Ch 2: Theoretical Perspectives and Research

Main Theories in Child Development

1. Psychodynamic (Inner forces, memories and conflicts)

   • Psychosocial

2. Behavioral (Observable behavior)

3. Cognitive (Know, Understand, and Think about the world)

4. Contextual (Relationship between individuals and their surroundings)

5. Evolutionary (Genetic inheritance)

Psychosocial

Erikson

• Go through stages in life

• Results of each stage set you up better or worse for next stage

• Development occurs throughout lifespan

Psychodynamic Theory

emphasizes unconscious processes and unresolved past conflicts as influences on behavior.

• Freud

  • Personality: ID, Ego, Superego

    

  • Psychosexual Stages

ID

The Devil

• Desire (pleasure principle)

• Unconscious

• Immediate satisfaction

Ego

The Moderator

• What is the rational choice? (Reality Principle)

Superego

The Angel

• Examines morality

• What’s right and wrong?

Psychosexual Stages

Bad Freud

Behavioral Perspective

emphasizes that observable behaviors are learned through environmental stimuli and conditioning. (Observable behavior, no universal stages, existence affected only by external, quantitative not qualitative)

• Watson

  • Classical Conditioning

• Skinner

  • Operant Conditioning

• Bandura

  • Modeling Theory

Watson

Classical Conditioning

• learning to associate a neutral stimulus with an involuntary response, leading to an involuntary behavior

Skinner

Operant Conditioning

• learning through consequences and focuses on voluntary behaviors

  • Reinforcement (rewarding)

    • Makes choice MORE likely in the future

    • Positive (adding something good) or Negative (taking away something bad)

  • Punishment

    • Makes choices LESS likely in the future

    • Positive (adding something bad) or Negative (taking away something good)

Bandura

Modeling - Social Cognitive Learning Theory

• Watching actions and consequences

  • ex: Bo Bo Dolls experiment

Cognitive Perspective

emphasizes mind, perceptual processes, thinking, thought process, memory, internal representations of the environment

Piaget vs Neo-Piaget

• Piaget → Children development is qualitative

  • Adaptation

  • Assimilation vs Accommodation

    • 

• Neo-Piaget → Children development is quantitative

  • information processing (quantitative)

• Neuroscience in Cognition

Piaget (cognitive)

first to study children as separate than adults

• Explains development focuses on the qualitative changes in children's thinking through distinct developmental stages; children’s intellectual development is not simply about accumulating more information, but involves qualitative changes in how children think.

  • Adaptation: the ability to mentally adjust to new information and experiences; Qualitative

    1. Assimilation: fitting new information into existing schemas

       • _{ex: A child who understands what a "fish" is might call a whale a "fish" because they both live in the water.} 

    2. Accommodation: altering existing schemas when new information doesn't fit

       • _{A child with a "dog" schema (small, furry, four-legged animal) might see a cat and first assimilate it as a dog. When corrected, they accommodate by revising the dog schema and creating a new one for "cat."}

Information Processing and Neo-Piaget (cognitive)

• explains development focuses on the quantitative, mechanical processes of how information is processed

  • Take in, use, and store info

  • Processing speed, efficiency, handling capacity

How Neo-Piagetian Theories Differ from Piaget's

• Universal vs. Domain-Specific Stages:

  Piaget viewed cognitive development as a single system of general abilities, whereas Neo-Piagetians suggest development can occur at different rates and levels in different areas of cognition. 

• Focus on Logic vs. Information Processing:

  Piaget emphasized logic as the driver of development, while Neo-Piagetians focus on how information processing capabilities, like working memory, limit or enable cognitive growth. 

• Biological and Social Factors:

  Neo-Piagetian theories provide a more nuanced understanding of the biological and social influences on cognitive development, whereas Piaget's original theory placed less emphasis on these factors. 

Neuroscience in Cognition

• Development explained by neurological activity

  • Location and function that happen during cognition

  • Helping us learn about a variety of disorders (Autism, Cognitive delays, ADHD, etc.)

  • Genetics

Contextual Approach

Development explained by relationships between individuals and their physical, cognitive, personality, and social worlds

• Bioecological approach

• Sociocultural → Vygotsky

Bioecological Approach

A specific model within the broader Contextual Approach

• details the different environmental systems in which a person lives and interacts. These include: 

  • Microsystem: The most immediate environment, including family, school, and peers, where direct interactions occur. 

  • Mesosystem: The connections between different microsystems, such as how the parent-teacher interaction influences the child. 

  • Exosystem: External environments that indirectly affect the individual, like a parent's work environment or local news. 

  • Macrosystem: The overarching cultural values, laws, customs, and belief systems that influence all other layers. 

• Culture is individualistic (self-serving, independent, prioritizing own needs) and collectivistic (group harmony, interdependence, prioritize group needs over individual ones)

Sociocultural → Vygotsky

• Development is profoundly shaped by social interaction and cultural context, rather than solely by individual processes

  • Reciprocal transaction →

    • learning occurs through reciprocal transactions or "cooperative dialogues" between a learner and a "more knowledgeable other"

    • Mentors scaffold students

  • Zone of proximal development →

    • the "sweet spot" for learning; zone where learning is most effective; a task that is not too hard to be overwhelming, but not too easy to be boring.

• Increasing popularity

  • Vygotsky’s theories are becoming more widely accepted/acknowledged

Evolutionary Approach

Development is influenced by behaviors influenced by genetic inheritance

• Genetics + Environment combo

Encompasses behavioral genetics

• One of the fastest growing areas

The Scientific Method

Empirical

• Grounded in objective, tangible evidence

• Can be observed time and time again

—- The Process:

1. Observe

2. Hypothesize

3. Test

4. Analyze

5. Report and Refine

Not all questions can be answered with science.

Hypothesis vs Theory

Hypothesis

• can be right or wrong

• HAS to be testable

• Enough of them helps refine an area to turn into a Theory →

Theory

• Many ideas merged into a bigger idea or explanation

• Allows for future predictions to be made

---

Pseudo-Science

A collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method.

• ex: astrology, phrenology

Research Ethics

Set of moral principles guiding responsible conduct in research, particularly concerning the safety and rights of human and animal subjects, while ensuring the integrity and credibility of scientific inquiry

• Institutional Review Board (IRB)

  • Committee whose job is to make sure any
    experiments cause as little harm as possible
    to humans

    • Different committee for animals (IACUC)

• Informed Consent

  • Participant must understand

    • What to expect

    • Any risks involved

    • Implications of the research

  • Participant gives written consent

  • Avoid deception

    • Intentionally deceiving participants; the experiment must be approved by IRB; Participant informed at the end.

Research categories/types

1. Descriptive

2. Correlational

3. Experimental

Descriptive Research

Used to describe

• Behaviors (general/specific)

• Attributes (Observed or Measured)

This type of research has less control over variables.

• Examples of Designs/Methods:

  • Clinical or case study

  • Naturalistic Observation

  • Survey (Questionnaires)

    

  • Archival

  • Cross-sectional

  • Longitudinal

  • Sequential

    

    • 

Correlational Research

Tests the relationship between two or more variables; sees whether there is a connection or not

• Strength of a correlation is measured between +1 to -1

  • Close to 1 → strong

  • Close to 0 or-1 → weak

• Positive correlation: Same direction (x and y increase or decrease together)

• Negative correlation: Opposite direction (x increase, z decrease)

• Limits of Correlational Research:

Limits of Correlational Research

Confounding variables (the relationship identified between independent variables and outcomes may be due to the confounding variable rather than to the independent variable)

Correlation is not causation

illusory correlations (Assumed correlation with no statistical evidence)

Confirmation bias

Experimental Research

Tests a hypothesis

• determine cause and effect (relationships)

• only method that gives CAUSE

Experimental design

• Think of a hypothesis

• Find people that you can experiment on

• Define exactly what, who, where, when, why, & how

• Participants

  • Experimental group(s): Gets the variable being tested/manipulated

  • Control group: Does not get variable

• Double Blind Studies

  • Placebo effect

Variables

• Independent → One you manipulate/change/have control over

• Dependent variable → Thing you measure/ is affected

Group Assignment

• Participants

  • College Students – is this good?

• Random sample

  • Best case scenario, try to get all the potential differences accounted for

• Random Assignment

  • Participants have equal chances of what group they end up in

• Experimental Design

  • Want differences spread out evenly

If you can’t meet these criteria – Quasi-experimental

Results

• Statistics

  • Math that organizes the findings and looks for the likelihood the results
    happen by chance

  • What method is appropriate? Patterns? Inferences? Importance?

    • Distribution of Data

    • p value – statistical result of how likely the result happened due to chance

• Reliability

  • When it is accurate across time and cultures; repeatable and consistent

• Validity

  • Accuracy; measures what it intends to measure

STRUCTURE OF PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH ARTICLE

The APA creates guidelines for how articles are structured which include:

1. Abstract

   • Concise summary of an article, 1 paragraph, describes most important findings

2. Intro

   • Background information, previous research on the topic, why this study matters, what it’s adding

3. Method

   • Exacting details of what was done and how; should allow for replication and
     expansion

4. Results

   • Findings, and whether or not they met the standard for statistical significance
     (standard: <0.5% )

5. Discussion

   • Interpret results, discuss future possible studies, what could have been better,
     etc.