Child Psych- Ch. 8 Infant Morality

According to the infant cognition lab studies conducted by Paul Bloom at Yale University, babies have an inborn tendency to prefer "good" over "bad."  However, as some of you saw yesterday in class (those of you who braved the snowstorm), infants also have a inborn bias to prefer those who are similar to them. Thus, Bloom and his associates concluded that although babies are born with a primitive morality, the roots of "evil" (bias, bigotry, racism) may also be inborn.

In addition to the Yale study, other studies regarding infant morality have been conducted at the University of Texas, the University of Colorado, and Duke University. Read about these studies in the article See Baby Discriminate, published in Newsweek in 2009, to understand how infants as young as six months have the tendency to discriminate others based on skin color.

Answer the following questions in complete sentences on a word document.  Format with MLA heading.

You may work with ONE other student to complete this assignment collectively. (Only need to turn in one paper per two students)

Due: Wednesday, March 27th

Value: 15 points

Birgette Vittrup- University of Texas: Multicultural Videos
1. Identify the goal and set-up of Birgette Vittrup's study regarding the influence of multicultural videos on children. Include information about the 3 groups utilized in the study.

2. Why did 5 families drop out of Vittrup's study?

3. Why did the study initially seem like a "failure?"

4. Why were parents reluctant to talk to their children about race? In what manner did they discuss the topic with their children?

5. How does the race of the parents affect racial discussions in the home?

Rebecca Bigler- University of Texas: Preschool T-shirts 

6. Explain the set-up of the t-shirt activity in 3 preschool classrooms.

7. How did the children's behavior/attitudes change?

8 . Why does Bigler believe that children should be spoken to about race before the age of 3 years?

Phyllis Katz- University of Colorado: Photos of faces

9. Explain the set-up of Katz's study. How did 6-month-olds react to photos of their own race versus a different race?

10. What was the result of the experiment with 3-year-olds and their choosing of "friends?"

11. What was the result of 5 to 6-year-olds who were asked to sort cards?


12. When do most parents feel it is "safe" to start talking to children about race?

Child Psych- Language Unit Test

Language Unit:
- Ch. 7 pgs 189-199
- Ch. 10 pgs 270-274
- Ch. 13 pgs 349-352

Test format: Multiple choice, fill-ins, short answer/essay

The quiz objectives are re-posted below.
In addition, study the following resources:
- Genie article questions
- Secret Life of Brain- video questions
- Phonics vs. Whole Language questions
- Bilingualism article questions


Ch. 7 pgs 189-194

1.     Define language.

2.     Explain Charles Darwin’s contributions to the study of language development.

3.     Define prelinguistic speech.

4.     Explain the progression of prelinguistic speech: crying, cooing, babbling. Include ages.

5.     Define phoneme

6.     When can infants perceive sounds in all languages? In their native language?

7.     When do babies lose their sensitivity to sounds that are not part of their native language?

9.     Explain the sequence of gestures used by babies. Distinguish between conventional social, representational, and symbolic gestures.

10. How are gestures linked to vocabulary development and multi-word sentences?

11. Define linguistic speech. When does it begin?

12. Define holophrase.

13. What is the difference between passive and active (spoken) vocabulary?

14. What part of speech is an English-speaking child's first word?

15. Define telegraphic speech. When does it occur?

16. When does a naming explosion take place? What is it?

17. Define syntax. When are children more competent of sentence structure?

18.  Define underextension. Provide an example.

19. Define overextension. Provide an example.

20. Define overregularization. Provide an example.

 

Ch. 7 pgs 194-199

1.     Explain aspects of Noam Chomsky’s nativism approach to language development. Include the role of the LAD. Criticisms?

2.     Explain aspects of B.F Skinner’s social learning theory. Criticisms.

3.     Explain the role of the brain’s hemispheres regarding language development.

4.     (Skip “Social Interactions” and “Prelinguistic Period” sections on pg 196)

5.     (Skip “Vocab development” on pg 197)

6.     Define child-directed speech.  How is it both helpful and “hurtful”?

7.     Identify several benefits of reading aloud to children.

Ch. 10 pgs 270-274

8.     Identify the vocab development of a 3 and 6 year old.

9.     Define fast mapping

10. Explain the grammar and syntax of a 3 year old.

11. Explain the grammar and syntax of a 4-5 year old.

12. Explain the grammar and syntax of a 5-7 year old.

13. Define pragmatics.

14. Define social speech.

15. What is private speech?

16. Explain both Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s viewpoints about private speech. Read box 10-2 on pg 272.

17. What percent of preschool children show language delays? Which gender is more likely to show delays?

18. What is the prognosis/ outcome for children with delayed language development?

19. Define emergent literacy.

20. What are several contributing factors to literacy?