development Flashcards
issues in developmental psychology
- Nature and nurture
- Continuities and discontinuities
- The passive and active child
- Longitudinal stability and influence
- Individual differences
empircism
watson - little albert and phobias - hands on - controlling - make sure they learn things
extreme nativism
gesell, the child grows in the direction of evolution - hands off because they believe its in their genes - lack of involvement - just physical needs met for their development
discountinous child development
Freuds psychosexual stages, Piagets theory of cognitive development
continuous child development
bandura SLT
the passive child
do they just get moudled by the world around them
the active child
do children use the world around them to determine and contruct their understanding of the world
longintudinal stability and influence
do certain developmental constructs remain stable over time?
do certain developmental constructs predict later development - attachment style?
how do we study development?
- Methodological problems
- The ‘data problem’
- Establishing causal relations
- Choosing the ‘right’ age
methodological problems of studying development
- children aren’t reliable PP
- cant talk
- development is noisy - influeced by a range of factors
- ethical considerations
the data problem
- use of natural observations makes it difficult to obtain quantitiave data which is easier to analyse
- natural environments differ per child
the developmental task
rather than observation come up with task and give to child and see if they can complete
unexepected transfer task
asses theory of mind - will the child be able to recognise that someone will look for something if thats where they think it is
issues of causation with developmental research
how to move from a description of how the mind develops to an explanation of what causes these changes.
- establish direction of cause
- there may be a third factor
how to overcome issues with causal relations
- Allows researchers to manipulate an independent variable while measuring a dependent variable, while controlling for confounding variables
- Manipulations can be done in the lab, or in the child’s natural environment
- Best way of establishing cause in development
choosing the right age
- tasks need to be suited to their age and capabilities
- if you want loads of ages how do you make task suit all of them
44 thieves study
studied children who were criminals and their attachment
children after WW2 how much had they suffered from maternal deprivation
thought attachment was an important construct that needed to be researched further
the accepted wisdom of attachment
formed an attachment as a byproduct of being with people who kept you alive and safe. attachment is a secondary drive
primary attachment behaviours
crying clinging smiling frowning
these behaviours are innate try build an attachment
freud and dan support for innate attachment
mutual attachments of 3-4-year-olds who lived together in a concentration camp, they couldn’t provide for each other but still formed an attachment thus there’s a primary drive.
harlow support for innate attchament
rhesus monkeys —> do they gravitate towards food or mother —> when stressed goes to comforting mother
robertson and hospital finding
films staying in hospital, werent allowed to stay with children in hospital, inititally babies were distressed, prolonged speration broke attachment, protest despair and detachment.
strange situation
- babies, 12-24 months
- lab, toys, controlled
- mother and baby in room
- mother and baby alone, baby explores
- stranger enters
- mother leaves
- reuinion
- mother leaves
- stranger
- reuinion
- each stage = 3 mins
what behaviours were being tested in the SS?
proximity seeking, contact maintenance, avoidance and resistance
how many babies = secure = B
70%
insecure avoidant = A
- 20%
- no distress in seperation
- not pleased in reuinion
insecure resistant = C
- 10%
- distressed, extreme highs
what is the spectrum of attchment
A1 A2 B1 B2 B3 B4 C2 C1
b4 = stressed but can be calmed
c1 cannot be calmed
main and solomons additional attachment
disorganised - type D
describe disorganised attachment
anxcious, changes in behaviour, disoganised
- D babies have no obvious strategy for gaining contact with mother or for being soothed and comforted
- May show bizarre or conflictual behaviours
what increases risk of D type of attachment
poverty —> 25%
drug abuse —> 43%
maternal depression —> 19%
abuse —> 43%
middle class families —> 15%
van izjendoorn
meta analysis, 62% secure, 15% avoidant, 9% resistant, 15% disorganised
internal working model
mental cogtnitive model that frames your view of relationships and what you expect in the ufture. working model of self, are you worthy of love? can be both positive and negative. representational , how you process yourexpeirnces, fixed at age 4-5.
maine attachment interview
Semi-structured interview for classifying an adult’s overall ‘state of mind’ w.r.t. attachment relationships
what are the classes in mains AAI
dismissing
preoccupied
autonomous
unresolved
what do the classes mean
- Dismissing (Ds) – insist on lack of recall of attachment relationships, devalue attachments or idealise attachment figures
- Preoccupied (E) – still preoccupied with early attachment experiences; the topic of attachment is overwhelming è anger or passivity
- Autonomous (F) – attachment is an open topic, coherent & believable account of childhood, presented in a lively & objective fashion
- Unresolved (U) - become incoherent specifically when discussing loss or abuse
what is the main factor predicting adult attachment
life events
What was piaget interested in?
constructivism –> how dp chidlren ACTIVLEY construct their understanding of the world
adaptation –> intelligence is a special form of adaptation to the environment, the main engine of cognitive change. the continuous process of adaptation is the engine of change
what is a cognitive schema?
basic components of intelligence, first schemas are reflexes, the schemas become more complex via assimilation and accommodation
who believed children are active learners?
piaget
Piagets stage theory
Sensorimotor (0–2 years)
Pre-operational period (2–7 years)
Concrete operations (7–12 years)
Formal operations (c.11 years +)
assimilation
different objects become associated to to the schema
accommodation
accommodates for the fact not all objects have the same properties and we have to treat things a different way
sensori motor stage
Divided into six sub-stages
Each stage can be characterised in terms of developments in the infant’s mode of interaction with the object world and resulting object concept
sub stages of sensori motor stage
- reflexes (0-6 weeks)
- primary reactions, repeating body movements 4 consequences
- secondary circular reactions, repetitions of sounds that have effect on environment (hitting something with sound
- means-end behaviour, doing something to gain an end, moving blanket to get a toy
- tertiary circular reactions, experiments to discover means to ends
- representation, can imagine consequences of planned actions
object concept sub stages
Stage I: state of adualism
Stage II: ‘out of sight, out of existence’
Stage III: can retrieve partially occluded objects BUT not fully occluded
Stage IV: can retrieve fully occluded objects BUT A not B error
v: invisible displacement
vi: full object permanence
what is the A not B error
E hides desired object (fully occluded) at location A, and infant retrieves it
Hiding at A is repeated twice more
In full view of the infant, E moves object to location B
Where will the infant search?
what is the invisible displacement task?
the ability to track the movement of a hidden object after seeing that object placed in, under, or behind an occluder and moved into or behind a second occluder
what can infents do at the end of the sensori motor period?
Infants are able hold a ‘representation’ of the object in memory, i.e. imagine objects that have been encountered previously
what are the charectoristics of the pre operational child?
Egocentrism
Lack of reversibility
Animism
what is egocentrism
Children have problems decentring: viewing the world from perspectives other than their own
Manifested in over-determination by appearances
Centration: excessive focus on a single aspect of a phenomenon
what is the three mountains task?
Child shown 3-D model of mountain scene, and invited to walk around
Doll placed at one side of the model
shown images of different povs asked to chose which one represents dolls view
when do children give correct answers to the three mountains task?
between 8 and 9
still giving wrong answer at 4 giving their own pov ,
what is conservation?
Test of the understanding that basic properties of matter are unaffected by changes in appearance
Examples: quantity, number, length, mass, area, volume
Piaget: success requires concrete operational thinking (esp. reversibility)
conservation experiment
Child shown two identical objects or arrays of objects
Asked to judge whether same or different
Experimenter manipulates object/array to alter appearance
Child asked again whether same or different
Pre-operational child: “Different”
lack of reversibility
correct use of operations requires reversibility
being able to mentally retrace steps
why do pre-operational children fail those tasks?
Because perceptually dominated by one aspect of display: centration
In number conservation, children may focus on length of array, without considering change in spacing of items
In three mountains, over-determined by how the display looks to them
Show lack of reversibility because can’t simultaneously represent two different perspectives
animism
An example of children’s naïve theories about how the world works
Children attribute animate and mental qualities to inanimate objects (Piaget, 1960)
Why does the sun move?
If you pricked a stone, would it feel it?
Another form of egocentrism
concrete operational stage
Children now pass all the tasks they failed in the preoperational stage!
- think abstractly
- hypothetical reasoning
concrete operational tasks?
Third eye problem – where would you place your extra eye?
Pendulum task – what determines how fast the pendulum swings?
problem with Piagets view of childs limited object permenance
- can be due to limited motor skill
- differengt methodology
- dishabituation
how can dishabituation be used to asses wether a child has object permenance
Infant habituates to event—i.e. ‘interest’ decreases with repeated presentation
The stimulus is changed
Look to see whether infant renews attention to the changed stimulus: dishabituation
If so, can infer that the infant has perceived the change
rabbit experiment
5 year infants shown possible and impossible condition which found they can retain phsyical dimensions and object existence
issue with preoperational stage
- may be due to language barriers
three levels of understanding
The mind exists
The mind has connections to the physical world
The mind can represent objects and events
theory of mind
Understanding links between beliefs & behaviour
Understanding the logic of mental state language
Understanding that beliefs are only in the running for truth – they can be false as well as true
what makes a person more lilely to pass ToM task
Have regular contact with extended family (Lewis et al., 1996)
Higher SES
Mothers more highly educated
Better at collaborative symbolic play earlier in development (Astington & Jenkins, 1995; Meins et al., 1998; Youngblade & Dunn, 1995)
what does it mean for a child to have a theory of mind?
Children who can represent different mental states are said to have acquired a theory of mind
at what age do we think ToM develops (when do children generally pass the unexpected transfer task)
4
what is the unexpected transfer task
asking children what anotehr person would believe about a false belief
alternatives reasons for chidlren failing ToM task
Failure may be due to other task demands
Executive (Russell et al. (1991)
Reality bias (Mitchell, 1994)
Narrative problems – children have to understand the notion of story telling
Standard ToM tasks heavily dependent on verbal abilities
There are individual differences in ToM in children of identical age
most valid critique of piaget
he didn’t sufficiently integrate social experiences into his theory of cognitive development unlike the ToM
what does it mean for Vgotskys theory to be sociocultural?
- developed a theory that did justice to the social origin of mental processes
- mental processes can only be understood by looking at what they develop from and into
- interpersonal social interactions are very important
wertschs 3 themes in Vgotskys work
- reliance on genetic method —> higher mental functions and elemenrtay mental functions, how do elementry develop to higher
- semiotic mediation —> HMF mediated by culturally derived systems
- social orgins —> HMF have origins in societal inertactions
EMFs (elementary mental functions)
develop along natural line, basic, not human specific, innate, not conscious
HMFs (higher mental functions)
develop along a cultural line via social interactions, specific to humans and accessible to consciousness, mediated by sign systems (language), not automatic
semiotic mediation
- using signs and symbols (language) to mediate an facilitate cognitive processes
- these tools help us organise thoughts an communicate
- play a roll in cognitive evelopment, hlpes us individualise cultural norms
what is the forbidden colour task?
children asked question about colours, then they arent allowee to say a certain colour, theyre given a card with a picture e.g., grass (green banned) how can they describe it.
what ages are unsuccessful/successful at the forbidden colours task?
5-6 year old had many errors
8-13 card acted as mediartion and improvement was seen
adult little errors with no help
what is the mediation for deaf people?
sign language acts as a mediation –> HMF
what is the zone of proximal development?
ones own ability to develop and potential to develop under guidance focus on potential
vgotskys theory implication for tutoring
tutors need to work with ZPD
need to identify it
evidence for ZPD focused tutoring ..
evidence —> we would expect older children to be more self regulated, older children were much more self regulated.
wertsch and hickamn —> this shift can happen quickly.
indiviudal differences in tutoring styles - adjustments made in task to target their ZPD
does attachment security pedict ZPD?
meins found that secure group mothers were better at ifnding ZPD level whilst insecure were too involved or not involved enough
when asked to do a pyramid task who performed better?
wood foundpryamid task, children who had ZPD targeted tutror perfomed better
in conclusion: ID in wetehr caregivers and teachers tailor their interaction to the childs ZPD can have fair reaching consequences for child development
what is private speech to vgotsky ?
Lev Vygotsky saw private speech as a critical step in cognitive development. He argued that it serves as a tool for thinking and problem-solving and is a precursor to inner speech. Vygotsky believed that private speech reflects a child’s growing ability to self-regulate and think independently.
inner speech
verbal thoughts
egocentric speech ==
piaget - children are just speaking for themselves and unable to see other people
p eak in ages 3-7
vgotskys view on speech
social interctaion -> private speech –> inner speech
what is developmental psychology?
The study of the development of mind and behaviour
Hence obvious links with most other areas of psychology
Focus on how mind and behaviour change (i.e. description), and why they change (i.e. causal explanation)
tabula rasa idea
john locke - mind is a blank slate - everything is learned in terms of development
plato
innate
who is the emergence of scientific iscipline rooted in?
darwin
dawrins main contributions?
Idea of development as progressive adaptation to environment
Systematic methods – no longer reliant on anecdotal evidence
Biological origins of human nature – idea of genetic and evolutionary inheritance
- gave rise to stage theories
nature an nurture
modern position - recognisig that bath nature and nurture are important for development
piaget and vgotsky = interactionist
discontinuous vs continuous theories
freud - dis - psychosexual development
bandure - continuous
what does ‘longitudinal stability and inlfuence’ question about development?
- do some things develop over time
- are somethings most important at certain periods of life
Problems with the ‘task’ approach
Ecological validity
Children are often not compliant, and/or do not understand what is required of them
Minor changes in methodology can entirely alter children’s responses
crticisms for bowlbys 1958 theory
Generalisation from clinical observations to ‘normal’ children being reared at home focus on all separation as trauma
Concerned with the making and breaking of attachments
Single attachment to mother: “good mothering from any kind of woman ceases to satisfy [the infant] – only his own mother will do” (p. 370). So called monotropy
what aspect of bowlbys theory id ainsworth challenge
monotropy - thought there were multiple attachments
bowlbys 1969 adapted theory
Goal-corrected system, rather than innate responses
Mother most notable and interesting cue in environment, proximity to her becomes set goal
Attachment not a purely innate instinct, but depends on environmental conditions activating the innate attachment systems
what is the problem of assesing preescholers attchment style?
- measures are used that do not observe behaviour
- for example, child attachment interview (CAO)
- self report methods
when does the internal working model become fixed?
4-5
link the early attchments by ainsworth to mains AAI categories…
Secure attachment Autonomous AAI
Avoidant attachment Dismissing AAI
Resistant attachment Preoccupied AAI
Disorganised attachment Unresolved AAI
what are the 4 Ps
The 4 Ps
Profound – changes individual’s entire outlook on the world, e.g. attachment formation
Permanent – unlike learning, developmental changes are not easily reversed
Progressive – developmental changes bring about improvement
Pervasive – affects all areas of life can’t look only at one developmental domain
equilibrium
the balance between these processes required for the creation of consistent internal models
what is the language issue?
Criticism: pre-operational children’s failure may be due to language issues
Piaget’s tasks certainly can be linguistically demanding: e.g. “as much as”, “same amount”, “more than”
Many other cognitive tasks known to relate to verbal ability
donaldson care study
Cars without garages: 4–6-yr-olds interpret ‘more’ correctly
Cars with garages, around a third interpret ‘more’ as ‘complete’
problem of human sense
Criticism: Children fail these tasks because they don’t make ‘human sense’ (Donaldson, 1978)
If you alter the task to make it more ‘relevant’ to the child’s experience, performance will improve
hughes doll hidding finding
Children asked to hide the doll so that it can’t be seen by the policeman doll(s)
3.5-yr-olds - 90% correct
Piaget has seriously underestimated children’s perspective-taking ability?
evaluation of piagets account
Piaget’s theory sets out a sequence of steps that are logically necessary for thought to develop fully
Thus, quibbling with the timetable for ages for specific stages misses the point
No study has questioned the order of stages
Piaget himself was well aware of individual differences in task performance
what is the perpsctive on ToM since 80s
developmental psychology has moved towards understanding children’s ability to take another person’s mental perspective
hvaing a ToM implies what
Understanding links between beliefs & behaviour
Understanding the logic of mental state language
Understanding that beliefs are only in the running for truth – they can be false as well as true
reaons children may fail ToM task
Failure may be due to other task demands
Executive (Russell et al. (1991)
Reality bias (Mitchell, 1994)
Narrative problems – children have to understand the notion of story telling
Standard ToM tasks heavily dependent on verbal abilities
There are individual differences in ToM in children of identical age
The role of interpersonal interaction in ToM
ToM performance is facilitated by having access to communicative interaction
Interaction involving mental state talk seems particularly important
what makes you more likley to pass ToM task
Have regular contact with extended family (Lewis et al., 1996)
Higher SES
Mothers more highly educated
Better at collaborative symbolic play earlier in development (Astington & Jenkins, 1995; Meins et al., 1998; Youngblade & Dunn, 1995)
what is mind - mindedness
The caregiver’s tendency to treat the young child as an individual with a mind
Enables parent to ‘tune in’ to what the child may be thinking or feeling
Appropriate and non-attuned mind-related comments
Accurately tuning in to your infant’s internal states facilitates the child’s own mind-reading abilities later in development
piaget on speech
Egocentrism –> Socialisedintellect
Private speech Social speech
what does vgotksy think of infant speech
Speech begins as a social activity & is later internalised to create the individual intellect
PS is an essential mid-point stage in this internalisation, indicating the use of words (psychological tools) to control behaviour
Vygotsky therefore makes the same prediction as Piaget about PS dying away, but for very different reasons
Fernyhough and Fradley (2005)
- Assessed children’s PS during the Tower of London (an executive planning task)
- Self-regulatory PS was most common on puzzles of moderate difficulty
Levels of self-regulatory PS were positively associated with concurrent task success
Al-Namlah and Meins
What happens to task success if one tries to prevent children from using PS?
what is berks three level scheme
Developed three-level scheme to indicate internalisation level
Level 1: task irrelevant PS
Level 2: task-relevant, overt PS
Level 3: external manifestations of task-relevant inner speech (inaudible muttering, whispering, verbal lip movements)
describe the blue-walled room experiment
Test of spatial memory
Navigating a rectangular room is difficult after disorientation for adults
Does having one wall painted blue help navigation?
adults use blue room to help find reward
start to act like adults 5-7 years
is there any such thing as a non verbal task ?
As well as being used for communication and creativity, we use speech throughout the lifespan to regulate our behaviour
There may be no such thing as a ‘non-verbal’ task
what tests are done in the sensroi mtoro stage?
a not b
invsibible discplacement
what can chilren do at end of sensori motor stage?
- hold object in memory
- pass A not B
- pass invisble displacement
what tests are done in pre opertaional?
- conservation
- 3D mountain
- reversability test
what test is used to asses theory of mind and when is it passed?
the unexpected transfer task
4+
what is achieved at concrete operational stage?
all tests at pre operational stage have been passed
what is achieved at formal operational stage?
Ability to think abstractly
Hypothetical or inferential reasoning
If Amy is taller than Eve and Eve is taller than Sophie, who’s the tallest?
central ideas to vgotskys theory?
- social origin
- EMH & HLF
- ZPD
- tutoring
- Private speech and inner speech
when do thought and speech being to function together
age 2
bruner and scaffholding
supportive and gradually reduced guidance provided by an instructor to help a learner accomplish tasks independently, targeting their zone of proximal development.
