PSY 2105 Overall (found on Quizlet)

Developmental Psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Five reasons to study children:

1. Many changes - rapidly!
2. Change is important
3. Understanding of certain adult behaviours
4. Real-life applications
5. Captivating period to study.

Tabula Rasa

• This phrase is Latin for "Blank Slate." The philosopher John Locke referred to the mind of a young person unaffected by experience as a \______ \____.

John Locke

17th century English philosopher. Wrote that the mind was a "blank slate" or "tabula rasa"; that is, people are born without innate ideas. We are completely shaped by our environment .

Nativism

the theory that human development results principally from inborn processes that guide the emergence of behaviours in a predictable manner.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

He felt that people were born good. And that all they needed was to be nurtured and protected and they would grow up with the normal milestones and would grow up to be good people.

Johann Gottfried von Herder

Infants are born into a particular cultural community with a shared language and traditions which shape the minds of the members

Cultural relativism

The practice of trying to understand a culture on its own terms and to judge a culture by its own standards.

Charles Darwin

English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection

Theory of Evolution

This theory stated that animals could evolve from other animals in order to adapt to their environments. This theory was not widely accepted for it could possibly account for humans which would defeat the whole purpose of creationism

Natural Selection

an evolutionary process proposed by Charles Darwin, in which characteristics of an individual. The evolutionary model thus suggests that some of the present-day behaviours of humans had their origins countless years ago, when they somehow contributed to the survival of an earlier form of a species.

Recapitulation

the development of the individual replicated that of the species. Development of individuals goes through the same stages of development of the entire species; development of individuals repeat the evolutionary stages our ancestors. Eg. Human development follows the same stages of different pre-human species.

Baby biography

observational records made by parents or other caregivers of an infants' early development

G. Stanley Hall

opened first psychology lab in the US, and he founded and became the first president of the APA.

Founder of the field of developmental psychology

G. Stanley Hall

Conducted and published the first studies of children

G. Stanley Hall

James Mark Baldwin

The man was the first academic psychologist in Canada. Set up a psych lab at the University of Toronto

Zeitgeist

dominant perspective/ideas of a given period, beliefs, factors, influences of a particular time period

John B. Watson

behaviorism; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat

Behaviourism

a theory of psychology, first advanced by John B. Watson, that human development results primarily from conditioning and learning processes.

Introspection

examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

Arnold Gessell

an early child developmentalist who believed that nature provided only a "blueprint for development" through maturation and that environment or nurture filled in the details. Human development is mostly influenced by biological processes

Maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Norm

a timetable of age ranges indicating when normal growth and development milestones are typically reached.

One of G. Stanley Hall's Students

Arnold Gesell

Sigmund Freud

Austrian physician whose work focused on the unconscious causes of behavior and personality formation; founded psychoanalysis.

Psychosexual Development

the process by which libidinal energy is expressed through different erogenous zones during different stages of development

Two fundamental concepts of Freud

1. Interactionist perspective:
inborn processes + environmental factors.
2. Early experiences influence later behaviour.

Interactionist perspective

views both inborn processes environmental factors as significant contributors to the child's development.

Oral Stage

- Libido is situated at the mouth.
- Principal source of physical pleasure is sucking

Anal Stage

- Principal source of physical pleasure is first on having bowel movements and then controlling the bladder and bowel movements

Phallic Stage

Freud's third stage of personality development, from about age 4 through age 7, during which children obtain gratification primarily from the genitals.

Latency Stage

fourth stage occurring during the school years, in which the sexual feelings of the child are repressed while the child develops in other ways

Genital Stage

Freud's last stage of personality development, from the onset of puberty through adulthood, during which the sexual conflicts of childhood resurface (at puberty) and are often resolved during adolescence).

Repression

In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories.

Identification

The process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parent's values into their developing superegos

Erik Erikson

Psychoanalytic psychologist, re-envisioned the psychosexual stages as eight psychosocial stages.

Identity

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

Psychosocial Model

Erikson's model of developmental theory based on specific psychosocial crises that occur throughout the lifespan.

Nature vs Nurture

name for a controversy in which it is debated whether genetics or environment is responsible for driving behavior

Continuity

constant, connected, gradual, continuous, smooth and steady change (starfish)

Discontinuity

uneven, disconnected, stages, discontinuous, erratic and abrupt change (dragonfly)

Normative Development

the typical sequence of developmental changes for a group of people

Idiographic Development

Study of individual differences

Cognitive-Development Approach

Changes in children's behaviours and abilities \= changes in children's knowledge and intellectual skills

Genetic Epistemology

the experimental study of the development of knowledge, developed by Piaget

\___ \___ can be explain by functions and cognitive structures.

human development

Scheme

In Piaget's theory, organized group of similar actions or thoughts that are used repeatedly in response to the environment.

Assimilation

According to Piaget, the process by which new ideas and experiences are absorbed and incorporated into existing mental structures and behaviors

Accomodation

Adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Adaptation

A characteristic that improves an individual's ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

Constructivism

A theory of learning that claims that individuals actively construct knowledge, rather than passively receiving it. Supports the case for learner-centered instruction and experiential learning.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operations, formal operations

Sensorimotor Period

In Piaget's theory, the period of cognitive development from birth to about 2 years, in which the child has not yet achieved object permanence.

Preoperational Period

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development, lasting from ages 2 to about 6; children begin to think symbolically but often lack the ability to perform mental operations such as conservation

Concrete Operations Period

According to Piaget's theory of development, 6-11 years; Reasoning is based on a logic that is tied to what can be perceived; capable of concrete operations; organizing information systematically into categories; able to use mental tools to classify objects and their properties; better able to reason logically

Formal Operations Period

Stage 4: Adolescence (12-adult); can reason abstractly and solve complex problems, expanded possibilities for understanding the world,can perform hypothetical-deductive reasoning, integrate past knowledge to consider many future possibilities

Animism

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.

During which stage of cognitive development is animism present?

Preoperational

Conservation

Ability to recognize that objects can be transformed in some way, visually or physically, yet still be the same in number, weight, substance, or volume

Information Processing Model of Cognition

1. Sensory Input
2. Information Processing
3. Behavioural Output

Sociocultural Approach

an approach to psychology that examines the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior.

Influenced by the Marxist views of socialism and collectivism.

Sociocultural Approach

Tools of intellectual adaptation

Vygotsky's term for methods of thinking and problem-solving strategies that children internalize from their interactions with more competent members of society

Dialectical Process

the process in vygotzky's theory whereby children learn through problem solving experiences shared with others.

Internalization

vygotsky's term for the child's incorporation, primarily through language, of bodies of knowledge and tools of thought from the culture.

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Model

environmental influences on development. 5 interacting systems--microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem

Microsystem

In the bioecological model, the immediate environment that an individual personally experiences (parents and siblings, doctors office, day-care)

Mesosystem

Is made up of the interrelationships between the major settings in which the person participates in (eg. between family members and between family members and school personnel)

Exosystem

relationship between two or more systems where one is indirect, elements in broader environment that affect the child's immediate environment and include the parents workplace, the school board, community agencies, local industry, and mass media

Macrosystem

the cultural and subcultural context in which the other systems are embedded. e.g. racism, socioeconomic conditions, cultural ideals re: child-rearing--all things that affect the child's development, outermost level of bronfenbrenner's model that is not a specific context but consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources (political systems, laws, religion, values, lifestyles)

Chronosystem

Bronfenbrenner's- final system; consists of environmental events that occur over an individual's lifespan and impact the individual in ways that depend on the individual's circumstances and developmental stage (e.g. the immediate and long-term effects of a change in family structure or socioeconomic status). , Brofenbrenner's design meaning time. Life changes can be imposed externally or can arise from within the person, since individuals shape many of their own settings and experiences

Three facts of learning

1. Learning is not temporary
2. Learning is demonstrable and observable
3. Learning is not related to biological processes

Respondent behaviours

based on reflexes and controlled by specific elicited behaviours.

Operant behaviours

voluntary responses controlled by their effects or consequences.

Habituation

disappearance of a response as a result of repeated elicitation of a stimulus

Classical Conditioning

Conditioning process in which an originally neutral stimulus, by repeated pairing with a stimulus that normally elicits a response, comes to elicit a similar or even identical response; aka Pavlovian conditioning

Stimulus generalization

Process by which a conditioned response becomes associated with a stimulus that is similar but not identical to the original conditioned stimulus

Extinction

In classical conditioning, the decrease in response resulting from repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

Negative Reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

Positive Punishment

Decreasing behavior by presenting a negative stimuli. (Adding something bad)

Negative Punishment

Decreasing behavior by stopping or reducing positive stimuli. (Subtracting something good)

Observational Learning

A form of learning in which behavior is modified as a result of watching others.

Vicarious reinforcement

Phenomenon in which a response increases in frequency when another person is observed being reinforced for that response.

Vicarious Punishment

Phenomenon in which a response decreases in frequency when another person is observed being punished for that response.

Imitation

behaviours from a model are copied

Response inhibition

absence of a behaviour that has just been observed

social learning theory

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Acquisition is influenced by:

1. attentional processes
2. retention processes

attentional processes

How closely the child will pay attention to the model

Retention processes

How well will the child remember the behaviours.

Performance of behaviours is influenced by:

1. production processes
2. motivational processes

Production processes

Child may not be physically able to follow the behaviour.
How well the child can reproduce the model's responses

Motivational Processes

Determine who and what a child chooses to imitate.
Child may not be motivated to follow model's behaviour

Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura's proposed process describing the interaction of a person's characteristics and abilities (P), behaviour (B) and environment (E).

Ethology

The role of evolution in the study of development.

From an ethological perspective, development is an outcome of two factors:

1. Immediate determinants
2. evolutionary determinants

Immediate determinants

environment (experiences) and internal state

Evolutionary determinants

behaviours from the evolutionary past that may have been responsible for survival