6a: Developmental psychology

Question 1

T/F the developing baby can be though of as having an automatic development

Answer 1

F.

There is a
body programmed to develop in certain ways, but by no means
on automatic

Each baby can be customised to the circumstances and
surroundings they find themselves in.

Question 2

How does nature and nurture affect development

Answer 2

Nature sets out their course via gender, genetics, temperament and maturational stages

Nurture shapes this predetermined course via the environment; parenting, stimulation and nutrition

Question 3

What does baby progression depend on

Answer 3

How a baby progresses (or not) depends on the interchange between the changing environment and the maturing organism

Question 4

Define temperament

Answer 4

the part of your character that affects your moods and the way you behave

Question 5

How can babies recognise mother when they are delivered

Answer 5

1. Hearing (receptive at 16/40 and functional at 24/40). Prefer sound of mother’s voice to other women
2. Smell. Of their amniotic fluid, maternal breast odour (prefer to other women’s)
3. Taste

Question 6

Which taste can newborn not sense

Answer 6

Salt.

Can sense all others

Question 7

What do babies like taste of

Answer 7

Newborns love sugar solutions-the sweeter, the better – Sweetease
Newborns also seem to like the taste of glutamate, which is found in breast milk

Question 8

Outline sight in babies

Answer 8

1. Prefer looking at mother’s face
2. Cannot see well. Sharpest sight around edge.
3. Learn to recognise faces in 1st few hours ex utero

Question 9

What is reciprocal socialisation

Answer 9

Babies are fundamentally social creatures.

Designed to listen to speech, seek out and differentiate faces, be aware of who delivered them through taste, smell and hearing and also expect social partners

This is reciprocal socialisation

The behaviours of mothers / carers and infants involve substantial interconnection, mutual recognition and synchronisation

Question 10

T.F receiprocal socialisation is bidirectional between children and parents

Answer 10

T

Question 11

What type of faces do newborns like lookingat

Answer 11

newborns prefer to look at expressive, responsive faces. It’s as if they expect people to react to social interactions by using facial expressions to communicate.

Question 12

What is scaffholding

Answer 12

If parents responses supports or reinforces the infants efforts the infant will build on this interaction and continue to develop in this area. This is called SCAFFOLDING. Scaffolding can occur in lots of different types of interactions not just parent child.

Question 13

What is the internal working theory

Answer 13

Attachment model

This model is a result of interactions with primary caregivers which become internalized, and is therefore an automatic process

(i.e. scaffholding, reciproal socailisation, provision of simulating and enriching environment)…..

Such internal working models guide future behavior as they generate expectations of how attachment figures will respond to one’s behavior

Question 14

What is attachment theory

Answer 14

*describes a biological instinct that seeks proximity to an attachment figure (carer) when threat is perceived or discomfort is experienced

The sense of safety the child experiences provides a secure base from which they can explore their environment thus promoting development through learning whilst being protected in the environment.*

Question 15

What does the internal working model inform

Answer 15

our expectations and behaviour in wider relationships throughout our lives.

Question 16

When does process of establishing attachment begin

Answer 16

Even before birth, but after birth supported by reciprocal socialisation

Question 17

What is mind-mindedness

Answer 17

Parents with mind-mindedness treat their children as individuals with minds; they respond as if their children’s acts are meaningful

Question 18

From when can attachment behaviour be measured relaibly and how

Answer 18

From 12 months using strange situation test

Question 19

What is the strange situation test

Answer 19

present children with an unusual, but not overwhelmingly frightening, experience. It tests how babies or young children respond to the temporary absence of their mothers.

Researchers interested in:

1. How much the child explores the room on his own, and
2. How the child responds to the return of his mother

note that at about 8-12 months baby shows stranger anxiety

Question 20

Types of attachment, derived from strange situation test

Answer 20

1. Secure- Free exploration and happiness upon mother’s return.
2. Insecure-
   i. Avoidant-insecure children:(Little exploration and little emotional response to mother)

Little exploration and little emotion when mother leaves. He shows no preference for his mother over a complete stranger and, when his mother returns, he tends to avoid or ignore her .

ii. Resistant-insecure: great separation anxiety and ambivalent response to mother upon her return.

Like the avoidant child, the resistant-insecure child doesn’t explore much on her own. But unlike the avoidant child, the resistant child is wary of strangers and is very distressed when her mother leaves. Angry at mother on her return

iii. Disorganised- insecure. Little exploration and confused response to mother

Mix of avoidant and resistant behaviours. But the main theme is one of confusion and anxiety. Disorganized-insecure children are at risk for a variety of behavioural and developmental problems.

Question 21

What does secure attachment promote`

Answer 21

1. Better mood
2. Better emotional coping
3. Independence
4. Emotional availability
5. Fewer behavioural problems
6. Higher IQ

Question 22

What is secure attachment associated with in childhood and in adulthood

Answer 22

1. Childhood:

fewer behavioural problems
higher IQ and academic performance

2. Adulthood:

Social competence
Loyal friendships
Less mental health problems such as anxiety and depression
Less psychopathology e.g schizophrenia

Question 23

What is piagets stage model

Answer 23

children’s thinking changes qualitatively with age

The result of an interaction of the brain’s biological maturation and personal experiences

Thinking is a collection of schemas

Question 24

What are schemas (piagets stage model)

Answer 24

Organised patterns of thoughts and action

Question 25

How do schemas change in development

Answer 25

Development occurs when NEW schemas are acwuired and EXISTING schemas get more complex

Question 26

How can existing schemas change

Answer 26

Assimilation (incorporating new experience into existing schema)

Accommodation (the difference made by the process of assimilation)

Adaptation (whereby new experiences cause existing schema to change)

Question 27

What are the 4 stages of cognitive development according to piaget

Answer 27

Sensorimotor stage
Preoperational stage
Concrete operational stage
Formal operational stage

Question 28

Outline the sensorimotor stage, birth to 2

Answer 28

Understand world through sensoy experience and physical interactions with objects.

Object permanence (understands an object continues to exist even when we cannot see it)

Increasing use of words

Learning based on trial and error, but errors are NOT assimilated

Question 29

Outline preoperational stage 2-7

Answer 29

MOVES from sensorimotor schema to

INTERNAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD

Rapid language development

Understanding of the past and future

No understanding of principle of conservation

Irreversibility (cannot mentally reverse actions)

Animism (attributing lifelike qualtiies to physical objects and natural events

Egocentrism

Question 30

Concrete operational stage. age 7-12

Answer 30

Children can perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible (“concrete”) objects and situations

Understand reversibility

Less egocentrist

Easily solve conservation problems

Trouble with hypothetical and abstract reasoning

Question 31

Outline formal operational stage. ADOLESCENCE

Answer 31

Abstract thought emerges. Adolescent begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning.

Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information.

Question 32

Adaptive adolescent brain?

Answer 32

12-25yr 25yrs extensive brain remodelling (myelinisation, synaptic pruning)

Thrill seeking
Openness to new experiences
Risk taking 
Social rewards are very strong
Prefer own age company

Question 33

Limitations of piaget

Answer 33

children respond as they do to please the adult asking the question