Effects of Early Experience on Brain and Behavior

Question 1

Tor F

Birth wouldn’t be possible if our brains completed growth in womb.

Answer 1

T

Question 2

T or F

Brains develop in the rich experiential context of the real world.

Answer 2

T

Question 3

T or F
Human behaviors thus can be shaped by ever-changing environment.
Allows for behavioral adaptation (learning).
Potential reached or missed depends on quality of environment, parenting, and other life experiences.

Answer 3

T

Question 4

Many types of experiences influence brain development, what are some of these?

Answer 4

parenting and attachment
emotional or physical trauma
medical problems
toxin exposure
nutrition

Question 5

What is the most important stimulation a baby needs?

Answer 5

social and physical interaction with loving parents

Question 6

Is it better to have a baby in prison with the mother or be put in an orphanage and have their mama in prison?

Answer 6

better to have baby with mama in prison

Question 7

What happened to the babies in the orphange?

Answer 7

more than 1/3 died by age 2 and many survivors couldnt walk r talk by age 2 (due to lack of maternal contact)

Question 8

What were the 3 phases demonstrated in children that were separated from their mothers?

Answer 8

protest
despair
detachment

Question 9

What is the basis for the parent-child bond?

Answer 9

contact comfort

Question 10

T or F

babies are spoiled by phyiscal contact and emotional attention

Answer 10

F

Question 11

What happens when babies went without contact with their mothers?

Answer 11

psychlogic distubrances/abnormal development

Question 12

What are the four types of attachment?

Answer 12

secure
avoidant
ambivalent
disorganized

Question 13

(blank) is a lasting emotional bond between human beings.

Answer 13

Attachment

Question 14

What is this:
Earliest bond, with parent, impacts child for life.
Keeps infant close to mother, improving odds of survival.

Answer 14

attachment

Question 15

In a “strange situation” experiment with a securely attached child, how will the child act.

Answer 15

good with mom around, when mom leaves is sad, when mom comes back is happier, when stranger enters enjoys stranger but has preference for mom and when mom responds to childs wants, child feels safe

Question 16

In a “strange situation” experiment with a avoidant child, how will the child act.

Answer 16

mother present-> emotinally distant, not playful
mother leaves-> indifferent
mother returns-> indifferent
stranger-> same as toward mother, somtimes prefers stranger
mothers responsiveness-> mother is disengaged, child doesnt expect needs to be met

Question 17

In a “strange situation” experiment with a ambivalent child, how will the child act.

Answer 17

mother present-> anxious, wants moms attention but gets angry when rejected
mother leaves-> child is distressed, protests strongly
mother returns-> child remains distressed, is angry toward mother, doesnt re-enage in play
stranger-> not easily comforted
mothers responsiveness-> inconcsistent and unreliable, changes from sensitive to neglectful, child cannot rely on needs being met

Question 18

In a “strange situation” experiment with a disorganized child, how will the child act.

Answer 18

other present/leaves/returns:
Lack of clear attachment pattern.
Mix of behaviors, including avoidant or ambivalent.
Seems “dazed,” confused, apprehensive with caregiver.

Child’s behavior toward stranger:
Same.

Mother’s responsiveness:
Parents exhibit inconsistent behavior (act as figures of both fear and reassurance).
Because the child feels both comforted and frightened by the parent, confusion results.

Question 19

What are the long term consequences of a secure attachment?

Answer 19

Basic trust.
Positive self image.
Goal orientated.
Positive outlook on life.
Strong relationships. 
Good coping strategies and skills.
“Ego resiliency”.

Question 20

What are teh long term consequences of an insecure attachment?

Answer 20

Lack of trust.
Confused self-image.
Emotional detachment or volatility.
Relationship challenges.

Question 21

What are these:
Goodness of fit” between parent and child temperaments.
Parenting style.
Use of language.

Answer 21

important aspects of parent-child relationship

Question 22

What is this:

pattern of reacting to people and events.

Answer 22

temperament

Question 23

What are the different temperamental styles?

Answer 23

easy
difficult
slow to warm

Question 24

T or F

How well child’s temperament fits with people in his life and how likable those people consider the child to be.

Answer 24

T

Question 25

T or F | Good “fit” is when adult expectations, values and demands match child’s natural capacities and behaviors.

Answer 25

T

Question 26

T or F Mismatch between parent and child can lead to conflict, but parents who are sensitive to child’s temperament can help with coping.

Answer 26

T

Question 27

What is the demanding and responsive syle of parenting?

Answer 27

authoritative/propagative

Question 28

What is the undemanding and responsive style of parenting?

Answer 28

permissive/ indulgent

Question 29

What is the demanding and unresponsive style of parenting?

Answer 29

authoritarian/totalitarion

Question 30

What is the undemandin and unresponsive style of parenting?

Answer 30

neglectful

Question 31

What is this: Ignores child’s bad behavior. Gives in to child when he or she tantrums. Bribes child with rewards to get him to comply with parent’s wishes

Answer 31

permissive parenting

Question 32

What kind of parenting has the worst outcomes for children?

Answer 32

permissive parenting

Question 33

What are the outcomes of permissive parenting?

Answer 33

``` Impulse control problems. Aggression. Substance abuse. Academic problems. Excessive media use, higher BMI. Lower self-esteem. ```

Question 34

What is this: Doesn’t encourage verbal give-and-take or explain reasons for rules. Expects orders to be obeyed without question. Controls child through shaming, withdrawal of love, other punishments.

Answer 34

authoritarian parenting

Question 35

What kind of parenting style has a better outcome than permissive parenting but still problematic?

Answer 35

authoritarian parenting

Question 36

What are the outcomes of authoritarian parenting?

Answer 36

Socially inept. Poor school performance. (Due to history of being shamed?) Immature moral reasoning. Behavior, substance abuse, and self-regulation problems. Increasing aggressiveness with age.

Question 37

What is this: Sets high standards and is very demanding, but is also very nurturing and responsive. Shows respect for children as independent, rational beings; expects maturity, cooperation, and effort. Encourages verbal give-and-take, explains the consequences of good and bad behavior. Is less likely to control child through harsh or arbitrary punishments, shaming, or withdrawal of love; offers child lots of emotional support while also setting clear limits.

Answer 37

authoritative parenting

Question 38

What kind of parenting style gives the best outcomes?

Answer 38

authoritative parenting

Question 39

What is the outcomes of authoritative parenting?

Answer 39

``` Common in middle class cultures throughout the world. Kids who have at least one authoritative parent are more likely to become independent, self-reliant, socially accepted, academically successful, and well-behaved. ```

Question 40

Tell me about children lanuage skills and parents economic status?

Answer 40

poor parents talk less to their children and these children have less of a vocabulary

Question 41

T or F By age 3: Widening gap in vocabulary growth: poor children using fewer words, adding new words more slowly. Poor child heard 30 million fewer words than child from professional family. Poor parents had said fewer different words than had advantaged children.

Answer 41

T

Question 42

Amount and quality of parents' language predict abilities at age (blanK)

Answer 42

3

Question 43

Tell me about the outcomes of having a welfare family and their childs language skills.

Answer 43

Fewer nouns/modifiers and past-tense verbs. Less affirmative tone. Fewer questions. Less responsive to child’s initiations.

Question 44

What are welfare families correlated with?

Answer 44

IQ at age 3

Question 45

T or F | There is a strong correlation between childrens accomplishments and family SES and parenting.

Answer 45

T

Question 46

T or F By the time children are 3 years old, even intensive intervention cannot make up for the differences in the amount of such experience children have received from their parents. If children could be given better parenting, intervention might be unnecessary.”

Answer 46

T

Question 47

What makes for a loving, normal child?

Answer 47

secure attachment, good temperamental fit with parents or parents are sensitive to child's temperament authoritative parenting style lots of conversation

Question 48

What can happen if a child's relationship with his/her primary caregiver is problematic?

Answer 48

develop of identity and emotional regulation can be affected

Question 49

T or F The more often the baby responds to trauma or neglect in a particular way, the greater the chances of the stress reaction becoming built-in and henceforth being expressed as a personality trait.”

Answer 49

T

Question 50

What happens to the child if the mom is depressed?

Answer 50

``` Unresponsiveness Inattentiveness Intrusiveness Inept discipline Negative perceptions of children ```

Question 51

What can result in a child having decreased cognitive abilty by age 4 if mothere is expressing this trait during the first year?

Answer 51

depression

Question 52

If the mom is depressed, (blank) increases risk to child; involved loving, non-depressed father decreases risk.

Answer 52

marital discord

Question 53

How prevalent is post-partum depression?

Answer 53

9-16%

Question 54

Increased risk of emotional/behavioral disorder in child (29% vs 8% risk in medically ill paret) can be due to (Blank)

Answer 54

maternal depression

Question 55

What can these be caused by: Insecure attachment. ADD/ADHD. Depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, substance abuse.

Answer 55

maternal depression

Question 56

Among mothers of children (age 1-10) how many are depressed?

Answer 56

17.6% major depression | 52% mild depression

Question 57

Where is maternal depression the highest?

Answer 57

in poor families

Question 58

Greater than (blank)children/ day die from maltreatment, about 70% are between ages (blank-blank)

Answer 58

4 | 0-3

Question 59

(blank) percent of adult survivors of neglect/ abuse meet criteria for at least one psycological disorder.

Answer 59

80%

Question 60

Abuse and neglect will results in a child who is (blank) times more likely to engage in criminal activity

Answer 60

9

Question 61

14% of male inmates and 36% of female inmates have history of (blank)

Answer 61

abuse

Question 62

(blank) percent of abused/neglected children are more likely to experience teen pregnancy

Answer 62

25%

Question 63

Does divorce cause lasting significant impacts on mental health?

Answer 63

no

Question 64

Regarding divorce, Emotional trauma is very dependent on what

Answer 64

pre and post divorce relationahip and child's temperament

Question 65

What kind of effects will domestic violence have on children?

Answer 65

Strong risk factor for behavioral, social, attention and thought problems young children.

Question 66

What kind of effects will paternal or sibling loss have on children?

Answer 66

younger children more likely to suffer long-term mental health problems

Question 67

What percent of children who have been through a divorce will have serious social/emotional problems as adults?

Answer 67

25%

Question 68

What are some causes of physiologic trauma?

Answer 68

toxin exposure nutrition medical problems

Question 69

Poverty is the worst for children

Answer 69

TRUTH (poor kids 50% more likley to die by age 14)

Question 70

There is a relationship betweeen Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and (blank)

Answer 70

adult health problems

Question 71

ACEs are strongly correlated to what 2 high risk behaviors?

Answer 71

injected drugs | suicide attempt

Question 72

ACEs are strongly correlated to what disease?

Answer 72

COPD

Question 73

T or F | Early childhood experiences, particularly quality of parenting, have lifelong impact on mental and physical health.

Answer 73

T

Question 74

Brain structure is (blank), it is altered by early experience, often permanently. The first (blank) years are particular important.

Answer 74

neuroplastic | 3

Question 75

Critical perods of devlopment are concentrated in (blank) years of life

Answer 75

first

Question 76

Why is the critical period critical?

Answer 76

because the brain, stress response and immune system demonstrate remarkable plasticity to environment during this time

Question 77

Experience leaves its mark through 2 processes

Answer 77

synaptic remodeling | epigenetics

Question 78

What is this: | the brains neural circuitry is shaped by early learning experiences and the quality of the environment

Answer 78

synaptic remodeling

Question 79

What is this: | gene expression is altered by early life experiences

Answer 79

epigenetics

Question 80

synaptic remodeling happens in (blank)

Answer 80

cerebral cortex

Question 81

Tell me about synaptic proliferation in development?

Answer 81

increases hugely between the first 2 years

Question 82

So until you are an adolescent, you overproduce synapses and then prune them down, why?

Answer 82

maximizes plasticity

Question 83

Once a brain region has passed the refinement (pruning) stage. "critical period" has (blank)

Answer 83

ended

Question 84

(blank) is a particularly important structure in the development of self awareness, emotional regulation, and social skills.

Answer 84

Orbitofrontal cortex

Question 85

(blank) governs processing of interpersonal signals, ability to generate self-awareness and personal identity, and ability to imagine oneself in future or past.

Answer 85

orbitofrontal cortex

Question 86

During first 2 years of life, right orbitofrontal cortex receives axons projecting from (blank) which is responsible for emotion.

Answer 86

limbic system

Question 87

The orbitofrontal cortex and limbic system attachmnts do what?

Answer 87

regulate empathy, afect, and capacity for self-awareness that get established when baby has consistent, loving parent

Question 88

Human connections shape the (blank) from which the mind emerges.

Answer 88

neural connections

Question 89

Early life experiences leave (blank) on genome, determing which genes are turned on or silenced

Answer 89

epigenetic marks

Question 90

Epigenetic changes appear to occur primarily in (blank)

Answer 90

organs (brain, heart, liver, kidneys, etc.)

Question 91

SOme genes can only be modified during (blank) others are open to alterations throughout life.

Answer 91

critical periods

Question 92

how do you silence a gene?

Answer 92

methylation

Question 93

How do you access a gene?

Answer 93

acetylation

Question 94

How do you make a gene unaccessible?

Answer 94

deacetylation :)

Question 95

Brain and epigenome are altered through (blank)

Answer 95

toxic stress

Question 96

Severe, frequent or prolonged stress created by adverse circumstances can result in toxic stress. What are some examples of this?

Answer 96

``` Abuse and neglect Maternal depression Traumatic loss Parental drug abuse Poverty ```

Question 97

How do you reduce the effects of toxic stress?

Answer 97

with caring adults (intensified though with lack of supportive adult)

Question 98

Toxic stress permanently affects the (blank) and (blank)

Answer 98

hypothalamic pituitary-adrenal axis, and the immune system

Question 99

How does early adversity affect the HPA axis?

Answer 99

reduces Glucocorticoid receptor proteins and increase reactivity to stress.

Question 100

What did the experiment with rats show?

Answer 100

high licking = GR demethylated, high GR protein produced, tend to be more calm low-licking = GR methylated, less GR protein, tend to be more anxious ALSO, low licking mothers if held started to become high licking mothers

Question 101

What did the study about GR promotor regions show?

Answer 101

it showed that suicide victims what had a history of child abuse had increased methylation of GR promotor

Question 102

childhood abuse decreased expression of (blank) protein, increased (blank) activity, increased risk of suicide.

Answer 102

GR protein | HPA

Question 103

amount and severity of childhood sexual abuse correlated with amount of (blank) of GR gene/

Answer 103

methylation

Question 104

Children who spent at least 8 months in a ROmanian orphanage in early life had siginicant higher daily (blank) levels than children adopted at birth or living with birth parents

Answer 104

cortisl | more time in institution correlated with hiher basal cortisol levels

Question 105

Prenatal exposture to maternal depression is associated with increased (blank) of infant's GR gene and the babies will have elevated (blank) levels.

Answer 105

Methylation | salivary cortisol

Question 106

Chronically elevated cortisol causes long-term health problems such as.....

Answer 106

``` hypertension hyperglycemia growth suppression impaired cognitive performance decreased bone density sleep disruption decreased muscle mass lowered immune function slow wound healing increased abdominal fat ```

Question 107

Toxic stress alters brain structure; what happen at the orbitofrontal cortex? prefrontal cortex? amygdala? hippocampus?

Answer 107

hypertrophy or over activity neuronal loss/ under activity hypertrophy or over activity neuronal loss/ under activity

Question 108

What is the overall effect of toxic stress to the brain?

Answer 108

Increased stimulation of HPA axis due to decreased GR receptors and thus increased stress response

Question 109

Underdeveloped (blank) results in impaired memory, learning and mood control; decreases ability to discriinate safety vs. danger

Answer 109

hippocampus

Question 110

What does a neglected brain look like?

Answer 110

super small : (

Question 111

What dont we want?

Answer 111

decreased GR, Increased HPA, increased stress response.

Question 112

Besides decreased GR, how else can we get increased HPA?

Answer 112

increased production of cytokines

Question 113

Toxic stress can alter immunity in newborns and young children how?

Answer 113

by altering cellular immunity and increasing production of cytokines as well as inreased C reaction protein in adult survivors

Question 114

Survivors of signif childhood adversity have stress response systems that are (blank)

Answer 114

overly reactive, slow to shut down

Question 115

Who are..... More prone to anxiety, mood disorders, poor impulse control, psychosis, personality disorders, and multiple health problems. More likely to experience “trajectory-altering events” that can change the course of their lives (e.g., teen pregnancy, drug use, crime).

Answer 115

survivors of signif childhood adversity

Question 116

The more often the baby responds to trauma or neglect in a particular way, the greater the chance of the stress reaction becoming built-in and henceforth being expressed as a (blank)

Answer 116

personality trait

Question 117

What is the most strongly correlated disorder associated with low parental nurturance?

Answer 117

avoidant PD > paranoid PD

Question 118

Why do some kids who go through trauma show no signif mental health problems?

Answer 118

intelligience temperament social skills strong relationshp with at least one adult most important

Question 119

Is there a resiliency gene?

Answer 119

5HTT with long alleles

Question 120

Does schizophrenia have a genetic component?

Answer 120

yes but environment plays a role as well (twins yielded different results, and more stress more likely to get it)

Question 121

What is super weird about identical twins as they age?

Answer 121

they become less identical!!! because epigenetic changes accumulate