Development Psych Flashcards
What are the 3 Main Questions About Development? (Explain each with question)
Morality, Continuity, Knowledge
Explain each of the 3 views of ‘knowledge’ with known thinkers of each
1) Empiricism - blank slate
2) Nativism - born with innate powerful structures in the brain
3) Constructivism - we construct knowledge through interacting with our environment
Jean Piaget
The founder of Modern Developmental Psychology
Genetic Epistemology
The study of the origins of knowledge (what Jean Piaget studied)
Schemas
Mental frameworks or templates that represent things
Assimilation
the process of incorporating new experiences with an existing schema
Accomodation
the process of changing an existing schema because of new information that didn’t fit
What was Piaget’s primary method for research?
Naturalistic observation and interviewing children; Longitudinal research (for continuous study)
What was Piaget’s view of the differences between children and adults?
Children think in radically different ways than adults
List Piaget’s Stages of Development
1) Sensorimotor Stage
2) Preoperational Stage
3) Concrete Operational Stage
4) Formal Operational Stage
Sensorimotor Stage (age, summary, primary problem if applicable)
Age 0-2; Information acquired through senses and motor actions; Object Permanence, cannot reason
Preoperational Stage (age, summary, primary problem if applicable)
Age 2-7; Emergence of reason, but not in a higher order; Egocentrism, No concept of Conservation
Egocentrism
The inability to look at things from someone else’s view. ‘what I see is what everyone sees’
Conservation
The recognition that quantity doesn’t change even as shape changes
Concrete Operational Stage (age, summary, primary problem if applicable)
Age 7-12; Less egocentrism and better logic; Unable to reason abstractly or hypothetically
Formal Operational Stage (age, summary, primary problem if applicable)
Age 12-adult; Able to reason abstractly and scientifically
How’s the scientific verdict of Piaget?
He’s mostly accurate and falsifiable (better than Freud)
Three Problems With Piaget’s Science
Lack of theory (how or why does change in learning happen?), Methodology (children are not very verbal and participant demand could be issue), Factual (babies are smarter than Piaget thought)
Social Evaluation by Preverbal Infants - what did this study conclude?
Over 80% chose the ‘good character’ in the hill study and 70% for the puppet and stealing ball show.
At what age (according to relatively recent research, not Piaget) are children able to view things in others’ perspectives?
Around 4.5 years
Summarize Sally & Anne
Sally has basket, Anne has box. Sally puts toy in basket and walks away. Anne takes the toy and puts it in her box. Sally comes back and children are asked about where Sally would look for her toy.
What are 2 explanations of development?
1) Neural Changes - the fewer connections, the more efficient connection and more plastic
2) A General Theory (Piagetian) - Children and adults see the world in different ways (like 2 random people see differently)
Pruning (Synaptic Pruning)
The elimination of unused or unnecessary neural connections
Myelination
The myelin sheath develops up till adolescence
When are frontal lobes developed?
25 or even 30 for men
What’s an explanation for the cause of autism? (and how many people are autistic)
The brain has a damaged capacity for social reasoning
If modules for development exist, what are the modules?
A module for social, physical world, etc.
