chapter 2: theories and issues in child development

Question 1

theory of development

Answer 1

scheme or system of ideas that is based on evidence and attempts to explain, describe and predict behaviour and development

Question 2

minor theory

Answer 2

theory about a single phenomenon, very specific and narrow areas of development

Question 3

major theory

Answer 3

attempt to explain large areas of development (development of cognition)

Question 4

what’s a good developmental theory

Answer 4

relates to ontogeny (individual development), focuses on change over time, explains the emergence of new properties (does a baby already have the same reasoning capacity as do adults – if not, how did it get it?), is preferably useful in education or interventions

Question 5

four main dimensions about development

Answer 5

nature vs nurture, stability vs change, continuity vs discontinuity, passive vs active

Question 6

behavior genetics

Answer 6

the study of how genetic factors influence behaviour and, more generally, differences between individuals

Question 7

nature/endogenous

Answer 7

knowledge is innate and gets expressed during the course of development

Question 8

nurture/exogenous

Answer 8

only learning mechanisms are innate, all the rest of development is determined by the environment

Question 9

continuous development

Answer 9

gradual, children aren’t qualitatively different from adults, children just lack experience

Question 10

discontinuous development

Answer 10

development occurs in stages and transitions, children are qualitatively different from adults

Question 11

continuity + stages

Answer 11

development is gradual but some behaviours dominate temporarily and that’s why development appears to occur stagewise

Question 12

stability and change

Answer 12

• Stability – early experiences influence current and later development, certain aspects of child’s development display stability (consistent and predictable across time) – shyness, tendency to be aggressive
• Change – approach (the tendency to extreme friendliness and lack of caution with strangers), sluggishness (reacting passively to changing circumstances) – unstable

Question 13

motor milestones

Answer 13

the basic motor skills acquired in infancy and early childhood, such as sitting unaided, standing, crawling, walking

Question 14

why is motor development important

Answer 14

the ability to act on the world affects all other aspects of development, and brings higher independence

Question 15

maturational theory

Answer 15

Gessel (1924) – biologically directed maturation, the same development independent of environmental input

Question 16

two directions of development (maturational theory)

Answer 16

o Cephalocaudal trend – development that proceeds from head to foot along the length of the body
o Proximodistal trend – the development of motor control in infancy – from the centre of the body outwards to more peripheral segments (the head, trunk and pelvic girdle are brought under control before the elbow, wrist, knee and ankle joints – finer control over hands and fingers)

Question 17

what determines development according to the maturational theory

Answer 17

Maturation of the nervous system

Question 18

criticism of the maturational theory

Answer 18

o The fact that motor skills develop in a regular sequence doesn’t provide a genetic cause
 Advanced skill (learning a sport) – invariant sequence of development – progressing from simple actions to more complex integrated skilful behaviour
o A maturational theory doesn’t account for the considerable individual differences in the acquisition of various motor skills

Question 19

dynamic systems theory

Answer 19

A theoretical approach in which an individual is viewed as interacting dynamically in a complex system in which all parts interact

Question 20

system

Answer 20

collection of components that are interrelated (ex: body, family, flock of birds)

Question 21

dynamic system

Answer 21

collection of changing components that influence each other, describes how a state changes into another state over time

Question 22

micro genetic studies of motor development

Answer 22

experimenters observe individual infants or children from the time they first attempt a new skill until it’s performed effortlessly

Question 23

Esther Thelen’s three major facts

Answer 23

nervous system development (nature), the capabilities and biomechanics of the body (nature), environmental constraints and support (context and tasks)

Question 24

Thelen experiments

Answer 24

kicking, reaching, weight

Question 25

psychoanalysis

Answer 25

the theoretical view that much of our behaviour is determined by unconscious factors

Question 26

functional invariants

Answer 26

processes that don’t change during development (such as accommodation and assimilation)

Question 27

strategy

Answer 27

knowledge used to solve particular problems

Question 28

information processing approaches

Answer 28

• Include current views of memory formation – encoding, storage, retrieval, strategies, metamemory
  o Rooted in 20th century innovations – computer technology + the view that an organism’s behaviour can’t be understood without knowing the structure of the perceiver’s environment + constructivism (Piaget’s theoretical view that infants aren’t born with knowledge about the world, but gradually construct it and the ability to represent reality mentally – perception fills in information that can’t be seen or heard directly – inferring the parts of an object that are hidden from the view via inference + Gibson’s theory – constructive view concerned with how we construct our perceptual, not cognitive, world)

Question 29

bottom-up

Answer 29

a cognitive development process beginning with the input or uptake of information by the child, and building complex systems of knowledge from simpler origins

Question 30

top-down

Answer 30

a cognitive development process in which the state of the system is specified or presumed, and then working to discover its components and development – consistent with nativist theory

Question 31

Cohen’s experiments

Answer 31

kids perceive causality (perception of the causal nature of interactions between objects and between people – when 2 objects collide and then they move)
o Temporal and physical proximity
o Ex: when the second ball moves after a brief delay (violating temporal proximity) or before being contacted (violating physical proximity), 6-month-old infants didn’t seem to see the event as causal

Question 32

strategies in maths experiment

Answer 32

o Examination of arithmetic strategies (learning to add by memorisation, counting on fingers) repeatedly in children as the school year progresses and recording speed, accuracy and strategy use
o Strategic changes have been noted: incorporation of new strategies, identification of efficient strategies, more efficient execution of each strategy, and more adaptive choices
o There are stable individual differences in strategy choice, but children typically use multiple strategies at all points of the assessment + hone their choices with experience and come to solve problems more quickly and accurately

Question 33

connectionism

Answer 33

a 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

Question 34

2 advances of cognitive science

Answer 34

the use of connectionist models and methods for recording brain activity in infants and children

Question 35

connectionist models

Answer 35

computer programs designed to emulate (model) some aspect of human cognition, including cognitive development

Question 36

similarities Piaget and information processing

Answer 36

• Both attempt to specify children’s abilities and limitations as development proceeds + explain how new levels of understanding develop from earlier less advanced ones
  o Share a focus on active participation by the child in their own development – children learn by doing, by trying new strategies and discovering the consequences, and learn by directing their attention appropriately

Question 37

differences between information processing and Piaget

Answer 37

o Information-processing: importance on the role of processing limitations in limiting children’s thinking and reasoning at any point of time + emphasize the development of strategies and procedures for helping to overcome these limitations
 Piaget’s theory doesn’t discuss processing limitations, discusses developmental changes in terms of the child gradually constructing logical framework for thought (concrete and formal operations)
o Information processing accounts see development as unfolding in a continuous fashion, rather than stages (Piaget)
- Ex: a child moving from Piaget’s preoperational stage to concrete operations stage – when presented with a conservation of number task, the preoperational child centres attention on one aspect of the changed array and ignores the other
* When a child is able to overcome this limitation they move to the qualitatively different level of thinking
- Information processing would simply say that the child’s processing capacity has increased – able to hold two things in mind simultaneously – qualitative change in processing capacity

Question 38

didactic relationship

Answer 38

based on interactive dialogue

Question 39

ZDP

Answer 39

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

Question 40

introspectionism

Answer 40

approach to psychology common in the 19th century in which observers were asked to reflect on their thoughts, feelings and perceptions

Question 41

ethological approaches

Answer 41

approaches which emphasise the evolutionary origins of many behaviours that are important for survival such as imprinting

Question 42

imprinting

Answer 42

a process soon after birth or hatching in which the young of precocial species of animals (ducks, geese, sheep, horses) follow the first moving object they see
o Leads to a physical proximity between parent and offspring – the parent is always at hand to give warmth and food + protect from predators

Question 43

critical period

Answer 43

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

Question 44

primary drives

Answer 44

basic needs which include hunger, thirst and the need for warmth + attachment (Bowlby)

Question 45

secondary drives

Answer 45

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

Question 46

monotropy

Answer 46

the view that the infant has a basic need to form an attachment with one significant person, usually the mother
o Later overstated – infants often formed multiple attachments – in some cases the strongest attachment to fathers, grandparents or peers who didn’t fulfil basic caregiving activities but who did engage in satisfying interactions with them

Question 47

strange situation

Answer 47

o A baby (around a year old) and a mother enter a room in which there are several toys
o Observer notes the infant’s response to several events: when the stranger enters, when the mother leaves, and when she returns
o Several attachment styles that differ in degree of security

Question 48

main personality structures for Freud

Answer 48

o Id – a primitive collection of urges with which an individual begins life, responsible for an individual’s primitive instincts (eating and reproducing)
o Ego – 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
o Superego – a collection of ideals, an individual’s morality, conscience, is often in conflict with id

Question 49

psychosexual stages

Answer 49

• Oral stage (0 – 1 years)
  o Greatest satisfaction from stimulation of the lips, tongue and mouth – sucking is the chief source of pleasure
• Anal stage (1 – 3 years)
  o Toilet or potty training takes place and the child gains the greatest psychosexual pleasure from exercising control over the anus and by retaining and eliminating faeces
• Phallic stage (3 – 6 years)
  o Oedipus complex – the young boy develops sexual feelings towards his mother but realises that his father is a major competitor for her affections
  o Castration complex – the young boy fears castration at the hands of his fathers
   In order to resolve the complex he adopts the ideals of his father and the superego develops
  o Electra complex – little girls develop feelings towards their father and fear retribution at the hands of their mothers
   Resolved by empathising with their mothers, adopting the ideals she offers, and so the girl’s superego develops
• Latency and genital stage (6 to adolescence)
  o From around 6 years the child’s sexual awakening goes into a resting period (latency)
  o At adolescence sexual feelings become more apparent and urgent and the genital stage appears – true sexual feelings emerge and the adolescent strives to cope with awakening desires

Question 50

problems with the Freudian theory

Answer 50

unconscious processes can’t be measured and so it’s often claimed that belief in Freudian ideas
+ Reaction formation – the individual may react, often unconsciously, to negative aspects of their personality

Question 51

significance of psychoanalysis

Answer 51

Early childhood can be immensely important in affecting and determining later development
We can be driven by unconscious needs and desires of which we aren’t aware – if we didn’t go through one of the childhood psychosexual stages very well, this could reflect later in neurotic symptoms

Question 52

humanistic theories

Answer 52

theory which emphasises that humans have free will and are motivated to fulfil their potential

Question 53

difference Maslow and psychoanalysis

Answer 53

much less emphasis on the role of the unconscious – we’re not driven by unconscious needs nor external environmental pulls such as reinforcement and rewards, humans have free will and are motivated to fulfil their potential

Question 54

self-actualization

Answer 54

fulfilment of needs beyond those deemed necessary for survival

Question 55

hierarchy of needs

Answer 55

stages of needs in Maslow’s humanistic theory which go from the basic physiological needs for food and water to the ultimate desire of self-actualisation or the desire to fulfil one’s potential

Question 56

gender development

Answer 56

the developing understanding by a child that it’s either a girl or a boy and that there are gender-appropriate behaviours associated with this difference

Question 57

Kohlberg gender constancy

Answer 57

the awareness, in early childhood, that one is either a boy or a girl, and that this is unchangeable
+Most children come to this realisation after 3 years of age and most know it by the age of 7 – once children understand which gender they are, they will develop appropriate gender-role behaviours