Chapter 1

Question 1

three reasons to learn about child development

Answer 1

1. ) to improve one’s own child-rearing practices.
2. ) to help society promote the well-being of children in general.
3. ) to better understand human nature.

Question 2

a major problem among parents is;

Answer 2

• how to help their children control their anger & negative emotions.

Question 3

is spanking useful?

Answer 3

spanking makes children argue more, fight and act inappropriately.

Question 4

Effective Alternatives to Spanking

Answer 4

• offering sympathy
• help child find positive alternatives to anger.
• time outs.
• turtle shell technique

Question 5

meta-analysis

Answer 5

a method for combining the results from independent studies to reach conclusions based on all of them.

Question 6

Do Violent Video Games Make Children More Aggressive?

Answer 6

using meta-analysis, researchers found that the effects on children was minimal.

Question 7

How do biased questions influence preschoolers courtroom testimony?

Answer 7

it influences the accuracy of children’s memory.

Question 8

How do leading questions influence preschoolers courtroom testimony?

Answer 8

• leads to inaccurate memory.

- when leading questions aren’t asked, testimony is usually accurate.

Question 9

Do realistic props increase accuracy?

Answer 9

realistic props such as dolls and drawing do not improve recall and increase inaccurate claims.

Question 10

Romanian Adoption Study

Answer 10

• children faced physical, intellectual and social development problems.
• supports the principle that the timing of experiences influences their effects.

Question 11

Naturists

Answer 11

argue that evolution has created many remarkable capabilities that are present even in early infancy, ex understanding basic properties of physical objects.

Question 12

Empiricists

Answer 12

argue that infants possess general learning mechanisms but they lack specialized capabilities.

Question 13

Both naturists and empiricist agree that;

Answer 13

the timing of experiences influences their effects.

Question 14

Early philosophers methods were unscientific because they;

Answer 14

used informal observation rather than systematic empiricism.

Question 15

systematic empiricism

Answer 15

an observation of relationships that is carefully structured

Question 16

Plato

Answer 16

• emphasizes self-control and discipline.

- believed that children are born with innate knowledge.

Question 17

Aristotle

Answer 17

• was concerned with fitting child rearing to the needs of the individual child.
• believed that knowledge comes from experience.

Question 18

John Locke

Answer 18

saw child as tabula rasa and advocated first installing disciple, then gradually increasing the child’s freedom.

Question 19

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Answer 19

argues that parents and society should give the child maximum freedom from the beginning.

Question 20

social reform movements

Answer 20

• 19th century.

- research showed some adverse effects that harsh environments can have on child development.

Question 21

Nature

Answer 21

refers to our biological endowment, the genes we receive from our parents.

Question 22

Nurture

Answer 22

refers to the wide range of environments, both physical and social, that influence our development.

Question 23

Charles Darwin

Answer 23

theory influenced future works on;

• infants attachment to mother.
• innate fear of natural dangers.
• sex differences.
• aggression and altruism.
• mechanisms of learning.

Question 24

Freud - psychoanalytic theory

Answer 24

biological drives especially sexual ones are a crucial influence on development.

Question 25

Watson - behaviourist theory

Answer 25

- children's development is determined by environmental factors, i.e rewards and punishment following the actions. - little albert experiment.

Question 26

Schizophrenia

Answer 26

- interaction of genes + environment is most important. - identical twins have a 50% chance of developing SCZ if their twin has it. - children whose parents have SCZ have a higher risk.

Question 27

Genome

Answer 27

each person's complete set of hereditary information. - includes proteins that regulate gene expression by turning gene activity on & off.

Question 28

Epigenetics

Answer 28

the study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated by the environment.

Question 29

Methylation

Answer 29

a biochemical process that silences a variety of genes and that is involved in regulating reactions to stress. - Ex: depression risk in children of stressed mothers.

Question 30

How Do Children Shape Their own Development?

Answer 30

- attention patterns. - language use. - play.

Question 31

Attention patterns

Answer 31

1. ) infants attention is drawn to mothers face → leads to social interaction that can strengthen the mother-infant bond. 2. ) prefer things that move and make sounds.

Question 32

Language use

Answer 32

“Crib speech” → children internally motivated to speak often talk to themselves when they're alone.

Question 33

Play

Answer 33

- fantasy helps children learn about themselves and others. - helps children learn to cope with fears and interact with others. - teaches self-control, adhering to rules, spatial learning, etc.

Question 34

Continuous development

Answer 34

changes with age occur gradually, in small increments. - development occurs skill by skill.

Question 35

Discontinuous development

Answer 35

- changes with age include occasional large shifts. | - qualitative differences occur.

Question 36

Stage theorists

Answer 36

propose that development occurs in a progression of distinct age related stages.

Question 37

Jean Piaget

Answer 37

- stage theorist. - cognitive development theory holds that between birth and adolescence, children go through 4 stages of cognitive growth.

Question 38

Effortful attention

Answer 38

involves voluntary control of one's emotions and thoughts, includes inhibiting impulses and focusing attention.

Question 39

Mechanisms of effortful attention

Answer 39

- connections between the limbic area, anterior cingulate area and prefrontal cortex. - gene role. - environment role.

Question 40

Gene role in effortful attention;

Answer 40

production of key neurotransmitters for the connectivity of brain regions.

Question 41

Environment role in effortful attention;

Answer 41

- Low quality parenting is associated with low ability to regulate attention. - Learning experiences can change the wiring of brain systems that produce effortful attention.

Question 42

Role of sleep in promoting learning & generalization

Answer 42

- first 18 months: sleep promotes learning of general pattern. - after 24 months: sleep promotes remembering the specifics of what a child learned.

Question 43

Active Systems Consolidation Theory

Answer 43

Hippocampal memories are replayed during sleep which allows the cortex to extract general patterns from the specific memories stored in the hippocampus, and vice versa.

Question 44

Hippocampus

Answer 44

can learn the details of new info after one or two experiences. - reflects benefits of sleep for older children.

Question 45

Cortex

Answer 45

produces thinking of general patterns over many experiences. - reflects benefits of sleep for infants.

Question 46

Sociocultural context

Answer 46

the physical, social, and cultural, economic, and historical circumstances that influence every aspect of children’s development.

Question 47

Bronfenbrenner: Biological Model

Answer 47

1. ) the people they interact with 2. ) the physical environment in which they live 3. ) institutions (education, religion, etc). 4. ) characteristics of society.

Question 48

Cross-cultural comparisons

Answer 48

compare the lives of people who live in different cultures. - Ex: sleeping arrangements in individualistic vs. collectivist countries.

Question 49

Contextual differences may be related to;

Answer 49

ethnicity, race and socioeconomic status.

Question 50

Cumulative risk

Answer 50

accumulation of disadvantages over years of development.

Question 51

Children who show resilience to poverty usually have 3 characteristics;

Answer 51

1. ) Positive personal qualities. 2. ) Close relationship with at least one parent. 3. ) Close relational with at least one adults other than their parents.

Question 52

Four differences that can lead a child to turn out different from another:

Answer 52

1. ) Genetic differences. 2. ) Differences in treatment by parents and others. 3. ) Differences in reactions to similar experiences. 4. ) Different choices of environment.

Question 53

Is intelligence a fixed entity?

Answer 53

- fixed mindset vs. growth mindset. | - people who believe intelligence increases with learning tend to react to failure in more effective ways.