DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHology

1. DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHology Dr. Geoff goodman Lecture 5 10/11/16

2. The importance of culture • Some differences • Can we translate one culture’s beliefs and values from one culture to another? • neonatal crying • French neonates – rising melody contours • German neonates – falling melody contours • Two cultural organizations • Sociocentric – collectivist, interdependent • Egocentric – individualistic, autonomous • We are all just prisoners of our own cultural value systems

3. Sociocentric and egocentric, groups and dyads • All cultures fall along a spectrum between these two poles of interdependence and independence • Sociocentric cultures • Infant perceived as a separate biological organism who needs to be drawn into increasingly interdependent relations (japan) • Co-sleeping aids in transformation from separate beings to members of the wider community • Infants in sociocentric communities are seldom left alone • Social adaptation is highly valued • Close bodily contact highly valued (snugli attachment study by lizanisfeld) • Less encouragement of vocalizing – used mostly to support social and moral codes (Uganda caregiver study) • Rigorous bodily stimulation and massage • Complex group dynamics rather than dyadic ones • Parental control, social cohesion, interdependence, community expectations are emphasized • Calm down excited infants

4. Egocentric cultures • Infant perceived as a dependent biological organism who needs to be made increasingly independent of others • Co-sleeping does not typically occur because the infant needs to become self-reliant and autonomous • 3 month olds are out of physical reach of caregivers 40% of the time (Germany) • Distal, face-to-face communication • More vocalizing, especially to encourage autonomy • Dyadic interactions, self-esteem, and self-assertion are particularly valued • Caregivers respond to infants’ positive signals (Germany) • Most egocentric cultures (usa, Australia, Britain, Canada) • parenting all over the world has become more individualistic and egocentric

5. What is universal and biologically natural? • Breastfeeding and emotions • Breastfeeding (with variation) • One caregiver versus many caregivers • Weaning • Emotional expression • Seven basic emotions universally expressed are recognized – happiness, surprise, disgust, contempt, anger, fear, and sadness • Fear and surprise are sometimes difficult to differentiate • Blind infants express emotions using the same muscle movements as sighted infants • Variation is found in cultural rules about hiding emotional expressions in public • Timing of emotional expressions can also vary by culture

6. Cultural variations in development • Variations in timing of self-recognition in a mirror after rouge is placed on children’s faces • 15-18 months for western, egocentric cultures • Much longer for sociocentric cultures – self-recognition is achieved later • Variations in timing of self-regulation • Earlier for sociocentric cultures that value close bodily contact, quick response to distress signals, and clear imperatives to abide by rules • Later for egocentric cultures that value self-expression and less close bodily contact

7. Cultural variations in development cont. • Variations in timing of autobiographical memory • Parents with good autobiographical skills tend to have securely attached children with earlier and better autobiographical skills • Parents use elaborative styles of talking about their own and their children’s lives • Children in sociocentric cultures tend to have first memories of later experiences • Variations in timing of theory of mind, with earlier acquisition in egocentric cultures • Differences in psychiatric disorders • Temper tantrums in toddlerhood (usa) • Latah – startle reflexes, loss of control, profanity, mimicry (southeast asia) • Koro – phobia that sexual organs are shrinking (Africa) • Amok – frenzied, uncontrolled violence in males (Malaysia) • Taijinkyofusho – phobia of upsetting others (japan) • Kikikomori – phobia of socializing with others (japan)

8. Cultures frame our thoughts and very physiology and brains • Different cultures provide different experiences, which in turn lead to different brain development • People in different cultures might have different cognitive architecture • Sociocentric cultures – more holistic perceptions • Egocentric cultures – more analytical perceptions • Children of Asian immigrants tend to have both capacities • Summary: culture’s central place • Culture is central to understanding development generally • Steering a path between universalism and relativism • Female genital mutilation (Africa) • Child boarding schools (Britain, usa)

9. Biology and the brain • Our brains and evolutionary past • Procedural memory – nonconscious habits or patterns through which people relate to others • Like riding a bike • Playing a violin • Expectations taken into new social situations • Useful for survival but difficult to unlearn • Neural network • One neuron connects with 10,000 others • Total of 100,000,000,000 neurons • Total of 100,000,000,000,000 synapses

10. Our brains and evolutionary past cont. • Triune brain (maclean, 1990) • Reptilian brain (brain stem) – controls heart rate, breathing, temperature, balance, fight, flight, freeze, social dominance systems • rigid • Rapid learning • Difficult to unlearn • Limbic system (in mammals) – judgment, pleasure/pain assessment, emotional memories • Neocortex – thought, language, imagination, consciousness • Left hemisphere • Right hemisphere • Corpus callosum – connection between hemispheres • Psychological health – increased complexity, interdependence, and communication among the triune brain components • 1) paranoid-schizoid position (reptilian brain and limbic system) • 2) depressive position (neocortex – integration of representations)

11. Experience dependence • Brain analogous to complex muscle system • Use it or lose it – neurons strengthen or wither • Pruning – 20,000,000,000 synapses pruned every day from childhood to early adolescence • Hebb’s law – cells that fire together wire together (classical conditioning) • neuroplasticity – last trimester to second year • Production of 250,000 cells/minute • Vital emotional learning occurs • Explicit memory – conscious, linguistically mediated • Related to neocortex, specifically left hemisphere • Begins by age 3 or 4 • Neurotransmitters and hormones also help to shape experiences • Infant hormone and neurotransmitter levels reflect caregiver levels • One brain can activate another through interactions (or lack thereof)

12. Hormones and opiates • Neurotransmitters – chemicals that signal between neurons and other bodily systems (e.g., serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, norepinephrine, oxytocin) • hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis – complex system that controls reactions to stress • Releases adrenaline and cortisol • Prepares body for fight or flight • Oxytocin – promotes loving feelings, bonding, trust • Drugs such as cocaine replace low neurotransmitter levels (self-medication) • Early nurturing environments can reduce elevated cortisol • Early abusive, stressful environments can elevate cortisol levels for life (without intervention) • Removal during first 18 months (critical period) • Placement with nurturing, emotionally responsive parents

13. Left and right hemispheres • Left frontal cortex – dominant for positive feelings, approach strategies, novelty, autonomy, self-acceptance, purposefulness, openness to new experiences • Writing down negative events and • Psychotherapy activates the left hemisphere • Right frontal cortex – dominant for negative feelings, avoidance strategies, caution, inhibition, depression • Intuitive, emotional processing • Creativity • Corpus callosum – bundle of nerves linking left and right hemispheres • Mental health characterized by better links between left and right hemispheres (siegel, 2002) • Autobiographical memories (left hemisphere) might not link up with emotional processing (right hemisphere) • “they’re cutting the lamb” (carlyn) • Eulogies

14. Trauma and neglect: the amygdala, hippocampus, and hpa axis • Amygdala – mediates fear responses, priming to respond to threat • Traumatized child – amygdala on constant high alert • Hyperarousal with little stimulation • Sympathetic nervous system • Hypervigilance • Heightened physiological responses • Can be medicated with clonidine (perry) • Parasympathetic nervous system • Playing dead • Lowered physiological responses • Related to dissociation • Can be medicated with naltrexone (perry) • Scholastic achievement compromised • Poor concentration because of hypervigilance to danger • Thinking part of brain becomes inactive (dissociation)

15. Trauma and neglect: the amygdala, hippocampus, and hpa axis cont. • Hippocampus cells die off through exposure to trauma mediated by elevated cortisol levels • Severe neglect – atrophy in parts of brain, developmental delays • Deficit in empathy • Deficit in emotional regulation • Deficit in social interaction and intimacy • Smaller head circumference (but it can rebound with intervention)

16. Summary: hope or hopeless? • Change is possible through psychotherapy – “another way of creating synaptic potentiation in brain pathways that control the amygdala” (ledoux, 1998, p. 265) • The brain remains plastic throughout life • Old experiences and related brain circuits are never erased, but • New experiences, expectations, and brain pathways can be built • First few years of life and adolescence are critical periods when the most change is possible