everything

Question 1

what is the aim of developmental psychology?

Answer 1

aims to understand the changes that happen over time in cognitive, emotional and behavioural functioning of an individual due to environmental and genetic influences

Question 2

what are some of the adult expectations/hopes about having children?

Answer 2

family heritage
providing economic help
provide fun and affection
adult status

Question 3

what are 5 influences on child development (developmental framework)?

Answer 3

1. biology
2. individual context
3. family
4. society
5. culture

Question 4

what are some of the factors involved in biology as an influence on child development?

Answer 4

genes
brain
neuropsychological functioning

Question 5

what are some of the factors involved in individual context as an influence on child development?

Answer 5

personality
characteristics
thoughts
emotions
temperament - surgency e,g impulsivity, negative affectivity e.g nervousness and effortful control e.g inhibit responses

cognitive, moral and emotional development and self-regulation

Question 6

what are some of the factors involved in family as an influence on child development?

• describe Bamrind’s typology of parenting styles?

Answer 6

(ost important influence)
parent-child relationships
siblings

Baumrind’s typology of parenting styles: warmth, level of expectations, clarity of rules and communication

all 4 is authoritative, none is neglecting

Question 7

what are some of the factors involved in society as an influence on child development?

• explain the 3 stages in friendship development

Answer 7

peer relationships
friendship vs rejection

friendships:
Reward-cost stage (7-9 years) - expect friends to be helpful and share same interests

normative stage (10-11 years) - expect friends to admire them and commitment

expathic stage (12-13 years) - expect friends to be understanding and have self-disclosure

Question 8

what are some of the factors involved in culture as an influence on child development?

• universal transtion points and explanations

Answer 8

poverty, race, immigration

universal transition points during 2nd year (when children become autonomous and start saying no), 6-7 (not known why) and puberty (physical and emotional changes)

Question 9

what is also important apart from the 5 factors in development of a child?

Answer 9

the age of the child relative to the parents

Question 10

give an example of a study regarding influence of parents and peers on children?

Answer 10

Kandel, 1973

found if parents were users of marijuana but best friends not then 17% of adolescents likely to smoke

if best friends did but parents didn’t then 56%

when parents and best friends users then 67%

Question 11

name the 6 psychopathological/child development models?

Answer 11

medical
behavioural
social learning
cognitive
psychoanalytic
family systems

Question 12

what is involved in the medical model to explain psychopathology?

• a limitation of this model?

Answer 12

emphasis on organic dysfunctions and diagnoses (same as for physical illness)

BUT environmental factors can alter biology e.g high stress levels

Question 13

give an example of a study displaying relationship between environment and child’s cortisol levels?

(supporting limitation of medical model being that environment affects biology)

Answer 13

Cicchetti & Rogosch, 2001

maltreated children with internalising problems (depression and anxiety) had higher cortisol levels (stress hormone) and higher for maltreated boys with externalising problems (e.g ADHD)

Question 14

describe the difference between internalising and externalising disorders?

Answer 14

internalising - depressionand anxiety as internalises sadness

externalising - ADHD as main focus outside of individual e.g becoming aggressive

Question 15

what is involved in the behavioural model to explain learning and psychopathology?

• 3 types of learning
• how all beh. occurs
• consequences influencing behaviour
• explaining psychopathology

Answer 15

emphasis on learning principles of:

1. conditioning - generalise past experiences to new situations
2. habituation - disinterested in same stimulus repeated so learn through interest of new stimuli
3. statistical learning - likelihood that event will follow another e.g sound of cooking leading to food

and every beh. learnt, maintained or changed

shaped by consequences: reinforcement, punishment, avoidance or imitation

psychopathologies distinguished based on frequency/intensity of maladaptive behaviour:
deficit e.g autism and lacking social qualities
excess e.g OCD and performing beh. excessively

Question 16

what is involved in the social learning theory model to explain psychopathology?

Answer 16

emphasis on individual’s as active agents in their environment and cognitive processes

reciprocal determinism - mutual influence of person on environment and vice versa

self-efficacy

Question 17

describe Piaget’s stages of cognitive development as part of the cognitive model of child development?

Answer 17

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development:

1. sensorimotor (birth-2): learn about objects and cause&effect
2. preoperational (2-7): understand language
3. concrete operational (7-11): solving problems
4. formal operational (adolescence-adulthood): think in abstract way

Question 18

describe PIaget’s theory of cognitive development as part of the cognitive model of child development?

Answer 18

PIaget’s theory of cognitive development:
schema - building blocks of knowledge to help understand and predict enviro
assimilation - incorportation of new info into existing schema
accommodation - altering of schema to take into account new info
equilibrium - cog development reults from balance between assimilation and accommodation

Question 19

give examples of cognitive mechanisms as part of the cognitive model of child development?

Answer 19

processes - object recognition and memory which change as they grow

strategies - to problem solve and adopt to new situations more effectively e.g using chair to reach object

metacognition - reflection (advanced cog strategy)

knowledge - better position to learn and form associations between old and new info

Question 20

what is involved in the psychoanalytic model to explain child development?

• Erickson’s theory of psychosocial development

Answer 20

stage 1: trust vs mistrust (12 months) learn to trust and if not hard in future to form close relationships

stage 2: autonomy vs shame (1-3 and 1/2) autonomy leads to confidence but if enviro punishes autonomy then develop sense of shame about beh.

stage 3: initiative vs guilt (4-6) modelling and internalising parents expectations and if don’t meet then guilt

stage 4: industry vs inferiority (6-puberty) success leads to confidence but if rejected by peers (unsuccessful) then inferior and lack confidence

stage 5: identity vs role confusion (adolescence) clear about identity, goals and morals to avoid role confusion

Question 21

what is involved in the family systems model to explain child development?

Answer 21

homeostasis = families keeping structure even in times of change

subsystems e.g parent-child and siblings

personality stems from having different relationships with different members and enviro

Question 22

describe the boundaries explanation in the family systems model to explain child development and psychopathology?

Answer 22

1. clear boundaries - lots of autonomy as know expectations and limits
2. rigid boundaries - don’t feel free to express oneself as strict roles
3. enmeshment - members don’t differentiate and emotionally over-involved so attempts at individuation perceived by family as threat and can result in anxiety

Question 23

explain the 3 dysfunctional family systems in family systems model to explain psychopathology?

Answer 23

1. parent-child coalition - one parent forms coalition with child and excludes other parent
2. triangulation - child caught in middle of parents
3. detouring - parents focus on child’s beh. to escape from problems in marital relationship

Question 24

brief explanation of causes of psychopathology in each of the models?

Answer 24

medical - organic dysfunctions

behavioural & SLT - reinforcement/modelling of maladaptive beh.

cognitive - under/over stimulation

psychoanalytic - problems with mastery experiences

family systems - problems with boundaries

Question 25

what are 5 characteristics of psychopathology models?

Answer 25

organisational perspective
continuity vs discontinuity
developmental pathways
transactions
mutlifinality and equifinality

Question 26

describe the organisational perspective as a characteristic of psychopathology models?

Answer 26

development is hierarchical - increases in complexity and oragnisation (e.g Piaget’s theory of cog development)

stage-salient issues - need to be addressed for development to move onto next stage

stage-salient events - can lead to strengths or vulnerabilities

Question 27

describe continuity vs discontinuity as a characteristic of psychopathology models?

Answer 27

Romanian orphan adoption study (Rutter, 1998) found generally those adopted after 6 months had poorer cognitive development

although some catch up between 6-11 for bottom 15%

Question 28

describe the developmental pathways as a characteristic of psychopathology models?

Answer 28

3 different pathways for mental disorders associated with conduct problems:

1. life-course persistent (worst outcomes)
2. adolescent-onset (due to expansion of amount of friends and adopting conduct problem behaviours from them)
3. childhood-limited

Question 29

describe the transactional model as a characteristic of psychopathology models?

Answer 29

1975
bidirectional links between parents and childs beh.

parent driven effects: proactive parenting longitudinally associated with decreased levels of behavioural problems in children (Denham et al., 2000)
remote father-infant interactions at 3 months predicted increased behavioural problems at 1 years (Ramchandani et al., 2013)

child driven effects:
boys with condcut disorders elicited more demands and neg reposnses when interacting with mothers and mothers of controls (Anderson, Lytton & Romney., 1986)

Question 30

describe multifinality as a characteristic of psychopathology models?

Answer 30

Cicchetti &; Rogosch, 1996

particular risk factors may ead to different child outcomes

e.g depression in parents -> emotional problems/behavioural problems

Question 31

describe equifinality as a characteristic of psychopathology models?

Answer 31

Cicchetti &; Rogosch, 1996

different risk factors may lead to same developmental outcomes
e.g harsh parenting, parental psychopathology and poverty may all lead to child behavioural problems

Question 32

what is Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development called?

and what is the main difference between his and Piaget’s theory?

Answer 32

the sociocultural approach

Vygotsky not interested in children’s capabilities at different points in time but what they can achieve cognitively when capabilities e.g memory improved through social interactions (social and cultural)

Question 33

what methods did Vygotsky use amongst illiterate people to understand level of ognitive development?

Answer 33

used syllogism - required to use logic
illiterate people unuable to answer question requiring logic as concrete not abstract way of thinking
also didn’t understand why asking question if they knew the answer

Question 34

in Vygotsky’s theory of development, what is meant by ‘mediators’?

Answer 34

mediators are tools such as language and writing which assist thinking processes (e.g to understand others and access ideas)

help children become more effective probem solvers and understand the world

use different mediators depending on child’s age

Question 35

describe the mediator of ‘play’ as seen by Vygotsky?

Answer 35

pretend play facilitates imaginative thinking as children act out situations they don’t understand and learn rules in a non punishing situation
can practice skills

Question 36

in Vygotsky’s theory of development, what is meant by ‘functions’?

Answer 36

elementary mental functions - basic cognitive abilities: memory, perception and attention - biological (babies born with these capacities) and occur spontaneously

higher mental functions - due to social interactions: problem solving and voluntary action - require several cognitive processes and mediators

Question 37

in Vygotsky’s theory of development, what is meant by ‘the zone of proximal development (ZPD)’?

Answer 37

illustrates how cog development is determined by child’s iinteractions by more experienced adults

enables assessment of child’s potential when conditions are optimal

what they can do with assistance, pans out to what they can do with help of adult (ZPD), pans out to beyond child’s current level

Question 38

in Vygotsky’s theory of development, what is meant by ‘egocentric speech’?

Answer 38

form of self-directed dialogue to helop child solve problems and directs the thining processes and activities

transformed into inner speech with maturation

goes from irrelevant to task -> relevant to task-> using inner speech to solve problems

Question 39

what is Piaget’s contrasting view (to Vygotsky) about egocentric speech?

Answer 39

reflects child’s egocentrism and has no use at all (actually a limit of preoperational stage)

shows deficits in child’s thinking and serves no function

Question 40

what are the 5 contributions of Vygotsky to education?

Answer 40

1. scaffolding
2. reciprocal instrucition
3. community of learners
4. guided participation
5. intent community participation

Question 41

what is scaffolding as one of Vygotsky’s contributions to education?

findings?

Answer 41

more knowledgeable person adjusts amount and type of support offered to child to fit learning needs over course of interaction (to complete a task for example)

e.g if child doing well with a puzzle then parent temporarily stops giving assistance

scaffolding had indirect effect on child’s executive functions at 4 through child’s verbal ability at age 3 (increases cognitive ability through language)

Question 42

what is reciprocal instruction as one of Vygotsky’s contributions to education?

Answer 42

based on ZPD and scaffolding

tutoring approach for reading comprehension where learner and tutor work together and tutor teaches skills critical in reading comprehension

Question 43

what is community of learners as one of Vygotsky’s contributions to education?

Answer 43

approach to classroom learning
children and adults should collabrate in joint activities as chilren varying in skills and knowledge learn from each other
teacher is guided but also participates in learning process

Question 44

what is guided participation as one of Vygotsky’s contributions to education?

Answer 44

learning that occurs during everyday activities

adults guided child’s attention and involvement in activites and focuses

Question 45

what is intent community participation as one of Vygotsky’s contributions to education?

Answer 45

intent community participation - participate in authentic activities with aim of learning about activity

Question 46

what are some strengths of Vygotsky’s theory?

Answer 46

any practical implications for child’s cognitive development within education system

shifts focus from solely individual to social and cultural contexts iin which social interactions benefit development

Question 47

what are some weaknesses of Vygotsky’s theory?

Answer 47

didn’t look at what ways the child’s development may affect culture

assistance from adults may undermine abilitiy to work independently

didn’t look at how emotional development impacts cognitive developmente.g whether securely attached kids excel more cognitively

Question 48

what are the 3 areas in which moral development takes placeand describe them?

Answer 48

1. affective - feelings about moral issues (e.g superego)
2. behavioural - what people actually do when confronted with moral dilemma
3. cognitive - how you reason about moral issues (Piaget and Kohlberg)

Question 49

what does Lewis (2007) suggest about emotional development at different ages?

Answer 49

6 months - joy, anger, sadness - basic emotions

2 years - embarrasment (non evaluative), empathy and consciousness

3 years - embarrassment (evaluative), shame and acquisition of rules and standards

Question 50

briefly describe elements of the affective aspect of moral development?

Answer 50

shame and guilt are mechanisms for internalisation of social and moral values

require self-reflection therefore preventing child performing action again

Question 51

difference between shame and guilt as mechanisms for internaliation of moral values?

Answer 51

shame - public exposure and disapproval and negative evaluation of whole self - results in separation and anger

guilt - private conscious experience and negative evaluation of specific behaviour - results in apologies and corrective action

Question 52

what are the 3 stages in Piaget’s theory of development of moral reasoning?

Answer 52

1. amoral/premoral - first 5 years - little concern for rules
2. moral realism - 6-10 years - see rules as unchangeable and concerned for them
3. autonomous morality/morality of reciprocity - from 10/11 years - concerned for rules but understand they can be changed and believe in fairness

Question 53

what are Kohlberg’s categories and stages of moral development?

Answer 53

pre-conventional morality - responsive to rules but sees them as pleasant or unpleasant
stage 1. obedience/punishment orientation
stage 2. self-interest orientation

conventional - internlise parents viewed and focused on pleasing them
stage 3. social conformity
stage 4. law and order

post-conventional - believe in fairness and flexibility of rules
stage 5. social contract
stage 6. universal ethics

Question 54

how did Kohlberg believe one can promote moral development?

Answer 54

children need to be more active to reorganise thinking
organised discussion groups where children solve moral issues where arguments a level above childrens current competence

creates cognitive conflict as information discrepant from their view - resolve this by forming a more advanced and comprehensive position (development)

Question 55

describe finding by Bloom, Wynn and Hamlin (2010) regarding 3 month olds and prosocial tendencies?

Answer 55

3 month olds preferred a character that helped climber up the hill over one that pushed it down (measured by amount of loooking at the character)

didn’t prefer character which pushed inanimate object up hill over one that pushed it down

Question 56

what did Hamlin, Dunn and Aknin (2012) find about happiness levels when giving treats to puppets (prosocial tendencies)?

Answer 56

found toddlers had highest level of happiness when giving their own treat to puppet over receiving the treats themselves

Question 57

what are some factors involved in theory of mind?

Answer 57

understanding:
appearance versus reality
dreams
intentions
deception
self and others are psychological well beings

grasping what the mind is and what the mind does

Question 58

what is meant by Piaget’s 3 mountains task?

Answer 58

children have difficulty understanding that person sitting on otherside will have a different view of the mountains than they do
looking at the cognitive aspect of perspective taking

Question 59

how did Piaget view children below 7?

Answer 59

egocentric
can’t understand other’s mental states and intentions
can’t take others’ perspectives (3 mountains task)

Question 60

why may Piaget’s conclusion that those younger than 6 have no appreciation of mental life at all be wrong?

• describe some ways in which 3 year olds do demonstrate lack of theory of mind development?
• babies?
• 4 y/os?

Answer 60

suggesting they don’t have theory of mind

3 y/o do make some mistakes in ToM tasks (e.g put finger through safe box despite knowing pretend game, imaginary friends, not understanding in hide and seek that they can see you even if you cant see them and saying friend would guess pencil in smarties box as not grasping concept of false belief) but still able to understand that the mind consists of thoughts

even babies have some understanding of ToM e.g intentions of others and discriminate between stranger and mother after 2 days and show preference for patterned over plain and humans over patterned stimuli at a couple of weeks

at 4 have representational theory of mind, helping with conceptual understanding of mental states of others, false beliefs, appearnace from reality and rules from which they predict behaviour

Question 61

describe a method of measuring whether children understand theconcept of having false beliefs?

Answer 61

children told that boy puts chocolate in drawer but whilst he’s out, mother moves it, then asked where will he look for it?

those who answer the drawer as opposed to the new location recognise consequences of a person’s having a flase belief (element of theory of mind)

Question 62

what are some issues in the type of meotholody used to test young children’s theory of mind?

Answer 62

child might not fully understand the question being asked, therefore giving an incorrect answer

may have theory of mind just not able to communicate it in an effective way through their language

might respond differently depending on person asking (mum vs teacher)

answers don’t allow for degree of performace to be assessed as either right or wrong answer given, not ‘half way there’

Question 63

what did Hughes et al, 2005, find regarding nature vs nurture in theory of mind in twin study?

conclusion?

Answer 63

116 5 y/o twins

contributions to theory of mind:
44% due to non shared environment
41% shared environment
15% due to genetics

suggesting genes aren’t that important and more to do with family environment and friends, school etc (non-shared)

Question 64

what is meant by ‘modularity’ when understanding the development of theory of mind?

Answer 64

have module in brain facilitating understanding of minds as responsible for processing theory of mind informaton and that about states of others

becomes advanced at about 4 y/o but unsure whether active before 4

Question 65

discuss the importance of siblings in theory of mind development?

Answer 65

Perner et al, 1994 found 3 y/os with sibling were more likely to be correct in false belief task than those without

maybe due to being exposed to mental states when interacting with sibling

Question 66

discuss the importance of family environment in theory of mind development?

Answer 66

may encourage children through questions and scenarios to think about emotional responses of others, allowing them to be in better position to understand mental states of others

development therefore facilitated through asking the right questions and explaining them

Question 67

is theory of mind universal?

Answer 67

Avis & Harris, 1991
found kids from different cultures above 5 predominatly correctly recognised false belief in scenario whereas younger children did not

also, children of 4 from west and japan unable to understand difference between real feelings and apparent emotion (facial expression) whereas 6 y/os did

suggests biological in origin and supports modularity in brain for processing such information

Question 68

list some facts about autism?

Answer 68

pervasive developmental disorder characterised by impairments in several areas of development
on a spectrum with Asperger’s at the higher end
autistic behaviours present before age 3

2/3 will have IQ identifying them as having learning difficulties (>70)

Question 69

several factors necessary for the diagnosis of autism?

Answer 69

difficulty with social relationships, verbal and non-verbal communication, development of play and imagination

resistance to change in routine

Question 70

what does Wing & Gould’s 1979 triad of impairments related to autism contain?

Answer 70

1. socialisation
2. communication
3. imagination

Question 71

describe socialisation in autistic children?

1/3 in triad of impairments

Answer 71

social isolation as inability to relate to others

impairments in joint attention (following anothers gaze to an object) and social orienting (following gaze aorund a room)

4 groups:
aloof - withdrawn and don’t interact or respond and passive
passive - more responsive, very compliant and passive/indifferent
active but odd - ask inappropriate questions, don’t register feedback from others and don’t understand social norms
formal - no learning difficulties but respond in very rigid and formal way even to parents, not understanding norms

Question 72

describe features of communication in autistic children?

1/3 in triad of impairments

Answer 72

elective mutism - don’t speak despite being capable (1/2)
echolalic speech - repeat others words
pronoun reversal - confuse you and I
lack of prosody - fall/rise in voice to express emotions
lack of gestures - nodding of head
difficulty at reading faces as gaze rests on chin not eyes

Question 73

describe imagination in autistic children?

1/3 in triad of impairments

Answer 73

rigid behaviour
sameness (rock back and forth)
resistance to change
narrow area of interests
sensory processing difficulties e.g hypersensitivies/hypo to pain and sound

Question 74

what is used to measure autism in children and which specific behaviours associated with increased risk for beind diagnosed?

Answer 74

checklist for autism on toddlers (CHAT)

no positive responses to:

1. protodeclarative pointing - using index finger to point
2. gaze monitoring - looking at person not object (1st birthday party video emphasised this)
3. pretend play

Question 75

stats on autism?

Answer 75

ranges from in in every 2000/1000/500

every increasing due to better recognition and widening of criteria for diagnosis and less stigma attached

boys outnumber girls (4:1)
low cog functioning (2boys:1 girl)
high cog functioning (15 boys:1girl)

Question 76

evidence supporting MMR vaccine and infections during pregnancy as causes for autism?

Answer 76

no empirical evidence supporting either of these causes

Question 77

evidence supporting refrigerator parenting as a cause for autism?

Answer 77

meaning cold, rejecting and emotionally unavailable

BUT concordance rates between siblings/non-identical twins 3%
whereas for identical between 30-80%
suggesting not due to parenting style as % woud be more similar (suggesting genetic)

Question 78

evidence supporting fetal testosterone as a cause for autism?

Answer 78

Auyeung, Taylor, Hackett & Baron-Cohen, 2010

higher fetal testosterone (in amniotic fluid) associated with higher levels of autistic symptoms in both genders
especially for boys

Question 79

descrbe empathising and systemising in those with autism?

and executive functions?

Answer 79

have below average empathy
have above average systemising as prefer closed systems which are highly predictable e.g maths and computers

perform poorly on executive function tasks - display difficulties with planning and set-shifting

Question 80

why are people with austism expected to fail the false belief test?

results of Sally-Ann test?
issues with this test?

Answer 80

predicted to fail as needs functions that are impaired in WIng and Gould’s triad:

socialisation - difficulty with social relationships
communication - literalness
imagination - inability to suspend disbelief

Baron-Cohen et al, 1985
found those with autism had mean verbal mental age of 5.5 but actual age of 12 (similar results in Leslie&Frith’s test, 1988)
BUT might have been unable to get involved with story requiring them to suspend disbelief/ doll has no mind so question is meaningless

Question 81

findings from Mitchell & Isaac’s 1994 task for autistic children?

Answer 81

asked about giving mum a bag of wool she wants despite them being swapped around

autistic kids gave correct answer

ecological validity as potential real life situation

Question 82

explanaiton behind autistic children’s tendency to be ‘naively honest’?

example of this in a study?

Answer 82

don’t understand false beliefs so don’t lie

therefore, understanding that lies serve to conceal the truth might only be possible if you understand that others hold beliefs that can be true or false

e.g in Sodian & Firths’s 1992 experiment, autistic kids unable to lie to ‘nasty thief’ about where treat lay, but were able to lock him in box to prevent him getting what he wanted

Question 83

describe the ‘central coherence explanation’ to autism?

advantages of this theory?

Answer 83

Francesca Happe proposed this

autism charcterised by a weak central coherence - inability to process information in context to get the gist, pull information all together to extract higher meaning at expense of memory

advantages:
skills and shortcomings are explained
predicts range of superior skills and deficits

Question 84

describe perceptual processing as related to autism and an example of this?

Answer 84

not susceptible to Titchener circles (dot inside looks bigger/smaller but actually the same size)

due to tendency to focus on every detail, so despite not understanding bigger picture, able to process individual details accurately of stimuli

Question 85

describe the results of verbal-semantic coherence tasks in those with autism?

Answer 85

e.g the sea tastes of salt and …

relies upon noting context of sentence but might say ‘pepper’ as use words associated and don’t look at bigger picture

normal kids put sentence in wider context to solve problem

Question 86

what is meant by autists having ‘savant skills’?

Answer 86

unusually common in autistic populations to reach absolute pitch at a specific ability (remarkable abilities)

e.g in memory of a specific thing or music

Question 87

brielfy describe Harlow’s experiment?

Answer 87

monkey’s separated fromo their natural mothers
given either wire mother with feeding bottle or mother with no food but soft cloth

found monkeys preferred soft mother and ‘contact comfort’

1958

Question 88

what is Bowlby’s theory of attachment?

Answer 88

that infants are biologically programmed to form attachments with caregivers for survival

attachment therefore innate primary drive

Question 89

describe the 6 stages of attachment defined by SLater & Bremner, 2011?

Answer 89

0-2 weeks : prefer listening to human voices over other sounds

2-4 weeks : prefer to listen to mother’s voice over other humans and establish eye contact

3-6 months : use social smile

6-9 months : use preferential smile (at caregivers not others) and experience separation anxiety

12-24 months : seek proximity to caregiver

3 years : goal-directed partnership between child & caregiver

Question 90

what are the key infant behaviours studied within Ainsworth’s Strange Situation for attachment classification (1970)?

Answer 90

proximity seeking
contact maintenance
resistance
avoidance
behaviour upon reunion

measuring between 9-18 months

Question 91

what were the 3 types of attachment accoding to Ainsowrth et al., 1978 original coding scheme?

4th added later?

Answer 91

secure
insecure-avoidant
isecure-resistant/ambivalent attachment

4th disorganised

Question 92

describe behaviours exhibited by securely attached children?

Answer 92

interact with unfamiliar adult
seek proximity to but are able to separate from caregiver
able to return to play and great caregiver positively

56-80% of children in normative population are securely attached

Question 93

describe behaviours exhibited by insecure-avoidant children?

Answer 93

ignore parents when reunited by avoiding eye contact and proximity
no preference between caregiver and stranger
explore room freely

16-28% of infants in normative population

Question 94

describe behaviours exhibited by insecure-resistant/ambivalent children?

Answer 94

preoccupied with caregiver (lack of exploration and excessive proximity seeking)
distressed by separation and not easily soothed on reunion
resist attempts at closeness on reunion

6-12% of infants in normative populations

Question 95

describe behaviours exhibited by disorganised attached children?

Answer 95

inconsistent behaviour and strategy for dealing with caregiver
wander around/fearful in presence of caregiver and may freeze when approaching them

high proportion in maltreating families and as such have positive correlation with psychopathology in the future

Question 96

how is attachment measured in older children?

why are these methods used?

weakness?

Answer 96

1. Q-Sort: caregiver asked to sort cards with child’s characteristics into categories
2. projective methods: e.g acting out scenarios with dolls house and doll or describing what they see in photographs ranging from mildly stressful to more so for attachment scenes
   - weakness with this is if imaginary scenarios are able to elicit and reflect real life attachment behaviours i.e would they act the same as they do with the doll etc.

• can no longer use Strange Situation to classify attachment type with older children as lots of experience with separation compared to 1 year olds (school)

Question 97

how is attachment assessed in adults?

Answer 97

Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is a semi-structured interview

asked about separation or rejection instances as a child, relationship with parents

Question 98

describe the 4 attachment types in adults corresponding to child attachment types?

Answer 98

1. autonomous (secure) - value close relationships and coherent account of childhood
2. dismissing (avoidant) - deny value of attachment and have idealised representations of attachment relationships
3. preoccupied (resistant) - unable to move on from experiences and over-involved with early attachment relationships
4. unresolved (disorganised) - haven’t resolved feelings regardig negative event in childhood e.g death or abuse

Question 99

name several factors influencing attachment classification in infants and children?

Answer 99

parenting
intergenerational transmission of attachment
temperament of child
parental psychopathology
culture

Question 100

describe how parenting influences attachment?

Answer 100

Wolff & Ijzendoorn, 1997:
meta-analysis of 1000 mother-child pairs found positive correlation (.24) between sensitive parenting (understanding and responding to babies needs) and secure attachments
however, not that strong a correlation so other factors influencing

avoidant - distance and anger during closeness

resistant - unpredictability between closeness or irritability

disorganised - confusing cues and behave in frightening ways (cues in abusive households)

Question 101

describe how intergenerational transmission of attachment influences attachment?

• alternative explanation?

Answer 101

attachments mothers had as child shapes how they interact with their children, reflecting in child’s own attachment

e.g dismissing to insecure avoidant child as mother denies value of her own attachment needs

due to developing internal working models of first attachments which dictate how we form future relationships as base them off these (however some individuals overcome insecure ones to form secure relationships in future-resilient)

may also be due to biological factors as shared genes

Question 102

describe how child’s temperament influences attachment?

Answer 102

temperament = personality of baby expressed in ways such as mood and activity levels

significant correlation between good mood and little difficulty and security of attachment

Question 103

describe how parental psychopathology influences attachment?

Answer 103

Cicchetti et al., 1998
findings that children with depressed mothers more likely to be insecurely attached than children with normal mothers as more likely to interact with babies inappropriately e.g over intrusive or not very often

Hobson et al., 2005:
found children of mothers with BPD more likely to be categorised as disorganised due to being less available for positive interaction and unstable mood (behaving in confusing and frightening ways)

Question 104

describe how culture influences attachment?

Answer 104

e. g germany focus on independence of children so reduced interaction, leading to much higher % avoidant (49% compared to UK 22%)
e. g Japanese mothers highly involved with babies and rarely separated so leads to excessive resistance behaviour as lack of experience, leading to much higher % of resistant (32% compared to 3% in UK)

Question 105

link between attachment and children’s social/cognitive development?

Answer 105

associations between secure attachment and better soc/cog development due to more social support, positive peer relationships and motivation

disorganised attachment and poorer soc/cog development

Question 106

link between attachment and children’s emotion competence?

Answer 106

e.g ability to experience/express emotions and manage them

association betwen secure attachment and increased emotion competence due to parent-child discussions and validation of emotions and positive peer relationships

Question 107

link between attachment type and internalising/externalising problems?

Answer 107

positive correlation betwen insecure attachment and anxiety (internalising) symptoms .3 (Colonenesi et al., 2011)

positive correlation .31 between insecure attachment and behavioural (externalising) problems

• much higher for boys and disorganised attachment and when observation assessment (methodological problem?)
• also argued increased risk only when other risk factors present e.g lack of father or poor economic status

Question 108

mechanisms explaining link between insecure attachment and children’s psychopathology?

Answer 108

attachment anxiety:
up-regulation of negative affect (over control neg emotions)
vigilance to threatening stimuli
decreased perceived others’ responsiveness

attachment avoidance:
down-regulation of negative affect (no attempt to control neg emotions)
self-reliance
decreased social support and perceived others’ responsiveness

both lead to feeling more negative due to undertaking extreme behaviours regarding negative feelings (up/down regulation) which may lead to internalising/externalising problems

Question 109

describe stability of attachment when using the strange situation?

explain why attachment may have changed/stayed the same during this time?

Answer 109

20 years after completing strange situation at 12 months, 32/50 had same attachment classification (Waters et al., 2000)

meaning 36% had changed attachment

due to:

• negative external events e.g divorce
• answering adult attachment test in certain way so not objective
• attachment type may lead to exerting influences on environment e.g friends chosen, which reinforce attachment, keeping it the same
• parents may manipulate how child feels about other parent

Question 110

name 4 attachment based preventive interventions?

Answer 110

1. child-parent psychotheraoy (CPP)
2. video-based intervention to promote positive parenting (VIPP)
3. the circle of security (COS)
4. attachment and biobehavioural catch-up (ABC)

Question 111

describe child-parent psychotherapy as an attachment based preventive intervention?

Answer 111

for impoverished/traumatised families and <5y/o
focuses on parents childhood experiences and current parenting behaviour
explores current stressful situations and encourages emotional communication between parent-child

found to decrease:
disorganised attachment and PTSD symptoms

Question 112

describe video based intervention to promote positive parenting as an attachment based preventive intervention?

Answer 112

home based for <12 months
parent and therapist look at hand-written and video material
focusing on sensitivity and responding

found to increase:
sensitivity of parent
child’s secure attachment

Question 113

describe the circle of security as an attachment based preventive intervention?

Answer 113

craegivers review parenting videos and attachment-related
reflect on their children’s needs and when to respond to them (reassurance vs exploration)
discuss parenting difficulties with other parents

found to increase:
security of attachment

Question 114

describe attachment and biobehavioural catch-up as an attachment based preventive intervention?

Answer 114

for foster parents and high risk population infants between 6-24 months

focuses on main challenges foster parents face:
children rejecting care, being frightened by parenting behaviours and difficulties providing nurturing care

found to:
improve attachment and emotional relationship
reduce cortisol levels (stress hormone) in children
reduce child negative affect during challenging situations

Question 115

difference in results when using parent education program compared to others and toddlers program?

Answer 115

MTP = aims to increase reflective functioning and decrease harsh parenting

for substance using mothers
MTP had increased scores for caregiving behaviours and higher communication

Suchmann et al., 2011

Question 116

what is Reactive Attachment Disorder?

what are the subtypes and what are they characterised by?

Answer 116

an attachment related disorder related to social deprivation/neglect beginning before 5y/o

either inhibited emotionally withdrawn - failure to initiate and respond to social interactions and inhibted/contradictory responses - predominantly those raised in institutions and related to quality of caregiving
or disinhibited/indiscriminately social - inability to exhibit appropriate selective attachments e.g excessive familiarity with strangers - identifiable in those raised within institutions and those adopted outside of institutions so not related to quality of caregiving

Question 117

prevalence of Reactive Attachment Disorder? (attachment related disorder)

Answer 117

in a deprived childhood population
prevalent in 1.4%

all of these had comorbid problems e.g 54% ADHD and 31% conduct problems

Minnis et al. 2013

Question 118

what are the 2 types and definitions of ‘self’ and what do they encompass?

Answer 118

i-self (subjective)
- focus on subjective experience
- stable identity over time and different situations
- sets goals and strives to achieve them
(how this is conceptualised leads to different me-self descriptions)

me-self (objective)

• characteristics can be discovered through self-reflection and observations
• contains different dimensions of personal attributes e.g material self (looks), social self (friends) and spriritual self (values)

Question 119

how is the sense of ‘self’ developed in babies?

Answer 119

develops from both social interactions/stimulation (socially constructed)

and through cognitive capabilities e.g object permanence - at 9 months understand that objects exist even when not present e.g when behind a screen or when mother not present

Question 120

what are the 4 parts of the ‘i-self’?

Answer 120

1. self-awareness - understanding our emotions and thoughts
2. self-agency - ownership of one’s behaviour
3. self-continuity - person is the same
4. self-coherence - slef has a single and coherent dimension

Question 121

example of an experiment showing how sense of self develops from social interactions as babies?

Answer 121

Tronick’s still face experiment

baby used to receiving feedback from caregivers, as shown by still face of mother leading to visible signs of distress from the infant
suggesting need to be socially responded to to develop

Question 122

example of an experiment to determine whether infants have developed sense of ‘me-self’?

Answer 122

rouge on nose test

small amount of rouge put on babies nose and then placed in front of mirror

if infant touches their nose as opposed to the reflection nose then have acquired self-concept (me-self as object)

majority of 2 y/o touched noses
whereas none of the 1 y/o touched their nose

Question 123

describe the concept of self in 3-4 y/os (early childhood)?

• through asking children to write passages about themselves
• salient content
• structure
• valence and accuracy
• nature of comparisons
• sensitivity to others

Answer 123

salient content: name simple attributes and observable characteristics

structure: isolated representations and lack of coherence (all-or-none thinking)

valence and accuracy: unrealistically positive and not distinguishing between real and ideal selves

nature of comparisons: no direct comparisons

sensitivity to others: anticipation of adult reactions (praise)

Question 124

describe the concept of self in 5-7 y/os (middle childhood)?

• through asking children to write a passage about themselves
• salient content
• structure
• valence and accuracy
• nature of comparisons
• sensitivity to others

Answer 124

• salient content: lots of attributes and specific competencies
• structure: links between representations which are typically opposites (all-or-none thinking)
• valence and accuracy: typically positive and inaccuracies persist
• nature of comparisons: temporal comparisons with younger self and wth age mates
• sensitivity to others: recognition others are evaluating the self and others’ standards becoming self-guides in regulation of behaviour

Question 125

describe the concept of self in 8-11 y/os (late childhood)?

• through asking children to write a passage about themselves
• salient content
• structure
• valence and accuracy
• nature of comparisons
• sensitivity to others

Answer 125

• salient content: traits labels focusing on abilities and interpersonal characteristics, comparative assessments with peers and global evaluation of worth
• structure: higher order generalisations which encompass several behaviours and ability to integrate opposing attributes
• valence and accuracy: both neg and pos evaluations, greater accuracy
• nature of comparisons: social comparison for purpose of self-evaluation
• sensitivity to others: internalisation of others’ opinions and standards which function as self-guides

Question 126

difference between childhood theory of self and adolescent?

Answer 126

adolescent theory of self more mature and greater coherence and internal consistency and role related attributes

Question 127

define self-regulation?

Answer 127

child’s ability to modulate behaviour according t the demands of a situation

Question 128

what are the names of the 5 domains of self-regulation?

Answer 128

1. physiological regulation
2. attentional regulation
3. behavioural regulation
4. executive control
5. emotion regulation

Question 129

describe the features of physiological regulation?

• as one of the five domains of self-regulation

Answer 129

emphasises that biological maturation is key in emotional and behavioural regulation

the Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) is a marker of physiological regulation

• high RSA/greater HR variability in non-stressful conditions
• RSA decrease in challenging conditions

Question 130

describe the features of attentional regulation?

• as one of the five domains of self-regulation

Answer 130

3 attention systems which develop within 1st year:

1. reticular activating system - maintenance and adjustment of alertness
2. posterior attentional system - engagement and disengagement of attention
3. anterior attentional system - development of effortful control

Question 131

what is the Conditioned Head Turn procedure as a test for attentional regulation in infants?

Answer 131

Hayes et al., 2009

9 and 1/2 y/os trained to turn their heads when one set of rhyming sounds presented

quick to tell difference when both vowel and coda changed but found it harder when only one was changed at a time e.g bat, mat to bet, met

Question 132

describe the features of behavioural regulation?

• as one of the five domains of self-regulation

Answer 132

compliance to parental requests - the role of willing compliance - involves initiation or termination of certain activities in line with this e.g can be tested by seeing what happens when parents ask child to tidy toys

internalisation of rules

Question 133

describe the features of executive control?

• as one of the five domains of self-regulation

Answer 133

involves working memory and inhibitory control

problems implicated with ADHD and addiction problems

Question 134

describe the features of emotion regulation?

• as one of the five domains of self-regulation

Answer 134

extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for evaluating and modifying emotional reactions
especially their intensive and temporal features
to accomplish one’s goals

Question 135

what are several predictors of children’s self-regulation abilities?

Answer 135

brain develoment
culture
family environment
delay of gratification

Question 136

what are some of the links between self-regulation and outcome?

Answer 136

physical outcomes
learning and academic outcomes
socio-emotional outcomes

Question 137

describe a finding regarding the link between brain development and self-regulation?

as one of the factors predicting self-regulation

Answer 137

Phineas Gage having severe damage to frontal lobes due to iron rod entering his head

after accident had very poor self-regulation

more studies have demonstrated significant link between prefrontal lobes (at the front of frontal lobes) and self-regulation

Question 138

describe delay of gratification as one of the factors predicting self-regulation?

task studying this

Answer 138

in a task, children asked to choose between small immediate reward or larger delayed reward

4 y/os choose larger but delayed whereas 3 y/os chose smaller but immediate

Question 139

describe environmental influences as one of the factors predicting self-regulation?

Answer 139

observation - learn that certain conditions elicit emotions

emotion contagion - ‘catch’ emotions of parents

social referencing - look to someone else to get info about how to respond to situ

emotion coaching - parents are attentive and help label and validate child’s emotions

teaching emotion regulation strategies - e.g redirect attention

parents mental health - links between emotion regulation and disorder related behaviour by parent

Question 140

describe the features of culture as one of the factors predicting self-regulation

Answer 140

asian children score hgiher at self-regulaion compared to US

due to asian children receiving more extensive training in regulating their behaviour

Question 141

describe link between physical outcomes and early self-regulation abilities?

one of the outcomes linked to self-regulation

Answer 141

overweight children at 5 y/o had lower emotion regulation, sustained attention and inhibitory control as 2 y/os
- Graziano et al., 2010

4 y/os who were better able to control delay gratification had lower body mass 30 years later when controlling for gender (impications for reducing obesity interventions)
- Schlam et al., 2013

Question 142

what was found about outcomes related to a mindfulness-based Kindness Curriculum given to preschoolers?

one of the outcomes linked to self-regulation

Answer 142

12 week mindfulness based Kindness Curriculum (KC) & control
findings suggest programme promotes self-regulation skills
children showed benefits in learning, health outcomes and socio-emotional development

Flook et al., 2015

Question 143

what was found about delay of gratification and outcomes in preschool children?
and why?

one of the outcomes linked to self-regulation

Answer 143

in adolescence, those who were better at delay gratification were better at:
academic and social competence
verbal fluency
better frustration tolerance and lower stress

why?
able to deploy attention
delay enhancing thoughts
distract themselves to minimise aversion
meta-cognitive knowledge

Question 144

what was found about resilience in children exposed to family violence?

Answer 144

Martinez-Torteya et al, 2009
examined stress factors of: maternal depression, stressful life events and race and low income

examined protective factors of: positive parenting, child temperament and cog ability

children scoring above cut off of children’s behaviour checklist were classified as negatively adapted and when exposed to family violence were 4x more likely to develop emotional and behavioural problems
54% exposed to family violence were resilient

Question 145

what was found about the role of maternal insightfulness in children exposed to violence?

Answer 145

Gray et al, 2015

insightfulness tested

and mothers doing questionnaires on children’s emotional and behavioural problems

those scoring low on insightfulness had children with highest level of emotional and behavioural problems

Question 146

what are the resilience and personality traits in doctors?

Answer 146

high persistance
high cooperativeness
low harm avoidance
high self directedness

Question 147

Ann Masten’s contribution to history of resilience?

Answer 147

2007

uncovered key characteristics and environments

focussed on attachment, self-regulation and biological reactivity

encouraged primary prevention

focussed on multi-level analysis

Question 148

what is resilience?

Answer 148

exposure to risk or adversity
AND
develoment of positive outcomes

so resilience is a process not a trait

Question 149

what was found about outcomes for children exposed to rocket attacks?

Answer 149

Wolmer et al., 2015

daily exposure to rocket attacks in Israel

reported that when had 4 or more stressful life events then more impairment to social, occupational and other areas of functioning than 1 or 0 stresful events
more severe exposure showed more severe symptoms

stressful life events and exposure to traumatic events accounted for 32% of variance in PTSD

Question 150

what may be the definition of positive outcomes?

in relation to children with difficult backgrounds?

Answer 150

absence of psychopathology?

or more positive outcomes? (social skills, academic etc.)

or both?

Question 151

what is meant by vulnerability factors regarding resilience research?

at individual, family and community level

Answer 151

personal attributes that can lead to maladjustment under stress or adversity

e.g child with difficult temperament as worsen negative effects of stressful condition

Question 152

what is meant by protective factors regarding resilience research?

Answer 152

personal attributes/situations that decrease vulnerability for the development of maladjustment

so change effects of risk in positive way

Question 153

give examples of protective factors regarding resilience?

at individual, family and community level

Answer 153

protective factors: attitudes/situations which decrease vulnerability for development of maladjustment

• positive attitude e.g optimism and cognitive flexibility
• physical exercise: boosts mood and self-esteem, improves cognition and boosts immune system
• social support and mentorship: close relationships, role models and teaching resilience
• child characteristics: intelligence, emotion regulation, LoC, appraisals and temperament

Question 154

what is meant by the multidimensional nature of resilience?

Answer 154

some children exposed to severe risk show positive outcomes in one domain but have problems in others

may be due to protective factors not working the same across all contexts (specific)

Question 155

what is meant by multifinality in terms of resilience?

Answer 155

hard to know which are the most ‘critical’ domains
and how important the severity of risk or adversity is in terms of outcome as some risk factors may not cause difficulties when in isolation

Question 156

what is risk assessment in terms of resilience?

Answer 156

statistical versus actual risk: what are the life circumstances of different individuals

subjective vs objective assessments of risk: what is the individuals perception of the adverse event

risk factors tend to co-exist (research focuses on accumulation of factors)
a single factor may not cause dramatic difficulties in child’s life

Question 157

what is meant by cumulative risk theory in terms of resilience?

what is an issue with the assumptions of this theory?

Answer 157

Morrison-Guttman and Flouri in Slater and Bremner (2011)

each risk factor falls within 1 of 2 categories: presence of risk (1) or absence of risk (0)

cumulative risk is summation of risk factors rather than a single individual risk factor that leads to maladjustment as it taxes the individuals capacity to adapt

however, assumes that each factor has the same weight on children but might have different impacts (specificity of risk factors)

Question 158

describe the stability of resilience and how this should be studied?

Answer 158

individuals exhibit fluctations within domains of functioning

so resiliency is a dynamic developmental construct and longitudinal studies are key with large sample sizes

Question 159

what are some of the future directions that research into resilience should follow?

Answer 159

look at dynamic nature
interactive
multiple levels of resilience e.g psychological and biological
across time at different time points
simultaneous assessments of several domains
focus on mechanisms by which protection might be conferred

Question 160

what are the 3 areas of focus of interventions regarding children with a difficult background with the aim to build resilience?

Answer 160

1. risk-focused: reducing exposure to risk/adversity
2. asset-focused programmes: improving quality and quantity of assets
3. process-oriented programmes: improving systems of adaptation in lives of children

Question 161

describe resilience training through a physical exercise program?

Answer 161

READY psychosocial resilience program

leads to changes in positive emotions, coping, cog flexibility, social support

therefore changes in psychosocial well-being

Question 162

what are some factors of resilience in a community?

Answer 162

levers of community resilience: e.g education, self-sufficiency, partnerships

core components of communit resilience: e.g effective risk communication, social connectedness, involvement of organisations and health and well-being of population

quality - collect and analyse then use data on building community resilience
efficiency - leverage resources for multiple use and maximum effectiveness

Question 163

what are some interventions to enhance resilience in adults?

Answer 163

1. stress inoculation training
2. hardiness training
3. social support interventions
4. learned optimism interventions
5. well-being therapy

Question 164

how did Galton separate the definitions of nature vs nurture?

and what was his viewpoint?

Answer 164

nature - all that man brings with himself into the world

nurture - every influence that affects man after his birth

believed in innatism:
completely disagreed that babies are born pretty much alike
instead that our abilities derived from inheritance

Question 165

name some key members of the innatism/nativism camp vs empiricism/behaviourism camp?

Answer 165

innatism/nativism - plato, kant, leibniz, galton

empiricism/behaviourism - aristotle, locke, hume and watson

Question 166

what is Watson’s viewpoint on the nature, nurture debate?

Answer 166

environmentalism
believed complete oppositre of Galton
in that he believed you can become anything you want and develop any skills you want regardless of your inheritance

Question 167

who first debated gene x environment interaction?

what are the 3 main controversies surrounding this debate?

Answer 167

interaction first debated by Hogben & Fisher

3 main controversies surrounding this debate:

1. eugenics (Fisher vs Hogben)
2. IQ and race (Jensen)
3. serotnin transporter hypothesis in depression

Question 168

what was Fisher’s viewpoint in the gene x environment debate?

Answer 168

founded population genetics
a eugenicist
G x Eb so took statistical approach to gene x environment interactions

Question 169

what was Hogben’s viewpoint in the gene x environment debate?

Answer 169

suggested statements regarding genetic differences have no scientific meaning without specifying environment (‘extrinsic agencies’ including pre and post-natal conditions)

G x Ed (developmental)

Question 170

give some examples of genes whose outcomes are influenced by the environment?

Answer 170

APOE - variant = E4 allele - environmental influence = high cholesterol intake - outcome = eevated serum cholesterol after diertary intake for APOE4 carriers

FTO - variant = ‘a’ allele - environmental influence = low physical activity - outcome = increased obesity for risk carriers with low PA

COMT - variant - Val/Val - environmental influence - cannabis use - outcome - increased reports of psychotic symptoms when smoked in adolescence

5-HTTLPR - variant = short ‘s’ allele - environmental influence = life stress and maltreatment - outcome = increased risk of depression

Question 171

what are the different current theoretical models of G x E interaction in psychological research?

Answer 171

1. diathesis stress (poor outcome focused)
2. differential suceptibility (good and poor outcome focused)
3. biological sensitivity to context (merged into 2.)
4. vantage sensitivity (good outcome focused)

Question 172

describe the diathesis stress model to the gene x environment interaction?

Answer 172

dictates that some individuals are more prone to adverse environment due to dispositional vulnerability (risky genes)

disorder caused by interaction between predispositional vulnerability and a stress caused by life experiences

Question 173

descrribe Caspi’s study and findings regarding the serotonin transport gene variations and onset of depression?

example of G x E interaction

Answer 173

Caspi et al, 2003 performed G x E interaction study investigating interaction between maltreatment and the serotonin transporter gene (5HTTLPR) - as wanted to find out why not everyone becomes depressed after stresful life events
so hypothesised that variation in 5-HTTLPR will moderate psychopathological reactions to stressful life experiences
found probability of major depressive episode highest (double) when both short alleles (homozygotes) compared to when long in people with histories of severe maltreatment

Question 174

support and contradictory evidence towards Caspi et al, 2013 study on gene variation and depression?

Answer 174

2 meta-anlyses found no evidence of GxE interaction on depression (Munafo et al, 2009 and Risch et al, 2009)

however, larger meta-analysis by Karg et al, 2011 showed positive evidence for significant G x E effect involving 5-HTTLPR on depression (same gene as in Caspi study)

Question 175

what does the differential susceptibility theory state regarding G x E interactions?

Answer 175

genetic polymorphism (varying alleles) not about risk but susceptibility to the environment - called developmental plasticity

theory predicts that genetically sensitive individuals will have poorer outcomes when the environment is negative but will have better outcomes when the environment is positive

Question 176

evidence from meta-analysis for differential susceptibility theory to GxE interactions?

Answer 176

theory predicts that those who are genetically sensitive will have poorer outcomes when neg enviro but better outcomes when pos enviro

Ijzendoorn, 2012
indeed, found in meta-analysis that correlations were highest between gene and outcome (pos and neg) when genetically sensitive i.e had the risk alleles (for both dopamine risk alleles and short serotonin transporter allele)

Question 177

what does the vantage sensitivity theory state regarding G x E interactions?

some supporting evidence?

Answer 177

genetic variation predisposes children to certain positive outcomes

so focuses on the ‘bright side’ outcomes

Eley et al, 2012 tested hypothesis that polymorphism in 5-HTTLPR would moderate response to CBT in children with anxiety disorders and that those with ‘s’ allele would be more responsive to treatment
indeed results were that those with ‘s’ allele had reduced anxiety severity rating at follow-up after treatment

Question 178

what are critiques of current G x E interaction research?

Answer 178

failure to replicate large studies
pulication bias
model selection
what about gene environment correlation?

Question 179

what is the definition of an internalising disorder?

Answer 179

inward-looking and withdrawn behaviours, which in children may represent the experience of depression, anxiety and active attempts to socially withdraw

both depression and anxiety patients suffer from negative affect
anxiety - physiological hyper-arousal
depression - low levels of positive affect

Question 180

what did Coleman et al, 2007 find about depression and anxiety over the life course?

Answer 180

for certain individuals internalising disorders are pervasive from child to adulthood

some adult onset

some have constant low levels of depression and anxiety

dimensional approach by acknowledging the levels of disorders possessed and the stability of them

Question 181

what did Lenze et al, 20111 find about changes in anxiety disorder presentation across the lifespan?

Answer 181

some problems more prevalent during old age e.g fear of falling

some more prevalent in early childhood e.g specific phobias of monsters then in adolescence may develop social anxieties (different developmental stages of disorder)

Question 182

what did Nissa et al, 2014 find about perceived family impact of preschool anxiety disorders?

Answer 182

high levels of impairment when depressed e.g socially, academically, within family

ADHD and disruptive disorder also cause lots of problems for the individuals

Question 183

what is separation anxiety characterised by?

Answer 183

excessive anxiety about separation from caregivers or home

often associated with somatic complaints

2-5% of children or adolescents

Question 184

what is OCB characterised by?

Answer 184

intrusive, repetitive thoughts, obsessions and compulsions e.g washing

often co-morbid with tourette’s syndrome and tic disorders

Question 185

what are specific phobias characterised by?

Answer 185

e.g social phobia characterised by avoidance of social situations

specific phobias affect 7& of school-aged children

Question 186

fear vs anxiety?

Answer 186

fear - adaptive response e.g walking away from a snake

anxiety - maldaptive and persistant, response out of proportion

Question 187

describe the diagnostic criteria for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)?

Answer 187

excessive anxiety occurring more days than not for at least 6 months about different events
difficult to control
associated with at least 3/6 symptoms e.g sleep distrubance, easily fatigued, restlessness
causing impairment in important areas of functioning
not due to substance abuse or a medical condition

Question 188

what are the different risk factors for anxiety disorder?

Answer 188

vulnerability risk factors - personal attributes that can elad to maladjustment under stress or adversity

• genetics
• behavioural inhibition
• info processing

environmental risk factors

• life events
• info transfer
• modelling
• parenting

Question 189

what is the link between genetics and risk for anxiety?

• personal

Answer 189

lower influence in anxiety disorders compared to others e.g autism
but anxiety more prevalent when relatives also anxious
heritability higher for MZ twins than other siblings - implicating genetics

Question 190

what is the link between behavioural inhibition and risk for anxiety?

• personal

Answer 190

refers to temperamental pattern of responding characterised by fearfulness or restrain when faced with unfamiliar people/situations

strong association between BI and anxiety disorder in children
not all BI children develop anxiety disorders, suggesting the presence of other factors

also, significant interaction between infants with moderate-high levels of BI and parents anxiety in predicting infants avoidance (Aktar et al, 2013)
also found that adolescents scoring highly on BI reprted high levels of anxiety and depression (Muris et al, 2001)

Question 191

what is the link between info processing and risk for anxiety?

• personal

Answer 191

interpretaton of ambiguity -
completed measures of anxiety and indicated most likely interpretation of ambiguous scenarios

signficant positive links between child’s (7-15) and mother’s anxiety but threat detection reduced after treatment (Creswell, Schniering & Rappe, 2005)

cognitive biases - positive training (resolved ambiguous scenario positively) resulted in more pos and less neg interpretations and associated with lower levels of anxiety (Steinman & Teachman, 2010)

Question 192

what is the link between negative life events and risk for anxiety?

• environmental

Answer 192

may be bi-directional influences as neg life events may lead to development/avoidance of anxiety disorders but anxiety can predict subsequent neg life events

more likely to have more negative life events as more physical health problems so more negative experiences

attract negative experiences e.g avoiding social situations so have social deficits so when engage socially may be rejected so loneliness and depression and criticism

Question 193

what is the link between info transfer and risk for anxiety?

• environmental

Answer 193

Field & Lawson, 2003

examined if transfer of threat info influence child’s fears and avoidance

result indicated that children receiving neg info reported greater fear beliefs about fictitious monster
greater influence when info received from an adult

Question 194

what is the link between parental modeling and risk for anxiety?

• environmental

Answer 194

Gerull & Rapee, 2002 examined efefct of parental modelling on fear acquisition and avoidance of novel stimuli

toddlers presented with rubber snake and spider, paired with maternal pos/neg facial expressions

showed toddlers more fearful and avoidant when mothers expressed neg facial expressions

effects greater in girls than boys

strong correlation between controlling parental beh. and anxiety in children (McLeod, Wood & Weisz, 2006) cause it as don’t let child develop problem solving skills and instead develop habitual avoidance
e.g found parents of anxious children rejected child’s plans until suggested an avoidant behaviour so instilling these behaviours

Question 195

what are the treatments for anxiety disorders?

NOT NECESSARY TO KNOW IN DETAIL

Answer 195

virtual reality e.g for fear of flying - exposure not too anxiety-provoking to replace anxious response
mindfulness - more mindful of behaviours
cognitive modification bias - change maladaptive beliefs by encouraging thinking in a different way

Question 196

describe the diagnostic criteria for depression?

Answer 196

depressed mood most of the nearly , nearly everyday, indicated through subjective report or observation
decreased interest in most activities
either weight change or change in appetite
change in sleep
loss of energy
guilt or worthlessness
suicidality

Question 197

which conditions mimic or coexist with major depressive disorder?

Answer 197

substance abuse causing depressed mood
medical illness causing depressed mood
other psychiatric disorders e.g mania, bipolar and sz
beareavement

Question 198

what did Zisook et al, 2007 find about distribution of age at onset of first major depressive episode?

Answer 198

common in adolescence but also in childhood

delays in developmental accomplishments e.g intellectual growth in infancy may predict depressed mood later in life

pre-school children have difficulties in verbalising negative feelings so observe e.g play behaviours, social withdrawal, separation anxiety

Question 199

what did Lewinsohn, Rohde, Seeley, 1998 find about probability of experiencing an episode of major depressive disorder as a function of age and gender?

Answer 199

probability of experiencing depression considerably increases during adolescence
probability also much higher in females

Question 200

what did the national population health survey, 1994-95 find about prevalence of depression by gender and age group?

Answer 200

females more likely to suffer from depression - differences in emotionality e.g more sensitive to stress and neglife events, more self-reflective, lower self-esteem due to comparisons made, more likely to be teased and experience sexual harrassment

also, more likely to report it

adolescents more likely to get depression
due to - hormonal changes, higher order thinking e.g abstract thinking leading to evaluation against others, independence

Question 201

what are the risk factors for childhood depression?

Answer 201

abuse and neglect
parental marital partner changes
physical health
parental mental health
parenting and caregiving

focused on parental factors

Question 202

what are the risk factors for depression in adolescence?

Answer 202

cognition (neg cognitions and attribution style and rumination)
dispositional factors (low self-esteem)
stress (e.g from neg life events)
social skills (poor)
physical health
academic dissatisfaction 

focused on personal factors

Question 203

role of neurotransmitters in depression?

Answer 203

Davey, 2008

serotonin involved in e.g mood and sleep - low levels are associated with depression

norepineephrine is a hormone acting as a nuerotransmitter involved in preparing mind and body for action - associated with depressoin and mania

Question 204

what si contained in Beck’s cognitive traid experienced by depressed individuals?

Answer 204

negative thoughts on:

1. the self
2. the world
3. the future

either have narrative of failure or loss

Question 205

what are key regions involved in affect and mood disorders?

Answer 205

Davidson et al, 2002

activation of left hemisphere = positive emotionality
when left part of brain underactivated and right part of brain activated = negative emotionality association

Question 206

what is meant by attributions in individuals with depression linked to depressed mood?

Answer 206

attributions: how depressed individuals think about negative events in their lives

more likely to attribute neg events to factors that are:

1. internal - personal
2. stable - always fail - constant
3. global - whole life failure - generalised

finding that 5 y/os of depressed mothers more likely to express depressive cognitions about their self-worth, performance and outcome of a competitive game compared to childrne of non-depressed mothers (Murray et al, 2001)

Question 207

what is the difference of mood repair mechanisms in depressed and non-depressed youths?

Answer 207

Kovacs & Yarolavsky, 2014

depressed

• much more likely to use rumination to cope with difficult situations
• use passive strategies
• maladaptive strategies that are more likely to lead to maintenance of depression e.g argue with parents
• score highly in reassurance seeking from parents and friends
• withdrawn thus perpetuation of depression

READ BEFORE EXAMS

Question 208

finding in meta-analysis by Aldao et al about links between emotion-regulaiton strategies and psychopathology?

Answer 208

found very large effects for rumination in depression- significant factor in depression
medium effects for problem solving, avoidance and suppression

READ BEFORE EXAM

Question 209

review paper by Goodman, 2007 about inter-generational transmissionof depression?

Answer 209

how and why family environment contributes to depression

vulnerabities in child due to:

• mothers with depression more likely to have children with depression or other disorders e.g as more withdrawn, intrusive and more passive ways of coping with sadness and negative affect so children copy
• also implicates genes as vulnerable
• higher levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in blood during pregnancy leading to children with less adaptive stress coping mechanisms
• exposure to stressful environment due to situation of parents e.g having depression

leading to maladaptive cognitions, negative affect and maladaptive behaviour

however, not linear due to elements which may envoke resilience e.g factors within child (good emotional regulation strategies etc.) or family environment

Question 210

what are some interventions for those with depression?

NOT NECESSARY TO KNOW IN DETAIL

Answer 210

1. drug treatments - SSRIs to increase serotonin
2. behaviour therapy - management techniques and exposure
3. family interventions - parent training and communication
4. CBT
5. play therapy (younger children)

Question 211

what is the definition of externalising disorders and what are several different types

Answer 211

externalising disorders - disruptive behaviour disorders in which the deviant behaviour is directed outward

e.g
oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) - pattern of negative, defiant and disobedient behaviour, established before 8 and affects 2-16% of children

childhood-onset conduct disorder - aggression, argumentativeness, bullying and theratening behaviour

adolescent-onset conduct disorder - antisocial beh. which is milder and more transitory

Question 212

what are the 3 subtypes of ADHD?

and some of the symptoms for this?

Answer 212

1. inattentive - the major difficulty is to maintain attention
   - trouble holding attention on tasks
   - easily distracted
   - forgetful
2. hyperactive-impulsive - major difficulty is the high activity level
   - leaving seat
   - lots of talking
   - trouble waiting their turn
3. combined subtype - children with this have difficulty with attention and activity levels

higher prevalence in males 8-12% than females 3-5% and in children than adolescents

Question 213

what are several disorders that ADHD is co-morbid with?

Answer 213

disruptive disorders
anxiety
depression
learning disorders

Question 214

in which aspects does ADHD affect child’s functioning?

Answer 214

cognitive - learning difficulties

language - speech problems

motor development

emotion - deficits in emotional regulation

school performance

task performance - low persistance

health

Question 215

what is the statistic regarding lonigtudinal prevalence of ADHD?

Answer 215

longitudinal studies have found that ADHD persists into adulthood in up to 60% of cases

Barkley et al, 2007

Question 216

what are characteristics of adult ADHD?

Answer 216

core symptoms of inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity

associated with restlessness, lack of oragnised beh. and emotional instability

Question 217

what is the rank order of most to least impairing for adult functioning of ADHD?

Answer 217

for adults, .7 association between impairent and ADHD compared to .3 in children

Barkley et al, 2007
rank order from most to least:
- education - difficulties in handling academic workload
- family life - lower average levels of family cohesion
- occupation - less likely to be employed and more likely to quit their job

Question 218

what are the 3 aetiological factors of ADHD?

Answer 218

• genes
• environment
• brain and neuropsychological factors

Question 219

what have twin studies found regarding the genetic componentof ADHD?

Answer 219

Faraon et al, 2005

relatives of people with ADHD 2-8x more likely to also have it compared to those with relatives with ADHD
candidate genes are those involved in dopaminergic and serotonin transmission

Question 220

what is the link between smoking during pregnancy, prematurity and ADHD?

Answer 220

• smoking during pregnancy is a risk factor for ADHD but may be due to confounders
• low birth weight, such as being premature, associated with increased risk of ADHD diagnostic

Tarver et al, 2014

Question 221

how can the family environment exacerbate ADHD symptoms?

Answer 221

children with ADHD are less compliant and less willing to follow parental request
parents of children with ADHD are more controlling and less responsive
SO likely that parents and children exacerbate each other’s beh. (bi-directional influences)

Johnston & Mash, 2001
studies show that reducing child ADHD symptoms via medication decreases parent’s control and negativity - indicating the child’s influence on parenting

Question 222

what is the effect of child’s diet on behaviour?

Answer 222

artificial food colouring and benzoate preservatives may influence 3 y/o child’s behaviour detectable by parents not clinical assessment

Bateman et al, 2004

Question 223

what is the link between the brain and ADHD?

Answer 223

related to disconnection of brain regions of the default mode network (activated when the brain is at rest)

hypothesised that those with ADHD have difficulties at transition from rest to task performance but default mode network function is unimpaired during rest

Sonuga-Barke & Catellanos, 2007

Question 224

what is involved in the integrative developmental model for hyperactive/impulsive type of ADHD?

Answer 224

Barkley

argued reduced behavioural inhibition (ability to delay a motor response) is core feature of ADHD

results in impaired executive functions including:
motor control
self-regulation of affect
internalised speech

Question 225

what is the delay aversion hypothesis regarding ADHD?

Answer 225

indicates that children with ADHD show dysfunctions of reward and motivation
and are impulsive as they try to avoid delay
SO choose immediate over large delay rewards

Sonuga-Barke et al, 1992 argued ADHD can be explained by both cog and motivational deficits

Question 226

describe the dual-pathway model proposed by Sonuga-Barke?

and support for both pathways in adhd and non-adhd samples?

Answer 226

either:

1. cortico-ventral striatal loop disturbance to impaired signal delayed reward to delay aversion to ADHD
   - delay aversion measured using Maudsley’s Index of Delay Aversion (MIDA) whereby choose between immediate small or delayed large rewards
   - found both children and adolescents with ADHD had lower % selection of larger reward than those without and significantly lower in children
   - Bitsakou et al, 2009
2. cortico-dorsal striatal loop disturbance to inhibitory deficits to executive deficits to ADHD
   - inhibitory deficits measured through go/no-go (either responding asap to go or not at all to no go)
   - found that children and adolescents more likely to press key when said no go than those without adhd
   - Bitsakou et al, 2008

• also stop signal task whereby press key when go but when hear sound have to inhibit
• reaction time to stop signal slower when adhd (not signficiant) and significant difference between children and adolescents
• Bitsakou et al, 2008

Question 227

what are several treatments for children with ADHD?

Answer 227

Tarver et al, 2014

1. pharmacotherapy - e.g atomoxetine
   - effects aren’t maintained
   - reluctant to put children on this due to side-effects
2. non-pharmacological interventions
   - dietary treatments e.g free fatty acid supplementation and exclusion of artificial food colouring produces small reduction in ADHD symptoms (Sonuga-Barke, 2013)
   - parenting interventions (the New Forest Parent Training Programme aiming to improve parenting style, communication and regulation, leads to reduced ADHD symptoms, increases maternal positive comments but no improvements in maternal mental health) (Thompson et al, 2009)
   - psychosocial interventions e.g CBT (working memory training), anger management and problem solving

Question 228

what has been found about the effects of maternal ADHD on effectiveness of parenting interventions for preschool ADHD?

Answer 228

children of mothers with high levels fo ADHD symptoms showed the lowest levels of improvement after the intervention

Sonuga-Barke et al, 2002