Notes

CHAPTER 1
Development: systematic continuities and changes in the individual that occur between conception and death (temporary transitory changes are excluded)
“Continutities” – ways in which we remain the same or continue to reflect our past
2 IMPORTANT PROCESSES UNDERLYING DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGE
1. MATURATION – biological unfolding of the individual according to species-typical biological inheritance and an individual’s biological inheritance.
2. LEARNING – process through which our experiences produce relatively permanent changes in our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Many of our abilities do not unfold as part of maturation. * Goals of developmentalists: DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN, and OPTIMIZE development.

Normative development – typical patterns of change
Ideographic development – individual variations in patterns of change (both are impt!!)

Chronological Overview of Human Development (look in book @ chart)

Holistic Perspective a unified view of the developmental process that emphasizes the important interrelationships among the physical, mental, social, and emotional aspects of human development. Development is not piecemeal…Each component affects the other.
Plasticity capacity for change in response to positive or negative life experiences; a developmental state that has the potential to be shaped by experience; children with bad social skills can be taught to act more socially acceptable

Scientific Method
Theory – set of concepts and propositions designed to organize, describe and explain an existing set of observations
Hypothesis – a theoretical prediction about some aspect of experience
Reliability – the extent to which a measuring instrument yields consistent results, both over time (temporal stability) and across observers (interrater reliability)
Validity – the extent to which a measuring instrument accurately reflects what the researchers intended to measure
Self-Report Methodologies structured interview/questionnaire (same Q’s/same order) diary study clinical methodinterview when participant’s response to one question determines what the next question will be.. (Jean Piaget)
Observational Methodologies
Naturalistic observation (Limitations: some behaviors occur infrequently/are socially undesirable, many events happen at once so you don’t know what causes a certain behavior, presence of researcher)
Observer Influence (minimize this by videotaping or spending time in location before collecting data)
Time-sampling (procedure in which the investigator records the frequencies with which individuals display particular behaviors during time intervals of observation
Structured observation (used to observe unusual/undesirable behaviors; investigator cues the behavior of interest and observes the response) * Case studies
Research method in which the investigator gathers extensive information about the life of an individual and then tests developmental hypotheses by analyzing the events of the person’s life history.
Group case study
Limitations: Lack generalizability.
Ethnography – method in which the researcher seeks to understand the unique values, traditions and social processes of a culture by living with its members and observing
Psychophysiological methods – measure the relationships between physiological processes and aspects of children’s physical, cognitive, social, or emotional behavior/development. (Heart rate…physiological response that is highly sensitive to one’s psychological experiences)

* Research designs
Correlational – indicates the strength of associations among variables; relationships may be systematically related…but aren’t necessarily causal.
Correlation coefficient: strength and direction of relationship between variables
Experimental – investigator introduces some change in the participant’s environment and measures the effect of that change on the participant’s behavior
IV, DV, confounding variables, experimental control (allows for causation), random assignment
Field experiment – takes place in naturalistic setting (school, home)
Natural (QUASI-) experiment – observe the consequences of a natural event that participants have experienced naturally
Cross-cultural design – participants from diff. cultural backgrounds are observed, tested, and compared on one or more aspects of development
Cross-cultural comparison
Look for differences AND similarities

RESEARCH DESIGNS: trying to determine how people’s feelings, thoughts, abilities, and behaviors develop or change over time (as opposed to progress at one particular phase in life)
Cross-sectional: people who differ in age are studied at the same point in time. Participants at each age level=different participants.
Come from different COHORTS.
COHORTa group of people of the same age who are exposed to similar cultural environments and historical events as they are growing up.
Advantages: collect data from children of diff. ages over a short time
Limitations: confounds (differences between groups could be b/c of culture…not age), cohort effect (age-related difference among cohorts that is attributed to cultural/historical differences in cohorts’ experiences growing up rather than to TRUE developmental change), does not give any information about development of individuals.
Longitudinal: same participants are observed repeatedly over a period of time (months or years).
Track stability, identify normative developmental trends by looking for commonalities, understand individual differences in development
Limitations: costly, time-consuming, practice effects (changes in participants’ natural responses b/c of repeated testing), selective attrition (nonrandom loss of participants that results in a nonrepresentative sample…kid gets bored/parent removes child), cross-generational problems (long-term changes in the environment may limit conclusions of a longitudinal project to that generation of children who were growing up while the study was in progress)
Sequential design: combine cross-sectional and longitudinal; subjects from different age groups are studied repeatedly over a period of months or years. (LOOK AT DIAGRAM ON PG. 32)
Strengths
Determine whether cohort effects are influencing our results by comparing same-aged children who were born in different yrs. (if samples don’t differ then you can assume there are no cohort effects)
Make cross-sectional AND longitudinal comparisons
More efficient than standard longitudinal designs (data covers 6 yrs but only take 4 yrs to collect)
Microgenetic Design: participants are studied intensively over a short period of time as developmental changes occur
Advantages: attempts to specify how or why those changes occur
Disadvantages: difficult, time consuming, costly, laboratory setting (better if naturalistic)
Best design is using more than one design (“converging evidence”)

Ethics
Cannot cause physical or psychological damage (physical abuse, starvation, isolation for long periods)
Informed consent: the right of research participants to receive an explanation (in language they can understand) of all aspects of research that may affect their willingness to participate…for kids you need guardians’ consent.
Benefits-to-risk ratio: comparison of the possible benefits of a study for advancing knowledge and optimizing life conditions versus its costs to participants in terms of inconvenience and possible harm
Confidentiality
Protection from harm
Ultimate guideline: treat children fairly and protect them from harm

CHAPTER 4
Principles of Hereditary Transmission
Genotype- the genetic endowment that an individual inherits
Phenotype- the ways in which a person’s genotype is expressed in observable or measurable characteristics

Zygote- a single cell formed at conception from the union of a sperm and an ovum
Chromosome- inside of zygote- a threadlike structure made up of genes in humans there are 46 chromosomes, 23 pairs inside chromosomes are GENES- hereditary blueprint for development
DNA- genes are actually stretches of DNA- long double-stranded molecules that make up chromosomes.

Growth of the Zygote
- zygote moves through the fallopian tubes towards the uterus mitosis occurs
MITOSIS- process where cell duplicates its chromosomes and then divides into two genetically identical daughter cells
STEPS:
1) Original cell contains chromosomes 2) Each cell splits lengthwise, producing a duplicate 3) The duplicate sets of chromosomes move to opposite ends of the original cell, which then begins to divide 4) The cell completes the division- produces 2 new cells with identical sets of chromosomes

Germ Cells (sex cells) - germ cells- produce gametes (sperm in males and ova in females) - meisosis- process by which a germ cell divides (DIFFERS FROM MITOSIS)- products of meisosis have 23 chromosomes Hereditary Uniqueness - during meiosis, it is a matter of chance which of the two chromosomes end up in a new cell - independent assortment: the principle that each pair of chromosomes segregates independently of all other chromosome pairs during meiosis

Multiple Births - monozygotic twins (identical): share a genotype, single zygote, identical genes, should show a very similar developmental progress - dizygotic twins (fraternal): when a mother released two ova at the same time and each is fertilized by a different sperm; no more genes in common than any other pair of siblings

Male or Female? - 22/23 chromosomes in males and females are the same; sex is determined by 23rd pair - males: 23rd pair has one X and one Y - females: both X

Genes - environmental factors influence how genes function - Environment w/i nucleus affects expression of genetic material - Internal environment surrounding nucleus gene’s expression - External environment expression of genetic material (effects of nutrition) - genes are not “code” for human characteristics they interact with the environment at many levels to produce proteins that eventually influence human characteristics

Patterns of Genetic Expression (4 types) - single gene inheritance patterns vs polygenic inheritance - single gene inheritance pattern- human characteristics that are determined by the actions of a single gene 1) Dominant Recessive Inheritance- a pattern of inheritance in which one allele dominates another so that only its phenotype is expressed 2 alleles- dominant vs. recessive; dominant overpowers recessive - homozygous- having inherited 2 alleles for an attribute that are identical in their effect/strength child will have this characteristic (normal or corrected vision) - heterozygous- having inherited 2 alleles for an attribute that have different effects - can two individuals who have normal vision ever produce a child with bad vision?- yes: if each parent is heterozygous for normal vision then they are a carrier for nearsightedness 2) Codominance- condition in which two heterozygous but equally powerful alleles produce a phenotype in which both genes are fully and equally expressed - another type of codominance occurs when one of two heterozygous allele is stronger than the other but fails to mask all the other’s effects 3) Sex-Linked Inheritance- sex linked characteristics: determined by genes lovated on the sex chromosomes - ex linked attributes (color blindness)- most are produced by recessive genes only found in X chromosomes means males are more likely to get them - for a female to get them must have the recessive gene in both X chromosomes 4) Polygenic Inheritance: most important human characteristics are influenced by many pairs of alleles - height, weight, intelligence, skin color, temperament - traits follow a normal bell curve, most people fall somewhere close to the average in the middle, few outliers

Hereditary Disorders
Congenial Defects- those defects that are present at birth, many are not detectable right when the child is born

Chromosomal Abnormalities
When a germ cell divides during meiosis, distribution of the 46 chromosomes into sperm or ova are sometimes uneven. Some gametes may have too many chromosomes and some others have too few - Abnormalities of Sex Chromosomes: abnormalities that involve the 23rd pair: may be born with extra X or Y chromosomes, however many extra X’s or Y’s will lead to a different condition - Abnormalities of the Autosomes: autosomes: the 22nd pair of chromosomes that are similar in men and women; most common condition because of abnormality= down syndrome

Genetic Abnormalities - these problems will not appear unless both parents carry gene and the child inherits both of these genes - may also result from mutations- changes in chemical structure of one or more genes that produce a new phenotype

Predicting, Detecting and Treating Hereditary Disorders - genetic counseling: a service that helps prospective parents to assess the likelihood that their child will be free of hereditary defects - noninvasive, family history only, occurs before conception or after - detecting hereditary disorders- noninvasive vs. invasive - Amniocentesis- usually for older women, large needle is inserted into the woman’s abdomen to withdraw a sample of amniotic fluid; 11th- 14th week of pregnancy, controversial because this is in second trimester and abortion is more difficult at this point - Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS): collects tissue for same test as amniocentesis but can be preformed during 8th – 9th week; higher likelihood of miscarriage - Ultrasound- common and safe and noninvasive, can see the outline of the fetus, helpful in detecting multiple pregnancies, gross physical defects, and sex. - Treating- advancements always occurring, not great options for treating now. Some new medical and surgical techniques preformed while baby is still in uterus - Germline Gene Therapy- genetic engineering, process by which harmful genes are altered or replaced with healthy ones in early embryonic stage; ethical issues prevent this from really becoming an option

Hereditary Influences on Behaviour
Behavioural Genetics- study of how genotype interacts with the environment to determine behavioural attributes such as intelligence, personality, and mental health - methods of studying hereditary influences on behaviour: - Selective Breeding- deliberately manipulating the genetic makeup of animals to study hereditary influences on behaviour, manipulate genes that influence characteristics like activity level, emotionality, aggressiveness, and sex drive ONLY IN ANIMALS - Family Studies- 2 types- all look to see how much an environment influences genes - twin studies: study in which sets of twin that differ in zygosity are compared to determine the heritability of an attribute - adoption design: study in which adoptees are compared with their biological relatives and their adoptive relatives to estimate the influence of an environment on heritable genes - Nonshared environmental factors vs shared environmental factors- as we get older the nonshared environment is what influences our behaviours more

Hereditary Influences on Intellectual Performance - IQ’s of adopted children are correlated with the intellectual performances of both their biological parents (genetic influence) and their adoptive parents (indicated effect of shared environment) but by adolescence the resemblance to biological parents is still apparent but there is no longer a connection to adoptive parents - influence of shared environment declines with age, influence of genes and nonshared environment influences becomes stronger

Hereditary Contributions to Personality - core dimensions of personality are genetically influenced introversion/extroversion, empathic concern - aspects of the home environment that all family members share do not contribute that much to development of personality identical twins different people because of their non-shared environments, have the same home life and genes - 2 types of effect models - parent effects model- model of family influences in which parents (particularly mothers) are believed to influence their children rather than vice versa - child effects model- model of family influences in which children are believed to influence their parents rather than vice versa - transactional model- model of family influences in which parent and child are believed to influence each other reciprocally ACCEPTED MODEL

Hereditary Contributions to Behaviour Disorders and Mental Illness - schizophrenia, biopolar, alcoholism, depression, criminality, hyperactivity, some neurotic disorders - people do not inherit disorders- inherit predisposition to disorders environment will trigger these predispositions

Theories of Heredity and Environment Interactions in Development
The Canalization Principle - canalization: genetic restriction of phenotype to a small number of developmental outcomes; a highly canalized attribute is one for which genes channel development along predetermined pathways, so the environment has little effect on the phenotype that emerges - there are multiple pathways along which an individual might develop - nature and nurture combine to determine these pathways - either genes or environment may limit the extent to which the other factor can influence development

Range of Reaction Principle - the idea that genotype sets limits on the range of possible phenotypes that a person might display in response to different environments

Genotype/Environment Correlations - three types of ways the genotype and environment interact - passive genotype/environment correlations notion that the rearing environments that biological parents provide are influenced by the parents’ own genes and hence are correlated with the child’s own genotype - parents who are predisposed to be athletic may create a very “athletic” home - evocative genotype/environment correlations notion that our heritable attributes affect others’ behaviour toward us and thus influence the social environment in which development takes place - smiley, active babies receive more attention and positive social stimulation that moody and passive ones - active genotype/environment correlations the notion that our genotypes affect the types of environments that we prefer and seek out

How do Genotype/Environment Correlations Influence Development? - virtually all family members become less similar over time as they begin to actively select different environmental niches for themselves - except for identical twins evoke similar reactions from other people, identical genotypes predispose the to prefer and select very similar environments. - separated identical twins similar because of genes but also different in many ways because of their non-shared environment.

CHAPTER 5
Sensation: The process by which sensory receptor neurons detect information and transmit it to the brain
Perception: the interpretation of sensory input

Interesting Fact: in cultures with high newborn death rates, parents don’t name their children until after 3 months of life, because that is the critical age for newborn death.

Newborn Reflexes:
An involuntary and automatic response to a stimulus
Rooting reflex: when an infant is touched on the cheek, it will turn in that direction and search for something to suck
Survival reflexes (breathing, swallowing, blinking, etc) satisfy the baby’s basic needs and give positive impact on the caregiver.
Primitive reflexes: Many reflexes are believed to be remnants of evolutionary history
Disappear during first few months of life
Controlled by the subcortical area of brain; lost once higher centers of the brain mature and guide behavior
i.e. Babinski reflex: fanning of the toes when the bottom of foot is stroked appearance and disappearance of reflexes = baby’s nervous system developing normally

Infant States of Arousal [throughout one day (or night)]:
1. Regular sleep (8-9 hrs)
2. Irregular sleep (8-9 hrs)
3. Drowsiness (.5 – 3 Hrs)
4. Alert Inactivity (2-3 hrs)
5. Alert Activity (1-3 Hrs)
6. Crying (1-3 hrs)

REM Sleep: a state of active irregular sleep characterized by rapid eye movements (REMs) under their closed eyelids and brainwave activity causes baby’s to wake up when in REM sleep more often than regular “non-REM” sleep
Only characterizes 25-30% of total sleep for 6 month old
Provides internal stimulation
Allows nervous system to develop properly
A more visually stimulated child while actively awake will spend less time in REM sleep

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome [SIDS]: (aka crib death) unexpected death of sleeping baby who stops breathing
Accounts for 5-6 thousand baby deaths a year in US
Boys, preterm, or low-birth weight with LOW Apgar Scores and respiratory stress = most susceptible to this type of death
Mothers: into drugs, smoking, poor prenatal care
Occurs during winter months
Occurs with kids sleeping on stomachs: leads to…
Higher heart rate
Wrapped tightly in clothing/ blankets
Baby contains abnormality in arculate nucleus, portion of the brain controlling breathing and waking during sleep

Preventive strategies:
Sleep face up
No waterbeds, sofas, soft surfaces
Lightly cloth infant for sleep
Breast feed your child

Crying: response to discomfort sensitive responsive parenting may lead to less crying presentation of a mild sucrose solution helps calm distressed baby

Research Methods Used to Study the Infant’s Sensory/ Perceptual Experiences:
Preference Method
Presents two or more stimuli to infant, and observe which one the infant prefers
Robert Frantz: first to use this
Discovered: Newborns could easily discriminate between visual forms, preferring faces (circular objects) over unpatterned disks.
This ability to discriminate patterns = Innate
Weakness:
If infant shows no preference, it is not clear if she fail to discriminate between the objects or simply found them equally interesting
Habituation Method
Repeated stimulus (becoming familiar with stimulus) therefore initial response to the stimulus decreases over time, and possibly may no longer occur.
Habituation = form of learning
Child that fails to respond to a repeated stimulus is showing that he/she recognizes the object as something they have experienced before.
To test ability to discriminate between two stimuli that differ in some way:
Present one stimuli until the infant has become familiar with it (habituates)
Second stimulus then presented
If the infant discriminates between the two, the infant will dishabituate (increase in responsiveness that occurs when stimulation changes)
Fail to react to second stimulus = differences between the stimuli were too subtle to detect
Evoked Potentials
Change in patterning of the brain waves which indicates that an individual detects a stimulus
Electrodes are placed on scalp above brain centers
Detects if infants can discriminate sight and sound: two stimuli that are sensed as different produce different electrical activity patterns
High Amplitude Sucking Method
Assesses perceptual capabilities looks at how infants make interesting events last by varying the rate at which they suck on this special pacifier
If an infant detects the stimulus presented, interest in the stimulus is seen by bursts of high amplitude sucking
Interest decreases, sucking returns to baseline level, and stimulation stops
If a new stimulus is presented and another high amplitude sucking is seen, the infant can discriminate between stimuli

Infant Sensory Capabilities
Hearing infants can detect differences in loudness, duration, direction, and frequency
Voices
Reactive to high-pitched female voices
More reactive to mother’s voice in particular compared to other female voices
Reaction to language
Phonemes: smallest meaningful sound units that make up a spoken language can tell a difference between vowels a and i
4.5 months babies will turn/ react when they hear their name, but not when they hear other names
Overall, Infants can: use voices to identify and discriminate their companions segment speech into smaller units
Causes and consequences of Hearing Loss
Otis Media: common bacterial infection of the middle ear that produces mild/ moderate hearing loss for less severe infections, better to wait rather than use antibiotics so that the immune system of the child will eliminate the infection w/o assistance from antibiotics may cause difficulty in understanding others speech children with reoccurring ear infection show delay in language development, poorer academic performance, and poorer social skills.
Children with family history of Chronic OM perform poorly on tasks involving syllable and phoneme awareness; poorer social skills
Taste and Smell
Prefer sweets (suck faster and longer for sweet liquids than bitter , sour, salty ones; reduces crying and produces smiles)
Can detect a variety of odors
After first 4 days of life, prefer scent of milk to that of amniotic fluid
Olfactory signature: characteristic odor that babies can use as an early means of identifying their closest companions
Tested discrimination of mother by smell: attached breast pads that absorb mother’s milk odor that may be emitted between nursings)
Placed 2 day old baby next to two pads, one of their mothers and one of some other mother. Couldn’t distinguish by smell yet
A 6 day old baby turned to the side of mother’s breast pad: shows that babies learn their mothers unique smell in the first week of life.
Touch, Temperature, Pain
Touch: primary means for babies to acquire knowledge about their environment contributes to their cognitive development
Stress can be caused by circumcision
Vision
Least mature of the newborn’s sensory capabilities
Papillary reflex: induced from changes in bright light
Preference for face-like stimuli than other patterns:
Cut out 3 head-shaped papers, one with a human face drawing, one with scrambled version of human face parts, and one blank.
Infants 5 weeks old, followed the human face drawing
Why? could be an adaptive remnant of evolutionary history, serving to originate babies to their caregivers
Visual acuity: persons ability to see small objects and fine detail
Infants cannot resolve fine detail
20/600 vision distance
Visual contrast: the amount of light/dark transition in a visual stimulus by age 12 months, babies see about as well as adults: 20/20
Overall: infants visual system is not at its peak initially
They can sense movement, colors, changes in light, and visual patterns (as long as they are not too finely detailed, and have sufficient light/dark contrast)
Vision
Least mature of newborn’s sensory capabilities
Changes in brightness cause subcortical papillary reflex
Means neonate sensitive to light
Can detect movement and follow movement with eyes and head if subject moving slowly
Most likely to track faces (“facelike stimuli”)
Cat Studies- prefer human faces
Maybe to promote social interactions?
Discriminating color
Neonate: sees color, trouble discriminating blue/green/yellow from white
2-3 moths: can discriminate all basic colors
4 months: grouping shades into categories (reds, blues, etc.)
Infant’s visual acuity (ability to see fine details) is 20/600
Trouble accommodating—changing the shape of the lens of the eye to bring stimulus into focus
Requires larger visual contrast (light/dark transitions) to see
Development of vision tied to experience

VISUAL PERCEPTION IN INFANCY

PERCEPTION OF PATTERNS AND FORMS
Early Pattern Perception (0-2 months)
Infants liked scrambled face as much as normal one
Prefer and can see high contrast patters, moderately complex patterns, curvilinear features
Cannot resolve fine detail, see blobs instead
Latter Form Perception (2 months-1 year)
Visual discriminations
Organizing
Rely on motion cues to identify distinct forms
Visual experience keeps visual neurons firing mature brain

* PERCEPTIONS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL SPACE * Size Constancy
Children’s blinking response when object coming closer to face
Size constancy: the tendency to perceive an object as the same size from different distances, despite differences in the size of the retinal image
Limited at birth, better within first year of life
Binocular vision (stereopsis) helps development
Full development at 1 year
Use of Pictorial Cues
1-3 months: get spatial information from kinetic cues
Moving objects
3-5 months: get spatial information from binocular cues
3D surface, no movement
6-7 months: …monocular cues
Showing depth on 2D surface (photographic illusion)
Development of Depth Perception
Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk (1960)
Developed visual cliff to determine whether infants can perceive depth
Glass platform with illusion involving checkerboard pattern shallow space and a drop off to a deep, white space (see picture on 181)
Most infants 6.5 months and over avoided deep space
2 months olds heart rate slowed over deep area
Can detect difference in deep and shallow but no fear response has developed
Motor development provides experiences that change infants; interpretation of depth
More experience crawlers are better at depth perception
Maturation and experience are equally important in development

INTERMODAL PERCEPTION
=ability to recognize by one sensory modality (touch, smell, etc.) an object that is familiar through another (vision)
ARE SENSES INTEGRATED AT BIRTH?
Vision and touch are integrated very shortly after birth
Children expect to touch that which they can see
Found out by casting virtual picture in front of child
Child couldn’t touch what he could see cry, discomfort
Vision and hearing are integrated at about four months of age
Children are now able to lift and move their head towards sounds
Baby expects to hear mother’s voice coming from the direction of the mother’s mouth
Baby prefers/recognizes mothers face over those of strangers only when mother is speaking
Newborns must see and hear mother before recognition
3.5 months- face-voice associations for strangers
DEVELOPMENT OF INTERMODAL PERCEPTION
No evidence in new borns
1 month- able to visually recognize things they had previously sucked
Oral to visual perception is only cross-modal skill that has been observed in infants this young and is weak at best
4-6 months- tactile sensations (from grasping) with visual ones
4 months- intermodal matching between vision and hearing
When infant able to move head towards noise
These intermodal perception cues help development
EXPLAINING INTERMODAL PERCEPTION
Intersensory redundancy hypothesis: attending to multimodal stimuli promotes perceptual differentiation

CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON INFANT PERCEPTION
Infants prepared to acquire any language that humans speak
Our native language discriminates between “l” and “r”, Japanese doesn’t
Babies born with potential to perceive “musicality”
Can discriminate between good and bad music in variety of musical scales
Adults can detect good/bad music only in their native scales
Development adds new skills as well as gets rid of unnecessary skills
Concept of perceptual learning: chanes in one’s ability to extract information from sensory stimulation that occur as a result of experience *
BASIC LEARNING PROCESSES IN INFANCY
Learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from one’s experiences (or practice)
HABITUATION: EARLY EVIDENCE OF INFORMATION PROCESSING MEMORY
Habituation: process where we stop attending or responding to a stimulus repeated over and over
Is apparent in 27-36 week fetuses
Tested with a vibrator on the mother’s abdomen
Dishabituation
Developmental Trends
Habituation improves over 1st year
Begin needing long exposures to stimulus
Later, able to recognize stimulus over long periods of time
Later, able to habituate to objects in relation to one another
Attributed to sensory areas of cerebral cortex maturation
Individual differences
Those who habituate rapidly during first 6-8 months are quicker to use/understand language in second year, test better later on in childhood
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING * = a neutral stimulus (CS) using second/UCS to elicit response (CR)
Can occur 2-3 days old but only in reflexes with survival value
Sucking
OPERANT CONDITIONING * = learner operates in environment (emits response) and associates this action with pleasant/unpleasant consequences it produces
Operant Conditioning in infancy
Older infants quicker to associate their behavior with consequences than neonates
Newborns limited by their ability to control motor movements
Older infants easier to condition with auditory and visual cues are used to train behavior
Easy for child to retain meaningful info but hard to retrieve what they learned unless they have reminders
Context dependent
NEWBORN IMITATION OR OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
Imitating models, constructs symbolic representations (images or verbal summaries) of models behavior
Newborn Imitation
Hard to determine whether its imitation, reflexive behavior, or exploration
Advances in Imitation and Observational Learning
Imitates novel responses between 8-12 months of age
Novel=responses not part of their behavioral repertoire
Deferred imitation: ability to reproduce actions of model sometime in future—occurs sometime in second year
Emulation—observational learning can occur without a model
Learning helps infants become like other people and develop own idiosyncrasies

APPLYING DEVELOPMENTAL THEMES TO INFANT DEVELOPMENT, PERCEPTION, AND LEARNING
Theme 1: active child
Perceptual development is the growth of interpretive skills
Active through learning processes they experience
Theme 2: interaction of nature and nurture development
Sensory and perceptual development depend of this
Nature sets limits to nurturing abilities
Development is holistic experience
There is nothing we consciously do that is not influenced by our interpretation of the world around us

CHAPTER 6
Maturation and Growth
- HEIGHT/WEIGHT: babies double their birthweight by 4-6 months and triple it by the end of the first year
@ age 2- ½ their eventual adult height (4x their birth weight)
- Cephalocaudal development: sequence of physical maturation and growth that proceeds from the head to the tail (from the cephalic region to the caudal region)
- Proximodistal Development: sequence of physical maturation and growth that proceeds from the center of the body to the extremities (from the proximal region to the distal regions)

SKELETAL DEVELOPMENT
Prenatal: soft cartilage that ossifies into bony material
Birth: infant’s bones are soft, pliable, and difficult to break
Skull has several soft bones @ birth that can be compressed to allow the child to pass through the cervix and birth canal
Fontanelles: six soft spots that are gradually filled in by minerals to form skull by age 2
Skeletal Age: tell how physically mature…look @ xray of hand (more bones and more ossification w/ age) * Muscular Development
Born w/ all muscle fibers you will ever have
@ birth: muscle tissue is 35% water
Muscular development goes in cephalocaudal and proximodistal directions
By mid 20s: skeletal muscle accounts for 40% male body weight and 24% for females
Variations in Physical Development
Different for individual body systems (brain vs. reproductive system) AND different for individual people
Ethnicity/RaceAsian-American and African-American children mature earlier than North Americans, Northern Europeans and Australians
BUT…Asian Americans and African Americans are smaller * BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Brain Growth Spurt: last 3 prenatal months and first 2 yrs; more than half of one’s adult brain weight is gained @ this time
Neurons: nerve cells that receive and transmit neural impulses
Synapse: connective space (juncture) between neurons
(also called synaptic cleft)
Formation of new neurons in the hippocampus occur throughout life (before it was thought that you’re born with all neurons)
Glia: nerve cells that nourish neurons and encase them in insulating sheaths of myelin; they continue to form throughout life
Myelinization: process by which neurons are enclosed in waxy myelin sheaths that will facilitate the transmission of neural impulses; occurs for about 2½ years after birth (nervous system very plastic @ this time)
Synaptogenesis: formation of synapses among neurons; proceeds rapidly during the brain growth spurt
Avg infant has more neurons and neural connections than adults
Plasticity: capacity for change; a developmental state that has the potential to be shaped by experience (remarkable in an infant’s brain)
Synaptic Pruning: when surviving neurons are stimulated less often and lose their synapses
Environmental factors on brain development (experience)
- Chimpanzees reared in the dark…experienced atrophy of the retina and the neurons that make up the optic nerve. Atrophy was reversible if deprivation lasted less than 7 months. It was irreversible if deprivation lasted longer than a year. **Neurons that are not properly stimulated with degenerate**

Brain Differentiation and Growth
Parts of brain develop @ different rates
1st: lower subcortical areas (brain centers) of the brain develop brain stem, basic physiological functions like breathing, consciousness, reflexes, digestion, etc.
2nd: Cerebrum and cerebral cortex primary motor areas (control simple motor activitieswaving arms) develop first…then the primary sensory areas (sensory processesvision, hearing, smelling)
3rd: higher cortical functions (associated with higher order, abstract thinking)…and they still develop through the late teens at least
- Cerebrum: highest brain center; includes both hemispheres of the brain and fibers that connect them
- Corpus callosum: bundle of neural fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain and transmits information btwn hemispheres
- Cerebral cortex: outer layer of the brain’s cerebrum that is involved in voluntary body movements, perception, and higher intellectual functions such as learning, thinking, and speaking
- Cerebral lateralization- specialization of brain functions in the left and right cerebral hemispheres left= language, verbal skills right= visuospatial reasoning
Handedness is determined early. Most people are right handed.
Interesting evidence that cerebral lateralization is reversed in some people who are left handed.

Development of Brain in Adolescence
Teenagers think more abstractly (about truth and justice)
Changes in thinking tied to late developments in the brain
Myelinization of the higher brain centers
Brain retains some of its plasticity beyond puberty
Reorganizations of the neural circuitry of the prefrontal cortex

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Infants are immobile…very little motor control
First milestone in locomotor development baby lifts chin when lying flat on stomach (then lift chest, roll over, sit up, etc.)
There’s a definite sequence (chart pg. 209)
Motor development occurs in cephalocaudal and proximodistal
Early ability to control legs due to infants having a more stable hip joint (as compared to shoulder joint for arms)
- Maturational Viewpoint: describes motor dvlpmt as the unfolding of a genetically programmed sequence of events in which the nerves and muscles mature in a downward and outward direction
- Experiential (practice) hypothesis: opportunities to practice motor skills are very important
- Dynamical Systems Theory: theory that views motor skills as active reorganizations of previously mastered capabilities that are undertaken to find more effective ways of exploring the environment or satisfying other objects motor skills are not genetically programmed responses…each new skill is a CONSTRUCTION that emerges as infants ACTIVELY practice
There’s a sequence for infants because each successive motor skill must build upon specific component activities that have developed earlier
The honing of motor skills occur based on proprioceptive feedback * FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Voluntary reaching: infants equipped with “grasping reflex”
@ 2 months infants’ reaching and grasping skills seem to deteriorate (the PALMAR grasp disappears)
Manipulatory skills: grasp objects with both hands, hold objects and move from hand to hand, etc.
Ulnar graspan early manipulatory skill in which an infant grasps objects by pressing the fingers against the palm
Pincer graspthumb is used in opposition to the fingers, enabling the infant to become more dexterous at lifting and fondling

* Psychological Implications of Early Motor Development
Infant’s increasing control over bodily movements has cognitive/social consequences (they are bolder and seek challenges…if they know they can retreat to caregiver for comfort)
Optic flow perceived movement of objects in the visual field as well as in the foreground where objects are imbedded. Crawling/walking helps infants become more aware of optic flow
Motor Development in Childhood and Adolescence
Children are clumsy but they gain more and more control
By age 5children become rather graceful (pump arms when run, improved balance)
Young children throw a ball w/ only their arms
Mature children use their whole body (legs, hips, arms) * * PUBERTY
Adolescent growth spurt: rapid increase in physical growth that marks the beginning of adolescence
Puberty: point @ which a person reaches sexual maturity and is physically capable of fathering or conceiving a child
Girls begin growth spurt @ 10½; boys begin @ 13
Sexual Maturation
- GIRLS breasts, pubic hair, sex organs mature (vagina becomes larger and uterus muscles strengthen)
Menarche: time of first menstruation (about age 12)
- BOYS enlargment of testes, unpigmented pubic hair, sperm production begins, facial hair, voice deepens
Many individual differences for physical and sexual maturation
SECULAR TREND: trend in industrialized societies toward earlier maturation and greater body size now than in the past
WHY? better nutrition and advances in medical care, nature vs. nurture effects (overweight girls develop earlier, dancers/gymnasts/physical activity develop later) *
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF PUBERTY
- Body Image boys either want to gain weight or lose weight (depending on current weight)
Girls usually want to only LOSE weight
Anorexia Nervosa: life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and a compulsive fear of getting fat
Bulimia: life-threatening eating disorder characterized by recurrent eating binges followed by such purging activities as heavy use of laxatives or vomiting
Lean sport athletes @ a particular risk
SOCIAL IMPACTS OF PUBERTAL CHANGES
- Rites of Passage: rituals that signify the passage from one period of life to another
African tribepubertal boys are led into the bush, stripped and shaved of all hair (symbolizes losing their status as a child)
Western societiesfeel more independence, less close to parents

- Boys who mature early have advantages (stronger, poised and confident in social situations, athletic advantages)
- Girls who mature early may be at somewhat of a disadvantage (less outgoing, less popular, anxiety, depression

Sexuality: aspect of referring to one’s erotic thoughts, actions, and orientation
Influenced by cultural values about sex and sexuality
STDs
Teenage Pregnancy
Consequences for mothers: interrupted education, loss of contact w/ social network, dysfunctional family life, violence
Consequences for babies: poorly nourished (high rates of poverty), prenatal/birth complications

CAUSES AND CORRELATES OF PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
Biological Mechanisms
HORMONES…genes regulate the production of hormones which have major effects on physical growth and development
Endocrinology of Growth
Pituitary gland “master gland” located @ the base of the brain that regulates the endocrine glands and produces growth hormone
Growth hormone (GH) pituitary hormone that stimulates the rapid growth and development of body cells; primarily responsible for the adolescent growth spurt
Estrogen female sex hormone, produced by the ovaries, that is responsible for female sexual maturation
Testosterone male sex hormone, produced by the testes, that is responsible for male sexual orientation
Environmental influences on physical growth and development
NUTRITION – most important
Catch-up growth: period of accelerated growth in which children who have experienced growth deficits (malnutrition) grow very rapidly to “catch up to” the growth trajectory they are genetically programmed to follow
Brain growth may be seriously retarded and child may be small in stature
Marasmus: growth-retarding disease affecting children who receive too few calories and little protein
Kwashiorkor: growth-retarding disease affecting children who receive adequate calories but inadequate protein
Vitamin/Mineral Deficiencies: form of malnutrition. Diet provides sufficient protein and calories but is lacking in one or more substances that promote normal growth.
Iron deficiency anemia: listlessness caused by too little iron in diet that makes children unattentive and may retard physical and intellectual development
Obese: medical term describing individuals who are at least 20% above the ideal weight for their height, age and sex
ILLNESSES
Major illnesses that keep a child in bed for weeks may temporarily retard growth but after recovering the child will ordinarily show a growth spurt
Poor diet affects how illness affects development (weakens immune system)
QUALITY OF CARE
Nonorganic failure to thrive: infant growth disorder, caused by lack of attention and affection, that causes growth to slow dramatically or stop
Deprivation dwarfism: childhood growth disorder that is triggered by emotional deprivation and characterized by decreased production of GH, slow growth, and small stature

CHAPTER 7
Cognitive development- changes that occur in children’s mental abilities over the course of their lives

What is Intelligence?- PIAGET- a basic life function that helps the organism adapt to its environment
Intelligence is a form of equilibrium to which all cognitive structures tend - cognitive equilibrium Piaget’s term for the state of affairs in which there is a balanced or harmonious relationship between ones thought process and the environment - children are active and curious explorers who are constantly challenged by stimuli and evens that they do not immediately understand -these imbalanced create disequilibrium - children are constructivists; if they are to know something they must construct that knowledge themselves

How We Gain Knowledge: Cognitive Schemes and Cognitive Processes cognition develops through the refinement and transformation of mental structures and SCHEMES unobservable mental systems that underlie intelligence, a pattern of thought or thinking
How Children Construct and Modify Schemes - adaptation- an inborn tendency to adjust to the demands of the environment occurs through assimilation and accommodation - assimilation- the process of interpreting new experiences by incorporating them into existing schemes - accommodation- the process of modifying existing schemes in order to incorporate or adapt to new experiences - organization- an inborn tendency to combine and integrate available schemes into coherent systems or bodies of knowledge in the end, equilibrium is created

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
4 major periods sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operations invariant development sequence all children progress through the stages in the same order but there are individual differences at what age children go through stages

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years) - infants coordinate their sensory inputs and motor capabilites forming behavioural scheme that permit them to act on and get to know their environment - divided into 6 substages 3 important aspects of this period are PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS, IMITATION, and OBJECT CONCEPT - Development of Problem-Solving Abilities - Reflex Activity- first substage; actions are confined to exercising innate reflexes, assimilating new objects into these reflexive schemes and accommodating their reflexes to these objects - Primary Circular Reactions- pleasurable response; centered around infants own body; discovered by chance and performed over and over - Secondary Circular Reactions- pleasurable response; centered around an external object that is discovered by chance and performed over and over - Coordination of secondary circular reactions- infants begin to coordinate two or more actions to achieve simple objectives; first sign of goal directed behaviour - Tertiary Circular Reactions- exploratory scheme in which the infant devises a new method of acting on objects to reproduce interesting results might step on a rubber duck to make it quack instead of just squeezing it - Symbolic Problem Solving- inner experimentation ability to solve simple problems on a mental or symbolic level without having to rely on trial and error experimentation use a stick to move something that is out of reach close - Development of Imitation - voluntary imitation becomes precise at 12-18 months - deferred imitation- ability to reproduce the behaviour of an absent model - believed older infants are capable of deferred imitation because they can now construct mental symbols of images of a models behaviour that are stored in memory and can be retrieved later - Development of Object Permanence - object permanence- the realization that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible or detectable through the senses begins to emerge at 8 to 12 months - A-not-B-error tendency of 8-12 month olds to search for a hidden object where they previously found it even after they have seen it moved to a new location - occurs because even though they have some object permanence, it is not complete child cannot make the mental inferences necessary to understand INVISIBLE DISPLACEMENTS so it looks for where the object was last seen

Challenges of Piaget’s Account of Sensorimotor Development: Neo-Nativism and Theory Theories - Piaget generally underestimated infants cognitive capabilities - Neo-Nativism - believe that infants are born with substantial innate knowledge about the physical world which requires less time and experience to be demonstrated than Piaget proposed - babies are prepared by evolution to make sense of certain aspects of their physical world - earlier displays of symbolic ability than Piaget thought - discovered a certain level of object permanence and memory and also some rudimentary ideas about addition - Theory Theories - idea that infants are prepared from birth to make sense of certain classes of information (as neo-nativists proposed) but such innate knowledge is incomplete and requires substantial experience for infants to construct reality (as Piaget proposed) - they do this by constructing theories about how the world works and then testing and modifying these theories - similar to P.’s concept of equilibrium

*** Piaget’s biggest contribution to this stage was that he discovered the phenomenon of object permanence

Preoperational Stage (2-7) and the Emergence of Symbolic Thought period is marked by the appearance of the symbolic function ability to make one thing (object or word) stand for or represent something else - refers to the knowledge that an entity can stand for something other than itself as REPRESENTATIONAL INSIGHT - they are now quite capable of reconstructing the past and thinking about or even comparing objects that are no longer present - LANGUAGE- most obvious form of symbolic thought inner experimentation occurs combining of two or more words to form simple sentences - P believed that cognitive development produces language, not vice versa
Pretend/Symbolic Play begins - helps young children advance their cognitions about people, objects and actions; creates increasingly sophisticated representations of the world

New Views on Symbolism - dual representation- ability to represent an object simultaneously as an object itself and as a representation of something else

Deficits in Preoperational Reasoning - animism- children will sometimes attribute life and lifelike qualities to inanimate objects - egocentrism- tendency to view the world from one’s own perspective and to have difficulty recognizing another person’s point of view - appearance/reality distinction- they lack the ability to keep the true properties or characteristics of an object in mind despite the deceptive appearance the object has assumed put a dog mask on a cat and they say it’s a dog shows that they are not proficient yet in dual representation - P said children’s thinking is CENTERED on the way things appear to be rather than on logical or rational thought processes - incapable of conservation the recognition that the properties of an object or a subtance do not change when its appearance is altered in some superficial way pour liquid from skinny tube into wide tube and they think theres less cause the water does not go as high up in the tube - lack 2 things that cause them to have these problems - decentration- ability to concentrate on more than one aspect of a problem at the same time - reversibility- ability to mentally undo or negate an action

Did Piaget Underestimate the Preoperational Child?
New Evidence on Egocentrism - evidence that P underestimated ability of preschool children to recognize POV of others - children look less egocentric when provided with less complicated visual displays - when they plan to deceive someone, 3 year olds were later able to take the perspective of that person when they were not actively involved in the deceit they performed egocentrically

Another Look at Children’s Reasoning - don’t usually attribute life or lifelike qualities to inanimate objects even such inanimate objects such as robots

Can Preoperational Children Conserve - research has shown that children at this age can be trained to conserve can go through identity training will then not only conserve on the task theyre trained with but also on a variety of other tasks

Development of Theory of Mind (TOM) - a person’s conception of mental activity; used to refer to how children conceptualize mental activity and how they attribute intention to an predict the behaviour of others understanding that mental states are not always shared with others - TOM is based on BELIEF-DESIRE REASONING process by which we explain and predict what people do based on what we understand their desires and beliefs to be - children may assume other’s desires are the same as their own - most frequently used tool to assess children’s TOM is FALSE-BELIEF TASK type of task in which the child must infer that another person doe not possess knowledge that he or she possesses - Jorge puts some chocolate in a blue cupboard and goes out to play. In his absence his mother moves the chocolate to the green cupboard - 3 year olds will say Jorge will look for the chocolate in the green cupboard believe his desire for the chocolate will drive him to look in the right place - 4/5 year olds have some TOM so they know that Jorge will look in the blue cupboard where he believes it is - in order to pass a false belief test you need executive function (cog. Abilites involved in planning, executing and inhibiting actions) and cognitive inhibition (ability to inhibit certain thoughts and behaviours at specified times must be able to inhibit a preferred or dominant response - pretend play influences TOM - become increasingly aware of creative and potential of human mind

Summing Up many researchers believe that P underestimated abilities of preschoolers because his tasks were too complex to demonstrate what they actually knew - couldn’t articulate their responses - would have easily gotten correct answers if given nonverbal tests
1) preschoolers are capable of reasoning logically about simple problems or concepts that are familiar to them
2) number of factors other than lack of cognitive operations may account for their poor performances on P cognitive tests

Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 11) children rapidly acquire cognitive operations and apply these important new skills when thinking about objects and events that they have experienced. Internal mental activity that enables children to modify and reorganize their images and symbols to reach a logical conclusion examples of operational thought conservation and rational logic

Conservation in the liquid in 2 tubes example: 7 year old concrete operators can decenter by focusing simultaneously on both the height and width of the two containers; also has reversibility ability to mentally undo the pouring process

Rational Logic better understanding of quantitative relations and relational logic now capable of mental seriation ability to mentally arrange intems along a quantifiable dimension such as height or weight - have also mastered the concept of transivity describes necessary relations among elements in a series - can see in a group of people who is the tallest don’t need to have them stand next to one another

Sequencing of Concrete Operations - horizontal decalage P’s term for a child’s uneven cognitive performance; inability to solve certain problems even though one can solve similar problems requiring the same mental operations - simple skills appear first and are consolidated, combined, and reorganized into increasingly complex mental structures

Formal Operational Stage (12 Years and Beyond) Mental actions are performed on ideas and propositions can reason logically about hypothetical processes and events that may have no basis in reality

Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning bench mark of formal operations formal operational ability to think hypothetically

Thinking Like a Scientist can engage in Inductive Reasoning type of thinking where hypotheses are generated and then systematically tested in experiments

Personal and Social Implications of Formal Thought now able to think about what is possible in one’s life, forming stable identity, have much deeper understanding of other people’s perspectives, can weigh alternatives now to make important decisions - formal operations are to blame for adolescence questioning of authority - primary cause of generation gap - imaginary audience result of adolescent egocentrism. Believe that everyone around them is as interested in their thoughts and behaviours as they are themselves

Does Everyone Reach Formal Operations some investigators have found that adolescents are slower to acquire formal operations that P had thought - in cultures where formal schooling is rare or nonexistent some people never reach formal operation stage; need schooling that stresses math, logic, science - later in his career, P believed that maybe adults who don’t seem to be able to formally reason can do so on issues that are of vital importance to them

Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory

Contributions
1) founded discipline we know as cognitive development
2) convinced us that children are curious, active explorers who play an important role in their own development 3)one of the first to try to explain and not just describe the process of development
4) description of broad sequence of intellectual development provides a reasonably accurate overview of how children of difference ages think
5)major influence on thinking about social and emotional development as well as many practical implications for educators
6) asked important questions that drew in other researchers

Challenges to Piaget- 4 Criticisms
1) Piaget Failed to Distinguish Competence from Performance - tended to assume that child a child failed one of his tests he simply lacked the underlying concepts he was testing might have been that the task was too complex or required too much verbal understanding
2) Does Cognitive Development Really Occur in Stages? - the stages might not be so concrete - research suggests that there is less consistency and coherence to cognitive growth than P assumed
3) Does Piaget “Explain” Cognitive Development? - explanation of cog. growth raises many questions - not very clear about how mechanisms might enable a child to move to higher stages of intellect many researchers now think that his theory is an elaborate description of cognitive development that has limited explanatory power
4) Piaget Devoted Too Little Attention to Social and Cultural Influences - researchers now know that culture influences how children think as well - paid too little attention to how childrens minds develop through social interactions - today we know that children’s interactions with siblings, peers, parents are very important in developing some of their most basic competencies
Sociocultural Theory
Lev Vygotsky-Russian Developmentalist who thought that:
1. Cognitive growth occurs in a sociocultural context that influences the form it takes
2. Many of a child’s most noteworthy cognitive skills evolve from social interations with parents, teachers, and other more competent associates.
Basically, children’s intellectual development is closely tied to their culture.. Children do not develop the same mind all over the world, but learn to use their brain to interpret their surroundings consistent with the demans and values of their culture.
Intellectual Growth was not as universal as Piaget thought.
Thought children were born with a few elementary mental functions- attention, sensation, perception, and memory- which are transformed by the culture into higher mental functions. Different cultures have different ways of remembering things, whether it is by taking notes, or drawing events on cave walls.
American kids have a harder time learning how to count because of the way our numbering system works. They must learn individual names of numbers until 20, whereas Chinese counting system, 11 is ‘ten one,’ twelve is ‘ten two,’ etc.
Differences in number-naming system can contribute to early differences in cognitive skills, which may contribute to later differences in mathematical abilities between Chinese and American children.
Agreed with Piaget that kids were active explorers of their surroundings, but thought they learn mostly in the context of cooperative dialogues between a skillful tutor and a novice pupil
At first, the tutor helps the child learn and then slowly backs off and lets him work more independently
Zone of Proximal Development- the difference between what a learner can accomplish on his own and what he can do with the guidance and encouragement of a more skilled partner. This zone is where sensitive instruction should be aimed and where new cognitive growth can be expected to occur.
Scaffolding- the tendency of more expert participants to carefully tailor the support they provide to the novice learner’s current situation so that he can profit from that support and increase his understanding of a problem.
Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky does not think “competence” is an absolute level that a child cannot exceed; thinks it is task-specific. A child can show a high level of competence in solving one type of problem, but not another.
Kids learn through GUIDED PARTICIPATION
Siblings often play a large role in the Zone of Proximal Development, especially if an older sibling is your primary caretaker, allowing them to influence your development.
Kids also tend to idolize their older siblings and really want to learn from them. Kids tend to learn more when an older sibling is teaching them than a equally competent older peer. Reasons:
Older siblings feel a greater responsibility to teach if the pupil is a younger sibling
They provide more detailed instructions and encouragement than a normal peer
Young children are more inclined to seek an older sibling’s guidance
So why do different cognitive skills develop differently from culture to culture? The way people guide is different in various cultures. In more educated cultures, guidance is often more verbal whereas guidance in “backwards” cultures tends to be more physical.
Also, different cultures have their own ways of “playing.” Symbolic or make-believe play is facilitated by guiders more in some cultures than others, adjusting the child’s development.
Guided participation in symbolic play (by parents, siblings, caretakers, etc.) facilitates an advanced theory of mind, because the kid learns that others have their own feelings and ideas. *

Vygotsky thought you should evaluate development on 4 interrelated levels
1. Ontogenetic Development- refers to development of the individual over his or her lifetime (the level analysis for nearly all developmental psychologists)
2. Microgenetic Development- changes that occur over relatively brief periods of time, such as the changes seen in a child solving addition problems every week for 11 consecutive weeks, or even change over a 20 minute session.
3. Phylogenetic Development- changes over evolutionary time, measured in thousands and even millions of years. Believed specie’s history could provide insight into child’s minds.
Sociohistorical Development- changes that have occurred in one’s culture and the values, norms, and technologies such a history has generated.

Vygotsky on Language *
Much different than Piaget’s view.
Language plays two critical roles in cognitive development
1. Serves as the primary vehicle through which adults pass culturally valued modes of thinking and problem solving to their children
2. Eventually becomes one of the more powerful ‘tools’ of intellectual adaptation in its own right.
Egocentric Speech- talk not addressed to anyone in particular and not adapted in any meaningful way so that a companion might understand it. Almost a self-announced ‘play-by-play’ of what the child is doing.
Piaget thought this played a very limited role in development
Vygotsky thought egocentric speech showed the transition from prelinguistic to verbal reasoning.
Noticed this speech was more common when the learner was attempting to solve a problem and encountered an obstacle in achieving his objective.
He concluded that nonsocial speech was not egocentric but communicative: Private Speech that helps young children plan strategies and regulate their own behavior so that they are more likely to accomplish their goals.
Therefore, language may play a critical role in cognitive development by making children more organized and efficient problem solvers.
Private speech becomes more abbreviated with age, eventually becoming inner speech or ‘underground’ verbal thought and never completely disappears.
Vygotsky’s view is more supported by research than Piaget’s.

Implications:

Vygotsky stressed active rather than passive learning, like Piaget. His differences in approach though involved the role of the instructor.
Instructors should focus more on guided participation than independent research by the learner. Also stressed collaborative group exercises. The less competent members benefit from the instruction they receive from their peers, and the more skillful members will benefit from playing the role of teacher. Reasoning:
Children are often more motivated working together
Cooperative learning requires children to explain their ideas to one another and to resolve conflicts, which allows them to examine their own ideas more closely.
Children are more likely to use high-quality cognitive strategies while working together.

CHAPTER 8
Intro: Piaget saw children as active agents towards their own development; Vygotsky saw children as active participants in collaborative dialogues with others, gaining the tools of thought appropriate for their culture.

Multistore Model: information processing model that depicts information as flowing through 3 processing units: the sensory store, the short term store (STS), and the long term store (LTS).
1st: Sensory store: separate sensory registers for each sense modality (i.e. for hearing, vision), holding large amounts of info for brief periods of time; extremely volatile and disappear w time.
2nd: Short-term store: stores a limited amount of info for several seconds; unless information is rehearsed or used, soon it is lost (a.k.a. working memory/ primary memory because all conscious intellectual activity is done here).
3rd: Long-term Store: relatively permanent storehouse of info, including knowledge of world, impressions of experience, and strategies used to process info and solve problems information doesn’t just flow through these stores; instead we actively channel input.
Executive control processes: regulating attention and determining what to do with information just gathered or retrieved from long-term memory
Largely under voluntary control and are what distinguish human info processors from computers.
We decide what to attend to
As humans, have very versatile info processors
Metacognition: one’s knowledge about cognition and about the regulation of cognitive activities.
Knowledge base: one’s existing information about a topic

Information-processing capacity
Capacity: amount of space available to store information
Development of STS memory span: a general measure of the amount of information that can be held in the short-term age difference in memory span are highly reliable; amount of visual information infants can keep in mind at a time increases over the first year of life.
Span of apprehension: a more accurate measure in developmental differences in the capacity of STS
The number of items that people can keep in mind at any one time, or the amount of info that people can attend to at a single time without operating mentally to store this information
Experiment: play a video game, while over headphones they also heard a series of digits that they were to ignore. Occasionally they were asked to recall them in the exact order. Result was that childrens memory span for digits shows regular increase with age.
Memory tests:
Having detailed knowledge for a particular domain facilitates memory performance for information from that domain, but not necessarily for info in other areas.
Expertise in a certain subject may improve memory span because of ease of item identification.
In domains which they are not experts, the older you are, the faster you process the information, where faster processing contributes to larger memory span
Kail: believes that biological maturation is primarily responsible for broad age related differences in speed of info processing
i.e.: increased myelination of neurons in the associative thinking areas of the brain; elimination of unnecessary neural synapses that could interfere with efficient information could be that age differences in myelination are directly related with age differences in speed of info processing.
Strategies and what children know about “thinking”:
Strategies: goal-directed and deliberately implemented mental operations to facilitate task performance (younger children use fewer strategies and they are far less effective)
Production deficiency: failure to spontaneously generate and use known strategies that could improve learning and memory
Utilization deficiency: failure to benefit from effective strategies that one has spontaneously produced; thought to occur in early phases of strategy acquisition when using a strategy requires a lot of mental effort
**children display both production deficiency and utilization deficiency, therefore have a slow and uneven growth of strategic thinking * * * * Multiple Strategy & Variable-Strategy Use - Children's strategies don't develop in stages, rather they have them all available to them and select among those strategies when problem solving * Sum strategy – example, when learning to add and solve the problem, counting numbers out loud to learn beginning at #1 * Min strategy – example, to solve an addition problem, counting numbers but beginning with the larger number in the problem set * Fact retrieval – example, just knowing the answer; retrieving from long term memory * Other examples, spelling, serial recall, scientific reasoning * Adaptive Strategy Choice Model – Siegler's model to describe how strategies change over time; the view that multiple strategies exist within a child's cognitive repertoire at any one time, with these strategies competing with one another. * Issue facing cognitive developmentalists today is how to determine what combination of strategies children use within different cognitive domains. * Implicit Cognition – thought that occurs without awareness that one is thinking; unconscious thought * Most infant and young children's knowledge is implicit; implicit learning is acquiring knowledge without explicit awareness, is an early developing ability in children * Few age differences found in tests of implicit learning or memory * Explicit Cognition – thinking and thought processes of which we are consciously aware * Awareness of thoughts and distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness develop gradually during childhood * Substantial age differences found on tests of explicit learning and memorization * Matacognition – knowledge of one's thought process * Both implicit and explicit cognition can be thought of in terms of info processing mechanisms; different development patterns displayed indicate that cognitive development is multifaceted and doesn't follow a single course for all types of thinking. * * Models to explain age differences in childrens thinking: * Fuzzy-Trace Theory – theory proposed by Brainerd and Reyna that postulates that people encode experiences on a continuum from literal, verbatim traces to fuzzy, gistlike traces. Useful in describing developmental changes in the ways that children encode info and use for problem solving * Fuzzy representations – called gist; vague (preserve the content without all of the details); more easily accessed and require less effort to use than verbatim representations * Fuzzy traces – gistlike representations * Verbatim representations – literal; more susceptible to interference and forgetting than fuzzy * We encode both and use whichever representation is easier or more appropriate for the problem solving we are doing * * Development of Attention – person must first detect and attend to info before it can be encoded, retained and used to solve problems. As children grow, they are more able to sustain attention, be more selective as to what they attend to, and more knowledgeable about attention * Attention Span – capacity for sustaining attention (concentrate) to a particular stimulus or activity * Gradually improves as we grow up due to maturity changes to central nervous system. * Recticular formation (area of brain responsible for regulation of attention) not fully myelinated until puberty * Selective Attention – capacity to focus on task-relevant aspects of experience while ignoring irrelevant or distracting info (ignoring info that is irrelevant) * ADHD – attention disorder with three symptoms (1) highly impulsive (2)inattentive (3) hyperactive; often leads to academic difficulties, poor self esteem and social problems * Cognitive Inhibition – dismissing info that is clearly irrelevant * Inhibition – the ability to prevent ourselves from executing some cognitive or behavioral response * Neurological maturation contributes to development of inhibitory control * Play an important role in cognitive development * * Memory Development – the process by which we store and retrieve info * Event memory – long-term memory for events (e.g. what you had for bfast today); natural memory * Deferred imitation – remembering after a significant delay; first evidence of event memory * Infantile amnesia – lack of memory for the early year of one's life * Script – a general representation of the typical sequencing of events (what occurs when); young children describe events in these terms (went here, did that, etc.); way to organize and interpret experiences * Autobiographical memory – memory for important experiences or events that have happened to us; by asking questions of past events, parents can help develop memory, language and narrative skills * Strategic memory – processes involved as one consciously attempts to retain or retrieve info (e.g. remember a phone # * Mnemonics (memory strategies) – tools an individual uses to memorize, including rehearsal, organization and elaboration * Eyewitness – related to event memory * Children's memory is more susceptible to suggestion and memory distortions than adults * Children prefer to encode and report exact details (more difficult to really retain) over gist info (which is easier to retain) * Legal implications – place limit on ways children are interviewed to limit suggestibility, limit # of times interviewed * * Development of Memory Strategies – deliberately implemented strategies play an important role in the cognitive development of a child's info processing accts; number and effectiveness of memory strategies increase with age, but we all have these strategies at all ages to use, drawing upon them as needed * Rehearsal – a strategy for memory; repeating something until we remember it * Older children rehearse differently than younger children; e.g. young children rehearse in a linear fashion repeating each item in a effort to remember, while older children use ACTIVE or CUMULATIVE REHEARSAL to repeat several items as they add more to the list being retained * Younger children don't practice active rehearsal because they have limited working memory capacity; study by Peter Ornstein (1985) * Organization – strategy for remembering that involves grouping or classifying stimuli into meaningful clusters that are easier to retain * Until age 9 or 10 not able to effectively organize data to retain * Young children can be trained to organize data, but don't do so spontaneously; shows a production deficiency in how they process info * Retrieval – strategies for getting info out of long term memory * Young children not good at retrieving info on their own * Free recall – general prompt for info; e.g., "tell me what you did in school today", children have difficulty recalling and sharing * Cued recall – more focused prompt; e.g., asking for specific info, children are better at recalling and sharing info * Young children can be instructed to use rehearsal, organization and retrieval strategies and their memory performance usually increases. But given new problem without instruction, they revert back to nonstrategic ways (Bjorklund & Douglas 1997) * Why? Younger children have more limited knowledge in general and this limits their ability to categorize and elaborate on materials that they are trying to remember * * Metamemory and Memory Performance – * Metamemory – aspect of metacognition; knowledge of memory and memory processes * Display metamemory if a child recognizes that there are limits to what they can retain, and that some things are easier to remember than others, and that some strategies may help them retain info * Knowledge about memory increases between the ages of 4 and 12 * knowledge of memory strategies grows very gradually; under 7 no knowledge of strategies in general; 7 to 9 year olds recognize rehearsal and categorizing as effective means to remember items; 11 year olds recognize organization more effective than rehearsal * Does metamemory influence how well we perform memory tasks? Possibly. * (Cavanaugh & Perlmutter 1982) found low to moderate positive correlation between memory and metamemory suggesting that good metamemory is not necessary for good recall * (Ghatala 1986) studies that have trained children to use memory strategies are more successful when the training includes metamemory (making children aware that being strategic has make their memory better) * Knowledge Base and Memory Development * Children that are experts in a certain area (e.g. chess) have longer memory spans when tested on info in their area of expertise (Chi 1978) * Since older children have more knowledge, age differences in recall memory could be due to increases in a childs knowledge base as he grow older and also equally due to increases in the use of strategies (Bjorklund 1987) * Children develop specialized strategies for learning and retaining info in their area of interest/expertise * How important is knowledge base to memory performance? Experts generally recall more new info in their area of expertise than do novices on the same intellect level (Schneider, Bjorklund, Maier 1996) * Culture and Memory Strategies * Vygotsky sociocultural theory – cognitive development occurs within a cultural context; defines the type of problems children must solve and the strategies that enable them to effectively problem solve * Example – western children rely on schooling to teach them strategies, but this doesn't translate to exceptional memory performance. Children in 3rd world countries are more adapt at remembering locations of objects (without schooling to teach them), than western children

Development of Other Cognitive Skills * * Analogical Reasoning
Reasoning-a particular type of problem solving that involves making inferences.
Analogical reasoning-reasoning that involves using something one knows already to help reason about something not known.
A is to B as C is to _____.

Analogical Reasoning in young children
Relational primacy hypothesis-the hypothesis that analogical reasoning is available in infancy, proposed by Usha Goswami
Relational similarity- the relation between the A and B terms are used to fid the best match for the C term.

The role of knowledge in children’s analogical reasoning
One factor that affects whether children will use relational similarity to solve an analogical-reasoning problem is their familiarity with the underling relations used to make the analogy.
The function of analogical reasoning is to use something you know to help you understand something you don’t know.
Transitive mappings- a transitive relation involves relations among at least three objects
In Goswami’s study 3-4 year olds were capable of transitivity by analogy, as long as the basis for the analogy was familiar to them.

The role of metacognition in children’s analogical reasoning
Learning to learn-improvements in performance on novel problems as a result of acquiring a new rule or strategy from the earlier solution of similar problems.
Metacognitive awareness does improve analogical problem solving.
Analogical reasoning which seems to be present in a simple implicit form in infancy, gradually develops and becomes more explicit throughout childhood.

Arithmetic Skills
Counting and arithmetic strategies
Counting begins shortly after children begin to talk
By age 4 1/2 to 5 most children have acquired the principle of cardinality- the knowledge that the last word in a counting sequence (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) represents the number of items in a set.
Sum strategy- what is 2 + 3? Child begins by counting out the first number, and then counts out the second, starting from the cardinal value of the first (….3, 4, 5).
Min strategy- what is 8 + 3? Child would start with the cardinal value of the larger number and count up from there (i.e., 8, …9, 10, 11).

Development of mental arithmetic math
Decomposition strategy- children transform an original problem into two simpler problems.
Given 13 + 3= ? a child might think “13 is to 10 + 3; 3 + 3 = 6; 10 + 6 = 16” so the answer is 6
Fact by retrieval-they simply know the correct answer, and retrieve it from long-term memory

CHAPTER 9
What is Intelligence?

Psychometric Views of Intelligence psychometric approach: a theoretical perspective that portrays intelligence as a trait (or set of traits) on which individuals differ; psychometric theorists are responsible for the development of standardized intelligence tests

Alfred Binet’s Singular Component Approach
Produced forerunner of our modern intelligence tests
Large set of tasks measuring skills presumed to be necessary for classroom learning
Attention, perception, memory, numerical reasoning, verbal comprehension age graded a child who passed all items at 5 year old level but none at 6 year old level had a mental age of 5 * * The Multicomponent View of Intelligence * Argues that ONE IQ score is not enough * One way to determine this is to ask people to perform a large number of mental tasks and then analyze their performance using FACTOR ANALYSIS a statistical procedure for identifying clusters of tests or test items (called factors) that are highly correlated with one another and unrelated to other test items * Early multicomponent theories of intelligence
Spearman
There are 2 factors g and s g= spearmans abbreviation for neogenesis which means ones ability to understand relations; general mental ability effects ones abilities on most cognitive tasks s=spearmans term for mental abilities that are specific to a particular test might be really good at musical aptitute
Thurstone seven factors called primary mental abilities
Seven distinct mental abilities make up spearmans g
Later Multicomponent Theories of Intelligence
Guilford
Classified cognitive tasks into three major dimensions
1) content what must the person think about
2) operations what kind of thinking is the person asked to perform
3) products what kind of answer is required created structure of intellect model with this
5 kinds of intellectual contents, six kinds of mental operations, six kinds of intellectual products=180 primary mental abilities
Cattell and Horn
Fluid intelligence vs. crystallized intelligence
Fluid intelligence the ability to perceive relationships and solve relational problems of the type that are not taught and are relatively free of cultural influences
Crystallized intelligence the ability to understand relations or solve problems that depend on knowledge acquired from schooling and other cultural influences * A Recent Hierarchical Model * Today, psychometricians favor hierarchical models of intelligence
Models in which intelligence is viewed as consisting of
1) general ability factor at the top of the hierarchy which influences ones performance on many cognitive tests
2) a number of specialized ability factors that influence how well one performs in particular intellectual domains
Carroll’s three stratus theory of intelligence
Represents intelligence as a pyramid
Implies that each of us have particular strengths or weaknesses depending on the patterns of “second stratus” intellectual abilities we display
Depict intelligence as both an overarching general mental ability and a number of more specific abilities that each pertain to a particular intellectual domain * * * A Modern Information-Processing Viewpoint * Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence
Emphasizes 3 components of intelligent behavior contect, experience, and information processing skills
Much broader view of intelligence than psychometric theorists
Contextual Component
What qualifies as “intelligent” behavior will depend in large part on the context in which it was displayed
Intellectual people are those that can adapt to their environments or shape environments to suit them better STREET SMARTS
Experiential Component a persons experience with a tasks helps to determine whether that person’s performance qualifies as intelligent behavior responses to novel challenges are an indication of the person’s ability to generate good ideas or fresh insights automatization- increasing efficiency of information processing with practice sign of intelligence is automatizing our normal routines crucial to know how familiar subjects are with specific test items in order to test their intelligence fairly may be a CULTURAL BIAS
The Componential (or information processing) Component
Componential aspects of intelligent behavior the cog processes by which we size up the requirements of problems, formulate strategies to solve them, and then monitor our cognitive activities until we’ve accomplished our goals

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Theory of multiple intelligences Gardner’s theory that humans display as many as nine distinct kinds of intelligence, each linked to a particular area of the brain and several of which are not measured by IQ tests
Injury to a particular area of the brain usually influences only one ability
Some individuals maybe be truly exceptional in one area but very bad in another SAVANT SYNDROME

How is Intelligence Measured
The Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale
Modern descendant of the first successful intelligence test that measures general intelligence and four factors: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, spatial reasoning, and short-term memory
Used a ratio measure of intelligence known as intelligence quotient or IQ
IQ= 100(MA/CA)
Test norms standards of normal performance on psychometric instruments that are based on the average scores and the range of scores obtained by a large representative sample of test takers
Now based on representative samples of people from many social classes and ethnic backgrounds
Individuals receive deviation IQ scores- reflect how well or poorly they do compared with others of the same age

The Wechsler Scales
Widely used individual intelligence test that includes a measure of general intelligence and both verbal and performance intelligence
Constructed intelligence test because he felt S-B was overloaded items that had a verbal intelligence bias discriminates against children who have language handicaps
Test takers receive 3 scores- verbal IQ, performance IQ, full-scale IQ
Test made up of puzzles, mazes, geometric designs etc.
Distribution of IQ Scores
Peoples scores are normally distributed * * * Group Tests of Mental Performance * Need for more cost-effective, paper and pencil measures to assess performance of large number of people
SAT/ACT/aptitude tests

Newer Approaches to Intelligence Testing
Entirely new approaches to intellectual assessment
Dynamic assessment attempts to evaluate how well children actually learn new material when an examiner provides them with competent instruction
Assessing Infant Intelligence
Attempts have been made to measure infant intelligence by assessing the rate at which babies achieve important developmental milestones
Bayley Scales of Infant DevelopmentThree parts
Motor scale
Mental scale
Infant Behavioral Record rating of child’s behavior on dimensions such as directedness, fearfulness, social responsively
Based on first two scores DQ developmental quotient in place of IQ
DQ’s generally fail to predict later IQ’s
New Evidence for Continuity in Intellectual Performance
Three attributes appear especially promising for determining later intellectual performance
How quickly infants look when presented with a visual targer (visual reaction time)
Rate at which they habituation to repetitive stimuli
Extent to which they prefer novel stimuli to familiar ones (preference for novelty)

Stability of IQ in Childhood and Adolescence
The shorter the interval between testing periods, the higher the correlation between children’s IQ scores
Today many believe that IQ score is merely an estimate of the person’s intellectual performance at one particular point in time- may or may not be a good indication of the person’s intellectual capacity
CUMULATIVE DEFICIT HYPOTHESIS
Notion that impoverished environments inhibit intellectual growth and that these inhibiting effects accumulate over time
Impoverished environments dampen intellectual growth

What Do Intelligence Tests Predict
IQ as a Predictor of Scholastic Achievement
Modern intelligence tests predict academic achievement quite well
Not only do those with higher IQ’s do better in school but they also STAY in school
Academic performance also depends very heavily on factors such as a students work habits, interests, and motivation to succeed
IQ as a Predictor of Vocational Outcomes
Clear relationship between IQ and occupational status professional and white collar persons usually score higher on IQ tests
Yet vary very much within each occupation
People do differ in TACIT INTELLIGENCE practical intelligence, ability to size up every day problems and take steps to solve them not related to IQ but does predict job performance pretty well
IQ as a Predictor of Health, Adjustment and Life Satisfaction
Intellectual gifted young people profit from skipping grades or having their education accelerated so that they are challenged
But this can create social and emotional difficulties
Quality of home environment contributes substantially to future outcomes and accomplishments
Mental Retardation 3% of school age children, significant sub-average intellectual functioning associated with impairments in adaptive behavior in everyday life
Limitations in self-care and social skills
Organic retardation- IQ less than 55, deficits due to such identifiable causes as Down Syndrome, disease, or injuries
Cultural family retardation- deficits reflecting a combination of low genetic potential and unstimulating rearing environment; can learn both academic and practical lessons at school
Can often adapt to demands of the real world- can develop street smarts

Factors That Influence IQ Scores
The Evidence for Heredity
Twin Studies
The intellectual resemblance between pairs of individuals living in the same home increases as a function of their kinship (i.e. genetic similarity)
Adoption Studies
Adopted children’s IQs are more highly correlated with the IQs of their biological parents than with those of their adoptive parents.
Evidence for genetic influence on IQ
Also, a person’s genotype may influence the type of environment that he or she is likely to experience or seek out. This means that identical twins tend to select and experience more similar things, allowing them to resemble each other intellectually throughout life.
The Evidence for Environment
There is a small to moderate intellectual resemblance between pairs of genetically unrelated children who live in the same household- a resemblance that can only be attributed to their common rearing environment
The Flynn Effect
Average IQs in all countries studied have increased about 3 points per decade since 1940, a phenomenon called the Flynn Effect (discovered by James Flynn). Why?
Worldwide improvements in education could increase IQ in 3 ways: helping people become more test-wise, more knowledgeable, and more likely to rely on sophisticated problem-solving strategies
Also, improvements in nutrition and healthcare are two other environmental factors that many believe contribute to the Flynn Effect
Adoption Studies
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds placed with highly educated adoptive parents tested IQs that were closely correlated with IQs of their biological parents (again, showing hereditary influence), but the ACTUAL IQs these adoptees achieved were considerably higher (10-20 pts) than one would expect based on their genes. Thus showing environmental influence.
The Evidence for the Transaction of Hereditary and Environment
IQ is influenced by the transaction between hereditary and environment, both factors equally important and influential.

Social and Cultural Correlates of Intellectual Performance
Home Environment and IQ
It is clearly not conducive to intellectual development to grow up in an economically disadvantaged home with highly stressed or poorly educated parents who provide low levels of intellectual stimulation
HOME Inventory (Home observation for measurement of the environment)- instrument that allows an interviewer/ observer to visit an infant, a preschooler, or a school-age child at home and determine how intellectually stimulating that environment is.
Consists of 45 statements, each of which is scored by yes (the statement is true of this family) or no.
The observer ask’s the child’s parents to describe their daily routine and child-rearing practices, carefully observes the parent as she interacts with the child, and notes the kinds of play materials that the parent makes available to the child.
An intellectually stimulating home is one in which the parents are warm, verbally engaging, and eager to be involved with their children. These parents describe new objects, concepts, and experiences clearly and accurately, and they provide the child with a variety of challenges that are appropriate for her age or developmental level.
Does HOME predict IQ though?
Research conducted in the United States consistently indicates that the scores that families obtain on the HOME inventory do predict the intellectual performances of toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school children, regardless of their social-class or ethnic background.
Also, IQ improves from age 1 to 3 are likely to occur in children from stimulating homes, while kids with low HOME scores often experience 10-20 pt declines over the same period
Relationship between HOME scores and children’s IQs declines somewhat during elementary school years- presumably because the children are away from home more often and are exposed to other people such as coaches, peers, and coaches.
Turns out though that brighter parents are more likely to provide a more intellectually stimulating home environments.
Social Class and Ethnic Differences in IQ
Social-Class Effect- children from lower and working class homes average some 10 to 15 points below their middle-class age-mates on IQ tests.
Ethnic Variations- African American and Native American ancestry score about 12 to 15 points below their European American classmates
Hispanics score in between African Americans and European Americans, while Asian Americans test slightly higher
Different Ethnic groups may also display distinctive ability profiles- Hispanic and Native American children often perform better on nonverbal items assessing spatial abilities, while African Americans often perform better on verbal tests.
The fact is, we cannot predict anything about the IQ or future accomplishments of an individual on the basis of ethnicity.
Why Do Groups Differ in Intellectual Performance?
3 General Hypotheses to account for Ethnic and Social Class differences in IQ
1) Cultural/Test-Bias Hypothesis believe that group differences in IQ are an artifact of our tests and testing procedures.
IQ tests that are currently in use were designed to measure cognitive skills and general information that white, middle-class children are more likely to have acquired.
White parents are more likely to ask general knowledge questions (where do Eskimos live?) much like those on the IQ tests, while black parents are more inclined to ask real questions (why didn’t you come home after school?)
If IQ tests assess proficiency in the white culture, minority children are bound to perform worse.
However, on Raven Progressive Matrices (which has the examinee to fill in missing sections of abstract designs that should be equally familiar to all ethnic groups) middle-class whites still outperform their lower-income and/or black peers
So taken together, these findings imply that group differences are not solely attributable to biases in content.
Some people think motivational factors play in, saying minorities may be weary of unfamiliar examiners and may just want to answer quickly to be done with the test.
Also, some say that the negative stereotype that some minorities may feel about their intellectual ability may make them reject such ‘white’ activities as test-taking.
Stereotype Threat- people worry about negative stereotypes, negatively impacting their performance on tests.
2) Genetic Hypothesis
Some think that ethnic differences in average IQ scores were largely the result of genetic differences among ethnicities.
Arther Jensen claims that there are two broad classes of intellectual abilities, which are equally heritable among different ethnic groups
Level 1 Abilities- include attentional processes, short-term memory and associative skills (skills that are important for simple kinds of rote learning).
Level 2 Abilities- allow one to reason abstractly and to manipulate works and symbols to form concepts and solve problems.
According to Jensen, Level 2 abilities are highly correlated with school achievement, whereas Level 1 abilities are not. IQ tests predominately measure Level 2 abilities.
Jensen finds that Level 1 tasks are performed equally well by children from all ethnic and social classes.
Since Level 1 and 2 abilities are equally heritable within each class, he proposes IQ differences BETWEEN groups must be hereditary.
Criticism- even though genes may explain individual differences within a group, the average difference in IQ BETWEEN the two ethnicities may represent nothing more than differences in average environments.
3) Environmental Hypothesis poor people and members of various minority groups tend to grow up in environments that are much less conducive to intellectual development than those experienced by most whites and other members of the middle class.
Furthermore, economic hardship creates psychological distress- a strong dissatisfaction with life’s conditions that makes lower-income adults edgy and irritable and reduces their capacity to be sensitive, supportive, and highly involved in their children’s learning activities.
Also, low-income parents are often poorly educated themselves and may have neither the knowledge nor the money to provide their children with age-appropriate books, toys, or other experiences that contribute to an intellectually stimulating home environment.
Scores on HOME inventory are consistently lower in low-income homes.
So, there are ample reasons for concluding that social-class differences in intellectual performance are largely environmental in origin. Much of the intellectual and academic discrepancies that have been attributed to ethnicity may largely reflect ethnic differences in socioeconomic status.
Charlotte Patterson and her associates found that variation in socioeconomic status is a better predictor of the academic competencies of African American and white schoolchildren than ethnicity is.

Improving Cognitive Performance Through Compensatory Education
President LBJ’s “War on Poverty” is a variety of preschool education programs aimed at enriching the learning experiences of economically disadvantaged children (Head Start Program, Learning to Learn, etc.). These “compensatory interventions” aimed to provide these disadvantaged youth with the kinds of educational experiences that their middle-class peers were presumably getting in their homes and nurseries, to give them equal footing.
These appeared to work great, with huge successes, but when program participants were reexamined after a year or two of grade school, few if any lasting intellectual benefits seemed to be associated with these interventions.
Some argue though that it is successful because it isn’t IQ that matters, but academic performance. Others argue that the impact of these interventions may be cumulative and so it may be several years before they show their full benefits.
Long Term Follow-Ups
Because the IQ advantage declines, did the programs fail?
NO
Participants in the interventions were more likely to meet their school’s basic requirements than nonparticipants were. They were less likely to be assigned to special education classes or to be retained in a grade, and they were more likely to graduate high school.
Even some evidence suggested that teenagers who had participated in these interventions when they were young, were less likely to be delinquents or become pregnant, and were more likely to be employed.
Importance of Parental Involvement
Comparisons of the impact of early intervention programs suggest that the most effective ones almost always involve parents in one way or another.
Many investigators favored the Two-Generation Interventions that not only provide children with high-quality preschool education, but also provide disadvantaged parents with social support and the educational and vocational training they need to lift themselves out of poverty.
This intervention is likely to improve parents’ psychological well-being, which may translate into more effective patterns of parenting and into long-term gains in children’s intellectual performance.
Importance of Intervening Early
Critics of Head Start have argued that it begins too late (often after age 3) and is simply too brief to have any lasting impact.
There is strong evidence that high-quality preschool interventions that being very early (around 6-12 weeks old even) can have lasting intellectual benefits. And as mentioned earlier, they can have lasting educational benefits too.
EXTENDED compensatory education can be very helpful in making the transition to a structured classroom environment for disadvantaged youngsters.
Critics say it is too much money and time to logically provide these programs for enough impoverished families.
People say this is “Penny wise, Pound foolish” because the two-generation interventions emphasizing quality daycare often pay for themselves by-
1) allowing more parents freedom from full-time childcare to work, thereby reducing their need for public assistance
2) providing a foundation for cognitive growth that enables most disadvantaged children to avoid special education in school- a savings that just by itself would justify the expense of extensive compensatory interventions
Creativity and Special Talents
“giftedness”- the possession of unusually high intellectual potential or other special talents
“creativity”- the ability to generate novel ideas an innovative solutions- products not merely new and unusual but are also appropriate in context and valued by others.
The Psychometric Perspective
JP Guilford proposed that creativity represents divergent rather than convergent thinking.
Convergent- thinking that requires one to come up with a single correct answer to a problem; what IQ measures
Divergent- thinking that requires a variety of ideas or solutions to a problem when there is no one correct answer.
Interestingly, Divergent thinking is only modestly correlated with IQ and seems to be more heavily influenced by environment than genes.
Children who score higher in divergent thinking have parents who encourage their intellectual curiosity and who grant them a great deal of freedom to select their own interests and to explore them in depth.
The Multicomponent (or Confluence) Perspective
Many researchers today generally believe that creativity results from a convergence of many personal and situational factors.
“Investment Theory of Creativity”- recent theory specifying that the ability to invest in innovative projects and to generate creative solutions depends on a convergence of creative resources, namely background knowledge, intellectual abilities, personality characteristics, motivation, and environmental support/encouragement.
Creative people are willing to “buy low and sell high” in terms of ideas. They invest themselves in ideas or projects that are novel, but overcome skepticism and generate a product that is highly valued.
What factors determine whether an individual will invest in an idea? Sternberg & Lubart thought it depended on the convergence of 6 distinct but interrelated sets or resources-
Intellectual Resources- three intellectual abilities are particularly important to creativity
Ability to find new problems to solve or see old ones in another way
Ability to evaluate one’s ideas to determine what is worth pursuing.
Ability to sell others on the value of new ideas to gain support
Knowledge
You must be familiar with the current state of the art in her chosen area if she is ever to advance or transform it as the groundbreaking artist, musician, science-fair winner does. “insight comes to the prepared mind.”
Cognitive Style
A legislative cognitive style (preference for thinking in novel and divergent ways of one’s own choosing) is important to creativity. It also helps you think in broad, global terms.
Personality
People with a willingness to take sensible risks, to persevere in the face of uncertainty or adversity, and the self-confidence to defy the crowd and pursue ideas that will eventually win recognition.
Motivation
People rarely do creative work in an area unless they have some passion for what they are trying to accomplish and focus on the work itself rather than its potential rewards.
A Supportive Environment
Several studies of children with special talents in such domains as chess, music, and mathematics reveal that these child ‘prodigies’ are blessed with an environment that nurtured their talents and motivations and praised their accomplishments.
A Test of Investment Theory
If this theory is sound, then people who have more creative resources at their disposal should generate more creative solutions to problems.
Test: Sternberg and Lubart tested this hypothesis by testing (via questionnaires, cognitive tests and personality tests) all the 6 factors except environment. Then they had the participants work on innovative problems in writing, art, advertisement, and science. This was rated by a panel of judges who showed high levels of agreement in their ratings.
The Results: supported investment theory in that all five sets of creativity resources were moderately to highly correlated with the creativity ratings participants received, and participants whose solutions were rated the most creative were those who had higher scores across ALL FIVE kinds of creative resources. Apparently, creativity does reflect the convergence of many factors rather than the possession of a dominant cognitive attribute such as divergent thinking.
Creativity in the Classroom
Investment Theory suggests several possible means of fostering creative potential.
Were teachers to allow students more freedom to design their own art projects or science experiments and to explore any unusual interests in depth, they would more closely approximate the kind of home environment that nurtures curiosity, risk taking, perseverance, intrinsic interest, and a concern with task performance.
Less emphasis on memorizing facts and finding THE correct answer (convergent thinking), teachers should place more emphasis on discussing complex problems that have many possible answers (divergent thinking)
Also, research implies that parents and educators might try to be a bit more enthusiastic when youngsters display an unusual passion for an offbeat, non-traditional interest and allow them exposure to experts if any are available.

Chapter 10: Development of Language and Communication Skills

- Language: meaningless symbols that can be combined according to agreed-on rules to produce an infinite number of messages.
Gestures, sounds, letters
- Communication: process when one organism transmits information to and influences another
- Vocables: unique patterns of sound that a prelinguistic infant uses to represent objects, actions, or events

5 COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE
1. Phonology basic units of sound (phonemes) the sound system of a language and the rules for combining these sounds to produce meaningful units of speech
2. Morphology rules governing the formation of meaningful words from sounds
3. Semantics the expressed meaning of words and sentences
Morphemes: smallest meaningful language units
Free morphemes: ones that can stand alone as a word (cat, go, yellow)
Bound morphemes: cannot stand alone but modify the meaning of free morphemes (-ed attached to English verbs to make past tense)
4. Syntax structure of a language; rules specifying how words and grammatical makers are to be combined to produce meaningful sentences
5. Pragmatics principles that underlie the effective and appropriate use of language in social contexts knowledge of how music might be used to communicate effectively
Sociolinguistic Knowledge culturally specific rules specifying how language should be structured and used in particular social contexts
THEORIES OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Age 5: children know and use most syntactical structures of their native language
Linguistic universal: an aspect of language development that all children share
4-6 months: babble utter first meaningful word by 12-13 months begin to combine words into sentences by 4-5 yrs
Learning (Empiricist) Perspective
Children learn language through imitation and reinforcement. But this doesn’t explain the development of syntax
Nativist Perspective
Humans aren’t biologically programmed to acquire language. But they are equipped with “linguistic universals” that guide children to develop language.
Language acquisition device (LAD): Chomsky’s term for the innate knowledge of grammar that humans were said to possess; knowledge that might enable young children to infer the rules governing others’ speech and use these rules to produce language
Universal grammar: basic rules of grammar that characterize all languages (in nativist theories)
Language making capacity: a hypothesized set of specialized linguistic processing skills that enable children to analyze speech and to detect phonological, semantic, and syntactical relationships
Brain specialization (language centers in left cerebral hemisphere)
Aphasia: loss of one or more language functions (sometimes b/c of damage in the language areas)
Broca’s area: structure in frontal lobe of left hemisphere of cerebral cortex that controls language production
Wernicke’s area: structure in temporal lobe of left hemi. that is responsible for interpreting speech
Sensitive-Period hypothesis (of language acquisition) * - notion that human beings are most proficient at language learning before they reach puberty. Child aphasics often recover their lost language functions w/o special interventions to recover. May be b/c the right hemi. of a child’s relatively unspecialized brain can assume any linguistic functions lost when the left hemi. is damaged * - when bilinguals who acquired their second language in early childhood speak either of their 2 languages, the same area of the brain is activated, while those who acquire their 2nd language after puberty speak 2 languages, different areas are activated in brain
Pidgens structurally simple communication systems that arise when people who share no common language come into constant contact (a HYBRID of various languages)
Creoles languages that develop when pidgens are transformed into grammatically complex “true” languages (Hawaiian Creole English)
Interactionist Perspective
Notion that biological factors and environmental influences interact to determine the course of language development
Parents and older children have distinctive ways of talking to infants and toddlers that seem to foster language learning
Motherese – the short, simple, high-pitched (repetitive) sentences that adults use when talking w/ young children (“child-directed speech”)
Negative evidence – when parents respond to ungrammatical speech in ways that subtly communicate that an error has been made and provide information that might be used to correct errors
Expansions: responding to a child’s ungrammatical utterance with a grammatically improved form of that statement
Recasts: responding to a child’s ungrammatical utterance with a nonrepetitive statement that is grammatically correct
Conversation: children must be actively involved in using language. (Mere exposure to language is not enough…this is opposite of what Nativists think)

PRELINGUISTIC PERIOD: BEFORE LANGUAGE
Before children utter their first meaningful words (first 10-13 months)
Early reactions to speech – by 2 months can recognize that a particular phoneme is still the same sound when spoken @ diff. pitches/intensities by diff speakers
Intonational cues: recognize certain tones of voice have a particular meaning.
During 2nd half of first year they become more attuned to the “rhythm” of a language. Helps segment what they hear into phrases and then words
Prelinguistic vocalizations
Coos: vowel-like sounds that young infants repeat over and over during periods of contentment
Babbles: vowel/consonant combinations that infants begin to produce at about 4-6 months * - First 6 months: babies babble/coo WHILE caregiver speaks (see it as a game…harmonizing) * - 7-8 months: typically silent while a companion speaks & waits to make noise until after partner stops talking
Gestures
* - 8-10 months begin to use gestures to communicate (facial expressions)
Declarative gestures infant directs others’ attention to an object by pointing or touching
Imperative gestures infant tries to convince others to do something by such actions as pointing at candy or tugging at pants
Receptive language: individual comprehends when listening to others’ speech
Productive language: individual is capable of expressing (producing) in own speech
Receptive (comprehension) is ahead of productive (expression) from 12th month of life/sooner
THE HOLOPHRASE PERIOD
- period when child’s speech consists of one-word utterances, some of which are thought to be holophrases
Holophrase = single-word utterance that represents an entire sentence’s worth of meaning (“awa” for “I want”)
- Naming explosion – term used to describe the dramatic increase in the pace at which infants acquire new words in the latter half of the 2nd year; many of new words are the names of objects
- Multimodal motherese: older companion’s use of information that is exaggerated and synchronized across 2 or more senses to call an infants attention to the referent of a spoken word
- Referential style: early linguistic style in which toddlers use language mainly to label objects
- Expressive style: early linguistic style in which toddlers use language mainly to call attention to their own and others’ feelings to regulate social interactions (please, thank you, don’t)

Birth ORDER influences linguistic environment
Firstborns in Western culture – referential style; parents spend a lot of time talking to them about OBJECTS
Later-borns – expressive style; hear more speech directed toward older child and less talk about objects
Culture influences language: Western cultures encourage a referential style while Asian cultures promote an expressive style

Attaching meaning to words
Fast Mapping: process of acquiring a word after hearing it applied to its referent on a small # of occasions (object names more easily acquired than actions/activities)
Common errors in word use
Overextension: young child’s tendency to use relatively specific words to refer to a broader set of objects, actions, events
“car” to refer to all motor vehicles
Underextension: general words to refer to smaller set of objects
“candy” to refer to only mints
Inferring word meanings: 2 yrs…especially sensitive to social and contextual cues that help them determine what their companions are talking about
Processing constraints cognitive biases or tendencies that lead infants and toddlers to favor certain interpretations of the meaning of new words over other interpretations
Object scope constraint children will assume that a new word applied to an object refers to the whole object rather than to parts of the object or to object attributes (i.e., it’s color)
Mutual exclusivity children will assume that each object has but one label and that different words refer to separate and non-overlapping categories
Lexical contrast constraint children make inferences about word meanings by contrasting new words with words they already know; formation of hierarchical linguistic categories (animal…dog…poodle)
Syntactical bootstrapping children make inferences about the meaning of words by analyzing the way words are used in sentences and inferring whether they refer to objects (nouns), actions (verbs), or attributes (adj’s)
Infants use holophrases (one word) as if their full sentences but this one-word “sentence” can have many different functions: naming, questioning, requesting, demanding. Holophrases usually require an accompanying gesture or intonational cue to be understood

TELEGRAPHIC PERIOD: HOLOPHRASES SIMPLE SENTENCES
- early sentences that consist of content words and omit the less meaningful parts of speech, such as articles, prepositions, pronouns, etc.
“Daddy eat”, “Kitty go”
It is NOT true that the omitted words serve no function to these children…kids respond more appropriately to FULLY grammatical sentences
NOT universal. Kids in Russia speak in full sentences b/c of more emphasis on small grammatical markers and less rigid rules about word ORDER than the English language
Children realize that some word orders are better than others “my ball” vs “ball my”

LANGUAGE LEARNING DURING PRESCHOOL PERIOD
Grammatical development/language develops IMMENSELY from 2½ to 5 insert articles, grammatical markers (-ed, -ing)
Grammatical morphemes: prefixes, suffixes, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs that modify the meaning of words and sentences
Appear during 3rd year
Overregularization – overgeneralization of grammatical rules to irregular cases where the rules do not apply (mouses, rather than mice)
Transformational grammar – rules of syntax that allow one to transform declarative statements into questions, negatives, imperatives, and other kinds of sentences
2 kinds of questions: Yes/No and Wh-
Negative sentences: develop in steps. Negative word first placed at beginning of sentence “No I go”
“No” is ambiguous. Ambiguity is clarified when child inserts negative word INSIDE the sentence in FRONT of the word it modifies: “I not wear mitten”. Then they combine with proper auxiliary verbs “I wasn’t wearing mittens”
Semantic Development
2-5 yrs begin to understand/express relational contrasts (big/little, tall/short, etc)
Big/Little = FIRST spatial adjective
Referential communication skills: abilities to generate clear verbal messages, to recognize when others’ messages are unclear, and to clarify any unclear messages one transmits or receives
Younger children are less likely to detect and rephrase their own uninformative messages and they assume that their own statements are perfectly informative and that failures to communicate are the listener’s fault
3-5 yrs show better referential communication skills in natural environment than lab
LANGUAGE LEARNING DURING MIDDLE CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE
Middle childhood=period for syntactical refinement
Morphological knowledge one’s knowledge of the meaning of morphemes that make up words
Metalinguistic awareness a knowledge of language and its properties; an understanding that language can be used for purposes other than communicating * BILINGUALISM
6.5 million American schoolchildren speak a language other than English @ home
Age 3- realize their 2 languages are independent systems
Age 4- normal language proficiency in language of their own community and sold to EXCELLENT skills in the 2nd language
Advantages: score higher on IQ tests, Piagetian conservation problems, and general language proficiency tests, outperform monolinguals on measures of metalinguistic awareness
Public opinion in US does NOT support bilingual education
Two-way bilingual education programs in which English-speaking (or other majority language) children and children who have limited proficienty in that language are instructed half the day in their primary language and half t

CHAPTER 11
Bonding: strong affectionate ties parents feel towards infants
Usually during sensitive period
Attachment: close, reciprocal, emotional relationship between two people, two way emotional relationship
Oxytocin: mammalian hormone, neurotransmitter in the brain, linked with attachment
Reactive attachment disorder: uncommon disorder, effects children, developmentally inappropriate ways of relating socially in most contexts
Failure to initiate or respond in social interactions

Classic Rene Spitz (1952) “Emotional Deprivation in Infancy”, psychogenic disease
Without mother at beginning of life without substitute becomes winy, screaming, etc.
Gets worse with age, more mental retardation/unresponsive- not reversible
After a year=physical retardation
Morasmus/death after second year of life

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Displaying Emotions: The Development and Control of Emotional Expressions
Tests done to test child’s emotional reactions
Happy reactions easier to determine (joy, interest) than negative emotions (fear and anger)
Expressions become more clear with age
Sequencing of Discrete Emotions
Birth: basic emotions- babies show interest, disgust, distress, contentment
2 months: social smiles, interactions
Gets more sophisticated as child ages b/c of imitation, selective reinforcement, neurological maturation
Complex emotions/self conscious emotions: embarrassment, shame, guilt, envy, pride
Develop later
Self evaluative emotions: shame, guilt, pride
=precursors to theory of the mind * Initially emotions are triggered by threats they cannot explain, later they are because of real-life issues and challenges
Acquire capacity to deal with complex emotions
Emotions get bad at sexual maturity, level out during mid adolescence
More stress less favorable daily emotional experiences
Girls vs. boys emotions
Girls want harmonious relationships more than boys
Girls had more stressful experiences with families
Girls react more negatively to stressors
Socialization of emotions and emotional self-regulations
Societies have set of emotional display rules that specify circumstances under which various emotions should or should not be expressed
Differs between cultures
Babies develop strategies for regulating and controlling emotions
Parents rock children to lessen stress
Later, kids suck thumbs/pacifiers to lessen stress, crawl away, ask to be removed from a situation, etc.
Sometimes parents want to maintain or intensify feelings rather than suppress (pride, anger standing up to bully, etc)
Must be able to control emotions to fit into societies
By age 3, can modulate/mask emotional expressions (say they liked the gift, but really they don’t)
This capacity increases with age, becoming much more developed in children by age 11.
Follow emotional display rules more likable children
Recognizing and Interpreting Emotions
Social referencing: Point where child begins to monitor parents’ emotional reactions to uncertain situations and to use this info to regulate their own behaviors
Grows better with age, shifts from parents to other people
Becomes obvious between 7 and 10 months
Toddlers social reference after they do the action—seeing whether their actions were justified and approved by others
Important for children to discuss their emotions—> better at understanding other’s emotions and settling disputes
Empathy=motivates children to console
Emotions and Early Social Development
Emotional displays will contribute to child’s understanding of world
Achieving emotional competence is crucial to child’s social competence
Ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while maintaining positive relationships with others
Emotional competence involves:
Competent emotional expressivity: frequent expression of positive emotions
Competent emotional knowledge: correctly identify other people’s feelings and factors responsible
Competent emotional regulation: ability to adjust one’s experience/expression of emotion to appropriate level
EQ=Emotional intelligence
Involved perceiving emotions, facilitating thinking, understanding emotions, managing emotions

TEMPERAMENT IN DEVELOPMENT
Temperment: constitutionally based individual differences in emotional, motor, and attentional reactivity and self-regulation
Different infant temperments develop at different stages of life
Ex: fearful distress, irritable distress, positive affect, activity level, attention span, rhythmicity
Rhythmicity: regularity/predictability of bodily functions such as eating, sleeping and bowel functioning
Heredity and Environmental Influences on Temperament
Hereditary influences
Many components of temperaments genetically influenced
Seen in the case of identical twins vs. fraternal
Environmental influences
Environment also influences children’s temperaments
Shared environmental influenced effect positive aspects of temperament
Nonshared environmental influences effect negative
Cultural influences
Culture also influences temperament
Ex) shy kids in US are at social disadvantage, shyness respected in Asia and Sweden
Stability in Temperament
Temperaments have different levels of stability in different individuals
Behavioral inhibition
Studies by Jerome Kagan
Tendency to withdraw from unfamiliar people or situations
Kids are either inhibited (more fearful, over protective caregivers) or uninhibited
Studies show that is relatively stable attribute w/biological roots
Early Temperamental Profiles and Later Development
Easy temperament (easygoing, positive)
Difficult temperament (irritable, irregular habits, slow adaptations)
Slow-to-warm-up temperament (inactive, moody)
Temperament can change
Usually due to goodness of fit: difference b/w child’s temperamental style and patterns of child rearing of parents

ATTACHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Attachments as reciprocal relationships
=Child attached to parent/parent attached to child
Synchronized routines
Important contributor to growth of attachment
First few months of baby’s life
=mother smiles, baby smiles back; baby smiles, mom smiles back
Helps if mother is interactive, responsive, attentive to child (works best when child is alert)
Benefits both child and parent
How do infants become attached?
Schaffer and Emerson’s phases to attachment
Asocial phase (birth to 6 weeks)
Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks-6/7 months)
Specific Attachment Phase (7-9 months)
Phase of Multiple attachments (9-18 months)
Theories of attachment
Early theories:
Psychoanalytic theory: I love you because you feed me
Freud supported, infants are “oral”
Harlow and baby monkeys
Learning theory: I love you because you reward me
Mother/caregiver becomes secondary reinforcer (able to give them what they want) child becomes attached
Contact comfort
Monkeys likely to run to “cloth mother” for comfort instead of mother that gives them food
=positive reinforcement
Cognitive Developmental Theory: I love you, I must know you will always be there
Infant must be able to tell familiar companions from strangers and must find permanence in companions
Contemporary Theories of Attachment: The Ecological Theory
All species born with innate behavioral tendencies that have contributed to survival of species over course of evolution
Attachment enables species to live long enough to reproduce and enable species to survive
Origins of the viewpoint
Research with animals
Imprinting: young will follow and become attached to moving objects (usually mothers)
Is automatic, is during critical period, adaptive response
After a while, imprinting became a preadapted characteristic (product of evolution increasing chances of survival)
Attachment in Humans
“kewpie doll” appearance=childs chubbiness, soft, round features
This is appealing to caregiversattachment
Babies also have cute qualities and mannerisms
Smiling/cute baby gains attention from parents makes kid happy in return
*humans are biologically prepared for these attachments, but they will not develop unless participants has learned how to respond appropriately to behavior of the other
Two common fears at infancy
Stranger anxiety
Not afraid until form first attachment, then become skeptical
Separation anxiety
When separated from mothers
WHY is there fear of strangers and separations?
Ethological viewpoint:
Bowlby-biologically programmed
Separation and stranger anxieties decline during 2nd year because now have attachment object as secure base can initiate separations
Cognitive Developmental Viewpoint
Anxiety is natural outgrowths of infant’s perceptual and cognitive development
Child develops schemes of what is recognizable and what is not
Familiar faces in familiar places
Most likely to protest separations when baby uncertain of their whereabouts
Individual Differences in Attachment Quality
Assessing attachment security
Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation- series of episodes that attempt to stimulate naturalistic caregiver/infant interactions in present of toys and brief separations from the caregiver/encounters with strangers, and reunion episodes (is infant reassured)
Characterizations of attachment
Secure attachment: actively explores while alone with the mother and may be visibly upset by separations
Outgoing kid
Greets mother upon arrival
Resistant attachment
Very little exploration when mother present
Wary of strangers, sad when mother leaves, angry when she returns
Avoidant attachment
Little distress upon separation from mother
Ignore mothers when they try to get their attention
Sociable with strangers or avoid strangers
Disorganized/disoriented attachment
Confusion about whether or not to approach/avoid caregiver
Dazed or freeze when reunited with mother
Attachment Q-set (AQS), another way to assess attachment quality
Observer, most likely and least likely for child to do behavior at home
Represents how secure child is with caregiver
Cultural variations in Attachment Classifications
Different attachment categories between different cultures reflect cultural differences in child rearing
Fathers as Caregivers
Happy marriages and encouragement from wife yields greatest fatherly caregiving
Mothers more likely to hold, play simple games
Fathers more likely to stimulate physical activity, interesting/unexpected games
Fathers preferred as playmates, mothers as caregivers
Are capable of all roles of the mother
Secure attachment with both parents yields best results
Attachment with father may balance out the sometimes insecure mother-child attachment relationship

CHAPTER 8
Intro: Piaget saw children as active agents towards their own development; Vygotsky saw children as active participants in collaborative dialogues with others, gaining the tools of thought appropriate for their culture.

Multistore Model: information processing model that depicts information as flowing through 3 processing units: the sensory store, the short term store (STS), and the long term store (LTS). * 1st: Sensory store: separate sensory registers for each sense modality (i.e. for hearing, vision), holding large amounts of info for brief periods of time; extremely volatile and disappear w time. * 2nd: Short-term store: stores a limited amount of info for several seconds; unless information is rehearsed or used, soon it is lost (a.k.a. working memory/ primary memory because all conscious intellectual activity is done here). * 3rd: Long-term Store: relatively permanent storehouse of info, including knowledge of world, impressions of experience, and strategies used to process info and solve problems * information doesn’t just flow through these stores; instead we actively channel input. * Executive control processes: regulating attention and determining what to do with information just gathered or retrieved from long-term memory * Largely under voluntary control and are what distinguish human info processors from computers. * We decide what to attend to * As humans, have very versatile info processors * Metacognition: one’s knowledge about cognition and about the regulation of cognitive activities. * Knowledge base: one’s existing information about a topic

Information-processing capacity * Capacity: amount of space available to store information * Development of STS * memory span: a general measure of the amount of information that can be held in the short-term * age difference in memory span are highly reliable; amount of visual information infants can keep in mind at a time increases over the first year of life. * Span of apprehension: a more accurate measure in developmental differences in the capacity of STS * The number of items that people can keep in mind at any one time, or the amount of info that people can attend to at a single time without operating mentally to store this information * Experiment: play a video game, while over headphones they also heard a series of digits that they were to ignore. Occasionally they were asked to recall them in the exact order. Result was that childrens memory span for digits shows regular increase with age. * Memory tests: * Having detailed knowledge for a particular domain facilitates memory performance for information from that domain, but not necessarily for info in other areas. * Expertise in a certain subject may improve memory span because of ease of item identification. * In domains which they are not experts, the older you are, the faster you process the information, where faster processing contributes to larger memory span * Kail: believes that biological maturation is primarily responsible for broad age related differences in speed of info processing * i.e.: increased myelination of neurons in the associative thinking areas of the brain; elimination of unnecessary neural synapses that could interfere with efficient information * could be that age differences in myelination are directly related with age differences in speed of info processing.
Strategies and what children know about “thinking”: * Strategies: goal-directed and deliberately implemented mental operations to facilitate task performance (younger children use fewer strategies and they are far less effective) * Production deficiency: failure to spontaneously generate and use known strategies that could improve learning and memory * Utilization deficiency: failure to benefit from effective strategies that one has spontaneously produced; thought to occur in early phases of strategy acquisition when using a strategy requires a lot of mental effort * **children display both production deficiency and utilization deficiency, therefore have a slow and uneven growth of strategic thinking

Multiple Strategy & Variable-Strategy Use - Children's strategies don't develop in stages, rather they have them all available to them and select among those strategies when problem solving * Sum strategy – example, when learning to add and solve the problem, counting numbers out loud to learn beginning at #1 * Min strategy – example, to solve an addition problem, counting numbers but beginning with the larger number in the problem set * Fact retrieval – example, just knowing the answer; retrieving from long term memory * Other examples, spelling, serial recall, scientific reasoning * Adaptive Strategy Choice Model – Siegler's model to describe how strategies change over time; the view that multiple strategies exist within a child's cognitive repertoire at any one time, with these strategies competing with one another. * Issue facing cognitive developmentalists today is how to determine what combination of strategies children use within different cognitive domains. * Implicit Cognition – thought that occurs without awareness that one is thinking; unconscious thought * Most infant and young children's knowledge is implicit; implicit learning is acquiring knowledge without explicit awareness, is an early developing ability in children * Few age differences found in tests of implicit learning or memory * Explicit Cognition – thinking and thought processes of which we are consciously aware * Awareness of thoughts and distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness develop gradually during childhood * Substantial age differences found on tests of explicit learning and memorization * Matacognition – knowledge of one's thought process * Both implicit and explicit cognition can be thought of in terms of info processing mechanisms; different development patterns displayed indicate that cognitive development is multifaceted and doesn't follow a single course for all types of thinking.

Models to explain age differences in childrens thinking: * Fuzzy-Trace Theory – theory proposed by Brainerd and Reyna that postulates that people encode experiences on a continuum from literal, verbatim traces to fuzzy, gistlike traces. Useful in describing developmental changes in the ways that children encode info and use for problem solving * Fuzzy representations – called gist; vague (preserve the content without all of the details); more easily accessed and require less effort to use than verbatim representations * Fuzzy traces – gistlike representations * Verbatim representations – literal; more susceptible to interference and forgetting than fuzzy * We encode both and use whichever representation is easier or more appropriate for the problem solving we are doing

Development of Attention – person must first detect and attend to info before it can be encoded, retained and used to solve problems. As children grow, they are more able to sustain attention, be more selective as to what they attend to, and more knowledgeable about attention * Attention Span – capacity for sustaining attention (concentrate) to a particular stimulus or activity * Gradually improves as we grow up due to maturity changes to central nervous system. * Recticular formation (area of brain responsible for regulation of attention) not fully myelinated until puberty * Selective Attention – capacity to focus on task-relevant aspects of experience while ignoring irrelevant or distracting info (ignoring info that is irrelevant) * ADHD – attention disorder with three symptoms (1) highly impulsive (2)inattentive (3) hyperactive; often leads to academic difficulties, poor self esteem and social problems * Cognitive Inhibition – dismissing info that is clearly irrelevant * Inhibition – the ability to prevent ourselves from executing some cognitive or behavioral response * Neurological maturation contributes to development of inhibitory control * Play an important role in cognitive development

Memory Development – the process by which we store and retrieve info * Event memory – long-term memory for events (e.g. what you had for bfast today); natural memory * Deferred imitation – remembering after a significant delay; first evidence of event memory * Infantile amnesia – lack of memory for the early year of one's life * Script – a general representation of the typical sequencing of events (what occurs when); young children describe events in these terms (went here, did that, etc.); way to organize and interpret experiences * Autobiographical memory – memory for important experiences or events that have happened to us; by asking questions of past events, parents can help develop memory, language and narrative skills * Strategic memory – processes involved as one consciously attempts to retain or retrieve info (e.g. remember a phone # * Mnemonics (memory strategies) – tools an individual uses to memorize, including rehearsal, organization and elaboration
Eyewitness – related to event memory * Children's memory is more susceptible to suggestion and memory distortions than adults * Children prefer to encode and report exact details (more difficult to really retain) over gist info (which is easier to retain) * Legal implications – place limit on ways children are interviewed to limit suggestibility, limit # of times interviewed

Development of Memory Strategies – deliberately implemented strategies play an important role in the cognitive development of a child's info processing accts; number and effectiveness of memory strategies increase with age, but we all have these strategies at all ages to use, drawing upon them as needed * Rehearsal – a strategy for memory; repeating something until we remember it * Older children rehearse differently than younger children; e.g. young children rehearse in a linear fashion repeating each item in a effort to remember, while older children use ACTIVE or CUMULATIVE REHEARSAL to repeat several items as they add more to the list being retained * Younger children don't practice active rehearsal because they have limited working memory capacity; study by Peter Ornstein (1985) * Organization – strategy for remembering that involves grouping or classifying stimuli into meaningful clusters that are easier to retain * Until age 9 or 10 not able to effectively organize data to retain * Young children can be trained to organize data, but don't do so spontaneously; shows a production deficiency in how they process info * Retrieval – strategies for getting info out of long term memory * Young children not good at retrieving info on their own * Free recall – general prompt for info; e.g., "tell me what you did in school today", children have difficulty recalling and sharing * Cued recall – more focused prompt; e.g., asking for specific info, children are better at recalling and sharing info * Young children can be instructed to use rehearsal, organization and retrieval strategies and their memory performance usually increases. But given new problem without instruction, they revert back to nonstrategic ways (Bjorklund & Douglas 1997) * Why? Younger children have more limited knowledge in general and this limits their ability to categorize and elaborate on materials that they are trying to remember

Metamemory and Memory Performance – * Metamemory – aspect of metacognition; knowledge of memory and memory processes * Display metamemory if a child recognizes that there are limits to what they can retain, and that some things are easier to remember than others, and that some strategies may help them retain info * Knowledge about memory increases between the ages of 4 and 12 * knowledge of memory strategies grows very gradually; under 7 no knowledge of strategies in general; 7 to 9 year olds recognize rehearsal and categorizing as effective means to remember items; 11 year olds recognize organization more effective than rehearsal * Does metamemory influence how well we perform memory tasks? Possibly. * (Cavanaugh & Perlmutter 1982) found low to moderate positive correlation between memory and metamemory suggesting that good metamemory is not necessary for good recall * (Ghatala 1986) studies that have trained children to use memory strategies are more successful when the training includes metamemory (making children aware that being strategic has make their memory better)
Knowledge Base and Memory Development * Children that are experts in a certain area (e.g. chess) have longer memory spans when tested on info in their area of expertise (Chi 1978) * Since older children have more knowledge, age differences in recall memory could be due to increases in a childs knowledge base as he grow older and also equally due to increases in the use of strategies (Bjorklund 1987) * Children develop specialized strategies for learning and retaining info in their area of interest/expertise * How important is knowledge base to memory performance? Experts generally recall more new info in their area of expertise than do novices on the same intellect level (Schneider, Bjorklund, Maier 1996)
Culture and Memory Strategies * Vygotsky sociocultural theory – cognitive development occurs within a cultural context; defines the type of problems children must solve and the strategies that enable them to effectively problem solve * Example – western children rely on schooling to teach them strategies, but this doesn't translate to exceptional memory performance. Children in 3rd world countries are more adapt at remembering locations of objects (without schooling to teach them), than western children

Development of Other Cognitive Skills

Analogical Reasoning * Reasoning-a particular type of problem solving that involves making inferences. * Analogical reasoning-reasoning that involves using something one knows already to help reason about something not known. * A is to B as C is to _____.

Analogical Reasoning in young children * Relational primacy hypothesis-the hypothesis that analogical reasoning is available in infancy, proposed by Usha Goswami * Relational similarity- the relation between the A and B terms are used to fid the best match for the C term.

The role of knowledge in children’s analogical reasoning * One factor that affects whether children will use relational similarity to solve an analogical-reasoning problem is their familiarity with the underling relations used to make the analogy. * The function of analogical reasoning is to use something you know to help you understand something you don’t know. * Transitive mappings- a transitive relation involves relations among at least three objects * In Goswami’s study 3-4 year olds were capable of transitivity by analogy, as long as the basis for the analogy was familiar to them.

The role of metacognition in children’s analogical reasoning * Learning to learn-improvements in performance on novel problems as a result of acquiring a new rule or strategy from the earlier solution of similar problems. * Metacognitive awareness does improve analogical problem solving. * Analogical reasoning which seems to be present in a simple implicit form in infancy, gradually develops and becomes more explicit throughout childhood.

Arithmetic Skills
Counting and arithmetic strategies * Counting begins shortly after children begin to talk * By age 4 1/2 to 5 most children have acquired the principle of cardinality- the knowledge that the last word in a counting sequence (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) represents the number of items in a set. * Sum strategy- what is 2 + 3? Child begins by counting out the first number, and then counts out the second, starting from the cardinal value of the first (….3, 4, 5). * Min strategy- what is 8 + 3? Child would start with the cardinal value of the larger number and count up from there (i.e., 8, …9, 10, 11).

Development of mental arithmetic math * Decomposition strategy- children transform an original problem into two simpler problems. * Given 13 + 3= ? a child might think “13 is to 10 + 3; 3 + 3 = 6; 10 + 6 = 16” so the answer is 6 * Fact by retrieval-they simply know the correct answer, and retrieve it from long-term memory

CHAPTER 9
What is Intelligence?

Psychometric Views of Intelligence psychometric approach: a theoretical perspective that portrays intelligence as a trait (or set of traits) on which individuals differ; psychometric theorists are responsible for the development of standardized intelligence tests

Alfred Binet’s Singular Component Approach
Produced forerunner of our modern intelligence tests
Large set of tasks measuring skills presumed to be necessary for classroom learning * Attention, perception, memory, numerical reasoning, verbal comprehension age graded * a child who passed all items at 5 year old level but none at 6 year old level had a mental age of 5

The Multicomponent View of Intelligence
Argues that ONE IQ score is not enough
One way to determine this is to ask people to perform a large number of mental tasks and then analyze their performance using FACTOR ANALYSIS * a statistical procedure for identifying clusters of tests or test items (called factors) that are highly correlated with one another and unrelated to other test items
Early multicomponent theories of intelligence * Spearman * There are 2 factors g and s * g= spearmans abbreviation for neogenesis which means ones ability to understand relations; general mental ability effects ones abilities on most cognitive tasks * s=spearmans term for mental abilities that are specific to a particular test might be really good at musical aptitute * Thurstone seven factors called primary mental abilities * Seven distinct mental abilities make up spearmans g
Later Multicomponent Theories of Intelligence * Guilford * Classified cognitive tasks into three major dimensions * 1) content what must the person think about * 2) operations what kind of thinking is the person asked to perform * 3) products what kind of answer is required * created structure of intellect model with this * 5 kinds of intellectual contents, six kinds of mental operations, six kinds of intellectual products=180 primary mental abilities * Cattell and Horn * Fluid intelligence vs. crystallized intelligence * Fluid intelligence the ability to perceive relationships and solve relational problems of the type that are not taught and are relatively free of cultural influences * Crystallized intelligence the ability to understand relations or solve problems that depend on knowledge acquired from schooling and other cultural influences
A Recent Hierarchical Model
Today, psychometricians favor hierarchical models of intelligence * Models in which intelligence is viewed as consisting of * 1) general ability factor at the top of the hierarchy which influences ones performance on many cognitive tests * 2) a number of specialized ability factors that influence how well one performs in particular intellectual domains * Carroll’s three stratus theory of intelligence * Represents intelligence as a pyramid * Implies that each of us have particular strengths or weaknesses depending on the patterns of “second stratus” intellectual abilities we display * Depict intelligence as both an overarching general mental ability and a number of more specific abilities that each pertain to a particular intellectual domain

A Modern Information-Processing Viewpoint
Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence * Emphasizes 3 components of intelligent behavior contect, experience, and information processing skills * Much broader view of intelligence than psychometric theorists
Contextual Component * What qualifies as “intelligent” behavior will depend in large part on the context in which it was displayed * Intellectual people are those that can adapt to their environments or shape environments to suit them better STREET SMARTS
Experiential Component * a persons experience with a tasks helps to determine whether that person’s performance qualifies as intelligent behavior * responses to novel challenges are an indication of the person’s ability to generate good ideas or fresh insights * automatization- increasing efficiency of information processing with practice * sign of intelligence is automatizing our normal routines * crucial to know how familiar subjects are with specific test items in order to test their intelligence fairly may be a CULTURAL BIAS
The Componential (or information processing) Component * Componential aspects of intelligent behavior the cog processes by which we size up the requirements of problems, formulate strategies to solve them, and then monitor our cognitive activities until we’ve accomplished our goals

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences
Theory of multiple intelligences Gardner’s theory that humans display as many as nine distinct kinds of intelligence, each linked to a particular area of the brain and several of which are not measured by IQ tests * Injury to a particular area of the brain usually influences only one ability * Some individuals maybe be truly exceptional in one area but very bad in another SAVANT SYNDROME

How is Intelligence Measured
The Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale * Modern descendant of the first successful intelligence test that measures general intelligence and four factors: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, spatial reasoning, and short-term memory * Used a ratio measure of intelligence known as intelligence quotient or IQ * IQ= 100(MA/CA) * Test norms standards of normal performance on psychometric instruments that are based on the average scores and the range of scores obtained by a large representative sample of test takers * Now based on representative samples of people from many social classes and ethnic backgrounds * Individuals receive deviation IQ scores- reflect how well or poorly they do compared with others of the same age

The Wechsler Scales
Widely used individual intelligence test that includes a measure of general intelligence and both verbal and performance intelligence * Constructed intelligence test because he felt S-B was overloaded items that had a verbal intelligence bias discriminates against children who have language handicaps * Test takers receive 3 scores- verbal IQ, performance IQ, full-scale IQ * Test made up of puzzles, mazes, geometric designs etc.
Distribution of IQ Scores * Peoples scores are normally distributed

Group Tests of Mental Performance
Need for more cost-effective, paper and pencil measures to assess performance of large number of people * SAT/ACT/aptitude tests

Newer Approaches to Intelligence Testing
Entirely new approaches to intellectual assessment * Dynamic assessment attempts to evaluate how well children actually learn new material when an examiner provides them with competent instruction
Assessing Infant Intelligence * Attempts have been made to measure infant intelligence by assessing the rate at which babies achieve important developmental milestones * Bayley Scales of Infant DevelopmentThree parts * Motor scale * Mental scale * Infant Behavioral Record rating of child’s behavior on dimensions such as directedness, fearfulness, social responsively * Based on first two scores DQ developmental quotient in place of IQ * DQ’s generally fail to predict later IQ’s
New Evidence for Continuity in Intellectual Performance * Three attributes appear especially promising for determining later intellectual performance * How quickly infants look when presented with a visual targer (visual reaction time) * Rate at which they habituation to repetitive stimuli * Extent to which they prefer novel stimuli to familiar ones (preference for novelty)

Stability of IQ in Childhood and Adolescence
The shorter the interval between testing periods, the higher the correlation between children’s IQ scores
Today many believe that IQ score is merely an estimate of the person’s intellectual performance at one particular point in time- may or may not be a good indication of the person’s intellectual capacity
CUMULATIVE DEFICIT HYPOTHESIS * Notion that impoverished environments inhibit intellectual growth and that these inhibiting effects accumulate over time * Impoverished environments dampen intellectual growth

What Do Intelligence Tests Predict
IQ as a Predictor of Scholastic Achievement
Modern intelligence tests predict academic achievement quite well * Not only do those with higher IQ’s do better in school but they also STAY in school * Academic performance also depends very heavily on factors such as a students work habits, interests, and motivation to succeed
IQ as a Predictor of Vocational Outcomes
Clear relationship between IQ and occupational status professional and white collar persons usually score higher on IQ tests * Yet vary very much within each occupation * People do differ in TACIT INTELLIGENCE practical intelligence, ability to size up every day problems and take steps to solve them not related to IQ but does predict job performance pretty well
IQ as a Predictor of Health, Adjustment and Life Satisfaction * Intellectual gifted young people profit from skipping grades or having their education accelerated so that they are challenged * But this can create social and emotional difficulties * Quality of home environment contributes substantially to future outcomes and accomplishments * Mental Retardation 3% of school age children, significant sub-average intellectual functioning associated with impairments in adaptive behavior in everyday life * Limitations in self-care and social skills * Organic retardation- IQ less than 55, deficits due to such identifiable causes as Down Syndrome, disease, or injuries * Cultural family retardation- deficits reflecting a combination of low genetic potential and unstimulating rearing environment; can learn both academic and practical lessons at school * Can often adapt to demands of the real world- can develop street smarts

Factors That Influence IQ Scores
The Evidence for Heredity * Twin Studies * The intellectual resemblance between pairs of individuals living in the same home increases as a function of their kinship (i.e. genetic similarity) * Adoption Studies * Adopted children’s IQs are more highly correlated with the IQs of their biological parents than with those of their adoptive parents. * Evidence for genetic influence on IQ * Also, a person’s genotype may influence the type of environment that he or she is likely to experience or seek out. This means that identical twins tend to select and experience more similar things, allowing them to resemble each other intellectually throughout life.
The Evidence for Environment * There is a small to moderate intellectual resemblance between pairs of genetically unrelated children who live in the same household- a resemblance that can only be attributed to their common rearing environment * The Flynn Effect * Average IQs in all countries studied have increased about 3 points per decade since 1940, a phenomenon called the Flynn Effect (discovered by James Flynn). Why? * Worldwide improvements in education could increase IQ in 3 ways: helping people become more test-wise, more knowledgeable, and more likely to rely on sophisticated problem-solving strategies * Also, improvements in nutrition and healthcare are two other environmental factors that many believe contribute to the Flynn Effect * Adoption Studies * Children from disadvantaged backgrounds placed with highly educated adoptive parents tested IQs that were closely correlated with IQs of their biological parents (again, showing hereditary influence), but the ACTUAL IQs these adoptees achieved were considerably higher (10-20 pts) than one would expect based on their genes. Thus showing environmental influence.
The Evidence for the Transaction of Hereditary and Environment * IQ is influenced by the transaction between hereditary and environment, both factors equally important and influential.

Social and Cultural Correlates of Intellectual Performance
Home Environment and IQ * It is clearly not conducive to intellectual development to grow up in an economically disadvantaged home with highly stressed or poorly educated parents who provide low levels of intellectual stimulation * HOME Inventory (Home observation for measurement of the environment)- instrument that allows an interviewer/ observer to visit an infant, a preschooler, or a school-age child at home and determine how intellectually stimulating that environment is. * Consists of 45 statements, each of which is scored by yes (the statement is true of this family) or no. * The observer ask’s the child’s parents to describe their daily routine and child-rearing practices, carefully observes the parent as she interacts with the child, and notes the kinds of play materials that the parent makes available to the child. * An intellectually stimulating home is one in which the parents are warm, verbally engaging, and eager to be involved with their children. These parents describe new objects, concepts, and experiences clearly and accurately, and they provide the child with a variety of challenges that are appropriate for her age or developmental level. * Does HOME predict IQ though? * Research conducted in the United States consistently indicates that the scores that families obtain on the HOME inventory do predict the intellectual performances of toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school children, regardless of their social-class or ethnic background. * Also, IQ improves from age 1 to 3 are likely to occur in children from stimulating homes, while kids with low HOME scores often experience 10-20 pt declines over the same period * Relationship between HOME scores and children’s IQs declines somewhat during elementary school years- presumably because the children are away from home more often and are exposed to other people such as coaches, peers, and coaches. * Turns out though that brighter parents are more likely to provide a more intellectually stimulating home environments.
Social Class and Ethnic Differences in IQ * Social-Class Effect- children from lower and working class homes average some 10 to 15 points below their middle-class age-mates on IQ tests. * Ethnic Variations- African American and Native American ancestry score about 12 to 15 points below their European American classmates * Hispanics score in between African Americans and European Americans, while Asian Americans test slightly higher * Different Ethnic groups may also display distinctive ability profiles- Hispanic and Native American children often perform better on nonverbal items assessing spatial abilities, while African Americans often perform better on verbal tests. * The fact is, we cannot predict anything about the IQ or future accomplishments of an individual on the basis of ethnicity.
Why Do Groups Differ in Intellectual Performance? * 3 General Hypotheses to account for Ethnic and Social Class differences in IQ * 1) Cultural/Test-Bias Hypothesis * believe that group differences in IQ are an artifact of our tests and testing procedures. * IQ tests that are currently in use were designed to measure cognitive skills and general information that white, middle-class children are more likely to have acquired. * White parents are more likely to ask general knowledge questions (where do Eskimos live?) much like those on the IQ tests, while black parents are more inclined to ask real questions (why didn’t you come home after school?) * If IQ tests assess proficiency in the white culture, minority children are bound to perform worse. * However, on Raven Progressive Matrices (which has the examinee to fill in missing sections of abstract designs that should be equally familiar to all ethnic groups) middle-class whites still outperform their lower-income and/or black peers * So taken together, these findings imply that group differences are not solely attributable to biases in content. * Some people think motivational factors play in, saying minorities may be weary of unfamiliar examiners and may just want to answer quickly to be done with the test. * Also, some say that the negative stereotype that some minorities may feel about their intellectual ability may make them reject such ‘white’ activities as test-taking. * Stereotype Threat- people worry about negative stereotypes, negatively impacting their performance on tests. * 2) Genetic Hypothesis * Some think that ethnic differences in average IQ scores were largely the result of genetic differences among ethnicities. * Arther Jensen claims that there are two broad classes of intellectual abilities, which are equally heritable among different ethnic groups * Level 1 Abilities- include attentional processes, short-term memory and associative skills (skills that are important for simple kinds of rote learning). * Level 2 Abilities- allow one to reason abstractly and to manipulate works and symbols to form concepts and solve problems. * According to Jensen, Level 2 abilities are highly correlated with school achievement, whereas Level 1 abilities are not. IQ tests predominately measure Level 2 abilities. * Jensen finds that Level 1 tasks are performed equally well by children from all ethnic and social classes. * Since Level 1 and 2 abilities are equally heritable within each class, he proposes IQ differences BETWEEN groups must be hereditary. * Criticism- even though genes may explain individual differences within a group, the average difference in IQ BETWEEN the two ethnicities may represent nothing more than differences in average environments. * 3) Environmental Hypothesis * poor people and members of various minority groups tend to grow up in environments that are much less conducive to intellectual development than those experienced by most whites and other members of the middle class. * Furthermore, economic hardship creates psychological distress- a strong dissatisfaction with life’s conditions that makes lower-income adults edgy and irritable and reduces their capacity to be sensitive, supportive, and highly involved in their children’s learning activities. * Also, low-income parents are often poorly educated themselves and may have neither the knowledge nor the money to provide their children with age-appropriate books, toys, or other experiences that contribute to an intellectually stimulating home environment. * Scores on HOME inventory are consistently lower in low-income homes. * So, there are ample reasons for concluding that social-class differences in intellectual performance are largely environmental in origin. Much of the intellectual and academic discrepancies that have been attributed to ethnicity may largely reflect ethnic differences in socioeconomic status. * Charlotte Patterson and her associates found that variation in socioeconomic status is a better predictor of the academic competencies of African American and white schoolchildren than ethnicity is.

Improving Cognitive Performance Through Compensatory Education
President LBJ’s “War on Poverty” is a variety of preschool education programs aimed at enriching the learning experiences of economically disadvantaged children (Head Start Program, Learning to Learn, etc.). These “compensatory interventions” aimed to provide these disadvantaged youth with the kinds of educational experiences that their middle-class peers were presumably getting in their homes and nurseries, to give them equal footing.
These appeared to work great, with huge successes, but when program participants were reexamined after a year or two of grade school, few if any lasting intellectual benefits seemed to be associated with these interventions. * Some argue though that it is successful because it isn’t IQ that matters, but academic performance. Others argue that the impact of these interventions may be cumulative and so it may be several years before they show their full benefits.
Long Term Follow-Ups * Because the IQ advantage declines, did the programs fail? * NO * Participants in the interventions were more likely to meet their school’s basic requirements than nonparticipants were. They were less likely to be assigned to special education classes or to be retained in a grade, and they were more likely to graduate high school. * Even some evidence suggested that teenagers who had participated in these interventions when they were young, were less likely to be delinquents or become pregnant, and were more likely to be employed.
Importance of Parental Involvement * Comparisons of the impact of early intervention programs suggest that the most effective ones almost always involve parents in one way or another. * Many investigators favored the Two-Generation Interventions that not only provide children with high-quality preschool education, but also provide disadvantaged parents with social support and the educational and vocational training they need to lift themselves out of poverty. * This intervention is likely to improve parents’ psychological well-being, which may translate into more effective patterns of parenting and into long-term gains in children’s intellectual performance.
Importance of Intervening Early * Critics of Head Start have argued that it begins too late (often after age 3) and is simply too brief to have any lasting impact. * There is strong evidence that high-quality preschool interventions that being very early (around 6-12 weeks old even) can have lasting intellectual benefits. And as mentioned earlier, they can have lasting educational benefits too. * EXTENDED compensatory education can be very helpful in making the transition to a structured classroom environment for disadvantaged youngsters. * Critics say it is too much money and time to logically provide these programs for enough impoverished families. * People say this is “Penny wise, Pound foolish” because the two-generation interventions emphasizing quality daycare often pay for themselves by- * 1) allowing more parents freedom from full-time childcare to work, thereby reducing their need for public assistance * 2) providing a foundation for cognitive growth that enables most disadvantaged children to avoid special education in school- a savings that just by itself would justify the expense of extensive compensatory interventions
Creativity and Special Talents
“giftedness”- the possession of unusually high intellectual potential or other special talents
“creativity”- the ability to generate novel ideas an innovative solutions- products not merely new and unusual but are also appropriate in context and valued by others.
The Psychometric Perspective * JP Guilford proposed that creativity represents divergent rather than convergent thinking. * Convergent- thinking that requires one to come up with a single correct answer to a problem; what IQ measures * Divergent- thinking that requires a variety of ideas or solutions to a problem when there is no one correct answer. * Interestingly, Divergent thinking is only modestly correlated with IQ and seems to be more heavily influenced by environment than genes. * Children who score higher in divergent thinking have parents who encourage their intellectual curiosity and who grant them a great deal of freedom to select their own interests and to explore them in depth.
The Multicomponent (or Confluence) Perspective * Many researchers today generally believe that creativity results from a convergence of many personal and situational factors. * “Investment Theory of Creativity”- recent theory specifying that the ability to invest in innovative projects and to generate creative solutions depends on a convergence of creative resources, namely background knowledge, intellectual abilities, personality characteristics, motivation, and environmental support/encouragement. * Creative people are willing to “buy low and sell high” in terms of ideas. They invest themselves in ideas or projects that are novel, but overcome skepticism and generate a product that is highly valued. * What factors determine whether an individual will invest in an idea? Sternberg & Lubart thought it depended on the convergence of 6 distinct but interrelated sets or resources- * Intellectual Resources- three intellectual abilities are particularly important to creativity * Ability to find new problems to solve or see old ones in another way * Ability to evaluate one’s ideas to determine what is worth pursuing. * Ability to sell others on the value of new ideas to gain support * Knowledge * You must be familiar with the current state of the art in her chosen area if she is ever to advance or transform it as the groundbreaking artist, musician, science-fair winner does. “insight comes to the prepared mind.” * Cognitive Style * A legislative cognitive style (preference for thinking in novel and divergent ways of one’s own choosing) is important to creativity. It also helps you think in broad, global terms. * Personality * People with a willingness to take sensible risks, to persevere in the face of uncertainty or adversity, and the self-confidence to defy the crowd and pursue ideas that will eventually win recognition. * Motivation * People rarely do creative work in an area unless they have some passion for what they are trying to accomplish and focus on the work itself rather than its potential rewards. * A Supportive Environment * Several studies of children with special talents in such domains as chess, music, and mathematics reveal that these child ‘prodigies’ are blessed with an environment that nurtured their talents and motivations and praised their accomplishments. * A Test of Investment Theory * If this theory is sound, then people who have more creative resources at their disposal should generate more creative solutions to problems. * Test: Sternberg and Lubart tested this hypothesis by testing (via questionnaires, cognitive tests and personality tests) all the 6 factors except environment. Then they had the participants work on innovative problems in writing, art, advertisement, and science. This was rated by a panel of judges who showed high levels of agreement in their ratings. * The Results: supported investment theory in that all five sets of creativity resources were moderately to highly correlated with the creativity ratings participants received, and participants whose solutions were rated the most creative were those who had higher scores across ALL FIVE kinds of creative resources. Apparently, creativity does reflect the convergence of many factors rather than the possession of a dominant cognitive attribute such as divergent thinking. * Creativity in the Classroom * Investment Theory suggests several possible means of fostering creative potential. * Were teachers to allow students more freedom to design their own art projects or science experiments and to explore any unusual interests in depth, they would more closely approximate the kind of home environment that nurtures curiosity, risk taking, perseverance, intrinsic interest, and a concern with task performance. * Less emphasis on memorizing facts and finding THE correct answer (convergent thinking), teachers should place more emphasis on discussing complex problems that have many possible answers (divergent thinking) * Also, research implies that parents and educators might try to be a bit more enthusiastic when youngsters display an unusual passion for an offbeat, non-traditional interest and allow them exposure to experts if any are available.
CHAPTER 11
Bonding: strong affectionate ties parents feel towards infants * Usually during sensitive period
Attachment: close, reciprocal, emotional relationship between two people, two way emotional relationship
Oxytocin: mammalian hormone, neurotransmitter in the brain, linked with attachment
Reactive attachment disorder: uncommon disorder, effects children, developmentally inappropriate ways of relating socially in most contexts * Failure to initiate or respond in social interactions

Classic Rene Spitz (1952) “Emotional Deprivation in Infancy”, psychogenic disease * Without mother at beginning of life without substitute becomes winy, screaming, etc. * Gets worse with age, more mental retardation/unresponsive- not reversible * After a year=physical retardation * Morasmus/death after second year of life

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Displaying Emotions: The Development and Control of Emotional Expressions * Tests done to test child’s emotional reactions * Happy reactions easier to determine (joy, interest) than negative emotions (fear and anger) * Expressions become more clear with age
Sequencing of Discrete Emotions * Birth: basic emotions- babies show interest, disgust, distress, contentment * 2 months: social smiles, interactions * Gets more sophisticated as child ages b/c of imitation, selective reinforcement, neurological maturation * Complex emotions/self conscious emotions: embarrassment, shame, guilt, envy, pride * Develop later * Self evaluative emotions: shame, guilt, pride * =precursors to theory of the mind
Initially emotions are triggered by threats they cannot explain, later they are because of real-life issues and challenges * Acquire capacity to deal with complex emotions
Emotions get bad at sexual maturity, level out during mid adolescence
More stress less favorable daily emotional experiences
Girls vs. boys emotions * Girls want harmonious relationships more than boys * Girls had more stressful experiences with families * Girls react more negatively to stressors
Socialization of emotions and emotional self-regulations * Societies have set of emotional display rules that specify circumstances under which various emotions should or should not be expressed * Differs between cultures * Babies develop strategies for regulating and controlling emotions * Parents rock children to lessen stress * Later, kids suck thumbs/pacifiers to lessen stress, crawl away, ask to be removed from a situation, etc. * Sometimes parents want to maintain or intensify feelings rather than suppress (pride, anger standing up to bully, etc) * Must be able to control emotions to fit into societies * By age 3, can modulate/mask emotional expressions (say they liked the gift, but really they don’t) * This capacity increases with age, becoming much more developed in children by age 11. * Follow emotional display rules more likable children
Recognizing and Interpreting Emotions
Social referencing: Point where child begins to monitor parents’ emotional reactions to uncertain situations and to use this info to regulate their own behaviors * Grows better with age, shifts from parents to other people * Becomes obvious between 7 and 10 months * Toddlers social reference after they do the action—seeing whether their actions were justified and approved by others
Important for children to discuss their emotions—> better at understanding other’s emotions and settling disputes * Empathy=motivates children to console
Emotions and Early Social Development
Emotional displays will contribute to child’s understanding of world
Achieving emotional competence is crucial to child’s social competence * Ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while maintaining positive relationships with others * Emotional competence involves: * Competent emotional expressivity: frequent expression of positive emotions * Competent emotional knowledge: correctly identify other people’s feelings and factors responsible * Competent emotional regulation: ability to adjust one’s experience/expression of emotion to appropriate level
EQ=Emotional intelligence * Involved perceiving emotions, facilitating thinking, understanding emotions, managing emotions

TEMPERAMENT IN DEVELOPMENT
Temperment: constitutionally based individual differences in emotional, motor, and attentional reactivity and self-regulation * Different infant temperments develop at different stages of life * Ex: fearful distress, irritable distress, positive affect, activity level, attention span, rhythmicity
Rhythmicity: regularity/predictability of bodily functions such as eating, sleeping and bowel functioning
Heredity and Environmental Influences on Temperament
Hereditary influences * Many components of temperaments genetically influenced * Seen in the case of identical twins vs. fraternal
Environmental influences * Environment also influences children’s temperaments * Shared environmental influenced effect positive aspects of temperament * Nonshared environmental influences effect negative
Cultural influences * Culture also influences temperament * Ex) shy kids in US are at social disadvantage, shyness respected in Asia and Sweden
Stability in Temperament
Temperaments have different levels of stability in different individuals
Behavioral inhibition * Studies by Jerome Kagan * Tendency to withdraw from unfamiliar people or situations * Kids are either inhibited (more fearful, over protective caregivers) or uninhibited * Studies show that is relatively stable attribute w/biological roots
Early Temperamental Profiles and Later Development
Easy temperament (easygoing, positive)
Difficult temperament (irritable, irregular habits, slow adaptations)
Slow-to-warm-up temperament (inactive, moody)
Temperament can change * Usually due to goodness of fit: difference b/w child’s temperamental style and patterns of child rearing of parents

ATTACHMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Attachments as reciprocal relationships
=Child attached to parent/parent attached to child
Synchronized routines * Important contributor to growth of attachment * First few months of baby’s life * =mother smiles, baby smiles back; baby smiles, mom smiles back * Helps if mother is interactive, responsive, attentive to child (works best when child is alert) * Benefits both child and parent
How do infants become attached?
Schaffer and Emerson’s phases to attachment * Asocial phase (birth to 6 weeks) * Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks-6/7 months) * Specific Attachment Phase (7-9 months) * Phase of Multiple attachments (9-18 months)
Theories of attachment * Early theories: * Psychoanalytic theory: I love you because you feed me * Freud supported, infants are “oral” * Harlow and baby monkeys * Learning theory: I love you because you reward me * Mother/caregiver becomes secondary reinforcer (able to give them what they want) child becomes attached * Contact comfort * Monkeys likely to run to “cloth mother” for comfort instead of mother that gives them food * =positive reinforcement * Cognitive Developmental Theory: I love you, I must know you will always be there * Infant must be able to tell familiar companions from strangers and must find permanence in companions * Contemporary Theories of Attachment: The Ecological Theory * All species born with innate behavioral tendencies that have contributed to survival of species over course of evolution * Attachment enables species to live long enough to reproduce and enable species to survive * Origins of the viewpoint * Research with animals * Imprinting: young will follow and become attached to moving objects (usually mothers) * Is automatic, is during critical period, adaptive response * After a while, imprinting became a preadapted characteristic (product of evolution increasing chances of survival) * Attachment in Humans * “kewpie doll” appearance=childs chubbiness, soft, round features * This is appealing to caregiversattachment * Babies also have cute qualities and mannerisms * Smiling/cute baby gains attention from parents makes kid happy in return * *humans are biologically prepared for these attachments, but they will not develop unless participants has learned how to respond appropriately to behavior of the other * Two common fears at infancy * Stranger anxiety * Not afraid until form first attachment, then become skeptical * Separation anxiety * When separated from mothers * WHY is there fear of strangers and separations? * Ethological viewpoint: * Bowlby-biologically programmed * Separation and stranger anxieties decline during 2nd year because now have attachment object as secure base can initiate separations * Cognitive Developmental Viewpoint * Anxiety is natural outgrowths of infant’s perceptual and cognitive development * Child develops schemes of what is recognizable and what is not * Familiar faces in familiar places * Most likely to protest separations when baby uncertain of their whereabouts
Individual Differences in Attachment Quality
Assessing attachment security * Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation- series of episodes that attempt to stimulate naturalistic caregiver/infant interactions in present of toys and brief separations from the caregiver/encounters with strangers, and reunion episodes (is infant reassured) * Characterizations of attachment * Secure attachment: actively explores while alone with the mother and may be visibly upset by separations * Outgoing kid * Greets mother upon arrival * Resistant attachment * Very little exploration when mother present * Wary of strangers, sad when mother leaves, angry when she returns * Avoidant attachment * Little distress upon separation from mother * Ignore mothers when they try to get their attention * Sociable with strangers or avoid strangers * Disorganized/disoriented attachment * Confusion about whether or not to approach/avoid caregiver * Dazed or freeze when reunited with mother * Attachment Q-set (AQS), another way to assess attachment quality * Observer, most likely and least likely for child to do behavior at home * Represents how secure child is with caregiver
Cultural variations in Attachment Classifications * Different attachment categories between different cultures reflect cultural differences in child rearing
Fathers as Caregivers * Happy marriages and encouragement from wife yields greatest fatherly caregiving * Mothers more likely to hold, play simple games * Fathers more likely to stimulate physical activity, interesting/unexpected games * Fathers preferred as playmates, mothers as caregivers * Are capable of all roles of the mother * Secure attachment with both parents yields best results * Attachment with father may balance out the sometimes insecure mother-child attachment relationship *

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