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Psychology 228 Unit 3 Chapter 5 & 6
- Describe the major changes that occur during brain development in early childhood. Be sure to include a discussion of myelination, lateralization, and handedness. Increased Myelin allows neurons to communicate at a more rapid pace. It allows the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate and work together better. A preschooler can think faster than they could as an infant. Improved coordination between the two sides of the brain is helpful because, in the midst of all it’s pruning, myelination and dendritic growth, during early childhood the brain continues to undergo lateralization. This is the process by which the right and left hemispheres of the brain begins to take on specific functions. In other words, the brain’s two sides become increasingly different. There is evidence of lateralization in cognitive functioning as well. For most, the perception of emotion appears to involve primarily in the right side. The left plays a dominant role in language. One outcome of lateralization is an emergence of one side of the body over the other, with the first dominance being handedness. This starts in infancy and becomes well established during the preschool years. Deviation in the brain maturation are the product of an ongoing, complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors.
- Summarize Piaget’s preoperational stage in terms of the two substages. What are the key features? What is the three mountain task, and why is it important? What are the major criticisms of Paiget’s theory? Paiget believed that children’s perception of their world is still centred on immediate events. Everything is happening in the moment. He also suggested that young children tend to overlook the sequential steps in solving an issue. This stage has 2 substages. First is the symbolic function stage. Age 2-4. Children actively demonstrate their ability to think symbolically, using language to think about the world in a new way. Paiget believed that despite symbolic thinking, a child’s cognitive processing remains limited in a number of ways. Limitations such as centration, and the failure to understand centration. Children often centre on a single point of view to the exclusion of others. Paiget called this inability to think from others points of view, egocentrism, a cognitive quality in which one is centred in one’s own frame of reference. Many preschoolers are quite empathetic. Egocentric thinking informs the lens through which preoperational children view the world: all events happen exactly as they are experienced through their eyes. Animism is also important in this stage. Irreversibility is also evident in this substage. That I the belief that objects and event, once changed, can never return to their original state. The world is linear and can only move forward, not backward. Second is the intuitive thought stage. Age 4- 7. Characterized by the desire to know how things work and where things come from. Children in this substage tend to ask a lot of why questions. They often arrive at their own explanations of events based on purely intuitive ideas. Example: Clouds come from smoke
that drifted up to the sky. Children often use human interference, believing if you want to know the cause of any natural event or object you can look to a human’s actions. Children’s desire for explanation sets the stage for concrete operation thought. 3 mountain task – Paiget used this to study egocentrism. Children would describe the view of the three mountains from the perspective rather than from the dolls. Criticisms – most frequently cited is that Paiget often underestimated Children’s cognitive abilities. It has also be criticized for it’s narrow focus on cognitive development of children raised in the US. There is a lack of evidence that Paiget’s stages of cognitive development are universal across all cultures. There is also strong research that our social environment does shape our understanding of the world, in contrast to Paiget who thought social influences were minor.
- Describe Lev Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development. How does his theory differ from Paiget’s? how does it differ from the information processing perspective? In contrast to Paiget, who believed that cognitive development simply unfolds from within. Vygotsky believed that a child’s social world facilitates the development of their thinking. Social interactions facilitate cognitive development by shaping the zone of proximal development. The ZPD is the range of optimal learning for children. In ZPD children learn tasks that they cannot yet do alone but can complete with guidance from an adult. This is called scaffolding, where a helper provides physical or verbal support and over time, gradually decrease the amount of help given. This is also a form of guided participation. Vygotsky emphasized the importance of language for cognitive development. He believed that language drives the internalization of cognitive rules and thinking. He believed that when children talk to themselves through private speech, they perform better cognitively. Private speech is when children talk to themselves as they attempt to work through a task or solve a problem. Piaget and Vygotsky disagreed about the meaning of private speech. Paiget believed that this language during early childhood was egocentric and immature. Calling it a collective monologue that they sometimes demonstrate when in groups. The information-processing perspective uses the mind as a computer analogy. As children begin to think about where their thoughts come from, they wonder if other people have the same thoughts. Developmentalists have called this the emergence of a theory of the mind. This indicates that a child is learning that others can have thoughts and wishes of their own. It is impossible to lie without some degree of theory of the mind. One indicator is the understanding that other can hold incorrect or false beliefs.
1- Free time is decreasing due to economic requirement of both parents needing to work and a shift in public policy towards “early education” that fosters parents turning to structured activities rather than free play. 2- To much time of screens 3- Lack of green space provision 4- More children live in urban areas where society has diminished the natural play territory of children. 5- Limits to activities and recreation from by-laws ex. Road hockey or skateboarding 6- The trend of closing schools in rural and urban setting due to low enrollment and/or a need to reduce costs, means children are faced with longer commutes, therefore giving less access to community based resources for play. 7- Fear of abduction and abuse.
- What is the body mass index and how is it used to define obesity? What are some of the risk associated with childhood obesity? What are some of the steps that can be taken to prevent or reduce childhood obesity? Body mass index – a measure used to determine healthy body weight. BMI = weight (kg)/ height squared. (m)2. Overweight children are at more of a risk for developing psychological problems, including depression, low self-esteem, being bullied, and dysfunctional social skills. Poor nutrition and being overweight in early childhood are health risk factors known to be associated with chronic diseases of adulthood, including heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, impaired liver function and asthma. Steps to prevent or reduce obesity in children: Switch from pop to water or sugar free pop, switch to lower-fat dairy products, such as 1% or skim milk. Offer children healthy snack choices, such as fresh fruit and cut-up veggies. Model healthy eating and activity habits for your children. Leave the car at home and walk or bike whenever possible, gradually reduce screen time and replace it with active play time. Key terms Synaptic pruning – the elimination of synaptic connections in order to increase efficiency Myelination – the coating of neurons with myelin Synapses – the connections among neurons Toxin – a harmful substance that causes adverse effects Lead poisoning – an environmental factor that interacts with genes to produce cognitive deficits in children Handedness- the preference for using one hand over the other for basic activities such as eating, throwing, and writing,
Ossification – the process through which Cartlidge becomes bone. Object permanence – the ability of an infant to think about things that are not present. Preoperational stage – Paiget’s second stage of cognitive development, in which the child begins to think symbolically; that is, with words Symbolic function – the first substage of the preoperational period, during which the ability to use language gives children a new way of thinking about the world. Intuitive thought – the second substage of preoperational thinking, during which children want to know how and why? Centration – a quality of thinking in which a person focuses on one aspect or dimension of an object while disregarding any other dimension. Conservation – the understand that key physical properties of an object remain contant even if the appearance of the object changes. Egocentrism – a cognitive quality in which one is centred in one’s own frame of reference. Animism – a egocentric belief that all inanimate objects have qualities associated with humans. Irreversibility – the belief of preoperational thinkers that object and events, once changed can never return to their original form. Artificialism – the belief that all objects and events are affected by human influences Zone of proximal development (ZPD) Vygotsky’s term for the range of tasks that a person cannot accomplish independently but that can be done with assistance of a person with more experience or more advance cognitive ability Scaffolding – the process of assisting a less experienced individual through complex task by providing supports, which may be verbal or physical Guided participation – a process in which a more experienced teacher becomes an interactive guide, helping a younger or less experienced person do taks that he or she could not complete independently Private speech – a language process in which children talk to themselves as they attempt to preform a task or solve a problem
Constructive play – a form of play that involves the creation of new objects, often by combing already existing objects Symbolic play – a form of play that begins around 3 years of age in which children us objects as symbols to stand for something else. Rough-and-tumble play – a form of physical play, such as wrestling, tumbling, and running Head start- a program that seeks to promote school-readiness among disadvantaged children through the provision of educational, nutritional and social services. Aboriginal Head Start programs include local control by First Nations and teaching in Aboriginal culture and language. Inclusion – an approach to education students with special educational needs based on the idea that all individuals have a right to be educated in a regular classroom. Autism spectrum disorder – a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication and interaction, and repetitive behaviours. Individualized education program – a written statement that defines the individualized education goals of a child with a disability. Overweight or obesity – a classification based on the association of various BMI cut-offs with health risks; varies in children by age and sex. Body mass index (BMI) a measure used to determine healthy body weight that is calculated by dividing a person’s weight (in kgs) by the square of their height (in metres) BMI = weight(kg)/height squared. Socioeconomic status – the combination pf a person’s income, education, and occupation relative to others. Unintentional injury – any type of physical trauma that is determined to have been caused by circumstances other than abuse or maltreatment. Chapter 6 Study questions
- What is behaviour genetics? What is heritability estimate? What kinds of criticisms have been raised regarding behaviour genetics?
Behaviour genetics is an area of science that studies the nature of the relationship between genes and behaviour. Behaviour genetics use a statistic called a heritability estimate to represent the independent contribution of genes to differences seen between people in a given characteristic. Heritability estimates say nothing about the extent to which genes determine a personality trait within an individual. Heritability estimates are controversial and the research methods of behaviour genetics studies are strongly criticized. Twin studies, for example fail to account for the effects of shared family environments. An especially strong influence on earlt childhood socio- emotional development, as we learn later in this chapter. Most young pairs of twin are raised in the same home, by the same parents, providing both children with very similar environments. An especially strong influence on early childhood socio-emotional development as we learn later in this chapter. Most young pairs of twins are raised in the same home by the same parents, providing both children with very similar environments, Most importantly, genes do not work in a way that supports the assumptions made by behaviour geneticists. Genes do not translate – through cells, tissues, organs, the individual and his or her actual context – into real-time behaviours. Rather, behaviour and personality in early childhood (and throughout the lifespan) are the result of a dynamic interaction – or fusion – between genes and the environment. For these reasons, behaviour genetics has fallen out of favour among many lifespan developmentalists. Nevertheless, many scientists continue to conduct behavioural genetics research. In where developmentalist click, we highlight one website that monitors new developments in genetics research and analyzes its effect form a public interest and hum rights perspective. Behaviour genetics assumes that genes play the main role in young children’s personality development. At the opposite end of the nature-nurture continuum lies the assumption that a child’s environment is the major shaper of his or her personality. Let us take a look now at some perspective that emphasize environmental influences on young children’ personalities.
- Compare and contrast the following three perspectives: behavioural, social cognitive and psychodynamic. Briefly describe each perspective and indicate ate least one area of agreement and one area of disagreement among them. B.F.. Skinner, we are shaped purely by environmental forces such as reinforcement and punishment, which we discussed in Chapter 1. Our personality does not result from what is inside us, they claim, but rather from what happens to us, A child who is rewarded for helpful behaviour is more likely to perform prosocial acts in the future, for example. This is the reason that Watson claimed he could raise any baby to become any type of person by carefully controlling his or her environment during the early childhood years, so it is particularly interesting to view young children’s personality traits through a behavioural lens.
Young children’s assertive actions, however, can cause difficulties and create conflict between themselves and their caregivers. One example of this conflict is depicted in Figure 6.6. Through these conflicts, young children begin to develop initiative and to understand and adopt for themselves key rules of conduct. If they are punished for their well-meaning actions, young children may instead develop a sense of guilt. Our personalities are observable feature of ourselves that can be noticed by others. As young children, we also begin to develop out own internal subjective perception of ourselves.
- Describe childhood maltreatment. What are the four most frequently occurring forms of child maltreatment? How are boys and girls affected by maltreatment? What are some of the risks of maltreatment/ Child maltreatment is the abuse and neglect that occurs to children under 18 years of age. It includes all types of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence. And commercial or other exploitation, which results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust, or power. The two most common forms of abuse were witnessing intimate partner violence *34%) and neglect (34%) followed by physical abuse (20%), emotional maltreatment (9%), and sexual abuse (3%). Girls and boys seem to be affect differently by abuse. Girls are more likely to internalize their response to violence, and experience, for example, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, low self- esteem, and psychological disorders. Boys are more likely to externalize their response to violence, displaying, for example, increased aggression, delinquency, and spousal abuse. Boys who have been exposed to violence in their homes are more likely to be violent in their adolescent and adult relationships than boys not exposed to violence. Maltreated children are also at increased risk for later developing alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, obesity, depression, suicide, sexual promiscuity, and other chronic disorders. The effects of abuse may appear right away, or surface only in adolescence or adulthood. Further, the effect may differ according to the nature of the response to the abuse, and whether the abuse was disclosed or reported. In addition, adults who were maltreated as children are more likely to abuse their own children.
- Why has non-parental childcare increase in demand over the last few decades? What are the options for non-parental childcare? Briefly describe the childcare policies of France, Germany, and Canada. In 2001, almost half (46%) of Canadian parents reported using some type of non-parental childcare arrangement for their children under the age of 14. The majority (86%) of parents
using childcare relied on the service on a regular basis, which translated in approximately 30 hours of non-parental care per week. The average number of hours Canadian children spend in non-parental care arrangements has remained relatively stable, with 31 hours reported for 1994-1995, and 29 hours reported for 2002- 2003. The median cost of full-time childcare varies greatly by geographic location, ranging from a low of $152 per month in Quebec to a high of $667 in Ontario. The majority (98%) of Canadian parents report satisfaction with the overall quality of their childcare arrangement. To boost the maternal employment numbers and in response to increasing pressure from parents and advocacy groups, France has been steadily increasing its public supports to working mothers since 1990s. Currently, the French government subsidizes both individual childcare arrangements, such as nannies, and centre-vase care. With the growth of state- supported childcare, maternal employment has been increasing in France: 47% of mothers living in France who have at least one child less than 3 years of age work at paying jobs. Germany, on the other hand, lags far behind France in childcare provision and benefits, and only 15% of German parents of children under 6 years of age support the idea of full-time employment for mothers. Fewer German mothers (32%) are in paid work and most of these mothers are employed on a part-time basis, while more than 73% of their counterpart in France work full-time. As note above, Canada has no national program or overall approach to early childhood education. Figure 6.11 outlines the funding variations resulting from the fact the provinces, territories, and federal government are all involved in regulating funding, and structuring these programs, Similarly, the number of regulated family childcare spaces caries dramatically between jurisdictions. The province on Quebec uniquely and consistently offers residents a universal low-fee childcare program. This province’s spending on childcare has accounted for more than 50% of the total provincial/territorial spending on childcare for more than a decade. Comparatively, public spending for early childhood education across the rest of the country remains low. However, responsibility for childcare has continued to shift away from the community service sector to the education ministries of Canada. 6 provinces have now integrated full-day kindergarten into primary education.
- What is gender identity? What are gender roles? What is gender consistency? What are gender schemas? How is play related to gender roles? What are the other influences on gender? Gender identity – a perception of one’s gender category Gender role – specific behaviours or appearances that are expected of children, based on their culture’s beliefs about gender. Gender constancy – is the belief that one’s gender is permanent and unchanging
Receiving others’ emotional communications require knowledge about emotions and the ability to apply that knowledge within a dynamic social context. The ability to effectively send and receive emotional cues and manage one’s own emotional experience is called affective social competence. Problems with emotion regulation – children who are either very high or very low in the ability to control the expression of emotion are at risk of developing internalizing or externalizing problems. These problems form the basis of several psychological disorders. For example, externalizing behaviours are a feature of oppositional defiant disorder, and internalizing problems are part of depressive disorders. A more common problem is aggression. Children can be aggressive when they have difficulty controlling their expression of emotion. Studies reveal that physical aggression is most common among children 24 – 42 months old, ages when many children are still developing their emotional regulation abilities. Most early aggressive behaviour falls into two categories: Instrumental (or proactive) aggression and hostile (or reactive) aggression, Instrumental aggression occurs when a child is actively attempting to achieve a goal or obtain something. For example, a child who wants a toy that another child is holding might quickly and forcibly grab the toy and express frustration if the one holding it refuses to let go. Hostile aggression is a purposeful action intended to cause harm to another. Hostile aggression can include over aggression, harmful physical acts or threat, such as hitting, and relational aggression, which we discussed earlier. Girls tend to be more involved in relational aggression, whereas boys tend to be more overtly aggressive. Key terms Behaviour genetics – an area of science that studies the nature of the relationship between genes and behaviour. Heritability estimate – a calculation used by behaviour genetics to denote the independent contribution of genes to differences seen among people in a given trait. Prosocial behaviour – voluntary behaviour that is intended to benefit another person. Dizygotic (DZ) – twin siblings who share up to 50% of their genes Monozygotic – twin siblings who share identical DNA Initiative versus guilt stage – Erikson’s third stage of psychosocial development, in which the 3 – 6 year old child must learn to take responsibility for his or her own behaviour without feeling guilty for the outcomes of that behaviour.
Self concept – one’s multidimensional impression of one’s own personality, of the attributes, abilities, and attitudes that define one’s self. Categorical self – self-definitions based on concrete external attributes Self-esteem – judgements of worth that children make about themselves and the feelings that those judgements elicit. Demandingness – the level of demands parents make on their children, The number, intensity, and consistency of demands call all vary along a continuum, from a very low to a very high Responsiveness – the speed, sensitivity and quality with which parents attend to the needs of their children, like demandingness, responsiveness ranges along a continuum, from very low to very high, Authoritarian parent – a style of parenting that is characterized by high demands but low responsiveness. Authoritarian parents demand obedience from their children and are consequence-oriented, quick to punish disobedience. Authoritative parenting – a style of parenting that is characterized by high demand and high responsiveness, Authoritative parents create rules and expectations while explain reasons for their rules. Permissive-indulgent parenting – a style of parenting that is characterized by high responsiveness and very low demand. Indulgent parents are involved, caring, and loving but provide few rules and little guidance. Permissive-neglectful parenting – a style of parenting that is low in both demand and responsiveness. Neglectful parents are uninvolved and distant, often unaware of their child’s activities. Psychological control – associated with authoritarian parenting, behaviours that violate and manipulate a child’s feelings, thoughts, and attachments to parents. Induction – a rational form a discipline in which adults use reasoning and explanations to help children understand the effects of their misbehaviour on others. Time outs – a disciplinary measure in which the child is removed from reinforcing stimuli, events, or conditions for. Short period of time, Corporal punishment – the use of physical force to cause pain or discomfort in order to punish unwanted behaviour
Affective social competence – the ability to effectively communicate one’s own emotions, interpret and respond to others’ and successfully manage the experience of emotions Display rules – cultural norms that dictate socially appropriate emotional displays Internalizing problems – problems that result when children overcontrol their expression of emotions, including depression, social withdrawal, anxiety, and somatoform disorders Externalizing problems – problems that result when children under control the expression of emotions, including aggression and delinquency. Instrumental or proactive aggression – a goal-oriented act through which a person or object is harmed Hostile or reactive aggression – an intentional act that harms a person or object Overt aggression – a direct and obvious harmful act, such as hitting, kicking, biting, or verbally threatening. Moral emotions – emotions believed to play a fundamental role in morality Self-conscious emotions – moral emotions that are evoked by self reflection and self- evaluation Guilt – a feeling of regret or remorse arising from perceptions of having done something wrong Shame – a feeling that the whole self is a failure or bad, which can lead to defensiveness and social withdrawal. Empathy – the capacity to understand or feel what another person is feeling from their perspective. Sympathy – feeling of pity for another persons’ misfortune
