CAS PS241 Midterm #1 Ch. 1-3

nature

biological endowment, genes, genetic inheritance, innate abilities

nurture

physical and social environments (home, womb, community, family etc.)

The Passive Child (Behaviorism)

children are passively shaped by their environments

The Active/ Passive Child

children have an active role in shaping the environment that will in turn shape them

reciprocal determinism

the environment affects the child, but the child's behavior also influences their environment

continuous development

view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills

discontinuous development

view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages; rates spike in infancy and puberty

heterotypic continuity

Behavioral manifestations change but concept remains the same and is reliably connected to earlier development (ie: martin bites at 2, hits and screams at 6, gets in fist fights at 11, and threatens others w/ weapons at 17\-- form of aggression changes, but aggression remains)

Issues with Continuity/ Discontinuity

General Trend vs Daily Fluctuation\-- progress isn't always perfect

mechanisms of change

how does change occur; considered at three levels

reading example: behavioral mechanisms

kid chooses whether or not to practice reading

reading example: neural mechanisms

as kids become more experienced readers, the way their process words changes (sight words vs sounding out, phonetics)

reading example: genetic mechanisms

predisposition to be a more/ less effective reader, worse readers need more practice and scaffolding

Current vs Former Sociocultural Factors Example

more US children in childcare now than 50 years ago due to more women working and more economic disparity (hard to get by on one income)

Cross Cultural Comparisons: Sleeping

In US - young children encouraged to sleep alone by age one due to individualistic values
Worldwide in collectivistic cultures, kids sleep with parents for longer periods of time due values of interdependence and harmony

Cross Cultural Comparisons: Research Choices

western cultures are more interest in researching identity and development of the self than are non-western cultures

universal aspects of development

physical growth, some language development, audio/visual development

variable aspects of development

socioeconomic status, genetics, parenting, access to food/ water/ shelters, different activities they seek out, major life experiences/ trauma

How can research promote children's well-being?

providing research based parental guidance, changing policy and law, informing the education sector, developing therapy techniques

Correlation vs Causation: Kids and TV Example

Kids who watch TV at mealtime eat far fewer fruits and vegetables than children who sit own to a quiet dinner table
Interpretation 1: TV causes this
Interpretation 2: parents are working

Correlation vs Causation: Blackouts and Birthrates

increase in birth rates in NYC hospitals was noted on the Monday and Tuesday exactly 9 months after the 1965 NYC blackout- by wednesday they were normal
Higher birth rates every monday and tuesday- induced labor and c-sections scheduled then

7 research methods

Naturalistic observations
Structured observations
Clinical Interviews
Structured interview/ tests/questionnaires
Neurobiological methods
Case study
Ethnography

noise in data

Observer bias and social desirability bias
Inaccuracies in parent/ teacher/ self report
Effect on child's mood or other random factors on their behavior in the lab

reliability

the degree to which independent measurements of a given behavior are consistent; yields consistent results

interrater reliability

the amount of agreement in the observations of different raters who witness the same behavior (close\= better); level of consistency between different observers

test-retest reliability

the degree of similarity/ level of consistency of a participant's performance on two or more occasions close together in time

validity

the degree to which a measure reflects what the researcher intended to measure

internal validity

the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable

external validity

the degree to which results can be generalized beyond the particulars of the research

convergent validity

the extent to which the measure is related to other measures of the same construct
(ie: the scores of two tests, one measuring self-esteem and the other measuring extroversion, are likely to be correlated—individuals scoring high in self-esteem are more likely to score high in extroversion)

discriminant validity

scores on the measure are not related to other measures that are theoretically different (ie: Calculating the correlation between scores on a math exam and knowledge of English literature-correlation should be zero!)

Correlation

the strength of association among variables (denoted by r)

what indicates strength of a correlational relationship?

the magnitude of the number (closer to +1 or -1\= stronger relationship)

what indicates the direction of a correlational relationship

the sign of the number (- \= one goes up, other goes down, +\= one goes up as the other does)

direction-of-causation problem

the concept that a correlation between two variables does not indicate which, if either, variable is the cause of the other

third variable problem example

Number of Ice cream sold and number of aggravated assaults look to be correlated- but the third variable is actually the weather

confounding variable

Some factor other than the variable of interest that, if not controlled by the experimenter, could explain the relationship between the variables of interest

How to control for confounding variables

A: Exclusion Criteria- issue: makes studies less generalizable (less external validity)
B: Balance across groups
C: Test as possible covariates

requirements for an experiment to provide evidence of causation

1. Two or more comparable groups
2. Participants w/i each group are presented with experiences that differ in only one way (independent variable)
3. The participants in two groups behave differently on a dependent variable (balanced group)
4. Provides evidence that the differing experiences caused differences in behavior

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

experimental control

steps taken to ensure that other variables that could affect the dependent variable are equivalent in all groups

natural/quasi experiment

investigator measures the impact of some naturally occurring event that is assumed to affect people's lives

longitudinal study and limitations

same participants are studied repeatedly at different ages

selective attrition, cross generational problem which limits external validity

cross-sectional study and limitations

people of differing ages all studied at the same time

cohort effects; cannot tell us how individuals develop across time

sequential study and limitations

same groups of different-aged people studied repeatedly as they change ages (longitudinal and cross sectional), check for cohort effects

more time-consuming and expensive

microgenetic study and limitations

same participant studied repeatedly over a short period as they master a novel task; understanding the process of change/ mechanisms of change

intense experiences to stimulate change are atypical, limit external validity

SRCD Ethics Code (6 Points)

Doing no psychological of physical harm to children
Obtaining informed consent and/or assent for children 7+
Preserving participant anonymity
Discussing research results with parents or guardians
Taking action to counteract unforeseen negative results that may arise
Being honest with the child and explaining the findings of the research to the child in a way they can understand

Genotype

someone's unique sequence of DNA

Phenotype

the detectable expression of the genotype

Parent's Genotype- Child's Phenotype

Chromosomes (23 pairs)- parents give children their DNA
½ from each parent

Child's Genotype- Child's Phenotype

Many genes are never or only partially expressed
⅓ genes have two or more different forms (alleles)
One allele from each parent (ie: hair color)
polygenic inheritance

Child's Environment- Child's Phenotype

environment influences gene expression
canalization (suppression of phenotypic variation) can occur (ie: motor development is highly canalized)

Child's Phenotype- Child's Environment

Evocative Gene-Environment Correlation: a child's genetic endowment elicits certain experiences or interactions with the world

Active Gene-Environment Correlation: Children select environments best suited to their phenotype; to their genetic predisposition

Parent's Phenotype- Child's Environment

Passive Gene-Environment Correlation: Environment in which child is raised is shaped by parent's genes, which are also part of the child's genetic endowment
(Parent and child must be biologically related to each other)

Heritability

measure of the extent to which individual differences on a given trait in a specific population are attributable to genetic differences among those individuals (0

Epigenesis

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

measures of socioeconomic status

Income/ Income-to-need ratio
Parental education level
Occupational prestige
Neighborhood level
Subjective Social Status
Public Assistance
Household Chaos
Food Instability
Cost of Living
Generational Wealth

socioeconomic related risk factors

Nutrition, lead exposure, cognitive stimulation, parenting styles, hierarchy effects, chronic stress, trauma exposure, daycare/ school quality, parent psychiatric disorders, loss of caregivers/ disruptions in care, obesity, sleep disruptions

relationship between SES and race

Racially minoritized individuals are more likely to be low SES

iron deficiency and development

Iron deficiency in the first 3-5 years of life causes impaired cognitive and motor development;
time sensitive- supplementation needed during the early years of rapid brain development

how many US children go to bed hungry?

1 in 4 (prepandemic)

food deserts

urban and rural low-income areas with limited access to affordable and nutritious foods; no supermarket w/i a census group

achievement gap

disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race, ethnicity, ability, and socioeconomic status

what widens the achievement gap?

Rising Income Inequality
The Rug Rat Race: affluent families today are investing much more of their money and time in early childhood enrichment than they did 40 years ago
Kindergarten Readiness- privileged kids are getting ahead

Effects of early vs late childhood poverty

Early poverty is a stronger predictor of later cognitive achievement than poverty in middle or later childhood;
Brain develops more rapidly at younger age, which can be a vulnerability for early childhood development in poverty stricken families

Neurocognitive disparities in language

Three y/o from professional families have more than double the vocabulary of those from families on welfare

Vocab Deficit Emerges Early (Fernald)

When you can't process language quickly enough you'll lose language input

Neurocognitive disparities in memory

impairment of declarative memory in children in low SES families

Neurocognitive disparities in executive functions

infants from low SES families are less advanced on A not B test (deals w/ object permanence). Executive function deficits persist into adulthood

zoo go/no go test

children in all economic domains responded quickly to the go signal, but kids in low SES families also responded to no-go signal

shape remembrance test and income

higher income was correlated with higher accuracy when remembering one time

which is true: social causation or social selection?

social causation

social causation

environmental risks associated with poverty hinder cognitive development

social selection

people end up in the social class that matches their IQ

SES Modifying Heritability of IQ: 7 y/o Twin Study

In high SES family, genes account for most variance in IQ (~60%)
Kids have the means to reach their genetic potential

In low SES families, shared environmental influences account for more variance (~60%) genes have very little contribution
Unstable environments limit kids from reaching their genetic potential

How is low SES associated with executive function

Early-emerging executive function deficits, which predict poorer academic achievement

Structural differences in neural regions implicated in executive function

Differences in how the brain responds during executive function tasks

How can low SES effect the brain

associated with slower brain waves in frontal lobe (hypoactivation)

simultaneous story study outcome

Lower SES children paid attention to the stories in BOTH ears, whereas higher SES children paid more attention to the target story

co-occuring adversity in mid-low income countries

Absolute poverty, stunted growth, macro and micronutrient deficiencies, environmental toxins, inadqutate cognitve stimulation

about how many kids under five don't attain their cognitive potential?

200+ million

study: adversity in pakistan

sindh province
high child mortality, ~2/5 stunted by age 2
parenting intervention from ages 0-2 improved vocab and exec function by age 4, nutrition intervention did not

Brofenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment

segregated neighborhood study

In the 100 largest metro areas in the US, almost 2/3 of white and asian american children live in high/ very high opp neighborhoods, in comparison to ⅔ of black, 58% of hispanic, and 53% of NA children living low or very low opp communities

healthcare inequity

-marginalized racial groups recieve poorer quality medical care

-low SES neighborhood hospitals have less access to qualitiy equipment and specialty doctors

-greater risk to child of early loss of loved ones due to healthcare inequities and incarceration

mechanisms through which racism harms child-wellbeing

interpersonal discrimination
greater financial stress
(mass) incarceration
biological effects- toxic stress and unhealthy environments

methods to address systemic racism at source

1. individual family intervention
2. strengthen policies that proved economic support
3. place-based interventions
4. reduce cultural racism beginning in childhood

plasticity

the capacity of the brain to be affected by experience

Processes of Brain Development (\***\= prenatal)

1. Neurogenesis\***
2. Neural Migration\***
3. Neural Differentiation\***
4. Neural Maturation
5. Synaptogenesis
6. Synaptic Pruning
7. Myelination

what happens in neuronal maturation?

Begins 15th prenatal week, but continues up to age two; axons thicken and elongate;
arborization

what happens in synaptogenesis?

formation of synapses between neurons; most rapid during prenatal period and infancy, but continues through life

why do synaptic pruning and programmed cell death happen

overproduction of synapses

when does the visual cortex peak and mature?

peaks at one; matures at ten

when does the prefrontal cortex peak and mature

peaks at four; declining at ten; matures in adulthood

myelination

the formation of a fatty sheath around the axons of a neuron so signals travel faster

when are the visual and motor circuits myelinated?

infancy

which is myelinated first: broca's or wernicke's area?

wernicke's area (speech comprehension) myelinated first, ~6 months before broca's area (speech production)

what is the slowest maturing/ myelinating part of the brain

frontal cortex; goes through childhood

what can interfere with myelination?

fevers and nutritional deficiencies

Sensitive Periods in Brain Development

Window of time when the brain is extra sensitive to certain kinds of environmental inputs

experience-expectant processes

rely on species-typical experiences; often have sensitive periods (ie: human brains expect visual input, language, caregivers, etc.)

experience-dependent processes

Formation and pruning of synapses as the result of learning experiences unique to the individual's environment; occurs throughout the lifespan