Ecological Theories Of Development Flashcards
Ecological theories
Much broader context
Three different approaches:
> ethological
> evolutionary
> the bioecological model
Ethology Psychology
Evolutionary bases of behaviour and adaptive qualities
Imprinting - form of learning in which newborns of some species of birds and mammals become attached to and follow adult members of the species at first sight, usually the mother. This ensures protection and a food source and occurs in a critical period early in life. Humans do not imprint they do have strong tendencies to draw them to members of their own species as seen with early preference to human faces.
Gender play differences - parents encourage these preferences so they behave like others of own sex - may be predisposition
Lutchmaya and Baron-cohen (2002)
1 year old boys watched videos of cars for longer than a human face and girls showed opposite effect
Evolutionary psychology
Darwin, natural selection and adaption
Large brain compensated for by premature birth
High level of neural plasticity - learn from experience (adaptive in changing environments)
Play - learning platform for social skills with minimal consequences
Children require a lot of resources, time and energy to be raised - parent investment theory and Cinderella effect
Parent investment theory
Stresses evolutionary basis of many aspects of parental behaviour, including the extensive investment parents make in their offspring as they want to ensure survival of their genes.
The Cinderella effect
Rates of child maltreatment are considerably higher for stepparents than biological suggesting there is less commitment to protection.
The Bioecological Model
Bronfenbrenner (1979)
Russian dolls
Environment conceptualised as a series of nested structures - each level referred to as a system emphasising complexity and interconnectedness
Levels: Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Macrosystem Chronosystem
Microsystem
The immediate environment that the individual child personally experiences and directly participates in.
The child’s family is a crucial component and mainly influences them, during infancy and early childhood, becoming richer and more complex as the child grows older as they engage with more people and activities i.e teachers, clubs and peers.
Some aspects the child has full freedom of choice and control however the family’s resources and expectations may influence this. All relationships in this system are bidirectional.
Mesosystem
The interconnections among the microsystem. Supportive relationships among these contexts can benefit the child
Exosystem
Environmental settings that the child does not directly experience but that affect the child indirectly.
For example the parents workplace can affect how often they see the child and their general mood.
Macrosystem
The general beliefs, values, customs and laws of the larger society in which all other levels are embedded.
This includes culture and social which influence beliefs and values, the laws can affect the time parents can spend with children whilst working and what punishments are legally accepted.
Chronosystem
The temporal dimension that accounts for historical changes that influence the other systems.
A current example is the advancements in technology allowing increased access to endless information and entertainment for children. Other more specific examples include family changes such as divorce, new siblings, death etc.
The Pew survey shows that increased parental education correlated with more time reading to children and similarly higher income with children’s sporting activity.
Child maltreatment
Intentional abuse or neglect that endangers the well-being of anyone under the age of 18.
Variety of factors (causes) are consistent with TBM:
>1 - characteristics of parents increase risk e.g response to stress/ substance use
>2 - external factors causing parental stress
>3 - support of surrounding family can reduce
Consequences are manifested primarily in microsystem e.g children develop disorganised attachment - effects peer relationships - develop hostile attribution bias
Children and media (concerns)
Exosystem - but influences all levels
Media violence - glamorised and trivialised, its exciting and arousing
Social media - social relationships, easier to harass, spread rumours, bully and share hateful opinions
Physical inactivity - glued to screen
Effects on academic achievement - children spending more than 16 hours a day looking at a screen are correlated with poor grades
Pornography - more tolerant to aggression towards women, more accepting of premarital and extramarital sex, child pornography - encourages paedophilia
SES and development
A family’s SES has profound effects on children’s development that originate at every level of the bioecological model.
The microsystem - they are affected by their family’s housing and neighbourhood
The mesosystem - the condition of their school
The exosystem - the nature of their parents employment and the
The macrosystem - government policies that determine their lifestyle.
The chronosystem - factors include how job opportunities change or different politicians are in power etc.
