Summary: Developmental Psychology

Read the summary and the most important questions on Developmental Psychology

• Physical & Brain Development

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• What are 4 methods for researching development in infants?

  1. Preferential looking
  2. Eye tracking 
  3. Physiological measures
  4. Neurorecording/ neuroimaging measures e.g. EEG and NIRS (near-infra-red spectroscopy) 

• What does preferential looking demonstrate?

  That infants can categorise things from an early age e.g. if they were shown lots of pictures of different animals and then a picture of a bus - they would look longer at the bus because it isn't in the same category as the animals

• What do physiological measures show?

  They measure heart rate, pupil dilation, skin conductance etc. 
  The measure if the infants can categorise things i.e. see if something is different
  e.g. the heart rate will change if they see something different 

• What 3 methods can research development in older children?

  1. Experimental tasks - ideally presented as a game 
  
  2. Standardised tests - used to measure norms, i.e. measure if the child is in the norm of his age range
  e.g. NEPSY - measures a child neurocognitive processes
  e.g. ADOS (autism diagnostic observation schedule) - method to diagnose and asses autism 
  
  3. fMRI - more detailed neuroimaging 

• What 3 things change in child development?

  - body
  - hormones
  - brain
  = these will have an effect on perception, motor skill and social interaction 
  
  Hormonal effects behaviour and brain development 

• Why might brain changes affect behaviour? (3 examples)

  - frontal lobe development
  - myelination of the axons
  - synapses formation e.g. vision 

• What are the 6 stages of CNS development during the fetal period?

  1. mitosis: (neurogenisis): cells divide, forming immature neurons
  2. migration: cells move to their destination
  3. differentiation: cells become a specific type of neuron 
  4. synaptogenesis: growth of the connections between neurons 
  5. cell death: the brain gets rid of unneeded neurons (known as Apoptosis - programmed cell death)
  6. synapse rearrangement: rearrangement of connections 

• What can abnormalities during the fetal CNS development lead to?

  Abnormal brain development and disorders 
  e.g. abnormal migration can lead to learning disabilities, schizophrenia and autism 

• What is a genetic defect disorder (from atypical brain development) that has resulted in abnormal cognition and behaviour?

  Down syndrome 
  
  Example: an experiment on a mouse to measure the link between specific brain changes and cognitive abilities (more info on p.6 of lecture notes, slide 4&5)

• What experiment with rats demonstrate that the growth of synapses depend on experience?

  Rosenzweig et al. (1984) 
  He compared the synaptic rearrangement of rats who lived in an impoverished cage with rats who live in an enriched cage with more opportunity for perception, action and social interaction. 
  
  Nature vs. nurture - we need experience!