Shorts answers from quizzes Flashcards
List the main assumptions and claims of three theories of child development, noting whether the emphasis is on continuous change or discontinuous change for each theory.
One theory of child development was put forth by Piaget in his cognitive-developmental theory. The emphasis of his theory is on discontinuous change as he insists that development takes place in stages. He used his biological training to ascertain that the mind develops to better fit into the world that it finds itself in. And that as the body grows and changes throughout life, so too does the mind as it encounters new experiences and moves from one stage to the next.
Another theory is sociocultual theory which is both continuous and discontinuous - because of how internalization of speech takes place in stages. Vygotsky focusses on how culture is passed from one generation to the next through social interaction, communication and internalization.
A third theory is Bandura’s social learning theory and behaviourism, which are continuous. Development is thought to come both from modelling and also conditioning in the environment.
Compare and contrast an experimental design with a correlational design.
Experimental designs are often done in a laboratory in controled circumstances. It is when the investigator manipulates one variable to see its effect in a way that is measurable. It is different from correlational designs because experimental designs allow for the study of cause and effect relationships. The control of the experimental design also limits information that could be gathered from the study of participants when their experiences are not altered - as in the correlational design which is where informaiton is gathered in natural circumstances. A similarity of both is that they both allow for observation of individual responses to the environment which can then be compared to others in the same design. However, environmental is a more defined and controlled design.
Correlational research can be conducted in labs, and isn’t always conducted in natural settings. It would be helpful to note this in your answer. It would also e helpful to note that correlational designs look at the relationship between variables. The more related the variables are, the higher their correlation coefficient. Two variables that are positively related will increase or decrease together. With two variables that are negatively related, if one increases, the other decreases. Some more detail would thus be helpful to include when describing correlational research. Good start with your answer, though, and very good understanding of experiments demonstrated.
Identify the three stages of prenatal development. What is distinctive about each stage?
The three stages of prenatal development are the periods of the zygote, embryo and fetus.
The period of the zygote is the first period and lasts two weeks. It is the period where the structures that feed and protect begin to form. this period begins at conception with formation of a zygote (a fertilized egg). The zygote then divides multiple times and forms a small cluster of cells called a blastocyst, and the blastocyst then implants into the uterus lining.
The period of the embryo is when the spinal cord appears and when the organs begin to develop as well as movement starting to begin. more of the body parts that tend to form during this stage – e.g., in addition to what you have noted, the brain, heart, muscles, bones / body structures, and digestive tract form during this stage. It would also be helpful to note how long the embryo stage lasts for.
The third period is the period of the fetus and is the longest period. It’s when everything grows and finishes up in it’s prenatal development.more of the changes that tend to take place during it, as well – e.g., nervous system, genitals, neurons, and sensory abilities form
Describe dominant-recessive inheritance and provide an example.
Dominant- recessive inheritance is when in a heterozygous paring a child had one dominant and one recessive allele that affects certain characteristics that the child posseses. The dominant one effects change while the recessive one doesn’t not. Examples of dominant characteristics include: curly hair, type A blood type and normal vision. Examples of recessive characteristics include: staight hair, red hair and type O blood.
Describe the Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale (NBAS).
The NBAS is an instrument that helps doctors, nurses and researchers througout the world to evaluate the behaviour of newborns. It assesses the baby’s muscle tone, state changes, reflexes, responsiveness to physical and social stimuli,and other reactions. It also allows researches to lean about individual and cultural difference in newborn behaviour and how different practices and change a baby’s reactions or maintain them.
Describe three ways that parents and caregivers can soothe a crying baby, and explain how or why each technique works.
Three ways that parents and caregivers can soothe a crying baby include:
- lifting the baby to the shoulder and walking/rocking them - the movement and physical contact soothes the babyand they become quietly alert
- swaddling the baby - babies are often comforted by having their movement restricted and they like the increased warmth
- offer a pacifier to the baby - sucking enables the child to control their level of arousal
What is lateralization of the brain, and why does it occur?
Lateralization of the brain is the specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain. It then becomes the task of some functions to be specialized to the left hemisphere and others to the right - however the two hemispheres work together. This allows more varied functions to be carried out more effectively than if both sides did the same tasks the same way. Because the left hemisphere tends to be better at processing information sequenctially and the right in a holistic way the two are able to work together to form a more complete pictures of the information around it. However, the lateralization allows a person to cope more successfully with a changing environment that demands different ways of processing a wide range of information. note that the left hemisphere us better at processing verbal and emotional information, and that the right hemisphere is best at processing spatial information and regulating negative emotions. It would also be helpful to note that despite having specialized functions, the two hemispheres communicate and work together, doing so more rapidly and effectively with age.
List and describe three reflexes of newborns. What is the function of these reflexes?
Three newborn reflexes and their functions are:
- palmer grasp - this is when you put your finger in an infants hand they grasp it spontaneously - it prepares the baby for voluntary grasping.
- rooting - when you stroke the baby’s cheek near the mouth the baby turns their head toward where you stroked - this helps the baby find the nipple so to feed
- stepping - when the baby lifts their feetin a stepping motion - prepares the baby to walk. Babies don’t just out of the blue start engaging in stepping movements, but do so reflexively when with feet dangling with feet just above or just touching a horizontal surface such as a table-top, counter-top, etc.
Choose and describe one attachment style
One style of attachment is secure attachment. This is when the child uses the parent as a secure base for exploring. When the parent and child are separated, the child may not cry or they might but it’s because the parent isn’t there and they prefer the parent being there. When the parent comes back, the child seeks contact and quickly stops crying.
List three strategies for supporting early language learning, noting the consequences of each.
Three strategies for supporting early language learning and their consequences are:
- Responding to coos and babbles with speech sounds and words - This provides children with the sounds that make up words and also teaches them turn taking patterns of conversation.
- Engaging toddlers in joint make-believe play - promotes conversational dialoge; parent-child conversation predicts language development and later academic success.
- Read to toddlers often and engaging them in the reading - provides access and exposure to many aspects of language above information about written symbols and story structure including: vocabulary, grammar and communication skills.
Describe the structure of the information-processing system. MY ANSWER
The information-processing system is a model for how human thought works. Researchers assume that information is held in the mental system for processing: sensory register; working/short-term memory; long-term memory. Our thinking is the environment providing input of data, which is then transformed by our senses. The information can be stored, retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”, with the results being behavioral responses.
The information-processing system is based on a number of assumptions, including:
- information is processed by a series of processing systems (eg. attention, perception, short-term memory)
- these systems transform information in different ways
- information processing in humans resembles that in computers
The central executive is the concious part of the working memory that coordinates incoming information, decides if it needs attending to and oversees use of strategies. Information then flows through sensory register; working/short-term memory; and long term memory. The strategies that are used to operate on and transform the information increase the chances we will remember the information, think flexibly and be able to recall/use the information in another circumstance.
Describe the structure of the information-processing system. TUTOR ANSWER
The central executive is part of working memory. It would be helpful to note this in your answer. It would be helpful to note more clearly differences between sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory, as well, to demonstrate fuller understanding of this material. First, information enters the sensory register, where sights and sounds are represented directly (in unprocessed form) and stored briefly (for 1 second and often less). The sensory register, though limited, can take in a wide panorama of information.
In the second part of the mind, working, or short-term, memory, we actively apply mental strategies as we “work” on a limited amount of information. The capacity of working memory is restricted. The more thoroughly we learn information, the more automatically we use it. Automatic cognitive processing expands working memory by permitting us to focus on other information simultaneously. To manage the working memory’s complex activities, the central executive directs the flow of information, as you have noted. The third and largest storage area is long-term memory. As our permanent knowledge base, it is unlimited. In fact, we store so much in long-term memory that retrieval can be problematic. To aid retrieval, we apply mental strategies, just as we do in working memory. Information in long-term memory is categorized
Describe three strategies that adults can use to help toddlers develop compliance and self-control.
Three strategies that adults can use to help toddlers develop compliance and self-control are:
- Provide advance notice when an activity is about to end - letting the child know ahead of time of upcoming changes (eg. when mum finishes the dishes we’re going out) will help the child who finds it difficult to stop an activity that they’re already engaged in.
- Offer many prompts and reminders - toddlers have difficulty with remembering and complying with rules; they need their parents to remind them and assist them with tasks.
- Respond to the controlled behaviour with praise and approval (both verbal and physical) - praise, approval, hugs, clapping hands in approval are all signs that positively reinforce behaviour and increase the likelihood that it will happen again.
Explain how adults can foster preschoolers’ language development.
Adults can foster preschoolers’ language development by:
- engaging them in conversation
- give helpful feedback about what they are saying but don’t overcorrect
- use indirect feedback so that children continue to use language and new skills without feeling discouraged. Indirect feedback comes in the form of recasts and expansions. An example of this would be repeating what the child said in the correct form and adding to the complexity of what was said
- reading with preschoolers also expands thier language development as they discuss what they’re reading with the adult
- pointing out letter sounds in books, on signs etc helps the preschooler learn the connection between print and speech
Explain what Piaget’s famous conservation tasks reveal about preoperational children’s thinking.
What I recall about Piaget’s conservation tasks are the examples in the textbook about water being placed first in a short, squat container and then the same amount of water transferred into a tall, thin container - the water amount didn’t change yet the child was certain that the amount of water had changed.
I think that this reveals that preoperational children have difficulty focussing on more than one aspect of a situation and as a result miss, or neglect, other important features. Their attention is centered on the height of the water.
Second, they are easily distracted by the appearance of the objects as thier reasoning for why one has more water than the other is based on the shape and size of the container.
Third, preoperational children tend to ignore the fact that the water was poured from one container to the other, without any being left behind, and only focus on the first and final state of the water. In addition to what you have written it would be helpful to note that the most important illogical feature of preoperational though is its irreversibility—an inability to mentally go through a series of steps in a problem and then reverse direction, returning to the starting point. Reversibility is part of every logical operation.
