02 Theories and Research Methods in Developmental Psychology

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering basic theoretical issues, psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, contextual, ethological, and moral perspectives as well as research methods in developmental psychology.

Active Development

Process where people create experiences for themselves and are motivated to learn about the world, associated with Jean Jacques Rousseau and the Organismic Model.

Reactive Development

Process where people are shaped by input from their environment, associated with John Locke and the Mechanistic Model.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

The father of developmental psychology and forerunner of the Nativist Approach who believed children are born as noble savages.

John Locke

The forerunner of Empiricism who believed that all children are born equal as a tabula rasa (blank slate).

Quantitative Change

Continuous development that is gradual and incremental, involving numbers or measurement such as height and weight.

Qualitative Change

Discontinuous development marked by the emergence of new phenomena that cannot be easily predicted on the basis of past functioning.

Fixation

An arrest in development caused by the over or under gratification of innate drives during a psychosexual stage.

Id

The source of primitive drives and impulses governed by the Pleasure Principle and Primary Process Thought.

Ego

The intermediary between the Id and Superego governed by the Reality Principle, Primary Narcissism, and Secondary Process Thought.

Superego

The ethical component of personality involving rewarding and punishing functions (Conscience).

Anal Triad

A set of personality traits from the Anal Stage ($2-3$) consisting of parsimoniousness, obstinacy, and orderliness.

Psychosocial Theory

Erik Erikson's extension of Freud's theory that emphasizes the influence of social interactions and development through the desire to affiliate with others.

Fidelity

The virtue achieved during the Identity vs. Identity Confusion stage ($12-18$) when a teen develops a sense of identity.

Operant Conditioning

Learning theory proposed by B.F. Skinner where results come from the use of reinforcements to modify the occurrence of behavior.

Classical Conditioning

Learning based on associating a neutral stimulus ($NS$) with an unconditioned stimulus ($US$) until it becomes a conditioned stimulus ($CS$), proposed by Ivan Pavlov.

Extinction

The weakening of a conditioned response ($CR$) where the conditioned stimulus ($CS$) repeatedly occurs without the unconditioned stimulus ($US$).

Social Cognitive Theory

Albert Bandura's theory that learning is based on plasticity and the Triadic Reciprocal Causation Model.

Schema

A knowledge structure that allows organisms to interpret and understand the world around them.

Equilibration

The cognitive process described by Piaget as balancing cognitive structures against new experiences.

Egocentrism

The inability to see a situation from another perspective, occurring in the Preoperational Stage ($2-7$).

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The gap between what children are able to do and what they are not ready to accomplish alone, proposed by Lev Vygotsky.

Scaffolding

Assistance provided by an advanced individual to help a child bridge the gap in learning.

Bioecological Theory

Urie Bronfenbrenner's theory focusing on the multiple environmental systems involved in development.

Mesosystem

The interrelationships between two or more microsystems, such as the connection between school and family.

Chronosystem

The layer of the bioecological model representing changes over time, including history and life events like divorce.

Inclusive Fitness

The concept in Wilson's Evolutionary Theory that traits are passed on if they increase the survival of the individual and their relatives.

Imprinting

An innate genetic process, studied by Konrad Lorenz, where infant animals form an attachment to the first moving object they see.

Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

John Bowlby's postulate that continual disruption of attachment could result in permanent and irreversible long-term difficulties for the infant.

Strange Situation

A standardized procedure devised by Mary Ainsworth for children ages $9-18$ months to observe attachment security.

Separation-Individuation Process

Margaret Mahler's theory arguing that the child's main goal is to mentally separate from the mother through stages ending in Object Constancy.

Rapprochement

The stage ($14-24$ months) in Mahler's theory where a child's desire for independence is marred by a fear of abandonment.

Moral Dumbfounding

The ability to know what is right or wrong while being unable to explain the reasoning why.

Moral Realism

The belief found in Piaget's Heteronomous Stage ($4-7$) that justice and rules are unchangeable and imposed by authority.

Immanent Justice

The belief that bad behavior is always followed by punishment or divine retribution.

Heinz Dilemma

The specific moral dilemma used by Lawrence Kohlberg to gather information on the development of justice and fairness.

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

A theory proposing eight kinds of love based on the combination of Intimacy, Passion, and Decision/Commitment.

Consummate Love

The type of unconditional love where all three components of Sternberg's triangle (Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment) are present.

Eros

A primary love style in Lee's Wheel Model characterized by physical and emotional passion for an ideal person.

Agape

A secondary love style in Lee's Wheel Model described as selfless love.

Sequential Research Design

A complex method tracking people of different ages over time by combining cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.

Attrition

A research challenge common in longitudinal developmental studies where participants drop out over time.