Quiz 1: Development Flashcards
Def: Development
The changes and conditions that occur within the individual between conception and death
Def: Maturation
The biological-timed unfolding of changes within the individual
Def: Learning
Relatively permanent changes in our thoughts, behaviors and feelings as a result of our experiences
Def: Interactionist Perspective
Most developmental changes reflect the interaction of maturation and learning
What processes lead to developmental change?
Maturation and learning
How does maturation affect learning?
Some essential systems must be in place before learning proceeds
Eg: you won’t learn to walk until postural muscles develop
How does learning affect maturation?
Without learning opportunities, proper growth may not occur
Eg: If a child is given proper nutrition, but isolated in a dark room they would have visual and speech issues due to lack of learning opportunities
What are the four developmental study techniques used on infants?
Habitual procedure, event-related potentials, high amplitude sucking method, and preference Method
Def: Habituation
A decrease in responsiveness to a stimulus following repeated presentation
Purpose of habitual procedure
Determine if an infant can detect the difference between two stimuli based on the fact that they show interest in novel objects
Steps of the habitual procedure
- Repeated presentation of the same stimulus while measuring physiological responses (HR, breathing) or behavioral orienting responses (head or eye movement)
- Repeat until infant response returns to baseline levels
- Stimulus is changed to observe if there is a responsive burst (dishabituation)
Purpose of event-related potentials
A measure of the brain electrical activity evoked by the presentation of a stimulus. Used to measure neural activity that coincides with behavioral events observed
Steps of the event-related potentials
- a special cap with an array of electrodes is carefully placed on the scalp
- sensitive electrodes on the cap can detect changes in electrical activity across a population of neurons in the brain. The particular behavior being measured will evoke changes in various brain regions
Purpose of the high amplitude sucking method
Takes advantage of control to some extent of sucking behavior to measure how much an infant likes a single stimulus
Steps of the high amplitude sucking method
- measure baseline sucking rate for infant absent of relevant stimuli
- Infant given control over stimulus being tested
If an infant sucks at an increased rate, a switch is activated in the pacifier causing stimulus to be presented
If the infant stops sucking, the stimulus terminates
The sucking rate is determined by their enjoyment of the stimulus
Purpose of preference method
Measures the likes and dislikes of an infant by comparing two stimuli
Steps of the preference method
- Infant put in looking chamber to simultaneously look at two different stimuli
- Measurement of the direction of infants face indicates attention to a specific stimulus determines which the infant prefers
Def: competence-performance distinction
An individual may fail a task not because they lack those cognitive abilities, but because they are unable to demonstrate those abilities
What are the two research methods when doing developmental studies?
Longitudinal design and cross-sectional design
Def: Longitudinal Design
A developmental research design in which the same individuals are studied repeatedly over some subset of their lifespan
Disadvantages to the longitudinal design
Expensive and time-consuming, selective attraction( some individuals may quit of becoming unfit leaving biased samples), practice effect
Def: Cross-Sectional Design
A developmental research design in which people from many age groups are tested at once without the need to be tracked over the span of many years
Disadvantages to Cross-sectional Design
Generational effect
Def: Monozygotic Twins
Genetically identical offspring because they come from the same sperm and ovum which form 1 zygote and then split into two zygotes
