Psychology 104 Midterm PDF

How was the Massov et al. (2024) study different (methodologically) from most of the studies you have read in this class? What were their main findings? ○ Virtual reality helped them escape and relax during labor ○ Massov et al. (2024) used an "exploratory sequential mixed methods...

How was the Massov et al. (2024) study different (methodologically) from most of the studies you have read in this class? What were their main findings? ○ Virtual reality helped them escape and relax during labor ○ Massov et al. (2024) used an "exploratory sequential mixed methods research design (collection of both quantitative and qualitative data in different phases)" ○ Thematic analysis of the qualitative data Qualitative - a research approach that focuses on collecting rich, detailed data about individuals' subjective experiences and perspectives on development, often through methods like in-depth interviews, observations in natural settings, and focus groups, to gain a deeper understanding of developmental processes Quantitative - a research approach that uses standardized measures and statistical analysis to collect numerical data on developmental changes across different age groups, typically involving methods like surveys, standardized tests, and controlled experiment Abels et al, - Norwegian Infant sleeping location ○ the main findings highlighted that sleep locations varied, with infants often sleeping in different places over time, including parents' beds, cribs in the parents' room, or separate rooms. A significant portion of mothers chose co-sleeping arrangements, especially early on ○ Mothers explained their sleep location choices as primarily driven by factors like convenience, ease of breastfeeding, bonding, and the desire to monitor the infant closely. Many mothers valued the proximity for comforting the infant and supporting their own sleep needs. Schmidt et al. -two distinct styles of parenting infants. What are they called and what are their main characteristics? ○ Distal - eye contact ○ Proximal - body contact Cirelli et al.’s (2014) ○ Main findings Infants were more likely to help an experimenter who had bounced in synchrony with them  ○ How did they show that contingency and not mirroring was responsible for this finding?. Both moving together (in-phase) and moving in opposite ways (anti-phase) increased helping behavior. Waters et. al ○ How did they know that stress could be contagious to infants? Stress is contagious to infants as studies showed that infants’ physiological responses mirrored their mothers’ stress levels after a stressful evaluation task, even without direct exposure. Infants whose mothers had just experienced a stressful interaction were more likely to avoid a stranger DeCasper and Spence’s (1986) ○ found that newborns recognized and showed a preference for a story read aloud to them by their mothers during pregnancy, demonstrating that fetal exposure to auditory stimuli can influence early preferences and recognition abilities DeCasper et al. (1994) ○ What did it add? demonstrating that newborns not only recognized a familiar story but also showed a preference for their mother’s voice over that of a stranger ○ Main dependant measure - the amount of time the infants spent sucking on a pacifier Brubaker et al. (2019) ○ Main findings- found that mothers who experienced early contact with their newborns reported a more positive birth experience. Hym et al. (2021) ○ Two behaviors measured crawling rooting  ○ Main findings - found that newborns made more rooting movements when they were exposed to the odor of their mother's breast milk than when they were exposed to the odor of water. Predictive adaptive response model - the idea that a developing baby (fetus) can sense what the world outside might be like based on signals it gets from the mother during pregnancy, like how much food is available or how stressed the mother is. Based on these signals, the baby adjusts how it grows to prepare for the kind of world it expects to be born into. ○ Did Sandman et al.’s (2012) findings support this model? Yes, the study found that infants exposed to higher levels of prenatal stress exhibited alterations in brain development and behavior, suggesting that the fetus adapts its development based on the environmental cues it receives from the mother Agpar score- right after birth ○ Appearance (skin color) ○ Pulse (heart rate) ○ Grimace (reflexes and response to stimulation) ○ Activity (muscle tone) ○ Respiration (breathing effort) Reflexes not necessary for survival: ○ Moro Reflex (Startle Reflex): When startled by a loud noise or sudden movement, the infant throws out their arms and legs, then pulls them back in. While it may have had evolutionary significance (grasping onto a caregiver), it’s not essential for survival in modern settings. ○ Palmar Grasp Reflex: When an object touches the infant’s palm, they tightly grasp it. This reflex is not necessary for survival, though it may promote bonding by allowing the infant to hold onto caregivers' fingers. ○ Babinski Reflex: When the sole of a baby's foot is stroked, their big toe bends backward, and the other toes fan out. This reflex has no  immediate survival function but is used by doctors to assess neurological development. feeding imprinting - infants form strong, lasting preferences for specific foods based on early feeding experiences and exposure Suberi et al.’s (2017) ○ Main findings -If premature babies with very low birthweight are breastfed before they are bottle fed, this is associated with a number of positive outcomes. Byers-Heinlein et al. (2010) ○ What was new? examining how bilingualism affects infants' language preferences ○ Two main findings: Bilingual newborns did not prefer one of their two languages but were able to distinguish between them Deprivation studies on animals: ○ Reduced Cognitive Function ○ Altered Brain Structure ○ Behavioral Changes Enrichment studies on animals: ○ Enhanced Cognitive Abilities ○ Increased Neuroplasticity ○ Improved Emotional Well-being SES- low socioeconomic status Betancourt et al.’s (2016) ○ Main findings - the effects of adversity on brain development can be seen in infancy found a positive relation between SES and volume of cortical gray and deep gray matter. Graham et al.’s (2013) ○ What does it tell us about sleeping infants?  That they process speech even when they are asleep Kelly et al.’s (2007) ○ Main findings - Before they are a year old, infants show evidence of the other-race effect Cole et al.’s (2012) ○ Main findings - Younger infants' gait was best when wearing no diapers Younger infants were more likely to fall when walking in cloth diapers findings offer support for the role of environment in motor development. Rogoff et al. (1993) ○ 2 communities, US city and a Mayan village The way caregivers interact with their toddlers Differences: Verbal vs. nonverbal communication Explanation vs. demonstration Direct teaching vs. supporting child’s learning ○ Instead of telling what to do, showing what to do Different beliefs re: who is responsible for child’s learning (child or parent?) Parents’ experience with school Longitudinal design ○ Repeated measures of the same participants over time (i.e., within-subjects) ○ Advantage: Can study stability/change in individuals over time ○ Disadvantages: Attrition (loss of participants over time) Systematic attrition —> bias Have to wait for babies to get older  Order effects Same measure might not be measuring the same thing at a different time Cross-sectional ○ Examining different age groups at the same time (i.e. between-subjects) ○ Advantages: Fewer participants lost Get it done faster; don't have to wait for babies to get older Usually, don’t have to worry about order effects ○ Disadvantages: Can’t study stability of individual differences Cohort effects - something systematically different between age groups other than age (confound) Observational vs. experimental studies ○ Observational studies involve studying naturally occurring variations ○ Experimental studies involve manipulation and control of variables as well as random assignment ○ Manipulated variable - IV (independent variable) ○ What is measured - DV (dependent variable) Habituation ○ A gradual reduction in the strength of response as the result of repeat stimulation Dishabituation ○ The increase in responsiveness after stimulation changes Meaning they can tell the difference between Stages of prenatal development ○ zygote/germinal  Conception to about 2 weeks Cell division; implantation ○ Embryo From 2 weeks to 8 weeks Organogenesis Major organs start to form ○ Fetus From 8 weeks to birth Engaging in behavior, responding to stimulation ○ Stages of Labor Stage 1: Dilation of Cervix To have clear path from uterus to birth canal Caused by contractions of the uterus Ends with cervix opening up completely Longer in first pregnancy on average early labor, active labor, transition Squeezing releases stress hormones in infant which prepares them to be birthed Stage 2: Delivery of Infant Cut umbilical cord when it stops pulsing Stage 3: Delivery of Placenta If any piece of it left in is risk of infection Neonatal imitation (Meltzoff and Moore, 1977) ○ Are you imitating faces of someone in front of you ○ 12 infants (16 to 21 days old) ○ Shown mouth openings (MO) and tongue protrusions (TP) in counterbalanced order  ○ Blind observer coded videotapes for infant’s production of these same two behaviors ○ You don't have mental representations yet Mapping across visual modalities Neurons = nerve cells Dendrites = branched extensions of neurons Synapses = connections between neurons Glial cells = Help messages move more smoothly between neurons Muelinization = Process of forming myelin which insulates neural fibers; speeds transmission of messages between neurons Stages of neural development 1. Cell production 2. Cell migration 3. Cell elaboration =forming synapses 4. Cell death = pruning Functional changes (lead to) → structural changes AND Structural changes (lead to) → functional changes Many varied experiences are needed to maintain and develop the complex network of neurons Effects of radiation and alcohol on brain development in utero ○ Radiation = neurons stop short of their targets ○ Alcohol = neurons overshoot their targets Kennard principle ○ The earlier the brain damage, the less severe the behavioral effects  Cross modal perception ○ Matching across perceptual modalities Perceptual narrowing hypothesis ○ As infants gain experience with certain sounds and sights, they become attuned to those sounds/sights and less sensitive to others Phoneme perception - language Face perception - other race effect Ulnar grasp vs. pincer grasp ○ 1st -Ulnar grasp - “standard” grasp, ring and pinky finger ○ Later- Pincer grasp - pointer finger and thumb Continuity and discontinuity -Specific to development, continuous (or quantitative change) development might be something like a child knows a certain number of words and over time learns more and more words whereas discontinuous (or qualitative change) development might be something like a child going from crawling to walking (these are qualitatively different stages from one another) Vulnerability vs. resilience -E.g., Werner (1989) study perinatal stress combined with multiple risk factors (eg., addiction in the family, poverty) → 10% of children developed serious developmental problems → ⅓ of this 10% were faced with the same risks but did not have negative outcomes Epigenetics ○ Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene activity that do not involve changes to the genome itself  What two types of studies do developmental behavioral geneticists conduct? ○ Twin studies 100% of genetic material are monozygotic; 50% of genetic material are dizygotic ○ Adoption studies Children who are raised by a non-biological parent (then you can correlated child characteristics with biological and adoptive parents and siblings Converging evidence - the way that different and independent sources all support one conclusion over another. early skin-to-skin contact- It can be a way for caregiver and baby to bond (positive but not necessary for attachment) Fetal origins hypothesis ○ Some prenatal experiences can "program" (influence) subsequent development Scarr ○ Passive - when parents provide both genes and an environment that naturally aligns with those genes. For example, musical parents who have a genetic inclination toward music might also create a music-rich environment for their child ○ Active - active effects occur when an individual's genetic makeup influences them to actively select or seek out environments that align with their genetic tendencies ○ Evoctive - when a child’s genetic traits elicit specific responses from others in their environment. For instance, a naturally cheerful and social baby may receive more positive attention and interaction from caregivers and others around them.