Chapter 3

synchrony

mother and infant show a predictable degree of responsiveness to each other’s signals during a brief interaction

how babies are biologically prepared for social interaction

• behaviour follows biological rhythms, which they learn to control and regulate

• attracted to visual social stimuli (stare at qualities that exist in the human face)

• auditory system is well developed

• smell, taste, touch provide avenues for social development (develop preferences)

• infants attracted to/like other people’s behaviours (ex. prefer face-to-face interactions)

social behaviours linked to mirror neurons

learning new skills by imitation, understanding other’s actions and intentions, language acquisition, development of theory of mind skills, development of empathy, might underlie cognitive disorders (ex. autism)

social brain

a network of brain regions involved in understanding other people, contains the human mirror neuron system - includes the medial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal gyrus, temporalporoparietal junction, superior temporal sulcus, anterior cingulate cortex, anteior insula, amygdala

methods of studying genetic contributions to development

behaviour genetics (adoption and twin studies), shared and nonshared environments, molecular genetics (human genome project)

goal of human genome project

locate and describe all the genes in the human genome

epistasis

gene by gene interaction, interaction of multiple genes

modifier genes

genes that exert their influence indirectly by impacting the expression of other genes

reaction range

the range of possible developmental outcomes established by a person’s genotype in reaction to the environment in which development takes place - narrow reaction range for a trait is said to be highly canalized

what it means for a trait to be canalized

its development is buffered or stabilized, resulting in a consistent, predictable outcome (phenotype) despite variations in genes or environment (restricted to a few pathways) - the degree impacts how much it’s influence by the environment

Thomas and Chess temperament dimensions

difficult, easy, slow-to-warm-up

Rothbart’s temperament dimensions

effortful control, negative affectivity, extraversion-surgency

parts of effortful control

attention focus, inhibitory control, perceptual sensitivity, low-intensity pleasure

parts of negative affectivity

frustration, fear, discomfort, sadness, soothability

parts of extraversion-surgency

activity, shyness (low), high-intensity pleasure, smiling and laughter, impulsivity, positive anticipation, affiliation

externalizing problems

a type of childhood behaviour problem in which the behaviour is directed at others (ex. hitting, stealing, lying, vandalizing)

internalizing problems

a type of childhood behaviour problem in which the behaviour is directed at the self rather than others (ex. fear, anxiety, depression, loneliness, withdrawal)