-
one
- Explain how classical conditioning
- can serve as a theory explaining emotional development.
- Classical conditioning is a type of
- learning in which individuals learn to respond to unfamiliar stimuli in the
- same way they are accustomed to spend to familiar stimuli if the two stimuli
- are repeatedly presented together. Once that response is applied on the
- participant it’s possible to remove one of the stimuli and still get the same
- response. This was shown in the Little Albert experiment; they found emotions
- are classically conditioned responses of the autonomic nervous system. Using a
- 11-month old infant they were able to get him to fear furry animals by showing
- the baby a white rat accompanied by a loud noise. This shows how it’s possible
- to contour infant’s emotional state and influence what they are and are not
- afraid of. One of the three ways that emotions develop is external, and with
- classical conditioning they are able to trigger an emotional response form a
- specific stimuli.
- Summarize the results of the Skodak
- and Skeels study and the Honzik study.
- Explain how these studies underscore the importance of convergent data
- in child psychology. Provide two other
- examples that illustrate the importance of convergent data.
- What Skodak and Skeels did a study about
- correlations between children that were adopted and their biological mother,
- children who were not adopted and their birth mother they lived with and
- adopted children with their adoptive parents. Their results showed an identical
- correlation between the child and their biological mother and an adoptive child
- and their biological mother. There was no relation what so ever between the
- adoptive child and their adoptive parents.
- These studies underscore the importance of using convergent data, or
- data obtained from different methods is because results like these can explain
- to someone who is adopting a child that they should know they even though they
- have a good stable home and more than likely have a higher IQ then their
- biological mother they will still have the similarities with their birth
- mother. Examples that illustrate the importance of convergent data is Piaget’s
- experiments and brain imagining data that both point toward there being three
- periods of qualitative change
- Behavior geneticists assert that
- genes and environment always interact.
- Use three well-explained examples that illustrate this assertion. Can you think of any evidence that contradicts
- this assertion?
- These studies involve comparing
- similarities of identical and fraternal twins raised together in the same home.
- With identical twins they share the same genes since they are created from one
- zygote but fraternal twins only share half their genes. If identical twins show
- more resemblance then fraternal twins do it’s safe to assume the resemblance is
- influenced by genes. But if on a given trait the two kinds of twins resemble
- each other almost equally, we can assume that the resemblance is strongly influenced
- by the environment.
- Twins having schizophrenia: Gottesman found
- that it’s possible that one identical twin can form schizophrenia and the other
- will not. At that point it’s not about the genes that cause the disease to form
- because if that was the case they both would have it. The environment, even
- though they have not entered the world yet was the cause of forming the
- disease. Where they were located inside the womb and that environment was what
- formed the disorder.
- Researchers compare characteristics of
- adopted children with those of both their adoptive and biological parents. Even
- though the adoptive parents put out environmental influences on their adoptive
- child it does not determine any genetic similarities. Any similarities between
- adopted children and their adoptive parents must be due to their social
- environment and any similarities between these adoptive children and their
- biological parents that they were not raised around must be the result of
- genetics.
- Shared
- and none shared environments
- Investigators argue that the experiences of
- identical twins, when reared together are more similar then fraternal twins
- because their inherited predispositions evoke more similar responses from
- people outside the family. Identical twins select more similar settings,
- companions, and activities for themselves than fraternal twins do. This means
- that identical twins have more shared environments then fraternal twins do, so
- any similarities in their traits must be attributed to both environment and
- their genetic makeup. This shows that
- people are active creators of their own environments, both deliberately and
- unintentionally shaping the many experiences in which they are exposed to.
- What is heritability? How is it estimated? What do heritability estimates tell us about
- the origins of important psychological characteristics?
- Heritability is
- the percent of variability in a population that has genetic origin, which can
- vary from 0 to 1. The way to estimate heritability is dividing the genetic
- variability by the total variability (which is genetics + environment). These
- heritability estimates tell us if certain psychological characteristics are due
- to genetics or environmental factors.
- Define or identify the
- following: 2-3 sentences at most
- Erikson’s theory: Erikson held a
- psychosocial theory which said that development was discontinuous, proceeding
- through a series of stages. He said there were 8 specific stages of
- development. Each stage specified the
- personal and social tasks that the individual must accomplish, as well as the
- risks the individual confronts if she or he fails at the tasks of that
- particular stage.
Continuity/Discontinuity Theme
- Some
- view development as a continuous process, where each new event or change builds
- on earlier experiences. Others view is as occurring in a series of discrete
- steps or stages and others suggest that children use a variety of strategies in
- thinking and learning and that change as the age changes.
Longitudinal Method
- It
- was used to monitor the same groups of children from birth to the age of 18
- years. They used it to assess patterns of stability and change over time.
Niche Picking
- Is
- the process that humans use to seek out or create environments that are
- compatible with one’s own genetic predispositions. If someone is extroverted
- they are going to search out other individuals that are also extroverted.
-
Answer in a well-formed paragraph
- What are the external or exogenous
- influences on the strength of classically conditioned responses? Does some specific set of external influences
- form an “ideal environment” for emotional development?
- The
- external influences on the strength of classically conditioned responses are
- the conditioned stimuli. The factor that they apply in order for there to be a
- conditioned response. Each individual would have a specific set of external
- influences that form their ideal environment” for emotional development.
- What are identical twins who are
- discordant for schizophrenia? What have
- we learned from the study of these twins.
- Both
- twins have had similar health problems, and experienced the same life
- experiences but
- How does autism illustrate the
- importance of behavior genetic research?
- The
- importance in behavior genetic research with autism is because it helped
- relieve a lot of parents of the burden that their child had autism because of
- them. Not only did they have a retarded child, they were also getting blamed
- for it. Before behavior genetic research it was seen that autism was a result
- of rejecting parents which formed normal child to become cold. Later it was
- found that it was genetically based which helped a lot of parents.
-
two
- Explain Waddington’s model of cell differentiation in
- development. Can you relate this
- model to the concept of critical period?
- Of Teratogens? Explain your
- answers fully.
- Waddington’s
- original definition of epigenesis referred to changes in the state of cell
- differentiation during development, and the way in which cell fates become
- restricted as development proceeds. When
- an embryo develops, cell differentiation is critical, because it allows the developing
- organism to create numerous different needed cell types, from neurons which will make up the
- brain to epidermal cells which will create the upper layers of skin. Once
- mature, the organism will have germ
- cells, somatic cells, and adult stem
- cells. Germ cells are haploid cells which are used in reproduction,
- while somatic cells make up most of the cells in the body, with over 250 known
- kinds of cell in the human body alone
- Teratogens: an
- environment agent, such as a drug, medication, dietary imbalance, or polluting
- substance that may cause developmental deviations in a growing human organism;
- most threatening in the embryonic stage but capable of causing abnormalities in
- the fetal stage as well.
- Define the concepts of critical and sensitive period. How were these concepts discovered? Can you relate these to the timing
- sensitivities in pre-natal development?
- To the scheduling of cataract surgery? To the Rosenzwieg experiments?
- Critical and sensitive periods are the influence
- of biological and experiential factors during periods of developmental change.
- A critical or sensitive period is defined as a period when certain experiences
- are particularly important because they have a significant influence on later
- development. Cross sectional design demonstrated a sensitive period.
- Sensitive period correspondent with the age in which the brain growth was
- faster. Sensitivity of the growing
- embryo to Teratogens is greatest in the first four to eight weeks of
- development. If teratogens get to the embryo it’s so defenseless that it dies.
- If it happens in later weeks it’s likely to stunt its growth or cause
- functional problems. If cataract surgery is done before the part of the visual
- development is complete it is possible for the brain develop a normal visual
- perception.
- Describe the visual cliff experiment thoroughly and explain why
- it has had such a significant impact.
- In several sentences each, describe three experiments that follow
- the general inferential model of the visual cliff experiment.
- The visual cliff experiment consists of an elevated
- glass platform with a checkerboard pattern directly beneath the glass on one
- side(shallow side) and the same pattern several feet below the glass on the
- other side(deep side). If the baby was over 6 months they would not cross to
- their mother showing they have developed depth perception. The “rough” test.
- The rat brain size test, more complex environment showed larger
- Describe the Rosenzwieg experiments thoroughly. Explain why the results of these
- experiments are so important and relate the results to public policy
- formation.
- Impoverished and enriched rearing environments in rats,
- how brain weight increases with age(male brains tend to be heavier then females
- brains because of men’s larger body size but this has no correlation with
- intellectual abilities.
- Describe the important events in the development of gender and
- gender identity. How does your
- answer relate to the nature/nurture theme?
- Describe the important lessons to be learned from the David Reimer Case.
- Hormones
- are the determining factor when it comes to development of gender and gender
- identity. Males have small amounts of female hormones as do the same with
- females. In the prenatal period, hormones organize the biological and psychological
- predisposititions to be masculine or feminine and the surge of hormonal
- functions during puberty. are we shaped by our biology (nature), or are we
- products of learning through life's experiences (nurture)?
- David reamer case shows us
- that its not possible to make a born male into a female and for that person to
- believe they are something they are not. He still acted like a guy and felt
- like a male as well. It just resulted in a lot of psychological problems and
- eventually killed himself.
-
three
- What is development?
- How do theories of such things as conditioning, cognition, social
- interaction become developmental theories?
- Development is the changes in the observed behaviors
- and then by uncovering the processes and strategies that underlie these
- changes.
- Classical conditioning is a type of learning
- where individuals learn to respond to unfamiliar stimuli in the same way they
- are accustomed to respond to familiar stimuli if the two stimuli are repeatedly
- presented together.
- Cognition social learning theory stresses
- learning by observation and imitation mediated by cognitive processes and
- skills.
- Use the concepts of critical and sensitive periods to
- illustrate the importance of timing of experiences. Give at least one example from each section
- of the course.
- Critical periods are the specific period in
- children’s development when they are sensitive to a particular environmental
- stimulus that does not have the same effect on them when encountered before or
- after this period. For language this stretches from infancy to puberty, an
- example of this would be Gene who was isolated from the age of 18 months and
- was never able to acquire normal language. Also, the wild boy who was found in France
- shows how once the critical period has passed it is very difficult to nearly impossible
- for some people to learn language and things that would naturally come very
- easily.
- How does Mark Rosenzwieg’s experiment help us to
- understand the importance of early experiences?
- Describe three examples of work that applies the results of this
- experiment to human development.
- Mark Rosenzwieg’s experiment suggested that the brain may have the
- capacity to regenerate nerve cells.
- Anatomical
: as the- environmental complexity increased the animals had larger brains and larger
- animal. Cortices (cortex part of brain) were larger. Few if any neuronal
- changes. Increases in Glial cells - faster more targeted neural activity-makes
- enzymes.
- Physiological:
- acetylcholine-
- major neurotransmitter in the brain- rejuvenated by acetylcholine esterase
- (ACHE) more ACHE leads to more usable ACHE. Brain less susceptible to
- fatigue, higher peak rates and more sustained act.
- Behavioral:
- at
- first there didn't seem to be very many behavioral advantages. However, in very
- difficult tasks environment complexity confirmed a behavior advantage
- Cross sectional design demonstrated a
- sensitive period. Sensitive period correspondent with the age in which the
- brain growth was faster
- The changes could be modality specific
- (movement, vision, hearing) enriched environment in a certain modality it
- increased or changed it, all but vision.
- Selective stimulation and selective changes
- Explain to a friend how children are not miniature
- adults? Can you provide both Piagetian
- and non-Piagetian examples?
- Children think different then adults do, the way they see the world is completely different from the way adults perceive it. Children have to start experiencing conflict and experience when their concepts fail in
- order for them to think the way we do. For example they will think two different
- size containers with water in it will have different amounts even though they
- saw someone measure it to be the same. Children
- use their current knowledge of how the world works as a framework for the assimilation
- of new experiences. And until they use the process of accommodation has its
- full effect and they reach adolescence that the ability to use logic and to
- engage in deductive reasoning appears.
- Piagetian theory describes the child as actively
- seeking information and new experiences. Development results from increasingly
- complex reorganizations of mental frameworks as the child moves through an invariant
- sequence of stages (Sensory motor, Pre logical, Concrete, Formal operations) to more advanced levels of cognitive functioning.
- He proposed that all children go through several stages of cognitive development.
- Vygotsky’s Sociocultral theory of development
- is a good example of non-Piagetian theory. This theory of development proposes
- that the child’s development is best understood as a product of social
- interaction, that it evolves as the child and role models solve problems in
- their environment.
- Describe at least four ways that the mind of the
- infant has been studied scientifically- at least two of these should be drawn
- from the final third of the course. How
- do the results of the methods you describe relate to the view of the infant as
- a blank slate – i.e. a tabula rasa? What does the work of Eleanor Gibson and the
- work of Mary Slater Ainsworth have in common.
- english
- philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) proposed that the mind of the newborn infant
- is a tabula rasa, or blank slate, on which experience writes.
- Eleanor Gibson’s
- differentiation theory proposed that sensory input is in itself a rich source
- of information and not in need of enrichment. The child’s task is to learn to
- identify and discriminate the important features of objects and relations from
- the vast flow of sensory information.
- Mary ainsworth
- made valuable observations of infant’s attachments and exploratory behavior at
- about one year of age
- According to
- Freuds classic psychoanalytic theory, babies become attached to their
- caregivers because the caregivers are associated with gratification of infants
- innate drive to obtain pleasure through sucking and other forms of oral
- stimulation.
- John bowlby’s
- ethological theory of attachment derives from the biological preparation of
- both infant and parents to respond to each others behaviors in such a way that
- parents provide the infant with care and protection
- How does sexual development serve as an example of the
- importance of biological determinants on development? of the importance of timing in
- development? Discuss the David Reimer
- case in the light of these principles.
- Do you think that the Reimer case proves that experience have little or
- no effect on sexual development?
- Sexual development serves as an very
- important example of the importance of biological determinants on development
- and this is scene in the case of David Reimer. He was born a boy but when the
- circumcision went wrong they had to remove this penis. A doctor contacted the
- family and proposed the idea that they turn David into a girl. If they family
- raised him and a girl he could live a normal life. They thought that since he
- was so young and didn’t have a sexuality and identity yet they could create a different
- one from what he was born with. I think that the Reimer case proves that
- experiences have a big impact on sexual development, because even though he was
- being told he was a girl he didn’t feel like a girl and acted as if he was a
- boy. Anyone can imagine how hard that would have been for him being so confused
- it’s no wonder he ended up committing suicide.
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