Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is a Theory?
A theory is a system of ideas intended to explain some sort of human existence; it describes, explains, and predicts behavior.
They need consistent verification through experimentation.
Lifespan Perspective
- Development is lifelong
- Development is multidimensional & multidirectional
- Development is plastic
- Development is influenced by multiple interacting forces
What’re the three interacting forces that impact development according to the lifespan perspective?
- Age-graded
- History-graded
- Non-normative
Age-graded influence
Events that all occur during the same age in a society.
Ex: Getting a Driver’s License
History-graded influence
Development is strongly impacted by the historical events occurring during that time.
Ex: The Great Depression
Non-normative influences
Irregular events that occur to some people but not everybody.
Ex: Child goes to hockey camp
What’re the three domains of the lifespan development perspective?
Cognitive, Physical, & Emotional/Social
G. Stanley Hall & Arnold Gesell
Maturational Process – genetically programed system of naturally unfolding process
Normative Process – to describe “typical” behavior, you must test a large number of people across situations. Once this data is collected, you can discuss “stages”
Developed a system of questionnaires for different ages.
Helped parents to know about child development at every age regarding what to do and what to expect.
1st Psychologists to survey large population and create a normal distribution/bell curve.
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Development is moving through a series of stages confronting conflicts between biological drives and social expectations.
The person’s ability to reach resolution of these conflicts shows how much they can learn, how much they can manage their anxiety, and how well they can make and maintain relationships.
Sigmund Freud
1800s Austrian neurologist whom invented psychoanalysis
Focused on the unconscious mind & examined dreams and repressed sexual desires
His theory is that parents must manage their child’s aggressive and sexual behaviors for proper development
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital
Oral Stage
0-18 months
Focus: Mouth, tongue, lips
Hurdles: Weening off breast feeding or formula
Fixation: Smoking, overeating
Anal Stage
1-3 years
Focus: Anus
Hurdles: Toilet training
Fixation: Orderliness, Messiness
Phallic Stage
3-6 years
Focus: Genitals
Hurdles: Resolving Oedipus/Electra Complex
Fixation: Deviancy, Sexual Dysfunction
Latency Stage
6-11 years
Focus: None
Hurdles: Developing defense mechanisms
Fixation: None
Genital Stage
11+ years
Focus: None
Hurdles: Reaching Full Sexual Maturity
Fixation: If all stages are met, then the person should be sexually matured and mentally healthy.
Erik Erikson
German development psychologist and psychoanalyst who learned psychoanalysis from Anna Freud.
Also studied Montessori method
Psychosocial Theory – besides the ego mediating desires between the Id and Superego, the ego must also be actively developing and growing, learning new skills and contributiing to society
Erikson’s First Stage
1st year of life: Trust vs Mistrust
Favorable: Faith in the environment and future events
Unfavorable: Suspicion, fear of future events
Erikson’s Second Stage
2nd year of life: Autonomy vs. Doubt
Favorable: A sense of self control & adequacy
Unfavorable: Feelings of shame & self-doubt
Erikson’s Third Stage
3-5 years: Initiative vs. Guilt
Favorable: Ability to be a self-starter, to initiate one’s own activities.
Unfavorable: A sense of guilt & inadequacy to be on one’s own.
Erikson’s Fourth Stage
6th year to puberty: Industry vs. Inferiority
Favorable: Ability to understand how things work, to organize and understand
Unfavorable: A sense of inferiority and guilt at understanding & organizing
Erikson’s Fifth Stage
Adolescence: Identity vs. Confusion
Favorable: Seeing one’s self as a unique and integrated person
Unfavorable: Confusion over who and what one really is
Erikson’s Sixth Stage
Early Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Favorable: Ability to make commitments with others, to love
Unfavorable: Inability to form affectionate relationship
Erikson’s Seventh Stage
Middle Age: Generatively vs. Self-absorption
Favorable: Concern for family and society in general
Unfavorable: Concern only for one’s self - one’s own well-being and prosperity.
Erikson’s Eighth Stage
Aging Years: Integrity vs. Dispair
Favorable: A sense of integrity and fulfillment, willingness to face death
Unfavorable: Dissatisfaction with life; despair over prospect of death
Behaviorism
Only focused on the development of what can be seen: observed behaviors (Stimulus – Response pairs)
Conditioning is associating a neutral stimulus with another stimulus will lead to a response
John Watson – paired the stimulus of a white rat with a loud sound in Little Albert
B.F. Skinner – Operant Conditioning – behavior is increased with reinforcers and decreased with punishment
Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura: Focused on cognition with behavior
- Children learn through imitation or observation
- Children learn self-efficacy through watching others be successful
- Children also learn personal standards for behavior
Piaget’s Cognitive Development
Cognitive Developmental Theory: Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world - little scientists
Focus on Adaptation
Children seek equilibration – a balance between what they experience internally and externally
Piaget: Sensory Motor Stage
Birth to 2 y/o
Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing)
Developing object permanence and stranger anxiety
Sensory Memory
Holds 3-5 items for 0.5-3 seconds
Short-Term Memory
Holds 7-9 items for 5-15 seconds
Lev Vygotsky
Influenced by Communism
Sociocultural Theory – culture is transmitted through society from generation to generation
Social interaction of parents with children helps them develop
Zone of Proximal Development
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development
The zone of the closest, most immediate psychological development of the children that includes a wide range of their emotional, cognitive, and volitional psychological processes.
Ex: Hammer & nail father & daughter video
Ecological Systems Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner: the person develops through a system of complex systems of relationships affected by many levels of the surrounding environment
Enriched environments foster more developed people
Microsystem: Immediate family, neighborhood play area, child-care interactions, etc.
Exosystem: Neighborhood, friends, extended family, workplace, etc.
Macrosystem: Country and immediate location’s values, laws, & customs
Chronosystem: made up of the environmental events and transitions that occur throughout a child’s life, including any sociohistorical events.
What is the gold standard for experimentation?
Randomized controlled trials
