Development in Context
What do nature and nurture refer to in child development?
Nature refers to biological and genetic influences; nurture refers to experiences and environmental influences. They interact to shape development.
Researchers test whether a new reading program improves vocabulary. They assign the program and measure vocabulary scores. Identify the independent and dependent variables.
Which term means an individual’s genetic constitution, and which means their observable or measurable characteristics?
Genotype is genetic constitution; phenotype refers to observable or measurable characteristics.
What is the term for the formation of connections between neurons?
Answer: Synaptogenesis.
Classify jumping across a playground and fastening a small button as gross or fine motor skills.
Identify the pattern of development described:
Which procedure primarily helps reduce preexisting differences between experimental groups: random selection or random assignment? What does the other procedure help researchers accomplish?
Random assignment helps reduce systematic differences between conditions. Random selection helps obtain a sample representative of the population.
Sickle-cell disease and trisomy 21 illustrate different types of genetic conditions. What is the key distinction?
Sickle-cell disease involves variants of a particular gene. Trisomy 21 involves an additional chromosome 21.
Which process reduces less-used synaptic connections, and which process insulates axons to support faster signaling?
Why is pride considered a self-conscious emotion? Name one other self-conscious emotion.
Pride involves awareness and evaluation of oneself in relation to a standard or others’ expectations.
Accept guilt, shame, embarrassment, or envy, consistent with the lecture’s examples.
An educator says, “Once a sensitive period ends, learning that skill is impossible.” Is this accurate? Explain the distinction between a sensitive period and a critical period.
No. A sensitive period involves heightened responsiveness to particular experiences; learning can still occur afterward. A critical period is a limited window when a particular experience or event must occur for typical development of a specific function or structure.
A teacher introduces movement breaks. Students score higher on an attention measure afterward, so the teacher concludes that the breaks caused the improvement. Give one alternative explanation and one design improvement.
Possible alternatives include practice with the assessment, maturation, different classroom conditions, or another change occurring at the same time.
A stronger design would include a comparable group without the new breaks, ideally with random assignment, and consistent measurement conditions.
Monozygotic twins have nearly identical DNA, but their experiences can contribute to differences in how genes are expressed. Name and explain the relevant process.
Epigenetics: processes that regulate gene expression without changing the underlying DNA sequence. Environmental experiences can influence that regulation.
Classify each example as primarily experience-expectant or experience-dependent, and explain the distinction:
A child becomes frustrated during a difficult activity and asks a teacher for help calming down. Does seeking help necessarily show poor emotion regulation? Explain and suggest one helpful teacher response.
No. Seeking support can be a regulation strategy. Regulation does not mean never becoming upset.
Helpful responses include acknowledging the feeling, helping the child use a familiar calming strategy, offering a brief break, or supporting a manageable next step.
A child is hesitant to participate in class. The teacher learns that the child participates confidently at home, and the teacher and caregiver coordinate ways to support classroom participation.
Explain this example using nature–nurture interaction and identify the Bronfenbrenner system represented by teacher–caregiver coordination.
Researchers want to study whether inadequate sleep is associated with changes in children’s attention across a school year. They will not assign children to lose sleep. Describe a suitable design and explain one limit on its conclusions.
A longitudinal observational/correlational study, repeatedly measuring sleep and attention in the same children.
It can identify associations and temporal patterns, but other factors could influence both sleep and attention. Following children over time alone does not establish causation.
An educator says, “If a characteristic has a genetic contribution, changing the environment will not help.” Explain what is wrong with this claim using reaction range and one example.
Reaction range describes how a genotype can produce different phenotypic outcomes under different environmental conditions. Genetic influence does not establish a fixed outcome.
Example: Nutrition can influence growth even though height has genetic influences. Accept another accurate example that explains the interaction.
Someone says, “A young brain is plastic, so an early injury will not have lasting effects.” Correct the claim and explain what compensation means.
Plasticity allows adaptation but does not guarantee complete recovery. Early injury can disrupt developing systems and have lasting effects.
Compensation occurs when other neural tissue or pathways support functions affected by damage or loss.
A toddler learns to walk and begins carrying toys to caregivers and exploring new spaces. Use this example to explain Dynamic Systems Theory. Identify two connections between motor development and other areas of development.
Accept two explained connections, such as: