2. The Causes of Childhood Disorders
2 | Learning Objectives |
2.1
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Developmental Psychopathology
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Understand the basic principles of developmental psychopathology as a way to study the emergence of children's problems over time.
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2.3
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Biological Influences on Development
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Explain how genetic, epigenetic, and other biological factors can place youths at risk for mental health problems.
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2.3
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Psychological Influences on Development
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Describe the way psychological factors (i.e., thoughts, feelings, and actions) can contribute to the emergence of mental health problems in youths.
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2.4
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Social-Cultural Influences on Development
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Analyze the way social-cultural factors can influence children's development both proximally and distally.
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Note: The number before each objective shows its corresponding module in the text.
Videos
Videos

Epigenetics
Epigenetics is the scientific study of the way environmental experiences can affect the expression of the genetic code. This short video provides an excellent introduction.

Brain Pasticity
Perhaps the most dramatic example of brain plasticity can been seen in children who undergo a hemispherectomy. This excellent video is produced by Scientific American.

Parent-Child Attachment
Dr. Everett Waters (Stony Brook University) provides examples of secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-ambivalent attachment behavior in the strange situation.

Diathesis-Stress
Terrie Moffitt & Avshalom Caspi discuss their longitudinal studies investigating the role of genetic risk and environmental stress on the development of behavior problems.

Parenting Types
Diana Baumrind identified four styles of parenting that can affect children's developmental outcomes. This video provides a nice review of her research.

Ecological Systems Theory
Ecological systems theory is a model that can be used to describe the proximal and distal factors that affect development. In this video, Bronfenbrenner explains his theory.
Learn More
Learn More
This website is maintained by the National Human Genome Research Institute. It offers many tutorials, simulations, images, and fact sheets regarding the Human Genome Project and genetics. Many of the multimedia files are in the public domain and may be used for presentations. To get started, try locating the video files by clicking here. One video explains how researchers mapped the genome. Another video addresses the ethics of genetic research and therapy with humans.
This is an outstanding site allows students to rotate and dissect a 3-dimensional human brain. It also labels major brain areas and functions. You can also download an app of the 3-dimensional brain for free and access it through iTunes, iPad, or iPhone.
The Franklin Institute offers several interactive activities to learn about neuroscience. This activity lets you see MRI images of the human brains from infancy through old age to see how it changes across development. It complements the information about brain development in the textbook nicely.