Child Psychology
Final Exam Review Checklist
Chapter 1: Defining Development & Understanding Child Psychology
1.)Why is learning about child psychology important ?
3.) How is the multidisciplinary principal important to development? (notes/ frame)
5.) What is S.E.S.? Why is it important in terms of child development? (p.9)
7.) List several examples of Cognitive Development. (p.12)
8.) Why is proper psychosocial development essential in child and human development? (p.12)
9.) What does is mean to display resilience? Give examples (p.15)
10.) Are psychopathologies a result of genetic inheritance or faulty upbringing? What are some examples
of psychopathologies? (p.12)
11.) Give an example of a situation where naturalistic observation is important and essential in child
psychology? (notes, p18)
12.) Why is a control group necessary? (p.20)
13.) What are some problems with surveys? (notes, p21)
14.) Case studies are benefitial because…….? (notes, p23)
17.) Why is a code of ethics necessary in psychology? (notes, p.30)
20.) Why was the little Albert experiments unethical? (notes / frame)
21.) Briefly explain Milgrim’s experiment. Explain what they were testing and why it was unethical to the
participants involved? (notes/ frame)
22.) What did the Stanford Prison experiment teach us about power? (notes/ frame)
1.)Why is learning about child psychology important ? List several reasons. (notes/ frame)
-Understand and predict reasonable norm for child development
- Proper discipline
- Proper communication
- Proper teaching styles
- Intervention on behalf of children who have faced difficult personal, family, or
traumatic situations
2.) Explain the difference between multidirectional principle of development and multicontexual. (notes/ frame)
Multidirectional- change occurs every direction. Gains….losses, predictable growth …unexpected transformations…at every age
Multicontextual- human lives are imbedded in many context that affect their development, historical conditions, family situations,
SES
3.) How is the multidisciplinary principal important to development? (notes/ frame)
Numerous fields…psychology, biology, education, sociology, neuroscience, anthropology contribute to understanding
development.
3 Domains of Human Development
Biosocial- genetic , nutrional, and health factors affect growth and change
Cognitive- all mental processes to obtain knowledge about environment
Psychosocial- development of emotions, temperament, and social skills
4.) National trends and events really do effect individual lives and cohorts. Give an example or evidence of this. (p.8)
Cohorts- a group of people whose shared age means they travel through life together
Names- influenced by historical context
5.) What is S.E.S.? Why is it important in terms of child development? (p.9)
Socioeconomic status- in almost every nation of the world..more children than adults live in low- income households …most likely
suffering from inadequate nutrition, education, or medical care
6.) Why is biosocial development an important domain of human development? (p.12)
Understanding genetics, nutrition, health factors affect growth and change
7.) List several examples of Cognitive Development. (p.12)
Perception, imagination, judgment, memory, language development
8.) Why is proper psychosocial development essential in child and human development? (p.12)
Includes development of emotions, temperament, and social skills. Need these to be developed properly before adulthood.
9.) What does is mean to display resilience? Give examples (p.15)
the ability of some children to overcome severe threats to their development:
Growing up in low income household in rundown neighborhood, mentally ill mother, alcoholic father, statistics show most likely will
become delinquent, drop out, criminal.
10.) Are psychopathologies a result of genetic inheritance or faulty upbringing? What are some examples of psychopathologies?
(p.12)
both a result of genetics and environment……ex. autism, depression, phobias
11.) Give an example of a situation where naturalistic observation is important and essential in child psychology? (notes, p18)
observing behavior at school…or at home…(scientist tries to be unobtrusive participants ..so participants act naturally)
12.) Why is a control group necessary? (p.20)
something to compare to experimental group
13.) What are some problems with surveys? (notes, p21)
unreliable if not taken seriously
14.) Case studies are benefitial because…….? (notes, p23)
very detailed, in-depth…long- term studies on few subjects
15.) The only way to determine cause and effect relationships in terms of research is by___experiment__________. If we want to be
sure that a new drug treatment is effective, we must use this research method. (p. 23)
16.) Give an example of a positive correlation. (p.28)
age and height….one variable is more or (or less) likely to occur when the other occurs
17.) Why is a code of ethics necessary in psychology? (notes, p.30)
set of moral priciples is needed….based on expericments
18.) How doe the Canadian Psychological Association maintain ethical research? (p.31)
first principle- respect for the dignity of persons, second principle- responsible caring, third principle- integrity in
relationships…fourth- responsibility to society
19.) Ethics means more than taking care of participants and reporting research honestly. It also means…….?
Choosing topics that are of major importance for the human family…millions of children suffer because many questions have not yet
been answered or even asked
20.) Why was the little Albert experiments unethical? (notes / frame)
made him scared of white things (conditioning) and never desensitized him after
21.) Briefly explain Milgrim’s experiment. Explain what they were testing and why it was unethical to the participants involved?
(notes/ frame) testing obedience….unethical because they were causing emotional pain/ distress by making them think they were
harming others (with shocks)
Chapter 2: Theories of Development
1.) What are the two opposing grand theories in the first half of the twentieth century that were
applied to child psychology?
2.) Briefly explain Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and it’s stages.
3.) How was Erickson’s theory significantly different than Freud’s theory?
4.) Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in
and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might
select- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief, and yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities vocations, and race of his ancestors. This idea arose in
direct opposition to the emphasis on the unconscious. What idea is this?
5.) Explain the similarities and differences between classical and operant conditioning. Who where
the driving forces behind these ideas?
6.) Using consequences to make it more likely that a particular action will be repeated is a process
called?
7.) Consequences that make it behavior less likely are called?
8.) Why did Harlow’s research revolutionize the treatment of sick and
motherless children?
9.) What is social learning?
10.) Behaviorism is often called “learning theory”. What are the 3 types of
learning?
11.) Briefly explain Piaget’s Periods of Cognitive Development?
12.) Explain assimilation and accommodation. Give examples
13.) The pioneer in sociocultural perspective was?
14.) Explain Vygotsky’s apprenticeship in thinking and guided participation.
15.) What is epigenetic theory?
16.) Explain Nature vs Nurture
What are the two opposing grand theories in the first half of the twentieth century that were applied to child psychology?
1.) Behaviorism- learning theory vs 2.) Psychoanalysis
Third Grand Theory – Cognitive Theory
Emergent TheoriesSociocultural- draws on research in education, anthropology, history
Epigenetic- arises from biology, genetics, and neuroscience
17.) Briefly explain Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and it’s stages.
Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months). During the oral stage, the child if focused on oral pleasures (sucking).
Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years). The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on the anus.
Phallic Stage (ages 3 to 6). The pleasure zone switches to the genitals.
Latency Stage (age 6 to puberty). It’s during this stage that sexual urges remain repressed and children interact and
play mostly with same sex peers.
Genital Stage (puberty on). The final stage of psychosexual development begins at the start of puberty when sexual
urges are once again awakened. Through the lessons learned during the previous stages, adolescents direct their sexual
urges onto opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of pleasure is the genitals.
18.) Who described 8 developmental stages, each by a particular challenge, or developmental crisis? Erikson
19.) How was this significantly different than Freud’s theory?
Each stage characterized by a particular challenge, or developmental crisis; Freud stages but sexual root
Similiar in that both believed that problems of adult life echo unresolved conflicts of childhood
20.) Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take
any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief, and
yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities vocations, and race of his
ancestors. This idea arose in direct opposition to the emphasis on the unconscious. What idea is this?
John Watson- Behaviorist
21.) Explain the similarities and differences between classical and operant conditioning. Who where the driving forces behind
these ideas?
Classical and operant conditioning are two important concepts central to behavioral psychology. While
both result in learning, the processes are quite different.
Classical conditioning involves pairing a previously neutral stimulus (such as the sound of a bell) with an
unconditioned stimulus (the taste of food). This unconditioned stimulus naturally and automatically
triggers salivating as a response to the food, which is known as the unconditioned response. After
associating the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, the sound of the bell alone will start to
evoke salivating as a response. The sound of the bell is now known as the conditioned stimulus and
salivating in response to the bell is known as the conditioned response.
Operant conditioning focuses on using either reinforcement or punishment to increase or decrease a
behavior. Through this process, an association is formed between the behavior and the consequences for
that behavior.
For example, imagine that a trainer is trying to teach a dog to fetch a ball. When the dog successful
chases and picks up the ball, the dog receives praise as a reward. When the animal fails to retrieve the
ball, the trainer withholds the praise. Eventually, the dog forms an association between his behavior of
fetching the ball and receiving the desired reward.
In operant conditioning, the learner is also rewarded with incentives, while classical conditioning involves
no such enticements. Also remember that classical conditioning is passive on the part of the learner, while
operant conditioning requires the learner to actively participate and perform some type of action in order
to be rewarded or punished.
Today, both classical and operant conditioning are utilized for a variety of purposes by teachers, parents,
psychologists, animal trainers and many others.
In animal training, a trainer might utilize classical conditioning by repeatedly pairing the sound of a clicker
with the taste of food. Eventually, the sound of the clicker alone will begin to produce the same response
that the taste of food would.
In a classroom setting, a teacher might utilize operant conditioning by offering tokens as rewards for good behavior. Students can then
turn in these tokens to receive some type of reward such as treat or extra play time.
22.) Using consequences to make it more likely that a particular action will be repeated is a process called? reinforcement
23.) Consequences that make it behavior less likely are called? punishment
24.) Who did the baby monkey’s prefer in Harlow’s experiment? Which mother?
25.) Why did Harlow’s research revolutionize the treatment of sick and
motherless children? Mother love involved more than contact –that infant monkeys need interaction with
another living, moving creature to grow up to be psychologically healthy adults. Fragile premies now have contact with
parents
26.) What is social learning? What is the integral part of social learning where
people observe behavior and copy it? Give some examples.
Learning from observing others mother feeding baby, big daddy, abusive fathers etc,
27.) Define self- efficacy.
Belief that one succeeds because of one’s ability
28.) Behaviorism is often called “learning theory”. What are the 3 types of
learning?
Classical conditioning- through association, neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus
Operant conditioning- through reinforcement, weak or rare responses become strong, frequent responses
Social learning- through modeling, observed behaviors become copied behaviors
29.) What is cognitive theory? Expain.
Third Grand Theory- Emphasizes the structure and development of thought processes. Our thoughts and
expectations profoundly affects our attitudes, beliefs, values, assumptions, and actions
30.) Briefly explain Piaget’s Periods of Cognitive Development?
P47
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
(birth-2yrs) senses and motor abilities
(2-6 yrs)
Concrete Operational (6-11)
Formal Operational
symbolic thinking
apply logic
(12-adult) abstractions, hypothetical
31.) What is the “goal of all psychology” according to Cognitive Theory.
If psychologist understand a person’s thinking, they will understand how and why that person
behaves as he or she does
32.) Explain assimilation and accommodation. Give examples
Assimilation- new experiences are reinterpreted to fit into (or assimilate) with old ones
In terms of child development, Piaget used the term assimilation to refer to the process in which a child modifies new information to
fit into an existing schema.
Example - a child sees a cow for the first time and says "doggy." The child fits the strange animal into the existing schema of
"doggy."
Accomodation- old ideas are restructured to include, (or accommodate), new experiences
Accommodation, on the other hand, refers to the creation or modification of a schema.
Example- The parent says, "no, that's a cow." The next cow comes along and the child says "cow." The doggy schema has been
modified and a new schema, "cow" has been created.
An adult example. A parent believes that homosexuality is evil. Their child, who they love, reveals that he is gay. The assimilating
parent holds on to the existing schema. So their child must be evil. The accommodating parent changes the schema - not ALL
homosexuals are evil.
33.) The central theory of ___sociocultural__ theory is that human
development results from the dynamic interaction between developing persons and their surrounding society.
34.) The pioneer in sociocultural perspective was __Lev ____Vygotsky_____.
35.) Explain Vygotsky’s apprenticeship in thinking and guided participation.
Apprenticeship in thinking- Each person , schooled or not, developed competencies taught by more skilled
members of the society, who are tutors or mentors
-goal of apprenticeship is to provide the instruction and support that novices need to acquire whatever
knowledge and capabilities their culture values.
Guided participation-tutors engage learners in joint activities, offering not only instruction, but also mutual
involvement in several widespread cultural practices with great importance for learning
Both are concepts of sociocultural theory because each person depends on others to learn.
36.) What is the relationship between student and teacher in Vygotsky’s
sociocultural theory? Neither the teacher or student are passive, they learn from each other through words,
activities that they engage in together
37.) What is epigenetic theory?
Genes interact with the environment to allow development
38.) Explain Nature vs Nurture.
Nature- influence of genes
Nurture- all the environmental influences
Chapter 4: Birth & Development
1.) When is an organism considered an embryo? Fetus?
2.) What does age of viability mean? When is it for newborns?
3.) Which maternal behavior or characteristic seems most harmful to fetus: eating a diet low in folic
acid, drinking a lot of alcohol, or being HIV-Positive?
4.) How much influence do husbands and mothers have on pregnant women? Explain your answer.
5.) What factors increase the likelihood of a strong mother infant bond?
6.) What is post partum depression?
7.) What can be done about postpartum depression, for both the mother and the infant?
1.) What is the difference between a fetus and an embryo?
Embryo-3rd thru 8th week
Fetus- 9th to birth
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
When does the fetus have all of its body parts?
Third month
Why is 22 weeks a critical time for a developing fetus?
Brain developed enough
Are babies always born on their due date?
No….only 5 %
Teratogens not only cause physical problems…but also what problems?
Impair learning and behavior
Do babies born to HIV- positive mothers have HIV ? Explain
25% of them….only 1% if on anti-viral drugs
7.) What triggers child birth?
Development of the baby’s lungs- hormones released signaling labor
8.) Pollutants like PCB’s and pesticides have what type of effects on a child of exposure.
Spontaneous abortion, brain damage (causes harm in large
amounts)
9.) What is fetal alcohol syndrome? What problems does it cause for developing child?
Alcohol ingested during pregnancy affects development of the
baby’s facial features, affects brain and brain function
10.) Look at figure 4.10- What keeps women from consuming alcohol during pregnancies?
A husband….
11.) How many days after conception is the baby born? Months? 266, 38 weeks, 9 months
12.) What if the five minute apgar test is below 7?
Concern for normal breathing….needs to be established
13.) How long can a fetus experience anoxia without suffering brain damage?
Depends on genes, weight, neurological maturity, drugs in blood
14.) What is the difference between postpartum blues, depression, and psychosis.
See hand out…..blues-common depression- more serious affects baby psychosis- serious affects baby and mom…siblings? History
of mental disorders usually.
Chapter 5: First Two Years Biosocial Development
1.) What is one possible reason why infants sleep 17 hours or more a day?
2.) Why are infants unable to sleep all night long?
3.) How do babies and children develop best when awake or asleep?
4.) Why is proper early childhood rearing especially crucial?
5.) What is a neuron? Parts of the neuron?
6.) What is as neurotransmitter?
7.) How many synapse at age 2?
8.) Why is transient exuberance and these links between neurons essential?
9.) When do language areas of the brain develop most rapidly?
10.)What is the last area of the brain to mature? What does this tell us about teenage behavior?
11.)What is a sensitive period?
12.)How are gross and fine motor skills similar? Different?
13.) When can babies crawl (all fours), sit, stand, walk?
14.) What is SIDS?
10.) What is one possible reason why infants sleep 17 hours or more a day?
Growth hormones released during sleep
11.) Newborns seem to spend much of the time in what sleep stage?
REM
12.) Why are infants unable to sleep all night long?
Too immature- brains, digestive organs, biological rythms to do so
13.) Both __nature___ and ______nurture____ influence every aspect of physiological development including sleep.
14.) Is co-sleeping harmful to developing infants?
No…unless adult is drugged or drunk
15.) How do babies and children develop best when awake or asleep?
Close to / near parents
16.) Nerve cells are also called _________Neurons________?
17.) Why is proper early childhood rearing especially crucial?
Brains communication system is developing… Neglect, abuse,
Malnutrition, over or under stimulation hinder brain development
18.) Why is the cortex crucial to humans?
80% of human brain material here
other mammals cortex is smaller, non mammals brains but no cortex
Most thinking, feeling, and sensing are processed in cortex
10.) Each neuron has a single _____axon__ and numerous ____dendrites_______ that eventually spread out like branches of a
tree.
11.) The space between an axon that is a critical communication link in the brain is called what?
synapse
12.)What is as neurotransmitter?
Brain chemicals that carry information from the axon of the sending neuron,
across the synaptic gap to the dendrites of the receiving neuron
13.)What is a major reason why the brain weight triples in the first two years?
Dendrite growth
14.)How many synapse at age 2? 100 TRILLION
15.) How many new connections can be established per neuron?
15,000
16.) Why is transient exuberance and these links between neurons essential?
Thinking and learning require making connections between many parts of the brain
17.) A practical example of the importance of experience in early brain growth comes from reactions to
______stress__________.
18.) When do language areas of the brain develop most rapidly?
Between ages of 6 and 24 months
19.) What is the last area of the brain to mature? What does this tell us about teenage behavior?
Prefrontal cortex- area for anticipation, planning, and impulse
control…becomes more efficient over the years of childhood and
adolescence. Not developed in teens- obvious based on behavior
20.) What is a sensitive period?
Times in the developmental sequence when particular kinds of
development are primed to occur because “this time of plasticity
does not last infinitely”
21.) Long- term deficits in Romanian orphans were often apparent in ____social interaction__ and _______cognition____.
Functions controlled by the cortex.
22.)What is the difference between sensation and perception?
Stimulus to the senses…..vs organization of information
23.) What is the least mature sense at birth?
vision
24.) What is a reflex? Give some examples of reflexes.
Involuntary response to a particular stimulus
25.) How are gross and fine motor skills similar? Different?
Gross- Large body movements
Lift mid section, walk
Fine-small body movements
finger skills, tongue (language)
pincer movement
26.) When can babies crawl (all fours)? 8-10m
Sit unsupported? 6 m
Walk unassisted? 12m
Walk up steps (with help)? 17-22m
Walk with hand held? 9m Stand alone? 8-10m
27.) T/ F Babies catch SIDS? F
Only white babies die of SIDS? F
SIDS occurs at any age? F
Cribs cause
SIDS? F
Babies should be placed on their backs to sleep? T
Young newborns should sleep with stuffed animals?
F Newborns should be kept really warm in many layers clothing and blankets? F
Chapter 6: First Two Years Cognitive Development
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
1.) What is goal- directed behavior? How does memory work with this?
What is object permanence?
How do they know habituation occurs with young infants / babies?
What is an affordance?
What four factors affect this?
What is STM….LTM?
In terms of language development ….at 6-10 months ….babies should be?
12 months? 18 months?
8.) Should you read/ talk to your babies before they can speak?
9.) When language spurt goes from 50 to 100 words…we call this?
10.) What are the language theories?
11.) Explain how adaptation occurs in two complementary ways.
Assimilation and accommodation
12.) Primary circular reactions- reactions that involve...infants own body
Secondary circular reactions- reactions that involve…baby and object or person
13.) What is goal- directed behavior? How does memory work with this?
Behavior w/purposeful action- take clothes off to tell mom bath time, mom putting on coat and baby tugging
to stop her..or dragging his coat to put on to go
Babies obvious goal-directedness stems from an enhanced awareness of cause and effect, as well as from
better memory for actions already completed and better understanding of peoples intentions
14.) _____Object Permanence_____refers to the awareness that objects or people continue to exist when they are no longer in
sight.
15.) At about 40yrs of age we have _10,000___ fewer cells per day (brain). What is the cause of this? Lack of blood flow to
brain
16.) Scientists believe memory is like a machine that eventually…………..wears out
17.) ____Habituation_____is the process of getting used to an experience after repeated exposure to it.
18.) How do they know habituation occurs with young infants / babies?
More focused gaze, faster or slower heart rate, more or less muscle tension, fMRI (memories) neurons firing in certain
areas of brain
19.) What do information-processing theorists believe?
That a step by step description of the mechanisms of human thought aids our understanding of the
development of cognition at every age. Input (affordances) and some form of output- (memory) storage and
retrieval
20.) When the environment (people, places, objects) affords, or offers, many opportunities for perception and interaction.
Gibson called this an ____affordance___.
21.) What four factors affect this? Sensory awareness, immediate motivation, current development, past experiences
22.) What did the visual cliff experiment teach us?
Even 3 month olds notice the difference….but don’t realize one
affordance is falling
(born with ability to perceive, must also learn from experience)
23.) What is STM? What are it’s 2 main tasks?
Short term memory - store new info, work on info coming in
24.) What is the capacity of STM?
5-10 bits…
25.) PTGZDBVC test demonstrates what?
We encode (get info into brain) phonologically (by sound)
difficult to encode letters that sound alike
26.) What is LTM?
Long term memory
27.) Forgetting involves what 3 things?
Decay, interference, repression
28.) Chunking, Rehearsal, and Mnemonic devices are 3 ways to
___improve___your memory.
29.) What are some reasons memory fails us? List 4
You Lack Motivation
You need practice
You lack confidence in your ability
You’re distracted
You’re not focused
You’re not forming enough links between new material and other info in LTM
You’re not using mental imagery effectively
You’re not using retrieval cues effectively (Create routine, structure..keys )
30.) What three factors that affect infant memory?
Experimental conditions are similar to real life
Motivation is high
Special measures aid memory retrieval
31.) What is a reminder session? Give an example from the kicking
experiment. Any perceptual experience that might make a person recollect an idea or thing Ex watching
the mobile move but not being tied to it, then tied to it. (kicked as they had two weeks prior)
32.) What is the difference between implicit and explicit memory?
Implicit- memories for routines, need stimulus to bring them to mind
Explicit- memories that can be recalled on demand
33.) Child –directed speech is often called___motherese or baby talk___.
34.) In terms of language development ….at 6-10 months ….babies should be?
12 months? 18 months?
6-10 months- babbling, including both consonants and vowel sounds
repeated in syllables
12 months- first spoken words that are recognizable part of the native
language
18 months - vocabulary spurt, 3 or more words learned per day, much
variation
35.) Newborns prefer what type of speech?
High pitched, simplified and repetitive speech
36.) Should you read/ talk to your babies before they can speak?
Yes…..lots..
37.) When language spurt goes from 50 to 100 words…we call this?
Naming explosion
38.) What are the language theories?
P187
caregivers must teach language, reinforcing the infants vocal expression by using
words to describe many objects and experiences
inborn “language acquisition device”..given normal environment and exposure to
language, infants will talk
social interaction..infants will learn language as long as there social context is
supportive.
Hybrid model …combines all three
Child Disorders
ASD
1.) What are the types of ASDs?
2.) What is the treatment?
3.) What are some causes and risk factors?
Bullying / Aggression (p300 p 401)
Childhood Schizophrenia
22.) What did the Stanford Prison experiment teach us about power? (notes/ frame)