PS 241 EXAM 1

Plato

Nature

Aristotle (nurture)

humans gain knowledge through experience

John Locke (nurture) 

1. newborn’s mind is tabula rasa (blank slate upon which experience writes) 

2. childrens should be trained through rewards and punishments 

Jean Jaques Rousseau (nature) 

1. the healthiest development comes from nature NOT society 

2. believes children are born with innnate goodness that society corrupts

3. noble savage: potential if adults don’t interfere

Arnost Gesell (nature)

1. infants are invulnerable to experience

John Watson (nurture) 

1. father of modern behaviorism knwon for lil albert 

2. child can mold into anything regardless of talents, abilities, any outcome is possible

Active child

1. actively seeks to learn

2. advocate for discovery learning

Passive child

1. Receiver of experience

2. Gains knowledge by others feeding

Continuity

smooth and gradual without abrupt changes in development

• think house plant

Discontinuity

suggests development is divided into stages that are different from one another, stages!

• think stages in a butterfly (larva —> caterpillar —> cocoon —> butterfly)

How does the sociocultural context influence development? 

• physical —> where they grew up

• social —> the peers you are surrounded by

• cultural —> diff culture

• economic —> SES measure of social status 

• history —> time periods (pandemic)

How can we use findings from developmental research to promote child health?

1. interventions

2. social policies

Scientific method

1. research question

2. hypothesis

3. test hypothesis

4. draw conclusions from test

5. publish findings

Which perspective do you think would advocate for direct and carefully structured teaching

Passive

Which philosopher would see the child as active?

Rousseau

Correlational strategy

relationship that seems to be causually related but not because of the third variable problem

Experimental strategy 

• independent variable: one that is manipulated

• dependent variable: the one you measure (and changes based on IV) 

• experimental group: experiences manipulation

• treatment/control group: does not experience manipulation 

Laboratory (type of experiment)

• has most control over variables

• highest internal validity

• lowest external validity

Field (type of experiment) 

• deliberately introduces change in naturalistic setting (researcher enters the childs world) 

• more able to generalize findings

• not always feasible 

Natural (type of study)

• researcher capitalizes on change that occurs on the childs world naturally

• a child experiences an event and you want to see if the event affects outcome (i.e. parents get divorced)

Romanian adoption study

• randomized control trial

• sample of children who never been institutionalized vs institutionalized to —> foster care, followed them for 15 years

• found: language, brain dveelopment socioemotional development protured, as they get older if they

• brains are smaller and less connected, produce less

• foster care: (placed before 2 years) notion of critical period, had better outcomes than kids placed after 2

Cross sectional design 

observe multiple individuals at the same time 

Longitudinal design

observe THE SAME individals at different times in their development

Microgenetic design

• very intense short term longitudinal design

• goal: to track developments

Main issues and themes of developmental psych?

1. Nature vs nurture 

2. active vs passive child 

3. continuity vs discontinuity

4. mechanisms of development 

5. sociocultural context

6. universal patterns of development vs individual differences

7. research and childrens welfare

development

changes over time

child development

the scientific study of change and stability in the childs biological, cognitive, social and emotional functioning across the span of childhood

Romanian adoption study

• natural study