Develop exam 2

symbols

involve systems of representing our thoughts, feelings, and knowledge, and for communicating them to other people (like words, signs)

comprehension/receptive language

understanding what others say (or sign or write) this advances first

production / expressive language

speaking (or signing or writing)

when have most children mastered the basic structures of their native language?

by age 5, most children have mastered the basic structure of their native language(s)

language is generative

• a finite set of words can be combined to generate an infinite number of sentences

• common structure of language helps us understand new words, sentences, etc.

phonemes

• smallest units of sound

• e.g. rake vs. lake (difference between beginning sound)

morphemes

• smallest units of meaning in a language, composed of one or more phonemes

• e.g. dog= 1 morpheme , 2 dogs = 2 morphemes

syntax

• rules specifying how words from different categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc) can be combined

• the order that words occur in is important

pragmatics

• how language is used

• cultural rules and contextual variations

how is language species specific and species universal

• language is species-specific (only humans)

• and species -universal (typically able to be learned by all humans)

• animals can communicate, but not with the complexity or generativity of human language

brain-language lateralization

primarily represented and controlled by the left hemisphere

sensitive period

• early years until around age 5 sensitive for language learning

• genie wiley ( young girl locked away and her language was severely impacted)

• new language learning is easier to learn at a younger age

what environmental factors contribute to our language skills?

exposure to language/ infants prefer speech to artificial sounds

role of siblings

• some evidence that presence of siblings can correlate with slightly slower language development for younger children

• but some siblings can also be a source of additional language exposure

infant-directed speech (IDS)

baby talk

• distinctive mode of speech that adults adopt when talking to babies and very young children

• greater pitch variability; slower speech; shorter utterances; more word repetition; more questions; exaggerated facial expressions

• draws attention to speech; preferred by infants and used by virtually all cultures

• research shows it is helpful in development of infants

how is language acquired?

by listening and speaking (or watching and signing)

• attention processes, sensation, and perception

speech perception

figuring out the sounds of language

perceptual narrowing

infants home in on the speech sounds of their native language / by 12 months, less sensitive to differences in non-native speech sounds

word segmentation

process of discovering where words begin and end in fluent speech; begins during the second half of the first year

distributional properties

in any language, certain sounds are more likely to appear together than others

• infants can identify patterns in the speech surrounding them (statistical learning)

• just after birth, infants can use predictable sound patterns to identify words from speech streams

babbling

• producing syllables made up of a consonant followed by a vowel (pa, ba, ma) that are repeated in strings

• produced during early phases of language development

intersubjectivity

the shared understanding and connection that people develop through communication and interaction

joint attention

when two people focus on the same thing and share that experience ( early social interaction that involves eye contact, gestures, and verbal communication)

serve and return

the reciprocal, back and forth interactions between an adult and a child

when is the typical period for a child’s first word(s)?

10-15 months

overextension

using a word in a broader context than appropriate (ex. think word for fluffy 4-legged creature is a dog)

underextension

using a word in a more limited context than appropriate (ex. to narrow of a word like a duck only applies to rubber duck)

first sentences

most children combine words into simple sentences by end of 2nd year

telegraphic speech

short utterances that leave out non-essential words; generally two-word utterances (baby hungry, shoe wet, where ball)

overregularization

speech errors in which children treat irregular forms of words as if they were regular (like saying when i growed up)

wug test

• if a child responds with wugs, this is evidence that they understand how to create the english plural

• must be generalizing from prior experience, since they have never heard wugs before

features of bilingualism

• in US about 20% speak more than one language

• learn in the womb; equal language preference if exposed prenatally

• discriminate speech sounds of two language at same pace of infants learning one

• perform better on cognitive control measures

conclusions from “30 million word gap”

• number of words children know : related to number of words they here: linked to their caregivers vocabularies

• seminal research: fewer words spoken in families on welfare; more in professional families

lingual intervention strategies

LENA devices (recording unit) they know they are being recorded but can minimize bias

effects of technology on language learning

passive viewing does not appear to support learning

• infants do seem able to learn when they can actively engage with another human, even via screens (facetime)

collective monologues

content of each child’s turn has little or nothing to do with what other child has just said ( their own monologue like egocentrism)

narratives

descriptions of past events that have the basic structure of a story and can be produced by 5 years of age

pragmatic development

• learning how language is used to communicate

• developing controversial perspective taking and responding appropriately (breaking out of egocentrism)

concepts

general ideas that organize objects, events, qualities, or relations on the basis of some similarity

• aid in understanding and effectively acting in the world through generalization of prior experiences

nativists

believe that innate understanding of basic concepts plays a central role in development

• infants are born with some sense of fundamental concepts

• nurture helps move beyond basic understanding

empiricists

believe that infants are born with innate general learning mechanisms

• e.g. perception, memory, forming associations

• experience is essential to formation of concepts

fundamental concepts

1. concepts that categorize things that exist in the world (who/what // living things, inanimate objects, people)

2. concepts that represent our experiences (where, when, why, how)

   • basic understanding of most crucial concepts happening in first 5 years of life

categorization of objects in infancy

• infants categorize objects along dimensions of color, size, and movement using perceptual categorization

• perceptual categorization= grouping together objects that have similar appearance (like Quinn studies)

superordinate

general level in a category (animal)

basic

middle level (a dog) learning first

subordinate

most specific (poodle) last learned

causal relations

• knowledge of cause and effect influences the formation of some categories

• 3 months: rudimentary understanding of causal interaction among objects

• 2 years: use the tools and choose the correct tools more than 1 year olds

cause-effect relations

in general, understanding cause-effect relations helps people of all ages learn and remember

understanding oneself and other people

understanding the connection between other people’s desires and their actions emerges by end of the 1st year

theory of mind

organized understanding of how mental processes such as intentions, desires, beliefs, perceptions, and emotions influence behavior

• continue to develop into teen years

false-belief problems

• when another person believes something to be true that a child knows is false (like sally-anne test)

performance improves between age 3 and 5

Sally-anne test

the dolls and asked the child to guess where the other doll thought the ball would be even though they watched them move it

space

• spatial concepts are understood early in life (above, below, left, right)

• self-produced movement in the environment stimulates processing of spatial information

• development of the hippocampus brings about this learning

• initially have egocentric representations of space

time (experiencing time)

sense of time involves knowledge of temporal order: what happened first, what happened next.

• order of events has been observed in 3-months old

• duration of events has been observed in 4-months old

• logical inferences about time have been observed in 5 years olds

numerical equality

• realization that all sets of N objects have something in common

• infants as young as 5 months appear to have some sense of numerical equality

three levels of intelligence

• as a single trait (one thing)

• as a few basic abilities (a few things)

• as numerous cognitive processes (many things)

general intelligence (g)

influences our ability to think and learn on all intellectual tasks

• view 1: intelligence is a single trait

fluid intelligence

ability to think on the spot to solve problems; peaks around age 20 (like a math problem)

• view 2: intelligence is more than a single trait

crystallized intelligence

knowledge of the world; increases steadily fast (facts that we know like the capital of a state)

• view 2: intelligence is more than a single trait

7 primary abilities

• e.g. reasoning, spatial visualization, perceptual speed

three-stratum theory of intelligence (Carroll)

• g at the top

• general abilities in the middle

• more specific processes at the bottom

how do we measure intelligence in testing?

intelligence is measured by observing people’s actions on tasks that require

• problem solving

• memory

• language comprehension

• spatial reasoning

what are some criticisms of how we currently measure intelligence?

Critics (Ceci, Sternberg)

• cultural biases, simplistic, ethically questionable

• require much broader range of assessed abilities

what are some arguments for keeping our current system of measuring intelligence?

Advocates (Horn and others)

• better than any other alternative for predicting outcomes

• valuable for making decisions about special ed and academic supports

stanford-binet

one of the original creators (e.g. digit span: read numbers back and then doing it backwards)

wechsler intelligence scale for children (WISC)

• the most widely used intelligence testing instrument for children 6 years and older

• results in an overall score, plus separate scores on four moderately general abilities

• conception of intelligence underlying WISC is consistent with Carroll’s g framework

• only psychologist have access

normal distribution

pattern of data in which scores fall symmetrically around a mean value, with most scores falling close to the mean and fewer and fewer scores farther from it

IQ

quantitive measure, typically with a mean of 100 and is a standard deviation of 15, used to indicate a child’s intelligence relative to that of other children of the same age

Standard deviation (SD)

measure of the variability of scores within a distribution

how consistent are IQ scores throughout life?

longitudinal studies show consistency of IQ scores from age 5 onward

• e.g. r= .67 (closer to 1= stronger correlation) between ages 5 and 15

• IQ tests given closer in time=more stable

• IQ scores close, through rarely identical

what may contribute to inconsistent scores in children?

factors implicated for inconsistent scores

• child’s alertness and mood on test days

• family factors

• changes in environment

problematic use of IQ testing

• eugenics and intelligence

• application of racial differences (Henry Herbert Goddard brought stanford binet IQ test to the US) he believed in genetic superiority of white people

• binet condemned the eugenic approaches of the US psychologists working with his measure ( brutal pessimism)

what are IQ scores highly predictive of?

• academic achievement

• economic success

• occupational success

what do IQ scores not account for in life success?

• motivation

• conscientiousness

• social skills

• physical and mental health

• intellectual curiosity

• creativity

how do genetics influence intelligence?

• genome has substantial influence on intelligence

• genetic research explaining individual differences in intelligence reflects small contributions from many different genes and complex interaction among them

are IQ differences across social groups genetically linked?

no they are not

effects of poverty on IQ

differences in IQ scores

• could be from diet and nutrition, reduced access to health care, emotional conflicts at home, cognitive stimulation

flynn effect

consistent rise in average IQ scores over the past 80 years in many countries

• could be from improvements in education ect…

family influences

• caldwell and bradley developed a measure known as HOME (home observation for measurement of the environment) which samples various aspects of the child’s home life such as

  • organization and safety of living space

  • intellectual stimulation

  • access to books

  • parent-child interactions

  • emotional support

• children’s IQ scores, math and reading achievement scores positively correlated with HOME scores

Multiple intelligences theory (Gardner)

based on the view that people possess at least eight types of intelligence

• linguistic, logical-mathmatical, spatial, musical, naturalistic, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal

• little supporting evidence

theory of successful intelligence (sternberg)

• based on the view that intelligence is the ability to achieve success in life

• believed IQ was too narrowly focused on types of intelligence emphasized in classrooms

• success in life based on three types of abilities

  • analytic (linguistics, mathematical, and spatial skills)

  • partial abilities (reasoning about everyday problems, such as resolving conflicts with other people)

  • creative abilities (intellectual flexibility and innovation that allow adaptation to novel circumstances)

Freud

• experiences of anti-semitism

• influence on psychoanalytic perspectives

  • considerations of the impact of class inequality on the psyche, relationship between anti-black racism and anti-semitism, activism to decriminalize homosexuality

• he was a social activist

Freud’s theory of psychosexual development

• behavior is motivated by need to satisfy basic drives

• unsatisfied needs will be unconsciously expressed later in development (e.g. infant feeding will later substitute oral activities (nail-biting, smoking)

• current influence is broad psychological concepts; not theoretical specifics (e.g. early caregiving relationships are important)

How did Erikson add to Freud’s theories?

accepted basic elements of Freud’s theory; added social factors and contemporary issues (e.g. cultural influences, juvenile delinquency)

erikson’s theory on developmental crises

• development is driven by a series of developmental crises related to age and maturation

• eight age-related developmental stages, from infancy to old age (specific crisis at each stage)

• stage 5: identity vs role confusion (adolescence to early adulthood)

  • critical period for achieving core sense of identity

  • puberty, social pressures

  • crisis= question of who we really are

what did Freud contribute to understandings of psychology, particularly child and developmental psychology?

• emphasis on early emotional relationships and importance of early childhood

• role of unconscious mental activity

  • current cognitive theory and neuroscience

what did Erikson contribute to understandings of psychology, particularly child and developmental psychology?

emphasis on quest for identity in adolescence

what are some weaknesses of Freud and Erikson’s theories

theories too vague to be testable; generally questionable

learning theorists

• more of a focus on external forces

  • vs Freud who focused on internal and subjective experience

• continuous development

  • no qualitatively different developmental stages

• role of specific mechanisms of change

  • e.g. reinforcement, observational learning

  • children behave differently because they have different learning experiences

John B. Watson

he believed psychologists should study visible behavior / children’s development determined by social environment

• mechanism classical conditioning ( conditioned “little albert” to fear white rat

Watson beliefs on child development

• believed that parents are responsible for conditioning their children

  • rigid feeding schedule - conditioned expectations around when they receive food - no crying in between

• he was overly strict when it came to child-rearing advice

B.F. Skinner

• proposed that behavior is under environmental control

• all behavior is an operant response influenced by the outcomes of past behavior

  • repeat behaviors that are awarded, suppress behaviors that are punished

• children’s development is a matter of their reinforcement history

B.F. skinner advice for parents and teachers

attention as powerful reinforcer (e.g. timeout/ temporary isolation)

• consistency is key

  • intermittent reinforcement: if a behavior is only occasionally rewarded

  • “it worked before, it might work again”

Albert Bandura

most human learning is inherently social in nature and based on observation of the behavior of other people

• learning from what people do and then imitating them

Bandura’s social learning theory

observational learning (cognitive processes)

• attention = looking

• encoding= transalting

• storing= memory

• retrieving

reciprocal determinism

child-environment influences operate in both directions (others influencing others behavior)

Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment and it conclusions

social learning theory research

• series of experiments, some with contingencies

• 3 groups

  • one group saw the model be reinforced

  • one group saw the model be punished

  • one group didn’t see any consequences

  • later received positive incentive to replicate aggressive behavior

what have learning theories contributed to the field of developmental psychology?

derived from research in socialization, parental socialization, and practices

• led to practical applications for parenting

what are some limitations of learning theories?

• focus on behavior, not brain or mind

• lack attention to biological influences

• minimize impact of perceptual, motor, cognitive, and language development

social cognitive theories (view of children’s development)

psychoanalytic and learning theories of social development emphasize external forces as primary drivers of development

what do social cognition theorists believe about children’s abilities and cognitive processes?

emphasize the active role of children in shaping their own development

• children’s knowledge and beliefs about themselves/ other people guides their behavior

• have the ability to think and reason about their own and other people’s thoughts, feelings, motives, behaviors

• as opposed to conditioned responses, imitating adults, etc.