Chapter 2: Biological Bases of Cognitive Development Flashcards
Evolutionary developmental psychologists consider connections between _, _ and _.
Biology, the environment, culture
What is the basic tenet of evolutionary psychology?
The human mind has been prepared by natural selection (still variability though)
Are evolved mechanisms always useful?
No, sweet food is abundant now
What are three question evolutionary developmental psychologists may ask?
What is the purpose of a behaviour and cognitive operations underlying it?
What problem does a behaviour address?
How does development work and what environments are different for children and adults?
Because domain-specific constraints on learning exist, that suggests there are _ on learning.
Constraints
What are the three times of constraints on learning? Example of each?
Architectural (V1 area)
Chronotopic (sensitive period)
Representational (Why do we not know all types at once? infants still have math)
What do kids have for information processing domains (2)?
Social and ecological information domains
What are the three “folk” knowledge areas that kids have?
Folk psych
Folk Bio
Folk Physics
What are the parts of folk psychology?
Self, individual and group
The information-processing domains operate _ in different _.
differently
environments
What are biologically primary abilities?
Acquired universally, and it is intrinsically motivating
What are biologically secondary abilities?
They are built around our primary abilities and are culturally determined.
Secondary abilities are not _ and require _ repetition, as well as _ pressure often.
universal, tedious, external
Development proceeds as a result of the _ interaction between structure and _ over time.
bidirectional
function
What is epigenesis?
a gene-regulation activity that does not involve changes to the DNA code, but can persist through generations
Epigenesis the switch or code?
Switch
What is the cause for differences in twins?
Epigenetic
What can cause epigenetics?
learning or trauma
What are the main four levels of Gottlieb Bidirectional influences model?
Genetic activity, neural activity, behaviour, environment
What are sensitive periods?
Most appropriate time to learn stuff
Lickliter studied _ imprinting in _ quails. They found that _ exposure caused the quails to prefer _ calls or have no _.
Auditory, bobwhite, light, chicken, preference
Why did the bobwhite quails who were exposed to light struggle?
Light was too much for them to develop their processing
What happens if you don’t develop the skill during the sensitive period?
You can gain some of the skill, but will never meet the right time if you’re too early or too late.
What did Scarr and McCartney’s model of behavioural development Look like?
Two stacked triangle
What is the double line in the Model of Behavioural development?
Phenotype of child and rearing environment of child
What are the four parts of the Model of Behavioural Development?
Genotype of Parents, Genotype of Child, rearing environment of child and phenotype of child.
What is the genotype of parent connected to in Scarr and McCartney?
Genotype of child and rearing environment of child
What is genotype of the child connected to in Scarr and McCartney’s model?
Phenotype of child and rearing environment of child.
What are the three types of of genotype<-> environment effects?
Passive, evocative and active
What is the passive type of genotype environment?
Bio parents provide genes and environment of child
What is the phenotype?
The expression of the gene
What is the evocative genotype environment interaction?
Temperament of child evokes response from parents.
What is the active genotype environment interaction?
Children actively seek environments for them
Passive effects _ with age
Decrease
Evocative effects are _ with age.
Stable
Active effects_ with age.
Increase
Passive effects are from _ to _.
Parent, child
Evocative effects are from a _ to the _.
Child, world
The correlation between adopted siblings goes _ for IQ. From what to what?
Down (to 0)
.25-.39 to 0
Correlation between IQs for dizygotic twins goes _. To what ranges?
Down
60-75 to 55
Brain growth is _ early in life.
Fast
The structure of our brains are the same as…
All other animals with brains
Human brains are _ than expected for our bodies.
bigger
Humans have more _ neurons.
Cortical
Human cortexes are _.
Bigger
What specific parts of our brains are bigger?
Neocortex and frontal lobe
Proliferation or _ happens _.
Neurogenesis, prenatally
Neurogenesis can also be called _.
Mitosis
Migration happens _.
Prenatally
_ happens from birth to death in the brain.
Synaptogenesis.
What is another word for synapogenesis?
Differentiation
What does differentiation actually mean?
Getting jobs, happens at different parts of life
What is cell death and synaptic pruning?
Dying brain connections and cells because not useful
What is apoptosis?
Cell death
What is the order of mylination?
Sensory->Motor->integrative
The _ cortex develops before the _ cortex.
Visual, prefrontal
What are experience-expectant processes?
We are wired for certain experiences (language)
With experience-expectant synaptogenesis, _ causes impairement.
Deprivation
What are experience-dependent processes (synaptogenesis)?
Read well, secondary skills after primary learnng, communicate.
The prefrontal cortex, limbic system does not work in _.
Adolescents
Kids may do drugs because their limbic system isn’t mature. Explain?
They are lacking dopamine.
The frontal lobe, which allows for object _, is not fully developed at birth.
Permanence
Inhibition seems to be stored in the _ lobe. It isn’t developed young, which allows for _ not _ error.
Frontal
A not b
What is the Kennard effect?
Earlier brain damage, greater likelihood of recovery.
What is neural plasticity?
Brain change, you change
Children seem to recover better from brain damage that effects…
More broad processes
Adults recover better from brain damage that effects _ functions.
Functions
Specific skills come back better for_ more than _.
Kids, adults
General skills come back better for _ more than _.
adults, kids
Biology is a _ of the picture, not _.
Part, everything
