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SCIENCE AND PROMOTION OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT

SCIENCE AND PROMOTION OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT. By Michael Rutter. VARIETIES OF SCIENCE.

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SCIENCE AND PROMOTION OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT

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  1. SCIENCE AND PROMOTION OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT By Michael Rutter

  2. VARIETIES OF SCIENCE The traditional subdivision into social, behavioural and biological sciences no longer makes any sense. Modern science usually involves some kind of bridging across, or integration of, different branches of science. Accordingly, my talk will be about the contributions of science and not those of ‘social science’, whatever that is supposed to mean.

  3. PROVISION OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIOLOGY OF EARLY DEVELOPMENT • Rapid brain growth with neural proliferation and then pruning • Role of experiential input on brain structures: Experience-expectant (e.g. vision – Hubel & Wiesel) Experience-adaptive (e.g. language input - Kuhl) • Role of coping with challenges and hazards Stress and ‘steeling’ and ‘sensitization’ effects Infection and immunity d) Effect of stress on brain structures

  4. PROVISION OF UNDERSTANDING ON GENETIC INFLUENCES • Dynamic processes involved in gene action Multiple DNA elements involved in gene transcription Chance Environmental influences on gene expression • Importance of passive, active and evocative gene-environment correlations Genetic influences on environmental risk exposure • Importance of gene-environment interactions Genetic influences on environmental risk susceptibility • Partial genetic mediation of risks associated with adverse environments • Switching on and off of genes

  5. TESTING OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISK MEDIATION THROUGH USE OF ‘NATURAL EXPERIMENTS’ Discordant twin designs Mendelian randomization Effects of environmental changes outside the influence of social selection Risk reversal Children of Twins design

  6. UNDERSTANDING OF PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHOPATHOLOGICAL CONTINUITIES AND DISCONTINUITIES Importance of early physical aggression and of inattention/overactivity Predictive importance of early developmental deficits and delays Early origins of autism spectrum disorders and of dyslexia Continuities between normality and pathology Interconnections among cognition, emotions and social relationships Importance of social relationships, both early and late, and the limitations of measures of attachment security

  7. EVALUATION OF EFFICIENCY OF PREVENTIVE AND THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS AND DELINEATION OF THE KEY MEDIATORS OF EFFICACY Randomized controlled trials (with their varieties and modifications) Need to measure process variables in order to determine mediators Issues in translating interventions that are effective in expert hands into community-wide implementations

  8. DEMONSTRATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND THE REALITY OF THE IMPORTANCE OF RESILIENCE Genetic variations Value of experience of successful coping Value of experiences both before and after exposure to risk

  9. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL The message that science provides the means of answering fundamental questions and this goes way beyond the collection of “facts”. The message that we should view with considerable caution and wariness the peddlers of certainty – whether the salesmen be politicians, media experts or scientists.

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