Psychology of Human Development  

What is the meaning of operant conditioning?

Exam 2 Study Guide

*Exam #2 will be on Thursday March 22nd, don’t forget a blue scantron. Like last  Exam there will be a fill in the blank component over some of the words below as  well as multiple choice. This exam is over chapters 6-9. Chapter 9 will be covered on the Tuesday before the exam so will not be included in this study guide. I will post  my notes from that class In a separate document Tuesday night. Good luck!! ��  

Habituation – boredom, loss of interest in repetitive stimulation. Ex: a baby looking away from an image on a screen

Preferential Looking- present two stimuli side by side, preference for one  stimulus over the other indicates that the infant can discriminate them. Ex: newborn vision is unfocused and so they don’t show preference over a blurry or focused  picture

What is egocentrism?

Brain evoked potentials- electrodes in a cap worn by the infant to measure  electrical activity in the brain, we can use this as a method of understanding a  baby’s perception of a stimuli

Operant Conditioning – change the probability of a behavior through  reinforcement. Ex: training a dog to sit with the reward of a treat

Phoneme- category of speech sounds. Infants discriminate phonemes from all  languages

Cataracts- yellowing of the lens, usually due to exposure to UV, common, can be  treated with Lasik surgery  

Glaucoma- fluid pressure leads to nerve damage, less common, optic nerve  damage, loss of vision starts on the outward and moves inward. If caught early  enough medicine can reduce the pressure

Assimilation- interpret environment in terms of existing schemes. Taking new  information in and fit it into a scheme. Ex: child knows a cat vs a dog but when they  see a cow for the first time they mistake it for a dog.

What are the two theories of human perception?

Don't forget about the age old question of What are the three functions of memory?

Accommodation – change in schemes to make them more consistent with the  environment. Ex: parent corrects the child’s mistake

Sensorimotor stage – 0-2 years, thinking only in terms of here and now, whatever child is currently seeing/hearing is the only thing they can think about

Preoperational stage- 2-7 years, can think about past/future events but often  illogical. Can think about things that aren’t happening at the moment  

Concrete operations stage – 7-11 years, logical thinking about concreate objects  but no abstraction

Formal operations stage – 11-adulthood, abstract scientific thinking

Primary circular reaction – is a substage of the sensorimotor stage, 1-4 months,  repetition of behaviors involving the baby’s body that leads to interesting results,  Ex: thumb sucking

Secondary circular reaction – is a substage of the sensorimotor stage, 4-8  months, repetition of behaviors involving external objects. Ex: splash water in bath  tub or smacking a toy on the table

Object permanence – can think of things even if they are not visible, but still  make A not B error We also discuss several other topics like Where do neural tube located?

Conservation – understanding that the physical properties of an object remain the  same despite changes in appearance We also discuss several other topics like What are the possible effects of amphetamines on the body?

Centration – focus on only one aspect of a situation

Reversibility - the ability to recognize that numbers or objects can be changed  and returned to their original condition.

Egocentrism -inability to distinguish the perspective of another from your own. Ex: 3 mountains problem, a child struggles to distinguish what a person on one side of  the table might see versus what they see.

Private speech- internalized instruction for self guidance, sometimes talk to  yourself through a problem

Zone of proximal development -set of skills that a child can perform with  assistance but not alone. All the skills children have been working on. Ex: child tries  to ride a bike for the first time without training wheels, the child can do this with a  little help from an adult

Sensory register – brief representation of presented sights and sounds

Short-term (or working) memory – conscious, limited capacity component of  memory, selecting up to 7 pieces of information to take in while old items are  displaced when new items are added We also discuss several other topics like What is manifest destiny?

Long-term memory – limitless, permanent store of memories, the system we want to get our information into.  

Rehearsal – repeat information over and over again

Organization – group similar information together

Elaboration – forms images to link information

Metamemory - knowledge and awareness of your own memory, including the  contents and processes of your memory

Recognition – easiest type of retrieval, decided whether something has been seen  before. Ex: multiple choice examIf you want to learn more check out What is the civil adult population?

Recall – memory for information that is no longer present, is the hardest type of  retrieval, requires one to actively search memory for the relevant information

Implicit Memory – facilitated processing of a stimulus as a result of prior exposure  to that stimulus. Often occurs in the absence of awareness

Explicit Memory – deliberate attempts to remember an earlier event, typically  tested using recall and recognition tests

Reliability - refers to the extent to which a test or other instrument is consistent in its measures. For example, a weight scale can be judged reliable if measures for a  25-pound weight do not vary over time or change

Validity - If the test does indeed measure what it is intended to measure, Tests that are valid are also reliable. However a test might be reliable without it being valid.

Cumulative deficit hypothesis - refers to the notion that impoverished  environments inhibit intellectual growth and that these inhibiting effects accumulate over time.

Chapter 6 “Sensation vs Perception”

Two theories of human perception Don't forget about the age old question of What is the importance of options in genetic counseling?

1. Empiricist theory (John Locke)  

∙ Perceptual abilities are learned through experience

∙ Babies perceive the world differently from the way we do

2. Nativist Theory (Rene Descartes)

∙ Perceptual abilities are built into us

∙ Babies and adults perceive the world the same way

*These theories were hard to prove because there wasn’t an experimental way to  test them

Methods used to test infant perception 

1. Habituation (boredom)

∙ Loss of interest in repetitive stimulation

∙ Dishabituation- renewed interest in new stimuli, ex: hearing a new  song on the radio

∙ Can use habituation to test because babies must know the difference  between a new and old stimulus

∙ Supports behavioral methods because we can observe babies eye  movement

2. Preferential looking 

∙ Present two stimuli side by side

∙ Preference for one stimulus over the other indicates that the infant can discriminate them, ex: Newborn vision is unfocused, and they don’t

show a preference over a blurry or focused picture because they look  the same to them.

3. Brain evoked potentials (Neurophysiological method)

∙ Electrodes in a cap worn by the infant measure electrical activity in the brain

∙ Related to an EEG, measuring electrical activity

∙ We can use this as a method of understanding a baby’s perception of a stimuli

4. Operant Conditioning 

∙ Change the probability of a behavior through reinforcement, ex:  training a dog to sit with the reward of a treat

 ∙     Two ways to test perception 

a) Use two different stimuli as reinforcers, ex: if the baby can tell  

Shows that  

babies have a functioning  

auditory  

system in  

mother’s

the difference between stimuli they might change behavior to  get one over the other. For instance, a newborn will suck faster if they hear their mother’s voice as a reinforcer, while a baby will  suck slower when hearing a female stranger’s voice. This shows  they are familiar with their mother’s voice.

b) Use change in stimuli to indicate when reinforcement will follow  behavior. Discriminative stimulus: stop light, reinforced at green  light, not reinforced at red light.

Visual Development

- Vision is the least developed sense when a baby is born

 - Three limiting factors 

1. Muscles of the lens, newborns see things unfocused

2. Density of neurons in the retina

3. Pathways in the brain, not all detail is transmitted

- Newborns have a visual acuity of 20/60 (considered blind)

- Use a checkerboard test to test this

- Limited visual accommodation, newborns have limited vision

Early visual abilities (strengths)  

1. Color vision

- Babies see color

- Best at seeing bright yellow, reds, and blues

- Worst at seeing pastels such as baby pink

2. Size and shape constancy

- An object stays the same size no matter how close or far away. - Shape constancy example: closed door= rectangle but a cracked door  looks like a trapezoid

3. Depth perception

- Used a visual cliff to see if a baby has depth perception, if the baby  crawls over it then they can’t tell there is a drop off

Aging and Perception 

∙ Cataracts: yellowing of the lens, usually due to exposure of UV, common, can  be treated with Lasik surgery

∙ Presbyopia: difficulty focusing on near objects, means “old eyes”, can be  fixed with glasses

∙ Glaucoma: fluid pressure leads to nerve damage, less common, optic nerve  damage, loss of vision starts on the outward and moves inward. If caught  early enough medicine can reduce pressure  

∙ Macular degeneration: rare and most severe, loss of neurons in retina, affects the center visual field first, no cure yet!

Hearing Problems 

∙ Loss of high frequency from exposure to noise, difficulty attending to speech  in noisy setting.

∙ These problems are dependent upon your environment

∙ More common in men than women

∙ Can prevent by wearing ear protection

∙ Young people are losing hearing because of listening to music through ear  buds too loudly

Chapter 7 “Cognition”

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Three core Ideas 

1.) Child plays active role in their own development

∙ Child builds psychological structures (schemas) to interpret and interact with  the environment

∙ Was a controversial idea in the age of behaviorism

∙ Views child as a scientist because they create theories

2.) Children go through an invariant series of stages (meaning everyone goes  through them)

∙ Most famous idea

∙ Thought progresses from concrete to abstract

3.) Schemas change because of 2 processes

∙ Adaptation: schemas change to fit with environment, ex: a child’s small dog  compared to their friend’s large dog, change mental understanding of a dog

∙ Organization: change in relations among schemas, ex: a child who sees cats  wandering around the neighborhood and when they see their friend’s cat  they understand that cat’s and dogs play the same role

Two processes of Adaptation 

1. Assimilation: interpret environment in terms of existing schemes. Taking  new information in and fit it into a scheme. Ex: child knows cats vs. dogs but  when they see a cow for the first time they mistake it for a dog.

2. Accommodation: change in schemes to make them more consistent with  the environment. Ex: the parent corrects the child’s mistake

*Piaget says there is a delicate balance between the two processes.

Piaget’s Stages of Development 

1. Sensorimotor (0-2 years)

∙ Thinking only in terms of here and now, action based  

∙ Thinking only in sensory world, whatever they are currently seeing, or hearing is the only thing they can think about

2. Preoperational (2-7 years)

∙ Can think about past and future events but are often illogical ∙ Can think about things that aren’t happening at the moment 3. Concrete operational (7-11 years)

∙ Logical thinking about concrete objects but no abstraction

4. Formal operational (11- adulthood)

∙ Abstract scientific thinking

 Substages of the SENSORIMOTOR state  

1. Reflex activity (birth- 1 month)

∙ Indiscriminate performance of reflexive actions

∙ Sensorimotor egocentrism: have no conception that there is more than what  they see to the world

2. Primary circular reactions (1-4 months)

∙ Repetition of behaviors involving the baby’s body that leads to interesting  results

∙ Ex: thumb sucking

3. Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months)

∙ Repetition of behaviors involving external objects  

∙ Ex: splash water in the bath tub or smacking a toy on the table 4. Coordination of secondary schemes (8-12 months)

∙ Intentional, goal directed behavior

∙ Doing one thing to allow yourself to do another

∙ Ex: push object out of the way to reach the thing you want

∙ Marks an important milestone, Object Permanence: can think of things even if they are not visible, but still make A not B error which is when they do not  know the difference between location A and B

5. Tertiary Circular reactions (12-18 months)

∙ Creative exploration of external objects

∙ Trying out different variations

6. Beginning of thought (18-24 months)

∙ Internal images of absent objects and events

∙ A child can tell you about a prior event or the day before

∙ Ex: a child telling their parents what they had for breakfast

∙ Deferred imitation: imitating or acting something out that happened in the  past

Recent Evidence Regarding the sensorimotor stage 

∙ Circular reactions- newborns are subject to reflex actions, newborns will suck  to produce interesting event

∙ Object permanence- 3.5 months olds are surprised when an out of sight  object disappears

∙ Ex: box and train example

∙ A not B error seems to reflect a difficulty in inhibiting a dominant response  ∙ Infants remember absent objects

Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) 

∙ Operation- mental representation of an action that obeys logical rules. Ex:  water experiment, pour the same amount of water into two separate glasses  of differing heights and they are still the same amount of water.  

∙ Conservation- understanding that the physical properties of an object remain  the same despite changes in appearance. Children do not understand  conservation

∙ Centration- focus on only one aspect of a situation

∙ Irreversibility- focus on states, not transformations

∙ No hierarchical classification- levels of classification, Piaget’s test for  hierarchical classification was the flowers task.  

∙ Preoperational egocentrism- inability to distinguish perspective of another  from their own, Ex: 3 mountains problem.

∙ They now realize things that exist outside their world yet struggle to take on  another person’s viewpoint

∙ Animistic thinking- think that inanimate objects have thoughts and feelings,  Ex: tuck a stuffed animal into bed because it is tired. Animistic thinking is  limited to objects that seem to move on their own accord

Concrete Operational stage (7-11 years) 

∙ Succeed at conservation, hierarchical classification. Ex: all types of flowers  are flowers

∙ Transitive inference: if A>B and B>C then A>C

∙ Less egocentric- can start to give directions from locations they don’t  currently occupy

Limitations 

- Only succeed when reasoning about physical objects

- Can’t do hypothetical version of transitive inference  

- Horizontal decalage: children master different conservation tasks at  different ages

- Do not understand abstract principle of conservation

Formal Operational Stage 

∙ Around 11 years to adulthood

∙ Propositional thought- can think logically about hypothetical ideas ∙ Ex: if a feather hits a glass it will break, if I hit a glass with a feather what  happens:

Hypothetical- deductive reasoning 

- Think of hypothesis that could explain an event

- Test each hypothesis while holding other hypothesized factors constant - Ex: pendulum problem

Adolescent egocentrism- can’t distinguish abstract perspectives of others from own. There are two examples of this…

1.) Imaginary audience phenomenon- you think you are most important, and  everyone is always looking at you

2.) Personal fable- you view yourself as the main character. You can do things  that others can’t, other people’s experiences are less important

Recent evidence regarding the concrete and formal operations stages 

- Piajet viewed these stages as universal

- Success at conservation may depend upon specific skills and  experiences

- Western schooling promotes the development of transitive inference,  we learn how to solve hypothetical problems

- Formal reasoning does not appear in nonliterate societies

Evaluation of Piajet

- Underestimated children’s abilities

- Failed to distinguish between competence and performance

- His claim of broad stages of development may have been overstated - Did not explain development so much as describe it, he characterized  it

- Underestimated social influences, people learn a lot from school and  interactions with other people

*However, despite his criticisms Piaget was the dominant thinker in developmental  psychology. His theory was developed from 1930’s to 1960’s*

Vygotsky Bio 

- Born in 1896

- Died at 38

- Born in Russia

- Always liked language

- His theories were banned because they went against the norm of the  time

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory 

∙ Learning information through other people in culture

∙ The social environment facilitates children’s learning

∙ Language allows children to learn through instruction, he emphasized  importance of language

∙ Private speech: internalized instruction for self-guidance, sometimes talk to  yourself through a problem.

Two social contributions to cognitive development 

1. Intersubjectivity: two people with different views move toward a common  understanding

2. Scaffolding: adjustments in social support with changes in abilities

Zone of Proximal development- set of skills that a child can perform with  assistance but not alone, all the skills children have been working on, so provide  enough scaffolding for them to solve a problem. Ex: child tries to ride a bike for  the first time without training wheels. The child can do this with a little help

Evaluation of Vygotsky 

-Vygotsky’s suggestion that the social environment influences cognitive  development seems intuitively correct

- His theory is not as well defined as Piajet’s

Chapter 8 “Information Processing”

Information processing approach 

∙ Likens a person to a computer

∙ 3 steps to processing information

1. Receive an environmental input

2. Perform some processing on that input

3. Produce a behavioral output

Multi-store model of information processing 

- Three major memory systems

1. Sensory register: brief representation of presented sights and  sounds

2. Short term or working memory: conscious, limited capacity  

component of memory, selecting up to 7 pieces of information to  take in. Old items are displaced when new items are added

Chunking: taking several pieces of information at one time and  dividing them

Ex: NBC.PHD.SAT.CBS- you can remember them because they all  have distinctive meanings; another example is a phone number.  Chucking allows more information to be remembered.

3. Long term memory: limitless, permanent store of memories, the  system we want to get our information into

How do we know the difference between systems? 

∙ Recency effect: being able to recall items at the end of the list, this reflects  working memory

∙ Primacy effect- being able to remember items at the beginning of the list, this reflects long term memory, the extra processing allows us to form  associations  

Types of Retrieval 

1. Recall

- Memory for information that is no longer present

- Hardest type of retrieval

- Requires one to actively search memory for the relevant information - Use one piece of information to remember another, retrieval cue, Ex:  fill in the blank test

2. Cued recall

- Recall is aided by the provision of a retrieval cue

- Given a hint to remember the answer

- Something that is strongly associated

3. Recognition  

- Easiest type

- Decide whether something has been seen before

- Multiple choice exam

Implicit vs Explicit Memory 

1. Explicit Memory

- Deliberate attempts to remember an earlier event

- Typically tested using recall and recognition tests

2. Implicit memory

- Facilitated processing of a stimulus as a result of prior exposure to that  stimulus

- Often occurs in the absence of awareness

- May influence performance on recognition tests

- Often occurs in advertising, a product will register familiar

Memory Development in children 

Four reasons why memory improves over time

1. Speed of processing increases

- Can keep more information activated at the same time

- Myelination causes faster processing

- Able to store more information at one time

2. Use of memory strategies improves

- Rehearsal: repeat information over and over

- Organization: group similar information together

- Elaboration: forms images to link information

3. Increases in metamemory

- Understanding of how memory works

4. Increased knowledge of the world

- If children have more knowledge they can do better than adults at  certain tasks