psy333 - exam 1

basic issues in development

• continuous or discontinuous

• nature or nurture

• stability vs plasticity

Continuous or Discontinuous Development

• Quantitative

  • More of the same

  – Moreweight,moremuscle mass, more neural connections

• Qualitative

  • Reflecting a new quality or characteristic

  – Abstract thought

Nature and Nurture

• Nature

  • Inborn, biological givens

  • Based on genetic inheritance

• Nurture

  §Environment (home, childcare, school, neighborhood)

  § Circumstances (community resources, social values, historical time period)

Stability vs. Plasticity

Stability
§ Lifelong characteristics
§ Early experiences establish patter

Plasticity
§ responsive to experience

principles of development

periods of development

developmental theories

Psychoanalytic Perspective on Childhood Development

Childhood stages involve conflicts between biological drives and social expectations.

§ Freud’s psychosexual theory

§ Erikson’s psychosocial theory

Freud’s psychosexual theory

Erikson’s psychosocial theory

Behaviorism and Social Learning

• Classical Conditioning

– Stimulus–Response

• Operant Conditioning

  – Reinforcers and punishments

• Social Learning – Modeling

Ecological Systems Theory

Dynamic Systems Perspective

Common designs

•Observational studies

•Self Report

•Case study

•Ethnographic

•Neurobiological

•Correlational

•Experimental

Children’s Research Rights

üProtection from harm

üInformed consent

üAssent

üPrivacy

üKnowledge of results

üBeneficial treatments

Observational studies

•Naturalistic observation : simply observing behavior as it naturally occurs

•Structured observation : a situation is set up to elicit the desired behavior to observe

Case Study

•Piaget’s children

•Phineas Gage

•HM

•Deb Roy

Ethnography

§Descriptive, qualitative technique

§Goal to understand a culture or social group

• Participant observation

• Researcher lives in community for months or years

• Works to capture unique values and social processes

Survey (self report)

•Clinical Interviews

•Structured Interviews, Tests, and Questionnaires (surveys)

Neurobiological Methods

•MRI/fMRI

•EEG / ERP

Correlational Methodology

•Measuring the relationship between two variables

•Example:Do the number of books at home relate to children’s reading scores?

Outcomes of Correlational Designs

positive, negative, no correlation

Experimental Methodology

•Examine the effect of one variable on another variable.

• •Manipulation of an independent variable (IV)

• •Measurement of a dependent variable (DV)

Ex: Do the number of books at home affect children’s reading scores?

Developmental Designs

•Longitudinal

•Cross Sectional

•Sequential

Longitudinal Design

•a group of participants is studied repeatedly at different ages

•Identifies common developmental patterns as well as individual differences

Advantages of a longitudinal design

Statistically powerful

Controlled

Individual differences

disadvantages in longitudinal design

Biased sampling

Selective attrition

Practice effects

Cohort effects

Method specific changes

cross sectional design

different-aged groups are studied at the same point in time. Group differences are assumed to be the result of developmental changes.

advantages in cross sectional designs

Data collection is faster

disadvantages in cross sectional design

No individual differences

Cohort effects

sequential designs

• Permits both longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons

• Reveals cohort effects

• üPermits tracking of age-related changes more efficiently

Methods for infants and young children

• parental report

• preferential looking

• violations of expectancy

• eye tracking

• habituation

• high -amplitude sucking paradigm

parental reporting

prefrontal looking

Given two objects to look at, infants will look more at the interesting one

(babies look at fully formed faces more, so baby understand what a face should look like)

Violation of Expectancy

Young infants express surprise at events or objects that violate their expectancy

eye tracking

habituation

• Decreased response to repeated stimuli

  • (i.e. getting bored)

• 1.If you show something to an infant often enough, the infant will become bored (habituation)

• 2.Then show them something different

• 3. IF infants detect the difference, they should be more interested (dishabituation)

  • •Doesn’t rely on pre-existing preference

High-Amplitude Sucking Paradigm

genotype

the generic code a person inherits

• ex: GTCACCCTTAAAA

phenotype

the observation trait that a person shows resulting in part from his/her inherited genotype

• ex: IQ, personality, brown eyes

Patterns of Genetic Inheritance

• alleles are a form of gene

  • appear at the same place on each chrome

  • one allele is inherited from each parent

homozygous vs heterozygous

§Homozygous → two alleles are the same

§Heterozygous → the alleles differ

genetic disorders

• recessive disorder

• dominant disorder

• x-linked inheritance

• chromosomal abnormalities

recessive disorder

dominant disorders

x linked inheritance

Chromosomal Abnormalities

§Autosomal chromosome abnormalities (Down syndrome)M

§Sex chromosome abnormalities

monozygotic twins

dizygotic twins

prenatal development (49-52)

Period	Length	Key Events
Zygote	2 weeks	• Fertilization • Implantation • Start of placenta
Embryo	6 weeks	• Arms, legs, face, organs,   muscles all develop • Heart begins beating
Fetus	30 weeks	“Growth and finishing”

teratogens

Any environmental agent causing damage during prenatal period

•Physical (environmental)

•Metabolic conditions affecting pregnant females

•Infections

•Drugs and chemical

influences factors in teratogens

§Timing of exposure

§Amount of exposure

§Dose

§Heredity

§Other negative influences

maternal factors in healthy prenatal development

•Nutrition

•Emotional stress

•Age

assessing the newborn

problems of the newborn/birth complications

•Anoxia (oxygen deprivation)

• Failure to begin breathing

• Breech birth

• Placenta abruptio

• Rh factor incompatibility

interventions for preterm infants

•Isolette (incubator)

• •Respirator

• Feeding tube

• Intravenous medication

•Special infant stimulation

• •“Kangaroo care”

•Parent training

sensory capacities (newborn senses)

newborn sense of taste

•sweet tastes

•their mother’s breast milk

•Prefers foods their mother consumed while pregnant

newborn sense of Vison

20/400

newborn sense of hearing

•Preferences at birth

• •Human voice over other sounds

• “Motherese”(Infant-Directed-Speech)

• Familiar voices (mom, dad)

• Own language

• Stories read while in the womb

newborn sense of smell

•Can identify mother by smell from birth

•Prefers odor of mother’s breast to that of another lactating mother

newborn sense of touch

•Most sensitive in mouth, palms, soles, genitals

•Pain

cultural variations in infant sleeping arrangements

§North American tradition is for nighttime separation of parent and infant.

§Cosleeping is norm for 90% of world, often until adolescence.

• §Common among U.S. ethnic minority families

• Rate increasing in U.S.

• Studies show no differences in dependency.

attachment

A close emotional relationship between 2 persons, characterized by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity. It is enduring across space and time

Harry Harlow attachment

Experimental work with monkeys who were deprived of all early social interactions strongly supported the view that healthy social and emotional development is rooted in children’s early social interactions with adults

Bowlby’s Ethological Theory of Attachment

•An infant’s emotional tie to the caregiver is an evolved response that promotes survival

Bowlby’s  Secure base

attachment figure’s presence that provides an infant or toddler with a sense of security that makes it possible for the infant to explore the environment

development of attachment

•1. Asocial Phase (0-6 wks): no particular preferencefor social stimuli

•2. Indiscriminate Attachments (6 wks - 6 mos): enjoy all people

•3. Specific Attachment (7-9 mos): only wants one person.  Wary of strangers.

•4. Multiple attachments (soon after specific attachment phase): attach to multiple familiar people, e.g., father, grandparents, siblings

strange situation

•Mary Ainsworth extended and tested Bowlwys ideas

•A series of separation and reunion episodes to which infants are exposed (increasingly stressful situations) in order to determine the quality of their attachments.

Episodes of the Strange Situation

1. Experimenter introduces dyad to room & leaves

2. Parent sits while baby plays [CG as secure base]

3. Stranger enters, sits, & talks to CG [Stranger Anxiety]

4. CG leaves, S offers comfort if baby is upset. [Separation Anxiety]

5. CG returns, greets baby, comforts if needed. S leaves [Reunion]

6. CG leaves [Separation Anxiety]

7. S enters & comforts if needed. [Stranger Anxiety]

8. CG  returns, greets baby, comforts if needed, tries to interest baby in toys [Reunion]

types of attachment classification

• secure

• disorganized

• anxious/ambivalent (resistant)

• anxious/avoidant

secure attachment attachment

•Before separation:

• Uses CG as a secure base. Explores the environment while social referencing with CG and returning to CG when feeling usure. 

•During separation:

• •Highly upset

Upon reunion

• Warmly greets CG upon reunion & is soothed by CG.

  65% North American children

anxious/ambivalent (resistant) attachment

•Before separation:

• •Tendency to be physically  close to CG and does not explore environment

•During separation:

• •Highly upset

•Upon reunion

• tendency for child to remain near CG (not explore) yet resists contact from CG (often hits and pushes CG) upon reunion, not soothed by CG

10% North American children

This would be considered an insecure bond

anxious/ avoidant attachment

•Before separation:

• •No clear preference or tendency for child to play with CG.

•During separation:

• •Little to no protest or upset when CG leaves. No problem with stranger’s presence

Upon reunion

• child largely ignores CG when he/she returns.

Can be sociable with other adults

20% North American children

This would be considered an insecure bond

disorganized attachment

•Before separation:

• Goes back and forth between clinging to caregiver and rejecting caregiver.

•During separation:

• •May cry and be visibly upset.

•Upon reunion

• •May avoid the mother when she returns, or may approach and then freeze or fall to the floor

5-10% North American children

This would be considered an insecure bond

inconsistent way of coping with the stress of the strange situation

Highly represented in abused populations

temperament

reactivity self awareness (self-regulation)

•Reactivity - quickness and intensity of emotional arousal

•Self-regulation - strategies that modify that reactivity

stability of temperament

Research suggests that the combination of children’s reactivity and self regulation (i.e. temperament) appear early and are relatively stable over time

personality

An individual’s consistent pattern of feeling, thinking, and behaving.

Temperament + developing self-concept + motivations to achieve or to socialize + their values and goals + coping styles + sense of responsibility  + conscientiousness + SO MUCH MORE

culture

•the patterns of ideas, attitudes, values, lifestyle habits, and traditions shared by a group of people and passed on to future generations.

individualist culture influence on personality development

these cultures value independence. They promote personal ideals, strengths, and goals, pursued in competition with others, leading to individual achievement and finding a unique identity.

collectivist culture influence on personality development

these cultures value interdependence. They promote group and societal goals and duties, and blending in with group identity, with achievement attributed to mutual support.

Value Contrasts Between Individualism and Collectivism

Concept	Individualism	Collectivism
Self	Independent (identity from individual traits)	Interdependent (identity from belonging)
Life task	Discover and express one’s uniqueness	Maintain connections, fit in, perform role
What matters	Me—personal achievement and fulfillment; rights and liberties; self - esteem	Us—group goals and solidarity; social responsibilities and relationships; family duty
Coping method	Change reality	Accommodate to reality
Morality	Defined by individuals (self - based)	Defined by social networks (duty - based)
Relationships	Many, often temporary or casual; confrontation acceptable	Few, close and enduring; harmony valued
Attributing behavior	Behavior reflects one’s personality and attitudes	Behavior reflects social norms and roles

emotion

(Joseph LeDoux) one of the most significant things ever said about emotion may be that everyone knows what it is until they are asked to define it

basic emotions

•happiness, interest, surprise, fear, anger, sadness & disgust

• •Universal to humans and primates

• •Long history of evolutionary survival

• •These emotional expressions are not immediately present, but develop over time

infant emotion development

•Earliest emotional life consists mostly of 2 global arousal states:

• •attraction to pleasant stimulation

• •withdrawal from unpleasant stimulation

development of happiness

•Initially smiles are reflexive

•6-10 weeks: First social smiles

•3-4 months: Laughter

•Infants delight at their own motor accomplishments

•Smiles become increasingly social through the first year

The Development of Anger & Sadness

•Initially respond to unpleasant experiences with general distress (reflexive crying)

•4-6 months: angry expressions increase in frequency and intensity

•Sources of anger & sadness:

• •pain, removal of an object, separations, disruption of caregiver communication

development of fear

•Like anger, emerges in mid-first year and continues to increase through the second year

•Most common source: stranger anxiety

Self-Conscious Emotion

•Shame, embarrassment, envy, doubt and pride

•Requires a sense of self, emerging around 18-24 months

Understanding others’ emotions

•Still face experiments

•Social referencing

still face experiments

social referencing

Tendency to look at social partners for guidance about how to respond to unfamiliar or threatening events

self-awareness

appears toward the middle to end of the second year of life

brain development

brain development

Synaptic booming

reflexes

fine motor skills

•Reaching, grasping

gross motor skills

•Crawling, standing, walking

• video: the baby human