Lifespan Development Flashcards
Phenotype v Genotype
A persons observed characteristics
A persons genetic inheritance
Five levels of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model
Microsystem - a child’s immediate environment (home, school)
Mesosystem - interactions between immediate environment
Exosystem - elements of broader environment that impacts immediate environment (school board, parents employers, mass media)
Macrosystem - culture, politics, economic conditions
Chronosystem - environmental events that occur over the lifespan
Rutter’s Risk Indicators
Severe marital discord Low SES Overcrowded family Parental criminality Maternal psychopathology Placement of child outside the home
Protective factors for Rutter’s high risk children
Experience fewer stressors after birth
Easy temperament and good social adjustment
Provided with stable support from a caregiver
Canalization
When genotype restricts a phenotype to a small number of possible outcomes
Three types of gene-environment correlation
Passive genotype-environment correlation (child inherits traits and parents provide environment to support them)
Evocative genotype-environment correlation (child’s traits impact how others respond to them and reinforce their genetic makeup)
Active genotype-environment correlation (child finds environments that are consistent with their traits)
Epigenesis
Relationship Between environment and genetics is bidirectional and ongoing (with interactions influencing next steps
Ethology v Evolutionary Psychology
Ethology - study of behavior in natural habitats (instincts, drives, adaptation)
Evolutionary Psychology - study of mental emotional adaptation that increased chances for survival
Critical v Sensitive Periods
CP - distinct, specific, predetermined periods when an organism is especially sensitive to stimuli that can have a positive or negative impact on development (Lorenz, language acquisition, attachment)
SP - longer in duration, flexible, not as tied to developmental or maturational age
Stages of prenatal development
Germinal (first two weeks) - zygote
Embryonic (3-8 weeks) - embryo
Fetal (9 weeks until birth) - fetus
Two major sources of birth defects
Chromosomal Disorders
Teratogens
Autosomal disorder v sex-linked disorder
Autosomal - disorder is carried on an autosome (22 pairs of chromosomes that are not linked to sex)
Sex - disorder carried on the 23rd chromosome pair that determines sex
PKU
Phenylketonuria
Autosomal recessive
Can’t metabolize phenylalanine (bread, dairy, eggs)
Associated with severe intellectual disability
Down Sydrome
Trisomy 21 (three 21st chromosomes)
Intellectual disability, physical features, regarded physical growth, increased susceptibility to leukemia, Alzheimer’s, and heart defects
Aneuploidy
Disorder due to a variation in chrosomal number
Kleinfelter Syndrome
XXY in males
Small genitals, breasts, no sexual interest, sterile, learning disability
Turner Syndrome
Female with only one X chromosome
Short, webbed neck, drooping eyelids, no secondary sex characteristics, cognitive deficits
Stage when teratogens can cause the most damage
3-8 weeks
Embryonic stage
FAS and FASD
FAS is more severe
When drinks a shitload, esp in second half of first trimester
Facial abnormalities, organ issues, vision and hearing impairment, cognitive deficits, behavioral issues
Cocaine as a teratogen
Babies born addicted
Issues last at least into early school years
High pitched cry, trembling, feeding and sleep issues, exaggerated startle, irritability, hard to comfort
Effects of malnutrition on fetal development
Death, low birth weight, immune system issues, intellectual disability
In third trimester, can lead to brain development issues
Limited folic acid can lead to spina bifida
Premature v SGA
Premature - born before 37 weeks, many survive with medical intervention these days, outcomes are fine
SGA - weight below 10% for gestational age, slow development, much worse outcomes
Brain development in newborns
Initially produces more neurons than it needs (then undergoes pruning)
Life sustaining structures fully formed, cerebral cortex is almost undeveloped with the PFC developing into mid-20s
Areas of the brain that develop first in newborns
Sensory and motor areas
Brain development occurs in what two directions
Cephalocaudal (Head to tail)
Proximodistal (center to limbs)
Where is brain atrophy seen most commonly in aging brains
Frontal lobes
Where are new neurons most often created in aging brains
Hippocampus
Neurogenesis
Brain compensating for neuronal loss by forming new synaptic connections and neural pathways
Babinski
Rooting
Moro
Stepping reflexes
Toes fan outward when soles are tickled
Turn head in direction of touch on cheek
Flings arms and legs out, then back in, when startled or lost support
Coordinated walking movement when help upright and feet touch ground
Behaviors used to study perceptual development in children
High amplitude sucking
Reaching
Heart and respiration rates
(Look for habituation and dehabituation)
Which sense is least developed at birth
Vision
Adult vision develops around what age
Six months
Visual cues that babies prefer
High contrast images
Faces
Then faces of mom
Age of infants depth perception
4-6mo
Auditory localization
Babies ability to turn head in the direction of a sound
Lose the ability between 2-4mo, then regain and improves
Infants ability to distinguish voices occurs at what age
3mo
Prefer their moms voice
Research on pain exposure and infants
Full-term babies who experience severe medical pain show a heightened reaction to pain later on
Pre-term babies who experience severe medical pain show a lowered reaction to pain later on
1-3mo milestones
Raise chin
Turn head side to side
Can bring objects in hand to mouth
4-6mo milestones
Rolls over
Sits with support
Grasps
First teeth 5-9mo
7-9mo milestones
Sit without support
Crawling
Pulls self up at 10mo with assistance of furniture
10-12mo milestones
Stands alone
Walks with help
Takes first steps alone at 12mo
13-15mo milestones
Walks alone with wide gait
Crawl up stairs
Scribbles spontaneously
16-24mo milestones
Runs clumsily
Walks up stairs with assistance
24mo: stairs alone, kicks ball, turn pages
50% of kids can toilet during the day
25-48mo
Jumps with both feet
Dress self simply
Toilet trained
4yo - hand dominance
Are there developmental differences in children who receive early training for motor development
No
Gender differences in motor development
Girls - flexibility, strength, balance, agility
Boys - physical skills with strength and gross motor abilities
Consequences of early maturation in boys
Popularity, strength, athleticism
Dissatisfaction with body image
Increased risk for delinquency, substance use, depression
Consequences of late maturation in boys
Appraised by peers as being more childish
More attention-seeking behaviors
Lower self-confidence
Susceptible to depression
Consequences of early maturation in girls
Poor self-concept More likely to engage in substance use as sexual activity Lower academic achievement Unpopular with peers Depression and eating disorder risk
Consequences of late maturation in girls
Dislike being treated like “little girls”
Dissatisfied with physical appearance
Outperform peers in academic achievement
The consequences of early or late maturation are most severe when…
The adolescent perceives themself as different from their peers
Visual changes in adulthood
By age 40 there is some presbyopia (inability to see close up)
Most experience visual changes by 65 that can interfere with daily activity - loss of acuity, light sensitivity, poor depth perception, slowed visual processing
Most older adults do not experience significant hearing loss until
After age 75
Behavioral slowing in older adults is responsible for…
Slowed reaction times and generally slower movement and sensory abilities
Biggest predictor of outcomes in children with chronic illness
Illness severity
Factors predictive of good adjustment in children with chronic illness
Higher SES
Two-parent Family
Little visible physical disfiguration
Healthy parental adjustment
Early substance abuse behaviors in adolescents are associated with what correlates
Feelings of alienation, impulsivity, indecisiveness, subjective distress
Gateway drugs for adolescents
Tobacco
Alcohol
- then -
Marijuana
The biggest predictor of sexual activity in later adulthood
Sexual activity in middle adulthood
Biggest reason for decline in sexual activity in older adults
Physical health issues in men
What is responsible for the rapid increase in brain volume and weight in babies
Formation of glial cells!
Tenets of Piaget’s theory of development
People construct higher levels of knowledge from elements contributed through biological maturation and the environment
Development is driven by cognitive equilibrium (equilibration)
Adaption is resolved through what two complementary processes
(Per Piaget)
Assimilation - fit new information into old schemas
Accommodation - change preexisting schemas to fit new information
(Typically assimilation occurs first, and when it is unsuccessful accommodation happens)
Four stages of cognitive development per Piaget
Sensorimotor - circular reactions, object permanence
Preoperational - precausal thinking, magical thinking, animism
Concrete operational - conservation and horizontal decalage
Formal operations - adolescent egocentrism
Sensorimotor stages
1 - infant utilizes their reflexes (b - 1mo)
2 - repeats pleasurable events with their body (circular reactions, 1-4mo)
3 - repeats pleasurable events by manipulating others (secondary circular reactions, 4-8mo)
4 - more complicated action sequences (coordinated secondary circular reactions) object permanence
5 - tertiary circular reactions, varying an action to discover its consequences (12-18mo)
6 - symbolic thought, anticipates consequence (18-24mo)
Object permanence
Develops during sensorimotor substance 4
People and objects continue to exist, even when they are out of sight
Accomplishments in the sensorimotor stage
Object permanence
Basic causality (events have certain outcomes)
Deferred imitation (imitating another persons behav hour or days later)
Symbolic (make believe) play
Age of the sensorimotor stage
Birth to two years
Age of the preoperational stage
2-7 years
Strengths of preoperational children
Symbolic function allows children to learn through language, mental images, and other symbols
Can solve problems mentally
Sophisticated symbolic play (incorporates symbolic objects too)
Struggles of preoperational children
Precausal reasoning - incomplete cause and effect understanding (magical thinking and animism)
Egocentrism - cannot take another persons POV
Irreversibility, contraption (focus on most noticeable features of an object)
Examples of precausal (transductive) reasoning
Magical thinking - belief that thinking about something will cause it to occur
Animism - attributing humanlike qualities to inanimate objects
Age of concrete operational stage
7-11/12 years
Strengths of children in concrete operational stage
Can form logical rules for transforming and manipulating objects
(Master conservation - an objects physical properties don’t change even if it’s appearance does)
Occurs in this order: number, liquid, length, weight, displacement volume
(According to horizontal decalage)
Horizontal decalage
Piaget
Describes the general acquisition of conservation abilities (and other abilities) in a specific stage of development
Age of the formal operational stage
11/12 years +
Strengths of formal operational children
Think abstractly
Identity competing hypotheses for a problem and figure out how to test them
Adolescent egocentrism
During formal operational stage (Piaget)
Composed of:
Imaginary audience - always the center of attention
Personal fable - you’re unique and free form natural laws that govern everyone else
Information Processing approach to cognitive development
Everything is akin to a computer or computer programming
Improvements in memory or abilities are due to improved processing speed, more memory space, greater automaticity…
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
General view of cognitive development
Cognitive development initially occurs INTERPERSONALLY, and then INTRAPERSONALLY (when the child internalized what they’ve learned)
Zone of proximal development
Vygotsky
The difference between a child’s current developmental stage, and the stage just beyond (that can be reached through scaffolding)
Scaffolding
Vygotsky
Instruction, assistance, and support
Most effective when it involves modeling, providing cues, and encouragement of the child to think about plans of action
Theory of mind
The ability to make inferences about another persons representational state, and the ability to predict then what their behavior will be
Three stages of ToM
1 - ages 2-3 - other people have different emotions
2 - ages 4-5 - other peoples thoughts may be inaccurate but they will still act on them
3 - age 5 - actions are not always consistent with someone’s beliefs, people interpret situations differently, may feel many ways about a situation
Use of memory strategies in children
Due to increases in working memory speed and capacity, and an expanded knowledge base
Preschoolers use accidental memory strategies, that work sometimes and sometimes not (if taught new strategies, may or may not use them in new situations)
By age 9/10, memory strategies become effortful and fine tuned (rehearsal, organization, elaboration)
Improvements in memory strategies is lead my the development of metacogntion
Synchrony effect
Time for optimum completion of certain tasks varies by age
Earlier adults - at night
Older adults - in the morning
Infantile amnesia
Explanation for why we don’t remember things before age 3 or 4
Could be due to the memory centers being not formed yet
Could be due to the absence of language to help encode memory
Retention function
Greater recall of events in the last 20 years
Reminiscence bump
Recalling many memories form 10-30years old
May be explained by developing sense of self, experiencing more novel situations
Impact of age on memory
Decline in more explicit than implicit memory (explains why you forget the contents of a grocery list)
Also see declines in episodic and SECONDARY (LT) memory
Reasons for memory decline in older age
Slowed processing speed
Difficulty keeping irrelevant information out of working memory
Three explanations for language development
Nativist - Chomsky - we have an LAD that allows us to learn language merely though exposure (biological)
Behaviorist - we learn language by observing and imitating and being reinforced by others (environmental)
Interactionists - language development is attributed to biological and environmental factors
Interactionist approach to language
Expansion vs extension
Expansion - when parents adds to a child’s statement using their words and word order
Extension - when parents add information to the child’s statement (e.g. “bye bye” -> “going to work”)
Semantic bootstrapping
When a child uses his or her knowledge of the meaning of words, to infer their syntactical (grammatical) category
Syntactic bootstrapping
When a child uses their syntactical knowledge (context) to infer a meaning of a new word
(Not low they learn precise meanings, but rather to help them narrow the possible meanings of words)
Surface vs deep structure
(Chomsky)
Surface structure - the organization of the words, phrases, or sentences
Deep - the underlying meaning of sentences
“Visiting relatives can be tiresome”
- one surface structure, two deep structures
Phonemes v morphemes
Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that are understood in a language (English language has 45, includes b, f, d, v, th)
Morphemes are the smallest units of sound that convey meaning (go, do, un-, -ing, -ed)
Phoneme
Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that are understood in a language
(English language has 45, includes b, f, d, v, th)
Morpheme
Morphemes are the smallest units of sound that convey meaning
(go, do, un-, -ing, -ed)
Three types of crying in babies
Pain
Hunger
Anger
Responses to infant cries
Pain cry is most likely to get adults (in general) reacting strongest physiologically, and will more likely cause anxiety reactions in the mother
Responsiveness to baby cries
The sooner you respond to cries, the shorter in duration and frequency crying will be in later months of life
Cooing
Vowel sounds made by babies when contented and happy
6-8weeks
Babbling
Consonant and vowel sounds
(4months)
Early babbling contains sounds from all languages
Between 9-14months, babbling narrows to sounds of their native lingo
Babbling in deaf children
Only deaf children with residual hearing resemble hearing children in terms of early vocalizations
About the same age that hearing children begin to babble (4mo), deaf children will have repetitive hand gestures and “hand babble”
Echolalia and expressive jargon
9 months of age
Echolalia - imitating adult speech sounds and words without understanding their meaning
Followed by expressive jargon, where children vocalize and sound like they’re forming sentences, but the sounds have no meaning
Age of first words
Between 10-15 months
What types of words are often babies first words
Nominals - objects, people, or events
Mama and dada are often first words
Babies and receptive v productive vocabulary
Receptive vocabulary exceeds productive vocabulary
- by 13 mo, infants understand 50 words
By 18 mo, they can speak about 50 words
Holophrases
Between 1-2 years
Single words used to express whole sentences
Using gestures and intonation
Telegraphic speech
18-24months
Stringing two or more words together into a sentence
Initially only contain nouns, verbs, and adjectives
When goes vocabulary growth occur most rapidly with children
Between 30-39 months
During what period does a child’s sentences improve most in grammar and complexity
2.5-5 years
By what age do children begin understanding humor and metaphor
6-7 years
Underextension of language
When a child uses a word too narrowly
Dog refers only to the family dog
Overextension
When a child uses a word too broadly
Dog means all animals with four legs
Gender differences in language
Boys - use language to give orders, establish dominance, interrupt, talk longer
Girls - use language to ask questions, communicate support and attentiveness
Second language acquisition and cognitive abilities
Bilingual children may initially have smaller vocabularies in each of their languages, however they may produce better results on cognitive tasks than monolingual children
When to teach someone a second language
Easiest with best long-term outcomes in children
Code switching
When a bilingual person switches between their native and second language
May be to better express themself or gain rapport
Research on bilingual education
Language minority Children in high-quality English programs do as well as, or better than English only programs in terms of English skills and knowledge of subject matter
Temperament
A persons basic disposition…
Influences how we respond to situations
Behavioral inhibition research
Has a genetic contribution, remains stable over time
Can contribute to isolation and social anxiety as an adult
Can be modified by warm and supportive caregiving
Three types of temperament identified by Thomas and Chess
Easy children - even tempered, sleep and eat well, adapt easily to change, positive mood usually
Difficult children - withdraw from new, unpredictable habits, typically negative mood
Slow-to-warm children - inactive, negative mood, take time to warm up to new stimuli
Goodness-of-fit Model
Thomas and Chess
The degree of match between parents and the child’s temperament contributes strongly to the child’s outcomes
Freud’s stages of psychosexual development
Oral (b-1 year) Anal (1-3 years) Phallic (3-6 years) Latency (6-12 years) Genital (12+ years)
Oral stage of psychosexual development
Birth to one year of age
Primary source of conflict: weaning
Fixation: dependence, passivity, gullibility, oral-focused habits
Anal stage of psychosexual development
Age 1-3 years old
Primary source of conflict: toilet training
Fixation: obsessive compulsive, stingy, selfish…messy, cruel, destructive)
Phallic stage of psychosexual development
3-6 years of age
Primary source of conflict: Oedipal conflict (love opposite gendered parent and hate same sexed parent)
Fixation: sexual exploitation of others
Successful resolution: identify with same sex parent and development of the superego
Latency stage of psychosexual development
Ages 6-12 years
No primary sexual fixation at this stage
Emphasis on developing social skills (rather than achieving sexual gratification)
Genital stage of psychosexual development
Age 12+
Libido is again centered in the genitals
Successful outcome: fusion of sexual interests with desire to form meaningful romantic relationships
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
How do they differ from Freud
Social > Sexual
Ego is the driving force (rather than the id)
Personality development continues through the lifespan
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
Trust v Mistrust (infancy) Autonomy v Shame (toddlerhood) Initiative v Guilt (early childhood) Industry v Inferiority (school age) Identity v Role Confusion (adolescence) Intimacy v Isolation (young adult) Generativity v Stagnation (middle adult) Integrity v Despair (old adult)
Trust v Mistrust
Infancy
Positive relationships with primary caregiver results in trust and optimism
Autonomy v Doubt
Toddlerhood
A sense of self (autonomy) develops out of positive interactions with one’s parents or caregivers
Initiative v Guilt
Early childhood
Favorable relationships result in an ability to set goals without infringing on the rights of others
Industry v Interiority
School age
People in neighborhood or school are most important influences
School aged children must master social and academic skills to stave off feelings of inferiority
Identity v Role Confusion
Adolescence
Peers are the most important influences
Positive outcome produces a sense of personal identity and a direction for the future
Intimacy v Isolation
Young adulthood
Establish intimate bonds of love and friendship
Failure to establish these bonds results in self-absorption and isolation
Generativity v Stagnation
Middle adulthood
Most important people in this stage are coworkers and other people in our lives in general
Generative people display commitment to the well-being of future generations
Integrity v Despair
Older adulthood
Social influence broadens to “all humankind”
Development of wisdom, less concern about impending death
Baumrind’s theory on parenting styles discusses varying levels of what two parenting dimensions
Responsivity (acceptance and warmth)
Demandingness (control)
Baumrind’s four parenting styles
Authoritarian (high demandingness, low responsivity)
Authoritative (demandingness and responsivity are balanced)
Permissive (low demandingness and high responsivity)
Rejecting-neglecting (low on both, with hostility)
Authoritarian parenting style
High demandingness and low responsivity
Parents: obedience, standards of conduct, use power assertive techniques to gain control
Kids: irritable, aggressive, mistrusting, dependent, low esteem, low academic achievement
Authoritative parenting style
Balanced levels of demandingness and responsivity
Parents: set rules and standards, provide explanation, inductive techniques to gain compliance, encourage compliance
Kids: assertive, socially ept, achievement-oriented, high esteem, confident
Permissive (indulgent) parenting style
High responsiveness and low demandingness
Parents: allow kids to set rules and limits
Kids: immature, impulsive, selfish, easily frustrated, low achievement, intolerant
Rejecting-neglecting (uninvolved) parenting style
Low responsivity, low demandingness
Parents: hostile towards children
Kids: juvenile delinquency involvement, low esteem, aggression, disinhibited mood, impulsive, poor self control
Cultural background and ethnic influences on parenting style
Asian kids - high achievement despite authoritarian parenting style
Mexican - less achievement in school despite authoritative due to low peer support
African - May deliberately underachieve academically due to not wanting to appear white in front of peers
Birth order and temperament
First born - rapid language acquisition, higher IQ, conscientious
Later born - more rebellious, better peer relationships, more social confidence
Research on maternal depression and child temperament
Moms may be less responsive and positive around kids, leading to poorer outcomes for the children
Children may exhibit signs of stress by 3mo
May exhibit aggression with peers and poorer cognitive performance
Research on parental depression
Correlated with father-child conflict
Internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children
Behavioral problems in boys around age 3
(Even when mom had no sx of depression)
Three stages of self-awareness development
Per Stipek
Physical self-recognition - 18mo - kids recognize self in pictures and mirrors
Self-description - 19-30mo - children use neutral and evaluative terms to describe themselves
Emotional responses to wrongdoing - reactions to caregivers disapproval and begin to develop a sense of conscience
What age is gender identity generally established by
Age three
Cognitive Development Theory
For gender identity
Age 2-3 kids have gender identity
Soon after, kids develops gender stability
(Boys grow to be men, girls grow to be women)
Age 6-7 kids develop gender constancy, and realize that gender doesn’t change despite outward appearances
Bem’s Gender Schema Theory
Acquisition of gender identity is attributed to social learning and cognitive development
Children develop schemas of masculinity and femininity as a result of their sociocultural experiences (the schemas determine view of self and others)
Research on androgyny
Androgyny - mix of masculine and feminine characteristics
Correlated with higher levels of self esteem, satisfaction with sexual identity
Gender roles in adulthood
Women fall into traditional roles with first child as they assume the role of primary caregiver
Men may become more sensitive, and women become more competitive, around middle age
Four stages in Erikson’s model for adolescent identity
All about the identity crisis
- Identity diffusion - not yet committed to an identity
- Identity foreclosure - no crisis yet, form identity based on same sex caregiver
- Identity moratorium - crisis, explores alternatives, rebellion
- Identity achievement - resolved identity crisis
(Not hugely supported by research)
Gilligan’s Relational Crisis
11-12yo in girls
Response to increasing culture pressures to fit into the stereotype of the perfect, good woman
May become quiet when realize they may be devalued
Children’s understanding of death
2-5yo - death is reversible and temporary, separation or abandonment
5-9yo - death is irreversible but there is personification (return as ghost)
Age 10 - death is universal (will happen to everyone), and…
Nonfunctionality - life functions cease at death and is not reversible
Stages of grief by Kübler-Ross
Denial and isolation Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance
(DABDA)
Harlow’s Theory of Attachment
Emphasizes the importance of contact comfort (the pleasant, tactile sensation that is provided by a soft, cuddly parent)
Bowlby’s Internal Working Model of attachment
Attachment is biological, and children learn to cry and act to gain attention and attachment for survival purposes
Transition through the stages of attachment result in a IWM, which is a mental representation of self and others that influences a child’s future relationships
Three global signs of attachment
Social referencing (looking to parent for reaction in ambiguous situations) - 6mo
Separation anxiety (distress when caregiver leaves) - begins 6-8mo and peaks at 14-18mo
Stranger anxiety (becomes anx of strangers, esp if parent is gone or responding negatively) - 8-10mo and continues to 2yo
Four patterns of attachment
Ainsworth
Secure attachment
Insecure/Ambivalent Attachment
Insecure/Avoidant Attachment
Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment
Secure Attachment
(Ainsworth)
Babies: explore and play when parent present, distress when mom leaves, seeks attention when mom returns
Moms: emotionally sensitive and responsive
Insecure/Ambivalent Attachment
(Ainsworth)
Babies: cling and resist to mom, super upset when mom leaves, ambivalent when mom returns
Moms: moody and inconsistent
Insecure/Avoidant Attachment
(Ainsworth)
Babies: doesn’t may mom much mind, doesn’t care about the stranger, avoids mom upon return
Moms: unresponsive or too smothering and too much stimulation
Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment
(Ainsworth)
Babies: fear of caregiver, dazed and confused, contradictory behaviors
Moms: 80% of infants with this attachment style have been mistreated by their caregivers
Disorganized/disoriented attached children are at an increased risk for…
Hostile and aggressive behavior
Low self-esteem
Low academic achievement
Insecurely attached infants are less likely to develop adjustment problems if…
If their parents caregiving skills improve
And/Or
If they develop strong bonds to individuals outside the immediate family
Primary contributor to maternal attachment
Maternal sensitivity to infant
Primary contributor to paternal attachment
Involvement in caregiving activities (esp vigorous physical play)
Research on prolonged separation from caregivers…
Children separated prior to three months of age show little or no negative consequences
Children who are nine months or older at time of separation exhibit moderate to extreme reactions (sleep and eat issues, withdrawal, anx, or excessive clinging or rejection of new mother)
Caregiver attachment and adoption
Children from institutions are able to develop a close bond with their adoptive parents as long as they are adopted by age six
Adult Attachment Interview
Emphasizes three attachment types of parents, based on their own attachment as a child
- Autonomous (secure attached kids)
- Dismissing (avoidant attached kids)
- Preoccupied (resistant/ambivalent attached kids)
Adults classified as Autonomous on the AAI
Give consistent descriptions of their relationships with their parents
Have securely attached kids
Adults classified as Dismissing on the AAI
Provide positive descriptions of parental relationships on the AAI, but have conflicting memories or unsupported data
Have kids who are avoidant
Adults classified as Preoccupied on the AAI
Become angry or confused when describing childhood relationships with their parents, or seem passively preoccupied with a parent
Children have resistant/ambivalent attachment patterns
Sequence of emerging emotions in infants
Primary emotions first, soon after birth - interest, sadness, disgust, distress…
Anger, joy, surprise, fear (6-8mo)
2yo - self-conscious emotions
18-24mo - jealousy, embarrassment, empathy
30-35mo - shame, guilt, and pride
Emotional contagion
Infants ability to detect (and mimic) emotions in others
Ex. When a baby cries in response to the crying of another infant
Patterson et al’s two main characteristics of families of highly aggressive boys
Coercive interactions (reliance on coercive, aggressive behaviors by both children and parents to gain compliance)
Poor parental monitoring
Patterson et al’s Coercive Family Interaction Model proposes…
- Children initially learn aggressive behaviors from their parents (who rarely reinforce prosocial behavior, use harsh disciple, and reward aggressive behaviors)
- Over time, aggressive parent-child interactions escalate
Instrumental aggression
Aka. Proactive aggression
Performed in order to obtain a desired reward or advantage
Hostile aggression
Aka. Reactive aggression
Is an angry and defensive response to provocation or interrupted goal
Is meant to hurt another person
Social-cognitive factors that are seen in aggressive children
- Self-efficacy (believes it’s easy to be aggressive and hard to control self)
- Beliefs about outcomes (expects aggression will yield positive outcomes, and minimizes consequences)
- Regret/remorse (show little to no regret or remorse)
Piaget’s Theory on childhood morality
Children up to six years of age are premoral and exhibit no concern for rules
7-10yo - heteronomous morality - rules are set by authority figures and are irreversible (consider consequences of their behavior)
11+yo - autonomous morality - rules are arbitrary, and can be reversible…care more about the intention of the actor than the acts consequences
Children and lying
7-8yo children will intentionally communicate false statements
10-11yo children realize they can be deceived by others
(Children can lie as early as age 4 to avoid punishment)
Heteronomous morality
Piaget’s view of morality in children
Children believe rules are irreversible, consequences drive their behavior
Autonomous Morality
Piaget’s view of morality in children
Rules are arbitrary and reversible, they care more about the intention of the actor than the consequence of the action
Kohlberg’s stages of morality development
Preconventional
- punishment and obedience orientation (avoid punishment)
- instrumental hedonism (satisfying needs > avoid punishment)
Conventional (9-10yrs)
- good boy/girl orientation (right action is one approved by others)
- law and order orientation (actions based on laws by legitimate persons)
Postconventional (late adolescence, adulthood)
- contract, rights, laws (right is determined by democratic laws)
- individual principles of conscience (right and wrong determined o;the basis of broad, self-chosen universal ethical principles)
Preconventional stage or morality
Punishment and obedience orientation
(Avoid punishment)
Instrumental hedonism (Towards needs and desires)
Conventional morality
9-10yo
Good boy/girl orientation
(Right actions are whatever is approved by others)
Law and order orientation
(Right and wrong are based on rules by legitimate authorities)
Postconventional morality
11+yo
Morality of contract, individual rights, and democratically accepted laws
(Right and wrong determined by democratically determined laws that can be altered)
Morality of individual principles of conscience
(Right and wrong are determined by broad, self-chosen ethical principles)
Two interaction patterns are predictive of divorce…
Emotionally volatile attack-defend pattern
(Escalating negativity…anger is a combination of criticism, defensiveness, contempt, and stonewalling)
Emotionally inexpressive pattern
(Suppression of positive and negative affect…no conflict, but also no self-disclosure)
Effects of divorce on parenting
Custodial parents - decrease in income, lonely, uncommunicative, impatient, less warm, monitor kids less closely (dads may recover faster)
Noncustodial dads - overindulgent, and visits usually drop off after a few months
Children have less adjustment issues when moms exhibit high degree of acceptance and consistency in discipline
Effects of child’s age on divorce adjustment
Preschoolers exhibit more distress because they have less sophisticated understanding
Long-term consequences may be worse for older kids who will question their own future marriages
Sleeper effect - preschool or elementary girls exhibit adjustment problems in adolescence and young adulthood
Sleeper effect
Girls who were in preschool or elementary at the time of divorce don’t show negative consequences until adolescence or young adulthood…
Adoles - noncompliant behavior, decreased esteem, sexual promiscuity
Young adult - intense anxiety about betrayal and abandonment in romantic relationships (increased risk for divorce themselves)
Research on custody arrangements
Adjustment outcomes are better for children when they have frequent and reliable contacts with the noncustodial parent
Research on parental conflict and divorce
Divorce is less important than overall parental conflict
Relationships high in conflict may be damaging, even if parents stay together
If separation or divorce helps lower the conflict, that would be a better outcome for a child
Research on child’s age and remarriage
Stress and conflict between parents and their children were greatest when kids were nine years old or older at time of remarriage (early adolescence is worst)
- May exacerbate normal adolescent adjustment problems
Research on stepparents after divorce
Stepparents tend to be less engaged and distant compared to their biological counterparts
Stepparents have best relationships when they parent authoritatively, are warm, supportive, and involved
Impact of maternal employment on daughters
Better egalitarian relationships, positive views of femininity, higher self esteem, independence, higher academic achievement, higher career goals
Impact of maternal employment on boys
Lower school achievement, more behavioral problems, increased conflict with mom
Low parental supervision makes it worse
Research on attachment and daycare
High-quality daycare is not detrimental and may be beneficial, but effects may diminish by end of first grade
Children are less likely to experience insecure attachment if they formed a strong parent-child bond before beginning daycare, receive sensitive caregiving at home, and attend high-quality daycare
Research on gay and lesbian parents
Nature of the relationship is more important than the parents sexuality
Parenting skills do gay and lesbian parents are equal, if not surpassing, that of heterosexual parents
Number of children who are maltreated
9 in 1000
Neglect > physical abuse > sexual abuse > psychological abuse
Perpetrators of child maltreatment
80% are by parents
88% of those parents are biological
Effects of child sexual abuse appear to be less severe when…
The perpetrator is a stranger, as opposed to a family member or acquaintance
Child characteristics associated with abuse
Premature, low birth weight
Difficult temperament
Less than 3yrs for physical abuse, preteens/teens for sexual abuse
Gender (female)
Parent characteristics for child maltreatment
History of maltreatment themselves as a child
Use of harsh discipline
Alcohol and drug use, psychopathology, poor impulse control
Unreasonable expectations
Younger age, poor educational attainment
Family characteristics for child maltreatment
Poverty
Unemployment
Marital instability, domestic violence
Crowded living conditions
Lack of access to medical care and social services
Research on sibling relationships
Sibling rivalry is most fierce when kids are 1.5-3 years apart in age
Middle childhood is marked by closeness/conflict, and cooperation/competitiveness
Good relationships tend to get better with age (poor tend to get poorer with age)
Three types of nonsocial play
Parten
Unoccupied play - random movements without a goal
Onlooker play - child watches other kids play, may comment, but does not engage
Solitary play - child plays alone and independently of others
Three types of social play
Parten
Parallel play - children play alongside, may share toys, but otherwise don’t interact with each other
Associative play - interacting with other kids, share toys, no organized goal
Cooperative play - organized interactions with the purpose of achieving a common goal
Buffering hypothesis
Subjective perception of social support is more important than the actual support
(Alleviates feelings of loneliness, reduces effects of stress and risk for heart disease)
Types of neglected/rejected children…
- Rejected-aggressive - hostile, hyperactive, can’t reg negative emotions or perspective take
- Rejected-withdrawn - high social anx, victims of bullying, submissive, negative views of how others will treat them
- Neglected children - prefer to be alone, rarely disruptive, fewer than avg interactions with peers
Outcomes for children are worse then they are actively rejected by peers
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory
How quality of relationships change with lifespan
- If time is seen as unlimited - seek knowledge-based goals, and peers who can give new and novel situations and experiences
- If time is seen as limited - seek emotional-based relationships, fewer friends, more selectivity over partners
When is peer conformity at its strongest
Ages 14-15
Adolescents at this point are most responsive to peer influence, whether it be positive, negative, or neutral
In what ways do peers have more influence over parents
Everyday issues:
- music
- clothing
- social activities
In what ways to parents have more influence over peers
Basic beliefs and values
Education and career goals
Empty nest syndrome
Long thought parents experienced decreased marital satisfaction when children move out
Marital quality has instead been observed to increase
(Women attribute to better quality of interactions instead of more time)
Self-fulfilling prophecy (Rosenthal effect) with teachers
Teachers will unconsciously address children differently based on whether or not they expect the child to be intelligent/hardworking or not
Has lead to increases in IQ for kids initially appraised to be intelligent (because teachers foster it more subconsciously)
Teacher feedback for girls
Praised for: dependent behaviors, cooperation, effort
Criticized for: lack of ability to inadequate intellectual performance
Impacts of teacher feedback on boys
Praised for: intellectual accomplishments and task-related behaviors
Criticized for: lack of decorum, failure to do work neatly, inattention
Compensatory preschool programs
For students who are economically disadvantaged (Head Start)
Better attitudes towards school, less likely to be retained a grade, more likely to attend college
General approach of Montessori schools
Child-centered - materials are set to fit each child’s abilities
(Advance at their own pace with support from teachers)
Based on assumption that learning stems from sense perception and is designed to enhance sense discrimination (listening, touching, smelling, tasting…)
Impact of television on child development
Violent TV = aggression and tolerance for aggression
TV in general = reinforces gender role stereotypes, reduced physical activity, excessive weight gain, read less, poor school outcomes, less creative, less time interacting with families
