Developmental 4.3

Question 1

What is the most intensive period for acquiring speech and language skills, and why?

Answer 1

0-3 years
Rich exposure to experiences

Question 2

How is language generative? (1 sentence)

Answer 2

The elements of language can be recombined in many ways to reconvene meanings

Question 3

What occurs in th e prelinguistic stage of language acquisition? (3 points)

Answer 3

Tailoring perception of phonemes to native language
Early vocalizations (cooing, squealing)
Babbling (practice producing phonemes, pitch, rhythm)

Question 4

When do the one-word and two-word utterances stages occur and whats included in them? (2 points each)

Answer 4

One-word: 1 year
Holophrases: single world standing in for larger sentences

Two-word: 18 months
Consistently formed and worded
Replaced by telegraphic speech

Question 5

What is morphology?

Answer 5

Linguistics - internal structure of complex words
Children learn rules that apply to new language

Question 6

What are characteristics of motherese (child-directed speech)? (5 points)

Answer 6

Louder voice
Slower speech
Accentuate boundaries between words
Fewer words
Repeat and expand on child’s utterances

Question 7

What does semantic development entail? (1 sentence)

Answer 7

Linking the sound of language to meaning

Question 8

What are potential characteristics for late language learners? (3 points)

Answer 8

Have accents
Fail to master syntactic subtleties
Fail to notice grammatical errors

Question 9

What are three types of neural dissociations, and what do they result in? (1 sentence each)

Answer 9

Aphasia - some language abilities selectively impaired caused by brain damage
Syntactic skills reduced - semantic skills intact

Williams Syndrome - cognitive impairments paired with high levels of linguistic skill

Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
Genetic linguistic impairments e.g. dyslexia

Question 10

What is neural dissociation? (1 sentence)

Answer 10

Aspects of language are impaired while others remain intact

Question 11

What is the development of self? (1 sentence)

Answer 11

Developing a concept of who you are

Question 12

What is the mirror test, its aim, and at what age do children become successful at it? (3 steps, 1 aim, age range)

Answer 12

Making a mark on the child’s face
Place child in front of the mirror
See if child touches mark on face

See if they understand concept of self-recognition

Most pass at 18 months - 2 years of age

Question 13

What is gender identity? (1 sentence)

Answer 13

Categorizing oneself as male or female

Question 14

What are gender roles? (1 sentence)

Answer 14

Preferences, appearances, and actions that are correlated with particular gender identities

Question 15

What is gender object-choice? (1 sentence)

Answer 15

Attraction toward members of a particular gender

Question 16

What is self-esteem? (1 sentence)

Answer 16

Value-related aspect thinking about ourselves

Question 17

How does self-esteem develop over 4 periods of age?

Answer 17

Preschool years - extreme/excessive positive self-esteem across all dimensions

Early school years - still positive, less extreme
Social comparisons towards younger self

Middle childhood - compartmentalize self-image
Sees negative attributes in self
Social comparisons begin influencing self-worth

Adolescence - complex social comparisons + depend on context
Individual differences become more pronounced

Question 18

What is self-efficacy? (1 sentence)

Answer 18

Beliefs about one’s own capabilities

Question 19

What are the three components of memory and their purpose?

Answer 19

Encoding - mentally representing info
Storage - storing encoded info
Retrieval - finding stored memory

Question 20

What are the three memory regions in the brain and what are they responsible for? (few points each)

Answer 20

Prefrontal cortex: develops later, critical to strategy use and metamemory knowledge

Posterior cortex: develops before prefrontal and after hippocampus, many functions including storage of context-independent info e.g. semantic facts

Hippocampus: develops early, consolidates memories + sets up retrieval system to track + integrate memories distributed in the cerebral cortex

Question 21

What are three forms of memory and their estimated time-ranges?

Answer 21

Sensory - temporary, related to auditory processing (quickest)
Working - short-term memory (around 15 seconds)
Long-term - different forms (up to life-time)

Question 22

What are 6 types of long-term memory and their main characteristic?

Answer 22

Implicit - effects behaviour
Explicit - consciously recalled
Procedure - knowing how to do something
Declarative - knowing something is true
Semantic - knowledge/facts
Episodic - events/memories

Question 23

What are the three hypotheses of infantile amnesia and what happens in each?

Answer 23

Memory format change hypothesis - impossible to access old format of memory

Neural change hypothesis - late maturation of brain structures limit early storage (least evidence)

Cueing hypothesis - differences in cues trigger memory retrieval limit later recollection

Question 24

What are three features of autobiographical memory and their function? (1 sentence each)

Answer 24

Orienting info - provides context for the where/who of an event

Referential detail - physical properties of important entities

Evaluative info - conveys narrator’s own response to event

Question 25

What is metacognition and how does it develop by age 5? (definition + three points of development)

Answer 25

An illusion of knowing - children overestimate knowledge + do not update it based on feedback
By age 5 - good at evaluating knowledge + intentions of others
Learn that different people have different ‘expert knowledge’
Move away from absolutism

Question 26

What is executive function? (1 sentence)

Answer 26

Effortful, goal-directed regulation of attention, thoughts, and actions

Question 27

What is executive function useful for and why is it needed? (3 points each)

Answer 27

Useful: resisting temptations, staying focused, thinking before acting
Needed in situations where: no routine, need for complex behaviours, conflict /interferences

Question 28

How do childhood executive functions predict adult executive functions? (1 sentence)

Answer 28

Childhood EF is a predictor for life success and high EF in adulthood

Question 29

What is self-regulation and how does it develop over preschool to school age? (definition + 2 points)

Answer 29

The ability to control our emotions and actions
Increases over time
Preschool - low level of self-regulation
School age- starts to improve

Question 30

What does dissociable mean in terms of self-identity?

Answer 30

Self-identity is separable from biological definitions