Chapter 2: Theories and Methods in Developmental Psychology Flashcards
What are the 4 theoretical perspectives on development?
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Associationism
Systems Theories
Evolutionary Psychology
Piaget’s stage theory
Sensorimotor (birth-2 years) infants are perceptually bound, interacting with world on a physical basis Preoperational (2-7 years) kids use symbols like words and numbers and engage in pretend play Concrete operational (7-11 years) kids can perform logical problem-solving with concrete objects Formal operational (12 years-adulthood) kids can think in abstract and hypothetical terms
What are the three sources of developmental change?
assimilation: interpreting new information in terms of previous knowledge
accommodation: changing one’s current theory to cope with new information
equilibration: a balance of the two to maintain a stable understanding of the world and allow for continual development
Shortcomings of Piaget’s theory
overestimated how “stage like” life is
underemphasizing social and emotional development
What is Associationism?
an approach that encompasses learning theories such as CC, OC, behaviourism, and social learning theory.
people have general-purpose learning mechanisms
the new born mind is a blank slate
Shortcomings of Associationism
infants are not blank slates- they have rich concepts and expectations
biology cannot be ignored
general-purpose mechanisms are not sufficient to explain children’s learning
Systems Theories
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model: microsystem (family and friends) > mesosystem (effects from interactions in microsystem ie. divorce) > exosystem (PTA, school board) > macrosystem (culture) > chronosystem (major life events and challenges)
Developmental Systems Theory: kids inherit the entire system (parental genes and environment), termite mound metaphor
Shortcomings of DST
not curious about how interaction happens, don’t ascribe special role to genes in evolution (all resources equal)
Darwin’s 8 points on functional complexity
1) Natural species have enough potential fertility to blanket the planet with individuals
2) They don’t. Populations are fairly stable.
3) Why? Because natural resources are limited.
4) There is a struggle to acquire them. The winners are those best suited to environment.
5) Variability in the population with respect to many traits
6) Variability is heritable
7) Success in struggle not random. Unequal success with survival and reproduction is NS
8) Many generations of NS leads to adaptations that are more efficient and complex
Modern Evolutionary Psychology
emphasizes adaptation to the EEA. This helps us understand the purposeful design and function of our minds.
There are many research designs that we’ve been over before. Which is the best?
cross-sequential: different-aged groups of children are studied at the same time, once initially and then later to observe age-related changes. It is time consuming and expensive but allows you to study individual changes.
There are three main ways to collect data… which one is best and why?
Naturalistic observation (date collected in everyday settings) Correlational design (no manipulation of variables) * Experimental design (this is the best, manipulation of variables and random assignment allows for causal inference).
Three main psychophysical methods of data collection
preferential looking paradigm (tells you if discrimination can be made) habituation paradigm (also tells you about discrimination) violation of expectation (infants look longer at events that surprise them)
Non-visual techniques
fake breastfeeding to measure interest through sucking speed, pupil dilation, heart rate (decreases when interested due to focus), skin conductance (measure emotional response), EEG
Cross species comparisons helps lift the veil of…
instinct blindness. Some things are natural to us but not to others and vice versa.
