DevPsy: Midterms L2 - Theory and Research

Theory and Research

Scientific Theory of Development

• A set of logically related concepts or statements that seek to describe and explain development and to predict the kinds of behavior that might occur under certain conditions.

Generation of Hypothesis

Tested by Research

Reactive

Developing child as a hungry sponge that soaks up experiences.

Active

People create experiences for themselves.

Mechanistic Model

• People are like MACHINES that react to environmental input.

• John Locke’s view of a young child as a TABULA RASA.

Organismic Model

• Jean Jacques Rousseau’s view of children as being “NOBLE SAVAGES”.

• People initiate events. Environmental influences DO NOT CAUSE development.

Mechanist Theories

See development as CONTINOUS.

Organismic Theorists

• See development as DISCONTINUOUS.

• Are proponents of STAGE THEORIES in which development is seen as occurring in a series of distinct stages, like stair steps.

Psychoanalytic

Focus on unconscious emotions and drives.

Learning

Studies observable behavior.

Cognitive

Analyzes thought processes.

Contextual

emphasizes the impact of historical, social, and cultural context.

Evolutionary/Sociobiological

Considers evolutionary and biological underpinnings of behavior.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Author: Sigmund Freud

• Reactive Development

• Humans were born with a series of innate, biologically based drive such as hunger, sex, and aggression.

• Early experiences shaped later functioning.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

• Oral Stage - Birth to 1 Year
  Erogenous Zone: Mouth

• Anal Stage – 1 to 3 Year
  Erogenous Zone: Bowel and Bladder Control

• Phallic Stage – 3 to 6 Year
  Erogenous Zone: Genitals

• Latent Stage – 6 to Puberty
  Libido Inactive

• Genital Stage – Puberty to Death
  Maturing Sexual Interests

Erik Erikson

• Pioneer in taking a lifespan perspective.

• Believed in Qualitative change
  

Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Approx. Age	Psychosocial Crisis/Task	Virtue Developed
Infant – 18 months	Trust vs. Mistrust	Hope
18 months to 3 years	Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt	Will
3 to 5 years	Initiative vs. Guilt	Purpose
5 to 13 years	Industry vs. Inferiority	Competency
13 to 21 years	Identity vs. Confusion	Fidelity
21 to 39 years	Intimacy vs Isolation	Love
40 to 65 years	Generativity vs. Stagnation	Care
65 and older	Integrity vs. Despair	Wisdom

Behaviorism

• A mechanistic theory that describes observed behavior as a predictable response to experience.

• Focuses on associative learning (Link formed between two events).

• 2 kinds: Classical and Operant Conditioning.

Behaviorists

Considers development as reactive and continuous.

Classical Conditioning

Author: Ivan Pavlov

A neutral stimulus is associated with a natural response.

• The Little Albert Experiment

Operant Conditioning

Author: Burrhus Frederic Skinner (B.F. Skinner)

A response is increased or decreased due to reinforcement or punishment.

Observational Learning

Author: Albert Bandura

Learning occurs through observation and imitation of others.

Social Learning/Social Cognitive Theory

• Bandura suggested that the impetus of development is Bidirectional.

Reciprocal Determinism

The person acts on the world as the world acts on the person.

Cognitive Perspective

• Focuses on thought and processes and the behavior that reflects the process.

• Both organismic and mechanistic.

Cognitive Stage Theory

Author: Jean Piaget

• Viewed development organismically.

• He also believed that development was discontinuous.

Sensorimotor

Age Range: 0 - 2 years old

Coordination or senses with motor responses, and sensory curiosity about the world. The language used for demands and cataloging. Object permanence is developed.

Preoperational

Age Range: 2 to 7 years

Symbolic thinking, use of proper syntax and grammar to express concepts. Imagination and intuition are strong, but complex abstract thoughts are still difficult. Conservation is developed.

Concrete Operational

Age Range: 7 to 11 years

Concepts attached to concrete situations. Time, space, and quantity are understood and can be applied, but not as independent concepts.

Formal Operational

Age Range: 11 years up

Theoretical, hypothetical, and counterfactual thinking. Abstract logic and reasoning, strategy, and planning become possible. Concepts learned in one context can be applied to another.

Schemes

Mental patterns, operation, and system. The process of forming and using schemes to understand how the world work is organization.

Sociocultural Theory

Author: Lev Vygotsky

• According to Vygotsky, children learn through social interaction.

• Vygotsky’s theory, like Piaget’s stresses children’s active engagement with their environment.

• He saw cognitive growth as a collaborative process.

Information-Processing Approach

• This approach is not a single theory but a framework that supports a wide range of theories and research.

• Explains cognitive development by analyzing the processes involved in making sense of incoming information and performing tasks effectively.

• Comparison of a brain to a computer

• See people as active thinkers.

• Generally, do not speak in terms of stages of development, thus development is continuous.

Contextual Perspective

Development can be understood only in the social context.

Evolutionary/Sociobiological Perspectives

Author: Edward Osborne Wilson [E.O. Wilson]

• Influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution.

• Evolved Mechanisms

• Ethology

• Evolutionary Psychology
  
  

Evolved Mechanisms

Behaviors that developed to solve problems in adapting to earlier environments.

Ethology

Study of the adaptive behaviors of animal species in natural contexts.

Evolutionary Psychology

Application of Darwinian Principles to human behavior.

Research Methods Used By Developmental Researchers

• Quantitative Research vs. Qualitative Research

• Sampling

• Data Collection

  • Self-Reports:

    • Diaries,

    • Visual Techniques

    • Interviews

    • Questionnaires

  • Naturalistic Observation

  • Behavioral and Performance Measures

 

Basic Research Designs Used in Developmental Research

• Case Study

• Ethnographic Study

• Participant Observation

  • Correlational Study

• Correlational Study

• Laboratory, Field, and Natural Experiments

• Experiment

  • Double Blind Experiments (Experimental vs. Control Groups)

  • Placebo Effect

  • Independent vs. Dependent Variable

  • Random Assignment

Developmental Research Strategies

• Cross-Sectional Study

• Longitudinal Study

• Sequential Study

Ethics in Research

• Informed Consent

• Avoidance of Deception

• Protection From Harm and Loss of Dignity

• Privacy and Confidentiality

• Right to Decline or Withdraw

• Beneficence

• Respect for Participants Autonomy and Protection of those who are unable to exercise their own Judgement.

• Justice