Themes Flashcards
1
Q
what ages define infancy?
A
conception - 3 years old
2
Q
why study infancy?
A
- Learn to be better parents, caregivers, educators
- tease apart biological and societal influences
- could help us in future careers
- can help learn about the beginnings of adult behaviour
- can help us identify atypical patterns of development in human infants
- increase the welfare of children
- understand human nature
3
Q
7 themes of infant psych
A
- Nature and nurture
- The active child
- Continuity/discontinuity
- Mechanisms of change
- Sociocultural context
- Individual differences
- Research and children’s welfare
4
Q
nature vs. nurture
A
- Both of them have influences on multiple traits, including temperament, physical appearance (mostly nature), susceptibility/acquiring certain disorders, social ease, cultural norms/beliefs (mostly nurture), language, etc.
- There are no aspects of psychological development that are solely affected by nature or nurture
- Both nature and nurture influence each other and us (transactional model)
- It’s still important to know how much nature and nurture each influence different traits/characteristics
5
Q
why is it important to know how much nature and nurture each influence different traits/characteristics?
A
can help us design effective interventions for behaviours and know the likelihood of certain behaviours and psychopathologies being passed down generationally
- twin and adoption studies useful for this
6
Q
twin studies
A
- Monozygotic twins share 100% of DNA -> if a characteristic is biologically controlled, it should be the same in identical twins
- Dizygotic twins share 50% of DNA (same amount as other siblings do) this will be a potential quiz question
- Twins raised in same household share almost all of their childhood experiences
7
Q
adoption studies
A
- Biological siblings raised in different households share little childhood experience but much DNA
- Adoptive siblings raised together share little DNA but much experience
8
Q
the active child
A
- The child themself is the most important decision-maker in their own development (not just the primary caregiver)
- Ex. Attention, temperament/emotion, attachment, self-play and self-talk
9
Q
continuity vs. discontinuity
A
- Continuous development: like a tree -> grows slowly and gradually
- Infants are typically not perfectly situated in one stage; change often occurs slowly and gradually (depends on when you measure -> Ie. If you measure something every day, it will seem continuous, but if you measure something every few months, it will seem discontinuous)
- Discontinuous development: like a butterfly -> major stages -> changes from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly
- ex. Stage theories
ex. Piaget – cognitive development
ex. Freud – psychosexual development
Ex. Erikson – psychosocial development
Ex. Kohlberg – moral development
10
Q
mechanisms of change
A
- Infants change a lot, and they change quickly
- Changes can be biological, experiential, self-induced, parent-induced, rapid, or gradual
- But how do these changes occur? What are the mechanisms?
- Ex. The influence of genes and experience on the brain
- Ex. The maturation of the brain
11
Q
sociocultural context
A
- Infant research has WEIRD bias -> families who volunteer to bring their infants in to studies live in West Side of Vancouver and aren’t super diverse socioeconomically
- What aspects of a child’s social surroundings affect her development (Historical era, Economic structure, Cultural beliefs/values)
- Ex. Co-sleeping -> creates stronger attachment but greater separation anxiety as well -> more popular in non-Western societies
12
Q
individual differences
A
- What are these differences and how do they arise?
- Lots of individual variation in utero
13
Q
research and children’s welfare
A
- How can research on the topics we’ve discussed today be used to help infants become successful adults?
- ex. Social policy and the law, education, improved parenting techniques
