PSY108 Revision Notes PDF

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PSY108 Revision Notes: Chapter 7 CHAPTER 7: Human Development 1. State the primary interest of developmental psychologists Focus on how heredity and experience interact from the begininning of life throughout the lifespan (nature vs nurture) 2. Describe physical, emotional, and cognitive development...

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PSY108 Revision Notes: Chapter 7 CHAPTER 7: Human Development 1. State the primary interest of developmental psychologists  Focus on how heredity and experience interact from the begininning of life throughout the lifespan (nature vs nurture) 2. Describe physical, emotional, and cognitive development in the early stages of human development a. Physical: Sensory abilities, Innate reflexes, Maturational timetable for motor control, Motor milestones b. Emotional: Secure attachment (separation anxiety), Insecure attachment (anxious-ambivalent, avoidant) c. Cognitive: Piaget’s stages 3. Explain Chomsky’s hypothesis that humans are born with an innate biological capacity for language acquisition  LAD – humans possess an innate ability to acquire language  Stages of language acquisition (babbling  one-word  two-word  telegraphic speech  morphemes) – Children worldwide learn their native languages in very similar stages at very similar times 4. Describe Piaget’s stages of cognitive development (4 stages) a. Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years): Children explore the world through their senses and motor abilities (sensorimotor intelligence). Object permanence and goal-directed behavior emerge, along with the beginning of symbolic thought. b. Preoperational stage (2-7 years): Children’s thought is characterized by egocentrism, animistic thinking, centration, and irreversibility. Symbolic thought continues to develop. c. Concrete operational stage (7-11 years): Children have mastered conservation and develop the ability to perform mental operations with images of concrete, tangible objects. d. Formal operational stage (12+ years): Teens and adults in this stage develop ability for abstract reasoning and hypothetical thought. 5. Describe Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development (8 stages) a. Trust vs. Mistrust (0 – 1.5 years) b. Autonomy vs. Shame or Self-doubt (1.5 – 3 years) c. Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 years) d. Industry vs. Inferiority (6 years – puberty) e. Identity vs. Role confusion (adolescence) f. Intimacy vs. Isolation (early adulthood) g. Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood) h. Ego-integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood) 6. Describe Kohlberg’s stages of moral development a. Preconventional morality (birth – 7 years) i. Egocentric pleasure/pain/profit – Avoid pain or avoid getting caught (Reward vs. Punishment) ii. Cost/benefit orientation; reciprocity – Achieve/receive rewards or mutual benefits b. Conventional morality (7-12 years) iii. “Good child” orientation – Gain acceptance, avoid disapproval (Personal relationships vs. Principle) iv. Law-and-order orientation – Follow rules, avoid penalties c. Postconventional (principled) morality (12+ years) v. Social contract orientation – Promote the welfare of one’s society (Fairness vs. Blind obedience) vi. Ethical principle orientation (e.g., Gandhi, Jesus, Mohammed) – Achieve justice, be consistent with one’s principle, avoid self-condemnation 7. Describe the physical, emotional, & social changes during adolescence a. Physical: Appearances, abilities (e.g., stamina), physiological changes (e.g., brain development, puberty, menarche, memory) b. Emotional & Social: Selective social interaction 8. Describe how cross-sectional & longitudinal research methods are used to study development a. Cross-sectional study: Type of observational study that analyzes data from a population or a representative subset at a specific point in time – Describes age differences  Pros: Demonstrates age differences in behaviour & hints at developmental trends. Takes little time to conduct & its inexpensive.  Cons: Age trends may reflect cohort effects (e.g., that generation is not so savvy therefore caused an impact in the results) rather than true developmental change. Provides no information about change in individuals over time. Different subjects used at different periods of time (many variables). b. Longitudinal study: Research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables over short or long periods of time – Describes age changes  Pros: Indicates how individuals are alike & different in the way they change over time. Can reveal links between early behaviour or experiences & later behaviour. Differences observed are less likely to be the

PSY108 Revision Notes: Chapter 7 result of cultural differences across generations. More accurate as it is able to show patterns of variables overtime.  Cons: Age trends may reflect time of measurement effects during the study rather than true developmental change. Relatively time-consuming and expensive. Meaures may later prove inadequate. Participants may either drop out or be affected by repeated testing. Less power to detect causal relationships because it is mainly observational. 9. Discuss the nature vs. nurture debate on human development a. Attachment: Nature & nurture interact in the development of attachment style  Culture (judgment of ‘ideal’ attachment style depends on prevailing values of the culture)  Primary attachment relationship serves as a working model for later important relationships  Holds equal weightage – Nature is first established before nurture comes in  Social rules of conversation: Join discussions, take turns, listen, make relevant contributions, etc.

Term Definition Developmen The psychological specialty that studies how organisms grow and tal change time as psychology PSY108 Revision Notes:over Chapter 7 the result of biological and environmental influences. The long-standing discussion Natureover the relative importance of nurture nature (heredity) and nurture issue (environment) in their influence on behavior and mental processes.

Twin study

Adoption study

Prenatal period Neonatal period

Mimicry Synchronicit y

Innate reflex

A means of separating the effects of nature and nurture by which investigators may compare identical twins to fraternal twins or compare twins separated early in life and raised in different environments. A method of separating the effect of nature and nurture by which investigators compare characteristics of adopted children with those of individuals in their biological and adoptive families. The developmental period before birth. In humans, the neonatal (newborn) period extends through the first month after birth. The imitation of other people’s behaviors. The close coordination between the gazing, vocalizing, touching, and smiling of infants and caregivers. Reflexive response present at birth.

Elaboration

Example

 Examines changes from multiple perspectives – Physical, Emotional, Cognitive, Sociocultural

 Examines how nature-nurture influences these changes  Nature: Contribution of our heredity (we are born with certain dispositions), Development is the process of maturation – according to our biological makeup of genes  Nurture: Development as a reponse to environment (physical/social surroudings, experiences)  Heredity establishes your potential, but experience determines if & how your potential will be realized  E.g. ADHD-genetic component vs. environmental causes Jim twins Identical twins have similar Minnesota twin family study genotype while fraternal twins have only 50% similar genes.

Similarities with the biological family point to the effects of nature, while similarities with the adoptive family suggest the influence of nurture.

3 phases: Germinal, Embryonic, Fetal stages Newborns have all five senses working, as well as a variety of behavioral reflexes they use to respond to and manipulate their environment. Helps the infant to survive and thrive in the environment. These early interactions, the combined result of nature (mirror neurons) and nurture (positive reinforcement gained from mimicry), form the basis for the later development of empathy.

 Postural reflex: Allows babies to sit with support  Grasping reflex: Enables them to cling to a caregiver  Rooting reflex: When newborns turn their heads towards anything that strokes their cheek (nipple/finger) and sucks it

 Stepping reflex: Lifted legs when carried (prepares baby for walking) Infancy

Sensitive period

Synaptic pruning

In humans, infancy spans the time between the end of the neonatal period and the establishment of language— usually at about 18 months to 2 years. A span of time during which the organism is especially responsive to stimuli of a particular sort. Organisms may have sensitive periods for exposure to certain hormones or chemicals; similarly, they may have sensitive periods for learning language or receiving the visual stimulation necessary for normal development of vision. The process of trimming unused brain connections, making neurons available for future development.

Stimulation must occur during a specific “window of opportunity”, else ability will not develop normally.

It will be more difficult to learn a new language in adulthood as compared to early childhood.

 This process does not

By about 11 years of age, unused connections will be pruned.

destroy the neurons themselves but instead returns them to an uncommitted state, awaiting a role in future development  Allows brain to transit information in a more efficient way

PSY108 Revision Notes: Chapter 4 CHAPTER 4: Learning and Human Nature 1. Describe learning a. Behavioural learning vs. Cognitive learning  Behavioural o Focus is on observable events (stimuli & responses) only o Learning consists of associations among stimuli & responses o Main forms of learning are habituation, classical conditioning, & operant (instrumental) conditioning  Cognitive o Inferences are made about mental processes that are not directly observable o Learning as information processing – The learner seeks useful information from stimuli o Learning also involves insight, observational learning, cognitive maps, & other more complex forms of learning b. Learning vs. Instincts (motivated behaviours that have a strong innate basis) – Behaviour is much more influenced by learning c. Simple (habituation, mere exposure effect) vs. Complex (behavioural learning) 2. Describe the process of classical conditioning  focuses on stimuli that occur before the response  takes advantage of our ability to anticipate what will happen  eliciting old responses to new stimuli  reflexes a. Before conditioning: UCS (food)  automatically elicits UCR (salivation) ; NS (tone)  no response b. During conditioning: NS (tone)  followed by UCS (food)  elicits UCR (salivation) c. After conditioning: CS (tone)  elicits CR (salivation) 3. Cite examples of extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, & discrimination

a. Extinction  Classical – Requires withholding the unconditioned stimulus (when UCS no longer follows CS, strength of CR drops to zero)  Operant – Results from withholding the reinforcer b. Spontaneous recovery (After extinction, the CR may occasionally reappear, even when UCS is still not presented; only the CS alone occurs. Reappearance of CR = spontaneous recovery) c. Generalization (Giving CR to stimuli that are similar that are similar to CS) d. Discrimation (Distinguishing between similar stimuli, & responding to only one stimulus)  Confusing stimulli may cause experimental neurosis 4. Describe the process of operant conditioning  learning depends  takes into account the influence of consequences on future behaviour  encourages new behaviour  voluntary actions a. Continuous reinforcement b. Partial (intermittent) reinforcement 5. Explain the difference between positive & negative punishment and between positive & negative reinforcement a. Positive reinforcement (adding stimulus to increase desired behaviour) b. Negative reinforcement (removing stimulus to increase desired behaviour) c. Positive punishment (adding aversive stimulus to decrease undesirable behaviour) d. Negative punishment (removing attractive stimulus to decrease undesirable behaviour) 6. Describe the different reinforcement schedules – fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, & variable interval a. FR: Brief pauses after each reinforcer is delivered

PSY108 Revision Notes: Chapter 4 b. VR: No pauses after each reinforcer is delivered c. FI: Few responses immediately after each reinforcer is delivered d. VI: Responding occurs at a fairly constant rate 7. Explain how observational learning occurs  Learning by observation and imitation can affect our behavior in new situations—when we have no personal experience. Thus, learning can occur not only by direct experience but also by watching the behavior of another person or model. If the model’s actions appear successful—that is, if the model seems to find it reinforcing—we may behave in the same way. In this way, learning by observation and imitation is an extension of operant conditioning, by which we observe someone else getting rewards but act as though we had also received a reward 8. Describe cognitive influences on learning a. Insight learning (discovery learning – understanding gained by mental processes involving perceptual reorganization) b. Latent learning (learning occurs without obvious reinforcement, & remains hidden until reinforcement is provided) c. Cognitive maps (mental representations of physical space) Term Learning

Definition A lasting change in behavior or mental processes that results from experience.

Habituation

Learning not to respond to the repeated presentation of a stimulus. A learned preference for stimuli to which we have been previously exposed.

Mere exposure effect

Behavioural learning

Classical conditioning (Pavlov)

Neutral stimulus (NS)

Uncondition ed stimulus (UCS) Uncondition ed response (UCR)

Acquisition

Forms of learning, such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning, that can be described in terms of stimuli and responses. A form of behavioral learning in which a previously NS acquires the power to elicit the same innate reflex produced by another stimulus. Any stimulus that produces no CR prior to learning. When it is brought into a conditioning experiment, the researcher will call it a CS. The assumption is that some conditioning occurs after even one pairing of the CS and UCS. In classical conditioning, UCS is the stimulus that elicits an UCR. In classical conditioning, the response elicited by an UCS without prior learning.

The initial learning stage in classical conditioning, during which the CR comes to be elicited by the CS.

Elaboration Example  Different from instincts  Simple learning – Habituation, Mere exposure effect  3 types: Classical conditioning, Operant conditioning, Cognitive learning Helps you focus on important stimuli while ignoring stimuli that need no attention.  Effectiveness of much Occurs regardless of whether advertising the stimulus was associated with something pleasurable, or  Attraction to people we often see / songs we often hear we were even aware of the stimulus.

 Form of learning in which a NS becomes associated with a stimulus which triggers an innate reflex  Focused on manipulating simple, automatic responses known as reflexes  A NS (one without any reflex-provoking power, such as a tone or a light), when paired with a natural reflex-producing stimulus (such as food), will by itself begin to elicit a learned response (salivation) similar to the original reflex  E.g., Teach a dog to salivate upon hearing a certain sound, such as the tone produced by striking a tuning fork or a bell

A stimulus that automatically provokes a reflexive/physiological response, without conditioning.  Unconditioned reflex – unlearned, innate physiological response triggered by the UCS  UCS–UCR connection is “wired in” and so involves no learning  E.g., Dogs salivating when food is received, Crying when we feel pain  Pairs NS with the UCS. After several trials, the NS will elicit the same response as does the UCS  NS will become signal for UCS when it provides reliable information about the delivery of UCS – NS presented before UCS, UCS follows NS closely in time  CR becomes elicited by the CS

PSY108 Revision Notes: Chapter 4  E.g., Dog’s salivation upon tone produced by tuning fork Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Conditioned response (CR) Extinction

In classical conditioning, a previously NS that comes to elicit the CR. Customarily, in a conditioning experiment, the NS is called a CS when it is first paired with an UCS. In classical conditioning, a response elicited by a previously NS that has become associated with the UCS. The weakening of a CR in the absence of an UCS.

Spontaneou s recovery

The unexpected reappearance of an extinguished CR after a time delay.

Stimulus generalizatio n

The extension of a learned response to stimuli that are similar to the CS.

Stimulus discriminatio n

Learning to respond to a particular stimulus but not to stimuli that are similar.

Operant conditioning

A form of behavioral learning in which the probability of a response is changed by its consequences—that is, by the stimuli that follow the response.

Law of effect (Thorndike)

The idea that responses that produced desirable results would be learned or “stamped” into the organism. A condition (involving either the presentation or removal of a stimulus) that occurs after a response and strengthens that response.

Reinforcer

Positive reinforceme nt Negative reinforceme nt

Operant chamber

 Presenting a CS repeatedly without UCS – results in a loss in responding to CS  Important for behavioural therapies  Occurs when the CR reappears after extinction and after a period without exposure to the CS  Responding to the recovered CR tends to be weaker than the original CR – easier to extinguish again A well-trained dog would  Giving a CR to stimuli that salivate in response to a tone are similar to the CS of a slightly different pitch from  The closer the stimuli is to the original, the stronger the the one used during conditioning. response Teaching dogs to distinguish Requires direct experience to between two tones of different see whether the UCS will frequencies. follow a particular stimulus or not.  Rewards (encourages  The consequences of behaviour): Money, praise, behaviour (rewards & punishments) influence the food, or high grades probability that the  Punishments (discouraes behaviour will occur again behaviour): Loss of  Accounts for a wider privileges, or low grades spectrum of behaviour  Explains new & voluntary behaviours (not just reflexive ones)  2 main forms: Reinforcement & Punishment Pets: Sitting up for a food reward or scratching at the door to be let into the house. Any stimulus that follows and strengthens a response/ behaviour.

A stimulus presented after a response and increasing the probability of that response happening again. The removal of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus, contingent on a particular behaviour. Contrast with punishment.

A boxlike apparatus that can be programmed to deliver reinforcers and punishers contingent on an animal’s

 Primary (e.g., food, water; has innate value to organism)  Secondary/conditioned (e.g., money, approval; any stimulus that has acquired reinforcing power) Receiving praise, or some kind of reward after doing homework.  Using an umbrella to avoid getting wet (unpleasant stimulus) during a downpour  Doing chores to prevent nagging from mum/roommate

Skinner’s radical behaviourism

PSY108 Revision Notes: Chapter 4 Reinforceme nt contingencie s Continuous reinforceme nt

behavior. The operant chamber is often called a “Skinner box.” Relationships between a response and the changes in stimulation that follow the response. A type of reinforcement schedule by which all correct responses are reinforced.

Partial (intermittent) reinforcem...