Developmental chapter 2 (Theories of Human Development) Flashcards
Note for different developmental theories
each theory provides defrent view points on developmental phenomena
Having theories for the human development provides:
→ needed organization
→ offers a lens through which researchers can interpret and explain specific facts
→ guides the collection of new facts and observations making clear:
↳ What is most important to study
↳ What can be hypothesized or predicted about it
↳ Wow it should be studied
↳ Wow to interpret findings
Supporters of the Nature side
→ universal maturational processes guided by genes
→ importance of genetic makeup
→ biologically based predispositions built into genes over
the course of evolution
→ other biological influences shape development exclusively
↳ considering a sufficient environment is present
Supporters of the Nurture side
→ the influences of the physical and social environment on developmen
→ development can take many paths depending on the individual’s experiences
activity - passivity (two sides)
the extent to which humans are active in creating and influencing their environment
Activity
humans actively influence their environment, producing their own development
Passivity
Humans are passovly shaped by forces that are out of their controle (biological / environmental)
continuity - discontinuity
whether the changes people undergo over the life span are gradual or abrupt (sudden and unexpected)
Supporters of the continuity side
→ changes are gradual and quantitative
→ development is a process that occurs in small steps without sudden changes
Supporters of the discontinuity side
→ changes are abrupt and qualitative
→ development as a series of stairs steps that elevate the individual to a new level of functioning
→ changes are in kind and qualitative.They make the individual fundamentally different in some way
→ people progress through developmental stages
developmental stages
Distinct phases of development characterized by particular sets of abilities, motives, emotions, or behaviors that form a pattern
universality - context specificity
the extent to which developmental changes are universal or culturally specific
What is the Psychoanalytic Theory of Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson?
proposed that humans are driven by motives and emotional conflicts of which they are largely unaware and that they are shaped by their earliest experiences in the family
instincts
inborn biological forces that motivate behavior and they are the source of the energy that fuels human behavior.
unconscious motivation
the power of instincts to influence behavior without our awareness
Id
→ The impulsive, irrational, and selfish part of the personality, whose mission is to satisfy the
instincts by seeking immediate gratification even if not rationally possible
↳It is the only one that exists during birth
→ Communicates basic needs
ego
→ The rational side of the personality that tries to find realistic ways of gratifying instincts
by taking the form of cognitive processes (perception, learning, problem-solving)
↳ emerges during infancy, making the kid more capable of postponing pleasures
→ Eestrains the id long enough to find a realistic way
superego
→ The individual’s internalized moral standards (assimilated from the parents)
↳ develops from the ego around 3-6 years old
→ The superego forms a parental voice in the head of the kid, making them feel guilty and
ashamed when they violate society’s rules
→ decides whether the ego’s problem-solving is morally acceptable
libido
→ the psychic energy of the sex instinc
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
→ oral stage (birth- 1y):
Libido is focused on the mouth as a source of pleasure / oral gratification from a mother figure
→ anal stage (1-3 y):
Libido is focused on the anus. Toilet training creates conflict between instincts and societal demand
→ phallic stage (3-6 y):
Iibido focuses on the genitals,desire of the opposite sex parent and identification with the same-sex parent and the development of the superego
→ latent period (6-12 y):
libido is quiet beacuse psychic energy is invested in schoolwork
→ genital stage (12+ y):
puberty reawakens sexual instincts creating the goal of reproduction
identification
an individual’s tendency to emulate, or adopt, the attitudes and behaviors of the same-sex parent
defense mechanisms
mechanisms used by the ego to defend itself against anxiety caused by conflicts between the id’s impulses and social demands
repression
removing unacceptable thoughts or traumatic memories from consciousness
defense mechanism that involves retreating to an earlier, less traumatic stage
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
- Birth -1y: trust vs mistrust
- 1y - 3y: autonomy vs shame & doubt
- 3y - 6y: initiative vs guilt
- 6y - 12y: industry vs inferiority (new skills thats makes them usesfull
- 12y - 20y: intimacy vs isolation
- 40y - 60y: generativity vs stagnation (middle-aged adults must feel like they create something that will outlive them)
- 65+: integrity vs despair (older adults must view their lives as meaningful and accept death without regrets)
fixation
defense mechanism in which development is stoped and part of the libido is tied to an earlier stage of development
Freud’s 3 major contributions:
- called attention to unconscious processes underlying behavior
- stressed the importance of early experiences in the family to development
- emphasized the importance of emotions and emotional conflicts in development
Freud’s 3 major weaknesses:
- ambiguous, internally inconsistent, and not easily falsifiable theory
- not well-supported by evidence
- doesn’t provide an adequate explanation of development (more like a description)
what did early learning theories supported?
early learning theorists believed babies had NO inborn tendencies and their development depends entirely on their environment
what is Watson’s classical conditioning?
a type of learning in which a stimulus that initially had no effect on the individual comes to elicit a response because of its association with a stimulus that already elicits the response
Watson supported the idea that emotional responses can be learned
what is Skinner’s operant conditioning?
a form of learning in which freely emitted acts become more or less likely to be repeated based on the consequences they produce
(through operant conditioning, an individual can learn new
skills and habits)
reinforcement
consequence that strengthens the probability of repeating a behavior
punishment
consequence that weakens the probability
of repeating a behavior
extinction
gradual weakening and disappearance of a
learned response when no longer reinforced
when can physical punishment be effective?
→ administered immediately after the act
→ administered consistently after each offense
→ not overly harsh
→ administered by an otherwise affectionate person
→ used sparingly and combined with efforts to reinforce positive behavior
what is the vicarious reinforcement?
occurs when the frequency of certain behaviors increases as a result of observing others rewarded for the same behaviors (can also be reversed)
latent learning
learning that occurs but is not evident in behavior
what is Bandura’s social cognitive theory?
people can learn new responses by observing the behavior of a model, making connections, and anticipating the consequences based on the model’s experience
overimitation
universal tendency for kids to imitate every detail of the model’s behavior, even actions that are not useful in achieving the goal
(helps people fit in, and transmits culture from to the next generation)
self-efficacy
one’s belief that they can effectively produce a particular desired outcome
reciprocal determinism
social-cognitive theory which argues that behavior, cognition, and environment all interact with and influence one another
Strengths and weaknesses of Bandurous cognitive theory
strengths:
- precise and testable
- can be used to understand behavior at any age
- are the basis for many effective developmental optimizations and treatments
weaknesses:
- don’t provide a clear description of the typical course of human development
- don’t demonstrate that learning is responsible for developmental changes
- too little emphasis on biological influences
constructivism
humans actively create their own understandings of the world based on their experiences
(children use their current understandings to solve problems, but also revise their understandings to make them fit better to reality)
(the interaction between biological maturation and experience is responsible for a child’s development)
What is Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory?
Piaget viewed intelligence as a process that helps a person adapt to their environment
as humans mature, they acquire more complex cognitive structures that help them adapt
stages of Piaget’s cognitive development Theory
- birth - 2 years: sensorimotor stage (babies develop cognitive skills and deferred imitation)
- 2-7 years:preoperational stage (children develop symbolic thought yet they remain egocentric (cannot see things fromothers’ perspectives)
- 7 - 11 years: concrete operations (students develop more complex logical thinking skills and master the skill of conservation)
- 11 - 12+: yearsformal operations (teenagers start developing deductive reasoning, metacognitive skills, abstract thought, and complex moral reasoning)
strengths of Piaget’s theory
-largely supported by evidence
-encouraged teachers to mold sunjects to children’s level of understanding
weaknesses of Piaget’s theory
-underestimated the cognitive abilities of infants
-too little emphasis on cultural and social influences
sociocultural perspective
cognitive development is shaped by the sociocultural context in
which it occurs and grows out of children’s interactions with
members of their culture
information-processing approach
development involves changes in the capacity and
speed of brain processing, and in the strategies used
to process information
bioecological model
model of development that emphasizes the importance of both nature
and nurture as the person interacts with a series of environmental
systems over time
proximal processes
recurring, reciprocal interactions between the individual and other
people, objects, or symbols that move development forward toward
more effective functioning
CT model
a call for examining development as a function of 4 factors: process, person, context, and time
strengths and weaknesses of Bioecological model
strengths:
- are complex
- manage to capture the complexity of human development
weaknesses:
- don’t provide a clear picture yet because of lack of testing and partial formulation
eclectics
people who rely on multiple theories
In what Erikson put more emphasis?
→ he placed LESS emphasis on sexual urges as the drivers of development, and more emphasis on social influences
→ he put more emphasis on development after adolescence and held a more positive view on the human nature
