Midterm 1 Flashcards
three time frames in developmental psychology
evolution of human species, history of cultural group, ontogeny of individual
ontogeny
your individual developmental path from being a zygote to becoming an elder
phylogeny
evolution of a species
all humans are at the same level of phylogeny, but…
we can vary in ontogeny
biogenetic law (recapitulation theory)
your ontogeny reflects/mirrors something that happened in the evolutionary past when we became the modern species of Homo sapien
Haeckel believed that all fetuses of all species looked similar, thus…
proving we were all the same at one point
homo evolutionary timeline
ancestral primate; lorises, pottos, and lemurs; tarsiers; new world monkeys; old world monkeys; hominoids –> gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, humans
humans split from chimpanzees…
~7 million years ago; there was some creature that caused us to differentiate in evolution from chimpanzees and that creature was more similar to the chimpanzee than we are today
developmental psychology
looks at full ontology; development continues throughout your entire lifespan; also deals with issues of anthropology, biology, and philosophy
different cultures affect…
how we develop
experiment
research in which a change is introduced in a person’s experience and the effect of the change is measured
ecological validity
extent to which behavior studied in one environment is characteristic of the behavior exhibited by the person in a range of other environments
clinical method
questions are tailored to the individual and content of question depends on the answer to the preceding one; clinical interview
naturalistic observation
observe people in their natural environments
naturalistic observation pros and cons
pros: real life scenarios
cons: influence by being observed (social expectations); causal factors not understood (no scientific control)
experiment pros and cons
pros: can isolate variables and factors to determine the effect
cons: potentially artificial situation (ecological validity)
clinical method pros and cons
pros: can learn what they are thinking and their reasoning; can probe/challenge children’t thinking and reasoning
cons: cannot be used with very young children since they cannot talk very well yet
effects of the industrial revolution
farm work transitioned to factory work/schooling, death rate dropped, birth rate dropped; emergence of the nuclear family
Freud’s 3 structures
super-ego, id, ego
super-ego
reflects societal expectations and morality
id
reflects instincts
ego
juggles the super-ego and the id; negotiates for them
John B. Watson
behaviorist; believe development is the product of learning alone; what you teach the baby largely forms the outcome; the Little Albert experiment
B. F. Skinner
development seen as the creation of a sculpture: you begin with a lump of clay and gradually the sculpture is formed as you shave away and shape the material; the end product has unity and integrity of design, but there is no one moment in which it appeared; the Skinner box with rats
Albert Bandura
observational learning, modeling; children learn by observing and imitating others; Bobo doll experiment; self-efficacy vs. learned helplessness; behavior modification
schema
most basic unit of psychological functioning; mental structure that provides model for understanding the world
process of adaptation
schemas are strengthened and transformed through assimilation vs. accommodation
assimilation of object into schema
sucking reflex the baby is born with –> schema is set in place so the baby will know to suck on its mother’s breast to get milk, but they will suck on other things as well; assimilate the sucking on a bottle
accommodation of schema to new experiences
infants can throw things –> the infant can throw a light ball, but when given a heavier ball, the infant adapts their movement to throw the new ball
Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development
a distance between what the child can already do on their own and what they can do with guidance/assistance; use this zone to teach a child something new through guidance until they can do it on their own
cultural transmission in Macaque monkeys on Japanese island
Imo began washing his potato, and this method began to spread in the group
culture and transmission
material and symbolic tools that accumulate over time are passed on through social processes and provide resources for the developing child; pass on physical objects, patterns of behavior (family routines, social practices), and symbolic tools (abstract knowledge, beliefs, values)
Ratchet Effect
the gradual accumulation of changes within a cultural trait beyond a level that individuals can achieve on their own; cumulative cultural evolution
processes of social learning
mimicry, emulation, imitation, teaching/explicit instruction
emulation
reproduction of end results
Canalization
a trait that is canalized follows a strictly defined path, regardless of most environmental and genetic variations; this trait develops in the same way despite the environment
Phenotypic Plasticity
degree to which a phenotype is open to be influenced by the environment, rather than determined by the genotype
Monozygotic twins
identical twins; share 100% of their genes
from a zygote to a newborn, there are three periods
germinal period, embryonic period, fetal period
Germinal Period
time from conception until attachment to the wall of the uterus 8-10 days later
Embryonic Period
starts with the organism attached to the uterus until the 8th week when all major organs have taken primitive shape; refer to it as an embryo
Fetal Period
starts at the 9th week after conception; hardening of bones (ossification), maturation of primitive organ systems; refer to it as a fetus; senses are functioning before exiting the womb
Heterochrony
the different parts of the organism develop at different rates and times
Heterogeneity
at a given point in time, there are various levels of immaturity and maturation throughout the organism
stress on mother during pregnancy
adrenaline and cortisol have an effect on the fetus and potentially a young child; correlated with low birth weight and problems in a young child such as irritability and problems with sleep
Teratogens
an agent or factor which causes malformation of a child in the womb
thalidomide
can cause truncated limbs
caffeine (larger doses)
can lead to a lower birth weight
types of teratogens
prescription drugs like thalidomide, valium, antibiotics, and accutane; caffeine; tobacco; alcohol; marijuana; cocaine; heroin and methadone; infections like rubella and HIV
alcohol
fetal alcohol syndrome
marijuana
lower birth weight
cocaine
irritable, uncoordinated babies
heroin and methadone
addicted newborns –> tremors, etc.
infections: rubella and HIV
passes through the placenta to the child
stages of labor
1) contractions
2) mother pushing during contractions after full dilation is achieved
3) placenta comes out
Apgar scale
5 vital signs; checked 1 and 5 minutes after birth; categories consist of activity (muscle tone), pulse, grimace (reflex irritability), appearance (skin color), respiration
Fontanels
bones that still need to fuse together; leaves soft spots; skull most mold while the child comes out of the narrow birth canal; allows the brain to expand in size after birth
brain growth
four-fold increase in brain size from infancy by adulthood even though a vast majority of cells are present at birth; increase does not result from an increase in cells; increase results from synaptogensis and myelin formation
Synaptogenesis
creation of connections between neurons; forming dendrites
Myelin Formation
development of insulation around axons of neurons; increases speed of information transmission/processing
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
infant dies despite good prior health conditions; ~2-5 months; why: brain’s periodic failure to activate muscles that control lungs and regulate breathing and some cannot turn their head yet so they suffocate in their sleep; suffocation in sleep does not account for all cases and do not know the cause behind other cases
SIDS decline
because parents began putting children to bed in a crib with nothing else in it to decrease the change of suffocation; put them on their back
object permanence
main takeaway of the sensorimotor stage; understanding of this shows the child has intentional action (means-end reasoning) and motor skills
basic emotions
these emotions are expressed in similar ways in all culture and from early on in life
features of emotions
physiological aspect, communicative function, cognitive aspect, action aspect
primary intersubjectivity
dyadic (two people) sharing of affect and emotion in direct face-to-face interaction; first social encounter an infant experiences; take turns “communicating” with someone without words through emotional expressions
neonatal imitation
found that newborn babies copy facial expressions; newborns have an innate understanding that other humans are like them, and they are like the other humans thus they can recreate their actions
still face paradigm
how social the baby is becomes dramatically clear when normal interaction between caregiver and baby is disrupted; when a mother stops responding to the baby, they express negative emotions and try to do anything to get them to respond babies fuss and protest less in the still face paradigm when they are used to a depressed/unresponsive caregiver
Attachment
emotional bond formed between infant and caregiver between 7-9 months of age
4 signs of attachment
seek proximity, distress when separated, happy when reunited, orient actions towards caregiver
phases of attachment
pre-attachment phase, attachment-in-the-making, clear-cut attachment, reciprocal relationship
pre-attachment phase
birth-6th week; anyone can hold the baby; baby has no preference for specific caretakers yet
attachment-in-the-making
6th week-6/8 months; beginning to show a preference for a certain caretaker
clear-cut attachment
6/8 months-18/24 months
reciprocal relationship
18/24 months and older; mutual tie between the child and the mother; can expect the child to know certain things from them now
4 types of attachment
secure, insecure avoidant, insecure resistant, disorganized
secure attachment
comfortable in Mom’s presence; upset when she leaves (not consoled by a stranger); calm when reunited with Mom; infant still wants to explore the world as well
insecure avoidant attachment
sows indifference towards Mom’s presence; if upset, a stranger can provide comfort; infant ignores Mom upon return
insecure resistant attachment
infant clings to the Mom and is very upset when she leaves; infant is not comforted upon Mom’s return (wary eye on Mom); resistant to exploring the world
disorganized attachment
no coherent position; associated with borderline personality disorder; often causes strained relationships in the future
joint attention
triadic relation –> infant and another person and engaging with a third agent; ability to communicate with the other person while taking a third agent into account; introduces infant to the “collective cognition” that they will interact with for the rest of their lives; first step towards language
two ways to engage in joint attention
following and directing
Following
joint attention is initiated when someone looks somewhere, points somewhere, shows something, etc. and the infant follows (ex. gaze following)
Directing
when the child looks, points, shows, etc. to the other person to initiate an interaction
two types of pointing
imperative and declarative
imperative pointing
giving a direction (ex. pointing at a bottle because they want the bottle)
declarative pointing
invitation to engage in a joint interaction/attention (ex. pointing at a firetruck because the infant wants you to acknowledge it with them)
relevance of joint attention
at the root of language learning; cannot learn language without understanding joint attention
social referencing
the process wherein infants use the affective displays of an adult to regulate their behaviors toward environmental objects, persons, and situations; looking to an adult when being presented with something new to see how the adult reacts to understand how they should react
mirror self-recognition
seeing the self from a third-personal perspective; test where lipstick is put onto the child’s forehead or cheek (in a way so that they don’t notice) then they are placed in front of a mirror –> if the child touches the mirror, they don’t realize it’s themself but if they rub the lipstick off, they realize it’s their reflection
imprinting
Konrad Lorenz; critical/sensitive periods in which it is best to learn something; certain things must happen during these periods
Jean Jacques Rousseau
believed children are not civilized and do not have societal expectations; thought highly of childhood; thought we should learn from children because they are not greedy and do not feel shame; childhood is an idealized version of the human
first two stages of Freud’s stages of psychosexual development
oral stage, anal stage
oral stage
the mouth is the focus of pleasurable sensations as the baby sucks and bites
anal stage
the anus is the focus of pleasurable sensations as the baby learns to control elimination
Erik Erikson
took many of Freud’s ideas, but departed from him; thought development continues throughout our lifespan instead of stopping with sexual maturity
Vygotsky
developed the zone of proximal development; emphasized the fine-tuned interactions with adults
reasoning behind cultural transmission in Macaque monkeys
originally thought this phenomenon was due to imitation; found it was actually due to ecological adaptation as the monkeys were moved from the forest to the shore; monkeys probably came up with the potato washing each themselves rather than imitating each other
what does evolution act on?
the phenotype; how you act on what you already have (ex. you have the ability to see a tiger, so will you choose to run or stay when you see one)
niche construction
how individuals actively shape and modify their environment through their choices, behaviors, and activities; survival of the fittest
niche construction challenges this idea
that you have to adapt to your environment; shows that you can also shape the environment and make it fit your needs
plasticity of the brain
ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, functions, or connections (ex. if there is a lesion in your auditory cortex when you are little, your brain can readjust so that part of the visual cortex is recruited to help with audition)
Why study prenatal development?
learn how to protect the mother as a pregnant woman and the baby
three layers that develop during the embryonic period
ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm
ectoderm
becomes the outer skin, nails, teeth, eyes, inner ears, and central nervous system
mesoderm
becomes the muscles, bones, inner skin, and circulatory system
endoderm
becomes the digestive system and lungs
study about how auditory processing works in the womb
read to babies while they were in the womb; after the baby was born, the same story was read to the babies and they would begin to suck faster/slower to display that they were familiar with that particular reading
common denominator of all teratogens
lower birth weight
advantages of breastfeeding
boosts baby’s immunity, decreases obesity, decreases childhood cancer, do not need to pay for milk and the milk is always at the perfect temperature
two types of ways that experience develops the brain
experience-expectant and experience-dependent
experience-expectant
prepare the brain for world experiences by developing the visual cortex and areas associated with language before they are even used
experience-dependent
brain development that results from experiences
experience-dependent study
some rats were placed in an environment with only necessities like food and water while other rats were placed in an environment with the necessities as well as enrichment; the rats in the environment with enrichment grew bigger brains
head size of fetus relative to the body while in the womb
50%
head size of newborn relative to the body
25%
intermodal perception
perception of information from objects or events available to multiple senses simultaneously; being able to bind together qualities of an object from different senses
experiments used with preverbal babies
habituation and preferential looking
habituation
diminishing of a physiological or emotional response to a frequently repeated stimulus
dishabituation
reappearance or enhancement of a habituated response due to the presentation of a new stimulus
Piaget’s view of object permanence
an infant does not fully grasp object permanence unless they understand that if you put an object under A, then move it to under B, the infant will look under B
A not B error
error in object permanence when an infant looks under A when they watch as an object is placed under A, then moved to under B
sensorimotor stage
first stage of Piaget’s developmental theory; develop motor schemas; bringing perception and action together; using motor skills to learn about the world; leave this stage with an understanding of object permanence
Piaget did not use these methods
dishabituation/preferential looking; when researchers used this method, they found object permanence to occur earlier in development because they only looked for the infant to look
person that said infants generally try to identify with other people
Peter Hobson
three basic emotions babies have
joy, anger, sadness
three phases of the still-face paradigm
1) normal interaction of the mother with the baby
2) the mother goes still-faced and the baby does anything it can to get the mother to react
3) mother interacts with the baby again, and the baby is comforted
methods of neonatal imitation
experimenter would open their mouth, stick out their tongue, and protrude their lips and the infant would do the same
neonatal imitation experiments also show…
intermodal perception because when the infant sees a tongue, for example, from the experimenter, they would respond with sticking out their own tongue because they would feel that was the same part
Who came up with the theory of attachment?
John Bowlby
the types of attachment Mary Ainsworth studied
insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and secure
the fourth attachment style added after Mary Ainsworth
disorganized
most maladaptive attachment style
disorganized
self-conscious emotions
embarrassment, shame, pride, envy, guilt
why is a self-conscious emotion self-conscious?
you are aware of others measuring your behavior against a certain scale
What theory does Freud’s theory of psychosocial development fall under?
psychodynamic theory
What is and what is not uniquely human?
gaze following is not uniquely human, but joint attention is
What did Mary Ainsworth construct?
the procedure of strange situation
What happens when a child habituates to a stimulus?
they will look at that object for a shorter amount of time because they have already accepted and know what it is
What happens when a child is dishabituated to a stimulus?
they will look at an object for a longer amount of time because their interest is regained since they’re never seen this object before
At what age did they solve the mirror self-recognition problem?
18 months
How do you know that a child does not have a self-concept when participating in the mirror self-recognition experiment?
they touch the mirror or try to go behind the mirror
Philippe Aries
children are depicted as miniature adults
