Child Development Midterm 1

Plato

Believed in the innate knowledge of children

Aristotle

Believed all knowledge comes from experience

• infant mind is a blank slate

Locke

Also viewed the child as a blank slate

• growth of character most important

• should avoid indulging children

Rousseau

Believed parents/society should give children maximum freedom from the beginning

• they learn from spontaneous interactions with objects/people

Nature

Biological endowment (genes)

Nurture

Environmental influence

Genome

Influences behaviors and experiences, and behaviors and experience in turn influence it

Epigenetics

The study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated by the environment

Methylation

A biochemical process that influences behavior by suppressing gene activity and expression

Continuous

The idea that changes with age occur gradually, in small increments, like that of a pine tree growing taller

Discontinuous

The idea that changes with age include occasional larger shifts; like a caterpillar to a butterfly

Stage Theories

Approaches proposing that development involves a series of larger, discontinuous, age-related phases

• best known: Jean Piaget’s

Piaget’s Cogntiive Development

• age 2-5: focus on one aspect of event

• age 7: focus on 2 or more aspects

Effortful Attention

Voluntary control of one’s emotions and thoughts

Cumulative Risk

The accumulation of disadvantages over years of development

Scar (1992)

Children become different from each other because of differences in:

1. Genetics

2. Treatment by parents and others

3. Reactions to similar experiences

4. Choice of environments

Active Child

As they grow older, the child increasingly chooses activities and friends for themselves and thus influences their own subsequent development

Mitosis

Cell division

Apoptosis

Cell death

Androgens

Hormones including testosterone that lead to the development of male genitalia

Ectopic Pregnancies

Pregnancy in which the fertilized egg implants and grows in an organ outside of the uterus (most often the fallopian tube)

Neural Tube

A groove formed in the top layer of differentiated embryo cells that eventually becomes the brain and spinal chord

Amniotic Sac

A transparent, fluid-filled membrane that surrounds and protects the fetus

Placenta

A support organ for the fetus

• keeps circulatory system of fetus and parent separate

• semipermeable membrane allows some exchange of materials

Umbilical Chord

A tube containing the blood vessels connecting the fetus and placenta

Cephalocaudal Development

The pattern of growth in which areas near the head develop earlier than areas farther from the head

Week 1 (fetus)

Fallopian tube → womb → embryo forms

Week 2-3 (fetus)

Embryo forms 3 layers and neural tube

Week 4 (fetus)

Neural tube develops more, heart visible, arm and leg buds formed

Week 5-9 (fetus)

Facial features differentiate, rapid brain growth, internal organs form, fingers and toes emerge, sex differentiation starts

Week 10-12 (fetus)

Heart develops adult structure, spine and ribs develop more, brain forms divisions

Week 13-24 (fetus)

Lower body growth, genitalia developed, hairy outer covering formed, movements felt

Week 25-38 (fetus)

Triples in size, brain and lungs good for survival at 28, visual and auditory function, capable of learning

Phylogenic Continuity

Humans share many characteristics, behaviors, and developmental processes with nonhuman animals, especially mammals, due to our common evolutionary history

Teratogens

An external agent that can cause damage or death during prenatal development

Low Birth Weight (LBW)

A birth weight of less than 5½ lbs

Premature

Born at 35 weeks after conception or earlier

Small for gestational age (SFGA)

Weight substantially less than normal for their gestational age

Endophenotypes

Intermediate phenotypes, including the brain and nervous system, that do not involve overt behavior

Regulator genes

Genes that control the activity of other genes

Behavior Genetics

The science concerned with how variation in behavior and development results from the combination of genetic and environmental factors

Heritability Estimate

Applies only to a particular population living in particular environment

Polygenic

Affected by the combination of many genes

Neurogenesis

The proliferation of neurons through cell division

Glial cells

Form myelin sheath around axons

Cerebral Cortex

The “gray matter” of the brain, consisting of 4 distinct lobes

• occipital (vision)

• temporal (hearing)

• parietal (touch)

• front (cognitive)

Cerebral Lateralization

The specialization of the hemispheres of the brain for different modes of processing

• right = facial processing

• left = speech processing

Arborization

Formation of new dendrite trees and branches

Spines

Formations on the dendrites of neurons that increase the dendrites’ capacity to form connections with other neurons

Synaptogensis

The process by which neurons form synapses with other neurons, resulting in trillions of connections

Experience-expectant Plasticity

The process through which the normal wiring of the brain occurs in part as a result of species-typical experiences

Experience-dependent Plasticity

The process through which neural connections are created and reorganized throughout life as a function of an individual’s experiences

Secular Trends

Marked changes in physical development that have occurred over generations

Food neophobia

An unwillingness to eat unfamiliar foods developed by most young children

Herd Immunity

Vaccines operate on ____

Reflexes

Fixed patterns of action that occur in response to particular stimulation

• grasping, rooting, sucking, swallowing

Affordances

The possibilities for action offered by objects and situations

• small objects can be picked up

• flat surfaces can be walked on

Pre-reaching Movements

Clumsy swiping movements by young infants toward objects they see

Self-locomotion

The ability to move oneself around in the environment

• at about 8 months

Scale Errors

The attempt by a young child to perform an action on a miniature object that is impossible due to the large discrepancy in the relative sizes of the child and the object

True (Infants…)

True or False: Infants come into the world with all their sensory systems functioning to some degree

Sensation

Processing of information from the external world by receptors in the sense organs and brain

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information about the world around us

Preferential-looking Technique

A method for studying visual attention in infants that involves showing infants 2 images simultaneously to see if they prefer one over the other

Visual Acuity

The sharpness and clarity of vision

Contrast Sensitivity

The ability to detect differences in light and dark areas in a visual pattern

• poor in young infants

Cone Cells

Light-sensitive neurons that are highly concentrated in the fovea

• immature in infants

• reason for poor contrast sensitivity

Smooth Pursuit Eye Movement

Visual behavior in which the viewers gaze shifts at the same rate and angle as a moving object

Gaze-following

Synchronizing visual attention with another person by tracking their gaze

• 2nd year after birth

Perceptual Constancy

The perception of objects as being of constant size, shape, color, and so on, in spite of physical differences in the retinal image of the object

• evident early in life

Object Segregation

The identification of separate objects in a visual array

• boundaries between objects

• motion is a cue

Violation-of-expectancy

A procedure in which infants are shown an event that should evoke surprise or interest if it is inconsistent with their prior knowledge

Optical Expansion

A depth cue in which an object occludes increasingly more of the background, indicating that the object is approaching

Binocular Disparity

The difference between the retinal image of an object in each eye that results in two slightly different signals being sent to the brain

• closer object = more disparity

Stereopsis

The process by which the visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity, resulting in the perception of depth

• about 4 months

Monocular Depth Cues

The perceptual cues of depth (such as relative size and interposition) that can be perceived by one eye alone

• about 6-7 months

• aka pictorial cues

Auditory Localization

Perception of the location in space of a sound source

• rely on differences in the timing and volume arriving at each ear

Head-turn Preference Procedure

Test of auditory perception where different sounds are played to infants from different locations, and the researcher uses the duration of infants’ looks toward each location to determine which they prefer

Perceptual Narrowing

Developmental changes in which experience fine-tunes the perceptual system to focus on the distinctions between stimuli that are most relevant in their environment

Intermodel Perception

The combining of information from 2 or more sensory systems

Rational Learning

The ability to use prior experiences to predict what will occur in the future

Active Learning

Learning by engaging with the world, rather than passively observing objects and events

• surprise = driving factor

• reduces uncertainty

Individuate

Its easier for infants to remember items when they can ____ them, or treat them as distinct entities

Prosody

The characteristic rhythm and intonational patterns with which a language is spoken

Categorical Perception

The perception of phonemes as belonging to discrete categories

Voice Onset Time

The length of time between when air passes through the lips and when the vocal chords start vibrating

• infants can distinct b/w them better than adults

Word Segmentation

Discovering where words begin and end in fluent speech

• begins at 1½ years

Distributional Properties

In any language, certain sounds are more likely to occur than others

Babbling

Repetitive consonant-vowel sequences (bababa) or hand movements (for ASL learners)

• begins between 6 and 10 months

Joint Attention

The caregiver follows the baby’s lead, looking at and commenting on whatever the infant is looking at

• contributes to intersubjectivity

Intersubjectivity

Mutual understanding between caregiver and infant

Overextension

An overly broad interpretation of the meaning of a word (ex: calling any animal a dog)

Underextension

An overly narrow interpretation of the meaning of a word (ex: only your pet is called a dog)

Productive Vocab

Reached at about 18 months

• 50-ish words

Nativism

Child as “noble savage”: messy, don’t know what they're doing, but they have ideals and morals

• Rousseau

Empiricism

Child as blank slate: experience determines who you become

• Locke

Behaviorism

Who you are is determined by the reinforcements you have

• learning theory

• Watson, Skinner

Ecological Validity

A study should mirror the child’s ecology; their experiences of the real world 

Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene

Central to regulation of stress response 

Cross-fostering

• Experimental technique to test causation

• Offspring raised by the opposite mom from their birth