Chapter 1 - History, Theory, and Research Strategies

Child development

A field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception through adolescence

Developmental Science

Interdisciplinary field that includes all changes we experience throughout the lifespan

Domains

Measure of child development separated into physical, cognitive, and emotional/social.

Periods

Measure of child development separated into various age ranges

1. Physical

2. Cognitive

3. Emotional/Social

The 3 classes of domains in child development:

1. Prenatal

2. Infancy and Toddlerhood

3. Early Childhood

4. Middle Childhood

5. Adolescence

6. Emerging Adulthood

The 6 classes of periods in child development

1. Conception to birth

2. Birth to 3 years

3. 3 years to 5 years

4. 5 years to 12 years

5. 12 years to 20 years

6. 20 years to mid 20s

What are the timeframes for each of the 6 periods of child development?

1. Prenatal (__________)

2. Infancy and Toddlerhood (___________)

3. Early Childhood (______________)

4. Middle Childhood (____________)

5. Adolescence (_____________)

6. Emerging Adulthood (____________)

Holistic View of Development

View of development as an intricate system where each of the 3 domains impacts one another (e.g., physical development impacts cognitive and emotional/social)

Theory

An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior

welfare/treatment

Theories help us understand development in order to improve the _____________ of children

1. Continuous VS Discontinuous

2. Uniform VS Irregular

3. Nature VS Nurture

The 3 issues that many theories of child development take a stand on:

(Hint: All 3 are “_________ VS ___________”)

Continuous development

A process of gradually adding more of the same types of skills that were there to begin with

Discontinuous development

A process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times

Stages

Qualitative changes in thinking, feeling and behaving that characterize specific periods of development

Gradually, Rapid

Continuous development occurs ___________ over the lifespan, Discontinuous development occurs ___________ between stages

The same sequence of development

Regarding the issue of Uniform VS Irregular development: Stage theorists assume people everywhere follow __________________________

Contexts

New evidence regarding the Uniform VS Irregular development issue emphasizes mutually influential relations between individuals and their ________: unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change

Nature VS Nurture

Debate over relative influence of genetic and environmental factors

Uniform VS Irregular

Debate over the similarity of development between different children

Continuous VS Discontinuous

Debate over how a child develops and learns new skills, whether they were added on or the child progressed to a new stage, “unlocking” the new skill.

Stability

Term for how heredity and early experiences are key to establishing lifelong pattern of behavior

Plasticity

Term for how development is open to change in response to influential experiences

Balanced

Today, many theorists have a _____________ point of view regarding the 3 issues surrounding child development.

Developmental systems perspective

Development as an ongoing process molded by a complex network of genetic/biological, psychological, and social influences.

separate period of life

During the Medieval times, childhood was first regarded as a ______________________

depraved/inherently bad

During the reformation period, children were viewed as ___________.

tabula rasa(blank slate), continuous

During the enlightenment period, John Locke viewed children as a __________ (___________) and development as ____________

noble savages, discontinuous

During the enlightenment period, Jean-Jacques Rousseau viewed children as __________ and development as ___________

John Locke

Who viewed children as a tabula rasa (blank slate) during the enlightenment period?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Who viewed children as noble savages during the enlightenment? Additionally, he introduced the concepts of stage and maturation

1. Natural Selection

2. Survival of the Fittest

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution emphasized which two principles related to child development?

Normative Approach

Approach to measuring child development that uses age-related averages of measures of behavior taken on a large number of individuals to form an idea of typical development:

G. Stanley Hall, Arnold Gesell

Who were the two scientists behind the normative approach to child development?

Mental Testing Movement

Movement that developed age specific testing for intelligence

Alfred Binet, Theodore Simon

Who were the two scientists who developed the first successful intelligence tests in the early 1900s?

Psychoanalytic perspective

Perspective of child development where children move through stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations

Psychosexual theory

Sigmund Freud’s ___________________ involves interactions between id, ego, and superego during five stages.

1. Oral

2. Anal

3. Phallic

4. Latency

5. Genital

What are the 5 stages within Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual theory?

1. Birth to 1 year

2. 1 year to 3 years

3. 3 years to 6 years

4. 6 years to 11 years

5. adolescence

What are the timeframes for each stage of Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual theory of development

1. Oral (_______)

2. Anal (_________)

3. Phallic (___________)

4. Latency (__________)

5. Genital (____________)

Psychosocial theory

Erik Erikson’s _________________ emphasizes the ego’s positive contribution to development

1. Basic Trust VS Mistrust

2. Autonomy VS Shame/Doubt

3. Initiative VS Guilt

4. Industry VS Inferiority

5. Identity VS Role Confusion

6. Intimacy VS Isolation

7. Generativity VS Stagnation

8. Integrity VS Despair

What are the 8 stages found with Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

1. Birth to 1 year

2. 1 year to 3 years

3. 3 years to 6 years

4. 6 years to 11 years

5. Adolescence

6. Emerging Adulthood

7. Adulthood

8. Old age

What are the timeframes for each of the Erikson’s Stages in the Psychosocial Theory?

1. Basic Trust VS Mistrust (______________)

2. Autonomy VS Shame/Doubt (______________)

3. Initiative VS Guilt (_______________)

4. Industry VS Inferiority (______________)

5. Identity VS Role Confusion (_____________)

6. Intimacy VS Isolation (______________)

7. Generativity VS Stagnation (_____________)

8. Integrity VS Despair (_______________)

behaviorism

Theory viewing directly observable events (stimuli and responses) as appropriate focus of study

1. Classical conditioning

2. Operant Conditioning

Two examples of traditional behaviorism (stimuli and response training to influence behavior)

Social Learning Theory

Theory that views modeling (imitation or observational learning) as a powerful source of development

Applied behavior analysis

Observations of relationships between behavior and environmental events, followed by systematic changes based on conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable behaviors.

environmental influences

One of the limitations of the behaviorism and social learning theory is that it does not highlight the relationship between children and _________________

Cognitive-developmental theory

Jean Piaget’s ________________________ involves children being actively participating in their own development that helps them progress through different stages

1. Sensorimotor

2. Preoperational

3. Concrete Operational

4. Formal Operational

What are the 4 stages within Jean Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory?

1. Birth to 2 years

2. 2 years to 7 years

3. 7 years to 11 years

4. 11 years onward.

What are they timeframes for each stage in Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory.

1. Sensorimotor (______________)

2. Preoperational (___________)

3. Concrete Operational (___________)

4. Formal Operational (_______________)

Information processing perspective

Perspective that views the human mind as a symbol-manipulating system,

Development cognitive neuroscience

Studies the relationship between changes in the brain and the child’s cognitive processing and behavior patterns

Developmental social neuroscience

Studies the relationship between changes in the brain and emotional and social development

Ethology

Concern with the adaptive, or survival value of behavior and its evolutionary history

Imprinting

Early following behavior of certain baby birds, associated with Ethology

Critical Period

Limited time span during which the child is biologically prepared to acquire certain adaptive behaviors, if supported by an appropriately stimulating environment

Sensitive Period

Time span that is biologically optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the individual is especially responsive to environmental influencess

Evolutionary developmental psychology

Seeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age

Sociocultural Theory

Lev Vygotsky’s ___________________ focuses on how culture (values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group) is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking that make up a community’s culture

culture

According to Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, Social interaction is necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking that make up a community’s _________

Lev Vygotsky

Who is the psychologist behind the Sociocultural Theory of child development?

Ecological systems theory

Views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment

1. Microsystem

2. Mesosystem

3. Ecosystem

4. Macrosystem

5. Chronosystem

The 5 levels of the Ecological System Theory:

Microsystem

System of the ecological systems theory that includes the immediate family of the child and other close relations

Mesosystem

System of the ecological systems perspective involving a combination/interaction of various close relationships to the child, including parents, school, and other childcare.

Exosystem

System of the ecological systems perspective involving the various influences on a child’s close relations. Indirectly affecting the child

Macrosystem

System of the ecological systems perspective involving the policies that govern the area the child resides.

Chronosystem

System of the ecological systems perspective involving the dynamic changing of the various other systems and how they interact with one another

Family chaos

One of the major considerations of the development of social/behavior problems in children is ________________

Dynamic Systems Perspective

View that the child’s mind, body, and physical and social worlds form an integrated system that guides mastery of new skills. (Interaction of the various domains)

Continuous: 2,4 Discontinuous: 1,3 Both: 5, 6, 7

Classify the following theories into their view of Continuous VS Discontinuous Development (Or Both)

1. Psychoanalytic perspective

2. Behaviorism and social learning theory

3. Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory

4. Information processing

5. Ethology and evolutionary development psychology

6. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

7. Dynamic systems perspective

Uniform: 1,3,4,5 Irregular: 2,6,7,8

Classify the following theories into their view of Uniform VS Irregular Development

1. Psychoanalytic perspective

2. Behaviorism and social learning theory

3. Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory

4. Information processing

5. Ethology and evolutionary development psychology

6. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

7. Ecological systems theory

8. Dynamic systems perspective

Nature: N/A Nurture: 2 Both: 1,3,4,5,6,7,8

Classify the following theories into their view of Nature VS Nurture Development (Or Both)

1. Psychoanalytic perspective

2. Behaviorism and social learning theory

3. Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory

4. Information processing

5. Ethology and evolutionary development psychology

6. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

7. Ecological systems theory

8. Dynamic systems perspective

Hypothesis

A prediction drawn directly from a theory

Research Designs

Overall plans for research studies that permit the best possible test of the hypothesis

Naturalistic Observation

Research method involving the observation of behavior in the natural environment

Structured Observation

Research method involving observation of behavior in a laboratory, where conditions are the same for all participants

Systematic Observation

Naturalistic Observation and Structured Observation are types of what common research method?

Clinical Interview

Research method involving a flexible interviewing procedure in which the investigator obtains a complete account of the participant’s thoughts

Structured Interview

Research method involving self-report instrument in which each participant is asked the same questions in the same way

Self-Reports

Clinical interviews and Structured interviews are examples of which common research method?

Case Study

Research method involving a full picture of a single individual’s psychological functioning through interview, observation, or test scores

Ethnography

Research method involving a descriptive, qualitative method of data collection toward understanding a culture or distinct social group. Conducted through participant observations for periods of time. Derived from anthropology studies

Correlational Design

Research design that involves two variables that connect the frequency between both variables occurring

cause and effect

A large issue with the correlational design is that it does not permit research to infer ______________

Correlation Coefficient

Number describing how two variables are associated with eachother

Experimental Design

Research design that allows designation to deem causal relationships with the power of controlling an independent variable

Independent variable

Variable the investigator manipulates and expects to cause changes in another variable within experimental designs

Dependent variable

Variable the investigator expects to be influences by the independent variable in experimental design

Confounding variable

Variable that is so closely associated with the independent variable that the researcher cannot tell which one is responsible for changes in the dependent variable in experimental design research

Random Assignment

Method to create an unbiased procedure to equally distribute participant characteristics across treatment groups

Field Experiments

Modified experimental design that makes use of rare opportunities for random assignment in natural settings

Natural/quasi-experiments

Modified experimental designs where existing treatments are assessed and compared.

Longitudinal Design

Research design where participants are studied repeatedly, and changes are noted as they get older

Cohort Effects

Phenomenon in longitudinal and cross-sectional designs where children born at the same time may be influence by particular cultural and historical conditions that may not apply to children developing at other times

Cross-Sectional Design

Research design where groups of people differing in age are studied at the same point in their life

Sequential Designs

Research design where researchers conduct several similar cross-sectional or longitudinal studies

Microgenetic Design

Research design that involves the study of a child’s mastery of a novel task, tracked closely over a series of sessions.

Institutional Review Boards

Regarding the ethics of research on children, ____________________________ must guide researchers in ensuring the ethical integrity of research