PSY 240 Assignments 1 & 2

 Assignment 1

1) Explain the four goals of developmental psychology.

Developmental psychologist study human development because they are interested in

·      Describing how people develop at different stages of their life and how they change are they age.

·      Explaining the causes of developmental change and seeing how different factors create variability among individuals.

·      Predicting the future of the individual based on current characteristics and factors.

·      Intervening in societal structures with the goal of using developmental expertise to improve the lives of the general public.

2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic observation, interviews, and experiments? Give examples of an appropriate study for each of these methods.

·      Naturalistic observation advantages (+): Allow researchers to see the behavior of participants in real environments.

·      Naturalistic observation disadvantages (-): Long periods of time spent waiting for an event that may not happen.

·      Interview advantages (+): Large sample size due to ease of data collection. Lower cost to distribute and collect data.

·      Interview disadvantages (-): Need to carefully phrase question, else possible room for misinterpretation. People may lie about their situation.

·      Experiment advantages (+): Only reliable way to establish cause and effect. Researchers control the variables and conditions.

·      Experiment disadvantages (-): Data gained from the experiment could be inapplicable to real life. Participants may act differently in the experimental environment. Some questions cannot be experimented on live humans because it would be unethical.

3) Nathan and Uri are identical twins. Describe the shared and non-shared elements of their environments, and show how these are likely to affect the twins’ level of similarity.

·      Shared environment of the twins: Family home with the same type of parenting. Children spent over 8 hours a day in their home environment and spent most of their early life attached to their parents. When both factors are the same it becomes likely for the outcomes to be the same as both are affected by the same factors.

·      Non-shared environment: Different friends, friend groups, and classrooms. Despite living in the same home and under the same parents, twins can develop differently based on the influence of their peers at school.

4) Use the epigenetic perspective to explain the development of intelligence in children.

As the child comes into contact with the environment its genome activates or inhibits certain genes involved with intelligence. The outcome would affect the intelligence of the child in a positive or negative manner. One example in the child’s environment that would improve intelligence would be the number of books present at home. These could influence the child’s contact with literature and improve literacy overall.

5) Describe one of the options for treating infertility from the textbook. Be sure to explain the advantages and disadvantages.

·      Fertility drugs: (Benefits +) Hormone based agents are NOT invasive and can be done without any complicated procedures. (Disadvantage -) Hormones may clash with female hormonal cycle producing unintended side effects.

·      Surgery to repair damaged reproductive system: (Benefits +) Surgery repairs allow use of natural organs. (Disadvantages -) Like with all surgeries possibility of post-surgical complications of infection or organ failure.

·      Artificial insemination: (Benefits +) direct injection into uterus avoids any complicated surgeries and allows for fertilization in the natural environment of uterus. Can be done at home with/without doctor supervision depending on the country. (Disadvantages -) Getting a needle to introduce sperm runs the risk of damage to the reproductive tract.

·      In vitro fertilization (IVF): (Benefits +) Fertilization of ovum with sperm is guaranteed on petri dish. Embryos inserted into mother’s womb based on timed cycle. (Disadvantages -) Multiple pregnancies, cycles of stress and disappointment due to < 30% success rate.

·      Surrogate mother: (Benefits +) Birth is given naturally from capable mother; good alternative to fertility issue is on mother’s end. (Disadvantages -) Birth mother could become attached to child and renegade on the deal. Birth mother introduced to increased risk throughout her pregnancy.

6) Explain how both biological and environmental influences shape the development of the brain during the embryonic and fetal periods.

·      Biological influences: Genes activate the specialization of the embryo’s cells into layers ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. Ectoderm folds to form neural tube with brain forming at the top at 3.5 weeks. Neurogenesis begins and continues until about the 6^th month. Chromosomal abnormalities and or genetic mutations can affect brain development.

·      Environmental influences: Diet, stress, and teratogens all affect the brain’s development. Specific nutrients such as folic acid and vitamin B in the diet are essential for brain formation. Without adequate folic acid and vitamin B, there is an increased risk of CNS abnormalities such as anencephaly and spina bifida. Stress can also cause brain abnormalities that could lead to schizophrenia later on. Various teratogens can cause an assortment of defects during the development of the CNS.

7) Explain the effects that teratogens may have at different stages of a pregnancy.

·      Teratogens can affect the CNS, heart, arms, eyes, legs, teeth, palate, external genitalia, and ear of the infant during the prenatal phase. The effect of the teratogens depends on the sensitivity period of the corresponding organs.

·      Risks for defects are especially high for the CNS and Eyes as their abnormalities can occur throughout almost the entire prenatal development (barring the first four weeks for the eyes). CNS runs risk of anencephaly and spina bifida. Eyes run risk of blindness, deficient/reduced vision.

·      Both limbs: arms and legs are at risk from the 4^th week to the 9^th week of pregnancy. One example of the possible frightening results is thalidomide effects resulting in malformed limbs.

·      Heart is sensitive from the 3^rd to 9^th week of pregnancy. Risks include valve issues and poor blood flow.

·      Both the teeth and the palate are sensitive from the 5^th week to 13^th week of pregnancy. The risks are poor teeth/palate composition and possible discoloration.

·      Ears are sensitive from the 6^th week onward till the 20^th week of pregnancy. Possible teratogen effects will affect audio perception.

·      External genitalia are vulnerable from the 5^th week onward till birth. Defects here have effects on gender, hormones, and future fertility.

8) Define synaptogenesis, synaptic pruning, and myelination. Explain how each of these processes affects the development of the brain during infancy.

Synaptogenesis: Forming of new synaptic connections between the axon terminal of a neuron and the dendrites of another. Serves a vital function in connecting new memories, actions, and thought processes together.

Synaptic pruning: Removal or breakdown of unused synaptic connections to make space for used neural synapses. Unused memories from infants are removed to make space for newer memories causing infantile amnesia.

Myelination: Coating on axon of neuron that helps increase the conduction of the electrical signal. Increased myelination of certain motor neurons later in life helps to smoothen muscle movement.

9) List and describe 2 of an infant’s basic reflexes. Explain how an infant’s reflexes are indicators of evolutionary adaptability.

·      Palmar grasp: Babies instinctively tighten their grip if what they are holding onto is raised upward. Evidence of a trait that allows babies to support their own weight in early infancy incase they are at risk of falling.

·      Moro reflex: Babies swing their arms wide and bring them together again if the baby suddenly loses support or is stimulated by a loud sound. Evidence of a trait that allowed infants to grab onto their mothers in periods of danger.

10) Explain the process of adaptation outlined by Jean Piaget (include descriptions of assimilation and accommodation). Give examples to support your description.

·      Adaption is the process by which infants understand new principles or concepts about their environment through experience. Adaption is a two-step process.

·      In the first step, assimilation, the novel concept or principle discovered is placed into an existing framework of knowledge.

·      When the new concept cannot be assimilated into the existing framework, the framework is modified so as to allow the new concept to fit in.

Assignment 2

1) Define the four attachment styles listed in your textbook. Describe the Strange Situation test, and explain how it’s used to study attachment.

Strange Situation test looks to see how the infant reacts after being left completely alone or with a stranger. The test looks to see the type of attachments infants have with their parents at the 10-24month mark. 4 Different types of results:

·      (Type A) Insecure-avoidant (20%) – NOT distressed by absence, avoids and ignores parent on return.

·      (Type B) Securely attached (65%) ✔ - Distressed by absence, seek parent interaction on return.

·      (Type C) Insecure-ambivalent (10-15%) – Distressed by absence, seek parent interaction BUT reject parents when offered.

·      (Type D) Disorganized (Small %) – Incomplete movements, confused about approaching parents.

Attachments besides Type B indicate possible disturbances later in childhood especially when it comes to coping with stress.

2) List the order in which infants’ primary and secondary emotions typically develop, and describe how these emotions are expressed. Explain why these emotions seem to appear in this order.

·      Primary emotions such as curious, surprise, anger, fear, sadness, shyness, and joy are believed to be deeply rooted in biology and early life. These emotions tend to be direct responses to stimuli and are important for animals to develop first since they are central to survival.

·      Secondary emotions such as embarrassment, pride, guilt, shame, and envy are emotions developed later in life because they require high levels of thinking. Comparisons to others require that infant first understand the difference between self and others.

3) Describe the development of fine motor skills in early childhood. Explain how both brain development and experience contribute to this progression.

In early childhood, children fine-tune their fine motor skills going from twisting off jar lids (year 2) to being able to dress themselves (year 5) in a span of three years. Both experience and physical brain development contribute to this leap in motor skill. For the brain:

·      Synaptogenesis and synaptic pruning help to improve neuron response time.

·      Myelination of connection between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex improves balance and control of body movements. Myelination also improves hand-eye coordination.

·      Lateralization of the brain causes handedness.

·      Rapid development of corpus callosum allows for a smoother connection between brain hemispheres.

Experience aids in the process of fine motor skills:

·      Allows the child to practice and perfect skills.

·      With encouragement children can learn to read and write.

4) Explain and give examples of the thinking processes of children in the preoperational period described by Piaget. Discuss limitations on their thinking abilities, as well.

2^nd stage of cognitive development (ages 2 – 7) = preoperational period. Children acquire the ability to think about objects and events not present.

·      Dramatic rise in vocabulary.

·      Children do pretend play, represents the ability of the child to use symbolic representation.

GAPS in Preoperational Period Thought:

·      Inability to understand conservation of volume, mass, and number.

·      Unable to apply logical operations of reversibility and classification.

·      Egocentrism = inability to see others viewpoints.

·      Animism = Belief that inanimate objects are alive and have human characteristics.

5) Explain how adults can encourage the development of literacy in children.

·      Reading to the child.

·      Having the child read to the parent.

·      By increasing the number of books available for reading in the house.

6) Explain how siblings can influence each other’s interactions with adults and other non-related children.

·      Since under same environment, siblings provide important opportunities to practice social skills.

·      Siblings with good relations serve as a basis for role model and negotiation. = To close friend.

·      Even siblings with bad relations can be buffers for social isolation.

7) Describe the different types of play-related behavior and how they change as the child develops.

The first types of play that develop during infancy:

·      1^st Exploratory play: To discover information from the objects in the surrounding environment.

·      2^nd Symbolic play: Children mimic activities performed by others.

This later advances to a higher level of play:

·      Unoccupied – Doing nothing.

·      Solitary play – Playing on their own.

·      Onlooker – Just watching.

·      Parallel play – Play next to another but not playing together.

·      Associative play – Social interactions with others, but not towards a common goal.

·      Cooperative play – Social interactions with other and working towards a common goal.

Pretend play = associative +/ cooperative play gives opportunities to practice negotiation, compromise, and management skills.

8) Describe the different memory strategies you might teach children to help them improve both their short- and long-term memories.

Strategies to improve short-term memories:

·      Chunking information – sorting information into categories and or groups.

Strategies to improve long-term memories:

·      Repetition/rehearsal of information

·      Relating new information to prior information

9) Explain why both the phonics and whole language approaches are both necessary to children’s development of reading ability.

·      Phonics: Emphasizes matching the written word to spoken sounds.

·      Whole language: Emphasizes using context clues to figure out new words.

Both are mutually supporting with phonics allowing for easier reading early on, and whole language allowing for better reading comprehension later on.

11) Describe how a child in middle childhood might feel about cheating in terms of preconventional, conventional, and postconventional moral reasoning.

·      Preconventional: Cheating is bad because when the teacher catches you, you get a zero.

·      Conventional: Cheating is bad because teachers and parents say cheating is against the rules.

·      Postconventional: Cheating is bad because you are only cheating yourself out of a good education. The tests are designed to figure out which students need additional help. By cheating, you are skewing your grades and preparing yourself for failure the next time.

12) Describe the different forms aggression takes in middle childhood and the various strategies and skills that children at that age can now use to cope with conflict.

·      Physical Aggression – Physically hitting another person with the intent to harm.

·      Verbal Aggression – Using sounds to insult or threaten another person.

·      Social Aggression – Actions taken to harm a person’s reputation with others.

At middle childhood child has more strategies and skills for coping with conflicts:

·      Better reading of social cues

·      Able to delay immediate response

·      Emotional self-regulation

·      Negotiation

13) Extra Question Time: When dealing with forms of aggression in relation to bullying, what are the coping methods? Which is the best protection?

·      Retaliation – Responding within kind with aggression.

·      Passive – Capitulating to the treatment.

·      Adaptive – Getting help. (Only 8%)

Best protection against bullies: Buddies and friends.