Infant Reflexes

Infant Reflexes
Your text does not cover some of these important infant reflexes, so I want to make sure you've had a chance to see them. All of them are present in newborns and aid the survival of otherwise vulnerable infants.

Rooting Reflex



Sucking Reflex (this video will actually demonstrate both sucking and rooting reflexes)


Grasping Reflex


Moro Reflex (This is sometimes described as an infant's startle response. Can be brought on by any unexpected stimulus. Although this is nicely illustrated in the video below, I like this one better, because it's cute.)


Babinski Reflex (Ignore the weird, melodramatic tone in this video)

Resources for your Development Unit Test

Your last test of 2nd quarter is just around the corner, so you'll want to review carefully to finish the semester strong! The resources posted here should help with your review, as should the MC study guide you received last week.

• Quizlet flashcards will help you review vocabulary.
• Review your Unit Learning Objectives. If you are not ready to do each of these things, you're not ready for your test!
• If you finish the MC Study Guide and need additional practice, try these questions:
• Developmental Psych
• Child Development
• Sex and Gender Development
• For additional explanation, you might wish to view these Crash Course videos (note: these move pretty quickly and should be supplemented with retrieval practice for best outcomes).
• The Growth of Knowledge (Cognitive Development)
• Monkeys and Morality (Social and Moral Development)
• Adolescence 
• Study Session Resources: (I will post more as I finish building them...perhaps finalizing the slides after Wednesday's study session)
• Practice FRQ + Commonly Confused Term Pairs
• Slide Prompts for Review
• I will also be posting some Socrative questions for general review the night of the study session.

Gender-Typing in Toy Catalogs

Today in class we may have time for an activity that involves examining toy catalogs for messages about gender. Because a lot of my toy catalog stash was sacrificed to our pre-break Piaget activity, it might be helpful to view an online one.

Click here to examine the 2016 Christmas toy catalog from Shopko.

As you do so, consider:

• How might Social Learning Theory explain how the images in these ads impact gender-typing in children?
• How would Gender Schema Theory explain how these images impact gender-typing?

Development Letter Project

Clearly, in an attempt to stay warm on this very cold Valentine's Day, many of you have set fire to your class handouts, including the directions for your Development Letter.

At least, this is what I am concluding after responding to numerous panicked emails and texts requesting the link to the directions.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start preparing a lovely Valentine's Day dinner for myself and the hubby, featuring our favorite foods: steak and cake.

Study Resources for your Developmental Psychology Test

Your first test of 3rd quarter is just around the corner, so you'll want to review carefully to start the semester strong! The resources posted here should help with your review, as should the MC study guide you received after last week's quiz.

• Quizlet flashcards will help you review vocabulary.
• Review your Unit Learning Objectives. If you are not ready to do each of these things, you're not ready for your test!
• If you finish the MC Study Guide and need additional practice, try these questions:
• Developmental Psych
• Child Development
• Sex and Gender Development
• If confused about certain course topics, or if you have been absent, consult the Slide Shows below. 
• For additional explanation, you might wish to view these Crash Course videos (note: these move pretty quickly and should be supplemented with retrieval practice for best outcomes).
• The Growth of Knowledge (Cognitive Development)
• Monkeys and Morality (Social and Moral Development)
• Adolescence 
• Study Session Resources: (I will post more as I finish building them...perhaps finalizing the slides after Tuesday's study session)
• Practice FRQ + Commonly Confused Term Pairs
• Slide Prompts for Review
• Also, I will leave a Socrative practice review up for your use tonight (rm 109495), if interested.

Snow Day Assignment - Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Greetings, AP Psych students!

Given the weather predictions for today, it turns out we'll not see each other in class. But, we also can't afford to fall behind in our studies, so you've got a (brief) assignment to do for AP Psych today.

Required:

1. Use your text (print or online*) to complete this worksheet on Nature-Nurture issues in Development. If you have access to a printer, you may print your own and fill it out, OR you can make a copy of the file and complete it in Google Docs. You will earn points for completion. Note: Make a note of any questions you have about these topics. I will set aside time for answering questions, but (because of our lost class time) I will not be lecturing on this material. However, we still need to know it for tests/quizzes.

Optional: Other Good Stuff to Do:

1. If you haven't completed your AP Exam Registration Form, today would be a good day to fill it out and get payment ready.
2. Your Reading Quiz on Unit IX will still be on Thursday, so today would be an excellent day to finish up that reading!
3. You can certainly preview (and begin, if you like) working on your Development Project, which is a letter to your hypothetical future child. I was planning on introducing this in class today, but now that may have to wait until Thursday. This is not due until February 15th, but perhaps you want to start thinking about it and organizing your ideas.

*Panicking because you can't remember your login information for the etext? Follow the link, click "log in" and then request to have your password emailed to you.

Slides: Infant Social and Cognitive Development

Because I've had a few people out sick this past week who could benefit, I'm posting slides on the topics we've addressed in class. Nothing new for those of you who were here, but for those who are trying to catch up, this should help.

Resources for Social Development Investigation

As part of today's activity you will be assigned a researcher who studied infant social development. After reading up on their research, you will be asked to summarize your findings and share them with others in a group to which you are assigned. If you misplaced your worksheet (or were absent), you can find it here.

You may find the following links helpful. You are also free to search the web for additional resources or videos as you see fit.

Harry Harlow

• Textbook p. 489
• The Science of Love: Harry Harlow and the Nature of Affection

Mary Ainsworth

• Textbook p. 490
• Mary Ainsworth - Changes in Child Psychology

Lev Vygotsky

• Textbook pp. 484-485
• Social Development Theory (Vygotsky)

Diana Baumrind

• Baumrind's Parenting Styles
• Textbook pp. 496-497

Tuesday's Activities

Thanks for your patience and cooperation as I'm out today (Yay...dentist appointments...). You'll find all the links and videos you'll need for today's activities in this post.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) Video



Infant Reflexes
Your text does not cover some of these important infant reflexes, so I want to make sure you've had a chance to see them. All of them are present in newborns and aid survival of otherwise vulnerable infants.

Rooting Reflex



Sucking Reflex (this video will actually demonstrate both sucking and rooting reflexes)


Grasping Reflex


Moro Reflex (This is sometimes described as an infant's startle response. Can be brought on by any unexpected stimulus. Although this is nicely illustrated in the video below, I like this one better, because it's cute.)


Babinski Reflex (Ignore the weird, melodramatic tone in this video)

Resources for Studying for Your Developmental Psych Test

Holy cow! It's nearly time for your LAST unit test of the semester, so let's brush up on all that developmental psych stuff we've been exploring over the past two weeks! Some resources to help you out:

• Remember, we have a Study Session scheduled from 5-7 PM tomorrow (Thursday) night. I'll help you commit to memory all those tricky stage theories if they've been causing you grief. Can't make it? Here's the agenda and a practice FRQ we'll be looking at.
• As always, Quizlet Flashcards can help you polish up that vocabulary. 
• If you didn't get enough practice with multiple choice questions from the study guide, here are some more. And even more here!
• Looking for a quick overview of some (potentially difficult) course concepts? Perhaps check out the Crash Course videos on developmental psychology. Including: The Growth of Knowledge (Cognitive Development),  Monkeys and Morality (Social and Moral development), and Adolescence.

Quizlet Flashcards

Notes: Cognitive Development in Infancy and Childhood

Social Development in Infancy & Childhood


Moral Development: Kohlberg and Others


Psychosocial Development Across the Lifespan: Erikson and Others

Resources for Social Development Jigsaw

As part of today's activity you will be assigned a researcher who studied infant social development. After reading up on their research, you will be asked to summarize your findings and share them with others in a group to which you are assigned. If you misplaced your worksheet (or were absent), you can find it here.

You may find the following links helpful. You are also free to search the web for additional resources or videos as you see fit.

Harry Harlow

• Textbook p. 489
• The Science of Love: Harry Harlow and the Nature of Affection

Mary Ainsworth

• Textbook p. 490
• Mary Ainsworth - Changes in Child Psychology

Lev Vygotsky

• Textbook pp. 484-485
• Social Development Theory (Vygotsky)

Diana Baumrind

• Baumrind's Parenting Styles
• Textbook pp. 496-497

Study Resources for Developmental Psychology

Oh man! We've got challenges ahead on Developmental Psych test, so here are some resources for you to use as you rise to meet those challenges.

FIRST...be sure to review the unit objectives for Developmental Psych because they will provide you with an overview of what you will need to know for Tuesday's test. With so many theories, theorists, and developmental stages to remember (from both the book and in class), it is easy to "miss" a big idea just by forgetting to study that topic. If you can do all of the things on that list, you'll be in good shape.

(Note: you can always find the unit objectives for any course unit in two places: by clicking the "Unit Objectives" tab at the top of this page, and they are always printed on the last page of your study guide.)

NEXT:

1. Make sure you've got your vocabulary down. Lots of terminology this unit that you will need to know how to apply to examples. Make Quizlet your friend. 
2. If you haven't already, carefully go through your printed Study Guide (you picked it up after the quiz), treating it like a practice test. If you are getting all of these right, move on to more difficult challenges. If you are missing questions, look up the answers on the page numbers provided for you, or see me for an explanation.
3. If you think you know all there is to know about developmental psych, try some more of these practice multiple choice questions. Or maybe these. 
4. Come to the study session on Monday evening from 5-7 PM. We'll put your knowledge to the test and work through some practice FRQs.

Happy Studying! Let's start Second Quarter with a great first test performance!

Overview: Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

On Thursday in class we will be discussing and applying Kohlberg's ideas about how people develop in their moral thinking (FYI: moral thinking means "how we determine right and wrong"). In preparation, I'd like you to view the video below and add Kohlberg's three levels of moral development to your notes (if they are not already there from your textbook reading). You'll need to have these handy for an activity we will do in class.

Reviewing Developmental Psych

Halloween is the perfect time of year to review developmental psych! It also happens to be the day before your unit test on developmental psych, so that's convenient. After you watch the trick-or-treaters that arrive at your door, looking for signs of various developmental stages, you may wish to use the tools below to polish your understanding.

• Theory of Mind - (video) Describes research on the concept of the "Theory of Mind" that develops gradually as children lose their egocentrism
• Piaget vs. Vygotsky in 90 Seconds - (video, 1.5 min) Video created by a teacher to explain (briefly) the major similarities & differences between these researchers and their theories.
• Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development - (video, 4 min) Admittedly, not the BEST instructional video ever made (you'll see mistakes in the writing on the board and in other places), but does provide a quick, accurate overview of the 4 Stages in Piaget's model.
• Practice MC Quiz on Child Development - 66 questions on development in children & infants. Most are topics that we address in Unit 4. Some may seem unfamiliar because we address those topics (intelligence, language development) in other chapters.
• Practice MC Quiz on Lifespan Development - 66 questions on development topics

And...everybody's favorite...Quizlet!

Moral Development - Video Lecture

On Monday, October 29, you'll be asked to apply the theories of Lawrence Kohlberg to some moral dilemmas presented in class. In preparation, you'll need to view the video lecture on Moral Development embedded below. Treat this with the same seriousness that you would if you were in class. For example, you'll want to take notes, since you will undoubtedly need this information later (both for reviewing this unit and at semester time...and prior to the AP Exam).

If the video player below is not working for you, try here.

As a bonus, I'm also embedding for your interest and entertainment a 2008 TED Talk by Jonathan Haidt, one of the critics (or counters) to Kohlberg's theory described in the lecture. Not only does his talk on The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives describe the essence of the "Social Intuitionist" model, but be provides evidence (and explanation) for its roots in evolutionary theory and how it impacts modern political decisions. So, if you're at all interested in politics and why Democrats and Republicans seem so incapable of getting along, this talk may provide an useful answer. Especially in an election year, his message is relevant and may offer all of us some much-needed perspective.

The Teenage Brain

Dr. Jay Giedd (U of M) studies teen brain development using MRI

Today in class we viewed a selected portion of a Frontline documentary entitled "Inside the Teenage Brain". The program provides an introduction to what recent advances in neuroscience have revealed about the biological causes behind well-documented differences between adult and teenage thinking.

As often happens when we view and discuss the program, I received a lot of requests to communicate this information to parents (e.g. "Could you please come talk to my dad about this?"). Since it seems a little presumptuous to phone my students' parents out-of-the-blue for a nice talk about neuroscience, I'll post the links here and let students start the conversations themselves. Students may want to watch the full version (we only watched a portion in class) and parents may find this extremely interesting as well.

The website to accompany the program also has numerous resources for the parents of teenagers, which some may find helpful.

Another helpful video resource can be found in another PBS series from a few years ago, "The Secret Life of the Brain." Episode Three is focused entirely on the unique developmental features of the teenage brain.

While this program is quite good, I would note that there are some remaining controversies about using the "underdeveloped prefrontal cortex" explanation to explain teen decision-making (this is one of the concepts presented in the Frontline video). These were highlighted in a recent article from National Geographic on the brains of teenagers.

Entertaining Video...Can You Identify the Conditioning Principles at Work?

One of my fantastic psych teacher colleagues sent this one to me. Hilarious clip of a little one "selectively" throwing a fit. Can you identify what conditioning principles might be at work here? Why would this child relocate to continue the temper tantrum?

Alison Gopnik: The Philosophical Baby

Now, you may be getting sick of my postings that include clips from the Colbert Report, but I can't help it. Colbert has great guests, and these brief interviews are a perfect way for you to get a sense of what's new in psychology these days.

Earlier this month, Alison Gopnik, author of the new book The Philsophical Baby, appeared on the Colbert Report. In the book, Gopnik discusses how modern developmental psychology is revealing the impressive capabilities of even very young babies. As we discussed in class this week, some of this research challenges Piaget's theories about infant behavior. See the video below for some examples.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Alison Gopnik
http://www.colbertnation.com/
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Religion

Babies Driving Robot Cars...Because it's Cute.

Most of my classes were able to see this video today during lecture. I included it here because it's hard to find AND it's just super cute. C'mon, babies driving robot cars? Who wouldn't like this?

The researchers hope their work with normal infants will someday benefit children with disabilities, allowing babies who cannot crawl or move under their own power to experience the important developmental experience of self-directed movement.

Here it is! Steven Pinker on "Nature" & Child Development

Here's what I was looking for! A couple years ago Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker made an appearance on The Colbert Report to hype his (at the time) latest book: The Blank Slate. In the book, Pinker makes the case for genetic predispositions in human behavior (both as a species and within individuals).

The interview with Colbert delved into developmental psychology and all the exciting work being done with infants these days. It provides a nice discussion of how crucial the nature-nurture issue is within developmental psychology. And they talk about swearing. Enjoy.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Steven Pinker
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore