Developmental Psychology for IB Psych Paper 2

-Piaget's theory of cognitive development >philosophy of constructivism on the way children learn. >new knowledge is adapted to fit schemas. >researched his own children and the children of colleagues >used clinical interview: open-ended conversation; used to understand children's comprehension of certain tasks. Problem is researcher data might be biased. Children may not understand questions, have short attention spans, cannot express themselves, or try to please the experimenter. >failed to distinguish between competence (what a child is capable of doing) and performance (what a child can show when given a particular task) >Ballargeon and Devos (1991) said that infants as young as 4 months had object permanence (carrot model) while Piaget said it was accomplished at 9 months. >egocentrism; Hughes (1975) >conservation tasks were hard for children under 7 to understand but Samuel and Bryant (1984) found children could conserve under the age of 7 >Piaget saw children as independent and isolated and is criticized for failing to emphasize the role of social support and culture.

-dieting (social) >obesity rates are going up >affects cognitive development as well as body mass >Northstone (2010) monitored 4000 children in the U.K. from birth to age 8 and found children under 4 who regularly ate processed food, fat, and sugar had a lower intellectual performance at age 8 1/2. The children's IQ fell by 1.67 for every increase on the chart reflecting the amount of processed fat in their diet. >Hibblen (2007) compared two groups of women. High levels of omega 3 fatty acids vs. low levels of omega 3 fatty acids. Children of those mothers who had low seafood intake during pregnancy had lower motor skills, social development, and communication skills than children of mothers who consumed high levels of seafood. >Raloff (1989) studied 1023 6th grade children for one year and found those who were given free breakfast improved their math and science scores. -parenting (environmental) >The Michigan Department of Education (MDE, 2002) argued that the most consistent predictors of a child's academic achievement and social adjustment were parent expectations. Parents of high-achieving students=higher standards than parents of low-achieving students. This drove educational achievement, therefore a cognitive development. >Parent involvement=higher grades, test scores, and graduation rates, increased motivation and better self-esteem, better school attendance, decreased use of drugs and alcohol, lower rates of suspension, and fewer instances of violent behavior. >Tizard (1982) children who practice reading at home with parents=significant gains in reading achievement compared to those who only practice at school. Parents who read to their children=more books available and provide stimulating experiences which contribute to cognitive development.

-until the 1950's psychologists=baby become attached to primary carer because they associate them with being fed. -Bowlby broke this view >proposed attachment was important for emotional survival and protection as well. >argued infants are born to form (biologically predisposed) attachments and to seek attachment figures to protect them. >internal working model-child internalizes a working model as secure, warm, and reliable=schema for future relationships. Influenced Harlow (1962) infant monkey study. According to Bowlby, infants display an innate tendency to become attached to one particular individual=monotropy. He thought infants' tendency was qualitatively different than an attachment a child might form. >Schaffer and Emerson (1964) found infants in Glasgow had multiple attachments by 18 months. >Bowlby argued there was a critical period for attachment: first 2-3 years of life. -no bond=permanent emotional damage because children only develop socially and emotionally when an attachment provides them with feelings of security=maternal deprivation hypothesis. -Ainsworth (1965) wanted a reliable method of measuring quality of attachment using a laboratory procedure called the Stranger Situation (it is still the most commonly used method for measuring the level of attachment between infant and mother). >Security of attachment=different behaviors towards the primary caregiver and towards strangers >based on the SS, Ainsworth (1978) proposed three types of attachment: +Type A: secure attachment +Type B: insecure attachment (avoidant) +Type C: insecure attachment (resistant) >Hazen and Schaffer (1997) correlation between infants attachment type and future approach to romantic relationships; created love quiz. Pt 1: measurement of attachment type (checklist of relationship with parents then parents' relationship with each other). Pt 2: Love experience questionnaire asked about beliefs of romantic love. Analyzed 620 people aged 14-82 and found a strikingly high correlation between infant attachment types and adult romantic love styles (e.g. secure=happy, friendly, trusting; avoidant=fear intimacy, jealousy, believed didn't need love to be happy, emotional highs and lows; resistant=obsession, desire for reciprocation, jealousy, emotional highs and lows, worry over abandonment).

-Bowlby- disruption in child=maternal deprivation -44 Thieves- Bowlby (1944) aim was to see effects of maternal deprivation on people to see whether or not delinquents have suffered deprivation. Procedure: between 1936 and 1939 opportunity sample of 88 children were selected from a clinic. Half were juvenile thieves referred to him because of stealing. 14 were affectionless psychopaths. Other half were controls with emotional problems but not displaying antisocial behavior. IQ tests were taken and social workers interviewed the parents of each child about the child's early life and then interviewed child and parent. Results: 86% of psychopaths experienced a long period of maternal separation before age of 5. Only 17% of thieves not diagnosed as psychopaths experienced this. Only 2 of the control group experienced long separation in the first 5 years. In conclusion, he was correct. Deprivation=permanent emotional damage. Diagnosed the condition as affectionless psychopathy=lack of concern for others, lack of guilt, and lack of emotional development and ability to form lasting relationships. >case study so it can't be generalized, correlational, non-experimental, ethical issues -Genie; Curtiss (1977)

-resilience refers to the process of, capacity for, or outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging or threatening circumstances. > resilience in child= high protective factors and low risk factors >risk factors (parent conflict, family breakdown, poverty, social isolation, criminal family background, belonging to minority group)= increased probability of problems in later life not necessarily negative outcomes (school failure, criminal involvement, poor social relationships later in life, psychiatric problems). It is less significant which RF are present but how many are present. >protective factors (intelligence, temperament, secure attachments, authoritative parents, socio-economic resources, and social support) >Kauai longitudinal study; Werner and Smith (1998) involved multi-racial cohort of 698 children born in 1955 studied at six intervals between the ages of 1 and 40. 30% experienced a cluster of risk factors; 2/3 of 30% experienced four more risk factors. Researchers identified risk factors: poverty, low maternal education, and parent desertion. Discovered serious learning or behavioral problems at age 8. Delinquency, mental health problems, and teenage pregnancy at age 18. 1/3 of 30% did not show any of the negative outcomes so researchers argued protective factors. 1/3 developed into confident, competent, and caring adults who were successful. -strategies to build resilience: protective factors-belonging (feeling valued), usefulness (feeling needed), potency (feeling powered), and optimism (feeling encouraged and hopeful), <government programs- Head Start programs, afterschool programs, home-visit programs, teen mother parent education

Biological Theories- assumes gender differences and therefore gender roles are a result of sex differences in biological processes >chromosomes >hormones-testosterone= gender role in children, women=higher oxytocin levels Gorski (1985)- injected female rats with testosterone=masculine effects (enlarged clitoris and masculine behavior) > David Reimer > much of research is correlational, no direction of casualty ex. high testosterone= high risk behavior is bidirectional Social Learning Theory >Bandura- gender roles because of child's experiences, not biology, children strive for behaviors=rewarded and avoid behaviors= punished >Dweck (1978)- told boys to strive for getting this right and told girls to work neatly > theory does not explain the degree of difference in which individual boys and girls conform to gender roles, so gender is passively acquired > Gender identity involves cognitive and biological and environmental factors Gender schema theory >theory is based on assumption that early cognitive processes play a key role in gender development >Martin and Halvorson (1978)- children formed cognitive schemas about gender when they are able to discover and categorize their own sex (basic gender identity; 2-3 years old) motivates them to learn about sexes and start building gender schemas. They construct an in-group schema and an out=group schema. Schema=characterization of objects, behaviors, and traits. Focus leads to "own sex" schema-gather more details about in-group. Children are more likely to encode and remember information consistent with their gender schema and to either forget or distort schema-inconsistent information. >Martin and Halvorson (1983)- sample of boys and girls 5-6. Showed pictures of male and females in activities either gender consistent or inconsistent. A week later children distorted the scene saying they remembered only gender consistent behavior. Evaluation: gives insight as to why inaccurate/stereotyped schemas persist. Cohen-too broad; don't know how they develop. These factors alone cannot fully account for development; use all three. 1. Biological development=birth. 2. Sex influences treatment. 3. Gender typing=reinforcement of same-sex activities. By 3 years, child forms basic gender identity=development of gender schemas.

-Cross cultural studies of gender can help determine to what extent culture plays a role in creation and maintenance of gender roles. -Most research=argument that gender roles are universal and therefore possibly biological. -Some research=gender roles are a learned phenomena and that culture is a socializing agent. >Traditional cultures distinguish between men's and women's work. Mead's (1935) study shows that labor division is not the same in all cultures, challenging the view that gender roles are biological and universal. In his study, both males and females in Munduguomour displayed masculine behavior (aggressiveness, competitive, emotionally unresponsive, little interest in children) in contrast Arapesh everyone was warm, emotional, and gentle (men and women shared tasks). In Tchambuli were opposite of traditional gender roles (men gossiped and discussed adornments while women were responsible for food, clothes, and tool production). >Barry Bacon and Child (1991) studied socialization pressures in 110 non-industrialized countries. Considered five characteristics: nurturance, responsibility, obedience, achievement, self-reliance. Found widespread universal patterns in gender roles. Boys=instrumental. Girls=expressive. 75% expected girls to be more nurturing. 55% expected girls to be responsible. 79% emphasized achievement in boys. 77% expected more self-reliance in boys. -Culture has changed over the last fifty years. >Reinicke (2006) revealed young Danish fathers=close contact with baby and take part in caring of child; supports Mead's argument that gender role differences reflect cultural norms and expectations.

-In Western world, it is described as the period of life from puberty to adulthood (12-20). >characterized by marked psychological and physiological changes >biological transition most observable sign=individual becomes capable of sexual reproduction >timing of physical maturation varies widely >two types of changes: primary sex characteristics and secondary sex characteristics

-physical changes affect the way adolescents perceive him or herself beginning the exploration of their identity-physical, sexual, and psychological. -positive self identity can be dependent on positive adjustment to physical changes of puberty. Girls and boys adjust differently. -Simmons and Blyth (1987)- cultural ideal hypothesis: puberty brings boys closer to his physical idea through growth in height and muscle but takes girls further away from the prevailing lean female ideal through increased tissue fat. >media subjects girls to highly valued images of an extremely thin body so in order to have a positive adjustment, females assess changes in their body on whether or not they are becoming more or less physically attractive. Body is far from the cultural ideal of slimness=less attractive=negative image and low self-esteem. Boys evaluate themselves in terms of body efficiency and physical ability. Since boys tend to develop in height and muscle (strength) dissatisfaction is usually low. -link to physical changes is the development of sexual identity=matter of understanding one's sexual feelings, attractions, and behaviors. Savin Williams (1998) may remain unconscious for some while for others it is a period of experimentation and exploration. -not all adolescents can explore their sexuality because of social and cultural norms' influence >2008 study conducted by YouGov found 20% of 14-17 surveyed had their first sexual experience at 13 and under. Other cultures are very restrictive and do not allow sexual exploration.

-Erikson's life stages: believed we all go through eight stages in our lives; in each stage we face a crisis which needs to be resolved to enable development. >stage 5 is most relevant to adolescence >identity vs. role confusion +main challenge of adolescence is to form a clear sense of identity +can be done by career, sexual orientation, personal beliefs and values +there are strong social pressures to behavior like an adult, which makes it challenging to establish identities +dur