Early Child Development PDF

# Early Social Perception - **Biological origins for early face preferences** - Newborns show a preference for faces due to subcortical and cortical mechanisms that enhance social learning. - Johnson and Morton (1991): newborns have a subcortical system called *Conspec* (orient them towards...

# Early Social Perception - **Biological origins for early face preferences** - Newborns show a preference for faces due to subcortical and cortical mechanisms that enhance social learning. - Johnson and Morton (1991): newborns have a subcortical system called *Conspec* (orient them towards face-like configurations) and as the cortex develops, so does *Conlearn* (allows them to learn faces and refine facial recognition skills). - Imprinting mechanisms: similar to birds, evolved mechanisms that orient infants towards faces immediately after birth. - Facilitates bonding and social learning. - Babyness: human preference for large eyes and round faces. - Thought to promote protective behavior in adults. - **Newborn Imitation** - Early studies suggest that newborns can mimic facial expressions. - Implies a natural capacity for intersubjectivity (ability to relate socially by mirroring other's actions). - Some researchers argue that it isn't imitation, but rather reflexive movements. - Adults interpret or reinforce the infant's actions. - Emphasizes the role of experience in developing social behaviors. - **Importance of Contingency** - When a child's actions receive immediate and responsive feedback. - 2-month-old infants became distressed when shown a video of their mother that was out of sync with her real-time responses. - Sensitivity to timing and contingency. - Influence on bonding: infants with caregivers that respond appropriately to cues tend to develop better emotional regulation skills. # Joint Attention - Shared focus of 2 individuals on an object or event. - Begins as dyadic interactions (infant + caregiver) through social smiling. - Becomes triadic by 6 months (can alternate attention between caregiver and object). - Pointing emerges around 12 months. - By 9 months, they begin to follow an adult's gaze. - They will only do so if the adult's eyes are open. - Understand intentionality in gaze direction. - Useful in language acquisition: learn to connect words with objects during shared attention episodes. - **Types of Pointing** - Protoimperative: used to request something. - Protodeclarative: used to share interest in something. - Uniquely human (social bonding). # Memory development - **Implicit Memory:** non-conscious form of memory - Evident when infants show familiarity with previously encountered stimuli. - Studies where infants interact with a known mobile even without the mobile still being attached to them by a ribbon. - **Explicit Memory:** which involves conscious recall, develop later as neural structures mature. - **Semantic Memory:** general knowledge - **Episodic Memory:** recall personal or time-specific events. - Relies on autonoetic consciousness: ability to mentally place oneself in past events as the "experiencer". - Young children struggle with this due to a less developed sense of self and immature cortical regions necessary for autobiographical memory (virtually no memories before 3-4 years old). - **Childhood amnesia:** struggle to remember events from early childhood. - Children can recall early memories, but they are rapidly forgotten. - Due to less effective neural substrates for memory retention in young children. - **Memory formation improves significantly with language acquisition.** - Language provides a structure for encoding and organizing memories. - Young children may encode memories in a fragmented or less detailed way, harder for adults to retrieve them. - Developing sense of self makes it harder to retrieve memories from when the self-concept wasn't fully developed. - **Young children are particularly susceptible to suggestibility in recall (misinformation paradigm).** - Children's memories can be influenced by suggestive or leading questions: high vulnerability to external influence. - **Source discrimination**: distinguishing the origin of a memory. - Young children make misattribution errors, mistakenly recalling suggested information as if they had directly experienced it. - Children's eyewitness testimony may contain inaccuracies if interviewers introduce external information. # Language development - **Early Language Development** - Prenatal recognition: newborns prefer their native language and respond differently to familiar speech sounds. - Prenatal exposure to language patterns. - Around 6 months, infants begin babbling (universal stage of language development). - Present even in deaf infants: biological basis for early vocal exploration. - 10-12 months: first words. - 18 months: experience a "vocabulary spurt" - ~50 words. - Associated with fast mapping: infants can link a word to an object after a single exposure. - Around 24 months: telegraphic speech (two-word phrases: more milk, throw ball). - Reflects early syntactic understanding. - **Subcomponents of Language** - Phonology: the sounds of language. - Infants can distinguish between sounds of all languages, they gradually specialize in the sounds of their native language. - Vocabulary: acquisition of words and their meanings. - Through fast mapping and mutual exclusivity (assume that a new label applies to a novel object). - Syntax: grammar and structure of a sentence. - Even the youngest kids show an understanding of syntax. - Develops as they progress from simple words to more complex sentences. # Theories of Language Acquisition - **Domain-general theories:** - Behaviorists (Skinner) argue that language is acquired through general cognitive processes and learning mechanisms (reinforcement + imitation). - Piaget thought language is just one aspect of broader cognitive development. - Correlation between language ability and conceptual development. - **Domain-specific theories:** - Nativists (Chomsky) argue that we have a specific, innate *Language Acquisition Device (LAD)*. - Built-in mechanism tailored for language learning. - They believe that language acquisition is distinct from other types of learning and that there's specialized brain structures. - Syntax studies support this theory. # Neurodiverse Development - **Domain-general theories:** cognitive abilities develop through a unified system: predicts delays across cognitive domains when development is atypical (rather than divergent). - **Domain-specific theories:** different cognitive domains have distinct neural underpinnings: allows for double dissociations where one area can be impaired while another remains intact. - Consistent with evolutionary arguments for specialization. - **Atypical Development:** - Delayed: implies domain-generality (along the typical function). - Divergent: implies domain-specificity (on a different pathway). - **Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)**, formerly *Specific Language Impairment (SLI)*: an individual who shows significant delays in language acquisition, despite typical cognitive functioning in other areas. - Suggests domain specificity. - **Williams' Syndrome:** advanced linguistics skills compared to general cognitive ability: language and other cognitive abilities can be dissociated (domain specificity). - **Theory of Mind (ToM):** the ability to understand that others can hold beliefs and desires different from one's own. - Evaluated using the Sally-and-Anne task. - Children with autism struggle with this task (suggests domain specific). - **Autism**: complex neurodevelopmental disorder. - Abnormalities in verbal and non-verbal communication. - Asperger's (milder form) - Repetitive or stereotyped activities. - Difficulties in reciprocal social interactions. # Early Emotional Development - **Origins of attachment theory:** - René Spitz studied children isolated during World War Two. - Those deprived of maternal care exhibited emotional and developmental delays despite having their physical needs met. - Harry Harlow's monkey studies: showed that rhesus monkeys preferred cloth "mothers" (provide comfort) over wire "mothers" (provide food). - Showed the significance of emotional bonds beyond just fulfilling basic survival needs. - John Bowlby's theory: influenced by ethology (Lorenz's imprinting studies). - Proposes that attachment is an innate, evolutionary mechanism to maintain proximity to caregivers. - Homeostatic mechanism (self-regulating for both mother + child). - Role of early relationships in shaping emotional development and behavior: internal working model (set of expectations about caregiver responses). - **Attachment Styles** - Assessed using Ainsworth's Strange Situation Test. - **Secure attachment (60%)**: child becomes distressed when the caregiver leaves but is quickly comforted upon their return. - Caregiver is a secure base for exploration. - **Avoidant attachment (20%)**: child shows little distress when the caregiver leaves and avoids interactions upon return. - **Ambivalent attachment (15%)**: highly distressed when caregiver leaves and seeks comfort upon their return, but resist it. - **Disorganized attachment (5%)**: inconsistent / contradictory behavior. - **Cultural differences influence attachment styles.** - German children show more avoidant attachment due to parenting that fosters independence. - Japanese children show more ambivalent attachment, reflecting maternal closeness. - **Rutter's study on Romanian orphans:** - Children suffered severe neglect and showed long-term emotional and social difficulties. - Even after adoption. - If adopted after the age of 6 months, showed higher rates of autism-like behavior and difficulties forming relationships, despite normal intelligence. - Some form of rehabilitation can occur if reintroduced to peers / better nurturing environment within a sensitive period. - Long-term deficits may remain if extensive deprivation period. # Early Social Cognition - **Infants (6 months) interpret actions as goal-directed.** - Heider and Simmel's study (1944): adults anthropomorphize (infer humanistic qualities and intentions) moving geometric shapes: human inclination to infer agency and intentionality. - Hamlin, Wynn, and Bloom (2007): 6-month-old infants prefer "helper" objects over "hinderer" objects: attribute positive/negative intentions to non-human agents. - Woodward (1998): infants were surprised (looked longer) when a hand reached for a new goal instead of the original goal in a different location: violation of expectancy; infants view actions as purposeful. - **Infants interpret other's actions based on circumstances.** - Gergely et al. (2003): 14-month-old infants imitated an experimenter using her head to turn on a light switch only when her hands were free; assume intentionality. - If the experimenter's hands were occupied, the children used their hands to activate the light switch (interpret the head action as situationally constrained). - Repacholi and Gopnik (1997): 18-month-old infants will hand the adult food the adult prefers, even if it differs from their own view: understand that people have different (taste) preferences. - **Metarepresentation = the ability to think about thoughts** - Crucial for understanding that other's actions are guided by their beliefs or desires, even when these mental states differ from reality. - Play pretend, by age 2, shows capacity for holding multiple representations of objects (i.e. banana as phone). # Experiments used to test Theory of Mind - **ToM = the ability to attribute mental states such as beliefs, desires, intents, emotions and knowledge to oneself and others.** - **Sally-Anne task:** classic ToM task that most 3-year-olds fail while 4-5-year-olds succeed. - **Wellman (1990):** children's performance on ToM tasks improves with simpler scenarios or explicit prompts. - They do better if they are told the motive/belief, they perform the action of moving the object, the time frame is emphasized, etc. # Alternative interpretations of ToM - **Child lacks cognitive competence.** - **Child possesses requisite mental skills to understand false belief task but fails due to limited verbal skills.** - **Cannot inhibit the tendency to say what they know to be true.** - **Egocentrism** # Early Moral Development - **Prosocial behavior:** voluntary acts that are intended to help others; may have potential benefits to prosocial individual. - Early prosociality: Helper/Hinderer studies (Hamlin, Wynn, & Bloom, 2007). - Around 8-12 months: they engage in reciprocal play and share objects with others: innate tendency to help others. - **Altruism:** type of prosocial behavior, helping others without expecting reciprocal benefits. - **Early prosocial behavior is selective (only if they know the recipient) while later prosocial behavior is strategic (as they become aware of reputation).** - Around 5 years old: more likely to share when observed. - **Ownership:** around 75% of children's conflicts arise from possessions. - Around 2 years old: they will protest when their possessions are taken. - By 3 years old: they defend other's property (early understanding of ownership and third-party punishment). - By 4 years old: protect property of in-group people. - Reason that manufactured objects are property that is owned. - 3 years old: ownership through labor (you made it, it's yours) like Locke. - **Cultural differences in ownership:** some tribes (Hazda) emphasize collective ownership, while Western societies focus on personal property. # Aggressive Behavior - **Aggressive behavior, influenced by temperament and environment, tends to persist across childhood.** - Social learning theory (Bandura's Bobo doll studies) showed that children model observed aggression, but are sensitive to the consequences for the aggressor. - Developed into social cognitive theory. - Children progressively learn moral reasoning through vicarious punishment and by observing adults. - By 3 years old, they start enforcing rules about ownership and rights. # Kohlberg's Stage Theory - **Preconventional stage (children): what will happen to me?** - **Conventional stage (adolescents): what do others normally do?** - **Postconventional stage (some adults): how does it fit in with my values?** - Shift from emphasis on punishment → social rules → ethical principles. - There isn't a final stage. # The Trolley Problem - Moral dilemma where emotional responses conflict with utilitarian reasoning. - Empathy + aversion to causing harm. - Emotions shape moral judgments. - Moral intuitionist.