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Foundations of Health + Lifespan > Child Development > Flashcards

Child Development Flashcards

1
Q

Definition of lifespan developmental psychology

A
  • Normative, predictable psychological changes related to growing up/older
  • Change that is qualitative (in stages)
    not just quantitative (not just more of what you had before)
  • Change that is progressive (gain) rather than loss (= “ageing”)
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2
Q

Example of Quantitative change (biological + psychological)

A
  • Growing taller from age 4 to age 10
    -Increasing vocabulary from age 4 to age 10
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3
Q

Steps a researcher would employ while creating a experimental design for lifespan development.
Scientific goal for studying lifespan development:

A

Description:
* Gather the facts about age groups and norms developmental change.
Explanation
* Find out why development happens for some and what causes regression or stagnation for others.
Optimization
* Intervene to overcome blockages and promote developmental gain.

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4
Q

Theories of development:

A

Psychoanalytic Approach
* Freud
* Erikson (lifespan)
Socio-cultural theories
* Vygotsky
Cognitive theories
* Piaget
* Baltes
Social Learning theories
- Bandura

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5
Q

Cultural influences on lifespan development: The normative “social clock”
Age-appropriate behaviour and change

A
  • Specific to a culture
  • Specific to given era in history
  • Unrelated to genuine human capacities
  • individual differences
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6
Q

Normative age-graded influences

A
  • Similar for individuals in a particular age group
  • Included processes such as being formal education and retirement.
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7
Q

Normative, history-graded influences

A
  • Common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances
  • Long term changes in the genetic and cultural makeup of a population are also part of normative historical change.
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8
Q

Non-normative or high individualized life event

A
  • Unusual occurrences that have a major impact on the individual’s life
  • They don’t happen to everyone but can influence people in different ways
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9
Q

Baltes’ 3 goals of human development

A
  • Growth
  • Maintenance
  • Regulation of Loss
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10
Q

What is the main method of developmental research methods?

A

Observation

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11
Q

Crowley at al. 2001 Study

A
  • Understanding the baseline of children. (What do they start with?)
  • Established that science education with boys and girls is inconsistent due to gender thus, significantly influencing their career paths.
  • Boy were 3 time more likely than girls to haer scientific explanations from their parents
    29% boys vs 9% girls.
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12
Q

Observation is the Lab (Controlled environment)

A
  • What is said = Controlled
  • Who says it = Controlled
  • Where it is said = Controlled
  • Meaning = lab based
  • Sample = maybe biased
  • Specific to lab context – cannot apply to real life contexts.
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13
Q

Naturalistic observation (own environment)

A
  • What is said = random
  • Who says it = random
  • Where it is said = controlled
  • Meaning = real world
  • Sample = can be unbiased
  • More likely to be repeated.
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14
Q

Other methods that measure infant behaviour

A
  • Self-report measures.
  • Standardized tests.
  • Case studies.
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15
Q

Thomson higher education study - Understanding the true capacity of infants

A
  • 4–5-month-olds with action and reward
  • Baby will have a ribbon attached to leg and mobile and they will kick to make it ‘dance.’
  • More visually appealing
  • And when the researcher came back later and hung the mobile above their crib
  • They would start kicking.
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16
Q

Dishabituation

A

Situations where children are presented something repeatedly.
* Infants’ attention will drop off it the object has been seen many previous times (continued habituation)
* Infants will stare at image/object longer if the object is new (dishabituation)
* Their attention drops off as they keep seeing dogs. However, when showing cats they look more because they aren’t bored anymore.

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17
Q

Looking preferences in infants

A
  • Time
  • Age
  • Complexity of the object

Children prefer the’Goldilocks middle’
When something is too simple – they get bored.
When it’s too complicated – they look away because its too hard

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18
Q

Fetal experience - Touch

A

Grasping, sucking, rubbing, bumping walls of uterus

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19
Q

Fetal experience - Taste

A
  • Swallows amniotic fluid
  • Fetus has a sweet tooth
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20
Q

Fetal experience - Smell

A
  • Amniotic fluid has odor of what mum ate
  • During fetal breathing, amniotic fluid comes into contact with olfactory receptors
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21
Q

Fetal experience - Hearing

A
  • Internally generated sounds (mums heartbeat, breathing)
  • Externally generated sounds (mums voice and people talking to her)
  • Fetus reacts by changes in heartbeat and movement
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22
Q

Electrictrical Brain Activity

A

Electroencephalogram
- Electrodes on scalp, measure electrical change over time in response to a stimulus

Pros: Good time resolution
* signal reaches the machine
quickly, it’s easy to know when
thinking happens

Con: Sparse spatial resolution
* knowing exactly where the
signal came from is a bit tricky

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23
Q

Neuroimaging

A

Functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (fMRI)
* Gigantic (and expensive) magnet
* Measures blood flow changes in
brain

Pro: Dense spatial resolution

Con: Sparse time resolution (takes
about 7 seconds for blood to start
to move)

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24
Q

Body States

A
  • Body system activity
  • Heart rate, respiration, skin conductance
  • Measure speed, variability, amplitude

Pros: not under conscious control
Cons: you have to sit still!

25
Q

Body Movements of Reactions

A

Overt physical reactions - Things we can’t
accurately measure via direct observation
* Eye tracking, reaction time, body movements
(e.g. reflexes, motor development)

  • Pros: measures responses without cognitive
    interference.
  • Cons: requires that participants follow instructions (RT, movements) or sit still (ET
26
Q

Cross-sectional Designs

A
  • Compare different age groups on the same
    measure at the same point in time
  • Most studies use this design
  • Fast to do
  • Not too expensive

Problem: we are only guessing we have accurately measured normative change
* We don’t know, because we’ve used
different children in our two groups

27
Q

Longitudinal studies Pros and Cons

A

Advantages
** Direct measurement of age-
linked change, no need
assume things
** Not confounded with cohortt
differences

Cons:
Repeating the same test can make
us “test-wise”
** Selective attrition
** Costs/Limited lifespan of
project/researcher
** Non-normative changes (history)
may look like development

28
Q

Parental Stages - Germinal

A

around 2 weeks. The fertilised zygote becomes a blastula (i.e. ball of cells formed by cell division) and implants
into the wall of the uterus

29
Q

Parental stages - Embryonic

A

from implantation to around 8 weeks. All major organs and systems form and the embryo is recognisably
human by the end of this period.

Three layers to the embryo:
* Ectoderm: external layer - becomes the spine, nervous
system and skin.
* Mesoderm: middle layer - becomes muscle and bone.
* Endoderm: inner layer – becomes internal organs.

30
Q

Parental Stages - Fetal

A

from completed organ differentiation to birth. This period is about growth.

31
Q

Teratogens - what is it

A

A teratogen is a disruption to the
ecology of the womb - interrupts the usual process of prenatal
development.
* E.g. cigarettes, alcohol, virus
germs, drugs.

32
Q

Teratogens and timing

A
  • Some agents are only harmful at
    certain times
  • e.g. Rubella in early pregnancy
  • Others have different effects at
    different times
  • e.g. cortisol early in pregnancy
    predicted delayed cognition at 2
    years but cortisol late in
    pregnancy predicted accelerated
    cognition
33
Q

Fetal Programming

A

the process by which a stimulus or insult during a vulnerable developmental period has a long-lasting or permanent effect”.

34
Q

Dutch Study - explain

A
  • Compared infants whose mothers had consumed a strong anise flavored drink or hadn’t while pregnant.
  • No moms consumed anise after birth.
  • Babies were tested within 8 hours of birth and then again at 4 days of age.
  • Exposed infants to a cotton swab soaked in anise or in a non-scented oil.
  • Measure: facial and oral responses
  • Mouthing behaviours suggest association with the scent and eating
  • Preference for anise was still apparent 4 days after birth
  • Was gone by 8 days
35
Q

Dutch study results

A

Malnutrition due to war-related famine was related to:
* lower birth weight of babies exposed to malnutrition during the 3rd trimester and increased birth weight when exposed in the 1st trimester
* more obesity when exposed during early and mid-gestation
* increased risk of schizophrenia when exposed close to conception.

36
Q

Prenatal Maternal stress and the influence on children

A
  • Adverse birth outcomes (e.g. pre-term
    delivery, length)
  • Poor emotion regulation
  • Negative, fearful or reactive
    temperament
  • Lower or delayed cognitive
    development
  • Lower or delayed motor development
  • Higher or advanced motor
    development
  • Increased risk of ADHD,
    schizophrenia
37
Q

Problem with the studies of capturing prenatal maternal stress

A
  • Unethical to manipulate prenatal maternal stress in human
    populations
  • Maternal experiences of anxiety, depression, stressful life
    events, etc are:
  • Not randomly allocated
  • Not independent of mother/child shared factors (e.g.
    genetics)
  • Difficult to pinpoint the onset of the stressful event
38
Q

Ice strom study - example of prenatal maternal stress

A

People (including pregnant moms) were without power for up to 40 days. In winter. In Canada.

Examined the stress levels of women who were pregnant and looked at later effects in children.

Researchers looked at children’s vocabulary scores.

Found a curvilinear result:
Kids whose moms experienced moderate stress score higher than kids whose moms experienced low or high stress.

39
Q

Define attachment

A

A close emtional bond between two people

  • Infants become attached to the person or object that provides oral satisfaction
    Usually the mother
40
Q

Harlow 1959

A

Monkey study - origins of love

2 fake figures toys
- 1 scary but provides food
- 1 cuddly

Found that monkeys would spend most of the day with the cuddly monkey

  • After could not put money back into the wild due to psychologic damage
41
Q

Bowlby’s 4 characteristics of attachment

A
  1. Proximity Maintenance - The desire to be near the people we are attached to.
  2. Safe Haven - Returning to the attachment figure for comfort and safety in the face of a fear or threat.
  3. Secure Base - The attachment figure acts as a base of security from which the child can explore the surrounding environment.
  4. Separation Distress - Anxiety that occurs in the absence of the attachment figure.
42
Q

Bowlby theory

A
  • When children are raised with confidence that their primary caregiver will be available to them, they are less likely to experience fear than those who are raised without such conviction
  • This confidence is forged during a critical period of development (infancy- early childhood), and remains relatively unchanged for life
  • Confidence and expectations are directly tied to past experiences with the caregiver.
43
Q

Bowlby - 4 phases of attachment

A

Phase 1: Birth to 2 months. Infants instinctively orient to human figures. Strangers, siblings, and parents are equally likely to elicit smiling from the infant

Phase 2: 2 to 7 months. Attachment becomes focused on one figure, usually the primary caregiver, as the baby gradually learns to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people.

Phase 3: 7 to 24 months. Specific attachments develop. With increased locomotor skills, babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers, such as the mother or father

Phase 4: 24 months+. Children become aware of others’ feelings, goals and plans and begin to take these into account in directing their own actions.

44
Q

Individual differences

A

Mary Ainsworth (1965) was a
colleague of Bowlby’s

  • She designed a way to test his ideas,
    with an interest in the individual
    differences displayed by infants
  • Called The Strange Situation
45
Q

Individual difference study

A
  1. Parent and child are alone in a room
  2. Child explores the room with parental supervision
  3. Stranger enters, talk to parents and approach child
  4. Parent leaves the room
  5. Parent returns and comforts child
46
Q

Securely Attached Babies - (Type B)

A
  • Uses the caregiver as a secure base to explore the environment.
    When in the presence of their caregiver, explores the room, examine toys etc.
  • When caregiver departs, might mildly protest, and when the caregiver returns, is quickly comforted.
  • Subsequently, they resume playing with the toys in the room.
47
Q

Insecure Avoidant Babies (Type A)

A
  • Shows insecurity by avoiding the caregiver.
  • In the Strange Situation, engage in little interaction with the caregiver, display little distress when the caregiver leaves, usually do not reestablish contact with them upon return, and may even turn their back to them at this point.
  • If contact is established, the infant usually leans away or looks away.
48
Q

Insecure Resistant babies (Type C)

A
  • Often cling to the caregiver and then resist them by fighting against the closeness, perhaps by kicking or pushing away.
  • In the Strange Situation, these babies would cling anxiously to the caregiver and don’t explore the playroom.
  • When the caregiver leaves, they often cry loudly, but push away if they try to comfort them upon returning.
49
Q

Does attachment matter in babies

A

Early secure attachment (assessed by the Strange Situation at 12 and 18 months) was linked to:
- positive emotional health
- high self-esteem
- self-confidence
- socially competent interaction with peers, teachers, camp counselors, and romantic partners through adolescence.

But: attachment style can change, particularly with the experience of positive or negative life events.

50
Q

Temperament - what does it refer to

A
  • Individual differences in
    behavioural styles, emotions
    and ways of responding to
    situations and people
  • Can refer to how quickly
    emotions are shown, how
    strong they are, how long
    they last, and how quickly
    they fade away
51
Q

CHESS AND THOMAS’ CLASSIFICATION (1977)

A

There are three general types of temperaments in children: easy, slow-to-warm, and difficult.

52
Q

Statement

A

Children who had an easy temperament at 3 to 5 years of age were likely to be
well-adjusted as young adults … and many children who had a difficult
temperament were not well-adjusted (Chess & Thomas, 1977)

53
Q

Statement

A

Individuals with an inhibited temperament in childhood are less likely to be
assertive or to experience social support as adults, and more likely to delay
entering a stable job track (Wachs, 2000)

54
Q

Statement

A
  • Highly reactive infants tend to avoid unfamiliar events in infancy and are often
    subdued, cautious and wary of new situations in adolescence.
  • Low-reactive infants tend to approach unfamiliar events in infancy and to be
    spontaneous and sociable in adolescence (Kagan et al., 2007).
55
Q

ROTHBART (2004) - temperment

A
  • Early models of temperament stressed the
    effects of our emotions or level of arousal actions driven by these
  • More recent theories emphasize effortful control individuals can engage in a more
    cognitive, flexible approach to stressful
    circumstances
56
Q

What Makes an Emotion?

A

Expressions:
- smiles, frown, clenched teeth
Physiological:
- sweat, tear productions, heart rate
Coping behaviors:
- running, seeking comfort
Cognitions:
“I have been insulted.”

57
Q

A FUNCTIONALIST VIEW

A
  • Many developmentalists view emotions as the result of
    individuals’ attempts to adapt to specific contextual
    demands
  • Goal driven
  • A child’s emotional responses cannot be separated from the
    situations in which they are evoked
  • Emotions are relational rather than strictly internal,
    reflexive phenomena
58
Q

Do infants care about expressions? - statements

A
  • Normally, babies gaze at parents for about 70% of time,
    and smile 20% of the time.
  • During a still-face procedure, babies stop smiling, and
    gazing drops by about 50%.
  • Infants are sensitive to others’ expressions, especially
    during interactions!
59
Q

Can children use expressions?

A
  • Social Referencing
  • By 12 months, infants are beginning to use others’
    emotional expressions to guide their behaviour in ambiguous situations

Foundations of Health + Lifespan (5 decks)

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