UVA PSYC 2700 EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE
3 reasons to study child development - Answers - 1. Improve parenting (child rearing)
2. Choosing social policies that promote well-being
3. Understand human nature
Improve child rearing - Answers - How to most effectively parent; answer questions of
discipline, meeting milestones; parent-child relationship
Is spanking effective? - Answers - NOPE makes it worse
Effective alternatives to spanking - Answers - - Expressing sympathy
- Positive alternatives
- Time-outs
Turtle technique - Answers - Anger coping strategy where a child gets down like a turtle
in its shell so they can think through their emotions
Choosing social policies - Answers - Education, integrated classrooms, child
testimonies (finding ways to ensure accuracy and eliminate bias)
Child testimonies - Answers - - High stakes
- 34% of 3-4 yro testify false story
- When no bias testimony is accurate
Do realistic props (dolls) improve recall for testimonies? - Answers - NOPE it increases
number of inaccuracies
Understanding human nature - Answers - What do children bring into world; what do
they acquire from environ, how are we similar
Children's ability to overcome maltreatment - Answers - - Depends on timing
- Children adopted before 6 months did better (in terms of social/intellectual disabilities)
What feature of an experience most influences their effects? - Answers - TIMING
Theory - Answers - Set of beliefs aimed at explaining facts; scientist's explanation of
facts
Facts - Answers - Observable phenomena; do not change
Psychological theories - Answers - provide a model for understanding thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors
,Nature - Answers - biological or genetic causes of development
Nuture - Answers - Physical and social environments that influence our development
Enduring Theme: Nature-Nuture - Answers - - False dichotomy (JOINT WORKING)
- Work together to shape development
What is an example of a nature-nuture interaction? - Answers - Schizophrenia
Genome - Answers - each person's complete set of hereditary information
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 that is involved in regulating reactions to stress
increase methylation signals a mother was stressed during pregnancy
Enduring Theme: The Active Child - Answers - The way children's actions contribute to
their development
Attention - Answers - Infant is concerned with what makes sound/moves & mother's
face
Language use - Answers - Infants begin to speak 9-15 mon; 1-2 years olds will talk to
themselves (crib speech)
Play - Answers - Internally motivated desire and will to play by themselves; play pretend
transitions to more organized play
Enduring Theme: Continuous-discontinuous - Answers - __________: Refers to a
gradual alteration of behavior while _________: Refers to stages of growth that are
qualitatively different and that are usually ordered in a fixed sequence.
Developmental continuity - Answers - Incremental; skill-by-skill
ex: pine tree; LEARNING THEORISTS
Developmental discontinuity - Answers - Developmental shifts; qualitative changes
ex: butterfly; STAGE THEORISTS
Conservation of liquid quantity problem - Answers - Infant is tested on whether they
understand the difference between liquid in two differently shaped containers --> test
level of thinking
Four Major Themes - Answers - 1. Learning
, 2. Cognitive development
3. Evolutionary
4. Ecological
Learning - Answers - emphasizes the role of experience; rewards and punishments;
learn from observing
Behaviorism (Watson, Skinner) - Answers - A theory of learning based on the idea that
all behaviors are acquired through conditioning
Reinforcement - Answers - Increases future likelihood of the behavior
Punishment - Answers - Decreases future likelihood of the behavior
Social Learning Theory - Answers - - Reinforcement & punishment are powerful
- ppl can learn from observing
- Imitation is not just mimicry
Example of social learning theorist (gender typical) - Answers - (girls play / dolls, boys
w/ trucks)
Boy observed dad behaving in way that signaled truck use
Cognitive development (Piaget, Vygotsky) - Answers - - Focus on mind; thought
processes, construction of knowledge
- Roots in nativism (ROUSSEAU)
Level of cog dev: 2-5 yr old - Answers - Stage where an infant can only focus on one
aspect of an event/type of event
Level of cog dev: 7 yr old - Answers - Simultaneously focus on two or more aspects
Level of cog dev: 7-8 yr old - Answers - Both relevant dimensions of problem
simultaneously
What theorist created the psychosocial theory? - Answers - Erikson
What theorist created the theory of moral development? - Answers - Lawrence Kohlberg
ROUSSEAU nativism - Answers - Children will seek out knowledge intrinsically so
remove the external influence
Piaget - Answers - - Most influential developmentalist of 20th century
- Children are like scientists, want to understand how world works
- Children revise theories radically at few critical points that happen @ universal seq
and ages
3 reasons to study child development - Answers - 1. Improve parenting (child rearing)
2. Choosing social policies that promote well-being
3. Understand human nature
Improve child rearing - Answers - How to most effectively parent; answer questions of
discipline, meeting milestones; parent-child relationship
Is spanking effective? - Answers - NOPE makes it worse
Effective alternatives to spanking - Answers - - Expressing sympathy
- Positive alternatives
- Time-outs
Turtle technique - Answers - Anger coping strategy where a child gets down like a turtle
in its shell so they can think through their emotions
Choosing social policies - Answers - Education, integrated classrooms, child
testimonies (finding ways to ensure accuracy and eliminate bias)
Child testimonies - Answers - - High stakes
- 34% of 3-4 yro testify false story
- When no bias testimony is accurate
Do realistic props (dolls) improve recall for testimonies? - Answers - NOPE it increases
number of inaccuracies
Understanding human nature - Answers - What do children bring into world; what do
they acquire from environ, how are we similar
Children's ability to overcome maltreatment - Answers - - Depends on timing
- Children adopted before 6 months did better (in terms of social/intellectual disabilities)
What feature of an experience most influences their effects? - Answers - TIMING
Theory - Answers - Set of beliefs aimed at explaining facts; scientist's explanation of
facts
Facts - Answers - Observable phenomena; do not change
Psychological theories - Answers - provide a model for understanding thoughts,
emotions, and behaviors
,Nature - Answers - biological or genetic causes of development
Nuture - Answers - Physical and social environments that influence our development
Enduring Theme: Nature-Nuture - Answers - - False dichotomy (JOINT WORKING)
- Work together to shape development
What is an example of a nature-nuture interaction? - Answers - Schizophrenia
Genome - Answers - each person's complete set of hereditary information
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 that is involved in regulating reactions to stress
increase methylation signals a mother was stressed during pregnancy
Enduring Theme: The Active Child - Answers - The way children's actions contribute to
their development
Attention - Answers - Infant is concerned with what makes sound/moves & mother's
face
Language use - Answers - Infants begin to speak 9-15 mon; 1-2 years olds will talk to
themselves (crib speech)
Play - Answers - Internally motivated desire and will to play by themselves; play pretend
transitions to more organized play
Enduring Theme: Continuous-discontinuous - Answers - __________: Refers to a
gradual alteration of behavior while _________: Refers to stages of growth that are
qualitatively different and that are usually ordered in a fixed sequence.
Developmental continuity - Answers - Incremental; skill-by-skill
ex: pine tree; LEARNING THEORISTS
Developmental discontinuity - Answers - Developmental shifts; qualitative changes
ex: butterfly; STAGE THEORISTS
Conservation of liquid quantity problem - Answers - Infant is tested on whether they
understand the difference between liquid in two differently shaped containers --> test
level of thinking
Four Major Themes - Answers - 1. Learning
, 2. Cognitive development
3. Evolutionary
4. Ecological
Learning - Answers - emphasizes the role of experience; rewards and punishments;
learn from observing
Behaviorism (Watson, Skinner) - Answers - A theory of learning based on the idea that
all behaviors are acquired through conditioning
Reinforcement - Answers - Increases future likelihood of the behavior
Punishment - Answers - Decreases future likelihood of the behavior
Social Learning Theory - Answers - - Reinforcement & punishment are powerful
- ppl can learn from observing
- Imitation is not just mimicry
Example of social learning theorist (gender typical) - Answers - (girls play / dolls, boys
w/ trucks)
Boy observed dad behaving in way that signaled truck use
Cognitive development (Piaget, Vygotsky) - Answers - - Focus on mind; thought
processes, construction of knowledge
- Roots in nativism (ROUSSEAU)
Level of cog dev: 2-5 yr old - Answers - Stage where an infant can only focus on one
aspect of an event/type of event
Level of cog dev: 7 yr old - Answers - Simultaneously focus on two or more aspects
Level of cog dev: 7-8 yr old - Answers - Both relevant dimensions of problem
simultaneously
What theorist created the psychosocial theory? - Answers - Erikson
What theorist created the theory of moral development? - Answers - Lawrence Kohlberg
ROUSSEAU nativism - Answers - Children will seek out knowledge intrinsically so
remove the external influence
Piaget - Answers - - Most influential developmentalist of 20th century
- Children are like scientists, want to understand how world works
- Children revise theories radically at few critical points that happen @ universal seq
and ages
