Module 2: Developmental Theories

theory

well developed set of ideas

must be falsifiable

hypothesis

a testable prediction

if, then statement

passive vs. active

early experiences vs our later experiences and how they impact us as we get older

continuity vs, discontinuity

is development continuous or in stages

nature vs. nurture

environment vs. genetics

John Locke

§  Tabula rasa: blank slate

§  Infants when born know nothing and it is a blank slate

§  All your knowledge comes from your experiences

§  An early behaviorist

Jean Jecques Rousseau

§  Innate processes that we have

§  Different types of progress that we make within our processes

§  Cognitive and neurological side

§  Infancy, childhood, adolescence

Charles Darwin

§  Known for his history of evolution

§  As a species the ones that are most fit are the ones that survive

§  Are children being met their needs?

G. Stanley Hall

o   First president of the American Psychological Association

o   Tought  the first courses on childhood development

-believed that children developed over their lifetime

James Mark Baldwin

focused research on infant development

John B. Watson

the founder of the field of behaviourism, which emphasized the role of nurture, or the environment, in human development

-children should be treated as young adults

Sigmund Freud

-psychodynamic theories

-childhood experiences

Arnold Gessel

biological maturation

learning about norms based on age stages

Jean Piaget

theory of cognitive development

-childrens knowledge, thinking, and qualitative difference in their thinking

Freuds Psychodynamic Perspective

-proposed that personality develops in the first few years of life

-the experiences you had in childhood and how that impacted you later in adult life

id

the part of the self that is biologically-driven, includes our instincts and drives, and wants immediate gratification

ego

the part of the self that helps balance the id and superego by satisfying the id’s desires in a rational way

superego

the part of the self that acts as our conscience, telling us how we should behave

neurosis

a tendency to experience negative emotions

-any type of imbalance

psychodynamic perspective

the perspective that behaviour is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness and control

oral stage

o   Infant meets needs for comfort, warmth, food, and stimulation primarily through immediate oral gratification

o   Psychologically, the infant is Id.

o   If caregiver meets these needs in the stage, they are successful in the stage

anal stage

o   The ego is being developed

o   Associated with toddlerhood and potty-training

anal retentive

people who had struggle going to the bathroom

anal expulsive

people who did not struggle going to the bathroom

phallic stage

o   Preschool years (ages 3-5)

o   Oedipus complex

§  Castration anxiety: fear that they will get castrated by their father

o   Electra complex

§  Penis envy: little girls feel inferior because they don’t have this

o   Formation of superego removes these complex

Latency Stage

o   Associated with middle childhood (6-11)

o   Attention focused on family and friendships, the biological drivers are temporarily quieted (latent)

genital stage

o   Associated with adolescence throughout adulthood

o   A person is preoccupied w/sex and reproduction

o   Finding your mate

o   hormones

denial

not accepting the truth or lying to yourself

displacement

take our frustrations out on a safer targer

projection

attributing unacceptable thought to others

projection

attributing unacceptable thoughts to others

rationalization

distortion of facts; to make an impulsive decision less threatening

reaction formation

outwardly oppose something that you inwardly desire

regression

going back to another place; revert back to child like behaviors

repression

pushing painful thoughts inside; forgetting details of a painful situarion

sublimation

unacceptable urges to more socially aceptable behaviors

eriksons psychosocial thoery

personality develops across eight stages throughout the lifespan, each marked by a unique psychosocial crisis

Major psychosocial tasks to accomplish or crisis to overcome

trust vs mistrust

hope

0-12 months

infants know can adults be trusted

autonomy vs shame

will

1-3yrs

sense of independence in many tasks

initiative vs guilt

purpose

3-6

take initiative on some actvities; may develop guilt when sucess not met or boundaries overstepped

industry vs. inferiority

competence

7-11

develop self-confidence in abilities when competent or sense of inferiority when not

identity vs role confusion

fidelity

experiment with and develop identity and roles

12-18

intimacy vs isolation

love

establish intimacy and relationships with others

19-39

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Care

40-64

contribute to society and be part of a family

integrity vs despair

wisdom

65+

asses and make sense of life and meaning of contributions

classical conditioning

type of learning in which an organism response in a prticular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response

Pavlov

invented classical conditioning

Watson

believed that most of our fears are classically conditioned

Little Albert Experiment

operant conditioning

organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequence

-a pleasant consequence makes a behavior more likely to be repeated

law of effect

Edward Thorndike

-behaviors that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated

social-cognitive learning theory

learning by observing the behavior of another person, called a model

Albert Bandura

attention

one must pay attention to what they are observing in order to learn

retention

one must be able to retain the behavior they are observing in memory

initiation

acknowledges that the learner must be able to execute the learned behavior

motivation

engage in the observational learning

reciprocal determinism

the interplay between our personality and the way we interpret events and how they influence us

theory of cognitive development

comprehensive thoery about the nature and development of human intelligence

-Jean Piaget

schema

existing framework

assimilation

something known

accommodation

expand the framework of knowledge

sensorimotor stage

world experienced through senses and actions

-object permanence

-stranger anxiety

object permanence

understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists

stranger anxiety

fear of unfamiliar people

preoperational stage

use words and images to represent thing but lack logical reasoning

-pretend play, egocentrism, language development

pretend play

a vital, child-led activity where kids use symbolic thinking to act out scenarios, roles, and imaginary situations, fostering creativity, language, social skills like empathy, emotional regulation, and complex problem-solving by exploring different roles and perspectives in a safe, fun way

conservation

idea that even if you change the appearance of something it is still equal in size as long as nothing has been removed or added

egocentrism

child is not able to take the perspective of others

-thinks that everyone thinks and feels just as they do

theory of mind

children come to understand that people have thoughts, feelings, and beliefs differnent from their own

concrete operational

understand concrete events and logical analogies; perform arithemetical operations

-conservation, mathematical transformations

7-11

reversibility

ojects can be changed and then returned back to their original form

formal operational stage

11-adulthood

-use abstract thinking to problem solve

information processing

people process the information they receive rather than just responding to the stimuli

cognitive neuroscience

scientific field that is concerned with the study of the biological processes and the aspects that underlie cognition with a specific focus on the neural connections in the brain which are involved in the mental process

humanism

emphasizes human potential and an individuals ability to change and rejects the idea of biological determinism

Who created the idea of Humanism?

Carl Rogers

idea self

the person that you would like to be

real self

the person you actually are

unconditional positive regard

unconditional love

Vyfotskys sociocultural theory

emphasizes the importance of culture and interaction in the development of cognitive abilities

scaffolding

a process in which adults or capable peers model or demonstrate how to solve a problem, and then step back, offering support as needed

zone of proximal development

the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with help

ecological systems theory

explain how the inherent qualities of a child and their environment interact to influence how they will grow and develop

bioecological model

the perspective suggesting that multiple levels of the environment interact with biological potential to influence development

microsystems

those who have direct contact with the person

mesosystem

larger organizational structures such as school, the family, or religion

macrosystem

cultural elements such as global economic conditions, war, technological trends, values, philosophies, and a society’s responses to the global community which impact a community

chronosystem

environmental events and transitions that occur throughout a child’s life

evolutionary psychology

a field of study that seeks to identify behaviour that is a result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors

ethology

examines the ways in which our biological makeup influences our behavior

imprinting

in psychology and ethology, imprinting is any kind of phase-sensitive learning (learning occurring at a particular age or a particular life stage) that is rapid and apparently independent of the consequences of behaviou

behavioral genetics

uses genetic methods to investigate the nature and origins of individual differences in behavior and studies the effects of heredity on behavior