Psych 2400 Chapters 1-6 Exam 1
Lifespan perspective(1.7)
-Both continuous and discontinuous -Many possible course of development -Both nature and nurture
Vygotsky's sociocultural theory(1.7)
-Both continuous and discontinuous -Many possible courses of development -Both nature and nurture
Ethology and evolutionary developmental psychology(1.7)
-Both continuous and discontinuous -One course of development -Both nature and nurture
Behaviorism and social learning theory(1.7)
-Continuous -Many possible course of development -Emphasis on nurture
Information Processing(1.7)
-Continuous -One course of development -Both nature and nurture
Ecological systems theory(1.7)
-Continuous or discontinuous not specified -Many possible courses of development -Both nature and nurture
Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory(1.7)
-Discontinuous -One course of development -Both nature and nurture
Psychoanalytic perspective(1.7)
-Discontinuous -One course of development -Both nature and nurture
What are genes, and how are they transmitted from one generation to the next?(2.1)
-Segments of deoxyribonucleic acid. Protein-coding genes send instructions for making proteins to the cell's cytoplasm; regulator genes modify those instructions. A wide range of environmental factors also alter gene expression. -Gametes (sex cells), result from a cell division process (meiosis), which ensures that each individual receives a unique set of genes from each parent. Once sperm and ovum unite, the resulting zygote will then have the full complement of chromosomes -If the fertilizing sperm carries an X chromosome, the child will be a girl; if it contains a Y chromosome, a boy.
Explain differential theory of perceptual development.(4.8)
According to differentiation theory, perceptual development is a matter of detecting invariant features in a constantly changing perceptual world. Acting on the world plays a major role in perceptual differentiation. From s cognitive perspective, infants also impose meaning on what they perceive. Many researchers combine these two ideas.
Describe dynamic systems theory of motor development.(4.6)
According to dynamic systems theory of motor development, children acquire new motor skills by combining existing skills into increasingly complex systems of action.
Discuss the goodness-of-fit model.(6.5)
According to the goodness-of-fit model, child-rearing conditions that recognize the child's temperament while encouraging more adaptive functioning promote favorable adjustment.
In what ways can adults support early language development?(5.11)
Adults in many culture speak to young children in infant-directed speech(IDS), a simplified form of communication that is well-suited to their learning needs. Live interaction with an adult is better suited to spurring language progress than are media sources.
Summarize changes during the first two years in understanding of others' emotions, expression of self-conscious emotions, and emotional self-regulation.(6.3)
As infants' ability to detect the meaning of emotional expressions improves, social referencing appears at 8-10 months. In the second year, toddlers realize that others' emotional reactions may differ from their own, and they sue social referencing to gather information about other's intentions and preferences. During toddlerhood, self-awareness and adult instruction provide foundations for self-conscious emotions. Emotional self-regulation emerges as the prefrontal cortex functions more effectively, as caregivers build on infants' increasing tolerance for stimulation, and as infants' ability to shift attention improves. When caregivers are emotionally sympathetic but set limits, toddlers display more effective anger-regulation strategies in the preschool years.
Explain the various ways heredity and environment may combine to influence complex traits.(2.6)
Behavioral genetics examines the contributions of nature and nurture to diversity in human traits and abilities. Some researchers use kinship studies to compute heritability estimates, which attempt to quantify the influence of genetic factors on such complex traits as intelligence and personality. In gene-environmental interaction, heredity influences each individuals unique response to qualities of the environment. Gene-environment correlation and niche-picking describe how genes affect the environments to which individuals are exposed. Epigenesis reminds us that development is best understood as a series of complex changes between heredity and all levels of the environment. Epigenetic research is uncovering biochemical processes--such as methylation--through which environment can modify gene expression.
According to Piaget, how do schemes change over the course of development?(5.1)
By acting on the environment, children move through four stages in which psychological structures, or schemes, achieve a better fit with external reality. Schemes change in two ways: through adaptation, which is made up of two complementary activities--assimilation and accommodation; and through organization.
What is temperament?(6.4)
Children differ greatly in temperament--early appearing, stable individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation, The pioneering New York Longitudinal Study indentified three patterns: the easy child, the difficult child, and the slow-to-warm-up child. Rothbart's influential model of temperament includes dimensions representing emotion, attention, and action, along with effortful control, the ability to regulate one's reactivity.
Describe theories of language development, and indicate the emphasis each places on innate abilities and environmental influences.(5.10)
Chomsky's nativist theory regards children as naturally endowed with a language acquisition device (LAD). Consistent with this perspective, childhood is a sensitive period for language acquisition. Recent theories suggest that language development results from interactions between inner capacities and environmental influences. Some interactionists apply the information-processing perspective to children's social skills and language experiences.
Describe infant learning capacities, the conditions under which they occur, and the unique value of each.(4.5)
Classical conditioning is based on the infant's ability to associate events that usually occur together in the everyday world. Infants can be classically conditioned most easily when the pairing of an unconditioned stimulus(UCS) and a conditioned stimulus(CS) has survival value. In operant conditioning, infants act on the environment, and their behavior is followed by either reinforcers, which increase the occurrence of a preceding behavior, or punishment, which decreases the occurrence of a response. In young infants, interesting sights and sounds and pleasurable caregiver interaction serve as effective reinforcers. Habituation and recovery reveal that at birth, babies are attracted to novelty. Novelty preference(recovery to a novel stimulus) assesses recent memory, whereas familiarity preference (recovery to the familiar stimulus) assesses remote memory. Newborns have primitive ability to imitate adults' facial expressions and gestures. Imitation is a powerful means of learning. Specialized cells called mirror neurons may underlie infants' capacity to imitate.
What are some implications for later development of attachment security?(6.7)
Continuity of caregiving is the crucial factor determining whether attachment security is linked to later development. If caregiving improves, children can recover from an insecure attachment history.
Distinguish between the correlational and experimental research designs noting the strengths and limitations of each.(1.9)
Correlational design: examines relationships between variables without altering participants experiences. A correlation coefficient is often used to measure the association between variables Experimental design: permits inferences about cause and effect. Researchers manipulate an independent variable by exposing participants to two or more treatment conditions. Then they determine what effect this variable has on a dependent variable. Random assignment to treatment conditions reduces the chances that participants' characteristics will affect the accuracy of experimental findings. Field and natural, or quasi experiments: compare treatments in natural environments. However, the approaches are less rigorous than laboratory experiments.
Describe major early influences on the scientific study of development.(1.4)
Darwin's theory of evolution influenced important developmental theories and inspired scientific child study. In the early twentieth century, Hall and Gesell introduced the normative approach, which measured behaviors of large groups to yield descriptive facts about development.
What is developmental science, and what factors stimulated expansion of the field? (1.1)
Developmental science is a field devote to the understanding human constancy and change throughout the lifespan. Research on human development has been stimulated by both scientific curiosity and social pressures to improve people's lives.
Describe the development of self-awareness in infancy and toddlerhood.(6.9)
During the first few months, infants display an implicit awareness of the self as distinct from the surrounding world. In the middle of the second year, explicit awareness of the self's physical features emerges. Around age 2, self-recognition is clearly evident as toddlers identify themselves in photos and by name. However, scale errors, attempting to do things that their body size makes impossible, are common at this age.
Describe the development of basic emotions over the first year, noting the adaptive function of each.(6.2)
During the first half-year, basic emotions gradually become clear, well-organized signals. The social smile appears between 6 and 10 weeks, laughter around 3-4 months. Happiness strengthens the parent-child bond and both reflects and supports motor, cognitive, and social competencies. Anger and fear, especially in the form of stranger anxiety,, increase the second half-year as infants' cognitive and motor skills improve. Newly mobile babies use the familiar caregiver as a secure base form which to explore.
Describe factors that influence motor progress in the first two years.(4.6)
Each new skill is a joint product of central nervous system development, the body's movement possibilities, the child's goals, and environmental supports for the skill. Cultural values and child-rearing customs also contribute to motor development. During the first year, infants perfect reaching and grasping. Reaching gradually becomes more accurate and flexible, and then the clumsy ulnar grasp is transformed into a refined pincer grasp.
Describe brain development during infancy and toddlerhood.(4.2)
Early in development, the brain grows faster than any other organ of the body. Once neurons are in place, they rapidly form synapses. To communicate, neurons release chemicals called neurotransmitters, which cross synapses. Programmed cell death makes space for neural fibers and synapses. Seldom stimulated neurons lose their synapses in a process called synaptic pruning. Glial cells, responsible for myelination, multiply rapidly through the second year, contributing to large gains in brain weight.
Describe the development of attachment during the first two years.(6.6)
Ethological theory, the most widely accepted perspective on attachment, recognizes the infant's emotional tie to the caregiver as an evolved response that promotes survival. In early infancy, built-in signals help bring infants into close contact with other humans. Around 6-8 months, separation anxiety and use of the caregiver as a secure base indicate the existence of a true attachment bond. As representation and language develop, separation protest declines. From early caregiving experiences, children construct an internal working model that guides future close relationships.
Medical Interventions(3.7)
Fetal monitors: help save the lives of many babies at risk for anoxia because of pregnancy and birth complications. When used routinely however, they may identify infants as in danger who, in fact, are not. Use of analgesics and anesthetics to control pain, though necessary in complicated deliveries, can prolong labor and may have negative effects on newborn adjustment Cesarean Delivery: is warranted by medical emergencies and in instances in which babies are in breech position(feet first). However, many unnecessary cesareans are performed.
Describe the three stages of childbirth and the baby's adaptation to labor and delivery.(3.5)
First stage: contractions widen and thin the cervix. Second stage: mother feels an urge to push the baby through the birth canal Final stage: the placenta is delivered During labor, infants produce high levels of stress hormones, which help them withstand oxygen deprivation, clear the lungs for breathing and arouse them into alertness at birth. The Apgar Scale assess the baby's physical condition at birth.
What changes in intermodal perception take place during infancy.(4.7)
From the start, infants are capable of intermodal perception-- combining information across sensory modalities. Detection of amodal relations (such as common tempo or rhythm) provides the basis for detecting other intermodal matches.
What procedures can assist prospective parents in having healthy children?(2.4)
Genetic counseling: helps couples at risk for giving birth to children with genetic abnormalities consider reproductive options. Prenatal diagnostic methods allow early detection of developmental problems. Genetic engineering and gene therapy offer hope for treating hereditary disorders. Reproductive technologies, such as donor insemination, in vitro fertilization, and surrogate motherhood, enable individuals to become parents who otherwise would not, but they raise legal and ethical concerns, Many adults who cannot conceive or are likely to transmit a genetic disorder choose adoption. Although adopted children have more learning and emotional problems than children in general most fare well in the long run. Warm, sensitive parenting predicts favorable development.
List the three periods of prenatal development, and describe the major milestones of each.(3.1)
Germinal period: lasts about two weeks, from fertilization through implantation of the multicelled blastocyst in the uterine lining. Structures that support prenatal growth begin to form, including the placenta and umbilical cord. Period of the embryo: weeks 2-8, the foundations for all body structures are laid down. The neural tube forms and the nervous system starts to develop. Other organs follow rapidly. By the end of this period the embryo responds to touch and can move. Period of the fetus: age of viability at the beginning of the third trimester, between 22 and 26 weeks. The brain continues to develop rapidly, and new sensory and behavioral capacities emerge. Gradually the lungs mature, the fetus fills the uterus, and birth is near.
What individual differences occur in early language development?(5.11)
Girls show faster language progress than boys, and shy toddlers may wait before trying to speak. Compared to their higher-SES agemates, toddlers from low-SES homes usually have smaller vocabularies,which forecast poorer literacy skills and academic performance at school entry.
Describe major changes in body growth over the first two years.(4.1)
Height and weight gains are rapid during the first two years. Body fat rises quickly during the first nine months, whereas muscle increases slowly. Body proportions change as growth follows the cephalocaudal and proximodistal trends.
What theories influenced human development research in the mid-twentieth century?(1.5)
In the 1930s and 1940s, psychoanalytic perspective helped in treating people's emotional problems. Freud's psychosexual theory explains that an individual moves through five stages, during which three portions of the personality-- Id, ego, and superego-- become integrated. Erikson's psychosocial theory expands on freud's theory, emphasizing the development of culturally relevant attitudes and skills and the lifespan nature of development. Behaviorism and social learning theory emerged, emphasizing principles of conditioning and modeling. Conditioning and modeling gave rise to applied behavioral analysis, in which procedures of conditioning and modeling are used to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses. Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory emphasizes that children actively construct knowledge as they move through four stages, beginnings with the baby's sensorimotor action patters and ending with the abstract, systematic reasoning system of the adolescent and adult.
Describe major cognitive attainments of the sensorimotor stage.(5.2)
In the sensorimotor stage, the circular reaction provides a means of adapting first schemes, and the newborn's reflexes gradually transform into the flexible action patterns of the older infant. Eight-to-12-month-olds develop intentional, or goal-oriented, behavior and begin to understand object permanence. Between 18 and 24 months. mental representation is evident in mastery of object permanence problems involving invisible displacement, deferred imitation, and make-believe play.
Describe major language milestones in the first two years.(5.11)
Infants begin cooing at 2 months and babbling at about 6 months. At 10-11 months, their skill at establishing joint attention improves, and soon they use preverbal gestures. Around 12 months, toddlers say their first word. Young children make errors of underextension and overextension. Once vocabulary reaches 200-250 words, two-word utterances called telegraphic speech appear. At all ages, language comprehension is ahead of production.
How does the organization of sleep and wakefulness change over the first two years?(4.3)
Infants changing arousal patterns are primarily affected by brain growth, but the social environment also plays a role. Periods of sleep and wakefulness increasingly conform to a night-day schedule. Most parents in Western nations try to get their babies to sleep through the night much earlier that parents throughout most of the world, who are more likely to sleep with their babies. Regular bedtime routines promote sleep.
Describe infants' capacity for multiple attachments.(6.8)
Infants develop strong affectionate ties to fathers, who tend to engage in more exciting, physical play with babies than mothers do. Early in the first year, infants begin to build rich emotional relationships with siblings that combine rivalry and resentment with affection and sympathetic concern. Individual differences in quality of sibling relationships are influenced by temperament, parenting, and marital quality.
What changes in hearing take place during infancy?(4.7)
Infants organize sounds into increasingly complex patterns and as part of the perceptual narrowing effect, begin to "screen out" sounds not used in their native language in the second half of the first year. An impressive statistical learning capacity enables babies to detect sound patterns, for which they will later learn meanings.
Describe the strengths and limitations of the information-processing approach to early cognitive development.(5.6)
Information processing findings reveal remarkable similarities between babies and adults' thinking. But information processing has not yet provided a comprehensive theory of children's thinking.
Describe recent theoretical perspectives on human development.(1.6)
Information processing views the mind as a complex manipulating system and development as undergoing continuous change. Researchers in developmental cognitive neuroscience study the relationship between changes in the brain and the development of cognitive processing and behavior patterns. Investigators in developmental social neuroscience are examining relationships between changes in the brain and emotional and social development. Ethology stresses the adaptive value of behavior and inspired the sensitive period concept. In evolutionary development psychology, researchers seek to understand the adaptiveness of species-wide competencies as they change with age. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, focuses on how culture is transmitted from one generation to the next through social interaction. Children acquire culturally relevant knowledge and skills by participating in cooperative dialogues with more expert members of society. Ecological systems theory, views the individual as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple, nested layers of the surrounding environment-- microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. The chronosystem represents the dynamic, ever-changing nature of individuals and their experiences.
Describe designs for studying development, noting the strengths and limitations of each.(1.10)
Longitudinal design: permits researchers to identify common patterns as well as individual differences in development and to examine relationships between early and later events and behaviors. This research poses several problems, including biased sampling, practice effects and cohort effects-- difficulty generalizing to people developing at other historical times. Cross-sectional design: a more efficient way to study development, but it is limited to comparisons of age-group averages and can be vulnerable to cohort effects. Sequential design: compare participants of the same age who were born in different years to determine whether cohort effects are operating. When sequential designs combine longitudinal and cross-sectional strategies, researchers can see if outcomes are similar, for added con fidence in their findings
Describe risks associated with preterm and low birth weight, along with effective interventions.(3.8)
Low birth weight, most common in infants born to poverty-stricken women, is a major cause of neonatal and infant mortality and developmental problems. Compared with preterm infants, whose weight is appropriate for time spent in the uterus, small-for-date infants usually have longer-lasting difficulties. Some interventions provide special infant stimulation in the intensive care nursery. Others teach parents how to care for and interact with their babies,
Describe current methods of measuring brain functioning.(4.2)
Measures of brain functioning include those that detect changes in electrical activity in the cerebral cortex (EEG,ERPS), neuroimaging techniques (PET, fMRI), and NIRS, an imaging technique suitable for infants and young children. The cerebral cortex is is the largest, most complex brain structure and the last to stop growing. Its frontal lobes contain the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for complex thought. Gradually, the hemispheres of the cerebral cortex specialize, a process called lateralization. But in the first few years of life, there is high brain plasticity, with many areas not yet committed to specific functions.
Describe major chromosomal abnormalities, and explain how they occur.(2.3)
Most chromosomal abnormalities result from errors during meiosis. The most common, Down syndrome, leads to physical defects and intellectual disability. Sex chromosome disorders are milder than defects of the autosomes.
Describe the information-processing view of cognitive development and the general structure of the information-processing system.(5.4)
Most information-processing researchers assume that we hold information in three parts of the mental system for processing: the sensory register, the short-term memory store, and long-term memory. The central executive joins with working memory--our "mental workspace"--to process information effectively. Automatic processes permit us to focus on other information while performing them. Gains in executive function--impulse control, flexible thinking, coordinating information in working memory, and planning--in childhood predict important cognitive and social outcomes in adolescence and adulthood.
Describe natural birth and home delivery, noting benefits and concerns associated with each.(3.6)
Natural or prepared childbirth: the expectant mother and a companion attend classes about labor and delivery, master relaxation and breathing techniques to counteract pain, and prepare for coaching during childbirth. Social support from a doula reduces the length of labor and the incidence of birth complications and enhances newborn adjustment. Home birth: is safe for healthy mothers who are assisted by a well-trained doctor or midwife, but mothers at risk for complications are safer giving birth in a hospital
Describe methods commonly used in research on human development.(1.8)
Naturalistic observation: gathered in everyday environments, permit researchers to see directly the everyday behaviors they hope to explain. Structured observation: take place in laboratories, give every participant an equal opportunity to display the behaviors of interest. Self reports: can be flexible and open-minded like the clinical interview Structured interviews: including tests and questionnaires, each participant is asked the same questions in the same way. Clinical or case study; used to obtain an in-depth understanding of a single individual Ethnography: engaging in participant observation
Describe the newborn baby's sensory capacities.(3.10)
Newborns use touch to investigate their world, are sensitive to pain, prefer sweet tastes and smells, and orient toward the odor of their own mother's lactating breast. Newborns can distinguish a variety of sound patterns and prefer complex sounds. They are especially responsive to human speech, can detect the sounds of any human language, and prefer their mother's voice. Vision is the least developed of the newborn's senses. At birth, focusing ability, visual acuity, and color discrimination are limited. Nevertheless, newborn babies actively explore their visual world.
Describe the impact of additional maternal factors on prenatal development.(3.3)
Prenatal malnutrition can lead to low birth weight, damage to the brain and other organs, and suppression of immune system development. Vitamin-mineral supplementation, including folic acid, can prevent prenatal and birth complications. Severe emotional stress is linked to pregnancy complications and may permanently alter fetal neurological functioning, resulting in impaired capacity to manage stress and susceptibility to later illness. These consequences can be reduced by providing the mother with social support. Rh factor incompatibility: an Rh-positive fetus developing within an Rh-negative mother--can lead to oxygen deprivation, intellectual disability, heart damage, and infant death. Older mothers face increased risk of miscarriage, and after age 40, a rise in pregnancy complications. Poor health and environmental risks associated with poverty explain higher rates of pregnancy complications in adolescent mothers.
What changes in depth and pattern perception take place during infancy?(4.7)
Rapid maturation of the eye and visual centers in the brain supports the development of focusing, color discrimination, and visual acuity during the first half-year. Scanning the environment and tracking moving objects also improves. Research on depth perception reveals that responsiveness to motion cues develops first, followed by sensitivity to binocular and then to pictorial cues. Experience in independent movement enhances depth perception and other aspects of 3D understanding. At first, babies stare at single, high-contrast features. Over time, they discriminate increasingly complex, meaningful patterns. Newborns prefer to look at and trak simple, facelike stimuli and they look longer at attractive faces. Around 2 months, infants prefer their mother's facial features; at 3 months, they distinguish the features of different faces; and by 7 months, they discriminate among a wide range of emotional expressions.
Describe the newborn baby's reflexes and states of arousal, noting sleep characteristics and ways to soothe a crying baby.(3.9)
Reflexes: the newborn baby's most obvious organized patterns of behavior. Some have survival value, others help parents and infants establish gratifying interaction, and a few provide the foundation for complex motor skills Newborns experience five states of arousal but spend most of their time asleep. Sleep includes at least two states, rapid-eye-movement(REM) sleep and non-rapid-eye-movement(NREM) sleep. Newborns spend about 50 percent of sleep time in REM sleep, which provides them with stimulation essential for central nervous system development. A crying baby stimulates strong feelings of discomfort in nearby adults. Once feeding and diaper changing have been tried, a highly effective soothing technique is lifting the baby to the shoulder and rocking or walking. Extensive parent-infant physical contact substantially reduces crying in the early months
Discuss environmental influences on early mental development, including home, child care, and early intervention for at-risk infants and toddlers.(5.9)
Research with the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment(HOME) shows that an organized, stimulating home environment and parental affection, involvement, and encouragement predict higher mental test scores. The extent to which parents talk to infants and toddlers is especially influential. Quality of infant and toddler child care influences later cognitive, language, academic, and social skills. Standards for developmentally appropriate practice specify program characteristics that meet young children's developmental needs. Intensive intervention beginning in infancy and extending through early childhood can prevent the gradual declines in intelligence and the poor academic performance of many poverty-stricken children.
What factors affect attachment security?(6.7)
Securely attached babies with favorable life conditions more often maintain their attachment pattern than insecure babies. The disorganized/disoriented pattern shows greater stability than the other patterns. Cultural conditions must be considered in interpreting attachment patterns. Attachment security is influenced by early availability of a consistent caregiver, quality of caregiving, the fit between the baby's temperament and parenting practices, and family circumstances. Sensitive caregiving is moderately related to secure attachment. In Western cultures, sensitive caregiving includes responding contingently to infant signals and "Reading" the baby's mental states. In non-Western village communities and Asian cultures, sensitive caregiving keeps the baby close and dampens emotional expressiveness.
Describe the emotional and social capacities self-awareness supports.(6.9)
Self-awareness leads to toddlers' first efforts to appreciate another's perspective, including early signs of empathy. As language strengthens, children develop a categorical self, classifying themselves and others on the basis of social categories. Self-awareness also contributes to self-control. Compliance emerges between 12 and 18 months, followed by delay of gratification, which strengthens between 1 1/2 and 4 years. Children who experience parental warmth and encouragement are likely to be advanced in self-control.
What does follow-up research reveal about infant cognitive development and the accuracy of Piaget's sensorimotor stage?(5.3)
Some awareness of object permanence, as revealed by the violation-of-expectation method and object-tracking research, may be evident in the first few months, much earlier than Piaget believed. Furthermore, young infants display deferred imitation, and by 10 to 12 months, they can solve problems by analogy--attainments that require mental representation. Around their first birthday, babies understand displaced reference of words. In the second year, toddlers treat realistic-looking pictures symbolically. Around 2 1/2 years, the video deficit effect declines; children grasp the symbolic meaning of video. Researchers believe that newborns have more built -in equipment for making sense of their world than Piaget assumed, although they disagree on how much initial understanding infants have. According to the core knowledge perspective, infants are born with core domains of thought, including physical, psychological, linguistic, and numerical knowledge, that support early, rapid cognitive development. Broad agreement exists that many cognitive changes of infancy are continuous rather than stagelike and that aspects of cognition develop unevenly rather than in an integrated fashion.
Describe appropriate stimulation to support the brain's potential.(4.2)
Stimulation of the brain is important during sensitive periods, when the brain is developing most rapidly. Prolonged early deprivation can disrupt development of the cerebral cortex, especially the prefrontal cortex, and interfere with the brain's capacity to manage stress, with long-term physical and psychological consequences. Early experience-expectant brain growth depends on ordinary experiences. No evidence exists for a sensitive period in the first few years for experience-dependent brain growth, which relies on specific learning experiences.
Discuss the role of heredity in the stability of temperament.(6.5)
Temperament affects differential susceptibility to rearing experiences. Children with the short 5-HTTLPR genotype, which heightens risk of self-regulation difficulties, function worse than other children when exposed to inept parenting and benefit most from good parenting. Parents tend to emphasize temperamental differences between siblings.
Discuss the role of environment in the stability of temperament.(6.5)
Temperament has low to moderate stability:it develops with age and can be modified by child-rearing experiences. Long-term prediction from early temperament is best achieved after age 3, when children improve substantially in effortful control. Ethnic and gender differences in temperament may have genetic foundations but are promoted by cultural beliefs and practices.
How is temperament measured?(6.4)
Temperament is assessed through parental reports, behavior ratings by others familiar with the child, and laboratory observations. Most neurobiological research has focused on distinguishing inhibited, or shy, children from uninhibited, or sociable, children.
Describe the typical changes in the family after the birth of a baby.(3.11)
The baby's arrival is exciting but stressful, as the mother recuperates and the family schedule becomes irregular and uncertain. When parents have a positive relationship, social support, and adequate income, adjustment problems are temporary.
What special ethical concerns arise in research on human development?(1.11)
The ethical principle of informed consent requires special safeguards for children and for older adults who are cognitively impaired or chronically ill. The use of deception in research with children is especially risky because it may undermine their basic fatih in the honesty of adults.
Cite factors that influence the impact of teratogens, and discuss evidence on the impact of known or suspected teratogens.(3.2)
The impact of teratogens varies with amount and length of exposure, genetic makeup of mother and fetus, presence of other harmful agents, and age of the organism. The developing organism is especially vulnerable during the embryonic period. The most widely used potent teratogen is isotretinoin, a drug used to treat severe acne. The Prenatal impact of other commonly used medications, such as aspirin, and caffeine, is hard to separate from other correlated factors. Babies born to users of cocaine or heroin are at risk for wide variety of problems, including prematurity, low birth weight, brain abnormalities, physical defects, and breathing difficulties. However, lasting consequences are not well-established. Infants whose parents use tobacco are born underweight, may have physical defects, and are at risk for long-term attention, learning, and behavior problems. Maternal alcohol consumption can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder(FASD). Fetal alcohol syndrome(FAS), resulting from heavy drinking throughout pregnancy, involves slow physical growth, facial abnormalities, and mental impairments. Milder forms--partial fetal alcohol syndrome(p-FAS) and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder(ARND)--affect children whose mothers consumed smaller quantities of alcohol. Prenatal exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation, mercury, PCBs, lead, and dioxin leads to physical malformations and severe brain damage. Low-level exposure has been linked to cognitive deficits and emotional and behavioral disorders. Persistent air pollution is associated with low birth weight and impaired lung and immune system functioning. Among infectious diseases, rubella causes wide-ranging abnormalities. Babies with prenatally transmitted HIV rapidly develop AIDS, leading to brain damage and early death. Cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex 2, and toxoplasmosis can also be devastating to the embryo and fetus.
Describe the lifespan perspective on development.(1.3)
The lifespan perspective envisions human change from a developmental systems perspective. Four assumptions make up this broader view: that development is 1. lifelong, 2. multidimensional and multidirectional, 3. highly plastic, 4. affected by multiple interacting forces(Age-graded influences, which are predictable in timing and duration; History-graded influences, unique to a particular historical era; and Nonnormative influences, unique to one or a few individuals.).
Describe the mental testing approach and the extent to which infant tests predict later performance.(5.8)
The mental testing approach measures individual differences in developmental progress in an effort to predict future performance. Scores are arrived at by computing an intelligent quotient(IQ), which compares and individual's test performance with that of a standardization sample of same-age individuals, whose scores form a normal distribution. Infant tests consisting largely of perceptual and motor responses predict later intelligence poorly. Speed of habituation and recovery to visual stimuli is one of the best predictors of future performance.
Identify three basic issues on which theories of human development take a stand.(1.2)
The three basic issues include: Is the course of development continuous or discontinuous? Does one course of development characterize all people, or are there many possibilities? What are the roles of genetic and environmental factors--nature and nurture-- in development?
Describe various patterns of gene-gene interaction.(2.2)
Traits controlled by single genes follow dominant-recessive and incomplete-dominance patterns of inheritance. Homozygous individuals have two identical alleles, or forms of a gene. Heterozygous individuals with one dominant and one recessive allele are carriers of the recessive trait. In incomplete dominance, both alleles are expressed in the phenotype. X-linked inheritance: applies when recessive disorders are carried on the X chromosome and therefore, are more likely to affect males. In genomic imprinting, one parent's allele is activated, regardless of its makeup. Mutation: when harmful genes arise. They can occur spontaneously or be caused by hazardous environmental agents. Germline mutations occurs in the cells that give rise to gametes; somatic mutation can occur in body cells at any time of life. Polygenic inheritance: human traits that vary on a continuum, such as intelligence and personality-- the effects of many genes.
Cite evidence that heredity and nutrition both contribute to early physical growth.(4.4)
Twin and adoption studies reveal that heredity contributes to body size and rate of physical growth. Breast milk is ideally suited to infants' growth needs. Breastfeeding protects against disease and prevents malnutrition and infant death in poverty-stricken areas of the world. Most infants and toddlers can eat nutritious foods freely without the risk of becoming overweight. However, the relationship between rapid weight gain in infancy and later obesity is strengthening because of the rise in unhealthy parental feeding practices. Marasmus and kwashiorkor, two dietary diseases caused by malnutrition, affect many children in developing countries. If prolonged, they can permanently stunt body growth and brain development.
Why is early and regular healthcare vital during the prenatal period?(3.4)
Unexpected difficulties, such as preeclampsia, can arise, especially when pregnant women have preexisting health problems. Prenatal health care is especially crucial for women who are young and low-income
How do researchers measure attachment security?(6.7)
Using the stranger situation, a laboratory technique for assessing quality of attachment between 1-2 years of age, researchers have identified four attachment patterns: secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, and disorganized/disoriented attachment. The attachment Q-sort, based on home observations of children between ages 1 and 5, yields a score ranging from low to high in security.
How does Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development expand our understanding of early cognitive development?(5.7)
Vygotsky believed that infants master tasks within the zone of proximal development--ones just ahead of their current capacities--through the support and guidance of more skilled partners, As early as the first year, cultural variations in social experiences affect mental strategies.
Describe family functioning from the perspective of ecological systems theory, along with aspects of the environment that support family well-being and development.(2.5)
Warm, gratifying family ties, which foster effective co-parenting, help ensure children's psychological health. Socioeconomic status(SES) profoundly affects family functioning. High SES families tend to be smaller, to emphasize psychological traits, and to engage in warm, verbally stimulating interaction with children. Low SES families often stress external characteristics and use more commands, and criticism, and physical punishment. Children's development in affluent families may be impaired by parents' physical and emotional unavailability. Poverty and homelessness can seriously undermine development. Supportive ties between family and community are vital for psychological well-being. The values and practices of cultures and subcultures affect all aspects of daily life. Extended-family households, which are common among many ethnic minorities, help protect family members from the negative effects of stressful life conditions and enhance physical and mental health, Consistent cross-national differences in collectivism-individualism powerfully affect approaches to devising public policies to address social problems. Largely because of its strongly individualistic values the US lags behind other developed nations in policies safeguarding children and families, as well as older adults.
What personality changes take place during Erikson's stages of basic trust versus mistrust and autonomy versus shame and doubt?(6.1)
Warm, responsive caregiving leads infants to resolve Erikson's psychological conflict of basic trust versus mistrust on the positive side. During toddlerhood, autonomy versus shame and doubt is resolved favorably when parents provide appropriate guidance and reasonable choices.
What changes in attention, memory, and categorization take place over the first two years?(5.5)
With age, infants attend to more aspects of the environment and take information im more quickly. In the second year, attention to novelty declines and sustained attention improves. Young infants are capable of recognition memory. By the middle of the first year, they also engage in recall. Both recognition and recall improve steadily with age. Infants group stimuli into an expanding array of categories. In the second year, toddlers categorize flexibly, switching their basis of object sorting, and their grasp of the animate-inanimate distinction expands. Gradually, they shift from a perceptual to a conceptual basis of categorizing.
