PSY 2410 Exam 1 Prep

Describe Developmental Science?

\-multidisciplinary: foundation of way we’re looking at development. Ecosystem of things that affect children’s development. Many types of expertise that go into it such as nursing, biology, education, psychology

\
\-Explores predictable milestones such as walking, talking

\
\-Focuses on the individual variations that give spice to life: things that make humans interesting. Fussy/hyperactive children or ADHD

\
\-Explores impact of specific child-rearing practices and life conditions: for example if child is spanked or child of divorce. explores how life conditions affect development

What is a Cohort?

people born during the same historical time period

\
\-cohort used in many contexts. we look at cohorts as groups of people

\-cohorts have different experiences based on time

\-we can compare 1800s/2000s on the basis of gender roles or technology

\-Demographic shifts: statistical changes

\-Life Expectancy: vaccines, technology, we live longer now

\-Education: children have parental protection in school, doesn’t feel like we are “real” adults yet

\-Family Size has decreased because kids live longer now

What is Fertility Rate?

the average number of children a woman gives birth to in a specific nation during her lifetime

Explain Socioeconomic Status?

\-status on education and income

\-lots of things go into it, can have big impact on child development, can affect opportunities

Explain Developed World?

\-nations are defined by their affluence, or high median per-person incomes

\-access to education/medical care

\-countries like the US, smaller families, people live longer

Explain Developing World?

\-these countries stand in sharp contrast to these most privileged nations

\-children die younger

What is a Collectivist Culture?

\-places a premium on social harmony

\-Asia, Africa, South America

\-personal needs put aside for the benefit of the whole group

\-obeying elders, suppressing emotions

What is Individualistic Culture?

\-emphasizes independence, competition, personal success

\-USA

\-Expressing emotion, personal gain is important

\-challenging authority, being self-sufficient

Explain the Impact of Gender?

\-culture’s values shape development of gender

\-fluidity and gender roles

\-gender differences exist statistically speaking: general statements not meant to be blanket statement for everyone

\-but there are individual differences

\-gender roles differ from country to country, some can be extreme

\-USA is more neutral, what kids see parents doing influences them

What is a Theory?

any perspective explaining why people act the way they do: allows us to predict behavior and also suggests how to intervene to improve behavior

Nature/Nurture explain Nature?

biological or genetic causes of development

\-DNA, biology

Nature/Nurture explain Nurture?

environmental causes of development

\-school, parents, friends

\-says DNA does not matter, reinforcement matters

What did Traditional Behaviorists believe?

\-few general laws of learning could explain behavior from infancy through the teens

\-focused on charting and modifying only “objective”, visible behaviors

\-nurture focused

\-only tracked physical actions

What is Operant Conditioning?

law of learning that determines any voluntary response: specifically, children behave the way they do when they are reinforced for acting in a certain way

\-B.F. Skinner

What is Reinforcement?

\-behavioral term for reward

\-Variable reinforcement schedules-every once in a while

\-Extinction: stop getting rewarded for something. behavior stops as reward stops

What is Positive Reinforcement?

added something to equation to increase behavior

\-giving a dog a treat for sitting

What is Negative Reinforcement?

taking away something bad

\-getting an A on a test so you don’t have to take out the trash

Explain the Skit Example from class?

positive reinforcement: kid got the candy bar to stop whining

\-learned that tantrum = getting what you want

negative reinforcement: parent was negatively reinforced

\-wanted whining to stop, learns that giving in = whining stopped

Cognitive behaviorism (social learning theory)

-children learn by watching others and our thoughts about the reinforcers determine behavior

-Alber Bandura: Bobo Doll experiment

What is Modeling?

learning by watching and imitating others

What is self-efficacy?

-internal belief in one’s competence that predicts whether children initiate activities or persist in the face of failures

-focuses on watching others actions

-modeling acts as mail tool

-Little kid may act as parents/siblings do OR act as other kids who are similar to them

Low-self efficacy?

failing science test, then gives up after you try

High-self efficacy?

trying again because they’re more confident in abilities/internal motivation

What is Psychoanalytic Theory?

-Sigmund Freud

-Importance of parents in early years determines trajectory of development:

-Id

-Ego all 3 pieces of inner life

-Superego

-stages of sexuality as developmental stages

-parents + relationship with them impacts development solely

What is the Id?

Present at birth,

insticnts (needs/feelings)

What is the Ego?

early childhood

-conscious rationailty (thinking/reasoning)

What is the Superego?

later development

-morality (right/wrong)

-sexualization- oral, anal, phallic

-early experiences impact us

What is the Attachment Theory?

-John Bowlby

-crucial importance to our species survival of being closely connected with a caregiver during early childhood

-genetically programmed

-importance of nature

-something within our biology causes need for attachement

-if not given, death could happen

-nature focused: need for attachement is in our DNA

What is Evolutionary Psychology?

theory or worldview highlighting the role that inborn, species-specific behaviors play in shaping behavior

-nature focused

-there are things in our DNA that links us to other humans through evolution

-Reinforcement does not change behavior

-Example: pregnant woman is morning sick-this is an evolutionary thing that cannot be reinforced “out”

What is Behavioral Genetics?

-field denoted to scientifically determining the role that hereditary forces play in determining individual differences

-twin+ adoption studies

-is it nature or nuture?

-heritable: coming from parents

-how hereditary are certain things? like intelligence or musical ability

What are Twin Studies?

-identical twins compared to fraternal twins, grew up in same environment

-100% VS. 50% DNA sharing compares their intelligence

What are Adoption Studies?

-how do adopted kids compare to their biological vs. adoptive parents?

What are Twin/Adoption studies?

-identical twins adopted at birth to different households

-example: the parent trap twins

1st Principle of Nature AND (not or) Nurture?

1. our nature (genetic tendencies) shapes our nurture (life experiences)

   -revocative forces

   -active forces

   -evocative: inborn talents and temperamental tendencies evoke certain responses from the world

   -our reaction to happy/crying kid at the store, whether we laugh or cry

2nd Principle of Nature AND (not or) Nurture?

1. we need the right nurture (life experiences) to fully express our nature (genetic talents)

   -person-environment fit

   -what does active mean: children actively select their environments based on genetic tendencies

   -children who are athletic/coordinated will seek out joining sports teams, musical kid will seek to join band

   -if the child is musically gifted and put into music lessons

   -if child is super athletic but isn;t allowed to play sports

   -bi-directional relationship-environment influences us, we influence environment

What are Epigenetics?

-research field exploring how early life events alter the outcome of our DNA, producing lifelong changes in health and behavior

-DNA will change in structure

What are Age Linked Theories/Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Tasks?

-basic goal: becoming independent and relating to others

-psychosocial tasks: specific challenges in each life stage at this age, this is what we expect of a child

-how kids interact socially, learning how to be social

What is Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory?

-principle that from infancy to adolescence, children progress through 4 qualitatively different stages of intellectual growth

-assimilation: taking environmental input and fit it into what you already know

-accomodation: engaging with something new and expanding knowledge of what we know

What is the All-encompassing perspective?

-child in center of groups that influence them

-stresses the need to embrace a variety of approaches

-emphasizes the need to look at how processes interact

-Bronfenbranner’s Ecological Model

What is a correlational study?

-involves 2 or more variables

-does loving parent = good social skills?

What is a true experiment?

-can find cause/effect relationship

-treatment group vs control group

What is a Representative Sample?

-group that reflects characteristics of overall population, must be diverse and same age of the group you’re trying to relate results to

What is Naturalistic Observation?

-directly watching and coding behaviors

-sometimes results are not as natural as we’d hope it to be if people know theyre being watched

What is self-report strategy?

cheaper, more participants without the work

-things like mail surveys

-causes issues in developmental research:

-these strategies are still used, but instead now they have someone self-report on behalf of kid (people like parent, teacher, caregivers)

-used lots in ADHD testing

How an experiment works? flowchart?

participants→Random Assignment to Different Conditions→Experimental vs Control Group→compare groups on outcome measure

What is Quantitative Research?

testing groups and using numerical scales and statistics

-survey tests

What is Qualitative Research?

personal interviews

What is Age of Viability?

-earliest point at which a baby can survice outside the womb

-finernails, hair eyebrows, etc

-brain is developed and grows

What is the Umbilical Cord?

-attaches the placenta to the fetus, through which nutrients are passed and fetal wastes are removed

What is the Amniotic Sac?

-a bag shaped, fluid filled membrane that contains and insulates the fetus

Describe the 1st Trimester of Pregnancy?

often feeling tires and ill, morning sickness

-uterine lining grows, feeling faint, headaches, tender breasts, peeing a lot

What does gestation mean?

period of pregnancy, typically 40 weeks, length of pregnancy

What is a trimester?

3 month period, 3 during pregnancy, word to describe parts of pregnancy

What are hormones?

chemical substances released in the bloodstream that target and change organs + tissues

What is Progesterone?

maintains pregnancy, surges after implantation

What is HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin)?

produced by placenta, prevents body from rejecting the foreign embryo

What is miscarriage?

the naturally occurring loss of pregnancy + death of fetus

-1 in 10 pregnancies

-late 30s 1 in 5 chance

-can cause partner reactions: partner can also feel grief and mental turmoil

-may experience self blame, but it is just a developmental issue

Describe the 2nd Trimester of Pregnancy?

feeling much better and connecting emotionally

What is quickening?

the first feeling of baby kicking/moving

-deepens connection to baby

Describe the 3rd Trimester of Pregnancy?

-getting very large and waiting for birth

can cause:

-work worries: family-work conflict

-”will I still be allowed to work if I have to take more time off for baby?”

-relationship issues: pregnancy can cause issues, if partner is happy/not happy about baby

-physical issues: backaches, leg cramps, numbness, distress, heartburn, insomnia, anxiety

What is a Teratogen?

a substance that crosses the placenta and harms the fetus

-infectious disease, medication, drugs, radiation, pollution, alcohol, extreme stress

What is a Sensitive Period?

the time when a body structure is most vulnerable to damage by a teratogen

-ex: if alcohol comes into system when baby’s brain is being developed, brain will have higher risk of becoming damaged

What are Developmental Disorders?

-learning impairments + behavioral problems during infancy and childhood

-Ex: delays in milestones like walking/talking, hyperactivity, learning issues

Explain Basic Principles of Teratogens?

-most likely to cause major structural damage during the embryonic stage (3-8 wks when organs are being formed)

-can affect the developing brain throughout pregnancy (brain develops through entire pregnancy)

-can have a threshold level above which damage occurs

-teratogens exert their damage unpredictably, depending on fetal/maternal vulnerabilites

Explain Effect of Smoking + Alcohol on Baby?

-threshold levels depend on mother and babys genetic factors

-say that levels vary and pregnant women should avoid teratogens

-smoking=smaller and less healthy babies: less able to regulate behavior + prone to antisocialness

-Smoking nic restricts bloodflow to baby

What is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

-cluster of different birth defects

causes: smaller than normal birth weight, facial abnormalities

Quick Description of Prenatal Stress?

-prenatal depression and severe emotional upheavals: can impair fetal growth or provoke premature labor

What is Cortisol?

our stress hormone, if you have elevated stress levels before getting pregnant, child could be smaller than normal, can travel from placenta to fetus

What is Fetal Programming Research?

impact of traumatic pregnancy events and stress on producing low birth weight, obesity, and long term physical problems

lbw and obesity are opposites but, if a child is deprived in womb, they will come out seeking nourishment

What is a single-gene disorder?

occurs on one single gene

-passed genetically

What is a dominant disorder?

-Huntingtons Disease: one copy of the abnormal gene causes the disorder, 50% of kid with affected parent or 2/4 kids in punnet square

What is a recessive disorder?

you have to get one from both parents, you have two copies of the abnormal gene

-1/4 or 25% change of passing on

-things like tay-sachs and cystic fibrosis

What is a sex-linked single gene disorder?

-hemophilia: you cross 50% male, 50% female

-carried on the female X chromosome

-typically leaves female offspring unaffected because even if they get it, they have another X to balance it out

-50/50 chance of affecting the male because males don’t have another X chromosome

men have higher change of getting it but women can be carriers