Psychology 200-Exam 2

When did the United States pass a parental leave policy? What's it called?

-1993 by Bill Clinton -Family and medical leave act

Describe the Strange Situation and what its purpose is.

-Eight settings caregiver and infant (typically 12-18 months) go through. They are observed in a mixture of settings with and without caregiver and with and without a stranger.-Infant reactions to these situations, particularly the reunion, indicate attachment quality.

How did Erikson's view of the first year of life build upon Freud's? What did Erikson term it?

-He stated that in addition to nursing and weaning, responding to the infant's needs other needs by comforting, talking, etc. is just as important. -Trust vs. mistrust.

In Japan, what is a secure attachment history related to in preschool?

-In Japan: secure attachment and good history. -In America: these behaviors related to insecure attachment. They are clingy.

What are the basic regulations in the Family and Medical Leave Act?

-Length: 12 weeks/3 months, unpaid, job protected, and within the first year of life. It also covers sickness for you, spouse, child, parent, adopted babies, or foster children -Size: limited only when an employer has 50 or more employees. And this eliminates 45% of working moms -Target: you had to have worked for a year in the company -Employee: if you are in the top 10%, they might not give you the leave

Describe Bowlby's four phases of establishing attachment including when they occur.

-Phase 1 Nonfocused orienting and signaling (birth to 3 months): Infant will cry, smile, etc. to anyone near them. -Phase 2 Focus on one or more figures (3-6 months): Infants become discriminative in their signaling. -Phase 3 Secure base behavior (6-24 months): True attachment emerges. Babies show "proximity-seeking" behavior (e.g., following, clinging). Directed to a primary caregiver or, if s/he's not available, then someone else. -Phase 4 Internal model (24 months and beyond): allows children to imagine how an action might affect the bond of later relationships.

When does the vocabulary explosion occur?

16 months: 50 words. 24 months: 320 words

When do infants develop a sense of "self"? How do researchers think they know? What else happens at this time?

18-21 months. Put rouge on infants nose. Not until 21-24 months did a majority of infants looking in mirror touch their own noses instead of the nose in the mirror. Also, at same time, infants begin to say their name when seeing a picture of themselves. Children show a newly proprietary attitude toward toys (e.g., "Mine!")

According to Piaget, when are infants first able to use symbols?

18-24 months

In all countries studied, what attachment style is most common? Second most?

1st: secure. 2nd: in 6 of 8 countries, avoidant (exception: Israel and Japan).

What percentage of American babies are breastfed?

50%

How does the U.S. infant mortality rate compare to other industrialized countries? What accounts for these deaths?

7 babies out of 1,000 die before age 1. They are accounted by congenital abnormalities or low birth weight

Describe Noam Chomsky's theory of language.

A 'nativist' view. We have a language acquisition device LAD that contains the basic grammatical structure of all human language. LAD tells infants there are two types of sounds, consonants and vowels. And 'pay attention to stressed sounds'.

What is a delay in object permanence associated with later?

A diagnosis of mental retardation.

What did Noam Chomsky suggest about language?

A genetic component exists to language. We are biologically primed to learn language. Children are able to learn language so quickly because they can pick up certain structures of language.

What is synchrony?

A mutual, interlocking pattern of attachment behaviors shared by a parent and child.

Insecure/avoidant attachment

A pattern of attachment in which an infant avoids contact with the parent and shows no preference for the parent over other people.

Secure attachment

A pattern of attachment in which an infant readily separates from the parent, seeks proximity when stressed, and uses the parent as a safe base for exploration.

Insecure-disorganized attachment

A pattern of attachment in which an infant seems confused or apprehensive and shows contradictory behavior, such as moving toward the mother while looking away from her.

Insecure-ambivalent attachment

A pattern of attachment in which the infant shows little exploratory behavior, is greatly upset when separated from the mother, and is not reassured by her return or efforts to comfort her/him.

myelination

A process of neuronal development in which sheaths made of a substance called myelin gradually cover individual axons and electrically insulate them from one another to improve the conductivity of the nerve.

What percentage of children who talk late will continue to have language delays after they begin talking?

About half. Those at risk have poor receptive language.

List the five key temperamental traits that developmental psychologists have identified (Thompson & Goodvin, 2005).

Activity level, approach/positive emotionality, inhibition, negative emotionality, effortful control/task persistence.

Describe the study on parent perceptions of temperament in infants based on the infants' gender (i.e., Condry & Condry, 1976).

Adults interpreted videotaped behavior differently if told it was a boy or girl. If a girl, she expressed "fear." If a boy, he expressed "anger." Adults now somewhat less likely to do this.

Who is more likely to intervene to make their 1-year-old have predictable sleep patterns, American or European parents?

American parents

what is colic?what causes it?

An infant behavior pattern involving intense daily bouts of crying totaling 3 or more hours a day. It is unknown what causes and stops it.

Describe social referencing.

An infant's use of others' facial expressions as a guide to his or her own emotions.

Infants can detect all speech sounds until about what age? What happens at this point? Is this reversible?

At 6 months and then they begin to lose the ability to distinguish vowels and nonheard consonant contrasts. It is not permanent.

In Jerome Kagan's longitudinal study of inhibition, what did he find about 4 month olds who exhibited high levels of crying and motor activity in response to novelty?

At age 8, half of them were still highly inhibited. Of those rated uninhibited at 4 months, 3/4ths still uninhibited at age 8.

How many more synapses does a baby have compared to an adult?

Babies have one and a half more synapses than adults.

What did Dr. Baillargeon do in her studies?

Babies would look at a rotating wooden block. Then would put a box behind it. In some cases, it would stop there and come back. In others (the impossible events), it would continue past it.

What ethnicity has the lowest rates of breastfeeding? Why?

Black women because several generations have opted to bottle feeding instead of breastfeeding.

Describe gender differences in temperament that researchers have found.

Boys: more active, emotionally intense. Girls: more fearful, sociable.

Which do most developmental psychologists suggest is healthier for newborn, breast feeding or bottle feeding? Why?

Breast feeding is healthier because of the nutrients as they help build a strong immune system, protects babies from becoming overweight later in life, and the babies are less likely to develop problems with colic, diarrhea, bronchitis.

Describe how poverty can impact language development.

By age 4, differences in vocabulary substantial and increase through grade school years. 4-year-old poor kids use shorter and simpler sentences (Snow, 1997) -Richness and variety of language heard (e.g., being read to) probably account for much of these differences.

How can parents nurture a secure attachment to their infant?

By being sensitive, To scaffold the child, Protect the child from the stressors the child is too young to handle, Need to attend to the needs of the parental couple, They need to enjoy their child expressing it implicitly and explicitly

What are the effects of early child care on social development? Why might these effects occur?

Child care prior to age of 1 leads to increased risk of insecure attachment (35% vs. 29% for home care). If spent 20 or more hours in nonparental care, increased risk for aggressiveness and disobedience. Other studies find if high quality care, however, no relationship. Stress hormones (i.e., cortisol) increase in infants in childcare and decrease for home-cared.

What maternal characteristics seem to predict secure attachment?

Emotional responsiveness, marital and socioeconomic status, mental health.

What scientific perspective does attachment theory come from?

Ethologists

What did Dr. Baillargeon find?

Even 3-5 month-old kids were surprised with impossible task. Object permanence seems to exist at 3 months of age.

How are synaptic connections made?

Every time a young baby learns something new, synaptic connections are made.

what is optimal nutrition for a newborn?

Exclusively breastfeeding a baby for the first six months of life and with complimentary feeds until their first birthday.

How does an infant sometimes react when his/her mother is depressed? What seems to cause this?

Express more negative and less positive affect. Some resist moms' attempts to nurse them or even refuse to eat altogether. As a result, higher percentage undernourished. Later, at risk for aggression or social withdrawal. Depression by itself not the problem. Rather, depression interferes with mom-infant interactions. Sometimes leads to withdrawal by mom and other times to over involvement and anger expression toward infant. If depressed mom shows same parenting behavior as other moms, no effects on infant.

What are common post-partum symptoms for mothers? How long can they last following birth?

Fatigue, Feeling down, Lack of ambition, Dizziness, Hemorrhoids, Respiratory infections and Sexual concerns. Up to a year.

Describe Ainsworth's secure base idea

Fosters exploration of the outer world and the inner world, including exploring the mind (mentalizing).

What country was the first to have a parental leave policy?

Germany

Do boys and girls acquire these equally quickly early in life?

Girls are ahead of boys in fine motor skills while boys are ahead of girls in gross motor skills.

Describe G. J. Whitehurst's study on dialogic reading.

Half of the parents used dialogic reding with 2-year olds. That is, asking questions for which children couldn't point to answer. The other half of parents given no special instruction. A month later, kids in dialogic reading knew more vocabulary words.

Describe Wayne Dennis' study of infants in Iranian orphanages.

He demonstrated that babies who were routinely placed on their backs in cribs learned to walk eventually, but they did so a year later than babies in less restrictive settings.

Describe Jim Coan's study. What did it find?

He recruited satisfied married couples to his lab exposing the woman in the couple to electric shocks periodically. There were 3 conditions in the experiment: in one, she could hold her husband's hand, the second she could hold a strangers hand, and in the third she couldn't hold anyone's hand. -He studied the pattern of brain activities as she was experiencing this threat. The brain was least active when she was holding her husband's hand i.e. the brain was generating less emotionally distressing kind of activity. Moreover, when the brain is distressed, it will try to producing and regulate the stress. -He found out that if you are feeling connected to somebody who you feel secure with and trust, that this takes a huge load off your brain.

Describe the rates of immunization in 1992 vs. 1999. What accounts for the differences?

In 1992, 55% while in1999 it was 90% because of a media campaign sponsored by the federal government and the AAP.

What are the effects of high quality child care on children's cognitive development?

Increased IQ level and performance later in school.

Whose brain is more resilient in the face of insult (e.g., malnutrition, head injury), infants or adults? Why?

Infant brains have more resiliency because they have many more synapses and they have the ability to change when faced with an experience.

Describe the study by Harlow & Zimmerman (1959). Does it support Freud's or Erikson's views more?

Infant monkeys were separated from their mothers at birth. Two cylinder mothers' placed in cage, one with a nursing bottle and the other with a terrycloth cover. The monkeys only approached the wire mother when hungry.It supports Erikson's theory.

In what ways does infant speech seem beneficial to infants?

Infants prefer IDS, even in non-native language. Study showed American infants preferred IDS not just in English but also Cantonese. IDS emphasizes unique sounds, such as Spanish rolled r, and therefore helps infants learn them High pitch and recasting sentences (i.e., repeating sentences in correct grammatical form) draws infant attention. Experimental studies show recasting helps infants and children learn more than simple modeling.

Describe Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk's (1960) "visual cliff" and what it helped researchers find about infant depth perception.

Infants would not cross the visual cliff because of the fear of falling. It helped researchers find that infants can perceive DEPTH.

Describe the study by Dr. Ofer Tchernichovski with finches. What did he find?

Initially isolated male finches from their fathers. Their song/call changed into a croak instead of chirping. Over generations, however, the sons not just imitated their fathers but moved the sound toward normal song. Within four generations, normal song.

What is the visually tracking of a child with autism like?

Instead of anticipating, the child will follow where the object has been because the use of dynamic information seems to be significantly compromised in autism.

How have researchers since Piaget (e.g., Baillargeon) shown that object permanence occurs earlier than Piaget thought?

Instead of reaching, grasping, and moving blanket, they simply had to watch a possible and impossible event. 4 month olds can do this

What are some reasons some mothers cannot breast feed?

Insufficient supply of milk, medical conditions that require them to take drugs which can filter to the breast milk and harm the baby, virus including HIV, and also adoptive mothers

What is attachment?

Is an emotional bond that holds two people together. The mother - infant relationship is a prototype.

When does babbling occur?

It occurs from 6-12 months and constitutes half of infant vocal output.

Describe the "internal models" that John Bowlby says infants and young children develop.

It starts to form at end of first year and become elaborated through first five years. It elements such as the child's confidence (or lack of it) that the attachment figure will be available, the child's expectation of rebuff or affection, the child's sense of assurance that the attachment figure is really a safe base for exploration. By age 5, a model of primary caregiver, of self, and of relationships.

Who is the father of Attachment Theory?

John Bowlby

Within the first three months of life, does prompt attention to a crying baby lead to more or less crying by the baby later?

Less crying.

If you have an inhibited four-year-old child, does controlling the child more or less seem to have a better outcome for her/him by the age of seven?

Less. More controlling Chinese parents had more inhibited 7 year olds. (Hou, Chen, & Chen, 2005)

What are the first overt signs of a baby showing its temperament?

Loud noises, things on their skin, Their mood

What are characteristics of "high quality" child care centers?

Low teacher/child ratio, small group size, a clean, colorful space that promotes play, a daily plan, sensitive caregivers and knowledgeable caregivers.

What's the world's leading cause of death for children under the age of 5?

Macronutrient malnutrition-results from a diet that contains too few calories.

What does the finch study imply for humans?

Maybe innate ability to talk and learn language.

What do most nutritional problems in industrialized countries involve?

Micronutrient malnutrition (deficiency in vitamins and minerals)

types of problems/issues does SIDS seem related to

Myelination happens at a slower rate in babies with sleep apnea.

racial group with highest rates of SIDS in America

Native Hawaiian Americans, Native Americans, and African Americans. They tend to have babies with low birth weights and congenital abnormalities.

If an infant cries when separated from her/his caregiver, what attachment style does this represent?

No attachment style as even many securely attached infants cry.

Is there a critical period for language learning?

No evidence of this.

How much television does the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest children under the age of two watch per week?

No television at all.

How do older mothers compare to adolescent mothers in their sensitivity?

Older mothers display more sensitive caregiving than younger mothers

Do attachment styles remain the same over time? Describe the situations in which they may or may not remain the same.

Only if family constellation/circumstances remain the same. If divorce, move, death, abuse, illness etc., classification may change either for the worse or for the better.

What is temperament?

Predispositions, such as activity level, that are present at birth and form the foundations of personality.

Describe the purpose and procedure of the Visual Cliff experiment.

Procedure: o Babies between 9 and 12 months are brought to a lab and placed on a large plexi-glass top table. o Half of the table has a checkerboard pattern just underneath the surface o Half way across is a visual cliff, which the baby can tell drops off steeply o The plexi-glass top continues so its fine to proceed o But the baby is sure, this is a big drop for a baby beginning to crawl o She wants to get across to the toy but she is cautious about crawling to the opposite side of where the mother is. o The mother was instructed to give a "fear face" or a smile • Purpose o This study demonstrates the role of non-verbal communication in determining the child's behavior in uncertain context o Found out that by the 9-12th months babies are already doing what all of us are doing: we look around to see how other people are reacting

What are some benefits of breastfeeding for the baby?

Protection against diabetes Enhancing the immune system Nourishing the brain and the body

Who was Oxana Malaya?

Raised in Russia by dogs for many of her younger years until she was eventually found. She behaved and communicated like a dog. She was able to learn language. However, they could not draw implications because she had had human interaction for her first three years of life.

What is the "Forbidden Experiment"?

Raising a child without using any language around them to see if the child is still able to develop language.

What are some benefits of breastfeeding for the mother?

Reduction of certain type cancers and Protection against osteoporosis

What is babbling?

Repetitive vocalizing of consonant-vowel combinations by an infant.

What does sensorimotor intelligence refer to?

Schemes related to looking, listening, sucking, and grasping.

the four attachment styles.

Secure attachment, Insecure/avoidant attachment, Insecure-ambivalent attachment, Insecure-disorganized attachment

What types of behaviors can extreme lack of stimulation lead to?

Self-stimulating behaviors like hand-flapping, rocking back and forth, or aggression.

Why did Dr. Baillargeon conduct her object permanence studies?

She thought Piaget must be wrong. Object searching behavior does not test for object permanence well

Once a clear primary attachment appears in Phase 3, what else also appears? For how long?

Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety, and lasts until about 12 to 16 months.

What often co-occurs with insecure attachment?

Stress, Common cold, Depression, Withdrawal, Anxiety, Aggression, physical disease outcomes.

After the first month of life, what causes the death of most infants?

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The cause is not yet covered

Which matters more for the development of an attachment relationship, contact after birth or synchrony?

Synchrony

What did Harry Harlow demonstrate in his studies with rhesus monkeys?

That babies use moms for food, security, and comfort

Dr. Schultz described a study comparing three vs. four month leave policies. What did they find?

That the mothers who had an extra month of leave had more positive feelings about being a mother.

Why might the Strange Situation not be appropriate to assess Japanese caregivers and infants?

The babies are rarely separated from their mothers.

What are some examples of how infants and parents establish synchrony?

The baby signals needs by crying; when held, she quiets or snuggles; she looks at her parents when they look at her.

What happened when the mother gave a "fear face" or scared reaction?

The baby wouldn't go across the glass

What happened when the mother gave a smile or an expression of encouragement?

The child would likely cross over.

What nerves myelinate first/earlier?

The nerves that myelinate first are are the nerves serving the muscle cells in the NECK and SHOULDERS.

What social change led to more and more countries implementing parental leave policies?

The rise of women in the work place.

What is infant-directed speech?

The simplified, high pitched speech used by adults with infants and young children.

What is attachment theory?

The view that infants are biologically predisposed to form emotional bonds with caregivers and that the characteristics of those bonds shape later social and personality development.

What faces do babies prefer to look at?

Their mother's faces or other attractive faces.

Why are younger babies able to tell the differences between lemur faces?

They have different skills to recognize the difference between easily.

Describe the community arrangement of the Efe foragers of Zaire and how this impacts attachment relationships.

They live in camps of 20 individuals. Each group as several extended families. The infants are cared for communally; carried and held by all women. If they have needs, including nursing, cared for by whoever is closest. The infants normally sleep with their mother. Though, the infants seem to use any adult or older child as a secure base. And, around six months a preference for the mother still arises, although maybe not quite as strong as in other cultures.

What happens to synapses that the babies do not use?

They lose them as they grow but the ones used continue to survive and grow

How do synaptogenesis and pruning help explain how infants within more enriched homes might develop better cognitive skills later?

They might develop better cognitive skills later because they are more likely to use their neuron connections and not lose them because of lack of use.

Compared to mothers, how do fathers tend to interact with their infants?

They play with them more by physical roughhousing.

What do babies typically do when they see something ambiguous?

They would look towards their significant other; father, mother, caregiver, grandparents in order to figure out what to to.

What does Dr. Sinha say that neuroscientists would say happens if a blind human eye is fixed after four or five years of age?

They would say the chances of the person's brain learning how to see are slim to none

What are the two functions of parents (i.e., the attachment figure) for infants?

Uses the caregiver as a secure base for which to go out and explore. and Where to retreat under conditions that are perceived threat

Can infants experience stress and anxiety?

Yes they can

Is it possible for children adopted from orphanages to develop normally?

Yes, if they are taken out of the orphanages and into loving families early on. They recover their developmental delays, and go on to lead normal happy live.

Can attachment style change? If so, how/why?

Yes, limited caregiver availability and responsiveness (i.e. inconsistency) can lead to a child's ambivalence. Changes in attachment patterns occurs in response to changes in security in attachment relationships.

Are younger or older infants more able to tell the difference between lemurs? How do experimenters know?

Younger infants. They showed the babies pictures of different lemurs and caught their attention.

What does the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend to help prevent SIDS?

babies should be positioned on their backs when they sleep.

When does telegraphic speech appear?

between 18-24 months

Describe receptive language.

comprehension of spoken language and occurs around 8 months.

synapse

connections between neurons

Least developed of the brain at birth

cortex

infant mortality

death within the first year of life

When does the brain grow to its full size?

during the first 3 years

stranger anxiety

expressions of discomfort, such as clinging to the mother, in the presence of strangers.

separation anxiety

expressions of discomfort, such as crying, when seperated from an attachment figure.

Throughout development, when do parents and children have the most physical closeness?

infancy

Tertiary circular reaction

infant tries new ways of playing with or manipulating objects.

fine motor skills

involve the use of the hands

gross motor skills

involves moving such as crawling

Habituation

is a decline in attention that occurs because a stimulus has become familiar.

What affects temperament, nature or nurture?

it hasn't been decided yet but the 2 components do affect it

What does Dr. Sinha's research suggest about a critical stage for eye development?

it may happen later in life than as an infant

Do Americans breastfeed more or less than women in other countries?

less than other countries

Does the United States parental leave policy provide substantially more or less time off than most other countries?

less time

Most developed of the brain at birth

midbrain and medulla

Secondary circular reactions

more aware of events outside the body and tried to make them recur.

when does pruning occur?

occurs after any synaptic growth-synaptogenesis

What are some functions of attachment?

protection, security, safety, and comfort.

Primary circular reactions

repetitive actions organized around the infant's body

dishabituation

responding to a somewhat familiar stimulus as if it were new.

What is telegraphic speech?

simple two-word sentences that usually include a noun and a verb

expressive language

the ability to use sounds, signs, or symbols to communicate meaning and occurs at around 12-13 months.

Who initiates the majority of verbal interactions between mother and child?

the child

When does most of that growth occur?

the first 6 months

At what age do infants start "learning."

the first week of life

pruning

the process of eliminating unused synapses

What is object permanence? When does it develop?

the understanding that objects continue to exist when they cant be see. At around 2 months it is possible.

What is a baby's vision at birth like?

they are legally blind having an acuity (vision) of 20/800

Which sense seems most well developed at birth?

touch

Does temperament determine a child's life or personality?

yes, it does

What did Georgette Mulheir find/experience when she first visited orphanages? Why did the infants and children act that way?

• They young children were quiet and stared at the ceilings. • The babies were not crying but they were distressed. • They acted like that because there wasn't any adequate time for only one child as each staff was taking care of almost 40 children at a time and the only daily contact a child had with another human being is reduced to a few hurried minutes of feeding and changing and their only stimulation is the ceiling, the walls, and the bars of their cots.

Describe Skinner's theory of language development. What is a major critique of his theory?

•It starts with babbling. Parents reinforce word-like sounds. Parents also reinforce grammatical as opposed to nongrammatical use of words. •A major critique is that the observations don't find parents reinforcing babbling as discriminately as Skinner suggests. All babbling is reinforced.

Describe the advantages of growing up bilingual.

•No impact on early language milestones. •Readily discriminate between languages phonologically and grammatically from earliest days of life. In early childhood, greater metalinguistic ability. •In adulthood substantial advantages to knowing two languages.

Describe the disadvantages of growing up bilingual.

•Receptive and expressive language for a single language smaller than for monolingual, because word understanding split between two languages. •This persists into school. Most do not attain equal fluency in both languages. If that second language is one that occurs at school, at risk for learning problems.