Lecture 1: Developmental Psychology PDF

Lecture 1, Chap 1: What is developmental psychology? 1) Study of how people grow and change across the lifespan, from before infancy well into late adulthood Why Study child development? 1) To understand how children think feel and act in the world (often very...

Lecture 1, Chap 1: What is developmental psychology? 1) Study of how people grow and change across the lifespan, from before infancy well into late adulthood Why Study child development? 1) To understand how children think feel and act in the world (often very di5erent from adults) § A-not-B error: Despite seeing the toy being moved, the child looks in the wrong place! Their ability to mentally represent objects in their surroundings is still in the early stages of development! 2) To understand how adults come to think feel and act the way they do in adulthood § By looking at how language emerged in children in this unique context, we can learn about how human language is structured and formed at its most basic level! 3) to learn to be better parents, teachers, policymakers and to make the world a better place Building a better society 1) Lloyd Morrisett § developmental psych researcher § Goal: provide high quality home education to disadvantaged preschool children Enter: Sesame Stress Literacy, numeracy Prosocial behavior, representation of non-white children Scientific Method: 1) Choosing a question, hypothesis, testing, conclusion 2) Measurement: directly relate to the hypothesis 3) Reliability: consistency of measurements § Types of Reliability: Interrater Reliability: Agreement between different observers on the same behavior (e.g., consistent ratings for a baby's behavior).  Test–Retest Reliability: Consistency of results when a test is repeated under the same conditions (e.g., children scoring similarly on repeated vocabulary tests). § Types of Validity: Definition: The extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure. o Types of Validity: § Internal Validity: Confidence that the observed effects are due to the variable being tested (e.g., eliminating alternative explanations like the passage of time in psychotherapy studies). § External Validity: The ability to generalize findings beyond the specific study to different populations, settings, or times. Contexts for Gathering Data 1. Interviews and Questionnaires Types: o Structured Interviews: Predetermined questions asked to all participants. o Clinical Interviews: Flexible, tailored questions based on participant responses. o Questionnaires: Standardized printed questions for large groups. Advantages: o Quick data collection. o In-depth understanding of individual experiences (clinical interviews). Disadvantages: o Subject to biases (e.g., social desirability, memory errors). o Limited predictive accuracy for future behaviors. 2. Naturalistic Observation Definition: Observing children in their typical environments (e.g., home, school).  Example: Patterson's study on family dynamics in troubled vs. typical families. Advantages: o Captures authentic, real-world behavior. o Highlights social interaction processes. Disadvantages: o Influences of specific contexts are hard to isolate. o Infrequent behaviors may be di\icult to observe. 3. Structured Observation Definition: Observing children’s responses in controlled, identical situations. Example: Studying compliance in children with their mothers’ requests. Advantages: o Direct comparison of behaviors across children. o Establishes behavioral consistency across situations. Disadvantages: o Artificial environment may not reflect real-world contexts. o Limited insights into subjective experiences. Correlation and Causation Variables Definition: Attributes that vary among individuals (e.g., age, gender, activity level). Correlational Designs Goal: Identify associations between two variables (e.g., time spent reading and reading test scores). Key Features: o Correlation: Degree of association between variables. § Positive correlation: Both variables increase together.  § Negative correlation: One variable increases as the other decreases. o Correlation Coe5icients: § Range: +1.00 (strong positive) to -1.00 (strong negative). Limitations Correlation does not imply causation. Variables may be related due to third factors or chance. Key Points 1. Why Correlation ≠ Causation Direction-of-Causation Problem: Correlation does not clarify which variable influences the other. For example, does reading time improve reading skills, or do better reading skills encourage more reading time? Third-Variable Problem: Correlations may result from an unseen third factor influencing both variables. For instance, in the reading example, a family environment emphasizing education might influence both reading time and skills. 2. Misinterpretation of Correlations Even well-documented studies can misattribute causality. The example of nightlights and nearsightedness illustrates this issue. Initial research suggested nightlights caused nearsightedness, but later studies identified genetic predispositions as the likely cause. 3. The Role of Correlational Designs Despite their limitations, correlational studies are useful: For examining variables that can't ethically or practically be manipulated (e.g., age, gender, social class). For exploring relationships among variables when causation isn't the primary goal. Experimental Designs: Solving the Causality Puzzle To infer causation, researchers use experimental designs, which rely on:  Random Assignment: Participants are randomly allocated to groups to minimize preexisting di\erences, ensuring that observed e\ects are likely due to the independent variable. Experimental Control: Researchers carefully control experiences, comparing outcomes between an experimental group (exposed to the independent variable) and a control group (not exposed or exposed di\erently). Example: Background TV and Children's Play In one study, researchers tested whether background TV impacts toddlers' play. Independent Variable: Presence of a TV program. Dependent Variable: Quality and focus of children’s play. The results showed a causal negative e\ect of background TV on play quality, supporting the hypothesis. 1. Cross-Sectional Designs Description: This method compares children of di\erent ages on a specific behavior, ability, or characteristic at a single point in time. Example: o Study on Dishonesty: Evans, Xu, and Lee (2011) explored how dishonesty develops in Chinese children aged 3, 4, and 5. Researchers observed behaviors when children were instructed not to peek at a prize but were left alone with the temptation. The study found that older children lied more frequently and crafted more elaborate excuses. Advantages: o Quick and cost-e\ective. o Reveals di\erences between age groups. Disadvantages: o Does not provide insights into individual developmental trajectories. o Cannot assess stability or change in behavior over time. 2. Longitudinal Designs  Description: This approach tracks the same group of children over an extended period, allowing researchers to observe individual patterns of stability and change. Example: o Study on Popularity: Brendgen et al. (2001) followed children's popularity from ages 7 to 12. Results showed that popularity was generally stable but also highlighted individual fluctuations over time. Advantages: o O\ers insights into stability and individual di\erences. o Provides a detailed view of development over time. Disadvantages: o Logistically challenging and time-intensive. o Participant dropout can compromise results. o Repeated testing may influence behaviors (e.g., practice e\ects). 3. Microgenetic Designs Description: This method intensively studies children over a short period during a specific developmental transition, capturing the process of change in detail. Example: o Discovery of Counting-On: Siegler and Jenkins (1989) studied 4- and 5-year- olds as they discovered a more e\icient addition strategy (counting-on). Researchers recorded children solving math problems repeatedly over 11 weeks, pinpointing moments of insight and gradual adoption of the new strategy. Advantages: o Captures fine-grained details of the change process. o Clarifies how specific experiences contribute to developmental progress. Disadvantages: o Limited to short periods of change.  o Does not address long-term patterns or stability. Summary Table: Advantages and Disadvantages of Research Designs Design Advantages Disadvantages Cross- Quick and easy; reveals age- Lacks information on individual stability or Sectional related di\erences. change. Tracks stability and change Time-consuming; prone to participant Longitudinal over time. dropout and repeated testing e\ects. Provides detailed insights into Does not inform about long-term Microgenetic short-term changes. developmental trends. Lecture 2 Chap 2 Conception is the union of the sperm and ovum o Sperm = male gamete o Ovum = female gamete Gamete: Reproductive cell containing half of the genetic material of the donor zygote is a fertilized egg cell, it's the starting point for development of an Organism o zygote: eggs and sperm fuse o within 12 hours of fertilization, cells begin to divide exponentially o 4th the day of conception, the zygote becomes arranged into a hollow sphere with the inner cell mass. If this ball of cells becomes successfully implemented in the uterine lining, the inner cell mass becomes the embryo. And other cells become the support system including § the amniotic SAC: which is the fluid filled membrane that surrounds and protects the Organism § Placenta § fetus and placenta are connected by the umbilical cord Twins o Monozygotic twins – identical § 1 sperm and 1 ovum  § Where these twins share placenta/amniotic sac depends on when zygote divides Before implantation? Each has a placenta/sac Early after implantation? Share placenta but independent sacs Later after implantation? Shared placenta and sac o Dizygotic twins – fraternal § 2 sperms and 2 ovum Developmental process: zygote -> embryo -> fetus o Mitosis o Cell migration o Cell di\erentiation § Embryonic stem cells o Apoptosis Fetal hand plate: the role of apoptosis is seen in the development of the hand which requires the death of cells in between the ridges of the hemp plant for the fingers to separate Embryo o it's a developing Organism from 3rd to the 8th week o it's where the major systems and internal organs begin their development such as the heart limbs sensory organs and brain o the cephalocaudal development: organs/ structures near the head start to develop earlier than those farther from the head this is called the head to tail development o the embryos neural tube development § in the fourth week neural tube begins to develop into the brain and spinal cord fetus o developing Organism from the 9th week until birth § by 9 weeks all majors organs are present § by 16 weeks the development of lower half and external genitals may be visible § by 28 weeks lungs and hearts su\iciently developed that in cases of premature birth possible the fetus could survive without medical intervention Habituation  o It's the simple form of learning that involves a decrease in response to repeated or continued stimuli, it's seen at 30 weeks gestation in visual and auditory stimuli Dishabituation o it's the introduction of a new stimulus rekindles interest following intuition to a repeated stimulus Teratogens o Harmful agent o Genetic susceptibility o Cumulative impact: more exposure, more impact o Fetal programming o Sleeper e\ect Dose – response relationship: greater exposure = worse outcomes Sensitive period: time during which a developing organism is most sensitive to external e\ects o Recreational drugs: § Alcohol: can lead to fetal brain injury, the most preventable cause, associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder § Marijuana: associated with learning and memory problems, di\icult to study § Tobacco: smoking, nicotine decreases oxygen levels for parent and the fetus, low birth weight, higher risk of SIDS, ADHD and lower IQ o Medications § Accutane: risk to prenatal development § Antidepressants: positive e\ects for the parent § Thalidomide: drug to prevent nausea, thought did not cross the placenta but some babies formed limb deformities and the sensitive e\ects were only present when the drug was taken at weeks four and six after conception o Environmental pollutants § toxic metals synthetic hormones plastic ingredients pesticides and herbicides § air and water pollution § lead in pipes paint gasoline the birth experience  o when fetus is 38 weeks of conception (35-41 wks safe) o not sure what starts labor: proteins and fetal land placenta are suspect o when labor begins, it's a cascade of hormones § so oxytocin causes contractions of uterine muscles o ideally the fetus is head down but 3 to 4% fetuses are breech -> meaning legs first States of arousal o babies spend: § 8 hours quiet sleeping § 8 hours active sleeping § one hour drowsing § 2.5 hours alert awake § 2.5 hours active awake § two hours crying o Babies spend 50% of their time in REM sleep o babies cry peak at six to eight weeks of age and decreases at three to four months of age § a colic: excessive crying for no reason 1 to 10 infants: ends at 3 months No long term e\ects Miscarriage o Spontaneous abortion o Occurs due to genetic issues in zygote or embryo that are not compatible with life o 15% of pregnancies o at least 25%-50% women experience at least one miscarriage o 1% experience recurrent miscarriage (3+ consecutive miscarriages) Infant mortality o Death during first year after birth o In Canada: 4.5/1000, Canadian number is improving over time, but the rank to other countries is worsening § 2-3X higher in Nunavut and Northwest territories compared to Nova Scotia and BC o Risks: Poverty, Structural Racism - behaviors and beliefs that harm specific racial and ethnic groups, can result in residential segregation and uneven access to health care o mortality rates for black infants remain higher than those of Hispanic Asian and white  developmental resilience o risks don't automatically lead to poor outcomes o successful development despite multiple hazards o resilient children often have personal characteristics like intelligence responsiveness and a sense of achieving their goals and care for someone. Lecture 3 Chap 3 § Every cell has chromosomes composed of DNA § DNA are long string of molecules containing the instructions for building and maintaining an Organism § chromosomes are molecules of DNA that transmit genetic information; in humans divided into 23 pairs (there are 46 chromosomes in total) § Genes are sections of chromosomes, each gene have instructions for making proteins to give rise to specific traits o Physical traits (eye color, height) o Psychological traits (aggression) Genes are basic unit of heredity in all living things Heredity means passing on traits from parents to o\spring A genome is the complete set of genes found in particular Organism 1) a human's genes are 99.9% similar to any other human 2) 96% genes are similar to chimpanzee 3) 90% same as a cat 4) 80% same as a cow 5) 60% same as a banana Genotype is the genetic material of individual traits Phenotype is how the genotype is expressed in the body and behavior Environment: anything exposed to individuals other than genes; parenting styles, etc. Random assortment of chromosomes gives variability to humans Only 1% of DNA codes for proteins 1) Regulator genes switch other genes on and o\ § If a gene doesn't get switched on it won't be expressed § environmental factors influence regulator genes for example: prenatal exposure to valid domain throws o\ regulator genes during sensitive period of limb development  2) Most traits are polygenic: meaning that they are governed by more than one gene § MAO-A gene: enzyme (protein) regulated mood, aggression, other things § Has several alleles, varying in the levels of MAOA produced § Low MAOA with maltreatment? à antisocial behavior occurs § Low MAOA without maltreatment à regular like others § Call this gene “warrior gene” – much more than genetics that determines behavior Epigenetics: study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated by the environment 1) This changes how the genotype is expressed 2) Changes in expression can be passed down to o\spring Twin studies 1) Identical – occurs when a zygote splits early in the prenatal development § close to 100% shared genotype § also share prenatal environment 2) fraternal - occurs when 2 ova are fertilized by two di\erent sperm cells § average 50% shared genotype à same as other siblings § share aspects of prenatal environment too à regular siblings don’t 3) why do we care whether twins share placenta or amniotic SAC? Because it gives us insight into the influence of prenatal environment. Processes in brain development: 1) Neurogenesis: increase of neurons through cell division, begins weeks after conception. After creation it migrates to their ultimate location and then it grows and di\erentiates according to the role 2) Synaptogenesis: it's the formation of synapses with other neurons making trillions of connections 3) synaptic pruning: it's the process by which synapses that are rarely activated are eliminated. Plasticity: meaning capacity for the brain to be changed by experience 1) Experience expectant plasticity which is the wiring of the brain from experiences it has evolved to expect and learn from, suggest language and vision 2) the brain learns from these specific experiences to make sure that the organism is perfectly adapted to thrive in the world  § the sensitive. Is the window of development in which the brain must receive certain kinds of stimulation to develop normally. If this doesn't happen systems involved may never go to develop as they typically do 3) experience dependent plasticity: this is the ongoing rewiring of neural connections following one's unique life experiences 4) it's the way that your brain changes as you move through life Lecture 4 Chap 4 Cognitive development: study of thinking, problem-solving, and information- processing o Di\erent from studies of emotional, physical, or social development Theory: well-supported explanation of an aspect of human behavior o Based on Hypothesis and evidence o Psychological theory: can consistently describe a behavior and allow for accurate predictions for future o theories are used to help scientists, practitioners, and policymakers § create hypothesis and choose areas of research understand human behavior § anticipate what might happen next, such as preventing bad things from happening Jean Piaget’s Ideas o Children are active learners from birth § saw children as little scientists: because they make predictions about the world test predictions through their actions and draw conclusions based on what they find o children learn without being taught § by playing they expand their knowledge o kids are intrinsically motivated to learn § naturally inclined to ask questions and learn Constructivist view o Before Piaget’s: tell baby to stop when their doing something o After Piaget: baby is exploring the physical properties of the world around them. Important for cognitive development. Piaget’s Stage Theory: o Children at di\erent stages qualitatively think in di\erent ways § 4-year-old – only considers their own perspective  § 8-year-old – can consider perspectives of others o Characteristics of each stage influence thinking across diverse topics and contexts § 4-year-old: only considers their own visual perspective, their own emotions o When transitioning between stages, they fluctuate between old and new ways o Every human child follows the same stage pattern 1) Sensorimotor Stage – (Birth – Age 2) a) Babies’ early behavior reflects their continually developing sensory motor intelligence i) Dropping a bottle over and over à learning about physics ii) Object permanence: something still exists even if its covered (1) Piaget: object permanence developed at 8 months à he was wrong (2) A-not-B Error: 8-month-old baby à perseverative error. 1 year old understands better. b) they learn about their bodies the world the rules that govern their interaction 2) Preoperational Stage – (Age 2 – 7) a) Children start to become able to represent their experiences in language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought i) Symbolic representation: understand objects, expansion of vocabulary ii) Egocentric: typically only consider their own point of view iii) Conservation: (1) Centration: tendency to focus on only one prominent feature of an object or event (2) Conservation Concept: Idea that changing the appearance of an object does not necessarily change its other key properties 3) Concrete Operational Stage – (Age 7 – 12) a) Children become increasingly able to reason logically about concrete objects and events but they still struggle with hypothetical, abstract, and systematic thinking i) Piaget’s pendulum problem: ii) Children (concrete operational) can't apply rules to situations 4) Formal Operational Stage – (Age 12 – Adulthood) a) Can now reason about hypothetical situations, entertain multiple perspectives, and engage in careful systematic thinking i) not everyone reaches the stage  ii) teenagers (at formal operation stage) can apply knowledge to information given. Piaget’s Legacy: most significant person in history of developmental psychology, very influential o He describes child behavior in detail but doesn't really explain why changes occur o he focused on individual learning and overlooked the role of social learning o his descriptions of children's thinking at each stage aren’t always consistent § lots of exceptions to his broad ideas § underestimated children at all ages Development can be both continuous and discontinuous o Continuous Development § Assimilation: interpreting new information/experiences using existing concepts and knowledge structures Fish has certain features à anything that has those features is a fish § Accommodation: adjusting understanding of the world in response to new information and experiences dolphins also have features of fish à but they are called mammals § Equilibration: balancing assimilation with accommodation to create a stable understanding of the world Equilibrium: the existing knowledge structure is working as it should, helping us predict and make sense of new experiences Disequilibrium: new information is challenging or knowledge structure and we can't make it fit in Lecture 5 Chap 4 Information Processing Theories: to understand the child's cognitive development, we need to focus on the underlying cognitive skills that allow children to manage and manipulate information  Memory, which is the ability to acquire store maintain and later retrieve information when you need it basic process of memory development: associating events with one another recognizing objects as familiar recalling facts and procedures generalizing from 1 instance to another encoding specific features of objects and events improving processing speed million and increased connectivity Encoding: taking in information from the world and putting it in a form that can be stored in memory Requires attention à selectively attend to certain stimuli you sense Once encoded à can engage in basic processes Working memory: system that involves actively attending to maintaining and processing information à also known as short term memory rehearsal is maintaining a working memory by repeating info selective attention is the focus on specific aspect of stimuli to organize and form long term memory: information that can be stored for a long time after it has left your working memory executive functions: set of cognitive processes associated with intentional regulation of one's behavior consciously taking charge of your attention and actions prefrontal cortex plays a role o school grades, following the law, relationships inhibition: ability to override reactive or tempting behaviors in order to facilitate more deliberate actions Eriksen Flanker task Cognitive flexibility: ability to adjust your thinking, consider multiple perspectives, reinterpret events or stimuli dimensional change card sort selective attention: ability to intentionally focus on information that is most relevant ignoring relevant info à 4-5 year old struggle with this, 7 to 8 year olds perform better  children are depicted as active problem solvers overlapping waves theory: information processing approach that emphasizes the variability of the children's thinking planning: children are not good at planning but planning does improve as prefrontal cortex matures Attention which is focusing your awareness on a particular range of stimuli or events you experience Children as products of evolution Core-knowledge theories: proposes that children have Innate knowledge in certain domains the special evolutionary importance o physical laws social processes and biological categories Domain-specific learning mechanisms for rapidly and e\ortlessly acquiring information o domain specific: information and learning that is specific to a particular area of recognition o it allows for rapid and often e\ortless learning and important areas humans need to survive à experience expectant processes Nativism: infants have substantial innate knowledge in domains of special evolutionary significance meaning they don't need to be taught or learned from experience Elizabeth Spelke - proposed that children are born with four chronological systems: o properties of inanimate subjects and their interactions o minds and intentional behavior o numbers and counting o geometry and spatial knowledge à contrast with the constructivist view nativism and knowledge: Noam Chomsky: all humans have language  § All languages have grammatical rules, children mastered these basic rules even without direct instructions or conscious knowledge language acquisition device: § specialized learning mechanism for mastering grammar § it is unique to language and it doesn't generalize to other complex rule systems constructivism: as they age children build increasingly complex understandings of the world by combining innate knowledge and subsequent experiences Children construct more complex knowledge as they have lived experiences At age 2 they understand preferences at age 7 they understand people can have false beliefs Children as Social Learners § Children's cognitive development is guided by their communication and interaction with others § importance of guided participation: Lev Vygotsky § Individuals that have knowledge organized activities for individuals that don't have knowledge § with assistance learners can think solve problems and develop skills at a higher level than they could do it alone social learning relies on inter subjectivity: cognitive perspectives of teacher and learner align to builders shared understanding joint attention: social partners intentionally focus on common referent in an external environment established through painting vocalizations gaze following and exchanging looks social referencing: using another person's reactions and expressions to guide one's learning and behavior Social Sca\olding: Providing children with a temporary framework that allows them to think and achieve at a higher level than they could normally manage on their own à Such as pushing a child beyond their current level “Zone of Proximal Development” Vygotskinan term Children as Self organizing systems  § Dynamic systems theories Theories focus on how change occurs over varying time periods and complex systems à such as development the theory emphasizes: children are innately motivated to explore the environment (Piaget) children have precise way of problem solving (information processing) infants and toddlers display early competence (core competence) other people are essential in the formative influence of development (sociocultural) self-organization: involves integrating attention memory emotions and actions to adapting to changing environment à soft assembly variation which is using di\erent behaviors to pursue the same goal selection which is increasing frequent choice or relatively successful behaviors in reaching goals Lecture 6 Chap 4 Preferential Looking Paradigms o Show infants objects - the longer the time that the infant takes to look at one item, it means that: § Infant can tell the di\erence between items § Infant has preferences for items Sensation: the detection and processing of basic information from the external world o Signal from sensory organs relayed to their associated brain regions o Light entering the eye and activating the cortex Perception: how we organize, interpret, and make sense of this incoming information o Build our subjective understanding and mental representations of the world o Looking at a tree and what you interpret that as Vision in Infancy o Infants have very poor vision: 20/120 § Have immature cone cells that only catch 2% of light o 8-months: adult-like vision  o Low visual acuity: the sharpness of visual discrimination o Poor contrast sensitivity: struggle to detect subtle di\erences in light and dark areas in a visual pattern Colour Perception in Infancy o 1st month: very poor color perception o 2nd month: identical to adult o 5th month: have categorical discrimination, brain responds di\erently to shifts between categories (green vs blue) à but not within category (light blue vs dark blue) Visual Scanning o Until 4 months, infants can’t track moving stimuli. It’s a function of their neurological development. Preterm babies develop scanning later than full term babies o Visual behavior changes rapidly – edges, contours, details o Visual control is important because it allows infants to control what to attend to and what they learn from Infant face perception o Perceptual narrowing in first year: they get better at discriminating kinds of faces they most often see § six month olds are better than older groups are discriminating between monkey faces § babies that are raised in racially homogeneous households are better at discriminating on race Other-race e\ect But children that are raised in diverse households can discriminate well b/c they are frequently exposed. Object Perception: despite what we see changing every second, we perceive the world to be quite stable o Perceptual constancy: perception that objects are constant in size color shape despite the retinal image changing § Newborns recognize size changes with distance § Not experience-dependent o 4-month-old use common movement as a cue for object segregation, but newborns don’t § Experience dependent Depth perception: need to interpret 2D retinal image as a 3D representation of the world  o 1-month old: blink when an object appears to be coming to their face § Optical expansion: cue that an object is coming closer o 4-month-old: brain uses di\erence between image of object in each eye to calculate depth § Binocular disparity o 7-month-old: use monocular (one eye) depth cue § Relative size, interposition, texture gradient Auditory Localization o Newborns turned their head towards the sound but they struggle to determine the spatial location of sounds § This is because adults use both ears to locate sounds – binaural disparity § But infants need to turn their head which makes it hard for them to detect location of sounds – require intermodal perception to make a spatial map in their head Music perception: infants’ music perception is adultlike o They have preference for consonant over dissonant sounds Intermodal Perception: combining sensory info from multiple modalities into one cohesive perceptual experience. By 4 months of age, infants can integrate visual and auditory information. o McGurk E\ect: integrate lip movements when processing speech sounds, altering their perception Infants can: o 2-5 months: support self while prone and stationary o 4-10 months: sitting and standing (with support) o 9.5-14 months: standing and walking independently 5-month infants that can sit up on their own: o Cameron: 92% o USA: 17% o Italy: 0% Newborns have a lot of reflexes: o Rooting: turning head and opening mouth in the direction of touch o Sucking and swallowing: oral response when roof of mouth is stimulated o Tonic neck: when the head turns or is positioned to one side, the arms on that side of body extends, while the knee and arm on the other side flex  o Moro (startle): throwing back and head and extending arms and rapidly drawing them in response to loud, sound, or sudden movement o Grasping: closing fingers around object o Stepping: stepping or dancing with feet when help upright with feet touching solid surface Lecture 7 Chap 4 Evolving View of Motor Development o Early Pioneer’s Perspective: brain maturation is key o Current theoriest viewpoint: environment is also important o Factors that influence motor development are varied: strength, posture, balance, motivations o Discovery of a\ordances Integrating perception and action o Challenge: Learn boundaries of what they can do and can’t o Visual cli\ example § 8 month – crawl o\ ledge § Few weeks later – hesitant à fear of heights development § When they learn to walk – start walking o\ ledge again Explanation: Kids have distinct learning curve for each behaviour (like crawling, walking) à Need to learn to integrate perceptual info with new motor behavior. Scale errors: children try to perform an action on miniature objects that's impossible due to their large size o using a small toy of car to get into it Grasp errors: o Trying to get something you can't get From 3D image Media Errors: o Trying to get something some a screen Infants are more likely to engage with environment/learn if they are surprised  Rational Learning: ability to use prior experiences to predict what will occur in future o Knowledge, beliefs, biases, prior statistical knowledge o Violence of Expectancy procedure: show infants di\erent outcomes to an event, measure looking time to each outcome § Longer looking time = more surprise à meant that child has prior expectancy that they didn’t think of § Introducing other factors change infant reactions Observational Learning: imitation o If you stick out your tongue at a baby, they will do it back to you o 6-9 months: can imitate on action after 24 hr delay o 14 month: week delay o 18-month: intentional o Where does imitation come from? Mirror neurons – activate when observing an action as well as when completing that action Statistical Learning: process of detecting and learning from statistical patterns in one’s environment o How often events occur? o Requires little experience Lecture 8 Chap 6 Comprehension: understanding what others say, sign, or write ß occurs earlier o Receptive vocabulary: what words you’d understand if you encountered them Production: speaking to others, signing, writing yourself o Productive vocabulary: what words you can spontaneously use yourself Generativity: capacity for language to produce number of sentences and express ideas Phonemes: elementary units of sound (speech) used in a language o Di\erent languages use di\erent phonemes o English has 22 o Phonological development: knowledge about sound system of a language Morphemes: smallest units of meaning in a language o Semantic development: learning the system for expressing meaning in a language, including word learning  Syntax: rules specifying how di\erent kinds of words can be combined in a way that makes grammatical sense and can be understood by others speaking the same language o Syntactical development: learning about syntax o Universal grammar: formed by Noam Chomsky à unconscious rules that are common to all human language Language is the structured, rule-based system of communication using symbols to communicate meaning. Language: 1) Is symbolic 2) represents specific meanings 3) is generative 4) is structured/rule-based Language is species-specific (only humans can speak language) and species-universal (all members of species who are developing) - We do need a human brain to acquire language - For ex) dogs understand specific idea of words but they can’t process languages - Kanzi the Bonobo: o Learned lexigrams as researchers were teaching his mother o Learned over 300 words, receptive vocabulary, but doesn’t produce language like humans, can follow complex verbal instructions, understands verbal symbols, does not understand syntax Infant Directed speech: mode of speech that adults adopt when talking to babies – used by all cultures - Higher pitch, slower enunciation, exaggerated facial expressions à draws infants’ attention to speech, contrasts phonemes, word recognition Well-Timed Exposure: time during which language learning happens rapidly à about 5-6 years old (0-7) - Experience expectant process – organism introduced to basic developmental process - After this window – still possible to learn language but not fluent à after age 7 Categorical Perception: humans perceive sounds as belonging to di\erent categories - For example: b and p are bilabial sounds (using lips) - We distinguish them based on their voice onset time – meaning the time between air passing lips and vocal chords vibrating o Infants under 1 are better than adults Weker & Lalonde – Condition head turn paradyme – Your conditioning the kid to turn their head. - At 10 months old, infants can perceive di\erent sounds if it’s English phoneme - At 10 months old, they can perceive di\erent sounds if it’s a sound of another language - At 6 months old, they can perceive di\erent sounds if it’s a sound of another language à sensitive period - Perceptual narrowing: reduces sensitivity to stimuli which infants don’t encounter in environment. o As we learn to put sounds in categories, we start lumping together the sounds and lost the ability to detect subtler di\erences Problem: humans say words together they don't leave any space in between words Solution: - 1) Prosody: the characteristic rhythm and patterns in a spoken language - 2) certain sounds are more likely to occur together - 3) using an infants own name: pairing a child's name in a sentence helps them learn better than using someone else's name Speech production in infants o at birth infants cry to communicate o at six to eight weeks: grunt, coo o at 6-10 months: babbling - repetitive production of speech in early language development o First words § Word learning occurs in the first year  § word production starts at 10 to 15 months § holophrastic period: window in which children use single words to communicate whole ideas § Common errors: over extension: using newly learned words more generally than one should à calling every animal a cat under extension: using newly learned word less generally than one should à your dog is an only dog, other dogs are called something else mispronunciations: omitting sounds substituting words shortening words o Word learning § Fast mapping: use familiar word to figure out an unfamiliar word § pragmatic cues: using social information to learn words (such as eye gazing) § syntactic bootstrapping: using the grammatical structure of whole sentences to figure out the meaning of new words § Cross situational word learning: using repeated Co-occurrences across situations to map new words to the referents à build up evidence à statistical learning individuals learn the meanings of new words by observing them in multiple contexts and situations § Biases: Mutual exclusivity: assuming an entity has only one name à connected to fast mapping whole object assumption: expecting a novel word to refer to the whole object rather than a party property action or other aspect of an object § first sentences telegraphic speech: early sentences often only two words featuring only the core elemens of intended communication o eat cookie o I sleep over regulation: using newly learned grammatical rules in new or irregular circumstances where they are entirely correct o I eated a cookie Lecture 9: Conceptual Development Chap 7 Concepts: Ideas or understandings that can be used to group together objects, events, qualities, or abstractions that are similar in some way Categorical Thinking: Dividing the world into categories Objects in the same category have similar properties, follow similar rules, etc. Three big general categories: 1) People 2) Other animals 3) Inanimate objects - Category Hierarchy o Layers/levels dividing sets into subsets into smaller subsets, etc. o Emerges as early as 3 months We know because of habituation studies. By 6 months, habituate to less specific/more inclusive categories (e.g., mammals) Hierarchical Categories Superordinate level More general level with broad inclusion criteria Animals: move independently, eat, reproduce Basic level ‘Middle’ level, typically the first generated Dogs: four legs, tail, b\s with humans Subordinate level  More specific with exacting inclusion criteria Shibas: pointy ears, curly tail, bold personality But remember: Children and adults don’t always see the same ‘basic’ category Children: “Things with wheels” Kids learn about categories from others First impression: “That’s a fish, obviously” Belugas are actually mammals Accommodation and assimilation Preschoolers learn selectively from how people talk about categories Perceptual Categorization: Tendency to group objects together based on perceptual similarities Shape, color, size, movement When introduced to a new word for an object (a dax), children under 5 will generalize the word to other objects based on appearance From age 5 and increasing into adulthood, focus shifts to the function of the dax when it comes to generalizing this new word Characteristic Features: Common or stereotypical traits of members of a category, but aren’t necessary for membership - Cats have furs, but some don’t à doesn’t mean they are not cats - Preschoolers often rely on characteristic features when making categorical judgements - But remember: adults fall prey to this kind of error all the time too; we call this: Stereotyping Defining Features: Traits that define membership in a category; without these, not a part of the category All cats are carnivores A billionaire cannot have no money Most categories we use everyday do not have clear defining characteristics Naïve Psychology: Baseline understanding of how humans and other living beings (animals, cartoon characters) behave in the world - Intention: People act on the world independently and to attain specific goals < 1 yr - Desire: People have their own wants and needs that vary across time and situations 1+ yr - Belief: People’s actions are guided by what they expect or think they know 5+ yr Agency: The ability to monitor and act on one’s environment in accordance with one’s will or intentions Theory of Mind (ToM): An organized understanding of how mental processes such as intentions, desires, beliefs, perceptions, and emotions influence behavior ToM and False Beliefs: By age 3, children start referring to belief states, but struggle with false beliefs False belief problems Test understanding that other people will act on the basis of their own beliefs even when we know those beliefs are actually incorrect (i.e., false beliefs) Appearance-Reality tasks (“Smarties Task”) 3-year-olds: Struggle to grasp that others don’t have the same knowledge as them 5-year-olds: Recognize that another person would be fooled (they would have a false belief)  Loophole: If you tell 3-year-old you’re “playing a trick”, they make the correct prediction Sally-Anne task: used to assess theory of mind Sally places a toy in one location (e.g., a basket) and leaves the room. Anne then moves the toy to another location (e.g., a box). The child is asked, "Where will Sally look for her toy when she comes back?" True Belief (TB) condition: all kids pass - Sally knows where the toy is because she witnessed its movement. - All children (both 3- and 5-year-olds) can predict Sally’s action correctly by pointing to the current location of the toy. False Belief (FB) condition: Sally does not know that the toy has been moved. - 3-year-olds: Fail to account for false belief, point to the current location 5-year-olds: Know Sally has a FB, point to the original location of the toy Other variations: ‘Avoidance’ conditions More executively demanding Multiple movements/locations More locations to consider Experiencing Time: Babies have early knowledge of temporal order and duration. 3-month-olds: detect order of events and repetition 4-month-olds: physiological changes in response to anticipated (short) duration of events 6-month-olds: discriminate between two durations when the di\erence is large enough (e.g., ratio is 2:1, but not when the ratio is 1.5:1) Improvements slowly across early and middle childhood  Children understand increasingly longer time scales Like adults, subject to time illusions Reasoning about Time: 5-year-olds: reason logically about time in simple situations E.g., Two dolls go to sleep at the same time and one wakes up later. Who slept for longer? In complex situation – less able to reason logically E.g., Two trains leave the station at the same time and drive di\erent distances, stopping simultaneously. Which drove for longer? Supports Piaget’s idea of centration. Counting Many toddlers count verbally by age 2. Understanding limited Learning meaning of counting words occurs number by number through association. Slow early acquisition period Then learn the link between number words and the quantities they represent. In preschool, children begin to acquire the five counting principles. One–one correspondence: give each object they count just one number name (each object gets a number) Stable order: say number names in conventional order (1,2,3,4) Cardinality: numbers they say tells quantity (total 4) Order irrelevance: count objects in any order  Abstractions: know what you can and can’t count Counting requires language abilities à language used seems to influence how fast counting is learned! Culture plays a role too China better at counting than US Lecture 10: Intelligence and Academic Achievement Chap 8 Intelligence: The ability to acquire, apply, and adapt one’s knowledge and skills to meet the demands of one’s environment General intelligence (g) Single broad mental capacity Ability to think and learn in every context Related to: Performance on many distinct cognitive tests Higher grades in school, on standardized tests General knowledge (facts, vocab) Physical di5erences Speed of neural transmission, brain volume Raymond Cattell: not one, two! Crystallized Intelligence Working with prior knowledge  Associations with known concepts Experience dependent Long-term memory + verbal ability Fluid Intelligence Thinking on the spot New problems and content Doesn’t rely on experience Working memory Peaks in early adulthood, decreases thereafter Louis Thurstone – not two, but seven! Thurstone’s Primary Mental Abilities 1) Word fluency - Crystallized Intelligence 2) Verbal meaning - Crystallized Intelligence 3) Reasoning - Fluid Intelligence 4) Spatial reasoning - Fluid Intelligence 5) Numbering - Fluid Intelligence 6) Rote memory - Fluid Intelligence 7) Perceptual speed - Fluid Intelligence John B. Carroll: Carroll’s Three-Stratum Theory Hierarchical model of intelligence with: General intelligence (g) at the top level Eight correlated (but distinct) domains of intelligence in the middle Can be further broken down into… Many specific cognitive processes at the bottom level Gardner’s Theory: Multiple Intelligences Theory Three from standard IQ tests Linguistic Logical-Mathematical Spatial Five additional forms Musical Kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalistic Sternberg’s Theory: Theory of Successful Intelligence Intelligence should describe one’s ability to be successful in the things they choose to do  1) Analytical Abilities Linguistic, mathematical, spatial skills 2) Creative Abilities Innovation, flexibility in new situations 3) Practical-Contextual Abilities Reasoning, adaptation in the real world “Street smarts” Emotional Intelligence (EI): Ability to perceive, express, understand, reason with, and regulate emotions in oneself and others Working with emotions is necessary for success! However, some empirical/theoretical criticisms: Internal validity: Is EI really “intelligence”, or are we using this term too loosely? Is it actually just personality? (+ maybe IQ?) Better to look at individual emotional skills? External validity: After accounting for contributions of IQ and personality, measures of EI don’t really help predict job performance Just like how many teachers love Gardner’s theory, many businesspeople love EI (but should they?) Still debated in scientific community, but with more data and clearer definition, we might find a place for EI Lecture 22: Gender Development Pt 2 Chap 15 Sex: Categories distinguishing between biological males and females on the basis of characteristics such as hormones, reproductive organs, sex chromosomes, etc. (varies by context) Gender: Socially defined category encompassing expectations of behaviour, social roles, or other characteristics; includes men, women, as well as many other non-binary categories Cisgender - Identifying with the gender that one’s culture assumes/pushes based on biological sex Transgender - Identifying with a gender other than what one’s culture assumes based on biological sex Gender Binary - Classification of gender into two anatomy-based categories: Men/Boys and Women/Girls Nonbinary - People whose gender does not fit within the gender binary prescribed by their culture Challenges to the Gender Binary: - There isn’t a clear “man vs. woman brain” distinction o some di\erences between male and female brains on average - However, these group di\erences are nothing compared to the di\erences between individuals - There aren’t strictly male vs. female hormones o There are notable sex di\erences in the balance of various hormones (e.g., androgens, estrogens) - Exact balance varies across time, contexts, and individuals of the same sex/gender - Most people exhibit a mix of gender-typical behaviours o People of all genders exhibit a wide range of gender-typed behaviour; gender- typical, not gender-exclusive - More variability between people than between genders - The gender binary is far from universal o Gender diversity is found in cultures across the globe, today and historically - Clinic-based studies estimate 0.5-2% of people identify as trans/nonbinary o Countless examples of cultures that embrace transgender (e.g., ayagigux’ in Unangan culture) or nonbinary identities (e.g., māhū in Pacific Islander culture) - Beliefs about gender are learned across childhood o Gender-typing: learning about gender expectations and roles (directly or indirectly) from one’s social experiences o Gender-typed: behaviours believed to be stereotypical for someone of a certain gender o Gender nonconforming: someone whose interests, beliefs, or behaviours do not align with the gender their culture traditionally assumes they belong to - Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: high levels of androgen production - Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome: androgen receptors malfunction