Child Development Ch 7 Study Guide

What is the reason behind the increased rate of autism diagnosis?

The criteria requirements for a diagnosis went from 6 mandatory criteria with 2 categories to 16 optional criteria (half need to be met) with 5 categories.

What does the "False Photograph Task" tell us about the abilities of (some) people with autism?

Some individuals with autism struggle with understanding others' mental states (theory of mind) but can reason about changes in reality, indicating a specific impairment in social cognition rather than general cognitive deficits.

When children incorrectly answer the False Belief, False Contents, and

Appearance-Reality tasks, their WRONG answer seems to be actually driven by what?

Reality bias, meaning they rely on their own knowledge of reality rather than considering others' perspectives or prior states.

Young children have difficulty understanding that plants are alive because children equate being alive with what?

Movement

What is main findings of cross-cultural research on the timing of children's

understanding of false beliefs?

Cross-cultural research shows that while the timing of children's understanding of false beliefs varies across cultures, the sequence of development is universal, with most children acquiring this ability between ages 4 and 6.

A study demonstrates that the "posting (mailing) procedure" doesn't help people with autism pass the deceptive box (Smarties) task. What does this suggest about the nature of autism?

This suggests that autism involves a core impairment in theory of mind, as people with autism struggle with understanding false beliefs even when the task is altered to reduce executive functioning demands.

The coding of spatial locations relative to one's own body, without regard to

surroundings, is referred to as what?

Egocentric representation

What is the name for the hypothesized brain mechanism that is devoted to

understanding other people?

Theory of mind module (ToMM).

Recognize a category hierarchy that moves from the superordinate to the basic to the subordinate level.

Ex: Superordinate: Animal, Basic: Dog, Subordinate: Golden Retriever

Ted thinks cats have a certain "catness," dogs have a certain "dogness," and

horses have a certain "horseness." What concept is he exhibiting?

Essentialism

What developmental skill will help infants learn about the spatial layout of the house in which they live?

Self-locomotion

What answers to young children and older children give to the false belief tasks discussed here?

Young children typically fail false belief tasks by answering based on reality, while older children succeed by recognizing that others can hold false beliefs.

A child who is engaged in lots of pretend play is clearly capable of what cognitive ability?

Symbolic representation