Chapter 3 Theories of Child Development

Question 1

Whose theory proposed that human traits are determined primarily by genetics: where children simply mature with age and environment plays a minor role?

Answer 1

Gesell

*Maturationist Theory

Question 2

This type of theory proposes that human traits are qcquired through experiences within the environment. Adults can purposefully shape desired learning and behavior through positive reinforcement.

Answer 2

Behaviorist Theory

*Skinner, Watson, Bandura

Question 3

Theory which proposes that emotional development stems fron an ability to resolve key conflicts between desires and impulses and pressures from the outside world. Adults can promote children’s emotional health by providing appropriate opportunities for the gratification of drives.

Answer 3

Psychoanalytic Theory

*Freud, Erikson

Question 4

Theory where intellectual development is internal and personal. Knowledge is constructed actively by learners, who struggle to make sense out of experience. Learners assimilate new ideas into what they already know, but also adjust previous thinking to accomodate new information

Answer 4

Cognitive-Developmental Theory

*Piaget

Question 5

Theory where adults and peers can “scaffold” children’s learning by asking questions or challenging thinking. Through social interaction and verbalization, children construct knowledge of the world.

Answer 5

Sociocultural Theory

*Vygotsky

Question 6

Theory that proposes knowledge is acquired by applying specific thinking processes in order to pay attention to, store, remember, retrieve, and modify information over time. Children learn in social situations by noticing social cues, storing these in memory, and retrieving and applying them in subsequent interactions with others.

Answer 6

Information Processing Theory

*Siegler, Dodge

Question 7

Theory that proposes development is influenced by the personal, social, and political systems within which children live. Interactions among the family, school, community, social and political system, and the individual child will determine developmental outcomes.

Answer 7

Ecological Systems Theory

*Bronfenbrenner

Question 8

Gesell conducted controlled observations of thousands of children in order to identify _______ : specific characteristics that are expected to emerge in children at various age intervals

Answer 8

Developmental Milestones

Question 9

Within the behaviorist theory: these two types of conditioning are present

Answer 9

Operant and Classical

Question 10

Type of conditioning where a neutral stimulus is paired with a pleasurable one. The subject responds in the same way to the neutral stimulus as to the pleasurable one

Answer 10

Classical Conditioning

Question 11

Type of conditioning where a desired behavior is immediately rewarded

Answer 11

Operant Conditioning

Question 12

The type of theory that involves the id, ego and superego

Answer 12

Psychoanalytic Theory

Question 13

This part of “you” contains the instinctual urges and strives for immediate gratification but is kept in check by the “others”

Answer 13

Id

Question 14

This part of “you” that is rational and regulates and redirects the instinctual impulses of the Id.

Answer 14

Ego

Question 15

Part of “you” that is your conscience, which includes values and mores of one’s culture

Answer 15

Superego

Question 16

Stage of Emotional Development where children must come to trust and that basic needs will be met by caregivers and that the world is a predictable and safe place

Answer 16

Trust vs Mistrust

*birth to 18 months

Question 17

Stage where children must acquire a sense of independence from parents and a belief that they can do things on their own

Answer 17

Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt

*18 months to 3.5 years

Question 18

Stage where children must feel free to act, create, to express themselves creatively, and to take risks

Answer 18

Initiative v Guilt

*3.5 to 6 years

Question 19

Stage where children must feel competent in skills valued by society. They need to feel successful in relation to peers and in the eyes of significant adults.

Answer 19

Industry v Inferiority

*6 to 12 years

Question 20

Theory that holds mental growth as the most important element in children’s development

Answer 20

Cognitive-Developmental Theory

Question 21

Humans integrate new ideas or information into what they already know about

Answer 21

Assimilation

Question 22

Humans modify what they already know to make room for new ideas or information

Answer 22

Accomodation

Question 23

Stage where infants rely solely on action and the senses to know things

Answer 23

Sensorimotor

*0 to 18 months

Question 24

Stage where primarily toddlers and preschool children can use symbols and internal thoughts to solve problems. Thinking is still tied to concrete objects to the here and now.

Answer 24

Preoperational Stage

*18 months to 6/7 years

Question 25

Stage where primarily elementary school childre are more abstract in their thinking. They can use early logic to solve some problems and are less fooled by perception.

Answer 25

Concrete Operational

*8 years to 12 years

Question 26

Stage where primarily adolescents and adults can think abstractly and hypothetically. They can contemplate the long ago and far away.

Answer 26

Formal Operational

*12 years to adulthood

Question 27

Vygotsky proposed that children engage in two distinct and independent mental activities in the earliest months of life

Answer 27

Nonverbal thought and nonconceptual speech

Question 28

An early form of mental activity in which children observe objects or events or perform actions without using language

Answer 28

Nonverbal thought

Question 29

Early form of language in which children utter words or phrases without thinking fully what they mean

Answer 29

nonconceptual speech

Question 30

Vygotsky proposed that this is a kind of thought in which language and thinking are integrated and mutually suppportive. Children use language such as verbal labels and self-directed speech to guide learning

Answer 30

Verbal Thought

Question 31

Behavior where young children talk to themselves, naming objects or narrating their actions, particularly as they solve problems

Answer 31

Self-Directed speech