Developmental 3 Flashcards
describe the natural variation in human population
Physical variation: Hair/Eye colour, height, baldness.
• Cognitive variation: IQ, language, memory.
• Behavioural variation: personality.
Describe chromosomes in genes
• 46 chromosomes (22 pairs of autosomes, 2 sex
chromosomes)
what is on each chromosome
On each chromosome there are set of genes, which code
for organism functions either in isolation or through
interaction with other gene
what does genetics suggest
• We inherit traits from our familial group.
• Some instances of inheritance are simple (i.e.,
involving one gene).
• Others are more complex: polygenic inheritance
what is dominant gene
Dominant gene: requires one copy of gene to reveal trait
what is recessive trait
requires two copies of a gene to reveal
trait.
what are genetic disorders caused by dominant genes
give an examine
Disorders caused by dominant genes: one copy of gene sufficient.
- **Huntington’s Disease: **
- Nervous system deterioration after the age of 40 years.
- All carriers develop the disease.
describe genetic disorders caused by recessive genes
give example
both copies of genes required
• Phenylketonuria (PKU):
• inability to metabolise phenylalanine, an amino acid found in food.
• Phenylalanine accumulates in blood, causing severe cognitive deficits
and other abnormalities.
describe how chromosomal abnormalities amount
chromosomal abnormalities occur when there are errors in cell division during gamete formation (sperm and ovum)
Give an example of a syndrome resulting from chromosal abnormality
Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21).
• Low IQ (average = 55).
• Memory and speech problems.
• Limited vocab.
• Motor problems.
• Congenital eye, ear, heart and
intestinal defects.
• More common in older mothers
abnormality of sex chromosome syndromes
**Turner Syndrome **female, short, webbed neck, heavy
build, infertile, poor memory and
spatial ability.
Poly-x syndrome female, tall, fertile, impaired verbal
intelligence.
what is phenotype
genetics + environment
what is polygenic inheritance
polygenic trait is one whose phenotype is influenced by more than one gene. Traits that display a continuous distribution, such as height or skin color, are polygenic
what is behavioural genetics explore
influence of genetics on behaviour
what is heritability
the proportion of a given behaviour that is due
to genetics rather than environmental factors.
What are two types of natural experiment that distinguishes behaviour from environment
Twin studies
adoption studies
differences between identical and fraternal twins
Identical
• Splitting of a **single fertilized
egg. **
• Same DNA (although the rise
of epigenetics does admit
differences)/Same
environment.
• **Fraternal **twins
• Separate fertilisation of two
eggs. **
• Same environment/different **
DNA.
what was the assumption made from twin studies?
If identical twins are more similar on a given behaviour than
fraternal twins, then that behaviour has a **heritable **
component.
limitation to twin studies
each type of twin share the
same environment
3 comparison groups in adoption studies
which one of the traits is most typical
• Leads to three comparison groups:
- Genetics + environment.
- Shared environment.
- Shared genetics.
number 1
limitations of adoption studies
Generalisability:
adoption agencies ‘match’ children to families of simlar background - confounds interpretation of environment
what is pre-natal development
what is the developing child influenced by
most rapid and dramatic period of change across
the lifespan
- Teratogenic
- • External influences eg. pathogens, drugs cause birth deficits
- Alcohol syndrome
FAS is?
- fetal alcohol syndrome
- Smaller brains lacking in cortical convolutions.
- Excessive irritability, hyperactivity, seizures, & tremors.
- Retarded physical growth.
• Moderate alcohol intake (1 drink per day) can cause minor physical and behavioural abnormalities (not FAS).
Heavy drinkers (5 per day) have a **30%** chance of having children with FAS.
are children born with knowledge of world?
no, they are not
conceptual development
what is a concept and category
Concept: a mental representation of a class of things or events.
**Category:** a class of things or events in the world • e.g., humans, animals, plants.
in early life, what 3 categories do children divide the world into?
• Very early in life children divide the world into three
general categories:
1. People.
2. Animals (excl. plants).
3. Inanimate objects.
how old can children categorise
3-4 months through the habituation and dishabituation paradigm
at what age do categories expand in children?
6 months
how to young infants categorise?
by perceptual similarity.
Infants attend to a number of perceptual dimensions:
colour, size, movement
**eg. Children < 18 months: legs = animal, wheels = vehicle. **
as children grow older, what happens?
their categories become hierarchical
what are the 3 hierarchies and which are acquired first
superordinate level
Basic level (acquired first): covers important features shared by most instances of category. eg. dog, cat
subordinate level
describe role of causal understanding in categorising
causal understanding of features helped with memory
knowledge of self and other people
what 3 concepts do we use to understand human behaviour?
naiive psychology concepts We use our understanding of three concepts to
understand human behaviour
- Desires.
- Beliefs.
- Action.
what are 3 noteworthy properties of psychological concepts:
- Many refer to invisible mental states.
• You can’t see desires or beliefs – how do children understand
them? - They are linked to each other in **cause-effect **
relationships.
• I eat when I’m hungry; I cry because I’m sad. - Naïve psychological concepts develop very early in life.
describe infant’s naiive psychology
Infants have enormous interest in other humans:
• Prefer to look at human faces rather than at objects.
• Prefer to watch human bodies moving rather than other displays
with equal amounts of movement.
• Imitate people’s facial movements.
infant’s naive psychology
what is joint attention and what age do infants engage in it?
what is joint attention a prerequisite to
Around 12 months of age children begin engaging in
joint attention.
Direct their attention to the same direct as the other
prerequisite to understanding contents of others minds
in what circumstances may theory of mind develop early
when children show interest in others
how long does it take to develop theory of mind
a considerably long time
what is theory of mind?
an organised understanding of how mental processes (intentions, emotions, beliefs, desires, perceptions) influence behaviour.
describe the development stages of theory of mind
12 month olds understand actions linked to desire
2 year old desires are
subjective
2-3 do not understand beliefs undermine actions
what does failure of false belief task indicate?
• Failure indicates children have difficulty understanding that people act according to belief (their representation
of reality
does children’s development of theory of mind continue into adult hood what benefits does it have?
Children’s understanding others’ minds continues to
develop into adulthood.
• Predicts development of empathy
when is theory of mind impaired or delayed ?
- Language impairment.
- Deaf children.
- Autism Spectrum Disorder.
