Child Developmental Psychology (PSYC2003) Comprehensive Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive practice flashcards for Curtin University PSYC2003 Child Developmental Psychology covering prenatal development, infancy, toddlerhood, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, children's art in forensic contexts, language and mental health, and exam review.

According to the unit outline, what are the three pieces of assessment and their respective weightings in PSYC2003?

Assessment 1: Workbook ($30\%$), Assessment 2: Executive Summary ($40\%$), and Assessment 3: Centrally scheduled Examination ($30\%$).

What are the rules regarding word/page minimums to constitute a valid attempt at an assessment task in PSYC2003?

Students must submit at least $50\%$ or more of any specified page limit or word count; where no limit is specified, the submission must address the entirety of the assessment task.

What is the penalty applied for late assessment submissions without an approved extension in PSYC2003?

A $5\%$ deduction for submissions within the first $24$ hours, an additional $10\%$ for each additional $24$-hour period commenced, and a mark of zero ($0$) after $168$ hours ($7$ calendar days).

What are the three major domains of human development studied in developmental psychology?

Physical development, Cognitive development, and Emotional and Social development.

How do continuous and discontinuous theories of child development differ in their conceptualization of developmental change?

Continuous theories conceptualize development as a gradual, cumulative change in amount or complexity over time, whereas discontinuous theories conceptualize development as occurring in distinct, qualitative stages where new ways of understanding emerge at specific times.

What psychological model of personality structure is illustrated in this diagram?

Sigmund Freud's structural and topographical model of personality, illustrating the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind containing the Id, Ego, and Superego.

Which famous classical conditioning experiment is depicted in this historical photograph?

John Watson's 1920 Little Albert experiment, demonstrating that an infant could be classically conditioned to fear a neutral stimulus (a white rat or furry object) paired with a loud clanging sound.

Which level of Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory encompasses interactions between different microsystems, as represented by the connecting arrows in this diagram?

The mesosystem, which includes connections between the child's immediate settings, such as the relationship between family and school or neighborhood play areas.

What is the difference between Bronfenbrenner's exosystem and macrosystem?

The exosystem consists of social settings that do not contain the child directly but still influence their experiences (such as parental workplace policies), whereas the macrosystem encompasses overarching cultural values, laws, customs, and socioeconomic resources.

What are the two major Australian cohort studies described in Lecture 1, and what are their primary sample characteristics?

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC / Growing Up in Australia; started in $2004$ with $10{,}000$ children across two cohorts) and The Raine Study (commenced in $1989$ at King Edward Memorial Hospital recruiting $2{,}900$ pregnant women).

What developmental milestones characterize the three periods of prenatal development: germinal, embryonic, and fetal?

Germinal (Weeks $1\text{--}2$): blastocyst implantation and formation of amnion, chorion, placenta, and umbilical cord; Embryonic (Weeks $3\text{--}8$): groundwork for all body structures, internal organs, CNS, and heart pumping; Fetal (Week $9$ to end of pregnancy): growth and finishing phase, reaching the age of viability between $22$ and $26$ weeks.

Which chromosomal condition is identified in this karyotype showing three copies of chromosome $21$ ($47,XY,+21$)?

Down syndrome (Trisomy $21$), the most common chromosomal disorder, occurring in approximately $1$ in $770$ live births.

What is the biological mechanism and required treatment for Phenylketonuria (PKU)?

PKU is an inherited autosomal recessive disorder where infants lack the enzyme needed to convert the basic amino acid phenylalanine into tyrosine; untreated buildup causes severe CNS damage and brain damage, requiring a diet low in phenylalanine.

Why are males more susceptible to X-linked disorders such as hemophilia and red-green color blindness?

Males have only one X chromosome ($XY$), so any harmful recessive allele on that X chromosome will be expressed, whereas females ($XX$) have a second X chromosome that usually carries a dominant normal allele.

What concept in developmental genetics is illustrated by this graph of intelligence test scores across environments?

Reaction range (based on Gottlieb, $2007$), showing that genetics sets upper and lower limits on potential intelligence test scores that can be shaped by the quality of the environment.

How do passive, evocative, and active (niche-picking) gene-environment correlations differ?

Passive: parents provide environments influenced by their own heredity; Evocative: a child's genetically influenced style evokes responses from others that strengthen that style; Active (niche-picking): older children actively choose environments that match their genetic tendencies.

What is epigenesis in developmental psychology?

Development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels of the environment.

What percentage of women who gave birth in Australia in 2021 reported smoking at some point during pregnancy, according to AIHW (2023)?

$8.7\%$ of women who gave birth had smoked at some point during pregnancy.

What four key pillars comprise the Birthing on Country model (such as Birthing in Our Community - BiOC)?

Aboriginal governance, increasing and supporting the Aboriginal workforce, focusing on strength-based approaches, and improving the cultural capability of the non-Indigenous workforce.

What clinical and economic outcomes were associated with the Birthing in Our Community (BiOC) program trial?

Mothers were significantly more likely to attend antenatal visits, significantly less likely to have a preterm birth, significantly more likely to exclusively breastfeed, both groups reduced smoking, and the program cost less than usual care.

What two instrumental delivery techniques used during childbirth complications are illustrated here?

Forceps delivery and vacuum extraction (used when maternal pushing does not move the baby through the birth canal).

What proportion of all births in Australia are delivered by Caesarean section?

Approximately $1$ in $3$ births ($\approx 33\%$).

How is the Apgar scale interpreted immediately after birth?

A score of $7$ or higher indicates the infant is in good physical condition; a score of $4\text{--}6$ indicates the baby needs assistance in establishing breathing and vital signs; a score of $3$ or lower indicates serious danger requiring immediate medical attention.

Which newborn infant reflex is demonstrated in these images in response to a sudden loss of support or a loud sound?

The Moro reflex, where the infant arches their back and extends their arms outward and then inward toward the body; it disappears around $6$ months of age.

How does the proportion of REM sleep change from the newborn period to ages 3 to 5 years?

REM sleep accounts for approximately $50\%$ of total sleep time in newborns, declining to about $20\%$ by ages $3\text{--}5$ years.

What is the prevalence of depression during pregnancy and postpartum in Australia, according to PANDA and the National Infant Feeding Survey?

Up to $1$ in $10$ women during pregnancy and $1$ in $7$ in the year following birth; $1$ in $5$ mothers of children under $24$ months had been diagnosed with depression.

What are the cephalocaudal and proximodistal trends in physical growth during infancy?

The cephalocaudal trend ('head to tail') means the head develops more rapidly than the lower parts of the body; the proximodistal trend ('near to far') means growth proceeds from the center of the body outward (head, chest, and trunk grow ahead of extremities).

What key finding regarding sensitive periods in brain development is demonstrated by this study of adopted Romanian orphans?

Infants adopted before $6$ months showed impressive cognitive catch-up comparable to British adoptees, whereas children older than $6$ months upon adoption showed severe, persistent intellectual deficits at ages $6$ and $11$ years.

What is the difference between experience-expectant and experience-dependent brain growth?

Experience-expectant brain growth depends on ordinary daily experiences expected by the brain for normal growth (occurs early and naturally); experience-dependent brain growth results from specific, individualized learning experiences that vary widely across cultures.

What cultural priorities influence sleep arrangements in American versus Indian families?

American parents prioritize the 'Sacred Couple' (marital intimacy) and the 'Autonomy Idea' (early independence); Indian parents prioritize 'Protection of the Vulnerable' (young children never left alone) and 'Respect for Hierarchy' (post-pubescent boys do not share rooms with parents/young children).

What are the key milestones of reaching and grasping in infancy from birth to 1 year?

Newborns show prereaching (uncoordinated swipes); at $3\text{--}4$ months purposeful reaching begins and the grasp reflex is replaced by the ulnar grasp; at $4\text{--}5$ months hands coordinate to explore objects; at approximately $1$ year infants use the pincer grasp (thumb and index finger).

What perceptual milestone do infants demonstrate around 4 months of age when viewing stimulus (a)?

The perception of subjective boundaries, where infants integrate separate pattern elements into an organized whole (perceiving an illusory square).

What did Joseph Campos's visual cliff experiment demonstrate about the relationship between motor development and depth perception?

Beginning crawlers readily crossed the deep side of the cliff, whereas experienced crawlers refused to cross, demonstrating that independent crawling experience fosters depth avoidance and awareness of drop-offs.

In Piaget's cognitive theory, what is the distinction between assimilation and accommodation?

Assimilation occurs when children use their current existing schemes to interpret the external world, whereas accommodation occurs when children adjust old schemes or create entirely new ones because existing structures do not fit the environment.

In Piaget's sensorimotor stage, what milestone emerges in Substage 4 (8 to 12 months) as shown by finding a hidden toy under a blanket?

Object permanence, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.

How did Renée Baillargeon use the violation-of-expectation method to test infant object permanence?

Infants were habituated to a possible event (e.g., a carrot moving behind a solid screen) and then shown an impossible event (e.g., a tall carrot moving behind a screen with a window without appearing in the window); infants looked significantly longer at the impossible event, suggesting awareness of object permanence earlier than Piaget proposed.

What is the function of the central executive in the Atkinson-Shiffrin human information-processing system?

The central executive is the conscious, reflective part of the mental system that manages cognitive activities, coordinates incoming information with stored knowledge, directs attention, and selects and monitors problem-solving strategies.

What are the four temperament categories identified in Thomas and Chess's classic model, and what proportion of children fit into each?

Easy children ($40\%$), Difficult children ($10\%$), Slow-to-warm-up children ($15\%$), and Unclassified children ($35\%$).

Based on this cross-cultural comparison of the Strange Situation, how do attachment pattern distributions differ between German and Japanese/Israeli kibbutzim infants?

German infants exhibit substantially higher rates of avoidant attachment ($\approx 35\%$) due to cultural values encouraging early independence, whereas Japanese and Israeli kibbutzim infants show higher rates of resistant attachment ($\approx 28\%$) and very low avoidant attachment.

What are the four phases of John Bowlby's Ethological Theory of Attachment?

1. Preattachment phase (birth to $6$ weeks), 2. 'Attachment in the making' phase ($6$ weeks to $6\text{--}8$ months), 3. 'Clear-cut' attachment phase ($6\text{--}8$ months to $18\text{--}24$ months; marked by separation anxiety), and 4. Formation of a reciprocal relationship ($18\text{--}24$ months onward).

In speech and language pathology, what is the precise distinction between phonetics and phonology?

Phonetics refers to the knowledge and motor skills required to perceive and produce individual speech sounds physically, whereas phonology refers to the linguistic knowledge of which speech sounds exist within a specific language and the rules for combining them into words.

What are the four phases of John Locke's Theory of Neurolinguistic Development?

1. Vocal learning (prenatal to $5\text{--}7$ months), 2. Utterance acquisition ($6\text{--}12$ months; driven by social cognition), 3. Analysis and computation ($12\text{--}36$ months; grammar/rules), and 4. Integration and elaboration ($3+$ years).

What are over-extension, under-extension, and word mortality in early child word learning?

Over-extension: applying a word to a wider collection of objects or events than is appropriate; Under-extension: applying a word too narrowly to a specific object; Word mortality: words initially acquired in early vocabulary that drop out or are forgotten.

What is Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), and what is its classroom prevalence?

DLD is a hidden, lifelong neurodevelopmental condition emerging in early childhood that affects the understanding and production of language without an identified biomedical cause (e.g., intellectual disability or hearing loss); it affects on average $2$ children in every Australian classroom ($\approx 7\text{--}10\%$).

What were the primary outcomes of the 'Clever Kids' randomised-controlled trial for children with dyslexia (Boyes et al.)?

Significant reductions in non-productive coping, emotion regulation difficulties, parent-reported anxiety, and depression, along with significant increases in academic and social self-esteem, with effects maintained at a $3$-month follow-up.

What cognitive limitation of Piaget's preoperational stage is assessed using the transformation tasks shown in this diagram?

Inability to conserve (the realization that physical characteristics remain the same despite changes in outward appearance), demonstrated across number, mass, liquid, and weight due to centration and irreversibility.

What is the Double Empathy Problem proposed by Damian Milton (2012) in the context of autism?

The proposition that communication breakdowns between autistic and non-autistic people are bidirectional, stemming from reciprocal difficulties in understanding different communication styles and neurotypes, rather than a unilateral theory-of-mind deficit in autistic people.

How did Lev Vygotsky define the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?

The distance between a child's actual developmental level as determined by independent problem-solving and their potential development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.

How did Piaget and Vygotsky differ in their interpretation of young children's self-directed speech?

Piaget viewed self-directed speech as 'egocentric speech' reflecting cognitive immaturity, whereas Vygotsky viewed it as 'private speech' used for self-guidance and cognitive problem-solving, which serves as the foundation for higher-order internal thought.

What disparity exists regarding otitis media among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children compared to non-Indigenous peers?

Indigenous children are $5$ times more likely to be diagnosed with severe otitis media, which can cause conductive hearing loss, delayed speech development, and compromised academic and literacy attainment.

What public health trend is illustrated by the recent spike in pertussis, diphtheria, and measles cases in these WHO graphs?

The re-emergence of vaccine-preventable childhood diseases caused by declining immunization rates and vaccine hesitancy.

What spatial reasoning milestone of Piaget's concrete operational stage is illustrated by these neighborhood drawings from Indian and American school-age children?

Cognitive maps (mental representations of large-scale familiar spaces), demonstrating organized spatial perspective-taking and landmarks.

What are the rules of the traffic light food categorization system used in the Western Australian Healthy School Canteens policy?

GREEN foods are nutritious, healthy, and actively encouraged to fill the menu; AMBER foods must be selected carefully and eaten in moderation; RED foods (high in sugar, saturated fat, or sodium) are banned from public school canteen menus.

What is the most effective evidence-based intervention for nocturnal enuresis (bedwetting)?

A urine alarm (pad and bell device), which conditions the child to wake upon bladder fullness.

What is a second-order false belief, and what cognitive task is commonly used to assess it in middle childhood?

A second-order false belief is the ability to understand that someone can hold an incorrect belief about another person's belief (requiring recursive thought); it is typically assessed using the John and Mary ice-cream truck scenario.

According to Harter (2012), what four broad self-evaluations comprise self-esteem in middle childhood?

Academic competence, Social competence, Physical/athletic competence, and Physical appearance.

How do mastery-oriented attributions differ from learned helplessness in achievement contexts?

Mastery-oriented attributions credit success to ability and failure to controllable effort/strategy (incremental view; learning goals), whereas learned helplessness credits failure to uncontrollable low ability and success to external luck (fixed view; performance goals).

According to this case study graph on the development of prejudice (Robbers Cave, 1954), what intervention successfully dissipated intergroup hostility in Phase 3?

Introducing superordinate cooperative goals that required genuine joint effort between both groups (such as working together to fix the camp's water supply tank).

What are the four categories of peer acceptance identified via sociometric sociograms in middle childhood?

Popular children (popular-prosocial, popular-antisocial), Rejected children (rejected-aggressive, rejected-withdrawn), Controversial children (receiving many positive and many negative votes), and Neglected children (seldom mentioned).

What correlation ($r$) was found between children's Human Figure Drawing (HFD) scores and IQ in empirical studies by Willcock et al. (2011)?

$r = .34$, demonstrating that projective figure drawings have low predictive validity for measuring children's intellectual ability.

What effect does the interview technique of drawing while telling have on children's reporting of clinically relevant events, as depicted in these graphs?

Drawing while telling roughly doubles the number of informative verbal clauses reported across both young and older children and across boys and girls compared to telling alone.

According to research by Willcock, Morgan, and Hayne (2006), do body maps such as the one shown here facilitate children's accurate reports of touch?

No; body maps do not facilitate children's reports of touch and can increase false positive errors and mislocalizations during investigative interviews.

What are the three steps in hypothetico-deductive reasoning characteristic of Piaget's Formal Operational Stage?

1. Start with a hypothesis (a general prediction about variables that might affect an outcome), 2. Deduce logical, testable inferences from the hypothesis, and 3. Systematically isolate and combine variables to verify which inferences are confirmed in the real world (e.g., using the pendulum problem).

What are the two major cognitive distortions related to adolescent egocentrism identified in information processing?

The imaginary audience (the belief that one is the focus of everyone else's attention and concern) and the personal fable (the cognitive distortion that one's thoughts, feelings, and experiences are entirely unique and that one is invulnerable to harm).

What are the four identity statuses proposed by James Marcia, based on the dimensions of exploration and commitment?

Identity Foreclosure (commitment made without active exploration), Identity Achievement (commitment made after active exploration), Identity Diffusion (lack of both exploration and commitment), and Identity Moratorium (active exploration without having made a firm commitment).

What are the core differences between Kohlberg's and Gilligan's moral frameworks as summarized in this table?

Kohlberg's Ethics of Justice focuses on separate individuals, universal rules, impartiality, and fairness; Gilligan's Ethics of Care focuses on interconnected webs of relationships, context, responsiveness to specific needs, and nonviolence.

How does the neurobiological 'car metaphor' explain adolescent vulnerability to risky and sensation-seeking behaviors?

The adolescent brain has a responsive 'accelerator' (the socio-emotional system driving sensation seeking and peer approval) combined with immature 'brakes' (the prefrontal cognitive-control system responsible for planning, reasoning, and impulse control).

According to WHO (2021) and AIHW (2023) data, what are the prevalence rates of mood disorders in adolescents and what is the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 24?

Mood disorders affect $4.1\%$ of $10\text{--}14$-year-olds and $5.3\%$ of $15\text{--}19$-year-olds; suicide is the leading cause of death among Australian youth aged $15\text{--}24$ years.

What is the format, duration, and structure of the final exam for PSYC2003?

The exam is closed book, $2$ hours in duration, and consists of $6$ written answer questions requiring critical evaluation across all lectures, tutorials, and essential textbook readings (approximately $1$ page per question).