DevPsych Theory People

Active Development

• people create experiences for themselves and are motivated to learn about the world around them 

Jean Jacques Rousseau

• Father of developmental psychology

• Children are intrinsically good and develop in a natural plan which unfold at different stages

• Forerunner of Nativist Approach

Organismic Model

• people as active, growing organisms that set their own development in motion

• People initiate and react to events

Reactive Development

 People are shaped by input from their environment.

Tabula Rasa

Blank Slate

John Locke

• Believed that all children are born equal

• Forerunner of Empiricism

Mechanistic Model

• people are viewed as machines that react to their environment

• Emphasis on the influence of the experiences (input) on behavior (output)

Psychosexual Theory

• emphasized the role of unconscious drives and early childhood in human development

• Proposed by Sigmund Freud

• People are born with a series of innate, biologically based drives (ex. sex, hunger, aggression) which must be satisfied in order for development to occur and adult personality to form

Psychosocial Theory

• extension of Freud’s psychosexual theory that emphasizes the influence of social interactions

• Proposed by Erik Erikson

Operant Conditioning

• learning results from the use of reinforcements to modify the occurrence of behavior 

• Proposed by B.F. Skinner (Skinner’s Box Experiment)

• Influenced by Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Social Cognitive Theory

• learning based on the human characteristic of plasticity, which is influenced by extrinsic and intrinsic factors

• Proposed by Albert Bandura

• Argued that people have the capacity to regulate their lives through the Triadic Reciprocal Causation Model

Cognitive Development Theory

• cornerstone in the field of developmental psychology 

• Proposed by Jean Piaget

• Argued that children’s intelligence undergo changes as they grow

• Each stage of cognitive development builds upon the previous and may vary among people in terms of timing / pace

Bioecological Theory

• brings focus to the environmental systems that are involved

• Proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner

• Development is complex and multifaceted

• Research findings are often applied to child rearing, education, health, and social policy

Sociocultural Theory

• learning as a collaborative process

• Proposed by Lev Vygotsky

• Argued that social and cultural processes guide children’s cognitive development

• “It takes a village to raise a child”

• Believed that language and self talk is an important tool in learning, shaping thought, and self-regulation

Strange Situation

• a standardized procedure  to observe attachment security among children 

• Devised by Mary Ainsworth

• Experiment was conducted on children ages 9-18 months old

Attachment Theory

• stresses the importance of forming attachments in early development for survival 

• Proposed by John Bowlby 

• Conceptualized Harlow’s monkey experiment by applying it to humans, specifically infants

• Suggests that humans have an innate tendency to form attachments with other people

• Particularly one main attachment figure (monotropy) because of proximity-seeking (infants seek/desire to be close to their mothers to increase likelihood of survival)

Separation-Individuation Process

• stresses that part of the infant’s body is connected to the mother 

• Proposed by Margaret Mahler

• Argued that the child’s main goal is to mentally separate from the mother 

Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory

• focuses on how children develop morality and moral reasoning 

• Used the Heinz Dilemma to gather information

• Emphasis is on the development of Justice and Fairness

Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development

• modified Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory 

• Pointed out that women develop morality differently

• Emphasis is on the development of Care and Empathy

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

• proposes three components of love, which combine in different ways to create eight kinds of love