Developmental Psychology Lecture 1 Theories of Development Flashcards
What is genotype
Is the specific genetic material on an individual’s chromosomes
What is phenotype
Is the observed characteristic of the individual, such as brown eyes and black hair
Dominant-Recessive Pattern of Inheritance:
A single dominant gene influences a person’s phenotype
Recessive Pattern of Inheritance
Two recessive genes are necessary to produce an associated trait
Explain epigenetics
Epigenetic markers that regulate our gene expression (our phenotype) by signaling some genes to “turn on” and others to “turn off”
Even though you might have been passed certain genes, your environment might change whether that gene is being expressed
What is an example of epigenetics?
If you are someone who has parents that are both tall and that gene has been passed down but you do not have proper nutrition, than that may not be expressed
Your parents pass down 2 recipes to you (muffin recipe, cookie recipe) sometimes your environment may cross one of those recipes out → you can’t access that you don’t have that anymore
Evolutionary Theory vs Ethological Theory
Evolutionary: attempt to explain our differences as individuals and commonalities as a species, often focusing on genetic and environmental mechanisms
Ethological: emphasizes the bio evolutionary basis of behavior
ID
Innate, compelled by drives
Ego
Conscious; rational
Superego
Internalized moral standard
Freud
Unconscious desires influence behavior (id,ego,superego)
stages of psychosexual development (Development driven by sexual drives )
Permitting too little or too much gratification can cause fixation
Erik Erikson
Neo-freudian
less emphasis on sexual urges more on social and cultural influences on development
8 stages (dilemma)
What are Eriksons 8 stages?
Infancy (1-2) Trust vs mistrust
Early Childhood (2-4) Autonomy vs shame & doubt
Preschool age (4-5) Initiative vs guilt
School age (5-12) Industry vs Inferiority
Adolescence (13-19) Identity vs Role Confusion
Early Adulthood (20-40) Intimacy vs Isolation
Adulthood (40-65) Generativity vs Stagnation
Maturity (65-Death) Ego Integrity vs Despair
Humanistic Approach
Basic human needs; What do we need in order to flourish, in order for us to continue to develop and once we have those needs met we are able to continue that development and move into different stages of life
Who is the key figure in humanistic theory?
Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers
Also involved in humanistic approach
Focused on capacity of each of us to become a “fully functioning person” without guilt or seriously distorting defenses
We have a potential for personal growth
Focused on a lot more social needs, relationships, nurturing, support→ those would be important for a person to become a fully functioning person
What did Jean Piaget theory describe
Theory describes and explains the development of thought processes and mental states
Go through developmental stages
Schemes: An organized pattern of throughout action a child uses to make sense of experience
List Jean Piaget Stages
Sensorimotor (birth-2):
Preoperational (2-7)
Concrete Operations (7-11)
Formal Operations (11 up)
Information Processing theory
Looks at mind as if it is similar to a computer (receives input, generates output)
Information Processing theory
They think development is very based in learning and maturation of the brain
B.F. Skinner
Radical Behaviorism
Operant conditioning: Focus on outcome of behavior for predicting future occurrences of that behavior
Reinforcers
Punishers
Bandura
Focuses on how our thoughts and actions are affected by our social environment (model behavior)
E.g. elevated example! modelling behavior
What type of a theorist was Piaget?
Cognitive developmental theorist
What theories look at how individuals are embedded in social groups
Social and Anthropological Theories
Who looked at continuous and discontinous societies
Benedict
What are continuous societies?
children gradually and peacefully take on adult roles
In canada we stretch this process out (live with parents)
Discontinuous societies
abrupt and stressful transitions from adolescence to adulthood
What is Ecological and Developmental Systems Theories
How all the different environments we/ our families engage in and how they impact us
What is ecological systems theory?
Environment is a series of nested systems
How all the different environments we/ our families engage in and how they impact us
Detailed characterization of various environmental influences on development
Name the 5 systems by Bronfenbrenner
Microsystem: Peers, siblings, parents, school (things closest to you)
Mesosystem: Where all of these things interact (parents interacting w teacher or your siblings)
Exosystem: Things that have more indirect impact on your life (parents stressful job, school board)
Macrosystem: Bigger level things → government (policies impact child development; child care)
Chronosystem: Time period → right now we are in a digital age
What is
