SFL 351 Exam 1

Reliability

the extent to which a measure yields consistent results, both over time and across observers

Validity

the extent to which a measuring instrument accurately reflects what the researchers intended to measure

Foundations of grievance studies

- intentionally broken intellectual papers were nonetheless accepted for publication because they adhered with toxic ideology

- a narrow academic culture accepts certain ideas as a fundamentally true even if they have not been empirically vetted

- a religious architecture

social competence

the ability to achieve personal goals in social interaction while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships.

Principle of explosion

in mathematics, if you can get one contradiction through airport security, you can blow up the universe. as soon as you allow a single contradiction in the unity of knowledge, everything becomes meaningless

Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory

Four Stages:

Sensorimotor 0-2

Preoperational 2-7

Concrete Operational 7-11

Formal Operational 11+

behaviorist theory - pavlov?

operant conditioning subject learns behavior by actions associated with consequences good or bad

classical conditioning - salivation at the sound of a bell, associates two paired unrelated stimuli

Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory

child>>>

microsystem - immediate environment

mesosystem - connections

exosystem - indirect environment

macrosystem - social and cultural values

chronosystem - changes over time

Sullivan's theory of interpersonal development

people develop their personality based on who they are attached to at their age. without other people, humans would have no personality

0-2 mom

2-6 parents

6-8.5 one playmate

8.5-13 many playmates

15+ lover

psychoanalytic viewpoint

id - impulsive and sexual drive, devil (unconscious)

ego - mediator between impulses (conscious)

super ego - ideals and morals, angel (preconscious)

oedipus & electra complex (sexual attraction to parent of opposite sex and hostility towards the other.)

Vygotsky sociocultural development

zone of proximal development, scaffolding

Erikson's Theory

Theory that proposes eight stages of human development. Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved.

erikson stage 1: 0-1

trust v mistrust

0-1

secure attachment v insecure attachment

oral

erikson stage 2: 1-3

autonomy vs shame and doubt

1-3

parents give choices and teach their children to make good choices

anal

erikson stage 3: 3-6

initiative v guilt

3-6

make believe allows them to decide who they are going to be, initiative develops when parents support their children's new sense independence. if parents demand too much self control, it will lead to guilt.

phallic

erikson stage 4: 6-11

industry vs inferiority

6-11

children learn to work with their peers, inferiority happens when they have negative experiences which lead to feelings of incompetence.

erikson stage 5: adolescence

identity v identity diffusion

adolescence

who am i? what is my place in society?

self chosen values and goals lead to identity, negative outcomes are confusion about adult roles.

genital

erikson stage 6: young adulthood

intimacy v isolation

young adulthood

try to create intimate bonds, if they did not have secure attachment earlier, they struggle to form relationships

erikson stage 7: middle adulthood

generativity v. stagnation

middle adulthood

giving to the next generation by having children v not having children and feeling a lack of accomplisment

erikson stage 8: old age

integrity v dispair

old age

individuals reflect on the lives they have lead. Integrity means they feel it was worth living, those who are dissatisfied fear death.

Piaget and Vygotsky similarities

interpersonal exchange has the power to drive aspects of cognitive growth and change.

vygotsky believed parents provided much of the necessary interpersonal exchange

piaget saw peers as fundamental (horizontal relationships)

piaget and vygotsky differences

piaget believed peer conflict evoked change,

vygotsky believed cooperation and pooling ideas was better.

contemporary research suggests conflict can actually elicit cooperation, but only if negative feelings don't get in the way of co-construction.

eclecticism in theories

most of the time, the theoretical eclecticism enables developmentalists to create a multilayered, robust explanation for developmental processes.

Oregon Social Learning Center

teaching parents how to parent

the applications of modern cognitive social learning theory to the analysis of family problems that incorporates cognitive and behavioral methods and an understanding of the reciprocal processes that are involved in social development.

Ethological perspectives

We are born with a number of "biologically programmed" behaviors that are:

-Products of evolution

-Adaptive in that they contribute to survival

Natural Selection

-The idea that members of a species with more "adaptive" genes are more likely to survive and pass on their genes to future generations

Understanding Social Behavior:

-Evokes analyses of the psychological meanings of different forms of the same observed behaviors in peer interaction

Forms and functions of aggressive or solitary behavior

-Comparative studies

-Predicting future development may be difficult

-Disentangling nature and nurture is a challenge

The biology of sexuality

definition of heritability coefficient

- a statistical index calculated from twin study data that estimates the amount of variation in a trait that is attributable to hereditary factors

- most heritability estimates are in the area of .50, suggesting a moderate genetic influence

- heritability estimates often vary widely by study - the index is highly dependent on a study population

Limitations of the Heritability Coefficient

-Based on an inflexible, additive model

-Ignores the possibility that genes may function differently in different environments

-Applies to a particular population under particular environmental circumstances

-Does not imply that a trait or disposition is unchangeable (ignores the potential for malleability)

-Does not equal inheritance

shared environmental effects in behavioral genetics paradigm

The more uniform an environment, the more room there is for genes to be seen to affect the amount of prosocial behavior that individuals exhibit.

piaget v vygotsky role of the child

both were fundamentalists believing that children come to knowledge by experience but piaget relied on peers whereas vygotsky relied on mentoring from parents

passive genotype-environment correlations

Correlations that exist when the natural parents, who are genetically related to the child, provide a rearing environment for the child.

evocative genotype-environment correlations

correlations that exist when the child's characteristics elicit certain types of social environments

selective/active genotype/environment

children's genotypes affect the types of environments they prefer and seek out

gene-environment interaction

situation in which the effects of genes depend on the environment in which they are expressed

gene-environment interaction two possibilities

the expression of a genetic disposition towards a developmental outcome varies as a function of the environment (genes turn off and on)

environmental effect varies by genetic disposition (individual susceptibility)

gene-environment interaction trigger process

the environment triggers or exacerbates a genetic predisposition for a given outcome or the environment leads to a given outcome only for those with predisposing genes

gene-environment interaction suppression process

the environment reduces the role of genetic factors in EXPLAINING inter individual differences in a behavior (environment washes out genetic effect)

caution regarding genetic arguments

- if anything is inherited, we inherit predispositions for behavior not exactly dispositions

- genes possibly contribute to variations in all human behavior but are by themselves responsible for none

- just because a behavior appears to have a genetic foundation does not mean it is desirable or should be encouraged.

Molecular Genetics Studies

Molecular genetics approach

- Association method (candidate gene approach; polymorphic alleles)

- Genome-wide associaton study (GWAS)

association method

In molecular behavioral genetics, the attempt to link genes to personality by comparing the DNA of people who score high and low on trait scales and behavioral measures.

genome-wide association studies

A large-scale analysis of the genomes of many people having a certain phenotype or disease, with the aim of finding genetic markers that correlate with that phenotype or disease.

social referencing

(first year in life) using emotional cues from significant others to guide behavior (inference in ambiguous situations)

emotional contagion

(first year in life) children's emotions often match the emotional states ofothers, even when the cildren are not actively involved in the situation that produced the emotion

emotion and empathy

later in life these characteristics of emotional development occur

emotional development

social referencing, emotional contagion, empathy and sympathy

definition of temperament

- Considered a part of personality, it is defined as any traits that relate to the "three A's of personality": affect, arousal, and attention

- Provides early biases for certain feelings, moods, and behaviors that combine with social environment to produce ideas, beliefs, habits, and values (gradually woven into personality traits)

Goodness of Fit (Temperament)

Combines genetics and environment

Child rearing to match temperament

compatibility of the childs temperament and parenting style/environment

characteristics of the three temperament profiles (thomas & Chess)

easy 40%

- adjust easily to new situations

- quickly adapt to new routines

- cheerful and easy to calm

difficult 10%

- irregular eating and sleeping patterns

- withdraw from new situations and stimuli

- negative moods

slow to warm up 15%

- initially withdraw from new stimuli or change

- react in a negative or mild manner, become neutral or positive with a new event or person

solitary active

Engagement in constructive behaviors—objects over people

- NOT a sign of unsociability or social disinterest, may overlap with shyness

solitary passive

- Dramatic pretend play in the midst of others, yet not interacting directly with anyone

reticent

Shyness, inhibition, social anxiety (Approach/Avoidance Conflict)

- Automanipulative behaviors (e.g., biting nails)

how the temperament corresponds with the big 5 model of personality (OCEAN)

conscientiousness = effortful control

- paying attention and inhibiting behavior in order to appropriately regulate emotions and behavior

extraversion = surgency

- socialbility, high intensity pleasure and positive affect

neuroticism = negative affect

- nonaggressive (fear and sadness), aggressive (frustration and social anger)

OCEAN acronym

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

how the reticent child handles peer interactions

- eye contact avoidance, blushing, verbal reticence

- unassertive, easily manipulated

- greater risk for peer rejection and exclusion

- more likely to be victimized by bullies

- greater risk for depression which exacerbates above

RETICENT CHILDREN DO BEST WHEN

- peer group is more inclusive

- they have a mutual best friendship

how the reticent child handles friendship

- fewer friendships, no less likely to form at least one stable mutual friendship

- friendships may guard against victimization

- reticent friends may reinforce other's distress and exacerbate social withdrawal

- lower friendship intimacy and companionship

- focus on their own needs and can ask too much of friends leading to imbalanced friendships

how the big 5 model of personality dimensions corresponds with peer success or difficulty

openness: unrelated

conscientiousness: less bullying and victimization, higher quality friendships

extraversion (most strongly correlated): popularity, like-ability, friendship quality and social network centrality

agreeableness: greater like-ability

neuroticism: more bullying and victimization, less liked and more disliked

moderation

that temperament is moderated by caregiving interactions with respect to proximal measures of emotion regulation are quite uncommon.

mediation

a mediator is a variable that serves as the mechanism through which a predictor affects an outcome. Because mediational analyses allow one to specify possible mechanisms or processes that explain how one variable affects another, they are quite useful in understanding developmental processes.

Secure Parenting Behavior

warm, responsive, consistent, contingent, lots of physical contact

insecure parenting

unresponsive, impatient, neglect, inconsistent, distant

Ainsworth's Strange Situation: securely attached v insecurely attached

securely attached: upset when mother leaves, happy when mother returns, able to calm down

insecurely attached: non upset, inconsolable, avoidant

Kagan's temperament hypothesis

certain actions in 4 month olds will predict shyness or outgoingness.

extreme distress results in a quiet child (motor tension, thrashing arms and legs)

arm movement, lack of tension, following with eyes results in sociable outgoing child

infants are the primary architects of their attachment classifications: easy will be a secure attachment, difficult will be resistant and slow to warm up will be avoidant.

Universality of attachment

all children are biologically prepared to form attachments but the quality of these attachments vary considerably

antecedent attachment theory

the quality of an infants attachment depends largely on the kind of attention the infant has received

competence attachment theory

Secure individuals are more interpersonally effective and at lower risk for experiencing psychopathology

lawful change hypothesis

-Attachment change roughly tracks caregiving changes

stability hypothesis

Attachments tend to be very stable over shorter time intervals (84% concordance rate between infancy and grade school)

There is modest, though significant, stability in security from infancy to young adulthood, and across family and peer relationships

Evidence of the damaging impact of institutional deprivation

- reactive attachment disorder: inability to bond securely or otherwise, even with caregivers who have secure working models of attachment relationships

- nonorganic failure to thrive: a growth disorder usually present by 18 months of age that is caused by lack of affection and stimulation

- deprivation dwarfism: a growth disorder observed between 2 and 15 years of age caused by severe emotional deprivation

- quasi-autism

- disinhibited attachment

- inattention/overactivity

- cognitive impairment

Factors most influential in determining the effects of day care on children

- quality of day care

- time spent in daycare

- instability of caregivers

Cooley's "looking glass self" and the contribution of social comparison to the development

of self

We see ourselves according to how we perceive others see us l People's reactions l Words (Be careful how you categorize or judge others) social comparison

- Self-appraisals are generally more strongly correlated with what we think others believe about us, not what they actually believe

Assessment of theory of mind with young children

An understanding that people are cognitive beings with mental states which are often inaccessible to others and guide behavior

- belief desire theory: both beliefs and desires influence behavior, even if they are inaccurate, can affect behavior

-false belief task: the sally anne task

Early indications of self-recognition

The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror or photograph, knowing that the image is a representation of "me" (as early as 15 months)

- Securely attached infants accomplish this sooner

First social categories children identify themselves with

people's reactions

words

social comparisons

Marcia's four identity status categories

identity diffusion (rare)

- low commitment, low exploration (you don't know what you want and you put off decisions)

foreclosure

- low exploration, high commitment (you know what you want without exploring other possibilities)

moratorium

- high exploration, low commitment (you've explored all but can't commit

identity achievement

- high exploration high achievement (you've explored and you know what you want)

Parenting influences on identity formation

- persue the positive (secure attachment)

- eliminate the negative: ie conditional support (psychological control) coercive parenting, indulgent/overly tolerant parenting