ap psych unit 3 pt 4
Development of Language
Babbling stage - infants of all nationalities begin with the same babbling sounds
One word stage - stage where children (12-18 months) tend to use one word at a time
Two word stage - stage where children (2 years) tend to speak with mostly two word sentences
Language Acquisition Theories
Operant conditioning (Skinner) - learning comes from reinforcement and modeling (cannot explain everything regarding language)
Inborn universal grammar (Chomsky) - naturally have a language acquisition device from birth to learn language
Critical period (Lenneberg) - specific time period where a skill is best learned, if not learned at this time, will never be fully capable
Language Development
Receptive language
4 months - babies can discriminate speech sounds & read lips
7 months - babies start to segment spoken sounds into individual words
Productive language
4 months - babbling stage when the infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not necessarily related to language
10 months - babbling becomes more meaningful and related to the household language
12 months - one word stage (families can decipher a lot from partial words)
18 months - word learning increases greatly
24 months - two word stage, two word sentences
24+ months - language develops rapidly into complete sentences
Thinking and Learning Language
Linguistic relativity - idea by Benjamin Lee Whorf that says the words in our vocabulary help to influence what we think
Over regularization - a grammatical error in which the rules of language are applied too widely
Over extension - when a word is used as a broader term than it is meant to be
Under extension - when a word is used only in a more specific instance than it is meant to be
Infant Attachment
Strong, long lasting emotional connection that is enduring across time
Infants show attachment through proximity-seeking behaviors, meaning they like to be near those they’re attached to
Bowlby - infant emotional tie with its mother evolved because of survival instincts
Children who form an attachment to an adult develop a deeper parent child relationship and are more likely to survive - crucial to normal development
Harry Harlow - studied impact of contact comfort on infant attachment
Evaluated if feeding or contact comfort was more important
Showed the need for affection created a stronger bond between mother and infant than did physical needs (food)
Suggested the development of child’s love for their caregiver was emotional rather than physiological
Showed the development of attachment was closely associated with critical periods in early life
Types of Attachment
Secure attachment - relationship of trusts and confidence
During infant this relationship provides a secure base(mother) for exploration for the environment
“I missed you, but now that you’re back I’m okay”
Insecure avoidant attachment - infants or young children seem somewhat indifferent toward their caregivers and may even avoid their caregivers
“You left me again, I always have to take care of myself”
Resistant/ambivalent attachment - infants or young children are clingy and stay close to their caregivers when exploring their environment
Disorganized attachment - Infants or young children have no consistent way to coping with the stress of the “strange situation” in the experiment, the baby seems confused when they mother returns
Problems with emotional regulation and social function
Authoritarian: strict, unsympathetic
Value obedience from child, try to curb child’s will, discourse independence, detached/solemn praise
Children are: unfriendly, withdrawn, distrustful, less empathetic, more aggressive, less likely to feel guilty or accept blame
Authoritative: reason with child, encourage give or take, sets limits but encourage independence, firm but understanding
Children are: friendly, cooperative, self-reliant, socially responsible, better in school, more popular
Permissive: More affectionate, give lax discipline, lots of freedom
Children are: immature, dependent, unhappy, tantrums, act helpless
Uninvolved: indifferent to children, Invest little time/money/effort as possible
Children are: less likely to form secure attachments, more impulsive, aggressive, noncompliant, moody, low self esteem
Imprinting - Konrad Lorenz, some animals develop attachment during a critical period shortly after birth, instinctively becomes attached to first moving thing seen at this time
Harlow monkey studies
Early Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget - suggested nature and nurture worked together and searched for origins of intelligence in infancy & factors that lead to changes in knowledge over life span
Schemas are used to understand the world around us
Adaptation of schema - understand new experiences by fitting them within an existing schema
Accommodation - process of modifying schemas to fit new experiences when familiar schema don’t work
Sensorimotor stage - Birth-2yrs, take in information through sensory and motor interactions - seem to live in present
Before 6 months - lacks object permanence, meaning they lack awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived
Preoperational stage - 2-6yrs, too young to perform mental operations
Lacks concept of conservation, meaning the principle that mass, volume, & number are constant despite changes in form/shape
May have difficulty distinguishing imagination/reality (egocentrism)
Inability to take another’s POV
Develop theory of mind
Important for language development
Concrete operational stage - 7-11 yrs, begin to understand conservation, reversibility, mathematical operations, and concrete analogies
Formal operational stage - 12-adult, abstract reasoning, develop imagined reality
Lev Vygotsky - emphasized the role of language and social interaction in cognitive development
Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development
Each stage presents a new crisis to be resolved
Trust vs. mistrust - infancy-1 yr - infants learn to trust that their needs will be met by the world, especially by the other they learn to trust
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt - 1-2 years, children learn to make own choices or become uncertain and doubt they can do things themselves
Initiative vs. guilt - learn to initiate activities they enjoy/ask questions or feel guilty for independence
Industry vs. inferiority - 6 years- puberty, children develop a sense of industry and curiosity and are eager to learn or feel inferior and lose interest in the tasks before them
Identity vs. role confusion - teens-20s, adolescents come to see themselves as unique or become confused about what they want out of life
Intimacy vs. isolation - early adulthood, young people commit to themselves to other person or develop a sense of isolation and feel alone in the world
Generativity vs. stagnation - middle age, adults are willing to have and care for children and devote themselves to work or become self centered and inactive
Egointegrity vs. despair - old age, older people enter a period of reflection becoming assured that their lives have been meaningful and ready to face death with acceptance or are they in despair for their unaccomplished goals
Identity Statuses of Adolescent Development
James Marcia
Identity diffusion - not sure what to do but not trying to figure it out
Identity foreclosure - decided what to do based on parents beliefs, has not explored identity alone
Identity moratorium - trying to explore different identity statuses but not sure what to do
Identity achievement - explored different options and knows what to do in life
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
Stage 1: Punishment/obedience orientation - behavior is determined by consequences
Stage 2: Instrumental purpose orientation - behavior is determined by consequences
Stage 3: Good boy/nice girl: behavior is determined by social approval
Stage 4: Law and order orientation: social rules and laws determine behavior
Stage 5: Social contract orientation: individual rights determine behavior
Elisabeth Kulberg’s 5 Stages of Grief
Denial and isolation, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance
Teratogens - potentially harmful agents that can affect prenatal development, especially harmful during embryonic stage
Diseases
Drugs - can experience withdrawal symptoms after birth
Smoking and nicotine - respiratory problems, social attention problem, prone to addiction
Alcohol - fetal alcohol syndrome
Newborns - studying is difficult because its difficult to study motor response, track eyes or mouth to track when hearing mother’s voice to determine if there is a defect
Newborn reflexes - born with numerous reflexes that aid survival, unlearned motor behaviors like sucking
Brain development - born with too many neurons
Maturation - enabled by brain development, natural growth, must be biologically prepared for it to develop, age will vary but sequence does not