Developmental Psych (3301) Exam 1 Review

• What is the study of developmental psychology? What do developmental scientists study?

  The study of developmental psychology revolves around the understanding of all aspects of human growth, from conception to adolescence. Developmental scientists study physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development.
• How have views of childhood shifted throughout history? What sources of information inform us about earlier beliefs?

  In today's society, people now understand that both genetics as well as the environment matter (nature and nurture). However there is still disagreement about the relative importance of both. The past used to be more passively viewed however there is a more active view of childhood and development. People also know that children are influenced by sociocultural context. Some sources of info that inform us about earlier beliefs are through different researchers and psychologists, as well as different models such as the Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model.
• Describe the factors that led to an interest in the scientific study of children's development in the 19 and 20 centuries. How did industrialization change the lives of children?

  Studies and research done by Charles Darwin allowed for an increase in the interest in studying human development. When industrialization occurred, more and more children were going to school and getting an education, and the illness and death rates also decreased for children.
• Describe the central issues in the field of developmental psychology (described in text and lecture), as well as issues of plasticity and individual differences (described in text). What is the current view within each issue? Describe evidence that is relevant to the study of each of these issues.

  1. Is developmental psychology determined more by nature, nurture, or by both things equally? (currently it is viewed that both nature and nurture have an effect on the growth and development of a child).

  2. Is development active or passive? (currently viewed as bidirectional).

  3. Is development continuous or discontinuous? (currently viewed as more gradual).

  4. Is there one course or many courses of development? (relies on sociocultural contexts)

  
  

  Plasticity: To what extent does development change due to deliberate intervention or chance experience

  
  

  Individual Differences: How does a person come to have certain characteristics that make them different than other people, and what determines the characteristics
• Why are theories so important, and what are the characteristics of a good theory?

  Theories are important because they help to guide scientific research, make sense of our data that we collect, and also organize knowledge. Some characteristics that make a good theory include parsimony (meaning the theory is concise and simple), falsifiable (meaning that the theory can be supported or disconfirmed), and that predictions are able to be made which allows testable hypothesis and future events to be generated.
• Describe the basic features of each of the "grand theories" of development: Freud's and Erikson's psychodynamic theories, Watson's behaviorism, Piaget's constructivist theory, and Vygostky's sociocultural theory.


  Freud: Biological and sexual drive (related to need for survival). Wanted to balance ID, Ego, and Super Ego. Oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages.

  
  

  Erikson: Importance of social and cultural interaction, and how development continues throughout life. Eight stages created that are associated with a crisis needing to be resolved.

  
  

  Watson: Importance of observable behavior and how the environment shapes behavior. Classical conditioning and reinforcing/punishing behavior.

  
  

  Piaget: Importance of child's ability to explore, and mature their brain and body. Took the constructivist approach meaning children construct their own system to understand world. Focused on schemas, assimilation, and accommodation.

  
  

  Vygotsky: Importance of sociocultural context, as well as importance of maturation and experiences. Focused on zone of proximal development, guided participation, and scaffolding.
• Compare the grand theories to more modern theories, including Bandura's social learning theory, evolutionary theory, information-processing, and Bronfenbrenner's ecological model. Describe the basic premise of dynamic systems theory.

  Bandura: Social learning theory, observed through imitation and modeling

  
  

  Bronfenbrenner: Ecological model that included microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem.

  
  

  Dynamic system theories show how social, cognitive, and physical development interact in order to form a system for the mastery of new skills
• Differentiate between material and symbolic cultural tools, and provide examples of each. Describe mechanisms by which culture is thought to be inherited

  Material tools: physical objects or a pattern of behavior that can be observed

  
  

  Symbolic tools: exploration of abstract beliefs, knowledge, and values
• Describe the key criteria that guide scientific research (ie. objectivity, reliability, validity, replicability).

  Objectivity: unbiased analysis of research of studies

  
  

  Reliability: There is similar or consistency in findings, you are able to get the same results every time

  
  

  Validity: Data that is collected matches the data that was collected by researcher (matches what researcher is trying to study)

  
  

  Replicability: The same results are obtained if a different person tries to do the same study or research
• Differentiate between naturalistic observations and experiments (be sure to discuss the relation between the experimental condition and the control condition). What are the advantages and disadvantages of each research method?

  Naturalistic Observations: studies that are done without the interference of researcher. Studies the person in their natural habitat, without variables or anything to change the behavior. This can help to lead to unbiased results.

  
  

  Experiments: Ability to identify causal factors. People may behavior differently in an experimental setting, and there may be biased results.
• What does it mean to say events are correlated? Give an example of a positive correlation, a negative correlation, and a zero correlation. What does it mean when a researcher says "correlation does not imply causation."


  If events are correlated it means that the changing of a variable or a factor impacts the changing of another variable or factor.

  
  

  Positive: Children who are getting more sleep get better grades on their math tests

  
  

  Negative: Children who sleep more do worse on their math tests

  
  

  Zero: Amount of sleep and grades do not impact each other

  
  

  Statement: Although two things may be related or similar, it does not mean that they cause one another to happen or change.
• Explain how longitudinal and cross-sectional designs differ. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

  Longitudinal: A group of people as they get older (long term and can take several years)

  
  

  Cross-sectional: Various aged people have data collected at the same time (short period of time)
• What are some important issues to consider before conceiving a child? How do these issues differ for men and women?

  It is important to understand the risks of having a child at your specific age. It is also important to consider mental health, drug and alcohol use, and financial stability. Many of these issues do not differ for men and women, besides making sure the women is physically able to carry a child for 9 months.
• What are the stages of prenatal development? Describe the changes that occur in the developing organism during each of the three periods. Describe and give an example of both cephalocaudal and proximodistal development.

  1. Germinal (0-2 weeks): begins as single celled zygote and then divides while traveling to the uterus and implantation

  2. Embryonic (2-8 weeks): organs begin to form

  3. Fetal (week 9-birth): fetus grows 10x bigger, and organs differentiate and refine
• What have experiments with nonhuman organisms indicated concerning the function of fetal activity in development?

  when injection with bad smelling substance was put into the placenta the animals heart rate increased
• What are teratogens? What are the most common teratogenic agents to which fetuses are exposed? What effects do they commonly have on the fetus? What is the most sensitive period in terms of the effect of teratogens, and why? How is timing important in prenatal development?

  Teratogens: Environmental influences that can cause prenatal damage.

  
  

  Most common are alcohol and drugs, and they can affect the physical and cognitive development of a child.

  
  

  Most sensitive period is embryonic stage (2-8 weeks) because organs are developing

  
  

  Timing is important because you want the baby to grow up strong and healthy, without being impacted by the negative teratogens
• How were pregnancies and births affected by conditions of maternal starvation in the Netherlands and in Leningrad during World War II? What role did the timing of starvation play in its effects? List some of the factors that make it difficult to isolate and determine the extent to which prenatal and postnatal development are affected by malnutrition.

  The number of infants born decreased incredibly because there was a food shortage (meaning people were too worried about eating for themselves) and there were also more stillbirths. Babies born at this time were likely to be at least a pound lighter than a baby born at a different time, and were also likely to be born earlier. Some of the factors include the lack of research about malnutrition and development.
• Describe what we know (and how we know it) about fetal sensory development. That is, what do we know about a fetus' sense of hearing, vision, smell, taste, and touch in the womb? Be sure to include relevant research findings where applicable (eg. Cat in Hat study).


  Sight: least developed sense at birth (due to being in a dark womb for the last 9 months)

  
  

  Hearing: Audio receptors developed by 5-6 months prenatally

  
  

  Taste: Taste buds present by 3-6 months, babies prefer sweeter substance

  
  

  Touch: Sensitive to touch by 2-3 months

  
  

  Smell: Varendi Study, babies prefer more familiar smell (pad soaked in mom vs other amniotic fluid)

  
  

  The Cat in Hat study showed that babies sucked at the rate needed in order to hear the familiar story, showing that babies can hear and learn while in the uterus
• Identify and describe in utero reflexes (ie. reflexes present in the womb). What is their function? Be sure to distinguish them from the reflexes that are present after birth.

  Swallowing: strengthens the digestive system

  Thumb-Sucking: prepares for eating

  Breathing: strengthens the cardiovascular system
• What is the best predictor of delivering a healthy baby? What factors are confounded with this predictor? At birth, what is the best predictor of the future health of the baby?

  Best predictor = prenatal care (ensures health and nutrition and monitors growth)

  Future health predictor = the weight of the baby when it is born
• What triggers childbirth? Describe what effect the physical process of birth has on the fetus. What is the stress hormone rush?


  Childbirth is triggered by the fetus signal that stimulates maternal hormone production. Infants are adapted for vaginal birth so it does not harm them bc skull is not completely fused.

  The stress hormone rush is when blood rushes to the brain, heart, and lungs and arouses the baby to alertness
• What aspects of labor are universal? And what are some examples (both from lecture and text) of cultural variations in childbirth?

  Universal: dilation of cervix, pushing and birth, delivery of placenta

  
  

  Variations: Who helps, method of delivery, where delivery occurs, role of partner, attitudes and policies surrounded pregnancy and birth
• What are some common medical interventions used during childbirth (including c-sections) and what are the implications of using them, both for the mother and for the baby? What are some reasons why voluntary c-sections are increasing in number?

  Medical interventions: painkillers and sedatives

  -Implications: helpful to mom because they cannot feel contractions as much but harmful for baby because it slows labor, higher change of oxygen deprivation, and weaker responses

  
  

  Why c-sections are increasing: some families prefer a c-section so they can pick a specific date for the baby to be born
• How is a newborn's physical condition and behavioral condition assessed?

  Physical condition: APGAR scale (assess baby in 1-5 minutes and looks for heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex response, and color)

  
  

  Behavioral condition: Brazelton neonatal assessment scale (assesses babies susceptibility to developmental conditions and difficulties)
• What are the causes and consequences of low birth weight (LBW) and high birth weight (HBW)? How has the rate of LBW and HBW infants changed in the past 50 years? What is thought to underlie these changes?


  LBW: less than 5.5 pounds, can lead to infections, death, neurological damage, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, vision problems, attention problems, poor motor coordination, lower cognitive abilities, less touch, parents less responsive

  
  

  HBW: more than 10 pounds, risk of birth injuries, fetal oxygen deprivation, more mortality rates, and leads to heart disease, diabetes, obesity

  
  

  Changed: Higher birth weights increasing due to rate of obese mothers, lower birth weights increasing due to IVF
• How have concepts from ethology helped psychologists understand early parent-infant interaction? Give an example. In what ways might parents' expectations affect their reactions to their newborn infants? Provide an example.

  Ethology: understand why mothers choose to protect or reject their young (ex: birds or monkeys and their young in the wild)

  Parents expectations affect their reactions to newborn is the appearance of the baby and the gender (sometimes)
• Describe the typical pattern of physical growth over the course of the first year.


  First three months: baby gains 6lbs and grow 4+ inches in length. Circumference of head increases by over an inch as well
• Define neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, synaptic pruning, and myelination. How do these processes contribute to behavioral change during infancy?

  Neurogenesis: proliferation of neurons through cell division (adult number of neurons in 18 months)

  
  

  Synaptogenesis: Forming connections with other neurons (exuberant synaptogenesis, increase in gray matter)

  
  

  Pruning: Elimination of synapses that are rarely used or needed (decrease in gray matter)

  
  

  Myelination: Fatty sheath that speeds processing (increase in white matter)
• Describe what is meant by brain plasticity and give an example of experience-expectant plasticity vs. experience-dependent plasticity. Identify and describe the main developmental processes that allow for this plasticity. What are sensitive periods, and what do we know about sensitive periods in human development?

  -Brain Plasticity: Capacity of the brain to be affected bu experience

  -Experience Expectant: How brain learns info from experiences that are expected to happen

  -Experience Dependant: How brain learns info that depends on individual experiences

  
  

  Sensitive Periods: Broader and more flexible than critical periods, windows of opportunity that may narrow but rarely close (such as language learning)
• What types of physiological and behavioral measures do researchers use to study newborns? Describe three types of research paradigms used to assess infants' perceptual abilities.

  Research heart rate changes, breathing, sucking rates, looking times, head turning, and EEG's

  
  

  1. Visual Preference: If infant looks longer at one stimulus over other we assume the infant prefers the longer looked-at one and has ability to distinguish 2 stimuli

  2. Habituation: present stimulus repeatedly until the response decreases

  3. Violation of Expectation: infant is shown two events, one consistent with expectations and one that violates expectations
• What is the condition of the newborn's auditory system? Be sure to describe research by Eimas on the distinction of phonemes.


  -From birth infants turn toward sound

  -Hear high better than low frequencies

  -Elimas: 2 month olds can distinguish phonemes (studied by difference between "ba" and "pa"
• What are the limitations on newborns' vision? How do we know what their visual acuity, color vision, and depth perception capabilities are? Be sure to describe relevant research methods in your answer.

  Limitations: Immature anatomy and neural pathways, difficulty coordinating movements with both eyes, nearsightedness, unable to tell differences in some colors

  
  

  Depth Perceptions: Kinetic (cues created by movement), Binocular (cues rely on binocular disparity), Pictorial (cues render depth in 2D images)

  
  

  Research Methods: Visual acuity measured by stripe experiment (tell the stripes and colors apart)
• Briefly describe what we know about newborns' sense of taste, and smell, as well as multimodal perception. Discuss research evidence indicating that newborns' taste preferences can be influenced by their mothers' diets.


  Taste and Smell: Strong at birth, sweeter tastes are calming to children, babies can tell differences in taste by 2 hours old, babies prefer sweeter and familiar smells

  
  

  Multimodal Perception: Ability to process multiple kinds of sensory info

  
  

  Mothers Diet: Common flavor of moms diet can go through the amniotic fluid to baby, can affect infants taste preference (researched through carrot experiment where moms who ate carrots produced kids who enjoyed carrot cereal more)
• Describe a classical conditioning study conducted with infants. Identify the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus, and the conditioned and unconditioned responses. What does this research tell us about the learning capabilities of young infants?


  - Conditioned feeding responses in infants- Baby opened mouth and made sucking motions at the sight of milk. When a bell was rung just before the milk was presented, the baby opened his mouth and sucked at the sound of the bell.

  - UCR - Sucking

  - UCS - Milk

  - CS - Bell-

  CR - Sucking-

  - This shows that infants can learn about their environments through conditioning.
• Describe the role of operant conditioning in adding new or more complex behaviors to infants' repertoires.


  Helps to add new behaviors through punishment and reinforcement. Infants repeat behaviors or actions that provide an interesting visual affect
• Identify and describe newborn reflexes. What is their function? Explain the debate regarding the disappearance of the stepping reflex.

  Reflexes-Inborn and automatic responses to stimulation

  -Crying, rooting, sucking, breathing and holding breath, blinking, gagging, swallowing, moro, babinski, grasping, stepping

  
  

  Stepping debate: continuity or discontinuity? Present in newborns but disappears only to reappear as voluntary stepping by 10-12 months
• What are the common states of arousal for a newborn? How much time do they spend sleeping? Why do they spend so much of their sleeping time in REM sleep? Be sure to describe research to support your answer.

  -Drowsy (1 hr)

  -Alert Awake (2-3 hrs)

  -Active Awake (2-3 hrs)

  -Crying (2 hrs)

  -Sleeping (16 hrs)

  
  

  Why REM: Makes up for absence of visual input during sleep. Studied in the Boismeyer study (varied the level of visual experience while away and found that more visual stimulation meant less REM sleep)
• What are some of the cultural values and other factors that affect sleeping arrangements? Be sure to include research findings of Morelli et al (1992). What is SIDS? What are the potential risk factors and how can it be prevented?


  Factors: independence vs co-dependence when sleeping, fear of smothering children, what is culturally accepted

  Morelli: bedtime routines and feeding have impact on sleeping schedule

  SIDS: Sudden infant death syndrome, failure to breath while sleeping

  -Linked to LBW and smoking during or after pregnancy, sleeping on stomach, formula feeding, being male
• What effects do infant cries have on adults who hear them? What is the adaptive function of crying? What evidence suggests that cultural practices influence infant crying patterns?

  When an infant cries it causes an adult to have higher heart rate, anxiety, and higher blood pressure

  
  

  Cultural influence: In less developed countries, mothers carry their children more which leads to less crying.

  
  

  Adaptive function: Interpret cues and help to soothe the baby
• What are the benefits of breastfeeding? How is feeding behavior influenced by culture?

  Benefits: Passive immunity, supplies nutrients and vitamins, protein, antibodies, calcium

  
  

  Culture Influences: can be used as birth control to slow down time before becoming pregnant again, doctors recommendations on when and how to feed vary