Ch 2: Theory and Research in Human Development

Describe the purpose of theories in research and two theoretical issues on which developmental scientists differ; Summarize the main theories of human development; Describe the methods developmental researchers use to collect data and the advantages and disadvantages of each.; Explain ethical guidelines for researchers

Theory of Development

A set of logically related concepts that seeks to organize, explain, and predict data.

Hypothesis

A possible explanation that can be tested by further research.

Tabula Rasa

A philosophical assumption of development by John Locke, meaning 'blank slate,' upon which society writes a young child.

Noble Savage

A philosophical assumption of development by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, meaning a young child develops from natural tendencies.

Issue 1: Is development active or reactive?

Mechanistic vs. organismic models

Mechanistic Model

Assumes people are like passive machines that react automatically to environmental input.

Organismic Model

Assumes people are active, growing organisms whose driving force is internal, not environmental.

Issue 2: Is Development Continuous or

Discontinuous?

Continuous (mechanistic theories) vs. discontinuous (organismic theories)

Continuous Development (Mechanistic theories)

Assumes gradual refinement over time through quantitative changes in number or amount, such as height and vocabulary size.

Discontinuous Development (Organismic theories)

Assumes development occurs in distinct 'stages' of qualitative changes in kind, structure, or organization.

What are the five developmental theoretical perspectives?

Psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, contextual, and evolutionary.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

A major theoretical perspective of human development, originated by Sigmund Freud, which assumes humans are reactive and progress through developmental stages motivated by unconscious forces and innate, biologically based drives. Also involves the Freudian personality.

Id

The Freudian personality component dominant in newborns, operating under the pleasure principle for immediate gratification of needs and desires.

Ego

The Freudian personality component that gradually develops in the first year, operating under the reality principle to balance the needs of the id and the demands of the superego.

Superego

The Freudian personality component that develops around age 5 or 6, representing societal 'shoulds' and 'should nots'.

Oral Stage (Psychosexual Development)

Birth to 12-18 months, with gratification focused on sucking and feeding.

Anal Stage (Psychosexual Development)

12-18 months to 3 years, with gratification focused on potty training.

Phallic Stage (Psychosexual Development)

3 to 6 years, with gratification focused on genitals.

Latency Stage (Psychosexual Development)

6 years to puberty, a time of calm.

Genital Stage (Psychosexual Development)

Puberty to adulthood, involving the reemergence of the phallic stage.

Erikson's Psychosocial Theory

A modification of Freudian theory emphasizing the influence of society and development across the life span in eight qualitatively distinct stages, each involving a 'crisis' to be resolved.

Learning Perspective

Views human development as changes in behavior resulting from experience and adaptation to the environment.

Behaviorism

A mechanistic learning theory that emphasizes associative learning, where a mental link is formed between two events.

Classical Conditioning

Involves associating a stimulus that does not ordinarily elicit a response with another stimulus that does elicit the response (e.g., John Watson's Little Albert experiment).

Operant Conditioning

Learning that associates a behavior with its consequences, such as rewards and punishments, e.g., B.F. Skinner's work on reinforcement and punishment. John Watson (1878–1958) showed “Little Albert” learned to fear furry white objects like a rat through repeated pairings of the rat and a loud noise that frightened him.

Reinforcement

In operant conditioning, a consequence that strengthens the likelihood a behavior will be repeated.

Punishment

In operant conditioning, a consequence that weakens the likelihood a behavior will be repeated.

Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura)

Bandura's theory that development arises from the continuous, mutual interaction among personal, behavioral, and environmental factors (reciprocal determinism). It emphasizes learning new behaviors by observing and imitating others (observational learning) and one's conviction in their ability to succeed (self-efficacy).

Reciprocal Determinism

The concept that a person acts on the world as the world acts on the person.

Observational Learning

An active process of learning appropriate behavior through watching and imitating people.

Self-Efficacy

A sense of one’s capability to master challenges and achieve goals, learned through feedback.

Cognitive Perspective

Assumes thought processes are central to development, encompassing both organismic stage theories (like Piaget's) and mechanistic information-processing theories.

Piaget’s Cognitive-Stage Theory

Originated by Jean Piaget, assumes cognitive development begins with an inborn ability to adapt to the environment through organization, adaptation, and equilibration.

Organization (Piaget)

The creation of systems or categories of knowledge, forming increasingly complex cognitive structures called schemes.

Schemes

Cognitive structures used to think and act in a given situation, which become increasingly complex.

Adaptation (Piaget)

Refers to how people adjust to new information about the environment through assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation (Piaget)

Involves incorporating new information into existing cognitive structures.

Accommodation (Piaget)

Consists of changing a cognitive structure with new information.

Equilibration (Piaget)

A stable balance between the processes of assimilation and accommodation.

Sociocultural Theory (Lev Vygotsky)

Assumes people learn through social interaction, highlighting the zone of proximal development and scaffolding.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The difference between what a child can do alone versus with help.

Scaffolding

Support that parents and teachers give until a child can perform a task alone.

Information-Processing Approach

A framework for theories on how people make sense of incoming information, covering attention, memory, planning, goal setting, and decision making, viewing development as continuous.

Contextual Perspective

Belief that development can only be understood in its social context, exemplified by Urie Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory.

Bioecological Theory (Urie Bronfenbrenner)

Identifies five levels of environmental influence (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem) ranging from narrow to broad that can stifle or promote growth.

Evolutionary/Sociobiological View

Founded on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, including 'survival of the fittest' and natural selection, explaining behaviors as evolved mechanisms that solved problems in adapting to earlier environments.

Evolved Mechanisms

Behaviors that developed to solve problems in adapting to earlier environments (e.g., sudden aversion to certain foods during pregnancy).

Ethology

The study of distinctive behaviors that have adaptive value in natural contexts, such as innate behaviors like proximity-seeking.

Proximity-Seeking

An innate behavior (e.g., 'staying close to mommy') that evolved to increase survival odds.

Evolutionary Psychology

The field that applies Darwinian principles to human behavior, suggesting adaptations (including aspects of human psychology) specialized to solve problems and perpetuate genetic legacy.

Quantitative Research

Deals with objectively measurable data, such as standardized tests and physiological changes.

Qualitative Research

Explores non-numerical data focusing on the 'how' and 'why' of behavior, such as feelings and beliefs.

Scientific Method

A system of scientific inquiry with six usual steps: identification of a problem, formulation of hypotheses, collection of data, statistical analysis of data, formation of tentative conclusions, and dissemination of findings.

Sample

A group of participants chosen to represent the entire population under study.

Random Selection

A procedure where each person in the population has an equal and independent chance of being chosen for a sample, ensuring representativeness.

Self-Reports

Verbal or visual recordings provided by study participants as a form of data collection.

Observations

Studying behavior in naturalistic settings or in the laboratory as a form of data collection.

Behavioral and Performance Measures

Tests of a person’s abilities, skills, knowledge, or physical responses.

Operational Definitions

Abstract ideas stated solely in terms of the procedures used to measure the phenomenon (e.g., 'intelligence' measured by IQ test scores).

Case Study

An in-depth study of an individual, used to generate hypotheses that may or may not generalize to others.

Ethnographic Study

An in-depth study of a culture to overcome cultural biases, though it may be subject to observer bias.

Correlational Studies

Research designs that look for a positive or negative relationship between variables, suggesting hypotheses but unable to establish cause-effect relationships.

Experiments

Controlled procedures with an independent and dependent variable, usually conducted in a laboratory, that establish cause-effect relationships.

Experimental Group

Consists of participants exposed to a treatment in an experiment.

Control Group

Does not receive the treatment in an experiment and serves as a comparison.

Independent Variable

The variable that the experimenter controls or manipulates.

Dependent Variable

Something that may or may not change as a result of changes in the independent variable.

Random Assignment

A procedure where each participant has an equal chance of being placed in the experimental group or control group to avoid unintentional differences and rule out confounds.

Confounds

Factors that contaminate the results of an experiment by introducing unintentional differences between groups.

Cross-Cultural Research

Explores ways in which development is universal versus culturally determined.

Cross-Sectional Study

A developmental research design that measures age-related differences at one point in time by comparing different age groups.

Longitudinal Study

A developmental research design that measures changes with age in one sample over time.

Sequential Study

A developmental research design that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal techniques.

Ethics of Research

Involves balancing the benefits of research against the risks to participants, including considerations like informed consent, avoidance of deception, protection from harm, privacy, confidentiality, and the right to decline or withdraw.