CPSY 3301 Exam 1

What is the study of developmental psychology?

A field of study devoted to understanding all aspects of human growth from conception through old age. Includes physical development (motor skills, reaching, grasping, etc), cognitive development (how do children think, memory, morals, attention), and emotional and social development (emotional regulation, friendship)

Why is it important to study child development?

To seek to unravel “mysteries of childhood” and how we become who we are

Nature vs Nurture

One of the central issues in the field of psychology. Argues if genetic make-up or environment has more of an influence when determining things like personality, mental health, and other individualistic traits. Current view is that both genetics and environment matter, but disagreement continues about relative importance of each.

Is development active or passive?

One of the central issues in the field of psychology. Argues that development is active, which means the child directs, shapes, and controls their own environment, or is it passive, meaning the child is shaped by external forces. The current view is that influence is bidirectional; the child is more active in development than originally thought.

Is development a continuous process or is it a series of discontinuous changes?

One of the central issues in the field of psychology. Argues that development is continuous, meaning gradual, quantitative change, or age-related changes that occur gradually, or that it is discontinuous, meaning it is abrupt, qualitative change, and age-related changes include occasional large shifts so that children of different ages seem qualitatively different. The current view is that developmental change is generally gradual.

One course of development or many?

One of the central issues in the field of psychology. Argues that development is either one course, meaning developmental processes are universal, or many courses, meaning that contact has a profound impact on development. Current view is that children are influenced by sociocultural context.

Developmental Cascade

The cumulative, spreading consequences of interactions across different domains, systems, or stages of life that alter a person’s development over time.

How are cascading influences seen across domains and across developmental time?

Achievements and developments in one domain can trigger a chain reaction that shapes another domain, like when an infant learns motor skills to explore new objects, it can trigger joint attention with the caregiver, leading to language development.

Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory

Emphasized the importance of biological drives, especially sexual drive, needed for species to survive. Modern parenting advice is less measured in rigid stages, and doesn’t focus on the sexual drive of children.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

As a follower-reviser of Freud, this theory emphasizes the importance of social and cultural conflict/interaction, and how that influences continuous development throughout the lifespan. Modern advice differs by limiting independence.

Behaviorism

Focus is on observable behavior, and how it is shaped by environment around the child. Uses classical conditioning and operant conditioning and how it is shapes by the environment around the child. Modern advice believes that these external rewards undermine intrinsic motivation by teaching infants to just go for the prize instead of building long-time self control.

Piaget’s Constructivist Theory

Emphasizes the importance of children’s innate desire to explore, maturation of the brain and body, and their experiences in the world around them. Takes a constructivist approach that children actively construct a system for understanding the world. Modern advice conflicts by parents telling their kids how they are feeling, and explaining things around them.

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Agreed with Piaget that maturation and experiences are important, but viewed it through a sociocultural context in which cognitive growth evolves out of social interactions and culture influences cognitive development. Modern advice conflicts by parents following “hands off” advice, failing to benefit the child in their social growth.

Why are developmental theories important?

They provide structured frameworks for explaining how and why people grow, learn, and change across the lifespan, cognitively, physically, emotionally, and socially.

What are characteristics of a good theory?

That the theory is simple enough to be understood, testable, stimulates new ideas within the developmental field, has internal consistency of core concepts, assumptions, and stages that don’t contradict each other, and comprehensiveness.

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

States that people learn new behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions by observing and imitating others, rather than relying solely on direct trial-and-error experiences. This coincides with Vygotsky and Erikson’s theories.

Evolutionary Theory

Takes evolution and vital processes into account when looking at development in neurological and ecological mechanisms that aided during early survival. This aligns with Freud's psychodynamic theory. Examples include infant crying and cuteness, rooting and grasping, stranger anxiety, separation distress, etc.

Information-processing theory

Equates the human mind as a computer system that continuously acquires, encodes, transforms, stores, and retrieves information (sensory memory, long term memory, etc)

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model

Explains that human development is shaped by interactions with the child and their surrounding environment.

Microsystem= immediate social context (family, school, neighborhood, peers)

Mesosystem= Interconnections between microsystems (parent/teacher, parents/friends)

Exosystem= Larger environment, no direct contact (parent’s workplaces, school board)

Marcosystem= values of society/culture in which the individual lives (broad culture values like individualism, collectivism, laws for children, etc)

Chronosystem= Time, traditions

Dynamic systems theory

Views human behavior and development as emerging from continuous, self-organizing interactions among multiple biological, psychological, and environmental subsystems overtime.

Longitudinal designs

Takes a certain group/cohort/individual and studies them overtime. Can be costly and time consuming.

Cross-sectional design

Takes two groups and studies them individually, together, once in time. Quick, but can have insufficient data to be able to establish cause and effect

Before becoming pregnant, women/child-bearing parents should…

Beware of alcohol and other drugs, folic acid supplements, good nutrition, reduce stress, get appropriate vaccines, and quit smoking.

Men/sperm providers…

Should reduce second-hand smoke, ensure good health for good sperm which is associated with a viable pregnancy, etc.

Germinal (0-2 weeks)

Start out as a zygote (single cell), and beings to divide as it travels from the fallopian tube to uterus (blasiosyst). Has inner cells (embryonic disk) and outer cells (protective coating). Ends with implantation in uterus, timing is extremely important.

Embryonic (2-8 weeks)

This stage is the most important/most sensitive. Organs begin to form (organogenesis).

Week 3: neural tube

Week 4: heart, eyes

Week 7: muscles differentiating, proliferation of neurons, sensitive period. Highly susceptible to teratogens

Fetal (9 weeks - birth)

Fetus grows from about 1 ½ to 20 inches in length, and .02 to 7 pounds. Organs become more differentiated and refined.

3 months: distinguish external and sexual characteristcis

4 months: bones distinct, hair appears, reflexes (swallowing, thumb-sucking, “breathing”)

7-8 months: lungs can breathe air, eyes open /close

What are the prenatal stages (in order)

Germinal, embryonic, fetal

Cephalocaudal

Development occurs from the head downwards in a fetus

Proximodistal

Development occurs from the center to periphery in a fetus

Teratogens

Any environmental agents, substances, infections, or physical conditions that can interfere with normal embryonic or fetal development and cause birth defects, growth restriction, functional damage, or pregnancy loss. Some of the most common are alcohol, tobacco/cigarette smoke, drugs, sitting in a sauna, deli meats/raw fish, etc.

What have experiments with nonhuman organisms indicated concerning the function of fetal activity in development?

Animal studies have indicated increased heart rate with injections of bad-smelling substance in the placenta. This indicates that fetuses can taste in the womb, and that fetal activity plays a vital role in structural maturation, the self-organization of the nervous system, and behavioral adaptation for life after birth.

How do we know hearing develops by 5-6 months prenatally?

Cat in the Hat study (Decasper & Spence, 1986) made mothers read Cat in the Hat to their infant in the womb. 3 days after birth, they read the story again and infant showed recognition. Partanen et al, 2013 made mothers play a recording several times a week, or the last 2 months of pregnancy, containing “tatata” or variation. Through EEG sensors, it was measured that infants showed recognition after birth.

How do we know olfactory receptors are developed by 7 months?

Animal studies indicated an increased heart rate when bad-smelling substance is injected into the placenta. Varendi et al. 2002 tested 3 days post natal infants with a pad saturated by their mother’s amniotic fluid and a stranger’s amniotic fluid, infant showed preference for familiar smell.

How do we know taste buds are present by 3-6 months?

SeSnoo (1937) injected a sweet or bitter substance into the amniotic fluid. The sweet substance was drank more by the fetus. Mennella et al (2001) assigned mothers to drink carrot juice several times a week during last trimester or breastfeeding period. Infants exposed to solid foods preferred carrot flavored cereal.

Moro reflex

Appears 9-12 weeks of gestation, infant’s limbs will automatically extend when exposed to sudden changes in simulation.

Palmar grasp

Appears 28 weeks of gestation, infants will instinctively curl their fingers when something touches their palm.

Rooting reflex

Appears 28-32 weeks of gestation, infant will turn their head when their cheek is stroked, usually paired with sucking to ingest food.

Sucking reflex

Appears 32 weeks of gestation, infant will preform rhythmic mouth movements in order to inject breastmilk/formula

Swallowing reflex

Appears 28-34 weeks of gestation, infant will do this to coordinate fluid intake

Stepping and tonic neck reflexes

Appears later in the third trimester or postnatally, helps set up the basis for walking and basic movement.

What is the best predictor of a healthy baby?

Getting prenatal care, although this can be confounded by lack of access, financial and medical resources, rural locations, etc.

What is the best indicator for a healthy baby at birth?

Birth weight

What triggers childbirth?

Signals from the fetus stimulate maternal hormone production. The infant is very physically impacted, with skull shaping, lungs cleared of fluid, blood flow stopping at the umbilical cord, etc.

What is the stress hormone rush?

A massive, natural surge of hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol) causing blood flow to the brain, heart, and lungs. It absorbs liquid from the lungs and opens bronchial tubes which arouses baby to alertness.

What are differences in culture regarding childbirth?

Who helps the mother (doctors versus family/community members), method of delivery (laying down versus standing up), where the delivery occurs (hospital versus home birth), role of the partner (highly involved versus just empathizing)

What are common medical interventions during childbirth?

Cesarean (C) section and painkillers or sedatives. Most help the mother with pain management or if birth process is dangerous, usually non-beneficial for the baby as it slows down labor, has a higher chance of fetal hypoxia (oxygen deprivation), and short-term depressed responses. Has no long-term effects on the baby.

How is a newborns behavioral and physical condition assessed?

APGAR score (skin color, pulse, grimace, activity, respiration) vital signs (heart rate, breathing rate, temperature), and birth weight.

Consequences of Low birth rate (LBW)?

Higher infant mortality (neurological damage, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma and visual problems), higher risk of cognitive defects (attention problems, poorer motor coordination, lower cognitive abilities). The Barker Hypothesis hypothesized poor growth in fetal environment → health problems later in life.

Consequences of high birth rate (HBW)?

About 9 pounds, risk of birth injuries, fetal hypoxia, rare higher mortality, and higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Rates are increasing and are linked to the increasing rate of obesity in the population.

Neurogenesis

Proliferation of neurons through cell division, most of which form by ~18 mo. This provides building blocks for learning, memory formation, and sensory processing.

Synaptogenesis

The formation of new synapses (connections) between neurons. This drives behavioral changes during infancy by building the architecture for sensory, motor, cognitive, and social development

Synaptic pruning

Natural development where the brain eliminates synapses that are rarely used/needed, leading to a decrease in gray matter. This strengthens frequently used connections through a “use it or lose it” rule.

Myelination

A fatty sheath that greatly speeds up processing, causing an increase in white matter. This makes brain function smoother, faster, and more coordinated.

Plasticity

Capacity of the brain to be effected by experience.

Experience-expectant plasticity

How the brain learns information from experiences that it can expect to encounter through pre-wired connections that are already present.

Experience-dependent plasticity

How the brain learns information that depends on our individual experiences through new connections that are made as learning occurs.

What types of physiological and behavioral measures do researchers use to study newborns?

Sucking rates, eye movement, body movement, turning head, facial expressions, heart rate changes, EEGs, fussing, etc. Most of the time it is if the baby looks longer at one stimulus, it can be inferred that the infant has the ability to distinguish the two stimuli from each other.

What is the condition of a newborn’s auditory system?

Highly sensitive to sounds and phonemes (smallest meaningful sound categories in human speech eg. pa/ba). Eimas study saw that 1-4 mo increased sucking rate when slight sounds changed. They can perceive patterns in streams of sound and are capable of auditory localization from birth.

What are limitations in newborns vision?

Infants have immature anatomy (fovea has many fewer rods and cones), immature neural pathways (poor convergence/bifoveal fixation), and difficult coordinating movements of both eyes towards the same object. Visual acuity if very poor, very nearsighted (~20/600).

How do we know infants have poor visual acuity?

When shown 2 pictures, one with stripes and one without, infants only viewed pictures as different when stripes were enlarged x30 what an adult can detect.

How do we know infants have poor color vision?

Newborns show a preference to patterns and faces rather than color changes. They look longer at contrast differences than color differences.

How do we know that infants have poor depth perception?

Depth perception has 3 cues in infants:

Kinetic: operative from bith; cues created by movement. Very adaptive, profits from harm

Binocular: operative by ~4 mo, cues that rely on binocular disparity

Pictorial: operative by ~7 mo, cues that render depth in 2D images.

Infant face perception

Infants have heightened facial perception and look longer at familiar faces. They prefer simple two eyes one mouth facial patterns.

Perceptual Narrowing

A developmental process where an initially broad, flexible perceptual system becomes specialized to frequently experienced stimuli, reducing the reaction to unfamiliar stimuli.

Intermodal perception

The ability to integrate and coordinate information with two or or more sensory modalities (sight, smell, touch, etc) into a single experience

How do proximodistal and cephalocaudal patterns affect motor development?

Proximodistal (development from the center outward), infants gain control of muscle groups in the torso before limbs, while cephalocaudal (head down) gain control of the upper body (neck, arms, etc) before torso and lower body.

How does practice affect early motor development?

It strengthens muscles that will be used and maps early neural pathways, developing a framework for future movement. However, it is not linked to moving up milestones, as seen by Gesell and Thompson (1929), who discovered that even with a large amount of practice, it didn’t move the milestones at which most infants progressed.

Visual Cliff study

Conducted in 1960 by psychologist Gibson, took beginning crawlers (7 mo) and experienced crawlers (9 mo). Had a platform with a clear surface, creating an artificial drop. 2/3 of the beginning crawlers crossed into the deep end, while none of the experienced crawlers crossed. With social referencing, fewer beginning crawlers crossed when caregivers showed fear, and still no experienced crawlers crossed when caregivers showed joy. The conclusion is that beginning crawlers have depth perception but no wariness of heights.

What is the sleeping cycle for a newborn?

Drowsy (1 hr), alert awake (2-3 hrs), active awake (2-3 hrs), crying (2 hrs), sleep (8 hrs), and REM (8 hrs)

Autostimulation Theory

REM makes up for absence of visual input during sleep

Boismeyer Study

Varied level of newborns’ visual experience while awake and more visual stimulation → decrease in REM sleep

Cheour et al (2002)

Vowel sounds were played at night in the newborn nursery. When played during awake hours, infants showed recognition of vowel sounds. Results show that brain activity revealed recognition of the sounds heard while asleep, and the infant brain is not disconnected from external stimulation, which is a very adaptive process.

SIDs

Sudden infant death, sometimes seen in co-sleeping cases with suffocation and also linked to LBW, smoking during or after pregnancy, sleeping on the stomach, especially on soft bedding material, formula feeding, and being male. The highest risk is 3-9 months due to underdeveloped muscles for movement.

What is the adaptive function for crying?

All adults respond to babies’ crying with an increased heart rate, BP, and anxiety. IN less developed countries, babies are carried more, which leads to a decrease in crying. Babies cry for their needs, not for attention.

Sensorimotor stage

Acquire knowledge through motor behaviors, guided by sensory perception, and acting on the world across them. Object permanence develops during this stage.

Motor development

Perceptual and motor development are highly linked, and infants are constantly learning how their actions affect the world, and repeating the interesting actions. Factors that affect it are brain maturation, the capabilities of the body, and the desire to explore.

Cognitive development relation to motor development

Manipulating objects once they can coordinate mobility, which allows for much broader territory for exploring and learning

Social development and motor development

Elicits more responses from the caregiver once the baby starts moving and exploring, and triggers more joint attention

Joint attention

Both attention shared on one object between the baby and the caregiver, allowing for a social exchange over asking questions about the object, naming the object and characteristics, etc

Baillargeon, 1986

Had 6.5- and 8-month-olds track a car that ran behind a screen, testing possible and impossible events. A possible event is a block placed out of the car’s path, and an impossible event is the car being placed in the car’s path. The car runs through anyway, but both infants looked longer at the impossible event. This concludes that maybe younger infants do understand that objects continue to exist when out of sight.

A-not-B Error

Step 1: Hide an object under location A; the infant finds the object.

Step 2: hide the object under location B; the infant looks in location A

Piaget in A-not-B error

Infants do not understand that objects exist independently of actions (infants look at location B after the object is hidden)

Thelen (and others) A-not-B error

It is difficult for infants to overcome motor memory of success at location A

Challenges of sensorimotor thought

Piaget underestimated infants’ knowledge; tasks tested more than cognitive function, and results may have been limited due to motor skills. Challenges for current research are replicability; other factors may account for results (perceptual differences) and interventional conclusions (looking times)

Infant understanding of physical laws

To understand support, infants need to see the objects in contact first. Infants looked longer at an impossible event (blocks not supporting each other) and seemed to not understand why the blocks were still staying up without support.

Infant understanding of cause and effect

Habituated to an event where a ball knocked into another ball, causing it to move. Test events included another causal event and a “non-causal” event (a delay between bumping and movement). The results are that the infants looked longer at the non-causal event, showing that they have some understanding of cause and effect

Can infants distinguish 2 vs. 3 objects Starkey, 1992

Took 6-9 mo and habituated them with 2 or 3 objects. If habituated to 2 objects, they looked longer at 3 objects. If habituated to 3 objects, they looked longer at 2 objects.

Can infants keep track overtime? Wynn, 1992

Took 5 mo and tested a violation of expectation method where a screen goes up in front of an object. When the screen comes down, there are two objects. This happens both vice versa, with infants looking longer at the impossible event, meaning that infants can “add” and “subtract” small numbers. Wately (2000) finds results to be more variable.

Does it predict future math ability, Starr (2013)

Took 6 mo and tested a visual preference method. It placed infants in front of two screens: one that always showed the same number of dots but changed in size and position, and another that switched between two different numbers. Results showed that infants who preferred the numerically varying screen had better number sense 3 years later in preschool.

Habituation and recovery

A primary research technique used by developmental psychologists to measure infant memory, perception, and cognitive processing capabilities in young infants. Because they cannot speak, getting and keeping attention and habituation are used as measures.

Conjugate module

The mobile conjugate reinforcement paradigm is used to study infant learning and memory or the neurodevelopmental functions that control eye movements. It evaluates how infants understand cause-and-effect (agency) and how long they retain memories.

Deferred imitation

Where an infant observes someone act and reproduces that action later, after a time delay, without any immediate practice.

Behaviorist perspective of language development (BF Skinner)

Language acquisition is driven by properties of the language environment. Uses reinforcement, like praise for saying words, and imitation, like the child repeating what they hear. However, qualities of the environment alone are not enough to explain language acquisition

Nativist perspective of language development (Noam Chomsky)

Language acquisition is driven by innate properties of the child, and language acquisition is uniquely human. Believes that we are born with a language acquisition device (LAD), a “mental organ” programmed to recognize the universal (deep) structure of language.

Connectionist theory of language acquisition

Believes that children learn language through gradual information of neural networks and statistical pattern recognition in the brain rather than relying on innate, pre-programmed grammatical rules.

Dynamic systems theory of language development (Thelen)

Believes that language acquisition is a continuous, non-linear, and self-organizing process rather than a static, linear progression through fixed stages.

Sociocultural theory of language acquisition

Believes that language development and cognitive growth grow out of social interactions rather than happening in isolation.

Infant-Directed Speech (IDS)

A tonal, high-inflection, sing-songy type of speech that simplifies words, sentences, and other speech characteristics to make it easier for infants to digest. Has evidence of making infants have a higher level of attention than regular speech.

Do infants understand expressiveness? Fernald (1989)

When using an approving tone (A) and prohibitive words (P), do infants align more with tone or wording? When testing this on 9 mo, they aligned more with tone (still doing the action). When testing this on 18 mo, they responded with confusion when using AP.