Week 1 - Chapter 1

Question 1

Do harsh punishments help behaviour problems?

Answer 1

No - makes problems worse - the more kindergarteners were spanked, the more they argued in 3rd grade

Question 2

What are some alternatives to spanking?

Answer 2

Expressing sympathy, help children find positive alternatives, helping children recognize their own emotions and control anger

Turtle shell technique - has long term benefits- retreat into their shell and think about the situation

Question 3

How are children impacted by biased questioning?

Answer 3

34% of 3-4 year olds

When 3-5 year olds are not asked leading questions - testimony is accurate but missing information. When they’re asked leading questions testimony is often inaccurate

Question 4

What are nativists?

Answer 4

Believes infants have certain capabilities
Such as understanding properties of physical objects

Question 5

What are empiricists?

Answer 5

Believes infants have general learning mechanisms but not specialized capabilities

Question 6

Romanian adoption study

Answer 6

The longer the children were in negative conditions, the more problems they had later on in life
20% showed abnormal social behaviour at age 6-even up to early adulthood (problems with emotions and friendships)
Low levels of activity were found in the amygdala

Question 7

Plato’s views

Answer 7

Society welfare depended on propert raising of children
Rearing of boys was challenging
Self control and discipline are the most important
Children have innate knowledge
Nativist

Question 8

Aristotle’s views

Answer 8

Society welfare depended on ptroper raising of children
Fit child rearing to needs of each child
All knowledge comes from experience
Empiricist

Question 9

John Locke’s views

Answer 9

Kids are blank slate - tabula rasa
Growth of character important- parents setting examples of honesty, stability, gentleness through modeling
Avoid indulgent
Lessen authority asap
Top down perspective

Question 10

Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s views

Answer 10

Maximum freedom to children
Children learn from own interactions with people and objects
Formal education after 12 (age of reason)
Bottom up perspective

Question 11

Kagan’s views

Answer 11

Children have innate moral sense
Infer thoughts + feelings of others
Concepts of good and bad, right and wrong
Reflect on past actions
Understand avoidable consequences
Understand motives and emotions

Question 12

Nature and nurture

Answer 12

Nature -biology
Nurture -environment
We develop through both

Studied with twin and adoption studies

Question 13

Schizophrenia example

Answer 13

Genetic - if parents or identical twin have,more likely to have it (up to 50%)
Environment - growing up in troubled homes more likely to increase risk

Question 14

Genome

Answer 14

Set of hereditary info
Influences behaviours, vice versa

Question 15

Epigenetic studies

Answer 15

Study of changes in gene expressions mediated by the environment

Methylation: biochemical process that influences behaviour by suppressing gene activity and expression - more stress growing up predicted methylation later on

Question 16

How do children shape their own development?

Answer 16

Infants - through selective attention - drawn to faces, noises, movements
Toddlers - speaking to themselves, helps learn language
Young children - play, fantasy play - make believe - teaches lessons like coping with fear, resolving disputes, interaction with others
Older children - play teaches self control, adhering to rules, controlling emotions

Question 17

Continuity vs discontinuity

Answer 17

Continuous view - lots of small even changes, evidenced supports, children can appear to be between stages
Discontinuous view - occasional sudden changes, thinking children differ qualitatively at different ages

Example - age 4 thinks liquid gets larger in taller glasses, but age 6 understands it also gets narrower and stays the same - ability to focus on one or more aspects

The way you measure variables determines if it reads as continuous or discontinuous

Question 18

What are stage theories?

Answer 18

Development occurs in progression of age related stages

Question 19

Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Answer 19

4 stages of cognitive growth between birth and adolescence

Question 20

How does change occur?

Answer 20

Through mechanisms - behavioural (parental socialization strategies), neural (increased interconnection in the brain), genetic (presence or absence of certain alleles)

Question 21

Effortful attention and change

Answer 21

Effortful attention - voluntary control of emotions or thoughts

Connection between limbic area, anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex improves effortful attention
Gene influences if parenting quality impacts effortful attention
Learning - children who completed certain exercises had improved effortful attention

Question 22

Sleep and learning in children

Answer 22

When children are over 24 months - children remembered specifics better after napping, but memory for general patterns was not better

General patterns improve if under 24 months

Question 23

Active systems consolidation theory

Answer 23

Benefits of sleep for infants general pattern memory reflects cortex functioning

But for preschoolers specific experience memories - reflects hippocampus functioning

Question 24

What does sociocultural context mean?

Answer 24

The physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical circumstances
Interaction with people and the environment
General societal characteristics

Question 25

What did cross cultural comparisons reveal?

Answer 25

Bedtime practices differ
Kids sleeping alone in America vs with parent in Europe, Asia
Independent vs interdependent culture

Question 26

Influence of socioeconomic context

Answer 26

Big influence on kids lives
Children in disadvantaged households do poorer in many areas - health problems, brains have less surface area, smaller vocabulary, emotional problems, lower IQ, lower test scores

Result of cumulative risk - accumulation of disadvantage over years

Question 27

What traits are resilient children more likely to have?

Answer 27

Positive personal qualities - high intelligence, optimism

Close relationship with parent

Close relationship with adult who isn’t a parent

Question 28

Factors that influence child differences

Answer 28

Genetics, differences in treatment from parents and others, differences in interpretations of treatment, differences in environments

Question 29

Why study developmental psychology?

Answer 29

Raising, educating children - prepare them for the future
Choosing social policies
Understanding human nature

Question 30

Critical and sensitive periods

Answer 30

Critical - children must learn that skill during that time - language
Sensitive - learning is best during that time

Question 31

Prenatal age categories

Answer 31

Germinal - conception to 2 weeks
Embryonic - 3 - 8 weeks
Fetal - 9 weeks to birth

Question 32

Postnatal age categories

Answer 32

Infancy - 0 -24 months
Toddlerhood - 1-3 years
Early childhood - 3-5
Middle childhood - 6-8
Late childhood - 9-11
Early adolescence - 12-14
Middle adolescence - 15-17
Late adolescence - 18-20
Young adulthood - 20-40
Middle adulthood - 40-64
Late adulthood - 65+

Question 33

Charles Darwin

Answer 33

work on evolution inspired study of child development. his natural selection theory continues to influence developmentalists

Question 34

Social reform dates

Answer 34

When were children under 14 excluded from working in factories and mines? 1929

1989 was the convention on the rights of the child

Question 35

How can research help children’s welfare?

Answer 35

Anger management programs
Educational innovations
More valid child eye witness testimony

Question 36

Internal vs external validity

Answer 36

Can the observed effect be attributed to the variable?

Can you generalize the findings to other populations?

Question 37

Micro-genetic designs

Answer 37

Same children studied repeatedly over a short period of time
Provide in depth depictions of change

Question 38

Cross sequential design

Answer 38

Two or more individuals of different ages are directly compared over a period of time

Multiple cohorts with different age ranges

Question 39

Ethics

Answer 39

Discuss relevant information with parents
Obtain informed consent from parents if under 14
Correct inaccurate child impressions

Question 40

Ethical responsibilities of researchers

Answer 40

Anticipate risks
Minimize risks
Benefits must outweigh harm

Question 41

Ethics principles

Answer 41

Do no harm
Obtained informed consent - from parent if under14
Preserve anonymity and confidentiality
Discuss with parents relevant research information
Work to counteract unforeseen negative consequences
Correct inaccurate child impressions