Chapter 1: History, Theories, Research Methods Flashcards
Child development
an area of study devoted to understanding constancy and change for conception through adolescence
Part of the larger field of developmental science
Periods of Development
Prenatal – conception to Birth
Infancy & Toddlerhood— Birth to 2 years
Early Childhood— 2-6 years
Middle Childhood— 6-11 years
Adolescence— 11-18 years
Emerging Adulthood— 18-25 years
Each stage of child development will be looked at with respect to the following categories:
• Physical:
The contributions of physical abilities to development (i.e., crawling, walking, reaching)
• Cognitive: How children learn and what they know (stages of mental growth, IQ, testing, language, etc.)
• Emotional & Social Domains:
Emotions, how children deal with their emotions, and a child’s ability to socialize with adults and children (developing bonds with parents, friendships, building self-awareness, etc.)
What components must a theory have to be useful?
- Describe
- Explain
- Predict
The 3 Basic Issues of Developmental Theory:
The 3 Central Developmental Issues
- Is development continuous or discontinuous?
- Is there one course of development, or many?
- What is the relative influence of nature and nurture?
Continuous vs. Discontinuous
Continuous:
The growth of a pine tree
Discontinuous:
The metamorphosis of a butterfly.
The same concept can sometimes be shown from both angles.
Height by Age
Height Gain Per Year
Stage Theories…
….
Stage theorists assume that people follow the same sequence of development, but is that really true…?
Even children from a single family can turn out very differently based on:
— Genetic differences
— Differences in treatment by parents and others
— Differences in reactions to similar experiences
— Differences in choice of environment
Contributions of Nature and Nurture
Nature:
Biological endowment; the genes we receive from our parents
Nurture:
Wide range of environments that influence our development
Contributions of Nature and Nurture
Example
Development of a strong conscience at age 5 is associated with gentle maternal discipline in children with a fearful temperament
For fearless children, though, a close relationship with the mother is associated with a strong conscience (regardless of discipline)
Early Philosophical Ideas:
Plato & Aristotle
The long-term welfare of society depends on children being raised properly.
“Now of all wild things, a boy is the most difficult to handle. Just because he more than any other has a fount of intelligence in him which has not yet run clear he is the crakiest, most mischievous, and unruliest of brutes.” - Plato
“It would seem then that a study of individual character is the best way of making education perfect, for then each [child] has a better chance of receiving the treatment that suits him.” - Aristotle
John Locke
1632-1704
Tabula Rasa: Latin for “Blank Slate”
Growth of Character
Parents set good examples of honesty, stability, and gentleness
Avoid Indulging: So as not to spoil. Introduce freedom slowly.
“I Imagine the mind of children as easily turned, this or that way as water itself.”
Forerunner of Behaviorism, nurture determines everything
Continuous Development, Many paths of development, high plasticity,
He did not give children enough credit for imposing on their environment
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1700’s
Noble savages: He believed that children are endowed with a sense of right and wrong
Built in moral sense
Adult receptivity
Rousseau introduced the concept of stages of development
He also introduced the concept of Maturation: the genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth
Discontinuous, single unified course dictated by nature.
Industrial Revolution
Young Children worked in horrible conditions.
Studies were done to assess the affects of heavy labor on young children.
This had a lot of influence on the field of Child Development Studies.
Charles Darwin
Two Big Ideas:
Natural Selection
Survival of the Fittest
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
Stanley Hall
Father of Psychology
1844–1924
– Devised theories based on evolutionary ideas
– Viewed development as a maturational process
– Launched the normative approach: measures behavior taken from large numbers of individuals and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development
– Questionares
Father of Psychology
Stanley Hall
Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon
Asked by Paris school officials to find a way to identify children with learning problems who needed to be placed in special classes.
Developed first intelligence test
Intelligence
- Good judgment
- Planning
- Critical reflection
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales
…..
Mid-Twentieth Century Developmental Theories
Psychodynamic Perspective: Freud
Erikson
Behaviorism & Social Learning Theory: Pavlov Watson Skinner Bandura
Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Scientists of Behaviorism & Social Learning Theory
Pavlov
Watson
Skinner
Bandura
Scientists of Psychodynamic Perspective:
Freud
Erikson
Scientists of Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Piaget
Psychodynamic Perspective
behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts of which a person has little awareness or control
Psychoanalytic: Freud
Psychosocial: Erikson
Discontinuous:
distinct stages of development
One course:
stages are assumed to be universal
Both Nature & Nurture:
innate impulses are channeled and controlled through child-rearing experiences
Sigmund Freud
We live in a world profoundly shaped by Freudian ideas
Lived from 1856-1939. Spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria.
Escaped to London at the beginning of WWII
Developed an all-encompassing theory
Extraordinary energy and productivity (in part because
of his cocaine addiction)
Seen as a sexual renegade
What did Freud say?
Architectural monuments are subconsciously developed as penile representations
Theory of Penis Envy:
Females realize they lack a penis and inferred they had been castrated.
Unconscious motivation and unconscious conflict which lead to:
Mental illnesses
Dreams
Freudian slips
Unconscious Motivation:
Rejecting the claim that you know what you are doing
The Id, Ego, and SuperEgo
The 3 Parts of Yourself,
According to Freud
Id: Birth
– Earliest and most primitive of 3 personality structures.
– “The dark, inaccessible part of our personality… a cauldron full of seething excitations in need of satisfaction”
– The Pleasure Principle: goal of achieving maximal gratification maximally quickly
Ego: Around Age 1
– “Stands for reason and good sense”
– The Reality Principle: we find ways to satisfy the Id that accord with the demands of the real world
Superego: between Ages 3 and 6
– Internalized rules
– Conscience
The Stages of PsychoSexual Development
Oral: Birth – 1 year
– Primary source of gratification and pleasure is oral activity.
– “If the infant could express itself, it would undoubtedly acknowledge that the act of sucking at its mother’s breast is far and away the most important thing in life” - Freud
– Issue: Premature weaning
Anal: 1–3 years
– Children’s erotic interests focus on the pleasurable relief of the tension derived from defecation.
– Issue: Toilet training handled correctly?
Phallic: 3–6 years – Children interested in own genitals – Boys take an interest in their penis, “so easily excitable and changeable and so rich in sensation” – Freud – Girls develop penis envy – Issue: Oedipus Complex
Latency: 6–11 years
– Out of sex business: sex is repressed until adolescence
Freud’s Oedipus Complex
“Mom is nice. I love Mom.”
“I want to marry Mom.”
Problem: Dad is in the way
Solution: Kill Dad
Erik Erikson
1902 – 1994
Born in Germany
Rather than pursuing a career, he wandered around Europe pursuing his interests in art for several years.
Hired by an art instructor in a school run by Anna Freud (S.F’s daughter) and became an analyst
Theory of Psychosocial Development
Theory of PsychoSocial Development:
The Stages
Birth–1 yr: Basic Trust vs. Mistrust
– “an essential trustfulness of others as well as a fundamental
sense of one’s own trustworthiness” -Erikson
– Mother must be warm, consistent, and reliable in her caregiving.
Ages 1-3.5 years: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
– Dramatic changes occur in children’s abilities; Battle of wills
– Parental support allows children to gain self-control autonomy forms
– Parental punishment result in children feeling shame
Ages 4-6 yrs: Initiative vs. Guilt
– “the child hitches his wagon to nothing less than a star: he wants to be like his parents, who to him appear very powerful and very beautiful” -Erikson
– Attain a Conscience (internalized rules & standards)
– If parents are not too controlling, children develop high
standards and initiative without being crushed
Ages 6 to puberty: Industry vs. Inferiority
– Successful experiences give the child a sense of competence, but failures might lead the child to feel inadequate
Psychodynamic Perspective Contributions
Emphasis on the importance of early experience and emotional relationships
Recognition of the role of subjective experience and unconscious mental activity
“we are strangers to ourselves”
We often act on the basis of unconscious processes a surprising amount of time
Erikson’s stages have received some empirical support
Psychodynamic Perspective Criticisms
“That guy’s work is crap. He’s not right. He’s not even wrong”
–Wolfgang Pauli, physicist (responding to another physicist’s work)
Issue with Freud is that “he’s not even wrong”
Falsifiability is necessary for a theory to be legitimate
Behaviorism & Social Learning Theories:
All emphasize continuity, proposing that the same principles control learning & behavior throughout life
Many possible courses of development, not just one path.
Nurture mostly, not nature
Pavlov’s Dog
– Dogs salivate as an innate reflex when given food
– Pavlov noticed that his dogs salivated before tasting any
food but immediately as the trainer arrived
– Pavlov reasoned the dogs must have associated a neutral stimulus (the trainer) with another stimulus (food) to produce salivation
Behaviorism & Social Learning Theory
hdps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI
John Watson
1878–1958
Founder of behaviorism
Believed that child development is determined completely by the social environment
Continuous development
Demonstrated the power of classical conditioning in a famous experiment with “Little Albert”
– Exposed 9-month-old Albert to a nice rat in the laboratory which elicited a positive reaction from Albert
– On subsequent exposure, Watson used a loud noise to frighten Albert
– Eventually Albert became afraid of the rat itself
– https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=KxKfpKQzow8&feature=related
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant- chief and even beggar and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” -Watson
Systematic Desensitization
Classical conditioning can also be used to eliminate fear
2-year-old Peter was deathly afraid of rabbits.
– To decondition his fear, the experimenter gave him
a favorite snack
– As Peter ate, the rabbit was gradually brought closer
– hdps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkd7zcvFQ5w, time 3:39
B.F. Skinner
1904 – 1990
“A person does not act upon the world, the world acts upon him.” – Skinner
Operant Conditioning:
– Repeat behaviors that lead to favorable outcomes
(reinforcement)
– Suppress behaviors that result in unfavorable outcomes (punishment)
– hdps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-RS80DVvrg
Operant Conditioning:
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Punishment: Decreases Behavior
Positive Punishment: add noxious stimuli following bad behavior (spanking for lying).
Reinforcement: Increase Behavior
Positive Reinforcement: Add appetitive stimulus following correct behavior (giving a sitting dog a treat).
Escape: Remove noxious stimuli following correct behavior (turning off a ringing alarm clock after waking up).
Skinner’s Discoveries
Parental attention to poor child behavior only reinforces the behavior.
– Children often do things “just to get attention”
– Parental solution: Ignore behavior
Difficulty of extinguishing behaviors that had been intermittently reinforced.
– Intermittent reinforcement makes behaviors resistant to extinction
– Parental solution: Be consistent, even giving in to whining once can lead to bad habits
Albert Bandura
Social Learning Theory
– Emphasizes observation and imitation as the primary mechanism of development
Observational learning depends on… – Attention – Encoding – Storing – Retrieving
Bandura and Bobo
Preschool children individually watch a short film in which an adult model performed highly unusual aggressive actions on a Bobo Doll
– 33.3% watched model be rewarded
– 33.3% saw model punished
– 33.3% saw model experience no consequences
RQ: Does vicarious reinforcement affect the child’s subsequent behavior?
The children who had seen the model punished imitated the behavior less than did those in the other two groups
However when offered a reward to reproduce the aggressive behavior, they did so
hdps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8
Bandura’s Revised Version
Children gradually become more selective in what they imitate.
Children observe others’ self-praise, self-blame, and feedback
– Develop personal standards
– Self-efficacy
“I’m glad I kept working on that task, even though it was hard.”
“I know you can do a good job on that homework.”
Social Learning Theory
Critiques & Contributions
Contribution:
Applied behavior analysis –
eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses via conditioning & modeling
Limitations:
– Too narrow of a view of important environmental influences
– Underestimating the child’s contribution
– Children in Bobo experiment were manipulated and pressured
– Implies causation
Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory
“When you teach a child something, you take away forever his chance of discovering it for himself.” –Piaget
Cognitive development takes place in stages
One course of development: Changes studied characterize most or all children
Both Nurture and Nature
Development occurs as the brain grows and children exercise their innate drive to discover reality in a generally stimulating environment. Both early and later experiences are important.
Greatly influenced by Piaget’s background in biology
Adaptation: structures of the mind develop to better fit with or represent the external world
Believed young children’s thinking was full of faulty logic
Equilibrium = balance between internal structures and information in real world
Jean Piaget
1896–1980
Swiss psychologist who emphasized children as active agents
Believed children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world
Did not receive attention until 1960s
Piaget’s Stages of Development
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Sensorimotor Stage: (birth–2yrs)
– Think by acHng on the world…
– Reflexes develop into systemaHc behaviors
PreOperational Stage: (2–7yrs)
– Use symbols to represent earlier sensorimotor discoveries.
– Language and make believe occur.
Concrete Operations: (7–11yrs)
– Reasoning becomes more logical and better organized
– Achieve conservation
Formal Operations: (11–15 yrs)
– Abstract, systematic thinking takes place
– Children can hypothesize, test inferences, and isolate & combine variables
Piaget’s Contributions & Limitations
Piaget’s theory encouraged the development of educational philosophies & programs that emphasize children’s discovery learning and direct contact with the environment.
Some say Piaget underestimated the abilities of young children (e.g. some young children were able to problem solve in ways similar to older children).
– With training, children perform better
– Does not account for cultural differences
Cognitive Perspective
Information-Processing Approach.
Mind as a computer.
Input and Output. OrganizaTION, STORAGE, Memory
Example:
Child: “Daddy would you unlock the basement door?”
Father: “Why?”
Child: “Because I want to ride my bike.”
Father: “Your bike is in the garage.”
Child: “But my socks are in the dryer.”
Top goal: Ride back
Bias: I need shoes to be comfortable
Fact: I’m barefoot
Subgoal 1: Get my sneakers
Fact: The Sneakers are in the yard
Fact: They’re uncomfortable on barefeet
Subgoal 2: Get my socks
Fact: The sock drawer was empty this morning.
Inference: The socks must be in the dryer
Subgoal 3: Ask daddy to unlock basement door
Cognitive Neuroscience Approach – Brain processes – How do infants gain perception of facial expressions? – Neurological basis of autism – http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/ cases/caseNA/pb9.htm
Recent Theoretical Perspectives:
Contextual Theories
Ethology & Evolutionary Developmental Psychology
Bioecological Approach – Bronfenbrenner
Sociocultural Theory – Vygotsky
Dynamic Systems Perspective
Contextual Theories:
Ethology & Evolutionary Psychology
Behavior is the result of genetic inheritance from ancestors, and environmental interactions
Ethology: What is the survival value of a particular behavior
Konrad Lorenz (imprinting)
Critical Time Period: child is prepared to acquire adaptive behaviors
Contextual Theories:
Sociocultural Theory
How culture (the values, beliefs, customs, skills of a social group, etc.) is transmitted to the next generation.
Social interaction is imperative to transfer
this knowledge.
Vygotsky agreed with Piaget that children
are active, constructive beings, but viewed
cognitive development as a socially mediated process.
Acknowledged that what we learn at a given age is a result of the values and needs of the culture in which we live.
Contextual Theories:
Ecological Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner
Bioecological Approach
Contextual Theories:
Dynamic Systems Perspective
Aspects of child (motor skills, language, perception) must function as an integrated whole to produce behavior
The child must actively reorganize his/her behavior so the components can work together again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=4jW668F7HdA
Scientific Method
All beliefs, no matter how probable, might be wrong.
The scientific method involves 4-5 basic steps:
– Choosing a question grounded in theory
– Formulating a hypothesis
– Developing a method for testing
– Using the data yielded by the method to draw a conclusion about the hypothesis
– Revise theory
The 4 Main Research Methods
How does the researcher go about answering the main research question? – Systematic Observation – Self-Reports – Clinical Method – Ethnography
Systematic Observation
Naturalistic Observation:
Observing the desired behavior in the subject’s own environment
Structured Observation:
Situation is manipulated in some way that might yield a particular response
Self-Reports
Unstructured:
- Interview
- Open-Ended Questions
Structured:
- Survey
- Interview
Clinical Interview: A flexible, conversational style used to probe for the participant’s point of view.
Structured Interview: Participants are asked the same question in the same way.
Case Study Method
brings together a wide range of information on one child, including interviews, observations, and sometimes scores
– “Complete Package”
– Research conducted on child prodigies (Ruthsatz & Urbach, 2012)
– School psychologists
– Intervention specialists
Ethnography
Ethnography = descriptive, qualitative technique directed toward understanding a culture or a distinct social group through participant observation
Researcher…
– fully embraces the cultural norms
– describes and analyzes common themes
– reflexivity of impact on research and culture
Correlational Design
Correlational design: researchers gather information on participants, and make no effort to alter experience.
Example: Is maternal warmth an important precursor to positive child adjustment?
No Causal Relations
Correlation coefficient indicates strength of association
Experimental Design
the “Gold Standard”
Experimental design: allows inference of cause and effect because researcher assigned people to two or more “treatment conditions”
– Variable: a factor that can be manipulated by the researcher
– Independent variable: Causes change in another variable
– Dependent variable: Variable expected to be influenced by independent variable
Random Assignment: participants must have equal chances of being in treatment groups
El-Sheikh, Cummings & Reiter
1996
RQ: How does adults’ angry interactions affect children’s adjustment?
H1: Angry encounters (independent variable) affect children’s emotional reactions (dependent variable).
Two groups:
– Unresolved anger
– Resolved anger
Results:
– Anger resolution can reduce children’s distress
Longitudinal Design
A single group of participants are studied repeatedly over time
Strengths:
– Track performance over time
– Permit investigators to examine relationships between early and later events & behaviors
Limitations: – Biased sampling – Selective attrition – Practice effects – Cohort effects
Cross-Sectional Design
All data collected at one time, often on several different groups
Major problem:
Impact of time or event not directly measured
– Example: Compare marital satisfaction of parents and non-parents
– Parents less satisfied
– See Twenge, Campbell, & Foster (2003)
Cross-Sequential Designs
Examining individuals in several different age groups over time
Example:
Alink et al. (2006), Child Development.
– Studied developmental course of physical aggression in 1-4-year-old children
– Results from cross-sectional analyses
52% 12-month-olds
80% 24-month-olds
78% 36-month-olds
Results from longitudinal analyses: bellcurve-ish
can possibly rule out cohort effects
Ethics in Research with Children
Protection from harm Informed consent/assent Privacy Knowledge of results Beneficial treatment
- *American Psychological Association
- *Society for Research in Child Development
Who monitors research
procedures at Ohio State?
Institution Review Board (IRB)
– Every institution that seeks federal funding for research on human subjects is required to have an IRB
OSU Human Participants Protection
– Office of Responsible Research Practices, http://orrp.osu.edu
– All research by OSU faculty and students must receive approval by the IRB
– Training on research ethics is required
Avoid harm
What is harm?
Psychological Harms: undesired changes in thought processes and emotion (e.g., episodes of depression, confusion, feelings of stress, guilt, and loss of self-esteem)
Minimal risk: “the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort … are not greater, in and of themselves, than those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of routine physical or psychological examinations or tests”
Department of Health & Human Services:
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/archive/irb/irb_chapter3.htm
Informed consent
Can only be given by competent persons
Must be given voluntarily
Includes full information about the research
– The purpose, procedure, and risks/benefits of the study
Participants must understand what they’ve been told
– All questions (of the subject) are answered
– Participants voice understanding
Vulnerable populations:
– Children
- Parental permission
- Assent
– Individuals with diminished decision-making capacity
Research not involving informed consent:
Observation of naturally occurring behavior in public settings, provided that anonymity and unobtrusiveness are ensured
Contexts
Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that result in different paths of change
Plasticity
bbbbb
Resilience
The ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats in the environment.
Behaviorism says that…
directly observable events (stimuli and responses) are the appropriate focus of study.
chronosystem
….
Discontinuous Theories
PsychoAnalytic
Piaget’s
Continuous Theories
Information Processing
Bahaviourism & Social learning
BOTH Continous and Discontnous Thereis
Ethology & Evolutionary Developmental theory
Vygotsky’s SocioCultural
Dynamic Systems Perspective
One Course of Development
PsychoAnalytic
Piaget’s
Information Processing
Ethology & Evolutionary Developmental theory
Many Courses of Development
Behaviourism & Social learning
Ecological Systems Theory
Vygotsky’s SocioCultural
Dynamic Systems Perspective
Cohort Effects
The effects of being born at about the same time, exposed to the same events in society, and influenced by the same demographic trends and thus, having similar experiences that make the group unique from other groups.
Cohort effects are most likely to be a problem during a cross-sectional study as it is difficult to separate effects of developmental changes from cohort effects when examining age effects across a wide range of ages (Cozby).
Results based on one cohort may no apply to children developing at other times.
Microgenetic design
a scientific method in which the same setting is studied repeatedly in order to observe change in detail.
In contrast to cross-sectional and longitudinal designs, which provide broad outlines of the process of change, microgenetic designs provide an in-depth analysis of the behavior of the system while it is changing.
Introduction to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner is a famous developmental psychologists known for his Ecological Systems theory.
The chronosystem is made up of the environmental events and transitions that occur throughout a child’s life, including any sociohistorical events. The chronosystem is 1 of 5 systems in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory.
In 1979, Urie Bronfenbrenner created his ecological systems theory to explain how their immediate and surrounding environment affects the way in which children grow and develop.
There are 5 different environmental systems that influence childhood development. If there is a change in any one of the 5 environmental systems, it can potentially cause a change in the others. The 5 systems are:
Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Macrosystem Chronosystem
A child lies in the middle of the image. Each circle that surrounds the child is a different layer or environmental system that affects the child’s growth & development.
The microsystem is where the immediate interactions of the child take place. The microsystem includes family and peers.
The mesosystem contains the interactions between microsystems. Having your friends (or your peer microsystem) attend a family gathering (your family microsystem) is an example of a mesosystem.
The exosystem contains the environmental settings in which the child is not actively involved but that nonetheless have a significant influence on the child. An example of an exosystem would be if the child’s father was laid off from work.
The macrosystem, which is the larger cultural context, includes the political beliefs of the child’s culture.
Bronfenbrenner’s Chronosystem
The 5th and final level of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory is known as the chronosystem. This system consists of all of the experiences that a person has had during his or her lifetime, including environmental events, major life transitions, and historical events.
correlation coefficient
In statistics, the correlation coefficient is a measure of the linear correlation between two variables X and Y, giving a value between +1 and −1, where 1 is total positive correlation, 0 is no correlation, and −1 is total negative correlation. It is used as a measure of the degree of linear dependence between two variables.
