Developmental Psychology Flashcards
1
Q
What six areas of function are involved in normal development?
A
- Perception
- Mobility
- Cognition
- Communication
- Socialisation
- Emotional regulation
2
Q
What is the natural developmental trajectory of vision?
A
- 0-4 Months
- Range of focus 15-25m: Distance to caregiver correlation/interaction
- Eyes wander - inability to retain focus
- only sensitive to high contrast: no colour vision
- 5-8 months
- depth perception - allows for grabbing
- colour vision
- 9-12 months
- ability to judge distance
3
Q
What is the natural developmental trajectory of hearing?
A
- Inner ear fully developed by 3rd trimester: born with preference for mothers voice
- Tested at birth using: EOAE: tiny microphone detects cochlear hairs movement or just reaction to noise
- Newborns are sensitive to patterns and organised sound. Preferential orientation to speech and music
4
Q
What is the normal developmental trajectory of gross motor skills?
A
- Variations on a theme: movements are not identical
- eg children who never crawl (such as bum shuffle)
- 1-4 months: Reflex movements, lifts head when prone, sits with support
- 5- 9/10/11 months: Sits without support, Pulls to standing, crawls
- 10-17 months: Stands then walks alone
- 18-30 months: Runs, jumps
5
Q
What is the normal developmental trajectory of fine motor skills?
A
- 2months: Holds object briefly if placed in hand
- 3-4 months: Reaches for dangling object, inspects fingers, moves object towards mouth
- 4-5months: Holds two objects, transfers object from hand to hand
- 5-6 months: Bangs objects together
- 6 months: Reaches for, grabs and retains objects, manipulates and examines objects
- 7-8months: “four finger grip” grasps with thumb and fingers
- 8-10months: Can grip and release objects
- 10-12 months: “pincer grip”
6
Q
What is the difference between gross and fine motor skills and how do motor skills as a whole develop?
A
- Gross = large movements involving arms, legs, feet, whole body
- Fine = smaller movements involving hands, toes, facial muscles, tongue
- Motor skills develop in two directions
- Cephalo-caudal (head-to-toe)
- Proximo-distal (midline to extremities)
- Requirements for motor skill development:
- Each new skill builds on the previously learnt skills
- Stimuli
- Interaction
- Motivation
- Personality
7
Q
What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
A
8
Q
What are ego-centricity and object permanence?
A
-
Ego-Centricity (until age 7ish)
- Lack of theory of mind - assume others know what they know
- eg assuming same preferences, using pronouns not names
-
Object Permanence (achieved by 2ish)
- Ability to understand things exist when not directly observable
- associated with separation anxiety
- Overlap development: associated with increasing motor abilities
-
The A-not-B Error: Partially developed object permanence
- Perservation error: look in last place object was not new place
9
Q
What are the subtypes of language development and their milestones?
A
- Vocalisations = sounds made by the infant in an attempt to communicate
-
Expressive “language” = communication bids made by the infant (includes verbal and non-verbal)
- 15m: 4-6 words, combines sounds and gestures
- 18m: 20words, respond to Qs, still nonsense words
- 21m: 20-50words, words> gestures, fast learning
- 24m: 50+ words, 2word phrases (frustration)
-
Receptive “language” = evidence of the infant receiving or understanding communication bids made by another
- 15: follow simple instructions
- 18: responds to Y/N Qs with nod, early direction words
- 21: understands some emotion words, pronouns
- 24: understands 300+words, stories
10
Q
What is cultural transmission?
A
- Cultural transmission refers to the way people or animals within a society or culture tend to learn and pass on information
- Learning styles are greatly influenced by how a culture socializes with its children and young people
- Massive difference for humans: completely dependent for much longer (unable to walk until 10months)
11
Q
How did Morton and Johnson explain mixed baby facial preference results?
A
- Birth to 2 months, looking at angle of presentation compound
- Experimental design changed results from younger older children
- Concluded: mechanism present from birth that detects “face” stimuli in the periphery and directs attention towards it
- 2-4 months old
- automatic processes begin to be replaced by learned processes
- discriminate between facial and non-facial configurations (learned)
- After 4 months
- By this time, children have learned enough about faces, prefer novelty to known stimuli
12
Q
What is Trevarthans explanation of why infants have emotional understanding?
A
- Baby is responding to adult needs while also providing for its own
- Innate subjectivity = The infant is born with an awareness specifically receptive to the subjective state of others
-
Intersubjectivity = This natural sociabilty serves to intrinsically motivate companionship and caregiving
- “dance of communication”
- Under normal conditions:
- Communication has a conversational quality (turn taking, contingeny)
13
Q
What is the still face procedure?
A
- Murray and Trevarthan experiment that perturbing maternal behaviours will affect the emotional responses of the baby
- Intensive study of small number of children
- Still face condition: mother instructed to maintain completely neutral face, no talking, no response
- Delayed replay: normal reaction, but delayed and over a monitor
- interuption: experimenter interupts
- Results:
- Babies in still face display high distress
- Delayed show confusion without distress
- interruption not distresed but quiet/waiting
14
Q
How can early mother-infant relationships affect emotional development?
A
- Early, prolonged post-partum depression can put children at higher risk for emotional problems even into adolesence
- Maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness/remoteness levels can also predict attachment security patterns
15
Q
What is stranger wariness/stranger anxiety?
A
- Commonly observed change in infant behaviour around 9 months old
- Typically doesnt show strong fear response, more subtle actions like avoidance, sticking close to mother
- Normal developmental trend - response to having built very strong bond with only 1 or 2 primary caregivers
- indication of other developmental trends such as object permanence/attachment
- Why would this occur
- Confidence that attachment figure is safe
- Reunion strengthens bond, increases feelings of protectiveness
16
Q
What is empathy and how does it differ from sympathy and personal distress?
A
- Empathy is an affective response that stems from apprehension or comprehension of anothers emotional state, that is identical or very similar to what the other person is feeling or would be expected to feel
- Requires theory of mind (differentiation between minds to some level)
- People experience empathy differently depending on cognitive understanding of the others emotion
- Not
- Emotional contagion: doesnt involve differentiation
- Sympathy: sorrow or concern for other (usually response to empathy)
- Personal distress: self focussed response to anothers distress
