PSC 140 Exam 1

Plato

Believed children were born with knowledge and experiences trigged this knowledge

Aristotle

Children acquire knowledge through experiences, not through innate knowledge. They acquire knowledge piece by piece

Tabula Rasa

John Locke. blank slate, experience molds the infant, child, and adolescent into a unique individual

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Justice and morality innate, unfolds as we age

Industrial revolution

Children were a cheap form of labor, reformers started campaigns to think about the children

Charles Darwin

Known for the theory of evolution, the theory of how species adapt over time not unlike how individuals adapt over time. Also did baby biographies

Baby biographies

Detailed observations of individual children. Often subjective and conclusions were sometimes reached based on minimal evidence.

G. Stanley Hall

Theories of child development, use of questionnaires for children’s thoughts, activities, and attitudes. Created scientific journal that published child development literature. Based on evolutionary theory and conducted studies to determine age trends in children’s beliefs about a range of topics

Alfred Binet

Mental tests

Sigmund Freud

Discussed the role of early experience in later life pathology

John B. Watson

Coined behaviorism, and the importance of reward and punishment for child rearing practices

Behaviorism

Conditioning of social and emotional behavior, Baby Albert experiments

Theory

Organized set of ideas that is designed to explain and make predictions. Lead to hypotheses that can be tested

Biological perspective

Development is rooted in biology.

Maturational theory

Arnold Gesell, child development reflects a specific and prearranged scheme or plan within the body

Ethological theory

Konrad Lorenz. Views development from an evolutionary perspective. Behavior’s are adaptive. There are critical periods, which means that all animals are biologically programmed so that some kinds of learning appear only at certain ages. EX: Ducks imprint on the first things they saw moving but it has to occur in the first day

Critical period

time in development when a specific type of learning can take place; before or after the critical period, the same learning is difficult or even impossible

Psychodynamic theory

Freud. Early experiences shaped our later lives. How we resolve conflicts faced at different stages of development effects our older selves. Includes Id, ego, and superego

Id

Instinctual drives that operate on the basis of the pleasure principle

Ego

Rational component of the personality, which tries to satisfy the needs through appropriate, socially acceptable behaviors

Super ego

Repository of the child’s internalization of parental or societal values, morals, and roles. “moral agent”

Psychosocial theory

Erik Erikson. Development consists of a sequence of stages, each defined by a unique crisis or challenge

Basic trust vs. mistrust

Birth to 1 year

Challenge: Develop sense the world is safe

Autonomy vs shame and doubt

1 to 3 years

Challenge: Realize independent person

Initiative vs. guilt

3 to 6 years

Challenge: Try new things and handle failure

Industry vs. inferiority

6 years to adolescence

Challenge: Learn basic skills & work together

Identity vs. identity confusion

Adolescence

Challenge: Develop lasting integrated self

Intimacy vs. isolation

Young Adulthood

Challenge: Commit to loving relationship

Generativity vs. stagnation

Middle Adulthood

Challenge: Contribute to younger people

Integrity vs. despair

Late Life

Challenge: View one’s life as satisfactory

Operant conditioning

BF Skinner. Consequences of behavior determine if behavior is repeated. Reinforcement and punishment. However, not all behavior’s are the result of rewards and punishments. There is also imitation or observational learning

Reinforcement

Consequences that increase future likelihood of behavior

Punishment

Consequence that decreases future likelihood of behavior

Social Cognitive Theory

Albert Bandura. More than imitation, requires interaction of thought with social environment. We have self efficacy. Imitation requires thinking about, who the person is, is the behaviors rewarded? and does the child have the talent to do it too?

Cognitive developmental perspective

Jean Piaget. How children think and try to make sense of their world, how their thinking changes as they grow. Four stages

Sensorimotor

Birth to 2 years. Knowledge based on senses; by end can use mental representations

Preoperational

2 to 6 years. Learn how to use symbols; only relates to their own perspective

Concrete Operational

7 to 11 years. Understanding and using logical operations to experiences if the experiences are “here and now”

Formal Operational

Adolescence +. Thinks abstractly, can speculate on hypotheticals

Contextual perspective

Lev Vygotsky. Relates to culture. Society aims to enable children to develop cultural values and skills, so have to consider cultural backdrop

Systemic observation

Watching children and recording what they do or say

Naturalistic observation

Real life situations, with variables decided to be recorded ahead of time

Pro: Can capture great information

Cons: some events are rare

Structured observation

Created situation to elicit behavior of interest Ex: Having mother and child come to lab and play, then record child reaction to clean up.Pros: Allows research into difficult to capture behaviors

Pros: Allows research into difficult to capture behaviors

Cons: Participants might behave differently because they are being observed

Sampling behavior with tasks

Example: Study memory with digit span task

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Pros: Easy!

Cons: Might not capture behavior of interest correctly

Self Reports

Asking children about their behaviors

Response bias

Some responses are more socially acceptable than others

Reliable

provides consistent results

Valid

It really measures what is says it does

Correlational study

Relationship between variables as they exist naturally without intervention, usually looking at 2 variables. This is a numerical estimate of how closely two variables are related to each other, and in which direction. But, Identifying a relationship and attributing its cause to one variable or the other can lead to incorrect assumptions

Experimental studies

Lab experiment. Not natural environment, calls results into questions

Field Experiment

Researchers deliberately create a change in a real-world setting and then measure the outcome of their manipulation. Can be difficult to set up

Quasi-experiment

Researchers measure the results of events that occur naturally in the real world that would be impossible or unethical to conduct an experiment on

Cross-Sectional Design

Researchers compare groups of individuals of different age levels at the same point in time

Disadvantages include Yields no information about the causes of the age-related differences Yields no information about stability or change of individuals across age Differences could be due to age-related changes, or historical change/cohort effects

Longitudinal Studies

Investigators follow the same people over a period of time, with repeated observations

Can examine change in individuals across time rather than differences in age groups Can examine stability over time Can examine possible causes of change over time

Issues:

Not as efficient as cross-sectional approach Loss of participants over the course of the study (mortality) Selective attrition Lack of flexibility on terms of updating methods of measurement

Practice effects

Cohort effects – change may be due to a specific generation of people

More time consuming and expensive

Microgenetic study

Attempts to track change when it actually occurs. Think of it as a very brief longitudinal design

Meta-analysis

Combines the results of many studies to draw conclusions about associations The accuracy of a these is limited by the samples in the individual studies and the quality of the designs

Ethical Responsibilities

 Minimize risk to research participants  Describe the research to potential participants  Informed consent  Avoid deception  Keep results anonymous and confidential

Gene

segments of DNA that provide a specific set of instructions

Genotype

Complete set of genes makes up a person’s heredity

Phenotype

Genetic instructions, in conjunction with environmental influences produce this. An individual’s physical, behavioral, and psychological features

Alleles

Different forms of same gene

Homozygous

Gene pair is the same

Heterozygous

Gene pair is different

Genetic counseling

Detailed family history that can be used to decide potential risks for individual

Down syndrome

An extra 21st chromosome. First several months is normative development, but soon fall behind in developmental milestones. Extra chromosome usually comes from the mother’s egg. Chances increase with increased maternal age

Polygenic inheritance

Most behavioral traits are reflective of the interaction of multiple genes acting in concert

Behavioral genetics

Determining the impact of heredity on behavioral and psychological traits. Studied through twin and adoption studies. Comparing scores between mono and dizygotic twins can help tease apart the effects of genes. However, identical twins might be treated more similarly than fraternal twins. Comparing behaviors a child to their birth parents and adopted parents also helps us to understand this. Molecular genetics: Collecting DNA to see if there is a relationship between genotype and outcome of interest

Epigenesis

Interaction of genes and multiple levels of the environment

Methlyation

The “turning off” of some genes due to environmental factors

Heritability coefficient

Extent to which differences between people reflect heredity. It applies to variation (differences between people). As a singular person, you do not have variation

Niche-picking

Seeking environments that fit one’s heredity

Nonshared environmental influences

Parents might treat children differently, Peers might push siblings towards different behaviors

Period of the Zygote

Weeks 1 to 2. Ends when the zygote (fertilized egg) implants itself on the all of the uterus

Implantation

Blastocyst burrows into uterine wall and established connection with mother’s blood vessels

Germ disc

Small cluster of cells near center of blastocyst. Eventually forms into the baby

Placenta

Layer of cells closest to uterus, which exchanges nutrients and waste with the mother

Period of the embryo

weeks 3-8. Called embryo when completely embedded in the uterine wall

Ectoderm

Outer layer, forming hair, skin, and the nervous system

Mesoderm

middle layer, forming muscles, bones, and circulatory system

Endoderm

inner layer, forming digestive system and lung

Villi

Finger like projections that blood flows through near mothers blood vessels. Allows exchange of oxygen, vitamins, and waste projects to be exchanged

Period of the fetus

weeks 9-38. At beginning, weighs less than an ounce. 4 months, fetus is 4 – 8 ounces (can feel it move!). Tube forms, one end becomes the brain, the rest the spinal cord. Distinct brain structures begin to grow, begins to regulate body functions. In third month, hormone in testes secreted that causes some cells to become penis and scrotum. If absent, vagina and labia forms. Heart rate variability at about 6 months. Moves about once a minute. Can hear mom’s heartbeat and voice. Can taste flavors in amniotic fluid. Enough light passes through abdominal wall for fetus to see. Develop memory.

Vernix

Greasy substance that covers and protects skin

General risk factors

Nutrition, stress, mother’s age, father’s age

Teratogens

An agent that causes abnormal prenatal development. Three classes: diseases, drugs, and environmental hazards. Effects can differ dependent on what stage of development exposed. Affects a specific aspect(s) of prenatal development. Also depends on the dose. Damage not always obvious at birth.

Ultrasound

Sound waves used to generate picture of fetus. Can be used as early as 4 to 5 weeks after conception. Can help determine twins, and if fetus developing normally, as well as gestational age

Amniocentesis

A sample of fetal cells obtained from amniotic fluid. If done, completed around 16 weeks after conception

Chorionic villus sampling (CVS)

Sample of tissue from a part of the placenta. An be done around 9-12 weeks

Fetal medicine

Treating fetal problems before birth. Administering drugs or fetal surgery

Stage 1 of birth

Contractions start weaker, and are spaced irregularly. Eventually become more and more regular. 12-24 Hours. Cervix enlarges to 10 cm

Stage 2 of birth

Cervix fully enlarged (the “pushing” part of pregnancy)  Crowning, where babies head appears  Breech presentation is when babies feet or bottom arrives first

1 hour. Baby moves down the birth canal

Stage 3 of birth

Placenta is expelled from the uterus. 10-15 minutes. Placenta is expelled

Hypoxia

 Can occur after prolapsed umbilical cord. **** Can lead to developmental disabilities or even death  Monitoring heart rate can help guard against hypoxia

Premature infants

Born 35 weeks after conception or earlier. Might lag behind developmental milestones for first couple of years, but catch up

Small for date infants

Substantially smaller than would be expected. Babies under 3.3 pounds often do not survive

Autonomic

control of breathing, temperature

Motor

Control of body movements and activity level

State

Maintaining states, like alert or asleep

Social

Ability to interact with others

Babinski

Toes fan out when sole stroked