Childhood: Developmental Psychology – Article overview (UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM)

This bundle contains a summary of all the articles that are needed for the course "Childhood: Developmental Psychology" given at the University of Amsterdam. It includes the following articles:

Bjorklund & Causey (2017). Biological bases of development” – Article summary
“Kuppens & Ceulemans (2019). Parenting styles: A closer look at a well-known concept”. – Article summary
“Taraban & Shaw (2018). Parenting in context: Revisiting Belsky’s classic process of parenting model in early childhood.” – Article summary
“Tucker-Drob, Briley, & Harden (2013). Genetic and environmental influences on cognition across development and context.” – Article summary
“Gross (2010). Emotion regulation.” – Article summary
“Zelazo & Müller (2011). Executive function in typical and atypical development.” – Article summary
“Hay, Payne, & Chadwick (2004). Peer relations in childhood.” – Article summary
“Matthews et al. (2020). A longitudinal twin study of victimization and loneliness from childhood to young adulthood.” – Article summary
“Schaffer (2006). Social and personality development.” – Article summary
“Pomerantz, Ki, & Cheung (2012). Parents’ involvement in children’s learning.” – Article summary
“Roehrig et al. (2012). Effective teachers and teaching: Characteristics and practices related to positive student outcomes.” – Article summary
“Tomasello (2010). Language development.” – Article summary
“Dehaene (2011). The language of numbers”. – Article summary
“Dehaene (2011). Small heads for big calculations.” – Article summary
“Bjorklund (2012). Children’s thinking: Cognitive development and individual differences.” – Article summary
“Spilt, van Lier, Leflot, Onghena, & Colpin (2014). Children’s social self-concept and internalizing problems: The influence of peers and teachers.” – Article summary
“Susperreguy, Davis-Kean, Duckworth, & Chen (2018). Self-concept predicts academic achievement across level of the achievement distribution: domain specificity for math and reading.” – Article summary
“Traub & Boynton-Jarrett (2017). Modifiable resilience factors to childhood adversity for clinical pediatric practice.” – Article summary

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Bjorklund & Causey (2017). Biological bases of development” – Article summary

Evolution refers to the process of change in gene frequencies within populations over many generations. The major principle of evolution is reproductive fitness, which refers to the likelihood that an individual will produce offspring or that that individual’s offspring will produce offspring. Evolution provides an explanation for how a mechanism developed but also why it developed. Previously adaptive

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Kuppens & Ceulemans (2019). Parenting styles: A closer look at a well-known concept”. – Article summary

Parenting practices refer to directly observable specific behaviours that parents use to socialize their children (e.g. supervision with homework). There are two broad dimensions of parenting:

Parental support
This refers to the affective nature of the parent-child relationship. Behaviours involve showing involvement (1), acceptance (2), emotional availability (3), warmth (4) and responsivity (3). This is

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Taraban & Shaw (2018). Parenting in context: Revisiting Belsky’s classic process of parenting model in early childhood.” – Article summary

According to Jay Belsky’s process of parenting model, parenting is determined by characteristics of the parent, child and family social context. Parental personality and parental psychological functioning are important factors in the parental domain. In the child’s domain, a difficult temperament is important. In the social context domain, parents’ work habits, sources of parental social support and marital

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Tucker-Drob, Briley, & Harden (2013). Genetic and environmental influences on cognition across development and context" – Article summary

Cognition is about 50% - 70% heritable at the population level. Heritability is maximized when people choose their own environments and experiences.

Gene-environment correlation states that people with more similar genes experience more similar environments and vice versa. Transactional models state that early-life behaviours, driven by genetics, lead to a person selecting particular types of environments.

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Gross (2010). Emotion regulation.” – Article summary

Emotions may facilitate adaptation by readying behavioural responses (1), enhancing memory for important events (2) and guide interpersonal interactions (3). However, emotions are maladaptive when they are of the wrong type (1), at the wrong time (2) or at the wrong intensity level (3). Emotions consist of three key features:

Emotions arise when an individuals attend

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Zelazo & Müller (2011). Executive function in typical and atypical development.” – Article summary

Executive function (EF) refers to the psychological processes involved in the conscious control of thought and action. However, there are several possible definitions:

Executive function corresponds to planning (1), decision making (2), judgement (3) and self-perception (4).
Executive function corresponds to inhibitory control.
Executive function refers to a cognitive module consisting of effector

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Hay, Payne, & Chadwick (2004). Peer relations in childhood.” – Article summary

There is a bi-directional influence between peer relationships and children’s disorders. Children’s problems with peers may contribute to the genesis of the disorder (e.g. anxiety) and the disorders may make peer contact more problematic.

Matching of negative emotion with another infant (e.g. making another infant cry in the nursery) is the first form of peer interaction.

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Matthews et al. (2020). A longitudinal twin study of victimization and loneliness from childhood to young adulthood.” – Article summary

Children and adolescents who are exposed to victimization face increased risk of diverse negative outcomes by early adulthood (e.g. psychopathology; lower educational and career attainment; inflammatory disease). It could lead to loneliness, which refers to psychological distress associated with perceived shortcomings in one’s social relationships. Individuals vary in their susceptibility to feeling lonely. The heritability of loneliness is

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Schaffer (2006). Social and personality development.” – Article summary

A peer refers to two or more people who are operating at similar levels of behavioural complexity (e.g. two toddlers). This means that children who differ in age can be considered peer as long as they adjust their behaviour to suit one another’s capabilities as they pursue common interests or goals.

Conflict among peers when resources (e.g.

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Pomerantz, Ki, & Cheung (2012). Parents’ involvement in children’s learning.” – Article summary

Parent involvement in learning may be essential as parents provide the resources children depend on (1), children spend a substantial time outside of the school environment (2) and parents are a central relationship for children (3).

Parental involvement refers to parents’ commitment of resources to children’s learning. There is a distinction between parental involvement at school

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Roehrig et al. (2012). Effective teachers and teaching: Characteristics and practices related to positive student outcomes.” – Article summary

Effective teachers are teachers who have a positive impact on students’ engagement in learning activities and the outcomes associated with students’ learning (e.g. self-regulation). Teachers operate in the atmosphere of the classroom (1), instruction (2) and management (3). Effective teaching encompasses all three domains. This means that an effective teacher is one who considers how the three domains

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Tomasello (2010). Language development.” – Article summary

Contrary to most animals, humans communicate cooperatively. Infants (i.e. 10 to 12 months) begin in cooperative communication through the pointing gesture. This form of communication relies on their social-cognitive ability to direct the attention of others and to understand the attention-directing intentions of others.

Skills of intention-reading refer to social-cognitive abilities which are necessary to understand

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Dehaene (2011). The language of numbers”. – Article summary

Skills of intention-reading refer to social-cognitive abilities which are necessary to understand

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Dehaene (2011). Small heads for big calculations.” – Article summary

People do not have innate mechanisms for complex calculations (e.g. math). However, children typically do spontaneously come up with some form of counting without being explicitly taught. It may be that counting knowledge is innate but it is also possible that this develops through imitation and that children, while being able to count, do not know the meaning

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Bjorklund (2012). Children’s thinking: Cognitive development and individual differences.” – Article summary

Primates have been able to learn simple language. However, this may not actually be language use and comprehending as they do not use complex grammar (1), lack social-cognitive abilities that allow for language learning (2) and lack a theory of mind (3). Language may have co-evolved with social intelligence.

Language refers to the systematic and conventional

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Spilt, van Lier, Leflot, Onghena, & Colpin (2014). Children’s social self-concept and internalizing problems: The influence of peers and teachers.” – Article summary

It is not clear what through what processes peer rejection lead to internalizing problems and how the teacher can be a protective factor in this. School-age children who experience difficulties in their relationships with peers are at increased risk for psychopathology. Social self-concept act as a mechanism through which peer rejection influences the development of internalizing problems.

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Susperreguy, Davis-Kean, Duckworth, & Chen (2018). Self-concept predicts academic achievement across level of the achievement distribution: domain specificity for math and reading.” – Article summary

Susperreguy, Davis-Kean, Duckworth, & Chen (2018). Self-concept predicts academic achievement across level of the achievement distribution: domain specificity for math and reading.” – Article summary

Self-concept of ability refers to the perception of one’s capability to successfully perform on academic tasks. This may explain academic achievement. It is possible that young children successfully perform various academic skills which develops a positive view on those skills, making it more likely that they engage with these skills and become proficient in them. A positive perception

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Traub & Boynton-Jarrett (2017). Modifiable resilience factors to childhood adversity for clinical pediatric practice.” – Article summary

Early childhood adversity is common (i.e. 48% - 60%). Early life trauma impacts the developmental trajectory of children and health outcomes over the life course. No experiences with maltreatment and a non-depressed primary caregiver are associated with resilience. Adult health outcomes are influenced by the cumulative incidence of adverse life experiences. Differences in risk are influenced by chronicity

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Crossroads: activities

Psychologie en gedrag

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Teaching material: health awareness & mental well-being

True or False game HIV/Aids

Education Category: Health
Ages:

What is HIV/AIDS?
Before we can explain what HIV is you have to know that your body exists of billion cells. Every cell has got its own task to fulfill in your body. Some of these cells are like tiny little soldiers. These little soldiers protect you from viruses. These viruses are like bad intruders. If these bad intruders are inside your body then your soldiers are working hard to get them out. Sometimes you can feel sick because there are a lot of intruders in your body, but mostly the soldiers accomplish to get rid of these intruders.

HIV is also a bad intruder, but HIV works a little bit different than most of the intruders. The HIV intruder can only enter your body by some of your bodily fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids and breast milk. When an HIV intruder is inside your body it is able to kill the soldiers.
So, when an HIV intruder is inside your body, it kills the soldiers which are supposed to protect you. When the number of soldiers reduces until a certain low concentration, you are diagnosed with AIDS.

However, you should know that an HIV intruder and the disease AIDS are not the ones who can actually make you sick or eventually kill you.
Normally your soldiers are with enough men to win the battle against the intruders, but with HIV in your body the amount of soldiers is reduced. So now there are not enough soldiers and your body becomes vulnerable to other intruders (other infections). This is beneficial for the development of infections. Diseases which normally can be fought off by the soldiers can now be lethal. For example, diseases like the common cold, severe pneumonia, tuberculosis, and malaria, of which you can eventually die. These diseases are called opportunistic diseases, they benefit from the presence of the HIV intruder. Thus, the HIV intruder and the disease AIDS are the ones who make your body vulnerable to other intruders, and the opportunistic diseases can eventually kill you.

The disease AIDS is very dangerous for our health, therefore it is important to know how you can get infected. So we are going to play a game. Let’s see how much you already know about HIV/AIDS!

Activity: True or False Game 1
This game is a fun way to test the knowledge of children about HIV and AIDS.

You need: Three areas.

How to:
As the teacher you say what the area’s represent. The first area is “False”, the second area is “I don’t know” and the third area is “True”. Then explain that you are going to read statements and the children should go to the area which area represents for them as best answer. Now read a statement (the statements are underlined). Give them the correct answer after they have all chosen an area and explain why this is the correct answer.

It is possible to get HIV from hugging someone who is HIV positive or someone who has AIDS
FALSE!
You cannot get HIV/AIDS from;

- holding hands, hugging, caressing, kissing
- Close contact with infected people at school, work, or in your village
- Sharing clothes, food, bed towels, etc.
- Insect bites
- Coughing, sneezing
- Swimming
- Using public toilets

It is not safe to share razors, syringes, tooth brushes and needles with someone who is HIV positive or with someone who has AIDS
TRUE!
It is not safe to share sharp piercing objects like needles, razors, syringes or a tooth brush which has blood on it, because then you can come into contact with infected blood.
HIV is the same as AIDS
FALSE!
HIV is the virus (intruder) makes you vulnerable for other diseases by killing the soldiers of your body (immune system). AIDS is the combination of several opportunistic diseases that have attacked the body.
If I have HIV… I cannot have children
FALSE!
This used to be true but not anymore.
Women living with HIV can and do have families. Certain medical steps and precautions have to be taken to protect the child from getting HIV from the mother.

Lessons on Gender (1)

Education Category: Health
Ages: 12-16, 16+

Donated by Ron Haarms

NOTE: This is the first file for this module. Download the first file here.

Information on Gender

Often, ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ are understood to be the one and the same. In reality, they are quite different. There is a difference between what our bodies are physically able to do, such as producing sperm or giving birth, and what our society expects us to do. Sex is determined by our bodies: a person is either male or female from before the

Moment he or she is born. Gender, on the other hand, is socially defined. Gender depends on historic, economic and cultural forces, and by definition is constantly changing. This means that people have different understandings of what gender is, depending on their context. People learn about what it means to be male or female from many places, including from their families, communities, social institutions, schools, religion and media.

The result of traditional gender roles is often that people are not able to reach their full potential. Both men and women would benefit from a perspective that does not limit what people can and cannot do. To stereotype is to categorize individuals or groups according to an oversimplified standardized image or idea. For example, in many cultures, education for girls and women is given a lower priority than for boys and men. However, according to UNICEF, girls denied an education is more vulnerable to poverty, violence, abuse, dying in childbirth and at risk of diseases including HIV/AIDS (State of the World’s Children 2004, press release). As another example, in many cultures, men are expected to display traditional traits of masculinity. This can often result in sexual promiscuity, heavy alcohol consumption, or violence, all of which are unhealthy behaviors, both for men and their families.

All people can be ‘feminine’ in some ways, and ‘masculine’ in other ways. There is a diversity of masculinities and femininities that exist beyond the narrow gender models they are familiar with. There is no one way to be a man or be a woman. Our goal is to promote a flexible and tolerant attitude toward gender, rather than reinforcing rigid roles and expectations w

Gender is hierarchical; in most societies, it gives more power to men than to women. Also, it preserves the existing power structure. Work that women do revolve around the physical, emotional and social wellbeing of other people, especially, their husbands/partners and children. Work that men do is related to their role as bread winners/providers for their families, which leads them to seek out paid work. For example, many women love to cook, and many women cook better than men. Then why is it that mostly men are cooks at hotels and restaurants while women cook at home, unpaid?

Often, society defines what is right for men and women. It is not our fault that the system is that way. However, when we recognize that there is injustice, we can do something to change it. Society is made up of people, and people are capable of change. This is a very personal process. First we have to recognize what is happening in our own lives, and then we can begin to make changes.

Most of us feel that culture, religion, tradition, and social norms dictate gender roles. But where does change happen if not in our individual circumstances? How does a fashion trend start if not by one or two people one day starting to wear or do a certain thing? Ideas about gender affect us both privately and publicly; that means we have the opportunity to make changes at both the personal level, as well as in society

Information on HIV/AIDS

What is HIV/AIDS?

The Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. HIV leads to acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). AIDS refers to a state where the immune system is extremely weak and prone to severe opportunistic infections.

How is HIV transmitted?

HIV is transmitted primarily through blood, semen and vaginal fluid. The main modes of transmission are:

1. Unprotected sexual contact where body fluids are exchanged (vaginal, anal or oral intercourse);

2. Infected blood transmission;

3. Sharing infected needles/syringes; and

4. Infected mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth.

HIV is not spread through casual contact such a hugging, sneezing, mosquito bites, or sharing utensils with a person who is infected.

What are the symptoms of HIV/AIDS?

People infected with HIV often have no symptoms for many years. Once HIV enters a person’s body, s/he may experience flu-like symptoms within 2 to 6 weeks. After infection, there is a window period of between 6 to 12 weeks during which a routine blood test will not show a positive result. HIV can be transmitted during this time, even before symptoms appear. Persons living with HIV may experience chronic fever, diarrhea and weight loss. As the disease pr ogresses, the body is prone to opportunistic infections such as thrush, pneumonia and tuberculosis.

How is HIV prevented?

There is no cure for HIV, although antiretroviral (ARV) drugs help boost the body’s immune system to fight opportunistic infections and increase the life span.

HIV can be prevented through:

1. Safer sex: Abstinence, being faithful in a monogamous relationship, or using condoms correctly and consistently for every sexual act can prevent sexual transmission; 2. Using sterilized needles and syringes and avoiding sharing needles; 3. Screening blood and blood products and avoiding transfusion of untested blood; and 4. Preventing mother to child transmission through counseling on the options and risks involved, provision of available drugs during pregnancy and appropriate breastfeeding practices.

Women and HIV

Women are biologically, culturally and socially more vulnerable to HIV. Women are more likely (four to ten times) to contract HIV through vaginal intercourse, as there is more entry points for the virus in the female genitalia compared to men. Gender dynamics render women more vulnerable through discriminatory practices, lack of decision making power and unequal status in social or cultural affairs. Women are thus often placed in circumstances in which it is difficult to negotiate the terms or safety of sex

Attachment:

9983_gender_workshop_care_isofi_module_intro.pdf

Lessons on Gender (2)

Education Category: Health
Ages: 12-16, 16+

Donated by Ron Haarms

NOTE: This is the second file for this module. Download the first file here.

Information on Gender

Often, ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ are understood to be the one and the same. In reality, they are quite different. There is a difference between what our bodies are physically able to do, such as producing sperm or giving birth, and what our society expects us to do. Sex is determined by our bodies: a person is either male or female from before the

The result of traditional gender roles is often that people are not able to reach their full potential. Both men and women would benefit from a perspective that does not limit what people can and cannot do. To stereotype is to categorize individuals or groups according to an oversimplified standardized image or idea. For example, in many cultures, education for girls and women is given a lower priority than for boys and men. However, according to UNICEF, girls denied an education is more vulnerable to poverty, violence, abuse, dying in childbirth and at risk of diseases including HIV/AIDS (State of the World’s Children 2004, press release). As another example, in many cultures, men are expected to display traditional traits of masculinity. This can often result in sexual promiscuity, heavy alcohol consumption, or violence, all of which are unhealthy behaviors, both for men and their families.

All people can be ‘feminine’ in some ways, and ‘masculine’ in other ways. There is a diversity of masculinities and femininities that exist beyond the narrow gender models they are familiar with. There is no one way to be a man or be a woman. Our goal is to promote a flexible and tolerant attitude toward gender, rather than reinforcing rigid roles and expectations w

Gender is hierarchical; in most societies, it gives more power to men than to women. Also, it preserves the existing power structure. Work that women do revolve around the physical, emotional and social wellbeing of other people, especially, their husbands/partners and children. Work that men do is related to their role as bread winners/providers for their families, which leads them to seek out paid work. For example, many women love to cook, and many women cook better than men. Then why is it that mostly men are cooks at hotels and restaurants while women cook at home, unpaid?

Often, society defines what is right for men and women. It is not our fault that the system is that way. However, when we recognize that there is injustice, we can do something to change it. Society is made up of people, and people are capable of change. This is a very personal process. First we have to recognize what is happening in our own lives, and then we can begin to make changes.

Information on HIV/AIDS

What is HIV/AIDS?

How is HIV transmitted?

HIV is transmitted primarily through blood, semen and vaginal fluid. The main modes of transmission are:

1. Unprotected sexual contact where body fluids are exchanged (vaginal, anal or oral intercourse);

2. Infected blood transmission;

3. Sharing infected needles/syringes; and

4. Infected mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth.

HIV is not spread through casual contact such a hugging, sneezing, mosquito bites, or sharing utensils with a person who is infected.

What are the symptoms of HIV/AIDS?

How is HIV prevented?

There is no cure for HIV, although antiretroviral (ARV) drugs help boost the body’s immune system to fight opportunistic infections and increase the life span.

HIV can be prevented through:

Women and HIV

Brain Gym

Education Category: Health
Ages: 4-8, 8-12, 12-16, 16+

Donated by Jeffrey

What do you need?
Motivated students

How does it work?
'Cross Crawl'
This exercise helps coordinate right and left brain by exercising the information flow between the two hemispheres. It is useful for spelling, writing, listening, reading and comprehension. Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching. Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes.

'Hook Ups'
This works well for nerves before a test or special event such as making a speech. Any situation which will cause nervousness calls for a few 'hook ups' to calm the mind and improve concentration. Stand or sit. Cross the right leg over the left at the ankles. Take your right wrist and cross it over the left wrist and link up the fingers so that the right wrist is on top. Bend the elbows out and gently turn the fingers in towards the body until they rest on the sternum (breast bone) in the center of the chest. Stay in this position. Keep the ankles crossed and the wrists crossed and then breathe evenly in this position for a few minutes. You will be noticeably calmer after that time.

“Figures of eight’’
This is excellent to stimulate both sides of the brain. Using the index finger of your left hand draw a large figure of eight in front of you. Practice a few times and then repeat using the right hand. Then repeat but complete figures of eight with both hands at the same time.

“Nose and ear swap”
Place one hand on the opposite ear and the other hand on your nose. On the given instruction swap your hands over but your hands must cross in the middle. It is really fun and if you’re an expert try it quicker (but don’t poke yourself in the eye). It can be carried out with a partner with your hands on their ear and nose!! Great fun!

“Tummy rub and head tapping”
This is a well known exercise but is great for the coordination. In a circular motion rub your tummy and at the same time pat your head. Ensure it is two separate actions not both tapping or rubbing. Really funny to watch!

What else do I need to know?
There is a lot of literature written on using both the left and right hand side of the brain to become stimulated. U can use this literature to come up with your own exercises and expand the brain gym.

What is the purpose of the game?
We have provided a few brain gym activities in this pack. Brain gym activates the brain for optimal storage and retrieval of information. Every nerve and cell is a network contributing to our intelligence and our learning capability. Many educators have found this work quite helpful in improving overall concentration in class. There is a lot of literature written on using both the left and right hand side of the brain to become stimulated. I have limited experience in this reasonable new science but have a few fun energizers to use with the children.

What to do to stay healthy in quarantine times: 11 tips

So, the situation has escalated quite a bit over the past few weeks. Not just in Europe and Asia, but all over the world rules are implemented restricting people to go out, socialise etcetera. I, being a social little beast (which is a very strange translation of the Dutch expression "sociaal beestje"), needed to find some ways to adjust to the whole situation. But I have, and even though I miss my friends and family, staying indoors and in quarantine is much more important to me. So I thought I'd share my tips with you, to help you get through this time as well!

1. Learn to enjoy doing nothing

Nowadays we often have busy schedules; work, seeing friends, working out, trying new things, watching all series on Netflix, etc. I always feel like I have to try and do everything, and that if I spend a day doing nothing, I have wasted that day. This is something that really bothers me and I do not know why I feel like I must do something all the time. This quaranty time has really changed that. Now that I basically CANNOT do anything, it really has brought some breathing space into my life. This is also what I try to remind myself of, as to not become too negative. If there is one positive side to this whole situation, it is that I get the chance to reset my brain, to rediscover myself and my creativity and to rethink my life choices. That also brings me to my second tip:

2. Discover your creativity

While I do not have a lot of free time, in the time that I have I try to find creative things to do and I really enjoy it. For example, I still had a lot of seeds that I planted in my garden, I picked up my tin flute again, my mum gave me a drawing book etc. One of the most important things in these times is to stay active and to keep stimulating your brain. Actually, challenging yourself is one of the best things to do! It also gives a rewarding feeling afterwards. Do not forget that there are a lot of things you can do without going outside. Make the most out of your time and try the things you have always wanted to do. Even on a low budget there is a lot you can do; buy things on second hand websites, facebook pages, look for things you can make yourself on Youtube, try to make fermented food, get a chess app to practice playing chess, etcetera!

3. Sports, sports, sports

Whatever you do, avoind becoming inactive! Stimulating your body by doing sports activates your immune system and helps you in fighting off diseases. Even if you are not a sports lover, there is still a lot you can do. There are so many fun, weird, exhausting Youtube videos for every level of sports. Give yoga a try, or karate training, or even a lindyhop dance class for example. If it is allowed and you are disciplined enough to abide by the rules, you can of course go for a run, bike-ride, rollerskating round, but always maintain enough distance from others and avoid busy areas.

4. Contact your friends

Staying in touch with your friends and family is both important for you and for them! I actually feel like my relationship with my parents has become better over the past weeks since we have more time to call each other, message each other and send each other funny videos. With my friends I sometimes video call, but I also recently started a groupchat to find games to play together. On my birthday two days ago we already tried playing "The Jackbox" through screen sharing on Google Hangouts, and soon we will try "Who am I", but there are many other games you can play online together!

5. Set a daily target

It might feel useless to be at home all the time, but it does not have to be! So set yourself a daily target! Targets can be anything; cooking a fresh meal, trying a new hobby, getting yourself out of bed, NOT watching Netflix all day. Try to find targets that are realistic and good for you. If you never work out for example, you do not have to set a target to suddenly work out for 1 hour a day, but you can also be proud of yourself if you only do five minutes of yoga! You can increase this target every day, find new targets, set more targets, play with this idea as you like!

6. Stick to a healthy routine

Try to stick to a healthy routine. This is very important to keep you active, healthy and happy! Get out of bed in the morning, make your bed, open the curtains, brush your teeth, eat breakfast (or the other way around), start working, hobbying, sports, whatever, go to bed and get enough sleep. Doing this will ensure you do not screw up your biological clock and it might actually feel quite rewarding as well!

7. Focus on the positive things and do not focus on the news too much

The first weeks of quarantine I was addicted to checking the news. I watched everything on the news channels, listened to the news radio and checked the news app 10 times a day. This drained me, I felt all my positivity fly away with every news item I read. So I quit. Not entirely, but I dosed my news consumption to only around dinner times and to government briefings. Of course, I still worry about the people that work hard, and the people that are in a really tough situation, and I follow our government's rules, but I realised that becoming depressed myself was not helping anyone. So stay up-to-date, do what you can, care for other, but do not let yourself drown in negative news. Another way to avoid this is to find positive news. While the situation is currently super bad, and it might be hard to find positive things to focus on, it is still possible; better air quality, time to rethink your life, fewer deaths than yesterday (instead of "the total death toll has risen") and so on.

8. Create a nice working environment

If you have to work from home, make a nice area for yourself where you can totally focus on work and where other things do not distract you. Work from a desktop or laptop with keyboard and mouse, put a nice plant on the table, a bottle of water and you can start working! Do not forget to take regular breaks though. For me a schedule helps to have things to look forward to. For example, after two hours of working, I have 10 minutes to check my phone and play wordfeud, after another 1,5 hours I have 30 minutes to have lunch, after another two hours I water my plants and sit in the garden for 5 minutes, one more hour of work and I can play wordfeud again and another hour of work and my working day has already finished! I also try to start early (8 o'clock) so that I have enough time in the afternoon to do fun stuff at home.

9. Be honest about your feelings

Getting things off your chest is so important in these crazy times. Hardly anyone from our generation has experiences something like this, or knows how to deal with it. This can be super stressful, scary and lonely. It is important to talk to your friends about this. Let them know you feel alone, or feel stressed. Let them know you need someone you can call sometimes to talk about this, or to simply feel like you are still connected to other people. This is not strange, it is very normal and I can assure you, many people feel like this. If you have good friends they will understand you and probably love to help you out and call you a bit more.

10. Eat healthy

This is always important, but especially when you are less outside, less active and your daily schedule is messed up or does not exist. Stick to a healthy, varied diet, take extra vitamins if needed, drink enough water throughout the day and so on.

11. If you have depressed friends, call them

This last tip is a bit different from the other ones, it is a call for action. There are many depressed people in the world, and from my own experience I can say that even in normal times, this is a horrible feeling. Being depressed in times like this... well it only intensifies the feelings depressed people already had. It is therefore very important to stay in touch with them, help them, listen to them, motivate them. Really, I can assure you that it already helps so much when someones lets you know they think of you or that they wonder how you are doing. So maybe spend a bit more time on these friends, to make sure they are okay :).

Well, hopefully this helps in getting you through these difficult times. If you have any tips to add, please let me know in the comments. Remember, stay healthy, follow the rules and keep an eye on the vulnerable.

Lesson 1 on Healthy Nutrition

Education Category: Health
Ages: 8-12, 12-16, 16+

This booklet guides health workers to educate children about healthy nutrition, in an appropriate way.

Note: the discription below describes lesson 1 of an educational program on healthy nutrition. In total the program comprises 5 different lessons, which are all available in the World School Bank. Please find the program's introducation as well as extra lesson 1 material attached.

Lesson 1 - Nutrition

Materials

Internet for the informative song
Chalk board or big sheet of paper
Markers

Preparation

Read through the lesson
Make sure you have enough knowledge on nutrition
Familiarize with the environment and society to see solutions
Video clip ready to show and know the content of the video

Lesson

What is nutrition?
The word nutrition is very vague for children. In this lesson, the main goal is to define to the children what nutrition is and why it is important for our bodies. Topics that are worth mentioning are attached to this program. The fact sheet that can be found in the attachment can be copied and handed out to the students. At the end of class, please hand out the strip-cartoon added as an attachment.

How can we influence our physical well-being?
Children at a young age are not aware of consequences of a bad diet or the positive effects of a healthy diet. You have to show them, in a playful manner, what they should consume and why they should consume those products. Show the video clip ‘Food Pyramid – Full Episode’:

To make the video clip easier to comprehend, the lyrics are added as an attachment. Copy these for the children. After showing the clip, make sure the message has come across and let the children discuss about what they have just seen. In this way, they will understand and remember it better.

How to Handle Stress

Stress

75 to 95 percent of visits to the doctor are for stress-related conditions

Allostatic load: a physiological and neurological state caused by your body being on constant alert. It damages your health and cognitive performance

Prolonged levels of high cortisol (stress hormone) in the bloodstream lead to shrinkage of the hippocampus, which is important for long-term memory and the intake of new information
Stress causes a reduction in serotonin in the brain, which can lead to depression and burnout
The more stress we perceive, the more overactivated our amygdala becomes. As a result, chronically stressed people become hypersensitive to any potential stressor

Key to emotional regulation: strengthening your ability to handle stress and training the conscious mind to control our primitive/automatic responses.

How to Handle Stress

Sleep

Sleeping a sufficient amount helps us withstand stresses and aggravations

Sleep loss:
- makes us more short-tempered, impatient, and moody
- diminishes our ability to judge the emotions in other people’s faces
- interferes with decision making, productivity
- increases our risk of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal problems

Exercise

Engaging in regular exercise:
- Improves our cognitive test scores
- Enhances our long-term memory, reasoning and attention
- Makes us better at problem-solving and fluid intelligence tasks
- Regulates the release of serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline
- Eases depression and anxiety
- Makes us less tense and more refreshed

Nature

Time spent in nature can improve emotional regulation and diminish stress
Even sitting by the window, or looking at pictures of nature can make us feel more at ease

Food

Change in nutrition changes our mental fitness
There are certain foods that enhance our emotional well-being:
- Nutrient-rich vegetables and fruits
- Healthy fatty acids, such as olive and canola oils
- Protein in moderate quantities
- Whole-grain complex carbohydrates, such as oatmeal

“Acting as if”

According to the facial feedback hypothesis, our physical expressions send signals to our brains to produce the appropriate emotional response
Studies have found that by simply putting a pencil in our mouth and thus being forced to smile actually makes us happier
Expansive posture makes us feel more confident:
- Crossing legs instead of keeping them together
- Draping an arm over the back of a chair instead of placing hands under legs etc.

Physical contact

Physical contact in general has been shown to reduce stress more than soothing words
Giving or receiving a hug can trigger a huge release of oxytocin
Even shaking hands can release a bit of oxytocin and make us have a greater sense of connection

Deep breathing:

Deep breathing makes us more relaxed
How to do it:
- Inhale through your nose
- Use each new breath to expand your abdomen instead of your chest
- When you exhale do it through your mouth, slowly

Progressive muscle relaxation

This method strengthens our ability to recognize and remedy feelings of stress
How to do it:
- Tense a muscle group in your body
- Relax that muscle group
- Move onto the next muscle group and repeat until you feel you have moved through all parts of your body

Autogenic training

This practice increases our awareness and control of our autonomic nervous system, enabling us to switch from our sympathetic nervous system to the more soothing parasympathetic system
Ways to do it:
- By sitting quietly and comfortably and focus on a sound, word, phrase or object
- By consciously focusing on relaxing your body
- By shifting your posture and moving around frequently

Gratitude

A change in attitude follows a change in self-image and stress levels
Gratitude is about redirecting your attention, instead of suppressing something
3 weeks of gratitude training has been shown to improve personal well-being, psychological health and to increase energy levels
Gratitude should be directed on people or things around us that make life better
A simple way to practice gratitude is by writing down 3 to 5 things each morning you are grateful for

Building on Success

Approaching difficult tasks as challenges rather than threats has a positive effect on our emotions
How to do it:
- Whenever you make a mistake, dismiss it as temporary
- Gain support from someone you respect
- Compare yourself favorably to your peers (“If they can do it, so can I”)
- Celebrate your small victories

Labeling and reframing

Acknowledging our feelings in words helps us regain control
Finding a way to interpret setbacks in a more positive way helps our emotional well-being

Based on the book: The Leading Brain: Neuroscience Hacks to Work Smarter, Better, Happier by Hans W. Hagemann and Friederike Fabritius

Stress, health and disease: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky - Bundle

Chapter summaries from the book: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert Sapolsky. Only chapters that are required to be read (according to syllabus) will be included

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (ch1)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch2)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch3)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch4)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch5)

Stress, Health & Disease- Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch8)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch13)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch15)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch17)

Stress, Health & Disease - Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers (ch18)

Childhood: Developmental Psychology – Article overview (UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM)

This bundle contains a summary of all the articles that are needed for the course "Childhood: Developmental Psychology" given at the University of Amsterdam. It includes the following articles:

Bjorklund & Causey (2017). Biological bases of development” – Article summary
“Kuppens & Ceulemans (2019). Parenting styles: A closer look at a well-known concept”. – Article summary
“Taraban & Shaw (2018). Parenting in context: Revisiting Belsky’s classic process of parenting model in early childhood.” – Article summary
“Tucker-Drob, Briley, & Harden (2013). Genetic and environmental influences on cognition across development and context.” – Article summary

Bjorklund & Causey (2017). Biological bases of development” – Article summary

Kuppens & Ceulemans (2019). Parenting styles: A closer look at a well-known concept”. – Article summary

Taraban & Shaw (2018). Parenting in context: Revisiting Belsky’s classic process of parenting model in early childhood.” – Article summary

Tucker-Drob, Briley, & Harden (2013). Genetic and environmental influences on cognition across development and context" – Article summary

Gross (2010). Emotion regulation.” – Article summary

Zelazo & Müller (2011). Executive function in typical and atypical development.” – Article summary

Hay, Payne, & Chadwick (2004). Peer relations in childhood.” – Article summary

Matthews et al. (2020). A longitudinal twin study of victimization and loneliness from childhood to young adulthood.” – Article summary

Schaffer (2006). Social and personality development.” – Article summary

Pomerantz, Ki, & Cheung (2012). Parents’ involvement in children’s learning.” – Article summary

Roehrig et al. (2012). Effective teachers and teaching: Characteristics and practices related to positive student outcomes.” – Article summary