Human Development Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
study of age-related changes in behaviour and mental processes from conception to death
Studying Development
special consideration:
POST HOC FALLACY
- when someone assumes that one event caused another event simply because the events happened in that order
- ex. drinking milk creates serial killers bc all serial killers drank milk as children
BIDIRECTIONAL INFLUENCES:
- instead of child being passive recipient of things happening to them, they’re actively influencing their environment and environment influences them back
- ex. fussy babies (temperaments) & sensitive parenting approach - a child’s temperament can affect how their parents react, which can then influence the child’s behaviour
- ex. shy child influences environment differently than a more confident/ not shy child and then that environment influences them back
Thinking about Early Experience
Infant Determinism:
popular belief what happens to you in the first 3 years of life will shape the course of your life
- continues throughout adolescence, more about continual troublesome circumstances
- later circumstance & experiences can change this
Children Fragility: any small thing (negative) will have long-term consequences
- children are not as fragile as the popular press would say - they’re really resilient
Longitudinal Design
- examination of development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time
- several points in time
- provides details of changes over time
- costly, time consuming, droupouts
- good for individual differences
- ex. How much does reading skill improve from 7 to 10 years of age?
Group 1: 7 year olds
Group 1: 10 year olds (same group)
Cross-Sectional
- examination of people of different ages at a single point in time
- one point in time
- delivers snapshot at a given point of time
- cannot account for cohort effects
- good for showing averages - how average 6yo performs
ex. How much does reading skill improve from 7 to 10 years of age?
Group 1: 7 year olds
Group 2: 10 year olds
Cohort Effects
- effect observed in a sample of participants that results from individuals in the same sample growing up at the same time
- problem with this is do people mindsets become more negative surround gender equality as they age or is it different generations beliefs changing
- exception: if there was some kind of world wide event that effected everybody like covid or 9/11
Gene-Environment Interaction
- shouldn’t really be vs, bc. they interact!
Gene-Environment Interaction- the impact of genes depends on the environment in which the behaviour develops
- ex. MAO gene, one people who had a form of this gene were more likely to engage in criminal behaviour but only if they were raised in an abusive household
- sensitive children in neglectful household leads to BPD
Nature via Nurture
Nature via Nurture
- genetic predisposition can drive us to select and create particular environments
- ex. shy 4yo vs exuberant 4yo (temperament)
- they would select and create different circumstances for themselves: shy kid keeps to himself and has own friend vs exuberant kid talking to everyone and running around on the playground
Gene Expression
- some genes “turn on” only in response to specific environmental events
- PTSD genes will only be activated by a traumatic event
- Schizophrenia induced by psychoactive drugs
Stages of Prenatal
Germinal Period
- 0-2 weeks (zygote)
- time from conception to implantation
- over half do not successfully implant (to the uterine wall)
Embryonic Period
- 3-8 weeks (embryo)
- brain starts developing; limbs, facial features, and major organs form; sexual differentiation begins
- heart starts beating by 9th week
- by the end only about 1.5 inches long
Fetal Period
- 9th week-birth (fetus)
- last 3 months: rapid growth of body and brain
- gain about a pound per week
Prenatal Development: The Brain
- brain develops 18 days post fertilization
Proliferation: neuronal birth - day 16 - 6 months in utero
- neurons develop at astronomical rate
- organ that continues to develop after birth
- at peak of proliferation, 250k neurons are born
What does Folic Acid have to do with Brain Development?
- public health recommendation for people of child bearing age who are sexually active/ looking to get pregnant
- studies found the low levels of folic acid were associated with poor brain development
- flour (& lots of other foods) have been supplemented with folic acid
- helps with development of neural tube → brain
- folic acid helps with issues in the neural tube that lead to developmental issues in the CNS
- ex spina bifida
Environmental Hazards
Embryo or Fetus affected by:
- mother’s health (including experience of stress - long term extreme levels of stress (being in a war zone or living in an abusive household))
- mother’s diet
Teratogens: agents that can damage the fetus or embryo
- substances - prescription drugs, illicit drugs, nicotine, alcohol
- diseases - ex. German measles (rubella)
- environmental exposure - ex. lead, mercury poisoning
Critical Periods of Susceptibility
- the effect of a teratogen is dependent on when the mother is exposed to it
- Issues during the embryonic period generally have a more catastrophic and long term effect than in fetal period
- Philitimide (morning sickness pills), tested on animals and safe, but not suitable for humans, so over 10k children born with limb deformities (mostly arms), but it depended on when mothers took this medication (what stage)
Other Risks to Prenatal Development
Genetic Disorders
- random errors in cell division
Prematurity
- full-term baby is born between 37 - 42 weeks gestation
- babies before 37 weeks are considered premature
- age of viability - 25 weeks
Motor Development
Reflexes
- appear at birth and disappear as babies gain control over their bodies
- so it’s helpful for tracking development in this sense
Sucking Reflex
- they’ll suck on anything and everything
Rooting Reflex
- anything that touch babies cheek will cause the baby to turn their head towards it and open their mouth
Motor Development varies widely between babies
- lots of overlap between stages
What affects pace of motor development?
- Body weight
- Bigger babies will achieve motor development later than lighter babbies - Culture:
- Peru, China, West Asia: tightly swaddled blankets providing warmth and security
- Northern Canada: “wraparounds” up to 24 months
- African & West Indian families: massage, stretching
Theories of Cognitive Development
- Stage-like vs Continuous
- domain-general vs domain-specific
What is the principal source of learning?
- innate vs experience
- what kind of experience?
Piaget (1896 - 1980) and the Development of Thought
- father of developmental psychology
- children think and organize the world meaningfully - but differently than adults
-
Schemas: Mental representations of the world used to guide and interpret experiences
- Assimilation: fitting experiences into schemas
- Accommodation: change schemas to accommodate new experiences
- Constructivist, Stage Theory
Changing Schemas of the Earth
- from preschool to 5th grade
- the earth goes from rectangular earth → disc earth → dual earth → hollow sphere → flattened sphere → sphere
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
- Sensorimotor (0-2 years)
- Preoperational (2-6 years)
- Concrete Operational (7-12 years)
- Formal Operational (12 years-adult)
Sensorimotor Stage
Object Permanence: realization that objects to exists when they are no longer visible
- 0-2 years
Preoperational Stage
- 2- 6 years
Conservation: the understanding that physical properties of objects remain the same, even if appearance changes
- ex. water put in different glass with diff. shape - Centration, reversibility
- Egocentrcism
Lev Vgotsky
- Russian researcher
- scaffolding: parental support when learning/ building
Zone of Proximal Development - Lear
Cognitive Changes in Adolescence
- frontal lobes don’t fully mature until late adolescence or early adulthood
- implications for impulse control and risk-taking
- However, risk-taking behaviour is also affected by other factors than impulse control
- more opportunities
- different evaluation of risk (know, but do not care)
Early Social Development
- Prefer to listen to speech sounds and songs as opposed to other sounds- infants develop interest in other people very quickly after birth
- Stranger anxiety starts at 8-9 months, peaks at 12-15 months
- Differences in children’s social and emotional styles reflect differences in temperament
Temperament
- early appearing and largely genetic
- Thomas & Chess (1977) proposed three major styles:
- Easy (40%)
- Difficult (10%)
- Slow-to-warm up (15%)
- Jerome Kagan et al.
- Approximately 10% of children may be behaviourally inhibited
- Heightened risk for shyness anxiety disorders
- Flip side: inhibited children → impulsive behaviours
- Approximately 10% of children may be behaviourally inhibited
- New research has refined the dimensions included in the concept of temperament
