6 months external noises elicit movement/heart rate changes
~32 weeks’ gestation, evidence of hearing and short term learning from habituation method
long term- recognize certain rhymes in utero (tested after a 4 week delay)
“Cat in the Hat Study”—low frequency are most annoying |
Explain how the effects of the environment begin before conception |
Japanese mothers who were exposed to nuclear radiation
Taxoplasmosis? aka cat poop
Diseases and infection |
Teratogens |
Most show a dose-response relationship-Increases in exposure to potential teratogens are associated with greater probabilities of fetal defects and with more severe problems
Individual differences- also influence the effects of teratogens
Thalidomide- short/messed up limbs
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome-mental retardation, facial deformity, and other problems
Taxoplasmosis-retarded growth, jaudince, fluid in brain, later cognitive abnormalities
SIDS
Vaccines? Autism? |
Growth Process |
Neurogenesis= the proliferation of neurons via cell division (up to 250,00 per minute!
“Aborization”=increase in size and complexity of dendrites as they branch out
the most intense growth and differentiation of neural cells occur after birth
Mylination begins before birth and continues into adolescence
Synaptogenesis: The process by which neurons form synapses with other neurons, resulting in trillions of connections!
Synapse “pruning” eliminates surplus connections
Occurs at different times in different areas
not fully complete until adolescence
at peak, 100,000 synapses per second are lost! |
The Brain and Experience |
Plasticity- The capacity of the brain to be affected by experience |
The Brain and Experience |
Experience- Expectant
Basic experiences are “expected” by the individual brain vulnerability
If “expected” experience does not occut, deficits may result (congenital cataracts) and compensatory rewiring occur (deafness/ blindness)—nueral Darwinism/use it or lose it |
The Brain and Experience |
Experience- Dependent
Nueral connections are created and reorganized throughout life as a function of individual experience
ex: rats raised in complex vs. less complex environments
-more synapses per neuron
-more supportive tissues (blood vessels, gial cells, etc.)
-perform better in learning tasks
ex: expert skills in humans
-violinists/cellist & Braile readers
-increased cortical representation for left hands |
Brain Damage and Recovery |
The worst time= the very early stages of prenatal development and in the first year- affects neurogenesis and neuron migration (radiation & Japanese mothers
The best time= early in childhood- synaspse generation & pruning are occurring, Plasticity is highest then and the brain can rewire. (early damage to language areas) |
Cerebral Laterization |
The hemispheres are connected by a band of nerve fibers, the corpus callosum
Hemispheres have some specialized functions: cerebral lateralization |
The Neuron |
Some have up to 15,000 synaptic connections
Three Components
Cell body: basic biological material
Dendrites: fibers that receive input
Axon: fiber that sends electrical signals away
Synapses= junctions between axons and dendrites where communication takes place by means of electrical chemical signals |
Glial Cell- in addition to the neurons, the brain contains glial cells |
Outnumber neurons!
Perform a variety of support functions
Form myelin sheath around certain axons
guide migration of neurons
remove dead neurons |
Reflexes |
Innate, fixed patterns of action that occur in response to particular stimulation
Shared with adults: blinkning, coughing, sneezing
Many unique to Newborns…. |
Purpose - motor development |
Survival reflexes: serve obvious physical needs-- breathing, sucking, eyeblink, rooting, swallowing, pupillary
Primative reflexes serve no obvious physical needs; vestiges of important reflex behaviors at earlier stages of human evolution?—Moro, Tonic neck, Stepping, Grasping, Babinski (stroke bottom foot), swimming |
Impact of Culture- motor development |
Extraordinary cross-cultural variation
Ache (Paraguay) very little movement < 3 years (swaddle backpack)
Mali: exercise promotes physical & motor development (shake by limb) |
Disappearing Reflexes |
Most newborn reflexes disappear within the first 6 months lingering reflexes can be symptomatic of neurological problems
Others only appear to disappear…
Stepping reflex~ 2 months of ages
Disappear due to rapid weight gain in the first few weeks
Example of dynamic- systems approach to motor development-neural mechanisms & increases in strength posture control, balance, perceptual skills, motivation, etc. |
Motor Enhancement? CULTURE |
Kipsigis’ (rural Kenyan) babies sit upright 5 weeks earlier, walk 3 weeks earlier
‘western’ mothers believe crawling is an important stage but 60% of Mali infants never crawl; believe excersise promotes motor development
Ache (Paraguay)-very little movement < 3 years
Hopi- swaddled until 1 years old
Romanian orphans ~1950’s—significant but reversible delays |
Newborn Imitation |
Babies sticking out tongues |
Locomotion
|
~8 mos: infants become capable of self-locomotion for the first time as they begin gto crawl
~13 mos: begin waking independently |
Back-Lying and Locomotion |
Strategies to reduce SIDS make infants less likely to roll over/crawl on schedule
better view = less motivation to roll over?
arm strength to develops more slowly?
By 18 months there are no differences in motor development |
Reaching |
0-3 mos: prereaching movements-clumsy swiping movements toward general vicinity of objects
~3 mos: successful but poorly controlled; appreciates functional goal
7 mos: along with ability to sit independently, reaching becomes
10 mos: show signs of anticipatory reaching & approach is affected by what they intend to do with the object (throwing vs. stuffing) |
Navigating Space--Walking & Seeing |
vision provides valuable info about how we are moving
walking at different speeds produces different “flow patterns” or “visual flow fields” that we use to help balance ***blind children show delays in walking |
Navigating Space--Walking & Seeing |
Prone, lifts head
Prone, chest up, uses arms for support
Rolls over
Supports some weight with legs
Sits without support
Stands with support
Pulls self to stand
Walks using furniture for support
Stands alone easily
Walks alone easily |
Maturation- |
relatively fixed timetable uninfluenced by practice or experience
Motivation to walk at all!
Fixed sequence
Consistent timing (average age)
Experience- independent? |
Beyond Maturation? |
Large influence of biological timetable—nature
Some flexibility due to culture & environment—nurture
More recent trend: examine interaction w/ other developmental domains (perceptopn, attention, body growth) |
Dynamic Systems |
development of complex behaviors should be understood in terms of a complex interaction of physical, environmental & perceptual factors.
Actions can be influenced by bodily mechanics (dramatic changes from walking to running; diappearing stepping reflex) |
Action & Perception—Coordination |
Object to other objects
object to body
body to other body parts
constant change—ex: Body proportions= enormous change in limb- to- head ratio |
Transferring Motor Skills |
interestingly infants don’t seem to transfer what they learned in one motor state to another
ex: crawl down the ramp, then they try to walk down it and they totally wipe out |
Three key elements |
!Genotype: The genetic material an individual inherits
! Phenotype: The observable expression of the genotype, including body characteristics and behavior
! Environment: Includes every aspect of the individual, and his or her surroundings, other than genes |
Dominant Recessive Pattern: |
The dominant allele is the form of the gene
that is expressed if present
! The recessive allele is not expressed if a dominant allele is present
! A person who inherits two of the same alleles for a trait is described as homozygous
! A person who inherits two different alleles for a trait is described as heterozygous |
Polygenic |
involves the joint action of many genes in conjunction with environmental factors.
• e.g., shyness, aggression, empathy • schizophrenia, ADHD |
Relationship between Environment & Phenotype |
Norm of Reaction
Refers to all the phenotypes that could theoretically result from a given genotype, in relation to all the environments in which it could survive and develop |
Regulator Genes |
control the continuous switching on and off of genes that underlie development across the lifespan
! A given gene influences development and behavior only when it is turned on affected by external influences |
Behavioral Genetics |
Traits of most interest (e.g., IQ, sociability, mood, aggression, etc.) typically are:
Polygenic = affected by combination of many genes
Multifactorial = affected by many environmental factors |
Limitations of Heritability |
They apply only to a particular group living at a particular time
- can differ markedly for groups of people who grow up in very different environments (e.g., low vs high SES)
- High heritability does not imply immutability
- They say nothing about what differences between groups
actually mean (e.g.,race and IQ) |