Development Flashcards
Development
The changes and continuities that occur within the individual b/w conception and death
Maturation
The biologically timed unfolding of changes within the individual according to that individual’s genetic plan
- how that plan unfolds is influenced by specific environmental conditions that shape how the genetically determined process is
Learning
Relatively permanent changes in our thoughts, behaviours and feelings as a result of our experiences
- the acquisition of neuronal representations of new info
What are the two processes that lead to developmental changes?
Maturation and learning
Interactionist perspective
The view that holds that maturation and learning interact during development
__________ maturation restricts the timeline of learning from the environment
Biological maturation
Learning from the environment modulates the ________ of human processes
Maturation
Most of human development occurs during the __________ stages of life
Earliest
- there is subtle developmental changes throughout adulthood
- changes occurring earlier in life are much more dramatic than those occurring later in life
Habituation
A decrease in the responsiveness to a stimulus following its repeated presentation
- can be used to test for colour perception
What does the habituation procedure determine?
To determine if an infant can detect the difference between 2 stimuli
_____________ can test for an infant’s anility to detect novel stimuli
habituation
What is the process of the habituation procedure?
Starts by repeatedly presenting the infant with the same stimulus while measuring changes in physiological responses (eg. HR, breathing) or behavioural-orienting responses (eg. head or eye movement)
When a novel stimulus is presented, the infant will initially show a burst of activity
As the stimulus is repeatedly presented, the infant’s responses will return to baseline levels
- the infant has demonstrated habituation to the stimulus
Dishabituation
An increase in the responsiveness to a stimulus that is somehow different from the habituated stimulus
- communicates the ability to perceive different stimuli
What does event-related potentials (ERP) indicate?
Indicate changes in neural activity in the brain
- how the brain reacts to this stimulus
What is event-related potentials (ERP) a measure of?
A measure of the brain’s electrical activity evoked by the presentation of stimuli
- changes in brain activity in specific areas indicate response to certain stimuli
How does the high amplitude sucking method work?
The rate of sucking on the pacifier indicates the level of preference
- determine if the infant like this stimulus
- infants can control their sucking behaviour to some extent
- can be accurately measured by a special pacifier in this method
How does the preference method work?
The level of attention toward one stimuli relative to another indicated preferences
- determine which of these two stimuli the infant like better
- this method is generally used only after researchers have determined infants can tell the difference b/w the two stimuli
Competence performance distinction
An individual may fail a task not b/c they lack those cognitive abilities but b/c they are unable to demonstrate those abilities
Longitudinal design
A developmental research design in which the same individuals are studied repeatedly over some subset of their lifespan
Pros of longitudinal design
Pros:
- allow for accurate and direct comparisons over time
- allow researchers to assess developmental change
Cons of longitudinal design
Cons:
- not optimal for particularly long studies
- cost & time –> expensive and time consuming
- selective attrition –> when some people are more likely to drop out of a study than others, making samples non-representative of the original population
- practice effects –> changes in participants’ responses due to repeated testing
Cross-sectional design
A developmental research design in which individuals from different age groups are studied at the same point in time
Pros of cross-sectional design
- allow for faster comparisons b/w age groups
- allow researchers to assess developmental change
- relatively less time consuming & expensive; can uncover age differences
Cons of cross-sectional design
- ignore individual & generational effects
- cannot distinguish age effects from generational effects
- cannot directly assess individual developmental change
Monozygotic twins
- genetically identical
- same sperm & ovum
Dizygotic twins
- share around 50% of genes
- different sperm & ovum
Do females or males determine the sex of the child?
Males
Genotype
An individual’s inherited genes
Phenotype
The expression of an individual’s genotype in terms of observable characteristics
Genotypes can express into different forms of __________
Phenotypes
What are the 4 main patterns of genetic expression?
- simple dominant-recessive inheritance
- polygenetic inheritance
- codominance
- sex-linked inheritance
What is simple dominant-recessive inheritance?
A pattern of inheritance in which the expression of a trait is determined by a single pair of alleles
Homozygous
When someone has two identical alleles of a particular gene
Heterozygous
When someone has two different alleles of a particular gene
- only the dominant allele is expressed in the phenotype
- recessive allele not expressed but still heritable
What is codominance inheritance?
When the expression of a trait is determined equally by two dominant alleles
- instead of expressing one type over the other, the offspring expresses both equally
What is polygenic inheritance?
When the expression of a trait is determined by the interaction of multiple genes
- no single gene can account for most complex behaviours
What is an example of codominance inheritance?
Blood type
What is sex-linked inheritance?
When the expression of a trait is determined by genes on the X or Y chromosome
- sex-linked recessive gene disorders are less common in females (but they can still be genetic carriers)
What do nurturists believe?
They believe that external factors alone ultimately influence development
What do naturists believe?
They believe genes predetermine the path of development
Canalization principle
Within a species, genotype restricts the phenotype to a small number of possible developmental outcomes
- some developmental processes are buffered against environmental variability
Range of reaction principle
Genotype establishes a range of possible phenotypes in response to different kinds of individual life experiences
Canalization and range-of-reactions both shape your _________
Phenotype
Genes can influence the type of ___________ that you seek
Environment
Passive genotype/environment correlations
The environment that parents choose to raise their children in was influenced by the parents’ own genes, so it will likely complement the child’s genes
Evocative genotype/environment correlations
The traits that we have inherited affect how others react to and behave towards us
Active genotype/environment correlations
Our genotypes influence the kinds of environments that we seek
Which correlation affects kids early in life the most?
Passive genotype/environment correlations
- b/c the kid can’t choose their environment
Which correlation begins to play a larger role in development during childhood and continues to adulthood?
Active genotype/environment correlations
- b/c during those time, the person have more opportunities to make decisions
Critical period
A window of opportunity within an individual’s development in which particular environmental stimulation is necessary in order to see permanent changes in specific abilities
What is an example that requires early stimulation to ensure proper development
Vision
_________ environments early in life promote proper brain development
Enriched
Implications of critical periods
- Likely to affect parental decisions
- Could affect decisions to adopt
- Affects public policy on child intervention
What is high restraint?
Making a sacrifice now to get a greater reward
- your ability to make a decision that will lead to a better life in the future but may be bad in the present
WHy do some people believe that teaching their children very early on will make them smarter? 3 reasons
- Biological exuberance
- people think giving more stimulation will give more pathways, connections, etc thus become smarter - Critical periods
- REDUCING the amount of input causes damage (but doesn’t mean more is better) - The Mozart effect
- the Mozart Effect - Listening to classical music make babies smarter
- but it was young adults that were tested and only their spatial reasoning got better and this effect only lasts around 15 minutes
