EXAM 3 AHHHHH

bioecological systems theory

brofenbrenner’s theory about how there are multiple systems of ranging sizes that all have an effect on a child’s development; it includes the interaction between person and environmental factors

the bioecological systems

microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem

microsystem

everything that directly interacts with the child, such as parents, teachers, siblings, etc.

mesosystem

the interactions between the things within the microsystem

exosystem

any environments that the child is not directly a part of but still influences them, such as a parent’s workplace

macrosystem

wide-scale cultural beliefs, religions, laws, etc. that the child lives in

chronosystem

large-scale historical events that occur within a person’s lifespan

what does brofenbrenner heavily emphasize with his theory?

he heavily emphasizes that context matters for children’s development, and all environments are interconnected and influence each other

do expectations contribute to performance?

yes: others’ expectations (such as parents, teachers, peers) and a child’s own expectations regarding their cognitive level, models, and theories contribute heavily

implicit theory of intelligence

one’s internal theory of how intelligence works

incremental theory

intelligence can increase with work and practice

entity theory

intelligence is fixed and innate

describe the relationship between theories, goals, and behaviors for both incremental and entity theories

incremental - learning goals - mastery

entity - performance goals - learned helplessness

explain seligman’s dog experiment

dog tries to jump over but realizes that he’ll get shocked anyways; he develops learned helplessness

how do those with the incremental theory respond to failure in contrast to those with entity theory?

entity theory is afraid of failure, seeing effort and competence as negatively related

incremental theory will try harder and see effort and competence as positively

explain what dweck found with impossible problems

she tested 10 year olds and found that they fell into 2 groups; one attributed failure/success to their effort while the other attributed their failure/success to luck, ease of problem, and lack of situational control

girls were more likely to be devastated

praising children for working hard vs on enduring traits

praising children for working hard support incremental theory and a mastery-oriented motivational pattern

praising children on enduring traits leads to entity model and a helpless orientation

how do incremental and entity theories see criticisms

incremental: increases competence; something helpful

entity: avoid negative evaluations; makes them anxious

how do incremental and entity theories see challenges?

incremental: enjoys challenges

entity: prefer easy tasks

how do incremental and entity theories see the way that they present skills?

incremental: improve skills

entity: prove skills

explain the main idea of madison’s adversity study

children with lowered SES and teacher/mom expectations lead to greater outcomes; they had less distance to fall so they wanted to reinvent themselves, focusing on learning goals and mastery orientation

emotions

a psychophysiological experience; the state of mind interacting with biochemical and environmental factors that energizes your behavior and prepares you for action

what do emotions have an effect on?

cognition (different strategies and behaviors), social development (affecting behavior of others), and health (with emotional regulation)

what do infants do instead of verbally expressing themselves?

emotional expression

emotional intelligence

a set of abilities that contribute to competent social functioning; includes (CRIBER):

• control impulses and delay gratification

• regulate one’s moods

• identify and understand one’s own and others’ feelings

• being able to motivate oneself and persist if frustrated

• empathize with other

• regulate the expression of emotion in social interactions

explain the marshmellow study’s results after 10 years

kids were told to wait like 10-15m to wait for an extra marshmellow; the kids that waited were rated higher by their parents 10 years later on social, academic, verbal, rational thinking, attentiveness, planfulness, and frustration management (plus higher SAT scores)

explain the marshmellow study’s results after 10 years

kids were told to wait like 10-15m to wait for an extra marshmellow; the kids that waited were at a higher education level, had more self esteem, and coped with stress the best 20 years later

discrete emotions theory

emotions are innate and discrete from one another from very early in life; each emotion is packaged with a specific and distinctive set of bodily and facial reactions; these emotions are automatic and not based on cognition

functionalist approach (about emotions)

the basic function of emotions is to promote action towards a goal; believes that emotions are not discrete from one another and vary somewhat based on social environment

compass analogy of emotions

the idea that emotions push you towards a certain action;

• fear: flee

• joy: repeat

• anger: fight

• sadness: stop

first appearances of happiness

smile: from birth, mainly during REM based on a reflex

social smile (evoked by a human face): 3 to 10 weeks

laugh: 3-4 months

first appearances of anger

general distress: from birth

anger: 4-6 months

peaks between 18-24 months because they become better at expressing themselves through language

what is sadness usually a response to?

a disruption in caregiver-infant communication

fear

wariness of the unfamiliar 4 months

first fears develop 6-12 months, while stranger anxiety develops 8-12 months

self-conscious emotions

emotions that relate to our sense of self as separate from others and our consciousness of others’ reactions to us; starts in the 2nd year of life and includes guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride

when do children start to show embarassment?

about 15 to 24 months of age

by ____ years of age, children’s pride is increasingly tied to their ______?

3 years of age; tied to their level of performance

difference between guilt and shame

guilt is associated with empathy for others (involves feelings of remorse, regret, and the desire to make amends); shame does not seem to be related to concern about others

whether children experience guilt or shame partly depends on what?

parental practices:

“you did a bad thing” leads to guilt

“you are a bad kid” leads to shame

from early to middle childhood ______ and ______ become sources of happiness and pride?

acceptance by peers and achieving goals

do school-aged children fear real-life issues or imaginary issues?

they fear real-life issues more

by early school years, children base their anger on _______?

perceptions of others’ motives and intentions

emotional self-regulation

the ability to initiate, inhibit, or modulate their emotions; it changes their internal feelings, cognition about emotions, physiological responses, and behaviors

explain the shift from caregiver regulation to self-regulation of emotions

at first, parents will regulate infants’ exposure, but by 6 months they can reduce distress by themselves. ages 1 to 2 leads infants to distract themselves from distress

soon children will rely on themselves rather than their parents and use language to express their emotions

what contributes to the shift towards self-regulation of emotions?

social cognitive growth, increasing maturation of the brain (especially in the frontal lobe), adults’ changing expectations

to control negative emotions, younger children will use _____, while older children will use ______

behavioral strategies (like sucking their thumb), cognitive strategies (see a situation in a different light)

what do children have to account for when selecting an appropriate regulatory strategy?

• understanding which stressors can and cannot be controlled

• knowing which strategies are most effective

temperament

biologically based differences in emotional, motor, and attentional reactivity and self-regulation; it’s consistent across situation and stable over time

dimensions of temperment

differences in the various aspects of children’s emotional reactivity that emerge early in life; includes:

• fearful distress, irritable distress, attention span and persistence, activity level, positive affect/approach, and rhythmicity

what are the three temperament categories the new york longitudinal study found for babies?

easy babies (40%): adjusted readily to new experiences, quickly established routines, generally cheerful in mood and easy to calm

difficult babies (10%): slow to adjust to new experiences, likely to react negatively and intensely to stimuli and events, and irregular in their bodily functions

slow-to-warm-up babies (15%): somewhat difficult at first but became easier over time

(35% did not fit a category)

what did the new york longitudinal study find?

some dimensions of temperament showed stability over time and predicted how the kids were doing later

example: behavioral inhibition as infants led to elevated levels of fear in novel situations and social inhibition, along with anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal; negative, impulsive, and unregulated children became adults with adjustment problems

goodness of fit

how well children’s temperament fits with demands and expectations of the social environment; for example, a baby that’s difficult is more likely to survive a famine

do child’s temperament and the parents’ socialization efforts affect each other?

yes

self

conceptual system made up of one’s thoughts and attitudes about oneself

when do infants develop a sense of self?

in the first months of life; by 8 months their sense of self becomes distinct

explain rochat’s baby vs observer view experiment

3 month olds looked longer at the display of observer’s/reversed view; babies can tell the difference

explain the yellow booties study (bahrick and watson)

they showed 5 month olds vids of their own legs (with yellow booties) and another infant’s (with yellow booties) and they could tell the difference; they tended to look at the other infant’s more

describe children’s self recognition development

18 to 20 months: children become aware of their physical features

2 years: self-recognition is well underway

30 months: able to identify themselves in photos

explain the red lipstick test (bard)

tested 9 to 28 month olds; children have lipstick on their face and see themselves in the mirror; if they go to their own face, that means they know their reflection is them

young infants touch the mirror; infants over 20 months rub the spot on their own face

how did apes do on the red-lipstick test?

they seemed to pass it

______ attached toddlers display more complex self-related actions and more knowledge of their own and parents’ body?

securely

how do children from 3 to 4 understand themselves and evaluate themselves?

they understand themselves in terms of concrete, observable characteristics like physical attributes or psychological traits; their self-evaluations are unrealistically positive

by _____, children will know their name, age, and gender

3 to 5 years

describe how children experience a major shift in self-concept once in the 6-11 year old period

their descriptions focus on personality traits, both positive and negative, and they also engage in social comparison

children’s self-concepts become increasingly based on ______ making them vulnerable to _______

their relationships with others, especially peers, and others’ evaluations of them; low self-esteem

by 11 and up, children can…

combine separate traits into abstract ones and organize a self-concept system; reflecting their cognitive advances in the ability to use higher-order concepts

explain how the way that early adolescents think about themselves reflects egocentrism

• personal fable: belief that they are a main character in everybody’s life

• imaginary audience: very focused on what other people think of them

during middle teen years, adolescents often begin to agonize over…

…contradictions in their behavior and characteristics because they lack the cognitive skills to integrate these contradictions into a coherent conception of self

drive reduction attachment theory

babies have needs (drive), moms have what the babies need (reducing said drive), creating the attachment

behaviorist attachment theory

they have a hunger drive, so every time the parent provides, it’s a form of reinforcement, however, it doesn’t account for abused children

psychoanalytic attachment theory

freud: breast-feeding satisfies the erogenous drive for oral fixation

erikson: builds a sense of trust when being fed

ethological and evolutionary theories

bowlby: innate survival mechanisms, especially for altricial animals who depend on their mom for survival

lorenz: innate imprinting mechanisms

what are the stages of attachment according to bowlby and ainsworth?

pre-attachment (0-6 weeks): they just want to be soothed by any sort of caregiver (proximity seeking)

attachment in the making (6 weeks to 8 months): they like their caregiver the most but still like strangers

clearcut attachment (8 to 24 months): actively seek out their caregiver, cannot be comforted by other people; could develop separation anxiety

reciprocal relationships (+24 months): less separation anxiety, sees the caregiver as their own person

explain what harlow found with his cloth vs wire mom experiment

he thought that if attachment strictly results from reduction of hunger drive, infants should only need food to attach to their mothers

results contradicted drive reduction theories, the monkeys chose the cloth mom over wire mom with food

explain harlow’s scary robot toy experiment

when exposed to a scary looking, noisy toy, they spend more time with the cloth mom (security over food)

explain harlow’s exploration in strange room experiment

when placed in a strange room, the monkey will run to the cloth mom

what happens with monkey babies that are raised with sufficient food with no social interactions?

3 months: unhappy and depressed during isolation but ok with other monkeys

12 months: could not interact with other monkeys; withdrew and self-harmed like biting their own arms

afterwards, the monkeys could not interact, mate, or mother after becoming adults

explain harlow’s “rehab” for isolates

when pairing 6 month old isolates with 3 month old normal monkeys, social interactions improved and isolates became better at mothering

which theories did harlow’s studies debunk?

• operant conditioning

• oral fixation

• associating food with comfort

• imprinting

what did rheingold find in her experiment about secure bases?

10 month olds in a strange room with their mother, a stranger, and a scary toy will use the mom as a secure base; with the strange woman and scary toy, they will not explore

explain the experiment about testing how secure attachment to moms are in the strange situation

they’re seeing baby’s reactions to when the mom leaves and returns to figure out attachment styles

what are the four attachment styles?

secure (60%): used the mom as a secure base, were happy to see her but distressed when she leaves

insecure/avoidant (15%): distant both when sh'e’s there and when she leaves; overall ok by themselves and indifferent when she returns

insecure/resistant (9%): clingy to the mom, anxious no matter if the mom is there, and cries when picked up and arches away from her; angry when she returned

disorganized/disoriented (15%): no consistent way of coping with distress and might be happy one minute and upset the next

explain parental sensitivity and its relationship to each attachment style

• secure babies tend to have well-responsive mothers

• insecure/avoidant babies might be indifferent/reject them

• insecure/resistant are inconsistent in how they respond to the kid

• disorganized mothers could be abusive, frightened, disoriented, etc.

what are the negative effects on a child from depressed mothers?

infants sleep poorly, are less attentive to surroundings, have elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone)

parental depression is related to behavioral problems

children of negative parents develop a pessimistic world-view

attachment style and later behavior

securely attached children become better socially adjusted, express emotions better, pay more attention in school, and predicts their relationship status

validity issues of attachment studies

• any changes in family situation can change attachment styles

• there are also cultural differences

moral development

development of conscience, sense of what is right and wrong

moral reasoning

how you think about moral issues

ir moral behavior the same as moral reasoning?

not strongly correlated with each other; like the example with milgram’s study

piaget’s two general stages in children’s moral reasoning

younger children: outcome is more important than intention

older children: intention is seen as important

stage of heteronomous morality

also known as morality of constraint; associated with children that are younger than 7 years old and have not achieved concrete operations

to them, rules and duties to others regarded as unchangeable and they have a rigid acceptance of authorities’ rules

transitional period

the child has reached a concrete operational stage of cognitive development (7 to 10 years old); they begin to develop an ability to perceive other’s perspectives and cooperate

stage of autonomous morality

ages from 11 to 12 years old; moral relativism (the idea that there is no universal or absolute set of moral principles) and that rules can be changed

critiques of piaget’s theory

the theory is supported by research; little support that peer interaction stimulates moral judgment; there’s also implication of immoral acts

how did kohlberg see children’s moral reasoning?

he saw how it develops over time through specific stages that are discontinuous and hierarchical; with each new stage comes more advanced thinking

three levels of kohlberg’s moral reasoning

preconventional, conventional, postconventional

preconventional level

self-centered, focused on getting rewards and avoiding punishment

stage 1: punishment and obedience orientation

stage 2: instrumental and exchange orientation

conventional level

centered on social relationships, focusing on compliance with social duties and laws

stage 3: mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships, and interpersonal conformity

stage 4: social system and conscience orientation

postconventional level

centered on ideals, focusing on moral principles

stage 5: social contract or individual rights orientation

stage 6: universal ethical principles

critiques of kohlberg’s theory

• no sufficient distinction between true moral issues and social convention

• moral reasoning is not continuous

• theory is based strictly on boys (plus cultural bias)

• people show regression to earlier stages

• stage 6 is hard to attain

• lack of inter rater reliability