Exploration Activity 1: Child Development – Ways of Learning and be Contend with Different Accents in Infancy
Abstract
Although adults rapidly adjust to accented speakers’ pronunciation of words, young children appear to struggle when confronted with unfamiliar variants of their native language (e.g., American English-learning 15-month-olds cannot recognize familiar words spoken in Jamaican English; Best et al., 2009). It is currently unclear, however, why this is the case, or how infants overcome this apparent inability. Here, we begin to address these crucial questions. Experiments 1 and 2 confirm with a new population that infants are initially unable to recognize familiar words produced in unfamiliar accents. That is, Canadian English-learning infants cannot understand familiar words spoken in Australian English until they near their second birthday. However, Experiments 3 and 4 show that this early inability to recognize accented words can readily be overcome when infants are exposed to a story read in the unfamiliar accent prior to test. Importantly, this adaptation only occurs when the story is highly familiar, consistent with the idea that top-down lexical feedback may enable the adaptation process. We conclude that infants, like adults, have the cognitive capacity to rapidly deduce the mapping between their own and an unfamiliar variant of their native language. Thus, the essential machinery underlying spoken language communication is in place much earlier than previous studies have suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Reference
van Heugten, M., & Johnson, E. K. (2014). Learning to contend with accents in infancy: Benefits of brief speaker exposure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(1), 340.
Longitudinal design
Longitudinal design recommends advancement in the intervention programs and implements various policies for advancement learning capabilities in childhood development. Longitudinal data helped track children’s development to adulthood and highlighted cognitive outcomes, influences and aspirations. It helped create links between family background and later outcomes including educational achievements. It is through longitudinal analysis that there has been a huge and continued participation in learning activities at the age of 16 and influence in learning outcomes and future employment (Lee and McLanahan, 2015). Report review on vocational training suggested vocational training for 14 to19 year-olds can be developed and improved to promote successful progression in the labor market. Research also showed 16 and 17 year-olds have been involved in short-term employment, training and education. Longitudinal data highlights that prior attainment is the key supplement for children’s outcome during school years and have resulted to increasing attainment and school reform on emphasis to improve standards.
Cross-sectional design
Cross sectional study involves data of specific populations that are subsequently reviewed on specific point in time. Cross-sectional design plays an essential role in developmental psychology while the same methods are also applied in other areas such as education, and areas of social sciences. This offers observational study design and allows the investigators to weigh available measures of the outcome and also highlight possible exposures of participants. Cross sectional design may be conducted before determining a baseline in cohort study (Lee and McLanahan, 2015). Cross-sectional study design is usually easy to conduct and uses minimal time and also allows data on all variables to be collected once. It is also able to measure all the possible outcomes and any exposures that may be arrived during childhood study. Cross-sectional design measures all prevalence for factors that are being investigated. Access prevalence of chronic or acute conditions but cannot give actual report on causes of the disease also no any form of interceptive results.
Sequential design (sometimes called an accelerated longitudinal or a cross-
Sequential design)
This represents developmental research designs that mostly include different elements of both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. Sequential designs are configured to address different cofounds between age, time of measurement and cohort. It also examined the cognitive demand in conflict inhibition. This design allows the ability to detect and correct any possible errors that may develop between age 5 and 6 years.
Experimental study
This transitions the biographical and anecdotal to experimental methods which lead to an increase on emphasis in control. Experimental study is the key factor in the conditioning of various emotional responses, associative learning, skills, problem solving and other factors affecting the learning process. It also highlights the difference between adults, children and animals whereby learning may involve symbolic processes and language.
Exploration Activity 2: Epigenetics Interactive Website
- Explain how the environment (both prenatal and postnatal) plays a role in
regulating the genetic information that the child inherits.
Prenatal development is a critical process that mostly occurs during the 40 week period before the birth of a child, and is mainly influenced by child’s genetics. Human beings are made up of different cells containing chromosomes that contains genetic materials that mostly determines various things regarding individual’s personality traits, biological sex and other factors such as hair color and eye. Gene regulation is the process whereby some cells develop in the brain, development of liver cells, sexual reproductive organs and intestinal cells.
Prenatal on the other hand is comprised of three developmental stages: embryonic, fetal and germinal (Lee and McLanahan, 2015). The prenatal development can also be organized into three equal trimesters and do not fully correspond with three developmental stages. Normally, the germinal stage mostly occurs from a specified conception for 2 weeks implementation, whereby the zygote begins to divide rapidly. The fetal stages normally last for 9 weeks until the child is born and it is throughout this stage that the brain develops and grows rapidly. The embryonic stage usually starts from implementation 2 to 8 weeks of pregnancy whereby organ systems develop and experience growth.
- What are the potential advantages of these types of genetic-environment
interactions for the child?
Potential advantages on both postnatal and prenatal genetic-environment provide biological insights for preventive measures and potential treatment. Despite the limits to incorporate environmental factors use of genome approach is critical for the development window and optimal design for gene-environmental research. This approach is critical for susceptibility variants even thou it is delicate in validating findings independent samples of children. Recent advances in genetic technology allow complex measurement of various genomic variations.
Exploration Activity 3: What We Learn before We’re Born
- Show how Annie Murphy Paul’s discussion of the “biological postcards from the world outside” relates to the concepts of epigenetic modifications and predictive-adaptive responses that were discussed in Chapter 2 of your text.
Annie Murphy discussion reveils to a degree on various conditions that human may encounter before birth and how it influence individual characteristics. Murphy suggests a more dynamic nature that links between the mother and features. There is a possibility that the period between pregnancies is critical understanding early childhood and human development. Learning and recognition starts before birth and unveils new perceptions of human development and how the brain functions. Before birth, fetus brain is able to pick up various information of the outer world and therefore life in the womb shapes our future in one way or another. Environment is the primary context that can be described to highlight the inherent differences in approach illustrated by genestitics.
- Describe how these predictive-adaptive responses might not be adaptive.
What might be the drawbacks of the predictions that the fetus is making from the events and conditions in the outside world based on these “postcards?”
The predictive adaptive response hypothesis is the form of developmental plasticity that cues the early life influences in the development of phenotype. This is mostly adapted to the general environmental conditions and that of later life (Lee and McLanahan, 2015). Variations from early life conditions are the main triggers to developmental switches that are responsible individual’s predictive differences in physiology and adult behavior. This helps in understanding of why all individuals differ and also how it influences the susceptibility of future diseases.
- Briefly describe two examples of perceptual (sensory) or cognitive behaviours
that are learned by fetuses before they are born, and describe how investigators measured this fetal learning.
There are few perceptual indications during pregnancy even thou none of the perceptions are present or identified in embryos. In cognitive behavior, a fetus is known to develop rudimentary memories during the last weeks to birth even thou it is not clear weather a fetus experience traditional consciousness. Sensory and active brain mechanisms are developed at around 30 and new gestational studies proof that infants can listen to their mothers talk at around 10 weeks to birth. This therefore signifies that brain complexity and functional formation including learning begins before birth.
Part B
Online Discussion 1—We Were All Children Once
Introduce yourself to your Open Learning Faculty Member and fellow classmates. Explain where in the world you spent your childhood and the general time period. Give an example of a personal observation of an item from news media, a magazine, a website, etc. that you feel highlights a feature of life for a present-day child that differs from your own childhood experiences. Identify what level of Bronfenbrenner’s “ecological perspective” is captured in your reflection.
As a member of an open learning faculty and I would like to say that I spent my entire childhood under different environmental conditions and social influence. Today’s child life differs greatly from my childhood since various scientific factors and technological developments have influenced today’s child. During my childhood period, there was little information child development and therefore highlights different features of a present-day child. Education system was quite different from todays since there have been significant changes on learning materials and also environmental changes (Lee and McLanahan, 2015). Andy’s Murphy discussion on fetus development is an example of positive influence that has evolved over the years.
The different level of Bronfenbrenner’s “ecological perspective” can relate to the influence and the relationship between us and the surrounding environment (Bronfenbrenner 1977). The different micro-systems contain unique relations between the surrounding environment and our personality. Environment can be divided to five categories mainly the macro systems, chronosystem, microsystems, mesosystems and the exo-system. As an example of mesosystem in my childhood case, I was raised and spend all my childhood life with my parents.
- Even though you may have started this course at a different time from your peers, you are encouraged to read current or recent past peer postings and respond to at least one fellow student’s post. This can help to start building a community of learners, since you are all taking (or have taken) the same course.
I realized that the ecological perspectives play an important role and are all about the product and system work within the external environmental. This includes individuals believes, educational level, skills, values, and other interpersonal levels and relationships. I also identified main concepts of ecological perspectives as related in the post and also how it affects our daily life.
Part C
Short-Answer Questions
Write a response in your own words to each of the following questions:
What other causal explanations are possible for this correlation? Explain your answer
Basing on researchers report, I realized that there is a significant correlation when it comes to measure of different levels of aggression experienced in children and family stress. I agree that the correlation is positive which means that families under stress. It is also true that stress is associated with a greater aggression in children. It is also important to note that correlation can also be stated in different opposite ways: meaning aggression in children is primarily associated stress that is experienced within the family. Even thou correlation cannot be interpreted as the main cause and effect and therefore this creates a common perception that stress is the key to aggression in children among children.
- If you had to put together a theory of child development, you could include elements of several major theories. Choose one element from three different theories that you would include, and explain why you would include them. How does your theory account for both genetic and environmental influences on development?
In theory of child development, there are different elements that compose these theories and mostly focus on how children grow and change over time. There are various aspects when it comes to child development which includes cognitive, social and emotional growth. Cognitive Developmental theory is commonly viewed as a critical stage whereby people undergo through to understand the outer surrounding environment. An example of cognitive development theory is Piaget’s whereby it unveils different developmental intelligence and its stages (Lee and McLanahan, 2015). According to Erikson’s theory, argued that personality commonly develops in order throughout eight stages that are noted in psychological development. These stages are observed from infancy throughout to adulthood and a successful completion of each stage leads to acquisition of basic virtues and a healthy personality.
- 3. Why is the saying “timing is everything” particularly true with regard to Prenatal development and exposure to teratogens ? Discuss the effects of timing of exposure to teratogens on fetal development. Include a discussion of why different children exposed to the same teratogen during the same fetal period may experience different outcomes. Include examples of research findings on the effects of various teratogens at different periods in fetal development
Prenatal development and exposure to teratogens mostly depends on time and are mostly observed as an increased prevalence of a certain birth defect. Teratogens are agents that are known to cause critical abnormalities as a result of fatal exposure during pregnancy. Timing is the key factor since the effects of teratogen on developing organisms mostly depends on the period of pregnancy in child development in exposure to teratogen. Genetic variability is another factor that mostly determines whether a given teratogen can be harmful and is mostly dependent on the genetic make-up of developing organisms (Lee and McLanahan, 2015). This also explains why different children when exposed to the same teratogen during the same fetal period may experience different outcomes since fetal generic development varies differently.
- 4. Suppose you were interested in conducting research looking at the effects of prenatal exposure to various drugs on later childhood development:
Generally, the physical and neurobehavioral outcomes in most new infants suggests that prenatal exposure to drugs increases the risks to exposed infants. Most of the exposed infants are born prematurely and may experience weight loss or develop smaller head structure and other physical effect. Different drugs and various biological processes are mostly modeled and formed in different ways hence experience different effects to infants. This raises different ethical issues in childhood development and difference in interpretation.
Use of illicit drugs what other factors make it challenging to conduct research on the effects of drugs on prenatal development. Statistics shows that there are an increased number of drug-exposed children in today’s society and there is a great urge to tackle the currently high number of such cases.
References
Lee, D., & McLanahan, S. (2015). Family structure transitions and child development: Instability, selection, and population heterogeneity. American sociological review, 80(4), 738-763.