Topic 2: Dominant Theories of Development

influential developmental psychology theories

• Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

  • Foundational to cognitive developmental research

  • Stage theory which describes cognitive development across several domains

• Associationism

  • Based in learning theory

  • Frames development in terms of learned associations

• Systems Theories

  • Emphasizes that development occurs w/in different “layers” of context — as well as interactions between those layers

• Evolutionary Psychology

  • Emphasizes functional value of human psychological traits & processes

  • Framed through the lens of evolutionary theory

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Constructivism

• A theory of knowledge acquisition that states that children construct their own meaning of their observations & experiences by interpreting observations/experiences through the lens of the child’s own expectations & prior beliefs

Sources of developmental change

• Schema

  • Assimilation

  • Equilibration

  • Accommodation

    • Maintains stable understanding of the world while allowing for developmental change

Schema

Mental framework used to organize & interpret information

Constructed through a child’s interactions w/ its environment (observations & experiences)

Assimilation

Interpretation of information in terms of existing schemata

Accommodation

Changing or creation of schemata to cope with new information

Equilibration

The process of balancing assimilation & accommodation

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

1. Sensorimotor

2. Preoperational

3. Concrete operational

4. Formal operational

Sensorimotor stage

Knowledge is acquired through sensory & motor activity (0-2yrs)

Milestone = object permanence (~8 months)

Preoperational stage

The child begins to use words and images to represent ideas; does not yet possess logical reasoning (2-7yrs)

Concrete operational stage

The child begins to understand basic logical operations, but only as they relate to concrete problems (7-11yrs)

Formal operational stage

Now an adolescent, the child has achieved adult cognitive abilities & can apply logical operations to abstract and hypothetical concepts (12+)

Criticisms of Piaget

• Underestimation of infants & young children (due to methodological shortcomings)

• Methodological shortcomings

  • Verbal nature of interview method (not all children can hear or understand language)

  • Conservative estimation — does not definitively determine that the child cannot do something bc they might just not be interested/motivated to accomplish a given task

• Over-emphasis of stage-like nature of development

• Failure to consider social & emotional factors

associationism

• Emphasizes the role of general-purpose learning mechanisms in development

• Ex. classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social learning

• Central to the Standard Social Science Model

Associationism assumptions

• Humans are born Tabula Rasa

• Biology is irrelevant — or of negligible importance

• Few, domain general learning mechanisms

Standard social science model

Summary of current thoughts concerning human nature, including assumptions that underlie undergraduate curricula & reports by popular press

SSSM

SSSM assumption 1

Assumption: Human beings are born tabula rasa, w/ no “pre-loaded” content — everything is the result of learning & experiences

Challenge: Humans demonstrate numerous innate tendencies

Ex. Reflexes, Preferences, Expectations, Categories

SSSM assumption 2

Assumption: Evolution & biological processes more generally, are irrelevant to human psychology

Challenge: Humans demonstrate species-typical preferences

Ex. Sweet tooth, Pain aversion, Primary reinforcers

SSSM assumption 3

Assumption: Human development relies exclusively on domain-general learning mechanisms

Challenge: Conditioning cannot account for many developmental processes

Ex. Language development, Speed, Efficiency

Classical conditioning

A process by which a previously neutral stimulus is associated with a stimulus that produces a reflexive response

Ex. Pavlov’s Dogs, Little Albert, Advertising

parenting according to Watson

Advocated for an evidence based approach to childrearing, particularly inspired by learning theory

operant conditioning

A process by which the frequency of a behavior is shaped by its consequences

Social learning theory

Expands learning theory to include observational learning

requirements of social learning

1. The learner must attend to the model

2. The learner must retain the behavior

3. The learner must be capable of reproducing the behavior

4. The learner must be motivated to reproduce the behavior

shortcomings of associationism

1. Assumes that all stimuli & consequences are equally likely to associate

2. Does not explain generalization

3. Does not explain innate preferences & aversions

Systems theories

Recognizes that development occurs in a larger context

Ex. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model & developmental systems theory

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model

• Individual (developing child)

• Microsystem: factors w. which the child most frequently interacts

  • Individuals, groups, resources

• Mesosystem: effects of interactions between microsystem factors

  • school, religion, parents x community

• Exosystem: institutional entities which indirectly affect the child

  • local government, parental workplace

• Macrosystem: impact of larger, cultural forces

  • political attitudes, gender norms, inter/independence

• Chronosystem: changes in systems over time

developmental systems theory

• Developed out of dynamics systems theories — all developmental resources represent a system in which influences the developing organism

  • No primacy & complex interactions

  • Nested hierarchically, but all interact bi-directionally & all equally important

• Developmental resources include…

  • prenatal environment (DNA, cells)

  • chemical environment

  • terrestrial environment

  • pathogenic environment

  • social environment

shortcomings of systems theories

• recognition of interactionism is only the first step

  • How do genes & the environment interact?

• “no primacy” is inconsistent w/ evolutionary theory

  • Evolutionary psychology on evolution — a change in gene frequencies across generations

  • DST on evolution — any change in a system that is preserved across generations (no special role for genes)

    • changes in technology & the environment count towards evolution

evolutionary psychology influences

Darwin — Ethology — Sociobiology — Modern evolutionary psychology

Natural selection

the process where organisms w/ traits best suited to their environment survive and have more offspring, changing species over time

differences in physiology & behavior —> differential success in coping w/ environment —> differential success in reproduction or survival

adaptation

any heritable trait which increases fitness

fitness

relative success in replicating one’s genes

ethology

the study of fitness-enhancing behaviors which are shaped by natural selection

Important Figures..

• Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfedlt (father of human ethology)

• Konrad Lorenz (imprinting, sensitive period, critical period)

• John Bowlby (coined term attachment, came up w/ concept of EEA)

EEA

The Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness is the condition under which our ancestors lived, and to which our morphological and psychological features are adapted

imprinting

Process by which newborns first identify their mother & then strongly attach to her psychologically

sensitive period

Developmental period during which a specific kind of learning takes place most easily (this learning can occur outside this period)

critical period

Developmental period during which a specific kind of learning can take place is the necessary stimuli are present (this learning needs/must occur in this period)

sociobiology

The study of the biological basis of social behavior

E.O Wilson: popularized the concept of sociobiology & his research primarily concerned humans (not exclusively though)

Examined Adaptive Function of…

• cooperation

• altruism

• aggression

• mating behaviors

evolutionary psychology

An approach to the study of psychology that holds that being well informed about the process of evolution as well as the circumstances in which our ancestors lived during our evolutionary history will aid us in understanding the function & design of the human mind

modern evolutionary psychology

• Greater emphasis on the role of the EEA

  • the role it played in shaping human psychology & physiology

  • how it differs from modern environments

• Explicit consideration of psychological processes

  • prior approaches placed greater emphasis on behavior

    • evolutionary psychology considers both observable behavior & the internal mechanisms that underly it

shortcomings of evolutionary psychology

• early iterations had an overly simplistic view of gene-environment interactions

  • modern Ev. Psyc. acknowledges processes such as epigenetics

• challenges inherent to testing evolutionary theories of human behavior (can only be tested indirectly)

• special role of genes — problematic from a DST perspective

  • all developmental resources considered equally important