Midterm Review Fall PDF

What is one core condition of re ective practice? Pg 4 One core condition of re ective practice is that practitioners use theory as a “partial lens through which to consider a problem” Traditionally, we teach that problems can be solved by applying objective, scientific information. This implies...

What is one core condition of re ective practice? Pg 4 One core condition of re ective practice is that practitioners use theory as a “partial lens through which to consider a problem” Traditionally, we teach that problems can be solved by applying objective, scientific information. This implies that human nature operates according to universal principles. In truth and in practice, we always have to view a problem within its larger context. What is a stage? Pg 7 A period of time, perhaps several years, during which a person’s activities (at least in one broad domain) have certain characteristics in common. For example, we could say that in language development, the 4-month-old girl is in a preverbal stage: Among other things, her communications share in common the fact that they do not include talking. Id, Ego, Super Ego, and the Reality Principal Pgs 8+9 Id- is the biological self, the source of all psychic energy. The id blindly pursues the ful llment of physical needs or “instincts,” such as the hunger drive and the sex drive. ( primitive and instinctual drives) The ego begins to develop as cognitive and physical skills emerge. In Freud’s view, some psychic energy is invested in these skills, and a rational, realistic self begins to take shape. (Realistic part that mediates between the id and superego) The superego which serves as an “internalized parent” that causes one to feel guilty if his behavior deviates from parental and societal restrictions. (our conscious) Reality principal A focus on understanding the world and behavioral consequences that leads to sensible and self-protective behavior. In Freud’s personality theory, the ego operates on this principle. Piaget’s stages as pertaining to thought Pg 12 Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years) - through experiences and movement we develop our 5 senses In this stage our behavior is automatic,(re ective) triggered by certain things. In the end, actions are more based on thinking and mental images. Preoperational stage (2 to 6 or 7 years old) Early thinking tends to be slow and focused on just one key detail at a time. Because of this, it isn’t fully logical yet. Concrete operational( 7 to 11,12 years old) fl fl fl fi  Children’s thinking has become faster and more ef cient, allowing them to focus on more than one thing at once. This helps them nd logical connections between pieces of information. Their logical thinking works best with things that can be seen or experienced in the real world. Formal operational( 12 years through adulthood) Logical thinking now includes abstract ideas. Young adolescents can think logically about hypothetical situations, not just real ones. Incremental models of change Pg 13 Theoretical models in which change is considered steady and speci c to particular behaviors or mental activities, rather than being marked by major, sweeping reorganizations that affect many behaviors at once, as in stage theories. Neuroplasticity Pg 22 refers to changes in the brain that occur as a result of some practice or experience. Neurons, the basic cells of the nervous system, become reorganized as a result of such practice, resulting in new learning and memory The realization that our brains continue to change throughout life has revolutionized the way scientists see our brain. This knowledge allows for a better understanding that nothing about us as individuals is static. De ne epigenesis Pg 41 The control of genetic expression by both regulatory DNA and environmental factors. Teratogens Pgs 51 + 52 Substances or agents that can cross the placental barrier and produce fetal deformities when taken or absorbed by the mother during pregnancy. (Environmental substances and agents that can harm the developing fetus) The environment is, of course, mom’s womb. The placenta allows nutrients and oxygen from mom’s blood to pass into baby’s blood and allows carbon dioxide and waste to be removed from baby by means of mom’s blood. The likelihood and extent of teratogenic damage is dependent on when in development exposure occurs and the amount of that teratogen the baby is exposed to and the length of time for which baby is exposed. Teratogens examples - alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, cocaine Nutritional influences impacting fetal development pg 54 Teratogens add something that is less than optimal for a baby’s development. When we subtract something important for a baby’s development, we will again see less than optimal development. fi fi fi fi  When food sources are lacking in proteins, vitamins, or minerals, a baby’s physical, socioemotional, and intellectual development can be compromised. Major structures of the brain Pgs 57 + 58 Structure and function of neurons Pgs 59 +60 The axon itself can be quite long relative to the size of the cell’s other structures because it needs to connect or “wire” various parts of the brain, such as the visual thalamus to the visual cortex At the end of the axon are the axon terminals, which contain tiny sacs of chemical substances called neurotransmitters.  Growing out from the cell body are smaller projections, called dendrites, resembling little branches, which receive messages or transmissions from other neurons. ▪A dendrite is a short, branched, extension of a nerve cell. ▪ The nucleus of the neuron is comprised, mostly, of our DNA ▪Schwann cells are unmyelinated glial cells ▪The myelin sheath is what we would consider white matter ▪The nodes of Ranvier allow the generation of fast electronic impulses along the axon ▪The axon terminal releases the neurotransmitters that relay a signal across a synapse. Synapses and neural pruning Pgs 62 + 63  Synapses are the small gaps at the end of neurons that allow a signal to pass from one to the next. Neurons create specific pathways in our brains. Neurons the fire together, wire together. The more frequently you repeat a behavior, the more deeply entrenched that neural pathway becomes. After birth, the brain grows by forming new connections (synapses), especially in areas like vision and hearing, while other areas, like the prefrontal cortex, develop more slowly. Early experiences and sensory input help shape these connections. Babies are born with more neurons than needed, and over time, unused neurons and synapses are removed through a process called neural pruning. The remaining connections depend on genetics and experiences before and after birth. What is stress? Pg 64 Stress is a term we often use to describe how we feel when life gets tough, scary, or uncertain. We call it stress when we’re running late, can’t pay the rent, or worry about a health issue. Scientists and professionals also use the word in many situations, making its exact meaning a bit hard to de ne. The architecture of the stress response Pg 65 The amygdala plays a key role in fear and stress, activating two main systems: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS)and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The SNS releases chemicals like adrenaline to prepare the body for " ght or ight," boosting heart rate and energy while slowing non-essential functions like digestion. Once the threat is over, the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) calms things down, returning the body to normal. The HPA axis starts when the amygdala signals the hypothalamus, which triggers the pituitary gland to release a hormone called ACTH. ACTH then stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol, a hormone that helps manage stress. Cortisol increases energy and reduces in ammation. It also sends feedback to the brain to stop the stress response, allowing the body to return to normal. fl fi fi fl  Allostasis refers to the body’s ability to adjust and regulate systems to deal with stress. Normally, after a brief " ght or ight" reaction, the body returns to normal so regular functions, like digestion and ghting infections, can continue. However, chronic stress can cause allostatic overload, where stress becomes toxic and disrupts physical and mental functions. For example, cortisol, a hormone that helps manage stress, follows a regular daily pattern. In people with chronic stress, this pattern gets disrupted, leading to high cortisol levels throughout the day. This makes the stress response less effective, sometimes staying active even when there's no danger. Chronic stress also affects the immune system by disrupting the balance of cytokines, which control in ammation. While in ammation helps protect the body from infections, persistent in ammation can lead to diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis, as well as mental health issues like depression and schizophrenia. Adaptation, Accommodation, and Assimilation Pg 79 Children learn by a process called adaption. Adaption- adjustment to change Assimilation- Children will interpret new stimulation in ways that t with things they already know. BUT this means that sometimes their initial understanding is distorted. For example, a child might have a lot of stuffed animals. She knows soft, small things, are fun to cuddle and will not react at all to her behavior. Accommodation- as the child assimilates the new information, the child's existing knowledge may be modified a little bit. This provides a better match between their knowledge and reality. Assimilation and accommodation are complimentary. To learn (accommodate) children must be able to assimilate. We cannot learn anything that doesn't make SOME sense to us already. A child's understanding of the world is continuously shaped by her/his interaction with it. Her understanding will shift as she begins to process the data from her interactions with the world around her. Because of this, her understanding may not be a completely accurate understanding of reality. Habituation and Dishabituation Pg 82 In the sensory-motor stage when a baby sees something new, they react by paying attention after a while they get used to it and stop reacting as much. But if the object were to go away and come back later, the baby would pay attention again this is called habituation(getting used to it) And dishabituation( paying attention again after a break) fl fl fi fi fl fl fi Object permanence Pgs 84 +85 (0-2 years of age) The understanding that things continue to exist even when you can’t see or hear them When a baby realizes a toy is still there, even if it’s hidden under a blanket they have developed object permanence. Recognition and Recall Pg 86 ages (0-2years of age) Remembering- requires learning, storing, and retrieving information, Recognition and recall are two different types of memory retrieval Recognition skills are present from birth Babies get better at recognizing things as they grow. Younger babies need to see something more often before they get used to it. Two types of retrieval are recognition and recall. Recognition is when you see something or someone and feel it is familiar. Recall remembering something from the past even when it’s not happening again Babies develop this later. (Ages 2-7 years old) Deferred imitation Pg 87 When a baby imitates something right away it’s called deferred imitation. Imitating something right away is NOT recall. Only if there is a time delay between the observed action and the baby’s imitation of it can we say that it is imitation. Once children can mentally represent and thus recall the actions of others, they have gained a cognitive skill that is critical for social learning Centration and Decentration Pg 91 by the age of 2(preoperational stage) When a child tends to focus on one salient feature of an experience or event at a time its called centration When a child is able to focus on more than one aspect of a situation at one time, they have learned to decenter and their thinking becomes more logical and sensible from an adults point of view (3 executive functions)Working Memory, Self-regulation, and Cognitive Flexibility Pg 91 Executive functions are a set of general abilities needed to purposefully complete a task or reach a goal, especially in new situations. Working memory- this holds the information we are thinking about at the moment. (Short term memory) Pre-scholars have shorter and more limited working memory than adults. 2-year-olds can remember 1 number 4 year olds can remember 3to 4 12 year olds can remember up to 6 numbers Adults can learn up to 7  Self-regulation- the ability to stay focused on what you want by ignoring distractions. It also means stopping yourself from reacting automatically and choosing how to respnd on purpose. ( skill is very important for almost all behaviors we see as mature.) Cognitive exibility- this means purposefully changing your focus or goas depending on the situation. It’s about being exible and adjusting as needed ( 4 and 5 year olds are more likely to develop cognitive exibility. All three executive functions are connected. Number conservation Pg 93 Piaget studied children's understanding of numbers using the number conservation task. Piaget's Number Conservation Task: Two rows of candies with the same number are shown to children. When one row is spread out, young children (ages 3-4) often think the longer row has more candies, even though the number is the same. Piaget said this happens because their thinking is centered—they focus on one thing (like length) and miss other factors (like density). Around ages 5-7, children begin to understand that the number stays the same even when the appearance changes. This is called decentering. Ages 3-4: Children fail the number conservation task because they focus on length. Ages 5-7: Children succeed because they can think about both length and density (decentering). Egocentrism Pg 95 +96 The child assumes that others see, think, and feel the same way they do.( think of piagets mountain task) Children were shown a model with three mountains. When asked what another person sees from the opposite side of the model, young children often said the person sees what they see, showing they can’t yet understand another point of view. As children grow older, especially around age 7, they start to overcome egocentrism and become more aware of other people’s perspectives. False belief task and perspective taking Pg 97 These tasks show that young children have dif culty understanding that others can have different knowledge or beliefs from their own. Example: A child knows candy has been hidden in a cabinet. When asked where someone else (Sam) will look for it, the child assumes Sam will know where it is, even though Sam wasn’t there when it was hidden. Until about age 4 ½ or 5, children struggle with this and can’t easily understand that others may not know what they know. fl fl fl fi Emotionally charged situations: Perspective-taking is especially hard when children are emotionally involved. Decentering and social interaction help children develop a more realistic understanding of others Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory Pg 109-113 Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasizes the crucial role that social interaction and culture play in cognitive development. Unlike Piaget, who focused on the individual child’s interaction with the world, Vygotsky argued that children learn primarily through interactions with more knowledgeable others (e.g., parents, teachers, peers) and through cultural tools (like language, symbols, and traditions) Zone of proximal development- the idea that having mastered an easier task or cognitive challenge we are ready to move on to something more challenging with the help of another person or scaffholding. Scaffolding refers to the support provided by others (like teachers or peers) to help the child achieve tasks they wouldn’t be able to do alone. Children’s language learning, executive function development, problem solving, and planning, support the importance of scaffolding. Vygotsky showed that learning is deeply embedded in social and cultural environments. Vgosky conceptualized the importance of chidren talking to themsellves is important to cognitive development. Emotional Intelligence Pg 127 is the ability to: 1. Perceive emotions in ourselves and others. 2. Identify and understand different emotions and their subtleties. 3. Integrate emotions with thinking and decision-making. 4. Manage emotions effectively. For example, a person with high emotional intelligence might describe their feelings in response to a violent event by saying, "First, I felt deep sadness, then anger." Someone with lower emotional intelligence might just say, "I felt really bad but couldn’t explain why." People with higher emotional intelligence tend to have better self-regulation, psychological health, and social well-being. Basic Human Emotions Pgs 128 + 129 basic emotions are believed to be innate and universal, but they develop and become more complex as we grow, in uenced by experiences and culture. fl  Emotions like fear, sadness, anger, disgust, interest, and happiness are innate and help with survival. These emotions are universal, meaning people from all cultures recognize the same facial expressions as representing these basic emotions Emotion Regulation Pg 132 The strategies and behaviors we use to manage and moderate our emotions in different situations to meet goals. Key for emotional well-being and positive adjustment throughout life. Emotion regulation is learned early in life. Caregivers play a critical role in helping infants develop these skills. Dif culties with emotion regulation can lead to social and relational issues. Supportive and responsive caregiving is essential for healthy emotional development. Synchrony Pg 133 Synchrony refers to the repetitive rhythmic coordination of nonverbal behaviors between a baby and mother. Example: Baby looks at mom, mom gazes back; baby smacks lips, mom might mimic the action or smile. Mothers' Role: Mothers usually lead the synchrony by responding to the baby’s cues. Baby’s Growing Responsiveness: Newborns: Smiling is often due to physiological states, not in response to others. 2-3 months old: Babies begin to smile in response to faces, especially when mom smiles. 3-month-olds: Engage more in synchrony, gazing back at mom, vocalizing, and encouraging mom to vocalize in return. In highly synchronized interactions, even mothers' heart rates may change in sync with their babies' heart rates within 1 second. Messiness of Interactions: Normal caregiver–infant interactions are not always smooth: ◦ Only 30% of interactions are calm, alert, and synchronous in the rst year. ◦ Most mismatches between mother and baby are quickly repaired, usually by the caregiver, ensuring that synchrony is restored. Still-Face Paradigm: (the experiment where mom stopped interacting with baby and had a cold face. A procedure demonstrating the importance of caregiver responsiveness. ◦ The mother interacts with her baby in a normal, playful way. fi fi  ◦ This method highlights how critical a mother’s engagement is for the baby’s emotional regulation. Repair Pg 133 Most mismatches between mother and baby are repaired by the caregiver, ensuring that synchrony is restored. Sensitive, responsive caregivers modify their infants' emotions, gently prodding babies toward longer periods of positive affect and interactive coordination. Still-Face Paradigm: Reunion Episode: After the mother becomes unresponsive and then resumes normal interaction, babies recover faster if the mother is responsive and positive during the reunion. Babies who have consistently experienced sensitive care from their mothers recover more quickly during the reunion episode. Mothers’ Role: The more responsive and positive the mother is during the reunion episode, the less avoidance and distress babies show. Babies look at their mothers less after a still-face experience, but the speed of their recovery depends on how their mothers interact afterward. Other and self-directed coping Pg 133 Other-Directed Coping: During the still-face episode, babies try to intensify the behaviors that usually “work,” especially gazing intently at the mother and vocalizing. These behaviors are attempts to re-engage the mother and seek comfort or connection. Self-Directed Coping: When the mother fails to respond, the baby’s distress heightens, and the baby resorts to self-directed coping behaviors designed for self-comfort. These behaviors include: ◦ Looking away ◦ Self-stimulating by rocking, sucking, or rubbing their hair. Early and sensitive care Pg 134 Interactive Repair: Adults promoting interactive repair scaffold infants' use of other-directed coping strategies, helping them see others as reliable sources of support and themselves as effective social agents. Caregiver's Role: Caregivers provide an experience-dependent environment where babies' coping strategies are practiced and developed.  Sensitive, responsive caregiving promotes positive social development. Developmental Changes in Emotion Regulation: Babies react less strongly in the still-face paradigm by 6 months old, showing improvements in emotion regulation as they age. Study on Mothers’ Responsiveness: The more responsive mothers were to their babies' crying at 2 months old, the faster the babies stopped crying by 6 months old, showing that early sensitive care improves emotion regulation capacity. Adjustment to Infant’s Needs: Sensitive adults adjust their caregiving strategies based on the infant's growing abilities, using more touch to soothe 2-month-olds and more vocalizing and distractions at 6 months old. Visual Cliff Experiment: Caregiver’s emotional expressions help infants make sense of their world. For example, 10-month-olds look to their mothers for emotional cues before crawling over a "visual cliff," showing that caregiver reactions guide infant behavior in emotionally charged situations. Basic Trust Pg 135 Bowlby’s attachment theory suggests that the early interactions between a caregiver and an infant play a crucial role in developing basic trust. This concept refers to the belief that the world is a safe and reliable place, and it is closely related to Bowlby’s idea that infants form a working model of relationships based on their early caregiving experiences. When caregivers are consistently responsive and sensitive to an infant’s needs, it helps the child develop a sense of security and trust in others. Trust and Attachment: Over time, the infant forms an attachment to the caregiver, which becomes the foundation for basic trust. The child comes to believe that they are worthy of care and that others will be there to provide support and protection. Positive Working Model: This attachment helps create a working model of relationships. If the caregiver is reliable and caring, the child develops a sense of trust in others and themselves, believing that they are valuable and that others can be depended on. Proximity maintenance, Secure base, and Safe Haven Pg 137 Proximity Maintenance:  Attachment serves to maintain proximity between infant and caregiver, nurturing the emotional bond. For example, behaviors like crying or clinging help keep the caregiver close, ensuring the infant’s safety. Secure Base: The caregiver provides a secure base from which the child can explore the environment. The child knows that they can venture out and return to the caregiver for protection if needed. For example, instead of clinging, the toddler may keep an eye on the caregiver, keeping track of their whereabouts in case of need. Safe Haven: Safe Haven refers to the child returning to the caregiver for comfort and protection in times of distress. The caregiver helps manage the infant’s stress by providing emotional comfort. When the infant experiences physiological distress (hunger, pain, fatigue), the caregiver steps in to deactivate the escalating discomfort. These three attachment functions—proximity maintenance, secure base, and safe haven—work together to ensure that the infant feels safe, secure, and supported in both emotional and physical development. Secure Attachment Pg 141(the experiment in which the mom leaves the baby with a stranger) Securely Attached ("B" category): ◦ Response: These infants show distress when separated from their mothers (e.g., crying, trying to follow her) but greet her happily on her return, often seeking comfort. ◦ Once comforted, they are likely to explore their environment, using their mother as a secure base. ◦ Prevalence: About 65% of the infants in Ainsworth’s study were securely attached. Key Concepts: Proximity Maintenance: Even in stressful situations, all infants demonstrate a need for closeness to their caregiver. Secure Base: Securely attached babies are able to explore because they trust their caregiver’s presence and availability if needed. Safe Haven: When distressed, securely attached infants turn to their caregiver for comfort and protection, calming down upon the caregiver's return. Anxious Ambivalent Attachment pg 141 These infants are considered insecurely attached, meaning they do form attachments to their caregivers but with high levels of anxiety and distress. They struggle to achieve a sense of security, even when the mother is present. Key Characteristics: High Anxiety: These babies often seem stressed from the beginning of the interaction and may not explore the room at all, unlike securely attached infants. Separation Distress: They become extremely distressed when separated from their mothers, crying more intensely than babies in other attachment categories. Reunion Behavior: When the mother returns, they show ambivalence—a mix of behaviors such as anger, resistance, or listlessness toward the mother's efforts to comfort them. They may approach and resist the mother or seem preoccupied with her, but they rarely return to exploration after separation. Avoidant Attachment Pg 142 Avoidant babies form insecure attachments but, unlike anxious ambivalent babies, they appear emotionally distant from their caregivers, showing little visible distress even during separations. Key Characteristics: Lack of Separation Distress: These infants do not cry when separated from their mothers. Avoidant Behavior: ◦ Upon reunion, they actively avoid or ignore their mothers. ◦ They may show a mix of proximity-seeking and moving away, but predominantly they turn away from their caregivers. Emotional Suppression: ◦ Outwardly, they seem unemotional during the separation and reunion episodes. ◦ However, studies show that their heart rates remain elevated during and after separation, indicating hidden distress. This is similar to anxious ambivalent babies, but avoidant infants do not display their emotional discomfort. Disorganized Attachment Pg 142 Disorganized-disoriented infants exhibit a highly insecure attachment style characterized by contradictory behaviors. These babies are dif cult to classify under typical attachment categories due to their unusual responses. Key Characteristics: Contradictory Behaviors: These infants show both a desire to approach the mother when stressed but also a tendency to avoid her when she approaches. Confusion and Disorientation: Their behavior re ects disorganization, often seeming confused or unsure about how to interact with their caregiver. Infant temperament Pgs 144-146 There are 4 temperament types. Difficult, Easy, Slow to warm up, Variable  š š š fl fi  Dif cult Babies (10%): More fearful, irritable, and active. Less positive affect and irregular rhythms, making them more challenging to care for. display less positive affect and have irregular sleep and eating schedules. Easy Babies (40%): Placid, less active, more positive, and regular in biological rhythms. Easier to care for. have regular sleep and eating schedules, and tend to be reactive to parents’ voices and presence. Slow-to-Warm-Up Babies (15%): Fearful like dif cult babies but generally less intense in reactions. They show wariness in new situations but eventually adapt. Variable Babies (35%): Babies that don’t t neatly into any of the categories above and display a mix of traits. They tended to have a less extreme effect, however, so fussy, but not SO fussy. Variable babies are sometimes easy, sometimes difficult, and sometimes slow to warm up. Infant temperament is the unique combination of emotional and behavioral traits that babies are born with, in uencing how they react to their surroundings and how caregivers respond to them. These traits, which can be stable over time, are shaped by both biological factors and caregiver interactions. Goodness of Fit Pg Pg 147 Dif cult Temperament: Around 70% of infants with dif cult temperaments developed adjustment problems later in life, such as learning dif culties or behavioral issues. The “goodness of t” between a child’s temperament and the caregiver’s response was crucial in predicting later outcomes. Babies with dif cult temperaments who received consistent and patient care often became more adaptable over time and had fewer adjustment problems. Impact of Caregiving: Dif cult Babies: Parents of dif cult babies faced more challenges, but sensitive caregiving could help moderate the negative traits of the infant's temperament. Easy Babies: These infants generally coped better, even when the parental t was less ideal. Caregiving and Attachment: Temperament and Attachment: While temperament plays a role in the development of attachment, the quality of caregiving (sensitivity and responsiveness) has a stronger in uence. fl fi fi fi fi fl fi fi fi fi fi fi fi  Babies with dif cult temperaments may be more challenging to care for, which can affect caregivers’ emotional responses, but sensitive care can still foster secure attachments. Differential Susceptibility: Some infants, especially those with high reactivity, may be more sensitive to both positive and negative caregiving. They bene t more from positive parenting but also experience more harm from negative parenting compared to other babies. I - self Pg 174 The "I" refers to the active part of the self, the one that experiences things and is aware of being an individual. It gives us a sense of continuity (knowing we are the same person over time), agency (the ability to act), and awareness that we are separate from others. Me – self Pg 174 The "Me" is the part of the self that we observe or that others observe. It is our self-concept— how we see and de ne ourselves. It includes the material self (our body, possessions), the social self (our relationships, reputation), and the spiritual self(our values and beliefs). Self-esteem Pg 174 Self-esteem is how we evaluate the "Me," or the characteristics we observe in ourselves. It involves judging whether our traits are good, bad, or neutral. According to James, self-esteem is in uenced by the successes we achieve in relation to our aspirations or goals. Looking-glass-self Pg 174 The self develops through interactions with others by re ecting on how we imagine others perceive us. Three steps: Imagine how we appear to others. Imagine how others evaluate us. Experience emotional responses based on perceived evaluation. Self-recognition Pg 177 Self-recognition is the ability to recognize oneself as an individual separate from the environment and others. It is a key milestone in the development of self-awareness and typically emerges around 18 to 24 months of age. Mirror Test: fi fi fl fi fl  This classic test involves placing a mark, such as red rouge, on a child’s face without their knowledge. The child is then placed in front of a mirror. Before 18 months: Children usually touch the mirror or look behind it, indicating they do not yet recognize the re ection as themselves. After 18 months: Most children will touch their own face where the mark is, showing they understand the re ection is of themselves. After recognizing themselves, children also begin to display self-conscious emotions such as pride, shame, or embarrassment, which re ect their emerging sense of self. Body as Obstacle Pg 178 Body-as-Obstacle Test: In this test, the child’s body is used as an obstacle to prevent them from completing a task, such as pushing a shopping cart that is attached to a mat they are standing on. To succeed, the child must recognize that their body is in the way and step off the mat, demonstrating an understanding of how their body interacts with the environment. ◦ In collectivist cultures, like those in Zambia, children may perform better on tasks like the body-as-obstacle test, which emphasizes the self in relation to the environment or context. Self-awareness develops around the same time across cultures, but cultural preferences affect which self-recognition test is easier for infants: ◦ In individualistic cultures (e.g., Scotland), babies typically pass the mirror test rst, re ecting autonomy and face-to-face interactions with parents. ◦ In collectivist cultures (e.g., Zambia), babies excel at the body-as-obstacle test, showing an understanding of the self in context. Zambian parents often use proximal caregiving, keeping babies close rather than focusing on face-to-face interactions. Self-awareness begins in infancy and is shaped by cultural practices, caregiver interactions, and personal experiences. Children’s self-concepts evolve from basic self-recognition to more complex, differentiated self-descriptions as they grow, with caregiver input playing a crucial role in shaping their self-esteem and self-perception. Parental Warmth Pg 183 Key Aspects of Parental Warmth: 1. Responsiveness: ◦ Actively listening to the child and being attuned to their emotional and physical needs. ◦ Showing interest in the child’s activities, thoughts, and feelings. 2. Supportive Behavior: fi fl fl fl fl  ◦ Offering encouragement, praise, and positive reinforcement for the child’s efforts and accomplishments. ◦ Providing comfort and reassurance during times of distress or uncertainty. 3. Acceptance and Understanding: ◦ Valuing the child’s individuality and respecting their autonomy. ◦ Being non-judgmental and avoiding negative or harsh criticism. 4. Positive Emotional Climate: ◦ Creating a warm, safe, and nurturing environment where the child feels loved and accepted. ◦ Engaging in affectionate behaviors like hugging, smiling, and using a friendly tone of voice. 5. Encouraging Autonomy: ◦ Allowing the child to make choices and have some control over their activities. ◦ Supporting the child’s efforts to become independent and self-suf cient. 6. Two-Way Communication: ◦ Engaging in open and honest dialogue, encouraging the child to express their thoughts and feelings. ◦ Listening actively and considering the child’s perspective in decision-making. 7. Child-Centered Focus: ◦ Prioritizing the child’s needs, interests, and well-being, even when it may be inconvenient for the parent. ◦ Adapting to the child’s developmental needs and emotional states with sensitivity. Parental Parental demandingness refers to behavioral control, where parents set expectations for appropriate behavior based on the child's maturity level. This includes setting standards, enforcing rules, and requiring self-control from the child. 1. Child-Centered vs. Parent-Centered: ◦ Child-centered demandingness focuses on helping the child develop self- control for social acceptance and skillful interaction with others. ◦ Parent-centered demandingness prioritizes the parent's own needs (e.g., for quiet, order, or convenience) rather than the child’s development. 2. Clear and Consistent Standards: ◦ Demanding parents set clear, consistent rules for their children's behavior and enforce them. These expectations vary depending on the child’s developmental stage and abilities. 4. Balancing Control and Responsiveness: fi  ◦ In positive forms of demandingness (e.g., authoritative parenting), demands are paired with warmth and support, helping children understand the reasons for rules and promoting self-regulation. ◦ In negative forms (e.g., authoritarian parenting), demands are enforced with psychological control or harsh discipline, without fostering emotional connection or autonomy. 5. Psychological Control: ◦ This refers to manipulating the child’s emotional experiences through guilt, shame, or conditional love, which is not a healthy form of demandingness. It focuses on emotional manipulation rather than guiding the child’s behavior. 6. Maturity Demands: ◦ Parents impose maturity demands, expecting children to behave according to their level of cognitive and emotional development. As children grow, parents shift from physically controlling behavior to relying more on commands, requests, and expectations for self-regulation. 7. Impact on Child Development: ◦ High parental demandingness, when combined with warmth (authoritative), fosters self-discipline, social competence, and positive adjustment. ◦ When demandingness is paired with low responsiveness (authoritarian), it can lead to issues like emotional suppression and lower self-esteem in children. Parenting Styles Pg 185 1. Authoritative Style: ◦ High responsiveness and high demandingness. ◦ Creates a positive emotional climate, promoting autonomy, assertiveness, and individuality. ◦ Encourages two-way communication and open affection. ◦ Clear standards and explanations for rules are provided. ◦ Behavioral control is emphasized without using psychological control. ◦ Outcomes for children: Adaptability, competence, high self-esteem, good self- regulation, social skills, and low aggression. 2. Authoritarian Style: ◦ Low responsiveness but high demandingness. ◦ Does not promote autonomy or assertiveness; focuses on conformity and strict control. ◦ Communicates with one-sided directives ("Because I said so") and shows less affection. ◦ Tends to use harsh disciplinary methods and restricts emotional expressiveness.  ◦ Outcomes for children: More likely to be irritable, anxious, and conforming but lack social skills and self-regulation when authority is absent. Prone to low self-esteem. 3. Permissive Style: ◦ High responsiveness but low demandingness. ◦ Offers nurturing and affection but makes few behavioral demands. ◦ Laissez-faire approach to discipline, often tolerating aggressive behavior. ◦ Outcomes for children: Tend to be less self-disciplined, with dif culty in self- regulation. 4. Neglecting-Uninvolved Style: ◦ Low responsiveness and low demandingness. ◦ Provides little time or attention to the child, focusing primarily on the parent’s own concerns. ◦ Lacks affection and warmth; may be hostile or use harsh discipline without explanation. ◦ Outcomes for children: Likely to have poor self-esteem, low social competence, and more behavior problems. Child Outcomes Based on Parenting Styles: Authoritative: Positive self-development, high self-esteem, and strong self-regulation. Authoritarian: Irritability, anxiety, low self-esteem, conforming with authority, but may lack self-regulation when not monitored. Permissive: Low self-discipline, struggles with self-control. Neglecting-Uninvolved: Poor self-esteem, emotional and behavioral dif culties. In sum, authoritative parenting leads to the most favorable outcomes, supporting children's emotional, social, and cognitive development, while authoritarian and neglecting styles tend to result in more negative effects on self-esteem and behavior. Anxious Arousal Pg 195 Anxious Arousal: Refers to the emotional distress children feel during disciplinary situations. A mild level of arousal helps children focus on the parent’s message and internalize the standards. Excessive arousal may cause children to focus more on their emotional fear rather than understanding and learning the rule. Mild discipline is more effective for long-term internalization because it elicits just enough arousal for the child to pay attention without overwhelming them. Minimum Suf ciency Principal Pg 195 Minimum Suf ciency Principle: fi fi fi fi  A disciplinary strategy in which parents use minimal force or control to achieve compliance. The idea is that children experience mild arousal, enough to prompt re ection and understanding of the socialization message without being overly frightened. This principle supports internalization because the child attributes their compliance to accepting the rule rather than being driven by fear. Committed compliance Pg 195 Committed Compliance: A child’s eager and enthusiastic willingness to follow a parent’s instructions and cooperate. Highly fearful children tend to show more committed compliance if parents use gentle discipline. Fearless children show committed compliance primarily when they have a secure attachment with their caregiver. Committed compliance at age 2 predicts later moral development and internalization of social norms. These concepts highlight the importance of parenting that balances warmth, discipline, and responsiveness to children's individual temperaments for fostering self-regulation and moral development. Reversible Relationship Pg 211 Reversible Thinking: The ability to mentally reverse an action or a change. For example, if you understand that adding 1 to 2 gives 3, you can also reverse this process to understand that subtracting 1 from 3 gives 2. Decentering: The cognitive process of being able to consider multiple aspects of a problem simultaneously. Conservation: A child’s ability to understand that certain properties (such as number or mass) remain the same even when their appearance changes. Compensation: The understanding that one change (such as an increase in length) can be compensated by another change (such as a decrease in density). This compensatory thinking is a sign of being able to identify reversible relationships. Concrete Operational Stage: The stage in Piaget’s theory, usually from ages 6 to 12, when children develop the ability to think logically about concrete events and recognize reversible relationships in problem-solving. fl  Logical Deduction: The process of drawing conclusions based on the relationships between pieces of information, often utilizing reversible thinking. For example, understanding that if "P leads to Q" and "Q did not happen," then "P must not have happened." Retrieval Pg 220 Retrieval is what we usually mean by remembering, that is, getting information out of storage so we can use it 1. Recognition: ◦ De nition: Recognition happens when the information to be remembered is present in your environment, and you identify it as familiar. ◦ Example: Seeing a person and remembering where you’ve seen them before (e.g., a grocery store clerk). ◦ Development: Recognition abilities are present from birth and tend to be quite strong, especially for visual-spatial information (e.g., remembering pictures). 2. Recall: ◦ De nition: Recall involves retrieving information from memory without having the stimulus present. It requires more effort than recognition. ◦ Example: Answering an essay question or recalling details about a visit to the doctor without visual aids. ◦ Challenges: Children might struggle with recall if they: ▪ Did not pay attention to the information initially. ▪ Did not effectively store the information in long-term memory. ▪ Lack strategies to retrieve the information. 3. Visual-Spatial Recognition: ◦ Children’s recognition of visual-spatial information (like pictures) is typically well-developed, even in early childhood, and improves over time. 4. Verbal Information Recognition: ◦ Recognition of verbally presented information continues to develop across childhood, showing improvement in retention and retrieval abilities. 5. Improvement Over Time: ◦ Both recognition and recall improve as children grow older, with visual recognition typically developing earlier, followed by improvement in verbal recognition. Declarative, Semantic, episodic, and non-declarative knowledge Pg 221 1. Declarative Knowledge: This is knowledge about facts and events that can be consciously recalled. fi fi  ◦ Semantic Knowledge: Refers to factual information, rules, and concepts (e.g., “The Earth is round” or “Red lights mean stop”). ◦ Episodic Knowledge: Refers to knowledge about personal experiences, organized around time and space (e.g., remembering a visit to the doctor). ▪ Script: A mental framework or schema for typical events, developed from repeated experiences (e.g., knowing the sequence of a medical exam). 2. Non-Declarative Knowledge: This is unconscious knowledge that we may not be able to verbalize but affects behavior, such as skills and habits. ◦ Procedural Knowledge: A type of non-declarative knowledge, such as knowing how to do things like riding a bike or shifting gears in a car. It is often learned through practice and is dif cult to articulate. Key Cognitive Changes in Middle Childhood: 1. Processing Speed: Children become faster at processing information with age. This increase in speed helps them manage more information at one time, contributing to improved memory and cognitive skills. 2. Breadth and Depth of Knowledge: As children grow, their knowledge base expands. This allows them to: ◦ Reconstruct Events: Older children can accurately recall past events because they have more knowledge about those events (e.g., a 7-year-old's script of a medical exam). ◦ Prevent False Memories: Although prior knowledge helps memory, it can sometimes lead to errors or false memories, especially when beliefs (such as gender stereotypes) in uence how children interpret or remember events. Metacognition Pg 227 Refers to awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes. This involves the ability to re ect on and control mental activities such as learning and memory. Metamemory Pg 227 A subset of metacognition that speci cally relates to understanding how memory works. Understanding Memory Abilities: Older children, such as fth graders, realize that certain types of memory tasks (e.g., remembering the gist of a story) are easier than others (e.g., remembering exact words). They also understand that memory abilities vary between people and situations. Memory Monitoring: As children get older, they improve in judging what they know and how well they can remember something, such as whether they would recognize a name or recall a list of words. Developmental Changes: Preschoolers (Ages 4–5): Begin to show basic metacognitive skills, such as understanding that people have different thoughts and that strategies (like writing things down) can help with memory. However, they are often overly optimistic about their memory abilities. fl fl fi fi fi  Elementary School Children (Ages 6–12): Show signi cant improvements in metacognition. They become more realistic about their memory abilities and use memory strategies more effectively, particularly if they understand how memory works. Memory Strategies and Metacognition: Strategic Use: Older children use memory strategies (like organization or rehearsal) more effectively as they grow in their understanding of how memory functions. Learning Through Feedback: Children who better understand memory processes (metamemory) are more likely to use and bene t from memory strategies, such as organizing information for better recall. ◦ Children with stronger metamemory skills are better at applying memory strategies and improving their recall over time. For example, children who understood that recent experiences are easier to recall showed more improvement in using memory strategies after training. Perspective Taking Pg 238 + 239 Perspective-taking skills improve gradually as children mature, largely due to cognitive advancements such as improvements in executive functions like working memory. Egocentrism: Young children (preoperational stage) are egocentric, unable to consider others’ perspectives. The ability to decenter (consider multiple perspectives or pieces of information) helps children overcome egocentrism. Working Memory: Growth in working memory capacity is crucial for developing perspective-taking abilities, as seen in improved performance on theory of mind tasks. Social Interactions: Peer Interactions: Peer interactions, as Piaget theorized, push children to consider others' viewpoints, which is essential for learning effective communication and resolving con icts. Parent-Child Relationships: Secure attachments with parents foster the development of perspective-taking by encouraging discussions about thoughts and feelings. Sibling Effect: In Western cultures, having siblings promotes perspective-taking through both positive and negative interactions (e.g., teasing, cooperation). Role of Friendship in Perspective Taking: Mutual Give-and-Take: Friendships require balancing individual needs and the needs of the relationship, which promotes the development of perspective-taking. Con ict Resolution: Perspective-taking is critical in resolving con icts within friendships. The ability to coordinate perspectives and manage disagreements helps sustain healthy friendships. Stages of Friendship Development Pg 240-243 Selman’s Stages of Friendship Development: Stages: Robert Selman identi ed ve stages of friendship development, each tied to the child's level of perspective-taking, intimacy, autonomy, and con ict resolution. As fl fl fi fi fi fi fl fl  children progress through these stages, their ability to understand others and manage relationships improves. Importance of Social Experience: Cognitive and Social Growth: Perspective-taking develops through social experiences, including peer and family interactions, which help children navigate their relationships and improve their cognitive skills for understanding others’ viewpoints. Stage 0: Undifferentiated/Egocentric (Ages 3 to 6) Shared Experience: Friendship is de ned by physical proximity and simple behaviors, such as sharing toys or living nearby. Perspective Taking: Very limited; children are egocentric and have little understanding of others' perspectives. Con ict Resolution: Con icts are managed impulsively, often with physical responses ( ght or ight). Stage 1: Differentiated/Subjective (Ages 5 to 9) Shared Experience: Friendship involves unre ective sharing of enthusiasm and activities. Perspective Taking: Children understand that others have different viewpoints but cannot fully coordinate or understand both perspectives at the same time. Con ict Resolution: One-way strategies such as obedience or authority-based solutions; responsibility for resolving con ict falls on the perceived initiator. Stage 2: Reciprocal/Self-Re ective (Ages 8 to 12) Shared Experience: Friendship becomes more intense and based on reciprocal understanding of shared perceptions and experiences. Perspective Taking: Children can re ect on both their own and others' perspectives and start to understand two-way reciprocity ("I think; you think"). Con ict Resolution: Con icts are resolved through negotiation and cooperation, with attention to both parties' needs and emotions. Stage 3: Mutual/Third-Person (Ages 10 to 15) Shared Experience: Friendships are characterized by empathic sharing of beliefs and values, mutual support, and intimacy. Perspective Taking: Adolescents can view situations from a third-person perspective, considering both their own and their friend's viewpoints simultaneously. Con ict Resolution: Mutual compromise is the typical strategy for resolving con icts, with attention to maintaining the relationship. Stage 4: Intimate/In-Depth/Societal (Late Teens/Adulthood) Shared Experience: Relationships involve deep, interdependent sharing of vulnerabilities and a balance between intimacy and autonomy. Perspective Taking: Individuals can understand the perspectives of broader social groups and cultures, not just within a dyad. fi fl fl fl fl fl fl fl fl fl fl fi fl fl  Con ict Resolution: Con icts are resolved through collaborative integration of relationship dynamics, with a commitment to sustaining long-term relationships. The Structure of self-concept Pg 255 1. Multidimensional Nature of Self-Concept: ◦ Self-concept is not a single, uni ed construct. Instead, it is made up of various components related to different domains of life. These domains are interconnected but not necessarily overlapping. ◦ Self-concept vs. Self-esteem: While self-concept refers to the descriptive aspect of how individuals see themselves (e.g., "I am good at math"), self-esteem re ects the evaluative aspect, which involves feelings about one's worth or abilities (e.g., "I feel good about being good at math"). 2. Two Main Domains: ◦ Academic Self-Concept: This domain pertains to how children perceive their abilities in school-related subjects. It can be broken down further into speci c subject areas like math, science, English, social studies, and artistic abilities. ◦ Nonacademic Self-Concept: This includes perceptions of oneself in areas unrelated to schoolwork, such as social relationships, physical abilities, and emotional self-concept (how well one understands and manages emotions). 3. Hierarchical Structure: ◦ Self-concept is organized in a hierarchical fashion, with general self-concept at the top, encompassing both academic and nonacademic self-concepts. ◦ Within each domain, there are further subdivisions. For example, academic self- concept includes subject-speci c beliefs, while nonacademic self-concept includes physical abilities, social interactions, and emotional self-concept. 4. In uence of Cognitive Development: ◦ As children grow older, their self-concept becomes more complex and differentiated. In middle childhood, children start to integrate opposing characteristics (e.g., being “good” at one subject and “bad” at another). ◦ They also begin to make comparisons with others and incorporate how others perceive them into their self-concept. 5. Abstract Trait Formation in Adolescence: ◦In early adolescence, self-concept becomes more abstract as individuals form generalized traits about themselves (e.g., "intelligent" or "airhead") that are broader and include multiple characteristics. 6. Self-Esteem Development: ◦ Self-esteem, which is in uenced by self-concept, typically declines in early adolescence due to cognitive, physical, and social changes. Adolescents start to evaluate themselves more critically and realistically. fl fl fl fl fi fi fi fl  Shavelson's model of self-concept provides a framework for understanding how children's sense of self is organized and evolves over time, incorporating multiple domains that re ect their cognitive, academic, social, and emotional development. Social comparison Pg 258 Social Comparison: De nition: This is when people compare themselves to others to gure out how they are doing. For example, kids might see how they perform in school by comparing their grades to classmates. When It Happens: Social comparison happens a lot when we aren’t sure how well we’re doing or when there aren’t clear standards for success, like in new or uncertain situations. In Childhood: As children grow older, especially in school, they begin comparing themselves to others to understand their abilities. Feedback from peers, parents, and teachers in uences how they see themselves. Impact: Children may compare themselves to others who are better (upward comparison) or to others who aren’t as good (downward comparison) to feel better about themselves. Self-enhancing bias Pg 258 Self-Enhancing Bias: De nition: This is the tendency to focus on our strengths and overlook our weaknesses to feel good about ourselves. Motivation: People use this bias to protect their self-esteem, especially when they face challenges or criticism. Relation to Self-Esteem: People with high self-esteem are better at maintaining a positive self-image even when they face negative feedback. Those with lower self-esteem are more affected by others’ opinions and are less likely to use self-enhancing strategies. Downward Comparison: To feel better about themselves, people with lower self-esteem may compare themselves to others who are less successful, helping them avoid feeling bad. as children grow, they increasingly compare themselves to others to gauge their abilities. They use strategies like self-enhancing bias to protect their self-esteem, and feedback from peers and adults plays a key role in shaping their self-image. Pre and post conventional morality Pg 269 Preconventional Morality (Ages 5-9) Focus: Decisions are based on avoiding punishment and getting what you want. Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience: ◦ Explanation: Kids follow rules to avoid being punished and believe that authority gures (like parents or teachers) are always right. ◦ Example: A child might think Heinz shouldn’t steal the drug because stealing is bad and he’ll get punished. Individual Interests: fi fi fi fl fi fl  ◦ Explanation: Kids do things if it bene ts them and might consider helping others if they get something in return (fair exchange). ◦ Example: A child might say Heinz should steal the drug because he needs it to save his wife. 1. Conventional Morality (Ages 9-adolescence) ◦ Focus: Decisions are based on pleasing others and following social rules. ◦ Stage 3: Social Approval: ▪ Explanation: Kids care about what others think and want to be seen as good or helpful. ▪ Example: Heinz should steal the drug because people will understand and approve of him saving his wife. ◦ Stage 4: Law and Order: ▪ Explanation: Kids follow laws and rules because they believe it keeps society working properly. ▪ Example: Heinz shouldn’t steal the drug because breaking the law is wrong, and laws help society function. Heteronomous Morality, and Autonomous Morality Pg 270 Heteronomous Morality (Ages 5-9) De nition: This is when children believe that rules come from authority gures (like parents or teachers) and must be followed without question. Rules are seen as xed and unchangeable. Key Features: ◦ Focus on Consequences: Children focus more on the outcome (such as how many cups are broken) rather than the intent behind an action. ◦ Obeying Authority: Children think rules are handed down by authority gures and cannot be changed. ◦ Example: A child might say that Heinz should not steal the drug because "stealing is always wrong" and rules must not be broken. ◦ Autonomous Morality (Around Ages 8-12 and beyond) ◦ De nition: As children grow older and engage more with peers, they begin to understand that rules are agreements that people can negotiate or change. Morality becomes more about fairness and mutual respect. ◦ Key Features: ▪ Intentions Matter: Children now pay more attention to why someone did something, not just the outcome. ▪ Rules Can Change: They recognize that rules can be modi ed if agreed upon by the group or for a greater good. ▪ Example: An older child might say that Heinz should steal the drug because saving a life is more important than following the rule against stealing. fi fi fi fi fi fi fi  Prosocial Behaviors Pg 273 1. Prosocial Behavior: ◦ What it is: Actions meant to help others, like sharing, helping, or comforting. ◦ Examples: Sharing toys, comforting a friend, or helping with a charity. 2. Why Kids Help: ◦ Kids might help others because: ▪ They want to feel good or get attention. ▪ They like helping others. ▪ They want approval from adults or friends. 3. Altruism: ◦ What it is: Helping others without expecting anything in return. ◦ Not all prosocial behavior is altruistic, as some acts can be for self-gain. 4. Role of Emotions: ◦ Empathy: Feeling the same emotions as someone else and wanting to help them. ▪ Example: A child comforts a sad friend because they feel the friend’s sadness. ◦ Sympathy: Feeling concern for someone without sharing their exact feelings. ▪ Example: Feeling sorry for someone and offering help, even if you don’t feel their emotion directly. 5. How Prosocial Behavior Develops: ◦ Early Signs: Even toddlers show prosocial behavior, like trying to comfort others. ◦ Consistency: Kids who are helpful early on usually stay that way as they grow up. 6. Natural Tendency: ◦ Empathy might be built-in, as seen when babies cry when they hear others cry. Antisocial Behaviors Pg 277 De nition: Antisocial behaviors involve actions that intend to harm others or disregard the potential harm caused. These can include lying, cheating, stealing, and aggressive acts (both physical and verbal). Lying: Developmental Changes: Children start lying as early as age 2. Lying becomes more frequent during middle childhood but declines as children reach adolescence. Motivations: Lying can serve different purposes, such as covering up rule-breaking, being polite (prosocial lying), or trying to t in socially. Types of Lying: ◦ Prosocial Lying: Lying to protect others' feelings or for social politeness, more common in teens. fi fi  ◦ Harmful Lying: Lying to intentionally harm someone or cover up misconduct. Aggression: Antisocial behavior also includes aggression, which can be physical, verbal, or social (e.g., bullying or social exclusion). Development: The likelihood of antisocial behavior changes with age, with younger children more likely to lie or break rules than older children and teens, who typically develop stronger moral reasoning and self-control. Parental In uence: Children learn prosocial or antisocial behavior based on parental modeling, with parents who promote honesty and positive values tending to raise children who lie less and act more prosocially. fl