Psychology 202 Exam 3: UW Madison - Addington

Basic components of Language

-Phonemes: Basic speech sounds

-Morphemes: Smallest components of speech that carry meaning (whole words; prefixes; word endings)

-Grammar: Combining morphemes into phrases and sentences using rules

Phoneme

Basic speech sounds

Morphemes

Smallest components of speech that carry meaning (whole words; prefixes; word endings)

Grammar

Combing morphemes into phrases and sentences using rules

Production

Ability to use language

Comprehension

Ability to understand language

Language Development

-Comprehension develops before production

-Babbling: 4-6 months

-First words: 10-12 months

-Vocabulary of 30-50 words: 18 months

-Use of basic grammar: 18-24 months

Babbling

-Experimentation with sounds of language

*Production of phonemes

*No grammar rules

*Repetition

Do animals babble?

Yes

-Evidence in birds, monkeys, bats

-Songbirds: babbling important for learning song in males (Recall the frequency sheet the professor displayed during lecture)

Sensitive Period

-7 months in utero - 6 years

-Critical exposure to language; easier to learn language

Dyslexia

-Difficulty with reading.

Problems include:

-Writing and spelling words

-Reading quickly

-Pronouncing words when reading aloud; 'sounding out' words

-Understanding what one reads

*However, they still have normal intelligence

Broca's aphasia

Difficulty producing speech (speech is slow and effortful but typically still makes sense)

Wernicke's aphasia

-Difficulty with comprehension

-Speech is rapid and fluent but meaningless

Aphasia

Loss of ability to speak or understand language

3 Theories of Language Development

-Behaviorist

-Nativist

-Interactionist

Behaviorist

Language learning through operant conditioning (Skinner)

Problems with Behaviorist theory of language development

-Grammar rules not actively taught by parents

-Children generate novel sentences (not just imitation)

Nativist

Language learning is an innate capacity

Evidence behind the Nativist theory of Language Development

-Genetic dysphasia (inability to learn grammar); separate from other cognitive abilities

-Feral children: Some language skills (limited)

Interactionist

Interaction of innate ability and social interaction

-Experience during sensitive period is essential

Three Theoretical Perspectives of Development

-Nature vs. Nurture: genetic and environmental influences

-Continuity vs. Discontinuity: Are changes gradual or abrupt?

-Universal vs. Ecological: Are developmental patterns universal or culture-specific?

Three Piagetian Concepts

-Schema

-Assimilation

-Accommodation

Schema

-Structured cluster of concepts about how the world works

-Mental framework that is created as children interact with their physical and social environments

Assimilation

Incorporation of new learning into an existing schema WITHOUT the need to revise schema

Accommodation

Incorporation of new learning into an existing schema that requires the revision of the schema

The 4 Stages of Piagets Cognitive Development

-Sensorimotor: Birth-2 years old

-Pre-operational: 2-6 years old

-Concrete Operational: 6-12 years old

-Formal Operational: 12+ years old

Sensorimotor Stage

-Interaction with environment

-Focus on here and now

-Cognitive milestone: Object permanence

Object Permanence

-The ability to form mental representations of objects that are no longer present

-Such as when a watch is put back into a pocket, the child will understand that the watch is not gone, instead behind behind the fabric

Pre-operational Stage

-No internal mental operations / manipulations

-Egocentrism: Cannot understand that others have different points of view

-Failure to pass conservation tasks (think about the clay ball and the glasses of liquid)

Concrete Operational Stage

-Internal mental operations / manipulations, but concrete (not abstract)

-Hands-on learning best

Cognitive milestone: Conservation

Formal Operational Stage

-Abstract concepts

-Problem solving that can go beyond trial and error

-"What if" questions

Criticisms of Piaget's Theory

-Reduced focus on individual differences

-Abrupt stages vs. gradual and continuous

-Mechanisms for moving to a new stage?

Theory of Mind (TOM)

-Extends Piaget's concepts of egocentrism

-Can a child understand another person's point of view?

-Emerges at ~ 3 to 4 years old (before end of Piaget's pre-operational stage)

-Joint attention

-Has been linked to Autism Spectrum Disorder

Temperament

-Individual differences in patterns of mood, activity, and emotional responsiveness

-Predictive of adult personality

-Jerome Kagan: Test off reactivity in infants (Low vs. high reactive children)(Predictive of temperament later in childhood, especially shyness)

Attachment

-Connection between infant and parent

-More focus on infant with mother

Two dimensions of Parenting styles

-Behavioral regulation

-Parental support

Jasper is just 2 weeks old. His mother strokes his cheek and he turns toward the touch and opens his mouth. This is called the _____ reflex.

Rooting

The parenting style that combines high behavioral regulation with low support is

Authoritarian

In which of the following two scenarios does Grace demonstrate that she has developed theory of mind?

(1) Grace accidentally pops Max's red balloon. Max is furious and heartbroken. Grace tells her mother "Max thinks I did it on purpose."

(2) Grace and Max play contentedly side by side with their blocks. Max builds a tower and Grace pushes it over believing that Max will think, as she does, that watching it fall is fun.

Scenario 1 only

What role does habituation play in evaluating a baby's sensory capacities?

When the baby spends equal time looking at two stimuli, he or she likely cannot tell the difference between them.

In some cultures, children are encouraged to walk earlier or later than what would be considered the average age in the United States (Super, 1976). With this in mind, which of the following statements is accurate?

Changes in the developmental timeline are usually slight because myelination of motor nerves usually just precedes the achievement of a new skill.

Rosa is 15 months of age. A new babysitter came to the house so Rosa's mother could focus on her writing in her office upstairs. Rosa was fine while her mother was still in the room with them but cried and cried when she left. Her mother returned an hour later, and Rosa ran over to her right away. What pattern of attachment is this?

Secure

Teens begin to form an identity by asking "Who am I?" and "What kind of person do I want to be?" According to Erikson, failure to achieve a stable identity leads to

role confusion and problems with subsequent stages

Results from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (2000) show that healthy aging is accompanied by

mild changes in the speed of learning and problem solving and that most of these observable changes occur late in life

Baby Asha is sitting on the floor when her older brother sits down next to her. He takes her favorite stuffed rabbit out of her hands, holds it up, and then puts it behind his back. Within just a few seconds, Asha begins to cry. Her brother hands her back the rabbit, which stops the crying, but he doesn't understand why she didn't just look behind his back for the toy. What would be the reason for this?

Asha is in Piaget's sensorimotor stage of cognitive development and has not yet mastered object permanence.

Lexi and Jamie are 14 years old. Jamie dares Lexi by saying, "Let's take a bottle of wine from your grandmother's house. It's okay, because she'll never notice and we won't be punished." According to Kohlberg's stages of moral reasoning, this represents

preconventional morality

When does babbling develop?

4-6 months

What is the function of babbling?

Language acquisition

What happens when children are not exposed to language during the sensitive period?

-'Feral' children

-Essentially, a language deficit and social deficits

Example: Genie

What do brain imaging studies tell us about people with dyslexia use 'workaround solutions'?

-Less activity in pathway connecting visual cortex to Wernicke's area

-More activity in Broca's area

Koeser (2015): What was the independent variable? Dependent variable? What do the results of the study tell us about men's and women's use of gender-fair vs. gender-biased terms?

-Independent Variable: Language type (gender fair, masculine, no personal nouns, other topic)

-Dependent Variable: Fill-in-the-blank task --> Participants chose to use a gender-fair word or a masculine word

*words you use matter, deliberately making someone aware of the gender fair terms can make a difference as well

-Results: Gender differences in the participants, women used many more gender fair terms than the men (he, she, they. they were unaware these were being tested)

-second study (gender fair aware) (they made sure the participants knew the usage of the gender-fair wording) same results --> women use more gender fair words, men also used more gender fair terms in this study because they were made aware

When does object permanence develop?

Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years)

What is attachment?

-Emotional bond linking an infant to a parent/caregiver

-Not unique to just humans

What are the four different attachment patterns identified by Ainsworth and other researchers?

-Secure

-Avoidant

-Anxious-Ambivalent

-Disorganized

What did Harlow's tests on attachment in monkeys reveal about the importance of food vs. comfort?

Animals preferred the comfort over food

What is reactive attachment disorder?

-Abnormally withdrawn and inhibited behavior

-Less receptive to support from caregivers

What are the four parenting styles?

-Authoritative

-Authoritarian

-Indulgent

-Uninvolved

Authoritarian Style

-High behavioral regulation

-Low parental support

Authoritative Parenting Style

-High behavioral regulation

-High parental support

*best one

Indulgent Parenting Style

-Low Behavioral regulation

-High parental support

Uninvolved Parenting Style

-Low behavioral regulation

-Low parental support

What are Kohlberg's stages of moral development?

-Pre-conventional

-Conventional

-Post conventional

What occurs at each stage? (Kohlberg)

Pre-conventional: Obedience/Punishment and Self-interest

-I would go straight to the party because mom told me to do so even though the child is hurt

Conventional: Conformity and interpersonal accord / authority and social order

-I would get help or maybe stop to help the child because of moral reasoning / guilt even though mom told to do differently

Post-Conventional: Social Contract/ Universal Principles

-Gentlemen goes into a pharmacy to help his wife because she is dying from cancer, he doesn't have enough money. Does he steal it even though its against the law (law) or does he he steal it for her health (morally okay because she is dying?)

*Think about the Kohlberg video of if the child would help the kid that fell

What are some criticisms of Kohlberg's theory?

-Emphasized justice to the exclusion of other values (like caring)

-Original studies based only on male participants

-Some researchers argue that any people never reach the post conventional stage

What types of brain development occur during adolescence?

-Growth of white matter/myelination

-Amygdala is fully developed

-Frontal cortex continues to develop into early 20s

What might explain why adolescents are more likely than adults to engage in risky behavior?

-Frontal cortex is not fully developed (judgement)

-Teens are more likely to believe that they are immune from consequences of risky behavior

What are some cognitive changes in late adulthood?

-Mild changes in speed of learning and problem solving

-More changes in fluid intelligence (processing skills) than crystallized intelligence (accumulated knowledge)

-Rates of dementia are actually dropping

What is conversation of mass or volume?

-Think about the two glasses of liquid

-Concrete Operational Stage (6-12 years old)

What are Erikson's 8 stages of psychosocial development?

1. Trust vs. Mistrust

-Birth to 18 months

-Children view the world as a safe, dependable place

2. Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

-18 months to 3 years

-Children begin to explore

3. Initiative vs. Guilt

-3-6 years

-Children begin to act on the world

4. Industry vs. Inferiority

-6-12 years

-Children develop self-confidence

5. Identity vs. Role Confusion

-Adolescence

-Teens being to form an identity by asking, "Who am I?" Failure to achieve a stable identity leads to role confusion and problems with subsequent stages

6. Intimacy vs. Isolation

-Young Adulthood

-Young adults with clear identities form stable, intimate relationships, while others experience feelings of loneliness and isolation

7. Generativity vs. Stagnation

-Midlife

-Midlife adults who find value in their lives, even if they have not met all their earlier goals, experience generativity (a concern for people besides self and family that usually develops during middle age especially) They are likely to "put back" energy into family, work, and community

8. Ego integrity vs. Despair

-Late adulthood

-Toward the end of life, adults who feel that they have lived fully experience a sense of integrity and calm

How does martial satisfaction vary according to stage of family lifestyle?

-Decreases when they have a child

-increases as the child becomes more independent (high school)

-decreases when the children are leaving the house

-goes back up again

*most likely because of stress

What is Whorf's linguistic relativity hypothesis? What does it say about a person's ability to think about a topic?

-Examines the effect of having a rich vocabulary on a person's ability to think about a topic

-Think about his example about a skier

-

-His theory correctly predicted that the use of gender-free words would reduce gender stereotyping and discrimination

Do animals use language in the same way that humans do?

Yes, very similar

What have studies of language learning in apes and parrots told us about animals' language abilities?

-They might possess the abilities to language capabilities

-They are able to comprehend some human speech

What is statistical learning, and how does it apply to language development?

-Statistical learning is when an infant pays attention to the frequencies of each sound they hear and disregard sounds that don't sound familiar to their native language

-Component of social interaction which serves as a "gate" for initiating the infant's computational learning system

How does socioeconomic differences impact language learning?

-"Language Gap"

-Directly correlated, children from low-socioeconomic status are behind in both vocabulary and language understanding

-Quantity and quality of speech directed at young children are highly correlated

-Poor performance of children from disadvantages families resulted from low levels of cognitive stimulation

How is social interaction important to the development of language?

-Essential component of statistical learning

-Serves as a "gate" for initiating the infant's computational learning system

-Language heard by a person (face-to-face) and not a TV produces more language competence

What are the primary milestones of prenatal development?

1. Germinal stage (first two weeks after conception)

-Zygote (developing organism after conception)

-Zygote differentiates into three germ layers (ectoderm is nerve tissue and skin, mesoderm gives rise to muscle and bone, and endoderm is the body's soft tissue such as organs of the digestive tract)

2. Embryonic stage (week 3-8)

-Embryo

-CNS has differentiated into forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, and spinal cord

-Basic organs are formed (heart, stomach, liver, etc.,)

-Expression of Y gene initiates

3. Fetal period (week 9-birth)

-Fetus

-Development/formation of specific genital organs

-Myelination of the nervous system

-Brain cells are formed

What are some genetic and environmental risks during prenatal development?

-Down syndrome, more common when the the age of mother is greater because she is exposed to more harmful environments (radiation)

-Teratogens (chemical found in many medications that can harm the zygote, embryo, or fetus)

-Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

What are the primary reflexes of newborns?

-Babinski: Stroking the baby's foot causes toes to spread out

-Blink: Eye closes in response to strong stimuli

-Moro: If the baby's head falls backward, the arms first spread out and then "hug."

-Palmar: Placing an object in the hand produces reflexive grasping

-Rooting: Stroking a baby's cheek results in the baby turning toward the touch and opening the mouth

-Stepping: Placing the baby's feet on a flat surface initiates stepping

-Sucking: The baby sucks anything that touches the roof of the mouth

How does Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development differ from Piaget's?

-Stressed the role of culture and cultural differences in the development of the child

-Viewed development as taking place within the social and cultural environments

What are some important milestones of the nervous system and motor development during infancy and early childhood?

-Synaptic connections are pruned in repose to experience

-"Use it or lose it"

-Development in the motor system occurs in two directions

-First, the Head-to-Toe direction (Raising head to look around, followed by development of torso muscles, followed my sitting, crawling, walking_

-Second, is the midline (line dividing the human body into equal halves) (babies are able to bat at objects before they are able to hold onto an object)

Attribution

A judgement about the cause of a person's behavior

Situational Attribution

-A judgment assigning the cause of a person's behavior tot eh environment

-External

-Example: blame the weather for being late to work

Dispositional Attribution

-A judgement assigning the cause of a person's behavior to personal qualities or characteristics

-Internal

Example: Student fails test due to laziness and lack of motivation to study

Attitudes

-A positive or negative evaluation that predisposes behavior toward an object, person, or situation

-Share three basic elements (affect = emotion, behavior, *cognition)

How are attitudes formed?

-Observational learning

-Operant conditioning suggests that approval or disapproval shapes attitude (For example, an opinion expressed in class that is followed by nods and applaud ( you will be repeat more often) unlike if your peers show disgust) (Due to classical conditioning, you are likely to form positive attitudes toward stimuli associated with positive stimuli)

-We form many attitudes on the basis of our personal experiences and absorb attitudes from our environment of peers, family, teachers, etc.,

-Genetic influences: Twin studies

Attitude Alignment

-dating partners gradually modify their attitudes in ways that make them more congruent

-the tendency of interacting partners to modify their attitudes in such a manner as to achieve attitudinal congruence

What are some factors that might help to reduce prejudice?

Increased contact can reduce prejudice

-Contact needs to be between people of equal 'standings' (socioeconomic status)

-Contact of cooperative activities

-Jigsaw classroom example

-Expanding the definition of the 'in-group'. (Two difference race women focus on the similarities they share as women)

What are some factors that influence the effectiveness of persuasive messages?

-Emotional appeals can influence people using the peripheral route (Arousing negative emotions, such as fear, can be risky because people could go into a state of denial..... A positive response (to a speaker) can enhance (the message's) persuasion)

-Persuasion is also influenced by the medium used to communicate the message

Social media, face-to-face, internet, movies, television, etc., (Most effective for persuasion is face-to-face)

-Children are more likely than adults to respond to persuasive messages emotionally rather than logically, making them more susceptible to persuasion

-Prefrontal cortex plays a role in persuasion

What are some cultural differences in terms of attributions?

1. Individualistic Cultures (USA & many Western nations)

-stresses individual achievements and competition

-Self-serving bias

-correspondence bias (when evaluating crime)

2. Collectivist Cultures (Asian countries)

-Values cooperation as a means of attaining family and work group goals

-Places more emphasis on situation than on disposition

-Group-serving bias

Social Norms

Usually unwritten or unspoken rules for behavior in social settings

Prejudice

A prejudgment, usually negative, of another person on the basis of membership in a group

Stereotype

A simplified set of traits associated with membership in a group or category

How accurate are first impressions? Do first impressions persist?

-Pretty accurate

-Formed in 30 seconds or less

-Initial impressions did not change much after longer periods of exposure

-Compatibility Quotient: after 3 minutes of observation, people accurately predicted their compatibility with a potential partner (regarding speed dating)

-Not only fast, but also persistent (Even if we met the person for a short time, we stick with the assessment for a long time)

-We make quick assessments of other by focusing on a subset of traits and behaviors

-People are likely to use faces to form impressions

-Our abilities to shape accurate judgements are also influenced by culture

How are attitudes formed?

-Attitude adoption as social inclusion

-Learning: Operant and Classical conditioning; observational learning

-Genetic influence: Twin studies

What is cognitive dissonance? How does it influence attitude change?

-The uncomfortable state that occurs when behavior and attitudes do not match and that can be resolved through attitude change

-Example: Why guys endure hazing --> increases group value

-In order for attitude change, we must attribute our actions to our own voluntary, free will

-Cognitive consistency: a preference for holding congruent attitudes and beliefs (Aversive feelings that we experience when our ideas are inconsistent might motivated us to think more deeply about our beliefs)

How does cognitive dissonance influence attitude change?

-in response to our own cognitive processes: Cognitive dissonance

-in response to efforts from others: persuasion

What are the types of errors and biases that are commonly demonstrated during the process of attribution?

-Correspondance bias

-Group-serving bias

-Self-serving bias

-Actor-observer bias

-Just-world belief

-Fundamental attribution error

Correspondance Bias

-General tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors

-Example: Think about a student getting a bad grade, our disposition is that the student is lazy even when they know the situation is that the professor is known for giving hard exams

Fundamental Attribution Error

-Similar to Correspondence bias

-Complete failure to consider situational factors; reliance on dispositional factors