FINAL EXAM Flashcards
What is the psychoanalytic theory of human development?
development and behaviour are the result of interplay of inner drives, memories, and conflicts we are unaware of and cannot control
(1) Freud’s Psychosexual Theory: behavior is driven by unconscious impulses outside our awareness
(2) Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory: role of social world, society, and culture in shaping development
What is the behaviourist - operant conditioning theory of human development?
behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its consequences (from Behaviorist Learning Theory)
What is the behaviourist - social learning theory of human development?
people actively process information, and their thoughts and feelings influence their behavior
(1) observational learning: people learn through observing and imitating models
(2) reciprocal determinism: individuals and environment interact and influence each other
What is the cognitive theory of human development?
development and behavior are the result of thought or cognition
(1) Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory: children and adults are active explorers of their world; organization of learning results in cognitive schemas or concepts, ideas, and ways of interacting with the world
(2) Information Processing Theory: views thinking as information processing
(mind works in ways similar to a computer: information enters and is manipulated, stored, recalled, and used to solve problems)
What is the sociocultural theory of human development?
emphasizes the role of sociocultural context in development; people are inseparable from the cultural beliefs and societal, neighborhood, and familial contexts in which they live
(1) Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Systems Theory: examines how culture is transmitted from one generation to the next through social interaction
(2) Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory: addresses both the role of the individual and that individual’s social interactions
What are dominant genes?
some genes are always expressed regardless of the gene it is paired with
- we get one gene from each parent
What are recessive genes?
some genes will express only if paired with another recessive gene
Maternal Characteristics
How does age affect pregnancy?
older = can be more problematic
- pregnancy over 35 is strongly related to miscarriages, stillbirths, increase risk of Down Syndrome
Maternal Characteristics
How does nutrition affect pregnancy?
- poor mothers lack adequate access to proper nutrition, which can lead to complications in pregnancy, birth process, and baby
- mothers should consume 2000-3000 calories a day to sustain pregnancy
Maternal Characteristics
Mothers who are poor live in non-industrialized countries likely don’t receive Vitamin B9 (folic acid). What is Vitamin B9 deficiency linked with?
linked with spina bifida (failure of neural tube)
Maternal Characteristics
Where do mothers get Vitamin B9?
inside prenatal vitamins
Maternal Characteristics
How do mothers’ emotional well-being affect pregnancy?
mothers exposed to chronic and severe stress during pregnancy, it poses risk to the fetus
Maternal Characteristics
How do highly stressed mothers affect pregnancy?
more likely to low birth weight, premature, and require longer hospital stay after being born
- when stressed, stress hormones cross over the placenta which raises fetal heart rate and activity level, which is problematic for the fetus
Maternal Characteristics
How does high-level stress in mothers affect children?
can produce long-term effects on children
child will later on exhibit symptoms of anxiety, ADHD, and aggression in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
Maternal Characteristics
What is prenatal care?
basic set of services provided to improve pregnancy outcomes
- nutritional advice
- prenatal vitamins
- regular check-ups with doctor
Maternal Characteristics
Describe the ethnic and socioeconomic disparities of prenatal care.
- ethnic groups are less likely to seek early prenatal care because minorities are more likely to be low socioeconomic groups
- lack of transportation to get to the doctor
- job has limited opportunities to leave work in the middle of the day to go to a doctor’s appointment
Maternal Characteristics
Why might a woman not seek prenatal care?
- many do not have health insurance, and less likely to seek out prenatal care
- when a woman is pregnant, but not sure they want to be, they will not seek prenatal care because then they are acknowledging the pregnancy
- women with negative experiences in health care system are less likely to voluntary to put themselves in the system
What are the 4 main maternal characteristics and behaviours that affect pregnancy?
age
nutrition
emotional well-being
prenatal care
What are the 3 main contextual influences on pubertal timing?
nutrition
stress
SES
How does nutrition affect pubertal timing in females?
ovulation and menstruation is triggered by specific level of protein called leptin found in fat
- as that protein increases, it increases the production and secretion of hormones which will then trigger the onset of puberty and the release of an egg
- fat leads to menarche
How does stress affect pubertal timing?
linked with earlier onset of puberty
ie. sexual abuse, poor family relationships, harsh parenting, family stress and conflict, parental marital conflict, high level of anxiety
How does socio-economic status (SES) affect pubertal timing?
- living within a poor family is linked with earlier onset of puberty, particularly in girls
- link between low SES and poor nutrition → overweight and obese
Psychosocial Effects of Early and Late Puberty
What is early off-timed puberty?
before 8 (girls) or 9 (boys)
Psychosocial Effects of Early and Late Puberty
What is late off-timed puberty?
after 13 (girls) or 14 (boys)
Psychosocial Effects of Early and Late Puberty
What are the effects of off-timed puberty?
linked with anxiety, depression
Psychosocial Effects of Early and Late Puberty
What type of off-timed maturation is more problematic?
early maturation linked with more problems than late maturation
Psychosocial Effects of Early and Late Puberty
What are the effects of early off-timed puberty particularly for girls?
typically, they are done with puberty by age 12
early-maturers:
- likely to feel bad about their bodies because they’re changing faster than their peers
- self-consciousness is more likely to lead to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, negative body image, eating disorders
- more likely to be victims of rumour spreading about being sexually active, sexually harassed
Psychosocial Effects of Early and Late Puberty
What are the effects of early off-timed puberty particularly for boys?
more popular and confident
Psychosocial Effects of Early and Late Puberty
What contextual factors influence the effects of pubertal timing?
early-maturing boys and girls have a tendency to seek relationships with older peers who are more similar to them in physical maturity
- more likely to get engaged in age-inappropriate behaviour (ie. smoking, drug and alcohol use, sexual activity)
- more likely to not make good decisions, put themselves at risk
- girls have higher levels of teen parenting/abortion/birth, and STIs
Risk Factors for Child Maltreatment
What are parent characteristics that are risk factors for child maltreatment?
- some parents perceive normal child behaviour as being stubborn and non-compliant, therefore they feel like they need to get them in shape (coming from parents who don’t have knowledge of standard child development, and have expectations of how their child should be)
- bad impulse, coping skills
- marital instability, substance abuse
Marijuana Use in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
Canada Atatistics
- average age of first use: 14 years old
- 24% of 15-24 year olds report using cannabis in the last 3 months
- statistics have not changed from prior to after legalization\
- males use cannabis more often, perceive it as less risky, and more likely to drive a car afterwards
Marijuana Use in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
What are some short-term negative effects?
- brain is fully developed until the age of 24
- individuals who regularly use cannabis have impaired executive function (responsible for problem solving, abstract thinking and judgment), impaired memory, impaired recall, impaired attention
Cognitive Change: Vygotsky
What is guided participation?
more skilled partner is attuned to needs of the child and helps her accomplish more than she could do alone
Cognitive Change: Vygotsky
What is the zone of proximal development?
gap between a child’s competence level (what she can do alone) and what she can do with assistance
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
What is sensory memory?
holds incoming sensory information in its original form
- attention: awareness of information
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
What is working memory (short-term memory)?
holds and processes information that is being “worked on”: manipulated, encoded (transferring into long-term memory), or retrieved (recalling it from long-term memory)
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
What are the two parts of the working memory?
central executive
executive function
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
What is the central executive?
control processor that directs the flow of information and regulates cognitive activities such as attention, action, and problem-solving
- determines what is important to combine new and previously stored information (“directing traffic”)—tells information where to go
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
What is executive function?
cognitive process of understanding information, making decisions, and solving problems
- carries out working memory (makes sense of the information): involved in goal setting, inhibiting impulses
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
Where does all cognition take place?
in the working memory, very active
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
What is long-term memory?
unlimited store that holds information indefinitely
Cognitive Change: Information Processing System
What does the Information Processing System suggest?
we are all born with the system in place; we just need to be exposed to the information, which then moves through the system
Information Processing in Adolescence
How do adolescents think when it comes to risk-taking behaviours?
adolescents often don’t think about the practicalities associated with each action
Information Processing in Adolescence
What are adolescents more responsive to?
positive feedback
they are less responsive to negative feedback (ignores advice not to do something)
Information Processing in Adolescence
How do adolescents weigh risk-taking behaviours?
place more importance of benefits of risk-taking behaviour, than estimating the potential cost or risk
Information Processing in Adolescence
What is the limbic system?
linked to emotional arousal
- lag time of development of prefrontal cortex compared to the system of the limbic system, which interferes with decision-making ability
- limbic system is upfront, prefrontal cortex is sitting in the background
- neurological research supports the findings: adolescents show heightened activity in brain systems that support reward processing, and reduced activity in areas responsible for inhibitory control (opposite for adults)
Intelligence
What is the Flynn effect?
widespread increases in IQ over the last 100 years
- fluid IQ: continuing to increase due to: (1) increase in access to education, (2) increase in experiencing more challenging socioenvironmental experiences
- crystallized IQ: started to level off
Intelligence
What is fluid IQ?
underlying capacity to make connections among ideas and draw inferences
- information processing
Intelligence
What is crystallized IQ?
one’s knowledge base acquired through experience, education, and living in a particular culture
SES Contextual Difference in IQ
Are differences in IQ based on SES inborn?
no
- infants in low SES environments do not show any differences on measurements that can predict intelligence (ie. habituation)
- differences emerge over time as a result of growing up in low SES environments
SES Contextual Difference in IQ
In what groups does SES account for differences in IQ scores?
accounts for many ethnic differences in IQ scores
SES Contextual Difference in IQ
In what groups does SES account for differences in IQ scores?
accounts for many ethnic differences in IQ scores
SES Contextual Difference in IQ
How does SES contribute to IQ?
contributes to IQ through differences in culture, nutrition, living conditions, school resources, intellectual stimulation, and life circumstances
5 Components that Underlie All Languages
What is phonology?
knowledge of sounds used in a given language
- learning how to detect, discriminate and produce speech sounds
- humans are capable of generating many more sounds than any one - language uses
languages have different phonologies
5 Components that Underlie All Languages
What is morphology?
understanding the ways that sounds can be combined to form words
- infants learn that sounds can be combined in meaningful ways
- taking consonants and vowels, and sticking the sounds together
5 Components that Underlie All Languages
What are semantics?
meaning or content of words and sentences
- growing vocabulary signals an increase in semantic knowledge
5 Components that Underlie All Languages
What is syntax?
knowledge of the structure of sentences
- rules by which words are to be combined to form sentences
5 Components that Underlie All Languages
What are pragmatics?
understanding how to use language to communicate effectively
- ie. speaking differently with adults, peers, and children
- intonation at the end of a sentence when asking a question
Contextual Influences on Language Development: Poverty
How does poverty influence language development?
- less developed language skills
- less exposure to speech
- lower quality parent-child interactions
- increased household instability and disorder
Contextual Influences on Language Development: Poverty
How does poverty influence language development?
- less developed language skills
- less exposure to speech
- lower levels of vocabulary
- lower quality parent-child interactions
- increased household instability and disorder
Contextual Influences on Language Development: Poverty
Describe increased household instability and disorder.
- move houses more often
- have many caregivers that come and go
- divorce is more common
Contextual Influences on Language Development: Poverty
Describe increased household instability and disorder.
- move houses more often
- have many caregivers that come and go
- divorce is more common
Bowlby’s Four Stages of Attachment Formation
What is attachment?
relatively enduring emotional tie between two people, each striving to maintain their closeness and acting to ensure the relationship continues over time
Bowlby’s Four Stages of Attachment Formation
What is Stage 1: Indiscriminate Social Responsiveness (birth to 2 months)
- babies learn to associate caregivers with the relief of distress
- they will respond to any caregiver who reacts to their signals
Bowlby’s Four Stages of Attachment Formation
What is Stage 2: Discriminating Sociability (2 to 6-7 months)
- prefer certain familiar people over others (usually parents, or any regular caregiver)
- most likely to react more positively with the caregivers they know and are familiar with
Bowlby’s Four Stages of Attachment Formation
What is Stage 3: Attachments (7-24 months)
- specific attachments to one or more caregivers
Bowlby’s Four Stages of Attachment Formation
What is Stage 4: Reciprocal Relationships (24-30 months and onward to adulthood)
- both individuals engage in taking turns in initiating interactions within the attachment relationship
- make conscious efforts to interact with the other person because they are important to you
Significance of a Secure Attachment in Adulthood
Describe securely attached adults?
- desire closeness because it makes them feel good
- easily comforted by their partners because they were easily comforted by their parents as an infant
- much more likely to form secure attachment with their own infant
Significance of a Secure Attachment in Adulthood
What % of infants are securely vs. insecurely attached?
65% of infants are securely attached
35% insecurely attached
Significance of a Secure Attachment in Adulthood
Describe insecurely attached adults?
- feel anxious and avoidant in relationships
- have fear of abandonment, feel unworthy of love
- become possessive and jealous
- not very trusting
What is self-concept?
ways we describe ourselves
- our assessment of our abilities, traits, and characteristics
- way we see ourselves – which may not be in line with how others see us
- an ever-changing process, becoming more complex over our lifespan
What is self-esteem?
based on evaluation:
- feelings of self-worth, self-acceptance, and self-respect
- relies on cognitive development and a sense of self that emerges over the course of childhood
What are the 4 identities?
achievement
moratorium
diffusion
foreclosure
Identities (as a Process)
What is identity?
coherent sense of self, comprehensive and mature combination of self-concept and self-esteem
- once you get it, it will likely remain your identity for a long time
Identities (as a Process)
What is identity achievement?
(ultimate goal) establishing a coherent sense of self after exploring many possibilities
- to reach identity achievement, individual must be able to construct a sense of self through reflection, critical examination, exploration, and forming a commitment to a particular set of ideas, values, and beliefs
- individuals who reach identity achievement are associated with positive well-being and overall functioning
Identities (as a Process)
What is identity moratorium?
time-out period providing more freedom and autonomy than childhood but is without the full autonomy and responsibilities of adulthood
- allows adolescents to explore possibilities of who they might become
- characterized by sense of openness to possibilities, coupled with sense of anxiety
- often working their way to identity achievement
- emerging adulthood: (18-24 years old) extended transitional period between adolescence and adulthood
- more high school graduates, therefore traditional markers of adulthood are being delayed compared to prior generations
Identities (as a Process)
What is identity diffusion?
not having explored or committed to a sense of self
- identity is not clear
- little motivation to come to an identity, did not take advantage of opportunities
Identities (as a Process)
What is identity foreclosure?
chosen an identity without engaging in exploration
- prematurely stopped, or never engaged, in process of exploration
- often occurs because individual has parents that are over-controlling and decides for them (ie. this is the family, values, job you will have)
- problematic for some individuals, but not others
Identities (as a Process)
Which cultures follow these identity stages?
more for individualistic cultures (ie. Western cultures) than collectivistic cultures
Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning
What is the care orientation?
desire to maintain relationships and responsibility not to cause harm
- feminine mode of moral reasoning
- Kohlberg’s conventional stage
Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning
What is the justice orientation?
based on abstract principles of fairness and individualism
- masculine mode of moral reasoning
- Kohlberg’s post-conventional stage
Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning
What did Gilligan believe influenced moral reasoning?
believed that we do not progress through stages, but instead boys and girls are socialized differently to approach a moral dilemma
Prosocial Behaviour
What is empathy?
capacity to understand someone’s feelings
- begins early in development
Prosocial Behaviour
Describe empathy in toddlers?
show increasing prosocial responses to other people who are having physical or emotional distress (ie. when someone is crying, they show concern and want to calm them down)
- they have some level of distress when they see others in distress
Prosocial Behaviour
What is prosocial behaviour?
voluntary behavior intended to benefit another
Biological and Contextual Influences on Prosocial Behaviour
How do parents and other caregivers influence prosocial behaviour?
- can encourage prosocial behaviour by including children in chores and caregiving activities
- can encourage prosocial behaviour by using correct language to discuss feelings, which helps toddlers understand the emotions of others, which encourages empathy and prosocial behaviour
- parents who model sympathetic concern end up with preschoolers who are more likely to show concern for others
Discipline
What is induction?
positive discipline method based on reasoning and guidance
- parents model effective conflict resolution
- focuses on behavior and not child’s characteristics
- helps children internalize rules and standards
Discipline
How does induction support prosocial behaviour in the end?
it supports prosocial behaviour because you are helping the child learn to make decisions on their own that promotes behaviour that is best for everyone
What is androgyny?
integrating masculine and feminine characteristics
- has skills to be successful in both masculine and feminine domains (expressive and instrumental roles)
- linked with positive adjustment: higher self-esteem, psychosocial maturity, and life/work/relationship satisfaction
Contextual Influences on Gender Development
What role do parents play?
different perceptions and expectations for each gender
- before baby is even more, parents start making assumptions about their child based on biological/chromosomal traits
encourage gender-typed behavior
- some parents punish cross-gendered behaviour
encourage same-sex playmates
Contextual Influences on Gender Development
What role do peers play?
reinforce gender-typed behavior and criticize crossgender activities
Maintenance of Gender
What does “doing gender” in adult relationships mean?
once we reach adulthood, we try to exhibit androgenous behaviour, but we keep getting pushed back to gendered behaviour
- almost feels ‘natural’ because individuals have all this exposure that’s reenforcing gender throughoute childhood and adolescent
Describe childhood self-stimulation.
- normal for children to have sexual feelings
- as young as 2 years old, participate in some level of self-stimulation and are capable of orgasm
- do not use term masturbation because it is associated with feelings and being goal-oriented (ie. orgasms)
- sexual feelings are possibly present from birth, and can be identified
Adolescent Pregnancy
What are protective factors?
factors that help teen parent and their child avoid some of those maternal and child outcomes of adolescent pregnancy
Adolescent Pregnancy
What are some protective factors?
- readiness to become a parent: some girls are ready to become a parent and know that they can be a good mom, such as girls who live in low income families (ie. they do not have many opportunities, don’t see themselves going to university)
- family and community support
- stability of living environment: parents did not kick the teen out
- involvement of the father: more involved physically, and possibly financially
- no history of abuse, especially sexual abuse
Sexual Coercion
What are some contextual influences contributing to rape?
prevalence of rape myths such as “she asked for it by the way she was dressed,” “because she invited me to her place”
- people who commit rape believe these things to be true
gender role stereotyping that encourages male dominance, aggression, and competition
- hypermasculinity
- in U.S., we see higher rates of individuals who would be accused of sexual assault to be seen in groups associated with hypermasculinity (ie. collegiate and professional athletes, military, fraternities)
Sexual activity is highest in young adulthood, then declines over time. What might change this?
length of relationship can change this
ie. individuals in a new relationship are more likely to be engaging in higher sexual activity
Describe Canadian statistics of cohabiting households.
see 3.5x more cohabiting households than 35 years ago
- Quebec and territories have significantly higher rates
- other provinces: 16%, Quebec: 40%
Who cohabits?
- individuals with lower levels of education and income are more likely to cohabit, and less likely to marry
- ethnic minorities are more likely to have lower levels of education and income, and so they are more likely to cohabit than caucasians
What are protective factors of growing up in a single-parent family?
reduce conflict between parents (during and after divorce process)
- many of the long-term problems are the result of conflicts present between parents even 10-20 years
creating secure attachment
- children who have secure attachment to one or both parents have less short-term and long-term problems
reducing number of transitions
- trying not to change residences, school districts
Describe children’s experiences in lesbian/gay families?
- no differences in children growing up in lesbian/gay families vs. heterosexual families
- sometimes children in lesbian/gay families can be better off
- 30-40 years ago, most indicators were suggesting that children were worse off in lesbian/gay families
How are children’ sometimes better off in lesbian/gay families?
research indicated that they have higher academic achievement and score higher on social competency (peer relationships)
Parenting Styles
What are the 4 parenting styles?
authoritative
authoritarian
permissive/indulgent
indifferent
Parenting Styles
What is authoritative parenting?
high responsiveness and high demandingness
- best for children
- does expect unquestioning obedience
- open to negotiation
- rules are explained so children can learn cause and effect
Parenting Styles
What is authoritarian parenting?
low responsiveness and high demandingness
- dictator; expects obedience without question (“because I said so”, “my house my rules”)
- rarely explains rules
- not open to negotiation
- has unrealistically high expectations for maturity and compliance
Parenting Styles
What is permissive/indulgent parenting?
high responsiveness and low demandingness
- make no demands, and have no control over the children
- low expectations for maturity
- provide little routine for consistency
Parenting Styles
What is indifferent parenting?
low responsiveness and low demandingness
- rarely involved in child’s life
- wants to spend as little time as possible in parenting and child interaction
Parenting Styles
What are the likely outcomes of authoritative parenting?
- high self-esteem, but tempered with humbleness and concern for others
- learn to monitor their own behaviour
- more likely to become leaders
- high academic achievement, reasoning abilities, empathy, and altruism
- cooperative with peers, siblings, and adults
- exhibit psychosocial maturity
- more likely to seek advice from parents than peers or internet
- likely to produce a responsible, respectful, and contributing member of society
Parenting Styles
What are the likely outcomes of authoritarian parenting?
- lower academic achievement
- lower psychosocial maturity
- are more dependent, passive, and conforming
- less self-assured
- lack opportunities to develop skills such as compromise and conflict resolution
- lower levels of self-esteem, feel less competent, and don’t feel accepted for who they are
- more likely to seek advice from peers or internet than parents
- likely to become followers than leaders because they lack confidence to make decisions on their own
Parenting Styles
What are the likely outcomes of permissive/indulgent parenting?
- spoiled, they were not socialized
- never learn to monitor their own behaviour because parents never forced any rules or limits
- typically have trouble following rules when they are exposed to them (don’t care about the rules)
- little training in self-regulation and independence, and as a result, are likely to lack impulse control
- not likely to become leaders—over competence in abilities can be off putting to others, and they are unable to see the big picture because they are self-absorbed
- lower academic achievement
- less mature, self-reliant, and socially responsible
- more likely to consult their peers or the internet than parents
Parenting Styles
What are the likely outcomes of indifferent parenting?
- not socialized
- low academic achievement, lack impulse control
- experience peer rejection
- experience early sexual involvement and substance use
- more likely to become aggressive, delinquent, and antisocial
- may realize they have a social effect on others, but don’t care because no one cared about them
Describe social class differences in parenting approaches.
the way parents parent reflects their value system, perception of their role in larger society, and desire to teach their children where they will fit in in larger society once they reach adulthood
How are social class differences in parenting approaches determined.
determined collectively by looking at a person’s education, occupation, and income
What parenting approach do middle and upper classes use?
concerted cultivation approach
What is the concerted cultivation approach?
tend to be very child-centred, actively assess child’s skills and abilities, orchestrate leisure and extracurricular activities to enhance those skills and abilities
- extracurricular activities provide children with social capital/connections that can later further their education and work experiences
- more likely to use authoritative parenting style, include children in decision-making, talk more with their children and ask their children to talk more with them
What parenting approach do lower classes use?
accomplishments of natural growth approach
What is the accomplishments of natural growth approach?
tend to be parent-centred because they have less time and resources to focus on cultivating talent
- children have more free-flowing time to create their own activities at their own pace
- children have more contact with extended family (perhaps as secondary caretakers)
- more likely to use an authoritarian parenting style and expect their children to comply
- more likely to talk at children, not with them, to limit verbal interaction
What are the pros and cons of concerted cultivation approach?
pros: more likely to be successful educationally and in careers
cons: bored easily, express themselves less creatively, less close relationships with extended family, more likely to have a sense of entitlement
What are the pros and cons of accomplishments of natural growth approach?
pros: more creative, less bored, closer relationships with extended family
cons: more likely to have a job rather than a career, sense of constraint and limitation, and less access to social capital
Describe parents who use physical discipline.
- more likely to be young and single
- typically under financial stress, experiencing daily frustration with their children, and have fewer supports to deal with those issues
- more often it is the mother doing the spanking (due to them spending more time with the children than fathers)
- 93% of parents who spank justify its use, but 85% do not want to do it (they admit that they were angry, and wish there were alternatives—”tools”)
Describe positive parental contributions to closer sibling relationships.
- be good role models for close relationships
- facilitate cooperativeness and conflict resolution (get older children to resolve conflicts on their own)
Describe negative parental contributions to sibling relationships.
- parents who fight with each other and their own siblings
- parents that use punitive parenting (authoritarian)
- parents that forms insecure attachment
- parents express favouritism (unless justified, ie. due to age)
Peer Relationships in Childhood
What are some physical and socioemotional benefits of play?
- helps get exercise, promote gross and fine motor skills, helps with muscle strength and control
- create rules = learning how to explain their ideas and emotions, help develop prosocial skills (= more likely to participate in school, and have higher academic achievement)
What is social promotion?
practice of promoting children to the next grade even when they have not met the academic standards
ie. child in grade 1 did not meet the basic standards of grade 1 but you move them to grade 2 anyways—relatively common
What is grade retention?
practice of holding children back
ie. child in grade 1 did not meet the basic standards of grade 1, so instead of socially promoting them to grade 2, you hold them back and repeat grade 1 again
What are some reasons for grade retention?
- students who have frequent unexcused absences—associated with uninvolved parents, parents who abuse drugs and alcohol
- cognitive and social immaturity—intellectually it does not seem that they can master the information, or socially they are not on rank with their peers
- often times, the perspective of the educators and parents is the belief that an extra year will produce successful academic outcomes—repeating grade 1 will have them ready for grade 2
What are some outcomes of grade retention?
- not many positive outcomes
- usually do not fare as well as those who were socially promoted (ie. when two students are similar but one is socially promoted and one is retained, we assume that the child who is retained will do better, however, we typically see poor performance in reading and math, still have poor school performance (probably because the problem that is causing this is not being addressed), more social and emotional difficulties, like school less)
- long-term: children who are retained are 2x more likely to drop out of high school than those who are socially promoted
- seems better to socially promote children than retain them
Contextual Influences on Motivation
How do parents’ beliefs and attitudes about ability influence motivation?
- affects child’s level of motivation
- children raised by parents with a fixed mindset have a tendency to view their own skills and abilities as fixed as well, and so they adopt a learned helplessness orientation because their parents have a fixed mindset (children learn that their skills and abilities cannot be improved upon)
- children with parents who believe that their abilities are changeable are more likely to take on a growth mindset and mastery orientation
- when parents believe that their children’s abilities are unchangeable, they provide few opportunities for their children to improve, and may even ignore positive changes in children’s skills and abilities (reinforces fixed mindset)
Career Development
How do parents influence vocational choice?
- parents can significantly influence the career choice of their children
- even before we think about career development, parents influence their children’s educational attainment and level of education, which is related to future work
- parent’s occupation can be influential on children’s choices
- parents serve as role models
Career Development
If parents are influential in getting their child through college or university…
it will provide vocational influences as opposed to parents who can’t facilitate anything beyond high school
Career Development
How can a parent’s occupation be influential on their children’s choices?
- exposes children to those options
- children think about doing what their parents do for a living
Career Development
How do parents serve as role models for vocational choice?
- on how they feel about education, and the importance of education
- how they feel about certain occupations over others
- how parents feel about work in general (like their job, only have this job due to necessity)
What is paid work?
work outside the home, go to work, come home
What is unpaid work?
work done at home to take care of family and household
What is one of the top 5 things that causes conflict in cohabiting and married couples
unpaid work
- has to do with the discrepancy in the amount of hours spent doing unpaid work
Describe the gender discrepancy in the amount of hours spent doing unpaid work.
research shows that women spend 17.5 hours a week, while men spend 10.5 hours a week—related to the fact that women are seen as the primary caretakers of children so they are doing more of the unpaid work
Describe the discrepancy in the amount of hours spent doing unpaid work in lesbian/gay couples.
do not see an imbalance in the amount of hours in lesbian/gay couples
- both spend equal number of hours on unpaid work—related to the fact that in these couples, there isn’t one person who is seen as the primary caretaker
Risk of dying has especially plummeted for infants and young children.
- early 1900s: most young children died from pneumonia, flu, tuberculosis
- advances in medicine contributes to the decreasing mortality rates of infants and young children
What is neonatal?
first month of life
What is postneonatal?
second month to 1 year
What is an infant?
combination of neonatal and postneonatal (birth to 1 year)
What are the causes of death in infants?
- leading cause of death: genetic abnormality
- second most common cause of death: premature babies
- third most common cause of death: SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome)
What are the causes of death in childhood (2-12 years)?
- leading cause of death: accidents
- second most common cause of death: homocide (from child abuse)
What are the causes of death in adolescence?
- leading cause of death: accidents (car accidents, drowning)
- second most common cause of death: unintentional poisoning (accidental drug overdose)
- start seeing suicide is a cause of death
Bereavement in Childhood
Compare grief in children vs. adults.
children usually experience grief for their parent for a longer period of time than do adults
ie. if you have a 5 year old whose parent passes away vs. 45 year old whose parent passes away, 5 year old will experience grief longer
Describe bereavement in childhood.
- when a child has a parent that passes away, the loss has a significant effect on their development
- many children strive to maintain a connection with the deceased parent by talking to them, holding on to a symbolic object
