developmental psychology Flashcards
types of bias
sampling bias
- relies on parents volunteering time (often university educated)
observer effects
- mother/teacher/researcher notice different things
selective attrition
- in longitudinal studies one group tends to drop out more than the other group
cohort variation
- 5 year old in 2023 different to 5 year old in 2000 due to culture
- much more significant now due to covid
cross sectional designs
different subjects studied at different ages
- cheaper
- issue of cohort variation
- doesn’t show age related changes
- doesn’t look at individual development
longitudinal design
subjects are studied at a variety of ages as they develop
- long and expensive
- cross-generational change might mean old findings not as relevant
- inflexibility to adjust in light of new research methods
Longitudinal sectional design
samples of different ages which is followed longitudinally over a short period of time
- reveals cultural/historical effects through time lagged comparison
what are long term effects of impoverished early child rearing environments
- severity depends on duration and age it begins
- lower cognitive & social emotional qualities
how is the severity of impoverished early environments determined?
english/Romanian adoption study
- greater catch up at 4 years for those adopted before 6 months
- linear association between age of adoption and percentage of impairment
- overall deprivation can be overcome by moving to a stimulating environment but the extent is determined by time in deprived environment
postnatal depression
- links to child cognitive delays
- 13yr increased cortisol levels
- 21yr greater risk of anxiety & depression
low SES
- are behind entering school & do not catch up
features of the head start program
treatment - 8 weeks prior to starting school
findings
- initial cognitive gains but no longer present in grade 2
- non-cognitive areas persisted to adulthood
- lower rate of referral to special education program
The Abecedarian project
features
- began early infancy (50 weeks every year for 5 years)
- focuses on parents & children
results
- 4yr benefits in language, social & IQ
- 12,15,21yr benefits in reading, maths & IQ
conclusions
- early intervention before 3yr essential
- assists low SES where parents are unable to give same attention and learning as middle-high SES
overview of Piaget’s theory of constructivism
- children born with no innate knowledge
- child is self-driven learner who constructs its own mental life
- stage theory –> discontinuous developments
- either assimilate or accommodate into schema (accommodate involves modifying or creating new schemas)
- schemas are the only stage independent process
Sensorimotor stage
0-2 years
- from reflexes to symbolic thought
- understanding of object permanence (objects have a seperate and permanent existence
Preoperational stage
2-7 years
- counterfactual thinking (unable to think logically)
- development of symbolic thought
- egocentric thinking (physical & mental)
- centration
- animism (all things that move are alive)
- fail conservation tasks
Concrete operations stage
7-11 years
- mastered decentring & reversible thinking
- allowing: classification, conservation
- concepts of time & space developing
Formal operations stage
11 years +
- logical operations on abstract entities
- capacity for abstract thought
- reflective thinking
- remember eye questions (not limited to own experience)
Criticisms of Piaget
- abstract thinkers still need concrete examples
- adults/children fail logical reasoning tests in unfamiliar but pass in familiar environments
- underestimated young children and overestimated adults abilities
- developmental stages aren’t universal as culture has a dramatic affect
Strengths of Piaget’s/ideas held by contemporary constructivist
- children explore the world
- children have no innate knowledge
contemporary constructivists
- major trajectory in development is from external regulation to self regulation
- children are active but pick everything up like a sponge due to them having limited self regulating abilities
- development is continuous (25yr) & cross cultural variation
- as children develop they get better at directing their attention & self-regulating to achieve goals and enact complex plans
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development
the mental life of a child is co-developed with the people around them
- child’s mind socially distributed (adult encouraging memory)
- assessed child’s potential development rather then static assessment of stages
- predicted large cross-cultural differences in child development
zone of proximal development
Vygotsky
problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers
examples of cross-cultural differences in child development
- individualism vs collectivism
- sleep alone (US), sleep with parents (Japan)
- lower child:teacher ratio (US compared Japan)
- more observational learning with Myan children then US (needed personal attention to learn) children
Vygotsky’s focus on language
- speech get’s internalised over time (child learns inner monologue)
- thinking out loud helps children develop inner monologue
developmental changes in how children reason about other people & social situations
- older children are slightly more prosocial than younger children
- takes several years for children to develop theory of mind
- false-belief task: switching locations
Piaget moral judgement
- older children take into account intention/mental states during moral dilemmas
externally regulated (from 5yr)
- superficial and absolute reasoning
- little understanding of intentions of others
self-regulated phase (from 8yr)
- an internal morality
- intangible type of reason
- takes into account intention etc
Kohlberg’s 3 broad stages of moral judgement
preconventional (early childhood)
- punishment & reward
- right & wrong
conventional (8-10)
- broad social system of prosocial behaviour
- legal & moral often equated
post-conventional (adolescence)
- beyond necessary conforming to laws
- universal principles of justice & human rights
what makes human language unique?
grammar/syntax
recursion - sentences embedded within sentences
behaviorist approach to language
- acquisition via positive reinforcement
- babies learn when parents are actively involved therefore need social context
Nativist approach to language
- Language acquisition device (innate capacity for learning language)
- human language is too computationally complex (due to syntax) therefore innate
- recursion - unique to humans
interactionist-constructivist approach to language
- interaction between maturation & environmental factors linked to cognitive development
- innate: sophisticated brain & CNS system
- children can develop arbitrary syntax themselves (wug test)
examples of how people think based on different languages
those who have the same word for blue & green take longer to distinguish those two colours
Pedahehs in the amazon have no concept of numbers due to only having words for a few or a lot
different types of motivation
Intrinsic motivation –> mastery goals
extrinsic motivation –> performance goals
Person praise
“you’re so smart”
- encourages entity mindset
- intelligence is fixed and innate
- performance goals & extrinsic motivation
- leads to lack of effort & inability to cope with failure & challenge
process praise
“you worked so hard”
- encourages growth mindset
- associated mastery goals
- increased effort in the face of failure
- better metacognitive self-regulated learning abilities
boys in case of gender & maths
- no difference if they have a teacher with math anxiety
- higher minimum levels of achievement
- achieve due to talent and fail due to lack of effort
girls in the case of gender & maths
- difference if they have a teacher with math anxiety
- lower minimum levels of achievement due to supposed low level of natural ability
- achieve due to trying hard & fail due to lack of ability
skill and achievement over time
Those who have lower hours when younger and try a variety of skills/sports are the ones who become elite and better as they focus on one from age 17ish, then they have more hours
career switching, takes less years to catch up & have varied perspective
