Developmental Psych THEME TWO COG DEVELOPMENT

• Cognitive development


  Refers to all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated and used
• Executive function


  How we organise our knowledge or known as 'thinking part of brain'
• What executive function covers

  • Working memory
  • Attention shifting
  • Problem solving
  • Planning
  • Inhibition = ability to stay on task
• Executive function is mostly impacted in the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) which is the slow developing part of the brain
• What underlies the development of executive function

  • Maturation = info processing, changes in simple capacity like processes
  • Conceptual = appeal to changes in the way children think about problems - more difficult
• Diamond (1990) AB ERROR study

  1. Investigated EF in infancy using habituation paradigm

  2. Focused on development of inhibitory control

  3. Infants were habituated to a toy that played music

  4. Findings: Infants young as 9 months able to inhibit their response to a familiar toy and adapt behaviour to a new toy

  5. This indicated early development of inhibitory control, suggesting that aspects of EF emerge in infancy

  6. Diamond showed importance of studying EF and developmental trajectories
• Cognitive control of implicit knowledge

  Children can demonstrate more competence early on with EF involving more implicit knowledge, rather than explicit
• Overall conclusions of executive function

  • EF in infancy = maturation of inhibition and STM are main development factors
  • EF in children = children have more difficulties with explicit knowledge rather than implicit tasks e.g saying their action (explicit) rather than just doing it (implicit)
  • What develops in EF? = development of STM (primary memory)
• Strange Situation Technique

  A laboratory test developed by Mary Ainsworth to measure infant attachment to their parent
• Strange Situation Technique


  • Lasting about 20 minutes
  • Involves the parent and infant being left alone in an unfamiliar room
  • Stranger enters and the parent leaves
  • Parent returns
  • Child's behaviors during these stages are recorded and coded to categorize them into secure or insecure attachment styles based on their response to the caregiver leaving and returning
• Mary Ainsworth

  A student of John Bowlby who created the Strange Situation Technique
• what is secure attachment?

  • child with a secure attachment style usually explores freely while the caregiver is present and may engage with the stranger. The child will typically play with the toys and bring one to the caregiver to show and describe from time to time. The child may be upset when the caregiver departs but is also happy to see the caregiver return.
• what is an ambivalent or resitant attachment style?

  
  

  • A child with an ambivalent (sometimes called resistant) attachment style is wary about the situation in general
  • child would rather cling to the caregiver rather than explore toys
  • child is extremely distressed when parent leaves
  • is very wary of the stranger
  • child may rush to caregiver but fails to be comforted as child is still angry and resists attempt to be soothed by caregiver
• what is an avoidant attachment?

  • A child with an avoidant attachment style will avoid or dismiss the mother
  • showing little emotion when the mother departs or returns.
  • Child may run away from the mother when she approaches
  • The child will not explore very much, regardless of who is there, stranger and mother treated similarly
• what is an disorganised or disorientated attachment?

  • inconsistent way of coping with stress in the study
  • child may cry when separated from mother
  • may avoid mother when she returns
  • may approach mother but might freeze or fall to the floor
• what is caregiver consistency?

  the degree of reliability and predictability of the caregiver towards infants or Childs needs. Responding to the needs in a stable manner
• what is social deprivation?

  • refers to the lack of sufficiency in social interaction, support or opportunities within a community or society.
• what happens to children who have experiences social neglect or deprivation?

  will develop reactive attachment disorder (RAD) = Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is a rare but serious condition that can affect young children who have experienced significant neglect, abuse, or disruptions in their early caregiving relationships. Children with RAD have difficulty forming healthy attachments with caregivers and may display behaviors such as avoiding eye contact, resisting comforting, withdrawing from social interactions, or showing little interest in engaging with others.
• what are some limitations with the strange situation technique?

  1. cultural bias as only applicable for western cultures
  2. It's designed for infants aged 12 to 18 months,
  3. so won't work for older children or adolescents
  4. Ethical Concerns: The study involves removing infant from caregiver causing distress to both
• implications of the strange situation technique?

  1. It provides a standardized method for assessing infant-caregiver attachment relationships.
  2. Parenting Education: It highlights the importance of consistent and responsive caregiving in fostering secure attachments.
• what did Vygotsky find within language?

  • Private Speech: children like adults will talk to themselves , maybe when struggling with problem, to remember something or feeling emotional
  • Inner Speech: from private speech he thought as children learn to think in words, they internally socialise thoughts they say them out loud in words = Inner Speech
• what is language?


  language, a system of communication that uses symbols in a regular way to create meaning. Language gives us the ability to communicate our intelligence to others by talking, reading, and writing
• how do newborn communicate?

  • they communicate their thoughts and needs with body posture =relaxed, still, gestures, cries, and facial expressions.
  • A person who spends adequate time with infant can learn which cries indicate pain, hunger, or discomfort
• how do babies use intentional vocalisation?

  • Cooing is a one-syllable combination of a consonant and a vowel sound (e.g., coo or ba).
  • babies replicate sounds from their own languages. A baby's parents speak French will coo in a different tone than a baby whose parents speak Spanish
• what language is used around 7 months old?

  • infants begin babbling, engaging in intentional vocalizations such as ma-ma-ma
  • Children babble as practice,creating specific sounds.
• what is meant by repetitive language?

  • At around ten months of age, the infant can understand more than he or she can say
  • example is mama or dogie at around ten to twelve months
• what is adolescence?

  • Adolescence is a period that begins with puberty and ends with the transition to adulthood - ages 10–18
  • Physical changes associated with puberty are triggered by hormones.
  • Changes happen at different rates in distinct parts of the brain and increase adolescents’ desire for risky behaviour.
  • Cognitive changes include improvements in complex and abstract thought. 
• what is puberty and when does it occur?

  • Puberty is a period of rapid growth and sexual maturation.
  • Girls begin puberty at ten years of age
  • boys begin two years later around 12
• do infants have language?

  Tend to split our study of language development into two broad categories:

  Receptive language - Comprehension of language

  Expressive language -The use of language through speech to communicate
• what age group is Piagets Formal Operation stage?

  12 years+ and is the last of the four general stages of development
• what are some psychological aspects of puberty?

  • Body image – least satisfaction during puberty
  • Increased hormone levels related to emotional changes:
  • Mood swings are common
  • Feelings are more intense
  • Increased anger and irritability, moments of low mood
  • Feelings of sexual attraction 
• What did piaget think about what adolescents can contemplate at this stage?

  • They can now contemplate such abstract constructs as beauty, love, freedom, and morality. hypothetical-deductive reasoning, which is developing hypotheses based on what might logically occur.
  • They are able to think about all the possibilities in a situation beforehand, and then test them systematically 
  • The adolescent is no longer limited by what can be directly seen or heard.
• what are two developments that occur in adolescents egocentrism?

  • The imaginary audience is the adolescent’s belief that those around them are as concerned and focused on their appearance as they themselves are. As self conscious
  • personal fable or belief that one is unique, special, and invulnerable to harm. Feel so important that no one could ever understand how they feel
• what is adolescent egocentrism?

  Once adolescents can understand abstract thoughts, they enter a world of hypothetical possibilities and demonstrate egocentrism or a heightened self-focus - examples are:

  • Imaginary audience
  • personale fable
• what happens with adolescents and their peers?

  • Adolescents within a peer group tend to be similar to one another in behavior and attitudes, which has been explained as a function of homophily
  • Adolescents who spend time together also shape each other’s behavior and attitudes.
  • spending more time with their peers and less time with families
  • adolescents notion of friendship is an increasing focus on intimate exchanges of thoughts and feelings instead of shared activities seen in childhood
• what is a negative aspect of adolescenes?

  Deviant peer contagion = process in which peers reinforce problem behaviour by laughing and then increasing the likelihood of a future problem behaviour.
• what is Eriksons Identity vs Role Confusion?

  • believes primary psychosocial task in adolescences is to create an identity
  • teens struggle with question 'who am I?'
  • includes questioning; appearance, career aspirations, education, relationship, sexuality etc
  • when want to put their commitment to identity on hold is called = psychological moratorium
• what did Erickson think happens when adolescents are unsuccessful at resolving this stage of finding their identity?

  • become withdrawn
  • suffer social isolation
  • lost in the crowds
• Identity diffusion

  Least mature status, when don't explore options or make any commitment to identity
• Identity foreclosure

  Have made commitment to an identity without having explored the options e.g parents make it for them