Infant & Child Development - Exam 1

How are all human characteristics created according to the text?

All human characteristics are created through the interaction of genes and environment.

What is the definition of "nurture" in the context of child development?

Nurture refers to an individual's environment.

What is the definition of "nature" in the context of child development?

Nature refers to an individual's complete set of hereditary information or genome.

How do toddlers contribute to their own development?

Toddlers are internally motivated to learn and practice talking, often using self-speech.

How do newborns contribute to their own development?

Newborns prefer things that move and make sounds, paying particular attention to their mother's face.

How do young children contribute to their own development?

Young children engage in internally motivated play, fantasy play, and dramatic play to support their development.

How do older children contribute to their own development?

Older children use more organized, rule-bound play to enhance self-control and social development.

How do older children and adolescents contribute to their own development?

They choose many environments, friends, and activities for themselves, which can greatly impact their future.

What are three important contributions children make to their own development during their first years?

Attentional patterns, use of language, and play are three important contributions.

Which theorists were considered stage theorists in child development?

Piaget, Freud, Erikson, and Kohlberg were stage theorists.

What is continuous development?

Continuous development describes changes with age that occur gradually, in small increments, skill by skill, and task by task.

What is discontinuous development?

Discontinuous development describes changes with age that include occasional large shifts and qualitative differences.

How can changes in height be viewed in terms of developmental continuity?

Changes in height can be viewed as either continuous or discontinuous, depending on how often they are observed.

What determines when and what changes occur in development?

The interaction of genome and environment determines when and what changes occur.

What did Rothbart-Lee and colleagues' research on effortful attention find?

Specific genes influenced the production of key neurotransmitters associated with variations in effortful attention.

What did Rueda and colleagues' research on effortful attention training find?

Training experience influenced brain processes and gene expression through improved test performance.

What are some less tangible sociocultural factors that influence children's development, according to Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model?

Historical era, economic structure, cultural beliefs, and cultural values.

According to Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model, what is the most important component influencing children's development?

The people with whom children interact.

What are some problems children in poverty are more likely to experience during infancy, childhood, and adolescence?

Serious health problems in infancy, social/emotional and behavioral problems in childhood, and poor school performance.

How do sleeping arrangements for infants differ between most U.S. families and most Mayan families?

Most U.S. infants sleep alone after 2-6 months, while most Mayan children sleep with mothers until age 2-3.

What is cumulative risk in the context of child development?

The greatest obstacle to poor children's successful development, related to challenges from economically impoverished families.

What are the four factors Scarr identified as related to individual differences in children?

Genetic differences, differences in treatment, differences in reactions to experiences, and different choices of environments.

How can research promote children's well-being?

By diagnosing children's problems and helping them overcome obstacles, such as through anger-management programs or educational innovations.

What are the steps involved in the scientific method?

Choosing a question, formulating a hypothesis, developing a method, and drawing a conclusion from data.

What are the key criteria for creating good research measures?

Relevance to hypotheses, reliability, validity, and replicability.

What is test-retest reliability?

The degree of similarity of a participant's performance on two or more occasions.

What is interrater reliability?

The amount of agreement in observations of different raters who witness the same behavior.

What is reliability in scientific findings?

The degree to which independent measurements of a given behavior are consistent.

What is external validity?

The degree to which results can be generalized beyond the particulars of the research.

What is internal validity?

The degree to which observed effects within experiments can be attributed to the factor the researcher is testing.

What is validity in scientific findings?

The degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure.

What is replicability in research?

The degree to which independent measurements of a given behavior in subsequent experiments are consistent with original findings.

What is a structured interview useful for?

Collecting self-reports on the same topics from everyone being studied.

What is the Replication Crisis in psychology?

Many study findings in psychology are difficult to replicate, such as increasing replicability with larger samples.

What is one way to increase replicability?

Use larger samples in studies.

What is a method to increase replicability related to study design?

Preregistration helps address the file-drawer problem.

What consortium promotes greater collaboration for replicability?

The ManyBabies Consortium.

What is a structured interview useful for?

Useful hen goal is collecting self-reports on the same topics from everyone being studied.

What is a clinical interview useful for?

Obtaining in-depth information about an individual child.

How is information gathered using questionnaires?

Simultaneously through a uniform set of questions presented to participants.

What is naturalistic observation particularly useful for understanding?

Everyday social interactions.

What is structured observation?

A method that presents identical situations to each child and records the child's behavior.

What is naturalistic observation?

Examination of ongoing behavior in an environment not controlled by the researcher.

What is an advantage of structured observation?

It ensures all children's behaviors are observed in the same context and allows controlled comparison.

What is a disadvantage of structured observation?

The context is less natural than in naturalistic observation and reveals less about subjective experience.

What is an advantage of interviews and questionnaires?

They can reveal children's subjective experience.

What is an advantage of naturalistic observation?

It is useful for describing behavior in everyday settings and helps illuminate social interaction.

What is a disadvantage of interviews and questionnaires?

Reports are often biased, and memories can be inaccurate or incomplete.

What is a disadvantage of naturalistic observation?

It is difficult to know which aspects of the situation are most influential and has limited value for infrequent behaviors.

What is an important goal of child-development research?

To determine how variables are related through associations and cause-effect relations.

What are correlational designs?

Studies intended to indicate how two variables are related to each other.

What is the range of a correlation?

From 1.00 (strongest positive) to -1.00 (strongest negative).

What are variables in research?

Attributes that vary across individuals and situations, such as age, sex, and popularity.

Why is cause-effect inference not justified in correlation?

Due to the direction-of-causation problem and the third-variable problem.

What is the third-variable problem?

Correlation between two variables may stem from both being influenced by some third variable.

What is the direction-of-causation problem?

Correlation between two variables does not indicate which, if either, variable is the cause of the other.

What are the crucial characteristics of experimental designs?

Random assignment of participants to groups and experimental control.

What are experimental designs?

Approaches that allow inferences about causes and effects to be drawn.

What is an experimental group?

Participants in an experimental design who are presented the experience of interest.

What is a control group?

Participants in an experimental design who are not presented the experience of interest but are otherwise treated identically.

What is experimental control?

The researcher's ability to determine the specific experiences children have during an experiment.

What is an independent variable (IV)?

The experience participants in the experimental group receive that the control group does not.

What is a dependent variable (DV)?

The behavior measured to determine if it is affected by exposure to the independent variable.

What is a disadvantage of cross-sectional designs?

They do not yield information about the stability of behavior over time or individual patterns of change.

What is a cross-sectional design?

What is a cross-sectional design?

What is a longitudinal design?

A research design where the same children are studied twice or more over a substantial length of time.

What is an advantage of longitudinal designs?

They are useful for revealing stability and change over time.

What is the purpose of microgenetic designs?

To provide an in-depth depiction of the processes that produce change.

What is a microgenetic design?

A research design where the same children are studied repeatedly over a short period.

What is an advantage of microgenetic designs?

Intensive observation of changes clarifies the process of change and reveals individual change patterns over short periods in detail.

What is a disadvantage of longitudinal designs?

It is difficult to keep all participants in the study, and repeated testing can threaten external validity.

What is a disadvantage of cross-sectional designs?

They are uninformative about the stability of individual differences or individual patterns of change over time.

What is an advantage of longitudinal designs in studying development?

They indicate the degree of stability of individual differences and reveal individual children's patterns of change over long periods.

What is an advantage of cross-sectional designs?

They yield useful data about differences among age groups and are quick and easy to administer.

What is a disadvantage of microgenetic designs?

They do not provide information about typical patterns of change over long periods.

What SRCD ethical principle relates to the dignity of individuals?

Respect for the dignity of persons and peoples.

What are the three additional SRCD ethical principles besides maximizing benefits/minimizing harm and respect for dignity?

Equity, scientific integrity, and avoiding harm.

What is one of the most important SRCD ethical principles regarding children?

Maximizing benefits and minimizing harm to children.

What ethical principle ensures that individual participant identities are protected?

Preserve individual participant anonymity.

What should researchers do if unforeseen negative consequences arise during a study?

Work to counteract unforeseen negative consequences.

What is the first principle of the Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Ethical Code of Conduct?

Do no harm.

What should researchers do with the main findings of a study regarding children?

Explain main finding at developmentally appropriate level.

What ethical principle requires researchers to get permission from participants?

Obtain informed consent.

What action should researchers take if a child has inaccurate impressions about the research?

Correct inaccurate child impressions.

What information should researchers discuss with parents according to the SRCD Ethical Code of Conduct?

Relevant research information.

What efforts are currently being made in child development research regarding the study population?

To expand children studied beyond those growing up in WEIRD societies.

What does the acronym WEIRD stand for in the context of child development research?

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic societies.

What fundamental question did Aristotle pose regarding prenatal life?

Whether prenatal life starts with a fully formed individual or if body parts develop in succession.

What is epigenesis?

The emergence of new structures and functions during development.

What are the key developments during weeks 25-38 of prenatal development?

The fetus triples in size, brain and lungs are developed enough for survival, and visual/auditory systems are functional.

What happens during weeks 1-3 of prenatal development?

Zygote travels to the womb, embeds, cells form a ball, and the embryo's three layers develop.

What occurs during weeks 13-24 of prenatal development?

Lower body growth accelerates, external genitalia are fully developed, the body develops a hairy covering, and the fetus can make basic facial expressions and movements.

What happens during weeks 10-12 of prenatal development?

The heart develops basic adult structures, spine and ribs develop, and the brain forms major divisions.

What major milestones occur during weeks 4-9 of prenatal development?

Neural tube develops into brain/spinal cord, heart is visible, limb buds appear, facial features differentiate, brain grows, organs form, fingers/toes emerge, and sexual differentiation begins.

What is conception?

The union of an egg from the mother and a sperm from the father; fertilization.

What are gametes?

Reproductive cells (egg and sperm) containing half the genetic material of other body cells.

What is meiosis?

Cell division that produces gametes, resulting in 23 chromosomes from each parent.

What is a zygote?

A fertilized egg cell.

What are the four developmental processes that transform a zygote into an embryo and then a fetus?

Mitosis, cell migration, cell differentiation, and apoptosis.

What is mitosis?

Cell division that results in two identical daughter cells.