Developmental Sem 1 Flashcards
1
Q
What are the definitions of Ontogentic development and Microgenetic development
A
Ontogenetic development: Development of an individual over their lifetime
Microgenetic development: Changes that occur over a very brief period of time
2
Q
What are the three methods for understanding and measuring change in development
A
Cross-sectional studies: children of different ages studied at the same time
S/ Least time consuming
W/ Can’t look at individual change, as dev is averaged
Longitudinal studies: Same children tested repeatedly, at multiple points as they grow
S/ can look at individual change + change over time
W/ intensive, expensive, high drop out rate, practice effects
Microgenetic studies: extreme version of longitudinal, testing changes as they occur over short period
S/ Very precise
W/ Very intensive, expensive + often involves small sample sizes
3
Q
What is Preformationism and Epigenesis
A
Preformationism: Popular belief (until 17th C) that miniature people lived in sperm that grew when sperm meets the egg
Epigenesis: What we now know - organs + structures develop through stages through prenatal development
4
Q
What are the three stages of prenatal development
A
Germinal stage (conception - 2 weeks)
Embryonic stage (2-8 weeks)
Foetus (9 weeks - birth)
5
Q
Explain the Germinal stage of prenatal development
A
Germinal Stage (conception-2 weeks)
- conception begins when sperm penetrates the ovum (egg)
- when two combine, set of genetic instructions is formed half Mum/half Dad
- fertilized egg is called a zygote (fewer than half of zygotes survive)
- 2 weeks after fertilization, zygote attaches itself to uterus wall + becomes embryo
6
Q
Explain the Embryonic period of prenatal development
A
Embryonic period (2-8 weeks)
- Once zygote is attached to uterine wall, the inner call mass becomes the embryo, the rest becomes the amniotic sac
- Amniotic sac: membrane filled w clear fluid which provides even temperature + cushioning
- Placenta: permits exchange of materials from mother to embryo/foetus via bloodstream, through blood vessels that make up umbilical cord
- During embryonic period, inner cell divides into 3 layers
7
Q
What are the three layers that the inner cell mass divides into during the embryonic period
A
- The ectoderm (top layer) becomes: nervous system, nails, teeth, inner ear, eyes, skin
- The mesoderm (middle layer) becomes: muscles, bones, circulatory system, inner skin, internal organs
- The endoderm (bottom layer) becomes: digestive system, lungs, urinary tract + glands
8
Q
Explain the foetal period of prenatal development
A
Foetal period (9 weeks - birth)
- Development of sexual organs
- All human foetuses, M or F can develop M or F genetalia
- Presence of androgens (hormones including testosterone) cause male genetalia to develop
9
Q
Explain what chromosomes are
A
Chromosomes
Genes contain short segments of chromosomes (molecules of DNA with genetic instructions for all cells)
- Every cell in typical human has 23 pairs of chromosomes, 23 from mother, 23 from father
- 23rd chromosome determines sex (females have XX, males have XY)
Y chromosomes (male) are lighter, however they are more susceptible to stress + more likely to be miscarried
10
Q
Explain the difference between monozygotic and dizygotic twins
A
Monozygotic (identical) twins
- A growing cluster of cells breaking apart early can result in two clusters w identical genes
- These clusters are from same zygote and so are identical (MZ)
Dizygotic (non-identical) twins
- Occur when two eggs are fertilized at the same time
- not same zygote so have different appearance
11
Q
What are some environmental influences on prenatal development (teratogens)
A
Teratogens are environmental agents (drugs), diseases (measles) and physical conditions (malnutrition) that can affect growing emrbyo/foetus and lead to birth defects
The effect of teratogens depends on:
- Timing
- Dose-response relationship
12
Q
What is the dual process necessary for children to pass through Piaget’s stages of development
A
Assimilation - integration of new input into existing schemas (consolidating knowledge)
Accommodation - adjustment of schemas to new input (leading to growing + changing knowledge)
13
Q
What is a Schema
A
A mental representation + set of rules enabling children to interact with their environment, develop through experience w environment
14
Q
What are Piaget’s four stages of Cognitive Development
A
Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)
Pre-operational stage (2-7 years) (pre-conceptual 2-4yrs + intuitive thought stage 4-7yrs)
Concrete Operational (7-12 years)
Formal Operational (12+ years)
15
Q
Explain the Sensorimotor Stage of cognitive development
A
Occurs from conception - 2 years old
- infants explore environment + develop sensory motor skills
- Object permanence occurs, leading to them beginning to develop of mental representations
- Awareness of being distinct from environment (self-awareness - through Rouge Test)
16
Q
Explain the Pre-operational Stage of cognitive development
A
(2-7 years old)
Split into sub-stages:
Pre-conceptual (2-4) - egocentrism occurs
- children can mentally represent ideas + objects
- reduction in animism
Intuitive thought (4-7)
- Children develop symbolic thought
- develop conservation for numbers
17
Q
Explain the Concrete Operational Stage of cognitive development
A
(7-12 years old)
- thought becomes more flexible, but is still concrete
- Metacognition begins to develop (think about thinking)
- all conservation mastered using compensation + reversibility
- can grasp cause + effect relations
18
Q
Explain the Formal Operational Stage of cognitive development
A
(12+ years)
- able to reason hypothetically, deduce conclusions from abstract statements
- engage in hypothetical reasoning
- solve complex reasoning problems
19
Q
What are some of the Implications + limitations of Piaget’s research
A
- His work has supported idea of ‘child centred learning’
- some children can master conservation at an early age, abstract thinking can occur after age 12
- some of his tasks were too advanced + not child friendly (too much focus on memory)
- disputed claim that children cannot + should not be taught something if they are not in that stage
- children can complete ‘three mountains’ + conservation tasks when they were more child friendly + engaging
20
Q
What are the 4 elementary functions that Vygotsky says all infants posses
A
Infant Elementary Functions
- Attention
- Sensation
- Perception
- Memory
21
Q
What are the different ways in which socio-culture influences cognitive development, according to Vygotsky
A
Play
Morelli et al (2003) toddlers in 3 communities: Americans; Efe people; San Pedro Children. Efe & San Pedro imitated adult activities in their play more than US children did
Language
Two Amazonian tribes w no numbers above 5, those taught numbers above 5 were better able to solve problems
Self-Speech + Inner Speech
Children’s behaviour first controlled by adult instruction, then in private speech said aloud, around 7 years they internalise monologues to become inner speech (thought)
Berk (1992) children engage in more self-speech if task is challenging, they make mistakes, or are unsure what to do
22
Q
Briefly explain the role of others & the Zone of Proximal Development
A
Cognition improved through interaction with more experienced others
This can be achieved through scaffolding
23
Q
Explain the theory of scaffolding
A
Bruner (1983) - learning is enhanced when more competent others provide a framework that supports child’s thinking to help them reach a level they couldn’t reach without assistance
24
Q
What are Wood et al (1976) 5 important aspects of scaffolding
A
- Recruitment - you must engage the child’s interest
- Reduction of degrees of freedom - reduce number of steps to the solution
- Direction maintenance - maintain a child’s motivation
- Marking Critical Features - highlight important features
- Demonstration - model the solution / parts of the task to stimulate the learner to imitate
25
Explain what Freund (1995) found in relation to IRL applications of scaffolding
3-5 year olds help a puppet move furnishings into a dollshouse
Children who worked with mothers did better than children who worked along
- The 5 year olds made attribution errors (attributing mothers' decisions as their own), however, this gave them better memory of the furnishings
26
What are some similarities between Piaget & Vygotsky
Both agreed that children are active learners + interaction with the world is important for development
Thus, they are both constructivists (children construct understanding of the world through experience + interaction)
27
What are some differences between Piaget & Vygotsky
For Piaget, cognitive development is all about the child and their own efforts to understand the world (children as little scientists)
For Vygotsky, cognitive development takes place within their social world, and is between the child and other people (children as social learners)
28
What is Working Memory
WM is where all the crucial information processing occurs. WM transforms, processes and retrieves information and moves it into long-term memory
29
Explain the Information Processing Approach to cognition
(Atkinson + Schiffrin, 1968) Humans are processing systems: encoding, retrieving, storing info then producing a behavioural output like a computer
Information moves through a series of stores
Our cognitive system has limited capacity
30
Explain the Processing Limitations for children (Brainerd, 1983)
1. Encoding limitations
Attention - children have difficulty attending to most important aspect of a task (selective attention)
2. Retrieval limitations
Children may know the retrieval strategy, but retrieve wrong one from memory (division instead of multiplication)
3. Storage Limitations
Limits amount of information a child can store
4. Metacognitions Limitations
Due to poor metacognitive skills + limited experience, children may not be aware they have memory limitations and so may not make an effort to encode something properly
31
What are 3 Individual Differences in Working Memory
Working memory supports many other developing skills:
1. Language
2. Academic skills - particularly maths
3. General school readiness
32
How can teachers help children with poor working memory?
Teachers can provide:
- Auditory Support: Giving one instruction at a time; make them clear, short and specific
- Visual Support: Write instructions on a board, use a checklist
33
What is the definition of Theory of Mind
Theory of mind is the ability to attribute unobservable mental states (thoughts, beliefs, desires, intentions) to others
It is vital to understand, explain and predict others' behaviour
34
Explain the development of ToM in toddlers (2 years, 18 months, 3 years)
Two year olds understand that their thoughts can be different from the state of reality as indicated by pretend play
18-month olds understand that people may have desires different to their own (crackers vs broccoli experiment - 14month olds gave experimenter their own preferred food)
3 year olds have an awareness that thoughts exist, and that they are separate entities to physical things
35
Explain the study (Onishi & Baillargeon, 2005) that looked at ToM in infancy with relation to false beliefs
```
Infant sees actor reach for object inside a green box, the location of the boxes are switches, and the actor's eyes are either:
Uncovered (true belief condition)
Fully covered (false belief condition)
```
Infants look longer (surprised) when actor reaches for the wrong box in the true belief condition
Infants also look longer when actor reaches for the same location when their eyes have been fully uncovered (false belief condition)
36
Why do children perform badly at ToM tasks, but infants do well?
There may be two systems for ToM
Implicit ToM: This is innate/learned very early. It's there without awareness and cannot be verbally expressed
Explicit ToM: Learned more slowly and with awareness
37
What are three theories of Tom development?
1. Theory-Theory
2-year olds have a theory based on desire psychology
3-year olds have a theory based on belief-desire psychology
4-year olds realise that beliefs are interpretations which can be innacurate
2. Meta-representations
Pre-schoolers fail false-belief tasks as they can't hold two representations of same object simultaneously (meta-representations)
4-year olds pass these tasks as they have meta-representations
3. Executive Function Accounts
Pre-schoolers may not be failing due to a representational deficit, but from a cognitive deficit (poor executive function)
38
What is one explanation for the shift in false belief understanding in 3-4 year olds?
Improvements to executive function (basic processing skills) may explain the shift in false belief understanding of 3-4 year olds
39
What is Socioeconomic Status (SES)
SES is a measure of one's economic and social resources + the social positioning, privileges and prestige that derive from those resources
40
What are 4 methods of measuring SES
1. Parental education
2. Family income
3. Parent occupation
4. Neighbourhood deprivation
41
How might SES affect outcomes
Social capital: connections in social network (jobs/opportunities)
Access to opportunities: money enables opportunities (book, more extracurricular activities = greater learning potential)
Human capital: skills/knowledge of individuals (parents education they can pass on)
42
What three areas of cognition did Farah et al (2006) find low SES children did poorer in
1. Language
2. Memory
3. Executive function (Working Memory + Cognitive Control)
Farah found no link between SES and reward processing - suggested this disparity may become apparent later in development as a pragmatic adaptation to low resources/rewards found in low SES households
43
What are some reasons for mathematical achievement differences in SES households
Pre-schoolers from low SES families start school with worse maths knowledge (less prepared to learn), placing them at long-term academic risk
May be due to less exposure to numbers at home, which has knock on effect later as maths learning is incremental
44
Why are there links between SES and maths ability?
1. Differences in parenting styles
2. Differences in what parents can invest
3. Differences in stress
45
Explain differences in parenting styles in relation to SES differences in maths ability
Lareau (2002) studied 88 families from diverse SES backgrounds and found 2 parenting styles that differed by SES:
1. Higher SES families engaged 'concerted cultivation': deliberate, sustained effort to stimulate child's development + cultivate cognitive skills
2. Lower SES families engaged in 'natural growth' not trying to develop special talents, but seeing dev happening spontaneously as long as there is support, love, comfort, food
Lareau also found differences in family acitivities (extra curricular) and communication styles (low SES more direct / children questioned parents less)
46
Explain parental investment differences in maths ability in relation to SES
Investment model
Lower SES parents have less capital (resources, assets) so can't invest as much in their children
Differences in:
1. Cognitive stimulation (read less, more TV)
2. Resources (higher SES buy more educational games/materials
3. Tools for maths thinking (higher SES use more language involving numbers)
47
Explain the stress model for SES differences in maths ability
Lower SES leads to long-term stress (less resources, money/employment worries) which can affect children either:
Directly - chronic stress affects HPA axis, give children higher basal rate of cortisol + more muted response to standard stressors
Stress affects formation of new memories
Indirectly - behavioural differences, harsh/inconsistent parenting practices
48
What are the 5 types of changes that occur due to changing emotions
1. Physiological factors: heart rate, breathing, hormone levels
2. Subjective feelings: linked to that emotional state (fearfulness)
3. Cognitions and perceptions (associated with the feeling)
4. Expressive behaviours (outward expression of the emotion)
5. Desire to take action (escape, approach, desire to change things)
49
Explain the emergence of emotions in infants
By 3 months, infants distinguish happy, surprised and angry faces (by 7months they smile primarily at familiar people)
By 7 months, they distinguish fear and sadness
50
Explain the emergence of negative emotions (distress, fear, separation, anger) in infants
Infants first exhibit generalised distress (by 2months researchers distinguish between anger and sadness vs distress)
Little evidence for fear being expressed before 4 months old, by 6-7months this extends to people (esp. strangers)
Distress from being away from caregiver begins at 8months (increases from 8-15months and then declines)
Children can clearly express anger by age 1, this increases up to 16months, by 2 they become angry when their control over environment is taken away
51
Explain why some children express guilt and show express shame in response to negative events
Children are more likely to show shame when parents emphasise that 'the child is bad' when something goes wrong
More likely to express guilt when the parents emphasise the 'badness of the situation'
52
What is emotion regulation?
Process whereby people seek to dampen + redirect their feelings of emotion (we engage in some form of it all the time)
Emotion regulation involves initiating, inhibiting or modulating:
1. physiological factors
2. subjective feelings
3. cognitions and perceptions
4. expressive behaviour
53
What is the Three Step Transition to developing emotion regulation in infants
1. Transition from caregiver regulation to self-regulation (by 6months infants show rudimentary self-regulation)
2. The use of cognitive strategies (cognitive strategies / problem solving to downplay/adapt to situations
3. Selection of Appropriate Strategies
Children improving ability to select cognitive/behavioural strategies to help situation rather than giving up in
frustration after failed attempt
Emotion regulation fosters more social competence
54
What is temperament
Emotional, attentional reactivity + self-regulation that shows consistency and stability over time
55
What are six aspects to temperament
1. Fearful distress/inhibition (distress/withdrawal in new situations)
2. Irritable distress (anger/frustration)
3. Attention span/persistence: duration of orientation toward an object
4. Activity level (how much infants moves)
5. Positive affect/approach: smiling/laughing/approaching people
6. Rhythmicity: regularity + predictability of routines (sleeping/eating)
56
Is temperament thought to be hereditary + why?
Temperament is thought to be hereditary. Identical twins have more similar temperaments than non-identical twins
57
What are 4 key theories in media research
1. Displacement Hypothesis
2. Goldilocks Hypothesis
3. Transfer Deficit
4. Stimulation Hypothesis
58
Explain the Displacement Hypothesis
Media use takes time away from other beneficial activities
Assumes a negative monotonic relationship + that harm is directly proportional to amount of exposure
Only works if children would definitely be doing something more beneficial had they not been using media
59
Explain the Goldilocks Hypothesis
Moderate technology isn't intrinsically harmful
Too much use - displace meaningful activities
Too little use - miss out on vital information / skills
Just right amount = balanced use
Both Goldilocks + Displacement hypothesis based on correlational data (can't imply causation)
60
Explain what is meant by Transfer Deficit
Transfer deficit = failure to transfer information learned in one modality (screen to IRL)
States that children learn more from live/3D interactions than 2D
the change in modality may be too cognitively demanding for young children (age-related memory constraints may also play a part)
61
Explain the Stimulation Hypothesis
Content that is more stimulating can lead to more creative ideas
4-6 year olds watching Harry Potter clip performed better in creativity tasks compared with those that watched a non-magical clip
62
Outline the study looking into communities in Canada where TV was just being introduced (Harrison & Williams, 1986)
Three Communities in Canada (1 = no TV, 2 = one channel TV, 3 = several program TV)
Measured + 1 year later
Results
Divergent thinking (generate creative ideas by exploring solutions) significantly higher in Community 1
Divergent thinking dropped to level of other communities after 1 year (possibly due to displacement of activities)
63
Outline the stud looking at educational content vs general audience content and its effects on child school performance
Diaries of TV viewing for 3 years + annual measures of performance
Results
General audience TV content related to lower performance
Educational programme viewing related with increased educational performance + school readiness
64
Outline the study looking at maternal scaffolding in infant media use
50 mother + infant pairs, mother had 5 mins to explain that touchscreen button works same as 3D button
Higher quality interactions were 19x more likely to result in successful completion of the task compared to moderate interaction pairs
65
What is the AAP 2x2 policy on media use
No media use for children under 2, only 2 hours a day after age 2
Revised in 2016 saw removal of 2x2 guidelines (except for video chatting)
Little evidence to suggest guidelines are effective in facilitating higher wellbeing
66
What is the Apgar scale, and what are the parameters
```
The Apgar scale (0-10) is used to measure whether newborns are fit to participate in a study
Parameters:
Appearance (blue-pink)
Pulse (absent-100bpm)
Grimace (no response - grimace/cries)
Activity (none - all limbs flex)
Respirations (absent - robust cry)
```
67
Explain how vision develops in newborns
Newborn: fuzzy vision, can't fixate, range of vision ~30cm
1-2 months: Can fixate + distinguish high contrast colours
4 months: Depth perception, improved colour vision, follow objects with eyes
8 months: Visual range increases - can recognise people across a room
1 year: similar clarity to adults
68
Explain the "Other Race" Effect
Infants can initially discriminate between the faces they see
By 9 months, infants lose the ability to discriminate between faces they don't see that often
It is possible to retain this ability (other faces picture book)
69
Explain how hearing develops in infants
Sound can be perceived in the womb
From around 26 months gestation, foetuses show heart rate changes in direct response to auditory stimuli + they can recognise their mother's voice
70
What did DeCasper & Spence (1986) find in relation to how much auditory information babies can pick up in the womb
Asked pregnant women to read a 3-minute story every day in final 6 weeks of pregnancy
Newborn infants preferred hearing the story they heard in the women EVEN if it was read by a stranger
71
Explain how Tactile Development begins in infancy
8 weeks: Foetuses respond to area around lips being touched
10 weeks: Reflexive grasp when palm touched
12 weeks: Toes curl when soles of feet touched
Newborns show automatic grasp reflex for first 6 months
72
Explain the study matching touch to vision in infants (Sann & Streri, 2007)
Newborns given small object (cylinder or triangular bar) to hold
Then shown either the object they held, or the a new object
Infants look twice as long at the novel object
There is no difference in surprise when the study is reversed and the infants see an object, then hold it
73
Explain how Motor Development begins in infancy
1-3 months: Infants develop ability to hold head up
5 months: Infants can sit without support
10-14 months: Infants begin to crawl (varies greatly)
18-30 months: learn to run, skip, jump, climb
74
Outline what Herbert et al (2007) found in their study on the impact of motor development on memory
9 month olds (half could crawl, half could not) tested on memory task
Shown a novel toy w novel action (eyes lit up when button pressed)
Tested 24 hours later
Results
In the novel context, infants who could crawl, remembered the action and pressed the button again (crawling brings new experience, changing cognition)
75
Explain what Perception and Cognition mean and the study used to measure these in infants
Perception: how well we see, hear, directly experience world
Cognition: how we form, use, act upon internal thoughts, states, pictures
Tested using "Violation of Expectation Task" (habituation)
4-5 month olds looked longer at impossible task (showing basic arithmetic ability)
76
What did Baillargeon (1986) find in their variation on the Violation of Expectancy task?
Tryuck goes down a ramp, past a screen
Variation 1: screen is lifted to show object
Variation 2: screen is lifted to show object blocking truck's path
6 and 8 month olds looked longer at impossible event than possible event (possibly showing object permamnce)
4 month olds also regarded impossible event as different from possible event
Infants may be able to show object permanence when measured by their looking (passive) and not by their actions (active)
