Child Psychology seeks to answer two basic questions (1) Developmental changes: Describing the...

Child Psychology seeks to answer two basic questions

(1) Developmental changes: Describing the changes that children go through at different ages.

BASIC DESCRIPTION AND OBSERVATION; E.G., CHANGES IN CHILDREN'S PLAY FROM SOLITARY PLAY TO PARALLEL PLAY TO PLAYING GAMES WITH RULES

(2) What are the underlying processes that result in change? For example, what strategies do children use to achieve new skills and behaviors? Cooperation is a social strategy that facilitates interaction with peers. At a deeper level, developmental psychologists want to know how important genes and environments are: THE NATURE/NURTURE CONTROVERSY

SCIENCE AND HUMAN INTERESTSScientists see children through the lenses of their theories. Scientists

are often not disinterested observers of children; they are often influenced by:

a.) Political beliefs e.g., a leftist egalitarian bias that everyone is born with the same potential; or a conservative bias toward saying that science supports the rationality of traditional sex roles.

b.) Ethnic agendas: e.g., some scientific issues, such as whether there are racial differences in intelligence, have political implications. This is why books like The Bell Curve by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray are so controversial.

SCIENCE AND HUMAN INTERESTS

c.) Career goals: doing research that is likely to be funded by government

grants; doing research that is likely to lead to tenure. It's a bad idea for an assistant professor to begin focus

his or her research on politically incorrect research.

d.) Moral agendas: many developmental psychologists want to help

children; these people are meliorists: they want to make the world a better place, but this often makes them subscribe to theories that people can be easily changed by the environment.

ARE SCIENTISTS BIASED???

Scientist Child

See: L. A. Times article “Bias in Social Science” EXAMPLES OF INTENSELY CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES DEALT

WITH IN THIS COURSE: (1) RACE AND IQ (CH. 10) (2) GENETIC INFLUENCES ON INTELLIGENCE (CH. 2 AND CH. 10) (2) SEX DIFFERENCES (CH. 13) (3) EFFECTS OF DAY CARE (CH. 11)

Theories and Data

Themes of Development

Major theories take a position on these themes; e.g., Nature vs. Nurture

Main theoretical views guide research

Themes of Development: Biological versus Environmental Influences: 1. Nature vs. Nurture

1.) Biological versus Environmental Influences John Watson, early 20th century: Environment is

everything. Arnold Gesell in the 1930s: Development determined

by an 'inner timetable which is produced by genes. Gesell is a Maturationist

Maturation = Genetically determined process of growth at unfolds naturally over development. Think of cognitive ability as growing just like children grow in height.

SINCE 1980, MORE EMPHASIS ON NATURE, BUT A GREAT DEAL OF CONTROVERSY.

Eight Themes of Development: 1. Biological versus Environmental Influences: Nature vs. Nurture

Most psychologists now tend to be interactionists: E.g., there are interactions between the child's genetic tendencies toward aggression and the child's being exposed to violence on TV. Violent TV has a greater effect on children who are genetically inclined toward aggression.

Themes of Development: 2. Qualitative Versus Qualitative Change

QUANTITATIVE CHANGE: A MEASURABLE CHANGE OF AMOUNT (E.G., CHANGES IN HEIGHT, OR CHANGES IN LEARNING) ASSOCIATED WITH NON-STAGE THEORIES; (When you learn something new you don't become a different person; you have simply added to your knowledge in a quantitative way.)

QUALITATIVE CHANGE: A CHANGE OF TYPE (E.G., THE CHANGE FROM A CATERPILLAR TO A BUTTERFLY) ASSOCIATED WITH STAGE THEORIES; QUALITATIVE CHANGES ARE FUNDAMENTAL, REORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES.

Themes of Development: 2. Qualitative Versus Qualitative Change

Whether development involves quantitative or qualitative change depends on the power of the lens we use in examining changes across development." If we look over a long period of time

(several years), the differences seem large, qualitative and step-like.

If we look over a short period of time (a few months), the differences are small, quantitative and smooth.

Themes of Development: 3. Connectedness versus Disconnectedness

DEVELOPMENT IS CONNECTED IF THE SAME PROCESSES PERSIST THROUGH DEVELOPMENT (QUANTITATIVE CHANGE) Learning, attraction to novelty Process may be elaborated, but it is not a

new process.

DEVELOPMENT IS DISCONNECTED IF NEW PROCESSES EMERGE AT DIFFERENT AGES (QUALITATIVE CHANGE)

Puberty, stage shifts in cognitive ability

Themes of Development: 4. Smooth, gradual change versus step-like, abrupt change

SMOOTH CHANGE (ASSOCIATED WITH NON-STAGE THEORIES

Themes of Development: 4. Smooth, gradual change versus step-like, abrupt change

Step-Like Change(Associated with Stage Theories)

Formal Operational

Concrete Operational

Preoperational Stage

Sensorimotor Stage

Themes of Development 2-4 define Continuity and Discontinuity

Continuity: each new event builds on earlier experiences in orderly way or gradual improvement.

Change is Quantitative, Connected, and Smooth

Discontinuity: development occurs in discrete steps or stages; each stage is qualitatively new set of behaviors

Change is Qualitative, Disconnected, and Step-Like

Themes of Development: 5. Normative versus Ideographic Development

NORMATIVE DEVELOPMENT: THE UNIVERSAL COMMONALITIES OF CHILDREN'S DEVELOPMENT (E.G., WALKING, TALKING, STAGES);

OFTEN VIEWED AS RESULTING FROM BIOLOGICAL UNIVERSALS (E.G., ARNOLD GESELL);

IDIOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT: DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

SOURCE OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES CAN BE NATURE AND/OR NURTURE;

ALL POLITICIZED CONTROVERSY IN PSYCHOLOGY INVOLVES INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Themes of Development: 6. Active, passive, and transactional models

A. ACTIVE: CHILD ACTIVELY APPROACHES, EXPLORES, OR INFLUENCES ENVIRONMENT A CURIOUS CHILD EXPLORES A NEW TOY A CHILD GENETICALLY PRONE TO AGGRESSION

PICKS FIGHTS AND LIKES VIOLENT TV

Child → Environment


B. TRANSACTIONAL MODEL:

CHILD INFLUENCES ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENT INFLUENCES CHILD; LIKE A CONVERSATION.

PREMATURE CHILD IS EXTREMELY IRRITABLE; THIS MAKES CAREGIVING DIFFICULT AND RESULTS IN FRUSTRATED PARENT; PARENT MORE LIKELY TO ABUSE CHILD

A CHILD GENETICALLY PRONE TO AGGRESSION PROVOKES STRONG DISCIPLINE FROM PARENT, MAKING HIM MORE AGGRESSIVE

C → E → C → E


C. PASSIVE: CHILD PASSIVELY INFLUENCED BY ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES; REINFORCEMENT IN CLASSICAL BEHAVIORISM NORMAL CHILD IS ABUSED BY CRAZY PARENTE → C

NO ONE MODEL IS CORRECT. DIFFERENT DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES ARE BETTER DESCRIBED BY DIFFERENT MODELS. THIS IS THE CASE WITH ALL OF THESE ISSUES. HOWEVER, MOST PSYCHOLOGISTS DE-EMPHASIZE

THE PASSIVE MODEL.

Themes of Development: 7. Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation INTRINSIC: DOING THINGS FOR THEIR

OWN SAKE E.G., STUDYING BECAUSE YOU'RE

INTERESTED EXTRINSIC: DOING THINGS IN ORDER TO

GAIN REWARDS OR AVOID PUNISHMENTS E.G., STUDYING TO AVOID PUNISHMENT

Theoretical Perspectives on Development

Two functions of theories Help integrate information into coherent,

interesting, plausible accounts of how children develop.

Social learning theory

Generate testable hypotheses or predictions about child behavior

Example: Evolutionary theory predicts males more prone to dominance and risk taking.

Piagetian (Cognitive Developmental) Theory

1.) DEVELOPMENT THE RESULT OF QUALITATIVE CHANGES IN THE STRUCTURE OF CHILDREN'S THINKING.

2.) COGNITIVE STRUCTURE = AN INTERRELATED SYSTEM OF KNOWLEDGE THAT GUIDES BEHAVIOR EXAMPLE: SCHEME = A COGNITIVE STRUCTURE OF

INFANCY; A SCHEME CONSISTS OF SKILLED, FLEXIBLE ACTION

PATTERNS THROUGH WHICH CHILD UNDERSTANDS THE WORLD;

BALL SCHEME INCLUDES WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH A BALL, ETC.;

SCHEME OF BALL CHANGES OVER DEVELOPMENT IN A QUALITATIVE MANNER


3.) FUNCTIONS: INNATE BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES UNDERLYING COGNITION a.) ORGANIZATION: THE INNATE NEED TO MAKE

SENSE OF WORLD AND INTEGRATE NEW INFORMATION WITH OLD

b.) ASSIMILATION: INTERPRETING NEW EXPERIENCES IN TERMS OF EXISTING COGNITIVE STRUCTURES

c.) ACCOMMODATION: CHANGING EXISTING COGNITIVE STRUCTURES TO FIT WITH NEW EXPERIENCES


Adapt to newinformation

AccommodationAssimilation

Reinterpret new experiences so they fit into old ideas – existing ideas don’t change, stay same

Revamp old ideas so they can adapt to new – change current ways of thinking/ideas so as to add new knowledge


4.) CONSTRUCTIVISM: CHILDREN CREATE THEIR OWN WORLDS; INTERPRET WORLD AS FUNCTION OF THEIR STAGE. A stage is like having a pair of colored glasses: It makes you see the world differently;


5.) METHOD: CLINICAL METHOD: A SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW AIMED AT GETTING AT HOW THE CHILD IS THINKING

Piagetian (Cognitive Developmental) Theory 6.) EGOCENTRISM: CHILDREN TEND TO HAVE DIFFICULTY

SEEING THINGS FROM OTHERS' POINTS OF VIEW. E.g., 4-year-old can’t understand other child’s point of

view about a toy they both want, or thinks that a visual display will look the same from a different viewpoint.

WITH AGE, CHILDREN GRADUALLY DECENTER, but even we adults are somewhat egocentric.


7.) YOUNG CHILDREN ARE LESS FLEXIBLE IN THEIR THINKING; e.g., moral rules are absolute: “Stealing is bad,” Sex roles are absolute: “Girls wear dresses”; there are

no exceptions.

Piaget’s Periods of Cognitive Development

Birth to 2 years

Sensori-motor Uses senses and motor skills, items known by use

Object permanence learned

2-6 yrs Pre-operational

Symbolic thinking, language used; egocentric thinking

Imagination/ experience grow, child de-centers

7-11 yrs Concrete operational

Logic applied, has objective/rational interpretations

Conservation, numbers, ideas, classifications

12 yrs to adulthood

Formal operational

Thinks abstractly, hypothetical ideas (broader issues)

Ethics, politics, social/moral issues explored

Focus on organization and adaptation


8.) CRITERIA FOR A STAGE ACCORDING TO PIAGET: a.) QUALITATIVE CHANGE; b.) UNIVERSAL c. INVARIANT SEQUENCE d.) STRUCTURED WHOLE:


Structured Whole: CHILDREN IN A PARTICULAR STAGE THINK THE SAME WAY ABOUT MORALITY AND THEIR FRIENDS AS THEY THINK ABOUT STICKS AND STONES. This happens because children's cognitive mechanisms

develop in sync with each other. At any age there is a sort of stereotypical way that children

think. You might say of a child that he "thinks like a four year old".

According to Piaget, children exhibit the same strengths and weaknesses in their thinking no matter what the subject matter;

Whether a child is thinking about what makes something morally good or what happens when you pour water from a tall, thin beaker into a short, fat beaker, the same age typical mechanisms are on display.


Stages are therefore DOMAIN GENERAL as opposed to DOMAIN SPECIFIC. Domain specific mechanisms take in only a very narrow and

specific range of information and each mechanism is designed to solve a very specific problem.

For example, one aspect of the human fear system is that it is designed to respond to images of snakes with fear.

This system is designed to deal with information on snakes in a reflexive way but does not respond to other stimuli (e.g., tasty food).

Domain general mechanisms are not restricted to a narrow range of information and are not designed to solve any particular problem.

Stages are domain general because they are are very general mechanisms designed to solve a wide range of problems--in fact, all the problems the child encounters, from morality, to religion, to figuring out the properties of sets of objects.


Stages are therefore DOMAIN GENERAL as opposed to DOMAIN SPECIFIC. Domain specific mechanisms take in only a very narrow and specific range of

information and each mechanism is designed to solve a very specific problem.

For example, one aspect of the human fear system is that it is designed to respond to images of snakes with fear.

This system is designed to deal with information on snakes in a reflexive way but does not respond to other stimuli (e.g., tasty food).

Domain general mechanisms are not restricted to a narrow range of information and are not designed to solve any particular problem.

Stages are domain general because they are are very general mechanisms designed to solve a wide range of problems--in fact, all the problems the child encounters, from morality, to religion, to figuring out the properties of sets of objects.

The next section of the course will deal with evolutionary psychology which emphasizes domain specific mechanisms and even denies the existence of domain general mechanisms. And after that, I will present a perspective that shows that the domain specific perspective can be combined with the domain general perspective.

Standing of Piagetian (Cognitive Developmental) Theory on the seven developmental issues

1.) NATURE-NURTURE: INTERACTION BETWEEN CHILD AND ENVIRONMENT; ABILITIES SUCH AS ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION ARE INNATE; BUT DEVELOPMENT OCCURS BECAUSE THE CHILD CONSTANTLY MUST ACCOMMODATE TO NEW ENVIRONMENTS

2.) DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES QUALITATIVE CHANGES: COMPLETE RE-ORGANIZATION WITH NEW STAGE.

Standing of Piagetian (Cognitive Developmental) Theory on the seven developmental issues

3. DEVELOPMENT IS DISCONNECTED: NEW PROCESSES COME ON LINE AS CHILD ENTERS NEW STAGE.

4. DEVELOPMENT IS STEP-LIKE AND ABRUPT.

Standing of Piagetian (Cognitive Developmental) Theory on

the seven developmental issues

5.) CULTURAL UNIVERSALS (NORMATIVE DEVELOPMENT) ARE EMPHASIZED: ALL CHILDREN GO THROUGH THE STAGES

6.) ACTIVE CHILD: CHILD IS INNATELY CURIOUS AND EXPLORATORY

7.) MOTIVATION IS INTRINSIC; CHILD ENJOYS FIGURING OUT THE WORLD

Learning Theories: Behaviorism

Behaviorism: focuses on learning of behavior, not unobservable factors or motivations

Classical Conditioning: Pavlov’s dogs; Watson classically conditions fear of rats in a baby.

Operant Conditioning: Skinner’s pigeons

Learning Theories: Cognitive Social Learning Theory: Albert Bandura

Cognitive Social Learning Theory: children learn through operant and classical conditioning, from observation and imitation of role models, and verbal instructions

VICARIOUS CONSEQUENCES: CONSEQUENCES OF A MODEL'S BEHAVIOR THAT AFFECTS THE OBSERVER (VICARIOUS REWARD AND VICARIOUS PUNISHMENT


ACQUISITION/PERFORMANCE DISTINCTION:

1.) CHILDREN EXPOSED TO AGGRESSIVE MODELS WHO WERE REWARDED OR PUNISHED FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR;

2.) CHILDREN IMITATED REWARDED AGGRESSION BUT NOT PUNISHED AGGRESSION;

3.) CHILDREN WERE LATER ABLE TO IMITATE THE PUNISHED BEHAVIORS IF REWARDED TO DO SO;

CONCLUSION: ACQUISITION IS INDEPENDENT OF PERFORMANCE


METHOD: LABORATORY ANALOG EXPERIMENT; FIND ANALOG OF REAL WORLD BEHAVIOR THAT CAN BE STUDIED IN THE LABORATORY

CRITIQUE: IS ANALOG EXPERIMENT ECOLOGICALLY VALID?

I.E., CAN ONE EXTRAPOLATE RESULTS OBTAINED IN LABORATORY TO REAL WORLD; E. G., AGGRESSION

Fig. 1-2Matching Behavior

Attention

Retention

Reproduction

Motivation

Modeled Behavior


GENERAL CRITICISM: IS SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY A DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY? WHY IS AGE IMPORTANT? Bandura would argue that age is indeed relevant because age affects that processes that are involved in social learning. Bandura proposes four processes as relevant to social learning: Attention, Retention, Production, and Motivation. All of these undergo age changes; they all develop.


1. Attention: Children gradually improve in their ability to pay attention. This affects social learning because they pay better

attention to models. One couldn't lecture to kindergartners and expect them to pay attention.

2. Retention: Children gradually improve their ability to remember things they have seen or experienced. This affects social learning because children are better

able to remember what models did.


3. Production: Children's abilities gradually improve. This means that they are able to produce more of what

they see and try to imitate. Obviously, young children can't imitate behaviors that they are physically unable to reproduce any more than I can dunk a basketball just by watching someone else do it.

4. Motivation: Motivation changes as children get older. For example, older children are probably more concerned

about how others see them and more motivated to be socially acceptable. This might affect what types of models they would pay special attention to. A teenager might pay special attention to the behavior of other kids who are seen as cool.

Fig. 1-2Matching Behavior

Attention

Retention

Reproduction

Motivation

Modeled Behavior

Standing of Cognitive Social Learning Theory on the seven developmental issues

1.) NATURE vs. NURTURE: CSLT PROPOSES ALL INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES ARE DUE TO DIFFERENT LEARNING CONTINGENCIES; i.e., NURTURE

2.) DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES QUANTITATIVE CHANGES: Children know more stuff as they get older.

Standing of Cognitive Social Learning Theory on the seven developmental issues

3. Development is connected: There are no new processes but simply elaboration of old processes.

4. DEVELOPMENT IS STEP-LIKE AND ABRUPT.

Standing of Cognitive Social Learning Theory on the Seven Developmental Issues

5.) EMPHASIS ON IDIOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT: Why is one child more aggressive than another?

6.) CLASSICAL BEHAVIORISM VIEWED CHILD AS PASSIVE; HOWEVER, CSLT SEES THE CHILD AS 'MODERATELY ACTIVE' BECAUSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF CERTAIN CHILD CHARACTERISTICS IN AFFECTING HOW CHILDREN PROCESS THE ENVIRONMENT (ATTENTION, RETENTION, PRODUCTION, MOTIVATION)

7.) MOTIVATION IS EXTRINSIC; CHILD LEARNS IN ORDER

TO GET REWARDS OR AVOID PUNISHMENT.

DYNAMIC SYSTEMS THEORY

DST sees child development as a system of interacting parts. This is most like the transactional model mentioned above: everything affects everything else and it's all very complicated. The child is constantly changing the environment and the environment is constantly changing the child.

Dynamic Systems Theory

Dynamic Systems Theory

Example: The family: if parents have a bad relationship, it may have effects on the child. Child psychologists often want to bring the whole family in if

one child is having a problem; dad's drinking problem affects family finances and mom's mood, resulting in harsher punishment and fewer opportunities like after-school tutoring.

So all these things affect the child: everything affects everything else.

The child inherits not only the parents' genes but also the parents' environment and from the moment of conception they are constantly

interacting.

Dynamic Systems Theory Characteristics of Systems Theory (from Table 1-2). The ones I

emphasize are: 1.) Complexity: Each part of the system is unique but related to

the other parts of the system. Example: Family members 2.) Wholeness and Organization: The whose system is more than

the sum of its parts. Its collective behavior can be described in terms that do not necessarily apply to the system's parts and their interrelationships. To study a family, you must do more than study an the characteristics of each member separately and the relationships between them, but the organization of all family relationships and the whole family as an interacting unit. See example above.

3.) Equifinality: Although the dynamics of certain kinds of systems may be quite different, over time they tend to develop similarities. Family systems across different societies share many common characteristics (like parental affection), but the particular customs of a culture may dictate quite different expressions of these charateristics (giving a child a car as a graduation present in the U.S. versus giving a child a bow and arrow in New Guinea.

Theoretical Perspectives on Development: Ethology: Konrad Lorenz, Niko Tinbergen

CLASSICAL ETHOLOGICAL THEORY: Ethology studies the behavior of animals and humans from an evolutionary perspective

BEHAVIOR AS AN ADAPTATION (HAS SURVIVAL VALUE) ADAPTATION = A BEHAVIOR OR

MORPHOLOGICAL FEATURE DESIGNED BY NATURAL SELECTION IN ORDER TO PERFORM A PARTICULAR FUNCTION

EXAMPLE: ATTACHMENT IS A BEHAVIORAL SYSTEM DESIGNED BY NATURAL SELECTION TO KEEP THE BABY CLOSE TO ITS MOTHER

Animals have thousands of adaptations.

Theoretical Perspectives on Development: Ethology

MUCH OF ANIMAL BEHAVIOR IS INSTINCTIVE INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOR = :

1.) BEHAVIOR OCCURS IN ALL MEMBERS OF SPECIES (= SPECIES-TYPICAL BEHAVIOR) 2.) NO LEARNING REQUIRED; OFTEN BEHAVIOR CAN DEVELOP WITHOUT ANIMAL EVER EXPERIENCING OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SPECIES 3.) STEREOTYPED BEHAVIOR


Example: Spider webs. All spiders of a certain species are able to spin their particular type of web. They don't learn this by classical conditioning, operant

conditioning, or social learning.

Young spiders may never see other members of the same species, but they are able to spin a web as soon as necessary when they reach the appropriate developmental stage.

Their webs all look basically alike; they are stereotyped.


Ethology emphasize how animal’s behavior is adapted to the context (evolutionary contextualism). BEHAVIOR IS ELICITED IN PARTICULAR

CONTEXTS: E.G., AN ANIMAL MAY BE AGGRESSIVE ONLY DURING MATING SEASON, OR ONLY WITH OTHER MALES


FIXED OR MODAL ACTION PATTERN (FAP): A SEQUENCE OF BEHAVIORS ELICITED BY A SPECIFIC STIMULUS; E.G. AGGRESSION IN FIGHTING FISH. When the fighting fish sees the red belly of

another male during breeding season while he is defending his territory, he will attack in a stereotyped manner. There are a great many such examples, ranging from mating rituals to parenting behaviors.


INNATE RELEASING MECHANISM (IRM): AN IRM IS A MECHANISM THAT TRIGGERS AN INNATE SEQUENCE OR PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR AS A RESULT OF PERCEIVING A STIMULUS; E.G., RED BELLY OF ANOTHER MALE TRIGGERS

AGGRESSION IN FIGHTING FISH. \

IF IRM PRESENT, THEN FAP WILL BE EMITTED.

THE IRM IS A PHYSIOLOGICAL MECHANISM IN THE FISH. IT RESPONDS TO A CERTAIN STIMULUS, SUCH AS THE RED BELLY OF ANOTHER MALE, AND TRIGGERS A PARTICULAR BEHAVIORAL SEQUENCE, IN THIS CASE, AGGRESSION.


LIKE COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY, ETHOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNIVERSALS OF DEVELOPMENT (NORMATIVE DEVELOPMENT: ALL CHILDREN DEVELOP THE BASIC EMOTIONS

IN THE SAME SEQUENCE IN ALL CULTURES: JOY, SADNESS, DISTRESS, ANGER, FEAR, ETC.


METHODOLOGY: NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION; STRONGLY OPPOSED TO LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS UNTIL BASIC NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION COMPLETED. This was a major departure from both

Cognitive Social Learning Theory (lab based experiments) and Cognitive Developmental Theory (interviews)


IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF ETHOLOGY: 1.) NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION 2.) THINK OF CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR AS

INCLUDING A SET OF BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS FOR SURVIVAL OVER EVOLUTIONARY TIME

3.) STUDY BEHAVIORS THAT ALSO OCCUR IN ANIMALS (DOMINANCE, AGGRESSION, ATTACHMENT, early parent-offspring relationships)

4.) FOCUS ON NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR: EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS, THREAT GESTURES, POSTURE, ETC.

5.) CRITICAL PERIOD OR SENSITIVE PERIOD.

Theoretical Perspectives on Development: Ethology: Sensitive or Critical Periods

DEFINITION: A PERIOD IN DEVELOPMENT WHEN ORGANISM IS MOST OPEN TO ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES (I. E., HAS GREATEST PLASTICITY) HIGH

PLASTICITY LOW ______________________________ AGE

EXAMPLES OF CRITICAL OR SENSITIVE PERIODS: IMPRINTING IN DUCKS; ATTACHMENT IN HUMANS; EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENT ON IQ(?) PRENATAL EFFECTS OF TERATOGENS (E.G., ALCOHOL) ON BABIES

Sensitive Periods for Teratogens

Ethology: Sensitive or Critical Periods: Orphaned Baby Hippo adopts Turtle as Mom



EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY LEDA COSMIDES AND JOHN TOOBY

INTERESTED IN 'NATURAL COMPETENCIES'; i.e., ABILITIES TO SEE, SPEAK, FIND SOMEONE BEAUTIFUL, FEAR DISEASE, FALL IN LOVE, RECIPROCATE A FAVOR, EXPERIENCE MORAL OUTRAGE.

These are universals—aspects of normative development. All people have these abilities. Not interested in individual differences—why one child is

nicer or more aggressive than another

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY LEDA COSMIDES AND JOHN TOOBY

THESE ACTITIVIES ARE SUPPORTED BY A HETEROGENEOUS ARRAY OF COMPLEX COMPUTATIONAL MACHINERY; i.e., A SET OF MENTAL ADAPTATIONS THAT EVOLVED TO SOLVE PARTICULAR ADAPTIVE PROBLEMS IN THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT OF EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTEDNESS (EEA). EEA = ENVIRONMENT OF EVOLUTIONARY ADAPTEDNESS =

ENVIRONMENT WHICH HUMANS EVOLVED IN AND WHICH PRESENTED THE SET OF PROBLEMS THAT WERE SOLVED BY THE SET OF HUMAN ADAPTATIONS.

EXAMPLE: ATTACHMENT IS AN ADAPTATION THAT SOLVED THE PROBLEM PRESENTED BY AN ANCESTRAL ENVIRONMENT WITH PREDATORS AND OTHER DANGERS TO INFANTS. THIS ANCESTRAL ENVIRONMENT IS THE HUMAN EEA.

Levels of an Evolutionary Analysis

ADAPTIVE PROBLEM: Males must discriminate appropriate mate

↕COGNITIVE PROGRAM: Find young healthy women

attractive

↕NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS: Brain mechanism

responsible for positive appraisal of healthy, young female

Levels of an Evolutionary Analysis

• EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY'S RESEARCH PROGRAM: INFERENCES CAN BE MADE FROM ONE LEVEL TO ANOTHER.

• THEORIES OF ADAPTIVE PROBLEMS (e.g., women must discriminate appropriate mate) GUIDE SEARCH FOR COGNITIVE PROGRAMS AND ULTIMATELY FOR A NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS.

• Finding a cognitive program for detecting cheaters might lead one to ask what adaptive problem it solves and what neuropsychological program produces it.

EP REJECTS THE STANDARD SOCIAL SCIENCE MODEL (SSSM)

SSSM: MIND IS BLANK SLATE: THE ONLY EVOLVED STRUCTURES ARE GENERAL PURPOSE LEARNING DEVICES; Cosmides and Tooby attack an extreme position — the

position that there are no specialized systems in the human mind. They term this the Standard Social Science Model. Still, there are probably more than a few psychologists who accept the SSSM.

THE CONTENT OF THE HUMAN MIND IS NOT PRE-DETERMINED OR INFLUENCED BY OUR EVOLUTIONARY PAST IN PSYCHOLOGY: LOCKE AND HUME, WATSON AND

SKINNER, TO MODERN SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY (BANDURA)

IN ANTHROPOLOGY: 'CULTURAL DETERMINISM' -- THE BOASIAN SCHOOL

EP REJECTS THE STANDARD SOCIAL SCIENCE MODEL (SSSM)

The SSSM proposes that the same basic mechanisms are responsible

LEARNING LANGUAGE RECOGNIZING EMOTIONS NEGOTIATING FRIENDSHIPS FALLING IN LOVE DEALING WITH CHILDREN

EP fundamentally rejects this premise Different mechanisms are responsible for different

tasks.

EP: Different Tools for different tasks;SSSM: One tool for all tasks

The Swiss Army Knife Analogy

FIVE PRINCIPLES OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY

(1) THE BRAIN IS A PHYSICAL SYSTEM. IT FUNCTIONS AS A COMPUTER DESIGNED TO GENERATE BEHAVIOR APPROPRIATE TO YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Like Innate Releasing Mechanism in ethology The psychological mechanism is responsive to

particular environmental contingencies. If E1 occurs, do x; if E2 occurs, do y.


(2) OUR NEURAL CIRCUITS WERE DESIGNED BY NS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS THAT OUR ANCESTORS FACED DURING HUMAN EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.

EXAMPLE: HUMANS AND DUNG FLIES RESPOND DIFFERENTLY TO FECES.

MORAL: ENVIRONMENTS DO NOT SPECIFY APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR; BRAIN VIA NS DOES.

BRAIN IS NATURALLY CONSTRUCTED COMPUTATIONAL SYSTEM WHOSE FUNCTION IS TO SOLVE ADAPTIVE INFORMATION PROCESSING PROBLEMS.

ADAPTIVE PROBLEMS ARE (a) RECURRENT IN OUR EVOLUTIONARY PAST;

Natural selection can only work on problems that occur repeatedly over very long periods of time.

(b) THEIR SOLUTION INCREASED FITNESS IN THE EEA.


(3) WE ACCOMPLISH DIFFICULT TASKS EASILY AND UNCONSCIOUSLY. THE CIRCUITRY IS COMPLEX, BUT WE ARE NOT CONSCIOUS OF IT. CONSCIOUSNESS IS LIKE BEING PRESIDENT:

YOU ARE AWARE OF HIGH LEVEL CONCLUSIONS PASSED ON BY THOUSANDS OF LOWER LEVEL MECHANISMS.

EXAMPLE: VISION: CELLS SPECIALIZED TO DETECT MOTION, VERTICAL SURFACES, HORIZONTAL SURFACES; CIRCUITS SPECIALIZED FOR JUDGING DISTANCE, DIRECTION OF MOTION.


(4) DIFFERENT NEURAL CIRCUITS ARE SPECIALIZED FOR SOLVING DIFFERENT ADAPTIVE PROBLEMS. VISION, HEARING, LOVE, MORAL OUTRAGE HAVE

SEPARATE CIRCUITS. THE BRAIN IS A SET OF MINI-COMPUTERS (MODULES) DESIGNED TO SOLVE SPECIFIC PROBLEMS. THESE MODULES ARE FUNCTIONALLY INTEGRATED TO PRODUCE BEHAVIOR.

EXAMPLE: INFANTS AT 2-1/2 MONTHS HAVE 'PRIVILEGED HYPOTHESES': i.e., THEY ASSUME WORLD IS MADE UP OF RIGID OBJECTS CONTINUOUS IN SPACE AND TIME; THEY ARE SURPRISED IF ONE OBJECT APPEARS TO GO THROUGH ANOTHER, ETC.


4 (cont.) THE BRAIN CONSISTS OF CIRCUITS FOR LEARNING AND REASONING. THESE CIRCUITS (a) ARE DOMAIN SPECIFIC: EACH MECHANISM IS

SPECIALIZED FOR A PARTICULAR DOMAIN (Vision, Love, Sexual attraction, Emotion recognition, etc.)

(b) SOLVE SPECIFIC ADAPTIVE PROBLEMS; (c) DEVELOP IN ALL NORMAL HUMANS

(UNIVERSALS); (d) DEVELOP WITHOUT CONSCIOUS EFFORT OR

FORMAL INSTRUCTION; (e) APPLIED WITHOUT CONSCIOUS AWARENESS OF

UNDERLYING LOGIC;


(5) OUR MODERN SKULLS HOUSE A STONE-AGE MIND. WE LIVED AS HUNTER-GATHERERS FOR 99.9% OF

OUR 10 MILLION YEAR EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. OUR ADAPTATIONS ARE DESIGNED TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF HUNTERS AND GATHERERS.

OUR ADAPTATIONS DO NOT NECESSARILY GENERATE ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR NOW.

OUR ADAPTATIONS MAY NOT PRODUCE FIT BEHAVIOR IN CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENTS.

Mismatch Theory EXAMPLES: PEOPLE LOVE TO EAT SWEET, SALT, AND

FAT; BUT IN MODERN ENVIRONMENT OF FOOD SURPLUSES AND REFINED SUGAR, THIS MAY LEAD TO HEALTH PROBLEMS.

Evolutionary Psychology and Learning EP: THE BRAIN DOES NOT POSSESS CONTENT-FREE

LEARNING DEVICES AS PROPOSED BY BEHAVIORISTS AND SOCIAL LEARNING THEORISTS. PREPARED LEARNING: WE EASILY LEARN TO FEAR

SNAKES, BUT NOT GUNS OR ELECTRIC SOCKETS. Garcia: RATS EASILY LEARN TO AVOID POISONED FOOD

BUT HAVE GREAT DIFFICULTY ASSOCIATING ILLNESS WITH LIGHTS OR SOUNDS.

WE SHOULD ASK: 'WHICH INSTINCTS CAUSED THE LEARNING?', NOT WHETHER THE BEHAVIOR IS THE RESULT OF LEARNING OR INSTINCT.

Objection: HOW CAN C & T EXPLAIN THAT WE CAN IN FACT LEARN TO FEAR GUNS AND ELECTRIC OUTLETS, FIX TV SETS, IMITATE NOVEL BEHAVIORS, AND RATHER EASILY AT THAT?

Evolutionary Psychology: The Bottom Line• The mind is composed of a large number of mental

modules each designed to solve a specific problem. • For example, there is one mechanism for perceiving

three dimensions, another for anger, another for falling in love.

• The mind is like a Swiss Army knife; i.e., it has lots of specialized tools.

• There is no such thing as general intelligence, general learning, or any other general ability to solve problems.

Neo-Piagetian Approaches: Synthesis between Piaget (domain general) and Evolutionary Psychology (domain specific)

NEO-PIAGETIAN APPROACHES COMBINE DOMAIN-SPECIFIC MODULES (CONSISTENT WITH EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY) WITH DOMAIN-GENERAL MECHANISMS OF TRADITIONAL PIAGETIAN THEORY.

AN IMPORTANT CANDIDATE FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT DOMAIN GENERAL MECHANISMS ARE THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH GENERAL INTELLIGENCE: WORKING MEMORY SPEED OF PROCESSING

ABILITY TO INHIBIT IRRELEVANT RESPONSES.

Neo-Piagetian Approaches: Synthesis between Piaget (domain general) and Evolutionary Psychology (domain specific): Figure 1


• The figure represents the results of factor analysis of cognitive ability tests.

• Factor analysis is a correlational procedure that basically discovers what traits co-vary together.

• These results show several middle level factors (spatial, numerical, social/verbal, etc.) and a higher order factor (g).

• Items related to spatial reasoning tend to correlate with each other, resulting in the middle level spatial factor.

• The evolutionary psychology idea is that a spatial reasoning module underlies this spatial ability factor.

• The spatial reasoning module has all the characteristics of modules: It takes in only a very specialized type of stimulation (related to objects in space), and it has only very specific outputs (spatial reasoning).

• This means it is domain specific (= able to deal with only one type of stimulation.)

• The same could be said for all of the other middle level factors.



• g, the higher order factor, is correlated with all of the middle level factors.

• people higher on g perform better on all of the middle level abilities.

• This means that the mechanisms underlying g are domain general. (Why?)

• The psychological mechanisms underlying g include domain general abilities such as working memory and speed of processing.

• These abilities are domain general and non-modular because they are not restricted to specific types of inputs and not restricted to specific types of outputs.

• Working memory can be used with an incredible variety of inputs, from number lists to rotating figures in space; so it is not domain specific.



• g is like a computer chip. • Computers with a faster computer chip outperform

computers with slower chips. • This means they run all your software faster, whether

it’s graphics or word processing. • In this analogy, the graphics and word processing

programs are like modules—they have specific inputs and outputs.

• g is the domain general, non-modular processor that affects the speed and efficiency of the domain specific modules underlying the middle level factors in the diagram.



• The core capacities are domain general: speed, span, and control.

• These are the same as processing speed, working memory, and the ability to inhibit irrelevant responses from previous slide.

• Specialized capacity spheres are the domain specific modules: spatial, verbal social, numerical, etc.

• Stage Transition Zones: Times when children’s core capacities change rapidly (= stages).

IQ TESTING: The Stanford-Binet Test

Used in schools and health settings Has array of intellectual tasks Age-related changes in learning built in Devised mental age IQ = MA x 100

CA If a 10-year-old child has a mental age of the average 12-year-old, his

IQ is 12/10 * 100 = 120.If a 10-year-old child has a mental age of the average 8-year-old, his IQ is 8/10 8 100 = 80.

Stanford-Binet Test: Relationship of g and specific abilities

The Stanford-Binet Test Originated in early 1900s by Binet and Simon as a means of

placing children in appropriate tracks in school--basically a project of finding questions that discriminated among children and successfully predicted school performance (grades, teachers' opinions). They didn't have a theory. The point was to find items that discriminated among

children as follows: The items of the test were retained only if they were useful in

sorting children by age. E.g., an item would be retained if it was passed by 40% of 5-year olds, 60% of 6-year-olds, and 80% of 7-year-olds.

Mental age is an index of child's performance level compared to the average for children of the same age.

The Traditional Approach: Testing Intelligence

Other IQ tests: The Wechsler Scales

Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI)

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

Separate verbal and performance scores

The Traditional Approach: The Wechsler Scales

The Wechsler Scales: Separate verbal and performance scores

Verbal: General information, arithmetic, similarities between words, digit span

Performance: Picture completion, Picture arrangement, Reproducing Block designs, assemble jigsaw puzzle

The Traditional Approach: The Wechsler Scales

Wechsler introduced the deviation IQ. in which IQ is measured in terms of standard deviations from the mean of children the same age.

This results in the familiar Bell Curve. Average IQ is 100.An IQ of 115 is 1 Standard Deviation above the mean, 130 is 2 standard deviations above the mean.

WISC-IV

Block Design

Letter-number sequencing

Arithmetic

Cancellation

Similarities

Vocabulary

ComprehensionInformation

Word Reasoning

Picture concepts

Matrix reasoning

Picture completion

Digit span

The Traditional Approach: Constructing Measures of Intelligence

Psychometrician: test constructor

Development of norms: Values that describe the typical test performance of a specific group of people. Tests are normed for groups having a characteristic such as age or nationality in common.

Standardization: The process by which test constructors ensure that testing procedures, instructions, and scoring are identical, or as nearly

identical as possible, on every testing occasion.

IQ Testing: Constructing Measures of Intelligence

Validity and Reliability Validity: THE ACCURACY WITH WHICH A

MEASURING INSTRUMENT ASSESSES THE ATTRIBUTE THAT IT IS DESIGNED TO MEASURECORRELATED WITH MEASURES OF SCHOOL PERFORMANCE:

TEACHERS' EVALUATIONS, GRADES; the correlations typically are moderate: 0.5 < r < 0.7; GOTTFREDSON ARTICLE: THERE ARE A LOT OF

OTHER REAL-WORLD CORRELATES OF IQ. Reliability: THE CONSISTENCY OR

REPEATABILITY OF AMEASURING INSTRUMENT

The Importance of IQ: A Sibling Study

SIBLING STUDIES CONTROL FOR FAMILY INFLUENCES: SES, PARENTINGPRACTICES, NEIGHBORHOOD, ETC.

ONE SIBLING WITH IQ OF 90-110 = NORMALOTHER SIBLING WITH IQ > 110 = BRIGHT OROTHER SIBLING WITH IQ < 90 = DULL

N = 710; BOTH SEXES; AGED 28-36; PARENTS IN TOP 75% OF INCOME;

DULL NORMAL BRIGHTINCOME IN 1993: $23,600 $33,600 $44,800COLLEGE DEGREE: 2% 21% 56%ILLEGITIMACY RATE(FIRST CHILD) 45% 21% 10%NUMBER OF CHILDREN: 1.9 1.4 1.4

BRIGHT SIB 6-1/2 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO MAKE OVER $100,000. BRIGHT SIBS WITHOUT COLLEGE DEGREE EARNED MORE THAN NORMALS

WITHOUT COLLEGE DEGREE DULL SIB 5 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE BELOW THE POVERTY LINE.

16.3% OF DULL SIBS BELOW POVERTY LINE; MENIAL OCCUPATIONS; 'MARKEDLY HIGHER' DIVORCE RATE THAN NORMAL OR BRIGHT;

DULL WOMEN HAD FIRST CHILD 4 YEARS EARLIER THAN NORMAL ORBRIGHT.

IQ INTERVENTION STUDIES

CONSORTIUM FOR LONGITUDINAL STUDIESRESULTS FOR 11 PRESCHOOL INTERVENTION PROJECTS 1.) POSITIVE EFFECT ON IQ DURING INTERVENTION AND

FOR A YEAR OR TWO THEREAFTER; 2.) EFFECT DIMINISHES OVER TIME AND NO EFFECT AT

LONG TERM FOLLOW-UP 3.) POSITIVE EFFECTS ON NON-IQ MEASURES: STAYING

IN SCHOOL, ACHIEVEMENT TESTS, ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION, MATERNAL ATTITUDES TOWARD SCHOOL, STAYING OUT OF SPECIAL EDUCATION

POSITIVE EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH: (1) "CLOSE AND EXTENDED INTERACTION WITH

SUPPORTIVE ADULT” (2) INTENSITY OF INTERVENTION: A GENERAL

PRINCIPLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE

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