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Chapter 1: Enduring Themes in Child Psych Learning Questions ● What are the enduring themes of child psych that we will be discussing? ● How might these themes be relevant to topics we will discuss throughout this class?

What are the seven enduring themes? ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Nature vs. Nurture The active child: How do children shape their own development Continuity/ discontinuity: In what ways is development continuous, and in what ways is discontinuous Mechanisms of change: How does change occur The sociocultural context: How does the sociocultural context influence development Individual differences: How do children become so different from one another Research and children’s welfare: How can research promote children’s well being

Nature vs. Nurture ● Nature: genes, genetic makeup ○ Environment influences genome ● Nurture: environment, how society influences you ○ Genome influences nurture ● How do we study it: ○ Twin studies: identical vs. fraternal twins ■ Identical: monozygotic, 100% same DNA ■ Fraternal: dizygotic, 50% same DNA ● Control group ● Used to rule out if something is nurture

How do children shape their own development ● Depends on where they are in development ● Attention ○ Young infants ● Language use ○ Toddlers ● Play ○ Toddlers and beyond

Continuity vs Discontinuity ● Continuous: happens gradually ○ No huge changes ○ Stage by stage changes are gradual ○ Evidenced by children being able to act on in one stage on one task and another on another task ● Discontinuous: ○ Drastic changes ■ Caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly ○ Stage theories ○ Paiget’s theory of cognitive development ■ Development of thinking and reasoning

Mechanisms of change ● Interplay between brain structures and genes allowing for the expression of neurotransmitters and brain processes

Influence of sociocultural context ● The people who they interact with ○ Family, teachers ● The physical environment in which they live in

○ Urban, rural, poverty, rich, cold, hot ● The institutions that influence their lives ○ Schooling ● The general characteristics of the society ○ Cross cultural comparisons: comparing two aspects of two cultures

Individual differences ● ● ● ●

Genetic differences Differences in treatment by parents and others Differences in reactions to similar experiences Different choices of environments

Research and children’s welfare ● ● ● ●

Research helps with educational system Develop tools to teach Medical instances Ex: vaccines cause autism ○ Example of how research can be detrimental because it’s not true

Methods for Studying Child Development Learning Questions ● What are common research methods used in developmental psychology ● Be able to apply research methods and concepts to general examples and examples specific to child psychology ● Being to develop an understand of psychology as a science

Scientific Method ● Starts with theory:

● Hypothesis: testable statement about study ○ Predict what will happen ● Null hypothesis: Prediction that there is no relationship between these two variables ○ Want to reject ● Study: case study, correlational study, experimental study ● Observation: observe data to find relationship ● Empirical evidence: based on structured, observation, experience, experimentation ○ Not theory ○ Used to study child development

Keys to conducting scientifically sound research ● Reliability: consistency, repeatability of a measure ○ Questionnaire ○ Inter-rater reliability: consistent responses when given to different people to rate ○ Test retest reliability: measure the reliability of self report form ■ Comparing responses to the same measure in the same test on separate occasions of the same person ● Validity: how accurately the measure captures characteristics the researcher is trying to study ○ Internal validity:

Chapter 2: Prenatal Development Learning Questions ● Which of the enduring themes in child psychology are related to prenatal development ● what are the different stages and and periods of prenatal development (from zygote to Baby) ● how is fetal Behavior related to fetal development ● how do senses function in a fetus to utero? What do we mean by fetal experience

Early theories of prenatal development ● Preformation: originally accepted by the masses ○ Very new life started preform ○ Started as a set of tiny parts ● Epigenesis: introduced by Aristotle against the idea of preformation ○ emergence of new structures and functions in the course of development

Genetics ● Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes: tight structures that contain the Helix shape of all of our genes ● 46 individual chromosomes ○ 23 from father,23 from mother ○ match up to form chromosome pairs ● 22 pairs of autosomes + one pair of sex chromosomes ○ XX= female ○ XY= male ● Zygote: single cell, when egg is fertilized by sperm ○ Has 46 individual chromosomes- becomes 23 chromosome pairs ● Embryo: zygote after cell division ○ Developing organism between the 3-9 week of prenatal development ○ Most rapid period of prenatal growth ● Fetus: after 9 weeks zygote becomes fetus until birth ○ 9th week- birth ○ Growing and finishing phase ○ Third month: lungs expand, organs become connected ■ Behavioral capacities: Kick, Bend arms, open and close Hands, open and close mouth, thumb sucking ■ Sex is evident in ultrasound ■ Completion of first trimester ● 3 trimesters total

● Prenatal development: lasts from 36-40 weeks, 266 days ● Gestation: period of time between conception of birth when fetus grows and develops

● Blastocyst: hollow fluid filled ball that forms by 4th day after conception ○ Implanted into uterus by day 7-9 ● Placenta: permits food, oxygen, and water to reach developing organism, carries waste away ○ Acts as a barrier, semi permeable ● Umbilical cord: delivers blood and nutrients, removes waste through placenta

How we go from zygote to baby ● 4 steps: ○ 1. Mitosis: single cell to to 60-70 cells that form blastocyst ■ Cells divide and form two identical daughter cells ○ 2. Cell migration: new cells formed from mitosis move away from their point of origin ■ Helps embryo to grow and help lead to the next step of cell differentiation ○ 3. Cell differentiation: formation of embryonic stem cells ■ Identical and interchangeable ■ Cells don't have function yet but start to differ in structure and function ■ Theories of why cell functions happen the way they do: ● Which genes become “switched on”

● Location of the cell ○ 4. Apoptosis: programmed cell death ■ Too many cells because they are unnecessary ■ Ex: webbed fingers and toes

Development ● All fetal development occurs in a cephalocaudal way ○ Head develops first

Fetal behavior ● Fetus is an active participant and contributor to its own development ○ Movement ■ Reflexes: things that happen without cognitive, cognition, without planning to move of the movements that fetus has ● Swallowing, hiccups, kicking, sucking thumbs, moving hands, fetal breathing ● Some fetuses more active than others ○ Individual differences ○ Continuous development

Fetal Experience ● Touch ○ Tactical stimulation from moving around ● Taste ○ Amniotic fluid has flavors, fetus can detect them ○ Fetus has a sweet tooth ● Smell ○ Amniotic fluid has smell ● Hearing

○ Mothers voice ○ Mothers heartbeat, ○ Mothers breathing and swallowing ○ Mothers digestive system ● No sight because no light ● Senses help systems grow

Learning Questions ● Which of the enduring themes in child psychology are related to prenatal development ● how do we know that learning occurs Prenatally ● what kind of learning occurs prenatal ● what is a teratogen ● what is a sensitive period ● How are teratogens related to sensitive periods in prenatal development

Learning ● Occurs during prenatal development ● Basic concept of learning: ○ Habituation: Simple form of learning that involves a decrease in response to repeated or continued stimulation ■ Wearing clothes ○ Dishabituation: Introduction of a new stimulus or a change in that stimulus ■ habituation to a repeated stimulus ■ Learning to wear an itchy sweater- itchy at first but you get used to it after but then something reminds you that you’re wearing it again

How can we sense learning in a baby ● Interest: if you shake something near a newborn baby its head will turn towards it ○ Habituation occurs if shaking continued, heart rate increased again and it would likely turn away

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○ Dishabituation would occur if the rattle started shaking to a different beat, heart rate would slow again showing interest heart rate slows

What fetus can learn ● Mother’s voice ● Smells from the womb ● Flavors and foods that the mother ate while pregnant ○ Habituation to their mothers amniotic fluid than another mothers

Why placenta is important ● Permits the exchange of materials carried in the bloodstream to the fetus and its mother ● takes away waste ● Semipermeable: allow some elements through but not others ○ Defensive barrier

Hazards to prenatal development ● Placenta is semipermeable so some dangerous hazards may come in ● Ex: Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs ● Teratogens: any environmental agent causing damage during a prenatal period ○ Influencing factors: ■ Large doses of certain teratogens over longer periods of time ■ Hereditary: harmful diet, genetic makeup of mother ■ Age of time of exposure ○ Sensitive period: limited time span when a body part or a behavior is biologically prepared to develop rapidly ■ Especially sensitive to surroundings ■ Damage during these periods are more difficult to recover from ○ Dose response relation: The effect of exposure to an element or teratogens increases with the exposure ○ Mercury poisoning

○ Thalidomide: given for morning sickness ■ Mothers gave birth to babies with limb deformities ■ Affected sensitivity period that forms arms and legs ○ Fetal alcohol syndrome ● Sleeper effects: its an impact of a teratogen that does not appear at birth ○ DES hormone to prevent miscarriage ● Maternal factors: characteristics of the mother can affect prenatal development ○ Maternal age ○ Nutrition ○ Disease

Chapter 3: Biology and Behavior Learning Questions ● What are the basic foundations of genetic influences on development ● how do dominant and recessive alleles relate to how genetic information can be passed from parent to child ● how do examples like PKU help us to understand genetics and patterns of inheritance ● what is gene environment interaction ● what is polygenetic inheritance ● which enduring themes of Child Development are related to biology and behavior

Basic definitions ● Genotype: the complex blend of genetic info that determines species and influences unique characteristics ● Phenotype: Directly observable features and characteristics

Genetic code ● Genome: Organism's complete set of DNA including all jeans ○ contains all info needed to make an individual member of species

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■ Chromosomes: where DNA and genetic material is packaged ■ 22 autosomes and 1 sex chromosomes Allele: a variant form of a gene ○ Dominant and recessive Homozygous: having two identical alleles at the same place on a pair of chromosomes Heterozygous: having two different alleles at the same place on a pair of chromosomes Dominant recessive inheritance: only 1 allele affects a child's characteristics ○ Ex: hair color: blond hair recessive Carrier: a heterozygous individual with one recessive trait ○ Can pass trait to offspring

Dominant recessive inheritance PKU example ● PKU: a rare inherited disorder that affects how the body breaks down certain proteins found in various foods

Gene environment interaction ●

Anything that isn't genetic

Polygenic inheritance ● Characteristics inherited on a continuum ○ Height, weight, intelligence, personality ● Determined by many genes ● Most of our characteristics are polygenic ● Affected by environment

Learning Questions ●

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What is behavioral genetics? Heritability? how are genetics best studied what are the components of a twin study and how did twin studies help us understand genetics and heritability

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how do genes and the environment work together

Hereditary, environment, behavior ● Hereditary and environment influence every aspect of development ● behavioral genetics: field that studies the contributions of Nature and nurture to diversity and human traits and abilities ● Heritability: extent to which individual differences in a specific population are due to genetic factors ○ Kinship studies ■ Twin studies ○ Between 0.00- 1.00

Twin studies ●

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environments ○ Expected to be very similar Genes ○ Identical twins: share all genes ○ Fraternal twins: share about half genes If identical twins are more alike than fraternal twins then due to genetics Canalization: non learned skills ○ Babbling Genes turn on and off throughout development

Brain development ● If brain has too many neurons: ○ Synaptic pruning: neurons which don't form a connection with others over time die off ■ 40%

■ Kids with autism may have too many neurons ● We’re born with 100-200 billion neurons ● Cerebral cortex: largest, most complex structure of brain ○ Makes possible unique intelligence of species ○ Accounts for 85% of brains weight ○ Contains greatest number of neurons and synapses ○ Last brain structure to stop growing ■ Sensitive to environmental influences for longer than other parts ○ 4 sections ○ Different regions have specific functions ○ Developments corresponds to emerging capacities in infancy and childhood ● Frontal lobes most extended development ○ Thought: consciousness, reasoning, planning, problem solving

Laterization ● That each side of brain specialize in dif things ● Not true ● Only true for language development ○ Broca’s area- left hemisphere ■ Responsible for speech ○ Wernicke’s area- left hemisphere ■ Responsible for hearing ● Corpus callosum ○ When cut both sides can still communicate

Brain plasticity ● Infants and young children: parts of brain not yet specialized ○ Before lateralization, if part of cortex is damaged other areas can take over

○ Early experience greatly influences organization ● Older children, even adults have some plasticity

Environment and brain development ● In infants and young children, parts of brain not yet specialized ● High plasticity= high capacity for learning ○ Environmental input ■ Can restrict learning

Sensitive periods in brain development ● Stimulation vital when brain growing rapidly ● Experience expectant growth: ordinary experiences “expected” by brain to grow normally ● Experience dependent growth: additional growth as a result of specific learning experiences ○ Playing an instrument over time to generate growth/ memory ● Stimulation vital when brain is growing rapidly ○ Babies benefit from age appropriate stimulation that promotes experience expectant brain development ○ Overstimulation can harm the brain by overwhelming its neural circuits ■ Reduces sensitivity to everyday experiences needed...