3 main approaches in developmental psychology

Question 1

5 main points to consider for each theory?

Answer 1

• problems
• suggestions of the theory
• nature of development suggested by theory
• basic nature of humans
• agents of change

Question 2

Ecological systems theory - who & when & what?

Answer 2

Bronfenbrenner (1977) - looks at the environment the child is in - development in context - social constructivist approach

Question 3

Microsystem

Answer 3

• Direct interactions with the child
• Most influential
• Family, school, peers, neighborhood, health services

Question 4

Mesosystem

Answer 4

• The RELATIONSHIPS between the microsystem components
• Can be +/-
• e.g. parents relationship with the school teachers

Question 5

Exosystem

Answer 5

• indirect parts of child’s development
• will impact on their lives but may never meet them
• e.g. legal services/neighborhood

Question 6

Macrosystem

Answer 6

• the culture the child is in

- e.g. ethnic culture, socioeconomic culture

Question 7

Chronosystem

Answer 7

• the dimension of time
• how an event in one’s life/ the generations life will impact the development
• technology, WW2
• RELATE TO: appropriation (vygotsky) - each gen creates different uses for things

Question 8

main problems of the ecological theory

Answer 8

1) Bronfenbrenner (1979) said that it must also happen in naturalistic settings as well as experimental settings.
a) Tudge et al. 2009 - only 4/25 (16%) studies used all of Bron’s criteria when using EST
b) Burns & Warmbold - Brann (2015) - 10.9 % reviewed used the criteria
BUT - only used small sample (% inflation) & only 1 match of the dv to “meet the criterion”

2) Neal & Neal (2013) Lack of research into the macrosystem & exosystem AND precise relationships between levels of the systems remain elusive
- Bronfen said they were “nested” (1979) BUT maybe best to describe them as networks bc the overlap not nest - puts more focus on INTERACTIONS - what EST is

Question 9

Nature of development in EST

Answer 9

• the less conflict & more nurture in the levels –> the better the development of the child (Betancourt & Khan, 2008)
• not all components of each system will have equal impact on the development of the child (Lauricella et al 2015)
• vygotsky: child plays an active role in their development, humans create environments to shape their own development (1978) – scaffolding

Question 10

main modular characteristics (8) - who & what

Answer 10

Fodor 1983

• domain specific
• fixed neural architecture
• limited accessibility
• encapsulation of modules
• fast outputs
• shallow outputs
• characteristic ontogeny
• mandatory firing

Question 11

problems with modularity (2)

Answer 11

1) it isn’t a developmental theory - it doesnt explain development over time (Karmiloff-smith, 1992)
2) it just isnt supported in the lab - Prinz (2006)
- Broca’s area has been attributed to a big area
- vision (space vs colour) are two diff areas
- neuroimaging studies often implicate a larger area - not just a small one; size of networks is often underestimated.

Question 12

neuroconstructivst approach - who & components

Answer 12

Karmiloff - Smith (1992)

• Genes
• Gene expression
• Cognitive processes
• Behaviour
• Neurobiology of Brain
• Environment

Question 13

problems with neuroc

Answer 13

Ramus (2004):

• “ideologically loaded” bc it is apparently based on constructivism
• i.e. the mind can have little innate structure beyond sensation (i.e. it’s mainly the enviro)
• leads us to disregard a lot of data that doesnt fit the models

Question 14

Argument back to the problem of neuroc

Answer 14

Karmiloff-smith (2009)

• the focus is on genes, enviro, cog & brain
• focus on dynamic change
• it DOES include some innate structure: neuron density & type, firing threshold
• DOESNT say the brain is a blank state
• domain relevant domains develop into domain specific

Question 15

domain relevant - what? & evidence?

Answer 15

• different parts of the brain have small structural differences which turn out to be more appropriate kinds of processing over others
• these biases aid learning & attention
• Sirois et al. (2008): infants up to 6 mos of age = can distinguish speech sounds produced in human language
  THEN 6-12 mos = can only distinguish speech sounds from their native language **brain + enviro **
  “progressive specialization does not simply limit
  future adaptations but can also facilitate learning (building blocks)”

Question 16

nature & development of change on neuroc

Answer 16

!OFFERS A THEORY BASED ON CHANGE AND DEV OUTCOMES! - looks at dev trajectories (Karm- s, 2007)

1) brain is self structuring & dynamically changing as a result of various interactions
2) major and structural changes across dev:
a) cortex is initially interconnected –> specialised (D’souza & Karmiloff smith, 2011)
3) domain relevance –> domain specificity

Question 17

modularity & the “normal range” problem

Answer 17

Modularity: “genetic disorders show differences from the normal range”

neuroc: Karmiloff smith (2009)
- tendency to slip from relative to absolute comparisons
- may be both domains that are impaired but the processing demands of task only show 1
- what is normal range??
a) individuals with WS show behaviour in normal range on tasks for face recognition (Karmiloff-smith, 2004)

Question 18

modualrity vs neuroconstructivism

2) research methods

Answer 18

• Modularity sees as static & innate - doesnt tell us anything about deelopmental CHANGE
• Should look at trajectories - may reveal about impaired domain (Van- Herwegem et al. 2008)
• cross sectional aren’t total rubbish (Ramus, 2004)
• still not developmental theory (Karmiloff-smith, 2009)

Question 19

modualrity

3) innate/domain specificity

Answer 19

• no
• brain is interconnected & becomes specialised over time (d’souza & Karmiloff-smith 2011)
• ratio of grey & white matter changes (maturation = more white matter) Groeshel et al.2010)
• corpus callosum inc number of fibres with age (Geidd et al. 1996) –> improvement of function