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124 Cards in this Set

  • Front
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Genotype

Genetic inheritance

Phenotype

Observed characteristics due to heridity and environment

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model

Described development as involving interactions between individual and environment. Consists of 5 levels: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem.

Bronfenbrenner's microsystem

Child's immediate environment, face to face relationships within the home, school, neighborhood. Child's relationships with parents, siblings, peers, teachers.

Bronfenbrenner's mesosystem

Interactions between components of the microsystem, such as the influence of family factors on the child's behavior at school.

Bronfenbrenner's exosystem

Consists of elements in the broader environment that affect the child's immediate environment and includes the parents' workplace, school board, community agencies, local industry, mass media.

Bronfenbrenner's macrosystem

Comprised of overarching environmental influences as cultural beliefs and practices, economic conditions, political idologies.

Bronfenbrenner's chronosystem

Consists of environmental events that occur over an individual's lifespan and impact the individual in ways that depend on the individual's circumstances and developmental stage. e.g., the immediate effects of a change in family structure or SES

Rutter's Indicators

6 family risk factors that accurately predict child psychopathology: severe marital discord, low SES, overcrowding or large family size, parental criminality, maternal psychopathology, placement of child outside home.

Resilience (Werner & Smith)

Found that infants who experienced prenatal and perinatal stress initially had more physical and cognitive difficulties than those who did not, but this declined over time. Positive outcomes for high-risk babies were more likely when: they experienced fewer stressors following birth, had easy temperament with high social responsivity, were provided with stable support from parent or caregiver. Suggests that negative effects of prenatal and perinatal stress are not always irreversible.

Critical Period

Specific, predetermined period of time during biological maturation when an organism is particularly sensitive to certain stimuli that can have positive or negative impact on development.

Sensitive period

Longer in duration and more flexible than critical periods. Not tied as closely to chronological age or maturational age.

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

People with PKU lack an enzyme needed to metabolize phenylalynine, an amino acid found in milk, eggs, bread, etc. Beginning diet low in phenylalynine soon after birth prevents in severe mental retardation that can accompany this disorder.

Klinefelter Syndrome

Occurs in males due to having 2 or more X chromosomes with a single Y chromosome. A male with this disorder has a small penis an testes, develops breasts during puberty, has limited interest in sexual activity, is often sterile, and may be LD.

Down Syndrome

Autosomal (non-sex chromosome) disorder. Presence of extra 21st chromosome. Characterized by mental retardation, retarded physical growth & motor development, distinctive facial features. Increased susceptibility to dementia, leukemia, heart defects.

Fetal Alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Risk is greatest when mother drinks heavily every day during pregnancy, or engages in binge drinking. Characteristic symptoms include: facial abnormalities, retarded physical growth, heart, kidney, and liver probems, visual and hearing problems, mental retardation, LD, behavioral issues (hyper, impulsive, socially withdrawn)

Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE)

More common than FAS, cihldren less likely to have facial abnormalities and mental retardation, but exhibit many symptoms of FAS at a milder level. Symptoms permanent.

Regions of brain affected by prenatal exposure to alcohol

corpus collosum, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, basal ganglia, frontal lobes.

Prenatal Exposure to Cocaine

Increases risk for spontaneous abortion and stillbirth. Infants born to cocaine users are at high risk for SIDS, seizures, low birthweight, reduced head circumferance. Often exhibit tremors, exaggerated startle response, high-pitched cry, sleep & feeding difficulties, developmental delays, and tend to be irritable and difficult to comfort.

Malnutrition During Prenatal Development

Associated with miscarriage, stillbirth, low birthweight, may result in suppression of the immune system, mental retardation. Severe malnutrition in 3rd trimester is detrimental to developing brain and can lead to reduced myelinzation and neurotransmitter abnormalities.

Brain Development

Rapid during prenatal period. At birth, brain is only 25% of adult weight. Brain grows quickly folowing birth, and by time child is 2yo, it has reached 80% of adult weight. Brain begins shrinking at age 30.

Cerebral Cortex

Responsible for higher level cognitive functions, language, spacial skills, complex motor activities. Is almost completely undeveloped at birth. Develops through adolescence.

Early Reflexes

Reflexes are unlearned responses to particular stimuli in environment. Early reflexes include: babinski, rooting, moro, stepping.

Babinski Reflex

toes fan out and upward when soles of feet are tickled

Rooting

Turns head in direction of touch applied to the cheek

Moro (startle)

flings arms and legs outward and then toward body in response to loud noise or sudden loss of physical support

Stepping (walking)

makes coordinate walking movement when held upright with feet touching flat surface

Perception in Newborns (vision)

Vision is not well developed at birth. Newborn sees 20ft like adults see as 200-400ft. At 6 mos, visual acuity is similar to normal adult. 2mos limited color vision, depth perception by 4-6 mos. Prefer high-contrast patterns. Prefer looking at faces 2-5 days after birth. Preference toward mother's face at 2 mos.

Perception in Newborns (pain)

Newborns are sensitive to pain. Exposure to severe pain as a newborn can impact later reactions.  Full term infants who undergo painful medical procedures during infancy later exhibit heightened responsibity to pain while preterm infants who experience these procedures may exhibit a reduced reactivity to pain later in infancy.

Physical Maturation in Adolescence

Growth spurt begins at 11-12 in girls, 13-14 in boys. Full stature reached by 15 & 17 respectively. Early maturation is good for boys- better adjustment, more popularity, while it is much more difficult for girls. Late maturing is bad for both, and is most severe when they perceive themselves as different from their peers.

Visual Changes in Adulthood

Inability to focus on close objects (presbyopia) around age 40. After 65, experience changes that interfere with reading, driving, daily life in general. Changes include: reduced acuity, reduced perception of depth and color, increased light sensitivity, deficits in visual processing & details of moving objects.

Sexual Activity in Late Adulthood

Sexual activity in mid-life and earler is a good predictor of sexual activity in late adulthood. Many older adults cite physical health problems as a primary reason for a lack of sexual activity. Many older adults find their sex lives to be as fulfilling or more fulfilling than in middle adulthood.

Adaptation

Consists of assimilation and accomodation. Assimilation is incorporating new knolwedge into existing schemas. Accomodation is modification of existing schemas to incorporate new knowledge.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage

Birth-2 yrs. Child learns about objects and other people through the sensory information they provide (how they look, feel, taste) and the actions that can be performed on them (sucking, hitting, grasping). Predominant type of learning during this phase is due to circular reactions- actions performed in order to reproduce events that initially occurred by chance. Important accomplishment is object permanence.

Object Permanence

Allows a child to recognize that objects and people continue to exist when they are out of sight.

Piaget's Preoperational Stage

2-7yrs. Key characteristic is symbolic (semiotic) function. Permits the child to learn through the use of language, mental images, and other symbols. Able to engage in symbolic play & solve problems mentally. Exhibit precausal reasoning- incomplete understanding of cause and effect. Precausal thinking may manifest as magical thinking, or the belief that thinking about something will cause it to happen. Animism may also occur. Egocentric. Unable to conserve in this stage.

Piaget's Concrete Operational Stage

7-11yrs. Capable of mental operations- logical rules for transforming and manpulating information. Can seriate, practice conservation, and understand part/whole relationships.

Piaget's Formal Operational Stage

11+ yrs. Person in this stage is able to think abstractly and is capable of deductive reasoning and forming hypotheses. Renewed egocentrism in adolescence which includes the personal fable belief as well as imaginary audience.

Information Processing Theories

Compares the functioning of computer programs to the human mind. Cognitive development involves increasing information processing capacity and efficiency.

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Views all learning as socially mediated. Propoes that cognitive development is 1st interpersonal (interactions with others) and then intrapersonal (child internalizes what they have learned).

Zone of Proximal Development

Refers to the discrepancy between child's current develoipmental level where they can function independently, and the level of development that is just beyond their current level, but can be reached when an adult or more experienced peer provides appropriate scaffolding.

Scaffolding

instruction, assistance, and support provided by peers or adults. Most effective when it involves modeling, providing cues, and encouraging child to think about plans of action.

Childhood Infantile Amnesia

Adults are usually unable to recall many events experiened prior to age 3. This occurs because areas of the brain essential for the memory of events are not sufficiently developed prior to age four. Another explanation is due to the lack of language abilities that are necessary to encode information in ways that would enable later retrieval.

Memory Strategies in Children

-Preschoolers: incidental mnemonics, but do so ineffectively




-Early elementary: use more effective strategies, but are distracted by irrelevant information




-When taught memory strategies, young children will apply to immediate situation, but do not use them in new situations




-Age 9/10: kids use rehearsal, organization, elaboration




-Adolescence: strategies are fine tuned. Also better able to use metacognition



Effects of Age on Memory

Compared to younger adults, older adults show great age related declines in recent long-term memory. Episodic memory is more affected by increased age than semantic/procedural memory. Increased age leads to decreased working memory is which is caused by decreased processing efficiency.

Nativist Approach to Language Acquisition (Chomsky)

Language is acquired through biological mechanisms and stresses universal patterns of language development. Proposed Language acquisition device (LAD) makes it possible for a person to acquire language just by being exposed to it. Support for this comes from children mastering language between 4-6yo, and kids pass through the same stages of language development across cultures.

Semantic Bootstrapping

Refers to a child's use of his or her knowledge of the meaning of words to infer their syntactical (grammatical) category. Context leads to understanding whether unknown word is a verb, noun, etc. Leads to grammatically correct sentences.

Syntactic Bootstrapping

Refers to a child's use of syntactical knowledge to learn meaning of new words. The sentence structure leads to understanding of the word's meaning.

Phonemes

Smallest units of sound understood in a language. English has 45 (b, p, f, v)

Morphemes

Smallest units of sound that convey meaning. Made up of one or more phonemes (do, go, ed, ing)

Stages of language acquisition

crying, cooing & babbling, first words, telegraphic speech

Crying

Types: hunger, anger, pain, fussy. All adults respond to crying infants with heightened physiological responses.

Cooing & Babbling

-6-8 weeks of age, infants produce cooing sounds which are vowel sounds when happy and content.




-4mos, kids begin babbling, which is repeated consonant and vowel sounds. Early babbling includes sounds from all languages




-9-14mos norrow sounds to those of native language.




-Deaf children babble with hands



First Words

Spoken between 10-15 mos. At 18 mos, has repertoire of 50 words. 1st words often nominals (dynamic objects like dog and car), labels, people, events.

Telegraphic Speech

18-24 mos, children string 2 or more words together to make sentences (me go, more juice)

Underextension

When a child applies a word too narrowly to objects or situations, e.g., the word dish only applies to his specific dish, not all dishes.

Overextension

When a child applies a word to a wider collection of objects or events than appropriate, e.g., all four-legged animals are doggies.

Bilingualism and Bilingual Education

-Bilingual children do as well or better than monolingual kids on tests measuring cognitive and language development. They may also intitially score higher in cognitive complexity, reasoning, and awareness, but some evidence suggests that this levels out by adolescence.




-Bilingual education: when language minority kids participate in high quality prograoms, they acquire academic English and knowledge as well or beter than in immersion only situations



Behavioral Inhibition

Relatively stable. Found that kids identified as inhibited or uninhibited at 21mos were categorized the same at 5.5 & 7.5 yrs. That level of inhibition is related to physiological reactivity .Those with greater inhibition have increased heart rate, pupil size, and blood pressure when faced with unfamiliar stimuli. This often translates to less positive relations in young adulthood.

Goodness-of-Fit Model (Thomas & Chess)

Predicts that it is the degree of match between parents' behvaiors and hteir child's temperament that contributes the the child's outcomes. Developed a parent guidance intervention that is designed to help parents interact with their child in ways consistent with child's temperament.

Stages of psychosexual development

oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital

Oral stage of psychosexual development

Birth-1yr, mout is focus of sensation and stimulation and weaning is primary source of conflict. Fixation results in dependence, passivity, gullibility, sarcasm, and orally focused habits.

Anal stage of psychosexual development

1-3yrs, Issue during this stage is control of bodily wastes. Conflicts stem from issues related to toilet training. Fixation produces anal retentiveness (stinginess, selfishness, OCD behavior) or anal expulsiveness (cruelty, destructiveness, messiness)

Phallic stage of psychosexual development

3-6yrs, Sexual energy is centered in genitals, primary task is resolution of Oedipal conflict. Successful outcome results from identification with same-sex parent and development of superego. Fixation can produce phallic character, which involves sexual exploitation of others.

Latency stage of psychosexual development

6-12yrs, Libidinal energy is diffuse rather than focused on any one area of body. Emhpasis on developing social skills rather than sexual gratification.

Genital stage of psychosexual development

12+yrs, Libido is centered in genitals and successful outcome in this stage occurs when sexual desire is blended with affection to produce mature sexual relationships.

Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development

Basic trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame & doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, ego integrity vs. despair.

Basic Trust vs. Mistrust

Infancy; a positive relationship with one's caregiver durin infancy results in a sense of trust and optimism

Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

Toddlerhood; A sense of self, autonomy, develops out of positive interactions with one's parents or other caregivers.

Initiative vs. Guilt

Early childhood; favorable relationships with family members result in an ability to set goals and devise and carry out plans without infringing on rights of others.

Industry vs. Inferiority

School age; Most important influences at this stage are people in teh neighborhood and school. To avoid feelings of inferiority, the school age child must master certain social and academic skills

Identity vs. Role confusion

Adolescence; Peers are the dominant social influence in adolescence. Positive outcome is reflected in a sense of personal identity and a direction for the future

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Young adulthood; main task during early adulthood is the establishment of intimate bonds of love and friendship. If such bonds are not achieved, self-absorption and isolation result.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Middle adulthood; The people one lives and works with are most important during this stage. A generative person exhibits committment to the well-being of future generations.

Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Maturation/old age; In this final stage, social influence broadens to include all of humankind. The development of wisdom (an informed detached concern with life in the face of death) and sense of integrity require coming to terms with one's limitations and mortality.

Parenting Styles (Baumrind)

Authoritarian Parents, Authoritative Parents, Permissive (Indulgent) parents, Rejecting-neglecting parents

Authoritarian Parents

-Exhibit high degree of demandingness and low responsivity. Absolute standards of conduct, stress obedience, use physical punishment, threats, deprivation.




-Offspring are irritable, aggressive, mistrusting, dependent, low self-esteem and academic achievement.



Authoritative Parents

-Combine rational control with responsivity. Set clear rules and high standards, but they rely on reasoning, praise, explanations to gain compliance.




-Offspring tend to be assertive, socially responsible, high achievement and academics, self-confident.



Permissive (indulgent) Parents

-Warm and caring but make few demands and are nonpunitive. Allow children to make own decisions about chores, bedtime, etc.




-Offspring tend to be immature, impulsive, self-centered, easily frustrated, low in achievement and independence.



Rejecting-neglecting parents

-Exhibit low levels of responsivity and demandingness, may be overly hostile. Parents of this style are predictive of juvenile delinquency.




-Offspring have low self-esteem and self-control. Often impulsive, moody, aggressive.



Maternal Depression

-Increases children's risk for emotional and behavioral problems. Mothers with depression tend to be less positive, sensitive, engaged, and those behaviors are associated with poorer child outcomes.




-Physiological signs of distress in children (elevated heart rate, frontal lobe asymmetry) seen by 3 months of age




-children are more aggressive and can lead to insecure attachment in infants and young children



Gender-Role Identity (Kohlberg)

Cognitive Development Theory; age 2-3, children recognize that they are male/female (gender identity). Soonafter, realize that gender is stable over time (gender stability). Age 6-7, children understand that gender is constant over time and that people cannot change gender by superficially altering external apearance or behavior.

Gender-Role Identity (Bem)

Gender Schema Theoryaattributes the acquisition of gender-role identity to a comination of social learning and cognitive development. Bem says children develop schemas of masculinity and feminity as the result of their experiences. These schemas then organize how they perceive the world.

Identity Statuses (Marcia)

Reflect the degree to which the individual has experienced an identity crisis and is committed to an identity. 4 statuses total: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, identity achievement

Identity Diffusion

Adolescents exhibiting diffusion have not yet experienced an identity crisis or explored alternatives and are not committed to an identity.

Identity Foreclosure

Adolescents are manifesting foreclosure when they have not exprienced a crisis but have adopted an identity that has been imposed by same-sex parent or another person

Identity Moratorium

Occurs when adolescent experiences an identity crisis tna actively explores alternative identities. It is during this phase that teens exhibig high degrees of confusion, discontent, and rebelliousness.

Identity Achievement

Adolescents that have resolved the identity crisis by evaluating alternatives and committed to an identity.

Relational Crisis (Gilligan)

Age 11-12, girls experience this crisis in response to increasing pressure to fit cultural stereotypes about perfect good woman. As a result, they disconnect from themselves to mainatain relationships with others. Often experience a drop in academic achievement, loss of self-esteem, increased vulnerability to psychological problems. Teachers, parents, therapists must encourage healthy resistance to disconnection

Stages of Grief (Kubler-Ross)

5 stages: 1) denial and isolation, 2) anger, 3) bargaining, 4) depression, 5) acceptance




-do not have to occur in this order and some stages may be repeated



Contact Comfort (Harlow)

-Follows learning theory, rhesus monkey study




-A baby's attachment is in part due to the pleasant, tactile sensation provided by a soft, cuddly object or parent.



Imprinting (Lorenz)

-Follows ethological theory which proposes that humans and other organisms have tendency to form attachments becasue they help guarantee survivial.




- Lorenz found that a critical period exists in geese during the first 2-3 days after birth. Chicks follow the first moving object they see.



Internal Working Model (Bowlby)

-Believed that infants are programmed to act in ways to get caregiver's attention. Thought to have four stages of attachment development in first 2 years of life: preattachment, attachment in the making, clearcut attachment, formation of reciprocal relationships.




- Internal working model is a mental representation of self and others that influences child's future relationships.



Signs of Attachment

6-7mos, behaviors become increasingly directed toward primary caregivers. Signs include: social referencing, separation anxiety, stranger anxiety.

Social Referencing

6mos, infants look toward caregiver to determine how to respond in new or ambiguous situations. Ex, visual cliff eperiment

Separation Anxiety

Refers to severe distress that occurs when a child is separated from their primary caregiver. Begins about 6-8mos, peaks at 14-18mos, gradually declines after that.

Stranger Anxiety

8-10mos, infants become anxious and fearful in presence of stranger, especially when caregiver is not around or does not respond positively to stranger. Continues to age 2 and then diminishes.

Patterns of Attachment (Ainsworth)

-Identified through experiment called "Strange Situation" when mother left infant alone in a room with a stranger and then returns. 4 patterns: 1) secure attachment, 2) insecure (anxious)/ambivalent attachment, 3) insecure (anxious)/avoidant attachment, 4) disorganized/disoriented attachment

Secure Attachment

-In strange situation, a securely attached baby explores the room and plays with toys while mother is present. Baby becomes mildly upset when mother leaves and seeks contact with her when she returns.




-Mothers of these children are emotionally sensitive and responsive to babies' cues



Insecure (anxious)/ambivalent attachment

-Baby alternates between clinging and resisting mother, becomes disturbed when left alone with stranger, is ambivalent when mother returns and may become angry or esist her attempts at physical contact




-Mothers of these children are often moody and inconsistent in caregiving (sometimes indifferent while other times enthusiastic).



Insecure (anxious)/avoidant attachment

-Avoidant baby interacts very little with mother, shows little distress when she leaves room, avoids or ignores her when she returns




-Mothers of avoidant cihldren are very impatient and unresponsive or provide children with too much stimulation



Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment

-Children exhibit fear of caregivers, dased or confused facial expression, and other disorganized attachment behaviors (greeting mother when she returns then turning away from her)




-80% of infants who have been mistreated by caregivers exhibit this pattern



Adult Attachment Interview

Parents' own early attachment experiences are predictive of attachment of their own children.




-Adults are classified as autonomous when they give coherent descrptions of their childhood relationships with their parents. These adults tend to have children who exhibit secure attachment in strange situation experiment.




-Adults are classified as dismissing when they provdie positive descriptions of their childhood relationships with parents, but the descriptions are eithe rnot supported or contradicted by specific memories. Children of these parents often exhibit an avoidant attachment pattern.




-Adults classified as preoccupied when they become angry or confused when describing their childhood relationships with parents or seem passively preoccupied with parent. Children of these parents often exhibit resistant/ambivalent attachment.



Coercive Family Interaction Model (Patterson)

Proposes that a) children initially learn aggressive behaviors from parents who rarely reinforce prosocial behaviors, use harsh discipline, and reward aggressiveness b) over time, aggressive parent-child interactions escalate. Investigators contend that parent will use coercive forms of discipline when the family experiences high stress, esp. when child has difficult temperament

Social-Cognitive Factors and Aggression

Aggressive children differ from less aggressive peers in terms of a) self-efficacy beliefs (more likely to say it is easy to perform aggressive acts but difficult to inhibit aggression), b) beliefs about outcomes of their behaviors (aggression will be followed by positive outcomes), c) regret or remorse (they show little remorse after committing an aggressive act.

Heteronomous Morality (Piaget)

Morality of constraint; extends ages 7-10. During this stage, children believe that rules are set by authority figures and are unalterable. When judging if an act is right, they consider whether rule has been violated and what the consequences are

Autonomous Morality (Piaget)

Morality of cooperation; Age 11+. Children in this stage view rules as arbitrary and as being alterable when the people who are governed by them agree to change them. When juding the act, they focus more on the intention of actor than on act's consequences.

Kohlberg's Levels of Moral Development

Investigated moral reasoning using Heinz dilemma (better to save someone's life or obey law and not steal drugs). Developed 3 levels: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.

Preconventional Morality (Kohlberg)

-Punishment and obedience orientation: the goodness or badness of an act depends on its consequences. Children in this stage identify right course of action being the one that allows them to avoid punishment.




-Instrumental Hedonism: consequences still guide moral judgments, but judgments are based more on obtaining rewards and satisfying personal needs than on punishment.



Conventional Morality (Kohlberg)

-Age 10-11




-Good boy/girl orientation: the right action is the one that is liked or approved of by others




-Law and order orientation: moral judgments are based on rules and laws established by legitimate authorities



Postconventional Morality (Kohlberg)

-Late adolescence




-Morality of contract, individual rights, democratically accepted laws: morally right action is the one that is consistent with democratically determined laws (which can change if interfering with rights)




-Morality of individual principles of conscience: right and wrong are determined on the basis of braod, self-chosen universally acceptable ethical principles.



Divorce and Diminished Capacity to Parent

Mothers who usually have physical custody of children are frequently socially isolated and lonely, experience a decline in income, tend to be uncommunicative, impatient, less warm toward children. Monitor activities less, but use more authoritarian punishment. Custodial fathers have similar problems, but adjust sooner. Noncustodial fathers tend to be overly permissive and indulgent with their children during visits, and visits tend to decline in number.

Effects of divorce on children: Age

Preschoolers at time of divorce initially exhibit more problems than older children, most likely because they are unable to understand reasons for divorce and are thus more likely to blame themselves. Long-term consequences may be worse for older children. 6-8yos often exhibit painful memories about divorce and fear they will have unsuccessful marriages themselves.

Effects of divorce on children: Sleeper Effect

Situation in which girls who do not intitially show negative effects of divorce develop a number of problems in adolescence including: increased noncompliance and conflict with mothers, antisocial behaviors, decreased self-esteem, difficulties related to sexual behavior. As young adults, more likely to become pregnant prior to marriage, choose unstable husbands, and get divorced themseles.

Effects of divorce on children: Parental Conflict

It is parental conflict, rather than the divorce itself, that increases the risk for adverse outcomes for children.

Remarriage: child's age

Conflict between parents and children was greatest when children were 9 or older at the itme of remarriage, and that early adolescence was a deletrious time in which to have a remarriage occur. This may be due to teens' normal adjustment problems becoming exacerbated. Girls struggle more in early adolescence with presence of stepfather, while stepfathers are beneficial for boys, especially preadolescent ones.

Remarriage: stepparent

Stepparents tend to be less involved and unsure of their role. Best outcomes for stepparents occur when the stepparent is warm, involved, and supportive of the biological parent's authority.

Effects of Maternal Employment

Benefits outweight the costs, especially for older children. Children of working women have more egalitarian gender role concepts and more positive views of femininity, daughters have higher levels of self esteem, independence, motivation. However, some evidence suggests that maternal employment may have negative outcomes for boys. It is less likely to have negative impact if both parents have positive attitude toward it.

Gay and Lesbian Parents

The nature of the parent/child relationship is more important than a parent's sexual orientation. Overall, children of gay and lesbian parents are similar to children of hetero parents. Some studies have confirmed superior parenting skills in homosexual parents. Both gay and hetero couples experience similar parenting problems

Child Sexual Abuse

Many studies have found no consistent gender differences, but when differences are found, females have worse outcome. Studies suggest tha teffects of sex abuse tend to be less severe when abuse was committed by a stranger than by family member.

Sibling Relationships

Nature of relationships varies over time. Most interactions between young siblings involve prosocial, play-oriented behaviors. Middle-childhood marked by closeness/conflict and cooperation/competition. during this period, siblings rely on each other for support and companionship but rivalry gears up, especially in those close in age. In adolescence, siblings spend less time together and relationship becomes less emotionally intense and more distance. Begin to view each other as equals. With age, close relationships get closer, poor relationships get poorer.

Rejected vs. Neglected Children

Rejected -aggressive children are hostile, hyper, impulsive, and have difficulty regulating emotions and viewing other perspectives. Rejected-withdrawn children have high social anxiety, are submissive, have negative expectations about others, are often victims of bullies. Neglected cihldren have fewer than avg. interactions with others, rarely engage in disruptive behaviors. Being alone is desired and do not report being lonely/unhappy. Outcomes are worse for actively rejected children. They express greater loneliness and dissatisfation and are less likely to experience an improvement in peer status when they change gorups.

Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (Carstensen)

-Addresses motivational processes that underlie changes in quality and quantity of social relationships over the lifespan and predicts that social motives correspond to perceptions of time left in a life being limited or unlimited.




-When time is perceived as unlimited, behavior is aimed at pursuing future oriented, new and novel experiences capable of providing new info.




-Time perceived as limited, present-oriented emotion-based goals take priority which leads to preference for emotionally close social partners.