Developmental Psychology Flashcards

Question

How does the brain initially develop (e.g. in terms of synapses etc?)

Answer 1

Most rapid changes 0-3 & period of greatest plasticity (increases 100% in the first year) - due to environmental experiences Brain grows until 5 years old in size Neurons allow communication in the brain & it occurs at synapses Brain pruning occurs about age 10 New synapses can grow throughout life but it’s harder to learn as adults Experiences determine how the brain is wired - e.g. early sensory experiences create new synapses Repetition of experiences strengthen synapses Enrichment related to 25% decrease in connections Unused synapses are pruned

Answer 2

Inherited & made of DNA They contain instructions for building proteins Variations to genes = alleles Dominant vs recessive genes & homozygous & heterozygous

Answer 3

Prenatal hormones Substances consumed during pregnancy Mother’s illnesses Late gestation (sounds & light)

Answer 4

Environment influences how genetic information is expressed (can act as environmental triggers) Environment can also influence whether genetic information is expressed

Answer 5

Fertilisation: Millions of sperm (50 - 100 reach egg) Chemical process means only one sperm can penetrate egg Egg becomes zygote Implantation : 6 days post fertilisation By 2 weeks, it’s fully implanted Fully implanted egg = embryo Embryonic period: Large change in body structure & size Cells are differentiating 4 - 8 weeks Foetal period: 9 weeks until birth Characterised by heartbeat and facial features By 22 weeks some can survive with neonatal care - can have impact on later life By 28 weeks, fully developed lungs

Answer 6

4 weeks after conception - Three brain regions are distinct 10 weeks - Major CNS 24 weeks - Programmed cell death occurs

Answer 7

Brain stem develops before the frontal lobe

Answer 8

Time periods where specific experiences are necessary for typical development to occur

Answer 9

Increases in speed over development

Answer 10

Organisms ability to respond & adjust to changes in the environment A challenge for explaining babies’ first skills Less plastic = more efficient (as experience supports more efficient connections), but less likely to be helpful as the baby develops More plastic = Less efficient but more likely to be helpful as the baby develops

Answer 11

By testing differences in brightness - can discover what they can see By 2 days = Infants can detect differences in brightness By 4 months = Infants can compare brightness levels (but not adult-like)

Answer 12

Blurry vs clear (e.g. seeing contrast, representing lines & shadows & picking out shapes) Preferential looking method - Present two stimuli & see which one the baby prefers to know what the baby sees & what is more interesting If baby has sufficient visual acuity, look at the more defined lines in the preferential method than the grey blur Habituation method - Same image shown until baby habituates & show new picture and see if baby dishabituated - tests if they can see as they’ll remain the same if they can see (DV = Looking time)

Answer 13

Babies can recognise faces - prefer mothers face, even hours after birth 3 month olds prefer well-proportioned faces to distorted ones & prefer faces of their race Children prefer happy faces than sad faces Idea of perceptual narrowing - exposure to more diverse faces can reverse this

Answer 14

Babies can hear in utero Prefer familiar stories they heard in the womb Differentiate own language from different language Prefer moms voice to others from birth Infants attend to speech that is likely to be relevant to them Motherese → Type of child-directed speech (e.g. high pitch) Preference for music & language patterns that are from their own culture Newborns prefer monkey to synthetic sounds but 3 month-olds have no strict preference - just prefer human over non-human 6 month-olds interpret speech intonations Differentiate approval from disapproval

Answer 15

Ability to know where a sound is coming from - babies can localise sound soon after birth Interaction of innate ability & learning from environment Reflex that makes babies turn their head towards the sound

Answer 16

Foetus can taste amniotic fluid Newborns react to sweetness Newborns show distinct facial reactions to different flavours Unknown if they can react to the four main adult flavours

Answer 17

Newborns prefer the smell of lactation & prefer breast milk Sweet smell provide pain-killing effect in babies Breathing pattern changes when smelling novel smell

Answer 18

Intermodal perception - integrating information from two or more senses (learn to associate experiences) Intermodal perception is fundamental

Answer 19

Patellar reflex - Knee jerk Rooting reflex - newborns mouth moves toward brush on cheek Grasp reflex - newborns grab on to anything in their hand Stepping reflex - Baby will walk when lowered onto a surface Moro reflex - Arms move to side when baby is unsupported

Answer 20

Motor development depends on the development of the brain’s motor program Twin stair training study - training on climbing stairs was not useful until the child was developmentally ready Motor deprivation doesn’t lead to motor impairment - e.g. Babies with less motor experiences still develop normally (only in extreme cases is it irreversible) Romanian orphanages - motor deprived & damaged but was reversible

Answer 21

A complex behaviour emerges out of complex interactions between the components necessary for executing a behaviour The step reflex - Babies have a step reflex that disappears within weeks of birth but babies still have kick reflex and 1-month olds will step in water Gaining weight may be a reason for the stepping reflex to no longer be present

Answer 22

Development of the ability to guide voluntary action on the basis of stimuli Cyclical - see something, react, perceive your own reactions and adjust your performance

Answer 23

Empiricist view - Initially move limbs randomly; trial and error leads to correct integration Nativist view - Initially move limbs with purpose, other developmental changes improve performance

Answer 24

Five months of age → hand shape and orientation matches goals Ten months of age → Arm trajectory and speed match goal

Answer 25

Visual patterns of motion that give feedback about the speed and direction of movement When an illusory flow field is created, it can knock down infants Infants were asked to either crawl or walk onto a surface Rigid plywood covered in velvet Squishy water bed covered in velvet Walkers but not crawlers were hesitant to walk onto a nonrigid surface

Answer 26

Newborns imitate experimenter’s facial experiments From 10 weeks old, babies can imitate sounds More likely to imitate humans than non-humans

Answer 27

Preferences Before 6 months, no specific bonds 6-7 months, specific bonds 8 month olds, separation anxiety Contingent responding Person A does something, person B responds

Answer 28

Babies reduce their exploration, locomotion and motor action Babies react with terror, anger and fear to any person or may cling frantically Rock back and forth & perhaps bite the self Vacant stares and unaware of environment 37% of babies who suffer social deprivation die by age 2

Answer 29

Randomised controlled trial of foster care as an intervention for children Began in 2000 with 136 children Average age to enter foster care was 22 months All children were seen for follow up assessments (30,42 and 54 months) Foster care intervention was broadly effective in enhancing children’s development and for specific domains there was sensitive periods regulating their recovery Executive functioning did not improve much in foster care (e.g. memory)

Answer 30

Begins tailoring perception of phonemes to native language Early vocalisations (cooing, squealing) Babbling (bababa) Deaf babies babble with their hands (if exposed to sign language) Practice producing phonemes, pitch and rhythm of the native language - e.g. In japan, babies are not sensitive to ‘r’ and ‘l’ as not really used in Japanese vocabulary

Answer 31

Emerge around one year Examples - Mummy, hot, cat Holophrases → A single world standing in for a larger sentence

Answer 32

Emerge around 18 months Tend to be consistently formed and worded Replaced by telegraphic speech - Not a complete, full sentence - only using a few selective words

Answer 33

Generalises plural form to new circumstances E.g. Wug test - used to test that children haven’t just learnt the words but understand the concept of tenses etc. Learns many rules that are applied to new language

Answer 34

Motherese - louder voice, slower speech, accentuate boundaries between words, fewer words, repeat & expand on child’s utterances Helps children learn language more quickly

Answer 35

The learning of vocabulary, can learn words quite rapidly without the need for other information about the words

Answer 36

There is a critical period in language learning (up to age 8) - increases likelihood: Have accents Fail to master syntactic subtleties Fail to notice grammatical errors E.g. Genie (case study) - Neglected as a child, only exposed to language at age 13 - not able to learn language Shows early exposure is need to give us the structure of language Nicaraguan sign language was created when there was an absence of language in the community

Answer 37

Aphasia - some language abilities selectively impaired (Broca’s aphasia - syntactic damage, Wernicke’s area - impacts speech production) William syndrome - Cognitive impairments paired with high levels of linguistic skill (e.g. are over-friendly but also have anxiety - Have fast & fluent language) Specific language impairment (SLI) - Linguistic impairments that appear to be genetically based

Answer 38

When chimps raised as children, child outperforms chimp linguistically but not cognitively Some primates can learn sign language Bonobos show most promising language learning - May be able to learn some syntax - use joint attention

Answer 39

The mirror test Make a small mark on the child’s face If child looks in mirror & touches mark on face - understand that the reflection is them self

Answer 40

Gender identity → categorising oneself as male or female Gender roles → Preferences, appearances & actions correlated with particular identities Gender object choice → Attraction toward members of a particular gender

Answer 41

Value-related aspect of thinking about ourselves

Answer 42

Preschool years - Extreme positive view of self-esteem Early school years - Still positive, less extreme, start to make social comparisons Middle childhood - Break down self-image into components, social comparisons influence self-worth Adolescence - Social comparisons become more complex, depend more on context

Answer 43

Beliefs about one’s own capabilities - context depending

Answer 44

Processes by which humans learn & organise how to use knowledge

Answer 45

Encoding - mentally representing information Storage - Storing encoded information Retrieval - Finding a stored memory Forms of memory Sensory = Temporary (echoic & iconic) Working = Associated with STM - Lasts about 15 seconds before it goes or moves to LTM Long-term = Different forms Explicit memory = Consciously recalled vs implicit memory = Has effects on behaviour Declarative memory - knowing something is true vs procedure memory - knowing how to do something Semantic memory - knowledge/facts vs Episodic memory - events/memories

Answer 46

Memory format can change hypothesis - format of memory changes so that it is impossible to access the old format - difficult to remember things before the age of 2 Neural change hypothesis - late maturation of certain brain structures limit storage Cueing hypothesis - Differences in the types if cues that trigger memory retrieval later limit recollection

Answer 47

Overlap of episodic and semantic memory - based on events you have experienced in life

Answer 48

Illusion of knowing Young children overestimate their knowledge and do no updates estimates once they receive feedback Children display absolutism - that there is only one right answer Evaluating other’s knowledge By pre-school children (by age 5) are good at evaluating knowledge and intentions of others Children learn that different people can have different ‘expert’ knowledge Children move away from absolutism

Answer 49

Effortful, goal-direct regulation of attention thoughts & actions Many symptoms Executive function means executive control, cognitive control etc. EF = Helps resist temptations, stay focussed, suppresses inappropriate thoughts/actions etc. Needed in situations where there is no established routine, where there isa need for complex behaviour or there is conflict/interference

Answer 50

Childhood EF predicts adult EF & later life success -

Answer 51

Ability to control our emotions and actions

Answer 52

The process of learning self-expression & how you interact with others Health social development helps a child become and adult who communicate with others Listen to other points of view before acting and shows tolerance for others

Answer 53

The process of learning to recognize and express feelings and establish a unique personal identity Healthy emotional development helps a child become an adult who is self-controlled, can handle stress and empathetic to the feelings of others

Answer 54

Feelings that children have will be reflected in their behaviour towards others

Answer 55

Earliest milestone is social development Consistently observed between 4-8 weeks Learn to distinguish faces from other objects and recognise expressions and emotions Eyes display information about emotional reactivity and show what stimuli to pay attention to

Answer 56

Coordination of attention with others Requires both parties know they are attending something in common Predicts later social and language development Difficulties may indicate developmental disorders

Answer 57

Emerges around 12 months Proto-imperative pointing (requesting) Proto-declarative pointing (share interest)

Answer 58

Newborns look faster at targets cue by the direction of eye movement Brains of 6 month old babies react differently to images of faces looking away Brains of babies later diagnosed with autism show little difference

Answer 59

Infant’s tend to look toward parents in ambiguous situations - e.g. visual cliff paradigm Use emotional reaction to see if environment is safe of is threatening Guides how we view social cues later in life so problems

Answer 60

Ability to recognise that all people act on basis of mental states or propositional attitudes Attribute mental states or attitudes to oneself and to others Understand that others have beliefs, desires and intentions different from one’s own

Answer 61

Imitative experiences with others, understanding attention (Baron-cohen,S), Understanding others knowledge, understanding others intentions, understanding others beliefs

Answer 62

Precursor of perspective-taking and empathy Recognition of equivalence between physical and mental states apparent in others and those felt in self Construction of first-person experience (map relation between mental experiences and behaviour, facial gesture Infer about experiences of others

Answer 63

Skill formed 7-9 months of age Understanding - seeing can be aas directly selective as attention Viewer assess a seen object as ‘of interest’ Seeing induces beliefs Sharing → Following → Directing attention Attention can be directed and shared by pointing (taking into account other person's mental state)

Answer 64

3 yrs vr 4 yr old children ‘Hider’ - hid toy in 1 of 4 containers behind screen Knower - saw hider placing toy Guesser left before hider placed toy 4 yr old always chose correct cups, 3yrs olds inconsistent

Answer 65

Meltzoff (1995) 18 month old children E attempted to pull object away from another to which it is attached but failed Infant able to infer what action person tried to perform Call & Tomasello (1998) 2-3 year old children, chimpanzees & orangutans Able to discriminate whe E intentionally vs accidentally marked a box as baited with stickers

Answer 66

Begin to explain others’ behaviours based on belief at 3 yrs age Wellman & Bartsch 1988 Sam wants to find his puppy. The puppy might be hiding in the garage or under the porch. But Sam thinks the puppy is under the porch. Where will Sam look for the puppy: in the garage or under the porch? Three-year-olds pass this test Three-year-olds do badly on tests of false beliefs Sally Anne Task - Where will Sally look for marble if she thinks it is in the basket

Answer 67

Emotions - Come from within an individual, though they may be motivated by external events Feelings - Refers to physical sense of, or an awareness of, an emotional state Involve the capacity to respond to an emotional state

Answer 68

Newborn’s emotions are related to immediate enrienced sensations Young infant’s emotional responses are not well refined Toddlers may express pride, embarrassment, shame and empathy

Answer 69

Newborn children sometimes smile, but their smiles are not enduring or strong and occur most often while asleep Smiling promotes close contact and emotional ties - important for survival

Answer 70

Smile that is triggered by change in nervous system activity Involves only lower facial muscles By 2-3 weeks, infants smile when gently stimulated by high-pitched sounds or by soft stroking of their abdomens

Answer 71

Around 6-8 weeks of age Smile triggered by social stimuli Longer lasting, involves entire face

Answer 72

Around 10 weeks of age Smiling to achieve a goal

Answer 73

Develops around 4 months in response to physical stimulation At 6 months, infants laugh in response to visual and social stimuli Children progress from physical stimulation to cognitive interpretations Similar cross-culturally although the behaviours caregivers use vary by culture

Answer 74

Mechanism by which infants communicate their needs Crying begins as reflex response = Has survival value & progressively becomes more controllable Crying then increases over the first 6 weeks of life, then decreases Progresses from internal to external sources of stimulation (e.g. become about cognitive and emotional conditions) Different types of cry - Basic, Anger, Pain, Hunger

Answer 75

9 months Infants develop a sense of control Anger and temper tantrums emerge out of frustration 12 months Infants become aware and frustrated by limits they experience Changes in toddlerhood Increased ability to express anger Crying decreases, defiant language increases (e.g. no) Limitations in social understanding - difficulty waiting, sharing, patience Strive towards autonomy - want independence

Answer 76

Bond between child & caregiver Attachment builds trust and allows the baby to feel secure Security → Better relation to others 1st year is when babies learn to trust or mistrust the world (Erikson) Critical period is the first few months of life Not fully formed until age 2 Mary Ainsworth’s Strange situation test - different types of attachment

Answer 77

Stimulates the sense Develops fine and gross motor skills Guides decision making Enhances imagination Promotes social skills and language Newborn girls prefer looking at faces (social stimuli) & boys at moving objects (non-social) - same difference found within monkeys

Answer 78

Time between childhood and adolescence ‘Tween’ years - 9 - 12 Crucial elements different from boys and girls Sex education begins

Answer 79

Developmental transition involving cognitive, emotional and social changes Period of transition Teenage years Begins with onset of puberty Ends when sexual maturity is reached Schengel & Barry (1991) → “social adolescence” - Period between sexual maturity and not reached social maturity

Answer 80

Girls - Develop breasts, pubic hair, change in voice, skin, increased width in pelvis Boys - Pubic hair, broadening of shoulders, facial hair

Answer 81

Many individual differences Limited studies that directly assess puberty stages and how this might affect brain and behaviour development as difficult to measure Self-report from children over-estimate puberty development

Answer 82

5 stages - Prepubertal (pubic hair develops), beginning pubertal, midpubertal, advanced pubertal and postpubertal Shown pictures of different stages of puberty and are asked what stage they think they are in Created on the basis of one ethnicity - puberty develops different for different cultural groups Johnson, Moore & Jefferies (1978) Measurement issues

Answer 83

Age of pubertal development varies (Genetics & environment) = Individual differences Age of onset of puberty = Decreased since mid 19th century Stress was found to be an important factor on puberty onset

Answer 84

Adoloscent awareness of sexual development Effect of menarche (first menstruation) in girls Culture & psychological effect of physical change - some culture the first one is given symbolic importance

Answer 85

Hormones have an effect on psychological functioning Increased emotional distance from parents Adolescent autonomy Parent-child conflict Moodiness & aggression Influence on behaviour is uncertain Direct relationship between behaviour and hormones still limited - e.g. measuring methods such as collecting saliva

Answer 86

Implications for both social and cognitive development Changes in brain structure affect Emotion regulation Response inhibition Planning These changes don’t occur all at the same time but can be seen as a phased combination of changes Size of brain used to be used as measurement method - becomes less dense over time as synaptic pruning (of grey matter) occurs of unused connection Areas that contain visual and motor areas develop first & higher thinking areas take longer to develop

Answer 87

Elkind (1967) - ‘Imaginary audience’ Person fable - an imaginary story of your own life - Obsessed with own feelings Egocentrism emerges (different kind to early childhood) Failure to differentiate between own ideas about themselves and others ideas about themselves - believe they are one and the same When feeling self-critical - think others are judging them Private issues but they think it’s a public issue Even those with low self-esteem have a personal fable & think of themselves as unique

Answer 88

Sex/gender differences Early maturing boys have social advantage Late maturing boys = Less confident Early maturation in girls = complex = more likely to break social norms but this disappeared by 25 - tend to have sex, get married and have children earlier - less likely to be in tertiary education Moffitt - Maturity Gap theory = Gap between biological and social maturity at adolescence can lead to adolescence limited delinquent behaviour

Answer 89

Start to become aware of attractions between 10-15 (might emerge earlier for many individuals) Self-labelling around 15 Disclosure around 16.5 years Implications of ‘coming out’ have also been investigated - Complex as it requires the adolescent to ‘renew’ their relationship with others as it’s an integral change in identity presentation

Answer 90

Early theorists considered adolescence to be a time of identity crisis Freud - surge of sexual instinct reawkens old conflicts Blos - likened adolescent transition to independence to the transition from infant to self-reliant toddler Erikson’s psychosocial stages - adolescence most decisive stage in formation of adult personality

Answer 91

Most turmoil in identity Erikson’s ideas were based on own observations Marcia (1966,1980) - developed an interview technique to assess identity status (4 stages) Diffusion - report little interest Foreclosure - Decision is made without exploring other opinions Moratorium - Actively exploring alternatives Achievement of identity Cote & levine (1988) → Questioned usefulness of these categories and saw adolescents as a stage of development rather than a stage of disruption

Answer 92

Parents and adolescents agee on many things & disagreement can be exaggerated Conflicts over a range of issues Conflicts of personal autonomy Increased closeness when allowed earlier autonomy

Answer 93

Adolescents look to peers for social support (especially when in conflict with parents) Peer groups may reinforce risk-taking behaviour Steinberg and Monahan measure of resistance to peer influence (RPI) Increases with age, though small dip at 14 years

Answer 94

Increase in adolescent mental health Maughan et al. (2008) - increase in mental health problems have levelled off Increase in adolescent problems in USA until 1990s No comparable increase in the Netherlands Isle of Wight Study - Rutter Studying all 14-15 year olds on Isle of Wight More detailed assessment on children with deviant behaviour Peak in psychiatric disorders during adolescence

Answer 95

Cultures vary widely in their treatment of adolescents Extent of parent-child conflict argued to be common feature Mead & Samoa Adolescence in samoa as being easy & without turmoil - criticised Broad and narrow socialisation Narrow: restrictions and firm expectations and happens more in small, pre-industrial societies Broad: Few personal restrictions, expectations of self-expression and autonomy

Answer 96

Formation of neurological pathways that influence the emergence of performance functioning (e.g. intelligence and social skills)

Answer 97

Shows the cell as the ball and how the environment is very different and can shape it differently

Answer 98

Developmental psychology - Comparison to typical development Psychopathology - Comparison to adult models of depression etc. Developmental psychopathology - Comparison to typical development & adult models

Answer 99

Disabilities in functioning of brain that affect a child’s behaviour, memory or ability to learn including mental retardation, dyslexia, learning difficulties, ADHD and autism

Answer 100

Syndrome characterised by clinically significant disturbance In cognition, emotional regulation or behaviour Reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological or developmental processes underlying mental functioning Usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupation or other important activities

Answer 101

Disorders with similar antecedents or risk factors (biological, psychological, social and environmental) group together Disorders with common concurrent variables ot correlations (underlying biological abnormalities and comorbidity) grouped Disorders with similar outcomes and response to treatment grouped together

Answer 102

Adopts medical model (disorder resides within the individual rather than between people) Claims that mental disorders must have an underlying psychobiological dysfunction Describes people with mental disorders as experiencing distress or disability Assesses disorders in terms of the individuals social and cultural background

Answer 103

Relational nature of disorders and the interpersonal context is ignored Specific biological causes have not been identified for most mental disorders Even when identified, not all children with the disorder show abnormality Even if all children show abnormality - can’t say the abnormality caused the disorder Some disorders may be caused by entirely psychological problems

Answer 104

Inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms (at least 6 of each symptoms)

Answer 105

Fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work etc. Difficulty sustaining attention Does not seem to listen when spoken to directly Does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork Difficulty organising tasks and activities Avoids tasks requiring sustained mental effort Loses things necessary for tasks or activities Easily distracted by extraneous stimuli Forgetful in daily activities

Answer 106

Difficulty playing or engaging in activities quietly Always ‘on the go’ or acts as if ‘driven by a motor’, Talks excessively Blurts out answers Difficulty waiting in lines or awaiting turn Interrupts or intrudes on others Runs about or climbs inappropriately Fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat Leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected

Answer 107

Symptoms present before age 7 Clinically significant impairment in social or academic /occupational functioning Some symptoms that cause impairment are present in 2 or more settings Not due to another disorder (e.g. Autism)

Answer 108

Seen in early child development Behaviours clearly distinguish child from non-ADHD children Occurs across several situations Behaviours persistent over time Child not able to perform at age-appropriate levels Not accounted for be environment of social causes Related to brain function Associated with other biological factors that can affect brain function

Answer 109

ADHD = Persistent across lifespan Methodological issues impact estimates of persistence ADHD severity, psychiatric comorbidity, and parental psychopathology predict persistence Inattention remains stable, hyperactivity declines with age DSM-IV criteria may not capture adolescent/adult manifestations of impulsivity Adult outcomes include psychiatric comorbidity When ADHD occurs with conduct disorder, chronic criminality and serious substance abuse When ADHD co-occurs with depression, risk of suicide

Answer 110

Differences in brain maturation,structure, function (abnormalities in frontostriatal circuitry): Prefrontal cortex Basal ganglia Cerebellum These areas of the brain = related to executive function abilities (Attention, WM, STM) Control response inhibition ad set shifting

Answer 111

Stimulant medications - blocks reuptake of dopamine & norepinephrine and controls selective release (neurotransmitters involved in functions like motor control) Limitations: Individual differences in response Not all children respond (approximately 80%) Limited impact on domains of functional impairment Primary reason for treatment seeking Does not normalise behaviour Family problems beyond the scope of medication No long-term effects established Long-term use rare Limited parent/teacher satisfaction Some families are not willing to try medication Behavioural interventions Behavioural parent training Behavioural classroom management Intensive summer treatment programs

Answer 112

Spectrum of conditions Difficulties in social communication/repetitive and narrow interests Autism Asperger’s syndrome Pervasive development disorder (PDD) Atypical autism - some traits of autism but not enough to gain a diagnosis Affects 1% of the population Diagnosed age 2-3 years Total cost £28 billion/year 1.23 million with ID, £0.80 million without ID More common in males than females

Answer 113

Autism is heterogeneous, multifactorial, multidimensional and complex Many different ideas of what autism is

Answer 114

Increased head growth within first 2 years of life Arrested growth = Stop growing at earlier stage than normal

Answer 115

Attention to eyes or mouth in autism - autistic children looked more at the mouth than the eyes Typical children and children with down syndrome show similar social referencing Children with autism don’t often show social referencing

Answer 116

Classic autism - consistently between 4:1 and 5:1 (Male:Female) dropping with lower IQ (Fombonne et al.) Asperger syndrome - over 10:1 (Male:Female) Under-diagnoses of high-functioning females Male-biassed diagnostic procedure

Answer 117

Early onset indicates a biological origin Genetic Identical twin concordance (60%) & non-identical 5% Studying genetic polymorphisms typically requires N >> 1000 Neurobiological Evidence of neural differences exists but reasons are not clear Require large samples to scan Hormonal mechanisms

Answer 118

Behavioural interventions Intensive, sustained education and behavioural therapy Long-term benefits Helped jobs skills and learn techniques of self-care Medications Commonly prescribed antidepressants, stimulants & antipsychotics No known medication relieves autism’s core symptoms of social and communication impairments

Developmental Psychology Flashcards

(142 cards)