(1) Developmental Psychology Themes & Theories

Question 1

What is the cohort effect?

Answer 1

People who were born around the same time and in a similar culture will be exposed to similar characteristics which people from other generations might not be

Question 2

What is Nature vs Nurture?

Answer 2

is psychological development due to biology or environment?

Question 3

What is Continuity vs Discontinuity?

Answer 3

is development a process of progressive growth or through a step by step process?

Question 4

What are Critical and Sensitive Periods?

Answer 4

are some periods of the development process more prone to learning of new skills than others?

Question 5

What did Locke (1960) consider mind as?

Answer 5

considered the mind as a ‘blank slate’ (the tabula rasa), Babies are open to experience, not bringing anything into the world biologically, their interactions and experiences shape them

Question 6

What did Kant, Leibnitz and Descartes believe?

Answer 6

believed that children already have an innate understanding to the world, experiences don’t shape them, Already have an ability to understand things, bring them into the world from birth

Question 7

What is Nativism?

Answer 7

development is primarily determined but inherited factures (nature)

Question 8

What is Empiricism?

Answer 8

development is determined by environmental influences (nurture)

Question 9

Which two ways can children learn to read?

Answer 9

It can be incremental but also has qualitative jumps, some psychologists see development as smooth and continuous, building from previous abilities OR Others see is as discontinuous, happening in a series of stages or steps

Question 10

What does Genie’s case study prove?

Answer 10

Proves that there is a window of opportunity to learn a primary language

Question 11

What is a Critical Period?

Answer 11

age range during which specific experiences are vital for development to occur in a typical and appropriate way

Question 12

What is a Sensitive Period?

Answer 12

age range when experiences are important for typical development

Question 13

What did Darwin do in terms of child development?

Answer 13

Darwin was the first to conduct scientific observations of infants’ sensory abilities and young children’s emotions

Question 14

Freud’s psycho-dynamic theory was mainly based on?

Answer 14

adults with mental health problems

Question 15

What is the oral stage?

Answer 15

(experiences with mouth e.g. feeding) 0-1

Question 16

What is the anal stage?

Answer 16

(starting to be toilet trained) 1-3

Question 17

What is the phallic stage?

Answer 17

(aware of genitals, notices gender differences) 3-6

Question 18

What is the latency stage?

Answer 18

(no concerns of sexuality) 6-12

Question 19

What age does the genital stage occur?

Answer 19

12+

Question 20

What stage of life does Erik Erikson focus on?

Answer 20

Erik Erikson’s theory of personality development is not limited to childhood, but applied to all of the human lifespan

Question 21

How do you move onto the next stage of life? (Erikson)

Answer 21

Need to solve conflicts till you can move onto the next stage of life

Question 22

What did Gessel (1940) study?

Answer 22

Gessel (1940s) studied film of children’s motor activity in a longitudinal study (0-9)

Question 23

What is the cephalocaudal trend? (Gessel)

Answer 23

from head to feet (e.g. neck before legs)

Question 24

What is the proximodistal trend? (Gessel)

Answer 24

from centre to periphery of the body (e.g. torso before hands) controlled before control of hands

Question 25

What did McGraw (1945) observe?

Answer 25

observed two identical twins, who despite having different levels of motor stimulation developed at similar times

Question 26

What does McGraw (1945) say about biological timetables?

Answer 26

These authors defend the idea that ‘biological timetables’, set out by genes, determine the way that the skills appear and unfold

Question 27

What does the idea of behaviorism claim?

Answer 27

Supports the idea that changes in behaviour happen gradually and not in shifts or stages

Question 28

What is Classical conditioning?

Answer 28

A type of leaning in which two stimuli are repeatedly presented together until individuals learn to respond to the unfamiliar stimulus in the same way they respond to the familiar stimulus

Question 29

Who supported the idea of classical conditioning?

Answer 29

Pavlov, Watson

Question 30

What is Operant conditioning?

Answer 30

A type of learning that depends on the consequences of behaviour; rewards increase the likelihood that a behaviour will occur, whereas punishment decreases that likelihood

Question 31

Who supported the idea of operant conditioning?

Answer 31

Thorndike, Skinner

Question 32

What does the social learning theory show?

Answer 32

SLT stresses the importance of observation and imitation in the acquisition of new behaviours

Question 33

Research revealed the importance of cognitive processes in learning by imitation, this led to…

Answer 33

This led Bandura to propose the Model of Observational Learning

Question 34

What is attention in terms of Model of Observational Learning?

Answer 34

Attention (experience, personality characteristics, relationship with model, situational variables)

Question 35

What is retention in terms of Model of Observational Learning?

Answer 35

Retention (Rehearsal, organisation, recall, other cognitive skills)

Question 36

What is reproduction in terms of Model of Observational Learning?

Answer 36

Reproduction (cognitive representation, concept matching, use of feedback)

Question 37

What is motivation in terms of Model of Observational Learning?

Answer 37

Motivation (external incentives, vicarious incentives, self-evaluation, internalised standards)