Child Development Midterm PDF

Chapter 2 (bio and evolutionary) Genes ​ Cells have 46 chromosomes (genetic material) ​ Egg and sperm have 23 each ​ Each chromosome has 1 molecule of DNA ​ Gene = smallest unit of biochemical instructions of DNA ​ 46 chromosomes = 25k genes ​ Less than 1% accounts for individual differe...

Chapter 2 (bio and evolutionary) Genes ​ Cells have 46 chromosomes (genetic material) ​ Egg and sperm have 23 each ​ Each chromosome has 1 molecule of DNA ​ Gene = smallest unit of biochemical instructions of DNA ​ 46 chromosomes = 25k genes ​ Less than 1% accounts for individual differences ​ The X and XY chromosomes is not clearly shown all the time Description of Genes ​ Genotype: sum of all gene a person inherits -​ Allele: different version of gene (one allele from each parent for ‘eye color’) ​ Phenotype: expression of genes that are visible -​ Dominant eye color brown allele (B) and recessive eye color allele blue (b) = phenotype Bb -​ Gray eyes (3%) are more complicated. Race ​ When 2 people who should have similar genetics because of race are tested, they are not more alike than others. Our historical thoughts about race are false. ​ Humans have 3 billion nucleotide base pairs, and on average, two people differ by only 2-3 million base pairs (i.e., 0.1% of DNA; humans and chimpanzees differ by 1%) -​ Of the 0.1% DNA that differs, 85-90% of the difference is found within Old World continents (Africa, Asia, and Europe) and only 10-15% found between the continents. Sickle-Cell Disease ​ Red blood cells are the usual circle, but elongated. Makes it harder to move through small capillaries and block passage of white blood cells ​ Symptoms: fatigue, acute pain, prone to infection ​ 10% death by age 20; 50% death by age 50 ​ It is recessive allele. Both parents have to have it -​ Heterozygous phenotype (one parent): sickle-cell traint  -​ Most individuals are asymptomatic -​ Symptoms could be triggered if brain is deprived of oxygen. Why hasn’t the disease been extinct? ​ Sickle-shaped blood cells have a protective trait against malaria. ​ If someone is a carrier (1 parent) they are protected. Down Syndrome ​ Distinct facial features ​ Mental & motor delays ​ Extra 21st chromosome Evolutionary Theory ​ Evolution: process of change in gene frequencies over many generations. -​ Proposed by Darwin ​ Natural selection: environmental conditions allow some members of the species to survive and pass on their genes to future generations, while others do not -​ The environment is very important. -​ Evolution does NOT act on individuals -​ Evolution does NOT act on traits that are not hereditary Example: Peppered Moth ​ Pre-industrial revolution: mostly white ​ Post-industrial revolution: mostly black ​ After industrial, trees turned black, so the black moths survived and reproduced more. So there are more black moths now. Genes vs. Environment ​ False dichotomy: genes selected by evolutionary pressures depend on the environment in which our ancestors were living ​ Environment controls gene expression ​ Geographic origin is more relevant than colour of skin Polygenic Inheritance ​ Most psychological traits are manifested through the activities of many genes AND their interactions with the environment ​ Polygenic inheritance leads to normal distribution  -​ E.g., imagine that extroversion is determined with just 4 genes, each with two alleles: A or a, B or b, C or c, D or d (extroversion = dominant, introversion = recessive) -​ More capitals means extroversion -​ 81 genotypes; but only 9 distinct phenotypes (only if you have two recessive alleles will the trait be displayed) Evolutionary Theory: Development ​ Selected traits may be maximally adaptive at that stage of development Examples ​ Children cannot see clearly till age of 6. -​ Evolutionary theory explanation is the brain started to set up to be successful in this environment. ​ Increased clinginess in toddlerhood -​ Children start moving and crawling. They have a better chance of surviving by being clingy than being on their own. ​ Risk-taking in adolescence -​ At the age of sexual maturity. Teenagers move out because if they stay home, the object of sexual desires… Incest = bad Heritability ​ It is the extent to which differences in a value can be attributed to inheritance ​ Index: 0-1 -​ 0 = trait is not predicted by genes/inheritance. 1, it is. -​ No such thing as 1, but close to 1 ​ Proportion of variance (among the population) in an observed trait that results from genetic variability (population index) ​ Greater variability in environment, less heritability. -​ If a trait changes because of the environment, it is not explained by heritability.  Behavioural Genetics & Epigenetics Developmental Systems Theory ​ It is not specific to development ​ Development occurs within a system of interaction levels. Epigenesis ​ Any functional change in the genome can impact development but does not alter DNA sequence -​ We cannot change DNA (structure) but we can change how we use it (function) ​ Experience modifies chemistry of gene activity, leading to changes in behaviour Example: Skink Lizards ​ Preyed upon by snakes, especially if small, less reactive, and have short tails ​ If mom survives snake attack, offspring are more reactive, are bigger, and have longer tails. ​ So experience effects gene activity HOW? Example: grooming rats ​ Mother rats groom children -​ High grooming (HG) moms have children that have lower stress response and become HG moms. -​ LG moms = opposite ​ Cross-Fostering Studies -​ Offspring of LG moms are given to HG moms and opposite. ​ Result: offspring given to HG moms have low stress and became HG moms. Offspring given to LG have high stress and become LG moms. ​ So, grooming behavior is dedicated by environment. What is the mechanism? ​ Gene chemistry changed through methylation (adding methyl group has the effect of “silencing” the gene, making it inactive) -​ Methyl group absent (demethylization): allows receptor formation —> better regulation of stress ​ At birth, methylation equal in HG vs. LG pups ​ By day 6, demethylation has occurred in HG pups only.  -​ Grooming —> Demethylation —> More receptors formed —> better stress regulation ​ Even if groomers were human = same result Humans ​ Various studies examining methylation in genes & receptors involved in the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis, involved in perceived stress, affect, immune response, and energy metabolism ​ Differences in methylation observed in post-mortem hippocampal tissue of 12 suicide victims with a history of childhood abuse vs. 12 suicide victims without a history of childhood abuse (McGowan et al., 2009) -​ Not causal -​ There was a difference ​ Using saliva of preschoolers, children who had experienced maltreatment over a 6-month evaluation period differed in methylation from children who did not experience maltreatment (Parent et al., 2017) Genotype —> Environment Theory ​ Whatever you think is an environmental effect, is a genotype effect. ​ First proposed by Sandra Scarr ​ Three types of effects: passive, evocative, active -​ Three effects are not mutually exclusive -​ Passive is more influential in early development. Active in later. Passive Effects ​ When genetically related parents are providing the rearing environment -​ The parents make an environment as a result of their genes. Evocative Effects  ​ When a child elicits responses from others, the child’s genotype is impacting their environment -​ Happy baby make people happy. Crying babies make people uncomfortable. So they become used to that environment. Active Effects ​ When a child’s genotype influences the types of environments they select -​ Child chooses environment and actions (lessons, dancing, etc) Genes x Environment - Breast-Feeding & IQ Study & Conduct Disorder ​ Babies who were breast-fed had higher IQs as children, adolescents, and adults, compared to those who were bottle-fed (Mortensen et al., 2002) -​ human breast milk contains fatty acids (not found in cow’s milk) that fosters brain development ​ Gene on Chromosome 11 involved in processing fatty acids (Capsi et al., 2007) -​ Two alleles: C or G ​ Individuals with CC or CG and who were breast-fed had higher IQ (104) than children who were bottle-fed (97) -​ No difference in GG individuals who were breast-fed (IQ = 100) ​ So, genotype matters, not just environment Conduct Disorder ​ Children (and adolescents) who consistently break rules or violate the rights of others -​ Lying, stealing, fire-setting, truancy, cruelty to animals, fighting -​ Emerge by 8 years of age, more common among boys -​ Childhood onset (< 10 years) more aggressive, more at risk for developing antisocial disorder ​ Difficulty with self-regulation combined with fear/anger leads to dysregulated behaviour (more antisocial behaviours) ​ Risk factors: antisocial family members (i.e., genes and environment), deviant peers, inconsistent discipline, parental insensitivity, family stress ​ Treatment: cognitive-behavioural therapy -​ Children face consequences for unacceptable behaviour; positive social behaviour is rewarded -​ Family-oriented treatment most effective Caspi et al: ​ more maltreatment to children, more likely to develop conduct disorder  -​ But not all maltreated children have conduct disorder. Genes matter ​ MAOA gene: Encodes MAOA enzyme (metabolizes neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine) -​ Linked with aggression ​ Low MAOA activity = full affect of conduct behavior ​ High MAOA activity = works as protective treatment Prenatal Steps of creating the brain 1. Formation of Neural Tube ​ 18-24 days after conception ​ Flat neural plate —> tube ​ Location matters: where each neuron is on the neural tube determines the role they will play in the central nervous system. ​ Failure to form properly can cause birth defects (e.g., spina bifida) 2. Neurogenesis ​ Neurons form in one region of neural tube ​ 5-28 weeks after conception ​ 4000 neurons created per sec ​ No more neurons created after that -​ Expect the hippocampus 3. Migration ​ Neurons move to permanent locations -​ By 7 months -​ Done in the brain via glial cells ​ Faulty migration causes neural disorders 4. Differentiation ​ Neurons become larger, produce dendrites and longer axons, become specialized ​ Synaptogenesis begins ​ Myelination: -​ Fatty sheath to protect axon -​ Speeds conduction velocity -​ Reduces leakage of electrical signals -​ Early in infancy —> early adulthood 5. Cell & Synaptic Pruning ​ Removal of neurons and synapses that are not being used ​ Increased efficiency in remaining neural activity ​ Use-it-or-lose-it phenomenon Teratogens ​ They are agents that can potentially cause a birth defect or harm to cognitive/behavioural outcomes ​ Alcohol, marijuana, nicotine ​ Depends on dose, genetic predisposition to susceptibility, and time of exposure -​ Early exposure is more harmful -​ When it is harmful depends on the body part Thalidomide ​ Sedative prescribed for morning sickness in Europe in 1950s ​ Babies born with deformities in arms, legs, hands, and fingers Alcohol (1 glass/week) ​ Lead to fetal alcohol syndrome -​ Slow growth, heart problems, characteristic facial features -​ Physical brain damage occurs prenatally, causing cognitive ​ leading cause of developmental disorders in North America -​ 0.1% of Canadian newborns; higher in Indigenous communities Nicotine ​ preterm births and low birth weights, fetal and neonatal deaths, respiratory problems ​ Increased risk for attention and learning difficulties later in life ​ Children show impaired cognitive skills & behavioural problems ​ Adolescents show impaired memory ​ Second-hand smoke alters telomere length in DNA extracted from umbilical cord blood: prenatal second-hand smoke associated with 10% shorter newborn telomere length (Liu et al., 2020) Vaping ​ Animal model: female rats exposed to nicotine vape or injection, and edible THC or injection, throughout pregnancy ​ Offspring tested on various cognitive tests during adolescence (e.g., inhibition, object recognition, novelty food approach) ​ Various deficits observed in adolescents exposed to either nicotine or THC prenatally; some sex differences observed -​ prenatal nicotine vape and oral THC both led to reduced body weight, nicotine vape led to decreased startle reactivity, nicotine & THC co-exposure led to poor inhibition in male pups Prenatal Hearing ​ At 16 weeks gestation, a developing fetus perceives sound outside the womb through fluid-filled ears ​ Fetus hear languages  ​ No evidence of reading to fetus changes nothing ​ Music: doesnt change much. ​ Deaf parents -​ Fetus does not have delay in development -​ They like baby talk, just like other babies -​ Prenatal experience is not necessary Prenatal Hearing & Familiarity ​ Study: Mothers instructed to read Dr. Seuss out loud while pregnant ​ Will children slow down sucking to hear Dr. Suess after birth? -​ Yes -​ They enjoyed their moms voice more than others -​ They might not recognize the story, but the rhythm. -​ No preference to father Prenatal Taste (Mennella) Do infants remember what they “tasted” prenatally? ​ Women who planned on breast-feeding randomly assigned to 3 groups to drink the following for at least 4 days/week: -​ carrot juice during last 3 weeks of 3rd trimester, water after birth -​ water during last 3 weeks of 3rd trimester; carrot juice after birth -​ Control: water before and after ​ Results: children given cereal (with water or carrot juice)l at 6 months -​ Infants of the first 2 groups showed fewer negative expressions when eating carrot cereal and enjoyed it more than regular cereal ​ No difference reported in control group Prenatal Taste: Direct Observation ​ Facial movements of fetus studied in utero using 4D ultrasound scans ​ Experimental group: moms given capsules or kale or carrot before ultrasound. -​ Carrots = non-bitter; kale = bitter ​ Control group: not given anything ​ Results: fetus facial expressions’ did not like kale and liked carrot. Chapter 3 Newborns Newborn Assessments (Dr. Virginia Apgar) ​ 7-10 = normal ​ 4-6 = moderately abnormal ​ 0-3 = low -​ encephalopathy = decreased blood flow or oxygen to the brain suspected)  ​ Limitations of Apgar test: -​ Expression of physiologic condition at one point in time -​ Maternal sedation/anesthesia may impact newborn’s reactions -​ Scoring of tone, colour, reflex is subjective -​ Partially depends on gestational age (born preterm), or mom’s estimate of when she became pregnant is wrong Infant Reflexes Rooting Reflex ​ Babies sucking if anything put near their mouths Moro Reflex ​ If babies experience sudden noise or movement, they will extend arms with palms up and move arms back to body, then cry Grasping Reflex: ​ Hands grasping when touched Babinski Reflex ​ dorsiflexion (move up) and spreading out of toes in response to touch along foot Stepping reflex ​ legs move automatically when feet feel solid surface Neonatal Imitation ​ Babies mimic facial expression -​ But not every baby can imitate -​ This reflex helps establish emotional bonds with caregivers Crying ​ Typical newborns cry 2-3 hours/day ​ Basic cry: starts softly and gradually becomes more intense -​ Hunger, fatigue, discomfort (dirty diaper) ​ Mad cry: more intense ​ Pain cry: sudden, long shriek, followed by a long pause, then gasp, then more crying Strategies ​ Age 0-3 months: attend to baby and check for signs of discomfort; try to soothe ​ Age 3+ months: check for signs of discomfort, otherwise let baby cry for a few minutes and learn to self-soothe ​ Dynamic interaction: balance learning to self-regulate emotions and caregivers’ comfort levels Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) ​ Abusive head trauma sustained by rough shaking  ​ Often in an effort to stop baby from crying; impulsive, frustrated ​ Damage done in 5 seconds ​ Brain hits skull, causing bleeding/bruising/swelling —> lack of oxygen to neurons causing cell death —> permanent brain damage ​ Observed in all SES and cultures ​ Bottom line: let the baby cry it out! Preterm and Low Birthweight infants ​ Highest risk for complications and developmental problems ​ In Canada (6.5%) and US (8.1%), low-birth-weight rate has been -​ increasing in last 2 decades ​ Adolescents have higher risk of LBW babies because their bodies have not fully matured ​ Poverty is a risk factor: obesity, diabetes, hypertension, use of cigarettes and illicit drugs, depression and anxiety, access to prenatal care Kangaroo Care ​ Method of care for preterm infants ​ Direct skin to skin contact with baby and mother. -​ Better heart rate and sleep for baby -​ Moms have better lactation Preterm Babies and Memory ​ hippocampus development, so memory, is affected in preterm children -​ Hippocampus volume was 12% smaller in preterm children (7-11 years old) (Brunnermann) -​ As adults, they had worse working memory too ​ Unknown: correlation between preterm/LBW births and SES Physical Growth Physical Growth Physical Growth Patterns ​ Differences in height and weight as children grow depends on genetics ​ Impact of environment -​ Urban, middle SES, firs-born children: taller children ​ Strongest impact on height & weight is adequate nutrition Puberty ​ Rapid hormonal and physical changes in early adolescence as body prepares for reproduction ​ Individual differences in onset and progression; changes over the decades (nutrition, exercise, body fat) ​ Girls: 10-14 years -​ decreased 3-4 months per decade during 20th century; currently 12.5 years ​ Boys: 12-16 years Hormones ​ Timing of puberty governed by genetics and environmental factors (stress) ​ Hypothalamas, pituitary gland, and gonads (sex glands) control puberty -​ Androgens: male sex hormones (testosterone) -​ Estrogens: female sex hormones (estradiol) Hormones & Behaviour ​ No link between level of hormones and behavior ​ Social factors are 2-4x more impactful in girls’ depression and anger than hormonal factors (Brooks-Gunn & Warren) -​ Stress —> cortisol; impacts endocrine system Psychology of Puberty ​ Girls less happy with bodies than boys -​ puberty triggers more fat storage for girls, and more muscle mass for boys ​ Major factor is peer influence ​ Early-maturing girls more likely to smoke, drink, be depressed, develop eating disorder, engage in delinquent behaviour—> evocative genetic effects Brain Development Brain Plasticity ​ Neuronal activation patterns and synapses are plastic -​ can adapt to new challenges, especially earlier in development ​ Michael Rehbein: left hemisphere removed at age 7 (to stop seizures) -​ At 14, brain had reorganized to reveal activation in right hemisphere in response to speech (whereas most individuals show left-hemisphere dominance) ​ Konen, Behrmann, Nishimura, & Kastner -​ Visual agnosia: vision is fine, but trouble recognizing object  -​ Participant had lesion in one hemisphere, but he lost plasticity in good hemisphere too ​ Synaptic density: -​ Visual, auditory, and prefrontal peak and prune at different times Adolescent Brain Development ​ Corpus callousum thickens ​ Amygdala matures faster than prefrontal cortex -​ Teens act on emotions without realizing consequences ​ Shaw, Greenstein, Lerch et a -​ Longitudinal study of children with different IQs, measuring the change of thickness of corpus callous overtime. -​ Most difference in frontal lobe thickening with different IQs ​ Why does cortical thickness change? -​ Prenatal development: formation of neurons, dendrites, and synapses -​ Childhood & adolescence: proliferation of myelination (thickening) -​ Adolescence: Usage-dependent pruning of synapses (thinning) -​ More thickening and thinning correlates to high IQ ​ Myelination: good nutrition ​ Synaptic pruning: allow children and adolescents have diverse experiences and practice those skills you want to foster Sleep REM Sleep ​ Infants have more REM sleep ​ Aids in information processing ​ Likely brain is sifting through (re-activating same neural patterns) daily experiences to organize and store information in memory ​ Learning is disrupted if REM sleep is disturbed ​ Karni et al. -​ Study of participants fencing a patter multiple times -​ After REM sleep, they find it faster. ​ REM sleep is important for learning new skill -​ Experts do not benefit Co-Sleeping and SIDS ​ Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): infants stop breathing suddenly, typically during the night while sleeping ​ Highest cause of infant death in US; highest risk at 2-4 months ​ Correlated with: co-sleeping, soft bedding, abnormal serotonin, maternal smoking, heart arrhythmias, sleep apnea, LBW infants, lower SES  ​ Best practice: crib until 6 months of age; lay on back Adolescent Sleep ​ Canada says: 8-10 hours/night of sleep for teenagers ​ Carskadon: 9.5 hours ​ Roessler & Grove: 10-minute nap during school can prevent stress-related problems ​ Galvan: Brain regions most susceptible to sleep loss: prefrontal cortex, amygdala, limbic system, hippocampus ​ Change in melatonin production —> older teens sleep & wake up later Chapter 4 Piaget Assumptions ​ Discontinuous development -​ Cognition develops through a series of distinct stages -​ Piaget says children develop in this way -​ a series of qualitative changes -​ Stage Theory: These stages are invariant (same for each person) -​ Universally experienced -​ The difference between children: speed of development ​ Domain-general mechanism -​ All abilities are linked -​ Contrasts with information processing theories ​ Children as Active Agents -​ Children constantly seek out stimulation in their environment -​ They are curious -​ They guide their own development ​ Constructivist Approach -​ Children build their knowledge through their interactions with their environment -​ Individual differences results from different interactions Processes Process of Organization ​ Assimilation: new experiences are incorporated into a child’s existing theories -​ Different types of dogs ​ Accommodation: new experiences modify a child’s theories -​ Child learns that not all four legged animals are dog Building through Experience ​ Specific —> General (developing ideas) ​ General —> Specific (updating ideas) Schemas ​ Units of information ​ Allows for construction of knowledge ​ Examples: Assimilation & accommodation Stages Sensorimotor Stage ​ 0-2 years ​ Initially, limited to reflexes ​ 8-12 months, we see evidence of: -​ goal-directed behaviour -​ understanding of cause-and-effect -​ object permanence: understanding that objects do not disappear when out of sight -​ A-not-B error: children look under box A even if object is hidden in B (new place) Preoperational Stage ​ 2-7 years ​ Defined by what children CANNOT do ​ Children cannot perform mental “operations”, and must rely on operations conducted externally ​ Reversibility: the ability to go through a series of steps in reverse direction to solve a problem ​ Conservation: understanding that the same amount remains, despite changes in appearance -​ Conservation of Liquid: 2 glasses have same liquid, but if its poured into different type of glass, they will think one has more. -​ Conservation of Numbers: same amount of coins in 2 groups, but one has more spaces in between. ​ Egocentrism: understanding limited to own perspective (note lack of cognitive flexibility) -​ Mountain task: they only see on their side of the mountain Concrete Operations ​ 7-11 years ​ Able to perform concrete mental operations to solve problems ​ Capable of conservation and reversibility ​ Less influenced by external appearance Formal Operations ​ 11 + ​ Ability to reason abstractly ​ Ability to generate ideas without actually experiencing them ​ Heightened metacognition: ability to evaluate one’s own thoughts and actions from a more objective perspective Vygotsky’s Theory Constructivist Theory: individuals are active participants in the creation of their own knowledge. They use social contexts Four Inter-related Levels ​ Ontogenetic: development of individual over their lifetime ​ Microgenetic: changes that occur in relatively brief periods of time (e.g., learning a new language) ​ Phylogenetic: changes over evolutionary time (understanding a species’ history is important to understanding development) ​ Sociohistorical: changes that have occurred across generations, in one’s culture, building norms, values, and technologies Sociohistorical influences ​ A culture’s history shapes cognitive development ​ Henry Plotkin (2001): “Biology and culture relate to each other as a two-way street of causation”. -​ our brains evolved to survive in our environment, which influenced how we ate, defended against predators, reared our children, and interacted with others —> creating “culture” ​ Culture is transmitted to children by adults ​ children’s cognitive development is driven by the adult-child interactions and learning to complete assigned tasks ​ Research mainly on WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) participants Role of Language ​ Writing system has consequences for how children learn to read and write, but also how they think ​ Different languages influence the way people think. -​ In china, after counting to 10 its ten-one, ten-two etc. -​ Miller: By age 5, the average Chinese child can count to 100 whereas the average US child can count to 50 -​ In German, 47 = siebenundvierzig (seven and forty)  -​ Zuber: German-speaking children have initial difficulty learning to write numbers because the ones go last, even though they are spoken first ​ Note: Likely not just language, but also the culture in which these concepts are being taught (e.g., importance of age in some cultures) Intersubjectivity ​ Mutual, shared understanding among participants in an activity ​ Social behaviours —> internal thoughts & understanding Guided Participation ​ Cognitive growth results from children’s involvement in structured activities with others who are more skilled than them (parent reading to a child) ​ Need not be explicit instruction—helping parents cook, clean, garden, fix things, are all examples of learning through guided participation Zone of Proximal Development ​ Range of tasks too difficult for child to solve on their own but can be accomplished with the help of adults or more skilled peers. ​ Skills in the zone should be focus of education Scaffolding ​ Start with small steps and more guidance —> eventually provide bigger challenges and more independence ​ Experts who are sensitive to the abilities of the child respond contingently to the child’s reactions in the learning situation Language & Thought ​ Private speech: children use self-directed speech to guide their behaviour -​ Recall learning to drive, or learning to type ​ Contrast with Piaget, who viewed private speech as egocentrism ​ Prediction: those who use more private speech are more socially competent ​ Inner speech: internalization of private speech -​ Requires practice communicating before this can be internalized (age 3-7 years) Flipped Classroom ​ Traditional learning (listening to lecture) should be done outside the classroom (i.e., by watching a video of the lecture) ​ During class time, students are engaged in activities (e.g., problem- solving, group discussions, sharing ideas Today’s Sociocultural context ​ Nearly 1/4 children age 5-7 years have their own smartphone ​ 65% of children age 5-7 years used messaging services, 38% use social media Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Hippocampal Volume and SES (Qiu et al) ​ Higher SES = more hippocampal volume in children -​ Not in adults ​ Nutrition, environment, etc is important for learning -​ Adverse effects: stress impairs hippocampus; prenatal stress = smaller hippocampus -​ Protective effects: increased parental support, enriched environment ​ Hippocampal volume was correlated with performance on a visual- auditory learning task, but not SES directly, after controlling for age -​ This means SES is important in childhood and impacts learning, but not in adulthood. Brain at Rest ​ Task-based approach: assume that “resting rate” means not much is happening cognitively -​ Activity during task - resting rate activity = task-related activity  ​ Network approach: assume that changes in “resting rate” with age reveal important neural development Working Memory (A-not-B Error task) (Cuevas, Bell, Marcovitch, Calkins) ​ Used EEG to measure brain activity and heart rate in infants (5 and 10 months) (longitudinal study) ​ Compared baseline activation to looking of A-not-B task ​ Changes in EEG and heart rate were correlated with working memory performance in 10-month-olds, but not 5-month-olds -​ In 10-month-olds, activation in medial frontal and lateral frontal electrodes predicted performance -​ Brain is becoming more specialized with age; individual differences can be revealed through neural activity Working Memory (Meyer) ​ Children watching 3 videos. -​ First: watch what person is doing in video and imitate later -​ Second: name the color of the object in the video -​ Third: nothing ​ Prolonged cognitive engagement (remember the action or the object’s colour) increases brain activation (theta waves) gradually ​ In 4-year-olds, left, front-temporal brain areas were most active and were modulated in response to task difficulty -​ Imitation was more difficult ​ Differences in brain activity predicts individual differences in performance Visual Areas during Object Recognition ​ More activation in brains of adults than children ​ Older you are = stronger adaptation to same object despite changes in viewpoint Lateral Occipital Cortex ​ Specific areas of the brain (LOC) are more active when individuals perceive whole objects, relative to similar visual stimulation ​ By age 5, LOC responds similarly to the same object despite changes in size ​ LOC responds differentially when viewpoint changes, revealing behavioural immaturities Stroop Task ​ Saying color of but word says a different color. ​ Irritaibility not correlated with how well they do in Stropp task.  Chapter 5 Motor Development & Sensation Dynamic Systems View ​ Motor skills = solution to goals -​ Perceive stimulus, be motivated to act, use sensory feedback to adjust movements ​ Proposed by Esther Thelen; extension on Gesell’s view that rolling over—> sitting—> standing—> walking Posture ​ Dynamic process linked with sensory information in skin, joints, muscles -​ vestibular organs in inner ear for balance & equilibrium, vision & hearing -​ If you close your eyes, its harder to balance. ​ 2 months: sit with support, hold head erect ​ 6-7 months: sit independently ​ 8-9 months: pull up to standing ​ 10-12 months: stand alone Experience Matters (Adolph) ​ Study showed that Locomotor experience, not age, predicts infants’ attempts at crawling/walking down slopes of varied steepness Cultural Influences ​ Mothers traditionally massage/encourage physical growth Sports ​ 77% of Canadian children (5-19 years) participated in sports -​ 65% of Indigenous children; less participation with less income ​ Pros: physical activity, self-esteem, perseverance, goal-oriented ​ Cons: pressure to win, injury, burnout, stress COVID-19 Lockdowns (Guerrero) ​ Only 18% of youth 5-17 met Canadian Movement Guidelines per day ​ Factors that made youths more active: -​ parents’ perception of control over screen time use -​ More than $100,000 income -​ parents < 43 years old -​ Boys Fine Motor Skills ​ Fine-tuned movements requiring finger dexterity  ​ Starts with reaching and grasping (0-2 years) ​ experience matters ​ 18-24 months: tower building ​ Children experiencing difficulty may seek occupational therapist Sensation vs. Perception ​ Sensation: activation of sensory receptors in response to external stimuli ​ Perception: interpretation of sensory activation ​ Newborn perception: brain not yet specialized because of minimal experience -​ William James: “the baby...feels it all as one great booming, buzzing confusion” -​ Piaget: impoverished; becomes structured because of experience Techniques for Testing Infants Preference Paradigm ​ Newborns (all humans) respond differentially to what they find “interesting” vs. “boring” ​ To the extent that newborns can see, they should prefer black and white (more signals) bars compared to a grey square -​ Visual acuity 30x worse than adults -​ Contrast sensitivity 20x-25x worse -​ Convergence, coordination, and color perception also worse ​ Newborns are drawn to face-like patterns (Mondloch) -​ Likely not faces per se, but a preference for top-heavy patterns (more energy at top of stimulus) (Macchi Cassi) -​ Functional significance: babies spend more time looking at faces than most other objects -​ Genetic influence: newborns are prepared to look at (and hence) learn faces. ​ Slater study -​ Newborns, 2-month-olds, & 5-month-olds look longer at faces rated to be more attractive by adults -​ Genetic explanation: neural wiring to prefer “average” faces -​ Environmental explanation: rapid accumulation of visual information to form “average” (a few hours of experience) ​ Quinn study -​ Not just human faces, they studied on cats -​ 3- and 4-month-olds make similar “attractiveness” judgements to adults Habituation/Dishabituation ​ Habituation: Responses decrease to repeated presentations of same stimulus -​ A different stimulus is presented ​ Dishabituation: If the viewer perceives the difference, response increases. -​ When looking time goes up, there is dishabituation ​ Newborns: Externality Effect -​ They dishabituate between + and o, but if they’re both put into a box, they don’t Role of Early Experience Own-Race Prefernece (Bar-Haim) ​ By 3 months of age, infants look longer at a face of their own race relative to other races ​ Babies who experienced a mixed-race refugee camp did not show a preference for either race (experience matters more than own race) ​ Kelly: 192 Caucasian infants aged 3, 6, 9 months of age ​ Pascalis: at 9 months, infants habituate to human faces and not monkey faces Phonemic Discrimination ​ If infants hear one phoneme continuously while sucking -​ At first they are interested, then they become habituated. -​ When the phoneme changes, they are interested again. ​ 1- and 4-month olds have ability to discriminate phonemes Operant Conditioning ​ Provide two options for behavior & reward -​ The more they do behavior, the more rewarding it is. ​ High-Amplitude Sucking -​ Play a song, its interesting, so sucking rate increases -​ When sucking decreases, play a different song -​ When it increases, switch to first song ​ Head turns -​ Kuhl: american & japanese babies listen to la and ra sounds -​ At 6 months of age, both American and Japanese infants can discriminate both sounds -​ By 10-12 months of age, Japanese infants cannot discriminate them; American infants have improved  -​ Because japanese language don/t have ra ​ Auditory Development: Language -​ Infants prefer mid-frequency tones -​ Baby speech -​ normal speech over backwards speech -​ phonemes in own language ​ Auditory Development: Music -​ At 4-6 months, they prefer Natural pauses in music and Consonant over dissonant tones -​ At 9-12 months, they prefer Musical rhythms of own culture Intersensory Redundancy ​ Infants’ perceptual system is attuned to amodal information presented in multiple sensory modalities -​ Amodal: not belonging to a single sensory mode ​ Infant Synesthesia: brain routes sensory information through multiple unrelated senses, causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously -​ If infants suck on a specific kind of pacifier, they look more at that picture of it than another. ​ Emotional Expressions -​ Facial expressions are naturally multisensory -​ Infants habituated to female acting out various emotions -​ 4 months: differentiate emotions with visual & audio cues. -​ 5 months: visual & audio cues, and audio only -​ 7 months: visual & audio cues, audio only, visual only Visual Experience Congenital Cataracts ​ Individuals born with dense cloudy patches on the lens, thereby impacting vision (blurry) ​ Cataracts removed ​ Hard contacts to replace. Can see to arm length ​ However, they have been experiencing the world and the brain has been developing even through the visual deprivation. What happens after months of visual deprivation?  ​ Patients after surgery showed preferences like newborns— experience matters. ​ That is evidence that experience matters Improvment in vision after surgery ​ Using Teller Acquity Cards. Stripes get thinner ​ Acuity improved after just 1 hour of visual experience! ​ Even more after 1 month ​ Infant brain was “waiting” for visual experience, then fast-tracked development (infant brains are prepared to learn!) ​ No improvement in typically developing age-matched controls -​ They didnt get worse, they’re just tired Gene x Environment ​ Experience-Expectant Processes: brain appears to “wait” for visual input to set up the neural architecture for visual perception ​ Experience-Dependent Processes: brain specializes in processing information that is in the environment -​ Infants’ preference and ability to discriminate becomes tuned to match their visual experience (e.g., race of faces, monkey faces, phonemes of own language, etc) Face perception without exposure to faces? Sugita ​ Raising monkeys with no exposure to faces -​ 6, 12, or 24 months (6 monkeys) ​ Then exposed to only human faces or only monkey faces for one month ​ Visual Preference Task -​ Immedietly after, Deprived group had a preference for faces, without a specific bias for either species —> experience-expectant processes -​ After 1 month of selective exposure: human faces preferred it over monkeys, and no different between object and monkey faces -​ Monkey faces: prefer monkey over human, and human and object same. ​ After 1 year: same result. similar regardless of duration of deprivation -​ Early experience may be more influential than later experience Chapter 6 Information Processing Violation-of-Expectation Paradigm (Baillargeon) ​ Infants first watch the object sliding across the surface  ​ At 3.5 months of age, infants look equally long at possible and impossible events (Aguiar & Baillargeon) ​ By 2.5 months of age, infants look longer when object is not visible between two screens ​ By 3 months of age, infants look longer even when screen simply has a cut out -​ They dont understand object cohesion Object permanence (Aguiar & Baillargeon) ​ By 3 months of age, infants look longer at the impossible event, even though it’s more similar to the habituating event Difference between Piaget’s and Baillargeon’s results ​ Explicit knowledge: reaching, requires more experience and control over actions ​ Implicit knowledge: looking time, demonstrates rudimentary understanding Object permanence (Hood) ​ At age 2, children dont understand the concept of shelves ​ They understand at 3 Information Processing Approach ​ Think of development in terms of how children monitor and manipulate information, and create strategies for solving task ​ Children are limited by -​ Hardware: brain, neurons, etc -​ Software: applying appropriate strategies ​ Improvement in executive control (continous development) Strategy Use ​ Strategies: deliberate, goal-directed mental operations to solve problems -​ More effortful for children because of limited cognitive ability (both biological and lack of experience) ​ Emergence of strategies (Wellman) -​ 3- to 4-year-olds look for toy hidden under 3 cups, and then they had to remember where the dog was during a delay period -​ Children often got the answer incorrect, but using strategies such as looking the correct cup -​ children who used strategies had better performance  ​ Poor use of strategies (Keeney) -​ Gr. 1 children were shown 7 pictures, and told to remember 3 items during a pause -​ Children did not rehearse in the pause -​ They were taught rehearsal, which improved performance -​ Over the next few trials, most children stopped rehearsing and went back to baseline performance ​ Poor use of strategies (Miller) -​ 3- to 8-year-olds had to remember the location of household items (hidden behind doors with a house) or animals (hidden behind doors with a circus train) -​ Best strategy: only look behind doors that are relevant -​ Youngest children tended to open all windows Speed of Processing (Kail) ​ Speed increases and best from 12-20 ​ Speed increases because of: -​ Increased myelination -​ Synaptic pruning ​ Attention Improves -​ Sustained attention (attention span) -​ Selective attention -​ Divided attention: concentrating on multiple activities at a time -​ Executive attention: broader control of attention ​ Screen-time and attention (Tamana) -​ Children watching more than 2 hours/day were 5.9 times more likely to have clinically significant inattention problems compared to 50% of 3- and 4-year-olds reported false events -​ 40% of 5- and 6-year-olds reported false events -​ Children often included additional details in their reporting Sources of Poor Memory ​ Increased suggestibility: children are more likely to accept suggested details as important information rather than question them ​ Errors in source monitoring: in an effort to understand, children will be interpreting the information presented. Later, they cannot differentiate information that they only “thought about" vs. actually experienced Cognitive Limitations ​ Children have poor memory because of cognitive limitations ​ Memory capacity, executive function, Strategies, Knowledge, metacognition Knowledge & Expertise ​ 10-11 year olds (chess experience) and college students (no chess experience) asked to remember numbers ​ If random numbers, college better  ​ If chess pieces, children better Theory of Mind ​ Two prerequisite skills to have the theory of the mind: -​ Ability to view self and other’s behaviours as intentional. people cause actions, and act to achieve goals -​ Ability to take another person’s perspective ​ Begins with shared or joint attention (emerges ~ 9 months); by 12 months infants point to direct attention Ability to view self and other’s behaviours as intentional. people cause actions, and act to achieve goals Understanding Desire ​ Measures implicit (infants looking) ​ By 5 months, infants show implicit understanding of desire ​ Infants habituate to adult interacting with one object ​ They habituate to new goal Understanding Desire (explicit) Repacholi & Gopnik ​ By 18 months, infants show explicit understanding of desire ​ Allow infant to choose which snack they prefer (cracker) ​ Adult conveys that they like the other snack (broccoli) ​ Adult says “can I have one?” -​ 14-month-olds: gave cracker -​ 18-month-olds: gave broccoli Understanding Goals ​ Infants’ ability to understand goal-directed behaviour improves over 14-18 months ​ Infants are more likely to imitate an intentional behaviour than an accidental behaviour (did you mean to drop the ball?) ​ Infants 14-18 months old were twice as likely to imitate a novel behaviour if the adult said “There!” as opposed to “Oops!” (Carpeneter et al., 1998) Gergely Study ​ Man pushes lever with his foot because his hands are full ​ Does the same even when his hands are empty ​ 14 month olds use their foot Meltzoff Study ​ At 14 months, infants imitate failed behavior ​ At 18 months, they solve it Ability to take another person’s perspective Content False-Belief Task ​ What do you think is in the box? (smarties)  ​ Show the actual contents (paper clips) —> surprise! ​ Kate doesn’t know what’s in the box? What will she think? -​ They say paper clips ​ You (and Kate) had a false belief about the contents of the Smarties box Theory of Mind ​ 3-year-olds fail false-belief tasks; ​ 4- and 5-year-olds typically pass ​ ​Dual representation: failure to represent both the current state/location and the previous state/location simultaneously ​ Poor executive function: difficulty maintaining previously learned ​ information in working memory while inhibiting that information to predict the current character’s behaviour Content True-Belief Task ​ Put the Smarties back into the box ​ ‘What will kate say’ - ‘paper clips’ ​ Even 4- and 5-year-olds fail the content true-belief task ​ Children’s ability to organize information in working memory is still immature (i.e., Smarties —> clips —> Smarties is too much. Instead, they keep in mind “Kate doesn’t know what I know”) Context Matters ​ “Anne wants to trick Sally” —> even 3-year-olds may pass false belief tasks if we present it as a familiar game ​ Allow the child to move the item in the location false-belief task Autism Spectrum Disorder ​ Heritable ​ Typically low performance on false-belief tasks -​ Possible causes: theory of mind, executive functioning, language, overactivity of perceptual processes ​ Children performed a battery of tasks designed to test executive function Carlson & Moses ​ Strong positive correlation, r = 0.66, between executive function and theory of mind Individual Differences ​ Factors that predict theory of mind performance -​ presence of older siblings -​ language skills -​ Maternal warmth -​ quality of attachment (i.e., secure attachment) -​ number of adults child interacts with regularly  FINAL Chapter 7 Intelligence Intelligence ​ Ability to think, learn from experience, solve problems, adapt to new situations ​ Related to successful educational, occupational, economic outcomes ​ Assessments concern individual differences in cognition, whereas “cognition” broadly refers to the capacity of the human brain ​ “intelligence” is a measure to compare individuals Standford-Binet Test ​ First intelligence test by Alfred Binet and Henri Simon ​ Developed to differentiate students who would or would not benefit from French schools ​ Later revisions made at Stanford University ​ Too difficult or easy questions were useless ​ The revised version created so that the “average child” scores 100, with a standard deviation of 15 points -​ Intelligence Quotient -​ Child’s mental age/chronological age x 100 -​ Now, IQ scores are calculated based on statistical averages ​ Included verbal & nonverbal subscales to assess knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, working memory, fluid reasoning Wechsler Scales ​ Test made developed by David Wechsler ​ Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-4th edition (WPPSI-IV): 2.5-7.5 year ​ Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-5th edition (WISC-V): 6-16 years ​ Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-4th edition (WAIS-IV) ​ Verbal comprehension, working memory, processing speed ​ They are popular because same people can can same test at different ages ​ Wechsler Verbal Subscale -​ Similarities: “In what way are a lion and tiger alike?” -​ Comprehension: “What is the advantage of keeping money in a bank?” ​ Wechsler NonVerbal Subscale -​ Use these four blocks to create the picture shown on the right School/Developmental Psychologist ​ School psychologists or psychologist administer intelligence test ​ Observes child to determine ease with which rapport can be established, child’s enthusiasm and interest, extent to which anxiety impacts performance, child’s degree of tolerance for frustration ​ Requires understanding of “typical” vs. “atypical” answers Multiple Intelligence ​ Sternberg’s (2018) triarchic theory of intelligence: analytical, creative, and practical -​ Analytical skills = better academic outcomes -​ Wisdom = high analytical & practical intelligence ​ Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory (1983; 1993): 8 sets of abilities better describes a person’s “intelligence” -​ Verbal, mathematical, spatial, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, nature -​ Implication: we should not prioritize only verbal and mathematical skills in education Universal Patterns ​ Universally, higher intelligence scores associated with longevity, academic success, work success ​ Lower intelligence scores associated with illness, chronic disease, criminal behaviour Not captured by intelligence tests: ​ Motivation to succeed ​ Physical and mental health ​ Interpersonal skills ​ Temporary & chronic stressors ​ Stereotype threat: performance decrement caused by the knowledge of cultural stereotypes that work against the individual (negative self-fulfilling prophecy -​ Additional cognitive effort to control the thoughts/emotions triggered by the anxiety of being in a threatening environment Historical Misuse ​ Many of early findings were culturally biased -​ urban vs. rural families -​ upper & middle vs. lower socioeconomic status -​ non-English speaking homes ​ Western cultures value reasoning and thinking; Kenyan children might know hundreds of herbal treatments for illnesses but not US presidents Self-Fulfilling Prophecy & Confirmation Bias  ​ Pygmalian Study (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968) ​ Teachers were told fabricated stories about “growth spurters” in their class ​ Students labeled as “growth spurters” received higher grades than those they believed were not “spurters” Role of Experience on Intelligence Heritability of Cognition ​ Executive function is highly heritable -​ Parents and offspring have similar executive function -​ MZ twins have higher correlations than DZ twins ​ Also influenced by environment -​ Physically fit children performed better at allocating attentional resources (Hillman et al., 2009) Heritability of Intelligence ​ Genetic influence is mostly indirect -​ Parents’ genes dictate how parents behave towards their children and the kind of environment they provide (passive effects) -​ Child’s genes dictate how others respond to them and which environments they choose (evocative & active effects) Effect of Environment ​ Higher SES homes associated with children with higher IQ and academic achievement ​ SES correlated with home environment (value of education), friend selection, neighbourhood income, academic expectation, academic opportunities ​ Greater negative effect of low SES in children who experienced perinatal stress Familial Studies of Intelligence ​ although correlations increase as genetic similarity increases between individuals, best estimate of heritability of intelligence = 50% ​ Prenatal environment may be more influential than previously believed Paradoxical Adoption Study Results (Scarr & Weinberg) ​ Average IQ of African American children adopted into White middle-class families was 20 points higher than comparable African American children who were not adopted ​ Correlation was higher between children and their biological mothers (r = 0.43) than with their adoptive mothers (r = 0.29) Influence of Early Experience (Hymovitch) ​ Rats raised in three environments:  -​ Normal cage: limited visual/motor experience -​ Free environment (lots of visual/motor experience) -​ Stove pipe (negligible visual/motor experience) Early vs. Late Experience ​ 4 Groups, varied experience during Days 30-75 vs. Days 75-120 -​ Free environment —> Stovepipe -​ Stovepipe —> Free environment -​ Free environment entire time -​ Normal cage entire time (most deprived; never in “free” environment) ​ Dependent variable: number of errors to solve a 12-point maze ​ Result: Having free environment experience early led to best cognitive outcome Naturalistic Observations: Humans ​ Many studies conducted where researchers visit the infants/children at home, then correlate their observed variables with IQ ​ Lower IQ is associated with low SES, lack of stimulating play materials, and unresponsive parenting Romanian Orphanages: Lessons Learned ​ Under Romanian leader Nicolae Ceausescu, policy to increase Romania’s population (abortion illegal, use of contraceptives forbidden) ​ Children abandoned in orphanages and turned over to state care ​ Adverse conditions of orphanages because of insufficient funding: -​ Overcrowding -​ Inadequate caregiving (and sometimes abuse) ​ Effects of Institutionalization -​ Physical effects: decreased height, weight, head circumference -​ Cognitive effects: lowered IQ, often in range of intellectual disabilities ​ Effects of Institutionalization: Brain (Chugani) -​ Reduced cortical activity in prefrontal cortex (executive function), temporal lobe, hippocampus (memory), and amygdala (emotions) -​ Less white matter (myelination) in pathways between limbic system and frontal lobe  ​ Effects of Institutionalization: Plasticity -​ Some effects of deprivation may be reversible -​ Children removed from orphanages within first 2 years of life had normal developmental outcomes Neural Correlates of Intelligence ​ Early research suggested more prefrontal cortex as being important in intelligence -​ Recall executive function tasks ​ More recent research suggests that efficiency of processing in neural pathways may be more indicative of intelligence Khundrakpam ​ 586 anatomical MRI scans (longitudinal) of participants aged 6-18 years examined for cortical thickness and correlates (i.e., degree to which thickness in one part of the cortex is correlated with rest of cortex, with verbal and non-verbal IQ ​ Results: -​ No difference between low- and high-performative IQ individuals and cortical thickness -​ Differences revealed when comparing low- and high-verbal IQ individuals -​ Significantly greater correlation strength (i.e., thickness predicts thickness in other areas) in bilateral temporal, inferior frontal, and lateral parietal regions for low verbal IQ compared to high verbal IQ. Is thickness itself important? Shaw, Greenstein, Lerch et al ​ 3 groups: -​ Superior intelligence -​ High intelligence -​ Average intelligence ​ Longitudinal study: participants come to labs from ages 6-18 ​ Result: its not about thickness, but the change in thickness and thinning ​ Mostly in the pre frontal cortex ​ Thinning in adolescent because of synaptic pruning ​ Chapter 8  Language Phonology: Sounds ​ Phonemes = smallest units of sounds that are important in language -​ /ba/ and /pa/ are meaningfully different sounds because “bark” and “park” are different words ​ Phonemic awareness is the number one predictor of reading ability -​ Ability to parse words into phonemes Morphology: rules for meaning ​ Morphemes: smallest units that convey meaning ​ Words can be single morphemes (e.g., “car” is a single morpheme) -​ -ing, -ed, -s Semantics: meaning of words ​ Definitions ​ Also represents conventions and societal norms Syntax: rules for combining words ​ English: subject-verb-object (SVO) Pragmatics ​ Communicative functions of language; rules that lead to effective communication ​ Nodding, eye-rolling, air quotes, etc Infancy ​ Crying: present at birth ​ Cooing: 1-2 months; gurgling sounds ​ Babbling: 6 months Sensitivity to Exposure Jusczyk & Aslin ​ After hearing a repeated word like “bike”, 7.5-month-olds listen longer to sentences that contain the word “bike” than sentences without “bike” Statistical Inference Jusczyk ​ 8-month-olds are sensitive to statistical regularities in speech sounds ​ Method: expose infants to nonsense words for 3 minutes -​ Triplets: created fake “words” that contained 3 phonemes (bamuna, pokita, comida) ​ Sound stream did not have natural pauses between “words” ​ After 3 minutes, infants presented with a random combination (e.g., ki-ta-co) or a nonsense “word” (i.e., ba-mu-na) ​ Infants dishabituated to random combinations, but not to “words”, thereby indicating they had learned the “words” ​ Infant brains can extract statistical regularities in the speech sounds they hear; infants are parsing sounds from speech into words Symbolic Communication: Gestures  ​ 8-12 months we see emergence of gestures ​ Wave bye-bye, turning head (dislike), nodding, pointing Joint Attention ​ Ability for adult and infant to pay attention to the same, tertiary object/person ​ Parents encourage learning of words by often pointing to the object and naming it ​ Although it emerges around the same time in which first words are spoken and it facilitates communication, it is not necessary for language Vocabulary Development ​ 1-word utterances (6-15 months; mean 13 months) -​ About 50 words at 18 months ​ 2-word utterances; “more want” (18-24 months) ​ 3-word utterances reveal grammar: “He hit me!” (2-3 years) ​ By 3-4 years, children can create novel word combinations correctly Vocabulary Spurt ​ Stage in which infants learn new words (names of objects) much more rapidly than before ​ 10 words per week! ​ Occurs around 18-20 months ​ Fast mapping: connects new words to objects without considering all possible meanings; more a description of reference, not necessarily learning Word Learning ​ One-to-one mapping: one word per object ​ Name refers to whole object ​ If a second name is presented for an object already learning, it is understood as a subcategory Cross-Cultural Differences ​ Infants learning Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Japanese acquire more verbs earlier than infants learning English ​ Recall primacy and recency effects: verbs come last in those lang -​ English SVO; Asian languages SOV ​ Cultural context -​ In Japanese, often just the verb is used. “Are you coming?” —> “Coming?” Symbolic Representation ​ Words are symbols that represent the actual object/person) ​ Recall: development of dual representation (pictures are being objects themselves as well as representing the actual object)  ​ Scale models can only be understood when infants master symbolic representation -​ Maps are an example of symbolic representation that even older children and adolescents find difficult initially Early Errors ​ Underextension: defining a word too narrowly -​ “Daddy” is not just your daddy, but others can also have “Daddys” ​ Overextension: defining a word too broadly -​ ‘Doggie’ for all animals -​ More likely to occur when talking ​ Common during ages 1-3 years; disappear as children master language Mastery of morphology ​ Children in preschool and Gr. 1 reveal an understanding of morphology ​ Children understand the rules enough that they can apply them to new instances and new words Language 2 Reading ​ Matthew Effect: “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.” (Matthew 25:29) -​ Reference used by sociologists describing the phenomenon of “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” ​ Good readers will enjoy reading and read more, becoming better. Poor readers will dislike reading, become worse , and this gap will continue to widen throughout school years Phonemic Awareness ​ Knowledge that words consist of separable sounds ​ English: deep orthography (system for converting letters into sounds is irregular) -​ 40 phonemes, 1120 letter combinations -​ Italian: 25 phonemes, 33 letter combinations ​ Phonemic awareness is number one predictor of reading ability Dyslexia ​ Reading disability ​ Reading ability significantly worse than predicted based on intellectual ability  -​ Minority: visual disability -​ Majority: decoding from auditory and visual code ​ Phonological processing is best predictor ​ Neurological basis is likely genetic ​ Manifestation depends on grapheme-phoneme correspondence in language ​ Japanese is easier because phonemes always look and sound the same. Girls vs. Boys ​ Girls tend to score higher on reading tests than boys ​ Although the sex difference is statistically significant, absolute difference is minor ​ Dyslexia is more prevalent in boys ​ Boys’ learning is more affected by interest than girls Bilingualism Learning 2nd Language ​ General rule: best if acquired before puberty -​ Especially native fluency and accents -​ Early acquisition —> same brain areas active when processing either language ​ Children and adults learn languages differently -​ Stronger interference from 1st language with more years of expertise Critical Period ​ Specific experience is necessary during a developmental period for a behaviour to develop ​ bilingualism: critical period = before puberty Critical Period: First Language ​ Wild Boy of Aveyron: lived alone in woods (age 5~11 years); never learned to communicate effectively (1800) ​ Genie: discovered in LA in 1970, prohibited from interacting with others until abuse was discovered at age of 13; despite intense intervention never mastered language ​ Deaf children of hearing parents: better mastery of sign language if taught earlier What is critical? Armstrong, Brunet, He, Nishimura, Poole, & Spector ​ Is it really a neurobiological window of time in which the brain must receive relevant input? ​ More recent studies suggest that interference from first language is what hinders learning more than a biological clock  ​ Even deaf children develop communicative gestures with their hearing parents before learning sign language—these gestures could interfere with later sign language acquisition if there is too much expertise Sensitive Periods ​ Flexible time window in which experience has “optimal” effect on behaviour ​ Behaviour can still be modified outside this window ​ Time frame will expand or contract depending on individual experience Bilingual Benefits ​ Attentional control ​ Concept formation ​ Analytical reasoning ​ Inhibition ​ Cognitive flexibility, complexity, monitoring Being skilled at these things protects against alzeihmers Developmental Myth Buster ​ Previously believed the exposing infants and young children to two languages simultaneously would harm development ​ Anecdotal evidence from teachers when children have immigrated to Canada or US from a non-English country -​ No way to differentiate between not understanding English vs. low comprehension ​ Some studies show that bilingual children start speaking a few months later than monolingual children ​ No empirical evidence that bilingual children have language (or cognitive) deficits later as adults Students from non-English Homes ​ Recent evidence shows that using the students’ native language and English is a more successful teaching strategy than teaching exclusively in English (recall that learning should be meaningful) ​ Takes 4-7 years for most students to become proficient in English ​ Language = communication -​ When children feel they cannot be understood, school is not fun -​ Children do not learn well when it’s not fun or interesting Is Language Unique to Humans? Behaviourist Perspective ​ Skills are acquired through classical and operant conditioning principles ​ Infants and children imitate what they hear —> rewarded for using words correctly (with attention, smiles, conversation) ​ Infants and children do not receive reward if they do not speak  ​ Limitations -​ Cannot explain novel combinations and uses of words -​ Cannot explain underextension & overextension -​ Parents rarely correct grammar of their children Nativist Perspective ​ Proposed by Noam Chomsky ​ Humans are born with “neural circuits” that allow for the acquisition of grammar, the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) ​ Semantic bootstrapping theory: brain is ready to categorize the world into nouns (people/things) and verbs (actions) -​ Bootstrapping: using existing resources to benefit you. ​ This innate knowledge about the world allows for language acquisition ​ Universal grammar: every language has subject, verb, and object. This system allows infants to acquire grammar with minimal guidance 1. Damage to Brain Regions ​ Broca’s aphasia: difficulty with speech production ​ Wernicke’s aphasia: difficulty with meaningful speech or “fluent aphasia 2. Animal Communication ​ Animals have a variety of communicative methods ​ Vervet monkeys have different alarm calls to signal approach of leopards, eagles, or snakes! Apes and Sign Language ​ Many efforts (1970s) to teach apes language (e.g., Dr. Sue Savage- Rumbaugh) -​ Sign language or the use of lexicons (symbols) because their vocal apparatus does not provide fine control over voice -​ “Smartest” bonobo ape, Kanzi, learned hundreds of lexicons and could understand and produce English words -​ Bonobos use 2 word sentences. Most commonly action + object. But thats not language cuz language needs 3 words Is language unique to humans? Yes! ​ Non-human animals can learn words, as in associations (one-to-one mapping) ​ No animal can do syntax ​ By 4 years, children use syntax without explicit instruction  -​ Kanzi’s mastery of language is said to be about a 3-year-old’s level 3. Children learn grammar: Soundless environment ​ Sign language has a morphology and syntax (not just symbols) ​ Babies learn sign language from their deaf parents in the same way as hearing children who learn spoken language -​ begins with babbling (waving around of hands/fingers), then 1-word signs, and eventually 2- and 3-word utterances (3-word utterance has proper syntax) ​ If modality doesn’t matter, seems to support innate LAD Children learn grammar: Lack of vision ​ Blind children go through same developmental steps of acquiring language as sighted children, despite visual cues ​ Interesting differences in interpretation ​ “Look up” -​ Blindfolded typical infants will tilt their head up -​ Blind infants will raise their hands up in the air Sadato et al. (1996) ​ Blind individuals reading Braille with their fingers show activation in visual cortex. 4. Critical/Sensitive Periods ​ Isabelle, a 6-year-old was also rescued from deprivation, but one year later, was speaking as well as her peers ​ Inability to learn language after 13-14 years of deprivation suggests innate LAD 5. Vocabulary and Grammar ​ Children not only learn new words, but learn the “position” of words simultaneously -​ “You do it”, not “Do it you” ​ Bilingual children do not confuse the grammar of two languages ​ Bilingual children do not have same mastery of grammar in each language Cognitive Perspective ​ Cognitive development allows infants/children to extract statistical regularities from their perceptual environment ​ Statistical inference is a manifestation of powerful cognitive abilities, not a “universal grammar” ​ Evidence: Infants’ vocabulary improves as memory improves ​ Limitation: cannot explain Williams syndrome (low intelligence but high expressive verbal ability) Social Perspective ​ Children master language in the context of social interactions -​ Adults learn a new language best when their new girlfriend/ boyfriend is a native speaker of that language! (motivation) ​ Can incorporate behaviourist, nativist, and cognitive perspectives Week 9 Emotion Emotions ​ Typically triggered in situations that are important to you ​ Emotions serve a communicative purpose ​ Controlled by limbic system, especially amygdala ​ Maturation of cerebral cortex, especially prefrontal cortex, allows for regulation & improved communication Basic Emotions ​ Happiness, anger, surprise, disgust, sadness, fear, interest ​ Experience universally ​ Subjective feeling ​ Physiological change: increase in blood pressure, face flushing red ​ Overt behaviours: facial expressions, tone of voice Development of Emotions ​ 1 month: infants smile (maybe reflex); pleasant vs. unpleasant ​ 2-3 months: social smiles ​ 4-6 months: anger ​ 6 months: fear -​ Stranger anxiety (distress in the presence of unfamiliar adult) ​ Least understood: disgust Complex Emotions ​ Self-conscious or secondary emotions -​ They are a result of understanding of others -​ Pride, shame, guilt, embarrassment, empathy, despair, jealousy ​ Involve feelings of success when standards/expectations are met; feelings of failure when they are not ​ 18-24 months: requires development of self (how can you disappoint others if you and others are all part of the same consciousness?) Words Help ​ Understanding of self vs. others is helped by understanding labels to categorize [me, I, “baby’s name”] separately from others  ​ Understanding of self-conscious emotions requires words to describe “abstract” reactions in others ​ They can't understand ‘disappointed’ etc. so we explain by saying ‘other baby is crying because they’re sad’ ​ When parents talked more with young children about mental states, children had a better understanding of emotions (Tompkins et al., 2018) Later Development ​ Through childhood and adolescence, complexity of emotions increases (as does prefrontal cortex maturation and ability to think abstractly) ​ Regret and relief develop around age 9 -​ Requires ability to think about what could have been, what you should have done differently ​ Context in which emotions are experienced changes -​ Shame and guilt are felt for different actions in young vs. older children -​ Young children: shame = punishment -​ Older: shame = couldve done better Cultural Differences ​ Cultures differ to extent to which expression is encouraged ​ In many Asian cultures, restraint favoured over outward displays -​ European American 11-month-olds cried and smiled more often during the observed time period than Chinese infants -​ Janet Werker has commented that Japanese infants cried less compared to Canadian babies in her studies on phonemic awareness ​ Different contexts for pride, embarrassment, shame Recognizing Emotions ​ By 6 months, infants differentiate happy faces from sad faces (recall infant paradigms from perception lectures) ​ Social referencing: in unfamiliar situations, infants look to their caregiver to interpret whether this is a “good” or “bad” situation -​ 12-month-olds less likely to play with new toy if caregiver looks afraid -​ 18-month-olds less likely to play with a toy shown by Adult 1 if Adult 2 says “That’s really annoying.” compared to saying “That toy is blue.” Regulating Emotions ​ Infants show some regulation -​ Thumb-sucking, holding security blanket, Looking away from unpleasant scene  ​ 2-way communication system develops in which infant signals distress—> care-giver responds by soothing —> distress is reduced —> parent has modelled how to soothe unpleasant emotions Regulating Emotions: Cognitive Development ​ Attention: divert attention to other less emotional stimuli, thoughts, feelings ​ Use strategies to reappraise the meaning of the event so that it is interpreted as less emotional, or the negative feelings are re-interpreted in a positive way ​ With greater cognitive skills, greater emotion regulation Temperament ​ Infants’ emotional reactivity and regulation ​ Based on Thomas & Chess (1977); 144 individuals followed from infancy to adulthood: fairly stable -​ Easy child: usually happy, adjusts well to new situations, can stick to regular routines for eating, sleeping, toileting (40%) -​ Difficult child: usually unhappy, irregular in eating/sleeping, responds intensely to unfamiliar situations (10%) -​ Slow-to-warm-up child: low activity level, low intensity of mood (15%) ​ Today: categories not as helpful as dimensions Kagan’s Behavioural Inhibition ​ Introverted, timid, sociable ​ Extraverted, bold ​ Inhibition to the unfamiliar: initial avoidance, distress, or subdued affect, beginning ~7-9 months of age and consistent up to 7 years of ag Rothbart (2011): 3 Dimensions ​ Extraversion/surgency: happy, active, seeks interesting stimulation ​ Negative affect: angry, fearful, frustrated, shy, not easily soothed ​ Effortful control: focus attention, not readily distracted, can inhibit responses Support for Rothbart (2011) ​ Cross-cultural evidence: Belgium, China, Japan, the Netherlands, US -​ Supports biologically based differences in determining temperament ​ Parenting application: respond to your baby’s temperament -​ Shy baby: needs more encouragement, explanations, modelling -​ Active baby: provide more opportunities for exploration Heredity ​ MZ twins more similar in temperament than DZ twins  -​ Slightly different depending on dimension and age -​ Inhibited temperament may be associated with heart rate, cortisol, and frontal lobe activity; also role of amygdala and serotonin -​ Negative affect more influenced by heredity -​ ​Temperament in childhood shows higher heritability than in infancy. Because environment is more uniform Goodness of Fit ​ How well does a child’s temperament meet the environmental demands? ​ Training can be helpful for parents of distress-prone infants (i.e., more likely to cry and be irritable) ​ Parents might think they caused temperament, but they did not. Heredity & Biology ​ Role of DRD4 gene: implicated in regulating attention, motivation and reward, novelty-seeking in adults —> all likely involved with temperament ​ Some variants of DRD4 gene make individuals more susceptible to environmental effects Example Kitayama ​ Draw circles ​ Americans drew themselves 6mm bigger than others -​ Independent culture ​ Europeans drew themselves 3.5mm bigger than others ​ Japanese drew themselves slightly smaller than others -​ Interdependent culture Gene x Culture How does culture and genes (e.g., DRD4) interact to shape independent vs. interdependent social orientations? (Kitayama) ​ Asked participants to rate statement concerning independence ​ Results: carriers internalize culture Temperament: Gene x Environment ​ Temperament makes some children more sensitive to environmental influences ​ evocative genetic effects on the environment: happy baby = happy environment and vice versa ​ Genes mediate how we think —> interactions with others —> changes gene expression —> changes our behaviour —> forever loop Attachment Attachment ​ Social-emotional relationship between baby and caretaker ​ Lack of attachment has long-term detrimental effects -​ Infants raised in institutions after WWII showed impaired mental development; were often withdrawn and listless, despite receiving adequate nutrition and healthcare ​ Touch seems to be the foundation for social-emotional development Harlow Monkey Study ​ Infant monkeys would spend 18x more time on the cloth mother John Bowlby ​ Pre-attachment (0-2 months): recognize mother’s smell, sound; smiles and cries to engage caregiver -​ Reflexes at first, then learned ​ Attachment-in-the-making (2-7 months): infants behave differently to familiar vs. unfamiliar adults; recognition of adults ​ True attachment (7-24 months): specific attachments with regular caregiver ​ Reciprocal relationships (> 18 months): growing cognitive and language skills allows for a true social relationship Attachment: Development ​ Quality of attachment to caregiver = internal working model of a social relationship ​ Influences later responses to other people, emotion understanding, conscience development, and self-concept ​ Attachment is not an instinct nor a reflex; it is a complex dynamic process by which the relationship evolves, depending on social-cognitive abilities of both caregiver and infant Strange Situation ​ Developed by Canadian Mary Ainsworth ​ Observe the infant—caregiver relationship through a series of laboratory settings -​ Free play, Introduction of a stranger, Caregiver leaves infant with stranger, Caregiver returns Quality of Attachment ​ Secure attachment: baby may cry when mom leaves, but when mom returns, baby is relieved (60-65% of North American babies) ​ Avoidant attachment: baby not upset when mom leaves, and when mom returns, may ignore her by looking/turning away (20%) ​ Resistant attachment: baby upset when mom leaves, but remains upset or shows anger when mom returns; difficult to console (10-15%)  ​ Disorganized: baby seems confused and/or disoriented when mom leaves and when they return (5-10%) Cultural Differences ​ Universally, majority of babies have secure attachment ​ Prevalence of insecure attachments may differ by culture -​ German parents value independence: avoidant > resistant -​ Japanese parents value interdependence and rarely leave infants alone with strangers: resistant > avoidant Developmental Outcome ​ Many studies reveal a correlation between infant attachment style and the quality of interpersonal skills later in life ​ Secure infants have better friendships, romantic partners, positive emotional health, high self-esteem ​ Insecure attachment is associated with behavioural difficulties ​ Disorganized associated with externalizing problems (aggression) Neural Mechanisms ​ Oxytocin: hormone that supports maternal behaviours (e.g., released during birth, breastfeeding, also by contact & warmth) ​ Dopamine: neurotransmitter released in nucleus accumbens in response to rewarding stimuli ​ Stress-related areas (HPA-axis: hypothalamus, pituitary gland, amygdala) release cortisol when activating the fight-or-flight response; the stress response system develops irregularly with chronic stress and absence of nurturing environment What about fathers? ​ On average, mothers are more likely to engage in “parenting” and spend more hours with infants ​ But infants has same attachment to mom and dad ​ Deneault et a: meta-analysis revealed that insecure attachment with fathers was associated with increased likelihooed of externalizing behaviours, similar to previous findings with mothers ​ no evidence that fathers are inherently different than mothers (but may engage in more physical play) Trust  ​ To develop secure attachment, infants have an expectation that when they are distressed, the caregiver will come to their rescue -​ Recall “learned helplessness”: if infants learn that caregivers are unreliable, then this is their internal working model of people, and impacts later social relationships ​ Not just in infancy: patients respond better to treatment if they trust their psychologist/therapist; students learn more when they trust their teacher Parents Infants ​ Maternal sensitivity involved with attachment ​ Think of passive & evocative genetic effects: less sensitive and responsive parents share genes with the infants who may also be less sensitive and responsive than a typical infant Adult Attachment ​ Secure adults: describe childhood experiences objectively; value impact of their caregiver-child relationships ​ Dismissive adults: sometimes deny the value of or cannot recall childhood experiences, yet they often idealize their caregivers ​ Preoccupied adults: describe experiences emotionally and often express anger/confusion regarding caregiver-child relationships Attachment Theory & Smartphone Use? Parent & Shapka (2019). Hum Behav & Emerg Tech ​ Proximity maintenance: tend to remain in close contact with attachment target; 66% of UK youth 16-19 years check their phones in the middle of the night, and 74% use it while walking (Adams & Lee, 2017) ​ Safe haven: attachment target is used as a safe space during times of threat; young adults use smartphones to help relax and lift moods (Smetaniuk, 2014) ​ Secure base for exploration: more likely to explore if they can come back to mom. ​ Separation anxiety: anxiety upon separation from the target; broad discussion of youth’s fear, anxiety, discomfort when separated from their phones What is the alternative? Play  ​ Unstructured, unsupervised play allows children to experiment, make low- stakes mistakes, and learn to regulate their emotions and problem-solve through discussion (Gray, 2013, Free to Learn) ​ Synchronous, dynamic interactions, including non-verbal cues, allows children to learn important skills like emotional regulation and interpersonal communication; but also the inherent trust that parents reveal by letting children play freely (secure attachment!) Week 10 Self-Concept Self-Concept ​ William James (1980): Two sides to “self”, the awareness of one’s own existence ​ “I-self” = ability to think about ourselves; can be independent of others -​ Emerges ~3 months (recall mobile-kicking, understanding of actions —> consequences) ​ “Me-self” = sum total of what a person knows/believes about themselves;can include other’s opinions; self-concept -​ Emerges ~15 months of age Origins of Self-Concept ​ Unclear whether newborns have it, however, unlikely as newborns do not seem to react to mirror images of themselves ​ By 18-24 months, infants recognize their own image in a mirror ​ Cultural differences: infants pass the mirror test faster in cultures that value independence -​ Develops without experience with mirrors per se Preschool Self-Concept ​ Understanding that “I” exist continuously in time ​ Descriptions of self anchored in tangible activities, preferences, competencies, and physical characteristics -​ “I dance”, “I like pizza”, “I can count to 10”, “I have brown hair” ​ Cultural differences: Asian children are more likely to describe relationships than North American children -​ “I play with Lucy at school” Evolving Self-Concept ​ Middle and late childhood: introduction of emotions, competencies relative to others, more realistic -​ “Sometimes, I get mad”; “I’m the fastest runner in my class”  ​ Adolescence: more complex, abstract, differentiated, integrated, and possible self -​ Complex: “I’m cheerful except when I’m stressed about exams” -​ Differentiated: “My friends say I’m friendly although there are days when I don’t want to hang out with others” -​ Possible Self: “I’m good at biology so I hope to become a doctor” Cognitive Development & Self-Concept ​ Increased ability to think logically and abstractly allows for a description of self that is more realistic, evidence-based, yet also idealistic ​ Need to understand multiple points of views to synthesize a single concept ​ Ability to keep different aspects of the situation in mind simultaneously Social Development & Self-Concept ​ Self-concept is powerfully influenced by others ​ Looking-glass self: we learn to know ourselves by interacting with others and observing (experiencing) how they respond to us -​ Not necessarily what others think, but how we perceive others are thinking about us (based on their reactions) Generalized “Other” ​ A summary of the ways in which others have responded to us ​ We extract (from our experiences) a “general” sense of others and what they think of us -​ Report card, gossip, feedback from parents, etc. Adolescent Egocentrism ​ Egocentrism: Failure to make a distinction between one’s own viewpoint and someone else’s viewpoint (recall Preoperational Stage) ​ During formal operations: -​ Adolescents think about their own thinking → consider that others may also be thinking about them → ability to consider all possible outcomes → self-absorption and self-consciousness → egocentric thinking Key Features of Adolescent Self-Concept ​ Imaginary audience: belief that everyone is watching and judging all the time (because of their self-absorption); explains conformity, susceptibility to peer pressure, heightened need for privacy, noisiness ​ Personal fable: belief that one’s thoughts, feelings, experiences are unique; results from new capacity to think → misinterpreted as unique thought and new experiences -​ (e.g., “I’ve never felt like this before” → “Nobody knows what this feels like”)  ​ Illusion of invulnerability: belief in uniqueness → misfortune only happens to others; explains risk-taking (recall limbic system matures faster than prefrontal cortex responsible for reasoning, inhibition) Identity Crisis ​ Erikson (1960s): adolescent’s response to the tension between need to explore what is unique about oneself and the wish to become someone who is respected from family, friends, and community -​ Follower of Freud ​ Focus on unconscious identification with parents’ personalities, beliefs, values, views of self James Marcia (Canadian!): Identity 2 ways to solve identity crisis ​ Exploration: finding out and examining alternatives ​ Commitment: choose a belief or course of action, and make a personal investment in it ​ Find identity in: Occupation, beliefs and values, interpersonal relations -​ Status may be achieved differently and at different times Ethnocultural Identity ​ Ethnicity: cultural background and customs, values, attitudes that go along with that culture ​ People from similar cultural backgrounds show similar patterns of attitudes and behaviours that distinguish them from other ethnicities, which contribute to self-concept Minority Culture Adolescents ​ People understand social relationships in terms of who belongs to higher-status groups ​ Those in positions of influence and authority (principals, doctors, lawyers, politicians, police officers) tend to be members of dominant group; lack of role models limits views of possible self  ​ Achieving solid sense of ethnocultural identity has many positive results: self-esteem, academic achievement, emotional well-being Self-Esteem Rosenberg Scale of Self-Esteem ​ There are reverse score items to check whether scores are valid and participants re reading the prompts ​ Scores range from 10-40 ​ 25-35 = normal range ​ Begley: Canadian youth aged 12-19 years: Mean = 29 ​ Below 15: underlying issue Self-esteem Childhood sources: self-esteem = self worth ​ Academic skills ​ Athletic skills ​ Social skills ​ Physical appearance Adolescent sources ​ Same but more diversity in social skills -​ Parents, peers, dates, friends, co-workers. -​ Each can give different self-esteem ​ Biggest influence: physical appearance Levels of Self-Esteem ​ Preschool: highest (Preoperational thinking & egocentrism) ​ Elementary school: initial drop, but then stabilizes (realization that most kids are, by definition, average) ​ High school: drops again with transition and change in environment, but then stabilizes ​ Pattern studied predominantly in white children Cultural Differences In US ​ Elementary School: 1) Asian, 2) European, 3) African & Hispanic ​ High School: 1) African, 2) Hispanic & European, 3) Asian ​ African and Hispanic teens take pride in belonging to cultural group ​ Asian culture values modesty and recognition of weakness ​ Western culture: social comparisons encouraged Sources of Self-Esteem ​ Actual competence: children enjoy domains in which they do well, and these activities are incorporated into self-concept ​ Heredity: genetic make-up that makes individuals, relative to others, smarter, more athletic, better-looking, more personable -​ Look to parents, siblings, relatives  ​ Other’s evaluations: affectionate and responsive parents boost child’s self-esteem (i.e., I’m worth paying attention to) -​ Inflated praise —> anxiety of failure Type of Praise Mueller & Dweck ​ Gr. 5 students complete a math test ​ Told everyone even if they did bad :“Wow, you did very well on these problems” ​ Then they told 3 groups 3 different things -​ Ability praise: “You must be smart” -​ Effort praise: “You must have worked hard” -​ Control: nothing ​ Then given a more difficult math test -​ Intelligence praise: got anxiety. They think “i’m smart I should get