Chapter 2: theories of development Flashcards
Theory:
A set of orderly statements to describe, explain and predict behaviour in various domains
The continued existence of theory depends on scientific verification
Qualities of a good theory:
- Internally consistent
- Provide meaningful explanations
- Open to scientific evaluation
- Stimulate new thinking and research
• Provide guidance in application
Different questions theories ask/ how they differ
- Does development occur through maturation or experience?
- Is development continuous or discontinuous?
- Process or stage?
- Is development active or passive?
- Mechanistic vs. organismic models
- Are theories broad or narrow in scope?
Psychodynamic theories
- Development an active dynamic process
- Influence of biological drives and conscious and unconscious elements
- Structure of personality
- Id – pleasure principle
- Ego – reality principle
- Superego – conscience
Sigmund Freud 1856-1939
Freud’s psychosexual stages and developmental processes
- Oral: birth - 1 year
- Anal: 1-3 years (toileting)
- Phallic: 3-6 years (genitals and gender role development)
- Latency: 6-12 years (suspended sexual activity)
- Genital: 12 - adulthood (genitals and stimulation, onset of puberty)
refer to notes for further info
Erikson’s psychosocial theory
- Expanded and refined Freud’s stages – “Neo- Freudian”
- Stage theorist
- Eight stages and each stage associated with a crisis to be resolved
- Development was reversible
Erik Erikson 1902-1994
Erikson’s 8 stages of development
basic trust vs mistrust: birth -18 months
autonomy vs shame and doubt: 1-2 years
intiative vs guilt: 3-6 years
industry vs inferiority: 7-11 years
identity vs role vonfusion: adolescence
intimacy vs isolation: 20s and 30s
generativity vs stagnation: 40s and 60s
ego integrity vs dispair: 60s onwards
refer to notes
Psychodynamic theories help us understand:
- Formation of attachments
- Development of autonomy and self-control
- Development of intimate relationships in adolescence and adulthood
Learning
Long-lasting change in behaviour, based on experience or adaptation to the environment
Behaviourism
- We respond based on whether the situation is:
- Painful or threatening
- Pleasurable
- Associative learning
Classical conditioning
John Watson 1878-1958
• “Little Albert”
Albert liked the furry rat
Rat is then presented with loud ‘CRASH’
Albert cried because of the noise
Eventually, sight of the rat made Albert cry
Operant conditioning
- Individual learns the consequences of ‘operating’ on the environment
- Learned relationship between behaviour and its consequences
- Skinner formulated original ideas by working with animals, then applied them to humans
B.F. Skinner 1904-1990
Operant conditioning: reinforcement
- Strengthens response; increases likelihood of behaviour reoccurring
- Can be positive or negative
- Positive: giving a reward
- Lollies for finishing a task; saying “well done!”
- No chores for getting an A+ on homework
Operant conditioning: punishment
• Weakens response; decreases likelihood of behaviour reoccurring
- Can be positive or negative
- Positive: Adding something aversive
- Getting scolded; smacking
- Negative: Removing something pleasant
• Taking away car keys; getting a time out
Social Cognitive Learning Theory
• Albert Bandura proposes developmental change through observational learning:
- Imitation
- Modelling: vicarious reinforcement
- Reciprocal determination – interaction between individual and environment
- Four-step model of observational learning
Bhevaiour modification definition
What is behaviour modification based on?
What is it useful for managing?
Defined as a specific set of techniques that is based on operant conditioning and social cognitive learning used to eliminate undesired behaviours and increase desirable responses
Based on:
- Operant conditioning
- Social cognitive learning
Useful for managing:
- Eating disorders
- Delinquent behaviours
• Other developmental and behavioural issues such as fears, language delays, aggression
What are cognitive developmental theories focused on?
- how thinking and problem-solving skills develop
Piaget’s cognitive theory
Piaget: Cognitive Stage Theory
- Clinical method
- Combining observation with flexible questioning
• Development begins with an inborn ability to adapt to the environment, E.g., exploring a room
as a result of both maturation and experience, thinking develops through a series of increasingly sophisticated stages, each incorporating the achievements of previous stages
Piaget’s cognitive stages
- Sensorimotor: Birth -2 years
- Preoperational: 2-7 years
- Concrete operational: 7-11 years
- Formal operational: 11- adulthood
- Post-operational?
Sensorimotor stage:
- Birth - 2 years
- coordination of sensory and motor activity; achievement of object permenance
- infants begin to develop their knowledge fo the world through their senses
Preoperational stage:
- 2-7 years
- use of language and symbolic representation
- ego-centric view of the world
- make-believe play
- thinking lacks logic
Concrete operational stage:
- 7-11 years
- solution of concrete problems through logical operations
- objects are organised into heirarchies and classes and subclasses
- thinking is not yet abstract
Formal operational stage:
- 11 - adulthood
- systematic solution of acutal and hypothetical problemsusing abstract symbols
- capacity for abstract, systematic thinking
- capable of deducing testable inferences
Piaget’s concepts:
- *• Direct learning:** scheme development
- *• Scheme:** systematic pattern of thoughts, actions, and
problem-solving strategies
• Adaptation: How children handle new information in light of what they already know; schemes deepened or modified via:
• Assimilation
- *• Accommodation**
- *• Social transmission:** influence through observation of
others
• Physical maturation: biologically determined changes
Two processes of adaptation:
-
Assimilation: Incorporating new information into existing schemes
- Interpret and respond to events in terms of an existing scheme
-
Accommodation: Changing structures to include new information
- Change existing scheme when faced with new ideas or situations in which the old schemes no longer work
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory
• Four interactive, overlapping contexts
– Microsystem
– Mesosystem
– Exosystem
– Macrosystem
- Environment an ever- changing system*
- Contextual theory*
Lev Vygotsky 1896-1934 Contextual theory
Zone of proximal development
- Cognitive development ‘context specific’
- Higher mental functions associated with social interactions and dialogues with parents, teachers, peers and others
-
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
- The range in which tasks need support from more knowledgeable adults and peers
- Support through scaffolding
The application of contextual theories
- Understanding how individual development interacts with the context in which it occurs
- Examination of the multiple factors influencing issues
- Vygotsky’s ZPD important in understanding the development of problem solving and the culturally specific nature this may take
Vaillant’s normative crisis model developmental periods
- Age of establishment (20-30 years): increasing autonomy from parents; marraige, parenthood and establishing more intimate friendships
- Career consolidation (20-40 years): consolidating and strengthening marraige and career, devotion to hard work and advancement
- Midlife transition (40-50 years): hieghtened self-awareness and exploration of forgotten inner-self opening the way for achieveing greater generativitiy
- Midlife (50 or older): becoming increasingly self-reflective nurturant and expressive
Timing-of-Events model
- Normative life events (on time)
- Non-normative life events (off time)
- Internalised social clock tell individuals if they are ‘on time’
- Accounts for variability in adult experience
- Focus on the impact of social expectations and the more active, self-conscious role of adults
Dynamic Systems Perspective
- Recognition that children’s development both consistent and variable
- System seen as dynamic, constantly in change
A change in one part of the system requires child to reorganise their behaviour to form a new system
Can account for a range of individual differences due to unique experiences of each child
Comparisons and implications of theories
- Theories help to systematically organise ideas
- Theories can stimulate new thinking and guide
understandings and professional practice
- No one theory can provide a complete explanation, but together may be complementary
- Need to remain critical in our considerations about theories
