Developmental Psychology Flashcards
7 enduring themes of development
-continuity and discontinuity
-mechanisms for change
-universality and context specify
-individual differences
-research and children’s welfare
-nature and nurture
-the active child
Continuity and discontinuity
1.continuity= stability
2.discontinuity= change
3. continuous change= quantitative, reversible e,g- height
4.discontinuous change= qualitative, irreversible
mechanisms for change
what mechanisms are needed for developmental change to occur e.g- changes in species, changes in behavior
universality and context specificity
to what extent the development:
-universal across contexts and cultures
-exclusive the specific contexts and cultures
individual differences
how do children with a shared background become different from each other
research and children’s welfare
how can research promote children’s welfare
nature and nurture
how do nature and nurture together shape development
the active child
how do children shape thier own development
Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory (QUALITSTIVE CHANGE)
4 stages of cognitive development:
1.sensorimotor stage
2. preoperational stage
3. concrete operational stage
4. formal operational stage
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory (QUANTITATIVE CHANGE)
individuals cognitive development is largely shaped by the social and cultural context
1. infants have basic cognitive skills
2. as infants interact with others, these skills become more sophisticated
information processing theories
human mind is a complicated information-processing system like a computer
intelligence
the capacity to learn from experience and adapt to one’s environment
Intelligence as one dimension
e.g- mental age, IQn
Intelligence of many processes
g, eight generalized abilities, many specific processes
Stanford-Binet Scales
5 Cognitive abilities:
-fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, working memory