Define Theory
An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior.
Theory example: Infant-caregiver attachment
1. Describe the behaviors of babies of 6-8 months of age as they seek the affection and comfort of a familiar adult.
2. E
A theory is vital for what two reasons
-Provide an organizing framework for observations of people
--They guide and give meaning to what we see
-When verified by research, theories provide a sound basis for practical action
--By helping us understand behavior, theories then allow us to improve
Is development continuous or discontinuous?
One view claims that the difference between the immature (young) and mature (old) being is simply one of amount or complexity.
Another view claims infants and children have unique ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
This view claims that the difference between the immature (young) and mature (old) being is simply one of amount or complexity. Continuous or discontinuous?
This view assumes development is Continuous:
a process of gradually augmenting the same types of skills that were there to begin with
This view claims infants and children have unique ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Continuous or discontinuous?
This view assumes development is Discontinuous:
a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times.
These theories view development as occurring in stages, change is sudden rather than gradual and ongoing
Is there one course of development or many?
Stage theorists see the development sequence as being the same for everybody
However, context influences behavior
Define Context
unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change
Define Nature
the hereditary information we receive from our parents
Define Nuture
the complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences before and after birth
What is the relative influence of nature and nurture?
Optimistic theories see development as having plasticity throughout life- as open to change in response to influential experiences
What is the prenatal stage?
Conception to birth
What is the infancy to toddlerhood stage?
Birth-2 years
What is the early childhood stage?
2-6 years
What is the middle childhood stage?
6-11 years
What is the adolescence stage?
11-18 years
What is the early adulthood stage?
18-40 years
What is the middle adulthood stage?
40-65 years
What is the late adulthood stage?
65 years-death
What are the 4 assumptions of the lifespan perspective?
1. Development is lifelong
2. Development is multidimensional and multidirectional
3. Development is highly plastic
4.Development is affected by multiple, interacting forces
Describe how development is lifelong
Physical, cognitive, and emotional/social changes occur across the entire lifespan
Describe how development is multidimensional and multidirectional
Development is affected by a blend of biological, psychological and social forces and is expressed by both growth and decline at all stages
Describe how development is highly plastic
Development is plastic at all ages but becomes less plastic as capacity and opportunity for change are reduced. Plasticity varies across individuals
Describe how development is affected by multiple, interacting forces
Biological, historical, social, and cultural.
Age-graded influences- example: walking
History graded influences- example: epidemics, war
Nonnormative influences- events that are irregular, happen to individuals or just a few people, and do not follow a pr
Define Psychoanalytic Perspective
Humans move through stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How conflicts are resolved determines an individual's ability to learn, get along with others, etc.
What was Freud's theory on the psychoanalytic perspective?
Psychosexual theory
ID, Ego, Superego
What was Erikson's on the psychoanalytic perspective?
In addition to being a mediator, the ego contributes to development by acquiring attitudes and skills
Takes culture into consideration
Contributions: examining individual's unique experiences
What are the limitations on the psychoanalytic perspective?
Too much focus on individual experiences
Theories are near-impossible to test empirically
Define Behaviorism
Directly observable events are the appropriate focus of study
Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are parts of what?
Behaviorism
What are the contributions of behaviorism?
useful in modifying behavior
What are the limitations to behaviorism?
some argue too much emphasis is put on the environment
underestimates the contributions individuals make towards their own development
Define Social Learning Theory
Modeling (e.g. imitation, observational learning) influences development
-Humans don't just respond to the environment, this view proposed that cognitive factors are also involved. We think, make decisions, etc.
What is Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory?
Most influential individual in regards to child development
Didn't believe children's learning depended upon reinforcers, instead:
-Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore the world
What are the stages in Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory?
Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
Define cohort
people born around the same period of time
Define history-graded influences
explains why some people born around the same time tend to be alike
Define normative influences
age-graded and history-graded influences. Meaning typical, or average, because each affects large numbers of people
Define non-normative influences
events that are irregular. They happen to just one person or a few people and do not follow a predictable timetable
Define lifespan theorists
conceive of development as more like tree branches extending in diverse directions
Who constructed the theory of evolution?
Charles Darwin
Who is G. Stanley Hall?
the founder of the child study movement
Define maturational process
(G. Stanley Hall) a genetically determined series of events that unfold automatically, much like a flower
Define normative approach
(G. Stanley Hall) measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals, and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development
Who is Alfred Binet?
constructed the first successful intelligence test
Define psychoanalytic perspective
(Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson) people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How these conflicts are resolved determines the person's ability to learn, to get along with others, a
Define psychosexual theory
(Freud) emphasizes that how parents manage their child's sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years is crucial for healthy personality development
What are Freud's three parts of personality?
Id
Ego
Superego
What is the ID?
the largest portion of the mind, is the source of basic biological needs and desires
What is the EGO?
the conscious, rational part of personality, emerges in early infancy to redirect the id's impulses into acceptable behaviors
What is the SUPER EGO?
conscience, develops as parents insist that children conform to the values of society
Why was Freud's perspective criticized?
1. it overemphasized the influence of sexual feelings in development
2. because it was based on the problems of sexually repressed, well-to-do adults in 19th century Viennese society, it did not apply in other cultures
3. Freud had not studied children di
Define psychosocial theory
(Erikson) emphasized that in addition to mediating between id impulses and superego demands, the ego makes a positive contribution to development, acquiring attitudes and skills that make the individual an active, contributing member of society
How did Erikson's work differ from Freud?
He realized that normal development must be understood in relation to culture
What is the limitations of the psychoanalytic perspective?
difficult or impossible to test
Define behaviorism
(John B. Watson) directly observable events - stimuli and responses - are the appropriate focus of study
Who was Ivan Pavlov?
Studied animal learning and discovered classical conditioning
Who was B. F. Skinner?
Discovered the operant conditioning theory. The frequency of behavior can be increased by following it with reinforcers and also decreased through punishment
Define social learning theory
(Albert Bandura) most influential, emphasizes modeling, also known as imitation or observational learning, as a powerful source of development
social-cognitive
Define behavior modification
Consists of procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses
Who was Jean Piaget?
very influential, ideas sort of went against behavioralism
Define cognitive-developmental theory
(Piaget) children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world
(water being poured from one glass to a taller glass)
What are the cognitive-development theory stages?
Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years)
Pre-operational (2 to 7 years)
Concrete operational (7 to 11 years)
Formal operational (11 years on)
Define information processing
the human mind might also be viewed as a symbol-manipulating system through which information flows
Information processing theorists view development as what?
Continuous
Define developmental cognitive neuroscience
It brings together researchers from psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine to study the relationship between changes in the brain and the developing person's cognitive processing and behavior patterns
Define ethology
Concerned with the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history
What is imprinting?
(Ethology) The early following behavior
What is the critical period?
(Ethology) A limited time span during which the individual is biologically prepared to acquire certain adaptive behaviors and needs the support of the environment
What is the sensitive period?
A time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge and in which the individual is especially responsive to environmental influences. However, its boundaries are less well-defined than those of a critical period. Development can occur later, but it is
Who is John Bowlby?
(Ethology) applied ethological theory to the understanding of the human infant-caregiver relationship
Define evolutionary developmental psychology
It seeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age
What do evolutionary developmental psychologists ask?
What role does the newborn's visual preference for facelike stimuli play in survival?
Does it support older infants' capacity to distinguish familiar caregivers from unfamiliar people?
Why do children play in gender-segregated groups?
What do they learn f
Who was Lev Vygotsky?
His perspective was sociocultural theory
Define sociocultural theory
focuses on how culture - the values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group - is transmitted to the next generation. According to Vygotsky, social interaction - in particular, cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society - is n
Who was Urie Bronfenbrenner?
Responsible for the Ecological systems theory. This theory offers the most differentiated and complete account of contextual influences on development
Define ecological systems theory
Views the person as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment
Think of an onion
Bronfenbrenner characterized his perspective as what?
bioecological model
Define the microsystem
(ecological systems theory) the innermost level of the environment, consists of activities and interaction patterns in the person's immediate surroundings
all relationships are bidirectional
third parties are other individuals in the microsystem
Define the mesosystem
(ecological systems theory) the second level of Brofenbrenner's model, it encompasses connections between microsystems
Define the exosystem
(ecological systems theory) consists of social settings that do not contain the developing person but nevertheless affect experiences in immediate settings
individual's workplace or religious institution or parent's friends and co-workers
Define the macrosystem
(ecological systems theory) outermost level, consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources
affects the support they receive at inner levels of the environment
What are ecological transitions?
when individuals alter the roles or settings in their lives
important turning points in development
ex. starting school or getting married
Define chronosystem
(ecological systems theory) Brofenbrenner's temporal dimension of his model
chrono means time
Which perspectives emphasize emotional and social development?
psychoanalytic perspective and ethology
Which perspectives stress changes in thinking?
Cognitive-developmental theory and information processing and sociocultural theory
Which perspectives discuss many aspects of human functioning?
Behaviorism, social learning theory, evolutionary developmental psychology, ecological systems theory, and the lifespan perspective