psyc166 infancy

summer course

what is infancy?

Birth until emergence of language (0 to ~ 18/24 months)

what are major transitions?

• Liquids → solid foods (changes in caregivers with food such as liquids to solids) 

• Immobile → reaching, crawling, walking (lets babies maneuver their space differently and interact with things differently) 

• Preverbal → speaking and understanding

what are pros to the period of infancy?

1. The immature nervous system is especially plastic to experience 

2. Neoteny, the prolongation of infancy especially in human beings, allows the developing organism time to adapt to the environment 

3. What is experienced or learned first has lasting influences 

4. Infants have an extraordinary facility for learning 

what is neoteny?

the prolongation of infancy especially in human beings that allows the developing organism time to adapt to the environment

what type of influences that are experienced or learned first have?

lasting influences

what do infants have?

an extraordinary facility for learning

a con of the period of infancy?

equifinality: even though people have different starting experiences, they can have different outcomes in life

what drives development?

nature/nativism and nurture/empiricism

what is nature/nativism?

• Emphasized the role of biology, genetics, and innate structures 

• Pre-programmed and unfold according to biological blueprint

what is nuture/empricism?

Highlights the role of experience, environment, and learning 

what is epigenetic?

how genes and experience co-determine outcomes 

• Emphasizing the importance of context

what is the transactional model?

the organism and the environment, genes and experience, the infant and the parent mutually influence one another over time

what does modern development of science consider?

the whole child (ecological systems theory) such as in the center, the infant is located where peers, school, parents, daycare, play area are close relationships that constantly interact with them and with one another; ecosystem: health services/workplace impacts

what is validity?

how well a study can support a research claim

what is statistical validity?

do the numbers support our claim? (group differences, correlation between variables)

what is construct validity?

did we measure the right thing? (are our measurements accurate and reliable)

what is external validity?

do our results generalize? (translate from study to real life)

what is internal validity?

did we rule out alternative explanations? (correlation does not equal causation) 

what is reliability?

How consistent are our measurements?

what do different ways of operationalizing lead to?

 the same construct can lead to differences in accuracy/reliability

what is accuracy? (part of construct validity)

did we measure the right thing?

what is experimental designs?

• Random assignment to groups, manipulate IV 

• Measure difference in DV according to IV 

• Can infer causality (strong internal validity)

what can infer causality?

experimental designs (strong internal validity)

what is the goal of developmental psychology?

Understanding how and why psychological abilities change over time

is measuring change easier than understanding change?

yes since there could be many explanations

how does one treat age as in experiments?

as true IV as age is not stationary unlike other grouping variables

what happens when people age?

• Experiences (countless types)

• Neutral maturation 

• Muscle growth 

• Environment changes 

• Complex interactions between these things 

what is a cross-sectional study?

A research design that analyzes data from a population at one specific point in time, allowing comparisons across different age groups.

what are longitudinal studies that are susceptible to?

age error because we can't necessarily separate age from experience,  but important improvement, participants act as their own control condition (but still can't separate age from experience) 

what can different study designs measure?

stability and continuity

what is stability?

consistency in ranking of individuals w/in groups overtime 

what is continuity?

consistency in mean level 

longitudinal designs can measure both what?

stability + continuity

what can cross sectional only measure?

• continuity but not stability 

what makes infants difficult to study ?

communication, compliance, hard to recruit, ability (tasks might be too difficult)

what is a potential source of stimulation for a mom?

• Chemical environment 

• Acoustic environment 

• Tactile stimulation 

• Vestibular stimulation