DEVELOPMENTAL Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
The study of CHANGE & CONTINUITY in the things that fundamentally effect how people UNDERSTAND & INTERACT in the world.
Why study Developmental Psychology
To UNDERSTAND human nature
To SHAPE social policy (gov/management roles)
To ENRICH human life
7 enduring themes of Development
- continuity & discontinuity
- mechanisms for change
- universality & context specificity
- individual differences
- research & children’s welfare
- nature & nurture
- the active child
Continuity & Discontinuity
- Continuity = stability (eg: name)
- Discontinuity = change (eg: person’s title Miss, Mrs, Dr…)
- Continuous change =
quantitative, reversible (eg: height, memory capacity) - Discontinuous change =
qualitative, irreversible (eg: puberty, theory of mind, learning)
Mechanisms for change
- Evolution
(migration / genetic drift / natural selection)
or… 2. Behavioral change
- pre-contemplation
- contemplation
- preparation
- action
- maintenance
- relapse
Universality & Context specificity
To what extent do sociocultural context influence our development?
Universal / exclusive across cultures & context
Individual differences
How do children with a shared
background become different from each other? (eg: twins)
Research & children’s
welfare
- How can researchers conduct
MEANINGFUL research with
infants & young people? (how would it be beneficial to the population) - How can we PROTECT infant’s & young people’s welfare in research)
Nature & nurture
Nature:
- genetics
- diff biological influences
- maturation
Nurture:
- environmental influences
- experiences
- learning
The Active Child
The extent to which children shape their own lives and the extent to which they are PASSIVE respondents to their surroundings.
Wellbeing
a multidimensional concept that SHAPES and IS SHAPED BY developmental pathways
Why does Wellbeing Matter?
In general:
wellbeing contributes to, and is affected by, our developmental experiences (continuity/discontinuity)
Students:
University experiences –> student wellbeing + resilience –>healthy professional practices
(eg: reduce future burnout in health care professionals)
5 frameworks for thinking about wellbeing?
- HEDONIC: (pleasure)
= PANAS - EUDEMONIC: (meaning & purpose in life)
= Self-Determination Theory (SDT) - H & E: (purpose AND meaning in life)
= PERMA
= Ryff’s wellbeing scale - INDIGENOUS
= Balit Murrup (strong spirit) - UNI-DIM: (one score)
= WEMWBS –> wellbeing
= WHOQOL –> quality of life
PERMA
(+ve emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment)
- scale 0 - 10
- Scores for each subscale calculated by mean of the 3 items
- 15 items total (3 Qs / domain)
Ryff’s Scale
- 6 dimensions - (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, self-acceptance)
- score 0 - 7 (agree- disagree)
- total 42 items
- Issues: very long, reversed scored so hard to interpret
Balit Murrup
Message of working with institutions rather than against them:
- Black hands –> families and relationships.
- Circles –> tribes (type of ppl)
- Footprints –> pathways thru life
- Big circles –> a different institution
- Ripples –> +ve impact these institutions can have
Connection to:
- spirit, spirituality, ancestors
- land and country
- culture and community
- family and kinship
- mind and emotions
- body
WEMWBS
- Measured over the past 2 weeks
- range from 1-5
- 14-item (w 5 categories),
- single score
- mostly worded +vely
- all-round measure, but NO THEORY
SDT
Meta-theory of development:
- Tendency for mastery & growth
are innate but not automatic
- Social environments support + constrain capacity for growth / wellbeing
SDT = Human’s 3 basic needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy (CRA)
Two SDT theories:
1. Growth / wellbeing
- autonomy (making own decisions)
- relatedness (bonding w others)
- competence (perception that they can succeed in life)
2. Growth / wellbeing = intrinsic
motivation
Students’ narratives of wellbeing (+ve experiences)
- academic experiences(e.g. tutorials)
- social experiences (e.g. friends)
- emotional experiences (e.g. accomplishment)
- non academic experiences (e.g. clubs)
Students’ narratives of wellbeing (-ve experiences)
- academic experiences (e.g. exams, low grades)
- social experiences (e.g. isolation)
- emotional experiences (e.g. frustration)
- non academic experiences (e.g. future plans)
According to WEMWBS, how did student narratives contribute to wellbeing?
significant +ve to wellbeing –> +ve academics, +ve socials
(Students’ +ve academic experiences
affected their wellbeing > -ve academic experiences.)
significant -ve to wellbeing –> -ve socials, -ve emotions, -ve ideologies (“success”)
How does success relate to wellbeing?
student wellbeing related to future & personal success > academic success
What supports student wellbeing
- engaging w academic life
- talking w likeminded people
What diminishes student wellbeing
- feeling alone
- overwhelming difficult experiences
What should teachers know about wellbeing?
(+ve wellbeing ..)
- create opportunities for meaningful experiences
- be aware & prepared for -ve academic experiences
Intelligence
The capacity to learn from experience and adapt to one’s environment
What doe sIntelligence depend on?
- Attention
- Memory
- Analysis
- Planning
- Persistence
- Emotional Control
- Social awareness
- Inhibition (filtering irrelevant info)
Different types of intelligence
Cultural, Emotional, Intellectual (general intelligence)
General Intelligence (g)
A person possesses a certain amount of general intelligence (g), that influences their ability on all intellectual tasks.
refereed to as:
- cognitive ability
- general mental ability
- general intelligence factor
- intelligence
Measuring Intelligence
- one dimension (g, IQ)
- two dimensions (crystallized, fluid)
- a few dimensions (thurstone 7, gardner 7)
- many dimensions (caroll’s 3-stratum model)
Binet-Simon Scale
Intelligence test measuring intellectual development in CHILDREN.
- ASSUMES THAT developmental trajectory of Intelligence can be changed
—> led to WISC, Stanford-Binet scale, British Ability
Intelligence as One Dimension: Mental Age (MA)
- The average age at which children achieve a given score on Binet and Simon’s test.
- The Mean score for large samples of children of the same age
- A TYPICALLY developing child should be able to answer questions typical for their chronological age
- An intellectually IMPAIRED child should answer FEWER questions than typical for their chronological age
Lewis Terman’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
IQ = (100)(mental age / chronological age)
problem: non-changing number hence can’t represent change –> doesn’t measure intelligence as a developmental concept
Intelligence as Two Dimensions:
Raymond Cattell’s
- cyrstalized & fluid intelligence
- Crystalized intelligence INCREASES over the LIFESPAN, fluid intelligence DECREASES over the lifespan
Intelligence as A Few Dimensions:
–> Howard Gardner’s 7 domains of intelligence
- linguistic
- spatial
- kinesthetic
- musical
- interpersonal (w other people)
- logic/ mathematical
- intrapersonal (with oneself)
–> Thurstone’s 7 primary mental abilities:
- word fluency
- verbal comprehension
- inductive reasoning
- spatial visualisation
- number facility
- associative memory
- perceptual speed
Intelligence as MANY Processes:
John Carroll’s Three-stratum
theory of intelligence places:
- g at the TOP of the intelligence hierarchy,
- 8 moderately general abilities in the middle,
- many specific processes at the bottom
Stanford-Binet Scale
5 COGNITIVE abilities:
- Fluid reasoning
- Knowledge
- Quantitative reasoning
- Visual-spatial processing
- Working memory
Popular in U.S
For ages 2 to 23
Uses MA
British Ability Scale
3 domains:
- Verbal ability
- Non-verbal reasoning
- Spatial ability
Popular in U.K
For ages 3 to 17:
- “Early” for 3 to 7
- “School” for 6 to 17
- Uses g
Wechsler Intelligence Test
for Children (WISC)
Wechsler Intelligence Test
for Children (WISC)
- most widely used instrument for children 6+ years
- Two main sections:
1. Verbal: general knowledge, language skills
Information - Vocabulary
- Similarities
- Arithmetic
- Comprehension
- Digit span
- Performance: spatial & perceptual abilities
- Block design
- Coding
- Mazes
- Object assembly
- Picture completion
- Picture arrangement
(Uses MA –> ONE SCORE of intelligence )
What do items measure?
the CAPACITY of an individual to the world about him and his RESOURCEFULNESS to COPE with its CHALLENGES
Correspondence analysis
Identifies sets of items that DISCRIMINATE between children of the same age (eg: MA)
Factor analysis
- Determines patterns of response across the items.
- Identifies commonalities or differences in those patterns.
- Distinct patterns represent underlying “factors” (cognitive abilities)
- Informs different theories of the structure of intelligence.
ISSUES of measurement
- none of all 3 (SBS, BAS, WISC) measure all 8 components of G
- crystallized / Fluid / Visual perceptions are influenced by cultural background
Fluid intelligence
–> ability to learn fr experiences & solve problems
(eg. block design: arrange these blocks to match the picture)
- X influenced by culture
(eg. mazes)
Crystallized intelligence
–> Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age (eg. general info, comprehension)
- WISC scores DIFFER among ethnic groups (Average IQ of Euro-American children is higher than African American children)
- indicate a CULTURAL DIFF in intelligence
- Patterns refer only to statistical means, not individual scores
- More variability within groups than between them
- Perhaps reflects differences in crystalised and visuo-spatial tests
Larry P vs Riles (1970)
[WISC & Culture case study]
Legal case between 6 African-American families and California:
- Children who did poorly on WISC were labelled ‘mentally retarded’ / ‘cognitive impaired’
- Test items all drew on European-American culture
- Minority children did poorly on the test
- The families wanted the Court to acknowledge the racial discrimination within, and furthered by, the WISC
- The families WON the legal case
- NO IQ tests were to be given to African-American children in the state of California
- Larry P was in 1st grade when given the test
- He was deemed ‘mentally retarded’ and moved into special ed class with no resources
–> In 8th grade: - He had 3rd grade reading level
- “Half-Day” program, working at the local grocery story store for 4 school hours each day, without pay
–> As an adult: - Involved in serious work-place injury
- Missed out on workers compensation because he couldn’t read the letter offering it
Judith Kearins
[WISC & Culture case study]
- Indigenous children scored higher on visuo-spatial tasks
The Koori IQ Test
demonstrates:
* how value of knowledge is culturally constructed
* what it is like to be assessed and graded on the basis of unfamiliar criteria
Recent Adjustments to the WISC
- WISC IV (2003) was revised to be more VERSATILE:
- Items showing CULTURAL, SES (socio-economic status), or regional bias were eliminated or re-worded prior to the test
- Updating of norms to account
for POPULATION CHANGES in IQ
- Updated items and items that
were more AGE appropriate
* Simplified instructions and
teaching efforts - Other updates include:
- Improvements to measures to reflect new neurological models of cognitive functioning:
o Fluid Reasoning
o Perceptual Reasoning Index
o Working Memory
o Processing Speed
- Revised queries and language samples for answers
- Allowance for some MCQ testing with children to see what they know but cannot express.
The Active child
Children contribute to THEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT from early in life, and their contributions increase as they grow older.
Children make decisions about:
Preferences, Behaviors, Values
Piagetian theory
(of the active child)
–> emphasizes the child as INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTOR of its own development,
- UNDERVALUES contribution of OTHER PEOPLE to cognitive development,
- EXCLUDES TEACHING & cultural influences.
Culture
socially transmitted / socially constructed constellation consisting of:
- practices
- competencies
- ideas,
- schemas
- symbols
- values
- norms,
- institutions
- goals
- constitutive rules
- artefacts,
- modifications of the physical environment.
A developmental theory about culture:
Culture shapes development
Body image
our thoughts, feelings, attitudes and
behaviours we hold towards our appearance
(e.g., how we
look, how our body functions)
Development of Body Image
- develops early as young as 3y/o
- concerns about ‘becoming fat’ / aversion to weight gain
– +ve judgements of thinner bodies
-ve body image in childhood –> a risk factor for poorer psychological wellbeing, disordered eating, in adolescence & adulthood
Cultural variations of physique
- Societal ideals: women (naturally thin), men (muscular)
- But in 980s –> larger bodies in Eastern culture were idealized as it meant wealth/healthy
Body image in sexual minority men
Sexual minority men (e.g., gay, bisexual men) are more vulnerable than heterosexual men to experiencing -ve body image
- emphasis on having a visibly muscular physique
- avoidance of stereotyped effeminate (feminine)
2 layers of Body image in sexual minority men –> subculture (values, norms), broader culture (stereotypes)
Relationship between
nature & nurture
NATURE:
- Heredity & genetic make-up
- Cell maturation
- Evolutionary behaviour
- Biological systems
NURTURE:
- Environment
- Learning
- Peers, friendships
- Cultural Influences
How does G & E affect development?
Four relationships of child development:
1. Parent’s Genotype –> Child’s Genotype
2. Child’s Genotype –> Child’s Phenotype
3. Child’s Environment –> Child’s Phenotype
4. Child’s Phenotype –> Child’s Environment
How does developmental diversity
occur?
Developmental diversity results from the CLOSE and CONTINUAL interplay of GENES and EXPERIENCE
Three key elements:
- Genotype: genetic material one person inherits
- Phenotype: observable expression of the genotype
- Environment
- Parent’s Genotype –> Child’s Genotype
Transmission of chromosomes & genes from parent to offspring
- Child’s Genotype –> Child’s Phenotype
The child’s phenotypes are
expressions of their genotypes
- Child’s Environment –> Child’s Phenotype
Impact of environment on child’s phenotype:
–> Epigenetics :
- Changes that arise due to changing gene EXPRESSION rather than the gene itself
- events in ancestors’ lives can have
ongoing effects on current lives
–> Opportunity :
- Life decisions, availability of options, resources, dangers, nutrition
–> PARENTAL contribution to environment
- Manner of interaction, home
environment, experiences they arrange, encouragement for particular behaviours and attitudes
Child’s Phenotype –> Child’s Environment
The child shapes their own
environments:
- PASSIVE (decrease in influence over time): Children engage in activities that encouraged by others.
- ACTIVE (increase in influence over time): Children seek out environmental niches that
are most compatible with their predisposition (tendencies) - EVOCATIVE (same influence over time): Children’s attributes affect HOW OTHERS interact with them
How much does G & E affect development (heritability)
Heritability:
(how much variability in a population is due to genetic variation)
genetic variation / (genetic + environment)
Two strategies that assess heritability:
- selective breeding (eg in peas, animals, humans in marriage influences)
- family studies (adoptive, twins)
Family studies: ethical considerations
- cannot separate families
- cannot force adoption
- cannot force twins
so observational designs is best:
- identify adoption fams
- report patterns
Gene-environment interactions (GxE)
- EPIGENETIC effects of environment on genes
- VARIATIONS in heritability according to environmental circumstances
- Gene–environment CORRELATIONS
- Gene–environment INTERACTIONS
