PSY 210 Readings PDF

Unit 1 (chapters 1-7) Chapter 1: Introduction The science of child development Learning objectives 1.​ Setting the stage 2.​ Foundational theories of child development 3.​ Themes in child development research 4.​ Doing child development research -​ Child development i...

Unit 1 (chapters 1-7) Chapter 1: Introduction The science of child development Learning objectives 1.​ Setting the stage 2.​ Foundational theories of child development 3.​ Themes in child development research 4.​ Doing child development research -​ Child development is a multidisciplinary study where people begin as a microscopic cell 1. Setting the stage -​ What ideas did philosophers have about children and childhood? -​ How did the modern science of child development emerge? -​ How do child development scientists use research findings to improve children’s lives? Historical views of children and childhood (the origins of this science) -​ Philosophers have consistently wondered what the fundamental nature of childhood and the conditions to best raise a child and support their well being -​ Starting in the 19th century scientists studied child development What did Greek philosophers believe? -​ People like Plato (428-347 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 BCE) thought that schools and parents had a responsibility to teach children self control to be effective citizens Plato (428-347 BCE) Aristotle (384-322 BCE) -​ worried that too much self discipline would inhibit their initiative and individuality meaning children were unfit to be leaders.  Beliefs on how knowledge was acquired: Beliefs on how knowledge was acquired: -​ Children’s sensory experiences trigger -​ Denied the existence of innate knowledge they’ve had since birth knowledge -​ Ie: when a child sees a dog for the first -​ Believed that knowledge was rooted in time it is an innate knowledge (no perception and experiences learning) -​ Children gained knowledge piece by piece based on information from their senses -​ “Blank tablet ready for writing” Rousseau shared plato’s view Locke shared Aristotle’s view -​ The child begins their developmental -​ Children begin their journey without journey prepared with a stockpile of much innate knowledge and gain knowledge experience/knowledge throughout their lives During the age of enlightenment John Locke (1632-1704) -​ Believed that the human infant state is a tabula rasa (“blank slate”) -​ Claiming that experience moulds the infant, child, adolescent, and adult into a unique individual -​ Parents should instruct, reward and discipline young children and later gradually relax their authority as children grow -​ Would state that childcare experiences affect a child’s development but would not specify how Who were these ideas challenged by? Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) -​ Believed that newborns are naturally possessing an innate sense of justice and morality that unfolds naturally as the child grows with. -​ Children move through the same developmental stages as today: -​ Infancy, childhood, adolescence -​ Emphasized parental discipline -​ Argued parents should be responsive and receptive to their children’s needs -​ Wrote a book Émile in 1762 -​ He downplayed the impact of childcare experiences of the child and would focus his energy on the caregivers Rousseau and locke both represent the basic nature vs nurture argument -​ Nature (innate characteristics) -​ Nurture (do we become what we are due to the environmental influences) -​ These opinions are often in opposition of one another though these are the fundamental themes -​ The interaction between these two types is also significant -​ This philosophical debate is a quintessential part in the science of child development Chapter questions 1)​ Question 1.1: Aya is 18 months old. Her father believes she should have a very structured day, one that includes some physical activity, time spent reading and doing puzzles, and, finally, lots of reassuring hugs and kisses. Is Aya’s dad a believer in Rousseau’s or Locke’s view of childhood? Answer: Locke’s view of childhood where the emphasis is on the importance of children’s experiences What are the origins of this new science? -​ There was a push towards child development as a science mostly by children during the industrial revolution in the mid 18th century When were children historically considered adults? -​ In the past children who didn’t need constant adult care were considered adults and ready to enter the work force (5-7 years old) -​ In the mid 1700s england began to move from a rural, agricultural society to a urban oriented society -​ Organized factories and textile mills where children would move to the cities and work long hours -​ Many accidents occurred due to these hazardous jobs and there was new legislation limiting child labour -​ There was a push for more children to be educated and in schools during the 1800s -​ The well being of children became a concern Who’s theory helped develop this science? -​ Charles darwin’s theory of evolution in 1859: argues that individuals within a species differ (some are better adapted to a particular environment where they are more likely to survive and pass along characteristics) -​ This theory was similar in the sense that evolutionary changes within species connected to understandings of age related changes in human behaviour -​ Wrote baby biographies which were detailed and systematic observations of individual children. -​ The observations in the biographies were often subjective and conclusions were reached with minimal evidence -​ The baby biographies paved the way for objective and analytic research Who was the leading scientist of this field in the 20th century? -​ G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924) -​ Generated theories about child development based on evolutionary theories and conducted studies which helped determine the age trends in children’s beliefs and feelings -​ Hall founded the first english scientific journal for his research Austria -​ Sigmund freud (1856-1939) -​ Suggested that experiences of early childhood accounted for patterns of behaviour in adulthood America -​ John B Watson (1878-1958) -​ Founder of behaviourism and wrote about the importance of reward and punishment for childrearing practices Canada -​ In 1920 the University of Toronto became the first department independent of philosophy -​ James Mark Baldwin (1861-1934): set up the first psychology lab in canada beginning in 1891 and felt that baby biographies interfered with theory as they were too observational -​ Focused on infant handedness and tested proposals -​ An important figure in early childhood study The canadian psychological association (CPA) was founded in the late 1930s and the idea was that it would be the advancement of science 1933: Interdisciplinary orgnaization called the society for research and child development (SRCD) became a thing and members included psychologists, physicians, biologists etc to discover the conditions that promote childwelfare and deelopment -​ Now is the main researching organization for child development science During WW2 many child development scientists abandoned their work to help with war efforts -​ Psychologists often helped with training methods Female psychologists became well known and prominent in the CPA post war When was the beginning of the modern era of child development research? -​ 1950s and 60s when the discipline grew More recently a branch of child development research emerged using the applied developmental sciences for vulnerable children and families Significance of the consideration of policy when researching child development? -​ Government officials needed to address problems affecting children and child development experts provided useful information about children and their development  -​ Advocacy for children to alert policy makers to children’s needs and evaluate the impact of government policies on families Over 100 years in the making, the modern child-development science is a mature discipline -​ Where vast knowledge and discoveries occur -​ Actively use this knowledge to improve children’s lives -​ Foundational developmental research occurs Check Your Learning RECALL What two events set the stage for the creation of child-development science? Who were the leaders in the new field of child development before the formation of the Society for Research in Child Development? INTERPRET Explain the similarities between Rousseau’s and Plato’s views of child development; how did their views differ from those shared by Locke and Aristotle? APPLY Suppose a child-development researcher is an expert on the impact of nutrition on children’s physical and emotional development. Describe several different ways in which the researcher might help inform public policy concerning children’s nutrition. 2. Foundational theories of child development Learning objectives 1.​ What are the major tenets of biological perspectives? 2.​ How do psychodynamic theories account for development? 3.​ What is the focus of learning theories? 4.​ How do cognitive-developmental theories explain changes in children’s thinking? 5.​ What are the main points of the contextual approach? Perspectives discussed -​ Biological, psychodynamic, learning, cognitive developmental, contextual Consider the following case: Will has just graduated from high school, first in his class. For his mother, Betty, this is a time to reflect on Will’s past and ponder his future. Will has always been a happy, easygoing child and he has always been interested in learning. Betty wonders why he is so perpetually good-natured and so curious. If she knew the secret, she laughs, she could write a best-selling book and be a guest on daytime TV shows like Dr. Phil! Definition of a theory in child development science -​ Theory: organized set of ideas that is designed to explain and make predictions about development The biological perspective How do you define it? -​ Intellectual and personality development, physical and motor development are rooted in biology What was one of the first theories? -​ Arnold Gesell (1880-1961) maturational theory: -​ child development reflects a specific and prearranged scheme or plan within the body -​ Development is simply a natural unfolding of a biological plan -​ This is similar to the theory by Jean Jacques Rousseau from 200 years before -​ Encouraged parents to let their children develop naturally without interference from adults -​ Claimed behaviours like speech, play and reasoning would emerge unpredicted but according to a predetermined developmental time table Why was this theory discarded? -​ Because it did not have enough to say about the environment where a child might live which also plays a role -​ Other theories did give greater emphasis to experiences What is Ethological theory? Ethological theory: views development from an evolutionary perspective -​ Many behaviours are adaptive and have survival value  -​ Ex: clinging, grasping, crying are adaptive for infants and elicit caregiving from adults -​ Assume that people inherit these adaptive behaviours This theory seems pretty similar to Gesell’s, how does experience fit in? -​ Ethologists believe that all animals are biologically programmed in a way that some kinds of learning occur at certain ages -​ Believe in a critical period in development: where a specific type of learning takes place (generally before or after that period the same learning is difficult or next to impossible) -​ Konrad lorenz (1903-1989) a zoologist noticed that newly hatched geese followed their mothers around -​ Goslings are biologically programmed to follow their first moving object after hatching -​ This is the first step in imprinting which usually occurs with the mother Similarities with Ethological theory and maturational theory -​ Both highlight the biological bases of child development -​ Biological theorists explain that children’s behaviour is a product of an evolutionary history -​ Returning to the case example A biological theorist would attribute Will’s behaviour ato his heredity (the product of biological behaviours) The psychodynamic perspective -​ Oldest scientific perspective of child development mostly originating from Sigmund Freud’s work Freud’s theory (1856-1939) -​ In the late 19th century and 20th century freud speicalized in diseases on the nervous system -​ His patients were adults whos’s disorders had no obvious bioloigcal causes -​ Listened to the patients describe their problems/lives and used his patients histories to create the first psychodynamic theory a.​ Development is largely determined by how well people resolve certain conflicts at different ages -​ Role of conflict evident in Freud’s descriptions of the three components of personality a.​ Id: reservoir of primitive instincts/drives. Present at birth the id wants immediate gratification of bodily needs/wants i.​ Ie a baby crying when hungry b.​ ego: practical/rational component of personality: emerges during the 1st year of life as an infant and they learn they can’t always have what they want. Tries to resolve conflicts that occur when the instinctive desires of the id encounter obstacles of the real world i.​ Channels the ids impulsive demands into socially acceptable channels. ii.​ According to freud the id would urge the child to grab the toy but the ego encourages the child to play with the peer who already has the toy  c.​ Superego: moral agent on the child’s personality i.​ Emerges during preschool years when children internalize adult standards of right and wrong. When the id wants to grab the toy the superego would remind the child that taking someone else's toy is wrong -​ Freud personality development aka the five psychosexual stages -​ Oral: infancy→ 2 years old (exploring the mouth) -​ Anal: 2 years old→ 3 years old (bowel control) -​ Phallic: 3 years old → 7 years old (notices differences between the sexes) -​ Latency (drives are quiescent): 7 years old → 11 years old (energies are sublimated and channels childhood activities like schooling and athletics) -​ Genital (final mature self): 11 years old → adulthood (mature sexuality) -​ Believed that conflicts at any age of development could lead to fixations where mental energies are occupied in activities reminiscent of that stage What do today’s scientists think of this? -​ Recognizing the shortcomings in Freud's theories as a whole, where some ideas were too vague for research testing and were based on adults recalling the past not from observing children. -​ Two of freud’s insights with lasting impact on the research of child development 1.​ His conclusion that early experiences have enduring effects on children’s development 2.​ His idea that children experience conflict between what they want to do and what they know to do Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory -​ Erik erikson (1902-1994): agreed with freud’s ideas of conflicts but emphasized the psychological and social aspects of conflict rather than the biological and physical aspects -​ Psychosocial theory: the development comprises at a sequence of stages where each is defined by a unique crisis or challenge -​ Proposed that development could continue throughout life and created stages for adulthood (8 stages) -​ The name of each stage reflects the challenges that individuals face at a particular stage -​ Adolescents who do not meet the challenge -​ Will not establish intimate relationships but will become overly dependent on their partners for their identity Psychosocial stage age Challenge Basic trust versus mistrust ​ Birth to 1st year To develop a sense that they’re in a good place Autonomy versus shame and 1 year to 3 years Realize that one is an guilt independent person that can make their own decisions Initiative versus guilt 3 years to 6 year To develop a willingness to handle failure Industry versus inferiority 6 years to adolescence To learn basic skills and to work with others  Identity versus identity Adolescence develop a lasting, integrated confusion sense of self Generativity versus stagnation Middle adulthood To contribute to younger people through child rearing, care or other productive work “midlife crisis” Integrity versus despair Late life To view one’s one life as satisfactory and worth living Whether we call them conflicts, challenges or crises, the psychodynamic perspective emphasizes that the journey to adulthood is difficult because the path is strewn with obstacles -​ Outcomes of development reflect the manner and ease with children surmount life’s barriers A psychodynamic theorist would answer the case study? -​ Tell betty that will’s disposition and academic record suggests that he’s handled life’s early obstacles well and this will help his future development The learning perspective -​ Learning theorists endorse John locke’s view that the infants mind is a blank slate on which experience writes John Watson (1878-1958): What did he do? -​ First theorist to apply the approach where learning from experience determines what children will be, and the correct techniques where anything can be learned by almost anyone -​ Watson’s experience was about all that mattered determining the course of development -​ Classical conditioning to Little albert to be afraid of a rat Shortcomings: his classical conditioning required reflexive responses Early learning theories -​ Research based on classical conditioning -​ Pavlov’s research about dogs where a bell rings and the dog salivates as a response B.F skinner (1904-1990) -​ Research on the learning perspective proposing that watson’s work had been based in classical conditioning but what about voluntarily emitted behaviours Operant conditioning: consequences of a behaviour determine whether that behaviour is repeated. -​ Animals perform, or emit behaviours Focused on how the consequences of a behaviour could lead to the behavioural response that is either strengthened or weakened -​ Showed that two kinds of consequences a)​ Reinforcement: increasing the likelihood of the behaviour i)​ Positive: rewarding with money, praise, food ii)​ Negative: reinforcement consisting of rewarding people by taking away unpleasant things  b)​ Punishment: consequences that decrease the future likelihood of the behaviour that follows where punishment suppresses the behaviour making it aversive by withholding something pleasant i)​ If a child fails to clean their room, the parents would punish them by making them do extra chores (aversive) ii)​ Or by not allowing them to watch tv (withholding the pleasant) -​ Drawbacks of punishment: it fails to identify the desired behaviour, it only says stop and doesn’t offer a supplementary thing to do -​ Additionally it could also be associated with negative stimulus like a slap or a physical punishment which is controversial and produces poor outcomes of child behaviour To understand the positive/negative and reinforcer/punisher distinctions of operant conditioning outcomes -​ Positive and negative as math symbols -​ A reinforcer is something that people look forward to and a punisher is avoided To further explain Reinforcer Punisher Positive Parents reward a child for Parents punish a child for not cleaning up their room with a cleaning their room by shouting cookie Negative Parental nagging to “go clean Child is not allowed to watch your room” stopping when the television that evening because child starts to clean their room they did not clean their room -​ When applied properly reinforcement is a powerful influence on children -​ Some occasions: children will simply learn by watching those around them Observational learning (also called imitation) -​ A toddler throwing a toy after seeing a peer doing the same thing -​ A school age child offering to help carry groceries after seeing their parents do the same Social cognitive theory -​ Imitation like monkey see monkey do where the simple mimicking often occurs Albert bandura (1925-2021) -​ Developed the basis of social cognitive theory What is Albert’s bobo doll study? -​ A classic example of direct observational learning and observation in ways leading to simple imitation  -​ Where children watched an adult abuse a clown doll and performed specific actions where the child then imitated this and performed the exact same behaviour -​ They could do so if asked to perform such imitations and even repeat the actions when incentive was given Children are more likely to imitate a person if they are perceived as popular, smart, talented -​ Especially if they are rewarded for that behaviour and is reinforced Bandura based his theory on more complex views of reward, punishment and imitation Why was it called cognitive? -​ This theory was called cognitive because he believed that children were actively trying to understand what goes on in their world Why was it called social? -​ Along with reinforcement and punishment what others do is an important source of information for perceiving the world Bandura also argues that experiences give children a sense of self efficacy: a belief in their own talent and abilities -​ They believe that it well help determine when children will imitate others -​ A child who believes they are not athletic is unlikely to imitate wayne gretzky's hockey skills despite him being talented -​ Where as another might be more likely to imitate those behaviours because they are athletic -​ Who children imitate is dependent on who the other person is in relation to their beliefs The social cognitive child compared to the operant conditioning -​ Operant: Responds mechanically to reinforcement and punishment -​ Social cognitive: actively interpreting events Skinner and Bandura share the belief that children’s experiences propel their developmental journeys -​ With the case study they would tell betty that experience is why will is both happy and successful academically Cognitive developmental perspective -​ Focuses on how children think and how their thinking changes as they grow Key theorist: Jean Piaget (1896-1980) -​ One of the most well known cognitive developmental theorists -​ Believed that children naturally try to make sense of the world -​ Infancy, childhood, adolescence they want to understand the workings of both the physical and social world. -​ Example: when infants want to know about objects like what happens when a toy is pushed off the table, who is this person that is caring for me? Piaget’s theory of cognitive development -​ Argued that children try to comprehend their surroundings by acting like scientists, creating theories about the physical and social worlds  -​ Theories are tested daily by experience and because they lead children to expect certain things to happen -​ With real scientific theories and the predicted events a child’s belief in their theory grows -​ When the predicted events don’t occur a child revises their theory -​ A baby’s theory of objects like a rattle the idea that if she lets it go it’ll fall to the floor and it does -​ Piaget believed that a few critical points in development like children realizing their theories have basic flaws and when this happens children revise their theories -​ Changes are fundamental and the revised theory is almost like a brand new theory -​ Piaget claimed that radical revisions occur three times in development: a)​ At age 2 b)​ Age 7 c)​ Just before adolescence -​ Radical changes means that children go through four distinct stages in cognitive development where each stage represents a fundamental change in how children understand and organize their environment Talked about in Lecture 4 Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development Stage Approx age Characteristic Sensorimotor Birth to 2 years Infants knowledge of the world is based on senses and motor skills -​ By the end of this period infants begin to use mental representations Preoperational 2-6 years of age Child learns how to use symbols such as words and numbers to represent aspects of the world, relates to the world only through their perspective Concrete operational 7-11 years of age Child understands and applies logical operations to experiences, provided the experiences are focused on  the here and now Formal operational Adolescence and beyond -​ Adolesceense and adults begin to think abstraclty, -​ Speculate on hypothetical situations -​ Reasons deductively about what is possible What else did piaget believe? -​ He thought that children’s thinking becomes more sophisticated as they develop reflecting the sophisticated theories that they create -​ Piaget in relation to the case study: would have little to say about will’s good nature -​ In regards to will’s academic success he would explain that all children naturally want to understand their world -​ Will is simply unusually skilled in that regard -​ Explore this role further to contribute to our understandings of cognitive development and examine more modern theories The contextual perspective -​ Most developmentalists agree that the environment is an important factor in the development -​ Traiditionally most child theories emphasized the environmental forces that affected children directly including parents praising a child, older sibling teasing a younger one and nursery teachers discouraging girls from playing with trucks These direct influences are important in children’s lives and in the contextual perspective are simply one part of a larger system where elements influence each other -​ Understanding that parents, siblings, and individuals outside of the family like friends and teachers, the systems of where they are educated and the institutions like television, workplace and places of work all play an important role What is culture defined as? -​ Culture: the knowledge attitudes and behavioiurs associated with a group -​ Could be specific to a country, time period, individuals in specific traditions Culture provides context for child development and is an important influence on development throughout childhood and adolescence Vygotsky’s theory of contextual development -​ Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) -​ Focused on how adults convey beliefs, customs and skills of their culture to children -​ He believed that because a fundamental aim of all societies is to enable children to acquire essential cultural values and skills that every aspect of a child’s development must be considered against the backdrop An example would be canadian parents who want their kids to work hard to get into university In relation to the case study -​ Vygotsky agrees with learning theorists that telling betty that the environmental has been pivital in her son’s disposition and academic achievements -​ However the contextual theorist would insist that the environment means much more than reinforcements, punishments and observations, they would emphasize the manner in which betty has conveyed the values of curiosity and of academic success they’d put an emphasis on bett’s membership within a cultural group and the well being of will in a school setting What is the all powerful viewing of parents? -​ It is the belief that parent’s actions are the most important part in children’s development and was included in early psychological theories Most theorists now view families in a contextual perspective -​ Families form a system of interacting elements with parents and children influencing one another -​ Families are part of a much larger system that includes extended family, etc that influence development Bronfenbrenner’s theory of ecological systems -​ System’s view of children and families is exemplified in a theory proposed by urie Bronfenbrenner that holds that developing childs are embedded in a series of complex and interactive systems -​ The systems theory approach is similar to indigenous canadians’ holistic views of life structures and the individual is necessarily embedded in their social and cultural environment A holistic balance is represented by the circle of medicine wheel where there are interdependence and interacting systems which play a significant role in developing children Ecological systems theory: environment divided into five components a)​ The microsystem b)​ Mesosystem c)​ Exosystem d)​ Macrosystem  e)​ Chronosystem Microsystem: at ay point in life consisting of people and objects in an individual’s immediate environment -​ People closest to a child such as parents, siblings and other family members -​ Some children have more than one microsystem like a young child having the family and daycare setting -​ Strongly influence development When microsystems connect they create the mesosystem -​ Representing the fact that what happens in one microsystem likely influences what happens in the others -​ If you found that you had a stressful day at school then you’ll be grouchy at home -​ Having these responses means that the mesosystem are alive and well and that the microsystems are connected emotionally Exosystem: refers to the social settings that a person might not experience first hand but still influences their development -​ Ie: a mother’s work environment is part of the child’s exosystem because they may pay more attention to her child when her work is going well and less attention when she is under a lot of work stresses -​ Influence of the exosystem is more second hand though it’s impact on the developing child is strong A parent is having a tough day at work: do you think their parenting at home after work will be great? If not the child’s development might be affected by their parents’ workplace Macrosystem: one of the broadest contexts. Where the subcultures and cultures in which the microsystem, mesosystem and exosystem are embedded -​ A mother, her workplace, her child and the child’s school are part of a larger cultural setting such as chinese canadians living in BC or Italian Canadians living in large cities like toronto -​ Members of specific cultural subgroups often share a common identity, heritage and common values -​ The macrosystem evolves with successive generations what is true about a particular culture today might not be true in the past and may not be true in the future Each successive generation of children develops in a unique macrosystem Chronosystem: where all the systems change over time in a dimension -​ Reminds us that microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem and macrosystem are not static but dynamic and constantly changing -​ The child’s microsystem changes when their older sister leaves home for university and when the mother leaves an easy low paying job to a high paying one -​ Children also change over time (moving cities and the older child has to make new long time friends) -​ When children resist punishment parents often become less willing to reason and more inclined to use force -​ Children sometimes live in a variety of arrangements statistically impacting indigenous children the most where nearly 50% children in foster care are indigenous Simplifying childrearing in communities Friendly neighbours can positively impact a family or communities can be negative like grandparents living nearby and creating friction -​ Communities can help fill Deficiencies in family relationships caused by divorce and job loss -​ Different cultures view children differently and the affecting interactions -​ Indigenous children play an important role in the consultation of community practices and the transmission of culture Martin Guhn and Hillel Goelman: Systems of theory used research to develop well being and school readiness The approach takes into account the individual variables (child’s health) and influences at the community level (socioeconomic variables ) -​ Ie: social institutions like recreation centres and organizations like big brothers big sister organizations can impact the child and these benefit problems and areas in a child’s life Big brothers sisters -​ Programs alleviate anxieties and improve social skills -​ Ethical problems: keeping them in a control group waiting for assignments to a big brother/sister Larger systems impacts are indirect like when work schedules cause parents to be away from home or when schools eliminate programs benefiting children where complex systems interact -​ A negative example of this concept is residential schools for indigenous children -​ Additionally the 60s scoop where the familial and cultural backgrounds of children were irreparably damaged -​ Taking of children from indigenous cultures is an extreme case of how important the interacting ecological systems and understanding the impact as a whole is Summary of all 5 perspectives Piaget’s theory: modern explanations for infants’ understanding of objects and preschoolers’ theory of mind -​ Erikson’s theory: contributed to the mother-infant attachment -​ Formation of identity during adolescence Modern theories described throughout the text are derived from the five perspectives -​ No single perspective encapsulates every nuance in children’s development Perspectives Key assumptions Specific theories Biological Development is determined Maturational theory: primarily by biological forces emphasizes the development as a natural plan unfolding Ethological theory: emphasizes that children’s and parents’ behaviours has adapted to meet specific environmental challenges Psychodynamic Development is determined Frued’s theory: the conflict by how a child resolves between primitive biologicsl conflict at different ages forces and societal standards for right and wrong Erikson’s theory: emphasizes the challenges posed by the formation of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry and identity Learning Development is determined Skinner’s operant by a child’s environment conditioning: emphasized the role of reinforcement and punishment Bandura’s social cognitive theory: emphasizes children’s efforts to understand their world using reinforcement, punishment and others’  behaviour Cognitive developmental Development reflects Piaget’s theory: emphasizes children’s efforts to the different stages of understand the world thinking that result from children’s changing theories of the world Contextual Development is influenced by Vygotsky’s theory: immediate and distant emphasizes the role of environments, which typically parents and other adults in influence each other conveying culture to the next generation Bronfenbrenner’s theory: emphasizes the interaction of different aspects of the environment and their influence (direct or indirect) upon the child Module questions Recall: Describe the different theories that typify the biological perspective on child development. What are the main features of the contextual perspective on child development? Interpret: Explain the similarities and the differences between Erikson’s and Piaget’s stage theories of children’s development. APPLY Imagine that a friend complains that his one-year-old seems to cry a lot compared to other one-year-olds. How would theorists from each of the five perspectives listed in the summary table explain his son’s frequent crying? 3. Themes in child development research Learning objectives 1.​ How can developmental outcomes be predicted from early life 2.​ How do heredity and environment influence development 3.​ What role do children have in their own development? 4.​ Is development in different domains connected? Case example: Sanjay Gopal smiles broadly as he holds his newborn grandson for the first time. So many thoughts rush into his mind: What would Ranjeet experience growing up? Would the poor neighbourhood they live in prevent him from reaching his potential? Would the family genes for good health be passed on? How would Ranjeet’s life growing up in Canada differ from Sanjay’s own experiences growing up in India? Continuity of development -​ The predictability of development Do outgoing 5 year olds remain the same throughout their lives -​ If yes: continuous child development (once a child starts they stay on that path throughout life) Case study: if ranjeet is sweet at 5 he’ll be the same at 15 -​ If no: not continuous development (changes throughout his life he won’t be cheery at 15 like he was at 5) -​ Are early aspects of development consistently related to developmental aspects Continuity vs discontinuity: -​ None of them are consistently actuare -​ It isn’t perfectly predictable -​ A friendly five year old doesn’t guarantee a friendly 15 year old -​ chances of them remaining friendly are greater than them becoming obnoxious though. Question 1.3: As a child, Heather was painfully shy and withdrawn, but as an adult she is very outgoing, the life of many a party. What does Heather’s life tell us about the continuity or discontinuity of shyness? Impact of nature and nurture -​ Parenting isn’t the sole cause of an individuals happiness -​ The environment influecnes account for a signitifcant amount of one’s disposition and so do biological influences What is the nature-nurture issue? -​ What roles do biology (nature) and environment (nurture) play in child development? -​ If ranjeet is outgoing and friendly is it due to his heredity or his experiences How did scientists try to answer this question? -​ Scientists hoped to answer this question by identifying the heredity or environment as the cause  -​ Their goal was to say that intelligence was due to heredity or personality due to experience -​ Currently there is no sole cause and no aspect of child development is exclusively due to one or the other -​ Development is always shaped by both nature and nurture and the interaction between the two -​ The active child What did experienced parents note about raising children? -​ Experienced parents understand that their children are shaped by the way they parented -​ Compared to non parents who believed that everything would go to plan and had dreams about the behaviours of their future children Active- passive child issue -​ Passive child: children at the mercy of their environment -​ Active child: do children actively influence their own development through unique individual characteristics Which view corresponds with locke’s description of the child as a blank slate? -​ Passive child Which view corresponds with Rosseaus’ view of development as the natural unfolding of things -​ Active child Today: experiences are crucial ad interpretation of experiences shape their environment from birth -​ Child’s unique characteristics can cause them to have certain experiences but not others -​ Some children enjoy reading others do not -​ Children’s behaviour influences whether and how often parents would read to them in the future What do researchers now consider a two way street? -​ Not just the parents and adults who influence the child but that the child has influence two -​ It is a bi directional and interactive relationship -​ Parent-child interactions need to be viewed in the context of the parent-child relationship because of the bidirectionality of the relationship ‘ Links between the domains of child development -​ Child researchers focus on specific domains and areas like physical growth, cognition, language. Some Study how children learn to speak grammatically, others view each aspect of development as independent entities Terms: -​ Continuity: early development related to later development but not perfectly -​ Nature and nurture: deevlpment is always jointly influecned by heredity and environment -​ Active children: children influence their own development -​ Connecitions: development in different domains is connected Most child development scientists agree that these are important themes in any child’s development Thinking of this in relation to the five perspectives -​ The biological perspective: one extreme emphasizing the impact of nature -​ Learning and contextual perspectives emphasize nurture Perspectives also see different degrees of connectedness across domains of development -​ Piaget’s cognitive deevlopmental theory empahszies connections → children strive to have an integrated theory to explain the world, cognitive and social growth are linked closely The learning perspective holds that the degree of connectedness depends on the nature of environmental influences RECALL Describe the difference between continuous development and discontinuous development. Cite examples showing that development in different domains is connected. INTERPRET Explain the difference between nature and nurture and how these forces are thought to affect children’s development. APPLY How might parents respond differently to an active child compared to a quiet child? 4. Doing child development research Learning Objectives 1. How do scientists measure topics of interest in children’s development? 2. What general research designs are used in child-development research? 3. What designs are unique to the study of age-related change? 4. What ethical procedures must researchers follow? 5. How do researchers communicate results to other scientists? 6. How does child-development research influence family policy? Case study Leah and Joan are both mothers of 10-year-old boys. Their sons have many friends, but the basis for the friendships is not obvious to the mothers. Leah believes that opposites attract; children form friendships with peers who have interests and abilities that make up for things they lack. Joan doubts this; her son seems to seek out other boys who are near clones of himself in their interests and abilities. child-development researchers follow the scientific method, which involves several steps: ​ Identify a question to be answered or a phenomenon to be understood. ​ Form a hypothesis that is a tentative answer to the question or a tentative explanation of the phenomenon. ​ Select a method for collecting data that can be used to evaluate the hypothesis According to this case study: the mothers have already taken the first two steps How do cold development scientists select methods that provide evidence that is useful for testing hypotheses about child development? -​ When devising methods, child development scientists make choices -​ Need to decide how to measure the phenomenon of interest, design the study, ensure that the research respects the rights of the participants and communicates their results to other researchers once completed -​ Child developers don’t follow a particular sequence for these decisions Measurement in child development research -​ Usually begins by deciding how to measure the topic or behaviour of interest: -​ Deciding how to measure friendship (case study example) -​ Child development researchers use one of four approaches -​ a) observing systematically, using tasks to sample behaviour, asking children for self reports, measuring physiological responses 1)​ Systematic observation a)​ Involves watching children and carefully recording what they say and do i)​ Most common 2 -​ Naturalistic observation: children observed as they behave spontaneously in a real life situation (Deciding the independent and dependent variables before hand) -​ Nominal scale: a measurement of discrete categories (ie makes eye contact or doesn’t) -​ Checklist consists of prepared behaviours to be notes  -​ Naturalistic observation: research by debra pepler and wendy craig who studies 6-12 year olds and their responses to their peers’ prosocial and aggressive behaviour -​ Experimental design: school playground, 20 minutes, the experimenter videotaped one child before moving on to the next child and it was repeated a different day but for 40 minutes. Looked at what children did during instances of both prosocial and antisocial behaviours and looked at which one was preferebly observed -​ Naturalistic difficulties is that behaviours often occur at oe and is less likely to take place -​ Structured observation: researcher creates a setting that is likely to elicit the behaviour of interest -​ Difficulties: observed natural behaviours are uncommon and likely occur in private settings -​ Ie: a researcher trying to understand the observations of children’s responses to emergencies however it is difficult to make an emergency occur at a predetermined location and time -​ Structured observation is often beneficial when an investigator might stage an emergency -​ Allow researchers to observe behaviours that would otherwise be difficult to study uut they must be cautious that they do not disturb their behaviour of interest -​ Like how they want to observe friends playing games in a mock family room though it has artificial aspects like children are not in theri own homes and are aware of that fact -​ A study of moms who knew they were being videotaped wanted to appear on their best parenting behaviour Types of bias: a)​ observer bias: occurring when the researcher notices those behavouris that support their hypothesis and discount those that do not and thus don’t interpret those behaviours in a way that supports the hypothesis -​ Expectancy effect: observers expectations influence their observations How to mitigate it? By establishing firm behavioral definitions and observation guidelines prior to the experiment -​ One way to check if this bias is present? -​ Inter-rater reliability check: where 2 observers using the same agreed upon measures perform observations  -​ Outcomes: if the research is reliable and shows a good inter rater reliability, their results would be roughly the same. b)​ Observer influence: form of partcicpant bias occurring when participants change their behaviour just because they know they’re being observed How to mitigate this? Have the researcher in disguise (one way mirror etc) or habituating participants Habituation: allows partciipants to get used to the researchers presence -​ Example -​ In preparation for researching a preschool a researcher might spend a few days in the classroom and then the children would not pay much attention to her Sampling behaviour with tasks -​ When investigators can’t observe behaviour directly -​ A memory measuring experiment would often be done with a digit span task (children listening to a sequence of numbers presented aloud) -​ After the last digit presented the child try to repeat the digits in the same order as heard -​ - to measure their ability to recognize emotions investiagots can use tasks looking at facial expressions and point to the image best representing their interpretation of a smile for example. -​ Sampling behaviour with tasks is popular with child development researchers because it’s convenient Potential issue with this approach: -​ The task might not accurately measure the behaviour of interest -​ Judging emotions based on images underestimates what children do in real life -​ Children’s emotions understanding might be less accurate than to real life because facial features are moving but are stil in photos, movement is one of the clues children use to judge emotions -​ Facial expressions often accompanied by sounds and children use both to understand emotion and expressions Self reports -​ Special case of tasks to measure children’s behaviour -​ Children note their own responses in a questionnaire, or orally in an interview -​ Usually can lead to information about the topic of interest and can be administered to groups of participants at a time -​ Self reports are occasionally inaccurate and events people might not remember accurately are recalled -​ Response bias: some responses might be more socially acceptable than others and participants are likely to select those than unacceptable answers -​ Some are reluctant to admit certain things that their self perception is strongly influenced by their peer’s approval -​ Physiological measures -​ - less common approach -​ Measuring childens’ physiological responses (heart rate, etc) -​ - researches measure the heart rate to determine their degree of attention  -​ Hormones and cortisol are often secreted in response to stress and can determine when children experience stress -​ -​ Often used alongside behaviourally oriented methods (researchers studying stress might observe children and look for overt signs of stress) -​ If all three measures lead to the same conclusions about stress than a researcher can be confident about their conclusions Additionally studying the brain (techniques that modern scientists record brain functioning to specific tasks) Summary table Method strength weakness Naturalistic observation Captures children’s behaviour Difficult to use with rare in the natural setting behaviours or typically occur in private settings Structured observation Can be used to study Invalid if structured setting behaviors that are rate and distorts the behaviour typically occur in a private setting through manufacturing situations Sampling behaviour with Convenient and can be used Invalid if the task does not tasks to study most behaviours sample behaviour as it occurs naturally Self report questionnaires Convenient and can be used Invalid because children to study most behaviors s answer incorrectly due to forgetting and bias Physiological measures Provide independent Often specific to particular converging evidence that types of behaviours and may confirms behavioural not be available for all topics measures Evaluating these measures -​ After researchers choose a method of measurement they have to show it’s reliable and valid -​ Reliable: if results are consistent over time -​ Valid: if it measures what researchers think it measures -​ Subtypes of validity -​ a) construct validity: when a test measures the theoretical construct of what it’s supposed to be measuring (ie a questionnaire measuring friendship valid by showing scores related to peers’ and parent’s jmeasures of friendship)  -​ b) concurrent validity: when two forms of measurement correspond or concur Different approaches to measurements have their strengths and weaknesses Representative sampling -​ Valid measures depend on the method of measurement and on the children who are tested -​ Researchers are interested in broad groups (populations) -​ Because it’s difficult to do so they include a sample from that population An unrepresentative sample can lead to invalid research -​ Often what research was found for one group doesn’t apply to all populations and people in other groups General designs for research -​ After making a Hypothesis, variables, methods of collecting data, researchers must choose an overall conceptual approach (reliable research design) -​ Child development researchers usually use 2 designs i.​ Correlational -​ Investigators look at the relations between variables as they exist in the natural world -​ Simple correlational studies researches measure two variables and see how they’re related -​ Correlation coefficient: using r when it’s equal to 0 the variables are unrelated, when greater than 0 the scores are positively related -​ The sign of the coefficient (indicates the direction of the relation between variables), positive correlation means that the values are more associated, negative means that they are associated at smaller values -​ The strength of the correlation would be indicated where if a.75 then the correlation is stronger than a.25. A -.75 indicates a strong negative relation compared to a -.25 ii.​ Experimental -​ Investigates systematically varies the factors thought to cause a particular behaviour -​ The factor varying is an independent variable and the behavior measured is the dependent variable -​ The results of experiments are calculates and subjected to rigorous statistical analyses (inferential statistics→ one draws conclusions) -​ Null hypothesis: nothing that the experimenter did had any effect on anything done in the experiment -​ Results are expressed in terms of probabilities Often researchers will use control variables and factors that influence the outcome of the research In a field experiment: the researcher manipulates independent variables in a natural setting so that the results are more likely to represent the behaviour in the real world. -​ These allow investigators to draw strong conclusions about the cause and effect because they embed manipulation of an independent variable into the natural setting -​ -​ Main research design used by developmenatalists have strengths and weaknesses and no method is perfect Experimental and correlational research is quantitative -​ Researchers also use qualitative research for more in depth studying of individuals -​ The CPA is becoming more open to qualitative research methods too similarly to anthropology and sociology disciplines Studying age related changes -​ Child development research is directional at the single age group like memory in preschool children, and mother infant relationships in one year olds as they measure behaviour and interest and the investigator can determine whether the study is ethical -​ Much research in child development concerns changes that occur as children develop -​ Investigators must select strategies for assessing age related changes 3. Strategies a)​ Longitudinal: individuals observed or tested repeatedly at different points in their lives i)​ Microgenetic studies: children repeatedly tested over the span of days or weeks to see the change directly occurring Problems with these studies ii)​ Practice effects: children given the same test many times and become test-wise and improvement is exhibited iii)​ Selective attribution: constancy of the sample over the course of research, where some might lose interest iv)​ Cohort effects: when children studied over several years their developmental change might be specific to a generation of people known as a cohort (ie babies born in 1991 united states) where the result might be general and reflect unique experiences of babies in that decade b)​ Cross sectional: short term studies testing children of different ages at one point in development. Cohort effects are still a problem though in not being able to generalize across multiple generations, children are tested at only one point in their development we don’t learn anything about continuity of development because the individual is only tested at one age c)​ Longitudinal sequential: investigators sometimes use a hybrid design which includes the sequences of samples each studied longitudinally where each group is tested twice (ie once at 6 years old and another time at 9 years old). Researchers can determine whether aggressive 6 year olds become aggressive 9 year olds -​ To determine more long term requires a specific longitudinal study but in the mean time this is a common middle ground -​ Allows researchers to determine whether their study is affected by practice effects or cohort effects  -​ The key is to compare the results for the age common to both sequences -​ Practice and cohort effects tend to make scores different for 2 groups of 9 year olds if the scores are the same however a researcher can confidently identify that practiec and cohorts are not an issue in the study You can combine these three strategies with correlational or experimental designs to create a more tailored identification -​ Many researchers find that the ease of a cross sectional study compensates for its limitations in comparison to longitudinal studies Type of Design Definition Strengths Weaknesses GENERAL DESIGNS Correlational Observe variables as Behaviour is Cannot determine cause they exist in the world measured as it occurs and effect and determine their naturally relations Experimental Manipulate Control of variables Work is often laboratory independent and allows conclusions based, which can be dependent variables about cause and artificial effect DEVELOPMENTAL DESIGNS Longitudinal One group of children Only way to chart an Expensive; participants is tested repeatedly individual’s drop out; repeated testing as they develop development and look can distort performance at the continuity of behaviour over time Cross-sectional Children of different Convenient; solves Cannot study continuity of ages are tested at the most problems behaviour; cohort effects same time associated with complicate interpretation longitudinal studies of differences between groups  Longitudinal-seq Different groups of Provides information Provides less information uential children are tested about continuity; about continuity than a full longitudinally researchers can longitudinal study and is determine the more time consuming presence of practice than a cross-sectional and cohort effects study Integrating findings from multiple studies -​ Meta-analysis: tool allowing researchers to synthesize the results of many studies to estimate the relationship between variables -​ Conducting a meta-analysis to find all studies published on a topic over a period of time (ie 10-20 years) and then recording and analyzing the results and methodological variables -​ Allows scientists to determine whether a finding generalizzaes across many studies that use different methods Ethical responsibilities -​ researchers must determine whether their research is ethical -​ Ensuring it doesn’t violate the rights of participating children and families -​ Always considering the ethics of research with humans especially with the vulnerable and sensitive children -​ CPA agencies have codes of conduct specifying the rights of research partciipants and the procedures that occur -​ Recently ethical issues have lead to the regulation and increased control of studies -​ Researchers must now: seek to do research that benefits humanity, minimize risks to research participants, describe the research to potential participants so they can determine whether they want to partciipate -​ Informed consent since children are minors and not legally able to consent they must receive consent from a guardian or adult -​ Avoid deception (parcticipants must understand the true nature of the research) -​ Must keep the results anonymous or confidential and must debrief afterward clearly explaining the purpose of the experiment -​ Child development research doesn’t raise ethical flags becuase the methods are harmless and avoid deception -​ Question 1.4: Mateo, a 10-year-old, was at school when a researcher asked if he wanted to earn 10 dollars doing an experiment. The money sounded good to Mateo, so he participated. Despite the pay, Mateo left the experiment feeling upset because he overheard the experimenter telling his teacher how poorly Mateo had done. What are three ethical problems with this research? Child development and family policy -​ These researchers have been able to improve the lives of children, changes in family life, policy making and family arrangements  -​ Custody agreements is an example of this Some policy aspects are in the constituion (federal or provincial) -​ Federal is mostly economics and crimianl justice and the provincial is health and culture Quasi experimental design: multiple groups that were not formed by random assignment (correlational method that permit some statements about causality) → researchers compare children’s reading level at the end of school year Link between child development and policy reaesearch creates better research and betters children’s lives Check Your Learning Audio Listen to the Audio Listen to the Audio RECALL List the ethical responsibilities of scientists who do research with children. What steps are involved in reporting the results of research to the scientific community? INTERPRET Compare the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to measurement in child-development research. APPLY Suppose you wanted to determine the impact of divorce on children’s academic achievement. What would be the merits of correlational versus experimental research on this topic? How would a longitudinal study differ from a cross-sectional study? Summary 1.1 Setting the Stage 1.​ Historical Views of Children and Childhood  1.​ Plato and Aristotle provided the first philosophical views of childhood. Their ideas were picked up in the 17th century. Locke emphasized the role of experience in children’s lives, but Rousseau viewed development as a natural unfolding. 2.​ Origins of a New Science 1.​ Child development emerged as a science in the 19th century, reflecting reformers’ concern for children’s well-being and scientists’ enthusiasm for Darwin’s theory of evolution. Leaders in this new field were Hall (theories of child development), Binet (mental tests), Freud (role of early experience), and Watson (behaviourism). 1.2 Foundational Theories of Child Development Theories provide explanations for development and hypotheses for research. Traditionally, five broad perspectives have guided researchers. 1.​ The Biological Perspective 1.​ According to this perspective, biological factors are critical for development. In maturational theory, child development reflects a natural unfolding of a prearranged biological plan. Ethological theory states that children’s and parents’ behaviour is often adaptive. 2.​ The Psychodynamic Perspective 1.​ Freud emphasized the roles of early experience and of conflict in children’s development. Erikson proposed that psychosocial development consisted of eight universal stages, each characterized by a particular struggle. 3.​ The Learning Perspective 1.​ Operant conditioning is based on reinforcement, punishment, and environmental control of behaviour. Social learning theory proposes that people learn by observing others. Social cognitive theory emphasizes that children actively interpret what they see. 4.​ The Cognitive-Developmental Perspective 1.​ The cognitive-developmental perspective focuses on thought processes. Piaget proposed that children’s thinking progresses through four stages. 5.​ The Contextual Perspective 1.​ Vygotsky emphasized the role of culture in children’s development. He argued that skilled adults help children acquire the beliefs, customs, and skills of their culture. Bronfenbrenner proposed that the child should be considered as embedded within a series of interacting systems. 1.3 Themes in Child-Development Research Four themes help unify the findings from child-development research that are presented throughout this text. 2.​ Continuity of Development  1.​ Development is not perfectly predictable; early development sets the stage for later development but does not fix it irrevocably. 2.​ Impact of Nature and Nurture 1.​ Heredity and environment are interactive forces that work together to chart the course of development. 3.​ The Active Child 1.​ Children constantly interpret their experiences and often influence the experiences they have according to their individual characteristics. 4.​ Links Between Different Domains of Development 1.​ Development in different domains of children’s lives is always connected. Cognitive development affects social development and vice versa. 1.4 Doing Child-Development Research 1.​ Measurement in Child-Development Research 1.​ Research typically begins by determining how to measure the topic of interest. Systematic observation involves recording children’s behaviour as it takes place, either in a natural environment or in a structured setting. Researchers sometimes create tasks to obtain samples of children’s behaviour. In self-reports, children answer questions posed by the experimenter. Sometimes researchers also measure physiological responses (e.g., heart rate). Researchers must also obtain a sample that is representative of some larger population. 2.​ General Designs for Research 1.​ In correlational studies, investigators examine relations between variables as they occur naturally. In experimental studies, they manipulate an independent variable to determine the impact on a dependent variable. Field studies involve manipulation of independent variables in a natural setting. The best approach is to use both experimental and correlational studies to provide converging evidence. 3.​ Designs for Studying Age-Related Change 1.​ To study developmental change, some researchers use a longitudinal design in which the same children are observed repeatedly as they grow. A cross-sectional design involves testing children in different age groups. Meta-analysis is used to synthesize the results of different studies on the same topic. 1.​ Ethical Responsibilities 1.​ Experimenters must minimize the risks to potential research participants, describe the research so that potential participants can decide whether they want to participate, avoid deception, and keep results anonymous or confidential. 5.​ Communicating Research Results 1.​ Investigators write reports describing their findings and publish them in scientific journals. These publications form the foundation of scientific knowledge about child development. 6.​ Child-Development Research and Family Policy 1.​ Child-development researchers have become increasingly interested in applying the results of their work to family policy because of many changes in the  Canadian family. Researchers help to shape family policy by providing useful knowledge about children and their development so that policies can be based on accurate information. They also contribute by evaluating the impact of programs on families and children, and by developing effective programs that can be implemented elsewhere. Focusing on public policy implications in turn improves research because researchers must take a broader perspective on children’s development than they would otherwise. Chapter 2 & 3: Biological Foundations IVF: mixing of sperm and egg in a lab dish before placing the fertilized egg in the mother’s uterus -​ 46 chromosomes with the first 22 pairs being autosomes and the 23rd pair is the sex chromosome xy (male) xx (female) Incomplete dominance: allele don’t completely dominate Sickle cell trait: individuals with one dominant and one recessive and it’s a disease where there’s issues geting oxygen -​ Down syndrome extra 21st chromosome Behavioural genetics; branch of genetics that deals with the inheritance of behavioural and psychological traits Behavioural genetics -​ Identical twins (monozygotic) from a single fertilized egg that splits in two -​ Fraternal twins (dizygotic) two separate eggs fertilized by 2 separate sperm Method Defined Evidence for Main Weakness Heredity Twin study Compares Monozygotic twins Others may treat monozygotic and more alike than monozygotic twins more dizygotic twins dizygotic twins similarly than they treat dizygotic twins. Adoption study Compares children Children more like Selective placement: with their biological biological parents than Children’s adoptive and adoptive parents adoptive parents parents may resemble their biological parents. Lecture 3 (Monday Jan 20th, 2025) Perception and Motor Development First term test is in 2 weeks (catch up with the readings and any lecture content) -​ Test preparation questions for essay/long answer will be given next week -​ Office hour during the normally scheduled time and is over zoom -​ Facilitated study groups information soon -​ Recommended to study with other students -​ The test will be 2 hours and the last hour is a movie relating to the course Topics discussed today -​ Genetic and chromosomal abnormalities -​ Teratogens and pregnancy -​ Reflexes and growth -​ Infant perception (related back to the movie from the first day of class) Plan on the syllabus is to catch up to be talking about cognitive development for next week 1.​ Genetic and chromosomal abnormalities Gene linked abnormalities and chromosome abnormalities Examples Gene linked (inherited from parents) Chromosomal (combinations) a)​ Phenylketonuria (PKU) -​ Down syndrome b)​ Hemophilia -​ Klinefelter syndrome c)​ Sickle cell anemia -​ Turner syndrome Genotype vs phenotype Particular set of genes that a person Created by the interaction of genotype to inherits from parents make visible expressions of individuals behavioural and physical characteristics Conception: when the male and female gamete joins -​ At conception 23 chromosomes in each gamete join to form 23 pairs (46 chromosomes) Gamete: 23 chromosomes (half) -​ Meiosis: cell division that creates gametes with half the normal complementary chromosomes  -​ Mitosis: zygote divides to lead to 46 chromosomes Alleles: alternative forms of a gene -​ Homozygous: 2 of the same alleles -​ Heterozygous: 2 different alleles Sex linked genes -​ 23 pairs of human chromosomes (females have 2 large homologous chromosomes XX, and males have one x and a smaller y chromosome XY) -​ Hemophilia an x linked disorder Going through the abnormalities Gene linked: a)​ PKU -​ Disease caused by a recessive allele which fails to produce an enzyme to metabolize the protein -​ Before screening happened it was a devastating effects for a child but now it is easy to screen and there won’t be any adverse consequences) b)​ Hemophilia -​ Caused by x linked recessive gene found more in males than females because it is an x linked gene where more of those chromosomes. Chromosomal: c)​ Down Syndrome -​ Disabling physical mental development highly susceptible to heart disorders and leukemia -​ Extra chromosome in the 21st location (trisomy) -​ 47 instead of 46 Indications that a child has this (flattened nose or face, distinctive patterns on the palm and feet, distinct spacing of the toes) -​ Often now with dna screening, there are ways to know during pregnancy d)​ Turner syndrome -​ Sex linked mostly found in females where they are missing an x chromosome making it XO instead of XX -​ 45 chromosomes instead of 46 -​ Shortness of stature, webbed neck, possible mental disability and under development e)​ Klinefelter syndrome -​ Underdeveloped testes, enlarged breasts, tall -​ Males have an extra x chromosome (XXY instead of XY) Overview of this topic -​ 23 pairs of human chromosomes are the sex chromosomes -​ Females have two large homologous sex chromosomes (XX) -​ And males have one X and a smaller Y chromosome (XY) -​ Hemophilia is an x linked disorder. Heredity- environment interactions -​ Debate in human development with the role of heredity and maturational factors vs role of learning and experience  -​ Genetic component which overlaps with biology -​ Contemporary psychologists see an interaction in development where genes help shape the environment and influence genes Range of reaction: heredity does not rigidly fix behavior but instead establishes a range of possible developmental outcomes that may occur in response to different environments. -​ An example of this is height, social function, personality traits, sociocultural backgrounds are also a factor -​ Reading ability and potential for a verbal iq with a range of different outcomes and higher sociocultural backgrounds result in higher performance scores 2. Environmental risks: a)​ Teratogen: environmental agent: drugs, medication, dietary imbalance, or polluting substance causing deviations developmental in the growing human -​ Most threatening in the embryonic stage -​ Risk: you might not know you’re pregnant yet. -​ Each teratogen exhibit different effects where maternal or fetal genotypes interacts with effects -​ No safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy (it depends on the genotype of the embryo and it is impossible to predict how sensitive a child is, just because there’s one case where there wasn’t a negative impact doesn’t mean it is safe) -​ Exert effects largely during critical periods (have teratogen during different stages of pregnancy have different effects, ie drinking alcohol the cognitive and exposure effects are different interacting with the mother’s and fetus’ genotypes) -​ Difficult to study in populations -​ One effect can intensify the effects of others (ie: drinking and living close to a highway). Where pollution levels might have limited impact on a child where it’s difficult to predict the outcome. -​ The longer the exposure the worse it is -​ The embryo might be more or less vulnerable and the mother’s genotype might give more or less protection, where there are cases when the mother’s body could protect from that. -​ The earlier the exposure the worst it is (rapid and major structural changes happening early on in the pregnancy) Time exposure to a teratogen impacting a fetus’ development -​ It’s important to be cautious about this Heroine, cocaine and illegal drugs use during pregnancy -​ Birth defects, and learning defects which could manifest later on in life -​ Withdrawal symptoms in newborns -​ Difficulty settling themselves and they will only sleep for 15-20 minutes -​ Cramping in the stomach and vomiting -​ Long term consequences are still somewhat unknown -​ Attention deficit, and hyperactivity disorders Legal drugs use during pregnancy -​ Alcohol and tobacco/nicotine -​ What happens if they’re exposed to nicotine (smoking) -​ Leads to low birth weight -​ Increased risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) -​ Lower IQ scores, poor school performances, higher risk for dependency problems later on in life Premature babies -​ Preterm infants: born before 38 weeks after conception -​ Weight is appropriate for gestational age -​ Number and severity of problems increase as birth weight and age of birth decreases -​ Problems with the scale where (if parents are shorter or smaller the baby will be smaller, if parents are bigger or taller the baby will be bigger. So not always one size fits all) -​ Lower levels of achievement and learning problems in lower birth weight babies (math, reading etc) Premature and low birth weight babies: things to help stimulate development -​ Massaging a baby and parental contact for both infants and parents -​ Long term effects are dependent on things like SES (socioeconomic status→ often income and education) and other environmental factors (living in a more stimulating environment is beneficial for infants) -​ The more highly educated means that there’s an advantage  -​ Child’s responsiveness, mother’s competence, family stresses, family and community support. -​ High SES kids where parents all have Phds related to enriching the child -​ Research and question what is out there in the literature and the unreported drug exposure to babies. -​ Issue in recent years is that genetics aren’t taken into consideration by studies. -​ Only so much variation can occur. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) -​ Results from heavy alcohol use during pregnancy -​ Lower IQ scores, poor school performance -​ higher risks for dependency problems later in life -​ Huge range of reactions (depends when the drinking happened, genotype by the mom and the fetus, support given to the mom) Characteristics: Facial differences (relatively subtle) -​ You can see a range of facial differences (not always seen though) Fetal Alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) -​ Not the same as full fetal alcohol syndrome -​ Symptoms can range in severity -​ No facial features/cues to FASD -​ Less severe in terms of drinking Causes: -​ Irreversible permanent brain damage -​ 50% of pregnancies are unplanned, and 50% of women in modern western society drink (1 in 4) -​ Sensory processing issues and wide suffering like sensitive to lights sounds) -​ Difficult to predict the risks. Additional Risk factors for babies when they are born Parental age -​ Fertility difficulties increase with parental age -​ Miscarriage and chromosomal damages increase -​ Older fathers contribute to poor outcomes -​ Teen moms at a greater risk Choice of diet -​ Affected by ethnicity, SES and education Risk of chromosomal abnormalities: increase after the age of 40 Age is a risk of multiple births -​ Having a child later in life not just due to fertility drug increases risks -​ Even fraternal twins increased later in life which is also a risk factor Gotten better with low birthweight babies and nicus where the prognosis is much better nowadays -​ Most children are born healthy 3. Reflexes and growth -​ Indicator that a child is growing in a healthy matter (reflexes are emerging at a healthy time) -​ Check the reflexes and growth to ensure everything is good Reflex: involuntary response to stimulation ​ Permanent: eye blink with a strong puff of air (remains throughout life) Withdrawal reflex -​ Absence Indicating sciatica nerve damage Reflexes Temporary -​ Babinski: is when you rub a finger along a baby’s toe and their toes spread -​ Absence: lower spine deficits -​ Disappears during first year -​ Moro reflex (startle): when they feel they’re being dropped they’ll spread out their arms not just a dropping motion could be a sound or touch (they’ll exhibit this again and again, doesn’t habituate) -​ Absence: CNS deficits -​ Disappears around 6-7 months -​ Palmar Grasp: when you put your finger out and the infant will grab sound your finger -​ Absence: Depression (movement depression like an addiction to a drug, so a reason to search for a cause/concern) -​ Disappears: around 3-4 months -​ Plantar (Toe grasp): similar response but with toes -​ Absence: indicates spine deficits -​ Disappears: around 8-12 months -​ Rooting: to initiate breastfeeding (one of the most important) -they turn and open their mouth -​ Absence: indicates depression -​ Disappears; around 3-4 months -​ Stepping: when their feet are brushing the ground (even when they can’t support themselves) -​ Absence: indicates depression -​ Disappears: around 3-4 months -​ Sucking: when you put something beside their mouth they’ll suck it -​ Absence: could often be due to when a mother who was medicated during childbirth -​ Disappears: around 6 months Summary of reflexes: -​ Newborns have many reflexes to respond to external stimuli -​ The testing of reflexes can gauge the health, maturity and capacity of a newborn -​ Many help the newborns survive. What do newborns do all day? -​ Two major states (sleeping → 70% of the time, crying → 30% of the time) -​ Time spent in these states changes over the course of development Sleeping -​ Co sleeping is controversial in north america but might reduce SIDS (currently in canada the recommendation is non co sleeping) -​ When the mother sleeps in the bed with the infant -​ The danger is suffocation with limited strength to reposition themselves -​ Consulting the pediatrician  -​ Infants sleep differently than adult sleep where they spend more time in REM sleep (rapid eye movement sleep) -​ Highly recommended that they sleep in the same room though Autostimulation theory: increased REM sleep is required for brain development (Still being studied) -​ Also what proportion of time they spend in sleep Crying -​ 3 different types of cry (apps now to determine what type) -​ Basic, angry, pain cries -​ As an infant ages, the crying is less about physiological needs (hungry, sleepy) and more psychological/emotional (sad or scared) -​ Variability in how much a newborn cries and it’s declining greatly David Haley (UTSC) -​ Research involves: Crying babies for an hour and seeing how people from different background react and their stress responses Moving -​ Motor development (sequences the same across infants, timing varies) where both maturation and experience play a role in motor development (a general pattern/ordering of when children can do varying things) -​ You can’t start walking until you hold your head up -​ Cultures that carry babies show different patterns in walking abilities -​ Sometimes a skep can be skipped or condensed but i Major motor milestones -​ Pushing up first before rolling, pulling up before stepping, stairs last on the list (14-22 months) -​ A lot of variation as to when kids actually reach these milestones (very different progression in these stages) -​ Important takeaways: general pattern in ordering for these milestones and a lot of variation for when kids reach them -​ If a kid gets stuck at a stage that’s a bit of a concern 90% of infants have mastered these milestones at certain months  -​ High standard deviation from these motor abilities Fine motor skills -​ Writing and texting on your phone Voluntary reaching (grasp reflex, pre-reaching) birth to 2 months -​ Voluntary grasping when you want something (3 months +) -​ Important in baby labs when having 2 things in front of them and seeing which they reach for Manipulatory reaching -?