Foundations of developmental psychology

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Assessment Overview

  • Case Analysis: 50%, due April 24.
  • Final Exam: 50%, during the final examination period.

Case Analysis Details

  • Due: Thursday, April 24, 11:59 pm via Canvas.
  • Task: Identify three environmental influences from a case study and argue their impact on development.
  • Word Limit: 2,000 words.
  • Includes title page and APA 7th edition references.
  • 48-hour automatic extension available.

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Developmental Psychology Definition

  • Explores patterns of stability, continuity, growth, and change throughout life.

Domains of Development

  • Physical: Growth of body and organs, physiological systems, motor abilities.
  • Cognitive: Changes in perception, language, memory, problem-solving.
  • Psychosocial: Changes in personal and interpersonal aspects.

Conceptualizing the Lifespan

  • Prenatal Period.
  • Infancy (Birth to 2 years).
  • Early Childhood (2 to 6 years).
  • Middle Childhood (6 to 12 years).
  • Adolescence (12 to 18 years).
  • Early Adulthood (20-35 years).
  • Middle Adulthood (35-50 years).
  • Late Adulthood (50+ years).

Fundamental Issues in Developmental Psychology

  • Nature vs. Nurture
  • Maturation vs. Experience
  • Continuity vs. Discontinuity
  • Activity vs. Passivity
  • Universality vs. Specificity

Nature vs. Nurture

  • Nature: Biogenetic and hereditary influences.
  • Nurture: Environmental influences (relationships, culture).
  • Both Nature and Nurture are important.

Maturation vs. Experience

  • Maturation: Developmental changes over time due to biology.
  • Experience: Developmental changes related to specific experiences.

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

  • Continuity: Gradual development with incremental change.
  • Discontinuity: Development in distinct stages with different behaviors and qualities.

Active vs. Passive

  • Active: Individuals are active agents in their own development.
  • Passive: Development occurs through environmental events requiring responses.

Universal vs. Specific

  • Universal: General trend applicable to all individuals and groups.
  • Specific: Patterns specific to a particular context or setting.

Theories of Development

  • Psychoanalytic (Freud and Erikson).
  • Cognitive-Development (Piaget and Vygotsky).
  • Learning (Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura).
  • Contextual (Bronfenbrenner).

Freud’s Personality Structures

  • Id: Unconscious, selfish instincts (pleasure principle).
  • Ego: Reality and problem-solving (reality principle).
  • Superego: Conscience and sense of right and wrong.

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

  • Oral (Birth-1 year): Focus on mouth, feeding.
  • Anal (1-3 years): Focus on anus, toilet training.
  • Phallic (3-6 years): Focus on genitals, gender role, moral development.
  • Latency (6-12 years): Suspended sexual activity, focus on physical and intellectual activities.
  • Genital (12-adulthood): Mature sexual relationships develop.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development

  • Conflicts are mechanisms for growth.
  • Emphasis on social influences.
  • Rational and active resolution of conflicts.

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages

  • Trust vs. Mistrust (Birth-1 year): Hope.
  • Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (1-3 years): Will.
  • Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 years): Purpose.
  • Industry vs. Inferiority (6-12 years): Competence.
  • Identity vs. Role Confusion (12-19 years): Fidelity.
  • Intimacy vs. Isolation (19-25 years): Love.
  • Generativity vs. Stagnation (25-50 years): Care.
  • Ego Integrity vs. Despair (50+ years): Wisdom.

Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory

  • Reciprocal interactions between individual and environment.
  • Microsystem: Face-to-face interactions.
  • Mesosystem: Connections between microsystems.
  • Exosystem: Indirect influences.
  • Macrosystem: General aspects of society.
  • Chronosystem: Time and historical events.

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Levels

  • Microsystem: Family, school, peer group, church, workplace.
  • Mesosystem: Home-school, workplace-family.
  • Exosystem: Spouse's workplace, local school board.
  • Macrosystem: Ideology, social policy.

Learning Theories

  • Classical conditioning (Pavlov).
  • Operant conditioning (Skinner).
  • Social Learning (Bandura).

Classical Conditioning

  • Unconditioned stimulus/unconditioned response.
  • Neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus.
  • Neutral stimulus --> Conditioned stimulus.
  • Conditioned stimulus/unconditioned response.
  • Reflex learning.

Operant Conditioning

  • Reinforcement strengthens the response.
  • Punishment weakens the response.
  • Positive: Addition.
  • Negative: Withdrawal.

Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

  • Learn through modeling.
  • Imitate modeled behavior.
  • Observe rewards or consequences.

Cognitive-Development: Piaget

  • Children actively construct new understandings.
  • Four stages of thought.
    • Sensorimotor stage.
    • Pre-operational stage.
    • Concrete operational stage.
    • Formal operational stage.
  • Assimilation: Fitting new information into existing schemas.
  • Accommodation: Forming new schemas.
  • Adaptation: Deepening or strengthening schemas.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

  • Sensorimotor (Birth-2 years): Object permanence.
  • Preoperational (2-7 years): Symbolic representation, egocentric view.
  • Concrete operational (7-11 years): Logical operations, concrete problems.
  • Formal operational (11-adulthood): Abstract symbols, hypothetical problems.

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development

  • Cultural nature of human development.
  • Social interaction drives cognitive development.
  • Scaffolding: Support provided by others.