Chapter 1

Question 1

What is a Theory?

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

Lifespan Perspective

Answer 2

1. Development is lifelong
2. Development is multidimensional & multidirectional
3. Development is plastic
4. Development is influenced by multiple interacting forces

Question 3

What’re the three interacting forces that impact development according to the lifespan perspective?

Answer 3

1. Age-graded
2. History-graded
3. Non-normative

Question 4

Age-graded influence

Answer 4

Events that all occur during the same age in a society.

Ex: Getting a Driver’s License

Question 5

History-graded influence

Answer 5

Development is strongly impacted by the historical events occurring during that time.

Ex: The Great Depression

Question 6

Non-normative influences

Answer 6

Irregular events that occur to some people but not everybody.

Ex: Child goes to hockey camp

Question 7

What’re the three domains of the lifespan development perspective?

Answer 7

Cognitive, Physical, & Emotional/Social

Question 8

G. Stanley Hall & Arnold Gesell

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Sigmund Freud

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development

Answer 11

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital

Question 12

Oral Stage

Answer 12

0-18 months

Focus: Mouth, tongue, lips

Hurdles: Weening off breast feeding or formula

Fixation: Smoking, overeating

Question 13

Anal Stage

Answer 13

1-3 years

Focus: Anus

Hurdles: Toilet training

Fixation: Orderliness, Messiness

Question 14

Phallic Stage

Answer 14

3-6 years

Focus: Genitals

Hurdles: Resolving Oedipus/Electra Complex

Fixation: Deviancy, Sexual Dysfunction

Question 15

Latency Stage

Answer 15

6-11 years

Focus: None

Hurdles: Developing defense mechanisms

Fixation: None

Question 16

Genital Stage

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Erik Erikson

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Erikson’s First Stage

Answer 18

1st year of life: Trust vs Mistrust

Favorable: Faith in the environment and future events

Unfavorable: Suspicion, fear of future events

Question 19

Erikson’s Second Stage

Answer 19

2nd year of life: Autonomy vs. Doubt

Favorable: A sense of self control & adequacy

Unfavorable: Feelings of shame & self-doubt

Question 20

Erikson’s Third Stage

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Erikson’s Fourth Stage

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Erikson’s Fifth Stage

Answer 22

Adolescence: Identity vs. Confusion

Favorable: Seeing one’s self as a unique and integrated person

Unfavorable: Confusion over who and what one really is

Question 23

Erikson’s Sixth Stage

Answer 23

Early Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation

Favorable: Ability to make commitments with others, to love

Unfavorable: Inability to form affectionate relationship

Question 24

Erikson’s Seventh Stage

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

Erikson’s Eighth Stage

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Behaviorism

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Social Learning Theory

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Piaget’s Cognitive Development

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Piaget: Sensory Motor Stage

Answer 29

Birth to 2 y/o

Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing)

Developing object permanence and stranger anxiety

Question 30

Sensory Memory

Answer 30

Holds 3-5 items for 0.5-3 seconds

Question 31

Short-Term Memory

Answer 31

Holds 7-9 items for 5-15 seconds

Question 32

Lev Vygotsky

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Ecological Systems Theory

Answer 34

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.

Question 35

What is the gold standard for experimentation?

Answer 35

Randomized controlled trials