child psychology Flashcards
what is crystallised intelligence (gc)?
knowledge we have learnt
what is fluid intelligence (gf)
knowledge that is innate
aim of van leeuwen
to investigate the genetic relationship between family members and IQ
participants of van leeuwen
112 families from the Netherlands
had either monozygotic/dizygotic twins plus a sibling aged between 9 and 14, and all had 2 parents
all passed screening for disabilities, mental illness and metal materials (that may affect MRI scans)
method of van leeuwen
parents signed consent forms. the children got a present for taking part.
they collected biological data, hormonal data and did MRI scans
the cognitive testing was based on Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices for the children, and their parents did Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices
They arrived between 9 and 11 am
they got 3 breaks
the whole testing procedure took 5 hours
what is a raven matrices test?
a non-verbal ‘cultural fair’ multiple choice IQ test out of 60 that measures fluid intelligence. this includes reasoning and problem solving
it gets more difficult as it progresses
what were the result of van leeuwen
no differences in IQ scores between males and females across parents, siblings and twins
MZ twins had more similar IQ scores compared to DZ twins and also compared to their siblings and parents
high correlation between parents’ IQ and children’s IQs. found the heritability estimate for intelligence was about 67% (the rest could be down to environmental factors)
parents had similar IQ scores– do parents seek each other with similar intelligence levels? (called assortative mating)
for lower IQ groups, environment seemed to have more of an effect on their IQs compared to high IQ groups
what are the ways of assessing intelligence?
stanford binet test
wechsler intelligence scale
sternberg triarchic test (STAT)
human figure drawing test (goodenough-harris)
conclusions of van leeuwen
the more similar the genetic makeup, the more similar IQ– IQ could be inherited
environment could be more important for children with a genetic predisposition for low IQ
what is the wechsler intelligence scale
created as wechsler said the stanford-binet relied too much on verbal ability
there is a version for adults, children, and pre-school children
looks at factors such as verbal comprehension, processing speed, visual puzzles etc
what is the stanford binet test
one of the first tests developed to identify children’s cognitive ability
the fifth edition can be administered to individuals as early as two years of age. it assesses both verbal and nonverbal domains
these factors include fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory
what is the sternberg triarchic test
consists of multiple choice questions that assess the 3 aspects from the triarchic theory: analytic (conventional), practical and creative
what is the human figure drawing test? (goodenough-harris)
a cognitive test used to measure intelligence through drawings
when used on children, they may be asked to draw a man, a woman, or themselves
pictures are scored using a scale
when does brain development happen
begins at conception and continues throughout childhood until the age of about 25. the brain continues to develop during adulthood and old age
how can we investigate brain development
one way of investigating brain development is to study the development of structures in the brain and then see if this changes with specific behaviours (to see if the two are linked)
however, we must also take into account individual differences: not everyone’s brain and behaviour develop at the same rate
ethically, we cannot manipulate brain development so research is restricted
another way of studying brain development is to look at behavioural disorders and then trying to identify brain abnormalities associated with it
what is grey matter
is made up of nerve cells and makes up about 40% of the adult brain
what is white matter
white matter carries messages to and from grey matter
how do volumes of white and grey matter change over time
volumes of grey matter tend to begin to decline around 6-7 years old and this continues through adolescence, whereas white matter volumes increase over the same time period
how is the prefrontal cortex and risk taking behaviour related
prefrontal cortex less developed in the adolescent brain
acts as an ‘emergency brake’
it is involved with decision making, high level reasoning and self control
the lack of development in adolescents may explain why they’re more predisposed to risky behaviour than adults
what is the role of the ventral striatum
this matures earlier than the prefrontal cortex, and involves rewards
perhaps with the excitable reward centre overly active in adolescents, and the prefrontal cortex unable to control it, this may explain why adolescents engage in more risky behaviours
what was the sample of eshel 2007 (risk taking)
18 adolescents aged 9-17, and 16 adults aged 20-40
recruited through newspaper advert
what was eshel’s study
the ps did a monetary decision making task (gambling) whilst doing an fMRI scan
group comparisons revealed greater activation in the frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex in adults than adolescents when making risky decisions
reduced activity in these areas correlated with greater risk taking performance in adolescents and in the combined group
aim of barkley-levenson and galvan
to investigate the influence of brain development on risk taking behaviour
to see if there are biological and behavioural differences between adults and adolescents when gambling
sample of barkley levenson
19 right handed adults from the USA (11 females, 8 males) (aged between 25 and 30)
also 22 right handed 13-17 year olds, 11 of each gender.
after the research, they ended up with a final size of 20 adolescents and 17 adults for analysis
recruited using a poster and internet advert campaign at the University of California
obtained consent from the ps themselves or their parents if they were under 16
nobody had a previous diagnosis of mental or neurological illness
no one had any metal in their body bc MRI scan
method of barkley levenson: intake session
the ps were asked to complete some info on their income, including the source and the amount of spending money they had per month
they were then familiarised with the MRI scanner using a mock version of the scanner
they were given $20 for taking part and were told they would be able to gamble and win up to another $20 (so would get $40 in total) or could lose up to $20. this meant they had ownership of the money and would have an interest in increasing, keeping or losing it (if it didnt feel like their own money they wouldnt care)
method of barkley levenson: after the intake session
one week after the intake session, ps had to complete a gambling task whilst undergoing an fMRI
during the scan they were shown a ‘spinner’ that told them how much money could be won or lost on that gamble
they could either accept or reject the gamble
they had 144 ‘spinner’ trials each, and 24 gain only trials and 24 lose only trials
behavioural results of barkley levenson
adolescents behaved similarly to the adults when there was no risk involved (eg if there was a gain only trial) and neither accepted gambles with negative expected value (ie more to lose, less to win)
the higher the expected value of the win, the more likely adolescents were to accept the gamble compared to adults
neurological results of barkley levenson
more activity in adolescents’ ventral striatum compared to adults (who showed virtually no activation) when the expected value to win was high– when the potential reward was high, their VS activity was high
conclusions of barkley levenson
the adolescent brain places greater value on potential rewards
suggests there are maturational changes in the VS
the adolescent brain is more focused on winning a larger amount than losing a smaller amount
heightened sensitivity to reward during adolescence
what are the potential strategies to reduce risk taking
education
direct education programmes
involvement of parents
modelling
how can education reduce risk taking as a strategy+ evidence?
make sure people are fully aware of the potential risks, which might make the reward seem less appealing and not worth the risk
one programme by Old et al. found that when parents were provided with training on how to cope with stressors, their children did better in school and had lower rates of conduct disorder (which can result in impulsivity)
how can direct education (eg safe driving campaigns) be used to reduce risk taking
safe driving campaigns exist in places like USA. in USA, adolescents don’t get a full licence until they have completed a probationary period. this means they are not allowed to for example drive at night
the idea is that bc this a new experience, there needs to be more supervision until the skill is fully mastered
McCarrt found that this programme saw a reduction in crashes after 6 monthd
how can parental monitoring be used to reduce risk taking (+evidence)
if young adults cannot correctly assess risk and get too enticed by reward, then parents should talk to their children and help them to understand potential risks
parents should set expectations, act to keep track of their teen, and respond when their teens break the rules
Steinberg found that authoritative parents (firm but warm) raised children who were more mature and less likely to engage in risky or antisocial behaviour
how can modelling reduce risk taking
based on Social Learning Theory
Parents and teachers should model non-risky behaviours to young adults. Make sure young adults are exposed to/told about people who have taken risks and been negatively affected too (vicarious operant conditioning)
what is the cognitive information processing model?
attention is paid > stimulus is perceived > stimulus is consigned to memory if necessary > the information in the memory is used to solve a problem
what are some examples of different types of perception
visual, auditory and depth, for example.
who was kenge and what does he have to do with perception?
Kenge was part of a Bambuti group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He acted as an assistant with a researcher.
during one expedition, Kenge and the researcher came across a clearing in the woods (clearings were very rare to come by as Kenge was always surrounded by trees)
Kenge pointed at some mountains in the distance and asked the researcher if they were hills or clouds
he also saw a herd of buffalo in the distance and asked which insects they were
because Kenge had spent so much time in the woods with a lack of experience of distance, so he never learned relative size
Kenge was able to pick up on depth perception with no more errors as he became more exposed to distance
the conclusion from this is that depth perception is affected by environmental factors
what is the perceptual development of babies like
at birth, a baby can detect light and motion and make out faces/ large shapes
by 1 month, a baby can make eye contact and focus on objects about 12 inches away
by 3-4 months old, a baby can focus on objects up to 3 feet away
what did fantz find about babies and pattern perception?
he found that babies prefer complex patterns as opposed to simple ones
he also found that new born babies prefer patterns that resemble a human face
how do babies perceive faces?
babies appear to have an innate skill to be able to perceive human faces within a few hours of being born
they can discriminate between their mother’s face and that of another female
they also prefer attractive faces rather than unattractive, and those of their own ethnicity
at 5 months old, children can differentiate between smiles of different intensities
by 9 months old, babies can recognise a female face from a male one
what does the term ‘height in plane’ refer to?
an object further away will show higher in the image
what does the term ‘relative size’ refer to?
the smaller the object appears, the further away it is
what is meant by the term ‘superimposition’?
one object in front of another shows the front object is nearer
what is meant by the term ‘texture gradient’
the texture of an object gets more detailed as it becomes closer
what is meant by the term ‘linear perspective’?
if something goes into the distance, the lines of the edge appear to get closer together
what did fantz do?
he developed a method of recording a child’s preference for an object based on how long they gazed at it
the child is placed in front of a stimulus, or two stimuli, and a researcher looks through the apparatus to time how long the child spends looking at a particular stimulus. the longer the gaze, the more the child preferred that stimulus
as the researcher is behind the stimulus, this should remove some possible experimenter bias, as the researcher would not know which stimulus the baby was looking at.
it was also possible to research very small children as they did not need to be able to support themselves in any way
what did blakemore and cooper do regarding perception?
kept kittens in the dark, except for a five hour period each day when the kitten was either in a vertically striped or horizontally striped environment
at 5 months old, the kittens exposed to vertical strips would only reach out if a vertical pointer was moved in front of them, and vice versa for horizontally reared kittens
they found the vertical kittens did not possess cells in the visual cortex that would respond to horizontal light
what research has been done on the perception of chicks?
in 1837, Spalding kept chicks in a black sack made from a soft flannel material when they hatched. When he released them several days later, they could run to their mother, avoiding obstacles, implying that they had the innate skill to identify where objects were and how to avoid them
what research has been done on the perception of rats?
in 1934, Lashley and Russel used rats that were kept in the dark for 3 months; when tested they used to more effort to jump large gaps than smaller gaps, implying that they knew something was further away
what research has been done on the perception of chimps
Riesen (1965) compared 3 chimps– Debi, Kova and Lad.
Debi was kept in darkness, Kova spent 1.5 hours a day exposed to unpatterned light, and Lad was reared in normal light
Debi suffered retinal damage.
Lad was fine.
Kova did not suffer from retinal damage, but her perceptual development was underdeveloped
what research has been done on the perception of salamanders
Sperry looked at salamanders and surgically turned their eyes upside down by rotating the optic nerve, to see if they could learn to see the right way up
they reacted as if the world was upside down, and no amount of training could change their response
what was the research design of gibson and walk?
repeated measures
what was the aim of gibson and walk
to investigate if young animals and children were able to perceive depth innately using the visual cliff
who were the participants in gibson and walk
36 babies between 6 and 14 months old
all could crawl independently
each infant had their mother present
the study was also conducted on kittens and lambs and kids etc
what was the visual cliff like in gibson and walk
the ‘visual’ cliff is a transparent glass table with no actual drop
one half of the cliff has an opaque chequered pattern just below the glass, but the other half has the pattern on the floor, so it appears that there is a drop but there actually is not
what was the method of gibson and walk
the baby was placed on the centre of the visual cliff apparatus
their mother would stand either at the shallow end or deep end of the box and call for their baby to crawl towards them
what was the DV of gibson and walk
will the babies crawl to their mother across the deep side of the apparatus?
what were the quantitative results of gibson and walk
27 out of the 36 children moved off the centre board
all of those 27 babies crossed the shallow side to their mother at least once
only 3 of them crossed the deep side to get to their mother
what were the qualitative results of gibson and walk
children would peep through the glass of the cliff and back away
some would test the glass for solidarity
when the mother was at the deep side of the cliff, most children would crawl away from her or sit and cry
conclusions of gibson and walk
the children could perceive depth by the time they could crawl
however they appeared not to be aware of the depth of the cliff edge, as they inadvertently used the glass on the deep side
by the time children could crawl, they have had more months interacting with the environment, so it was hard to tell if the ability to perceive depth is innate or learnt
what was the finding for chicks in gibson and walk
one day old chicks chose the shallow side nearly 100% of the time
chicks less than 24 hours old would never cross the cliffs
goat kids and lambs findings for gibson and walk
at less than a day old, goat kids and lambs would not step on the steep side of the cliff
they would refuse to put their feet down / would go limp if forced to go on the cliff side
