Final Exam Flashcards
Can temperament change across the lifetime?
no, temperament remains relatively stable over time
How does Dr. Goff define temperament?
- individual differences in quality and intensity of our internal & external environment
- emerges early in life
- shows some stability over time
- is pervasive across a wide range of situations
What is personality? How does it relate to temperament?
- the typical behavioral patterns (including emotions and thoughts) that characterize a person’s adaptation to the events of life
- its an emergent property made up of temperament & the environment where we develop
How do Thomas & Chess define temperament?
- the tendency to respond in characteristic and predictable ways to environmental events
Describe the temperament study conducted by Thomas & Chess (1977).
- longitudinal study interviewing mothers of 2-3 month olds & continued interviewing children through young adulthood
- the questions were about 9 dimensions… activity level, biological rhythmicity, approach/withdrawal, adaptability, intensity of reaction, quality of mood, persistence/attention span, distractibility, sensory threshold
- the dimensions clustered into 3 temperament profiles… flexible, fearful, feisty
Describe the temperament profiles proposed by Thomas and Chess.
Flexible (“easy,” 40%)
- regular rhythms (ex: eats at same time each day, follows sleep schedule)
- positive mood
- adaptability
- low intensity
- low sensitivity
Fearful (cautious/slow to learn, 15%):
- adapts slowly
- withdraws
Feisty (“difficult,” 10%)
- active
- intense
- distractible
- sensitive
- irregular
- moody
How does Kagan (1987) define temperament?
- behavioral inhibition = a temperament that reflects one’s tendency to withdraw from unfamiliar, people, situations, or things
- can be classified as inhibited (withdrawing from novel stimuli/shy/fearful) or uninhibited (no negative reaction to novelty/little fear of new situations)
What evidence is there for Kagan’s perspective on temperament?
- his study waved a single toy and then multiple toys/balloons in front of babies’ faces
- the uninhibited girl in infancy was totally unfazed by them
- the inhibited boy didn’t really like just the 1 but then cried a ton for the 3 with balloons
- then these kids at age 10 still showed these traits when brought in to wait by a researcher
- the uninhibited girl talked a lot, was smiley, and oriented herself toward the researcher she didn’t know
- the inhibited boy gave short answers to her questions, looked down the whole time, was fidgeting with his bands, way shy, and seemed very nervous/uncomfortable
- extremes showed the most stability over time
What is heterotypic continuity in relation to temperament?
- phenotypes in infancy lead to different phenotypes in adulthood (but they still represent the same trait)
- ex: inhibited temperament in infancy could lead to anxiety in childhood/adolescence/adulthood
- amygdala identified as long-term mediator of this continuity
What does Kagan say determines inhibited vs uninhibited temperament?
- the amygdala
Describe amygdala development
- basic neuroanatomical architecture is present at birth
- amygdala volumetric growth is complete by age 4 in girls & 6 in boys (so sensitive period is somewhere before age 4)
- the most rapid rate of development is within the early postnatal period (right after birth)
Which level of inhibition shows more activation of the amygdala to novel (and familiar) stimuli?
- inhibited shows more activations
- uninhibited shows less inhibition (less likely to see novel things as threatening)
What is the function of the amygdala?
- emotional responses
- autonomic responses to fear
- plays role in emotional reactivity
How does Fox define temperament?
- the tendency to express particular emotions with a certain intensity that is unique to each individual
What is emotion?
- reflects a kind of motion outward (calling us to action to do something)
- inferred
- emotions can only be deducted from particular types of evidence (that’s how we measure them)
- reactive
- brought on in response to stimuli, not random
- includes subjective changes, autonomic and neural arousal, impulses to action, and behavior
- functional
- it serves a functional purpose, not irrational (ex: fear keeps us safe)
- essential for survival & helps us navigate the world
- rapid system
- usually works faster than cognitive processes
Emotion processing includes both _________ and _________.
- emotional processing includes both REACTIVITY and REGULATION
How does Rothbart (2011) define temperament?
- temperament is a spectra of reactivity & regulation…
- reactivity refers to individual differences in the emotional arousability of the child… how easily the child is moved to action
- regulation refers to individual differences in managing these reactive emotional tendencies
- focused on both positive and negative emotionality
- more emphasis on development (ex: neuro-cortical maturation)
- 4 temperament styles
What are Rothbart’s temperament styles?
-On 2 dimensions of reactivity and regulation
1) low reactivity, high regulation:
- more fearful & controlled children
- not easily impressed by positive or negative events
- maintain high levels of regulation
2) low reactivity, low regulation:
- appear to be withdrawn
- not excited by their surroundings
- not directed into any intentional program of action
3) high reactivity, high regulation:
- many consider the optimal profile
- children easily impressed by events in their environment
- but can self-regulate and use their excitement toward goal-directed behavior
4) high reactivity, low regulation:
- children run the risk of developing attention or hyperactivity problems
- can be easily excited/thrown off balance by stimulation
- lack self-regulation to use excitement toward adaptive goals (playing, learning, mastery of skills)
What does the developmental perspective on temperament say?
part of developmental change involves…
- reactivity: learning about safety and danger in the environment (impacted by amygdala)
- regulation: learning how to manage our emotions to achieve our goals (related to prefrontal cortex)
Describe the development of self-regulation
- with age comes an increasing ability to regulate one’s own emotions…
- in first months of life, caregivers help infants regulate emotional arousal by controlling their exposure to stimulation events (ex: covering from sun, moving away from loud noises, called coregulation)
- by 6 months, infants can reduce their distress by averting their gaze and sometimes by self-soothing (learning how to regulate)
- between ages 1 and 2, infants increasingly turn their attention to non-distressing objects of people to distract themselves from sources of distress (ex: looking to mom & seeing her smiling after falling off monkey bars)
Which neural region is implicated in emotional regulation?
- prefrontal cortex
- can facilitate or attenuate the amygdala during affect regulation in adults
- not fully developed until age 25
Compare top-down regulation and bottom-up regulation.
Top-Down regulation:
- prefrontal cortex activated
- decreasing negative emotions
- amygdala telling you that you’re okay
- ex: newscaster trying to calm down after the lizard jumped on him
Bottom-up regulation:
- reflexive/automatic process
- increasing negative emotions
- amygdala is screaming & louder here
- bottom-up is ALWAYS easier than top-down
- ex: the newscaster falling when the lizard jumped on him
the amygdala and prefrontal cortex connect them
Is it easier to decrease or increase negative emotions?
Easier to increase (bottom-up) than decrease (bottom-down)
Is temperament a nature or nurture phenomenon?
- both
- traditionally viewed as genetic (nature)
- but we know the genes impact with the environment b/c its an emergent property of the brain (nurture)
- temperament is susceptible to the same influence as anything else discussed in class… enivronment can affect brain so it can also affect temperament
Which is more damaging: physical or relational aggression?
Relational
How does Schneider’s rhesus monkeys study relate to temperament?
- monkeys were expose to noise stressors once a day while pregnant
- the offspring were highly stress reactive, had little exploration, and were clingy
- this shows that the prenatal environment can influence temperament
- reinforces that environmental stimuli has an impact
When is the most rapid rate of development of the amygdala?
within the early postnatal period
Define attachment
- a close emotional relationship between 2 persons
- characterized by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity
- it is enduring across space and time
Describe Harry Harlow’s work
- monkeys were deprived of all early social interactions
- were presented with wire mom w/ bottle & cloth mom w/ out bottle
- overall they preferred the cloth mother and were choosing nurturing over sustenance
- some other monkeys were raised totally alone w/ no fake moms & when they got scared they didn’t run to either mom (just isolated) and had social deficits (some even died)
- strongly supported the view that healthy social and emotional development is rooted in children’s early social interactions with adults
Describe John Bowbly’s attachment theory?
- posits that children are predisposed to develop attachments with caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival
- evolutionary theory says…
- they’re born w/ tendencies that promote survival of the species
- attachment behaviors are adaptive b/c they help protect infant
- attachment behavior ex: secure base
What is the meaning of secure base?
- Bowbly’s term for an attachment figure’s presence that provides and infant or toddler with a sense of security that makes it possible for the infant to explore the environment
- they will explore but keep checking in with caregivers as they do so
- they feel safe to explore as long as they know their caregiver is there with them
Describe the development of attachment behavior
- asocial phase (0-6 weeks): no particular preference for social stimuli
- indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks-6 months): enjoy all people
- specific attachment (7-9 months): only want one person; wary of strangers
- multiple attachments (soon after attachment phase): attached to multiple familiar people (i.e. dad, grandparents, siblings)
When does stranger anxiety emerge?
- emerges around 6-7 months
- intensifies over next several months
When does separation anxiety emerge?
around 8 months
Describe Mary Ainsworth’s attachment episodes study?
used series of separation/reunion episodes & determined quality of infants’ attachments…
1) experimenter introduces CG/baby to room & leaves
2) parent sits while baby plays (parents as secure base)
3) Stranger enter, sits, & talks to parent (stranger anxiety)
4) parent leaves, stranger offers comfort if baby is upset (separation anxiety)
5) Parent returns, greets baby, comforts if needed. Stranger leaves. (reunion)
6) Parent leaves (separation anxiety)
7) Stranger enters & comforts if needed (stranger anxiety)
8) parent returns, greets baby, comforts if needed, tries to interest baby in toys (reunion)
Describe the attachment classification types
Secure attachment:
- bond where child welcomes contact w/ CG & used CG as secure based from which to explore the world (65%)
- explores while CG is present
- becomes highly upset when CG is absent
- warmly greets CG upon reunion & is soothed by CG
Insecure attachment:
- anxious resistant:
- characterized by separation protest & tendency for child to remain near CG (not explore) yet resist contact from CG (10%)
- resist contact especially during reunion
- not soothed by CG
- still want CG to be there, just not comforted by them
- anxious-avoidant:
- characterized by little protest & child largely ignores CG (20%)
- can be sociable with other adults
- doesn’t cry when CG leaves or care when CG returns
- disorganized:
- characterized by confused approach to CG (5-10%)
- approach CG then abruptly avoid CG
- highly represented in abused population
- no clear patterns so unable to make sense of behaviors
What contributes to each insecure attachment style?
anxious-resistant:
- CG unpredictable in caregiving
- child’s displays of anger or helplessness towards CG on reunion can be regarded as a conditional strategy for maintaining the availability of the CG by preemptively taking control of the interaction
anxious-avoidant:
- CG demonstrated history of rebuffing attachment behavior/consistently insensitive to child’s needs
- child’s needs frequently not met
- child comes to believe that communicating needs has no influence on CG
disorganized:
- the homes of these infants often had physical or sexual abuse histories, psychologically disturbed parents, and/or parents with substance abuse
What determines an infant’s attachment style?
the quality of attachment is determined by the caregiver (caregiver sensitivity)
Is attachment style determined by temperament?
- no, determined by caregiver
- (but there is a correlation between temperament & attachment style)
Which is worse: a CG being unpredictable in caregiving or being consistently insensitive to their child’s needs?
being unpredictable (leading to anxious resistant) is worse
Why do most attachment classifications remain stable & have the ability to affect a variety of life outcomes?
- early attachments result in internal working models (cognitive representations of self and others, and relationships that infants construct from their interactions with CG)
- ex: if you had secure attachment, you’re more likely to have healthy romantic relationships b/c thats ur definition of love
Describe the internal working model of attachment for each style
- secure: their needs will be known and met, so they are free to express feelings and safely explore the environment
- insecure (anxious-resistant): their needs may or may not be met, so they will use behavior strategies (i.e. anger, clinging, or passivity) to control the interaction
- insecure (anxious-avoidant): their needs are not often met so they will shut down their needs and try to become independent
Describe memory biases for events due to internal working models
- those with secure attachment styles have greater memory of positive events than negative
- those with insecure attachment styles have greater memory of negative events than positive
Do attachment styles stay the same over time?
- they can change (ex: secure could switch to insecure if CG develops depression)
- but can also stay the same
What are long-term effects of attachment?
- children who were securely attached as infants seem to have…
- closer & better relationships with peers than insecure
- more positive romantic relationships/emotional health in adolescence
- earn higher grades/more involved in school
Does security of attachment have a direct effect on later development?
- its unclear
- likely that children’s development can be better predicted by combination of early attachment status AND the quality of subsequent parenting
- probably not either factor alone
Differentiate precocial and altricial
- precocial = born “mature” (ex: many birds or turtles)
- altricial = born immobile & need help being kept alive (ex: humans, monkeys)
Describe “hospitalism” (Rene Spitz)
- wasting disease characterized by retarded physical development, and disruption of perceptual-motor skills and language due to lack of social contact
- babies cared for in institutions commonly suffered from a condition called hospitalism and failed to thrive
- ex: kids w/ tuberculosis sent to hospitals had issues but kids just kept at home didn’t b/c they’re totally deprived love/social contact
Describe the study with presence or absence of caregivers and stress (shocks)
- children shocked when mother was absent released more cortisol than those shocked with mother present
- the mother’s presence mitigated the effects of stress
- shows how presence or absence of caregiver moderates the effects of stress hormones
What are some effects of stress?
- emotional reactivity (stress, fearful behavior, sensitivity to negative info, anxious behavior)
- odd social behavior (in intimate relationships, poorer peer friendships)
- effects persist into adulthood
What does stress activate?
- stress activates HPA axis
- results in release of cortisol
- if HPA axis is activated too often, eventually the negative feedback loops responsible for turning the system off can become habituate (break) causing unregulated levels of cortisol
Describe the previously institutionalized youth study
- internationally adopted children from institutional care & now living with families
- placed in orphanage w/ in 1st year
- 80% adopted within 1st 2 years
- mean time in orphanage = 15.3
months, SD = 10.6 - avg ~ 1 CG per 20 babies
- comparison group was children of same sex/age who grew up with their parents
- we know exact day they got to orphanage & exact day they left (when the stressor was removed) so if we see consequences in the PI group we can attribute it to when they were young
- measured cortisol levels before/after MRI scanner
- no change for comparison group but PI kids cortisol spiked b/c the amygdala saw it as more stressful
- also more anxiety/hyperactive amygdala & larger amygdala size
Which comes first: stranger or separation anxiety?
- stranger anxiety (6-7 months)
- separation anxiety (8 months)
Does a child need to have a secure attachment style to 1 or both caregivers for the benefits?
seems that having it with 1 is enough to reap the benefits
A larger amygdala volume is associated with what? Describe.
- early adversity associated w/ larger amygdala volumes
- and more anxiety
- those adopted after 15 months has a larger amygdala
- because the amygdala was more active due to threat/stress
- dose responsive relationship: the longer they’re deprived of an ideal CG, the more the amygdala grows
What are the functions of families in raising a child?
- ensuring the survival of offspring by providing for their needs (most fundamental function)
- serve economic function by providing means to acquire skills/resources to be economically productive as adults
- provide cultural training by teaching basic values of the culture
Families are more than _______.
the sum of their parts
What does the family systems approach emphasize?
- emphasizes the reciprocal influence family members have on each other
- family more than sum of parts
- ex’s:
- parents influence children
- children influence behavior and child rearing strategies of parents
- children influence parent interactions (ex: mom takes out annoyance at kids to dad)
- marital relationship influences children
- parents 1 influences interactions between parent 2/child (i.e. dad acts diff w/ kid when mom is around vs not)
What characterizes a family?
complex (and constantly evolving) network of relationships, interactions, and patterns of influence that characterize a family
What are things to consider when thinking about the role of the family?
- family is the first social context child encounters
- role of mothers/father (or lack of them)
- role of siblings (or lack of them)
- sibling rivalry, birth order effects (little evidence for order effects tho)
- role of extended families
- non-traditional families
- ex: divorce, adoption, gay/lesbian parents
- how changing situations affect family functioning
- ex: moving, divorce
Compare direct and indirect effects from family members
- direct effects = instances where any pair of family members affects and is affected by each other’s behavior
- indirect effects = instances where the relationship btwn 2 individuals in a family is modified by the behavior or attitudes of a 3rd family member
What are the dimensions of parenting style?
- degree of parental warmth (i.e. support, acceptance) vs the parental rejection and nonresponsiveness
- parent is accepting & child-centered or rejecting & parent-centered
- degree of parental control and demandingness
- parent expects much of the child or little of the child
Compare the 4 parenting styles identified by Diana Baurmrind.
1) authoritative
- (supportive & demanding)
- relationship is reciprocal, responsive, & high in bidirectional communication
- ideal style
- ex: you don’t have to eat broccoli if you don’t like it but you have to pick a diff veggie
2) Authoritarian
- (unsupportive & demanding)
- relationship is controlling, power-assertive, & high in undirectional communication
- ex: i put broccoli on ur plate so eat it
3) Permissive
- (supportive & undemanding)
- relationship is indulgent, low in control attempts
- ex: what food sounds good? chicken buggets/ice cream!
ex: mom in mean girls
4) Disengaged
- (unsupportive & undemanding)
- relationship is rejecting or neglecting, uninvolved
- ex: no food on table
Describe the child outcomes of an authoritative parenting style
authoritative (supportive & demanding) set clear standards & are firm about enforcing them but allow autonomy within those limits…
- competent, self-assured popular
- able to control their own behavior, low in antisocial behaviors in childhood
- in adolescence, high in social/academic competence, high in positive behavior, & low in problem behavior
Describe the child outcomes of an authoritarian parenting style
authoritarian (unsupportive & demanding): nonresponsive to needs, focus on obedience/authority, enforce demands through parental power & using threats/punishment…
- low in social/academic competence in childhood & adolescence
- as children, tend to be unhappy/unfriendly (w/ boys more negatively affected than girls in early childhood)
Describe the child outcomes of a permissive parenting style
permissive (supportive & undemanding): responsive to needs but don’t require children to regulate themselves or act appropriately/maturely…
- as children, tend to be impulsive, lacking in self-control, & low in school achievement
- as adolescents, engage in more school misconduct/drug use (than those w/ authoritative parents)
Describe the child outcomes of a disengaged parenting style
disengaged (unspportive & undemanding): rejecting/neglecting, focus on own needs rather than child’s, don’t set limits for or monitor child’s behavior…
- infants/toddlers have attachment problems
- as children, have poor peer relationships
- adolescents tend to show antisocial behavior, poor self-regulation, internalizing problems, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, & low academic/social competence
How does SES affect parenting style?
- low SES parents more likely to use authoritarian style
- higher SES parent more likely to use accepting/democratic styles & more language w/ their children
- has to do with what they get rewarded for in their job (i.e. responsibility/independence for high SES vs compliance/rule following for low)
- & has to do with what parents value as a result (i.e. autonomy/responsibility/creative for high SES vs obedience/getting along w/ others for low)
- SES –> values –> childrearing values –> parenting behavior
What child-rearing practice seems better for Chinese-American families than Euro-American families?
- authoritarian
- doesn’t mean anything negative tho (warmth is subjective - they only defined it as hugs/hugs/kisses/praise)
What is discipline?
- training in order to act in accordance with rules
- effective discipline depends on multiple variables…
- process of internalization (understand parent’s expectations/standards then accept those & behave accordingly)
- positive synchrony (interactions that are harmonious, reciprocal, responsive, interconnected, enaged, & involve shared effect)
- ex: need to share affect when trying to get someone’s buy in (even w/ kids need to act empathetic when they’re sad)
What is positive synchrony?
- interactions that are harmonious, reciprocal, responsive, interconnected, engaged, & involve shared effect
- need to share affect when trying to get someone’s buy in
- even w/ kids need to act empathetic when they’re sad for silly reasons (ex: girl crying bc she heard about heads of tables but has round table)
What outcomes come from corporal punishment (i.e. spanking)?
childhood:
- immediate compliance
- moral internalization
- aggression
- delinquent behavior
- quality of parent-child relationship
- mental health
- likelihood of being physically abused
adulthood:
- aggression
- criminal/antisocial behavior
- mental health
- adult abuse of own child/spouse
Describe effects of marital conflict on children
- children negatively affected (modeling negative behavior, sense of security threatened, may affect parenting)
- children can be protected if conflict is free of yelling, anger/aggression, threats, withdrawal, child blaming, & conflict resolution
- a safer marital conflict is characterized by mutual respect, positive communication, & resolution
Describe “good enough” parenting
- effective parenting 70% of time is better than more than 70% of time
- (it helps kids understand how the world works)
What kind of conditioning are coercive cycles?
- negative reinforcement
- because you are taking away argument & making it more likely for them to do this again
Describe coercive cycles
- correlated with juvenile delinquency
- because it is teaching the kid that arguing/aggresive/anitsocial techniques gets them what they want & that becomes their working model
- ex: clean your room, no, clean you room, no, fine don’t
- ex: I want oreos, no, cries, gives them oreos
What is a peer?
- one that is of equal standing with another; social equals; operating at similar levels of behavioral complexity (can be different ages)
- ex: younger siblings at 3 & 6 are not peers but adult siblings are
What can peers provide?
- feedback & practice in role taking skills
- growth promoting conflicts of viewpoint
- practice in compromise
- emotional security
- training for later romantic relationships
What is socialability? What is it’s developmental trajectory?
- ones willingness to engage with others in social interaction & to seek their attention and approval…
- 6 months: a bit of interaction w/ peers (babbling, toy offering gestures)
- 1 yr: turn taking
- 18 months: coordinated interactions (ex: imitation)
- 2 yrs: complementary roles (ex: tag)
Describe the non-social play types
- from 0-2, decreasing with age
- unoccupied: observing something in the environment, may be standing in 1 spot or performing random movements
- solitary: some sort of direction/purpose to what they’re doing (ex: rolling water bottle/balancing on sidewalk)
- onlooker: observing others playing
- parallel: child plays independently at the same activity as other child(ren) in proximity to each other (ex: mommy & me)
Describe social play types
- increase with age
- associative play: child still focused on a separate activity but good amount of sharing/lending, helping, taking turns, attending to the activities of peers
- cooperative play: children organize their play and/or activity cooperatively with a common goal, differentiate and assign roles
- social play becomes formalized in middle childhood (ex: board games, sports)
What is peer acceptance?
- measure of person’s likability in the eyes of peers
- measured with sociometric techniques (ask children who they likes/dislike in their class & with whom they want to be friends)
- teachers agree with ratings of popularity
- results in 5 categories of peer acceptance
What are the sociometric categories of peer acceptance?
- popular: children who receive many positive nominations & few negative nominations
- rejected: children who receive many negative nominations and few positive nominations
- neglected: children who are low in social impact (received few nominations), not especially liked/disliked by peers, unnoticed
- average: an average number of both positive and negative nominations
- controversial: children who receive many positive & many negative nominations, noticed by peers & are very liked or very disliked
What affects children’s peer status?
- attractiveness
- athletic ability
- social behavior
- personality
- cognitions about self/others (comes from CG attachment)
- goals when interacting with peers
- parenting style
- status of child’s friends
Differentiate between children popular in terms of sociometric measure and those perceived by peers as being popular.
- sociometric popular = viewed positively by most peers, less aggressive than the average child
- perceived popular = tend to be above average in aggression and use it to obtain their goals, often using relational aggression to hurt others by spreading rumors/withholding friendship (ex: mean girls)
Describe the two categories of rejected children.
Aggressive rejected:
- especially prone to hostile & threatening behavior, physical aggression, disruptive behavior, & delinquency (40-50% of rejected are aggressive)
- likely to attribute hostile motives to others in negative social situations; hostile attribution bias (ex: someone bumps & you assume its on person)
- aggressive behavior often underlies rejection by peers
- not all aggressive peers are rejected; some develop network of aggressive friends
Withdrawn-rejected:
- socially withdrawn, wary, and often timid (10-25% of rejected category)
- not all socially withdrawn children are rejected or socially excluded (just a correlation between withdrawal & rejection)
How does peer rejection contribute to later adjustment & behavior problems?
- alliance with deviant peer groups that promote antisocial/delinquent conduct & discourage academic pursuits
- elevated stress (dominance hierarchy)
- more often targets of aggression
- less likely to have social approaches rewarded (increased loneliness)
- lack of social support from peers or teachers
- low self esteem
- internalization of negative self-image & rejection of any positive feedback
- expectancy of peer rejection sets up failure in child presenting themself
Describe social skills training
- common approach for assisting rejecting children
- based on assumption that rejected children lack social skills that promote positive interaction w/ peers
- there’s a sensitive period for social skills learning
- ex: video teaching kids to take turns speaking or ppl won’t want to be their friends
Describe the stability of sociometric status? What is the correct order for stability?
- Rejected > Popular > Neglected/Controversial
- over short time periods, popular/rejected tend to remain so
- neglected or controversial tend to change their status
- stability for rejected is higher than for others and may increase with the age of the child
Is aggression always a predictor of rejection?
- aggression is a frequent predictor of aggression in childhood
- less of an important role in adolescence
What social changes happen in adolescence?
- much of elective time spent with peers
- emotional distance form parents
- this is adaptive to move toward leaving the nest
What is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?
- sound decision making
- empathy/morality
- considering consequences
- regulating emotions
- self-awareness
- not fully developed until age 25 (adult body not brain)
What part of the brain is at its peak during adolescence? Describe.
- ventral striatum (the reward circuit)
- level of pleasure is greatest it will ever be during adolescence
- decrease self control & increased sensitivity to pleasure
What is the ventral striatum responsible for?
- reward circuit
- planning/decision making
- motivation/pleasure
- regulated by dopamine
- peaks during adolescence
Describe the study on how being around peers influences decision making in adolescence?
- adolescents do driving game
- get from point A to point B as fast as you can (the faster you go, the more $)
- have to make decisions to go or stop at stop lights
- did this alone or with a friend watching
- way more likely for adolescents to make risky decisions (and crash) when friends were watching
- the ventral striatum was activated when being risky in front of friends (high dopamine response)
- for young adults/adults this wasn’t the case
What is activated and not activated during risky behavior in adolescence?
- more activation of ventral striatum
- less activation of PFC
Compare rough and tumble play vs aggression.
rough and tumble play:
- children smile/laugh
- children eagerly play/return for more
- older children may let opponent “win”
- contact is relatively gentle
- children alternate roles
- lot can participate/no spectators
aggression:
- children frown, stare, cry, red face
- one child dominate other/no changing roles
- contact is hard/harsh
- usually just 2 children & draws crowd
Why is rough and tumble play important?
- physical development: helps develop gross motor skills, coordination, balance, strength
- social development: teaches cooperation, negotiation, communication (take turns, establish rules, understand boundaries)
- emotional regulation: learn to manage emotions in safe environment, express themselves appropriately, & handle conflicts w/ out aggression
- cognitive development: often involved imaginative scenarios/problem-solving
- bonding & relationships: foster strong bonds, created opportunities for positive social experiences
Compare the 2 main aggression types
- hostile: aggressive acts for which the perpetrator’s major goal is to harm ot injure a victim (can be physical or relational)
- instrumental: aggressive acts for which the perpetrators major goal is to gain access to objects, space, or privileges
Describe the developmental trajectory of aggression
Overall:
- decline in instrumental aggression and increase in hostile aggression during middle childhood
- aggression is fairly stable (child aggression predicts adult aggression)
Physical (hostile):
- younger children (3-5) more likely to hit/bite/kick/push
- middle (6-12) decrease in physical aggression as regulatory abilities increase
- adolescent may exhibit resurgence of physical aggression (may be more instrumental/strategic
Relational (hostile):
- younger children more likely to be direct (ex: you can’t come to my bday party)
- older children more likely to use subtle methods (ex: spread gossip)
Compare the types of hostile aggression.
Physical:
- behaviors that cause bodily harm or injury to others
- effects can include physical injury, emotional trauma, social withdrawal, decreased academics, victims becoming aggressive to cope
- often results in immediate visible harm, making it more identifiable
- traditionally males
Relational:
- behaviors aimed at damaging social relationships, such as spreading rumors, social exclusion, gossiping, or manipulation
- effects can be more damaging in psychological and emotional well-being
- less visible/identifiable
- tradtitionally females
Compare proactive and reactive aggressors
proactive (instrumental):
- find aggressive acts easy to perform
- rely on aggression to achieve goals
reactive (hostile):
- are hostile b/c they over attribute hostile intent to others (thinking world is out to get them, think they got bumped on purpose, etc.)
- high impulsivity
What is Dodge’s social-cognitive model of hostile attribution bias?
1) aggressive child holds expectation that others are hostile
2) expectation results in biased scanning of social cues (confirmation bias)
3) infers that accidents had hostile intentions
4) retaliates against other
5) results in hostile counter attacks (they act aggressive) & consequent rejection of child (so other reject them)
6) expectation that others are hostile is confirmed & cycle repeats
What is Patteron’s model for the development of chronic antisocial behavior?
1) poor parental discipline & monitoring, coercive household
2) leads to conduct disorders, hostile attribution bias, lack of self-restraint
3) leads to rejection by normal peers & academic failure
4) leads to commitment to a deviant group
5) leads to delinquency
What is altruism?
- selfless concern for the welfare of others that is expressed through prosocial acts
- some think doesn’t exist b/c there’s no selfless good deed
Describe the development of altruism
- 1 year olds will offer toys to companions & toddlers will try to comfort another who is distresses
- spontaneous acts without adults nearby are rare (they do it when they’re being watched)
The origins of altruistic prosocial behavior are rooted in the capacity to feel ______ and ______.
empathy and sympathy
Compare empathy and sympathy
- empathy = an emotional reaction to another’s emotional state or condition that is similar to that person’s state or condition (you feel what they feel)
- sympathy = the feeling of concern for another person (or animal) in reaction to the other’s emotional state or condition; often an outcome of empathizing with another’s negative emotion or situation (you get how they’re feeling/understand but don’t feel it)
Describe the development of altruistic prosocial behavior
- infants respond to others’ distress but may not differentiate btwn others’ emotional reactions & their own
- around age 2 they start to more clearly differentiate btwn another’s emotional distress & their own (more prosocial behaviors)
- prosocial behaviors increase from the preschool years to adolescence
What are some factors that influence altruism?
- affective explanations from caregiver…
- forces child to see relationship btwn their acts & consequences (ex: explain that when Andrew hit Max, it hurt him)
- role-taking ability (empathetic responses)
- prosocial moral reasoning
What is Kohlberg’s theory of moral judgement?
- assessed moral judgement by presenting children with hypothetical moral dilemmas and then questioning them about the issues involved in their moral judgements
- question asked about a man stealing the cure to his wife’s cancer (had $2000 but guy would only take $4000)
- interested in the thought structures behind their answers rather than the answers themselves
- said that levels of social-congitive development (ex: perspective taking/empathy) determined progress through stages
- 3 levels of moral judgement (preconventional, conventional, postconventional)
What are Kohlberg’s three levels of moral judgement?
preconventional:
- moral reasoning is self-centered, focusing on getting rewards & avoiding punishment
- ex: the man shouldn’t steal b/c he might get caught and go to jail
conventional:
- care about how situational outcomes impact others and want to please/be accepted (reasoning is centered on social relationships)
- most active members of society remain here where morality is dictated by outside force
- ex: he shouldn’t steal bc people wll see him as a thief & his wife won’t want to be cured bc of thievery
postconventional:
- moral reasoning is involved with self-chosen ideals, focusing on moral principles that are generally universal
- ex: the man should steal the drug to cure his wife & them tell authorities he did so. he may have a penalty but at least he saved a life.
What does it mean to say human beings are multifarious?
We have many different parts of elements that make us unique
Neurodiversity is a concept that regards individuals with differences in brain function and behavioral traits as what?
- As part of normal variation in the human population
- (no 2 brains are exactly alike)
What is neruodivergence?
- deviation of a brain from society’s expectation of normality
- not always diagnosed/diagnosable
- not good/bad
- can be born with it or acquire it
What is mentioned as influencing human development in the neurodiversity lecture?
- genetics
- environment
- epigenetics
- hormones
What are developmental disabilites?
- a group of conditions due to an impairment (difference) in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas
- begin during developmental period, may impact day-to-day functioning, and usually last throughout a person’s lifetime
Describe ADHD.
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- cluster of difficulties that involve the self-management system of the brains
- inherited/runs in families
- inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity
- some argue its overdiagnosed/over medicated
- all ppl w/ ADHD seem to have some interest(s) where they can pay attention perfectly well
Describe autism
- characterized by 2 domains… social communication & restricted interests/repetitive behaviors
- runs on a huge spectrum (3 main levels of ASD)
Describe cerebral palsy
- collection of disorders caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the brain in early life
- different types depending on what part of the brain is affected…
1) spasticity: stiff muscles, associated with damage to or developmental differences in cerebral cortex
2) dyskinesia: uncontrollable movements, associated with damage to the basal ganglia
3) ataxia: poor balance & coordination associated w/ damage to the cerebellum
4) mixed: a combination of 2+ types, associated w/ damage to multiple areas of brain
What does cerebral mean? What does palsy mean?
- cerebral = refers to the cerebrum, which is the affected area of the brain
- palsy = refers to brain injury’s resultant disorder of movement
Describe down syndrome
- comes from an extra 21st chromosome
- symptoms can include short stature low muscle tone, small airways/palates,, single transverse palmar crease/folds around eyes, larger space around big toes, longer to mentally process info but still able to, increased risk of leukemia/CHD/abdominal disorders/alzheimers
- not inherited or gender specific, happens randomly
Describe intellectual disability
when individuals experience…
- significantly subaverage intellectual functioning
- deficits in adaptive behavior manifested during developmental period
- where these adversely affect a child’s educational performance
- IQ < 75 (but problematic)
- onset before age 18
- limitations in adaptive behavior
- when abstract cognitive thinking is required, its hard to progress without intervention or life experiences
Describe learning disabilities
- umbrella term
- children with learning disabilities are as smart or smarter than peers but may have difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling/organizing info conventionally
- includes dyslexia, dyscalulia, dysgraphia, auditory/visual processing disorders, nonverbal learning disabilities
What is dyslexia?
- a language-based disability in which a person has trouble understanding written words
- may also be referred to as reading disability or reading disorder
What is dyscalulia?
a mathematical disability in which a person has a difficult time solving arithmetic problems and grasping math concepts
What is dysgraphia?
a writing disability in which a person finds it hard to form letters or write within a defined space
What are auditory and visual processing disorders?
sensory disabilities in which a person has difficulty understanding language despite normal hearing/vision
What are nonverbal learning disabilities?
- a neurological disorder which originates in the right hemisphere of the brain
- causes problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative, and holistic processing functions
Compare intellectual and learning disabilities
- an intellectual disability is learning disability (b/c there’s challenges learning)
- but a learning disability is not an intellectual disability
