Chapter 9: Theories of Social Development (Part 2)

Q: What is the focus of the Trust vs. Mistrust stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory?

A: trust in inanimate relationships.

Q: What is the focus of the Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory?

A: fostering of independence.

Q: What is the focus of the Initiative vs. Guilt stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory?

A: healthy conscience development.

Q: What is the focus of the Industry vs. Inferiority stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory?

A: "can I contribute to the world?"

Q: What is the focus of the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory?

A: "who am I? where do I fit in?"

Q: Why is Erikson’s psychosocial theory important?

A: Introduced a ton of important ideas, influenced many later theorists, and among the first to note adolescence as an important period of development.

Q: Which stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory pertain to early childhood and adolescence?

A: Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, and Identity vs. Role Confusion.

Q: What did the Bobo Doll studies investigate?

A: How preschool kids imitate adult aggression after observing it.

Q: What did group 1 see in the Bobo Doll studies?

A: saw adult rewarded

Q: What did group 2 see in the Bobo Doll studies?

A: saw adult punished

Q: What did group 3 see in the Bobo Doll studies?

A: no consequences

Q: What happened when kids from groups 1 and 3 were left alone with the Bobo doll?

A: kids acted more violently

Q: What happened when kids from group 2 were left alone with the Bobo doll?

A: kids acted less violently

Q: What is vicarious reinforcement?

A: Learning from someone else being rewarded or punished.

Q: What happened when children were offered a prize to reproduce the observed behavior?

A: All groups acted violently, even those who hadn’t spontaneously acted violently, showing they had learned from observation.

Q: What was the age group studied in the experiment on gun violence in movies?

A: 8–12 year olds.

Q: How long did the children watch the movie in the study?

A: 20 minutes.

Q: What was the first group in the movie exposure study?

A: Group 1: movie contained guns

Q: What was the second group in the movie exposure study?

A: Group 2: movie contained no guns.

Q: What behaviors were measured while children played with disabled handguns?

A: Time spent holding the gun, trigger pulls (recorded via sensor), and aggressive play (coded from a random subset).

Q: How did kids who saw the violent movie behave with the gun?

A: They spent more time playing with the gun and pulled the trigger more often.

Q: What are examples of quotes from kids in the gun group?

A: "I told you don't mess with me b----!" and "are you dumb as f---?"

Q: What are examples of quotes from kids in the no-guns group?

A: "uh-uh, uh-uh, no, no, no"

Q: What do current meta-analyses say about the effects of video games on kids' behaviour?

A: Meta analyses are currently divided on the effects of video games on kids' behaviour.

Q: What is generally true about the effect sizes found in video game research?

A: The effect sizes we see are usually small.

Q: What types of outcomes do most studies with significant effects focus on?

A: Small scale, short term outcomes rather than long term outcomes like violent crime.

Q: Why does "correlation does not equal causation" matter in video game research?

A: Children who are higher in aggression gravitate more to violent games.

Q: What complicates understanding the effect of violence and competition within video games on aggression?

A: There are tons of underlying factors, contextual variables, and outcomes to consider!

Q: What should we avoid when interpreting findings about video games and aggression?

A: Can't just jump to conclusions!

Q: What do most studies find regarding media consumption and actual criminal violence?

A: Most studies find no relation between media consumption and actual criminal violence.

Q: Why do people often blame media for behaviour?

A: People are very quick to draw unempirical connections between media and behaviour.

Q: What do these baseless assumptions often reflect?

A: These baseless assumptions often reflect people's own biases and desires than truths about human psychology.

Q: What should a good empiricist say in response to such claims?

A: "Show me the data!"

Q: Are children doomed?

A: No! It's a complex issue!

Q: What should we keep in mind about children learning from what they see?

A: Kids do learn from what they see, and we should be mindful of this, but let's not exaggerate either!

Q: What is a warning about people who try to scare you?

A: People who try to scare you are usually trying to sell you something.

Q: In ambiguous social situations, how do some people interpret events?

A: Some interpret events as accidental — no big deals, mistakes happen.

Q: In ambiguous social situations, how do others interpret events?

A: Others interpret them as intentional — assume negative intent; "What a jerk!"

Q: What is Hostile Attribution Bias (HABs)?

A: Tendency to assume people's ambiguous actions stem from hostile intents.

Q: What is Hostile Attribution Bias associated with?

A: Reactive aggression.

Q: What are Hostile Attribution Biases (HABs) associated with in childhood?

A: Harsh parenting.

Q: Why might harsh parenting lead to HABs?

A: If a child is subject to constant punishment and criticism, they assume this is how all people think.

Q: HABs are related to biases toward which emotions?

A: Anger and fear.

Q: In the dot probe task, what happens if you have an attentional bias toward a particular emotion (happy or angry)?

A: You'll spot the X faster when it appears in the location where your attention was pulled by that emotion.

Q: According to Waters et al. (2010), what attentional bias did all children show?

A: All children biased toward happy faces.

Q: Which children showed a bias toward angry faces in Waters et al. (2010)?

A: Only children high in anxiety symptoms.

Q: What did Penton-Voak et al. (2017) propose about interpreting social stimuli?

A: Changing how people interpret social stimuli may play a part in interventions for mood disorders (more research needed!).

Q: What do kids vary in regarding achievement?

A: Their achievement motivations.

Q: What motivates kids who pursue performance goals?

A: Receiving praise and avoiding failure.

Q: What motivates kids who pursue learning goals?

A: Improving their skills and trying and mastering new tasks.

Q: What do children with an Entity Orientation attribute outcomes to?

A: Innate abilities, individual differences.

Q: How do children with an Entity Orientation interpret success?

A: "I'm smart!"

Q: How do children with an Entity Orientation interpret failure?

A: "I must be dumb..."

Q: For children with an Entity Orientation, what is self-worth tied to?

A: Performance outcomes.

Q: What do children with an Incremental Orientation attribute outcomes to?

A: Hard work, persistence, commitment.

Q: How do children with an Incremental Orientation interpret success?

A: "I earned this!"

Q: How do children with an Incremental Orientation interpret failure?

A: "I should try harder."

Q: For children with an Incremental Orientation, what is self-worth tied to?

A: Self-improvement.

Q: What is an example of an incremental mindset from Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck (2007)?

A: "This is really hard, but if I practice, I'll get it!"

Q: What is the Incremental Theory of Intelligence?

A: Belief that intelligence grows with practice and experience.

Q: What outcome is associated with the Incremental Theory of Intelligence?

A: Higher math scores over 2 years.

Q: What is an example of an entity mindset from Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck (2007)?

A: "I'm bad at math, I'll never be able to do this..."

Q: What is the Entity Theory of Intelligence?

A: Belief that intelligence is innate and unchangeable.

Q: What outcome is associated with the Entity Theory of Intelligence?

A: No change in scores over 2 years.

Q: How can stereotypes influence motivation?

A: Stereotypes → entity orientation → outcomes.

Q: What concept describes how stereotypes can lead to expected outcomes becoming true?

A: Self-fulfilling prophecy.

Q: What is an example of praise that promotes entity motivations?

A: "Great Job! You are so smart!"

Q: Why can praising positive traits be problematic?

A: Praising positive traits may place too much emphasis on outcome (despite best intentions).

Q: What is an example of praise that promotes incremental motivation?

A: "Great Job! You worked so hard!"

Q: What does this type of praise reinforce?

A: Reinforces motivation to improve skills, and to find gratification in self-improvement.

Q: What criticism has Dweck’s theory received?

A: Dweck's theory has generated lots of criticism from researchers who have failed to replicate her major findings.

Q: What is the cautious take on Dweck’s theory?

A: May have an impact in some contexts, but isn't as important of a mechanism as Dweck originally claimed.

Q: What is the current research status on this topic?

A: Subject of lots of ongoing research!

Q: What influences achievement besides motivation?

A: Lots of factors influence achievement.

Q: Why might some factors influencing achievement be hard to change?

A: Many may not be easy to change through effort (e.g., genetic component of intelligence).

Q: Can having an incremental orientation influence your fluid intelligence?

A: Probably not.

Q: Can having an incremental orientation influence your crystallized intelligence?

A: That makes more sense!

Q: Why is encouraging incremental orientations still considered a good idea?

A: Regardless of how big of an effect it has, encouraging incremental orientations is likely still a good idea!

Q: What is an important caution when promoting incremental orientations?

A: Don't want kids blaming themselves for "not having the right mindset" whenever they don't meet their goals!

Q: Who developed the Bioecological Model?

A: Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005).

Q: What does the Bioecological Model emphasize about human development?

A: Contexts affect human development.

Q: How is context described in Bronfenbrenner’s model?

A: Context is complex, dynamic, and inter-related.

Q: How many levels of context did Bronfenbrenner identify and name?

A: Five levels of context.

Q: Why was identifying the five levels of context important?

A: Allowed for better examinations of the role of context in influencing human development.

Q: How does the Bioecological Model describe a child’s environment?

A: As a series of nested structures that impact development.

Q: What is the Microsystem?

A: Family; bidirectionality.

Q: What is the Mesosystem?

A: Interconnections between microsystems.

Q: What is the Exosystem?

A: Indirect, but influential.

Q: What is the Macrosystem?

A: Larger cultural and social context.

Q: What is the Chronosystem?

A: Temporal dimension, change over time.

Q: Who developed the Bioecological Model?

A: Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005).

Q: What does the Bioecological Model emphasize about human development?

A: Contexts affect human development; context is complex, dynamic, and inter-related.

Q: How many levels of context did Bronfenbrenner identify and why?

A: Five levels of context, allowing for better examinations of the role of context in influencing human development.

Q: How did Bronfenbrenner later update his theory?

A: Children influence their environments, are born with genetic potential (which is influenced by environment), and human development occurs due to increasingly complex interactions with others.