PSYC207 Week One

What is developmental psychology?,

A branch of psychology that studies how humans grow and change across the lifespan.

What two key concepts does developmental psychology focus on?,

Stability and change.

Is developmental psychology only about children?,

No, it applies to all life stages but focuses more on early years.

What is developmental science?

An interdisciplinary study of development including fields like medicine, education, and economics

What does prenatal development refer to?,

Development before birth.

What does postnatal development refer to?,

Development after birth.

What age range is late childhood?,

Approximately 9–11 years.

When can adolescence begin?,

As early as 9–10 years with puberty.

What is emerging adulthood?,

The period from 18–25 years.

What did Plato believe about development?

,Knowledge is innate (nativist view).

What did Aristotle believe about development?,

Knowledge comes from experience (empiricist view).

What did Plato and Aristotle agree on?,

Proper child-rearing is important for society’s future.

Who proposed the idea of tabula rasa?,

John Locke.

What is tabula rasa?,

The mind is a blank slate shaped by experience.

What did Rousseau believe about children?,

They should have freedom and learn through interaction.

Who developed the psychosexual theory?,

Sigmund Freud.

What is the psychosexual theory?,

Development occurs in stages focusing on different erogenous zones.

How did Freud view children in development?,

As relatively passive.

What influences development according to Freud?,

Biological drives and caregivers.

What are the three parts of personality in Freud’s theory?,

Id, Ego, Superego.

Who is associated with behaviourism?,

John B. Watson.

What does behaviourism focus on?,

Observable behaviour rather than mental processes.

What determines development in behaviourism?

,The environment.

What type of learning is central to behaviourism?,c

Classical conditioning.

Who discovered classical conditioning?

,Ivan Pavlov.

What is the Little Albert experiment?,

A study showing fear can be classically conditioned in humans.

What extreme claim did Watson make?

,He could train any infant to become any type of specialist.

What was a limitation of Freud and Watson?,

Limited research methods and reliance on observation

Name theorists influenced by Freud.,

Erik Erikson; Alfred Adler; Carl Jung.

Who was influenced by Watson?,

B.F. Skinner.

What was a key contribution of Freud and Watson?,

Highlighting the importance of early childhood.

What are two main research designs?,

Experimental and correlational

What is a cross-sectional design?,

Comparing different age groups at one time.

What is a longitudinal design?,Studying the same individuals over time.

Studying the same individuals over time.

What are common data collection methods?,

Interviews, questionnaires, observations.

What are the 7 enduring themes?

,Nature vs nurture; active child; continuous vs discontinuous development; mechanisms of change; sociocultural context; individual differences; research and children’s welfare.