You will only be responsible for material actually discussed in class. I may not get to all of this material in which case you won't be responsible for it..
1. Be able to define the concepts related to the Developmental Issues we studied and be able to state how social cognitive (learning) theory and cognitive developmental theory stand on these issues:
1. nature/nurture and interaction between nature and nurture;
2. active child, passive child, transactional model (This was included as at the end of #1 in the notes.)
3. continuity versus discontinuity (this includes qualitative change versus quantitative change and gradual versus step-like development);
4. situational versus individual characteristics;
5. cultural universals (normative development) versus idiographic development);
6. intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation
2. Cognitive social learning theory (CSLT): be able to describe the processes that affect social learning theory and how they affect social learning. The processes are attention, retention, production, motivation. How do these processes change with age? Know how CSLT stands on the 6 developmental issues mentioned in #1 above.
3. Piaget and Cognitive-Developmental Theory (CDT): qualitative change, assimilation and accommodation, egocentrism, constructivism. Know how CDT stands on the 6 developmental issues mentioned in #1 above.
4. Ethology: What is the methodology associated with ethological approaches? Define and give examples adaptation; What is instinctive behavior? Note the importance of context in eliciting instinctive behavior. How does ethology stand on the issues of universals versus idiographic development? What are the contributions of ethology?
5. Behavior Genetics: What two types of evidence (i.e., from adoption studies and from twin studies) are there that heritability (genetic influence) becomes more important as children get older? MAKE SURE YOU CLEARLY DISTINGUISH BETWEEN ADOPTION AND TWIN STUDIES. What was my point about the effects of abusive environments on intelligence? (This referred to the figure I drew showing that within the 'normal' range, the environment has only a limited effect on intelligence, but there is a very large effect of the environment in abusive situations.) What did Turkheimer find recently that is related to this?
Define (and be able to give examples where appropriate): phenotype; genotype; active Genotype-Environment correlation, passive Genotype-Environment correlation, evocative Genotype-Environment Correlation; (for all of these definitions you must mention the role of genes); canalization; reaction range; polygeny; shared and unshared environmental influences
6. Regarding the discussion of the history of childhood from early in the course, be able to discuss the themes of state versus family as agents of socialization; secular trends in parent-child and spousal affection; secular trends in parental investment and children's services; secular changes in family composition (divorce, single parenting, etc.)
7. What sorts of interests do scientists have that might conflict with the ideal of unbiased scientific inquiry? What types of research are most prone to scientific bias? Why do you think they are more prone to this problem?
8. What is evolutionary psychology? What types of mechanisms does it propose are important?
9. From Chapter 3: What are the continuum of reproductive casualty and the continuum of caretaking casualty? Which of these two sources of casualty are considered to be more important in lessening the effects of prematurity with age? What evidence from Box 3.2 supports the answer to the previous question? (Box 3.2 is mislabeled as Box 4.3 in the lecture notes.)
10. From Chapter 4: What are the nativist and empiricist theories of pattern perception? p. 145: What did Salapatek and Kessen find, and which theory does it support? What parts of the triangle did the babies focus on? When do babies see patterns at approximately adult level? Notice that in the study referred to in Figure 4-5, babies 3-5 months old perceive patterns in moving displays; the authors conclude that 'this capacity to infer form from movement may be innate or at least develop very early.'
11. From Chapter 5: pp. 203: Genetic variation influences age of menarche, but certainly environmental factors like nutrition and health care are also important. What are the effects of intense exercise on menarche? What does amenorrheic mean? What are the correlates of menarche with parent-child relationships (Steinberg 1987; Moffit et al, 1992). Note that a 'genetic inheritance model' might equally well explain the data. What are the correlates of early maturation in girls on divorce and child bearing?
12: From Chapter 8: p. 338: Describe Gelman's experiment. How does it cast
doubt on Piaget's claims on the abilities of preoperational children? Notice
that once again researchers got different results by simplifying the tasks.
Piaget used a fairly difficult task and recorded at what age children could do
it. Later researchers use a variety of tasks of greater or lesser difficulty and
find a gradual improvement in children's abilities. This is one reason why the
stage idea is losing popularity. p. 348-349: What does Siegler think about the
stage issue and what is his reason? This relates to the comment above: Piaget
used a fairly difficult task and recorded at what age children could do it.
Later researchers use a variety of tasks of greater or lesser difficulty and
find a gradual improvement in children's abilities. This is one reason why the
stage idea is losing popularity. When you look at close intervals and use tasks
that get gradually more difficult, development seems more gradual and less
stage-like. Also, there is more cross-cultural variation than Piaget thought and
active intervention can speed progress through the stages (but only up to a
point; no intervention could make 4-year-old into a formal operational reasoner).