lesson 12 development Flashcards
the flynn effect
over successive decades, people seem to be testing better on intelligence tests
howard gardner
multiple intelligences
multiple intelligences (howard gardner)
linguistic
logical mathematical
musical
bodily kinesthetic
spatial
interpersonal
intrapersonal
intelligence
taking in information and finding logical ways to share it with the world
why did binnet want to sort people according to intelligence
france had lost most of its soldiers in the war, he wanted to find a way to replace them based on merit not connections
psychologist most known for constructivism
piaget
what does g stand for
intelligence
example of crystallized intelligence
your stored knowledge, accumulated over the years (like math problem)
example of fluid intelligence
your ability to process new information, learn, and solve problems (like problem solving)
similarity between enculturated apes and feral children
humans come into world preprimed (nativism) and then experiences shape them (empiricism)
piaget
characterize young child mind
taken with blank state hypothesis
constructivism part 1
children construct knowledge on the basis of their experiences
constructivism part 2
children proceed through stages of development
sensorimotor stage
(constructivism part 2)
infants have reflexes, sensory systems, few learning mechanisms (birth-2 yrs)
failing object permanence
sensorimotor stage
(constructivism part 2)
young kids will be surprised when something they’re playing with disappears (hidden under table) because once it’s not being registered by their perceptual system, it’s not in existence for them anymore
preoperational (2-6 years)
(constructivism part 2)
toddlers represent experiences in language, imagery, symbolic thought
cant perform operations
focus on single aspect of an event (centration)
preoperational failures of conservation (age 2-6)
understanding that the quantitative properties of an object are invariant, despite changes in the object’s appearance
kids dont realize that theres the same amount of water in different cups
*dont understand conservation of liquid quantity, solid quantity, or number)
preoperational failures of transitivity (age 2-6)
red ball weighs more than blue, which weighs more than green, so i know red weighs more than green (but kids cant see transitive property)
preoperational failures of egocentricity (age 2-6)
cant see things past their own perspective (describe this for someone else but they’ll say its this one instead of left or right from other person’s perspective)
concrete operational (6-12 yrs)
kids can reason logically about concrete objects and events but cant think in purely abstract terms in combining information systematically (cant see in hypotheticals)
formal operational (12+)
kids get obsessed with fantasy and fiction because they can think past real world
There are no concrete objects in the world to which the words liberty and love refer, yet people at the formal operational stage can think and reason about such concepts in the same way that a concrete operational child can
think and reason about squishing and folding. The ability to generate, consider, reason about, or mentally “operate on” abstract concepts is the hallmark of formal operations
meet kids where they are (piaget wasnt fair to kids, like with using too much language)
revisiting deficits and how kids struggle, he was testing them with higher order things
testing what infants know
look at their eyes (kids do understand object permanence)
kids know objects cant pass through each other
infants show preferential social looking, kids have preferences toward face like things
Constructivism (piaget)
the theory that says learners construct knowledge rather than just passively take in information. As people experience the world and reflect upon those experiences, they build their own representations and incorporate new information into their pre-existing knowledge
how was piaget’s testing problematic
bucketed kids into stages and like with type based personality tests, no nuance (some kids understand number conservation fast)
was unfair with how he tested kids
Modern psychologists see development as a
more fluid, continuous, and less step-like progression than Piaget believed it to be
perservation
delayed development of frontal cortex
cant override learned behavior to do new behavior
(a not b game and persevation)
a not b error
kids will continue to do something they learned to do even if taught a better way to do it (fragmented mind cant communicate information yet, so one module goes to a but one goes to b)
impulsivity
marshmallow test, see how long kids can hold out gratification
kids who wait longer are more successful
three stages of prenatal development
the germinal stage, which is the 2-week period that begins at
conception
The embryonic stage is a period that starts at about the 2nd week after conception and lasts until about 8th week
The fetal stage is a period that lasts from about the 9th week after conception until birth. The fetus has a skeleton and muscles that make it capable of movement
what evidence suggests fetus is listening
french babies cry with rising pitch and german babies with falling
Newborns will suck a nipple more vigorously when they hear the sound of their mother’s voice than when they hear the voice of a female stranger indicating that even at birth they are already more familiar with the former. Newborns who listen to strangers speaking two languages will suck more vigorously when they hear words from their mother’s native language, indicating that they are already familiar with the tempo and rhythm of their mother’s speech
A ___ is any substance that
passes from mother to unborn child and impairs development.
teratogen
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy and children born with FAS have a variety of brain abnormalities and cognitive deficit
how do Infants Track Social Stimuli
When newborns see the stimuli in Panel A, they will track the shapes with facial features
(left) longer than the shapes with scrambled facial features (middle) or no facial features (right). When fetuses see the
stimuli in Panel B, they are more likely to turn their heads toward the face-like configuration (left) than the other
configuration (right).
cephalocaudal rule (or the “top-to-bottom” rule)
the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet. Infants tend to gain control over their heads first, their arms and trunks next, and their legs last. A young infant who is placed on her stomach may lift her head and her chest by using her arms for support, but she typically has little control over her legs
proximodistal rule (or
the “inside-to-outside” rule),
describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery. Infants learn to control their trunks before their elbows and knees, which they learn to control before their hands and feet Although motor skills develop in an orderly sequence, they do not develop on a strict timetable. Rather, the timing of these skills is influenced by many factors, such as the infant’s incentive for reaching, body weight, muscular development, and general level of activity
examples of motor
reflexes, which are motor responses that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation
rooting reflex causes infants to move their mouths toward any object that touches their cheek, and the sucking reflex causes them to suck any object that enters their mouth. Together, these two reflexes allow newborn infants to find their mother’s nipple and begin feeding
perceptual and motor skills in infants
When infants or young children are allowed to play with an object such as a slide or a car and are then given a miniature version of the object, they will often make a scale error by treating the miniature object as though it were the regular-sized one—for instance, they’ll try to get inside the miniature car or slide down the miniature slide
cognitive development
the process by which infants and children gain the ability to think and understand
schemas
theories about the way the world works
assimilation
when infants apply
their schemas in novel situations
accommodation
which happens when infants revise their schemas in light of new information.
false-belief task (sally ann)
In the standard version of this task, children see a puppet named Maxi deposit some chocolate in a cupboard and then leave the room. A second puppet arrives a moment later,
finds the chocolate, and moves it to a different cupboard. The children are then asked where Maxi will look for the chocolate when he returns: in the first cupboard where he initially put it, or in the second cupboard, where the children know it currently is?
Most 5-year-olds realize that Maxi will search the first cupboard because Maxi did not see what the children saw —namely, that the chocolate was moved. But 3-year-olds typically claim that Maxi will look in the second cupboard. Why? Because that’s where the children know the chocolate is—and they assume that what they
know, everyone knows! Children are able to give the right answer in the false-belief task somewhere between the
ages of 4 and 6
theory of mind
the understanding that the mind produces representations of the world and that these
representations guide behavior
The age at which most children acquire a theory of mind appears to be influenced by a variety of factors, such as the number of siblings the child has, the frequency with which the child engages in pretend play, whether the child has an imaginary companion, the socioeconomic status of the child’s family, and even culture
*most important, language
zone of proximal development
the range of things children cannot do by themselves but can do with guidance and instruction. For example, most infants cannot open a jar on their own, but they can learn to open a jar if an adult shows them how
Vygotsky also noted that cultural tools, such as language and counting systems, exert a strong influence on cognitive development
three skills infants use to learn from others
The ability to focus on what another person is focused
on, known as joint attention, is a prerequisite for learning what others have to teach us
Infants are natural mimics who often do what they see adults do This tendency is known as imitation. Children imitate adults so precisely that they even copy parts of their actions that they know to be pointless, a phenomenon called overimitation
The ability to use another person’s reactions as
information about how they should think about the world is known as social referencing
what are Joint attention (“I see what you see”), imitation (“I do what you do”), and social referencing (“I think what you
think”) three of?
the basic abilities that allow infants to learn from other members of their species and to
discover things about the world that they might never discover alone
primary caregiver
emotional center of the
infant’s universe. Infants feel safe in the primary caregiver’s presence and will happily crawl around and explore
the environment. If their primary caregiver gets a little too far away, the infant will begin to feel unsafe and will take action to close the gap, either by moving toward the primary caregiver or by crying until the caregiver
moves toward them
what is the term for an emotional bond with a primary caregiver
an attachment
attachment styles
characteristic patterns of reacting to the presence and absence of
one’s primary caregiver
types of attachment styles
Infants with a secure attachment style may or may not be distressed when their caregiver leaves the room,
but they respond positively to her when she returns—either by acknowledging her with a glance or a smile
(if the infant was not distressed) or by going to her for calming (if the infant was distressed). The majority
of infants in all cultures have a secure attachment style.
Infants with an ambivalent attachment style are distressed when their caregiver leaves the room, but when
she returns they respond negatively to her—either by rebuffing her, or by refusing her attempts at calming.
Infants with an avoidant attachment style are not distressed when their caregiver leaves the room, and they
don’t respond positively or negatively when she returns—they mainly just ignore her.
Infants with a disorganized attachment style show no consistent pattern of response to either their
caregiver’s absence or return
types of attachment styles
Infants with a secure attachment style may or may not be distressed when their caregiver leaves the room,
but they respond positively to her when she returns—either by acknowledging her with a glance or a smile
(if the infant was not distressed) or by going to her for calming (if the infant was distressed). The majority
of infants in all cultures have a secure attachment style.
Infants with an ambivalent attachment style are distressed when their caregiver leaves the room, but when
she returns they respond negatively to her—either by rebuffing her, or by refusing her attempts at calming.
Infants with an avoidant attachment style are not distressed when their caregiver leaves the room, and they
don’t respond positively or negatively when she returns—they mainly just ignore her.
Infants with a disorganized attachment style show no consistent pattern of response to either their
caregiver’s absence or return
Infants are born with a
temperament which is a
biologically based pattern of attentional and emotional reactivity
For example, difficult babies who react fearfully to novel stimuli—such as sudden movements, loud sounds, or unfamiliar people—tend to become quiet, cautious, and shy adults who avoid unfamiliar people and novel situations
internal working model
As a result of interactions with their primary caregivers, infants develop a set of beliefs about the way relationships work
Piaget noticed that children’s moral reasoning tends to shift from realism to relativism
Very young
children regard moral rules as real, inviolable truths about the world. For the young child, the rightness or wrongness of an action is like the height and weight of an object: They have an actual existence in the
world and do not depend on what people think or say. That’s why young children generally don’t believe that a bad action such as hitting someone can ever be good, even if everyone agrees to allow it. But as they mature, children begin to realize that some moral rules are human inventions and that people can agree to adopt them, change them, or abandon them entirely
Piaget noticed that children’s moral reasoning tends to shift from prescriptions to principles.
Young children think of moral rules as guidelines for specific actions in specific situations. (“Each child can play with the iPad for 5 minutes and must then pass it to the child sitting to their left.”) As they mature, children come to see that these rules are expressions of more general principles, such as fairness and equity, which means that specific rules can be abandoned or modified when they fail to uphold the general principle (“If Jason missed his turn with the iPad, then he should get two turns now.”)
Piaget noticed that children’s moral reasoning tends to shift from outcomes to intentions
For the young child, an unintentional action that causes great harm (“Reiko accidentally broke the iPad”) seems “more wrong” than an intentional action that causes slight harm (“Reiko got mad and broke the pencil”)
because young children tend to judge the morality of an action by its outcome rather than by the actor’s intentions. As they mature, children begin to see that the morality of an action is critically dependent on the actor’s state of mind
preconventional stage, children
a stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by its consequences for the actor. A person at this stage might
reason: “If the husband steals the drug he could end up in jail, so he shouldn’t.
conventional stage, adolescents
a stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules. A person at
this stage might reason: “Stealing is against the law, so the husband shouldn’t steal the drug.
postconventional stage
a stage of moral development in which the morality
of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core values. A person at this stage might reason: “Human life is sacred, so the husband should steal the drug
what was the three distinct stages of moral development experiment
Kohlberg asked both children and adults how they would
resolve a series of “moral dilemmas” (e.g., should a poor husband steal a drug from a pharmacy to save his dying
wife?)
what’s wrong with the three distinct stages of moral development
Although Kohlberg got many things right, we now know that he also got a few things wrong. First, although the development of moral reasoning does seem to follow the basic trajectory described by his theory, the three stages are not as discrete as Kohlberg thought. For instance, a person might apply preconventional, conventional, and postconventional thinking in different circumstances, which suggests that the person did not “reach a stage” so much as “acquire a skill” that he or she may or may not use at a particular time. Second, Kohlberg’s theory does
a better job of describing the development of moral reasoning in Western societies than in non-Western societies
Adolescence
Adolescence is the period of development
that begins with the onset of sexual maturity (about 11 to 14 years of age) and lasts until the beginning of
adulthood (about 18 to 21 years of age)
The beginning of this growth spurt signals the onset of puberty, which is the onset of bodily changes associated
with sexual maturity. These changes involve the primary sex characteristics, which are bodily structures that
change at puberty and are directly involved in reproduction (e.g., girls begin to menstruate and boys begin to
ejaculate), as well as the secondary sex characteristics, which are bodily structures that change at puberty but
are not directly involved in reproduction (e.g., girls develop breasts and boys develop facial hair). All of these
changes are caused by the increased production of hormones—specifically, estrogen in girls and testosterone in
boys
what are some of the most significant neural changes that occur in the prefrontal cortex
An infant’s brain forms many more new
synapses than it actually needs, and by the time children are 2 years old, they have about 15,000 synapses per
neuron, which is roughly twice as many as the average adult (Huttenlocher, 1979). This early period of synaptic
proliferation is followed by a period of synaptic pruning, in which the connections that are not frequently used
are eliminated
The most significant neural changes occur in the prefrontal cortex…
An infant’s brain forms many more new
synapses than it actually needs, and by the time children are 2 years old, they have about 15,000 synapses per
neuron, which is roughly twice as many as the average adult (Huttenlocher, 1979). This early period of synaptic
proliferation is followed by a period of synaptic pruning, in which the connections that are not frequently used
are eliminated
Puberty is happening much earlier today than it did just a few decades ago. But why?
For girls at least, the main
reason appears to be diet. Young women have more body fat today than ever before, and
body fat secretes estrogen, which hastens puberty. Some evidence suggests that exposure to environmental toxins
that mimic estrogen may also play a role. Stress appears to be another cause of early
puberty in girls Studies show that girls reach puberty earlier if they grow up in unpredictable households with high levels of conflict, in households without a biological father, or if they are
victims of early sexual abuse
Puberty is happening much earlier today than it did just a few decades ago. But why?
For girls at least, the main
reason appears to be diet. Young women have more body fat today than ever before, and
body fat secretes estrogen, which hastens puberty. Some evidence suggests that exposure to environmental toxins
that mimic estrogen may also play a role. Stress appears to be another cause of early
puberty in girls Studies show that girls reach puberty earlier if they grow up in unpredictable households with high levels of conflict, in households without a biological father, or if they are
victims of early sexual abuse
protracted period of adolescence
So while the age at which people become physically adult has gone down, the age at
which they take on adult roles and responsibilities has gone up
As one researcher noted, “Isolated from adults and
wrongly treated like children, it is no wonder that some teens behave, by adult standards, recklessly or irresponsibly
*sex, drinking, acting out
Bilaterality in Older and Younger Brains
Across a variety of tasks, young brains show more bilateral asymmetry in their
patterns of activation than do older brains. One explanation is that older brains compensate for the declining abilities of
one neural structure by calling on other neural structures for help
socioemotional selectivity
younger adults are largely oriented
toward the acquisition of information that will be useful to them in the future (e.g.,
reading restaurant reviews), whereas older adults are generally oriented toward
information that brings emotional satisfaction in the present (e.g., reading detective
novels)
Adolescence: Minding the Gap
Adolescence begins with puberty, the onset of sexual maturity of the human body. Puberty now
occurs earlier than ever before, and the entrance of young people into adult society occurs later.
Adolescents are more likely to do things that are risky or illegal, but they rarely inflict serious or
enduring harm on themselves or others.
Although most people are attracted to members of the opposite sex, some are not, and research
suggests that biology and genetics play key roles in determining a person’s sexual orientation. Sex
education has been shown to reduce risky sexual behavior.
As adolescents seek to develop their adult identities, they seek increasing autonomy from their
parents and become more peer oriented, forming single-sex cliques, followed by mixed-sex cliques.
Finally, they pair off as couples.
Adulthood: Change We Can’t Believe In
Performance on most cognitive tasks peaks when people are in their 20s, and older people develop a
variety of strategies to compensate for their cognitive declines.
Older adults are more oriented toward emotional satisfaction, which influences the way they attend
to and remember information, the size and structure of their social networks, and their happiness.
For most people, adulthood means leaving home, getting married, and having children. The
responsibilities that parenthood entails present a significant challenge to people’s happiness
Infancy and Childhood: Bonding and Helping
At a very early age, human beings develop strong emotional ties to their primary caregivers. The
quality of these ties—which are indexed by either secure, avoidant, ambivalent, or disorganized
attachment styles—is determined both by the caregiver’s behavior and the child’s temperament.
Piaget concluded that children’s reasoning about right and wrong develops in three ways. It is
initially based on inviolable truths about the world, but expands to include concepts of fairness and
equity. As they mature, children begin to consider the actor’s intentions as well as the extent to
which the action obeys abstract moral principles. Kohlberg outlined a theory of morality that
progresses from evaluation of an action’s consequences, to determination of whether it obeys social
rules, and finally to how it aligns with core values.
Infants seem to have some “moral sense,” such as an affinity toward kind people and a concern with
fairness
Infancy and Childhood: Perceiving, Doing, and Thinking
Infants have a limited range of vision, but they can see and remember objects that appear within it.
They learn to control their bodies from the top down and from the center out.
Infants slowly develop theories about how the world works. Piaget believed that these theories
developed through four stages in which children learn basic facts about the world, such as the fact
that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight and the fact that objects have enduring
properties that are not changed by superficial transformations. Children also learn that their minds
represent objects; hence objects may not be as they appear, and others may not see them as the child
does.
Hearing language about thoughts and feelings helps children acquire a theory of mind.
Cognitive development is also driven by social interactions and infants have several abilities that
allow them to learn from others.
Prenatality: A Womb With a View
Developmental psychology studies continuity and change across the life span.
The prenatal stage of development begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg, producing a zygote. The
zygote, which contains chromosomes from both the egg and the sperm, develops into an embryo at 2
weeks and then into a fetus at 8 weeks.
Humans are born with underdeveloped brains, which is essential to the birth process and allows for
adaptation to the social and physical environment after birth.
The fetal environment has important physical and psychological effects. In addition to the food a
pregnant woman eats, teratogens—agents that impair fetal development—can affect the fetus. The
most common teratogens are tobacco and alcohol.
The fetus can hear and becomes familiar with its mother’s voice
Constructivism
Constructivism is the theory that says learners construct knowledge rather than just passively take in information
