Gene–Environment Interactions

Impact of genes on behaviour depends on the environment in which the behaviour develops

Nature via Nurture

Genetic predispositions can lead us to select or create environments that influence our behaviour, leading to mistakenly assume the pure effect of nature (fearful kid seeks safe environment)

Gene Expression

Some genes turn on only in response to specific environmental triggers (Genes predisposing to anxiety may never get anxious until a big stress event)

Epigenetics

Whether genes are active is moment-to-moment (Don’t always stay on)

Cross-sectional design

examines people of different ages at a single point (snapshot)

Cohort effects

effects due to the fact that sets of people who lived during one time period can differ in some way from another time period (doesn’t control for that)

Longitudinal design

Track development of same group of subjects over time

Post hoc fallacy

Because 1 event occurred before another, that event is the cause of the other

Bidirectional influences

experiences influence development and vise versa

Zygote

result of a sperm cell fertilizing an egg

Blastocyst

ball of identical cells that don’t have any specific function in the body yet

Embryo

limbs, facial features, organs start taking shape

Fetus

All major organs are established

Teratogens

environmental factors that negatively impact prenatal development (alcohol)

Sucking reflex

automatic response to oral stimulation (sucks anything near mouth)

Rooting reflex

automatic response to eat (stroke cheek, starts mouthing)

Menarche

onset of menstruation after full maturity is reached, can’t get pregnant before then

Spermarche

first ejaculation, men don’t need to fully mature to have children

Menopause

termination of menstruation, end of reproductive potential

Stage-like

growth spurts in understanding

continuous

gradual changes in understanding

Domain-general

affect most or all cognitive function at once

domain-specific

cognitive skills develop independently, at different rates

Assimilation

absorbing new experience into current schemas

Accommodation

altering the schema to make it more compatible with experience

Piaget's Theory

4 stages of abstract reasoning capacity

Sensorimotor

no thought beyond immediate physical experiences, no object permanence

Mental representation

ability to think about things that are absent (milestone in sensorimotor)

Preoperational

think beyond here and now, can’t perform mental operations, use symbols as language, egocentric since they only see from their perspective

Concrete operations

ability to perform mental operations on physical events only

Formal operations

ability to perform hypothetical reasoning beyond the here and now, abstract concepts

Scaffolding

initial assistance in children learning and gradually remove structure

Zone of proximal development

phase when children can benefit from instruction, receptive

Theory of mind

Understand that others perspectives differ from theirs, that others know things that they don’t and vise versa (false-belief task tests this)

Age related changes to cognitive functions in adulthood

Cortex and hippocampus decline in brain volume with age Free recall (being asked to generate items from memory) declines with age Decline in remembering random words over material essential to everyday lives Accumulated knowledge and experience tends to stay the same or increase with age

Temperament

emotional style, appears early and is largely genetic in origin

Easy infants

adaptable and relaxed

Difficult infants

fussy and easily frustrated

Slow-to-warm-up infants

distributed by new things but gradually adjust to them

Uncategorized

don’t fit neatly into any category

Behavioural inhibition

scaredy cats, frightened at new things, less impulsive

Contact comfort

positive emotions afforded by touch

Attachment

emotional connection with those we feel closest

Strange situation

Examines 1 year olds reaction to separation from their primary caregivers, fall into 4 categories

Secure attachment

become upset when leave, greet return with joy

Insecure-avoidant attachment

indifference and little reaction on return

Insecure-anxious attachment

panic and mixed reaction on return

Disorganized attachment

inconsistent and confused set of responses, dazed

Permissive

lenient with their children, freedom outside the household, sparingly use discipline if at all, shower kid with affection

Authoritarian

strict with their children, little opportunity for free play or exploration, punish when they don’t respond to their demands, little affection

Authoritative

Combine the 2, supportive of their children but set firm limits

Uninvolved

neglectful, ignore children, little attention to positive or negative behaviors

Gender identity

sense of self, social construct we want to identify with

Transgender experience

having had a gender identity that was at odds with their sex

Preconventional

Focus on punishment and reward

Conventional

Focus on societal values

Post conventional

Focus on internal moral principles that transcend society