Intro to Child Development Flashcards
why learn about child development?
- better raising children
- choosing social policies
- understanding human nature
nativist v. empiricist
- nativist: evolution left some abilities in infancy, some things are innate
- empiricist: possess “learning mechanisms”, help us learn, but nothing is innate
Plato’s views on child development?
- raising children is essential to a successful civilization
- children have innate knowledge at birth
Aristole’s views on child development
- essential for a successful civilization
- all children are individuals, education must be catered to an individual’s needs
Jean-Jaques Rousseau + John Locke
- TABULA RASA - BLANK SLATE
- Locke - valued discipline, Rousseau - valued freedom/development
Nature v. Nurture
- whether or not our genes or our environment affect us more
- we develop as a result of BOTH interacting
- all depends on the timing of our experiences
genome
a person’s complete hereditary information, expressive proteins change in response to experience
epigenetics
study of change in gene expression that are mediated by the environment
methylation
biochemical process that influences behavior by suppressing gene activity and expression, related to stress levels
The Active Child
- the more a child is active, the more it will contribute to their development
- selective attention, preferences, drawn to facial appearances, internal motivation (learning language in toddlers), fantasy/rule play (develops fear, coping, self-control, etc.)
Continuity vs. Discontinuity
- continuous theory v. stage theory
- development is continuous or happens in qualitative stages
- JEAN PIAGET - cognitive development stages
Mechanisms of Change
- how do we see changes in development?
- seen in brain activity, behavior (effortful attention, controlling emotions and impulses, etc.)
Sociocultural Context
- culture, economy, historical era, politics
- seen in cross-cultural comparisons (ex. sleeping arrangements)
cumulative risk
accumulation of disadvantages over years of development
Individual Differences
caused by differences in genetics, treatment, reactions, and environment
ex. easy v. difficult children, treatment from parents
the scientific method
- approach to testing beliefs
- must contain a TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS, that answers a question
- measurements must be directly related to the hypothesis
reliability
- the degree to which independent measurements of a give behavior are consistent
- interrater: amount of agreement in observations of different raters
- test-retest: results under similar testing conditions are similar on multiple occasions
validity
- degree to which the test measures what it intended to
- internal: whether effects observed can be attributed to the factor being tested
- external: ability to generalize findings to the general public, beyond the experiment
structured interviews
- predetermined questions, used when collecting self-reports on the same information
- cheap! can gather a lot of data at once
- the possibility of biased questionnaires, time-consuming
clinical interview
- used to obtain in-depth information on an individual child, not as predetermined
- misremembered information, answers may be biased
- a more in-depth look, not as structured
naturalistic observation
- observe in a “natural” environment, researchers do not influence behavior
- impossible to have all context, behaviors of interest may be rare
structured observation
- participants are provided with identical situations, and behaviors are recorded
- allows for more comparison between children
- not extensive information, less natural behavior in lab setting
variables
attributes that vary across individuals
correlational designs
- studies intended to indicate how two variables are related to each other
- correlation is the relationship between two variables, measures +/- 1
direction of the causation problem
correlation does not indicate that either variable “causes the other”
third variable problem
may be the result of an unspecified third variable (confounding)
experimental designs
gold standard: randomized controlled trial
- allows for conclusions to be drawn
- random assignment and experimental control
- experimental v. control groups
- independent v. dependent variables
cross-sectional design
- participants of different ages are compared on a given behavior over a short period
- reveal similarities/differences between children, fast
- do not show behavior changes over timr
longitudinal
- same participants studied over a substantial time period
- unpractical, expensive
- shows change/stability over time
microgenetic design
same participants studied repeatedly over a short period
- typically done on the verge of an important change
- do not yield information on stability and change over time
sequential design
- multiple cohorts, some over time
- expensive and complicated, but valuable information
brain imaging
EEG: measures electrical activity, noninvasive, fast, can be done on infants
NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy): analyzes changes in hemoglobin concentration
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging): not portable, difficult for small children
