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Psyc112 Module 1 Summary
Human Thought and Behaviour (PSYC112)
University of Otago
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Lecture 1:
Development: sequence of physical and psychological changes humans undergo as they grow older Developmental Psychology: Scientific study of age-related changed in behaviour, thinking, emotion and personality
Data Collection Type Detail Problems Self -Report Primary/best way. Questionnaires/lists filled by children or parents
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- Can use scales like pain scales
Dependent on memory problems, social desirability, ability of children to participate.
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May pick happy face not how they feel Observation Getting info based on real life setting and observe behaviour in natural habitat
May change behaviour due to presence of new figure
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Experimental Methods
Introducing change and see how it affects them
- Example: Visual cliff and Rouge mirror recognition test
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Clinical Interview Methods
Self report but tailored to individual. Dependent on responses
- Difficult with children
Longitudinal: Single group studies/followed over time Cross-Sectional: groups of different ages studies at the same point in time
Lecture 2:
Cognitive Development: Intellectual growth. Cognitive Processes: By which we get to know ourselves and our world. Examples: - Memory - Perception. - Problem Solving - Learning - Thought - Attention.
Jean Piaget(1896-1980): Father of Cognitive Development Observed children of similar ages tend to do similar things and make similar errors in thinking at the same time.
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Four stages of cognitive development
Stages Age Major Characteristics Sensorimotor Birth to
Birth to 3 months
3 months
5 months
8 months
12
months
Cognition closely tied to external stimulation
Understand world through sensory and motor experiences
Object permeance:object doesn't exist when unseen
Thinking is doing: cognition entirely behaviour
Begin to think symbolically
Look at visual stimuli
Turn head to noise
Follow object with eye -tracking
Stare at place object disappeared but will not search for iy
Grasp and manipulate objects
Anticipate future position of objects
Search for hidden object
A not B effect: look for object last place foundit
No longer object permeance
No longer A not B error -will look for it last place they saw it
Schema formation: Representative thought: form mental representation of others behaviour
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Deferred Imitation: imitate actions the observe others performed in past
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- Symbolic play: Use objects to represent things
- Use words to represent objects Preoperational 2 to 7 Uses logical and symbolic thinking to represent objects and experiences
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- Rapid development of language ability
- Pretend play
- Egocentrism-belief others see world same way as they do DO NOT understand conservation-volume, mass and quantity stay same despite apparent change/arrangement
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- Counting
- Object manipulation Concrete Operational
7 to12 - Think more logically about concrete events - Conservation and serial ordering - Understanding of complex cause-effect relations - Rigid thinking -can't think hypothetically Formal Operational
12
upwards
- Abstract reasoning
- Metacognition-thinking abut thinking
- More flexible with hypothetical problems Regardless of children upbringing and background, they progress through first 3 stages but last stage children do not necessarily get to.
Schema: mental representation or set of rules that define particular behaviour category - Assimilation: new experiences are modified and incorporated into existing schemas - Accommodation: new experiences cause existing schemas to change
Lecture Piaget Criticisms
Babies don't seem to start with nothing stage 1 (sensorimotor stage) is where children acquired everything. Not true because children are born with certain abilities and can completed stages earlier than expected.
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Physical Space and objects Visual Cliff: § one side is glass, other covered. Children appear to be able to perceive depth around the time they can crawl (5-10 months)
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Even pre-crawling infants may be able to discriminate between the two sides of the “cliff,” they hesitate before crawling onto the glass.
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Effect of Occlusion: Habituation Procedure □ Infants prefer to pat attention to novel things Over time become accustomed to stimuli and pay less attention to them
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□ New thing happens -pay attention □ Can use this to find which of 2 stimuli they perceive as more novel □ Even at4 months appear to understand principle of occlusion
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Understanding of support Being able to correctly identify which pictures showing blocks being balanced will remain standing.
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□ Gradually develop by 6 months
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Object Permanence: □ Gradually develop overtime at 6 months A not B error: search last play found not seen. Error may be due to difficulty overriding motor habit
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Number and Mathematical Reasoning Piaget said infants had no concept of number and couldn't conserve number until around 6 years old
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But even at 6 monthsshow some understanding of numbers -Look at new groups of 3 things than the old group of
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Social Cognition - Newborn -rather look at faces than scrambled faces - 3 Weeks -attempt to imitate facial expressions 9 months -look in direction of mother's gaze -appreciation of other's perspectives. Challenges Piaget's idea children are egocentric until age
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- 6 months -understood objects being reached for is sperate to reach itself
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- Cognitive development isn't all-or-nothing
Numerical skills in pre-schoolers Counting: Even when they don't use the right numbers, toddlers understood what counting is about -understood 2 is different from
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Numerical reasoning: Changed responses dur to repeated questions as they thought they were wrong first time?
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§ Younger than 6 -can generally conserve number if task is relevant
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Social Cognition in pre-schoolers Egocentrism: § Piaget children egocentric until around 7 years § 3 and 4 years -can pass diorama task if relevant 2 to 4 -turn book around so adult can see it and bend down when talking to younger children
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§ Under 1 -turn to see what mother is looking at
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Theory of Mind: § Group skills -understanding existence of other people's minds § Allows us to be effective in social situations Other's likes and dislikes Broccoli vs cracker study ® 18 months -gave what she liked ® 14 months -gave what they liked
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True and False beliefs □ Aspect of theory of mind False Belief task □ People shown weet-bix box and ask what is in it? □ Answer weet-bix. □ A penguin is shown to be in it. New people come in those shown think they will say weet-bix is it - PASS.
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□ FAIL= think they will say penguin is in there □ 4 years = PASS □ 3 years = FAIL
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Lecture
Social Development - Forming bonds with people - Learning to behave in socially acceptable ways - Learning to be good friends and allies - Learning to deal with adversaries
Social Learning Theory: Learn how to behave by watching other's behaviours Cognitive Development Theory: cognitive development drives social development Parenting Styles(Bi-directional)
Authoritative: - controlling but warm. - Children have higher self-esteem , high achievers Authoritarian: - control with cold, unresponsive or rejecting relationship. - Children have lower self-esteem, less popular, perform more poorly than authoritive Permissive/Indulgent: warm and caring relationships but no guidance or discipline that help learn responsibility and concern for others.
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- Children tend to be immature and self-centred Disengaged/Neglectful:
- no warmth or guidance. Children likely to be insecurely attached, low achievement and disrupted peer relationships, also impulsive and aggressive. Most negative for development
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Principle of Minimal sufficiency: best way to encourage children to internalize behaviour is to use consequences that are strong enough to change behaviour, but are not forceful enough to create resentment and feel forced
Peer Relationships - Primitive friendships formed aroundage 2with parallel play. - 6-7year old egocentric what people can offer you. - 9-understand it is 2 way street. - Evidence that quality of peer relationships influence outcome later in life
Emotional Development Understanding other's feelings: Facial expression and basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, etc) are same through development from day one but complex emotion like embarrassment takes while to develop as have to understand what others think.
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- Confused if tone and facial feature of parents are mismatched.
- Emotional development accelerate when children begin talking
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Emotional Regulation: - Children have to sooth themselves when at younger were dependent on adults. - Self -soothing develop slowly but improves dramatically when they can talk.
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- 6 months: express joy and surprise 18 months: develop sense of self -can recognise self in mirror. Envy, embarrassment, and empathy emerge
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- After 2 years: pride, shame and guilt Early on babies suck on thumb, cling to caretaker and turn away to sooth self. After they can talk, emotional regulation is accelerated.
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Moral Development Moral Behaviour: behaviour that conforms to generally accepted set of rules Not doing wrong: Driven by consequences of children's actions not morality. Consequences of minimal sufficiency are the most effective at changing behaviour.
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Doing right: § Learning benefits of proactive behaviour -choosing to help others. § Empathic distress- when someone is distressed/upset, they get upset. Children offer the hurt adult what they would like in the situation but overtime learn to offer what others like.
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Final development in this stage is appreciating that choosing to help others leaves us worse off.
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Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development: - Studies boys between 10-17 years - Present scenarios Level Basis Level 1:Pre-conventional - Stage 1:Punishment-obedience - Stage 2:Instrumental-Hedonism
Punishment or reward not internalised values - Obey authority/rules and avoid punishment Self -interest (egocentrically guided) and gaining rewards/pleasantness of consequence
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Level 2: Conventional
- Stage 3:Good-child
- Stage 4: Law and order
Social expectations and adoption of values of significant others - Maintaining good relations- gain approval Maintaining social order, showing respect for authority and doing one's duty
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Level 3: Post -conventional* *Have to give correct answer to proceed to this level - Stage 5: Social-contract
- Stage 6: Universal ethics
Moral rules have underlying principles that have been internalised as part of individual's belief and value system individual can sometimes take precedence over laws and modify laws
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Rules and laws are justified by abstract ethical values like value of human life and dignity
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Evaluating Kohlberg's Theory: - Effect of wording changes response - Stages may not be coherent entities, but do reflect a progression - Culture and gender bias? Correlation between moral reasoning and moral conduct There is some evidence that people who fall into higher stages are less likely to act immorally in reality; however there is also counter research to suggest against this.
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Lecture
Genetic Sex: determined by gene Morphological sex: what you physically look like Genetic Identity: one's private sense of male or female-ness Gender roes: cultural expectations about ways men and women SHOULD behave Gender Stereotypes: beliefs about differences in behaviours, abilities and personality traits of makes and females
Development of Gender Age Development 18 months Beginning of gender-typed preferences. Boys-trucks and girls-dolls 3 years - Knowledge of own gender - Preference for different toys and friends of own sex Age 5 Knowledge of gender consistency- understanding that being girl and boy is fixed and irreversible
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Biologicalexplanations for Gender differences: - Exposure of developing brain to male hormones has behavioural effects Gandelman, Vom Saal and Reinisch (1977): - Prenatal exposure to testosterone - more male-like behaviour in female mice
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Ward (1972) - Males deprived of prenatal testosterone behave more like females
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Physical aggression in males seems to be biologically predisposed -Males are more physically active in wombs than females on average before any environmental exposure.
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Brain anatomy shows gender differences thought to be due to different pattern of hormone exposure during development
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Language areas of the female brain (Broca and Wernicke’s Area) tend to be relatively larger than those of males.
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Testosterone may play role in spatial ability: - Males - low test -worse in spatial task - Females - high test - better in spatial task - Testosterone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle line up with spatial ability.
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Evolutionary Theories: propose men and women have to behave differently depending on their roles in society. E. primitive women stayed home and did activities that required fine coordination with small, nearby objects. Men hunted and therefore required a greater level of spatial ability.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia: female foetus develops with ovaries in utero, however with high exposure to testosterone external genitalia begins to resemble that of a male.
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Females born with this condition typically choose to undergo cosmetic surgery to remedy the physical abnormality and remove penis and raised as girls.
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Show more traits associated with male, more tomboy and choose more male career. Greater the testosterone, greater the effect
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Bruce Reimer: - Twin boys in 1960's. Trouble urinating so circumcised. - During Bruce's procedure, alcohol caught on fire so burnt off penis. - Psychiatrist told to raise raised as a female. During his childhood Bruce did not enjoy interacting with other females and preferred to urinate standing up.
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- Eventually, his parents confessed to him what had occurred.
- Bruce then underwent reconstructive surgery and begun to live as a male.
- Suicided in
Environmental explanation for Gender differences Montemayor (1974): - 6 and 8yr old boys and girls invited to play a game. - Game labelled as gender appropriate, gender neutral, or gender inappropriate Children found the game more enjoyable if it was labelled as gender appropriate or neutral.
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Children’s performance was highest when the game was labelled as gender appropriate and lowest when the game was labelled as gender inappropriate.
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Morrongiello and Dawber (1999) Examined mothers’ and fathers’ communications to sons and daughters aged 2-4yrs during a trip to a local playground. 1) During free play 2) When teaching a playground safety behaviour
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- Mothers and fathers did not differ in their communications. Sons received more directives, fewer explanations, and more physical pressure than girls.
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Parents communicate with young children in a way that may promote increased risk taking by boys and greater perceived injury vulnerability among girls.
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Smith and Lloyd (1978) Mothers of young infants were introduced to a 6mth old infant and asked to play. Infant’s gender label was manipulated. On some trials the infant was introduced as a female, and on others as a male.
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The mother participants behaved differently according to the assigned gender label. E. would bounce a boy and cradle a girl. Would hand a boy a hammer, and a girl a doll. Even when there are no differences in appearance or outward behaviour of the infant, parents treat children according to gender label.
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Weisner and Silson-Mitchell (1990) Parents who do not subscribe to gender differences in socialisation have children whose attitudes and behaviour reflect less gender stereotypes.
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Lecture Stage Age Details Examples Scribbling 2- 3 children are not drawing ‘something,’ instead they are enjoying the process of making marks on a page.
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- Limited by their motor control ability. Pre- schematic
3-4 - Tadpole drawing - First attempt at human figure - Circle as head and 2 or 4 lines as limbs - Head and body not separated
Schematic 5-6 Develop schema of what person generally look like
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- Separate truck from head
- Omit or misplace arms or body
LATER:
- Added limbs
- Arms correctly placed
- Details
- Necks
Realistic 9 - End of art as spontaneous activity - More detail - Varying expressions - Better use of space - Profile -attempt to indicate 3D
Period of Indecision
Early tweens
- Art is something to be done or left alone
Clinical Value of Children's Drawings:
- Projective Measures -projecting meaning onto person's response Intelligence Florence Goodenough (1920s): Draw a Person Test Give children 3 pieces of paper and 5 mins to draw themselves, their mom and dad. Based on the was the picture is drawn, intelligence is assessed and coded to get an IQ score. Quicker than IQ test so attractive to people
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§ Group difference in IQ seen but not individuals differences
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Psychological Wellbeing Draw-A-Family Test, Kinetic Family Drawings (draw your family doing something), House-Tree -Person Test
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○ Interpreted in context of psychoanalytic therapy No studies have shown ability of raters to differentiate between drawings of well -adjusted children and those who are not well adjusted.
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Sexual Abuse Difficulties in diagnosing sexual abuse in children, typically due to non- disclosure, led to clinicians seeking a non-verbal measure of abuse.
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Suggestions that drawings of victims may differ according to abuse history (e. sexual content, use of shading).
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Researchers have yet to find a consistent pattern of graphic indicators that can distinguish the drawings of abused children from those of their non-abused counterparts.
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Verbal Communication Aid ○ Helping children to talk about events they have experienced. ○ The content of drawing is not relevant. ○ Historically used in clinical settings despite an absence of empirical evidence. Butler, Gross and Hayne (1995) Children in the Draw and Tell group reported twice as much information in the Direct Recall phase that the Tell children.
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○ No differences between groups in the Free Recall phase. Information reported by the Draw and Tell group was just as accurate as information reported by the Tell group.
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More Recent Findings The beneficial effect of drawing extends to: Emotionally laden events (these are the events typically investigated in the legal, clinical and forensic sense).
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○ Children as young as 3yrs and as old as 12yrs respond positively. ○ Delays of up to a year, useful for past events ○ Real clinical settings
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Why Might Drawing Work? ○ Increases the length of the interview-more likely to disclose more info ○ Reduces social barriers– No face-to-face with a stranger (therapist) ○ Children provide their own retrieval cues–reminds them of things that occurred. ○ Reinstates mental context– places the kids back in the scene improving memory. Affects the interviewer’s behaviour– interviewers are typically uncomfortable with silence and will intervene. When the child is drawing this can prevent the interviewer from feeling the need to direct the interview in a certain way.
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Lecture Child Sexual Abuse Dilemma Children unwilling to disclose abuse-Groomed, threatened, don't know it should not be happening. Disclose later or not at all so low rates of reporting
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Medical/physical evidence rarely present-Children delay telling anyone so less physical evidence as time progresses. Even if present, not very likely to find perpetrator
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- Absence of eyewitness -No corroboration, no others to testify. Adult vs child Child witness controversy -Should we rely on children? Salem witch trials -women executed because children's false testimonies people/lawyers use this as to discredit child witnesses
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Children's ability to act as reliable witnesses: Memory: ○ Better than once thought Early memories limited by: ○ Short duration: short memory retention ○ Context dependence: everything has to be the same ○ Language competence: difficulty verbalising experiences Knowledge based: limited by what they know and understanding what is occurring
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By age 4 or 5 children are capable of providing forensically relevant info about past events
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Verbal Reports: Free recall -highly accurate but brief -not detailed enough to be forensically useful
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More specific questions = more detail but also more errors Example: anatomically accurate dolls in interviews leads to children providing inaccurate accounts of sexual abuse
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○ Drawing is useful and accurate
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Suggestibility: ○ Adults feed info and child agrees Cognitively driven suggestibility: children believe the interviewer is right and agree with their suggestions.
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Socially driven suggestibility: children reply how they believe the interviewer wants them to say, although they know it is inaccurate.
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Variations in suggestibility: different interviewing circumstances influence the likelihood a child will be vulnerable to suggestibility, e. whether they feel intimidated by the interviewer, if the event took long time ago. More suggestable when: □ intimidated, complex questions, person in power, delay, quality
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Inappropriate Questioning: Kelly Michaels Case: 4yr old disclosed that inappropriate touching had occurred by a day-care teacher
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Suggestible questions were used even though children denied any sexual abuse had occurred.
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○ The accused teacher was wrongfully convicted.
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McMartin Pre-school Case: ○ 2yr old with little langue ability testified about sexual abuse at a preschool. While testifying the child denies any abuse occurring, the lawyer suggested positive consequences if the child agrees that abuse occurred. Told were stupid/unhelpful if not giving answer.
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NZ Legal System for Chid Witnesses: Adversarial system -2 lawyers argue 2 sides ○ Direct Examination-questioning by prosecution ○ Cross-Examination -questioning by opposing lawyer (defence) ○ Re-Examination -further questioning by the prosecution/defence
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No age limit- competency requirement- judge tests if child knows difference between truth and lie
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- No corroboration laws
Problems for child witnesses Lack of legal knowledge ○ Vocabulary -Jargons ○ Procedure -think wrong answer = jail time
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Confronting the Accused ○ Can make children less willing to incriminate when accused is in same room ○ Effects increase when child has ben threatened
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Courtroom Environment ○ Large group of strangers ○ Elevation of judge ○ Isolation of witness box ○ Formal attire
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Cross-Examination ○ Child questioned by opposing lawyer ○ Aim to discredit testimony ○ Questions often leading, complex, confusing and challenging to credibility Most children change at least one part of earlier testimony -defence lawyers highlight this as evidence child is lying
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○ In lab, cross-examination style questioning is detrimental to accuracy
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Current Situation for NZ Child Witnesses - In courtroom with screen shielding witness from accused - Another room via CCTV - Pre-recorded videotape - Judge no longer warns jury children are prone to distortion of facts - Cross-examination still occurs live - Reform to cross-examination process are in the pipeline
Lecture Demographic Data
- Up to 65% of preschool children have one or more IC Slightly more common in girls than boys: Boys are more likely to assume a different personality and role-play, e. being batman.
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Girls ICs are often less competent than the child, while boys ICs tend to be more competent than the child.
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- The average age of appearance of a IC is between2- 4yrs
- First born and only children are most likely to have an IC Most children do not play with their imaginary friends when other children are present.
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Historical Views Little was known about ICs prior to the 20th century Childhood was not seen as a period of play and exploration. Children were seen as small adults and childhood was something to be finished not enjoyed.
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ICs may have been described in spiritual or religious terms, e. talking to guardian ange;s or past ancestors.
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It wasn’t until late 1800s that ICs emerged in psychological literature. After 1930s, parents were informed that ICs were not to be encouraged.
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Dr Spock– “The Book of Baby and Child Care Urged parents to supply more “hugging and piggy-back rides.” Indicating that if a child is forming ICs it is because they are ‘missing something’.
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If ICs persisted after age 4, parents were told to consult a mental health professional to “find out what was lacking"
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Why Do Some Children Develop ICs? There is no certain answer; ICs appear to servedifferent purposesfor different children. ○ Act as scapegoats = people to blame for poor behaviour, or protectors ○ help children overcome fears or anxieties, proving moral support for the child. ○ Intermediate steps to controlling own behaviour ○ Developed as a surrogate for real friends/playmates/siblings a
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So far, most of the evidence supports a compensatory theory of IC development. For the majority of children, ICs provide fun and companionship.
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The Problem of Parental Report ICs provide a difficult subject to study, due to their imaginary nature. ○ Parents are not generally a reliable source of information ○ Large discrepancies found between parent and child accounts of ICs Parents don’t know details as they only know of the IC through their child’s report.
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Parents might be good at supplying information that the child omits, i. the frequency of the ICs appearances or what circumstances they appear in.
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Why Do People Worry About ICs? Historically, ICs were viewed in terms of a personality deficit, often with mental health concerns, (e. Multiple Personality Disorder) ○ Based on case studies of individual Failure to compare with children who did not have ICs. Failure to compare to a control group biases data.
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○ Recruited children who have behavioural and emotional problems.
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When non-clinical populations have been examined ○ Children with ICs do not differ on wide range of behavioural problems ○ No difference in shyness or ability to make friends ○ Having an IC may have positive effects
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Social and Cognitive Ability There is some evidence to suggest that children with ICs: ○ Are better at communicating with adults Manosevitx et al 1973– survey data from parental reporting ○ Score more highly on verbal tests (Taylor, 1999) Have a more developed theory of mind at age 4yrs(Taylor and Carlson, 1997).
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However, due to the difficulty in studying IC, such claims are often unable to be quantified.
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There are no firmly established links between the presence of ICs and: ○ IQ Creativity – some of this notion may be a result of famously creative people openly admitting to having had ICs, i. George Lucas.
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ICs and Reality Differentiation Sometimes it is assumed that a child who is absorbed in a fantasy about an IC is out of touch with reality – that somehow the line has become blurred. Evidence for: ○ Boudin and Pratt (2001) Brought kids into the lab with a set up tent. A shape was projected onto the back of the tent, kids were asked to describe what they saw. These researchers claimed that kids with ICs were more likely to claim they had seen a particular character, rather than a shadow.
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Evident against: ○ Taylor and Carlson (1993) Asking kids about their imaginary and real friends has found that kids have no trouble distinguishing between their real friends and ICs. This study highlighted that during such interviews most children would claim, “you know its only pretend, right?”
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What Happens to ICs? - Not spoken about - Replaced by a new IC Child acquires more real friends; the child’s requirement for companionship is then satisfied.
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- Child loses interest
- Parents take control
- Gradually vanish
Big Bird and Snuffie–1985 Snuffie changed from Big Birds invisible friend, to visible to other characters. In the 1980s disclosure of sexual abuse was on the rise. Producers were worried that children would be discouraged from disclosing due to a belief that, like Big Bird, no one would believe them.
Attachment Objects Young children may develop attachments to a variety of special inanimate objects, including soft toys and blankets. These are often referred to as attachment objects, or snugglies.
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How Common is Attachment to Objects? Mahalski (1983) - NZ sample – Dunedin Longitudinal Study - Assessed between ages of 1 (90%) and 7yrs (43%) - Object attachment peaked around 2yrs.
Why do Children Develop Attachments to Objects? - Transitional objects, bridging the gap between the child and the rest of the world. Easing the passage between sleep and waking, this could explain why majority of attachment objects are most frequently needed at night.
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- Attachment objects are substitutes for a primary caregiver in some situations.
Advantages of Attachment Objects Reduce distress Ybarra et al (2000)- studied a medical procedure being undergone by kids both with and without an attachment object. Found that children with an attachment object were less likely to be distressed before the procedure.
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Facilitate exploration Passman and Weisberg (1975)– found that children with an attachment object could be more willing to explore unfamiliar spaces.
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Conclusion: No evidence to support the claim that children with ICs or object attachments mature or develop differently to children without them.
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While these things may constitute a part of healthy development, there is no evidence to suggest that they are a necessary part of healthy development.
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Lecture US Stats:
- Watch TV 5 hours per day
- Asked to watch TV and spend time with father -54% of 4-6 y/o choose TV
- 900 hours per year at school; 1200 hours per year watching TV
Pre-schoolers - Increasing - 90% watch TV before - 40% 3-months old watch TV
New Zealand - 64% aged 5-14 watch more than 2 hours per day - 35% secondary students watch 3 or more hours per day
American Academy of Paediatrics Recommendation Age Hours per day Under 2 None 2 None 3-5 1 5-8 1 8 and older 1 to
TV as Educational Tool - 6-8 months can imitate some actions seen on TV as deferred imitation - Improved performance if live - Infant DVDs no match for direct interaction with parents
Ball and Bogatz (1970) - Evaluation of Sesame Street Participants ○ 3-5 y/o (N=50) ○ 5 cities in US
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Procedure ○ Alphabet and writing skills measured before and after 26 weeks Groups: 1) Rarely watch 2) 2-3 times per week 3) 4-5 times per week 4) More than 5 times
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Results No difference in children's success as function of viewing frequency prior to watching - children’s initial abilities were relatively equal.
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○ Children from all age groups increased on alphabet and writing skills. Children who watched Sesame Street the most exhibited the biggest gain on the alphabet and writing test. The degree to which children improved was a dose dependent relationship with viewing frequency of watching.
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Children from disadvantaged backgrounds watched Sesame Street as much – and learned as much – as children form advantaged backgrounds.
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In fact, children from low SES families showed the biggest gains. Probably because these children started with a slightly lower initial score.
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Children learned even when they watched Sesame Street alone. Significant due to the concern that children were being placed in front of the TV as a substitute for interaction.
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Claims Made Against Television Viewing Television watching in infancy delays development Some studies have confirmed this, i. children that watched Baby Einstein actually had slower vocabulary development. Probably due to replacing parental interaction. However, this effect is very small and fades over time.
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- Television mesmerises children.
- Children are over stimulated by television, leading to hyperactivity.
- Television displaces other valuable cognitive activities including homework.
- TV viewing decrease children’s reading achievement. TV viewing disrupts children sleep. This can be a problem, children who don’t get enough sleep display behavioural problems.
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TV violence has a negative effect on children and adolescents. There are staggering statistics about the extent of violence children are exposed to during childhood, particularly with a lack of enforced consequences following violent acts as well as a lack of character injury following violent attacks.
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Boyatzis, Matillo and Nesbitt (1995) Participants: - 52 children (mean age 7 years)
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Procedure: - “Power Rangers” condition (22min, 140 aggressive acts) - Compared against Control Conditions with no acts of violence - Each child observed for a 2min period following watching. Number of aggressive acts recorded by a trained observer (this observer was blind to the groups of the children).
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Results: Boys committed more aggressive acts than girls. This indicates a strong gender effect.
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Those watching “Power Rangers” committed 7 aggressive acts for every aggressive act committed by a control child. Indicating an interaction effect.
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Note: this was a very short-term observation time, does not reveal the extent of the increased aggression.
Huessman et al (1984) Participants: - 198 8yr old boys and their parents
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Procedure: Assessed preference for violent TV, combing child and adult responses Re- interviewed boys at age 30yrs – longitudinal study
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- Accessed Criminal Justice records for all the adult boys
- Rated severity of criminal offences (violence rated higher)
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Results: Boys who had exhibited a higher preference for violent TV at age 8yrs had committed more serious crimes by the age of 30yrs than boys who showed a lower preference for violent TV at age 8yrs.
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It is likely that children who are predisposed to violence are more likely to have a preference towards watching violence and to committing violence acts. This confounding factor was not tested for in the study.
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The Verdict - Even young children can learn and imitate from TV. Extensive exposure to violent TV does appear to have a reliable negative effect on children’s behaviour.
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Children who view shows, in which violence is realist, repeated and/or unpunished are more likely to imitate what they see. This is a relatively small effect, however, it does exist.
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Children with emotional, behavioural, learning or impulse control problems may be more easily influenced by TV violence.
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Videogames From childhood into adolescence, the average time spent playing videogames per week is 5 hours for girls and 13 hours for boys. There is a gender effect in videogame playing.
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20% of NZ male secondary students play videogames for more than 3hrs per day (compared to 5% for females).
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- Several companies are developing videogame consoles for pre- schoolers.
- Pre-schoolers aged between 2-5yrs plays for an average of 28mins a day. The amount of time spent playing videogames is increasing, but TV watching is remaining relatively stable. Representing an increase in overall screen time thus displacing time spent doing outdoor and social activities.
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Potential benefits of videogame use: May be therapeutic and/or educational for children with chronic illness. Helping to provide a sense of control and fun for children facing difficult times. E. “Carb Counting with Lenny” – diabetes tool.
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- May improve fine motor skills and co-ordination
- May distract people from physical and emotional pain providing temporary relief.
- May improve decision making skills and brain plasticity
- May foster persistence, resilience, and pro-social behaviour.
Claims made against videogame play are generally the same as those made against TV. Centring on desensitization to violence and increased aggression. How do researchers study the effect of videogame violence?
Anderson and Dill (2000) – Experiment 1 Participants: - 227 University Undergrads
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Measure: Aggressive Personality Questionnaire – looks at the degree to which people have personality traits that are aggressive in nature. Delinquency § Aggressive delinquency § Nonaggressive delinquency Videogame use
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Results: - 91% reported videogame use - Average time per week = 2 hours. Which is less than general statistics. Videogame use correlated with aggressive personality, nonaggressive delinquency and aggressive delinquency. Suggesting a relationship between videogame use and aggression. It is difficult to prove whether this is a causal relationship. Therefore, we can only conclude that there is an association.
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Anderson and Dill (2000) – Experiment 2 Participants: - 210 University Undergrads
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Method: - Aggressive Personality Questionnaire Based on the APQ score students were assigned to one of two groups matched for aggressive personality. Creating two groups of relatively similar aggression scores. § Group 1: played Myst (nonviolent) § Group 2: played Wolenstein (violent) 2 x 15min sessions of play
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Competitive reaction task – pairs of participants would play competitive games that involved reaction times, e. snap. The winner of the game was allowed to blast the loser with white noise, for as long as the winner wanted. The white noise acted as a proxy for aggression.
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Results: - Overall, women delivered longer blasts than men. Individuals with high scores on the APQ delivered longer blasts than those with low APQ scores, regardless of which group they were assigned.
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Individuals who played the violent videogames delivered longer blasts than those who played the non-violent videogame.
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This effect occurred when other variables (e. gender, APQ score) were controlled for.
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The Verdict - Non -violent videogame use can have benefits. Danger of violent videogames for children and young people should in theory be greater than the dangers of violent TV. - Player is often the aggressor, it includes participation not only observation. - There are often rewards for aggression.
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Studies on the effect of violent videogame use are plagued with methodological problems. It is challenging to find causation relationships.
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Studies that address these kinds of problems show that the effects on aggression tend to be significant, but relatively small.
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Violent videogames with a pro-social or teamwork component are likely to be less problematic.
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Module 1 Summary
Thursday, 25 October 2018 7:33 PM
Psyc112 Module 1 Summary
Course: Human Thought and Behaviour (PSYC112)
University: University of Otago
