Developmental 4.2

Question 1

What is plasticity and how does it impact babies’ first skills? (definition, 2 points)

Answer 1

An organism’s ability to respond and adjust to changes in the environment
Less plastic = more efficient, but less helpful for development
More plastic = less efficient, but more helpful for development

Question 2

What purpose are the senses important for in development?

Answer 2

Communication and active response to environment (vision/hearing/crying)

Question 3

At what ages can infants complete low-level processing? (3 points)

Answer 3

2 days - can detect differences in brightness
4 months - can compare brightness levels
Still not adult like

Question 4

What does visual acuity mean and what does it allow us to do? (definition, 4 points)

Answer 4

The sharpness of vision
Seeing contrast
Representing lines
Representing shadows
Picking out shapes

Question 5

What methods are used to measure visual acuity?

Answer 5

Preferential looking method:
Present two stimuli and see which one the baby prefers to look at

Habituation method:
Same image shown repeatedly until habituation occurs
New image shown to see if dishabituation occurs
Measure looking time

Question 6

What facial recognition abilities 3-month-old infants have, and what is this process of development called? (3 points)

Answer 6

Perceptual narrowing
3-month-olds prefer well-proportioned faces to distorted ones
3-month-olds prefer faces of their own race

Question 7

How does hearing develop over time in infants from in utero, 3-month-olds, to 6-month-olds? (utero - 3 points, infants - 5 points)

Answer 7

In utero - prefer stories heard in the womb
Differentiate own language from different language
Prefer mother’s voice

Infants - motherese (e.g. high pitched speech)
Prefer music/language from own culture
Newborns prefer monkey to synthetic sounds
3-month-olds prefer human to nonhuman sounds
6-month-olds interpret speech intonations (e.g. differentiate approval from disapproval)

Question 8

How does sound localization develop in infants and how is it measured? (2 points)

Answer 8

Reflex based head turning
Interaction of innate ability and learning from environment

Question 9

How does taste develop in infants and how is it measured? (3 points)

Answer 9

A fetus can taste amniotic fluid
Newborns react to sweetness
Newborns show distinct facial expressions to different flavours

Question 10

How does smell develop in infants and how is it measured? (3 points)

Answer 10

Newborns prefer smell of lactation: prefer breast milk to formula
Sweet smells provide pain-killing effect
Breathing patterns change when smelling new smell

Question 11

What is intermodal perception? (1 sentence)

Answer 11

Integrating information from two or more sense

Question 12

What are the 5 motor reflexes infants initially have, and what is an example of each? (P, R, G, S, M)

Answer 12

Patellar reflex i.e. knee jerk
Rooting reflex i.e. mouth moves towards brush on cheek
Grasp reflex e.g. grabbing onto anything in their hand
Stepping reflex e.g. walking when lowered onto surface
Moro reflex e.g. arms move to side when unsupported

Question 13

Why is there a decline in reflex actions after a month of life? (2 points)

Answer 13

Biological explanation: frontal cortex develops = increased ability to inhibit motor actions
Structural explanation: increase in weight, change in muscle tone

Question 14

What is the maturational account? (2 points)

Answer 14

Motor development depends on the development of the brain’s motor program

But, motor deprivation does not lead to motor impairment (only extreme, and still reversible)

Question 15

What is the dynamic systems theory? (definition + example)

Answer 15

Complex behaviour emerges out of complex interactions between the components necessary for executing a behaviour

e.g. walking emerges from brain maturation + visual input of others walking + infant weight + environment

Question 16

What is perceptual-motor development, and what is the process? (2 points)

Answer 16

Development of the ability to guide voluntary action on the basis of perceived stimuli

Cyclical: see something, react, perceive reaction, adjust performance

Question 17

What are two perspectives of perception, action, and the changing body?

Answer 17

Empiricist view: initially move limbs randomly, trial and error leads to correct integration

Nativist view: initially move limbs with purpose, other developmental changes improve performance

Question 18

How does the development of reaching progress from five to ten months? (2 points)

Answer 18

Five months: hand shape and orientation matches goals
Ten months: arm trajectory and speed match goal

Question 19

How do visual flow fields impact the emergence of walking? (2 points)

Answer 19

Visual patterns of motion give feedback about speed and direction of movement
When illusory visual flow field is created, it can knock down infants

Question 20

How do infants show signs of early imitation? (3 points)

Answer 20

Imitate experimenter’s facial expressions
From 10 weeks - can imitate sounds
More likely to imitate humans than nonhumans

Question 21

What are the four behaviours related to forming earliest bonds of infants with others? (newborn, 3, 6, 8 months)

Answer 21

Newborn - no specific bonds but show preference for looking at faces over other stimuli + attend to human voices

3 months - no specific bonds but smile at people more

6 months - formed bonds to specific individuals + smile in their presence

8 months - show separation distress when individuals with specific bonds leave

Question 22

What are the effects of social deprivation? (1 study, 5 points)

Answer 22

1940s - research on effect of social deprivation on children in orphanage showed:
Reduced exploration, locomotion, motor action
Scared and angry reactions to people + frantic cling ing
Anxious behaviours e.g. rocking back and forth, biting self
Vacant stares + lack of awareness
37% babies died by age 2 compared to 0% in babies placed in other environment

Question 23

What is the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (2000)? (4 facts)

Answer 23

• Randomised controlled trial of foster care as an intervention
• 126 children randomly assigned high quality foster care / remained in institutional care
• Avg age at entry = 22 months, range = 6-31 months
• All seen for follow up assessments at 30, 42, 54 months, 8 yrs, 12 yrs

Question 24

What were the impacts of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (2000)? (2 points)

Answer 24

Broadly effective in enhancing children’s development e.g. brain activity (EEG), attachment, language, cognition
Executive functioning (e.g. memory + cognitive monitoring) not significantly impacted