Critical Thinking Assignment There are several critical thinking/discussion ques

Critical Thinking Assignment
There are several critical thinking/discussion questions listed below chosen from the Mercer and Lansford books that specifically pertain to topics covered in class. For this assignment, you will:
1.Choose 2 of the questions listed below.
2.Write up to one page double spaced (12 pt. font) answering the question. Answers should be at least ½ of a page in length.
3.The answer should include three separate points to support the main response. For example, if the question was, “what kind of dessert is best?” and your answer is “ice cream,” then you need three supporting points for why that’s the best. Additionally, if the question directs you to research the issue (e.g., look up a parenting website), your answer should include what you found.
Questions can be answers
Trauma
1. Think about the definition of a traumatic event required for a diagnosis of PTSD. Can exposure to something that is actually harmless by perceived as traumatic? For example, could a child’s observation of parents having sex have an effect similar to that of domestic violence depending on the child’s perception? Explain your reasoning.
2. Use a textbook or other sources to list characteristics of young children’s cognitive abilities such as preoperational thinking. How would different levels of cognitive development make observations of community or domestic violence either more or less traumatic for children of different ages?
3. Imagine that your friend’s teenage son was involved in a serious car accident in which one of his friends died. Although the accident occurred 3 months ago, her son refuses to talk about the accident, despite the fact that it continues to cause him distress and interfere with his daily functioning. Your friend thinks it might be best to let him “put it in the past and move on with his life.” How might you respond to her suggestion?
ADHD
1. How would you expect hyperactive or impulsive children to impact a parent’s or teacher’s behavior toward them? Would it make any difference if the adult were impulsive as well?
2. Review information about temperament in a child development textbook. Explain how temperamental differences between a child and parent might cause the parent to describe their child as impulsive and/or inattentive.
Autism
1. Boys are much more likely than girls to be diagnosed with autism. What does this fact suggest about the causes of autism? Argue for and against the idea that genetic factors may be the primary cause?
2. Most parents recall that their children with ASD exhibited problems with social communication and behavior in infancy and toddlerhood. However, in most cases, ASD is not diagnosed until after age 3. Why?
Learning Disability
1. Why aren’t children who meet diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder also diagnosed with social communication disorder? How might these two disorders be differentiated?
2. Children from low-SES families are at a disproportionate risk for being classified with a learning disability. How might school psychologists and other professionals avoid misdiagnosing children from disadvantaged backgrounds?
3. Children’s language problems are sometimes associated with impoverished parent-child interactions. Why can’t we conclude that the quality of parent-child interactions causes these language problems?
Intellectual Disability
1. Why are children of lower-SES backgrounds at greater risk for certain types of intellectual disability? Why might low-SES children with IDs have poorer prognosis than middle-class children with IDs?
Anxiety
1. Anxiety disorders are among the most commonly diagnosed psychological issues in children, with numbers at any one time similar to what we see in other common disorders, such as ADHD. Why doesn’t anxiety receive as much attention? Do you think that parents do not perceive anxiety as a problem? Why or why not?
2. Many children fear snakes, although relatively few children have ever been bitten by a snake. If a child has never been attacked by a snake, how can he or she develop snake phobia?
Conduct Problems
1. Why is conduct disorder more commonly diagnosed among adolescent boys than adolescent girls? Are the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder gender biased? Should they be changed?
2. Imagine you have received a grant from your city to revitalize and redevelop an impoverished neighborhood. What three changes might you make to decrease the prevalence of conduct problems among youths who live there?
Encopresis
1. Many parents blame children for encopresis. To what extent is encopresis volitional? How might blaming or punishing children exacerbate the problem?