Chapter 2 Flashcards
What is a theory
It is a set of specific concepts explaining behaviour, development, scientific pursuit. In order for a theory to be good it must be, parsimonious (concise), falsifiable (testable), and heuristic (builds on previous theories).
What are the theories of development
- Psychoanalytic
- Learning
- Cognitive development
- Evolutionary
- Ecological systems
What is Freud’s psychosexual theory
Freud’s theory states maturation of the sex instinct underlies stages of personality development, and that the manner in which parents manage children’s instinctual impulses determines the traits that children display.
What is the Id
The part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest
Basic impulses: sex, aggression, etc
What is the ego
The mediator between the id and the superego, the rational part of the psyche. It operates mainly on a conscious level.
What is the superego
The perfectionist part of your brain that strives to be as moral as possible.
What are Freud’s stages of development
The psychosexual stages of development
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
Explain the first stage of Freud’s theory
The first stage is the oral stage which lasts from birth to 1 year old. The sex instinct centres on the mouth because infants derive pleasure from such oral activities as sucking, chewing, and biting. Feeding activities are particularly important. For example, an infant weaned too early or abruptly may later crave close contact and become over-dependent on a spouse.
If there’s too little or too much of oral pleasure, you will get fixated which will influence future behaviours: smoking, chewing, etc
Explain the second stage of Freud’s theory
The second stage is the anal stage which lasts from 1.5 years to 3 years old. Voluntary urination and defecation become the primary methods of gratifying the sex instinct. Toilet training produces major conflicts between children and parents. The emotional climate that parents create can have lasting effects. For example, children who are punished for toileting “accidents” may become inhibited, messy, or wasteful.
- Parents too strict: Fixation retention: rigid, stingy, very neat
- Parents too free: Elimination: messy, wasteful, or destructive personality
Explain the third stage of Freud’s theory
The third stage is the phallic stage which is from 3 to 6 years old. At this stage, pleasure is now derived from genital stimulation. Children develop an incestuous desire for the opposite-sex parent (called the Oedipus complex for boys and the Electra complex for girls). Anxiety stemming from this conflict causes children to internalize the sex-role characteristics and moral standards of their same-sex parental rival.
Oedipus/Electra complex: child competes with the parent of the same sex for the affections & pleasures of the parent of the opposite sex
Females also supposedly develop penis envy at this stage. Meaning they wish they had a penis.
Explain the fourth stage of Freud’s theory
The fourth stage is the latency stage and it lasts from 6 to 11 years. At this stage, traumas of the phallic stage cause sexual conflicts to be repressed and sexual urges to be rechannelled into schoolwork and vigorous play. The ego and superego continue to develop as the child gains more problem-solving abilities at school and internalizes societal values.
The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy is repressed or dormant. This energy is still present, but it is sublimated into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions. This stage is important in the development of social and communication skills and self-confidence.
Freud believed that it was possible for children to become fixated or “stuck” in this phase. Fixation at this stage can result in immaturity and an inability to form fulfilling relationships as an adult.
Explain the fifth stage of Freud’s theory
The fifth stage is the genital stage and it lasts from 12 onwards. At this stage, puberty triggers a reawakening of sexual urges. Adolescents must now learn how to express these urges in socially acceptable ways. If development has been healthy, the mature sex instinct is satisfied by marriage and raising children.
If there is a conflict at this stage, the person will have relationships based on lust, not commitment.
If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced, warm, and caring.
What are the contributions of the psychoanalytic theory of Freud (and Freud generally)
- He introduced the idea of unconscious motivation: Things lay below the conscious level of awareness
- He introduced the concept of consequences of early development
- He introduced the idea of defence mechanisms
What are the cautions of the psychoanalytic theory of Freud (and Freud generally)
- The psychoanalytic concepts are difficult to test
- There is an overemphasis on the unconscious forces & sex
- There is inadequate evidence, sexism and lack of cross-cultural support
What is Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory
Erikson’s revision of Freud’s theory, which emphasizes sociocultural (rather than sexual) determinants of development and asserts a series of eight psychosocial conflicts that people must resolve successfully to display healthy psychological adjustments.
Each conflict emerges at a distinct time dictated by both biological maturation and social demands that developing people experience at particular points in life. Each crisis must be resolved successfully in order to prepare for a satisfactory resolution of the next life crisis.
What are Eriksons stages of development
The psychosocial stages of development
- Basic trust versus mistrust
- Autonomy versus shame and doubt
- Initiative versus guilt
- Industry versus inferiority
- Identity versus role confusion
- Intimacy versus isolation
- Generativity versus stagnation
- Ego integrity versus despair
Explain the first stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The first stage is the basic trust versus mistrust stage and it lasts from birth to 1 year. At this stage, infants must learn to trust others to care for their basic needs. If caregivers are rejecting or inconsistent, the infant may view the world as a dangerous place filled with untrustworthy or unreliable people. The primary caregiver is the key social agent.
Explain the second stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The second stage is autonomy versus shame and doubt and it lasts from 1 to 3 years. At this stage, children must learn to be “autonomous”—to feed and dress themselves, to look after their own hygiene, and so on. Failure to achieve this independence may force the child to doubt his or her own abilities and feel shameful. Parents are the key social agents.
Explain the third stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The third stage is the initiative versus guilt and it lasts from 3 to 6 years. At this stage, children attempt to act grown up and will try to accept responsibilities that are beyond their capacity to handle. They sometimes undertake goals or activities that conflict with those of parents and other family members, and these conflicts may make them feel guilty. Successful resolution of this crisis requires a balance; the child must retain a sense of initiative yet learn not to impinge on the rights, privileges, or goals of others. The family is the key social agent.
Explain the fourth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The fourth stage is the industry versus inferiority stage and it lasts from 6 to 12 years. At this stage, children must master important social and academic skills. This is a period when the child compares her- or himself with peers. If sufficiently industrious, children acquire the social and academic skills to feel self-assured. Failure to acquire these important attributes leads to feelings of inferiority. Significant social agents are teachers and peers.
Explain the fifth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The fifth stage is identity versus role confusion and it lasts from 12 to 20 years. This is the crossroad between childhood and maturity. The adolescent grapples with the question “Who am I?” Adolescents must establish basic social and occupational identities, or they will remain confused about the roles they should play as adults. The key social agent is the society of peers.
Explain the sixth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The sixth stage is intimacy versus isolation and it lasts from 20 to 40 years. The primary task at this stage is to form strong friendships and to achieve a sense of love and companionship (or a shared identity) with another person. Feelings of loneliness or isolation are likely to result from an inability to form friendships or an intimate relationship. Key social agents are lovers, spouses, and close friends (of both sexes).
Explain the seventh stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The seventh stage is generativity versus stagnation and it lasts from 40 to 65 years. At this stage, adults face the tasks of becoming productive or risk stagnation in their work, as well as raising their families or otherwise looking after the needs of young people. These standards of “generativity” are defined by one’s culture. Those who are unable or unwilling to assume these responsibilities become stagnant and self-centred. Significant social agents are the spouse, children, and cultural norms.
Explain the eighth and last stage of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
The eighth stage is ego integrity versus despair and it lasts from 65 years to the rest of your old age. The older adult looks back at life, viewing it as either a meaningful, productive, and happy experience or a major disappointment full of unfulfilled promises and unrealized goals. One’s life experiences, particularly social experiences, determine the outcome of this final life crisis.
What are the contributions and cautions of Erkisons psychosocial stages
Contributions:
- Not dominated by sexual instintccs
- Relevant experiences and ability to predict behaviour in other people
Caution:
- The causes of development are missing
What is Watson’s theory of learning
J.B Watson (and Ivan Pavlov) is well known for his work with classical conditioning. The classical conditioning process involves pairing a previously neutral stimulus (ex: the sound of a bell) with an unconditioned stimulus (ex: the taste of food)
Classical conditioning involves associating an involuntary response and a stimulus → no incentives included
Development unique and continuous molded by particular environment
What is Skinner’s theory of learning
B.F. Skinner is well known for his work with operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is a method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behaviour. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behaviour and a consequence (whether negative or positive) for that behaviour.
Operant conditioning is associating voluntary behavior and a consequence
External reinforcers and punishment
What is Bandura’s theory of social learning
We learn social behavior by observing and imitating the behavior of others
We are not animals → we think of the consequence of our behaviour
What is the cognitive process to imitate
- Cognitive process to imitate:
1. Attend: pay attention to what the other ‘model person’ is doing
2. Encode: process the information, etc
3. Store: remember what the other person did so you can do the same
What is reciprocal determinism
It is part of Bandura’s theory and it means: a person’s behavior is influenced through cognitive processes and environmental factors such as social stimuli
A person interacts with behaviour which interacts with environment which interacts with the person and its cyclical
It is believed that there are 3 main factors: behaviour, person, environment
Person beliefs that the people around them are gonna be mean
(P) → Behaviour at school will be that you won’t be involved with other children
(B) → Your behaviour impacts your environment, other kids will see the person on the side and never involved, so they don’t invite them
(E)→ Person sees nobody is interacting with them so they stay away more
What are the contributions and cautions of Bandura’s theory
Contributions:
- It applied empirical procedures and evidence
- It can be applied to the real world
Cautions:
- It is an oversimplified look at environmental influences
- Ignores genetic contributions
- Ignores changes in cognitive abilities influences degree of environmental influence
a compliment: it matters who gives you compliments; Donald Trump says you’re doing great → You be sad]
What is Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory of development
Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. It focused on understanding (in terms of the environment) how we adapt. He argued that our intelligence was an adaption to environments.
Define Piaget’s term “scheme” or “schema”
According to Piaget, humans have a cognitive structure called a scheme. A scheme is an organized pattern of thought or action that a child constructs to make sense of some aspect of their experience/ of their view of the world.
Ex: Child thinks about what is alive: my mother moves around, my dog moves around, they’re alive. Then a plastic bag floats through the sky but its not alive? → child winds toy and it moves but then stops, alive then not → I need a new schema/reality that accounts for these odd experiences
Any new experience you add to your understand to the meaning of the world
What is assimilation
Assimilation is Piaget’s term for the process by which children interpret new experiences by incorporating them into their existing schemes
New experiences = current schema
What is accommodation
Accommodation is Piaget’s term for the process by which children modify their existing schemes in order to incorporate or adapt to new experiences
New schema developed
What is disequilibrium
Disequilibrium means an imbalance or contradictions between an individual’s thought processes and environmental events
Disconfirming experiences: experiences don’t fit
What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development
- Sensorimotor
- Preoperational stage
- Concrete operations
- Formal operations
Explain the first stage of Piaget’s theory
The first stage is the sensorimotor stage which lasts from birth to 2 years old. At this stage, infants use sensory and motor capabilities to explore and gain a basic understanding of the environment. At birth, they only have innate reflexes with which to engage the world. A major development at this stage is that the infants acquire a primitive sense of self and others.
Explain the second stage of Piaget’s theory
The second stage is the preoperational stage which lasts from 2 to 7 years old. At this stage, children use symbolism (images and language) to represent and understand various aspects of the environment. They respond to objects and events according to the way things appear to be. Thought is egocentric, meaning that children think everyone sees the world in much the same way that they do. A major development at this stage is that children become imaginative in their play activities.
Explain the third stage of Piaget’s theory
The third stage is the concrete operations stage which lasts from 7 to 11 years old. At this stage, children acquire and use cognitive operations (mental activities that are components of logical thought). A major development at this stage is that children are no longer fooled by appearances.
Explain the fourth stage of Piaget’s theory
The fourth stage is the formal operations stage which lasts from age 11 and beyond. At this stage, adolescents’ cognitive operations are reorganized in a way that permits them to operate on operations (think about thinking). Thought is now systematic and abstract. A major development is that logical thinking is no longer limited to the concrete
or the observable. Adolescents enjoy pondering hypothetical issues and, as a result, may become rather idealistic.
What are the contributions and cautions of Piaget’s theory
Contributions:
- Focus on how children think
- There are educational applications
- Strong influence on other theories and education
What is Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory focused on how culture—the beliefs, values, tradi- tions, and skills of a social group—is transmitted from generation to generation.
Vygotsky’s perspective on development, in which children acquire their culture’s values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society.
List Bronfenbrenner’s spheres
- Microsystem: Child
- Mesosystem: Family
- Exosystem: Mass media
- Macrosystem: Laws, customs of culture, etc
What is the microsystem
The immediate settings (including role relationships and activities) that the person actually encounters; the innermost of Bronfenbrenner’s environmental layers or contexts.
What is the mesosystem
The interconnections among an individual’s immediate settings or microsystems; the second of Bronfenbrenner’s environmental layers or contexts.
What is the exosystem
Social systems that children and adolescents do not directly experience but that may nonetheless influence their development; the third of Bronfenbrenner’s environmental layers or contexts.
What is the macrosystem
The larger cultural or subcultural context in which development occurs; Bronfenbrenner’s outermost environmental layer or context.
