Psych 111.2 (L13) - Development

Twin/Adoption Studies Fraternal vs Identical

Studies of twins in adulthood show that identical twins are more alike than fraternal twins in many ways including:

Personality traits such as extraversion (sociability) and neuroticism (emotional instability), intelligence, life outcomes (divorce)

Twin Studies (raised in different homes)

74 pairs of twins raised in separate homes were found to have incredibly similar traits

High correlations (though lower) for Personality, styles of thinking and relating, Abilities/intelligence test scores, Attitudes, Interests, tastes, Specific fears, Brain waves, heart rate

Adoptive vs. Blood Relatives

Adopted children seem to be more similar to their genetic relatives than their environmental/nurture relatives.

Adoptive parents influence religion, values, Manners, Attitudes, Politics, Habits

Infants and Innate Knowledge

Not a tabula rasa

Have facial recognition; More time spent looking at face like object, then objects with more visual interest (ex. bullseye)

Johnson et al., 1991 Infant looking studies

Infants were shown a blank shape, a proper face, or scrambled facial\ features – proper face and scrambled face have same complexity.

• Infants looked more intensely at the proper fac

Mark Johnson’s Theory of Development Face Recognition Abilities

Two components: one innate, one that learns.

– Subcortical system has sketchy knowledge of what face should look like.

– Cortical system: that can learn about faces

Imprinting

special kind of learning, automatic and rapid; way of making sure that they stick to their mom after hatching.

Chicks, ducklings, geese will imprint on their mother, form an attachment and follow mom around

Konrad Lorenz (ethologist)

Thought imprinting was non-specific, chicks imprint on first thing they see

Johnson and imprinting

After chicks hatch, give them a choice of two moving objects.

Varied properties of these objects to see what exactly what the

chick prefers. For example, a red box vs. a stuffed chicken or

just chicken parts (head and neck)

• Prefer bird head and neck in proper configuration.

• Actually prefer just chicken’s head and neck to the whole hen!

Lesioning Studies

Lesion in subcortical area before imprinting means they don;t have a preference for a chick to imprint on – if damage is after imprinting though they do bc learned

Infant Immitation

• Made faces at babies (12-21 day old infants) and measure how often the baby made the same expression back

  • Later done with even younger babies (less than 72 hrs)

• If adult stuck tongue out, infant more likely to than head movement and vice versa

Intuition of infants

• Basic understanding of things like gravity and objects

• Show infants possible and impossible events (magical or not)

  • Surprised or puzzled by impossible events bc they must have expectations

• Making doll disappear over track they become confused and possibly upset

  • Babies 2 weeks older were not surprised - more sophisticated worldview, knew they were using 2 dolls

    • When they show these babies that there is only 1 doll before beginning test, then later add another, the babies are again surprised 

• When push box and it doesn’t fall, babies were not surprised/upset, but were when finger was removed bc they must have assumed the finger was holding it up

Infant Math

• Would show babies some number of dolls, then add or subtract (would either show what was actually happening or conceal a different change in the dolls) to see if babies were surprised

• If dolls didn’t add up as expected babies were upset

• Took this to mean that babies could do basic math

• But can they really do math or can they just tell that something changes

Cognitive Development

• how thinking processes change and develop from childhood to adulthood

Jean Piaget

Came up with Theory of the Mind

• Childhood prodigy - studied biology and sparrows

• Published in a journal about sparrows at 10 yrs old, asked to be museum curator in hs

• Spent much time observing his own childhood - develop tasks to show different levels of cognition

Pidget’s Theory of Mind

Each stage qualitatively different than another

• All children pass though same stages in same order (but not speed) 

• 2 processes of learning adaption - assimilation v accommodation

• Child sees fish vs dolphin - create new schema to accommodate new info bc different

Assimilation

The process whereby the environment is interpreted in terms of existing cognitive structures (schemas).

Accommodation

The process whereby the existing cognitive structure is changed to reflect the environment.

Sensorimotor

(0-2) - interact physically with environment, Understand the

world through senses and motor actions

• Obj permanence: 0-8 months lack this ability, don’t represent things in mind without physically stimulation of senses

• Once obj is concealed it is as though it is not there at all

  • Baby forgets cucumber under coconut

• When older children will search for obj once concealed

Preoperational

(2-6/7) Ability to think in verbal symbols

• Egocentric - view world from their perspective and not others, lack adult reasoning

• Three-mountain test: can’t describe what the doll opposite them sees, can only describe what they see

  • Older children are able to (age 8ish)

• Principle of conservation - is lacked at this age

• When have two equal glasses of juice, if pour one into taller glass will say that one had more liquid

• Will say non-deformed clay is bigger (substance)

• Will say more spread out coins = more (number)

Principle of Conservation

Understanding that an underlying physical dimension remains unchanged despite superficial shifts in its appearance

Concrete Operation stage

• (7-11/12)

  • Authority is becoming more adult like

  • Can use abstract concepts + logic, understand reversability and conservation

  • Class inclusion - have trouble with idea of more cows or animals in a group of 3 cows 2 horses (say more cows)

Formal Operations

• (12-adult)

  • Abstract hypothetical reasoning

  • Reason against experience

  • Have familiarity

Criticism of Pidget

• Many of the tests he developed are still used now

• Underestimated children's abilities - they have some of these abilities (in partial form) 

  • object permance present before this

    • Rod test - children surprised by 2 rods at 4.5 mo

  • egocentricism less than expected - turn pic

  • conservation - When playing a game where number determines winner, children correctly judge number regardless of spacing

  • Some ideas of stages not right - some developments simultaneous

  • Changes discrete, not prolonged

  • Piaget idea of stages prob had overlap

  • New idea of shading, not distinct stages

Attachment

A deep emotional bond that an infant develops with its caretaker. Not as automatic as imprinting! No critical period!

Primary drives theory

Attachment results from associating the satisfaction of primary drives with the being who satisfies them (hunger, etc.)

Challenged by Harlow

Harlow

Tested primary drives theory in Rhesus monkeys

Would separate infants from mothers, infants would become attached to cloths left in cages even though not fulfilling needs other than contact comfort (monkeys)

• Wire vs cloth surrogate mothers, wire with milk bottle

  • Weaned on wire mother but sought contact with cloth mother

  • Significantly more time on cloth due to contact comfort

  • Feeling of security in mothers presence 

  • Scare baby monkey with machine - runs to cloth mother

  • Contact with mother changes personality, begins threatening machine

  • Monkey would not go to wire mother (even when no cloth mother), would run to plain cloth

  • Would run straight to cloth mother when placed in the room, offers affection and security, relaxation, positive response patterns, curiosity

Premature Infants

Schanberg & Field (1987)

– Contact important for premature babies.

– Two groups of premature babies

Group 1: held for 45 minutes a day for 10 days.

– Group 1 more alert, active, gained 47% more

weight, left hospital six days earlier.

Thoman (1991)

– Put “breathing” soft teddy bear in incubator.

– Snuggled up to bear and slept more soundly.