Summary of the book for Developmental Psychology, Sintesi del corso di Psicologia dello Sviluppo

Scarica Summary of the book for Developmental Psychology e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Psicologia dello Sviluppo solo su Docsity! SECTION 1: THE NATURE OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Caring for children Development is the pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span. Most development involves growth, although it also includes decline. ● Improving the lives of children Sociocultural Contexts and Diversity: Health and well-being, parenting, and education, like development itself, are all shaped by their sociocultural context. The term context refers to the settings in which development occurs. Context is influenced by: - Culture: behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a specific group of people that are passed on from generation to generation. Culture results from the interaction of people over many years. Cross-cultural studies compare aspects of two or more cultures. - Ethnicity: rooted in cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion and language. Diversity exists within each ethnic group - Socioeconomic status (SES): a person’s position within society based on occupational, educational, and economic characteristics - Gender: characteristics of people as males and females, key dimension of children development ● Resilience, social policy, and children’s development Some children develop confidence in their abilities despite negative stereotypes about their gender or their ethnic group, and some children triumph over poverty or other adversities. They show resilience, which is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Ann Masten concluded that good intellectual functioning influences resilience but also: - Individual predispositions: Appealing, sociable, easygoing disposition. Self-confidence, high self-esteem. Talents. Faith - Family: Close relationship to caring parent figure. Authoritative parenting: warmth, structure, high expectations. Socioeconomic advantages. Connections to extended supportive family networks. - Extra familiar context: Bonds to caring adults outside the family. Connections to positive organizations. Attending effective schools Should governments also take action to improve the contexts of children’s development and aid their resilience? Social policy is a government’s course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens. 2. Developmental Processes, Periods, and issues ● Biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes The pattern of human development is created by the interplay of 3 key processes: 1. Biological processes: produce changes in an individual’s body. 2. Cognitive processes: changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence and language. 3. Socioemotional processes: changes in an individual’s relationships with other people, changes in emotions and in personality. Biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes are completely related, this is obvious in two rapidly emerging fields: - Developmental cognitive neuroscience: development, cognitive processes and the brain. - Developmental social neuroscience: development, socioemotional processes and the brain. In many instances, biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes are bidirectional. For example, biological processes can influence cognitive processes and vice versa. ● Periods of development 1. Prenatal period: time from conception to birth, around 9 months. 2. Infancy: from birth to about 18 to 24 months of age. Extreme dependence on adults, many psychological activities are just beginning. 3. Early childhood: from the end of infancy to about 5 or 6 years of age (preschool years). You children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, spend many hours in play with peers. 4. Middle and late childhood: between about 6 and 11 years of age (elementary school years) children master the fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic and they are formally exposed to the larger world and its culture. Self-control increases. 5. Adolescence: period of transition from childhood to adulthood, from 10 or 12 to 18 or 19 years. Rapid physical changes. Pursuit of independence and an identity. More and more time spent outside the family. Thought becomes abstract, idealistic and logical. Development doesn’t end with adolescence. ● Age and cohort effects A cohort is a group of people who are born at a similar point in history and share similar experiences as a result. These shared experiences may produce a range of differences between cohorts. In research on development, cohort effects are due to a person’s time of birth, era or generation but not to actual age. Millennials are the generation born after 1980, so the first to come of age and enter emerging adulthood in the new millennium, they have 2 characteristics: more ethnic diversity and strong connection to technology. confusion where they are going in life. Industry vs Inferiority Middle and late childhood (elementary school years, 6 years to puberty) Children now need to direct their energy toward mastering knowledge Initiative vs Guilt Early childhood (preschool years, 3 to 5 years) they face new challenges that require active, purposeful, responsible behavior Autonomy vs Shame and doubt Infancy (1 to 3 years) They start to assert their sense of independence or autonomy. If an infant is restrained too much, it creates shame. Trust vs Mistrust Infancy (first year) Trust in infancy sets the stage for a lifelong expectation that the world will be a good place - Evaluating psychoanalytic theories: Contributions include: Emphasis on a developmental framework, family relationships, unconscious aspects of the mind. Criticism includes: Lack of scientific support. Too much emphasis on sexual underpinnings (freud). Too much credit to the unconscious mind. Image of children that is too negative (freud) 2. Cognitive Theories: Whereas psychoanalytic theories stress the importance of the unconscious, cognitive theories emphasize conscious thoughts. a. Piaget’s cognitive development theory Children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through 4 stages of cognitive development. Two processes underlie the 4 stages: - Organization: to make sense of our world, we organize experience - Adaptation: we adjust to new environmental demands Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Stage Concrete Operational Stage Formal Operational Stage The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions. An infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of The child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets. The adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways. symbolic thought toward the end of the stage. sensory information and physical action. Birth to 2 Years of Age 2 to 7 Years of Age 7 to 11 Years of Age 11 Years of Age + b. Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory Like Piaget, he argued that children actively construct knowledge. However, his theory emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development. He argued that development of memory, attention, and reasoning involves learning to use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical systems, and memory strategies. Children's social interaction with more skilled adults and peers is indispensable to their cognitive development. Knowledge is situated and collaborative: it is not generated from within the individual, but rather is constructed through interaction with other people and objects in the culture. c. Information-processing theory Psychologists began to wonder if the logical operations carried out by computers might tell us something about how the human mind works. This theory emphasizes that individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it. Unlike Piaget’s theory but like Vygotsky’s theory, information-processing theory does not describe development as happening in stages. Instead, according to this theory, individuals develop gradually. - Evaluating the cognitive theories: Contributions include: Positive view of development and emphasis on the active construction of understanding. Criticism includes: Skepticism about the pureness of Piaget’s stages. Too little attention is paid to individual variations 3. Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories: At about the same time that Freud was interpreting patients’ unconscious minds through their recollections of early childhood experiences, Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson were conducting detailed observations of behavior in controlled laboratory settings. a. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning: For him, in classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a response originally produced by another stimulus. Watson then demonstrated that classical conditioning occurs in human beings (Little Albert) b. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning: The consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior’s occurrence (rewards and punishments) c. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory: Behavior, environment and cognition are the key factors in development. Bandura proposed that cognitive processes have important links with the environment and behavior. His early research program focused heavily on observational learning (also called imitation or modeling), which is learning that occurs through observing what others do. Bandura’s most recent model of learning and development includes 3 elements: behavior, person/cognition, environment. - Evaluating the behavioral and social cognitive theories: Contributions include: Emphasis on scientific research and environmental determinants of behavior. Criticism: Too little emphasis on cognition (skinner) and Inadequate attention to developmental changes and biological foundations 4. Ethological theory: Ethology stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods. Lorenz called this process imprinting—rapid, innate learning within a limited, critical period of time that involves attachment to the first moving object seen. There are important applications of ethological theory to human development. Attachment to a caregiver during the first year of life has important consequences throughout the lifespan: if this attachment is positive and secure, the infant will likely develop positively in childhood and adulthood; if it’s negative, it is more likely that the development won’t be optimal. In this view the first year of life is a sensitive period for the development of social relationships. - Evaluating the Ethological theory: Contributions include: focus on the biological and evolutionary bias of development. Use of careful observations in naturalistic settings Criticism includes: Too much emphasis on biological foundations. Critical and sensitive period concepts may be too rigid 5. Ecological theory: Whereas ethological theory stresses biological factors, ecological theory emphasizes environmental factors. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory holds that development reflects the influence of several environmental systems. The theory identifies five environmental systems: - Microsystem: the setting in which the individual lives - Mesosystem: relations between microsystems or connections between contexts - Exosystem: links between a social setting in which the individual does not have an active role and the individual’s immediate context - Macrosystem: the culture in which the individual lives - Chronosystem: patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as sociohistorical circumstances - Evaluating the Ecological theory: strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics. The more strongly the two events are correlated, the more effectively we can predict one event from the other. The correlation coefficient is a number based on a statistical analysis that is used to describe the degree of association between two variables. It ranges from -1.00 to + 1.00. Correlation does not equal causation. - Experimental research: to study causality. An experiment is a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more factors believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other factors are held constant. If the behavior under study (dependent variable) changes when a factor is manipulated (independent variable), we say that the manipulated factor has caused the behavior to change. Experimental and control groups: The first one is a group whose experience is manipulated. The second is a comparison group that is as much like the first and is treated in every way except for the manipulated factor (independent variable). The second serves as a baseline. Time span of research: - cross-sectional approach: research strategy in which individuals of different ages are compared at one time. The main advantage is that researchers don’t have to wait for children to get older. Disadvantages include that it gives no information about how individual children change or about the stability of their characteristics. - Longitudinal approach: the same individuals are studied over a period of time. They provide a wealth of information about important issues such as stability and change in development and the influence of early experience on later development but they are expensive and time-consuming, the longer the study lasts, the greater the number of participants who drop out. RESEARCH METHOD THEORY Observation • All theories emphasize some form of observation. • Behavioral and social cognitive theories place the strongest emphasis on laboratory observation. • Ethological theory places the strongest emphasis on naturalistic observation. Interview/ Survey • Psychoanalytic and cognitive studies (Piaget, Vygotsky) often use interviews. • Behavioral, social cognitive, and ethological theories are the least likely to use surveys or interviews. Standardized test • None of the theories discussed emphasize the use of this method. Correlational research • All of the theories use this research method, although psychoanalytic theories are the least likely to use it. Experimental research • The behavioral and social cognitive theories and the information processing theories are the most likely to use the experimental method. • Psychoanalytic theories are the least likely to use it. Cross-sectional/ longitudinal methods • No theory described uses these methods more than any other. ● Challenges in child development research Conducting Ethical Research: Researchers have a responsibility to anticipate the personal problems their research might cause and to at least inform the participants of the possible fallout. APA’s guidelines address four important issues: - informed consent: All participants must know what their participation will involve and what risks might develop. - confidentiality: all of the data they gather on individuals completely confidential - debriefing: After the study has been completed, participants should be informed of its purpose and the methods that were used. - deception: the psychologist must ensure that the deception will not harm the participants and that the participants will be told the complete nature of the study (debriefed) as soon as possible. Minimizing Bias: Gender Bias (our society has had a strong gender bias, a preconceived notion about the abilities of males and females that prevented individuals from pursuing their own interests and achieving their full potential) and Cultural and Ethnic Bias (children from ethnic minority groups were excluded from most research). SECTION 2: BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES, PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT, AND PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 2: BIOLOGICAL BEGINNINGS 1. The evolutionary perspective ● Natural Selection and Adaptive Behavior Natural selection is the evolutionary process by which those individuals of species that are best adapted are the ones that survive and reproduce. The best-adapted individuals survive to leave the most offspring. Over the course of many generations, organisms with the characteristics needed for survival make up an increasing percentage of the population. If environmental conditions change, however, other characteristics might become favored by natural selection, moving the species in a different direction. Adaptive behavior is behavior that promotes an organism’s survival in the natural habitat. ● Evolutionary Psychology Evolutionary psychology emphasizes the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” in shaping behavior. “Fit” is a measure of an organism's reproductive success and its ability to pass on its genes to future generations. Natural selection favors behavior that increases reproductive success (the ability to pass genes to the next generation). David Buss has stated how evolution can explain human behavior. He reasons that just as evolution has contributed to our physical features such as body shape and height, and influences how we make decisions, how aggressive we are, our fears, and our mating patterns Evolutionary developmental psychology: It has been used to understand human development. An extended childhood period might have evolved because humans require time to develop a large brain and learn the complexity of human societies. Many of our evolved psychological mechanisms are domain - specific, that is, the mechanisms apply only to a specific aspect of a person’s psychological makeup. According to evolutionary psychology, the mind cannot be considered a universal tool that can be effectively used for a wide range of problems. Instead, as our ancestors dealt with certain recurring problems such as hunting and finding shelter, specialized modules evolved that process information related to recurrent problems. Evaluating evolutionary psychology: This is just one theoretical approach among many. Albert Bandura acknowledges the important influence of evolution on human adaptation. However, he rejects social behavior as strictly the product of evolved biology. An alternative is a bidirectional view, in which environmental and biological conditions influence each other. In this view, evolutionary pressures created changes in biological structures that allowed the use of tools, which enabled our ancestors to manipulate the environment. These innovations produced new selection pressures. Evolution gives us biological potential, but it does not dictate behavior. The evolutionary approach is difficult to refute or test because evolution is on a time scale that does not lend itself to empirical study; however, we can use specific genes in humans and other species to study it. 2. Genetic Foundations of Development ● The Collaborative Gene The nucleus of each human cell contains chromosomes, which are threadlike structures made up of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. DNA is a complex molecule that has a double helix shape (like a spiral staircase) and contains genetic information. Genes, the units of hereditary information, are short segments of DNA, they help cells to reproduce themselves and to assemble proteins, which are the building blocks of cells as well as the regulators that direct the body’s processes. There 4 major approaches to gene identification and discovery: 1. Genome-wide association method: to identify genetic variations linked to a particular disorder. Researchers obtain DNA from individuals who have the disorder and from others who don’t have it. Then each participant’s complete set of DNA is purified and large tongue, almond-shaped eyes, flat nasal bridge, abnormalities in hands and fingers. learning programs 1 in 30 births at age 45 Klinefelter Syndrome (XXY) Males with an extra X chromosome, with undeveloped testes, and enlarged breasts and they become tall. Impairment in language, academic, attentional, and motor abilities Hormone therapy can be effective 1 in 600 male births Fragile X Syndrome An abnormality in the X chromosome can cause intellectual disability, learning disabilities, or short attention span. Special education, speech and language therapy More common in males than in females Turner Syndrome (XO) A missing X chromosome in females can cause intellectual disability and sexual underdevelopment. Hormone therapy in childhood and puberty 1 in 2,500 female births XYY Syndrome An extra Y chromosome can cause above average height. No special treatment required 1 in 1,000 male births Gene-linked Abnormalities: Abnormalities can be produced not only by an abnormal number of chromosomes but also by harmful genes. Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disorder in which the individual cannot properly metabolize phenylalanine, an amino acid. It occurs from a recessive gene. If PKU is left untreated, however, excess phenylalanine builds up in the child, producing intellectual disability and hyperactivity. PKU has important implications for the nature-nurture issue because the presence of a genetic defect DOES NOT inevitably lead to the development of the disorder IF the individual develops the right environment Sickle-cell anemia, which occurs most often in African Americans, is a genetic disorder that impairs the functioning of the body’s red blood cells. A recessive gene causes the red blood cell to become a hook-shaped “sickle” that cannot carry oxygen properly and dies quickly. As a result, the body’s cells do not receive adequate oxygen, causing anemia and early death Dealing with Genetic Abnormalities: Not all individuals who carry a genetic disorder develop the disorder. Other genes or developmental events sometimes compensate for genetic abnormalities. Thus, genes are not destiny, but genes that are missing, nonfunctional, or mutated can be associated with disorders. Identifying such genetic flaws could enable doctors to predict an individual’s risks, recommend healthy practices, and prescribe the safest and most effective drugs 3. Reproductive Challenges and Choices ● Prenatal Diagnostic Tests Ultrasound Sonography: The test is performed 7 weeks into a pregnancy and at various times later in pregnancy. Prenatal medical procedure in which high-frequency sound waves are directed into the pregnant woman’s abdomen. The echo from the sounds is transformed into a visual representation of the fetus’s inner structures. It can detect many structural abnormalities in the fetus and it poses virtually no risk to the woman or the fetus. Fetal MRI: to diagnose fetal malformations. Ultrasound is still the first choice in fetal screening, but fetal MRI can provide more detailed images than ultrasound. Chorionic Villus Sampling: between 9.5 and 12.5 weeks of pregnancy. It may be used to detect genetic defects and chromosomal abnormalities. A small sample of the placenta is removed. Small risk of limb deformity. Amniocentesis: between the 14th and 20th weeks of pregnancy, a sample of amniotic fluids withdrawn by syringe and tested for chromosomal or metabolic disorders. The later it is performed, the better its diagnostic potential but the earliest is performed, the more useful it is in deciding how to handle a pregnancy. Small risk of miscarriage. Maternal Blood Screening: during the 16th to 18th weeks of pregnancy. It identifies pregnancies that have an elevated risk for birth defects such as spina bifida and down syndrome. The current blood test is called the triple screen because it measures three substances in the mother’s blood. Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis (NIPD): alternative to procedures such as chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis. It has mainly focused on brain imaging techniques, isolation and examination of fetal cells circulating in the mother’s blood, and analysis of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma. Fetal Sex Determination: sex can be detected as early as 7 weeks into pregnancy ● Infertility and Reproductive Technology: Recent advances in biological knowledge have also opened up many choices for infertile people, they don’t have the inability to conceive a child after 12 months of regular intercourse without contraception. The cause could be in both: - Woman: no ovulation, production of abnormal ovaries, blockage of fallopian tubes, disease that prevents implantation of the embryo into the uterus. - Man: too few sperm production, sperm may lack motility, blocked passageway. The most common technique used in these cases is in vitro fertilization (IVF) in which eggs and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish. If an egg is successfully fertilized, one or more of the resulting fertilized eggs are transferred into the woman’s uterus. One result of fertility treatments is an increase in multiple births ● Adoption: It is a social and legal process by which a parent-child relationship is established between persons unrelated at birth. Children who are adopted very early in their lives are more likely to have positive outcomes than children adopted later in life. A majority of adopted children and adolescents adjust effectively, and their parents report considerable satisfaction with their decision to adopt. 4. Heredity and Environment Interaction: The Nature-Nurture Debate ● Behavior Genetics: It is the field that seeks to discover the influence of heredity and environment on individual differences in human traits and development. The goal is to figure out what is responsible for the differences among people, so to what extent people vary because of differences in genes, environment, or a combination of these factors. To study the influence of heredity on behavior, behavior geneticists often use: - Twin studies: the behavioral similarity of identical twins is compared with the behavioral similarity of fraternal twins. Several issues complicate interpretation of twin studies. For example, the environments of identical twins are more similar than the ones of fraternal twins. - Adoption studies: to discover whether the behavior and psychological characteristics of adopted children are more like those of their adoptive parents, or more like those of their biological parents. ● Heredity-Environment Correlations: The difficulties that researchers encounter when they interpret the results of twin studies and adoption studies reflect the complexities of heredity-environment interaction. Behavior geneticist Sandra Scarr described three ways that heredity and environment are correlated: 1. Passive genotype-environment correlations: biological parents, who are genetically related to the child, provide a rearing environment for the child. If parents like to read, they will make a good environment for the kid to like to read too. 2. Evocative genotype-environment correlations: a child’s genetically influenced characteristics evoke certain types of environments. Active, smiling children receive more social stimulation than a passive one. 3. Active (niche-picking) genotype-environment correlations: children seek out environments they find compatible with his/ her interests and stimulating. The relative importance of the three genotype environment correlations changes as children develop from infancy through adolescence. ● Shared and Nonshared Environmental Experiences: There is the need to consider experiences that children share in common with other children living in the same home, and experiences that are not shared to understand the environment’s role in differences between people. - Shared environmental experiences: siblings’ common experiences - Nonshared environmental experiences: a child’s unique experiences both within the family and outside the family that are not shared with a sibling Behavior geneticist Robert Plomin (2004) has found that shared environment accounts for little of the variation in children’s personality or interests (two children live under the same but their personalities are often very different). Further, Plomin argues that heredity influences the nonshared environments of siblings through the heredity-environment correlations (a child who has inherited a genetic tendency to be athletic is likely to spend more time in environments related to sports) Judith Harris (1998) argued that what parents do does not make a difference in their children’s and adolescents’ behavior. She argues based on data like Plomin’s indicating that ➔ End of 4th month: growth spurt in the body’s lower part. The mother can feel arm and leg movements ➔ End of 5th month: close to a pound. Structures of the skin have formed. The fetus is more active, showing preference for a particular position ➔ End of 6th month: eyes are formed, hair covers the head. Grasping reflex is present and irregular breathing movements occur. The fetus has for the first time a chance of surviving outside of the womb (it means it is viable) ➔ End of 7th month: 16 inches long, weighs about 3 pounds ➔ Last 2 months: fatty tissues develop and the functioning of various organ systems steps up. The fetus grows and at birth the average American baby weighs 7 1/2 pounds and is about 20 inches long. The three trimesters are not the same as the three prenatal periods. - The germinal and embryonic periods occur in the first trimester. - The fetal period begins toward the end of the first trimester and continues through the second and third trimesters. - Viability occurs at the very end of the second trimester. The Brain: By the time babies are born they have approximately 100 billion neurons. The basic architecture of the human brain is assembled during the first 2 trimesters of prenatal development. In typical development, the 3rd trimester and the first 2 years of postnatal life are characterized by connectivity and functioning of neurons. As the human embryo develops inside its mother’s womb, the nervous system begins forming, the neural tube that develops out of the ectoderm. The tube closes at the top and bottom at about 24 days after conception. Two birth defects related to a failure of the neural tube to close are: - anencephaly (the head end of the neural tube fails to close. These infants die in the womb, during childbirth or shortly after birth) - spina bifida (paralysis of the lower limbs). A strategy to prevent neural tube defects is for women to take adequate amounts of the B vitamin folic. Maternal diabetes and obesity place the fetus at risk for developing neural tube defects. Once the neural tube has closed, a massive proliferation of new immature neurons begins to take place at about the 5th prenatal week and continues throughout the remainder of the prenatal period. The generation of new neurons is called neurogenesis (at the peak of it 200,000 neurons are generated by min). Neuronal migration occurs at 6 to 24 weeks after conception, the cells move outward from their point of origin to their appropriate locations and create the different levels, structures, and regions of the brain. Once a cell has migrated to its target destination, it must mature and develop a more complex structure. At the 23rd prenatal week the connections between neurons begin to occur and this process continues postnatally. ● Teratology and Hazards to Prenatal Development: The environment can affect the embryo or fetus in many ways ❖ General principles: A Teratogen is any agent that can potentially cause a birth defect or negatively alter cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Only about half of all potential effects at birth, the others show up later. Teratology is the field of study that investigates the causes of birth defects. Some exposures to teratogens do not cause physical birth defects but can alter the developing brain and influence cognitive and behavioral functioning, that field is Behavioral teratology. ❖ The dose (the greater the dose of an agent, the greater the effect), genetic susceptibility (the type or severity of abnormalities caused by a teratogen is looked to the genotype of the pregnant woman and the genotype of the embryo), and the time of exposure (teratogen exposure does more damage when it occurs at some points in development than at others, the embryonic period is critical) to a particular teratogen influence both the severity of the damage to an embryo or fetus and the type of defect. ❖ Prescription and Nonprescription Drugs: Antibiotics, analgesics, asthma medications may have effects on the embryo. Prescription drugs that can function as teratogens include antibiotics. Nonprescription drugs that can be harmful include diet pills and high doses of aspirin. ❖ Psychoactive Drugs: are drugs that act on the nervous system to alter states of consciousness, modify perceptions, and change moods. For example: - Caffeine: high amounts of caffeine consumption by pregnant women don’t increase the risk of miscarriage, congenital malformations, or growth retardation - Alcohol: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a cluster of abnormalities and problems that appear in the offspring of mothers who drink alcohol heavily during pregnancy (the effects include facial abnormalities, defective limbs, face and heart). Most children with FASD have learning problems and many are below average intelligence with some having an intellectual disability. Children with FASD have deficiencies in the brain pathways involved in working memory. No alcohol should be consumed during pregnancy. - Nicotine: smoking cigarettes by pregnant women can also adversely influence prenatal development, birth, and postnatal development. Preterm births and low birth weights, fetal and neonatal deaths, and respiratory problems and sudden infant death syndrome are common among the offspring of mothers who smoke during pregnancy - Cocaine quickly crosses the placenta to reach the fetus. The most consistent finding is that cocaine exposure during prenatal development is associated with reduced birth weight, length, and head circumference. Cocaine use by pregnant women is never recommended. ○ At 1 month of age, cocaine is linked to lower arousal, less effective self-regulation, higher excitability, and lower quality of reflexes. ○ In the 2nd year of life, it causes impaired motor development. ○ 7 years of age, it causes learning disabilities ○ 9 years of age, it generates elevated blood pressure, impaired language development and info processing, including attention deficits ○ Through 10 years of age, cocaine slows growth rate, increases behavioral problems, especially externalizing problems such as high rates of aggression and delinquency. - Methamphetamine: like cocaine, is a stimulant, speeding up an individual’s nervous system. Methamphetamine is related to high infant mortality, low birth weight, developmental and behavioral problems. Prenatal meth exposure is associated with smaller head circumference, and increased rates of neonatal intensive care unit admission. Less brain activation in a number of areas, especially the frontal lobes - Marijuana lowers intelligence in children - Heroin increases several behavioral difficulties at birth, withdrawal symptoms such as tremors, irritability, abnormal crying, disturbed sleep, and impaired motor control. Many children still show behavioral problems at their first birthday, and attention deficits may appear later in development. ❖ Incompatible Blood Types: Incompatibility between the mother’s and the father’s blood types poses another risk to prenatal development. Blood types are created by differences in the surface structure of red blood cells. One type of difference in the surface of red blood cells creates the familiar blood groups (A, B, 0, AB). Another difference creates what is called Rh-positive and Rh-negative blood. If a pregnant woman is Rh-negative and her partner is Rh-positive, the fetus may be Rh-positive. Then, the mother’s immune system may produce antibodies that will attack the fetus. This can result in any number of problems, including miscarriage or stillbirth, anemia, jaundice, heart defects, brain damage, or death soon after birth. Generally the first Rh-positive baby of an Rh-negative mom is not at risk, but risk increases with each subsequent pregnancy. A vaccine may be given to the mother within three days of the first child’s birth to prevent her body from making antibodies. ❖ Environmental Hazards: Many aspects of our modern industrial world can endanger the embryo or fetus. Radiation can be dangerous especially in the first several weeks after conception. Environmental pollutants and toxic wastes are also sources of danger to unborn children. ❖ Maternal Diseases: can produce defects in offspring by crossing the placental barrier, or they can cause damage during birth. Some examples: - Rubella is one disease that can cause prenatal defects. - Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection. It’s more damaging later in prenatal development. Damage includes eye lesions (blindness) and skin lesions - Genital herpes, newborns contract this virus when they are delivered through the birth canal of a mother who has genital herpes. About 1/3 of babies delivered through an infected birth canal die, another 1/4 become brain damaged. - AIDS is a sexually transmitted infection caused by HIV which destroys the body’s immune system. A mother can infect her offspring with HIV/AIDS in 3 ways: During gestation across placenta, during delivery through contact with maternal blood or fluids, postpartum through breastfeeding. Babies born to HIV-infected mothers can be: Infected and symptomatic; Infected but asymptomatic; Not infected at all. ● Assessing the Newborn: Almost immediately after birth, newborns are taken to be weighed, cleaned up, and tested for signs of developmental problems that might require urgent attention. - Apgar scale: used to assess the health of newborns at 1 and minutes after birth. It evaluates infants’ heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, body color, and reflex irritability. A score of 7 to 10 indicates that the newborn’s condition is good; 5 indicates that there may be developmental difficulties; 3 or below signals an emergency and indicates that the baby might not survive. This scale is especially good at assessing the newborn’s ability to cope with the stress of delivery and the new environment. It also identifies high-risk infants who need resuscitation - The brazelton neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS): performed within 24 to 36 hours after birth. It is used as a sense index of neurological competence up to one month after birth for typical infants as a measure in many studies of infant development. The NBAS assesses the newborn’s neurological development, reflexes, and reactions to people and objects. 16 reflexes are assessed, along with reactions to animate and inanimate stimuli - Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS): provides another assessment of the newborn’s behavior, neurological and stress responses, and regulatory capacities. it assesses at risk infants like preterm infants. ● Preterm and Low Birth Weight Infants Preterm and Small for Date Infants: Three related conditions pose threats to many newborns: low birth weight (less than 2,5 kg at birth, Very low birth weight is less than 1,5 kg, and extremely low birth weight newborn weigh under 1kg); preterm delivery (born 3 weeks or more before); and being small for date (birth weight is below normal when the length of the pregnancy is considered, may be preterm or full term). The increase in preterm births since the 1980s is likely due to several factors, including the increasing number of births to women 35 years and older, increasing rates of multiple birth, increased management of maternal and fatal conditions, increased substance abuse, and increased stress. Progestin is a steroid hormone that may play a role in reducing preterm births. Consequences of Preterm Birth and Low Birth Weight: Most preterm and low birth weight infants are healthy but they experience higher rates of illness and developmental problems than infants of normal birth weight. Extremely preterm infants are born before the 28th week and very preterm infants are born before 33 weeks. Nurturing Low Birth Weight and Preterm Infants: Two increasingly used interventions in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are: - kangaroo care: skin to skin contact in which the baby, wearing only a diaper is held upright against the parent’s bare chest, much as a baby kangaroo is carried inside its mother’s pouch. It is used because preterm infants often have difficulty coordinating their breathing and heart rate, and the close physical contact with the parent provided by kangaroo care can help stabilize the preterm infant’s heartbeat, temperature and breathing. - Massage therapy: releases stress. 3. The Postpartum Period It is the period after childbirth that lasts for about 6 weeks or until the mother’s body has completed its adjustments and has returned to a nearly pre-pregnant state. During this period, the woman adjusts both physically and psychologically to the process of childbearing. ● Physical Adjustments: A woman’s body makes numerous physical adjustments in the first days after childbirth. A concern is the loss of sleep that can contribute to stress, marital conflict, and impaired decision making. After delivery, a mother’s body undergoes sudden and dramatic changes in hormone production. When the placenta is delivered, estrogen and progesterone levels drop steeply and remain low until the ovaries start producing hormones again ● Emotional and Psychological Adjustments: Emotional fluctuations are common for mothers in the postpartum period. For some women, emotional fluctuations decrease within several weeks after the delivery, but other women experience more long-lasting mood swings. ○ The Postpartum blues are two to three days after birth, women begin to feel depressed, anxious, and upset. These feelings may come and go for several months after the birth, often peaking about three to five days after birth. These feelings usually go away after one or two weeks. ○ Postpartum depression is a depressive episode that typically occurs about 4 weeks after delivery. Women with postpartum depression have such strong feelings of sadness, anxiety, or despair that for at least a 2-week period, they have trouble coping with their daily tasks. Without treatment, postpartum depression may become worse and last for many months. Possible approaches: Antidepressant drugs, Psychotherapy especially cognitive therapy, Regular exercise. A recent research review concluded that the interaction difficulties of depressed mothers and their infants occur across cultures and socioeconomic status groups. Several caregiving activities are also compromised including feeding, sleep routines and safe practices. Fathers also undergo considerable adjustment during the postpartum period, even when they work away from home all day. When the mother experiences postpartum depression, many fathers also develop depressed feelings. Many husbands feel that the baby comes first and gets all of the mother’s attention. ● Bonding is the formation of a connection, especially physical, between parents and the newborn. Some physicians believe that an emotional bonding is fundamental for the optimal development in the years to come and although some research supports this bonding hypothesis, a body of research challenges the significance of the first few days of life as a critical period. Indeed the extreme form of the bonding hypothesis simply isn’t true. But the weakness of the bonding hypothesis should not be used as an excuse to keep happy mothers from interacting with their newborns. CHAPTER 4: PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH 1. Body Growth and Change ● Patterns of Growth: Growth is not random. Instead, it generally follows two patterns: - The cephalocaudal pattern: the sequence in which the fastest growth always occurs at the top of the head, that’s why babies’ heads constitute a large portion of the total body. Physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually works its way down from the top to the bottom. The same pattern occurs in the head area: the top part of the head (eyes and brain) grow faster than the lower parts like the jaw. Sensory and motor development also generally proceed according to the cephalocaudal principle. When they are newborn the head represents ¼ of the body and at 25 is ⅛. - The proximodistal pattern: growth sequence that starts at the center of the body and moves towards the extremities ● Infancy and Childhood Height and weight increase rapidly in infancy but slower during the childhood years. - Infancy (0 - 1yr): In the first several days of life, most newborns lose 5 to 7% of their body weight. Once infants adjust to sucking, swallowing and digesting, they grow rapidly. By the age of 4 months they have doubled their birth weight. By 1 year they have tripled it. In the 2nd year of life, infants’ rate of growth slows considerably. By the age of 2 they have reached about 1/5 of their adult weight and 1/2 of adult height. - Early childhood (1 - 8yrs): As the preschool child grows older, the percentage of increase in height and weight decreases with each additional year. Both boys and girls slim down as the trunks of their bodies lengthen. Although their heads are still somewhat large for their bodies, by the end of the preschool years most children have lost their top-heavy look. Body fat declines slowly but steadily during the preschool years. Girls have more fatty tissue while boys have more muscle tissue. Growth patterns vary individually. Much of the variation is due to heredity, but environmental experiences are involved to some extent. Two important contributors to height differences are ethnic origin and nutrition. Some children are unusually short because of either: congenital factors, growth hormone deficiency, a physical problem that develops in childhood, an emotional difficulty - Middle and late childhood (6 - 12 yrs): The period of middle and late childhood (6 to 11 years) involves slow, consistent growth. It’s a period of calm before the rapid growth spurt of adolescence. During the elementary school years, children grow an average of 2 to 3 inches a year. During the middle and late childhood years, children believe that what wires the Brain or rewires it, is repeated experience. In sum, the infant’s brain is waiting for experience to determine how connections are made. Before birth, it appears that genes mainly direct basic writing patterns. Neurons grow and travel to distant races awaiting further instructions. After birth, the inflowing stream of sights, sounds, smells, touches, language and eye contact help shape the brain’s neural connections . - Changing neurons: At birth, the newborn’s brain is 25 % of its adult weight. At 2 years it is about 75 % of its adult weight. Two key developments during these first two years involve the myelin sheath and connections between dendrites: - Myelination: begins prenatally and continues after birth. Myelination for visual pathways occurs rapidly after birth and is completed during the first 6 months. Auditory myelination is not completed until 4 or 5. Some aspects of myelination continue into adolescence (frontal lobes) - Dramatic increase in dendrites and synapses characterize the development of the brain in the first 2 years of life. Pruning: the connections that are used become strengthened and survive, the unused ones are replaced by other pathways or disappear. Blooming and pruning vary considerably by brain region in humans. Both heredity and environment are thought to influence synaptic overproduction and subsequent pruning. "Blooming" represents the initial stage of brain development, where there is a rapid proliferation of synapses. This period typically occurs during early childhood, particularly from birth to around age three. Children's brains are highly plastic during the blooming phase, which means they are incredibly receptive to new experiences and stimuli. It is a crucial period for learning language, motor skills, social interaction, and various cognitive abilities. After the blooming phase, a process called "pruning" takes place. Pruning involves the elimination of unnecessary or weak synapses while strengthening and preserving the essential connections. This process continues throughout childhood and adolescence. Pruning is an essential mechanism for optimizing brain function and increasing efficiency. It helps the brain become more specialized and adaptable to specific tasks and environments. - Changing structures: At birth the hemispheres already have started to specialize. In general, some areas of the brain, such as the primary motor areas, develop earlier than others, such as the primary sensory areas. The frontal lobes are immature in the newborn. ● Childhood The brain and other parts of the nervous system continue developing through childhood. These changes enable children to plan their actions, to attend to stimuli more effectively, and to make considerable strides in language development. During early childhood the brain and head grow more rapidly than any other part of the body. Some of the brain’s increase in size is due to myelination and some is due to an increase in the number and size of dendrites. For example, myelination in the areas of the brain related to hand-eye coordination is not complete until about 4 years of age and in the areas of the brain related to focusing attention is not complete until middle or late childhood. The brain in early childhood is not growing as rapidly as it did in infancy. However the anatomical changes in the child’s brain between the age of 3 and 15 are dramatic: children’s brains experience rapid, distinct bursts of growth. The overall size of the brain doesn’t increase dramatically from 3 to 15, what changes dramatically are local patterns within the brain. From 3 to 6 the most rapid growth occurs in the frontal lobe areas involved in planning and organizing new actions and in maintaining attention to tasks. From 6 through puberty the most dramatic growth takes place in the temporal and parietal lobes, especially in areas that play major roles in language and spatial relations. Developmental neuroscientist Mark Johnson mentioned that the prefrontal cortex likely orchestrates the functions of many other brain regions during development. Links between changing brain and children's cognitive development involve activation of brain areas, with some areas increasing in activation while others decrease. One shift in activation is from diffuse, larger areas to more focal smaller areas. This shift is characterized by synaptic pruning ● Adolescence Along with the rest of the body, the brain is changing during adolescence. As a result of the pruning, by the end of adolescence individuals have fewer, more selective, more effective neuronal connections than they did as children. The activities adolescents choose to engage in and not to engage in influence which neural connections will be strengthened and which will disappear. Adolescents’ brains undergo significant structural changes: - Corpus callosum thickens, improvement in processing information. - Prefrontal cortex doesn’t finish maturing until adulthood. - Amygdala matures earlier than the prefrontal cortex Charles Nelson’s (2003) view that although adolescents are capable of very strong emotions, their prefrontal cortex hasn’t developed to the point at which they can control these passions. It is as if their brain doesn’t have the brakes to slow down their emotions A major issue in adolescent brain development is which comes first: biological changes in the brain or experiences that stimulate these changes 3. Sleep ● Infancy Newborns sleep 16 to 17 hours a day. Their sleep during the day doesn’t always follow a rhythmic pattern. By one month most infants have begun to sleep longer at night. By 6 months they usually have moved closer to adult-like sleep patterns, 20 to 30 % of infants have difficulty going to sleep at night and staying asleep. Parents’ emotional availability to infants in sleep contexts increases feelings of safety and security, and consequently promotes better-regulated infant sleep. - REM Sleep: Developmental changes are in the average number of total hours spent in REM and nonREM sleep. By the time they reach adulthood, individuals spend about 1/5 of their night in REM sleep, and REM sleep appears about one hour after non-REM sleep. However, about 1/2 of an infant’s sleep is REM sleep, and infants often begin their sleep cycle with REM sleep rather than non-REM sleep. By the time they’re 3 months, the percentage of time they spend in REM sleep falls to about 40 % and REM sleep no longer begins their sleep cycle. The large amount of REM sleep may provide infants with added self-stimulation, since they spend less time awake than do older children. REM sleep also might promote the brain’s development in infancy. - Share-sleeping: Some child experts stress that there are benefits to shared sleeping like it can promote breastfeeding, let the mother respond more quickly to the baby’s cries, and allow her to detect breathing pauses in the baby that may be dangerous. Shared sleeping remains a controversial issue, in some cases bed sharing might lead to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which is a condition that occurs when infants stop breathing, usually during the night, and die suddenly without an apparent cause. It is the highest cause of infant death in the US. To reduce the risk the infants should be placed to sleep in their backs ● Childhood Experts recommend that young children get 11 to 13 hours of sleep each night and older children get 10 to 11 hours. Most young children sleep through the night and have a daytime nap. Not only is the amount of sleep children get important, but so is uninterrupted sleep. ● Adolescence Many adolescents are not getting enough sleep. Getting too little sleep in adolescence is linked to a number of problems including delinquency, sleep disturbances in emerging and early adulthood, and less effective attention. Adolescents sleep an average of 9 hours and 25 minutes when given the opportunity to sleep as long as they like. Most adolescents get less sleep than this, especially during the week. This creates a sleep debt which adolescents often try to make up on the weekend. 4. Health The formation of healthy habits in childhood not only has immediate benefits but also contributes to the delay or prevention of premature disability and mortality in adulthood from heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer ● Illness and Injuries Among Children Early childhood: young children’s active and exploratory nature, coupled with being unaware of danger in many instances, often puts them in a situation in which they are at risk for injuries. Children are at risk for health problems when they love in homes in which a parent smokes ● Reflexes: built-in reactions to stimuli The newborn is not completely helpless. Among other things, the newborn has some basic reflexes, which are genetically carried survival mechanisms. They allow infants to respond adaptively to their environment before they have had an opportunity to learn. - Rooting reflex: when the infant’s cheek is stroked or the side of the mouth is touched the infant turns its head toward the side that was touched in an apparent effort to find something to suck. - Sucking reflex: occurs when newborns automatically suck an object placed in their mouth. It also serves as a self-soothing or self-regulating mechanism. - Moro reflex: in response to a sudden, intense noise or movement the newborn arches its back, throws back its head, and flings out its arms and legs, then it rapidly closes its arms and legs as it was grabbing for support while falling. - Grasping reflex: occurs when something touches the infant’s palms. The infant responds by grasping tightly. Reflexes can either: (a) persist throughout life (coughing, sneezing, blinking, shivering, yawning); (b) disappear several months after birth (rooting and moro reflexes); (c) become incorporated into more complex, voluntary actions, such as grasping reflex. The old view of reflexes is that they were exclusively genetic, built-in mechanisms that govern the infant’s movements. The new perspective on infant reflexes is that they are not automatic or completely beyond the infant’s control. ● Gross Motor Skills: skills that involve large-muscle activities, such as moving one’s arms and walking. The milestones (such as crawling, sitting alone, the first step) are examples of gross motor skills: The Development of Posture: As a foundation, these skills require postural control. Posture is more than just holding still and straight. It is a dynamic process that is linked with the sensory information in the skin, joints, and muscles, which tell us where we are in space. Newborn cannot voluntarily control their posture. Within a few weeks they can hold their heads erect. By 2 months of age babies can sit while supported but not independently By 6 or 7 months they can sit independently By 8 to 9 months they learn to pull themselves up and hold on to a chair By 10 to 12 months they can stand alone Learning to walk: Locomotion and postural control are closely linked, especially in walking upright: to walk upright the baby must be able both to balance on one leg as the other is swung forward and to shift the weight from one leg to the other. An important conclusion from Karen Adolph’s (1997) study involves the specificity of learning, the idea that infants who have experience with one mode of locomotion (crawling, for example) don’t seem to appreciate the dangers inherent in another mode of locomotion, risky walkways when they are making the transition to walking. The First Year: Motor Development Milestones and Variations: The timing of milestones, especially the later ones, may vary by as much as 2 to 4 months, and experience can modify the onset of these accomplishments. Development in the Second Year: The motor accomplishments of the 1st year bring independence, allowing infants to explore their environment more extensively and to initiate interaction with others more readily. In the 2nd year of life, toddlers become more metrically skilled and mobile. Motor activity during the 2nd year is vital to the child’s competent development, and few restriction should be placed on their adventures Childhood: Boys outperform girls and the developmental changes are: - moving around the environment becomes more automatic - At 3 y.o children enjoy simple movements such as jumping and running back and forth - at 4 y.o they still enjoy the same activities but are more adventurous - At 5 y.o they are even more adventurous - During middle and late childhood children’s motor development becomes much soother and more coordinated than it was in early childhood - As children move through the elementary school years, they gain greater control over their bodies and can sit and pay attention for longer periods. ● Fine Motor Skills: involve finely tuned movements Infancy: Infants have hardly any control over fine motor skills at birth, but they do have many components of what will become finely coordinated arm, hand and finger movements. During the first 2 years of life, infants develop 2 types of grasps: Palmer grasp (whole hand) and Pincer grasp (thumb and forefinger). Perceptual-motor coupling is necessary for the infant to coordinate grasping. Which perceptual system the infant is most likely to use to coordinate grasping varies with age first they use touch and then vision. Experience plays a role in reaching and grasping. Just as infants need to exercise their gross motor skills, they also need to exercise their fine motor skills. Around 18 to 24 months toddlers begin to build towers with blocks. To build a tower they must engage in the cognitive activity of planning, in this case a plan that involves a number of sequential movements in picking up and stacking blocks in a precise way. Also they need to have developed the motor skill to release blocks smoothly so the tower won’t topple. Childhood: As children get older, their fine motor skills improve. At 3 years of age, children have had the ability to pick up the tiniest objects between their thumb and forefinger for some time, but they’re still clumsy. By age 4 children’s fine motor coordination is much more precise. By age 5 children’s fine motor coordination has improved further. Hand, arm, and fingers all move together under better command of the eye. Increased myelination of the central nervous system is reflected in the improvement of fine motor skills during middle and late childhood. By middle childhood (6 y.o), children can use their hands as tools. By age 7, their hands have become steadier. At 8 to 10, children can use their hands independently with more ease and precision (write) At 10 to 12 children begin to show manipulative skills similar to the abilities of adults. Girls outperform boys. 2. Sensory and Perceptual Development ● What Are Sensation and Perception? Sensation is when information interacts with sensory receptors (eyes, ears, tongue, nostrils, and skin). Perception is interpretation of what is sensed. ● The Ecological View: Proposed by Eleanor and James J. Gibson. They argue that we do not have to take bits and pieces of data from sensations and build up representations of the world in our minds. Instead, our perceptual system can select from the rich information that the environment itself provides. We directly perceive info that exists in the world around us. This view is called ecological because it connects perceptual capabilities to information available in the world of the perceiver. So perception brings us into contact with the environment so that we can interact with and adapt to it. Perception is designed for action. Objects have affordance, which are opportunities for interaction offered by objects that fit within our capabilities to perform activities. We directly and accurately perceive these affordances by sensing information from the environment and from our own bodies. Through perceptual development, children become more efficient at discovering and using affordances. ❖ Studying newborns’ perception: The Visual Preference Method was proposed by Robert Fantz, studying whether infants can distinguish one stimulus from another by measuring the length of time they attend to different stimuli. Fantz (1963) found that infants only 2 days old (and infants 2 to 3 weeks) look longer at patterned stimuli, such as faces and concentric circles, than at red, Touch and pain Newborns respond to touch and can feel pain Smell Newborn can differentiate odors Taste Sensitivity to taste is present even before birth. Human newborns learn tastes prenatal through the amniotic fluid and in breast milk after birth ● Intermodal Perception is integrating information from 2 or more sensory modalities. Most perception is intermodal. Early exploratory forms of intermodal perception exist even in newborns. For example, newborns turn their head toward a sound. These early forms of intermodal perception venom sharpened with experience in the 1st year of life. In the first 6 months infants have difficulties connecting sensory input from different modes, but in the second half of the 1st year they show an increased ability to make this connection mentally. Coordination of vision and touch has been demonstrated in 2 to 3 month-olds. Babies are born into the world with some innate abilities to perceive relations among sensory modalities, but their intermodal abilities improve considerably through experience. As with all aspects of development, in perceptual development, nature and nurture interact and cooperate. ● Nature, Nurture, and Perceptual Development: There has been a long-standing interest in how strongly infants’ perception is influenced by nature or nurture. In the field of perceptual development. Nativists mentioned that nature proponents the ability to perceive the world in a competent, organized way is inborn or innate. However, the Empiricists are those who emphasize learning and experience. The Gibsons’ ecological view has played a pivotal role in guiding research. It leans toward a nativist explanation of perceptual development because it holds that perception is direct and evolved over time to allow the detection of size and shape constancy, a three dimensional world, intermodal perception, and so on in early infancy. However, the Gibsons’ view is not entirely nativist because they emphasized that perceptual development involves distinctive features that are detected at different ages. The Gibsons’ ecological view is quite different from Piaget’s constructivist view which reflects an empiricist approach to explaining perceptual development. According to Piaget, much of perceptual development in infancy must await the development of a sequence of cognitive stages for infants to construct more complex perceptual tasks. Thus, in Piaget’s view, the ability to perceive size and shape constancy, a three dimensional world, intermodal perception and so on develops later in infancy than the Gibsons envision. Today, it is clear that an extreme empiricist position on perceptual development is unwarranted. Much of early perception develops from innate (nature) foundations and the basic foundation of many perceptual abilities can be detected in newborns, whereas other abilities unfold maturationally. However, as infants develop, environmental experiences (nurture) refine or calibrate many perceptual functions and may be the driving force behind some functions. Maurer studied infants born with cataracts, he discovered that the deprivation and experience influence visual development, particularly during an early sensitive period in which visual input is necessary for normal visual development. The longer the delay in removing the cataracts, the more their visual development was impaired. The accumulation of experience with and knowledge about their perceptual world contributes to infants’ ability to form coherent perceptions of people and things. A full portrait of perceptual development includes the influence of nature, nurture, and a developing sensitivity to information 3. Perceptual-Motor Coupling Action can guide perception and perception can guide action so a distinction between the two doesn’t make that much sense. Infants are motivated to move by what they perceive and action educates perception. Dynamic systems view: infants learn new perceptual motor coupling by assembling skills for perceiving and acting. New perceptual motor coupling is not passively accomplished; rather, the infant actively develops a skill to achieve a goal within the constraints set by the infant’s body and environment. Children perceive in order to move and move in order to perceive. SECTION 3: COGNITION AND LANGUAGE CHAPTER 6: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACHES Cognitive developmental approaches place a special emphasis on how children actively construct their thinking and how it changes during development. 1. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Piaget’s theory is a general, unifying story of how biology and experience sculpt cognitive development. Just as our physical bodies have structures that enable us to adapt to the world, we build mental structures that help us adapt to the world. Adaptation is adjusting to new environmental demands. Children actively construct their own cognitive worlds; information is not just poured into their minds from the environment. Piaget’s goals were to discover how children at different points in their development think about the world and how systematic changes in their thinking occur. ● Processes of Development: To construct their knowledge of the world, children use the following processes: - Schemes: actions or mental representations that organize knowledge. - The infant creates behavioral schemes through physical activities. A baby’s schemes are structured by simple actions that can be performed on objects, such as sucking, looking, and grasping. - During childhood creates mental schemes due to cognitive activities. Older children have schemes that include strategies and plans for solving problems. - By the time we reach adulthood, we have constructed an enormous number of diverse schemes. - Assimilation and Accommodation: Used to explain how children adapt their schemes. Assimilation involves fitting new experiences into existing mental structures or schemas. Accommodation refers to the process of modifying existing mental structures or creating new ones to incorporate new information, it allows them to expand their understanding of the world and develop more accurate and comprehensive schemas. Both can be found even in babies, for example: their sucking scheme. - Organization: grouping isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order system. Continual refinement of this organization is an inherent part of development. - Equilibration and Stages of Development: mechanism used to explain how children shift from one stage of thought to the next. The shift occurs as children experience cognitive conflict, or disequilibrium, in trying to understand the world. Eventually, they resolve the conflict and reach a balance, or equilibrium, of thought. There is considerable movement between states of cognitive equilibrium and disequilibrium as assimilation and accommodation work in concert to produce cognitive change Assimilation and accommodation always take the child to a higher ground. For Piaget, the motivation for change is an internal search for equilibrium. As old schemes are adjusted and new schemes are developed, the child organizes the old and new schemes. represent people and language to engage in pretend play. However, their thought still has several limitations 2 of which are: - Egocentrism: inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s perspective (the three mountains task) - Animism: belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action ● The intuitive Thought Substage (between 4 and 7): Children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to all sorts of questions. They start developing simple ideas about the world. Piaget called this substage intuitive because young children seem so sure about their knowledge and understanding yet are unaware of how they know what they know. One limitation of preoperational thought is centration, which is centering of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others. Centration is most clearly evidenced in young children’s lack of conservation, which is the awareness that altering an object’s or a substance’s appearance does not change its basic properties (conservation task). 3. Concrete Operational Stage: Logical reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning as long as the reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples. Children at this stage perform concrete operations, which means reversible mental actions on concrete (real) objects. ● Conservation: the conservation tasks demonstrate that children now can perform concrete operations, which allow children to coordinate several characteristics rather than focus on a simple property of an object. Conservation involves recognizing that the length, number, mass, quantity, area, weight, and volume of objects and substances are not changed by transformations that merely alter their appearance. Children master conservation skills in a specific order: number, length, liquid quantity, mass, weight, and volume. Piaget's concept of horizontal décalage states that similar abilities may not emerge simultaneously within a developmental stage. Children initially master tasks with more salient and visible dimensions before progressing to tasks with less visually apparent dimensions, such as volume. ● Classification: many of the concrete operations identified by Piaget involve the ways children reason about the properties of objects. One important skill that characterizes children in the concrete operational stage is the ability to classify things and to consider their relationships. Concrete operational children can understand: - Interrelationships among sets and subsets: one can be at the same time a dad, a husband and a son - Seriation: ordering of stimuli along a quantitative dimension (such as length) - Transitivity: involves the ability to reason about and logically combine relationships. If A is related to B and B to C, then A to C. 4. Formal Operational Stage: Individuals move beyond concrete experiences and think in abstract and more logical ways. As part of thinking more abstractly, adolescents develop images of ideal circumstances. They begin to entertain possibilities for the future and are fascinated with what they might become. In solving problems, formal operational thinkers are more systematic and use logical reasoning. ● Abstract, Idealistic and Logical Thinking: The abstract quality of adolescent’s thought at the formal operational level is evident in the adolescent’s verbal problem solving ability. Another indication of the abstract quality of adolescents’ thought is their increased tendency to think about itself. Adolescents begin to engage in extended speculation about ideal characteristics. They also learn to think more logically: they use hypothetical-deductive reasoning, which means they develop hypotheses, or best guesses, and systematically deduce, or conduct, which is the best path to follow in solving the problem. Assimilation dominates the initial development of formal operational thought, and these thinkers perceive the world subjectively and idealistically. Later in adolescence, as intellectual balance is restored, these individuals accommodate to the cognitive upheaval that had occurred. ● Adolescent Egocentrism refers to the heightened self-consciousness of adolescents, characterized by the belief that others are as interested in them as they are themselves, and a sense of personal uniqueness and invincibility. It can be divided into two types of social thinking: - imaginary audience: involves feeling like the center of attention and being on stage. - personal fable: relates to a sense of personal uniqueness and crafting fantasy stories about oneself. Recent research suggests that adolescents may perceive themselves as vulnerable rather than invulnerable, overestimating their chances of negative outcomes. Some researchers argue that invulnerability consists of two dimensions: - danger invulnerability: Adolescents high in danger invulnerability are more likely to engage in delinquency and substance abuse. - psychological invulnerability: those high in psychological invulnerability tend to have better mental health and self-esteem. The separation-individuation process, involving adolescents developing independence and identity, is proposed as an explanation for these findings. 2. Applying and Evaluating Piaget’s Theory ● Piaget and Education: Piaget was not an educator but he provided a sound conceptual framework for viewing learning and education: - take a constructivist approach: children learn best when they’re active and seek solutions for themselves - Facilitate rather than direct learning: effective teachers design situations that allow students to learn by doing - Consider the child’s knowledge and level of thinking - Promote the student’s intellectual health: children shouldn’t be pressured - Turn the classroom into a place of exploration and discovery ● Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Contributions: Piaget was a giant in the field of developmental psychology, the founder of the present field of children’s cognitive development. Psychologists owe him for assimilation, accommodation, object permanence, egocentrism, conservation, the vision of children as active, constructive thinkers. Piaget also was a genius when it came to observing children. Criticisms: Piaget’s theory has not gone unchallenged. Questions are raised about estimates of children’s competence at different developmental levels, stages, the training of children to reason at higher levels, and culture and education. - Estimates of children’s competence: some cognitive abilities emerge earlier than Piaget thought. For example some aspects of object permanence emerge earlier than he proposed: even 2-year-olds are non-egocentric in some contexts. Cognitive abilities also can emerge later than Piaget thought - Stages: Piaget conceived of stages as unitary structures of thought so his theory assumes developmental synchrony, which means that various aspects of a stage should emerge at the same time. However, it is not accurate, since some concrete operational concepts do not appear in synchrony - Effects of training: some children who are at one cognitive stage can be trained to reason at a higher cognitive stage - Culture and education: culture and education exert stronger influences on children’s development than Piaget reasoned The Neo-Piagetian approach: Piaget got some things right but his theory needs considerable revision. They give more emphasis to how children use attention, memory, and strategies to process information 3. Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development Like Piaget, Vygotsky emphasizes that children actively construct their knowledge and understanding. In Piaget’s theory children develop ways of thinking and understanding by their actions and interactions with the physical world. In Vygotsky’s theory children are social creatures that develop their ways of thinking and understanding primarily through social interaction. Their cognitive development depends on the tools provided by society and their minds are shaped by the cultural context in which they live. Key points: - Children construct their own development through active engagement with the world - Cognitive development is shaped by cultural context, social interactions, and language - Learning arises from social interactions with more experienced adults or peers - Language organizes thought (from egocentric to inner speech) - Cultural tools can organize and enhance cognition CHAPTER 7: INFORMATION PROCESSING 1. The Information-Processing Approach ● The Information-Processing Approach to Development: Focuses on how children think and analyze information, rejecting the behaviorist perspective. It emphasizes how children manipulate and monitor information, create strategies, and overcome processing limitations. This approach compares children's cognitive development to a computer's information processing, considering hardware and software limitations. Children's development involves executing basic operations, expanding processing capacity, and acquiring new knowledge and strategies. ● Cognitive Resources: Capacity and Speed of Processing Information: Developmental changes in information processing involve increases in capacity and speed, known as cognitive resources. Both biology and experience contribute to the growth of these resources. Biological developments in brain structures and neurons, as well as myelination, contribute to increased processing speed. Increased capacity allows children to consider multiple dimensions of a topic, while processing speed influences their ability to perform tasks effectively. Faster processing speed is linked to better performance on cognitive tasks, and it improves across childhood. Assessing processing speed can be done through reaction-time tasks or matching exercises, and evidence shows that processing speed improves with age. ● Mechanisms of Change: Robert Siegler proposes that three mechanisms drive changes in children's cognitive skills: - encoding: involves effectively storing relevant information while disregarding irrelevant details. - automaticity: refers to processing information effortlessly and without conscious effort. As tasks become automatic, they are completed more quickly and allow for multitasking. - strategy construction: involves creating new procedures for processing information, such as periodically reflecting on what has been read. Siegler also emphasizes self-modification, where children apply past learning to adapt to new situations, drawing on metacognition (knowledge about knowing). In Siegler's perspective, children actively participate in their cognitive development. ● Comparisons with Piaget’s Theory: Piaget's theory suggests that children actively construct their knowledge in distinct stages, while the information-processing approach also sees children as directing their own cognitive development. Both approaches identify cognitive capabilities and limitations at different stages. However, unlike Piaget, the information-processing approach sees development as a gradual increase in processing capacity rather than abrupt stages. It also focuses on analyzing change more precisely and considers the contributions of ongoing cognitive activity to that change. 2. Attention ● Attention is the act of focusing mental resources, improving cognitive processing. Both children and adults have limited attention capacity. A study found that infants prefer events of intermediate complexity over overly simple or complex ones. There are 4 types: - Selective attention: focuses on a specific aspect that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant - Divided attention: involves concentrating on more than one activity at the same time. - Sustained attention: ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus, also called focused attention and vigilance. - Executive attention: involves planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors ● Infancy - Orienting/ Investigative Process: In the first year, infants focus on orienting and investigating the environment. They become more flexible in deploying attention from 3 to 9 months. Sustained attention, important for learning and remembering, develops as early as 3 months and increases throughout the second year. - Habituation and Dishabituation: Habituation is decreased responsiveness to a repeated stimulus, while dishabituation is renewed interest after a change. Infants are highly influenced by novelty, and familiarity leads to shorter attention spans. Parents can use habituation and dishabituation to engage their infants effectively by introducing new stimuli and adjusting their behavior based on the infant's responses. - Joint attention: It is an important aspect of infant development where individuals focus on the same object or event. It involves coordinating attention between the infant, another person (typically a caregiver), and an object or event of interest. It involves tracking someone's behavior, directing attention, and reciprocal interaction. Joint attention skills emerge around 7 to 8 months, with frequent observations toward the end of the first year. Joint attention enhances learning from others and plays a crucial role in language development. It is associated with early language acquisition and larger vocabularies. Joint attention also impacts long-term memory and activates specific brain regions. Furthermore, joint attention skills in infancy are linked to self-regulation abilities in childhood. ● Childhood: During the preschool years, children's attention improves significantly. They transition from wandering and shifting attention to being able to focus for longer periods, such as watching TV. Advances in executive attention and sustained attention are important for early childhood development. Exercises and computer programs are used to improve children's attention skills. Control over attention undergoes changes in middle and late childhood, with older children being able to direct their attention to relevant stimuli. ● Adolescence: They generally have better attention skills than children, but individual differences exist. Sustained and executive attention are crucial for their cognitive development. Multitasking is a common trend among adolescents, often involving multiple electronic media. However, multitasking can be distracting and reduce attention to important tasks. Controlling attention is essential for learning and thinking in adolescence, but distractions can come from the external environment or intrusive thoughts. Self-oriented thoughts may interfere with focusing attention on thinking tasks. 3. Memory ● Memory is the retention of information over time. Human memory is truly remarkable when you consider how much information we put into our memories and how much we must retrieve to perform all of life’s activities. Processes and types of memory: Memory involves the processes of encoding, storage, and retrieval. - Short-term memory has limited capacity and retains information for a short time, while long-term memory is more permanent. - Working memory is a term used to describe the active manipulation of information in short-term memory. It plays a role in decision-making, problem-solving, and language comprehension. Working memory is linked to children's development and predicts skills such as reading comprehension and math abilities. Studies have shown the importance of working memory in emergent literacy, foreign language comprehension, reading performance, and math achievement in children. Constructing memories: We don’t store and retrieve bits of data in computer-like fashion. Children and adults construct and reconstruct their memories. - Schema theory: It proposes that memories are molded to fit existing mental frameworks called schemas. Schemas influence how we encode, infer, and retrieve information. Memories are reconstructed rather than exact representations, and gaps in memory are often filled with fragmented recollections. - Fuzzy trace theory: It suggests that individuals create two types of memory representations: verbatim (precise details) and fuzzy trace (central idea). Preschool children tend to remember verbatim information more, while elementary-school-aged children remember gist information better. - Content knowledge and expertise: Existing knowledge plays a crucial role in memory. Experts, with their extensive knowledge, have better memory and problem-solving abilities in their specific domain. Older children tend to have more expertise and better memory in certain subjects. The influence of sociocultural factors on memory is not well-studied. ● Infancy: Child development researchers have revealed that infants as young as 3 months of age show a limited type of memory. First memories: Infants have the ability to remember perceptual-motor information, as shown by research conducted by Carolyn Rovee-Collier. Infants as young as 2 to 6 months old can remember experiences through 1 1⁄2 to 2 years of age, although some argue it is implicit mechanisms. However, children's reasoning differs from that of scientists. They can struggle to change their existing beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. Scientific skills and concepts are not consistently taught in schools, but effective science teaching involves scaffolding students' learning, monitoring their progress, and helping them distinguish between fruitful errors and misconceptions. - Solving problems: Let’s examine two ways children solve problems: - Applying rules: Young children exhibit representational inflexibility, struggling to understand different descriptions of the same stimulus. With age, they learn better problem-solving rules and become more adept at using them. However, learning is often narrow, generalization is difficult, and even straightforward analogies can be missed. - Using analogies: Young children can draw analogies to solve problems, but they sometimes struggle to recognize objects as symbols. For instance, 2 1⁄2-year-olds find it difficult to understand a scale model as both a symbol and an object. Playing with the model confuses them, while limiting access improves their performance. Young children can use tools for analogical reasoning but may forget the symbolic nature of objects. Using strategies to solve problems: Children's problem-solving abilities improve as they develop effective strategies and planning skills. A study found that children's selection of strategies becomes more effective as they progress from third grade to seventh grade. Children often use multiple strategies in problem-solving, and it is beneficial for them to explore different approaches and experiment with various strategies. This practice is particularly important for children in middle elementary school grades, although cognitive psychologists suggest encouraging strategy variation even in younger children. ● Adolescence: They play a greater role in shaping their own development. Kuhn emphasizes that the key cognitive change during adolescence is the improvement of executive function, particularly in these areas: - Monitoring and managing cognitive resources: Executive function, which involves monitoring and managing cognitive resources, is believed to become stronger during adolescence. This development plays a crucial role in enhancing cognitive abilities and learning effectiveness. It is considered the most significant intellectual advancement during the teenage years. - Critical thinking: Cognitive changes during this period, including increased information processing abilities, broader knowledge, and improved use of strategies, contribute to enhanced critical thinking skills. However, a solid foundation of fundamental skills is necessary, as inadequate development during childhood can limit critical-thinking skills in adolescence. - Decision making: Adolescence is a time of increased decision-making and improved critical thinking. However, adolescents' decision-making skills are not perfect, and emotions can affect their choices. The social context, peer influence, and individual differences in risk-taking also play a role. Providing opportunities for practice and involving adolescents in decision-making activities can help. The dual-process model suggests that both analytical and experiential systems influence decision making, but in high-risk situations, experiential processes are more influential. 5. Metacognition ● Metacognition involves thinking about and knowing when and how to use strategies for learning and problem-solving. It includes dimensions of executive function such as planning, evaluation, and self-regulation. Teaching metacognitive skills can improve performance in tasks like math problem-solving. Metamemory, which is knowledge about memory, is an important aspect of metacognition. It includes general knowledge about memory as well as knowledge about one's own memory abilities. ● The Child’s Theory of Mind: Even young children have a theory of mind, which refers to awareness of one’s own mental processes and the mental processes of others. - Developmental changes: Children's theory of mind develops over time, with early changes occurring between 18 months and 3 years of age. During this period, children begin to understand perceptions, emotions, and desires of others. By the age of 5, they grasp the concept of false beliefs. Around 7 years of age, children gain a deeper appreciation of the mind and understand that beliefs and interpretations can vary. In early adolescence, they become more aware of ambivalent feelings and engage in recursive thinking, considering what others are thinking. - Discussing feelings with parents and engaging in pretend play at a young age contribute to better theory of mind performance. Children with autism may have unique challenges in understanding theory of mind. ● Metacognition in Childhood: By around 5 or 6 years old, children grasp that familiar items are easier to learn and that shorter lists are easier to remember. Preschool children tend to overestimate their memory abilities but become more realistic as they progress through elementary school. They also initially fail to appreciate the importance of cues for memory but develop a better understanding by 7 or 8 years old. Overall, children's understanding of their memory abilities improves significantly by 11 to 12 years old. ● Metacognition in Adolescence: During adolescence, there is an important development in metacognition, leading to improved cognitive functioning and learning. Research shows that adolescents effectively use metacognitive skills in subjects like math and history. They have a better understanding of allocating attention and employing strategies for learning tasks. However, individual variation in metacognition becomes more pronounced during adolescence, with some adolescents being highly skilled in utilizing metacognition while others are less proficient. CHAPTER 8: INTELLIGENCE 1. The concept of Intelligence ● What Is Intelligence? Psychologists have different perspectives on intelligence, with some defining it as problem-solving ability, others emphasizing adaptability and learning from experience, and some including creativity and interpersonal skills. Unlike physical attributes, intelligence cannot be directly measured, but it is assessed indirectly by observing intelligent actions. Intelligence is closely related to cognitive processes such as memory and thinking. Individual differences play a significant role in intelligence, which is often measured through tests. The definition of intelligence varies, with some proposing additional factors like musical skills or the ability to use cultural tools. ● Intelligence Tests: The two main intelligence tests that are administered to children on an individual basis today are: - The Binet Tests: In 1904, psychologist Alfred Binet created the 1905 Scale, an intelligence test commissioned by the French Ministry of Education to identify students who struggled to learn. Binet introduced the concept of mental age (MA) and later, William Stern developed the intelligence quotient (IQ) formula. The test was revised multiple times, leading to the Stanford-Binet tests, which are administered individually and cover various age groups. The current version includes verbal and nonverbal tasks, analyzing functions such as verbal reasoning and short-term memory. - The Wechsler Scales: It was developed by psychologist David Wechsler. They consist of different tests for various age groups, such as the WPPSI-III for young children, the WISC-IV for children and adolescents, and the WAIS-III for adults. These scales provide overall IQ scores, subtest scores, and composite indexes that help identify strengths and weaknesses. The tests are conducted individually, allowing psychologists to observe behavior, establish rapport, and assess factors like enthusiasm, anxiety, and frustration tolerance. The use and misuse of Intelligence test: Intelligence tests predict outcomes like longevity, school success, and work performance. However, success depends on factors beyond IQ, such as motivation and social skills. IQ scores should be used alongside other information about the individual, as sweeping generalizations can be misleading and self-fulfilling prophecies. ● Theories of Multiple Intelligences Sternberg’s Triarchic theory: Intelligence is categorized into analytical, creative, and practical forms. - Analytical intelligence refers to the ability to analyze and evaluate information, solve problems, and make logical deductions. It involves the traditional concept of intelligence measured by IQ tests. Analytical intelligence is often associated with traditional academic success and performance on standardized tests. with considerable within-group variation. Stereotype threat, the anxiety of confirming negative stereotypes, can influence test performance. 2. The development of Intelligence ● Tests of Infant Intelligence: The infant-testing movement focuses on assessing infants' development using non-verbal tests. Arnold Gesell and Nancy Bayley developed widely used assessments to evaluate infants' behavior and predict future development. The Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence measures how infants process information and correlates with intelligence in later childhood. Early cognitive development is linked to later cognitive abilities, but significant changes occur beyond infancy. ● Stability and Change in Intelligence Through Adolescence: Intelligence shows considerable stability from infancy through the preschool years, with correlations between IQ scores obtained at different ages. Individual studies have found significant fluctuations in IQ scores, with some children experiencing large changes. Intelligence is not entirely stable but shows both adaptability and continuity with early development. 3. The extremes of Intelligence and Creativity ● Intellectual Disability involves limited intellectual functioning and difficulty adapting to everyday life. It is identified by low IQ scores and deficits in adaptive behavior. The condition has various degrees and can have organic or environmental causes. Individuals with intellectual disabilities may face challenges in school but may show improvement in adulthood. ● Giftedness: Gifted individuals possess above-average intelligence or exceptional talent in a specific area. While programs for the gifted often focus on academic aptitude, other talents in arts, sports, and creative thinking are sometimes overlooked. Estimates suggest that around 3 to 5 percent of U.S. students are gifted, but this figure may be conservative. Gifted children are not linked to mental disorders or maladjustment; in fact, they tend to be socially well-adjusted and mature. Noncognitive factors such as creativity, motivation, and energy also contribute to giftedness. Gifted children demonstrate 3 important characteristics, such as precocity, marching to their own drummer, and passion to master. - Nature vs Nurture: Giftedness is influenced by both genetics and environment. Gifted individuals show early signs of high ability, but experts in different domains also emphasize the importance of family support and dedicated practice. - Developmental changes and domain-specific giftedness: Early measures of infant attention and habituation do not reliably predict high cognitive ability later in life. The home environment and domain-specific talents play a significant role in the development of giftedness. Not all gifted children become highly creative adults or pioneers in their fields. - Education of children who are gifted: Underchallenged gifted children can become disinterested or disruptive. Gifted children often face social isolation and should have opportunities to learn with peers of similar abilities. African American, Latino, and Native American children are underrepresented in gifted programs, potentially due to test bias and limited language development. Efforts are being made to address these issues. ● Creativity involves thinking in novel and unique ways to solve problems. Intelligence and creativity are not the same, as highly intelligent people may not be very creative. Creativity requires divergent thinking, which is different from conventional intelligence tests that focus on convergent thinking. Children show creativity in specific domains, and there is a concern that creative thinking is declining. Factors such as excessive TV and video game usage and a lack of emphasis on creative thinking in schools contribute to this decline. Some countries are increasing their focus on creative thinking in education. CHAPTER 9: LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT 1. What is Language? ● Defining Language: Language is a system of symbols used for communication through spoken, written, or signed forms. It plays a vital role in our lives, enabling us to interact, convey information, and preserve culture. All human languages share characteristics like infinite generativity and organizational rules, allowing us to generate endless meaningful sentences and maintain order in language. ● Language’s Rule Systems: Language is highly ordered and organized. The organization involves five rules: Rule System Description Examples Phonology The sound system of a language. A phoneme is the smallest sound unit in a language. The word chat has three phonemes or sounds: /ch/ /ã/ /t/. An example of a phonological rule in the English language is that while the phoneme /r/ can follow the phonemes /t/ or /d/ in an English consonant cluster (such as track or drab), the phoneme /l/ cannot follow these letters. Morphology The system of meaningful units involved in word formation. The smallest sound units that have a meaning are called morphemes, or meaning units. The word girl is one morpheme, or meaning unit; it cannot be broken down any further and still have meaning. When the suffix s is added, the word becomes girls and has two morphemes because the s changed the meaning of the word, indicating that there is more than one girl. Syntax The system that involves the way words are combined to form acceptable phrases and sentences. Word order is very important in determining meaning in the English language. For example, the sentence “Sebastian pushed the bike” has a different meaning than “The bike pushed Sebastian.” Semantics The system that involves the meaning of words and sentences. Knowing the meaning of individual words—that is, vocabulary. For example, semantics includes knowing the meaning of such words as orange, transportation, and intelligent. Pragmatics The system of using appropriate conversation and knowledge of how to effectively use language in context. An example is using polite language in appropriate situations, such as being mannerly when talking with one’s teacher. Taking turns in a conversation involves pragmatics. grammar expand, and they develop metalinguistic awareness (think about/define words). They also learn to use language in culturally appropriate ways. - Reading: One model identifies five stages in the development of reading skills, emphasizing the importance of vocabulary and phonetic awareness. There is a debate between the phonics approach, which teaches the rules of translating written symbols into sounds, and the whole-language approach, which focuses on meaningful reading materials. Research suggests that a combination of both approaches, with an emphasis on phonics, is beneficial. Becoming a good reader also involves reading fluency and the use of metacognitive strategies. Daily reading practice has been shown to improve reading proficiency. - Writing: Children's writing skills develop gradually, starting with scribbles and progressing to letter formation. Spelling is based on the sounds they hear, and early writing should be encouraged. Becoming a good writer takes practice, improved language skills, and understanding of grammar. Students learn to organize ideas better as they progress through school. Effective interventions include strategy instruction and peer assistance. Concerns about low-achieving writers are widespread. Metacognitive strategies used in reading are important for writing. Teacher involvement and passion for writing instruction are crucial. - Bilingualism and second language learning: The age of learning a second language impacts proficiency, with sensitive periods varying across languages. Late learners excel in vocabulary but struggle with pronunciation. Bilingual children have cognitive advantages but smaller vocabularies. The US lags in second language education. Subtractive bilingualism harms immigrant children. Effective methods for teaching English Language Learners are debated. ● Adolescence: They exhibit increased word sophistication, including analyzing word function and understanding metaphor and satire. They excel in reading, writing, and organizing ideas. Their speech undergoes dialectal changes characterized by jargon, slang, and satirical nicknames. 3. Biological and Environmental influences ● Biological Influences - Evolution and the brain’s role in language: Humans developed language through changes in their nervous system and vocal apparatus. This gave them a significant advantage over other animals. Specific regions of the brain, such as Broca's area and Wernicke's area, are involved in language processing, and damage to these areas can result in language impairments. - Chomsky’s language acquisition divide (LAD): Noam Chomsky proposed that humans have a language acquisition device (LAD) that enables them to learn language. LAD is a hypothetical innate mental module or mechanism that humans are born with. The LAD allows children to detect language features and rules. While there is evidence supporting the LAD concept, critics argue that it does not fully explain language acquisition. ● Environmental Influences: The behaviorist view of language acquisition, which suggests that language is learned through reinforcement, has been challenged. Behaviorists cannot explain the creation of novel sentences or the learning of syntax without explicit reinforcement. The social context and environmental experiences play a significant role in language development. Child-directed speech and strategies like recasting, expanding, and labeling are used by caregivers to enhance language acquisition. Peers can also influence children's language development. ● An Interactionist View of Language: Language acquisition is influenced by both biology and experience. While children are biologically prepared to learn language, their specific experiences and cultural variations in language support also play a significant role. An interactionist view recognizes the combined influence of biology and experience on language development. Children benefit greatly from opportunities to engage in conversation and receive rich verbal input from parents and teachers, leading to positive outcomes in their language skills. 4. Language and Cognition Wendy Verougstraete, diagnosed with Williams syndrome, demonstrates expressive verbal skills despite a low IQ and limited motor control. People with Williams syndrome often have intellectual disability, but they also exhibit specific strengths in language, music, and social skills. They tend to be highly sociable, friendly, and empathetic, with a strong affinity for social interaction. Williams syndrome offers insights into the relationship between thinking and language. While cognition is not necessary for language development, there are links between cognitive and language abilities. Memory and representational competence play a role in predicting language development, and joint attention in infancy is connected to vocabulary development in childhood. SECTION 4: SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 10: EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 1. Exploring Emotion ● What Are Emotions? Emotion is a feeling that occurs in important states or interactions, influencing well-being and involving communication. Emotions can be classified as positive or negative and are influenced by biology and experience. Infants show emotions through their developing nervous system. Emotional maturation occurs in childhood, allowing for better self-regulation. Social relationships shape a variety of emotions, while cultural variations affect the expression and encouragement of emotions. Caregivers play a role in regulating infant emotions. Emotions are shaped by both biological evolution and cultural experiences. Relationships are central to the functionalist view of emotion. ● A Functionalist View of Emotions: Emotions are seen as adaptive responses to specific contextual demands, closely tied to interpersonal situations. They serve functions such as signaling feelings, regulating behavior, and facilitating social exchange. Emotions in parent-child relationships contribute to emotional bonding and influence the child's behavior. Emotions are connected to individuals' goals, with goal attainment leading to happiness, obstacles resulting in sadness or frustration, and specific goals correlating with different emotions like fear, guilt, and shame. ● Emotional Competence: Emotional competence, related to emotional intelligence, involves developing skills in social contexts. These skills help children effectively manage their emotions, build resilience, and cultivate positive relationships. 2. Development of Emotion ● Infancy - Early emotions: Emotional development in infants involves primary emotions, such as joy, anger, and fear, which appear in the first six months. Self-conscious emotions, like pride and shame, require self-awareness and emerge in the second half of the first year through the second year. The timing and sequence of these emotions are debated among researchers. Some argue that self-conscious emotions occur later in the first year, while others suggest they may emerge earlier. Jealousy is one example where opinions differ. Complexity and difficulties arise in accurately identifying and indexing early emotions. Some experts believe that self-conscious emotions requiring thought develop after the first year due to the structural immaturity of the infant brain. Therefore, it is unlikely that a 6-month-old infant is experiencing jealousy as depicted in a photograph. - Emotional expression and social relationships: Infants' emotional expressions shape their relationships with caregivers. Mutual regulation of emotions leads to reciprocal interactions. Responsive parents support infants' emotional development, and discussing emotions with toddlers promotes (self-regulation abilities such as attentional control and low-intensity pleasure). Recent research emphasizes that individuals with higher effortful control can adopt a cognitive and flexible approach to stressful situations. Low effortful control has been associated with externalizing problems in school-age children. Temperament is multi-dimensional, and children go through developmental changes in their temperament during infancy and early childhood. These changes include the emergence of positive affect, differentiation of emotions, and the development of attention and self-regulation. Individual differences in temperament are shaped by these changes and reflect the unique characteristics of each child. ● Biological Foundations and Experience: Kagan argues that children inherit a physiology that biases them to have a particular type of temperament. However, through experience they may learn to modify their temperament to some degree. - Biological influences: Physiological characteristics are associated with different temperaments, such as high heart rate, cortisol levels, and brain activity in inhibited individuals. These patterns may be influenced by the amygdala and serotonin levels. Heredity plays a moderate role in temperament, but it can still evolve and change as children grow and develop self-regulation skills. Temperament dimensions like adaptability and persistence transform over time alongside the neurobiological foundations of self-regulation. - Gender, culture, and temperament: Gender and culture can influence how parents react to a child's temperament. Mothers may respond differently to the crying of irritable girls compared to irritable boys. Cultural values also play a role, as an active temperament may be valued in some cultures but not in others. Behavioral inhibition may be more highly valued in China than in North America. - Developmental connections: The behavioral style and emotional responses of young adults may differ from their infancy or childhood. Children's activity levels can be linked to their personality in early adulthood, showing either continuity or discontinuity. Longitudinal studies suggest that an easy temperament in childhood is associated with well-adjusted young adulthood, while a difficult temperament can lead to adjustment problems. Inhibition and emotion regulation also impact long-term outcomes, with inhibited individuals being less assertive and experiencing social anxiety as adults. However, these findings are based on limited research, further studies are needed. - Developmental contexts: Continuities and discontinuities between a child's temperament and an adult's personality can be influenced by physiological and hereditary factors. Contextual experiences play a role in the development of temperament characteristics. The concept of "goodness of fit" helps understand how the child's environment can either support or hinder the persistence of temperament traits. ● Goodness of Fit and Parenting: Goodness of Fit refers to how well a child's temperament matches their environment. Some temperament characteristics are challenging for parents, but support and training can improve the fit. Parental sensitivity is linked to decreases in negative emotionality in infants. Parents realize the importance of temperament when they have a second child with different behaviors. Positive strategies that consider the child's temperament are recommended. 4. Social Orientation/Understanding, Attachment, and Child Care ● Social Orientation/Understanding - Social Orientation: Infants are captivated by their social world, focusing on faces and human voices. Face-to-face play starts at 2-3 months, fostering positive emotions. Infants expect positive reactions and show withdrawal when caregivers are unresponsive. Peer interactions increase in the second year, leading to cooperative play. Child care promotes social play with peers. - Locomotion: Infants' independence grows as they acquire locomotor skills, allowing them to explore and initiate social interactions. The development of these skills is influenced by various factors. The drive for independence is fueled by the rewards of goal-directed movements and motivates further exploration. - Intention, goal-directed behavior, and cooperation: By the end of the first year, infants can perceive intentional behavior. Joint attention and gaze following aid in understanding others' intentions. Around 10-11 months, infants start following the caregiver's gaze. By their first birthday, infants can direct the caregiver's attention to objects they find interesting. - Social referencing: Infants learn to "read" others' emotions through social referencing. They look to their mother's facial expressions for guidance on how to act. - Infants’ social sophistication and insight: New research suggests that infants are socially sophisticated and perceptive at younger ages than previously thought. By their first birthday, they demonstrate intentionality and actively engage in social interactions. These skills likely impact their understanding of attachment to caregivers. ● Attachment - Theories of attachment: Harlow's study with monkeys shows that contact comfort is more important than feeding. Erikson emphasizes physical comfort and sensitive care in establishing trust and attachment. Bowlby highlights the biological predisposition for infants to form attachments and the importance of the caregiver's responsiveness. Attachment develops in phases: Phase 1 (0-2M): Infants instinctively orient to human figures. Phase 2 (2-7M): Attachment becomes focused on one figure (primary caregiver). Differences between familiar and unfamiliar. Phase 3 (7-24M): Babies actively seek contact with regular caregivers Phase 4 (24 M+): Children become aware of others’ feelings, goals, and plans and begin to take these into account. Bowlby suggests that infants develop an internal working model of attachment that influences their responses to others. Attachment emerges from social cognitive advances that shape expectations and the emotional quality of the caregiver relationship. - Individual differences in attachment: Mary Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation, an observational measure of infant attachment. Babies' responses in the Strange Situation categorize them as securely attached, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant, or insecure-disorganized. The Strange Situation may be culturally biased, as different attachment patterns are observed in German, Japanese, and American infants. Despite criticisms, researchers find that infants' behaviors in the Strange Situation align with their behaviors at home, indicating its value as a measure of infant attachment. Strange situation: a child, usually between the ages of 12 to 18 months, and their caregiver enter a room that is unfamiliar to the child. The procedure involves a series of brief separations and reunions between the child and the caregiver, as well as the presence of a stranger in the room. - Interpreting differences in attachment: Secure attachment in infancy is important for later psychological development. It involves freely exploring while keeping track of the mother, responding positively to others, and showing social competence. Insecure attachment leads to avoidance, ambivalence, and difficulties with separation. Studies highlight the long-term benefits of secure attachment, but factors like parental divorce, caregiving styles, genetics, and culture also play a role. Overall, secure attachment is crucial for healthy socioemotional development. - Developmental social neuroscience and attachment: The prefrontal cortex, amygdala, and hypothalamus are implicated in maternal attachment behavior. Oxytocin is particularly important in forming infant-mother attachment, and dopamine in the nucleus accumbens motivates attachment-related approach behavior. ● Child Care - Parental leave: An increasing number of young children are in child care, with millions in the United States receiving formal or informal care. This trend is influenced by the lack of paid leave for parents in the U.S. In contrast, many other countries have extensive parental leave policies. - Variations in child care: Child care in the United States is a national concern due to the lack of paid leave. The type and quality of child care arrangements vary. High-quality care involves active engagement, positive interactions, and a safe environment. Low-income families often face poor-quality care. Selecting higher-quality care benefits children's development. Parents should monitor their child's development, seek the best available care, and consider subsidies or programs like Head Start for those in need. ● Erikson’s View: During adolescence, questions of identity arise as crucial concerns. Erik Erikson identified identity as a key aspect of adolescent development, emphasizing the struggle to determine one's self and future. Adolescents explore various roles and identities in a period called a psychosocial moratorium. Successfully resolving this leads to a refreshing self, while failure results in withdrawal or losing oneself in peer groups. Guidance from adults is vital in helping youth develop a purposeful identity. ● Developmental Changes: Identity formation is a lifelong process that begins in infancy and continues into old age. Adolescence is a crucial time for sorting through childhood identities and making decisions that shape one's identity. Mature identity is associated with higher levels of adjustment and positive personality traits. During this period, individuals engage in in-depth exploration of their identity through narrative approaches. - Identity statuses: James Marcia proposes four statuses of identity development: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, and identity achievement. These statuses are determined by the presence or extent of crisis and commitment. Identity diffusion involves a lack of exploration and commitment, while identity foreclosure occurs when commitments are made without exploration. Identity moratorium represents being in a crisis without clear commitments, while identity achievement indicates successfully resolving a crisis and making commitments. - Emerging adulthood and beyond: Identity development undergoes significant changes during emerging adulthood, particularly in college. Many individuals do not achieve a stable identity by early adulthood, and positive identities can go through cycles of exploration and commitment throughout life. ● Social Contexts - Family influences: Parents play a crucial role in adolescents' identity development by fostering both individuality and connectedness. Strong family relationships that promote individuation and connectedness enhance identity formation. Attachment to parents also influences identity development, with securely attached adolescents more likely to achieve a positive identity. - Peer/Romantic relationships: The quality of friendships and romantic relationships influences the capacity for identity exploration during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Close friends contribute to positive exploration of identity, while romantic partners provide a context for identity construction. Secure attachment in romantic relationships can impact individual identity development. - Culture and ethnicity: Identity development research has primarily focused on Western societies, often neglecting ethnic minorities. In East Asian cultures, identity development involves identification with the cultural group. Ethnic identity is significant for ethnic minority individuals, and bicultural identity is common. Sociocultural factors and positive ethnic identity influence outcomes. CHAPTER 12: GENDER 1. What is Gender? Gender includes characteristics as male or female, while gender identity involves knowing and accepting one's gender. Gender roles prescribe behavior, and gender typing occurs during preschool years, persisting into later childhood. Gender identity and knowledge of gender labels emerge as early as 17 to 21 months, affecting gender-typed play. Sex-typed behavior increases in preschool years and continues into later childhood. 2. Influences on Gender Development ● Biological Influences - Hormones: Estrogens and androgens play a significant role in gender development. Estrogens primarily affect female physical characteristics, while androgens promote male genital and secondary sex characteristic development. Genetic factors, such as the presence of a Y chromosome, influence the differentiation of male and female sex organs. Unusual hormone exposure during development can lead to conditions like congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and androgen-insensitive males, which can affect gender identity and behavior. Hormone levels, particularly testosterone, have been linked to aggressive and sexual behavior in humans. - The evolutionary psychology view: Evolutionary psychology suggests that gender differences in behavior are influenced by reproductive roles and evolutionary pressures. Males evolved traits favoring competition and risk-taking, while females prioritized securing resources and long-term mates. Critics argue that this approach overlooks cultural and individual variations and lacks empirical evidence. ● Social Influences: Psychological gender differences are attributed to social experiences rather than biological factors. Social role theory (gender differences result from the contrasting roles of women and men), psychoanalytic theory (child develops erotic feelings toward the opposite-sex parent), and social cognitive theory (children’s gender development occurs through observation and imitation) are three influential explanations for these differences. They emphasize societal roles, childhood development, and social learning as key factors in shaping gender-typed behavior. - Parental Influences: Through their actions and interactions. They treat infants differently based on gender and use rewards and punishments to encourage gender-specific behavior. Mothers focus on caregiving, while fathers engage in leisure activities and prioritize sons' intellectual development. Despite awareness of gender stereotypes, many parents still reinforce traditional gender norms. - Peers: By rewarding sex-appropriate activities and criticizing sex-inappropriate ones. Same-sex peer groups become more important as children grow older, shaping their behavior and preferences. In adolescence, peer approval greatly impacts gender attitudes and behavior, with some gender segregation still present. - Schools and Teachers: There is evidence of gender bias in schools, with behaviors typically associated with one gender being valued and reinforced. Boys may face biases such as being criticized more, while girls may experience less assertiveness and lower self-esteem. Single-sex education has been proposed as a solution, but research reviews suggest no documented benefits and emphasize the importance of opportunities for boys and girls to work together. - Media Influences: Mass media shapes gender roles and influences body image. It often portrays men as powerful and women as subordinate. Girls are more affected by the media's influence on body image, while boys are exposed to a muscular male body ideal. ● Cognitive Influences: Gender development is influenced by observation, rewards, and punishment. Social cognitive theory emphasizes interactions with the social environment. Gender schema theory suggests that children develop gender schemas that guide their perceptions and actions. These schemas shape how children perceive the world and fuel gender typing. Gender schemas are used by young children to make judgments about occupations. 3. Gender Stereotypes, Similarities, and Differences ● Gender Stereotyping: Gender stereotypes are commonly held beliefs about the characteristics and abilities of males and females. These stereotypes often reflect widely accepted beliefs. - Traditional Masculinity and Femininity: Traditional gender roles associate instrumental traits such as independence and power with males, while expressive traits like warmth and sensitivity are linked to females. These roles reflect a societal hierarchy where masculine traits hold more social status and power, while feminine traits are seen as more dependent and subordinate. - Stereotyping and Culture: Gender stereotypes are pervasive globally, associating males with dominance and females with nurturing. Although progress has challenged traditional roles, stereotypes persist, particularly in emotional expression. Boys' stereotypes are more inflexible than girls'. - Developmental changes in Gender Stereotyping: Children start engaging in gender stereotyping at a young age, with their understanding increasing by age 4. Even when adults avoid explicit gender stereotyping, children pick up cues about gender from their conversations. Stereotyping continues to evolve during childhood and adolescence, with girls and older children exhibiting higher levels of stereotyping. Appearance stereotypes are more prevalent among girls, while boys tend to engage more in activity and trait stereotyping. ● Gender Similarities and Differences - Physical similarities and differences: Females have a longer life expectancy, while males are more prone to certain health issues. Brain differences include size variations, particularly in areas related to sexual behavior, visuospatial CHAPTER 13: MORAL DEVELOPMENT 1. Domains of Moral Development ● Moral Development involves changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to right and wrong. It has two dimensions: intrapersonal (individual behavior) and interpersonal (social interactions). To understand moral development, we consider how children reason about ethical rules, observe their actual behavior, explore their emotional responses, examine their moral personality, and differentiate between moral, social conventional, and personal domains. These components are interconnected, and intentions and emotions play a role. The discussion starts with the cognitive domain of moral development. ● Moral Thought - Piaget’s Theory: Piaget studied children's moral thinking through observations and interviews. He found that children go through two stages in their moral development. - Heteronomous morality: From 4 to 7 years, children think of justice and rules as unchangeable properties of the world. - From 7 to 10 years, children are in transition from HM to AM, showing characteristics from both. - Autonomous morality: They become aware that rules and laws are created by people, and in judging an action. Young children initially judge behavior based on its consequences rather than intentions. They believe rules are unchangeable and punishment is immediate. As they develop, they become moral autonomists who value intentions and recognize that rules can change. This change occurs through peer interactions and negotiation. Young children also demonstrate non-egocentric awareness and moral understanding. However, their moral advancements are inconsistent due to limitations in self-control and cognitive flexibility. They have a long way to go before developing a consistent moral character. - Kohlberg’s Theory: It suggests six universal stages based on Piaget's cognitive stages. Through a unique interview method using moral dilemmas, Kohlberg explored moral reasoning. As individuals progress through the levels, their morality becomes more internal and mature. - Kohlberg’s Level 1: Preconventional Reasoning (before 9y) - Stage 1. Punishment and obedience orientation - Moral thinking is often tied to punishment. For example, children and adolescents obey adults because adults tell them to obey. - Stage 2. Individualism, instrumental purpose, and exchange - Individuals pursue their own interests but also let others do the same. People are nice to others so that others will be nice to them in return. - Kohlberg’s Level 2: Conventional Reasoning: External standards (adolescence) - Stage 3. Mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships, and interpersonal conformity - Children and adolescents often adopt their parents’ moral standards at this stage, seeking to be thought of by their parents as a “good girl” or a “good boy. - Stage 4. Social systems morality - Moral judgments are based on understanding the social order, law, justice, and duty. - Kohlberg’s Level 3: Postconventional Reasoning: Internal standards (early adulthood) - Stage 5. Social contract or utility and individual rights - A person evaluates the validity of actual laws and examines social systems in terms of the degree to which they preserve and protect fundamental human rights and values. - Stage 6. Universal ethical principles - When faced with a conflict between law and conscience, the person will follow conscience. - Influences on the Kohlberg stages: Experiences, peer interaction, and perspective-taking influence moral reasoning development according to Kohlberg. Cognitive development alone is insufficient. Presenting arguments above one's current moral level can promote advancement. Cross-cultural studies support the link between perspective-taking skills and advanced moral judgments. - Kohlberg’s Critics: Kohlberg's theory of moral development has sparked debate and criticism. Some argue that it places too much emphasis on moral thought rather than behavior. Cultural factors also play a significant role, with evidence of cultural biases in the theory. Family processes and peer relations influence moral development, and there is disagreement on the extent of their impact. Additionally, Carol Gilligan criticized Kohlberg's theory for its gender bias, favoring a care perspective that emphasizes relationships and concern for others. However, research suggests only small gender differences in moral judgment, and there is no evidence supporting Gilligan's claim of downplaying female moral thinking in Kohlberg's theory. ● Moral Behavior - Basic Processes: Reinforcement, punishment, and imitation affect how individuals learn and behave. People tend to repeat behavior that is rewarded and imitate moral actions. Punishment can eliminate immoral behavior but has emotional consequences. The effectiveness of rewards and punishments depends on consistency and timing. Moral behavior varies depending on the situation, and some children are more prone to cheating. Situational factors influence moral behavior, as seen in the reluctance of 7-year-olds to donate until prompted by an adult. - Social Cognitive Theory: The social cognitive theory of morality focuses on the distinction between moral competence (the ability to perform moral behaviors) and moral performance (acting morally in specific situations). Albert Bandura highlights the importance of self-control and self-regulation in moral development, emphasizing that individuals adopt moral standards, monitor their behavior, and apply self-sanctions to align their actions with internal standards. ● Moral Feeling - Psychoanalytic Theory: According to Freud, guilt is the foundation of moral behavior. Children develop a superego by identifying with the same-sex parent to avoid punishment and maintain parental love. Empirical studies show that young children are aware of right and wrong, feel guilt, and exhibit discomfort after misbehaving. Girls and fearful children express more guilt, while children with power-oriented discipline show less guilt. - Empathy: Positive emotions, like empathy, play a role in children's moral development. Empathy involves emotionally relating to others and understanding their inner states. - The contemporary perspective on the role of emotion in moral development: Both unconscious guilt and positive emotions like empathy contribute to children's moral development. These emotions strongly influence children's adherence to moral standards. ● Moral Personality: 3 important aspects of personality - Moral identity: It is about making morality central to one's life, where violating moral commitments risks compromising self-integrity. Mature moral individuals prioritize morality and engage in self-monitoring, self-control, and critical self-reflection. - Moral character: It involves strong convictions and persistence in overcoming obstacles. It requires setting moral goals and acting accordingly. Lawrence Walker's research emphasizes virtues like honesty, trustworthiness, care, compassion, thoughtfulness, considerateness, dependability, loyalty, and conscientiousness. - Moral exemplars: There are individuals who lead exemplary lives and possess a moral personality, identity, character, and virtues that reflect moral excellence. In a study, different types of moral exemplars were examined: brave, caring, and just. Each type had distinct personality profiles, but all examples shared traits such as honesty and dependability, considered as a potential core of moral functioning. ● Social-Cognitive Domain Theory: According to Judith Smetana's social-cognitive domain theory, there are different domains of social knowledge and reasoning, including moral, social conventional, and personal domains. Social conventional reasoning focuses on arbitrary rules established by social consensus, while moral reasoning centers on ethical issues and rules of morality. Children can distinguish between moral and conventional transgressions, but older preschoolers may only consider punishment for moral violations. The distinction between moral, conventional, and personal issues suggests that some actions fall within a personal domain not governed by moral or social norms. 4. Religious and Spiritual Development - Religion is an organized set of beliefs, practices, rituals, and symbols that increases an individual’s connection to a sacred or transcendent other (God, higher power, or ultimate truth). - Religiousness refers to the degree of affiliation with an organized religion, participation in its prescribed rituals and practices, connection with its beliefs, and involvement in a community of believers. - Spirituality involves experiencing something beyond oneself in a transcendent manner and living in a way that benefits others and society. ● Childhood: Parents greatly influence their children's religious thoughts and actions through practices like prayer, scripture reading, and religious education. Studies show that children typically adopt their parents' religious beliefs, and parental religiousness during adolescence continues to shape their children's religiousness into adulthood. ● Adolescence: Religious interest among college students has decreased, with a decline in attendance at religious services. Adolescents experience a decline in religiousness between ages 14 and 20. Girls tend to be more religious than boys. In less-developed countries, emerging adults are more likely to be religious compared to those in more developed countries. - Religion and cognitive development: Adolescence and emerging adulthood are significant for religious development as individuals question and explore their own beliefs. Cognitive changes, such as increased abstract thinking, idealism, and logical reasoning, allow for critical evaluation of religious concepts and consideration of alternative paths. - Religion and identity development: During adolescence and emerging adulthood, individuals focus on identity development and question their beliefs, including religious ones. This period offers an opportunity to develop a spiritual identity that goes beyond childhood religious upbringing. - The positive role of religion in adolescents’ lives: Religion positively impacts adolescents, leading to higher grades, lower engagement in problem behaviors, and improved well-being and personality traits. SECTION 5: SOCIAL CONTEXTS OF DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 14: FAMILIES 1. Family Processes ● Interactions in the Family System: Families are complex systems where interactions between family members occur in various ways. Examples include coordinated dances between mothers and infants, reciprocal actions, and mutual gaze. Scaffolding, adjusting guidance to fit a child's performance, is another form of synchronization. Games like peek-a-boo and patty-cake demonstrate scaffolding and turn-taking sequences. The socialization process between parents and children is reciprocal, with both influencing each other bidirectionally. Families can be viewed as constellations of subsystems defined by generation, gender, and role, which interact and influence one another. The marital relationship has a direct and indirect impact on parenting and child behavior, with happily married parents being more sensitive and responsive to their children. Enhancing marital satisfaction can improve parenting and benefit children. ● Cognition and Emotion in Family Processes: Cognition and emotion play important roles in family processes. Parents' beliefs and values about their parental role, as well as their perception and understanding of their children's behaviors, influence family socialization. Children's social competence is linked to their parents' emotional expression and sensitivity towards their emotions. Emotion-coaching parents help children manage their emotions, while emotion-dismissing parents deny or ignore negative emotions. ● Multiple Developmental Trajectories: The concept of multiple developmental trajectories recognizes that adults and children/adolescents follow different paths. Understanding how these trajectories intersect is crucial for timing various family tasks. The timing of family tasks can be planned or unplanned, such as entering marriage or experiencing job loss. Parenthood timing has shifted, with some having children earlier and others postponing until their thirties or forties. Having children early offers physical energy and fewer medical problems, while having children later provides more time for goal-setting, increased maturity for parenting, and better career establishment. ● Domain-Specific Socialization: Recent research highlights the domain-specific nature of parental socialization. Joan Grusec and Marilyn Davidov proposed five domains: protection, reciprocity, control, guided learning, and group participation. Each domain represents a different type of parent-child relationship and has specific outcomes for children. The domains include providing security, promoting cooperation, managing conflicts, teaching skills, and socializing into cultural practices. Further research is needed to explore the extent of overlap and their impact at different stages of child development. ● Sociocultural and Historical Changes: Family development is influenced by historical and cultural factors. Events like the Great Depression impacted US families negatively. Cultural changes, urbanization, and technology have disrupted traditional family structures. Media and technology have reduced parental involvement. Dissatisfaction and divorce rates have led to diverse family structures. These changes are seen globally. 2. Parenting: Parenting lacks formal education, relying on learning from previous generations. Developmentalists study parenting's impact and the need for adaptation to children's development. Effective management and parenting styles influence children's development. ● Parental Roles and the Timing of Parenthood: Adults choose when to become parents based on their economic situation. Some are surprised by impending parenthood. People have mixed emotions and unrealistic expectations about having a child. Fewer children are being born, with more one-child families. The average age of first-time mothers has increased. More individuals decide when and if to have children due to birth control. The percentage of childless women aged 40 to 44 has risen. ● Adapting Parenting to Developmental Changes in Children - The transition to parenting: Becoming parents, whether through pregnancy, adoption, or stepparenting, involves adapting to change and facing new challenges. The arrival of a baby brings restrictions, such as limited spontaneity and financial constraints. Dual-career parents question the impact of childcare on their child and seek responsible babysitters. Studies show that marital satisfaction often decreases after the baby is born, but some couples experience increased satisfaction and a stronger sense of identity. Low marital satisfaction can result from reduced quality time and perceived unfairness in household tasks. - Infancy: During the first year, parent-child interaction moves from a heavy focus on routine caregiving, feeding, changing diapers, bathing, and soothing—to gradually include more non caregiving activities, such as play, visual-vocal exchanges, and managing the infant’s behavior. - Early childhood: During early childhood, parents focus on topics like modesty, bedtime routines, behavior control, sibling conflicts, and manners. As children grow older, new issues arise, such as assigning chores, promoting independence, and monitoring their lives outside the family. - Middle and late childhood: Parents spend less time with children during middle and late childhood but remain important as gatekeepers and supporters. They play a significant role in academic achievement and decision-making. Discipline shifts to deprivation of privileges and promoting a sense of responsibility. Control gradually transitions to the child, leading to coregulation and increasing autonomy. Building relationships with adults outside the family becomes a key task. ● Parents as Managers of Children’s Lives: Parents play important roles as managers, monitors, and social initiators for their children. They help children make independent ● Intergenerational Relationships: They are significant for development throughout life. Personality traits, attitudes, and values are passed down or changed with each generation. Female relationships across generations tend to be closer. Studies show that supportive family environments in childhood are linked to positive relationships in adulthood. Children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce themselves. Parents' smoking habits can influence their adolescent children to smoke. Conduct disorder can be transmitted across three generations, particularly among males. 3. Siblings ● Sibling Relationships: These conflicts can lead to increased depressive symptoms and decreased peer competence. In adolescence, sibling relationships are less close, intense, and more egalitarian. Issues of equality and fairness, as well as invasion of one's personal domain, are common in sibling relationships. Parents often intervene in conflicts, admonish or threaten them, or do nothing at all. Training parents to mediate can increase children's understanding of conflicts and reduce them. Sibling relationships can also act as emotional supports, rivals, and communication partners. Negative aspects of sibling relationships, such as high conflict, can lead to negative outcomes for adolescents. Close and supportive sibling relationships can buffer the negative effects of stressful circumstances in an adolescent's life. ● Birth Order: Firstborns are often described as intelligent and conscientious, while later-borns are seen as rebellious and agreeable. These differences are attributed to interactions with parents and siblings. However, birth order alone has limited predictive power for behavior, as other factors like heredity and social influences also play a significant role. Simplistic statements about birth order ignore the complexity of a child's development. 4. The Changing Family in a Changing Social World ● Working Parents: Research shows that while there are limited links between the mother's work status and children's cognitive and socioemotional development, it may be more influential in the early years. The nature of parents' work, including working conditions, can affect parenting and children's views on gender. Overall, the effects of working parents involve both the mother and father, considering factors such as work schedules and stress. ● Children in Divorced Families: Research indicates that children from divorced families generally show poorer adjustment compared to those from intact families, with multiple divorces posing a greater risk. They are more likely to experience academic, emotional, and social problems, engage in risky behaviors, and have lower self-esteem. The decision for parents to stay together or divorce depends on the level of conflict and the well-being of the children. Marital conflict, whether within a marriage or during divorce, can negatively affect children. Family processes and parenting styles play a significant role in the adjustment of children in divorced families. Factors such as the child's adjustment prior to divorce, temperament, gender, and custody situation also influence their vulnerability to negative consequences. Socioeconomic status can impact custodial parents, particularly mothers, who often experience financial hardships. ● Stepfamilies: Remarriage and stepfamilies are common in the United States. About half of children whose parents divorce will have a stepparent within four years. Stepfamilies face challenges in defining relationships and adjusting to complex dynamics. Longitudinal studies show that children in established stepfamilies tend to adjust better over time and have close relationships with stepparents. However, children in stepfamilies may still experience adjustment problems similar to those in divorced families. Adolescence can be especially difficult when forming a stepfamily. ● Gay and Lesbian Parents: Gay and lesbian couples are becoming parents through adoption and donor insemination. Studies show that their children have similar well-being and adjustment as those raised by heterosexual parents. Most of these children also identify as heterosexual. ● Cultural, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Variations in Families - Cross-cultural studies: Parenting practices vary across cultures, reflecting different beliefs and values. Some cultures emphasize authoritarian parenting, while others prioritize warmth and moderate control. Studies have shown cultural differences in parenting styles, such as Chinese mothers using more physical coercion and less warmth compared to U.S. mothers. However, a common pattern observed globally is a warm and controlling style, promoting children's healthy social development. - Ethnicity: Ethnic groups in the United States differ in terms of family size, structure, composition, reliance on kinship networks, income, and education levels. Minority groups often have larger and extended families compared to the non-Latino White majority. Single-parent households are more common among African Americans and Latinos. Ethnic minority families may face limited resources and lower education and income levels. Despite these challenges, many impoverished ethnic minority families find ways to raise competent children. - Socioeconomic Status: Low-income families have limited access to resources compared to higher-income families, affecting nutrition, healthcare, safety, and educational opportunities. Parenting practices differ among socioeconomic groups, with lower-SES parents prioritizing conformity and authority, while higher-SES parents emphasize initiative and equality. Socioeconomic status also influences parental attitudes toward education. Poverty has negative implications for children's development. CHAPTER 15: PEERS 1. Peer Relations ● Exploring Peer Relations: Peers are children who share the same age or maturity level. They play a significant role in a child's development by providing information and comparison outside of the family. - Are peers necessary for development? Positive peer relationships are vital for normal social development. Social isolation has been linked to problems and disorders such as delinquency, problem drinking, and depression. - Positive and negative peer relations: Positive peer associations can improve self-control and social skills, while negative peer interactions can lead to loneliness, hostility, and mental health issues. Peer relationships influence fairness, justice, and relationship skills. However, negative peer influences can include rejection, mental health problems, and engagement in risky behaviors. - Peer contexts: Peer interaction is influenced by various contexts, including the type of peer, the situation, and the cultural environment. Different contexts provide different messages and opportunities for adaptive or maladaptive behavior, shaping the development of children and adolescents. - Individual difference factors: Individual differences, such as personality traits like shyness and negative emotionality, can impact peer relations. Shy children may face neglect and anxiety, while those with negative emotionality may engage in negative behavior with peers. ● The Developmental Course of Peer Relations in Childhood: In infancy, positive peer interaction is linked to socioemotional development. By the age of 3, children show a preference for same-sex playmates, and this preference increases in early childhood. Peer interaction and conversation become more frequent during the preschool years, with a decrease in aggressive exchanges. In early childhood, children differentiate between friends and non-friends and are more likely to have friends of different genders or ethnicities. Reciprocity becomes important during elementary school years, with increased time spent in peer interaction. Gender plays a role in peer interactions. ● The Distinct but Coordinated Worlds of Parent-Child and Peer Relations: Parents influence their children's peer relations through interactions and opportunities. Lifestyle decisions shape the pool of potential friends. While secure attachment to parents is linked to positive peer relations, it doesn't guarantee success. Factors like appearance and socio-cultural disparities can impact peer relationships, and troubled adolescents may find support among peers. ● Social Cognition and Emotion - Perspective Taking: During elementary school years, children's peer interactions and perspective-taking abilities increase. Perspective taking, which involves understanding another person's point of view, is linked to the quality of peer relations. It helps children communicate effectively. Older shaping well-being and development, fulfilling social needs and providing emotional support. Friendships also help individuals work through problems and offer support. ● Similarity and Intimacy: Children and adolescents seek friends who are similar to them in various ways. This includes age, gender, ethnicity, and other factors (homophily). Friends tend to have similar attitudes, interests, and activities. As adolescents, intimacy becomes an important aspect of friendships, involving self-disclosure and mutual understanding. ● Gender and Friendship: Girls' friendships tend to be more intimate, interdependent, and focused on empathy, while boys prioritize shared interests and excitement. Girls show higher peer attachment and emphasize trust and communication. Excessive discussion of problems among girls can lead to increased depressive and anxiety symptoms. It is important to consider these gender differences and their potential impact on adolescent well-being. ● Mixed-Age Friendship: Adolescents who befriend older peers may engage in more delinquent or early sexual behavior, but it's unclear if the older friends influence them or if they were already prone to such behavior. Girls with older male friends may be more at risk for problem behavior. However, mixed-grade friendships can protect friendless girls from loneliness and anxious-withdrawn boys from victimization. ● Other-Sex Friendships: Adolescents often have both same-sex and other-sex friendships. Other-sex friendships increase during early adolescence, with girls having more of them. These friendships help adolescents learn to communicate with the opposite sex but can also be associated with negative behaviors such as early sexual activity and increased alcohol use. Parents tend to monitor girls' other-sex friendships more closely, and higher parental monitoring is linked to fewer such friendships and lower alcohol use. 4. Peer Relations in Adolescence ● Peer Pressure and Conformity: During early adolescence, young individuals tend to conform more to their peers' standards, especially antisocial behaviors. Between the ages of 14 and 18, they develop the ability to resist peer pressure. Those uncertain about their social identity, with low self-esteem and high social anxiety, are most likely to conform. Transition periods and perceived higher status also influence conformity. ● Cliques and Crowds: They become more important during adolescence. Cliques are small groups of same-sex and same-age individuals who engage in similar activities or form friendships. They share ideas and develop in-group identities. Crowds are larger groups based on reputation and activities. Adolescents' identification with specific crowds can affect their externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Mixed-sex cliques form as same-sex cliques interact, eventually replacing them. ● Dating and Romantic Relationships - Types of dating and developmental changes: Heterosexual romantic relationships: There are 3 stages in the development of romantic relationships. The first one is “entry into romantic attractions and affiliations” (11-13y), then “exploring romantic relationships” (14-16y), there are 2 types of involvement, the casual dating and dating in groups. The third one is “consolidating dyadic romantic bonds” (17-19y), when more serious relationships take place. In this stage, there are also early and late boomers. Romantic Relationships in sexual minority youth: The average age for initial activity in females is 14-18y and males 13-15y. Usually the partner is a close friend. Most sexual minority youth have same-sex sexual experience, but relatively few have same-sex romantic relationships. - Romantic relationships and adjustment: Dating and romantic relationships in adolescence have been linked to various measures of well-adjustment. However, early dating can be problematic, leading to issues like adolescent pregnancy and problems at home and school. Studies have shown that more romantic experiences are associated with higher social acceptance, friendship competence, and romantic competence, but also with increased substance use, delinquency, and sexual behavior. Co-rumination among girls predicts involvement in romantic relationships and an increase in depressive symptoms. Having an older romantic partner is linked to higher depressive symptoms and substance use in girls. Stronger romantic involvement is associated with increased delinquency among adolescents. - Relationships with parents and adolescent romantic relationships: Attachment history and positive parent-child relationships are associated with better-quality romantic relationships. Negative parent-child relationships can lead to seeking intimacy in romantic relationships and early sexual initiation. Observing parental marital satisfaction affects adolescents' romantic competence. Marital conflict and divorce contribute to conflict in romantic relationships and earlier onset of dating. Personality traits and beliefs about marriage in adolescence impact the fulfillment and quality of romantic relationships in early adulthood. - Sociocultural contexts and dating: Cultural values and traditions impact the age of dating initiation, dating freedom, and gender roles. Conflict can arise within families when immigrant adolescents adopt more liberal dating practices conflicting with traditional values held by parents and extended family members. CHAPTER 16: SCHOOLS AND ACHIEVEMENT 1. Exploring Children's Schooling ● Contemporary Approaches to Student Learning and Assessment - Constructivist and direct instruction approaches: There are two teaching approaches: constructivism and direct instruction. Constructivism emphasizes active learning, critical thinking, and collaboration, while direct instruction is more structured and teacher-centered. Advocates of constructivism believe it fosters creativity, while proponents of direct instruction argue for its content focus. Some experts suggest using a combination of both approaches depending on the situation. Direct instruction is recommended for students with reading or writing disabilities. - Accountability: Since the 1990s, accountability in U.S. schools has increased through state-mandated testing. The No Child Left Behind legislation made standardized testing a national policy in 2002. Supporters claim it improves student performance, while critics argue it narrows the focus and neglects important skills. Variations in passing standards among states have also revealed achievement disparities. The U.S. Department of Education supports NCLB, but there is ongoing debate about its effectiveness. ● Early Childhood Education - Variations in early childhood education: There are two approaches to early childhood education: child-centered kindergarten and the Montessori approach. Child-centered kindergarten focuses on the whole child's development, tailored instruction, and play-based learning. The Montessori approach allows freedom and choice for children, with the teacher as a facilitator. Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) emphasizes hands-on teaching, individual differences, and socioemotional development. DAP's effectiveness varies, and it evolves considering sociocultural factors and balancing academic skills with other aspects of development. - Education for young children who are disadvantaged: Project Head Start is a federal program that aims to provide education opportunities for children from low-income families. It has been in place since 1965 and remains the largest federally funded program for U.S. children. Evaluations show positive effects on children's development, although long-term outcomes vary. The Perry Preschool program, a separate high-quality program, has shown lasting positive effects on various life outcomes. - Controversies in early childhood education: Two controversies are the curriculum debate, with proponents of child-centered and constructivist approaches versus academic and direct instruction approaches, and the controversy over whether preschool education should be universal in the United States. The curriculum debate involves balancing academic and constructivist approaches, while the universal preschool controversy debates the benefits and drawbacks of mandating preschool for all 4-year-olds. ● Elementary School: Entering first grade marks a transition for children, as they take on the role of being a student and face new social dynamics. Unfortunately,