Chapter 2 IQ's Flashcards
1
Q
what 2 factors interact with the environment to shape our well-being
A
genetic and epigenetic factors
2
Q
chromosomes
A
strings of genetic material in the nuclei of cells
3
Q
DNA
A
makes up chromosomes and genes
4
Q
Genes
A
units of a chromosome that control/influence inherited traits
5
Q
genome
A
all of the DNA an organism posesses
6
Q
heredity
A
passing of traits to offspring
7
Q
mendelian traits
A
- hereditary traits under the control of a single gene
- aka: monogenic inheritance
- predicting its expression is fairly simple
8
Q
polygenic traits/inheritance
A
- hereditary traits influenced by many genes
- predicting its expression is complex
9
Q
multifactorial inheritance
A
- both genes and the environment influence the trait
- nature and nurture interact
- predicting its expression is complex
10
Q
epigenetics
A
- heritability can be operating above the genetic level
- “epi” = “upon” -> another layer of our genetics influences gene function
11
Q
epigenome
A
inherited and acquired modifications to the genome
12
Q
gene expression
A
- gene sequence is active
- “turned on”
13
Q
gene silencing
A
- gene sequence is made inactive
- “turned off”
14
Q
how does maternal care affect epigenetics?
A
- maternal care can alter epigenetic structures in offspring
- ex. mother rat that nurtured her pups more resulted in calmer pups (this change persisted into adulthood)
- even some acquired epigenetic modifications in the lifetime of the parent can be passed on in both animals and humans
15
Q
why compare identical and fraternal twins to assess heritability of traits?
A
if identical twins (whose genes are the same) raised apart are more similar than fraternal twins or non-twin siblings (whose genes are similar, but not identical) raised together, heredity must play a role in the trait
16
Q
are intelligence and attitudes completely genetics-based?
A
No, there’s a strong genetics component, but because a perfect correlation wasn’t found, we know the environment (and maybe even epigenetic variables) play a role as well
17
Q
how are epigenetic variables influenced by the environment?
A
- over time, environmental variables (ie. diet, smoking, fitness levels) can cause changes in epigenetic markers
- we know this because young twins have the same epigenetic patterns, whereas middle-aged twins had big differences in epigenetic patterns
18
Q
ethology
A
- genetically determined survival-based behaviours
- ex. “stranger anxiety” ensures that babies/kids don’t run away with strangers
19
Q
behaviour genetics
A
- our genes can predict behaviour
- ex. heredity affects intelligence, shyness, and aggressiveness
20
Q
sociobiology
A
- using biological explanations for social behaviour
- ex. humans have best chance for survival when they live in groups -> evolution provided us with genetic programming to help us cooperate
21
Q
how will human genomics influence disease prevention?
A
- can help treat multifactorial diseases (ie. cancer, heart disease)
- help us understand that external and personal factors influence epigenetics, which can influence our risk of disease
- by understanding epigenetics, we can use this to control/prevent diseases
22
Q
humanistic theory
A
- focus on positive aspects of development, accept that behaviour is motivated by internal drives and emotions
- share Rousseau’s premise of innate goodness
- assume most important internal drive is each individual’s motivation to achieve his/her full potential
- Maslow (who did self-actualization) is key figure
23
Q
motives
A
- deficiency motives: maintaining physical or emotional homeostasis (ex. eating, drinking, sex, love, respect)
- being motives: desiring to understand, give to others, and grow (achieve self-actualization)
24
Q
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (from top to bottom)
A
- self-actualization (being motives)
- esteem needs - superiority, respect (deficiency motives)
- love and belongingness needs - affection from others, being with others rather than alone (deficiency motives)
- safety needs - stable environment, freedom from anxiety and chaos (deficiency motives)
- physiological needs - food, water, sex, oxygen, sleep, elimination (deficiency motives)
25
learning theories
- development results from accumulation of experiences
- aligned with Locke -> children are neither good nor bad, and their behaviour is shaped for better or for worse by their environment
- ex. suggest that infants put objects into their mouths because it's rewarding, or to learn not to do it again if it tastes bad
26
holism
whole is greater than sum of its parts
27
adaptive adjustment
according to systems theory, contributes to growth and holistic health/wellness
28
6 contexts of Bronfenbrenner's theory
- individual
- microsystem
- mesosystem
- exosystem
- macrosystem
- chronosystem
29
individual (Bronfenbrenner)
internal factors (genetics, chromosomes, etc.)
30
microsystem (Bronfenbrenner)
people we regularly interact with (parents, friends, siblings, etc.)
31
mesosystem (Bronfenbrenner)
interactions between people in our microsystem (relationship between parents, or between parents and in-laws)
32
exosystem (Bronfenbrenner)
socio-economic factors (available resources, like the cost of an undergrad degree)
33
macrosystem (Bronfenbrenner)
socio-cultural factors (sociocultural values and beliefs, like the inequality btwn. men and women in certain cultures)
34
chronosystem (Bronfenbrenner)
sociohistorical factors (social norms present in a historical period - ex. most women will go back to work after having a baby)
35
what is the ecobiodevelopmental framework
- believe interdisciplinary interventions (combining nature and nurture) are needed to combat disease
- believe in early intervention to maximize health and prevent disease (ie. from prenatal to early childhood)
36
implications of the ecobiodevelopmental framework
- best way to improve health is to focus on prenatal and early childhood periods of development
- may include strategies that reduce disruptive effects of adversity (ie. toxic stress due to maltreatment, malnutrition, etc.)
37
toxic stress response
- occurs when children endure persistently elevated physiological arousal due to strong, recurring adversity (ie. abuse, neglect, etc.)
- creates chronically high levels of stress which can disrupt normal brain and body development
38
biological theories (main idea, pros, cons)
- Biological and physiological processes (ex. Those involving genes, hormones, and NT's) influence traits and behaviours
- expand our understanding of human heath and disease prevention; help discover the role that interitance plays in human health and the importance of early intervention
- may negelet the impact of psychological factors, socio-cultural factors, and family conditions on development
39
genetic theories (main idea, pros, cons)
- Emphasizes genetic origins of human behaviour
- Relevant to many fields; has contributed to advances in medicine and biotechnology
- Ethical issues around genetic testing, discrimination, privacy, etc.; our genetic makeup accounts for only a portion of human traits
40
epigenetic theories (main idea, pros, cons)
- The environment and life experiences have immediate and long-term influences on gene expression, the genetic code, and human behaviour and health
- Contributes to our understanding of inheritance factors in vulnerability and resilience to disease; focuses attention on need to promote early interventional strategies in early childhood
- Precise mechanisms by which the evironment and experiences can alter epigenetic markings remain largely unknown
41
evolutionary theories (main idea, pros, cons)
- The genetic makeup of populations changes over generations by favourite traits that enable individuals to survive and reproduce
- Focuses attention on the importance of early-life influences on later behaviour and health outcomes
- Underestimates the impact of the environment and places too much impact on heredity; the theories are difficult to prover
42
humanistic theories (main idea, pros, cons)
- Emphasizes basic goodness of human; each individual has a unique potential and an inborn drive for personal growth and self-actualization
- Shifted focus of development to individual choices moreso than emotional, biological, or society forces; optimistic and gives people more credit for controlling and determining their well-being
- Concepts difficult to test because the propositions aren't stated clearly enough (ex. How do we measure self-actualization?)
43
Maslow's theory of motivation (main idea, pros, cons)
- One is motivated to satisfy a range of physical, societal, and psychological needs; the ultimate goal in life is to achieve self-actualization
- Focused on healthy development
- The terms and hierarchical ranking of Maslow's list of needs are unproven
44
behavioural theories (main idea, pros, cons)
- Behaviour determined by environment through conditioning; concerned with observable behaviour; data collected through careful observation and measurement
- Learning theories can explain both consistency and changes in behaviour; optimistic about possibility of behavioural change if reinforcement system changes; provides an accurate picture of the way many behaviours can be learned
- Traditional learning theorist's approach isn't developmental; doesn't tell us much about change over a lifespan
45
Pavlov's classical conditioning theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Learning happens when neutral stimuli become so strongly associated with natural stimuli that they elicit the same response
- Useful in explaining how emotional responses (like phobias) are learned
- Explanation of behavioural change is too limited to serve as a comprehensive theory of human development
46
skinner's operant conditioning theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Development involves behaviour changes that are shaped by reinforcement and punishment
- Basis of many useful strategies for managing and changing human behaviour
- Humans aren't as passive as Skinner claimed; theory ignores heredity, cognitive, emotional, and social factors in development
47
cognitive theories (main idea, pros, cons)
- Behaviour can be largely explained in terms of how the mind operates
- Based mainly on lab experiments; contributed to many effective therapeutic interventions
- Much research involves artificial lab tasks, such as learning lists of words, and therefore doesn't always fully describe how the mind works in the real world
48
Piaget's theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Reasoning develops in four universal stages from birth through adolescence; in each stage the child builds a different kind of scheme
- Helps explain how children of different ages think about and act on the world
- Piaget was inexact about some of the ages at which children develop particular skills; the stage concept may cause adults to underestimate children's reasoning abilities; may be additional stages in adulthood
49
information-processing theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Human cognitive functioning; encoding, storage, and retrieval processes change with brain maturation and practice, causing changes in cognitive functioning
- Helps explain how much info people of different ages can manage at one time and how they process it; provides a useful framework for studying individual differences in people of the same age
- Human information processing very complex; theory doesn't provide overall picture of development
50
vygotsky's socio-cultural theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Cognitive development is strengthened through social interactions that involve speaking during guided problem-solving tasks
- Stresses the importance of sociocultural interaction for cognitive development
- Verbal instructions may not benefit cognitive development in some cultures
51
bandura's social-cognitive theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- People learn from models and what is learned depends on how they interpret the situation; a child's level of cognitive development affects his or her impressions and reactions to circumstances; we both shape and are shaped by our environment
- Helps explain how models influence behaviour; adds further to our understanding of human development by integrating cognitive, emotional, social, and environmental factors
- Doesn't provide overall picture of development - biological influences are underemphasized
52
systems theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Provides an interdiciplanary perspective to the study of human development; both humans are their environments are active in the developmental process
- Captures the complexity of individual and contextual variables and the interactions among these variables
- it's hard to form generalizations and predictions because of the complexity of interactions among variables
53
Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Human development is a product of individual and contextual variables interacting over time
- Highlights the need for research examining the complex interactions among individuals and contextual variables
- Underplays physical environmental influences (ranging from pollution to poor nutrition or disease)
54
ecobiodevelopmental theory (main idea, pros, cons)
- Need for science-based approach towards creating early childhood policies and interventions aimed specifically at health promotion and disease prevention
- Promotes advocacy across all levels of socioeconomic and political spectrums with healthcare professionals taking on a lead role
- Determining causal links among developmental variables raises research, methodological, and ethical challenges
