exam 4 Flashcards
Implicated Physiological Systems:
Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenocortical Axis
*stress hormones (e.g. cortisal)
Inflammatory response (cytokines)
Autonomic Nervous system
- Parasympathetic : res-and-digest; calming
- Symppathetic: Fight-flight-freeze; arousal
taxonomy of stress response:
Positive
Tolerable
Toxic
Positive: brief and mild to moderate in magnitude; responsive adult facilitates recover to baseline levels.
Tolerable: non-normative; greater magnitude of threat/adversity; buffering caregiver reduces risk of excessive, long-term activation and increase sense of control.
Toxic: Frequent or prolonged activation in the absence of buffering, supportive caregiving (e.g. ACES)
Preventing Toxic Stress: Three pronged approach:
Simultaneous investment in evidence-based care & basic research to create better interventions.
-increase public awareness of the lifelong consequences of adversity.
Basic science to elucidate causal mechanisms, informing design & evaluation of integrated interventions for identified subgroups.
-Creates sense of urgency, builds broader-support when causes are well documented.
Continuous experimentation, learning from failures, greater effect sizes.
-synergy results in new knowledge & insights that can improve care.
Adoption studies: Bucherest Early Intervention Study:
Age of adoption matters
-earlier= better outcomes
Changes
- Cognition (language & IQ)
- Brain structure
Late adoptions
- Worse emotional regulation
- Increased anxiety
- Deficits in neural structures associated with emotion
Adoption studies: Bucherest : Environmental adoption study:
comparing effects of higher vs. lower SES environment
Children from lower SES backgrounds adopted into higher SES families
- Group A: adopted @ 4 months
- Group B: siblings remaining in the lower SES household (genetic control group)
Better academic outcomes in children adopted into higher SES families
Sibling remaining in lower SES households perform worse in school & had lower IQ scores
-Lower academic performance NOT a genetic factor
Adoption studies: Bucherest: Later age Adoption study:
Children that were neglected or abused in infancy
Adopted at 4-6 years old
- Later than previous studies
- into homes of varying SES
Control children adopted at <7 months of age
IQ assessed in adolescence (11-18 years)
After adoption, IQ scores improved
Children adopted into Higher SES families showed larger gains in IQ
still worse outcome for later adoptions
importance of early intervention:
Many cognitive abilities develop in critical periods
-Different critical periods fro different skills, but most occur earlier in life
Earlier remediation is more effective
-Later remediation may result in gains, but less effective & more costly
Early interventions provide a foundation of skills that foster learning
- Leads to self-reinforcing motivation
- Early mastery of basic skills makes later learning more efficient
Early intervention is lower in cost than later intervention
- Gains sustained when followed by high quality learning experiences
- Results in larger economic returns than later interventions
Focus of early interventions:–WHO:
Children who do not receive substantial investment in early years
-Identify cases by parenting quality not occupation of household income.
Focus of early interventions: –WHAT types of thngs do we target and focus on
Programs that target the early years yield the highest returns
- Impacting the lives of parents leads to a permanent change in home environment that supports healthier development
- Focus on building self-control, character, motivation–“non-cognitive skills”
Focus of early interventions:–HOW:
Build a base of productive skills & traits for disadvantaged children
-Important to respect the sanctity of early family life & cultural diversity.
Focus of early interventions:–KEY to choosing what families get chosen for interventions
quality of parenting is the best measure of disadvantage for children
-Better predictor then income.
what is the Perry Preschool Project:
Michgan
High quality pre-K program
African-American 3-5 year olds from lower SES
- 5 hours/day, 5 days/week
- All teachers college degree
- Focus on active learning
- 6:1 student-teacher ratio
Random assignment to program or control group
$14,830 per child
Active participatory learning
Learning environment with well defined ‘interest areas’
daily routine
plan-do-review
adult-child interaction
Conflict resolution
effects by the end of Perry Preschool project:
Higher IQ & vocabulary scores
but effect sizes dwindled over time..
Effect at age 27 for perry preschool project:
Higher high school graduation rates
One more year of schooling
less time in special education
50% fewer teen pregnancies
Effects at age 40 for perry preschool project:
higher mean income
less likely to have served prison time
less likely to have received gov’t assistance
Abecedarian Project:
North Carolina (1972-1977)
Investive program
-Infancy to age 5
Focus on high-risk families
- Lower SES
- 98% African american
- 83% single mothers
Full day, full-year program
-Cognitive & linguistic focus
-6:1 student-teacher ratio
Plus social services, pediatric care, parent group
$17,099 per child
Individualized curriculum for each child
Learning “games”
-Incorporated to child’s day
language emphasis
-within framework of focusing on social, emotional, and cognitive development
Effects by end of Abecedarian Projects: preschool:
Modestly higher IQ, vocabulary, & memory scores
Effects by end of Abecedarian Projects: age 12& 15:
Higher Iq, reading, & math scores
fewer grade retention
Effects by end of Abecedarian Projects: at age 21:
Higher IQ, reading, &math scores
One-half year more schooling
Greater 4-year college attendance
Fewer teen parents
Fewer cigarette smokers
Fewer health risks & symptoms of depression
Abecedarian project…mothers:
Mothers whose children participated in the program achieved higher education & employment status than mothers whose children were not in the program.
Head start parent benefits:
Parents more likely to finish college degree if children admitted to head start by age 3
parents of children enrolled at age 4 more likely to be less educated
Broad Framework of neuroplasticity:
- Different brain systems & related abilities display different degrees & time periods of neuroplasticity
- Neuroplasticity confers the possibility for a system to be both enhanced & vulnerable to deficit
- Early environmental enrichment in the form of interventions can protect and enhance the plastic and thus potentially vulnerable neurocognitive systems in children with, or at risk for, developmental deficits.
Profiles of Plasticity:
Constrained
- Limited ability to be modified or changed
- Central vision, hearing
Modifiable by & dependent on experience during particular time periods
- Multiple time periods –different periods for different systems
- Attention; Language: grammatical processing
Modifiable throughout life
- Can change & be modified at any point
- Language: semantic processing
Double edge sword of Neuroplasticity:
Enhanceble (e.g. musicians)
and
Susceptible (e.g. ADHD)
What does william james say about attention and education:
“An education which should improve the faculty (attention) would be the education par excellence.”
Hybrid Intervention:
Parents & children making connections –Highlighting Attention (PCMC-A)
weekly parent training
weekly parent training
weekly child attention training
8 weeks long
Attention Training :
learn three focal points
-Eyes, body & brain
SELF REGULATION
- Become aware when you’re losing attention
- Gain the ability to refocus
Increase ability to attend to one activity
Increase balance
Increase ability to remain quiet & still
Recognize & regulate emotions
Sensory activities & bodily awareness
-External awareness & internal awareness
Parent training:
Provide high levels of positive reinforcement & specific praise
Use language differently to encourage high-quality interactions
Use consistent discipline with clear expectations & natural consequences
Provide frequent opportunities for children to choose, think, Solve Problems
Parent training Hypotheses:
Training parents in these strategies will change their parenting behaviours & stress levels
These parenting changes will have a “trickle down” effect on children
Children’s increased emotional regulation and decreased stress will lead to improved cognition, language, & brains organization
what are the results of parent training:
Parents:
More equal turn-taking when talking to child
reported less overall stress after training
Children:
Fewer problem behaviours
Better social skills in the classroom
Increased IQ scores
Improved receptive language skills
Increased brain function for attention
“A habit of basing one’s convictions upon evidence would go a long way toward curing the ills of the world” –?
Betrand Russell
acute stress:
examples:
- increased heart rate
- increased blood pressure
- transfer of energy to muscles
- inhibited ‘long-term’ systems
- immune defenses strengthen
- cognition & senses enhanced
What is chrnic stress:
A result of acute stress.
Cortisol as an indirect indicator:
Indirect indicator of how “stressed” you are