Developmental Psychology

Question 1

developmental psychology

Answer 1

the scientific study of age related changes in behavior and mental processes throughout a person’s lifespan

Question 2

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Answer 2

Piaget believed that we build an understanding of our world and develop thinking skills through active interaction with our environment

Question 3

schema

Answer 3

an idea about what something is and how to deal with it

Question 4

2 processes by which we gain and change our schemas

Answer 4

• assimilation: interpreting new experiences and information based on our current understanding
• accommodation: adjustments to fit particulars of new information
• • we construct and modify our schemas as we interact with the world

Question 5

stages of cognitive development

Answer 5

• sensorimotor stage: birth to 2
• pre operational stage: 2 to 7
• concrete operational stage: 7 to 11
• formal operational stage: 11 through adulthood

Question 6

sensorimotor stage

Answer 6

• construct understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motor abilities
• live in the present and have very little understanding that things continue to exist even if they are not within sight
• foundation for cognitive abilities and growth through assimilation and accommodation

Question 7

concepts of sensorimotor stage

Answer 7

• object permanence
• understanding that things continue to exist even after they can no longer be seen, heard or touched
• infants will be able to search for hidden objects once they understand object permanence
• infants are presented with an interesting toy and then covering it with a beret:
• • infants before 6 months failed to search for the toy
• • by 8 months, infant begin responding to hidden object
• goal directed behavior
• ability to behave in purposeful manner in order to achieve particular goals
• combines and coordinates existing schemas to attempt new things and achieve goals

Question 8

pre operational stage

Answer 8

• represent the world with words, images and drawings
• stable concepts formed, mental reasoning emerges, ability to remember, pretend and imagine
• grouping similar objects together

Question 9

concepts of pre operational stage

Answer 9

• egocentrism
• inability to take another’s POV and only perceive the world from their own viewpoint
• believe that everyone sees what they see, hears what they hear and knows what they know
• not intentionally selfish as their world is self centred and might get angry if they don’t get their way
• animism
• tendency of children to believe that all objects and animals are living and capable of feelings and emotions
• believes that objects have the same feelings they do
• centration
• occurs when child only pays attention to a small range of aspects when observing a stimulus
• may pay attention to the height of an object and not its mass

Question 10

concrete operational stage

Answer 10

thinking logically and carrying our mental operations with concrete materials but not with abstract ideas

Question 11

concepts of concrete operational stage

Answer 11

• conservation
• understanding that the mass of an object remains the same even if its shape or appearance changes
• requires child to observe transformations in physical quantities that are initially equivalent and then the transformation
• classification
• ability to group sets of discrete items into a broader category

Question 12

formal operational stage

Answer 12

• adolescents develop ability to think about and solve abstract problems in logical manner
• reasoning based on logic that includes abstractions and systematic thinking about hypothetical events
• able to understand double meanings and proverbs

Question 13

concepts of formal operational stage

Answer 13

• logical thinking
• develop strategies to work through problems systematically, identify and hypothesise about various solutions to problems and systematically test solutions
• abstract thinking
• thinking that does not rely on being able to handle or see concrete materials in order to reason about them

Question 14

three mountain task

Answer 14

• tests egocentrism
• uses apparatus called diorama involving 2 model mountains made of paper mache of different sizes, shape and colour and different landmarks on top
• first child is asked to walk around and familiarise with the diorama
• second child was asked to sit facing 3 mountains and a doll was placed behind the first mountain
• the child was asked ‘what can the doll see’ and were shown several pictures of the mountains from different viewpoints, one of which was the actual viewpoint of the child
• process was repeated with the doll in front of the second mountain and then the third
• the child was asked the same question and was required to select a picture
• Piaget found that children up to 7 years old chose the picture that showed what they could see
• seeing things from different perspective occurs at a later age when children stop centering on themselves

Question 15

Martin Hughes

Answer 15

• policeman task
• children 3.5 to 5 years old could take another’s perspective
• no longer egocentric when asked to carry out task involving hiding a boy doll so that policeman can’t see him
• children were shown a model comprising 2 intersecting walls and then placed the policeman doll in several positions and asked child to hide the boy doll from the policeman
• very few mistakes were made as children were asked if they understood what was being asked of them
• second policeman doll was brought in and both policeman dolls were placed at end of 2 walls and child was asked to hide boy doll from both policemen
• 90% gave correct answers showing that children lost their egocentric thinking by 4 years old because they were able to take another’s perspective

Question 16

criticism of Piaget’s theory

Answer 16

• failed to distinguish competence and performance as many Piagetian tasks rely on verbal responses and questions where lack of skill in verbal responses may mask competence in reasoning
• underestimated cognitive abilities of pre operational children as they exhibited less egocentrism than Piaget believed
• Donaldson argued that young children passed the policeman task and failed to three mountain task because they were more familiar with hiding and 3 mountain task was more abstract and made little real world sense to them
• Siegal asked questions where the answer was obvious or repeated questions wheee the answers have already been given
• • children assumed that their first answers were wrong and changed it to please the examiner

Question 17

Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

Answer 17

• proposed 6 universal stages of moral development
• suggested that development occurs when conflict between ones current stage and moral thinking of someone at higher stage is experienced
• emphasised type of thinking people engaged in when considering moral dilemmas

Question 18

pre conventional level

Answer 18

rules are truly external to self rather than internalised and morality is self serving

Question 19

punishment and obedience egocentric

Answer 19

• base moral decisions on fear of punishment where if an action is not punished or detected, it is not wrong
• shaped by standards of adults and consequences for following or breaking their rules

Question 20

naive hedonism/instrumental exchange orientation

Answer 20

• individuals conform to rules in order to gain rewards or satisfy personal objectives
• individuals have different viewpoints but their behaviors are motivated by hope of benefiting in return

Question 21

conventional level

Answer 21

• individuals strive to obey rules and social norms in order to win other’s approval or to maintain social order
• social praise and avoidance of blame replaces tangible rewards and punishments as motivators of ethical conduct
• perspective of others are given careful consideration

Question 22

good boy good girl orientation

Answer 22

• values trust, care and loyalty to others as basis for moral judgement
• moral decisions are made to please, help or to be approved by others
• interest in maintaining respect of others and doing what is expected of them

Question 23

social order maintaining morality

Answer 23

• moral judgements based on duty, social order, law and justice
• conforms to society rules and considers that right is what society defines it to be

Question 24

post conventional level

Answer 24

individuals define right and wrong based on broad principles of justice that could conflict with written laws or dictates of authority figures

Question 25

social contract orientation

Answer 25

• individuals view laws as instruments for expressing will of majority and furthering human welfare
• imposed laws that conflict with human rights are considered unjust and worthy of challenge

Question 26

universal ethical principles

Answer 26

• individuals define right and wrong on the basis of self chosen ethical principles of his or her own conscience
• moral judgements are based on universal human rights

Question 27

criticism of Kohlberg’s theory

Answer 27

• culturally biased
• Kohlberg didn’t take into account reasoning of a man with sophisticated understanding of his own culture
• Shweder presented Babaji, an orthodox hindu teacher with indian version of Heinz’s dilemma
• Shweder asked ‘why doesn’t Hindu Dharma permit stealing and Babaji’s reasoning put him in stage 3 or 4
• Shweder argues that Kohlberg’s coding system didn’t allow him to take into account the reasoning of a man with sophisticated understanding of his own culture
• gender bias
• all participants in the original research were males and Kohlberg’s choice of dilemmas lead him to develop a very western and male oriented view of moral development
• early research suggested that men typically reached stage 4 and women stage 3
• Carol Gilligan considered that this was due to different socialisation of boys and girls resulting in different values rather than men being morally more advanced than girls
• Gilligan considered that men adopt morality of justice based on abstract principles of fairness and rights of individuals and females adopt morality of care based on nurturance and responsibility
• conducted a research on men and women and found that men tended to focus more on justice and women focused more on care when answering questions about moral dilemmas
• found that Kohlberg’s idea of justice was not as applicable to women as they focus on protecting relationships and caring about people
• confound with verbal intelligence
• responding to Kohlberg’s moral dilemmas requires some basic smarts
• may be measuring people’s ability to understand and talk about problems in general rather than in particular

Question 28

Erikson’s theory of identity

Answer 28

• described development of identity as not just in childhood but throughout their entire lifespan and to be a series of continual challenges that have to be met by individual to move successfully to next phase in life
• identify formation: continuous challenges with dominant crises characterising various phases in life from infancy to adulthood
• describes normal conflicts that have to be overcome and shows how successful resolutions of these crises can lead to next stage and successful resolutions to future crises
• unsuccessful resolutions can lead to the person being stuck at a particular stage and not developing normally, resulting in abnormal personality development

Question 29

sense of identity

Answer 29

describes enduring personality characteristics of each and every one of us

Question 30

stages of identity

Answer 30

• trust vs mistrust: birth to 1
• autonomy vs shame and doubt: 1 to 3
• initiative vs guilt: 3 to 6
• industry vs inferiority: 6 to 12
• identity vs role confusion: 12 to 18
• intimacy vs isolation: 18 to40
• generativity vs stagnation: 40 to 65
• death integrity vs despair: 65 to death

Question 31

trust vs mistrust

Answer 31

• infants are dependent on others for food, warmth and love and must trust others to provide these
• needs are met consistently and responsively to secure attachment to parents and learn to trust others
• failure to bond with caregiver can lead to mistrust of world around them

Question 32

autonomy vs shame and doubt

Answer 32

• toddlers learn to walk, talk, feed themselves and use the toilet so they become more autonomous and less dependent on others
• success at being independent can lead to self confidence, self control and mistakes can be easily corrected
• overprotection or disapproval from parents can lead to shame and doubt on toddler’s ability to be independent

Question 33

initiative vs guilt

Answer 33

• child’s motor and social skills become highly developed
• dilemma is balancing wish to achieve more and take on more responsibility
• accepts parental control and discipline without guilt

Question 34

industry vs inferiority

Answer 34

• industry can be regarded as competence and is achieved through learning at school while relationships with friends and peers increase
• develops sense of mastery and competence when rewarded for industry and achieving success at school
• failure to achieve competence leads to feelings of inferiority

Question 35

identity vs role confusion

Answer 35

• major crisis to be resolved for successful transition into adulthood
• adolescents must integrate all resolutions to earlier crises and achieve sense of identity, incorporating all elements of self when answering question of ‘who am i’
• failure to resolve identity crisis can lead to role confusion, indecision and avoidance of commitment

Question 36

intimacy vs isolation

Answer 36

• achievement of intimacy with another person is important
• failure to develop sense of identity can mean that young adult is incapable of forming intimate relationship and sink into isolation

Question 37

generativity vs stagnation

Answer 37

• main focus is on work and maintenance of family relationships
• success in both areas can lead to feelings of accomplishment and leaving legacy for future
• failure to resolve conflict can lead to self centredness and and stagnation

Question 38

death integrity vs despair

Answer 38

• time to reflect on ones contributions and view life as satisfactory and positive or unsatisfactory and disappointing
• fulfilled life can lead to viewing death with integrity
• unfulfilled life can lead to viewing life in fear and despair

Question 39

criticism of Erikson’s theory

Answer 39

• cultural differences: timing of stages could be rather off due to cultural differences
• more applicable to boys than girls as Erikson agreed with Freud’s belief that personality differences between boys and girls are biologically based
• more attention to infancy and childhood and less emphasis on adults lifetime