Chapter 2 Flashcards
accommodation
the cognitive process through which children adapt to new experiences by modifying their preexisting schemes
animism
children tend to attribute life and life-like qualities to inanimate objects, particularly those that move and are active
assimilation
the process through which children incorporate new experiences into their preexisting schemes - that is, they assimilate the new to their already-existing schemes of thought
behaviour genetics
the study of how genetic factors influence behaviour and, more generally, differences between individuals
bottom-up structures
a cognitive development process beginning with the input or uptake of information by the child, and building complex systems of knowledge from simpler origins
castration complex
the young boy fears castration at the hands of his father
centration
the focusing or centring of attention on one aspect of a situation to the exclusion of others
cephalocaudal trend
development that proceeds from head to foot along the length of the body
chromosomes
strands of DNA and protein that contain the genes and provide the genetic blueprint for the animal or plant
classical conditioning
a method of learning first investigated by Pavlov. Certain behaviours can be elicited by a neutral (normally unstimulating) stimulus because of its learned association with a more powerful stimulus
cognitive adaptations
concrete operations stage
- stage in piaget’s theory
reasoning is said to become more logical, systematic and rational in its application to concrete objects
7-11 years old
connectionism
modern theoretical approach that developed from information processing accounts in which computers are programmed to simulate the action of the brain and nerve cells (neurons)
conservation tasks
tasks that examine children’s ability to understand that physical attributes of objects, such as their mass and weight, do not vary when the object changes shape
constructivism
piaget’s theoretical view that infants are not born with knowledge about the world, but instead gradually construct knowledge and the ability to represent reality mentally
continuity versus discontinuity
whether development is continuous, and therefore an accumulation of ‘more of the same’, or discontinuous and marked by qualitative changes. Piaget’s theory is an example of a discontinuous theory of development
critical period
a limited period, usually early in an animal’s life, in which the young have to be exposed to a particular skill or experience in order for it to be learned
dynamic systems theory
ego
the ego can be thought of as the rational thought that evolved to control the urges of the id in order to meet the demands of reality and maintain social approval and esteem
egocentric
an egocentric child is one who finds it difficult to see things from another’s point of view
electra complex
where little girls develop feeling for their father and fear retribution at the hands of their mother
ethological approaches
approaches which emphasise the evolutionary origins of many behaviours that are important for survival, such as imprinting
formal operations stage
- stage in piaget’s theory
the individual acquires the capacity for abstract scientific thought, this includes the ability the theorise about impossible events and items
11+
functional invariants
processes that do not change during development, such as accommodation and assimilation in Piaget’s theory
gender constancy
the awareness, in early childhood, that one is either a boy or a girl, and that this is unchangeable - once a girl, always a girl
gender development
the developing understanding by a child that it is either a girl or a boy and that there are gender-appropriate behaviours associated with this difference
hierarchy of needs
stages of needs or desires in Abraham Maslow’s humanistic theory which go from the basic physiological needs for food and water to the ultimate desire for self-actualisation or the desire to fulfil one’s potential
humanistic theory
theory which emphasises that humans have free will and are motivated to fulfil their potential
id
a primitive collection of urges with which an individual begins life. the id is responsible for an individual’s ‘primitive’ instincts, such as eating and reproducing
imprinting
a process soon after birth or hatching in which the young of precocial species of animals follow the first moving objects they see
information processing
the view that cognitive processes are explained in terms of inputs and outputs and that the human mind is a system through which information flows
introspectionism
an approach to psychology common in the 19th century in which observers were asked to reflect on their own thoughts, feelings and perceptions
law of effect
law or rule devised by thorndike which states that the likelihood of an action being repeated is increased if it leads to a pleasant outcome, and decreased if it leads to an unpleasant outcome
mechanistic world view
the child is inherently passive until stimulated by the environment
microgenetic studies
monotropy
the view that the infant has a basic need to form an attachment with one significant person, usually the mother
motor milestones
the basic motor skills acquired in infancy and early childhood, such as sitting unaided, standing, crawling, walking.
nature-nurture issue
ongoing debate on whether development is the result of an individual’s genes (nature) or the kinds of experiences they have throughout their life (nurture)
object unity
when two parts of an object are visible but its centre is hidden by another object - do infants perceive the visible parts to be connected?
observational learning
situation in which people (especially children) learn by observing others and then copying (imitating) the observed acts
oedipus complex
oedipus became infatuated by his mother (phallic stage 3-6)
operant conditioning
a form of conditioning investigated by skinner. the training, or shaping, of an animal or human by reinforcing them for producing the desired behaviour (or a close approximation of it) and/or either ignoring or punishing undesirable behaviours in order to stop them
organismic world view
perception of causality
perception of the causal nature of interactions between objects and between people
e.g., when one objet collides with another it causes it to move
precocial species
those species of animals where the young are able to locomotive almost immediately after birth or hatching. these include ducks, geese, sheep and horses. the young will often imprint on and follow their parent(s) and siblings, an instinctive response which has clear survival value for the young
preoperational stage
- stage in piaget’s theory
children under the age of 7 are unable to coordinate aspects of problems in order to solve them
2-7 years old
primary drives
basic needs which include hunger, thirst and the need for warmth (need for attachment as well)
proximodistal trend
the development of motor control in infancy which is from the centre of the body outwards to more peripheral segments
psychoanalysis
the theoretical view, first developed by Freud, that much of our behaviour is determined by unconscious factors
psychoanalytic theory
freud suggested that there are three main personality structures: the ego, id and superego
psychosexual stages
Freud argued that there were five stages of human development: oral (0–1 year), anal (1–3 years), phallic (3–6 years), latency (6 years–adolescence), and genital (adolescence onwards)
psychosocial stages
erik erikson
the child goes from the stage of basic trust in early infancy to the final stage in adult life of maturity with a sense of integrity and self worth
reaction formation
the individual may react, often unconsciously, to negative aspects of their personality
reductionism
the claim that complex behaviours and skills such as language and problem-solving are formed from simpler processes, such as neural activity and conditioning, and can ultimately be understood in these simpler terms
schemas
mental structures in the child’s thinking that provide representations and plans for enacting behaviours
secondary drives
a term used to refer to the fact that an object can acquire reinforcing properties by being associated with the satisfaction of an individual’s primary drives
self-actualisation
fulfilment of needs beyond those deemed necessary for survival
sensorimotor stage
- stage in piaget’s theory, whereby thought is based primarily on perception and action and internalised thinking is largely absent
birth - 2 years old
social cognitive theory
a theory that emphasises social factors in cognitive development
social learning theory
the application of behaviourism to social and cognitive learning that emphasises the importance of observation and then copying (imitating) the observed acts
stability versus change
the question of whether individuals are stable in the sense of maintaining their rank order across age, e.g. does the bright 2-year-old become a bright 10-year-old?
strange situation
measure of the level of attachment a child has with their parent
strategies
knowledge used to solve particular problems
superego
a collection of ideals, an individual’s morality
theory of development
a scheme or system of ideas that is based on evidence and attempts to explain, describe and predict behaviour and development.
top-down structures
a cognitive development process in which the state of the system is specified or presumed, and then working to discover its components and their development, a view more consistent with nativist theory
zone of proximal development
the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more able peers
the four stages of cognitive development
- sensorimotor stage of infancy
- preopreational stage of early childhood
- concrete operations stage middle childhood
- formal operations stage of adolescence and beyond
