developmental psych Flashcards
general principles - what is development
dev. is the process of change linked to age which characterises all human from conception up to death.
general principles - what are the developmental processes
age - which does little after childhood we have long periods when there is minimal development.
maturation - large role in developmental change, this is genetically canalised processes that contribute.
experience - causes learning which is a fundamental in development
general principles - outline the periods of development
prenatal
infancy
early childhood
mid/late childhood
adolescence
emerging adulthood
young adulthood
middle adulthood
late adulthood
general principles - what is childhood
childhood is not a purely cultural construct, however cultures vary in their perceptions of it
the developmental period being draw out is an evolutionary adaptation to allow extended cognitive development.
general principles - what is the applied need?
adults are needed to look after children, so many psychological mechanisms for looking after children have been developed.
dev. psych is streamlined at making children lives better and help the develop.
general principles - what is the theoretical need
to understand what a human being is, development must be studied.
general principles - how does the American infants study show how development is effected
- the infants raised in a prison nursery still had the ability to see their parents and make their primary bond. this is what orphans don’t have.
- the orphans would ave also potential had multiple primary caregivers non who were constant, so no secure attachments were made.
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general principles - outline the practical issues with developmental research.
design:
- experimental vs correlational
- cross-sectional vs longitudinal vs sequential
- individual focused vs sample focused
methodological issues:
- naturalistic v lab
- qualitative v quantitative
general principles - outline experimental vs correlational
- correlational designs leave unanswered questions about what the cause is, no causal effect
- experimental designs tell you whether A causes B.
general principles - outline cross-sectional vs longitudinal
- cross-sec individuals of diff ages are all measured together at a single time
- longitudinal individuals are followed over time
general principles - outline individual focused v sample focused designs
- focuses on an individuals development and is so in so much detail.
- sample masks an individuals own growth spurt jumps.
general principles - what is gender-neutral pedagogy
- known as norm-conscious pedagogy, aims to reduce socialisation to gender role and increases behaviour choice.
- investigations indicate that teachers in pre-schools are aware of their gender biased behaviour.
general principles - what is gender-neutral pedagogy
- known as norm-conscious pedagogy, aims to reduce socialisation to gender role and increases behaviour choice.
- investigations indicate that teachers in pre-schools are aware of their gender biased behaviour.
general principles - outline the known study on GN pedagogy
- 30 children who experienced GN pedagogy and 50 children normal children were tested on a task.
- they were asked who was more likely to play with a certain toy that holds gender associations.
general principles - outline nature and nurture
nature is the role of genetics In determining behaviour
nurture is the role of family, society and education.
nature and nurture happen to all, development cannot occur with our both.
general principles - outline what is meant by heritability
- how much variation in the trait is accounted for by someones genes
- heritability of 0 means the trait is not due to genes.
general principles - what is genetic canalisation
the ability for population to produce the same phenotype.
general principles - what are developmental cascades
- a minor inherited differences causes a large variation in the phenotype
- genes hold higher influence as you age due to cumulative effects.
general principles - outline ontogenetic and deferred adaptation
ontogenetic -> behaviours vital for survival in the juvenile stage, such as crying.
deferred -> primary purpose to improve fitness.
general principles - discuss cognitive development and how it moved beyond behaviourism
(constructivism)
- founder of constructivism Piaget determined it was vital to moved beyond behaviourism
constructivism states that individuals seek info that allows them to build shams (mental structures) that provide support for cognitive development.
general principles - what is assimilation I’m piagetian constructivist process of development
this is acting to understand a new aspect of the env. using an already existing scheme.
general principles - what is accommodation in piagetian constructivist process of development.
when someone modifies their schema in light of new information which does not fit the existing schema.
infant cognition - outline babies is regards to perceive
- to perceive babies need a perceptual experience in development
- multi sensory exp. is key, this is actively exploring the world.
infant cognition - outline touch
touch involves receptor channels providing info about pressure, temp and pain
haptic perception is touch and muscle use.
infant cognition - outline the study by Marcus et al. 2012 on babies and touch
- babies extract and remember information about objects from touch with their hands
- this begun by habituating the babies by repeating the same object - cylinder
- they then present a novel object
- and return with the old object test recognition
- found that babies can discriminate between new and old objects.
infant cognition - discuss the +/- relations of babies to touch
+ : positively react to gentle stroking
-: sudden temperature changes and uncomfortable pressure on their skin.
infant cognition - discuss chemosensation (taste) and olfactory in babies
- amniotic fluid contains flavour of mums food, by 24 weeks olfactory receptors respond to different odours.
smell: infants respond both +/- to different smells, they also recognise odours that were saturated with there amniotic fluid.
taste: highly developed sense of taste, many are sweet toothed and by 4mths have salty preference - mums breast milk.
infant cognition - discuss hearing development in babies
- most mature sense they have at birth
- by 28 weeks of gestation many respond to sound In utero, music etc.
- they can distinguish language when born
- signs of impairment is visible when they don’t react to loud sounds.
infant cognition - discuss vision development in babies
this is the least mature sense at birth, visual acuity improves as cones migrate.
newborns are legally blind at brith, by 4-5 years they reach 20/20 .
21cm is the furthest they can see, i.e., parents face.
infant cognition - outline how newborns can perceive shapes
- can distinguish between geometric patterns
infant cognition - what is an infants depth perception
- infants are born with none.
- the images reflected on their eyes are in 2D
- binocular depth perception begins at 3-5 months, due to brain dev. and visual experience.
infant cognition - discuss facial processing in infants
- johnson et al 1991 found that infants prefer symmetrical stimuli
- babies were shown 3 squares, infants show preference for square with face similarity, another study found that they discriminate faces and prefer mums face in picture.
infant cognition - discuss object processing, and object permanence
object permanence is knowledge an object exists but not the same as the perception of it.
from 0-8 months an infant won’t look for an object if it is absent.
infant cognition - do infants have core knowledge?
yes, infants have core knowledge, born with systems of knowledge in which knew systems are built.
Spelke says infants are born with 3 things, object representation, knowledge of actions and people and ability to represent numbers.
theory of mind - what is the theory of mind
- theory is due to mental states being unobservable, it understands peoples mental states.
- makes assumptions of intentions, desires and emotions - cognitive sympathy.
theory of mind - outline the idea of children understanding false beliefs
the sally-ann task involved items location changes, by 4yrs children pass the task.
this shows an understanding of perspective and someone having a false belief.
false belief shows a higher level of cognitive complexity.
theory of mind - discuss recent research on ToM
- children lack the concept that belief is separate from reality.
- Krupenye et al. 2016, found that apes can anticipate others actions so cannot solely be related to humans.
theory of mind - what is executive function of ToM
- EF is flexible cognitive control of behaviour, implying deliberate actions
- this correlates with ToM in childhood.
- EF is an intrinsic part of ToM
- EF is vital when learning ToM and in general.
theory of mind - the dual-process account in ToM
- explicit process are conscious whereas implicit is non-conscious
- ToM is an example of dual-process
theory of mind - outline the cultural impact on ToM and how it is limited
- cultures vary in folk psychologies
- many cultures such as those in the south pacific think talking about mental state is taboo
- despite this absence many children still have ToM.
theory of mind - discuss autism, imagination and ToM
- a major diagnostic of autism is mind-blindness, even high functions autistics have a hard time with false-belief tasks.
- autistic individuals don’t partake in pretend play as they lack imagination - this is a ToM deficit.
