chapter 1 Flashcards
development is?
multidirectional
multidimensional
plastic
multidisciplinary
contextual
multi-dimensional development
- has many different domains; physical, cognitive, social, emotional, etc
multi-directional development
- kids shape parents and siblings shape each other.
- kids personalities and mannerisms can change parents. Sometimes children change a parent the parent may decide they do not want children anymore. We all shape each other
plasticity in development
neuroplasticity - the brain’s ability to change and adapt dependent on physical damage, hard experiences, psychological and emotional trauma.
- our learning and experiences change our brains.
structural and functional plastic development
structural - experiences or memories change a brain’s physical structure
functional - brain functions move from damaged areas to undamaged areas
development: growth, maintenance, loss
growth: the ability to learn new things, have new abilities, and grow as a person
maintenance: the ability to maintain the abilities you have and hold steady. This is the same for cognitive and physical abilities. It’s good to grow but sometime all we can do is maintain
loss: it happens, how we deal with it, come back from it, and learn from it
multidisciplinary
- being able to unlock all of the mysteries of development throughout various stages of life
- medicine, chemistry, history, ecology, communication, etc
contextual development
our growth and development is very specific to our own circumstances and aspects of our lives
- exposures to things, experiences, people, lives, languages/cultures, locations, etc.
nature versus nurture
nature is more of the genetics and where we come from, by genetic inheritance and biological factors. Nurture is like an influence of outside factors like the environment, and the exposure or experiences of an individual
what happens with just nature
◦With just nature people may assume that only environment matters, and if you grew up with a bad parent you may be a bad parent. Or if parents don’t teach us right that we will be destined to not do well.. Maybe even that only people who are genetically fit should possess
the ability to reproduce.
- can lead to us not to think about experiences on top of genes. Make us not realize that genetics and a person’s experiences influence their personality
what happens with just nurture
◦With nurture the idea is that a child’s environment may influence the way they grow up, and
who they grow to be. “That you can take a child and turn them into whomever and however
you want them to be” not necessarily true.
nature is more than what? and is?
‣ Nature is more than just genes
‣ Even when we know someone’s genetics anything can happen.
‣ We may assume that if two good athletes have kids they will have very athletic kids but
that will not always be the case. Statistically this will happen most of the time but not all
of the time.
‣ Ugly people may have beautiful kids or beautiful people may have ugly kids.
‣ Non-athletic people may have kids that are very good athletes.
- Scarr’s View of Nature x Nature Interactions
◦Environment vs. genotype interactions
the passive part of Scarr’s view of nature x nurture
‣ Passive -> not your own genes but your parents genes. Your context and abilities are
based partially on your parents genes. You environment was shaped by the environment
and behaviors based on your genes.
the evocative part of Scarr’s view of nature x nurture
‣ Evocative -> based on who you are from the very start each person has their own unique
way of interacting with the world. Some evoke different responses. Pretty babies are
more likely to get a different and more reactions than that of a uglier baby. Those that
may be more interactive, make eye contact, and look around from the start as a baby
may get more reactions and responses from people around them.
the active part of Scarr’s view of nature x nurture
‣ Active (niche-picking) -> Based on genes but a combination of evocative and passive
interactions by around middle school you start getting into active. By this time this is
when people start niche-picking and not only finding who they are, but if they are an
athlete, nerd, leader, or what they do.
Robert Plomin: non-shared environment
◦Age, race, gender, family income, what school you go to, where you live.
‣ This is the shared environment in families.
◦What really makes sense are the non-shared environments in families
‣ Who’s the favorite child, age differences, behaviors. These small differences ex:
individual is a good athlete, but the older sibling is an even better athlete. the small
differences do better at showing who we are.
continuity versus discontinuity:
continuity: we get older, we get taller, we become more of what we are, we change in
weight, we change in verbal development
continuity versus discontinuity: discontinuity
- things like cognitive development (brain shifts in the way you think; may not
be more of something but a different stage shift where the brain does something different.
Not always learning more, but learning in a different way) Ex: addition is hard but then
learning the concept of subtraction. Puberty: disrupts everything and changes so much
brofenbrenner’s model
‣ holds the theory that development reflects the influence of several environmental systems
‣ Time: sociohistorical conditions ad time since life events
◦Gave a system for understanding the ways that different people and researchers see human
development.
the steps/stages to Brofenbrenner’s model
Think about age, health, gender, etc, in an individual
- then think about the microsystem
- then the mesosystem
- then the exosystem
- macrosystem
Brofenbrenner’s model microsystem
family, health services, school, peers, church group,
neighborhood play area. Things you may see every day or on a regular basis
* If something is not on a regular basis it may not be part of the microsystem. if it is
this scenario it may more likely be your
Brofenbrenner’s model mesosytem
relationships between the things in the microsystem
and the exosystem. Interactions between parents/guardian with teachers, relationship
parents have with each other or relationship of a parent with a child’s friends parents.
Brofenbrenner’s model exosystem
These are less direct and are things that are in relation with the mesosystem. Links between a social setting in which the individual does
Friends of family, neighbors, mass media, social welfare services,
legal services. Things out there that kind of influence you but aren’t very important to daily life.
Brofenbrenner’s model macrosystem
The attitudes and ideologies of the culture. Things that are not common in all parts of the world.
the culture in which an individual lives
role of the child (active vs. passive in Brofenbrenner’s model)
Active: actively shaping versus working on development of your life
Passive:
Brofenbrenner’s model chronosystem:
the patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as sociohistorical circumstances
