Developmental psych Flashcards
What are some strengths and limitations of using interviews to gather data about children?
o Allows full focus on the behaviour in question
o Follow up questions can clarify an earlier response
o Can be difficult to generalise beyond the individual case
o Can be difficult to generate a causal argument – don’t have control over all variables
o Have to keep in mind the accuracy of what the child is saying (could be lying)
What are some strengths and limitations of using naturalistic observations to gather data about children?
o Observe children in their natural environment
o Has good ecological validity – similar to “real-life”
o Can be used to study a range of behaviour – e.g., things that would be unethical to replicate in an experiment (neglect etc.)
o Hard to identify causal relationships – hard to know which variables influenced the behaviour of interest
o Painstaking to administer – many behaviours occur only occasionally in everyday environments – takes huge amounts of time, resources and money to do effectively
What did Jean-Jacques Rousseau believe?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau – argued that parents and society should give the child maximum freedom from the beginning
What did John Locke believe?
John Locke was an empiricist too – saw the child as a blank slate and advocated first instilling discipline, then gradually increase the child’s freedom
What did Aristotle believe? What did he emphasise?
Aristotle however was concerned with fitting child rearing to the needs of the individual child
Aristotle was an empiricist – believed that knowledge comes from experience - nurture
What did Plato believe? What did he emphasise?
Plato emphasised self-control and discipline when raising children
Plato was a nativist – believed that children are born with an innate knowledge about the world - nature
What is Ontogeny?
The evolution of the individual organism
What is Phylogeny?
The evolution of the species
What are the strengths and limitations of using a cross-sectional design to examine development?
o Children of different ages are compared on a given behaviour/characteristic over a short period of time
o Most common design used
o Quick
o Doesn’t show development of the individual
o Can show problems with cohort effects – might have a variable embedded in lifestyle use for one age cohort compared to another, would affect results
How did Hood (1995) test young children’s understanding of gravity?
- Dropping an object and will children understand where the object will fall
- Dropping an object into a tube that moved the ball to a position that wasn’t straight down
- Child’s understanding of gravity was robust – didn’t change no matter how many errors occurred
What is a naturalistic experiment?
Naturalistic experiments – data is collected in everyday settings such as the home or in a special playroom at the testing lab
What are some strengths and limitations of using experiments to gather data about children?
o Can directly test relationships between variables
o Change one variable at a time – experimental control is relatively easy
o Can establish a causal relationship
o “artificial” technique – so lacks in ecological validity unless using “naturalistic” experiments
o Sometimes are not possible due to ethical issues
What is this issue with observational learning in infants? Does it happen at all?
- Recent work suggests that young infants cannot imitate – will stick tongue out to any interesting visual display
- Imitation in older infants does happen – can imitate in person or behaviour they see on TV by 15 months
- Implicate their intentions rather than literal actions
- Infants watch an adult try to pull the end off of a dumbbell but fail. Infant would then imitate the action but would pull the end off – imitating the intention
What is observational learning?
- Ability to imitate others may be present from early life e.g., newborns sticking out their tongues if you do too
What is instrumental conditioning (operant)?
- Learning the relationship between our behaviour and the consequences of our behaviours
- Repeat behaviours that lead to reward and give up behaviours that lead to punishment
- Behaviour must already occur before it can be instrumentally conditioned
- Conditioning occurs when an infant learns the contingency relation between their behaviour the resulting consequence
- Positive reinforcement - means behaviour is reliably rewarded by a positive experience (used mostly with children)
- Negative reinforcement – behaviour is reliably rewarded by stopping an ongoing negative experience
- Punishment – behaviour is reliably penalised by a negative experience
- Extinction – behaviour is neither reliably rewarded or punished, behaviour just stops occurring
What is Classical conditioning? Give an example related to infancy
- Association between an initially neutral stimulus with another stimulus that always evokes a reflexive response
- When bottle is presented, baby turns and sucks
- If stroked hand when presented bottle, eventually the baby will suck just to the stroking of the hand
What is statistical learning?
- Involves picking up info from the environment, forming associations among stimuli that occur in a statically predictable pattern e.g., knowing where the mirror is in a bathroom
- Natural environment contains high degree of regularity and redundancy
- Statistical learning is critical to language learning
What are affordances? Give an example
- The possibilities for action offered by objects and situations
- E.g., an infant must learn in a shape sorter which shapes afford being picked up and put in which hole
What is differentiation? Give an example
- The extraction from the constantly changing stimulation in the environment of those elements that are invariant or stable (Gibson)
- E.g., infants learn the association between certain facial expressions and tones of voice, even from different people
Does perceptual learning take place from birth? Elaborate
- From birth, infants can use their sense to search for order and regularity. Perceptual learning is involved in many examples of intermodal co-ordination e.g., a glass falling and a glass smashing are related events
What is habituation?
- A decrease in responsiveness to repeated stimulation – reveals learning has occurred
- The infant has a memory of representation of the repeated, now-familiar stimulus
- The speed with which an infant habituate is believed to reflect the general efficiency of the infant’s processing information
- Some continuity has been found between these measures in infancy and general cognitive ability at 18
Does learning begin before the child is born? Elaborate
- Learning begins before the child is even born
- Newborn infants show recognition of things they’ve been presented before birth
- Also prefer smells, tastes, and sound patterns that are familiar due to prenatal exposure
True or false, Rich learning environments lead to more synaptic connections?
TRUE
What is synaptogenesis?
The creation of more synapses
What must researchers do when researching children (ethical issues)
- Ensure the research does not harm the children physically/psychologically
- Obtain informed consent from parents/guardians and the child (if they are old enough to understand)
- Persevere the anonymity of the children who take part
- Counteract any negative outcomes and correct any inaccurate impressions
What is the micro genetic design?
o Used to provide an in-depth depiction of processes that produce change
o Provides insight into the process and the emotional response to it
o Children who are thought to be on the verge of an important developmental change are provided with heightened exposure to the type of experience that is believed to produce the change and are studied intensely while their behaviour is in transition
o Seigler and Jenkins – “counting on”
Can using a longitudinal vs a cross-sectional design result in different conclusions?
Yes
e.g., growth is smooth vs growth is inconsistent
What are the strengths and limitations of using a longitudinal design to examine development?
o Take one cohort of children and study them at several different times
o Time-consuming
o Suffer from attrition – drop out from ppts, could end up with bias from study. The attrition isn’t random, the people that stay in the study may depend on the very characteristics you are studying e.g., impulsivity, substance abuse
o Powerful designs because you’re studying the same individuals – no group differences
o Expensive
What are the 3 main levels of categorical hierarchies?
o A very general one – the superordinate level (living things)
o A medium one in between, the basic level (birds)
o A very specific one, the subordinate level (parrots)
What are categorical hierarchies?
o A major way in which infants figure out how things in the world are related to are another is by dividing objects into categorical hierarchies e.g., categories related by sub-set relations
Can infants attribute personality traits to inanimate objects?
- Infants can seemingly attribute personality traits to inanimate objects just by watching their behaviour
- Circle trying to get up the hill, square helps and triangle pushes circle back down
- Infants then chose the square over the triangle when given the choice
What evidence suggests that - Infants may attribute intentions and goals to inanimate entities as long as they “behave” like humans?
- 12- and 15-month-olds were introduced to a faceless, eyeless, blob that “vocalised” and moved in response to what the infant/experimenter did, thus simulating a normal human interaction (Johnson, 2003)
- When the blob turned in one direction, the infants looked in that direction. Infants didn’t behave this way with a blob whose behaviour was not contingently related to their own
What evidence suggests that infants understand intention?
- Woodward – infants who see a human arm repeatedly reach for an object in the same location assume that the action is directed toward the object, not the place
- 6-month-olds looked longer when the hand went to the new object in the old place, than when it reached for the old object, it had reached too before
What is social knowledge?
- Infants must acquire knowledge about people and their behaviour
o Distinguishing between animate and inanimate objects
o Knowing that the behaviour of others is purposeful and goal-directed - By the end of the first year, infants have learned lots about how people’s behaviour is related to goals and intentions – suggests theory of mind
What violations are detected at each stage of development?
- By 3 months – no contact between an object and its support (appears to float)
- By 5 months – type of contact is important – e.g., cannot be supported from the side
- By 6.5 months – amount of contact is important
- By 12.5 months – shape of objects is important
What is physical knowledge?
- Knowledge of gravity begins in the first year (Hood’s tube experiment)
- Infants have been shown to longer at objects that appear to violate laws of physics e.g., ball rolling up a slope (Kim & Spelke, 1992)
- Infants also gradually come to understand under what conditions one object can support another – gradually refined
Why might infants show object permanence with VoE and not with A-not-B task?
- Memory limitations – infants may have difficulty remembering the location of the hidden item
- Problems with inhibitory control – have difficulty inhibiting an over-learned response
- Competition – between a representational system and a response system – they do understand where the object is hidden, but there is some competition/disconnection between their understanding of their perceptions and the system which programs the correct motor behaviour
What is the Baillargeon drawbridge study?
- Infants as young as 3 ½ months look longer at an “impossible” event than at a possible event. The infants mentally represented the box (understood object permanence) even when it was occluded and were surprised when the screen seemed to pass through the box
What is the A-not-B error?
A-not-B error – not simply making a mistake, is specifically returning to the original hiding location
What is the A-not-B task? What are some factors that make the A-not-B error more or less likely to occur?
A-not-B task – object hidden several times in Location A then hidden in Location B – does child look for the object in Location A or B?
- Highly replicable – basic result not in doubt
- Factors that make the A-not-B error more or less likely to occur:
o Age of child (won’t look for object before age 8 months, won’t make error after 12 months)
o Length of delay
o Number of times object hidden in location A
o Number of hiding locations – less likely to make error if there are more hiding locations
What is play in relation to Vygotsky’s theory?
- Play – play with peers is one way that children can stretch their performance into the ZPD
o Playing games involves rules and roles, allowing children to learn how to: separate ideas from objects; self-regulate their behaviour
What is guided participation?
- Guided participation – a more knowledgeable individual can organize activities in ways that allow children to engage in them in a kind of cultural apprenticeship
What is social scaffolding?
- A process in which more competent people provide a temporary framework that supports children’s thinking at a higher level than children could manage on their own (into the ZPD)
o The quality of scaffolding that other people can provide tends to increase as people become older and gain experience
What is the zone of proximal development?
- Zone of proximal development – the range of performance between what children can do unsupported and what they can do with optimal support
What is social referencing?
o Social referencing – the tendency to look to social partners for guidance about how to respond the unfamiliar/threatening events
What is joint attention?
o Joint attention – a process in which social partners intentionally focus on a common referent in the external environment
What is intersubjectivity?
- Intersubjectivity – the mutual understanding that people share during a communication
How are children products of culture? (Vygotsky)
- The content that children learn varies greatly from culture to culture and these differences shape children’s thinking accordingly
- Sociocultural theorists believe that change occurs through social interactions
- Although cultural content varies, the processes that produce development are the same in all societies
What role do teachers and learners play in a child’s development? (Vygotsky)
- Adults teach young people facts, skills, values and traditions – happens in every society and makes culture possible
- The inclinations to teach and to learn are uniquely human (controversial)
o Emerges very early
What is behaviour regulation? (Vygotsky)
- Children’s behaviour is primarily controlled by other people telling them what to do
- Then children’s behaviour is controlled by their private speech (4- 6 years)
- Eventually children’s behaviour is controlled by internalised private speech
o Speech “goes underground” and becomes thought
What is a child’s private speech?
- Piaget called this “egocentric speech”
- Vygotsky viewed this as the foundation for all higher cognitive processes. Language and thought are integrally related. E.g., a child talking themselves through what they are doing when they are playing. Eventually this private speech becomes silent
How are cultural tools useful for a child’s development? (Vygotsky)
Interactions allow a child to learn the cultural tools of their society e.g., language, values, skills
Eventually a child understands a cultural tool and can use it independently – process of internalisation
What are higher mental functions? (Vygotsky)
- Higher mental functions – consciously controlled transformations of lower functions that are developed through cultural mediation. Involve voluntary attention, conceptual thought and logical planning
- Higher mental functions develop through cultural mediation – the transmission of knowledge through social interactions
What are lower mental functions? (Vygotsky)
- Lower mental functions – regarded as basic mental abilities closely tied to biological processes that are innate and involuntary. Involve simple perception, memory and responding directly to environment
How did Vygotsky view children?
- Children are viewed as social beings, shaped by cultural contexts.
- Children develop and learn by interacting with other members of their society
- Sees development as continuous with quantitative changes
What is guided participation?
Guided participation – a process in which more knowledgeable individuals organize activities in ways that allow less knowledgeable people to engage in them at a higher level than they could manage on their own
What is an overview of Vygotsky’s theory?
- Sociocultural approach
- Theory presents children as social beings, intertwined with other people who are eager to help them gain skills and understanding
- Focus on the contribution of other people and the surrounding culture to the child’s development
What are some limitations of Piaget’s theory?
- Stage model depicts children’s thinking as being more consistent than it is e.g., pass conservation of number tasks before solid-quantity tasks
- Infants and young children are more cognitively competent than Piaget recognized e.g., developing object permanence earlier
o Issues with conservation of liquid task – children may have not understood the researcher question. If they children were provided with a clear reason for making the change of glass, many passed the test (Light, Buckingham & Robbins (1979))
o Conservation of number task – pass task when given a reason for the change. This works because infants assume that when the adult does it something must have changed, but with a valid reason they understand that it hasn’t
o Suggested some tasks from Piaget where just took difficult – required other skills such as working memory - Piaget’s theory understates the contribution of the social world to cognitive development
- Theory is vague and descriptive – doesn’t give a why behind his reasoning of the stages
What is the formal operations stage of development? (Piaget)
- Formal operational stage (12+ years): can think abstractly and reason hypothetically. Can imagine alternative worlds and reason systematically about all possible outcomes of a situations
- Piaget believed that the attainment of this last stage is not universal (unlike the others) – instead depends on environment, quality of education
What is the concrete operational stage of development? (Piaget)
Concrete operational stage (7 – 12 years): children begin to reason logically about the world. They can solve conservation problems but their successful reasoning is largely limited to concrete situations. Thinking systematically remains difficult
o Inhelder and Piaget’s pendulum problem – compare different lengths of string with different weights in order to see the time it takes for the pendulum to swing back and forth. Children under 12 usually perform unsystematic experiments and draw incorrect conclusions
What is the pre-operational stage of development? (Piaget)
- Pre-operational stage (2 – 7 years): toddlers and young children start to rely on internal representations of the world based on language and mental imagery
o Symbolic representation – the use of one object to stand for another object. Makes a variety of new play possible
o Egocentrism – tendency to be selfish and only perceive the world through their own view. This was depicted by Piaget and Inhelder’s Three Mountains Task – children unable to take the perspective of another person, either describe their own POV or the whole scene. Can also be seen in egocentric conversations
o Conservation errors – where the child incorrectly believes that simply changing the appearance of an object can change its quantity – this was demonstrated by conservation tasks (pouring liquid from one glass to another and see if the child thought the amount of liquid had increased, decreased or stayed the same) - “centration” – focus on one perceptually salient aspect of the stimulus and ignore the other stimulus dimensions e.g., height of the liquid but not the width of the glass
What is the sensorimotor stage of development? (Piaget)
- Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years): infants get to know the world through their senses and through their actions
o OP – knowledge that an object continues to exist even though we can’t see it anymore. Typically emerges around 8 months
o After attaining OP, children make A not B error – tendency to reach to where objects were found before but are not currently hidden. Happens until around 12 months. Suggests that the child mentally represents the object after it has disappeared from view but this representation is fragile
o Children start to form enduring mental representations by the stage end – first sign is deferred imitation (the repetition of other people’s behaviour a substantial time after it occurred)
What are the discontinuities of Piaget’s theory?
- Hierarchal stages that have central properties: o Qualitative step change o Broad applicability o Brief transitions o Invariant sequence
What are the continuities of Paget’s theory?
- Three processes that work together from birth to propel development forward
- Assimilation – process by which people translate incoming info into a form they can understand. Infant learns about how objects behave and can generalise this to other objects
- Accommodation – the process by which people adapt current knowledge structures in response to new experiences. Infants’ theories about the world can be contradicted by new info. So, infant has to adjust theory of the world to incorporate this new info
- Equilibration – the process by which people can balance assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding.
What 4 characteristics does Piaget’s theory have?
- Constructionist
- Stage theory
- Invariant sequence
- Universals
Why is Piaget’s theory labelled constructivist?
Theory is labelled as constructivist – depicts children as constructing knowledge for themselves
How does Piaget see children?
Piaget sees children as “little scientists”:
- Learning important lessons on their own
- Intrinsically motivated to learn
Why do children usually learn the basic level category first?
o Objects at this level share many common characteristics (unlike superordinate level categories)
o Category members are relatively easy to discriminate (unlike those in subordinate level categories)
What are reflexes?
Reflexes – innate, fixed patterns of action that occur in response to particular stimulation (not always automatic e.g., rooting reflex is more likely to occur when infant is hungry)
Some reflexes have a clear adaptive value which promotes the child’ survival (e.g., feeding reflex), others appear to be pointless (e.g., tonic neck reflex – head turned, limbs extend on correlating side and pull in on other)
What is intermodal perception? What does research suggest?
Intermodal perception – the combination of info from more than one sense to create a coherent whole. The ability to combine info from 2 or more sense is present from very early in life
- When 2 videos are presented simultaneously, 4-month-old infants prefer to watch the images that correspond to the sounds they are hearing
- Using a similar technique, researchers have found that by 5-months-old, infants associate facial expressions with emotion in voices
- Infants held 2 rings under a cloth, allowed to play until habituated
- Some rings were connected by a rigid bar and others by a flexible cord
- Were then shown the other type of rings, but not allowed to touch them. Looked longer at these rings
- Infants can combine info
What is expression of taste like in newborns?
- Newborns facial expressions when tasting different flavours are similar to those of adults, indicating these expressions are innate
What is taste and smell like in newborns?
- By 2 weeks, babies appear to be able to differentiate the scent of their own mothers from that of another woman, an ability shared by a variety of infant mammals
When does infants sensitivity to taste and smell develop?
- Develops before birth
- Newborns prefer the smell of breast milk, regardless of whether they have been breastfed or bottle-fed
How do infants perceive taste and smell?
- Preference for sweetness, may be innate:
o DeSnoo – treatment for mothers who had too much amniotic fluid
o Injected dye + sweetener vs. dye alone
o More dye present in urine of mothers injected with dye and sweetener vs dye alone
o Preference for sweetness, as they ingest more amniotic fluid when it is present - Marlier et al.:
o Newborn infants prefer the smell of their “own” amniotic fluid relative to that of another baby - Teacher & Blass:
o Amniotic fluid promotes post-birth feeding behaviour in rats
o Baby rats navigate to mother rat for feeding very soon after birth
o If rat is washed immediately after birth, pups don’t find food source
Can infants perceive music?
- Evidence to suggest biological foundation
o Heel lance procedure on premature infants, 31 weeks
o Heart rate returned to normal more quickly when played Brahms lullaby (regardless of instrument)
o Not present for infants <31 weeks GA
o Suggests by 31 weeks of pregnancy, infants have an appreciation for music and it can calm them more quickly - Corbeil et al. – singing keeps infants 7-10-months calm for twice as long as speech
- Infants share preferences for music sounds, like adults
- Infants respond to rhythm and temporal organisation in music, preferring music that had pauses between musical phrases rather than in the middle
- Infants are also sensitive to melody, showing habituation to the same tune regardless of changes to the pitch
What are infants perceptions of speech sounds?
- At 2-months:
o Infant such on dummy, presented one phoneme until habituated (seen through sucking), presented new phoneme, infant dishabituates (sucking rate increases)
What is pictorial representations research?
- Newborns can recognize the 2D versions of 3D shapes however, children must come to understand their symbolic nature
- Before they reach 19-months and have substantial experience with pictures, infants and toddlers attempt to treat pictures as though they were the real objects
What is the Ames window study?
- 7-month-old, wearing an eye patch (takes away binocular depth info), reaches to the longer size of the trapezoidal window – looking at monocular depth cue
- This behaviour indicates that the infant sees it as the nearer, and hence more readily reachable, side of a regular window
What are monocular cues?
Monocular cues – cues of depth that can be achieved by one eye alone
- 6-7-months, infants become sensitive to these
- Inc. relative size (larger is closer) , interposition (overlapping) and linear perspective (convergence of parallel lines)
What is stereopsis?
Stereopsis - the process by which the visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity (the slightly different signals sent to the brain by the two eyes)
- Stereopsis emerges suddenly at around 4 months of age
What is optical expansion?
Optical expansion - a depth cue in which an object occludes increasingly more of the background, indicating that the object is approaching
- One-month-old infants will blink defensively at an object that appears to be heading towards them
How does object segregation and gravity affect infants?
- Older infants can use other cues for object segregation
- E.g., understanding of concepts such as gravity to determine if it is a single object or two objects
- Wouldn’t expect this until at least 5-months-old
How does object segregation affect infants?
- Infants see perceive a rod moving behind a block, habituate to display
- Look longer at two rod segments than at a single rod
- If they see a display with no movement, look equally long at the two possibilities – without movement, are unsure if rod and block are one or two objects
- Movement is important for object segregation
What is perceptual constancy? How does it relate to infants?
Perceptual constancy – the perception of object as being of constant size, shape, colour etc. in spite of physical differences in the retinal image of the object (know the object is the same size even if it is placed in different areas that might make it appear a different size)
- If an infant looks at the larger, but further away cube, researchers will conclude the child has size constancy
- Supports nativist position, visual experience does not seem to be necessary for perceptual constancy
When do children develop pattern perception?
- 2-month-old infants can integrate separate elements of a visual display into a coherent pattern
o Subjective contour – perceive a shape but it is not actually there
o 7-month-olds can also see this overall pattern and detect the illusory shape - Infants were habituated to different varieties of the subjective contour so that it didn’t actually form a square and the dishabituated when presented with a square – suggests that they were habituated to the actual shape not just the angles
- Effect not present in newborns – possible due to acuity (too fuzzy for them to effectively see)
Do infants look longer at faces that adults find more attractive?
Yes
- Attractiveness affects behaviour – infants interact more positively with people with attractive faces
o 12-month-old children
o Very attractive/unattractive woman (same woman, different makeup)
o Play with child – child more responsive to attractive woman
o Woman did not know how she looked on each occasion
When do infants develop face expertise?
- Adults and 9-month-old children have difficulty distinguishing between monkey faces but not human faces
- 6-month-olds just as good at distinguishing between monkey faces as human faces
- Prefer females faces by around 3-months, unless primary caregiver is males
- With experience, infants not only develop a preference for the type of face they see most often, but also come to understand the significance of different facial expression (4-5-months)
What is scanning and tracking in infants like?
- Scanning
o One-month-olds: scan perimeters of shape
o Two-month-olds: scan both perimeters and interiors of shapes - Tracking
o Infants cannot track even slowly moving objects smoothly until 2-3-motnhs-old
What is colour vision in infants like?
- Very young infants have limited colour vision but by 2-3-months their colour vision is similar to adults’
- Infants can discriminate between two bright, vivid colours better than between two faints pastel colours
What does the immaturity of children’s cones cells mean? What do they help us to see?
- help us to see colour
o Light sensitive neurons concentrated in the fovea in the retina
o Different size and shape and further apart than in adults
How can contrast sensitivity be tested? When does it develop?
- Can use habituation techniques in the same way as before to test this
- Young infants up to 2-months per to look at patterns of high visual contract because they have poor contrast sensitivity
- This is because the cones of the eye, concentrated in the fovea (central region of retina) aren’t as well developed
What is contrast sensitivity?
Contrast sensitivity – the ability to detect differences in light and dark areas
How does visual acuity develop? How can it be estimated?
- The sharpness of infant’s visual discrimination develops so rapidly that it approaches that of adults by 8-months and reaches full adult acuity by 6 years
- Infant’s visual acuity can be estimated by using habituation to a striped patterned and then showing them a plain grey square – if they don’t dishabituate then they think they are still seeing the same thing
What is visual acuity?
Visual acuity – sharpness of visual discrimination
How can operant conditioning be used to measure sensation and perception in young children?
o E.g., reward infant with a particular sound according to their sucking pattern
o Measure which patterns the child responds to with to ascertain which reward is preferred
o Experimental check – don’t always associate the same pattern with the same re-enforcer for every child
o Can be used to test things like parental listening
What is preferential looking?
- Preferential looking – involves showing infants two patterns/objects at a time to see if the infants have a preference for one over the other (measure time spent looking, see which they prefer)
How did later research measure sensation and perception in young children?
o Later research with newborns revealed that infants could discriminate between stimuli using the preferential looking and habituation techniques
How did early research measure sensation and perception in young children?
- Early research simply measured how long infants would look at visual stimuli
o Using this simple technique, Fantz demonstrated that infants had visual perceptions
What is perception?
Perception – organizing and interpreting sensory info the objects, events and spatial layout of our world
What is sensation?
Sensation – the processing of basic info from the external world by the sensory receptors in the sense organs and brain
When do children develop knowledge of growth and illness?
- 3- and 4-year-olds realise that growth is a product of internal processes
- They know that plants and animals, unlike inanimate objects, have internal processes to heal
- They also understand illness and old age cause the permanent state of death, from which there is no recovery
Do children over-extend their knowledge of heredity and attribute gender differences to inherited essentialism? Give an example
It is thought that children do however:
o Only by age 9/10 children recognise the influence of the environment on gender differences (Taylor)
What is essentialism?
- Essentialism – the view that livings things, or even objects, have an essence inside them that makes them what they are
When do children gain knowledge of heredity?
- Pre-schoolers know that physical characteristics tend to be passed on from parent to offspring, and that certain aspects of development are controlled by heredity rather than environment
- E.g., if 3- and 4-year-olds are told that Mr. and Mrs. Bull have blue hearts, then they will predict that Baby Bull will also have a blue heart (Springer & Keil)
When do children understand what makes something living?
- Even though infants under a year old can distinguish people from non-living things, the living/non-living distinction is far from settled
- Children through the 5 have difficulty understanding that humans are animals
- Only between ages 7 and 9 do most children understand that plants are living things
When can children distinguish between people and non-living things? Give an example of research
- Task used by Poulin-Dubois to study infants’ reactions when they see people and inanimate objects engaging in the same action
- Both 9- and 12-month-olds show surprise when they see inanimate objects move on their own, suggesting that they understand that self-produced motion is a distinctive characteristic of people and other animals
When does children’s knowledge of living things develop?
- Children are fascinated with living things and have a great deal of knowledge about them by the age of 4 or 5 but, they also demonstrate a variety of immature beliefs and reasoning
- Children between 4 and 10 often believe that plants and animals were created to serve specific purposes, much like tools are
- Many children of these ages also confuse certain properties of living and non-living things
Does understanding casual connections between objects help children learn and remember new categorises? Give research to support
Yes
- Hearing that “wugs” have claws to help them fight and “gillies” have wings to help them flee allowed 4- and 5-year-olds to categorize novel pictures than children who had not heard the explanation (Krascum & Andrews, 1998)
Tell me about forming categorises between ages 1 and 2
- As children approach their second birthday – categorize objects on the basis of overall shape
- Also, for categories on the basis of function, can use their knowledge of categories to determine which actions go with which type of objects
- 14-month-olds will mime feeding a drink to a toy rabbit but not to a toy car (Mandler & McDonough, 1998)
At what ages do children form conceptual categorises?
- 7-month-olds treated plastic toy birds and airplanes, which are perceptually similar, as if they were members of the same category
- 9 to 11-month-olds treated toy airplanes and birds as members of conceptually different categories, despite the fact that they looked very similar (Mandler & McDonough, 1993)
Tell me about forming categories from ages 0-1
- Infants form categories of objects in the first months of life (even 3-month-olds)
- Quinn and Eimas – habituated 3 and 4-month-olds to pictures of cats, then then dishabituated to pictures of dogs – means they can tell the difference
- A key element in infants’ thinking is perceptual categorization, the grouping together of objects that have similar appearances e.g., colour, size, movement
o Often their categorizations are based on parts of objects rather then on the object as a whole e.g., legs for animals, wheels for vehicles
True or false, children sometimes form child -basic categories whose generality is somewhat between basic and subordinate level categories?
TRUE
Why do children usually learn the basic level category first?
o Objects at this level share many common characteristics (unlike superordinate level categories)
o Category members are relatively easy to discriminate (unlike those in subordinate level categories)
When does children’s knowledge of living things develop?
- Children are fascinated with living things and have a great deal of knowledge about them by the age of 4 or 5 but, they also demonstrate a variety of immature beliefs and reasoning
- Children between 4 and 10 often believe that plants and animals were created to serve specific purposes, much like tools are
- Many children of these ages also confuse certain properties of living and non-living things
Why do we believe the brain was developed?
For movement
Why do scale errors occur?
- Dissociation between dorsal/ventral visual processing streams
o E.g., what and where pathways
o Somehow the visual info for planning an action is not correctly integrated with the system for executing that action - Centration
o Focus on one salient aspect of the stimulus but not another aspect that may help them solve the task
o E.g., focus on the fact that it is a chair rather than its size - Failure to inhibit an automatically afforded action
o E.g., chairs afford sitting
o Similar behaviours are seen in patients with medical frontal lobe damage showing “utilisation behaviour”
What are scale errors?
- Trying to treat a miniature replica object as if it were a much larger real one
What factors are involved in a wariness of heights?
- Social factors
- development of the peripheral vision
- visual experience during crawling
What is social referencing? Give an example
Social referencing – the use of another’s emotional reaction to interpret an ambiguous situation
e.g., children more likely to be wary of dangers of approaching a cliff edge if the caregiver looks frightened than if they look happy
Do young children have a wariness of heights?
- Young children can use cues to perceive depth however the consequences of depth are only apparent to the child when they begin to move
- Visual cliff paradigm – uses a table with an apparently steep drop that is covered with a continuous transparent platform
o Pattern underneath this platform, creates an illusion that the infant will fall - Gibson and Walk – 6-14-month-olds would not cross the deep side of the cliff – perceived and understood the depth cue of relative size
- Campos –
o 1 ½ -month-olds – could perceive the difference in depth but showed no fear of the deep side
o Early crawlers avoided heights earlier
Is there some specificity to motor learning?
Yes - what is learned about the world in one posture might not generalise to other postures
Why do we lie babies on their back? Does this affect their locomotion?
- Campaign to but babies to sleep on their back, reduce risk of SIDS seems to make infants less likely to roll over on schedule (delayed)
- It may be that the better view of the world on their backs results in less motivation to roll over
- Spending less time on tummies causes arm strength to develop more slowly
- Research suggests that by 18-months there were no differences in the development of infant crawling (they catch up)
When does self-locomotion start?
- 8-months – begin to crawl
- Requires integrating movement from many different parts of the body
How does manual dexterity develop in infants?
- 7 months – can sit independently, reaching stable (whole hand grasp)
- 9-10-motnhs – grasp objects the way they intended to (scissor grasp)
- 1-year – show sophisticated manual dexterity (pincer grasp)
How do infants reach?
- For first few months, infants limited to pre-reaching movements
o Clumsy swiping movements towards objects
o Begin successfully reaching around 3-4-months
What is the dynamic systems approach to motor development?
dynamic systems approach – emphasising mutual influence (confluence) of many factors
o Not only neural mechanisms but also an increase in strength, posture control, balance, perceptual skills and motivation
- Thelen et al. performed 2 experiments to test the hypothesis that rapid increases in infants’ weight made it impossible for them to execute stepping motions
o 1 experiment, weights attached to ankles of infants who still had stepping reflex – stopped stepping
o 2 experiment, infants who no longer show stepping reflex were found to do so when suspended waist deep in water (removing weight) - The movement patterns and neural basis remained but were masked by the changing ratio of leg weight to strength
How does the cortex develop in infants?
- Early, simple reflexes arise from the brain stem
- More complex, coordinated reflexes and movement result from the maturation of the cerebral cortex
- Primary motor cortex (M1):
o First area of cortex to develop
o Responsible for voluntary movement
o Begins with raising head (1 month), control of arms and trunk (3 months), leg control is last to develop
What is the Moro reflex?
- Moro reflex – if startled, throws arms backwards and arches back before bringing arms back together as if holding something. Disappears around 6 months
What is the stepping reflex?
- Stepping reflex – held upright over a flat surface, they will make rhythmic stepping movements. Disappears around 2 months
What is the Babinski reflex?
- Babinski reflex – bottom of foot stroked, toes fan out and curl. Disappears around 8-12 months
What is the grasping reflex?
- Finger/object placed in baby’s palm they with close fingers around it in grasping action – strong enough to support own body weight
- Exists in the foot and hand – seems to be an evolutionary remnant (e.g., cling onto mother). Disappears around 4 months and replaced with voluntary grasping
What are the types of feeding reflex?
- Rooting – baby’s cheek stroked, turns head towards side of stimulation and open mouth. Disappears at 3 weeks and replaced with voluntary head movements
- Sucking – repeatedly suck when something is placed in mouth. Replaced by voluntary sucking at 4 months
How do parents of LBW infants feel? How can they be supported?
- Parents face feelings of guilt or inadequacy
- Parents benefit from understanding that their preterm infant’s development will not follow the same timetable as that of a full-term infant by learning more about infant development, and by seeking social support
What are low birth weight infants? Are there complications for them?
- Infants weighing less than 5.5 pounds are considered to be of low birth weight (LBW)
- If born early and LBW then described as premature
- Other LBW infants are described as small for their gestational age
- Have more medical complications, developmental difficulties, presents challenges for parents
o However most turn out pretty well
o Extensive parent contact and more touch for infants in neonatal intensive care are widely used interventions
What is infant mortality? Is it common?
- Death during the first year after birth
- Become relatively rare in the western industrialised world
- African-American infants are more than twice as likely to die than euro-American babies
- Poverty and lack of health insurance are associated with high rates of infant mortality (in America)
What does crying for a newborn mean?
- Reflects discomfort or frustration
- Gradually becomes more of a communicative act
o With experience, parents become better at interpreting the characteristics of the cry itself
What are the 2 main types of sleep?
o REM sleep – active sleep associated with dreaming in adults and is characterised by quick, jerky eye movements
o Non-REM sleep – quiet or deep sleep state, absence of motor activity, slow brain waves, breathing and heart rate
How long do newborn infants sleep for?
- Tend to sleep twice as much as young adults
- REM sleep accounts for 50% of newborns total sleep time but declines to 20% by 3-4-years old
- According to autosimulation theory, brain activity during REM sleep in the foetus and newborn makes up for natural deprivation of external stimuli and facilitates the early development of the visual system
What are the 6 states of a newborn infant?
- Active sleep
- Quiet sleep
- Crying
- Active awake
- Alert awake
- Drowsing
Name 5 other types of teratogen
- Environmental hazards
o E.g., pesticides, herbicides, pollutants
o Has effect on memory, learning, visual skills issues - Occupational hazards
o Farmers, factory workers, chemists, nurses, noise - Nutrition
o Folic acid supplements encouraged: prevents spina bifida
o Inadequate nutrients - Disease
o E.g., STIs, rubella, flu (has been linked to Sz?), zika - Age
o Older/younger mothers at greater risk of negative outcomes e.g., down syndrome for older or young infant death for younger
Describe weed and cocaine as teratogens
- Weed
o Doubles risk of still born birth
o Memory, learning, attention, impulsive behaviour - Cocaine
o Foetal growth retardation, premature birth, attentional/arousal problems
o Withdrawal effects
o Lasting effect can be ameliorated – adoption into “middle-class” non-addict families
Describe cigarettes as a teratogen
- Linked to reduced growth and low birth weight
- Effects can be reduced immediately by stopping smoking
o Has also been linked to SIDS, although ultimate cause of SIDS isn’t known
o Parents can reduce the risk of SIDS by not smoking, putting babies to sleep on their backs
o E-cigs – many women believe that they are healthier than tobacco but nicotine itself is a risk factor for foetal cardiac, respiratory and nervous system development
Describe alcohol as a teratogen
- Most common human teratogen
- Leading cause of preventable foetal brain injury
- Most common in mothers who are white, over 35 and employed
- Crosses placenta, also found in amniotic fluid
- Advice given to mothers’ changes regularly
- Maternal alcoholism can cause foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) – associated with particular facial characteristic, delays in cognitive development etc.
Why is identifying a teratogen and its effects difficult?
- Their combination
- Sleeper effects – impact of a given agent may not be apparent for many years
o Minamata disease – essentially mercury poisoning
o Hormone DES to prevent miscarriage however the children had higher rates of testicular and cervical cancer
What factors are key in determining whether or not teratogens will do harm?
- Timing is a crucial factor in the severity of the effects of potentially harmful agents
o Many agents cause damage only if exposure occurs during a sensitive period in development - Amount and length also important – most teratogens show a dose-response relation
o Increases in exposure to potential teratogens are associated with greater probabilities of foetal defects and with more severe problems - Individual differences also influence the effects of teratogens
What is a teratogen?
Teratogens – environmental agents that have the potential to cause harm during prenatal development
Do foetus’ learn?
- Habituation of heart rate at 32-weeks (decreases to repeated stimuli and increases to new stimuli)
- Newborn infants have been shown to recognize rhymes and stories presented before birth
- Newborns also prefer smells, tastes and sound patterns that are familiar because of prenatal exposure
What is the visual experience like for a foetus?
- Previously thought to be negligible
- Recent evidence shows preference for “faces” in the foetus suggesting post-natal exposure is not necessary – seems to be innate
Do foetus’ have any sensation? What types? What does it aid?
- Sensory structures are present early in prenatal development, plays a vital role in development and learning
o Experiences tactile stimulation as a result of its own activity, tastes and smells the amniotic fluid
o Typically responds to sound from 6-months
What is the foetus’ rest activity cycles? When do they become stable?
- Become stable during the second half of pregnancy
- Circadian rhythms apparent – doesn’t necessarily match that of mother’s
- Near the end of pregnancy, sleep wake cycle is similar to those of the newborn
How does the foetus help the function of the respiratory system?
o Movement of the chest wall pulling in and expelling small amounts of amniotic fluid – helps respiratory system function
Why does the foetus swallow amniotic fluid?
o Swallowing amniotic fluid promotes the normal development of the palate and aids in the maturation of the digestive system
What movements does the foetus exhibit?
o Spontaneous movement from 5-weeks
o Hiccups at 7-weeks
- Initially jerky movements, becoming more integrated
o After around 18-19-weeks most arm movements are hand-to-mouth
- By 12-weeks, most of the movements that will be present at birth have appeared (prenatal to postnatal continuity)
How is the foetus protected?
- The placenta membrane is a barrier against some toxins and infectious agents
- The amniotic sac, a membrane filled with fluid in which the foetus floats, provides a protective buffer for the foetus
What is the foetal stage?
- 9-weeks – birth
- Continued development of physical structures and rapid growth of the body
- Receives antibodies from mother particularly in last month of pregnancy
- Increasing levels of behaviour, sensory experience and learning
What is included in the support system of a foetus?
o Placenta – semi-permeable; permits the exchange of materials between the bloodstream of the foetus and that of the mother
o Umbilical cord – the tube that contains the blood vessels that travel from the placenta to the developing organism and back
What is the neural tube?
- The neural tube – U-shaped groove formed from top layer of differentiated cells in the embryo – eventually becomes the brain and spinal cord
What is the embryonic stage?
- Implantation – 8-weeks
- Major development in all organs and systems in the body through the process of:
o Cell division: results in proliferation of cells
o Cell migration: movement of cells from different points in the embryo
o Cell differentiation: transformation of stem cells into roughly 350 different types of specialized cells
o Cell death: selective death of certain cells (apoptosis) e.g., cells dying in hands to form distinct fingers
o Also involves hormonal influences (androgens)
How are Mz and Dz twins formed?
o Mz twins originate from the splitting in half of the inner cell mass, resulting in the development of genetically identical individuals
o Dz twins result when 2 eggs are released into the fallopian tube at the same time and are fertilized by different sperm
What is the germinal phase?
- Conception – 2-weeks/implantation
- Rapid cell division takes place as early as 12 hours after fertilization
- Twins are formed during this stage
What is a zygote?
Zygote – a fertilised egg, has full complement of human genetic material
There are more “male” deaths relative to “female” deaths throughout the lifespan. Why?
- Male children are less able to tolerate the stresses of childbirth
- Male children are more vulnerable to SIDS
- Developmental disorders e.g., attention conditions, autism
- Males are also more vulnerable to illness throughout the lifespan
What are some sex differences between male and female embryos?
- Previously thought that there were more male embryos conceived than female embryos – because the sperm bearing the y chromosome is lighter and faster
- Recent research suggests conception is equally likely for both embryos with or without a y chromosome
- But we end up with a slight bias for Y-chromosome carrying individuals at birth
How are gametes produced?
Gametes are produced through meiosis – specialized form of cell division, only have half the genetic material of all other normal cells in the body
What is conception?
Conception – results from the union of two gametes
What is epigenesis?
Epigenesis – refers to the process by which organisms develop from a seed/spore/egg through a sequence of steps in which cells differentiate and organs form
what is preformation?
Preformation – formerly popular theory that organisms are fully formed right from the start of development and develop from miniature versions of themselves
What is polygenetic inheritance?
When traits are governed by more than one gene
Give an example of a syndrome that has a genetic basis but the specific genetic mechanism has not been established
Tourette’s syndrome, autism
What are the deleterious effects and benefits of sickle-cell anaemia?
- Deleterious effects: a debilitating blood disorder when both alleles are present
- Benefits: protection against malaria
What are the different types of genetic origins for human diseases and disorders? Give an example for each
- Recessive genes: PKU
- Single dominant gene: Huntington’s disease
- Sex-linked inheritance: Fragile-X syndrome
- Errors in meiosis (resulting in a zygote with fewer or more than normal complement of chromosomes): down syndrome
What are the implications of the Y chromosome being shorter?
- The y chromosome has only about a third as many genes as the X chromosome
o Many alleles on the X chromosome do not have a corresponding allele on the Y chromosome that could supress the action
o Therefore, individuals with only one X-chromosome are more likely to have a variety of inherited disorders cause by recessive alleles on the X chromosome (e.g., colour blindness)
What does it mean if a person is homozygous or heterozygous?
- Homozygous – a person who inherits two of the same alleles for a trait
- Heterozygous – a person who inherits two different alleles for a trait
What are dominant and recessive alleles?
- Dominant allele – form of the gene that is expressed if present
- Recessive allele – not expressed if a dominant allele is present
What are alleles?
- Alleles – different forms of the same genes
What are regulator genes?
- Regulator genes – largely control the continuous switching on and off of genes that underlie development across the lifespan
o A given gene influence development and behaviour only when it is turned on
o Important for healthy development
How does the child’s genotype affect their phenotype?
Not all genes are expressed (regulator genes)
What 3 mechanisms contribute to genetic diversity?
- Mutation – a change in a section of DNA – caused by random/environmental factors
- Random assortment – the shuffling of the 23 pairs of the chromosomes in the sperm and egg – chance determines which member of the pair goes into the new sperm and egg – 8.4 million different combinations for every egg and sperm cell
- Crossing over – the process by which sections of DNA switch from one chromosome to another during meiosis – further increases genetic variability
How does the parents’ genotype affect the child’s genotype?
- Genetical material is passed on as chromosomes
- Carry all the biochemical instructions involved in the formation and functioning of an organism
True or false, a shared environment within a family effects aspects of development?
False
o Have found surprisingly little effect of shared environment on some aspects of development
What are non-shared environmental effects? Give an example
- Non-shared environmental effects – experiences that are unique to the individual
o Siblings may have quite different experiences within the same family and their experience outside the family may diverge sharply
o They primary effect of non-shared environmental factors is to increase the differences among family members
What are some limitations of heritability?
- Only apply to populations not individuals
- They apply to a particular group at a particular time under a particular environment
What is heritability?
Heritability – a statistical estimate of the proportion of the measured variance on a given trait among individuals in a given population that is attributable to genetic differences among those individuals
What was the Minnesota study of twins who were reared apart?
- Located and studied twins who have not met since they were infants
- Longitudinal study
- Found similarities in IQ, reaction to stress and traditionalism, personality, hobbies and professions
- These similarities may be influenced by selective placement and similarities in fostering environments as well as genetic factors
What are the types of family studies?
- Twin-study designs – correlations for pairs of Mz twins on a trait of interest are compared to those of Dz twins
- Adoption studies – researchers examine whether adopted children are more like their biological or their adopted relatives
What are family studies?
- Family study – measure trait of interest among people who vary in how genetically related they are the each other
- Correlations between the measure of the trait in individuals with different relationships are examined to see if they are higher for individuals who:
Are more genetically similar
Share the same environment
What is behavioural genetics the study of?
Behavioural genetics – how variation in behaviour and development results from the combination of genetic and environmental factors
How does the child’s phenotype affect their environment?
- Children are active creators of their own environments
- Their likes/dislikes, behaviour, beliefs can evoke certain responses from others e.g., child likes vehicles so gets a train birthday cake – his interests influenced his environment
- Children also select environments that support their interests, talents, personality characteristics etc.
What is the norm of reaction?
- Norm of reaction – refers to all the phenotypes that could theoretically result from a given genotype, in relation to all the environments in which it could survive and develop
How does the child’s environment affect the child’s phenotype? Give some examples
The environment affects how that phenotype is presented e.g.:
PKU – a disorder that is related to a defective gene on chromosome 12 – unable to metabolize phenylalanine
- Present in some foods such as sweeteners
- Early diagnosis and a properly restricted diet can prevent cognitive impairment
- Genotype can result in different phenotypes depending on environment
What is attachment?
Attachment = the emotional bond with a specific person that is enduring across space and time
What are the 4 phases of attachment suggested by Bowlby?
- Pre-attachment phase (birth – 6-weeks)
o Infant produces innate signals that that elicit care from the caregiver - Attachment-in-the-making (6-week – 6-8-months)
o Infants begin to respond preferentially to familiar people - Clear-cut attachment (6-8-months – 1-2-years)
o Infant actively seeking contact with their regular caregivers and typically shows protest/distress when caregiver leaves - Reciprocal relationships (from 1-2-years)
o Child takes
What does it mean that Bowlby’s attachment theory is influenced by ethological theory?
– children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments with caregivers as a means of increasing their chances of survival
What is a secure attachment type? What does this look like in the Strange situation?
- Secure attachment – high quality, un-ambivalent relationship with attachment figure
o In SS – upset when attachment figure leaves, happy when they return, quickly recover from distress, use attachment figure as a secure base for exploration
What is a insecure-avoidant attachment type? What does this look like in the Strange situation?
- Insecure-avoidant attachment – see indifferent towards caregiver, may even avoid them
o In SS – indifferent when caregiver leaves and returns, if upset will be easily comforted by the stranger
What is a insecure-resistant attachment type? What does this look like in the Strange situation?
- Insecure-resistant attachment – clingy and stay close to caregiver rather than explore environment
o In SS – become very upset when caregiver leaves, not comforted by strangers or the caregiver – seek comfort but resist the caregivers’ efforts to comfort them
What is a disorganised attachment type? What does this look like in the Strange situation?
- Disorganised attachment – do not fit other categories
o In SS – no consistent way of coping with stress, confused behaviour, may be due to some mistreatment (?)
What are the long-term consequences of securely attached children?
- Securely attached children have closer, harmonious relationships with peers than insecurely attached children
- Secure attachment predicts positive peer and romantic relationships and emotional health
- Securely attached children also earn higher grade, more involved in school
What are some limitations of the Strange Situation experiment?
- Discrete or continuous “attachment” – might vary between attachment types
- Ecological validity – attachment style is determined on the basis of just a few minutes of separation and reunion
- Global/ culturally universality – northern Germany more avoidant, Japanese children more resistant, also changes over time (childcare practices changed)
How does the sense of self develop through infancy?
- 8-months – respond to separation from primary caregiver
- 18-20-months – show mirror recognition
- 30-months – recognize their own photograph
- 3-years-old – exhibition embarrassment, shame, self-assertive behaviour and use of language indicate self-awareness
- 3-4-years-old – understand their concrete and observable characteristics related to physical attributes
How does an infants understanding of gender develop?
- During the first year (0-1), infant’s perceptual abilities allow them to distinguish between man/boy from girl/woman using gender cues
o Associate long hair and higher vocal pitch with woman - In latter half of second year (1.5-2) – form gender-related expectations about the kinds of activities that are stereotypically associated with men and women
- Between 2nd and 3rd birthdays – children come to know which gender groups they feel they belong to and use gender terms by age 3
When does gender segregation develop in children?
- Between 3-7-years children self-enforce gender segregation and spend more time with same-sex peers
o Will even avoid peers who violate gender role norms
How could evolution be responsible for sex differences?
- Genetic predisposition towards gender differences – emerged because they offer reproductive advantages
How could hormones be responsible for sex differences?
- Gender differences may reflect different ratios of sex hormones
o The effect of androgens – higher in males and affect physical development from prenatal period onwards
o Higher levels of androgens in boys are associated with more rough play
o Girls born with higher levels on androgen like hormones do engage with more activities that are associated with boys
How could the brain be responsible for sex differences?
- Small differences in physical structure of the brain
o Do not appear to result in any clear advantage in cognitive performance
o Great deal of overlap – no brain structure is unique to one sex
o Not yet clear how it relates to sex differences
o Differences have been based on brain imaging data of adult brains – do not know if the differences are due to genetics or environmental influences
How could the gender socialisation be responsible for sex differences?
- SLT emphasises that simply by observing other people, children gather information about gender and what is considered appropriate behaviour for their own gender
o Children and observe and imitate same-gender models - Parents’ expectations and emphasis on gender-related behaviours and preferences also influence children
o e.g., providing gender-types toys
o Use of gender-essentialist statements convey indirect and subtle messages about acceptable forms of behaviour e.g., boys don’t cry, girls take ballet
Give an example of how a child’s belief about their gender could be down to biological influences
- Dramatic cases – biologically male children with damaged genitals raised as girls but later maintained their original gender identity – suggests that gender identity may have a biological component
What is discrete emotion theory? Name two key people behind this theory
- Emotions are innate and are distinct from one another from early in life
- Each emotion is packaged with a specific and distinctive set of bodily and facial reactions
Tomkins and Izard
What is the functionalist approach to emotions? Name two key people behind this theory
- Emotions aren’t distinct from one another in early life – environment influences emotional development
- The basic function of emotions is to promote action toward achieving a goal
Campos and Saarni
How can we characterise emotion?
- Use highly elaborative systems for coding and classifying the emotional meaning of infant’s facial expressions
- These systems identify emotions by coding several aspects of behaviour and then analysing the combinations
What are some issues with trying to characterise emotion?
- Often hard to determine exact emotions being experienced
- Particularly difficult to differentiate negative emotions in young children
What are social smiles?
- Social smiles – directed towards people and first emerge as early as 6-7-weeks
How does happiness develop in infants?
o 3-4-months – chid will laugh
o 7-months – child smiles primarily at familiar people
o During second year of life, children start to clown around and are delighted when they can make others laugh
What is distress like in infants?
o Infants sometimes show negative emotions that are incongruent with the situation they are experiencing
o Undifferentiated distress
How does fear develop in infants?
o 6-7 -months – unfamiliar people no longer provide comfort/pleasure
o Fear of strangers intensifies and lasts until age 2 (lots of variation across individuals and cultures)
o Other fears e.g., fear of loud noises, dogs barking, are evident around 7-months but decline around age 1
o Separation anxiety – increases from 8-15-months then declines
How does anger develop in infants?
o Anger likely to be distinct from other negative emotions by 4-8-months
o 1-year olds will show anger when control is taken away from them
o Anger peaks around age 2
What is sadness like in infants?
o Sadness often exhibited in same situations as anger though less frequently
o Intense sadness shown following separation from parents for prolonged periods of time
What are self-conscious emotions?
- Feelings that relate to our sense of self, ad our awareness of how others react to us e.g., guilt, shame, pride
How do self-conscious emotions begin to develop?
- Begin to emerge around 18-months – have to have a sense of self
o 15-24-months – show embarrassment
o 3-years – show pride
What is guilt? What can it lead to?
- Guilt = associated with empathy for others, involves feelings of regret and want to make amends
o Guilt leads to more prosocial, responsible behaviour than shame – broken doll experiment
What is shame?
- Shame = unrelated to concern about others, involves a desire to hide and be less conspicuous
True or false, parental practice often determines whether a child is likely to show guilt or shame?
TRUE
How do emotions develop throughout middle childhood?
- School-age children’s fears are generally related to real-life important issues rather than monsters (Silverman et al., 1995)
- Happiness and pride come from achieving goals and acceptance by peers
- By the early school years, children’s perceptions of others’ motives and intentions are important in determining whether or not they will be angered
When do children start to understand the difference between real and false emotions?
3-5-years-old
What are display rules?
- A set of guidelines used about displaying emotions – may be facial or verbal displays
What are prosocial display rules?
- Prosocial display rules = used to protect another’s feelings
What are self-protective display rules?
- Self-protective display rules = used for personal gain
At what age do children develop to use of display rules?
- Use of display rules increased up until age 9
- Children’s understanding was greater for verbal display rules than for facial display rules
- Children also understood prosocial display rules better than self-protective display rules
How does an infants’ understanding of simultaneous and ambivalent situations develop?
- 5-7-years – children come to realise they can feel more than 1 compatible emotions simultaneously
- Over next few years, realise they can experience positive and negative emotions at the same time but only if the sources are different
- Age 10 – understand emotional ambivalence resulting from interaction of positive and negative emotions from related events
What is Piagetian Moral Judgement theory?
There are two stages of moral judgement
- Heteronomous morality:
o Children not yet in concrete operational stage
o Regard “rules” as fixed – not seen in context of situation
o Focussed on the action and the consequences not individual intent
o Often governed by parents’ expectations of behaviour
- Autonomous morality:
o Children firmly in concrete operational stage and beyond
o Children develop ability to take another’ perspective, to develop theory of mind and to demonstrate empathy
o No longer blindly accept the “rules”
o Can consider individuals’ intention when they perform a particular behaviour
What are the limitations of Piagetian Moral Judgement theory?
- Piaget underestimated children’s abilities to appreciate the role of intentionality in morality – children more morally competent than Piaget suggested
What is Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?
3 stages of moral development, each with their own sub-stages
Preconventional moral reasoning:
- Reasoning is self-centred, with a focus on maximising rewards and minimising punishment
- Stage 1: obedience to authority
o A child’s moral actions are motivated by avoidance of punishment
- Stage 2: instrumental and exchange orientation
o Focuses on the child’s own best interest or involves equal exchange between people
Conventional moral reasoning
- Centred on social relationships
- Stage 3: Mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships and interpersonal conformity orientation
o What is socially acceptable? Being good is important and entails having good motives, showing concern about others
- Stage 4: Social system and conscience orientation
o Fulfilling one’s duties, upholding laws and contributing to society or one’s group
Post-conventional reasoning (not everyone reaches this)
- Focuses on moral principals
- Stage 5: Social contract or individual rights orientation
o Upholding rules that are the best interest of the group – the greater group
- Stage 6: Universal ethical principles
o Commitment to self-chosen ethical principles that reflect universal principles. Asserts that these principles must be upheld in any society, regardless of majority opinion
What are the limitations of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?
- Kohlberg didn’t sufficiently differentiate between truly moral issues and issues of social convention
- Didn’t consider cross-cultural differences
- Moral reasoning isn’t as discontinuous as suggested
What is social domain theory?
Proposes moral development isn’t stage-like but rather is a more gradual change based on:
- The child’s social interactions with peers
- The child’s social interactions with adults
- Direct socialization from their parents
What are the three different kinds of actions?
- Moral judgements = decisions that pertain to issues of right and wrong
- Social conventional judgements = decisions that pertain to customs or regulations intended to secure social coordination and social organisation
- Personal judgements = decisions that refer to actions in which individual preferences are the main consideration
What are cultural differences in social judgements?
- Children begin to differentiate between moral and social conventional issues as early as age 3 – see moral transgression as more serious offences
- People in all culture can differentiate between moral, social and personal domains of functioning but there are some cultural differences as to how a given behaviour is viewed
What is the conscience?
Conscience = an internal regulatory mechanism that increases the individual’s ability to conform with standards of conduct accepted in their culture
How does the conscience develop?
- Develops slowly over time
- 2-year-olds understand some moral standards and rules and begin to show guilt when they do something wrong
When do children typically adopt their parents’ moral values?
o Their parents use rational explanations rather than harsh discipline
o The children are securely attached
o They are given responsibilities from a young age
What is prosocial behaviour?
Prosocial behaviour = helpful behaviour intended to benefit another
How does prosocial behaviours develop?
o Infants respond to other’s distress but the motive isn’t clear
o Age 2 – children more clearly differentiate between another’s emotional distress and their own – response will be egocentric
o 1 and 2-year-olds increase in prosocial behaviours but they are not regular
o Prosocial behaviours continue into adolescence
What factors contribute to the individual differences of prosocial behaviours?
Genetic factors:
- Have only a modest contribution
- Identical twins are more similar in their prosocial behaviour than non-identical twins
- May arise indirectly from genetically influenced differences in temperament
Environmental influences:
- Socialisation has a strong influence on prosocial development
- Children are more likely to imitate the prosocial behaviour of adults with whom they have a positive relationship
How can we promote prosocial behaviour?
- Parents who are constructive and supportive tend o have children who are high in prosocial behaviour and sympathy
- Some cultures are more prosocial than others
What is antisocial behaviour?
Antisocial behaviour = harmful behaviour resulting in negative consequences – aggression is the most common type
How does aggression develop?
- Physically aggressive behaviour from 18-months, increases until age 2 – may be replaced by verbal aggression
- 3-5-years – show instrumental aggression as they learn to share – also use relational aggression e.g., excluding them from a social group
What are the characteristics of antisocial children?
- Children prone to reactive aggression are likely to perceive other people’s motives as hostile and generate aggressive response to provocation
- Children prone to proactive aggression tend to anticipate more positive social consequences for aggression
Is there consistency is aggressive and antisocial behaviour?
Yes
- Early-onset conduct problems are associated with a range of family risk factors
- Late-onset conduct problems tend to emerge from peer interactions
- Children who are identified as aggressive by peers at age 8 have higher self-reported aggression at age 30 and have more criminal convictions for more serious offences
