Development

• Infants from birth


  • Prefer to look at face patterns rather than scrambled or blank stimuli
• Infants were 5 days old


  Could have learnt to differentiate mother's face
• Innate


  Inborn, present from birth
• Learned


  Acquired through experience
• Fraternal or dizygotic twins

  50% of genes in common
• Identical or monozygotic twins

  100% of genes in common
• Twins


  • Many personality characteristics shared
  • Similarity greater over time because people choose own environments
• Cystic Fibrosis


  • Cyst formation in pancreas
  • Recessive genes
• Cystic Fibrosis


  Caused by genes but worsened by environments
• PKU


  Genetic disorder affected by diet
• Gene x environment interaction

  Interaction between genes and environment
• Selective breeding


  • Used with animals
  • Breeding active animals together created active offspring, vice versa
• There is a genetic component to activity in mice
• Unlike Cystic Fibrosis or PKU

  Activity is controlled by a large number of genes (polygenic)
• Human IQ


  • 40% to 70% determined by genes
  • By adulthood, adoptive siblings' IQ are different
  • Nature more important than nurture in human IQ
• Critical period


  A time in development when specific biological or environmental events have dramatic and irreversible effects on development
• Critical periods


  • Thalidomide: day 24 to 49
  • Fetal alcohol syndrome: week 10 of pregnancy
• Imprinting


  • Process by which mother-offspring attachments are formed in many species of birds
  • Precocial (mobile) birds follow the first moving object they encounter after hatching
  • Establish a strong relationship
  • Effects are long lasting
• Critical period for imprinting

  • 13-16 hours after hatching
• Conrad Lorenz


  • Slowed geese, would imprint the first moving object between critical period of 13-16 hours after hatching
  • Seeing a human would release a fixed action pattern

  
• Henry Harlow


  • Importance of mother's love
  • Partial isolation: see and smell other monkeys but not touch them - outcome was blank staring, repetitive circling, self mutilation
  • Rhesus monkeys preferred the cloth surrogate over the plain wire even when it had food in the wire one
  • When a frightening stimulus entered, monkey would go to cloth
• Total isolation in monkeys

  • Emotional shock
  • Self clutching
  • Rocking
  • Refusal to eat
  • 12 months of isolation - most died
  • Isolates not defending themselves, becoming aggressive in inappropriate times
• Outcomes of total isolation

  • 12 month isolate maternal behaviour was poor
  • Cognitive abilities were the same
• Rehabilitation of 6 month old isolate

  • 3 month old "therapists"
  • "Therapy" for 8 hours per week
• Oxana Malaya


  • Lived with dogs and imitated their behaviour
  • State is unable to ever be normal
• Children in foster homes 1800s to 1900s


  • Given little attention
  • No primary caregiver
• Bowlby (1948)


  • Increased attention seeking behaviour
  • Apathy, indifference to people
  • Cognitive impairments
• Outcomes of children in foster homes

  • 11-13 participants self supporting, married
  • 4 of 12 controls remained in institution
  • Only 6 got primary education
• Critical period


  • Period where the organism is susceptible to particular experiences
  • Effects are dramatic and irreversible
  • Sharp onset and offset points
• Sensitive period


  • Period of susceptibility
  • Effects are less dramatic
  • Harmful effects can be altered
  • Begins and ends gradually
• Social deprivation in infants leads to brain damage
• It is illegal to smack a child in NZ but not considered physical abuse
• NZ has the 3rd highest child death rate
• Children of substance abusers

  • 3x more likely to be abused
  • 4x more likely to be neglected
• 2/3rds of drug abusers were physically or sexually abused as children
• Most abused children are under 1
• Most children deaths are under 1
• Most abusers were the primary caregiver
• The bigger the income gap


  Stronger abuse likelihood
• Child abuse causes future issues