PSYC20008 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Active Child, Psychology Today, Blastocyst
14 Jun 2018
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Lecture 23 - Tuesday 23 May 2017
PSYC20006 - BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
LECTURE 23
4/7 THEMES OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
TODAY
•Nature and Nurture
•The Active Child
•Continuity/Discontinuity
•Mechanisms of Change
1. NATURE & NURTURE
•Nature and nurture interact at all stages of a person’s life, starting before birth
•Although there is a clear timetable set out for the development of the blastocyst, embryo and
fetus, reflecting the influence of nature, the nurturing of the organism during these stages is
extremely important.
•Eg. Nature: genetic code of fetus specifies when each cell should be formed and where and when
the cell should move and differentiate.
•Eg. Nurture: environment provided by the mother impacts on the development of each of these
cells.
•Toxins in the general environment (e.g. mercury, air pollution) can impact negatively on fetal
development depending on the dose and timing of administration.
Lecture 23 - Tuesday 23 May 2017
PSYC20006 - BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
•Beneficial effects in the general environment (e.g. sunshine, fresh air) can have positive effects
on fetal development.
•Timing of exposure to toxin or environmental impact determines where the damage is and to
what degree.
INFANT ‘CUTENESS’ EQUIPMENT
•Babies are equipped to elicit the appropriate nurture from their caregivers. This is biology
designed to get the caregiver to give the baby the appropriate care.
•The timing and type of interaction between caregivers and the infant is very important
•For normal development to occur, children must encounter relevant experiences during windows
of time
PERCENT OF INFANTS ABLE TO DISCRIMINATE
FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEECH SOUNDS
•Until about 8 months of age, infants can discriminate between
phonemes regardless of whether they appear in the language the
infants hear daily.
•Infants’ ability to discriminate between speech sounds not in their
native language declines between 6 and 12 months of age.
•Babies from English-speaking backgrounds were tested on their
ability to discriminate between syllables in Hindi (blue bars) and
Nthlakapmx* (green bars).
•Japanese babies can hear the difference between l and r (Eg. Lake
and rake) but Japanese adults cannot.
•Figure:*Language spoken by North American Indians in the
Pacific Northwest; (Adapted from Werker, 1989; Figure 6.5 in
Siegler, 2014)
ROMANIAN ORPHANAGES IN 1990
•Abortions weren’t allowed; so lots of babies in
orphanages.
•The kids in these orphanages didn’t get much
nurture as they had few caregivers and had
multiple ones throughout their lives. They had
lots of experiments performed on them to see
what differences occurred with a lack of care/
love in the first few years of life.
Lecture 23 - Tuesday 23 May 2017
PSYC20006 - BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
•Looked at the common
belief of parents that their
children are all beautiful.
The attractive babies are
more likely to elicit caring
from their parents.
•You can have genetic markers for a
disorder but never go on to develop it
without encountering specific
environmental markers.
•Eg. Schizophrenia.
Document Summary
Nature: genetic code of fetus specifies when each cell should be formed and where and when the cell should move and differentiate: eg. Nurture: environment provided by the mother impacts on the development of each of these cells: toxins in the general environment (e. g. mercury, air pollution) can impact negatively on fetal development depending on the dose and timing of administration. Psyc20006 - biological psychology: beneficial effects in the general environment (e. g. sunshine, fresh air) can have positive effects on fetal development, timing of exposure to toxin or environmental impact determines where the damage is and to what degree. Infant cuteness" equipment: babies are equipped to elicit the appropriate nurture from their caregivers. Nthlakapmx* (green bars): japanese babies can hear the difference between l and r (eg. Lake and rake) but japanese adults cannot: figure:*language spoken by north american indians in the. Pacific northwest; (adapted from werker, 1989; figure 6. 5 in.
