Child & Adolescent Psychology - Chapter 1: History, Theories, Methods

PSYC 3370

childhood/adolescent development

important to find the optimal setting/formula to raise children

• belief that this is important → advocacy to public, research → change

growth

changes in quantity/size/physical

development

changes in maturation/complexity/quality/mental

passive development

children are blank slates that are shaped by the environment

active development

children are active participants in their development

discontinuous development

children grow in stages and must master the previous stage to advance

continuous development

children grow linearly as it happens

john locke

believed children were blank slates (passive)

jean rosseau

believed children were born good

charles darwin

theory of evolution

alfred binet

created the first intelligence test

institutionalized learning for those who failed (though people learn differently)

g. stanley hall

created the term adolescence

sigmund freud

discontinuous/passive

• psychoanalytic: id, ego, superego

• theory of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital fixations

id (psychoanalytic)

instinctual part of personality, wants instant gratification

ego (psychoanalytic)

mediating, balancing part of personality between id and superego

superego (psychoanalytic)

moral compass part of personality, empathy for others

theory of psychosexual development

person must overcome fixations to mature correctly

• oral: use mouth, breastfeeding

• anal: potty training

• phallic: 12, puberty and knowledge of sexuality

• latent: nothing

• genital: using knowledge of sexuality

erik erikson

discontinuous/active

• 8 stages of psychosocial development: each stage has a crisis to be settled

• created the term identity and life crisis

infancy/1-2 (psychosocial development)

crisis: trust vs mistrust

influenced by: mother

early childhood/2-4 (psychosocial development)

crisis: autonomy vs shame/doubt

influenced by: both parents

preschool/4-5 (psychosocial development)

crisis: initiative vs guilt

influenced by: family

school/5-12 (psychosocial development)

crisis: industry vs inferiority

influenced by: neighbors and school (teachers)

adolescence/13-19 (psychosocial development)

identity crisis

crisis: identity vs role confusion

influenced by: peers and role models

early adulthood/mid-life/20-40 (psychosocial development)

mid-life crisis

crisis: intimacy vs isolation

influenced by: friends and partners

adulthood/40-65 (psychosocial development)

crisis: generativity vs stagnation

influenced by: those at home and work

maturity/65-death (psychosocial development)

crisis: ego integrity vs despair

influenced by: others

john b. watson

continuous/passive

• behaviorism: wanted something more pragmatic, objective than psychoanalytics/psychosexual/psychosocial

• little albert: classic conditioning of fear

ivan pavlov

continuous/passive

• classical conditioning: using dogs

  • can create a link between stimulus and response

b.f. skinner

continuous/passive

• operant conditioning: shaping to link stimulus and response

shaping

reinforcement and punishment to condition the behavior you want

positive reinforcement (shaping)

add good thing → increase behavior

• give candy if grades are good

negative reinforcement (shaping)

take away bad thing → increase behavior

• reduce chores if grades are good

positive punishment (shaping)

add bad thing → decrease behavior

• add chores if grades are bad

negative punishment (shaping)

take away good thing → decrease behavior

• take away candy if grades are bad

jean piaget

discontinuous/active

• stages of cognitive development/cognitive development theory: 4 stages

• schemas

sensori-motor (stages of cognitive development/cognitive development theory)

0-2

use senses to explore world

object permanence

pre-operational (stages of cognitive development/cognitive development theory)

3-7

symbolic thinking, intuitive age

egocentric, begin classifying, cannot grasp conservation yet

concrete operational (stages of cognitive development/cognitive development theory)

7-11

can use logic

understand conservation, hierarchal classification, reversability

inductive reasoning (observation → generalization)

formal operational (stages of cognitive development/cognitive development theory)

12+

can rationally think about abstracts, more compassiate/less egocentric, know self

deductive reasoning (general rule → specific conclusion)

schemas

concepts that we use to understand the world, become more complex as we learn new information

adaptation

• assimilation or accomodation

assimilation

gain new info → update old schema

accommodation

create new schema OR adjusting old schema

equlibrium

balance of assimilation and accommodation

lev vygotsky

active, continuous

• sociocultural perspective/theory: how ethnicity/gender/socioeconomic status affects development

  • zone of proximal development

  • scaffolding

zone of proximal development

learning is best when it is not too hard or too easy

scaffolding

learning is best when broken down into steps

albert bandura

active, continuous

social cognitive theory, social learning

• bobo doll experiment: child observes caregivers model violent behavior → child imitates violent behavior

• reciprocal determinism

social cognitive theory

people learn through observation, modeling, and imitation

reciprocal deteriminism

how behavior is determined

• personal factors: thoughts and beliefs

• environmental factors: surroundings and others

• behavior itself, social reinforcement

urie bronfenbrenner

active, continuous

ecological systems theory

ecology

biology of the relationship between organism and environment

microsystem (ecological systems theory)

where a child directly interacts and spends their daily life, their immediate environment

• home, school

mesosystem (ecological systems theory)

the interaction between 2 or more of a child’s immediate environment

• parent-teacher conference (home + school)

exosystem (ecological systems theory)

external location where the child is indirectly affected

• parent’s workplace

macrosystem (ecological systems theory)

the cultural/legal/economic values of a society that shapes a child’s world

• government, media, norms

chronosystem (ecological systems theory)

the time period and its events the child lives in

• historical events, life transitions like divorce or a new sibling

konrad lorenz

active, continuous

biological perspective

• ethology

• imprinting

biological perspective

we have a biological need to connect with our caregiver for optimal development

the 1st two years of a child’s development depends on maintaining that affectionate, caring relationship

ethology

study of animal behavior and instincts

imprinting

geese experiment

• half raised with biological goose mom, other half first saw lorenz and were taken care of by him

• led to them recognizing him, not their biological mother, as their caregiver

information-processing theory

how information is stored, encoded, and retrieved

harry harlow

cloth monkey experiment

physical touch and comfort by our caregivers is important for optimal development

attachment theory

mary ainsworth + john bowlby collaborated

mary ainsworth

strange experiment: how kids respond to their caregiver leaving

• if caregiver takes care of them → secure child cries but is easily consoled

• if caregiver ignores them → avoidant child does not care

• if caregiver is inconsistent → anxious child has a meltdown, panics

john bowlby

parenting style affects how a child views relationships

• secure attachment

• insecure attachments

  • avoidant attachment

  • anxious attachment

  • disorganized attachment

secure attachment

caring parents → normal, healthy, love is safe

insecure attachment

parents who were not stable/loving → unhealthy perception of love

• avoidant attachment

• anxious attachment

• disorganized attachment

avoidant attachment

neglectful parents → intimacy/closeness is dangerous, i’m better by myself, hyperindependence

anxious attachment

inconsistent parents → distance = abandonment, clings hard, needs reassurement constantly, codependency

disorganized attachment

very chaotic parents, mix of neglect as well as inconsistency, may have been abusive or traumatic → hot and cold, wants and fears intimacy in equal measures