developmental psych

Question 1

in what ways do psychologists categorise development (2-2)

Answer 1

in psychological areas or time periods

quantitative or qualitative

Question 2

difference between quantitative and qualitative development

Answer 2

quantitative = numerical changes (height, weight)
qualitative = structurally different changes

Question 3

observational studies

Answer 3

important to observe children in their natural environment, BUT they are correlational and so experimental studies may be more valuable to establish causation

Question 4

longitudinal designs

Answer 4

very important to monitor development without individual differences, but they are expensive and high attrition rates

Question 5

microgenetic method

Answer 5

examines change as it occurs; repeated measurements are taken from the same ppt over a period of transition

Question 6

perry & pollard brain study

Answer 6

studied deprived children, found that their brains were abnormally small and underdeveloped

Question 7

how is brightness useful in measuring developmental

Answer 7

it is a low-level processing task used to mark where children are in terms of visual processing

Question 8

visual acuity

Answer 8

clarity or sharpness of vision

Question 9

how is visual acuity tested in infants (2)

Answer 9

preferential looking method - ppl tend to look at stimuli which is more visually interesting, so infants are shown increasingly detailed stripes = they will look at the most detailed one they perceive before the stripes ‘become grey’
habituation - infants will only be interested in new stimuli if they perceive it as changed (they have become dishabituated)

Question 10

faces in infancy

Answer 10

babies prefer their mothers face or happy faces

at 3 months, infants prefer proportionate faces or faces that are racially similar to their own

Question 11

hearing in infancy

Answer 11

newborns prefer culturally familiar sounds

at 6 months they can interpret verbal intonation

Question 12

smell in infancy

Answer 12

infants prefer breast milk to formula, and sweet smells (as well as tastes)

Question 13

reflexes in infancy

Answer 13

these are the first levels of motor development

- they begin to disappear as the frontal cortex grows (and the ability to control motor movement develops)

Question 14

intermodal perception

Answer 14

integrating information from 2 or more senses

- appears to be inherent from infancy

Question 15

2 theories of motor development

Answer 15

maturational theory

dynamic systems theory

Question 16

maturational theory of motor development

Answer 16

motor development occurs in a predetermined order by the brain’s motor program
& deprivation doesn’t lead to impairment (unless EXTREME)

Question 17

dynamic systems theory of motor development

Answer 17

development is produced by multiple systems interacting with the environment; complex behaviours come from complex interactions

Question 18

perceptual-motor development

Answer 18

developing the ability to produce voluntary action based on perceived stimuli, along with adjusting your own actions

Question 19

vision in developing walking

Answer 19

blind children are often delayed = this shows the importance of visual flow fields
visual patterns of motion give feedback - infants are often knocked over by illusions

Question 20

importance of contingent responding

Answer 20

forming connections is extremely important in development; contingency helps to form bonds and establish role models

Question 21

bucharest early intervention project

Answer 21

comparing children who were randomly assigned to high quality foster care or remaining in institutional care
= foster care increased brain activity (on EEGs), language skills, recognition & decreased chances of experiencing severe mental health issues

Question 22

prelinguistic language ability

Answer 22

mostly babbling
phonemes begin to be tailored to mimic native language
if deaf & exposed to sign language, babbling is done with hands

Question 23

holophrases

Answer 23

early infancy speech - single words stand in for sentences

Question 24

wug test

Answer 24

tests the application of language (verbs / nouns, etc) to ensure its not just memorisation

Question 25

critical period in language acquisition

Answer 25

before 8 years of age | after this time, it sees a steady decline in score

Question 26

nicaraguan sign language

Answer 26

school of deaf children created their own sign language to communicate with each other in the 70s; it is still functional and used today

Question 27

how is self perception tested in children / other mammals

Answer 27

the mirror test; a mark is put on their head, then they face a mirror and observed to see if they touch the mark on their head by just seeing it in the mirror (=recognise their reflection as themselves)

Question 28

6 types of LTM

Answer 28

``` explicit = consciously retrieved implicit = subconsciously effects behaviour declarative = knowing something is true procedural = how to do something semantic = knowlege/facts episodic = events/memories ```

Question 29

3 theories for why infantile amnesia occurs

Answer 29

- memory format changes so it's impossible to access old format - neural change; late maturation of specific brain structures (hippocampus) limits early storage - cueing; differences in types of cues that trigger memory retrieval limit recollection

Question 30

3 components of a developed autobiographical memory

Answer 30

- orienting info (context about the event) - referential detail (physical properties and descriptors) - evaluative info (own response to event)

Question 31

metacognition

Answer 31

awareness of one's own thinking, moving away from absolutism

Question 32

executive function

Answer 32

effortful, goal-directed regulation of action; predicts achievement better than intelligence when young & predicts life success in adulthood

Question 33

joint attention [social]

Answer 33

coordinating attention with other people towards stimuli

Question 34

social referencing [social]

Answer 34

referring to others in ambiguous situations

Question 35

importance of eye movement in social dev

Answer 35

newborns look faster at items cued by gaze following; babies later diagnosed with autism have little reaction to eye movement

Question 36

theory of mind

Answer 36

recognising that other people have a full range of mental states

Question 37

5 stages of theory of mind

Answer 37

``` 1 - imitative experiences with others 2 - understanding attention in others 3 - understanding others' knowledge 4 - understanding others' intentions 5 - understanding others' beliefs ```

Question 38

tests for theory of mind (2r)

Answer 38

reading emotions from eye photos | sally-anne test; interpreting false beliefs and point of views on different information

Question 39

3 types of smiling

Answer 39

endogenous - triggered by changes in nervous system / physical sensations social - triggered by social stimuli instrumental - to achieve a goal

Question 40

development of laughter

Answer 40

changes from being triggered by physical stimuli to cognitive stimuli

Question 41

development of crying

Answer 41

starts as a survival reflex response, changes to be emotionally or cognitively triggered

Question 42

sex differences in play / attention

Answer 42

newborn girls look longer at faces & boys at moving mobiles these differences often come out in play diff. these were also seen in monkeys who had never seen toys before - girls went to dolls and boys to truck

Question 43

tanner stages of development

Answer 43

5 stages to help determine where adolescents are at in terms of puberty split into external genitalia, breast development, and pubic hair growth BUT it's based off of one ethnic group and small sampling

Question 44

puberty age variation

Answer 44

shown to have a genetic component | the age of onset has decreased since the 19th century

Question 45

psychological effects of puberty (3)

Answer 45

consequences of physical changes hormonal changes in brain structure

Question 46

changes in brain structure in puberty

Answer 46

excess gray matter is pruned out = connections become more efficient motor areas mature, but higher thinking isn't finished maturing until early 20s

Question 47

elkind & imaginary audience

Answer 47

adolescents give themselves an imaginary audience - they feel observed in their changes they develop a personal fable, showing signs of egocentrism

Question 48

marcia's identity stages

Answer 48

interview technique to determine stages of identity status - diffusion - foreclosure - moratorium - achievement of identity

Question 49

ADHD as a developmental disorder

Answer 49

present in children from v young age & cannot keep up with their peers throughout childhood

Question 50

diagnosing ADHD

Answer 50

need 6+ of the inattention symptoms need 6+ of the hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms symptoms must be present before age 7 must be affected in 2 settings

Question 51

ADHD differences in brain structures (4)

Answer 51

``` frontstriatal circuit abnormalities prefrontal cortex basal ganglia cerebellum [these are associated with executive function] ```

Question 52

ADHD treatments

Answer 52

stimulant medication

Question 53

autism structural abnormality

Answer 53

brain overgrows in early years

Question 54

sex differences in autism

Answer 54

M:F 4-5:1 in classic ASD 10:1 in asperger's

Question 55

autism treatment

Answer 55

long-term therapies antidepressants/antipsychotics no treatment available for social communication difficulties