Child: basics Flashcards
What were yerks’ beliefs about intelligence
Intelligence is inherited:
-Concluded that the lighter the skin the higher the IQ
What did Charles spearman (1904) believe about intelligence
- General intelligence can be shown across all IQ tests
- Cognitive skill only
What did Louis Thurston (1938) believe about intelligence
- Cluster of abilities individuals possess in varying degrees (mental capacity)
- verbal comprehension, arithmetic ability etc.
What did Robert Sternberg (1985) believe about intelligence
Triarchic theory of intelligence:
1- Analytical thinking
2- Creative thinking
3- Practical thinking
What did Howard Gardner (1983) believe about intelligence
Multiple intelligences - logical, linguistic, spacial, musical,kinaesthetic, intra/inter personal
What did Daniel Goleman (1996) believe about intelligence
Emotional intelligence - self awareness of our own emotional abilities, motivation and empathy
What were Haier’s (2005) research findings and what this meant in terms of gender differences
Haier found that men have more grey matter in their frontal and parietal lobes, this can create a gender differnce in intelligence as this shows that men are better at: maths, spacial IQ, better drivers, better self-control
Haier also found that women have more grey matter in their frontal lobes and Broca’s area this shows that women are stereotypically proven to talk more and more emotional as well as problem solving, planning and attention
However this also shows that research is not consistent
Define monozygotic twins (MZ)
Identical twins - split to form 2 embryos
Define dizygotic twins (DZ)
Non-identical - Develop from 2 different eggs
Define Genotype
Genetic makeup of an organism with reference to a single trait
Define Phenotype
Physical appearance resulting from inherited information
How do twin studies allow us to investigate the role of nature and nurture in intelligence
-In relation to intelligence, an individual can inherit the genetic potential to be intelligent, but good nurturing (through education/parenting/socialisation) of that potential will effectively switch on the genotype, allowing the potential to be achieved/ expressed
What is the validity for gender differences (neuroanatomy)
Not valid - different types of intelligence, so hard to accurately measure and all studies into the brain have consistent results
- can never have a solid cause and effect conclusion about IQ = not useful
+ Different conclusions = can compare to shoe individuality
What is the freewill/determinism debate on gender differences
Freewill - we choose to learn and react to situations so this could therefore effect our brain plasticity
+can control our actions e.g. Through therapies
Socially sensitive - blaming an individual for their situation e.g. Choosing to be intelligent
What has developed in the brain at conception
- neural tube, brain stem, spinal chord
- brain develops primary functions - reflexes, breathing
- cerebral cortex thickness
What has developed in the brain at one year old
- use their sense of sight to explore an environment and recognise familiar people e.g. Visual cortex
- optimum age to learn symbols, vision, hearing, emotional control e.g. Amygdala
- Motor skills develop - walking, climbing e.g. Pariatal
What has developed in the brain at two years old
-spike in language use (it quadruples) the left hemisphere is dominant
What has developed in the brain at three years old
-recognise basic cognitive functions (thinking, learning, memory problem solving) - limbic system, frontal lobe develops
What examples of risk taking activities might be found more in the adolescent age group
Alcohol, drugs, driving, moving out, meeting new people, travelling,criminal behaviour
What are the functions of the limbic system
Memory, information, emotion, rewards, connecting left and right
What are the functions of the pre-frontal cortex
Morality and values, self-control, inhibition
What are the functions of the ventral striatum
Low delay of gratification, rewards side, activated when sees or receives rewards
Why does this link to risk taking: the limbic system develops earlier than the pre-frontal cortex dominating the controls and decision making of the pre-frontal cortex
-more likely to engage in risk taking behaviour to make you feel good and happy
Why does this link to risk taking behaviour: The ventral striatum matures earlier and is often more dominant than the pre-frontal cortex
-Do anything you can to get a reward regardless of the consequences
E.g. Criminal activity regardless of the long-term consequences
Why does this link to increased risk taking behaviour: The pre-frontal cortex does not mature until the mid-20’s
-Self-control not fully developed, wanting to be impulsive
Why would being present in a group increase the reward sensation activated by the ventral striatum
Stimulation of the rewards centre from getting praise, competition and acceptance from others in a group which stimulates the risk factor
What do the Graduated Driving Licensing schemes do to reduce risk taking in drivers
Include a probationary period after a person passes their test. This probationary places restrictions on newly qualified drivers such as night tie driving, where they can drive and even what passengers they can have
Suggest why the Graduated Driver Licensing schemes might be effective at reducing risk taking
Because it allows their inferior frontal gyrus to develop so the ventral striatum isn’t as dominant
What is the usefulness of investigating pre-adult brain development
+Can create strategies to reduce risk taking in adolescents e.g. Adolescents took more risks than adults (were more likely to gamble with higher outcomes). This suggests that all adolescents are risk takers = socially sensitive but this does mean that we can create safer individuals e.g. Drivers = less accidents.
What is perception
Perception is though the process of being exposed to stimuli such as light, sound,smell, taste and touch that we experience our world. Perception is the process by which our minds organise, process and make sense of sensory data order to interact with our world and environment.
Define elevation
Objects that are closer to the horizon line are perceived as further away and further from the horizon line, the closer to us.
Define relative size
Our perceptions may be faulty when perceiving an objects size to determine how close it is
Define motion parallax
The faster objects are closer but further away objects move slower perceptually
What are the strengths of using animas in research
+Gain understanding of subject and brain functions and issues to develop treatments
+More ethical than using humans
+Some behaviours are shared between humans and animals (spatial/perceptual)
+Manipulate and control the animals more easily
What are the weaknesses of using animals in research
- Brain structures of human compared to animals are very different, even behaviours and functions are different
- Can’t give consent (unethical), should be no long lasting damage, restricted and forced behaviour (lower validity, not natural), psychological distress
- Can’t generalise results much
- Anthropomorphism - Labelling animals with human like behaviours
What toys can help to develop a babies visual perception
lamp which projects patterns = spatial awareness as the lights move around the room
What toys can help to develop a babies Auditory perception
Toys that make noises
What toys can help to develop a babies Tactile perception
Toys with different surfaces
What toys can help to develop a babies Sensory perception
Toys which move, make noises and have different surface textures
How can research and play strategies for perception be ethnocentric
- Not all individuals would perceive depth in the same way, education and lifestyle would shape that knowledge and learnt behaviour
- Environment will also have an impact (hills, buildings) as you learn to perceive what is far/near compared to where there is no variety of depth
How can research and play strategies for perception not be ethnocentric
-The naturist view suggests that there would be no impact on an animals behaviour or they were from another culture as the behaviours shown are natural reflexes as the animals are so young and therefore have not experiences danger to learn from
How can research and play strategies be on the nature side of the debate
-We are born with genetically programmed processes of maturation and owe nothing to learning because we just ‘turn on’ perception at certain ages
How can research and play strategies for perception be on the nurture side of the debate
- Born with only basic sensory capacity and develop through experience and interaction with our environment
e. g. in Blakemore and Cooper the kittens were placed in an artificial environment, then placed in the horizontal position they couldn’t perceive the vertical environment
How can research and play strategies for perception be on the reductionist side of the debate
-The observation looks at animals that are very young so that they have not had enough time to experience danger and learn from it. As a result the observation only at nature
+Strengths - as different animals develop at different rates it would be hard to judge how far an animal had developed behaviours they had learnt or not learnt when comparing them
-Controlled experiment as focusing on one behaviour = more reliable
How can research and play strategies for perception be on the holistic side of the debate
-The observation uses a wide range of animals with different visual perception as the animals natural habitats would all differ from one another, therefore, had less or more experience to a ‘cliff’ (the turtle had not experienced a ‘drop’
-not just unusual representation being tested
+More generalizable and can apply the results so it is more useful
What is a schema
Organises categories of information and the relationship among them
How might the schema shape a child’s development of knowledge
May form the basis of other cognitive functions such as memory/ assimilation/ accommodation
What is assimilation in terms of the schema
Using schema to deal with new objects/situations
What is accommodation in terms of the schema
Change their existing schema to make sense of the new experiences
What did Jean Piaget believe
He developed a theory of development which states that children are born with basic mental structures upon which knowledge and skills are built. Piaget believed that a child’s learning about their world was based upon the development of the schema. This forms the basis of other cognitive functions such as memory. Through various experiments, Piaget developed his ideas into the ‘maturational theory’; a 4 stage theory that considers how children’s thinking evolves through maturation of age
What is the Maturational theory and who was the founder
Jean Piaget was the founder of the maturational theory; a 4 stage theory that considers how children’s thinking evolves through maturation of age
What is the stage of the maturational stage and what are the key features for 0-18 months
0-18 months = sensorimotor stage –> children discover their world through matching senses with what they can do. Objects continue to exist even when they can’t be seen.
What is the stage of the maturational stage and what are the key features for 18months - 7 years
18months - 7years = pre-operational stage –> Able to use mental images and symbols and acquire language. Generate general rules about mental operations. The child is egocentric - Only look at their own perspective
What is the stage of the maturational stage and what are the key features for 7-11 years
7-11 years = Concrete-operational stage –> Use ore complete mental operations e.g. putting items in order. See things from other point of view. Finds it hard to think in terms of how it is rather than how it could be
What is the stage of the maturational stage and what are the key features for 11+ years
11+ years = Able to reason logically and deal with abstract concepts. They can mentally deal with several factors at once.
What did Lev Vygotsky believe
He believed that culture and language of a child had an impact on their learning, placing a stronger emphasis on social factors than Piaget did. Vygotsky suggested that cognitive development arises out of social interactions in a guided learning environment, leading to his key theory of the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’
Outline the theory of the Zone of Proximal Development and the concept of the ‘More Knowledgeable Other’
1-On their own, children only have a limited ability
2-With social interaction/ development, children can do a lot more
3-and things the child can not do due to their age limiting them
more knowledgeable other = With someone else children can develop better/more knowledge
What do behaviourists believe about attachments
Behaviourists believe that we are born as ‘blank slates’, they argue that children are not born with innate attachment behaviours but learned attachment through their interactions with their caregivers through a process of association or reinforcement. They argue for the nurture side of the debate.
What did Harlow’s monkey research tell us about attachment
1- the wire mother = food giver and the cloth mother who did not provide food. The monkeys were frightened by a stimulus and would run and hug the cloth mother for comfort and not to the food giver
At first they would go to the wire monkey for food but then return to cloth monkey
nurture = Didn’t spend time with food/ wire monkey prefer to spend time with cloth monkey
What did Lorenz (1935) suggest about attachments
Lorenz considers how attachment is a natural evolutionary response. He argued that the critical period was within the first 36 hours and they bond to with that moving object, he called this process ‘imprinting’ and it suggests that attachment is innate.
What is imprinting
First thing that they see moving and meaningful interaction with them
What are the long term consequences of imprinting
-Still taken from their mother, incubation, adoption (damaging attachment)
+Develop healthy relationships in the long term with friends and family
What did Bowlby believe about attachments
He stated that there is a key critical period for early attachment of the first 2 years, and if it is not formed, there are long term consequences for those individuals in their adult behaviour: reduced intelligence, increased aggression, depression, affectionless psychopathy and even dwarfism
What is affectionless psychopathy
Lack of awareness and empathy for others and having a lack of care and affection for others.
What is deprivation
The loss or damage of something considered to be an attachment
What is privation
If a child fails to develop an attachment
