PSYC 3320 MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE
Reasons to learn about child development (3) - Answers -1. raising children
2. choosing social policies
3. understanding human nature
alternatives to spanking (3) - Answers -1. expressing sympathy
2. postitive alternatives to expressing feelings
3. timeouts/timeins
turtle technique - Answers -when a child feels distressed they are instructed to step
away from other children and go into their "shell" to think about the problem until they
are in control of their emotions and ready to emerge from the shell
Two examples of "choosing social policies" reason for learning about CD - Answers --
making decisions (like allowing violent video games)
-effect of interview biases on children giving testimonies in court
examples for "understanding human nature" for learning about CD - Answers --what
are people like before they are affected by influences (family/society)
nativists - Answers -major group of contemporary philosophers and psychologists who
argued that evolution has created many remarkable capabilities that are present even in
early infancy (having an understanding of basic properties of physical objects, plants
and animals, and other people)
empiricists - Answers -argued that infants possess general learning mechanisms that
allow them to learn a great deal quite quickly, but that infants and young children lack
the specialized capabilities that nativists attribute to them
amygdala - Answers -area of the brain involved in emotional reactions
Romanian adoption study - Answers -found: children were sufficiently flexible to
overcome the effects of living in the Romanian institutions if the deprivation ended by
age 6 months. The later the age of adoption, the greater the long-term harmful effects of
early deprivation.
early philosophers usually based their conclusions on... (2) - Answers -general beliefs
and informal observations of only a few children
when did scientists start using the scientific method - Answers -early 20th century
who proposed some of the earliest recorded and most influential ideas about children's
development - Answers -Plato and Aristotle
,What were plato and aristotle interested in - Answers --how children are influenced by
their nature and the nurture they receive
Plato viewed/believed (3) - Answers --rearing of boys as a particular challenge
-self-control and discipline as the most important goals of education
-children have innate knowledge
Aristotle viewed/believed (2) - Answers --fitting child rearing to the needs of the
individual child
-all knowledge comes from experience and that the mind of an infant is like a
blackboard on which nothing has yet been written
Locke and Rousseau refocused attention on the question of... - Answers -how parents
and society in general can best promote children's development
Locked viewed/believed (3) - Answers --tabula rasa (blank slate): development largely
reflects the nurture provided by the child's parents and the broader society
-most important goal of child rearing is the growth of character
-discipline before freedom
Rousseau viewed/believed (3) - Answers --parents and society should give children
maximum freedom from the beginning
-children learn primarily from their own spontaneous interactions with objects and other
people, rather than through instruction by parents or teachers
-children should not receive any formal education until about age 12 (when they can
judge for themsleves the worth of what they are told)
Kagen concluded: - Answers --children have an innate moral sense
-5 abilities: infer the thoughts and feelings of others, to apply the concepts of good and
bad to one's own behaviour, to reflect on past actions, to understand that negative
consequences could have been avoided, and to understand one's own and others'
motives and emotions
The Earl of Shaftesbury's effort at social reform brought? - Answers -a law forbidding
employment of girls and of boys younger than 10
"baby biography" - Answers -systematic description of William's (Darwin's son) day-to-
day development—represented one of the first methods for studying children.
nature - Answers -biological endowment, in particular, the genes we receive from our
parents
-This genetic inheritance influences every aspect of our makeup, from broad
characteristics such as physical appearance, personality, intellect, and mental health to
specific preferences, such as political attitudes and propensity for thrill-seeking
, nurture - Answers -wide range of environments, both physical and social, that influence
our development, including the womb in which we spend the prenatal period, the homes
in which we grow up, the schools that we attend, the broader communities in which we
live, and the many people with whom we interact
genome - Answers -each person's complete set of hereditary information
-includes proteins that regulate gene expression by turning gene activity on and off in
response to experiences (doesn't change DNA, but can change cognition, emotion, and
behaviour)
epigenetics - Answers -study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated
by the environment
methylation - Answers -a biochemical process that reduces expression of a variety of
genes and is involved in regulating reactions to stress
children contribute to their development (3 ways) - Answers --attention
-language use
-play
continuous - Answers -the idea that changes with age occur gradually, in small
increments
discontinuous - Answers -the idea that changes with age include occasional large shifts
Researchers who view development as discontinuous start from a common observation:
- Answers -children of different ages seem qualitatively different
convervation-of-liquid-quntity problem - Answers -test children's level of thinking
-Beth 4YO versus 6YO
stage theories - Answers -approaches proposing that development involves a series of
large, discontinuous, age-related phases
cognitive development (&who) - Answers --piaget
-development of thinking and reasoning
-children go through four stages of cognitive growth, each characterized by distinct
intellectual abilities and ways of understanding the world
"mechanisms" - Answers -goal of producing increasingly precise accounts of the
processes that produce an outcome of interest
developmental mechanisms (3) - Answers --behavioural
-neural
-genetic
Reasons to learn about child development (3) - Answers -1. raising children
2. choosing social policies
3. understanding human nature
alternatives to spanking (3) - Answers -1. expressing sympathy
2. postitive alternatives to expressing feelings
3. timeouts/timeins
turtle technique - Answers -when a child feels distressed they are instructed to step
away from other children and go into their "shell" to think about the problem until they
are in control of their emotions and ready to emerge from the shell
Two examples of "choosing social policies" reason for learning about CD - Answers --
making decisions (like allowing violent video games)
-effect of interview biases on children giving testimonies in court
examples for "understanding human nature" for learning about CD - Answers --what
are people like before they are affected by influences (family/society)
nativists - Answers -major group of contemporary philosophers and psychologists who
argued that evolution has created many remarkable capabilities that are present even in
early infancy (having an understanding of basic properties of physical objects, plants
and animals, and other people)
empiricists - Answers -argued that infants possess general learning mechanisms that
allow them to learn a great deal quite quickly, but that infants and young children lack
the specialized capabilities that nativists attribute to them
amygdala - Answers -area of the brain involved in emotional reactions
Romanian adoption study - Answers -found: children were sufficiently flexible to
overcome the effects of living in the Romanian institutions if the deprivation ended by
age 6 months. The later the age of adoption, the greater the long-term harmful effects of
early deprivation.
early philosophers usually based their conclusions on... (2) - Answers -general beliefs
and informal observations of only a few children
when did scientists start using the scientific method - Answers -early 20th century
who proposed some of the earliest recorded and most influential ideas about children's
development - Answers -Plato and Aristotle
,What were plato and aristotle interested in - Answers --how children are influenced by
their nature and the nurture they receive
Plato viewed/believed (3) - Answers --rearing of boys as a particular challenge
-self-control and discipline as the most important goals of education
-children have innate knowledge
Aristotle viewed/believed (2) - Answers --fitting child rearing to the needs of the
individual child
-all knowledge comes from experience and that the mind of an infant is like a
blackboard on which nothing has yet been written
Locke and Rousseau refocused attention on the question of... - Answers -how parents
and society in general can best promote children's development
Locked viewed/believed (3) - Answers --tabula rasa (blank slate): development largely
reflects the nurture provided by the child's parents and the broader society
-most important goal of child rearing is the growth of character
-discipline before freedom
Rousseau viewed/believed (3) - Answers --parents and society should give children
maximum freedom from the beginning
-children learn primarily from their own spontaneous interactions with objects and other
people, rather than through instruction by parents or teachers
-children should not receive any formal education until about age 12 (when they can
judge for themsleves the worth of what they are told)
Kagen concluded: - Answers --children have an innate moral sense
-5 abilities: infer the thoughts and feelings of others, to apply the concepts of good and
bad to one's own behaviour, to reflect on past actions, to understand that negative
consequences could have been avoided, and to understand one's own and others'
motives and emotions
The Earl of Shaftesbury's effort at social reform brought? - Answers -a law forbidding
employment of girls and of boys younger than 10
"baby biography" - Answers -systematic description of William's (Darwin's son) day-to-
day development—represented one of the first methods for studying children.
nature - Answers -biological endowment, in particular, the genes we receive from our
parents
-This genetic inheritance influences every aspect of our makeup, from broad
characteristics such as physical appearance, personality, intellect, and mental health to
specific preferences, such as political attitudes and propensity for thrill-seeking
, nurture - Answers -wide range of environments, both physical and social, that influence
our development, including the womb in which we spend the prenatal period, the homes
in which we grow up, the schools that we attend, the broader communities in which we
live, and the many people with whom we interact
genome - Answers -each person's complete set of hereditary information
-includes proteins that regulate gene expression by turning gene activity on and off in
response to experiences (doesn't change DNA, but can change cognition, emotion, and
behaviour)
epigenetics - Answers -study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated
by the environment
methylation - Answers -a biochemical process that reduces expression of a variety of
genes and is involved in regulating reactions to stress
children contribute to their development (3 ways) - Answers --attention
-language use
-play
continuous - Answers -the idea that changes with age occur gradually, in small
increments
discontinuous - Answers -the idea that changes with age include occasional large shifts
Researchers who view development as discontinuous start from a common observation:
- Answers -children of different ages seem qualitatively different
convervation-of-liquid-quntity problem - Answers -test children's level of thinking
-Beth 4YO versus 6YO
stage theories - Answers -approaches proposing that development involves a series of
large, discontinuous, age-related phases
cognitive development (&who) - Answers --piaget
-development of thinking and reasoning
-children go through four stages of cognitive growth, each characterized by distinct
intellectual abilities and ways of understanding the world
"mechanisms" - Answers -goal of producing increasingly precise accounts of the
processes that produce an outcome of interest
developmental mechanisms (3) - Answers --behavioural
-neural
-genetic
